Lina Heartilly laid on her bed in her dorm. She had black hair pulled back into a neat ponytail with two strands of hair pulled out and coffee brown eyes. She was wearing light pink pajama pants and a tank top. Her blanket was pulled aside and thrown to the edge of the bed. She lay on her side, holding a notepad in her hands. She had black earphones on and was listening to Linkin Park.

It wasn't long before a gentle knock sounded at the door.

"Door's open," Lina called out to the person on the other side. A man with spiked blond hair and misty blue eyes opened the door and stepped in. On the left side of his face was a tattoo that had a very unique design. It reminded Lina of black fire. "Hey Zell!" Lina pulled her earphones off and sat up as her boyfriend took a seat next to her.

"Hey babe," Zell replied, giving her a warm kiss. "Whatcha doing?" He sat down next to her and peeked at what she had written on the notepad.

"Working on my class schedule."

"Oh, good idea," Zell said. "I'll be right back." He walked out of the room. After a few minutes he came back with a notepad in his hand as well. Lina sat up. "I'll work on mine too." He sat down again and pulled a pen out of his pocket. "Oh...I forgot to lock the door."

"Don't bother..." Lina said. "I'll do it." She lifted her hand out and the door made a clicking noise to show that it was locked.

"Who was it this time?" Zell asked, obviously impressed. He pat her back a few times and she laughed.

"Nida," Lina said. "Said he was glad to get rid of it, actually." Lina was a lot different from everyone else. First of all, she was a sorceress. Second of all, she was the Receiver of Powers, which meant that she could get different powers sometimes and use them until they wore out or were returned to their owner. "A human library for abnormal abilities..." Lina had once mocked the position as Receiver of Powers, but now she was quite fond of it and thought it was exciting to experience different things.

Someone pounded against the door. Zell and Lina stared at each other. Neither of them were expecting any visitors. Lina got up slowly and approached the door. There was more pounding. When Lina opened the door and suddenly an explosion of dust and gravel fell upon her, including someone else. This person was flung back right when the door was opened and fell over Lina in the process.

He had dark brown hair and crystal blue eyes. He was covered in dust and his shirt was torn around the arm and the chest. Lina pushed him up and stood up, staring down at the stranger.

"Dan!" she cried.

Chapter Two

"What's wrong?" Lina asked him. Dan was panting and gasping for breath. He had cuts on his face and his wrists. He took a moment to calm down, then answered.

"Remember that boy from the reality world? The one who tried to hit on you in Chemistry?" Dan asked her in between breaths.

"Ew...Thomas Goton?" Lina asked, making a face that signified her disgust towards him. Zell raised an eyebrow at her, then at Dan. If Lina didn't tell him that meant that he was really unliked. "What about him?"

"He found his way here and he's got a bazooka with him!" Zell looked shocked; what kind of idiot would bring a bazooka to the Magic world!? You might as well go to the police and tell them "Hey look! I got you forbidden weapon, come try to take it from me *bang**bang*." It was a completely idiotic thing to do. Lina looked worried; she didn't want to bring trouble to Garden because of some freak that was hitting on her in an entirely different world.

"Chased me down the hall with it," Dan leaned down and breathed deeply. He had obviously had to run a long way because of stupid Thomas Goton.

"We have to go stop him! Come on," Lina said, helping Dan up from the floor. Dan shook his head for a moment and sighed. He had experienced great pain from trying to escape from the Bazooka.

"It's not that easy," he tried to explain, finally catching his breath. It was no use...Lina was already heading for the door and Dan and Zell could do nothing about it. She was determined to go after Tom whether or not she had to do it by herself.

"Are you forgetting who the sorceress is here?" Lina smirked as she left. Zell and Dan followed her out of the dorm, smiling weakly, hesitant.

Chapter Three

They rushed down the hall. The Garden seemed to be falling apart. There was a blast of dust and gravel just above their heads. A huge piece of the ceiling began to crumble and fell. Zell and Dan both ducked and prayed for a miracle.

Lina, just remembering who she was, put her hands up in the air and slowed the giant piece of ceiling down. Just before it had just touched her hands, the piece of concrete flew in the other direction. In her head Lina was thinking, Thank you, Nida!

They looked down the hallway and saw a boy holding an enormous gun. He had blond hair and dark green eyes. This was Thomas Goton. One of the cutest boys in Lina's old school, but the most conceited. He looked down at them.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my girlfriend," he said walking closer towards Lina; Lina was just too nice to show him her middle finger.

"What the hell are you talking about, Thomas?" Lina held her ground and stood firm. Zell and Dan stepped out in front and guarded her protectively. Tom had projects. He was self centered and often targeted a girl at a time. He was never satisfied until he got her. He must have been troubled, thinking a dirty boy like him could possibly get with a girl like Lina.

"I think you know very well what I'm talking about," Thomas replied and moved closer, ignoring Zell and Dan. "And please, call me Tom."

Lina didn't move. She concentrated hard and let her feelings take over her body. She was angry, and her body responded that way. Her outline began to glow white as she initiated her sorceress powers. Another explosion flung Tom over the Garden, all the way to the library on the other side. He landed right on top of the assistant librarian's desk. Her name was Sadie. She had brown hair pulled to the side to form one pigtail. Only one.

She looked up and smirked at him. Sadie and Zell had once been together, if you would even call it together. It wasn't a very long time and Zell didn't enjoy it either. He thought she was a conceited crybaby with nothing better to do except sit in the library and drool over him for no apparent reason. He had had a small crush on her for maybe a span of two weeks. That was nothing compared to the way he felt for Lina.

Now he was with Lina, and much more satisfied. Sadie hated Lina from that moment on, although Lina had no clue what was going on. Lina was unaware of the fact that everyday Sadie was trying to think of a way to get revenge on Lina.

Chapter Four

Just after Lina's class had ended, Dan, Karen, Lina and Zell were walking down to the cafeteria. Karen had dark brown hair pulled into two very low braids and one thin streak of hair pulled out of it, highlighted blue. The right sleeve of her shirt was three quarters long and her left sleeve looked like it was torn off completely. In place of the sleeve, she had what looked like a very thing leather strap around her middle finger and criss-crossed all the way up to her shoulder. "Where's Daccir?" Karen asked. Daccir was a friend of there's who had suddenly become missing.

"Transferred," Lina replied simply. She looked up at the sunlight that shone through the windows put up on the ceiling. Those windows were a contribution to Garden from her. A long time ago she was engaged in a battle with sorceress Gorld and they had accidentally destroyed part of the ceiling. When the construction workers came and saw the damage to the ceiling, they tried to think up some other way to replace the space lost in the ceiling rather than having to rebuild it all together. Lina had suggested the windows and helped in the operation of putting them up as well.

Daccir was a nice boy and fun to hang out with and now that he was gone, it seemed a lot quieter than usual. "He said it was too chaotic here," Zell informed.

"Oh...probably because of Tom and his machine gun," Lina rolled her eyes.

"Bazooka," Karen corrected, lifting her index finger into the air. Lina nodded in acknowledgement, but inside, she knew she didn't care because it was Tom and she hated everything about Tom--much like everyone else. Zell and Lina had always grown apathetic to conversation that included anything about Tom, this was just one case of it. They sat down at the table next to the entrance of the cafeteria and chatted. A boy named Nida entered and looked around. He spotted Zell and approached him.

"Note for you," Nida said to Zell, holding out a small piece of folded paper. Zell took it and stared at it briefly. Then there was an announcement over the intercom. "It's from the wannabe headmaster up there." Nida chuckled and sauntered of with a smirk on his face.

"Zell Dincht and Irvine Kinneas, please report to the bridge immediately," the voice sounded of Squall's. Zell quickly read over the message on the small piece of paper, then frowned.

"Sorry, Lina," Zell said, looking at the little piece of paper. "Gotta go." He kissed her cheek as a temporary goodbye and left for the elevator.

Chapter Five

Squall met Irvine and Zell at the bridge. "We've got a small mission we have to take care of," he told them straight off. "It shouldn't take long, but we have to go," Squall said, walking around.

"What about the others...the girls?" Zell asked, confused.

"Only three people are allowed to meet President Deling and I thought we should resort to strength just in case something goes wrong," Squall mumbled quietly as if he didn't want Irvine and Zell to hear exactly what he had said. Zell and Irvine stared at him incredulously.

"Hey!" Irvine fought back. "Selphie is strong! Look at these bruises!!" Irvine lifted up his pants and showed them the black and blue bruises that ran all the way up his leg.

"Oh, God... Irvine...no one wants to see that." Zell and Squall turned their heads in displeasure and groaned. Irvine pulled the leg of his pants down and pivoted away. Hey, they don't get routinely pummeled by the ladies, but then again, it's not like they aim for it in their dialogue.

"So, you're saying we're not strong enough?" a voice said. The four girls stepped out from the shadows. Quistis, Rinoa, Lina, and Selphie. Quistis stood out in front.

Chapter Six

"No, no, no! You girls are very capable and strong," Squall announced quickly, trying to cover up what he had just said. They merely stared at him, arms crossed, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah...so, why shouldn't we go?" Lina asked, she was glaring directly at Squall, telling him to never underestimate the power of a girl just because she's a girl. Squall was struggling to find a plausable answer to her direct question. He knew she spoke for all of the girls there and that they would not be brought down so easily.

"It's just that...no one knows what street muggers might do to a couple of lovely ladies such as yourselves," Zell tried to cover up what Squall said too. Squall and Irvine nodded many times and exchanged strange looks. Rinoa was trying not to giggle: Squall's current facial expression with his eyes wide and his mouth curled up on the edges made him look like a cute little cat.

"Nice save, buddy," Irvine whispered to Zell, nudging him in the ribs as Squall went on with some lame excuse about the perverts of Dollet.

"I'm telling the truth," Zell whispered back and nudging him back, hard. "You should try it, it would give you less bruises."

"Telling the truth? I am a very honest man," Irvine said with an "Irvine" quality in it. Irvine swayed a little back and forth, shrugging his cute little shrug and tipping his cowboy hat just slightly. Zell kicked him in the shin and he limped down quickly; Zell had hit a bruise.

"See what I mean? Less bruises by telling the truth." Irvine nodded quietly and playfully as he faced the upset crowd of girls and they turned their attention back on the situation at hand.

"Fine, you boys go," Rinoa sighed and turned around towards the girls.

"Yeah, but when you come back all bloody and broke from those street muggers you were talking about, don't look at us," Lina winked and they walked away. The boys looked stunned.

Chapter Seven

Lina was sitting at the side of her bed, reading, when a knock sounded at her door. Lina lifted out her hand and after a second, the click of the door being unlocked sounded. "Door's open," she called out. Zell opened the door and came in. "Hey Zell."

"Hi, I have to go soon," Zell said, giving her a tender hug. "Just came to say bye." She looked up at him with her coffee brown eyes. She didn't want him to leave, even if it were going to be just a couple of days without him.

"Where are you going?" Lina asked, slightly disappointed. Zell wrapped his arm around her shoulder reassuringly and sat down for the moment to enjoy her company before he had to leave.

"Mission. I heard there's gonna be some kind of monster there that can form into something of the opponent's memory," he explained. Lina nodded and leaned into him. The warmth felt good. His warmth specifically. She took him in with an embrace, absorbing every bit of him that would stay with her over the days he was gone.

Then, the intercom spoke again, ruining their perfect moment, "Zell Dincht and Irvine Kinneas, please report to the front gate."

"Well...I gotta go," Zell said. He kissed her cheek and gave her one last hug. "Bye for now." Then, he left. Lina looked back at her book, smiling, and continued reading. As cliche as it is, Zell had a way of making her feel warm and fuzzy inside; of making her feel like she belonged in their world.

Chapter Eight

Later, in class there was an announcement over the intercom made by someone who sounded like Quistis. "There will be a ball held tonight to celebrate the defeat of the Sorceress Camac! Good job to SeeD Squad A!" she announced. A few people clapped, everyone else looked around the class and whispered. Eyes turned to their instructor, then to the empty seat usually filled by Zell. Lina looked distraught.

"What's the matter?" Dan walked up to her desk aside from all the gossip and chatter circling the classroom. Lina sighed and shrugged. Everyone else had a date and she was just sitting there thinking, Damn... there just had to be a ball now...

"I want to go, but Zell just left..." Lina explained. Dan gave her a pat on the back and looked around playfully like there was something interesting in the air surrounding him. "What's so interesting?"

"Well...wanna go with me?" he asked, grinning so that anyone from the other side of the room could see the whites of his teeth. Lina giggled at her best friend and nodded. "Just as friends. What makes you think it's more?" Lina smiled and for a moment thought about the past to herself. Lina thought about the time he had tried to kiss her. Karen poked Lina in the back, trying to grab her attention and Dan's question was then left unanswered. Lina turned around to see Karen looking nervous and a little bit .

"I need help," Karen whispered so quietly that Lina had to lean in to hear her. "Ball... no date!" she explained curtly. Lina nodded and understood and Karen wanted to her find her a date for the dance. Lina looked around the classroom and she noticed Scott Twang, a boy with dirty blond hair and brown eyes sitting still as a mouse right in front of her. He was furtively listening very intently on their conversation because he had a crush on Karen.

"Scott," Lina called his attention and he turned around as if he didn't know what was going to come next. "You want to go with Karen to the ball tonight?"

"Do I?! YES!" he said quietly, but excitedly.

Chapter Nine

Lina arrived at the ball wearing a white dress with delicate lace straps. Dan was standing at the entrance, waiting for her. She met up with him and they went inside together, both ignoring that the frequent awkward pauses. Karen was with Scott. Scott looked very nervous. Karen went up to Lina.

"Thanks," Karen said. "This Scott guy is cute!"

"Sure..." Lina smiled, but didn't know what to say. It was true that Lina had "hooked them up" as someone might think, but she thought she had nothing to do with it, afterall, they were both falling for each other on account of their own feelings. Lina shrugged it off and reached for a cup of punch on the refreshments table.

"I see you're with Dan tonight, Zell would be jealous," Karen nudged Lina in the ribs and winked at her a couple of times. Lina sighed and nudged her back instinctively. Karen had probably only brought up what everyone else had secretly been gossiping about the moment the two of them stepped into the room. As if gossip were anything.

"Zell wouldn't get jealous...but mission will take more than just a couple of days and besides... we're here as friends," Lina emphasized "friends". She tried to ignore the fact that he had once tried to kiss her. "He knows that, I know that, and Zell knows that."

"Dan looks happy to be here with you." Karen nudged her again. Lina rolled her eyes over at Karen and frowned yet again.

"We are here as friends," Lina hit Karen over the head and Karen ran off with Scott, giggling hysterically. Lina thought she was talking only to Karen, but someone else was listening as well, especially people who Lina didn't want anything to do with.

"More than just a couple of days, eh?" Sadie smirked, hiding behind a pillar close to where Karen and Lina had had their conversation. She strolled over to the balcony where Tom was. "I need your help," Sadie said to him. Tom looked straight forward at the grass and the creatures crawling in it. Tom merely glared at her, trying to avoid speaking to her. They both knew of each others' reputations. "I need your help...and your bazooka...or other weapons." Tom smirked and pulled her off to somewhere private where they planned a scheme.

Chapter Ten

The music began to play.

"Hey, Lina," Dan said. "Wanna dance?"

"Sure," Lina replied and they went out onto the dance floor. Karen watched them, with a big, wide grin spread across her face. She looked at Scott. Scott looked back at her and smiled a weak, shaky smiled. Karen grabbed his arm and pulled him out onto the dance floor. Scott let out a small nervous cry.

In the middle of the festivity, Quistis stood in front of the band and announced how the Sorceress Camac was defeated. SeeD Squad A was given special awards like Squall, Zell, Rinoa, Lina, Selphie, Quistis, and Irvine had recived when they defeated Sorceress Ultimecia.

SeeD Squad A walked down from the stage and the music began playing again. Everyone continued dancing. They danced the night away and when it was time for them to return to their dorms, everyone was reluctant to. Dan walked Lina to the front of her dorm.

"Well, I had a good time," Lina said to him. "Thanks for going with me, Dan. Goodnight."

"Yeah....uh...goodnight," Dan sighed, waving reluctantly. Lina walked back into her dorm and Dan turned around. He sighed. That's it? He thought. That's all I can say? Goodnight? And she might as well just say 'Goodnight, Dan I hate you.' Dan walked away, confused and tired.

Chapter Eleven

Lina got up for class in the morning ashamed that she had slept so late. When she walked down the hallway, she saw Tom hammering away at something just above the Garden symbol. Lina walked on, trying to ignore the racket he was causing in the hallway. The last thing she wanted was a conversation with Tom because Lina knew that he would always try something stupid...or perverted. Lina entered her classroom and saw Karen and Scott having a two sided conversation. How cute, she thought and when Karen noticed Lina, she gave her a wink.

"Um...you ...uh...wanna...like uh... go out sometime?" Lina heard Scott say to Karen. She could sense Scott's nervousness and she could also sense Karen's excitedness. Karen smirked and nudged Scott in the ribs; maybe a little too hard because he scooted a bit away from her, but still smiled widely. "Well...you're not going to kill me right?" He remembered Karen telling the other boy that she would have to kill him if he wanted a date with her. Karen laughed like it was a silly question and it made Scott lighten up a lot. "I'll just tell you now, I'm not delirious," Scott stated and the two of them laughed.

Chapter Twelve

Zell, Irvine, and Squall arrived in Timber for their mission. It had actually been one day since they arrived now. President Deling was a very busy man and they had to wait a very long time to get to meet with him.

They sat in the waiting room, stiff and bored. After a while three robots entered. The robots peered straight at Zell, Squall, and Irvine. They suddenly transformed. Instead of the three robots, Lina, Rinoa, and a woman wearing cowboy clothes and long brown wavy hair appeared.

"Lina?"

"Rinoa?"

"MOMMY?!"

Squall and Zell stared at Irvine in disbelief. "Ahem...those robots are supposed to make us feel... 'At home'," Squall explained, losing the childishness in his voice. Zell still stared at Irvine with a strange look on his face as Irvine jumped around the robot, clapping and cheering.

Chapter Thirteen

Finally, they got to speak with President Deling. After about two days of waiting, it was finally time to do what they had gone out to do. "President Deling, we are here to discuss the invention of the..." Squall flipped through the mission papers provided by Headmaster Cid. "...Emobot..." What a stupid name...Squall thought, but didn't dare to say anything out loud.

"Ah, yes. It can read your mind!" the president exclaimed happily, and Squall flinched for a moment. "It can act like the one you love!"

"Okay...and we are here because...?" Zell asked, head shaking slightly in disbelief. You've got to be kidding me. I'm here to look at some stupid new invention that the President claims to be awesome while I could be hanging out with Lina back at Garden? This is ridiculous. It better be some easy shit we gotta get rid of.

"Representatives from all Gardens must sign a contract, making it legal to have an Emobot," the president said. He walked around some more and said, "You guys have already had a demonstration of what Emobot can do." Zell, Squall, and Irvine couldn't believe their ears.

"That's it?" Zell asked, ears turning red. Wait, Dincht, wait. Hold it in, don't freak out and tell him you want to strangle him, Zell thought to himself. Zell looked perfectly normal on the outside. He could see the deep brown coffee table to the right of his leg, but he could also see it being flipped over to spill coffee and magazines everywhere by one simple little kick in his mind. "We just sign some stupid papers and then we're out?" They waited two whole days for that??

"Umm... Zell...please calm down," Squall said. Irvine looked hecka pissed also.

"Oh....There's more than one contract..." President Deling said and he pointed to the tall stack of papers on his desk. The stack was probably over three feet tall.

Zell stared at it in disbelief, "Oh, boy..."

Chapter Fourteen

Lina walked out of class. She didn't see the hidden cord placed strategically on the floor and tripped, falling over onto the hard tiles. There was a giant explosion behind her. Gravel and dust flew into the air and she coughed more debris from her lungs. She looked up and turned around, shocked. She saw Sadie, standing over her with an extremely large gun. A bazooka, Karen had corrected earlier in the week. Lina took a step back cautiously. "Say goodbye, Lina," Sadie muttered menacingly, giving the gun a cursory pat and then placing her finger on the trigger.

Lina focused her energy and tried to access her sorceress powers, but they didn't seem to be working. What was wrong? She looked around, confused. They had been working fine in the morning. "Don't even try it," Sadie said, guessing what Lina was trying to do. "Tom put up a ward, no magic will work." Lina flinched. No magic? Her battle strategy depended on magic.

She made a run for it. Explosions followed her all the way from Sadie's gun. She tried to go to the front gate to escape the power of the ward, but it was barred and locked. Lina ran around the corner frantically and met Karen and Dan.

Chapter Fifteen

"What's the matter?" Karen asked.

"Sadie's chasing after me with a- look out!" Lina screamed and jumped on both of them causing them to just dodge a giant missile, which blew dust and gravel to rise as it hit the wall behind them. Dan stood up and saw Sadie step out from the dust menacingly. She was about twenty feet away when he pulled his gunblade out and stood in his fighting stance. His eyes narrowed; he knew she was trying to hurt Lina.

Karen pulled out her bow and swung her quiver over her shoulder. Her fingers were already grasping an arrow. Lina looked helpless. She wanted to fight, but her powers wouldn't work and her specialization was in Duel. To fight, she'd have to get close to Sadie. But, if she got close to Sadie, she might get shot. "Run," Dan said; he sensed her position.

"What?" Lina asked, staring at him as if he were crazy. She had never seen Dan be so serious before.

"You two run," Dan odered, his grip tightening around the hilt and the trigger of the gunblade. "I'll hold her off."

"But...Dan..." Lina tried to argue, she did not want her best friend getting hurt on her behalf.

"GO!" Karen pulled Lina away and they dashed off in the other direction. Dan walked forward to battle with Sadie. No doubt, he was scared. Who wouldn't be? Sadie put her finger on the trigger of the gun and smirked menacingly. Dan stood firm and waited for the right timing. Lina and Karen ran as fast as they could. They both heard two huge blasts. Lina turned around, worried.

"Dan!" Lina called to him. His face had cuts on it and was bleeding pretty badly, but he was still fighting. They had attracted attention in the halls of Balamb and everyone was staring at them, but when they saw Lina they only muttered, "Oh.. this again..."

"GO!" he yelled at them again. Karen dragged Lina down the hall further. And there was yet another explosion.

Chapter Sixteen

"Finally done!" Squall yawned and leaned back, tired.

"We must have signed over five hundred papers!" Zell rubbed his wrists and looked around at the room. They were still in President Deling's office and they were just about to leave. Irvine agreed, looking haggard and sleepy. "And it's such a stupid invention anyways," Zell whispered to Irvine and Irvine nodded also in agreement.

"Well, we'll be on our way out soon," Squall said to them. They sat down for a moment and rested their heads against the back of their chairs.

Chapter Seventeen

Dan became quickly rendered unconscious. Sadie walked forward to meet Lina and Karen. She had a couple of cuts on her arm that were bleeding badly to show that Dan had made progress. Karen stepped in front of Lina, her right hand held the bow firmly. Her fingers were creeping towards the feather tip of an arrow and her eyes were glaring at Sadie menacingly, challenging her to take another step.

"Lina, get out of here..." Karen ordered. She wasn't jumping up and down, she wasn't screaming it, she wasn't acting like she had worms in her pants, no. She was actually acting serious and she wanted to keep Lina safe. "Go."

"No, Karen," Lina said firmly, standing by her side.

"You have to leave," with her free hand, Karen pushed Lina aside rather violently. It wasn't intentional, but it was for her to get the idea that she had to get out of there before she didn't have the proper items to fight with.

"I can fight too. I don't want you... or Dan to, no," Lina argued. It wasn't fair that her friends had to get hurt on her behalf; she would rather just take the risks and fight for herself.

"You can't, you know that yourself, you'll only get yourself killed," Karen told her. "Don't get me wrong, Lina. I'm not saying you can't fight, but you're already in bad condition. You're a Duelist, but you can't get near her with that gun. Leave the fighting to people who have the proper weapons... just go..." Lina ran off reluctantly. Karen stood still and waited for Sadie. When Sadie arrived, she smirked and brushed her hand through her hair mockingly.

"You think you can beat me?" Sadie asked Karen coolly. Sadie had major issues, but just because she had a bazooka on her side didn't mean she was bound for a glorious victory. Even if she did win, would she obtain that what she wanted? Zell would never love Sadie Ever.

"What does it matter to you? You're still gonna lose... one way or another," Karen asked Sadie. "You know it too." Sadie laughed evilly. She pulled the trigger of her gun and fired at Karen's head. Karen was quick and very nimble; she dodged it and shot an arrow with great speed.

Lina wasn't far away yet; she wanted to make sure that Karen would be alright. This is all Tom's doing...he must have put the ward up above the Garden symbol this morning when I walked by. There was a giant blast and Lina looked back. Karen was on the floor, eyes closed. Sadie appeared in front of Lina an instant later. It looked like her arm was a torn piece of paper with red ink stains all over it.

"Well? Your body guards are unconscious... Now what?" Sadie asked her. A few arrows clung on tightly to Sadie's uniform, blood spilling from beneath the demin blue. Lina lunged at Sadie, making her drop the gun as Lina tackled her. Sadie threw her off and grabbed the gun. She pointed it at Lina and aimed for her head.

Just as Sadie pulled the trigger, Lina jumped out of the way. The explosion still threw Lina hard against the wall and she slid down to the floor.

Chapter Eighteen

Zell, Squall, and Irvine where about to leave. As they exited through the door, a static noise sounded throughout the room. They paused halfway out the door, knowing if there was any trouble with one of the Emobots, they had an obligation to President Deling to see what was wrong.

"What's that?" Squall asked as he turned around to look. The robot which looked like Lina was starting to malfunction and suddenly the robot's Lina form disappeared. President Deling looked at it and examined his invention, but he could find no problems with it.

"Well...nothing wrong with the Emobot..." he said after a short pause of inspection. "There must be something wrong with the person it was trying to imitate..."

"Lina...?!" Zell rushed out of the room. He didn't care whether or not he was being rude to the president. Squall and Irvine looked at eachother; they were now the only ones left and they were thinking of a way to escape. They knew President Deling would give them a reason to stay a while and "chat".

"Would you like me to tell you how I thought up the Emobot?" President Deling asked them, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Irvine and Squall's eyes both widened in horror. If they had to listen to President Deling talk about useless stuff like that, they would go crazy for sure.

"We would love to... but..." Squall said then looked over at Irvine, hoping that he would have a logical excuse for them. President Deling both eyed them suspiciously.

"But we have to go get our hair done," Irvine said quickly without thinking. Squall glared at him like he was crazy. Of all the excuses the pick, he picks the least reasonable! "For...a" Don't say wild and crazy party, don't say wild and crazy party. "Wild and crazy-"

"MEETING with very important figures of authority in Garden," Squall laughed nervously, uncertainly, trying to roll along with it. Squall started to blush, but Irvine nodded agreeingly. My goodness that was a close save.

"Yeah," Irvine added on. "We gotta attract all the...GIRLS!" They rushed out and followed Zell, leaving President Deling sitting in the room with a dumbstruck look on his face. Squall came back after a moment.

"I just wanted to straighten things out," Squall said quickly. "He's different, I'm sane." And he left again.

Chapter Nineteen

Lina got up, slowly. She had cuts all over her legs and arms. One of her arms felt broken and the searing pain that shot up her arm almost blinded her with its smarting. There was once again, another blast. It hit the wall three feet away from her head. She tried to duck, but the missile came too fast and missed her forehead by a weak three to five inches.

Lina once again fought the pain and got up. I must be a bloody mess, she thought, But if I can stand, I can fight. Slowly she moved away from where she was standing, clutching her arm in pain. Dust and dirt flitted everywhere in the air, making it impossible to see clearly. She put her hand on her face. There was a cut across the top of her cheek, but she couldn't tell how badly it was bleeding.

She ran across the room, clutching her arm and limping. She bumped into something and collapsed. That something...caught her just before her hit the ground.

Chapter Twenty

Lina felt warm hands around her arms and her back. "Lina...is that you?" she heard that something say softly. She recognized that voice, she recognized that touch.

"Zell?" she asked the something and looked up into his familiar misty blue eyes. She didn't think he would be back so early, but if she had fallen asleep and it was a dream, she didn't want it to end. Zell reached for her hands and ran a hand down her back. Zell had the ability to make her heart skip a beat even in the most painful situations.

"Lina...what the hell is going on?" Zell asked as he stood her on her feet. Lin a fell into him, just let her stay there for a while--let her revive herself in his embrace.

"Sadie...Tom put up a ward so I can't use my powers and Sadie's got a bazooka," Lina explained between breaths as she held onto Zell for dear life.

"Where's the ward?" Zell asked Lina pointed just above the Garden Symbol where she had seen Tom hammering at. "I'll get it... you'd better run." Lina nodded, although she doubted that Zell saw her through all of the gray haze everywhere. He ran off and Lina walked through the dust. Sadie appeared behind her and pushed her over. Lina tripped and nearly fell, but she caught her balance and stood back up. Lina tried to use her powers, but it still didn't work.

Zell climbed up the side of the front gate entrance and did a back flip to the top of the symbol. He crawled up and stopped a small gray box that was emitting a small beeping noise. Sadie tripped Lina again. Lina was exhausted. She fell to the ground and tried to get up, but her legs failed her. She tried to use her powers, nothing yet. Come on, Zell...I know you can do it..., she thought.

Zell punched the beeping box three times. A couple of circuits and gears flew out of the dented cover.

Sadie aimed the bazooka at Lina.

Zell gave the box one more big punch. It smoked and sizzled and suddenly the air seemed a lot lighter than it was before. The barrier emitted by it was finally broken.

Lina tried once more. Her body flowed with energy and she stood up, feeling stronger and ready to fight. Suddenly, her outline began to glow white. Lina leaned down and twirled her leg around, to trip Sadie. Sadie fell and dropped the gun. Lina kicked the gun far away and looked down at Sadie menacingly. Pay back time.

Chapter Twenty-one

"You're going to regret that now," Lina warned. Sadie looked scared. Every time this happened, she promised herself she would not be afraid the next time, but to come face to face with a powerful sorceress was an intimidating thing. No matter how badly she craved her revenge.

"Try me," Sadie stuttered, trying to hide the quaver in her voice. Sadie was too prideful to admit that she would soon lose to Lina Heartilly, must like she had inevitably lost Zell to her. Everytime she saw Lina, she would think about how strongly and deeply Zell felt for her, and how she envied that feeling. To be loved.

"Where should I start," Lina asked herself playfully and mockingly. "Well...Don't you ever...," Lina said and she punched Sadie in the face. Sadie fell down to the ground. "EVER." Lina kicked her in the stomached. Sadie was thrown against the wall. "Mess with my friends..." Lina's body started glowing brighter. "Or me."

Two girls were walking outside of the Garden. They had completely no idea what was going on inside the Garden. Suddenly there was a giant explosion at the side of the Garden.

A hole went straight through the wall. There was a white light, so bright that if you looked straight into it, it would blind you, leading out of the hole. In front of the light was a girl with brown hair and only one pigtail, screaming her head off. Lina peered through the hole a minute later when the white light had blown Sadie completely out of sight. Zell rushed up to her from the hallway. Lina turned around and hugged him.

"Hey Lina..." Zell said.

"Yeah, Zell?"

"How come every time I leave, you get into trouble?" Lina looked up at him and giggled weakly. He smiled back at her and kissed her.

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