"Now, who's going to go retrieve her?" Taiitsukun asked in the afternoon of the next day. She was sitting in front of a giant mirror that showed where Lina was and what she was doing. It acted as a portal to that world, but it would not act as one back from it, and so someone would have to go to the other world and bring Lina back the hard way. It was a difficult task and required someone who was very close to Lina to go and bring her back.
"I'LL DO IT!" Selphie screamed as she got up from the table and headed straight for the mirror. Only one could go through the mirror into the realm on the other side and Selphie raced towards it quickly. Everyone almost screamed out at her "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Zell practically jumped her as she rushed towards the mirror, unaware of what she was doing, but just knowing that she was curious to see how the mirror worked without realizing that she could see when they picked someone to go.
"NO!" Quickly, she felt the arms of Irvine, Zell, Miaka, Chichiri, Dan, Seifer, Kira, and Squall around her, holding her back from the mirror, inches away too. She stopped and frowned at them, crossing her arms unfairly and pinning her chin high up into the air with broken pride and a shattered ego. Her usually bright expression was now crushed by an indignant feeling and the others hesitated to tell her that they definitely did not trust her with this task, and so, to make up for it, Irvine spun her around into his arms and gave her a light kiss. Suddenly, her world was turned upside down and she was bright and cheerful yet again.
"I'll go," Zell volunteered himself. He knew it would come down to him going to get Lina out of there, but he didn't mind. He was actually kind of glad to go to Lina, and he knew that he had the best bond with her out all the people in the worlds.
"You need the proper equipment first," Taiitsukun said. Zell stared at her. "What? You think you can just waltz in there, take her hand in yours, and pull her out safely? I don't think so. If you go in without the right equipment, you're in there for good. First of all, you'll need something that she'll recognize you with." Zell looked around, searching for something that they could share together, but it had already been settled.
"Taken care of," Dan popped up and handed Zell a necklace. The design at the end showed a heart with a rose in it. Everyone knew that a rose was Lina's sorceress symbol. Zell recognized the necklace. It was the one he had given her a while back, and it had always represented his undying love for her. Lina had worn it for a very long while, but a short period of time back, when Lina was upset with Zell, she had taken it off on impulse and hadn't put it back on yet.
"And something in both worlds to take her back," Taiitsukun concluded. Zell looked around for something that would match that requirement and the others helped him. "It should have a clone and you will both need to hold onto it while I perform the spell to bring you back here."
"Got it!" Miaka cried as she pulled one of the ribbons out of her hair. She handed the pink ribbon to Zell and then released the other one, showing him that when he goes, it would be in two worlds. "I've got two." She held the other one out in her hand to show him the exact duplicate of it. Miaka had used these ribbons in a similar situation where she could communicate with her older brother when she was in Animanga with her friends, the Suzaku Seven.
"I also think you should disguise yourself," Taiitsukun explained. "Your other self will be in that other world too. They might know you." Zell nodded and everyone looked around for camouflage. Selphie grabbed Irvine's hat straight off his head and slapped it on Zell's. "Your ready to go then." Before Zell got close to the mirror, Taiisukun spoke words of warning to him. "If you don't get her back by sundown today, she might not be able to return. Ever."
"Got it," Zell said reassuringly.
"Now go!" Zell ran straight into the mirror, expecting something to go wrong and crash into it, but he didn't feel anything. In fact, he appeared in the halls of Balamb Garden; of the other world.