Zell was drooling. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Irvine tossed a pencil at his friend's head. The martial artist immediately sat up, looking around. "Huh? Wha?"

Irvine snickered. They'd been in the Garden-issued van for two hours now, and both boys were starting to get seriously bored. The van hit a bump and Zell yelped, rolling off his seat and onto the ground. Irvine laughed even harder, and Zell shot him a dirty look.

"Okay boys, no more horsing around!" Xu's voice came from the loudspeakers above. "We're pulling into G-Garden now. According to Headmaster Leonhart, the G-Army should have left the premises, but be prepared for anything. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" Irvine and Zell replied at the same time. The van hit pavement, and Irvine looked out the window, recognizing the parking garage of his old school. It was eerily empty, and looked a bit worse for the wear, but then again that was to be expected.

"No cars, man."

Irvine blinked, looking at Zell oddly. "What?"

The blonde returned his gaze seriously. "No cars. That means no one's here, right? I mean, there were a few students around when we busted in here back then, but since the G-Army's gone, I bet no one's come back yet."

The cowboy nodded as the van lurched to a stop. "Some kids are still here. They have nowhere else to go."

The van doors swung open and Xu stood in the wan light, arms crossed. "C'mon. Grab your bags and let's find out the situation."

The boys were quick to do as they were told, and a few seconds later they were following Xu through the empty garage, bags hoisted over their shoulders.

"Halt! Who goes there?" The voice was a young girl's, and it echoed eerily through the empty parking lot. Irvine recognized it immediately.

"Brige?" A freckle-faced red-head poked her head around the corner. Seeing Irvine, she grinned widely.

"Hey there, cowboy! Looks like ya survived! Ya brought friends?" She walked into the open. At full height, she was barely taller than Selphie, and she had forgone the Garden uniform, opting instead for an unzipped Galbadia Bears sweatshirt rolled up at the arms, a plain white tanktop, and baggy cargo pants. Her shoulder-length red hair was pulled into two loose plaits. On her head was a black woolen hat, and her skinny wrists were adorned with many plastic bracelets. Irvine grinned.

"Xu, Zell, allow me to introduce Brigitte Ceyr. She's an old friend of mine." Brigitte bowed none too gracefully. Her smile was infectious.

"Galbadia left yesterday, and since then Garden's been under our control," She explained. "But there aren't too many of us, so we've been doing patrols."

"An excellent idea," Xu said with a smile. "You're one of the people I wanted to see, actually. Your file says you're a SeeD candidate, is that true?"

Brigitte nodded. "I took the written test a few months ago and passed."

"Well, we'll be having a field exam as soon as we can round up the other SeeD candidates. I believe we need…" Xu rummaged through her pockets, coming up with a slip of paper. "Duncan East, Jaime Ceyr, and Jeyne and Alanna Freidman."

"Only six?" Irvine looked surprised. "Don't field exams have at least twenty?"

Brigitte looked subdued. "Most of the SeeD candidates are dead, Irvine. Galbadia was ruthless."

There was silence for a moment. Then Zell broke it. "Well hey, that's okay! Six is a good number."

"Especially for this mission," Xu agreed. "Fourteen SeeDs and six candidates. Brigitte, can you find the others for us?"

"I'll take you to them!" The girl started off at a quick pace, and Irvine's mind wandered as he surveyed his old school again. Galbadia was above all else a military school; nothing like the nurturing environment of Balamb Garden. Everything in Galbadia had been perfectly clean and organized, and now as Irvine looked around, he was saddened by how shabby the interior was. Brigitte caught his eye and shook her head. "We've tried cleaning up, but there just isn't enough of us."

They rounded a corner and went up a flight of stairs, then around the circle to the auditorium. Brigitte slid her ID card into the slot, and the doors opened. The little group followed the girl inside.

In the middle of the room, a folding table was set up and littered with papers. Four people sat around it, deep in a heated discussion. Irvine knew all of them. During his stay at G-Garden, these had been his close friends. Jaime Ceyr, Irvine's old roommate, was a giant of a man with shaggy, shoulder-length brown hair and sunglasses. He wore a white wife beater over his muscular frame, and his long legs were resting on the table.

Next to him, his girlfriend, Alanna Freidman, sat frowning over a sheet of paper. She was beautiful in a delicate way, with a slender build, pale skin, and long, wavy brown hair. The only thing marring her appearance was a scar running vertically across her left eye, leaving it milky white and blank. Alanna's twin sister, Jeyne, was identical to her in every way except for the scar. Jeyne was the more outgoing of the twins, and she wore a lavender sweater set and fitted jeans. Even her nails were painted lavender, and her makeup was designed to look natural.

Last was Duncan East, commonly known as Pierce due to the multiple piercings all over his body. He was almost as tall as Jaime, but skinny as a stick and his black hair was shaved, leaving two chin-length strands in front. His outfit was all black, and he even wore black lipstick. Pierce was the first to notice the intruders. He grinned and waved. "Hey guys, look who's here!"

"Irvine!" Jeyne yelled. "Come over here and give me a hug!"

Irvine laughed. Striding over to his friends, he gave Jeyne a hug, then Alanna, much to her disgust. Jaime and Pierce received "manly" hugs, which was basically a light hug with a pat on the back. When Xu coughed, Irvine remembered what he was doing there. "Guys, this is Xu. She's a SeeD, and so is my friend Zell."

"Hangin' out with SeeDs now, are ya?" Pierce grinned, flashing his fangs. "Cool, man. Nice to meet you guys. I'm Pierce."

"Duncan," Brigitte corrected with a laugh. "The two girls are Jeyne and Alanna, and the guy is my cousin Jaime. These are all the SeeD candidates ya need, right, Xu?"

The small woman nodded, looking each one over. "Excellent. We'll stay here tonight and get things organized, and tomorrow we leave for the field exam."

"Whaaaat?!" Jaime jumped up. "No way, a field exam? Already?"

"I'm looking forward to it," Alanna said quietly. "I passed the written test over two months ago."

"We all did," Jeyne pointed out. She smiled at Xu. "We're the self-appointed leaders of G-Garden for now. There's about thirty others, seven of them junior classmen. Right now we're going through the student files, and umm…"

"Marking the deceased." Alanna stamped another paper, putting it in a pile. Irvine winced at the large pile.

"That many?"

The girl nodded. "Galbadia came during classes. We're not affiliated with Galbadia, so some SeeDs and candidates organized a resistance. They were slaughtered. After that, we did our best to obey them, and they pretty much left us alone. Most of the students left, but we stayed."

"It would be like abandoning our home," Pierce said with a shrug. "Besides, now that the G-Army is gone, we're back in the game. S'all cool."

"Some of the students were really helpful when we fought the Sorceress." Zell had been sitting in one of the auditorium chairs, but he came over to look at the papers. "They gave us card keys and told us where to go."

Jaime was going to say something in reply, but then he caught sight of Zell's gloves. "DUDE."

"Huh?" The blonde looked confused. "Dude what?"

"Dude, ya got Ehrgeiz!" Immediately, Jaime walked over and grabbed Zell's hands, staring at the gloves in wonder. "Do ya know how fuckin' hard it is to junk these babies? I was reading through Weapons Monthly the other day, and there's only three known Ehrgeiz in existence!"

Zell grinned proudly. "Heh. I'm the fourth. We all have pretty kick-ass weapons, my man. Comes from fighting a shitload of monsters before Ultimecia."

Jaime turned. "Kinneas?"

Irvine simply smirked. Dropping his bag, he handed Exeter over. "Careful. It's my baby."

The huge martial artist took the shining metal gun, admiring it. "Brige, did you see this?"

"Naw, let me have a look!" Brigitte gasped as she saw the gun. "Oh wow… I thought I was so cool when I leveled up my pistols to Valkyries, but that's nuthin' compared to Exeter…"

Jeyne had been showing Xu the paperwork they'd been doing, and she looked up at Brigitte's words. "It's getting late, so why don't we give our guests room keys?" Rummaging through the files, she came up with two keys. "Xu can have the guest room, and Zell and Irvine will share a double. Is that okay?"

Irvine, who had spent his entire Garden career sleeping in a four man bunkroom, lit up at the prospect. "A double? Cool!"

Xu smiled at the girl. "You're very responsible, Jeyne. Thank you."

Jeyne blushed happily at the compliment. "Well, Irvine knows the way to his room, so I'll show Xu to hers. The rest of you, let's finish these papers and get to the cafeteria."

"Balamb's are nicer," Zell commented, tossing his bag to the ground. He threw himself onto the bed with a sigh. "Nice mattress, though. I give the room a seven."

Irvine chuckled, sitting down on the side of his own bed. The room was a bit smaller than the doubles at Balamb. The beds leaned against opposite walls, and there was a small kitchen and bathroom near the door. "The guest room is reserved for important people, like Presidents and Generals and the like. Xu's probably jumping on her king-size bed as we speak. " The idea of reserved, business-like Xu jumping on a bed cracked both boys up.

There was a knock on the door, and it swung open. "Am I interrupting anything?" Jeyne said with a smile. "Dinner's ready if you're hungry."

"I'm starving!" Zell cried, jumping up and starting towards the door. "Lead the way!"

"Irvine?"

The cowboy shrugged. "I think I'll stay here awhile. I'll come down in a bit."

Jeyne smiled understandingly, and the door slid shut.

Irvine sighed, sliding his cowboy hat down over his eyes. Part of him was glad to be back with his old friends, but everything around him felt different. This was no longer the school he'd grown up in. This place was an empty building torn by war, and he had a feeling it would be awhile before he'd feel comfortable there again.

Standing up, he walked casually to the window and peered outside. The room faced the old basketball courts, and he was reminded of Trabia only two months ago, and the long, nostalgic conversation he'd had with the gang. And Selphie. He winced. He'd parted from her only a few days ago, and already he missed her like hell. He didn't hear the door open until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Jumping a foot in the air, he spun around.

Brigitte laughed, falling back onto the bed. "You've always been jumpy like that."

"Yeah, well…" Irvine smiled sheepishly, adjusting his hat. "Any particular reason for barging in on me?"

"Dinner time. Jeyne went to get ya but ya didn't come down, so I got worried." The red-head sat up. "Yer friend's real cute."

"Zell?!" The cowboy blinked, then made a disgusted face. "Please don't tell me you're going after him, Brige."

"Hee." She didn't answer. Standing up, she took him by the arm and started towards the door. "Let's go, cowboy. We can't pass the field exam on empty stomachs, ya know."

With a sigh, Irvine followed his friend out.