"She's gone!"

A furious Seifer Almasy stormed into Squall's office, green eyes blazing. Immediately Squall was on his feet. He didn't need to ask who Squall was talking about.

"When?" the Commander demanded.

"I don't know," the angry blond spat. "But she's not here now and her combat gear is gone!"

"She could just be out training,..." Nida trailed off at the twin glares he received and quickly retreated into the background again.

Seifer shoved something at Squall. A piece of paper. The brunette felt sick. If Quistis had left a note...He picked it up and read it quickly, blue eyes scanning it.

'Seifer, no one else will die in my place. Please understand. I love you more than life itself. Knowing you all will be alive is enough for me. Quistis.'

If Quistis had left a note, it meant she didn't think she was coming back. Squall's eyes met Seifer's.

"Ready the Ragnarok," he commanded and both men headed for the door. Before they reached it, Selphie came hurtling through it at breakneck speed, stumbling over her own two feet, and coming to a stop an inch away from Seifer.

"Squall...the Ragnarok,"she panted. "It's gone! I went to check the maintenance and it's not there!"

Seifer cursed and punched the wall.

"Quistis' I.D. was used for clearance and the sound barrier was activated," the tiny brunette continued. "Around 0400 hours." Her big green eyes moved from Squall to Seifer and her lower lip trembled slightly. "Quisty left, didn't she? She's sacrificing herself, isn't she?"

"Fuck," Seifer put his head in his hands momentarily, then lifted it up, eyes glittering. "How the hell do we catch up with her?"

There was silence until Nida spoke up again. "Commander Leonhart...what about the flying robots we borrowed from Galbadia Garden for testing?" Squall looked at him, nodded slightly, then turned to Seifer and Selphie.

"We have flying robots from G-Garden," Squall repeated. "They'll get us to Timber faster than anything else we have."

"Squall!" Doctor Kadowaki appeared, her face etched with worry, dark eyes close to panicked. Squall wasn't sure he wanted to know. "Lila and Ari! They're gone!"

Seifer roared in frustration, Selphie tilted her head, frowning, and Squall went still. Quickly he went to the intercom and spoke,"Irvine Kinneas and Rinoa Heartilly, report to the airstrip immediately." With an unreadable look on his face, the Commander headed to the elevator, Seifer and Selphie on his heels.

They reached the airstrip only a couple moments behind Irvine and Rinoa. The situation was quickly explained and each SeeD strapped themselves into a robot. Seifer took off before anyone else, engaging the rocket boosters almost immediately. Everyone else followed. There was no communication between radios, just a silent determination.

And no one noticed the robot that took off only a couple minutes later.

* * *

"So how do you want to go about this? Separate and take the Weapons Shop from two different sides? Head on attack? There is something down there, right?" Paige twirled a knife idly as she and Quistis exited the Ragnarok after a couple hours of tossing and turning in an attempt at sleep.

Quistis eyed the gates of Timber as they approached and the wind whipped up. "No, no surprises," she murmured. "He knows I'm here. He'll show himself."

Paige crossed her eyes at the morbid tone of the words.

"Hey, wait..."

A voice had them turning and both girls' eyes widened. "Lila! What are you doing here?" Quistis asked once she got her voice back. The tiny brunette limped toward them, holding her side. Obviously she'd gotten aboard Ragnarok, before the stairs retracted, and had hidden away.

"I coudn't let you go against him...without me..." Her hazel eyes reflected pain and immediately Paige was at her side, holding her up.

"You should be healing with Doctor Kadowaki, you shouldn't be up," the redhead scolded. Quistis eyed Lila worriedly, before shaking her head.

"It's too late for that. And we can't leave her here, unprotected. Come on." So saying, the blond woman continued into Timber, Paige and Lila right behind her.

The trio approached the Weapons Shop at a relatively quick pace, and the wind began to blow furiously, as distant thunder sounded overhead from dark clouds. The women continued their advance, and Paige set Lila down on the sidewalk somewhat back from their destination. Quistis unwound Save the Queen and snapped it ahead of her. As if that crack was a signal, thunder followed, much closer, much louder. Paige drew her knives and her gray eyes scanned the surroundings nervously.

"Come on, you bastard," Quistis said in a barely audible command. Her voice slowly got louder, until she was shouting. "You wanted me, you've got me. Show yourself. I'll take you out, just like Seifer did. Only this time, I'll do the whole job. Including cremating your vile corpse in Ifrit's Hell Fire! And you can go back to where you came from and rot for eternity!"

On command, the roof of the abandoned Weapons Shop began to shake, until it burst open in a black pillar of smoke. Two floating green eyes appeared near the top, and slowly the pillar dissipated.

"A snake," Quistis smirked as her bright blue eyes met the serpentine green ones. "How appropriate."

* * *

Seifer felt the wind speed up around him as he neared Timber and realized it wasn't the rocket boosters, anymore. His heart racing, he activated the communications button, and said in a low voice,"Squall, she's already fighting. We have to hurry." And he broke communication. But his eyes met Squall's across the sky and they understood each other. Each member of SeeD leaned forward in the robot suit and made a beeline for Timber.

His heart leapt into his throat as he saw the black pillar of smoke engulfing the city.

"C'mon, Quistis...Don't be dead. I'll kill you later for leaving me, but just be all right. PLEASE, HYNE, LET HER BE ALL RIGHT WHEN I GET THERE!" he shouted to the heavens above him. Then he reached into his mind, to his GFs, and pleaded.

* * *

"Quistis...I don't like the looks of this!" Paige shouted over the screaming wind.

"Then leave, Paige! This is my battle, anyway!" Quistis shouted back. "Just take care of Lila."

The redhead made a face at her and whipped out the multiple blades of her knives. "Lila's a sorceress, she can take care of herself." Nothing else needed to be said.

The snake cocked its head at them, and the green eyes glowed. Quistis felt the poison enter her body and howled, doubling over in pain. Paige tossed her an Antidote, and said,"I don't have many! Be careful!"

"Summon Doomtrain, Paige," Quistis called back, downing the antidote. "I'll scan." So saying, she reached inside herself, searching for the correct spell, as Paige called forth her GF. She found it just as Paige yelled,"RUNAWAY TRAIN!" in a deep, demonic voice unlike her own, and both girls faded from their plane to let Doomtrain do his worst. When they returned, the snake hissed, though it sounded like a scream, in pain.

And Quistis yelled,"Scan!" almost immediately. The scanner beeped, gearing up. But then something happened that Quistis didn't expect. It asked for which target. Quistis' blue eyes narrowed in confusion and moved her sense around the area. Another target...behind her? Spinning around, she cracked her whip. Then her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Oh Hyne," she whispered. Paige looked at her in confusion, before she too turned around. It was too late. Paige went flying through a display window on the opposite side of the street, leaving Quistis alone, trapped between two very powerful enemies. "Paige!" Then her gaze returned to the new enemy. "Oh Hyne."

"No," Lila laughed sweetly, as she floated above the ground, surrounded by a black aura. Her normally warm hazel eyes had turned cold and yellow. "I'm afraid Hyne had nothing to do with it." Her mouth widened in a feral smile and she spread her arms out to the side. "Now, Quistis, what was it you said? Oh yes...Go back to where you came from and rot for eternity!"

And Quistis' world went dark.

* * *