Sora rolled his shoulders and stretched, then took the water bottle Riku passed him. Money rang in the tip jar, muffled by the tips from the earlier shows, and customers - or more likely, the unbuying curious - crowded Xu's booth. He drank deeply and passed the bottle back, wiped sweat from his eyes, and watched the crowd hurrying past the booth, a few more stopping to look. A blonde woman, a bit taller than Sora, pushed through the crowd to them; her hair was pulled back in an upswept ponytail, and she wore a well-cut tunic and long skirt in red and gold, with long gloves and boots. It was a warm day for late fall or early winter, whichever it was here, and no one else in Twilight Town was wearing gloves.
"Excuse me," she said. "You're Sora and Riku, correct?"
Riku shifted, to Sora's eyes clearly ready to defend himself, and set down the water bottle. "And you are?"
"Quistis Trepe," she answered briskly. "I've know Xu for quite some time. Now, about that parry and counter you were using, Sora? Where did you learn it?"
"A friend of mine taught me that one a while ago." Leon had demonstrated it all the way back in Traverse Town, some time when Sora had gone back there to restock and maybe snatch a night's sleep. Riku was still defensive, wary of something - now that he thought about it, Quistis Trepe seemed as out of place in Twilight Town as Leon had in Traverse Town, even if it wasn't quite as obvious. "So why do you want to know? Wait, Trepe? You teach at the school here, right?"
"That's right. That parry was taught by an instructor where I studied, and it's been several years since I saw anyone use it; in fact, since I moved here."
"Moved here?" Riku said. "About ten years ago, I bet."
"That's right," she said, and Sora was sharply aware suddenly of Xu listening intently as most of the crowd drifted off, leaving only a handful of serious customers. "A little more than that now."
"Well, I don't think he'd have been an instructor," Sora said. He'd never asked how long it had been since Hollow Bastion fell, mostly because he only thought of it when he wasn't actually there, and he'd never asked who else they'd lost, because he'd never liked thinking about everyone who'd probably fallen into the dark in the Islands, and it wasn't the kind of question any of them invited. "Not that far back, and anyway, he hates teaching. His name's Leon, but one of his friends annoys him by calling him Squall."
"So he made it. I've been relying on Moogles for news ever since we arrived here." Xu looked up and gestured sharply; Quistis' eyes narrowed in irritation. "Damn, I can't talk here. I'll try to send you a message."
She walked off, looking unhurried despite the speed she picked up, and vanished into the crowd. Xu poured out the tip jar and counted it out, then gave them their pay and the tips. "Good work," she said, a little too loudly. "The Struggle finals are tomorrow; there's not much foot traffic, so I won't be needing you."
They'd already made their expenses back and a little extra between the three of them even before tonight. "Fine," Riku said, sounding a bit annoyed; he worried about money more than Sora or Kairi and kept track of their budget. They split the cash between them, so they wouldn't be carrying too much each, picked up their water bottles, and left.
They couldn't make much of the conversation with Quistis, other than she might be from Radiant Garden, and that Riku thought she was dangerous for some reason he couldn't really put a finger on. Kairi was still working as a messenger, insisting on making up for the day she'd taken off to go to the ruins; she'd said very firmly it wasn't about them, it was about her, so they'd quit trying to tell her she didn't have to. They exchanged waves as she raced past them, before joining Hayner, Pence and Olette at a table and splitting the cost of dinner. Kairi joined them a while later.
"Done?" Riku asked.
"Yep, done," she said, accepting the plate Sora handed her. "They didn't need much more help, so that's it."
"Coming to the finals?"
Sora grinned. "Of course."
"Man, and then it's back to school. I think Instructor Trepe spends the holiday thinking up evil assignments."
"Just for you, Hayner."
Hayner grumbled at Olette's teasing, and Sora reached for a fortune cookie, snapping it in two to take out the fortune. What he got, instead of a small slip, was a large page, folded into quarters.
"Sora, Kairi, Riku:
I do hope this reaches you, Merriweather's spells aren't always perfect (Oh, hmph, Fauna, that worked very well) and well, this isn't a very reliable method of communication to begin with.
I'm afraid it's going to take longer than we thought to prepare that spell. Flora thinks she's found just the right kind of trees (they don't grow just anywhere, dear, and I'm afraid you really don't want the sort little Pinocchio was made from, your poor friends would never finish growing up without a great deal of intervention), and now she's got to find the right ones and persuade them to join in the spell (oh, it could be forever if Flora has to make decisions/Merriweather, that's very rude, she does her best), and after that everything will be simple.
(They need to find a place.) Oh, dear, that's right. You do need to find a place for the spell; it's going to take quite a while to finish completely, and we mustn't be interrupted. Do think of somewhere good before we're ready, because everything will have to be done very quickly before the magic goes out of the trees. (It does go very quickly, a few days and we'd have to start all over again, and really, that would be terrible after all this work.)
Fauna, Flora and Merriweather
"Sora?"
He passed the letter around and wondered if Naminé was nearly as dubious at the prospect of fairy magic as Roxas was.
-----
"And now, what you've all been waiting for! The Championship set! In this corner is Hayner, who had a great showing in the summer tournament! In this corner, Seifer, our reigning champion! The winner walks away with the Founders' Cup Trophy!"
"Seifer's tired," Riku said, watching the blond smirk at Hayner.
Sora nodded. "Yeah, looks like it. Should be interesting."
"How can you tell?" Olette asked, just before the buzzer sounded to start the first match.
The first match was slow, with bursts of quick attacks and retreats, and then Hayner let loose a swift chain of attacks, sending Seifer staggering back and earning him a hefty lead; he held on it despite Seifer's jump attack, rolling out of the way so Seifer missed altogether, until the buzzer rang. They got a break to gulp down water and catch their breath; Riku answered Olette's question before the second match started, pointing out the laxness of Seifer's grip and the slouch in his posture. Seifer's attacks were fast and constant this time, and in the beginning he knocked Hayner backward. Hayner recovered and struck back, driving Seifer almost to the edge and taking the lead before Seifer countered to reclaim enough points to turn the match in his favor, just before the buzzer sounded.
"What a match! Absolutely terrific Struggle here today!" the announcer said. "The final round determines the winner, folks, the newcomer Hayner or the reigning champion Seifer!"
There was a commotion near the entrance, someone disputing with Setzer over the odds he was laying down; Sora spotted Quistis Trepe leaning against a wall where she had a good view of the battleground and the bleachers, and not far away was a tall, irritated, very well-dressed blond man who looked a lot like Seifer.
"I didn't think Instructor Trepe was interested in Struggle tournaments," Pence said.
Olette nodded. "Me either. I wonder what's going on?"
The third match was furious, both attacking relentlessly, but Seifer was slowing down, just enough that Hayner could break through his guard repeatedly; the score edged up in Hayner's favor, dropped sharply when Seifer countered, and edged up again as Hayne blocked and attacked, dive-rolled out of Seifer's best attack, and struck him in the back to send his score shooting up. Seifer whirled and countered, blocked by a quick parry, and the score held, Hayner defending against Seifer's continued assault, until the buzzer sounded.
"The champion! Hayner!" Hayner and Seifer shook hands with marked reluctance before Seifer stomped off to join the tall irritated-looking blond man, probably his father.
They let Pence and Olette race down to congratulate Hayner first, making their way through the crowd more slowly; there was another crowd around Setzer, arguing or gloating over their winnings. Quistis was leaning against a wall near the entrance, where she'd have had a good view of the tournament; Sora was sure she'd seen them. Seifer's father walked over to her, and they had some sort of very tense conversation before he walked off to one side, talking to someone else. Pence was taking pictures when they got down to where Hayner was posing with his trophy to congratulate him, and Hayner was grinning like a maniac; Olette was smiling and suggested they all go get some ice cream.
"Very good work, Hayner," Quistis said. "I see you are capable of applying yourself."
"Uh .... thanks, Instructor Trepe," Hayner said, startled. "I didn't know you followed Struggle."
"I'm not a regular, but I do keep up," Quistis said. "Sora, could I have a word?"
"Sure, what's up?" Seifer's father was watching them, unobtrusively as he could manage; Seifer was busy being consoled for losing by Rai and Fuu.
Hayner, Pence and Olette went on ahead, Riku and Kairi staying behind with Sora; Quistis glanced at them and nodded. "Are you going to see that friend of ours?" At his nod, she went on, "Would you mind carrying a letter? It's not urgent, but it'd be easier if you carried it."
"No problem," Sora said, and accepted a very large, thick envelope. It was a good thing the clothes the fairies had given him had pockets that changed to fit whatever he was trying to put in them. "I'll make sure it gets there."
"Thank you, Sora. Now move, Deiter's going to get interested in this conversation much too quickly."
They joined the others in the usual spot, and bought in on the ice cream, relaxing with it in the cramped space; Sora was oddly reminded of those first few weeks back in the Islands, when they'd just been happy to be together again and hadn't really thought much beyond that.
"You guys heading out soon?" Hayner asked.
"Yeah," Sora said. "Tomorrow or the day after."
"Man, must be nice," Hayner said lazily.
Pence dug around in his bag. "Hey. Almost forgot. Here's some photos I took, and here's a disc with some of the data from that computer on it." Riku took the disc and put it in one of his pockets; Sora took the photos and passed them around as he looked at them.
The photos were a mix, a really good action shot of Riku and Sora fighting in front of Xu's tent, Kairi running somewhere, Kairi laughing with Olette, everybody eating dinner last night, Sora dozing somewhere and using Riku as a pillow, and more. "Thanks a lot, Pence," Sora said, tucking the photos away with Quistis' letter once they all came back.
"No problem. Photography's kinda my hobby," Pence said. "Hope your friends can make something of it, because I just grabbed whatever would fit from the Radiant Garden directory."
"Oh, they probably can." He wasn't really sure Leon was going to appreciate this; Leon didn't like complications, but Sora didn't feel right about keeping something like this from him and the others, either.
Olette stretched and pitched her ice-cream stick into a trash can. "We never got to see your ship."
"We'll be back," Kairi said. "I'm not sure when, but we'll be back."