Chapter 4: On the Way Back to Balamb Garden

[ani]

Vanesse jumped down right after Polaris, exactly landing on Sho's arms. "Thanks," she said as she set her feet on the ground to make way for Jaime. Paridge did good. Everyone seemed to be unharmed. Poor people who took the parachute though... she thought to herself, looking at the soaked Stella and Hadrian. There were other two who took the parachute. The waves probably were messing with them.

Just as she was about to call the two, Vanesse noticed the pilot landing safely on the ground. "Wow, some people are lucky..." she smiled. Turning back to Jaime and Gemma, Vanesse continued. "Come on now ladies! Jump!" she said, pointing to Sho's open arms.


~*~

"Har har," Hadrian sneered at Polaris's little joke. "Very funny." He tried to stand up and tried to squeeze the water on his shirt. My...gadgets... was all he could think of. He did spend lotsa gils for the new upgrades. All went to the drain....

He noticed that the gun-wielding SeeD behind him made it to shore as well. Stella was as soak as him. "That was a nice swim," he tried to grin. The lady seemed to be a little quiet.

[Stella]

Stella stood there for a moment and then realized he was talking to her. With a grin she shook her hair out playfully, making sure that some of the drops hit him.

"At least we landed safely, could have been worse" Stella said. She looked him up and down again quickly noticing the eyeliner running down his cheeks in droves. She fought the urge to chuckle at his expense.

"But it seems you wear so much make up that you've ended up looking like a drowned racoon, need a hankie?" Stella said her voice full of teasing sweetness as she reached into her pocket for a soaking wet hankerchief.

[Myacu]

The trip down was bumpy, with each flap of the dragon's mighty wings. Not to mention that it was not the brightest decision to wear shorts when riding on scaly dragon's back. Gemma was quite relieved when they neared the earth's surface.


For some reason, the dragon didn't land, but remained flapping its wings in mid-air. At first, Gemma considered simply jumping down to the ground. But at a second glance, she realized that they were about 13 ft above the ground, and she did not feel like having sore ankles later in the day. Luckily, she spotted the blue-haired SeeD, whose name had yet to be discovered, standing directly below them, arms stretched out.

Someone called out, "Jump ladies!"

To her left, she saw the Jax had already landed and was in the process of disentangling himself from the parachute's constraints. He was eyeing the SeeD suspiciously and shook his head at her, preparing to step forward himself.

Grinning wickedly, she called out, "Coming down!" and took a huge leap off the dragons back, landing in the arms of the blue-haired man.

"Thank you," she said to him, as he gently placed her back on her feet, "you are ever the gentleman."

[Bun]

"You are very welcome!" Sho replied with a deep bow, still his cheerful self. He straightened, then tilted his head to one side in quite an adorable fashion and pointed to her, "My~ la~dy." His voice was melodious as he said the two words, light and teasing. "That was a most graceful landing."

[stardust]

Why did it feel like all the girls were ganging up on him? Hadrian narrowed his eyes, mouth coming into a pout. It was bad enough that his babies were ruined. Thanks to good ol' Stella, he found out his eyeliner was runny too.

Damnit, not the eyeliner... he thought as Stella offered him her soaked handkerchief.

"Felt like worse already happened," he replied, taking out the scanner on his pocket. It had a water bubble inside. "And as much as I'd like to sniff your handkerchief, I'll pass. Drowned raccoon look is sexy nowadays, you know?" He matched Stella's tone. She was an interesting one.

Hadrian saw Jax land before them and he cursed his own parachute for landing him right onto the sea. The guy just flew in with ease, ala James Bond. Everyone seemed to have made it to shore.

"Hey, btw..." Hadrian looked around---actually, not everyone. "Where's Rayden?"


~*~

Stardust jumped down Sapphire's back as soon as the dragon neared the ground. The ride was a smooth one, she would agree. Balamb Garden could be seen floating behind them, slowly approaching them by the minute. They were going to be picked up soon.

"Thanks for the ride," she told Jun and possibly the long dragon too.

"Balamb Garden is coming!" Stardust announced, pointing to it.

[Bun]

Polaris said nothing as Hadrian walked past her to talk to Stella, feeling nettled and unbelievably stung. < I wasn't trying for comedy, > she thought with a mental frown, then turned around to say so to the hacker, only to realize that he had engaged the brunette gunner in conversation and was opening up to her rather quickly. They were both smiling, at least.

< Someone jealous? > Obsidian sounded sly.

Polaris chewed her lower lip to prevent herself from launching a verbal war at D'arcell. < Whatever. I didn't come here to make friends. >

< And you wonder why your only friend is a freaky sadist. >

Polaris really did frown this time, her back to the rest of the team as she absently watched Balamb Garden float over to them. "I don't give a damn," she muttered to herself, adjusting her armcovers subconsciously. < I don't care. I'm only here for the mission. Hacker can go and flirt like a friggin'...whatever! >

< Wow. You really do sound jealous. > Obsidian sounded surprised.

< No. I'm not. > Polaris finished adjusting her armcovers and grit her teeth. < I don't need smiles and approval. I need to do my damn job. > Her head throbbed; her body had taken a beating with too much casting plus the loss of blood when she had been shot, and what she wanted was a shower and a long nap.

< Not friends. I don't need friends. Blaze is the only one worth putting up with in this whole group. > Her jaw relaxed and her face went expressionless. When Polaris Lyn shut down her emotions, she shut down every aspect of it. Not even Stardust would get anything out of her now.

< Oh, don't do this again. > Obsidian sounded seriously disconcerted. < I don't like you when you're like this. >

There was no mental reply, and when Polaris returned her attention to the team, it was with the attitude of a no-nonsense, Commander Leonhart-type SeeD.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked, purely for grabbing attention more than actually worrying about any of them. She glanced around, her arms loose at her sides. "No...Sharpola's still missing. We'll wait for him and report to the Headmistress as soon as possible."

She looked at Sho, who was at the moment grinning at Gemma Ridean. "Miyavi," she shot at him, and he blinked, met her eyes, "how's the gem?"

He blinked again. "Aa," he began, "it's here with---"

Polaris nodded and turned away, effectively cutting him off.

Sho frowned, slightly confused. < What's wrong with her? >

[Lil]

"No...Sharpola's still missing. We'll wait for him and report to the Headmistress as soon as possible." Rayden heard the hottie called Polaris say. It looked like he was the last parachuter to turn up. It wasn't his fault that he had his legs trapped by the parachute! If it wasn't for his pro-ness in wriggling out of the underwater trap...Rayden shuddered to think of the consequence.

{Fine way to impress the ladies, Raydie.} Ariadnialla drawled in an amused tone, which he ignored and trudged up the shore, his movement hampered by his sodden clothes.

"No need to wait. I'm here already." He said gruffily, pulling off his shirt and wringing the seawater out before flinging his badly misshappened shirt on his shoulder with an exasperated grunt.

Nex to them, Sapphire had lowered his long body as close to the ground as possible. Jun un-straddled her legs, jumping off him after Stardust.

"No problem." She replied to Stardust's thanks. "Now we know what to do next time there's an emergency." She grinned, patting Sapphy on the side. "I'm sure he'll be glad to do us a service again."

Sapphire rewarded her with a smoky belch in the face. Turning his head as far back as possible, he glanced at Blaze.

"Well, ride's over missy. I reckon you wouldn't need help descending to the ground if a clumsy oaf like Jun can manage, eh?" He winked, spreading his mouth to reveal sharp, yellowing teeth.

"Your breath stinks Sapphy." Jun snapped back at him.

-------

Jaime eyed the distance between the ground and Paridge's back where she was standing. The first time she had taken a ride on the GF it had taken her a whole ten minutes just for landing.

"I gotta jump!" She mumbled to herself, turning back to look at Deo who looked like he was about to 'help' her with the landing. "Pray for me Deo. I might not be whole after this." She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Here I come!!!" She shouted at Sho's general direction before squeezing her eyes tight and lifted her legs off Paridge's back.


Ahhhh please let it be a smooth one!

[Polaris Lyn]

"No need to wait. I'm here already." Polaris caught a glimpse of Rayden's face behind his sodden hair, a heavy blonde curtain that hid his eyes from view. He looked annoyed. She nodded, still expressionless, and crossed her arms, shifting her weight onto one foot as she watched the others struggle to get off their respective Guardian Force rides. Blaze was still on the blue dragon that Jun had offered, looking down at the ground with a wary look. Blaze could jump down, but she always enjoyed being...< rather fashionably late. >

On Vanesse's griffin, only Deo of the Opps remained. Jaime had taken a very large leap, presumably to be caught by Sho, who was yelling something as he moved back a step to catch the blonde.

Polaris blinked, then let out a soft breath. Everyone seemed to be present.

Behind her, Balamb Garden stopped.

[miyavi]

"Here I come!!!" And Jaime jumped.

Sho's eyes widened, and he stepped back. "Aa, I said jump, not FLY!!" he shouted up at the blonde, before she fell straight into his arms, nearly knocking him down onto the sand. As it was, Sho reflexively pulled Jaime tightly to him as he stumbled back another two steps. He steadied himself and then set the lithe blonde onto her feet, scratching his bright blue hair.

"Aa, are you okay?" he asked Jaime, frowning thoughtfully at her.

[waterlily43]

Ahh so I made it out alive! Jaime opened her eyes cautiously when she felt Sho catch her and set her down on the ground. He almost lost his balance doing it. Looks like she had to cut down on inhaling those pancakes...

"Aa, are you okay?" he asked Jaime, frowning thoughtfully at her.

"Err...yeah. I'm sorry I almost made you fall." Her cheeks flushed a faint pink as she stood a little aways from him. "Thanks, I'll make it up to you if I have the chance." She smiled disarmingly at him before running off to join Van.

[miyavi]

Sho blinked at Jaime's beam and watched as she ran off.

< ...What a weird girl. >

< You have the most...interesting acquaintances. > Zephyr's voice revealed that "interesting" wasn't quite his chosen word for Jaime.

[stardust]

Awww Pol:( Hadrian's too dense about everything. He thinks everyone is against him. x.x *kicks him for her* >(
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Vanesse nodded at Jaime the moment she approached her. She wanted to match Sho's vivaciousness, but, as contagious as he may be, she still found it hard. The young Opps saw Gemma standing beside her and thought she would introduce herself. The girl seemed nice. "I hope my griffin, Paridge, didn't give you a hard time," she said lightly. "I'm Vanesse. This is Jaime." She motioned beside her, extending a hand to Gemma.

~*~

"Yeowch Rayden, put on your shirt, you're blinding us," Hadrian joked before erupting into a cackle. Turning to Jax, he continued. "Oh, and, sorry 'bout your plane." He brought up his palm-sized enemy scanner. It had water inside and didn't seem to be in a working condition. "Guess you're not alone."

~*~

Stardust looked up to see the pristine Balamb Garden looming over them in all its glory. The wind blew past them as it landed. That was it. They got the last gem. This war against Adel would soon be over. Somehow, the thought of that made Stardust feel better. She was more invigorated to carry onto their next step more than ever.

Looking behind her, she saw that everyone in the airship made it safely. Sho was trying to look cool in front of some girls, Hadrian was laughing at someone, the pilot and Stella were beside him, and Rayden was...half naked. There was also no trace of Bahamut flying towards them from the ocean. Stardust concluded that it might have fallen to the ocean and dissipated. She hoped that Weiss figure got their message. DotNAs better not get their heads all up in the air... she thought to herself before heaving a grunt.

"SeeDs! Please standby, we'll be opening the gates. Welcome back!" Headmistress Xu's comforting voice blared over them rather too loudly.

"Wow, she's actually happy to see us." Hadrian sighed. Xu didn't sound like that when she first briefed him. "Wish they'd cover for our "casualties"....atleast."

[waterlily43]

Rayden glanced at Hadrian, a rougish smirk making its way to his lips.

"Hadrian, Hadrian, Hadrian. I know you're envious of my fab abs but that's no way to show it." His smirk widening as he continued. "But alright, I won't play on your insecurities anymore. Sorry ladies, end of free show." Reluctantly, Rayden began putting his shirt on in a deliberate manner.

"Free show? If you paid us we wouldn't want to see it again!" Jun scowled at him, her lecture cut shot when Xu's voice boomed out after Garden made a complete stop in front of them.

"Wow, she's actually happy to see us." Hadrian said, although his voice didn't have a trace of happiness at his own observation.

"Of course she's happy." Jun turned to face him. "The Headmistress can finally breathe easy now that all the three gems are at hand, bless her harried soul. And I'll bet she's probably even more relieved that her misplaced trust in that secretary of hers hadn't resulted in a lost Ruby."

[Blaze Sanaku]

Blazer has been missing much so she wants to be obnoxious to make up for it XD LMAO Jaime running away from Sho XDXD

---

Blaze had been quiet, unnaturally stealthy and cunning as she slid down Sapphire's back and creeped up behind Sho. She noticed that he seemed a bit dazed from Jaime's fall into his arms.

He's probably just in awe that a pretty girl actually agreed to jump at him

Without warning, Blaze viciously dove both of her hands into Sho's pockets and jumped back with a gleaming ruby in her grasp. Before Sho could react she was sprinting towards the entrance of Balamb garden.

"Thanks for saving me the trouble of holding onto it, but I'm gonna be the first one to show Xu the ruby!" She said over her shoulder with that malicious smile on her face. She grabbed Polaris's shoulder on the way, long hair whipping through the wind.

"C'mon!" Blaze smirked, giving Polaris that knowing look.

[Polaris Lyn]

ROTFLMAO XDD Blazer is awesome!!

---

Polaris heard Sho yelp in surprise and raised her head, catching a glimpse of red in Blaze's palm before she fisted the gem and ran up to her.

"C'mon!" Blaze grabbed her by the shoulder, and Polaris felt herself be dragged off towards Balamb Garden---none too gently, either. Polaris blinked and followed, catching the smirking, knowing look that Blaze shot back at her.

"Good job, Sanaku," Polaris said neutrally, raising an aristocratic eyebrow, although she smirked very slightly, so slight that none but Blaze could probably tell she was even amused. Blaze was probably the only one who could encourage feeling from her at this time. "You actually did a successful pickpocketing job. Will wonders never cease?"