"Phoenix downs cannot make a person immortal. They recover major damage to vital organs. If there is no damage, just a progressive weakening, a phoenix down is useless. Which is why, the older a person is, the less receptive they are to it's effects.

"Now, Seifer isn't old, but what I've said about older people is important. In some cases, a person just deceased and restored by phoenix downs or the spells life or life2, will be revived in body and not mind. Again, this is usually seen in cases in which the patient is in his or her mid-sixties or older. The brain is overwhelmed by the death experience and though there is no physical damage, the patient's mind will not recover."

Seifer's brain was screwed and it was all Zell's fault. He watched the small group that considered themselves Seifer's friends reacting to the news. Squall's face didn't change, not that anyone would have expected it to. Rinoa and Quistis looked so sad. It looked like they might break into tears. Irvine was staring at his gloves. All of this pain, and Zell had been the one to cast phoenix down on him. It was one thing if the brave Seifer had died in battle, but to slowly whither away as a vegetable...

"Now, while it's possible that Seifer's brain simply may never become active again, there is also a chance of him pulling out of it. He is, afterall very young and strong willed. We all know that he's been through a great deal and come out on top. If there is going to be a change in his present status, it should happen over the next few weeks. If he doesn't wake up by then, he probably won't." Doctor Kadowaki hated how it sounded. Afterall, she loved the Balamb Garden students as much as her own children. "Still, the garden does cover the cost that it will take to monitor him until he does. Even if it takes years, he will be watched over."

"Well," said Irvine to the doctor. "Zell and I would like to keep an eye on Seifer." Irvine knew that Zell felt just as responsible for Seifer's condition. They had been the naive ones that had let him be reckless with his own life.

Dr. Kadowaki smiled. "That would be very nice of you both."

"But, what can we do?" asked Zell. Usually he was very social, but the group around him just made him feel embarrassed that they knew he was partially responsible.

"It's always good for coma patients to hear a familiar voice. If you two could visit him, talk with him, I'm sure it would help." Then a larger grin filled her mouth. "Besides, Seifer Almasy has the power to live."

"What about the rest of us?" whined Rinoa. Not that Seifer would want to see her anyway. An ex-girlfriend bitching might just keep him in his coma.

Squall folded his arms as he often did before he said something decisive. "It would probably good for Seifer not to have too many people around him." His mind added 'especially Rinoa'. He was just beginning to understand that he wasn't as different from other people as he thought. He had the feeling that Irvine and Zell were taking all the blame for themselves. And if he were them, he would want a chance to make it up to Seifer. Squall was trying hard to develop his empathy and he felt confident that he was right in this situation.

"One thing that you could do, is to bring some things from Seifer's room. So that when he wakes up, he will have some familiar surroundings."

"I'll take care of that!" offered Zell. He would be happy to move around, get away from his friends who couldn't possibly understand how he felt. Before going off, he watched Irvine nod to him. Yes, they were both Seifer's servants. At least until he was better, then all bets would be off. Zell would be wishing Seifer was still in the coma.

Surprisingly, Zell had to go to the maintenance area of garden for Seifer's room key. He just figured that Squall would have a master key that worked in any of the dorms. He recognized a janitor or two that he had seen walking around the Garden before. For the most part though, he didn't know any of the lower level staff. Of course, everyone had heard about Seifer Almasy's accident. So, it wasn't much of a surprise when he asked for the key. The head maintenance man did have to call Squall to confirm his authority. Zell wondered just how many of these minor problems Headmaster Leonhart had to handle on a daily basis.

Zell didn't have very many responsibilities at Garden. It was because he came across as somewhat unreliable. But, really, he was pretty good at handling important tasks. Hadn't he helped defeat the sorceress? Obviously, he was capable of getting the job done. Squall and Irvine giving him permission to ransack Seifer's room was a big leap of faith. Normally, Squall liked to be in charge of everything. Rinoa was slowly transforming him though. Everyone could see the changes in him. He was opening up to people a little now, trusting a lackey where he never would have before.

Zell was always a lackey...

The door to Seifer's room proved to be incredibly formidable much like the man. It was just like every other door, but behind it was the room in which Seifer Almasy, famed Sorceress's knight lived. Seifer would kill him, if he knew that he was there. Of all the years at the Garden together, he had never been inside Seifer's room. The door slid back for Zell, and he stepped inside cautiously. If Seifer had jumped out at him with gunblade in hand, Zell wouldn't have been surprised. But, there was no one there, in the dark dorm room.

"So Seifer, let's see if you keep a clean room." He was talking out loud just to shake the uncomfortable almost creepy feeling he was getting. He flicked the light switch on and was overwhelmed with...blue. Blue bed, curtains, carpet, lamp. It was like he had walked into a home and gardens "blue" issue. To Seifer's credit, it was a very manly shade of blue. The bed was made, but the dresser drawer's were open. There was a pillow or two on the recently vacuumed floor. So Seifer wasn't the clean freak that Zell had always assumed he would be. He wasn't a slob like Irvine either. "How about a blue pillow Seifer?" asked Zell as he grabbed one from off the bed. As he swished it from the bed, he knocked off a book that had been under the pillow. Was it a diary??? Zell rushed for the book. It was just a book about gunblade fighting stances. Zell felt dumb. Like Seifer would keep a diary. It would have been fun though. Odd thing to keep under your pillow though. Zell picked up the manual and flipped through the pages. As he did, more things fell out of the book. He saw before he bent down, what it was that had fallen. They were pictures. His hands shook as he saw the picture of Rinoa. Her dark hair was pulled upward away from her pretty face which was a giant smile. She was wearing a cute red dress that Zell had never seen her in. Underneath that was another picture of Rinoa, this one in her favorite blue outfit, which everyone saw her in most of the time. There were three more pictures under that each one a picture of Rinoa. Zell frowned. Seifer must have still been in love with her. He knew that they had dated before Squall had ever even met Rinoa, but he didn't know that Seifer still cared about her. He had never given Squall shit over dating her. It wasn't like Seifer to keep any feelings of anger inside. But feelings of love... Zell searched the room thoroughly searching for more signs of this tender side of Seifer that he hadn't seen before. Apparently though, that was it. He piled up a few things that he though Seifer might want around him when he awoke. When the stack was nearly higher than his head, Zell grabbed the gunblade manual and set it on top.