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The three turned to face Maki with a generally congenial air. The older man in the blue peaked hat cleared his throat and adjusted his spectacles while the other two nonchalantly tried to strike less conspiratorial poses. The one in the black jacket, though he had yet to smile, spoke first. "What a coincidence. We happen to have some right here. Are you shopping around or picking up?" There was a sudden flash in the air, almost like lightning but without the ensuing burst of thunder, from the direction of the borough. The old man went scurrying toward it, but neither of the other two seemed bothered in the least. "Huh. That didn't take long."

Gabriel came back through the arch just as Maki was heading for it, smoking boltgun still in hand. He seemed extremely pleased with himself, and was cajoling the old wizard about time and schedules. "Sorry about that, Maki, just a little nuisance out of the way. I see you found Leon."

"I'm surprised we aren't working with them more often, myself. Our cause couldn't ask for better friends. Cid, Leon, Merlin, this is Maki Kakei, to whose ship you'll be sending our parts. Maki, may I present Cid Highwind, president and chief foreman of the Highwind Shipyards, the notorious grand wizard Merlin, and.....Leon."

"I should have known it'd be you. THEY never show up unless they think you're coming."

"They should know better by now, Leon. It IS still Leon, I take it?"

"You have to ask? Or does that mean you've finally found something?"

"YOU have to ask?" Gabriel handed Leon an envelope, and the young man's normally blank expression seemed to brighten somehow. Then another, fatter envelope changed hands. "I think this should set us just about even."

"This," Gabriel tapped the one he'd handed Leon, just before Leon could stuff it into his jacket, "is just something he wanted me to look into, someone he's been trying to find since the worlds started coming back. The other, well, like I said, just cashing in some IOUs."

"Gabriel did some pretty big favors for us, back when the skies were still crowded with Heartless and we hadn't finished the Gummi factory. He made an investment in time and sweat, and the parts you're gettin' are the dividend." Cid rifled the handwritten, crumpled scraps in the envelope, seeing his own initials scrawled on each one. It wasn't that he didn't trust Gabriel, it was just good business.

"As for 'they,' I'll explain when we're not in danger of causing a public scare with it. Why don't you go with Leon and the parts and get them loaded on the ship? I'll be along in a bit to help you get your fighter put together. I've gotta see a moogle about a keg before we go."

Leon waved to a moogle up in the crane's control box and a large stack of blue crates was lowered onto what looked at first like a long white plate, which suddenly lifted itself off the ground at Leon's touch. Once it began to move, it became obvious that it was a set of Gummi wings made into a sledge, which floated along behind Leon and Maki as he walked with her back through the borough.

"I know he's not one to tip his hand too soon, but I'm surprised you hadn't had an encounter like that before. There's one here almost every time Gabriel comes to call."

Leon looked at Maki, his face finally giving in to a trace of a smile. "Like I said, I'm surprised this is the first you've heard about them. He calls them 'Auditors.' Can't say it ever made any sense no matter how he explained it. Best Merlin could do to translate read like this. They enforce the laws of physics, and somehow Gabriel is a class-A felon in their book. Any time they can be sure of where he'll be, they send one of their own to try and 'correct' him."

He stopped to wedge the bailey gates open for the cargo sled as he spoke. "That flash we saw earlier was what happens when they lose. They're kind of like Heartless and Nobodies. They don't die, they don't usually have personalities or even independent thought, they just do their job. And that usually means trouble for just about anybody. Luckily, they're usually pretty wimpy, even in groups. So all we really need to worry about is if they manage to come up with a halfway clever plot."

"It's not what he's done, Maki, it's what he IS." Leon sat on top of the sled and motioned Maki to join him, his foot holding it in place. "We'll ride the rest of the way down, it'll be faster and smoother."

The Moogle Shop near the borough let off a brightly-colored cloud of smoke, which drew quite a bit of attention and some applause at the almost artistic way it drifted into the sky. The moogles inside handed Gabriel a fresh container of his mysterious elixir and sent him on his way while they cleaned up the mess made by the brewing thereof.