Chapter One ~ Never Ending Dreams

As regent Cid entered the room, Hilda's head jerked up.

"There you are, my dear," the king said softly as he approached her. His hair grew whiter and whiter each day that passed by, and his eyes started to lose their sharp glistening that Hilda once loved. His movements were slower and weaker as well. With a lot of willpower, he walked up to his wife, gave her a slight kiss on her cheek, and then sat down with an exhausted sigh.

"Hello, sugar cup," Hilda answered, a bit late to her own surprise. "What is that?"

The king looked as if he had almost forgotten the letter he was holding in his hands ever since he entered, but then he smiled reminiscing. "Ah, this? It is a letter from Garnet. You probably remember that Tantalus was going to attend her birthday and perform a play for her in celebration, right? Well, it seems Zidane caused quite a fuss there..."

Hilda's eyes widened in astonishment. "Zidane? But I thought he died with Kuja in the Iifa Tree?"

Cid chuckled. "Well, judging the way Garnet has written it, Zidane seems to be alive and energetic. She does not say so, but I am sure we will have to prepare for a wedding soon."

Hilda nodded absent-mindedly. "That is great news. I am happy for Garnet", she said, but her eyes were wandering around.

For a moment, Cid had a sad look on his face. As of lately, his wife spaced out more than usual. And even though he had a guess why, he didn't dare asking her. If his thoughts were to be true, it would hurt too much to hear it from her. For that very reason, he simply smiled at her and got up. "I am sorry for interrupting you, dear," he said while turning to the door. "It is late already and I bother you with such matters. I will ask the servants to bring you some milk so you can sleep well."

"Thank you," Hilda said hastily, earning a sad smile from her husband as he left her bedroom.

With a frown on her face, Hilda looked towards her bed. Even though she was tired and had to wipe her eyes, she was reluctant about going to bed; too big was her fear of having another one of those dreams. But her body signalized her with a big yawn that she should stop straining herself. Once the servant had brought her milk, she downed it quickly and approached the red silk.

As she undressed, her thoughts started to wander again. The dreams she was having – were they linked to Zidane's return? But how, considering she only learned of it a few moments ago? Hilda shivered. And she realized that her fear of not having one of those dreams was even bigger than her fear of having another one. All of a sudden, she could not wait to fall asleep and hurried to undress completely, then dived under the soft bedding and closed her eyes almost forcefully.

Fall asleep, Hilda! she ordered herself, but even though milk always calmed her down, her mind was going wild, preventing her to sleep. Only after several hours of rolling from one side to the other, did her mind finally found relative peace and allowed her to sleep.

She was not even fully asleep yet as she realized it was going to be one of those dreams again. And as her eyelids closed completely and she had wandered off into the dreamland, she could hear a heavy piano piece being played in the background, and the air inside of her bedroom suddenly had a sweet, yet heavy scent to it.

"... But naturally, they could not stop someone like me," she could hear a man's voice. Hilda got up and there he was: Sitting right at the edge of her bed, his silver hair barely touching her bedding, Kuja had his arms spread out as he indulged in his own magnificence.

"Can you hear them clapping, my lady?" he asked as he listened to distant applause. "They are clapping for me. I have become the ruler of the worlds. Gaia and Terra, both mine to control – aren't I the only one befitting for such a role? Don't we all have to play the roles we are assigned to? But by whom? Is there someone even greater than me, even more powerful? Foolish thoughts! How could it be, with me being more mighty than a god!"

"You like hearing yourself talking, do you not?" Hilda asked, causing Kuja to turn his head. And then he gave her his grin, his narcissistic, yet handsome grin. "And you like listening, do you not?" he asked back as he leaned in closer to her. Hilda twisted her head to the side, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You abducted me, sorcerer," she reminded him. "How could I not listen as there is nowhere to go for me?"

Kuja sighed, quietly, while his eyes were wandering off. "I can not understand you, my lady. How come you do not enjoy all of this? You are one of the few allowed to listen to my words, to my every word! Kings and queens will soon bow in front of me, yet you are already here, able to enjoy the pleasures long before others."

Hilda sighed. That was Kuja for you. Always praising himself, always believing listening to him was an honor. He still had the same attitude as he had back in the Desert Palace, and as he got up and roamed through Hilda's bedroom, his movements were as graceful and confident as ever, his eyes sparkled in excitement. And even though she was scared to admit it, Hilda could feel herself enjoying watching him, enjoying listening to him, just like he said.

Quickly, the queen shook her head to get rid of these thoughts. It was against all common sense, all logic, to enjoy his company. But in these sweet moments of dreams, she could allow herself to fall for him – just a little. But never would she allow herself to forget who she really was, and what she had to do.

Kuja had already continued exclaiming his own beauty and power, as Hilda sighed desperately. "Listen, Kuja, you've got no power here anymore! This is my room, and it is my dream – go at once!"

With a speed a mere mortal could never reach, Kuja rushed to Hilda and sat down beside her. His fingers reached out to her and as gentle as a feather, he stroke her cheek. "But what if I don't wish to go?" he whispered and leaned in closer to Hilda. "What if I can't go?"

Hilda looked up, confusion in her eyes. "What do you mean by that?", she breathed, but suddenly, the dream got blurry and Kuja vanished in front of her. Helplessly, Hilda reached out for him, but before she could touch the dust flowing around, she awoke, calling out his name.

"Kuja!"

The dream had ended. And it left her with a feeling of emptiness. To her, these dreams were too realistic; she thought she even smelled the scent of feathers and magic in the air – Kuja's magic.

"He is dead," she mumbled to herself as she got up to drink a glass of water. "He is dead and it's better that way!"

After all, he abducted me, she thought as she sat on a chair. All I could feel for him was hate and disgust! But why... Why am I always so sad whenever the dream ends?

The dreams continued. Almost every single night, Kuja visited her in her dreams, rambling away. And sometimes, he would do nothing but sitting beside her and stroking her hair. Even though Hilda always ends the dreams by herself, demanding him to leave, she couldn't help but feel sad and lonely, almost regretting forcing him away. During the daytime, she nearly stopped talking completely and was often caught by Cid and the servants staring out into the sky, sighing.

It hurt Cid to see his beloved wife in this state. One night, he decided to visit her bedchambers to talk to her – even though he was afraid of what she might say.

"Hilda, dear, may I come in?" he asked as he knocked on the door. "Hilda?" he repeated himself as she remained silent. "I will enter now, Hilda!" the regent finally decided loudly and opened the door. And he almost fell down to his knees. The room was full of magic. Cid couldn't cast any spells, but he could still sense and feel magic when it was used. And someone – or something – was filling up the room with such a powerful magic that he could even see how it broke the light, leaving the room glistening like a starry night.

"Is that your doing, Hilda?" he asked his wife, but the woman laid in bed, softly moaning in her sleep.

No, this can't be her, Cid concluded. Hilda was powerful, indeed, but accumulating such an amount of magic was out of her reach – not to speak of her being asleep.

"...ja," Hilda mumbled and Cid slanted his head. Ja? What is that supposed to mean? He approached his wife's bed and sat down beside her. By looking at her face, he could tell she was having a vivid dream – her eyes moved rapidly under her eyelids.

"Ku...ja," Hilda mumbled as she rolled over to the side.

And something inside Cid's heart broke down.

This dream seemed somewhat different. Kuja had been sitting at the edge of the window and stared out into the broad daylight – another difference: During all of her dreams so far, it had been night, starless and dark nights.

"Kuja?" Hilda asked after a while, but the sorcerer didn't seem to listen. He played with his own hair and slipped a sigh. "What is it, my lady?" he asked. Apparently, he was listening after all.

"You seem... different today", Hilda dared to mention, only to scold herself afterward.

This is a dream. My dream. Everything happening here is my doing. As if he knew anything.

Kuja jumped off the window back into the room, but his eyes somewhat avoided Hilda's. Was he reluctant to say what was on his mind? How strange, unlike him. But then, something in his face lit up – and Hilda knew that kind of look too well. It appeared whenever the sorcerer found a solution to something troubling him – vaguely troubling him, as he was confident and intelligent and hardly had to fear failure to begin with.

"I wonder what my little canary is doing," Kuja finally said as he walked around the room. "She must be very relieved, having Zidane back."

Hilda sat up, her eyes wide. Up until then, Kuja acted the way he did long before he went to Terra and entered Trance. He either talked about things that actually happened, like the assault in Burmecia, or he fantasized about things that were yet to happen in his opinion, like becoming the ruler over the the worlds. But he never, never even mentioned something that had happened after their final showdown in Memoria.

"Wha-what are you talking about?", Hilda asked confused.

Kuja turned around. "I am talking about Queen Garnet, the little canary," he repeated as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "She must have been worried, since Zidane was gone for a long time. But apparently, he made his way back to her. Then again, it had to be expected. With the elephant lady being gone, the canary was alone – even more so with me being gone as well, not being able to sing her to sleep like I planned to do. A situation the prince on his white horse could never allow."

Hilda started to shake. "How do you know that? What... What... I mean..."

"Calm down, my lady," Kuja said as he looked out of the window and brushed his hair away.

But Hilda got up. She was shaking even worse, her stomach started to hurt and tears filled her eyes. Her mind started to make a conclusion, a conclusion that couldn't possibly be true, yet a conclusion a tiny part of her heart had desired for a long time, since Kuja first appeared in her dreams. But Hilda couldn't allow this thought of hers to be real.

"You're dead, sorcerer! Just leave me be!" she cried out with a dying voice.

Slowly, Kuja turned his head, with an evil grin on his face. "Who said I was dead?"