To be a Queen, one must be of the highest caliber in the aristocracy, and be of royal blood, correct?

But, what if you were none of those to begin with?

That's when you begin to wonder what your place in this world really was. Garnet til Alexandros XVII was thinking that right now. Laying on her bed, reading some book that she found in the castle library, but she wasn't paying attention to the words upon its pages.

A warm summer's night, the stars were out and the birds had returned to their nests, while crickets could be heard making their nightly chorus. Peaceful tranquility, as one may put it. But peaceful wasn't the mood in the bedchamber of the Queen, more like deep confliction.

'I am a Queen, and yet I am not of royal blood, just some nameless girl from Madain Sari. A girl fortunate enough to bear a striking resemblance to the late Princess,' she thought, turning another page.

Life had been rather complicated and tragic for the young woman. Just a few months ago she was a Princess, living a secluded life in Castle Alexandria, and in the midst of one night she was thrust into the arms of a war. Traveling across two continents to stop her 'mother' Queen Brahne from practically taking over the world, who was really being used by a man named Kuja to do his evil bidding. She died because of the deep greed in her own soul. They eventually stopped Kuja, and saved the world in the process.

Putting the book down on her bedside table, Garnet got up from her bed and went to her dresser. She sat down, looking into the big mirror before her, and started to brush her long brown hair. As she did so, she began to think some more. And since her coronation, she knew her duties to her people would require her to have little time to herself or for her friends.

Even if she gave them a free pass to come to the castle whenever they wanted, she'd have to attend meetings whenever they were brought up, even if all was well with the rest of the world. And she felt even more lost because of it, too much responsibility can make a person so simple and naïve to what they don't know.

And she would have very few of those she could really trust with her. Sure, she had Aldebert Steiner, the Captain of the Knights of Pluto, and General Beatrix, but they knew very little in terms of domestic matters. She wouldn't know what to do…

Then her thoughts trailed back to the days after Queen Brahne's death. She had made a pledge to hold her own and do things on her own, but that ended with the catastrophe where her beloved kingdom was nearly destroyed by Kuja. She lost more than that soon after, losing her voice for a few days, and finally learning to let go of all those guilty memories before she moved on.

Garnet stopped, taking a deeper look into her own eyes, seeing the amount of burden she was piling up on her own shoulders, and took a breath. "I have to try to stay positive…yet how can I?"

She heard a small click after that, coming from her window. She jumped a little at the sound. 'Could have been a moth or something', she thought to herself, 'but how could a moth make such a sound?' She got up and, grabbing a small knife she kept under her pillow, slowly walked to the window, and lightly pushed it open. She peered over the edge of the window, and still found nothing. She shrugged, 'must be my imagination…' and she closed the window.

"Hey beautiful."

Garnet jumped again when she heard the voice speak to her. She turned, and saw a very familiar man. "Zidane?"

The thief smiled, "how you doing?"

"What are you doing here? No forget that, HOW did you-?"

"C'mon, I do this for a living."

That's when she remembered. 'He did the same thing in Lindblum, sneaking up to me at the telescope. He's sneaky.'

Zidane crossed his arms over his chest and walked along the room, "You know, I've never been in your room before."

Garnet gave a smirk, "Don't get any ideas."

"Don't worry, I have a decent imagination, but not even I could imagine a place like this," he said, eyeing seemingly every inch of the room. Garnet walked to her bed, not taking her eyes off the man.

She got into bed, "And did you just drop by to say hello, or are you here to do something else?"

Zidane looked at her, a small smirk on his 17 year old face "You think I am up to no good, don't you."

She shook her head, "I don't 'think', I KNOW you are." She laughed a little, and Zidane went and sat on her bed.

Garnet stopped, "You better not get these sheets dirty, or else—"

"Or else what your majesty?" He then did a surprising move, he laid his head down on Garnet's lap. Laying on his side, Zidane knew in his mind that Garnet had not expected that. And to make it even more unexpected, the gown Garnet was wearing was shorter when she was sitting down, so his head was lying against the soft skin of her thighs.

Caught totally off guard, Garnet blushed a bright crimson red, "W-what are you doing…?"

Zidane seemed to ignore her, "The real reason I am here…"

"Huh?"

"Is I came to see you."

Garnet smiled slightly, "Sorry I haven't been able to see you."

"Not your fault, you ARE a queen now, I didn't expect you to be able to see anyone because of your position," Zidane said, speaking the truth. Garnet gently stroked his blonde hair with her right hand, while holding his left hand with hers.

"But I am glad you dropped by, it gets too quiet here," Garnet said, feeling his hand grip hers a bit more tightly.

"Rusty was too easy to distract. 'I heard a click! I must investigate!'" Zidane replied, mimicking Steiner's voice to the point it made Garnet giggle.

They chatted for a while, well over an hour after that, talking about the Vivis running all over Treno and the Black Mage Village (and people wondering if they had a case of déjà vu), Freya's engagement to Sir Fratley, Eiko's new room at Castle Lindblum, and the way Quina nearly blew up the kitchen in the Castle. The way they talked made Garnet remember the days they used to travel together.

It wasn't until Garnet heard the grandfather clock in her room toll ten times that she realized they'd been talking non-stop. Steiner would come by soon after the toll ceased, that much she knew, and if Zidane were caught then there would be trouble, but she didn't want him to leave...

And Zidane seemed to be thinking the same thing, "I don't care if he does come, we're having a moment, lets not ruin it."

Garnet nodded approvingly, "It wasn't too often we had moments like this. Though I remember a certain moment you got a bit touchy with me in Dali Village."

"I admit nothing without talking to my lawyer," Zidane quickly replied, 'Though it was just an accident, I did find it nice.' He had to hold back a chuckle for that. "But remember when we got 'married' in that one village? We never did get our honeymoon." He smiled up at her.

She blushed again, "It wasn't a true marriage, just a way to get past the guards. That's all—"

"Then why were you blushing just now?"

Garnet didn't reply, instead looking away. Then, she thought about what she just said, 'Marriage… Such a complicated matter, yet, the thought of spending the rest of your life with the one you love most can make things much more pleasant and memorable.'

"Dagger? You alright?"

She looked at him again, "Yes, I am…but Zidane—"

A loud series of knocks were heard on the door, "Your majesty? You all right? Someone in there with you?"

'Steiner…' Garnet thought. "Yes captain, it's just me!"

"Alright then, I'm off again, sorry to disturb you!" The loud clanking of his armor getting less loud made the impression that he was heading off in the distance.

Garnet looked back down at Zidane, but before she could go and continue what she wanted to say, Zidane spoke, "Bodyguards are such a hassle, aren't they?"

She smiled, "You were once a bodyguard, for me, remember?"

"Yeah but I had class, ol rust bucket didn't, and he still doesn't."

Garnet smiled again, and Zidane quickly said, "Keep on smiling Dagger, it lights up the room."

"I haven't smiled in awhile," she replied, 'there really wasn't much for me to smile about.' The only thing that ever made her even smirk was Zidane. The thief seemed to steal all her sorrow and downward feelings, and she was happy about that.

"I'll always make you, I can try really hard for that," Zidane said.

She smiled again, then bent down to kiss his forehead, "Thank you, Zidane."

Her heart began to beat slightly faster, and, not knowing what else to do, she began to sing.

The song of which she began to sing was known to everyone as 'her' (Dagger's) song, but to Zidane and Dagger herself, it was known as 'our song'. Garnet would sing this whenever she was sad or really happy, and it was a beautiful melody that no one dared interrupt.

Garnet closed her eyes and kept singing until she began to wonder if she put Zidane to sleep.

But she hadn't, Zidane was still wide-awake and listening intently to the song. It always made him happy to hear that little song, their song.

When she stopped, Garnet looked at Zidane, and he was smiling still, but she knew now that Steiner would come back soon and cause a ruckus. "Zidane, I have to ask you to leave before Steiner comes back." It hurt her to say that, but she didn't want him to get in trouble.

Zidane's smile faded, "Guess a Queen's burden is a complicated one."

"You'll come back again, will you?"

"Of course, but Dagger…you don't have to bear all this by yourself," he replied.

She looked away, "I am a Queen Zidane, it is required of me to look after my kingdom."

"But why face it alone?"

When she looked back at him, she saw his right hand raised, and holding a single gold ring between his fingers, "When you could have me by your side?" He smiled again.

Garnet gave a small gasp. She was flabbergasted, so much she lost her train of thought for the next few seconds, but she regained her composure enough to say, "A-are you-?"

"Is it a yes?"

Zidane's words echoed in her head, tears welled up in her eyes, and she nodded, "Yes."

The single word seemed to make time stand still for her. Zidane sat up and placed the ring on her finger, "Now you'll never have to face the future alone."

Garnet looked at the ring on her hand, then at Zidane before putting her arms around his neck, kissing him on the lips, the tears of happiness falling on him.

The thief had the burden stolen from her, and replaced it with happiness.