Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy IX content only Feona.

Summary: Garnet grows weary of Zidane's true nature and forced him to go back to Lindblum to rejoin with his family in Tantalus. While he's in Dali, a familiar scene unfolds that reminds him much of his own a while ago...ZidaneOC bits of onesided ZidaneGarnet. Rating may change.

I: Social Phobia
- the experience of anxiety regarding social situations, interactions with others or being evaluated or judged by other people

"You are too childish, Zidane - please act more mature!"

"I thought you said you no longer stole!"

"You are no longer a child, why are you acting like one?"

"I-I cannot deal with your attitude anymore Zidane! Get out!"

The blonde genome kicked a pebble off the large hill he stood on, an angry but solemn look in his aquarium eyes as a frown spread deeply across his face. His hair in it's usual long ponytail had grew long over the years and flipped carelessly over his shoulder while his gloved hands were shoved into his pants' pockets. He had been relatively short for a boy at sixteen but grew to be at least five foot ten now, something he was glad for.

His attire had taken a quick turn when he had reached the castle; formal wear was a must. Right now, he was wearing black dress pants that were slightly ruffled from the abuse he had given it when he was running and a white dress shirt that was pulled out from being tucked in. The top part was unbuttoned a bit. He had tossed the tie and the over coat near Alexandria land when he had left and threw them off in a fit of furry. His dress shoes were scoffed in many places, not that he cared.

As soon as he got to Lindblum, he'd make sure to change it clothes to the ones he missed. Garnet had thrown out his old clothes almost a year ago and he was forced to wear clothes like the ones he wore. Not only that, but he was forced to take properly and use actual words though he never did. There was a point in time when he would actually try but it seemed that Garnet was satisfied with anything he tried. He was happy they chose not to actually get married when he came back or this would have been much worst.

She had finally snapped after his rather loud out burst during the meeting with the council. He wanted to talk to her about leaving her regardless but it seems that she had said it before he could. Not that he cared at all. He just wanted to leave the hellish world he was in and the ruler of it. Out of the kindness of her heart, which he knew she still had some where but was lost in the impatience she had for him, had order to escort him there by airship. He didn't want anything to do with her and decided to make his way back there himself. He did it when he was younger.

With the three kingdoms in agreement, a large rail road was build over the entire mist continent to connect all of them together and make travelling easier for all. Zidane, livid and annoyed, had completely missed the fact he could have taken the train to Lindblum rather than walking until he had noticed the train tracks from the high place he stood. He had just went through the Ice Cavern and walked out freezing cold and still angry.

A sigh escaped him as he shook his head, a weak smile on his lips before he started to make his way down the hill. The closet place to catch the train now was Dali. After the events taken place a while back, he disliked the town for kidnapping Vivi because he was supposedly a 'mindless puppet' but taking the train seemed much easier to him. Besides, the sun was about to lower on the western horizon and he need to sleep.

Monsters, of course stopped him. They always stopped him. It was never more than he could handle though. Although the mist was gone, a few monsters still remained roaming the land but not as much as there used to be or he was sure the rail road would have been destroyed by now. Zidane light shook his hand as the monster dropped to the floor, disappearing.

He didn't have his daggers any more and had no choice but to use his hands and feet in combat. Luckily, he hadn't been out of shape since he had still stole things around Alexandria due to his nature and often made the guards angry, causing him to run from them while laughing - only until Garnet had stopped him and scowled at him as if he was a little child. With the monsters gone from his sight, the genome continued to make his way to the small village with the windmill.

It wasn't long before he reached Dali - it was still as quiet as he remembered. Some of the kids that used to wander around were now a bit older and not playing as much anymore but being resourceful. He glanced towards the open door of the inn, seeing a new owner from the last time he was here - not the one that caused Vivi to get kidnapped. With a small light yawn and a twitch of his tail, he started to walk into the inn.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Yeah, shouldn't you be in your home all by yourself?"

Zidane blinked, pausing from walking in and leaned back with his hand holding onto the door frame. There was a group of children semi-surrounding a young girl who was probably a bit younger than himself and had complete fear written over her face. For whatever reason, she didn't comment back but kept her hands over her mouth and back away from the children as they kept taunting her.

"Do you see her eyes? Who had purple eyes anyway?"

"Maybe that's why she's hiding!"

"Or she could just be a lonely freak!"

A frown spread on the blond face hearing the boy's last words, the grip on the door frame tightening slightly as the young girl held her head tightly, going into an almost fetal pushed away from the entrance to the inn, walking over to the children who were now laughing. They gasped slightly, seeing him walk over and scampered away. It was probably because he didn't look to happy about what they were doing.

'It's always this village...' He thought to himself, stopping near the girl who seemed to be shivering in fear. Kneeling down, he reached out his hand to touch her but she instantly flinched away before he even hand the chance.

"Are you alright?" He said in the softest voice he could muster at the moment. He was still upset with the Princess of Alexandria and now how the children were picking on her. She didn't respond to him but he could see her shivering starting so slowly go away. "I'm not here to hurt you miss." He lightly placed his hand on her shoulder, causing her to jerk upwards.

The first thing he saw was her wide fearful purplish red eyes. Despite the fear, they were actually a lovely color. Her long brown hair was tossed, some strains falling in front of her face. She was hugging something to her chest as she backed away from him until her back hit the wooden fence. She wore a long sleeve white gown that reached her ankles. He let his hand rest on one of his knees as he stood up, staring down at her with a slight frown.

This had only caused her to flinch. "I apologize; I didn't mean to offend you..." He trailed off before cursing to himself lowly. Not all of his speech was taken from being with Garnet but he was used to talking partly proper now. A sigh escaped him as he looked at her. Her fear was toned down a bit but confusion seemed to take it's place. Seeing this, he reached out for her once more but she winced. "I promise I'm not here to hurt you, I just wanna see if you're okay." He said, a small but gentle smile on his face.

She stared at him, a confused frown on her face as her eyes showed much doubt to his words. Zidane fought the urge to frown himself. He had seen that same look on someone a long time ago; himself. Just like when he was outcasted due to his tail. Her eyes suddenly flickered to the side, seeing said tail and she gasped, covering her mouth once more. His tail twitched slightly at the reaction as he wondered if it was a bad or a good one.

"Here," He held out his hand despite his unanswered question. "Can you stand?" He asked her, tilting his head a bit to the side while her eyes moved away from his tail to his hand, trying to move away but the fence still stopped her. She looked up at him with questioning eyes. A small grin spread on his lips. "Do I need a reason to help someone?" Her eyes seemed to widen slightly at his answer as she looked back at his hand.

A hesitant look appeared in her eyes before she slowly moved one of her hand away from herself and placed it into his, wincing lightly at the contact as the smile widened on his face. Gently, he set her to her feet, causing her to gasp slightly. She probably didn't expect him to lift her up so easily. Her eyes stared at him briefly before averting her gaze downwards, a small blush of embarrassment on. He found it cute. Cute factor pressed more, seeing as her height made her reach just below his chest.

"It looks like you're alright." He said, giving her one glance over before getting another look. He may have been with Garnet for a while but that didn't stop his womanizing nature and his double taking. Now he wasn't with her, he could do want he wanted without being scowled at. "A bit...dirty from the road but you still look good." He grinned while her head snapped up to look at him with wide eyes, the blush only deepening. "I was only telling the truth, miss." He said casually.

But apparently too casually because she covered her face from embarrassment and a bundle of flyers that she had been holding fell while he couldn't help but laugh lightly at. There hadn't been many shy ones like this since he had just started his womanizing when he was younger. "Sorry - didn't think you'd be this embarrassed." He said, kneeling down to collect the flyers. Most of them were crumbled but they were all the same - it was about the rail road. "Oh?" He stood up straight, glancing towards her. "You want to go on the rail road?"

Lowering her hands to look at the flyer in his hand, she nodded her head briefly, the blush still glowing on her cheeks. "So, are you going some where?" He asked while she glanced up at him. A slight nervous and sheepish grin spread on his face as he scratched the left side of his lower back. "I should probably tell you my name before I go prying, huh?" He smiled at her. "I'm Zidane, little miss."

She stared at him for a while, her hands cupping in front of her with her index fingers pressing against each other to make a triangle while her thumbs did the same but pointed upwards. She seemed to be swaying back and forth shyly and couldn't meet his gaze. "M...My name is Feona." She answered in a quiet meek voice. Zidane didn't think she would have spoken to him.

"Well then, Feona," He started, smiling at her. "Are you going anywhere?" He hoped that she wouldn't say Alexandria or he might just 'accidentally' convince her not to go or his cheery attitude may drop.

Her purplish red eyes glanced up to him, "I...I wanted to go to Lindblum. I've never been t..there so..." She trailed off, while his eyebrows lifted in surprise and she started to look slightly fearful again. "I'm sorry! I-I didn't! I mean!" She didn't seem to know what she as saying.

"Hey now," The monkey tailed male tried to calm her down, setting his hand on her shoulder again which she flinched again from, causing him to retracted his hand. "There's no reason to freak out," He told her with a slight grin. "I was just surprise is all." She blinked in confusion. "I'm heading in the same direction so maybe we could...go together?"

Now she held a surprised look. "Y-You are?"

"Yeah!" He nodded his head, his grin slowly turning proud. "Actually, it's where me and my family live." He told her, "I could even give you a tour seeing as you haven't been there before and you'd probably get lost." He said, a warm but cute smile spreading on his face. "So, what'dya say?"

She stared him for a while, her eyes showing that she was debating to go with him or not. A blush started to form on her face, probably realizing she had been staring at him and gave a timid nod. "O-Okay..." She answered while he grinned.

"Great! Then it's decided!" He said, rather cheerfully. He had felt a bit lonely traveling from Alexandria to here, but it won't be for the rest of the way to Lindblum.

I got this Idea from my friend and her long list of phobias she found but I always wanted to write about Zidane but never found the time too....not until after Dissidia of course. I played FF9 a while ago so I do hope I got him in character. Anyway review please~