Legal crud~

The characters don't belong to me, everything belongs to squaresoft…blah blah blah…

You get the point…

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

Setzer's night on the town~

A few months after blowing Kefka to smithereens, Setzer finds himself a little lonely... "What do I do now?" he asked while visiting Daryl's tomb one cold afternoon. Monsters were restless behind him so he threw doom darts at them a couple times. Low-level minions keeled without any effort.

"Yeah…I kick ass," he brushed back his white hair and straitened his black coat. Setzer kneeled by her tomb,

"Now that the clown guy is gone…Now that I'm alone again…"

He thought back and remembered Locke, the Kings of Figaro (Edgar and Sabin), and Celes, smiling. Then he thought farther back to when him and Daryl used to race, how he had waited for her for what seemed like eternity on their mountain. The gambler lowered his head feeling the same sadness. After thinking for a long while he stood and straightened out his jacket again.

"Setzer? Setzer are you in here?" Setzer turned at the familiar voice,

"Ah, lovely Celes and her stuffed animal Locke."

"Ha, ha…" Locke said sarcastically, putting his hands on his hips.

Celes smiled, "I thought we'd find you down here."

"Yeah, after we searched every casino on this planet thoroughly!" Locke joked.

"Ha, ha…" Setzer mimicked.

"What are you doing in this dreary cave on a lovely winter day?" Celes handed Locke her coat and hand muff to hold.

"Hey, this place isn't that… Well…" Setzer shrugged.

"Doing some soul searching I guess."

"Why don't we go watch a show at the Opera House? I heard that "I want to be your canary" will be showing today, I've always wanted to see that!" Celes asked putting on her sweetest smile.

Setzer looked back at Daryl's tomb, "I don't think I'm in the mood for a show today… I kind of wanted to stay-"

"Oh, come on! Maria will be playing the lead female role of princess Cornelia!" Locke winked.

"…Maria?" Setzer hadn't given her much thought in a while, that Locke should mention her lifted his spirits a trifle.

"Well?" Celes tapped her foot impatiently and Locke fumbled with her coat.

"I'll flip a coin, head's I go to the show, tail's I stay with Daryl," Setzer pulled a whole hand of cards out of his pocket before coming across a single silver coin.

"Fine," Celes leaned against a dark stonewall.

Setzer flipped and the coin turned up heads, he sighed. "You win," he grumbled picking up the coin and shoving it back in his pocket.

"We might be late now if we have to ride chocobo's… Can we take the Falcon, Setzer?" Locke asked helping Celes back into her coat.

"Why not? You two have destroyed my peace and quiet, why not destroy the ship too?" Setzer moped and led them farther underground.

Once they were well on their way to the Opera House, Setzer felt rejuvenated. "It sure is nice to be in the air again…" Celes and Locke agreed. Just then, a dove hit one of the propellers, sending feathers in every direction.

"I hate flying…" Setzer grumbled pulling the silky white feathers from his hair.

He landed the ship just beside the Opera House as soon as it came into view.

"Cheer up, and put on a nice smile for Maria!" Celes patted the pilot's back in assurance. Setzer sneered in his half-hearted attempt to appear friendly.

Locke paid their way in, asking for box seats with a good view.

"Sure thing Mr. Cole," the Impresario grinned. "Heck, if it wasn't for you guys that stupid Dirt Dragon would still be hogging the stage! Enjoy the show everyone!"

Celes sat in between Locke and Setzer, "Look! There's Terra and Edgar sitting together just across from us!"

Locke squinted in the dim light and stood up. "Terra! What did I tell you about hanging out with him!" he yelled across to the pair.

Edgar laughed, "Mind your own business, Locke!" He snuck a quick kiss on Terra's cheek.

"Nice to see you all again, especially you Setzer!" Terra waved.

Setzer nodded sullenly and Locke sat back down.

The lights dimmed, and the show began.

Setzer watched for a while until he could bear the 'lovey-doveyness' no longer.

"Where are you going?" Locke asked when Setzer stood up in the middle of a scene.

"I'm going out for a smoke…"

"But you don't smoke, Setzer…"

"I'll be right back, alright?" he slipped past Celes and Locke, the audience complained at the noise coming from the box seats above.

"He probably meant 'drink'," Locke whispered.

Outside, Setzer watched the sky turn dim as the sun set.

"May I join you?" a voice chimed from behind him.

Setzer turned to see Maria looking at him adoringly. "B-be my guest…" he answered looking back at the sky. "Shouldn't you be finishing up the play, though?"

"No…I have a double who can finish up for me… So, what's your name?"

Setzer looked at her curiously, "Setzer Gabbianni."

"Oh!" Maria was shocked. "You were the man who tried to kidnap me that one time, am I right?"

"Yeah…" Setzer slumped his shoulders. "That was me."

Maria thought for a moment, "I was wondering why you didn't stay for the whole show. Was my acting poor?"

His eyes went wide, "N-not at all! N-no possible way! …I just didn't feel like watching the rest is all."

"Why not?" Maria asked sweetly.

"All the lovey-doveyness, it was a bit much."

"You should have stayed longer, the main character dies," Maria laughed daintily.

Setzer chuckled, "I would have usually stayed, especially since you were playing the lead. I'm a big fan!"

"Thank you, Mr. Gabbianni…"

"Call me Setzer, Maria. I only get called Mr. Gabbianni when I go gambling and the little bloodsuckers there think they can make a profit off of me… which they usually do," he shrugged.

"I've never been gambling before, perhaps you can take me sometime?" she implied.

"M-me? Take you? That would be bliss," Setzer admitted. "When would you, ah, like to go?"

"I'm not busy right now, how about you Setzer?"

"Nope."

"So…where's your favourite place to gamble then?"

Setzer thought for a moment, "There's a new place that just opened up in South Figaro. We could get there fairly quickly on the Falcon…"

"'The Falcon'? Are you referring to your airship?"

Setzer shook his head, "It's not my airship, but yes, that's the Falcon," he answered pointing to Daryl's masterpiece.

Maria took up Setzer's hand, "Well, then. To South Figaro we go!"

Maria held Setzer close when the airship started to rise, and Setzer relished the feeling.

"It takes some getting used to, but flying is really quite peaceful and relaxing."

"I can imagine, the moon looks lovely tonight and the skies are so quiet! Are you sure the casino will still be open when we get there?"

Setzer laughed heartily, "You really haven't been to a casino before!"

Meanwhile…

"Locke? I don't see Setzer or the Falcon anywhere… Do you think?" Celes looked around anxiously as she clung to his arm.

"I didn't think he'd leave without us," Locke said sadly. "We'll have to find somewhere to stay tonight. Say, Edgar, how did you get here?" he asked as the king emerged through the front doors.

"Chocobo's of course! Come on Terra, let's ride!" Edgar coolly un-tied to leashed up chocobo's from a tree.

Terra groaned, "I'm hardly excited about riding all the way back to Figaro, Edgar. How can you be so optimistic, I'm already saddle sore!"

Setzer opened the doors to the casino for Maria and led her into the hustle and bustle of the crowded gambling pit. He almost had to drag her from the slots when he needed a drink.

"That was certainly a unique experience!" she said gleefully over some beer. "You certainly have an interesting lifestyle!"

"Umm, I guess so," Setzer hardly thought his life was interesting, especially since he gambled and drank everyday, it was nothing new to him.

"I would really love to do this again sometime, say next week after my next show?"

Setzer swallowed hard, "S-sure. That would be really nice."

He reached into his pocket, found the silver coin he had flipped in Daryl's tomb and kissed it. Maria giggled and they enjoyed the rest of the serene evening together.