Title: Empty Heart
Rating: PG/
Pairings: Zidane/Garnet

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy IX belongs to that of Square-Enix, I do not claim that I own or distribute these characters for profit or gain. oo; just borrowing them
Summary: Who would have know that a kiss and three words could cause so much pain. Zidane now knows that all too well but what does Garnet feel?
Author's notes: This pretty much started out as a random thing, I was playing FFIX and thinking about another fic of mine when this dawned on me and I had to immediately write it out. This part is the drabble that took like 10 minutes to do, the other parts took longer ; This was beta'd by ezri-candy.

He stood next to her as she looked out distantly toward her home and city, Alexandria. Rebuilt and greater now then in its former glory, it had become a mecca of life and love. The inhabitants all loved their new queen and her guardians, and with Kuja gone it seemed everything would be fine. Nothing bad or drastic would ever happen again and that everyone would be truly happy in home and heart.

That didn't exist for him though.

As Garnet stared out at the city, the many lights flickering across her face, giving her an ethereal glow, she didn't notice her most trusted friend and guardian watching her. Sure, she trusted everyone just the same, but he stood out more and had nearly gotten himself killed for her numerous times. And it seemed to be nothing more than that.

Steiner and the rest could see the relationship, but she couldn't and that hurt. It was the first time he had experienced something this strong before and all his attempts had failed in her actually acknowledging him as more than a friend. She had plenty of suitors and she seemed to be plenty happy with them.
His heart felt empty...
He stood partially in the shadows of the high archway, leaning against it heavily. A slight breeze picked up, making Garnet's hair blow back, and making his own brush against the sides of his face. He could see how content and happy she was and yet he wasn't.

He felt utterly alone.
Even with everyone there and the new friends he could make, nothing seemed to fill the emptiness and the ache in his heart. Garnet turned and looked at him, finally seeing the almost saddened look on his face.
"Zidane, what's wrong?" She turned and looked at him, her pale orange and white dress partially fluttering in the breeze. The moon reflected nicely against her once again, adding to her ethereal beauty.

As if running on autopilot, he moved in close. Her breath hitched at how close he was standing, and she had to look up at him to look into his wistful sapphire eyes.
"W-what?"

"I love you, Garnet." And without warning, he pulled her against him and kissed her. Her eyes widened considerably before slowly closing them and returning his embrace, still in the kiss. She felt his tail wrap around her waist and then curl as he withdrew and took a step back, apparently shocked at his actions. He hid his eyes, as he took and step back.
"S-sorry…I shouldn't have done that." And with that he turned and ran away, trying to get as far away from her as he could. The scent of orange and vanilla he had inhaled still playing in his sense as he quickly turned the corner into the courtyard and went directly for the boat dock area. He needed to clear his head in the city.
Her arm was still stretched out and eyes wide as Garnet seemed to be staring endlessly at the empty space where he had once been before her arm dropped to her side heavily. A tear fell before she turned and fled to her chambers, ignoring both Steiner and Beatrix worried calls.
'Zidane…'

Now her heart felt empty.