Stay with me, don't let me go

Cause I can't be without you

Stay with me, hold me close

Because I built my world around you

And I don't want to know what its like without you

A/N: Hopefully that will give you guys a clue about where I got this idea.


Garnet was surprised to see that her hair brush was not on her vanity like she remembered. 'Weird...it was here a minute ago I'm sure of it,' she thought. As she looked down and around her chair, getting to the point of exasperation when she sat up straight in her chair, closing her eyes to try and think to make sure she had not misplaced it. 'Alright, I went and took a bath, then grabbed the brush and set it here before going to get dressed. So that means it had to be here-'

She stopped as she felt something lightly tugging at her hair. She tried to turn her head to see who had sneaked into her room, but a gentle hand grasped at her shoulder, a finger extended to point at the mirror. Garnet did so, and saw sitting on a chair off to her left, holding a handful of her long hair in his hand, was Zidane. 'Using the brush I had been trying to find, no less,' Garnet noted immediately, feeling a little smile come up in the corner of her mouth. "It's not polite to enter a lady's chamber without knocking."

Zidane chuckled, continuing to brush the Queen's hair, "Well, I thought this would be more romantic. Don't you agree?"

Finding Zidane's words to be right on the mark, Garnet agreed. That was one of the things she loved about this man, his flirty but downright honest attitude. Garnet took a deep breath, feeling herself relax as she felt Zidane continue to brush her hair, wondering if he would stop. Not that she didn't like what he was doing, she just wanted to be face to face with him like they normally were.

"You know, I remember quite fondly you having short hair a long time ago," Zidane said, stopping his brushing.

Garnet smiled, "I remember the look on your face when you saw me cut it off. Priceless, if I may say."

The Queen took the opportunity to turn around and put her arms around Zidane's neck, and his response was to put his arms around her waist.

"Surprised you let me brush your hair first before you did that," he said with an amused tone.

Pulling back, Garnet looked into his eyes, "Yes, well, you just did me a favor and I let you finish. Thank you." She got up and Zidane followed her as she walked over to her balcony overlooking the town of Alexandria, her kingdom filled with lights despite it being such a late hour. "So, what brings my former kidnapper to me at such a time?"

Zidane put his hands on his hips, "Oh you know, snuck away from the gang while we were in town and decided to say hi."

'The usual,' Garnet thought. Zidane worked with a theater troupe known as Tantalus, but they were also thieves. Thieves as in 'steal from those who deserve it and give to those who need it', as Zidane told her once. Because of this line of work he was forced away from her at lengths at a time that lasted weeks, and each day he was away it felt like Garnet was losing a piece of herself. Thus, she tried to savor every moment they could together, and she knew that when Zidane took off from his group for these little visits he intended to spend his time with her wisely. That was how well she knew him. "You have to leave before too long, right?"

Zidane didn't want to answer her right away, "Well, the boss wants to get back to Lindblum before tomorrow night, so its kind of a hassle right now. I cheered him up a bit though, took him to the pub in town and after a few drinks he didn't want to leave." He laughed a little and Garnet joined in with him.

"But you still need to be back before long, right?"

Zidane walked up behind her, putting his arms around her waist, and he saw out of the corner of his eye the smile on his Queen's face. "Yeah, but until then, I'll be with you."

Garnet appreciated the romantic gestures Zidane gave her, she appreciated his love for her and she returned it in kind. It had been that way for nearly three years, ever since they were reunited under the sword of Alexander. Back then she believed he had died, and with him her chances to be with him. She had been very lonely until he had returned, but those days were faintly remembered when Zidane was in her presence.

She broke the embrace and got up from her chair, walking over to her bed. "So-" She instantly stopped when she heard knocking at her door. In a frantic hurry she ran to the door, whispering, "You'd better hide!" Getting to the door, Garnet went about telling her guard that everything was alright. Steiner, who had been appointed the Queen's personal guard, had ordered that her door be guarded at all times. The queen had protested but Beatrix had said to humor him, secretly telling the Queen that she'd talk him out of it. Garnet had known that Steiner had done this to prevent Zidane from bugging the Queen at night, but as it was seen by tonight he had failed again.

Garnet closed the door again, sighing and looking around for Zidane. He wasn't in sight, and that worried her a little. "Zidane? You still here?"

From the far side of her bed, a little stuffed moogle doll popped up like a puppet from a show, "Close call, kupo!" The imitation was poor, but she gave Zidane credit for trying.

Garnet giggled, "That it was." She climbed into her bed, Zidane lay on the floor still holding the doll with an outstretched arm. "Where did you get that?"

Zidane sat up, "Oh nowhere special, the last job we did out by Treno. A certain noble was bragging how no one alive has something like this, and no one ever will. So, seeing as his bragging got on my nerves...I sort of 'liberated' it from him."

"You mean you stole it."

"It isn't stealing if you do it for a good reason," the thief said, not falling for the whole routine.

Garnet got under the covers of her bed, sitting up against her headboard, "And what reason would that be?"

Zidane sat on the edge of her bed, offering the moogle to her, "How about giving it to the most wonderful girl in my life?"

The Queen smiled as she took the toy in her hands, hugging it to her chest, "Well...that being the case, I suppose you have a point. Thank you Zidane."

The thief got closer to Garnet, first taking a few strands of her hair between two of his fingers and bringing it to his lips. Garnet's eyes followed his hand, then one of her own went to his shoulder, urging him closer. Getting the message, Zidane let her hair fall and he placed his forehead against hers, but it didn't stay that way for long. Pretty soon Garnet felt Zidane's lips beginning to touch hers, gracefully dancing over them, and she wanted it.

Zidane delivered, kissing her lightly-

The old grandfather clock began to chime, and Garnet's eyes opened. "Blast that clock..." She made no attempt to hide her dissatisfaction in her eyes and expression.

Zidane shared the same mentality as he pulled back from her, "I wonder what the saying is when the bell works against you?" He smirked, trying to humor the fact that their make-out session had been interrupted by a machine. A machine that if Garnet got a hold of would be destroyed in seconds.

Garnet laid back in her bed, "Why are we always interrupted..."

Zidane took her hand with his, "Its alright Dagger, we'll just have to pick this up next time."

"Next time...you're leaving now?"

Knowing that she didn't want him to leave, but knowing that he had to, Zidane kissed her hand, "I'll be back within a week. The boss gives us vacations and such. I'll just beg for it. Until then, this little guy will keep you company." He tapped the moogle doll on the head, which Garnet kept between her arm and chest.

"Oh yes, he will," Garnet said, snuggling the little toy closer to her. "Please, Zidane, be back here as soon as possible, okay?"

The thief stood up, "No problem. See you later." He turned and ran towards the balcony, then stopped, "Oh, I almost forgot!" He ran back to Garnet and quickly kissed her on the cheek, "Love you, bye!" He then ran back to the balcony and hopped over the railing.

The blushing but smiling queen then repeated what her lover had said, "Love you, too." She then reached for the lamp on her bedside table and turned out the light.


A/N: Well, there's another story for those who love this pairing. I originally made this for a birthday gift to someone, but that was a month ago, so yeah...whoops.