Author's Note: Finally gotten off my lazy butt and done something, hmm? Well, this one'll be different. This fanfic will be short vignettes, maybe a few oneshots, of different parts of the game that either aren't shown or you just wanna know what the hell they were thinking. I'll get the next parts of Angelus Lacrima and Paradise Lost done… eventually xDD My muse seems to have left for them~

DISCLAIMER: I wish I was Garnet and had me a Zidane, but sadly, I only cosplay her and my good friend cosplays Zidane. I wish I owned Squeenix, oh I wish I wish~ xD

I

The Princess and the Thief

"You know your mother fell in love with a robber and a thief. A prince is just as bad if not worse."

Robin O'Locksley, The Princess of Thieves

Back Then

HIM

I didn't know it at the time, but from that second on the balcony in the castle, I was ruined. I'm really falling for her, aren't I? Look at me! The great womanizing thief Zidane Tribal, falling in love with royalty! A thief and a princess… sounds like the stuff of fairytales and those cheesy romance novels Ruby reads.

I don't have manners, I don't have class, I don't have the noble blood of those pompous Treno pricks in me. All I've got is myself, and trust me… that's not always something you want around.

When Brahne died and Dagger became the Queen, I felt like someone ripped me in half. Hell, at the time I wished someone would! But no, that's not how it works, is it? We grit and fuckin' bear it, no matter how much it hurts. So I did what I do best, street urchin and all, and ran away. Card tournament in Treno… should've known better then to slack off with Kuja still around. But hell, can you blame me? When Dagger was a Princess, I could dream… but now she's a Queen, and there's nothing I could do about it.

I never felt lower then I did when Alexandria was attacked. Dagger was fighting to protect her people from one of her own summons and there I was, wasting away in a drunken stupor waiting for the next round of the tournament. I felt lower then dirt, and it was then that I resolved to protect her. Through anything, I'll protect her.

Damn, why is that?

HER

It wasn't until it was too late that I realized what had happened. Was it because he was so kind to me, even when he was being his lecherous self? Was it his roguish looks, his sense of justice? What was it?

I am the last royal of Alexandria, and he is a thief of Tantalus. I am Gaian, he is Terran. We should not be together. When I realized what was happening to me, I tried to fight it. Really, I did. He doesn't have the manners or the debonair attitude of any of the noble men mother had tried to set me up with. He didn't have the royal upbringing I did. But Zidane has heart; a strength of character and a love of life I could never dream of having.

Our time in Madain Sari made me realize I was falling for him. That time on the boat in the docks, just before I got my memories back… the look in his eyes sent shivers down my spine. If it wasn't for the fact that Eiko started singing that song, I don't know what would have happened. I realized it then, and realized I had to stop this before it got worse.

I didn't know how bad it had gotten.

Then when I saw him again in Alexandria, just before my coronation, I wanted to cry. I could see how he felt, plain as day on his face. I could see it, and felt like someone was ripping me apart from the inside. Then he left, and I became Queen. We can never be together now…

He came for me, when Bahamut struck. I didn't think he would, because it was all over, right? But he did, and by the gods in that moment I stopped caring what I was or what he was. When he jumped off the castle for me and landed on the stone, I lunged for him. It didn't care about being Queen, about what the people would think, about all of that.

All that mattered was Zidane was by my side.

Now

HIM

Did you know that woman are absolute hell when they're pregnant and you don't get the damn ice-cream fast enough? No? Well they fuckin' are, and it fuckin' sucks. Ooops, not supposed to cuss so much anymore, am I? Well whatever; you can take the thief off the streets, but you can't take the thief outta him.

But I'll tell you something; I thought I had seen the most beautiful woman in the world when I first saw Dagger on that balcony. It's been years now, and boy was I wrong. There is nothing, nothing, better then seeing your wife, your Queen holding your daughter in her arms. It shocked me, the immediate overflowing of love I felt when I saw our little Ariadne. Pretty cool name, huh? I chose it. She really is a beautiful little girl… just like her parents, of course.

The damn aristocracy of Alexandria was pissed when we got married. Downright livid, actually… it was hilarious. The people were ecstatic though, which was weird. Apparently saving the world gives you some sort of status, huh?

Anyway, that's about it. Yup…

Aw, fuck… 'course it's not.

Zidane Tribal, King of Alexandria… did good for a thief, huh?

… but I like 'Dagger's Husband' more.

HER

I was nearly taken away from him. Some of the nobles tried to rebel when I married Zidane, but to everyone's surprise not a single person stood up with them. The nobles had nor force against me because the people had accepted him. Accepted a thief as their King! Imagine my surprise… but it could not have worked out better.

He is a great king and an amazing husband. Even more surprising, hmm? Soon after he became king, he set about cleaning up the place. Public works projects, the arts, helping people off the streets. I think he wanted to help his people…

I don't know what his childhood was like. I only know bits and pieces, but what I do know was it was bad. I think he wants to help others get out of that situation like he did. And I love him even more for it.

Then there is Ariadne. The look on Zidane's face when I told him I was pregnant… he was absolutely scared out of his wits! But then he got so affectionate; would not let me do a thing for nine months. There were times where he would just lay with his ear against my stomach for hours at a time, just listening. I was hard to deal with at times, but he told me afterwards that it was all worth it just to get to hold his daughter in his own arms. I think he thought he couldn't have kids because of what he was and what he'd been through, despite what Mikoto had told him on the matter. He thought he didn't deserve it.

How could anyone so kind as him not?

I am Garnet til Alexandros XVII to my people.

To my peers I am Dagger.

I was once Sarah of Madain Sari.

But now I am the wife of Zidane Tribal, and that's all I care to be.