Title: You're Not Alone
Author: Chibi Atariel Tsukai
Date: October 11, 2014
Summary: War is breaking out in Gaia once more. It is up to Garnet, as the queen of Alexandria, and her acquaintances to figure out just who is waging the war and what they can do to put an end to it!
Rating: T
Authoress's Note: It's been almost two years since I've posted anything on here! Crazy, right? Anyways, I know I already have a post-game Final Fantasy IX fanfic started on here, but that one didn't go too well. I still have some ideas for that one, but hopefully this one will be better! Strangely enough, it is based off a roleplay that was loosely based off said other fanfic. The main difference is that the bad guy is not an OC, though he does not appear in the game too much. Also, I may try to introduce a couple other than ZidanexGarnet! I admit, it may seem strange at first, but I think it's adorable! I hope y'all enjoy this as much as I do!
Disclaimer: After all of these years, I still do not own the rights to Final Fantasy IX. I do, however, have it on discs for PS One as well as on downloadable content for PS3 and PSP. So I have three games going on right now – one at the very end, one at the beginning, and one that's just gotten onto disc two!
.ix.
Chapter I: The Thief And His Princess
Zidane Tribal had never had it easy. Of course, being a former thief was a simple way to make a great amount of enemies. For as long as he could remember, he had belonged to a small family of thieves who went by the name of Tantalus and used theatrical performances to cover up their felonies. He and his "brothers" – Blank, Cinna, and Marcus – had all been taken in by Baku, a man who taught them everything they needed to know about living, performing, thieving, and saving their own hides – though not necessarily in that order. Their boss had always said that it was every man for himself, but Zidane had been the one to really look out for everyone. He had been the last member to join the group, not to mention the youngest and smallest, but also the quickest and most caring. He believed, above all else, that you never needed a reason to help people and always put the needs of others before his own.
His life changed at the age of sixteen, when he was involved in the biggest height Tantalus had, and ever would, attempt – the kidnapping of the kingdom of Alexandria's Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII. Not only had Lindblum's Regent Cid, Garnet's very own uncle, sent them, but it turned out that the Princess herself had wished to be taken away as well. What else could the young thief do but to promise the beautiful princess that he would do his very best to kidnap her and provide safe travel from Alexandria to Lindblum?
Of course, things were not straightforward. In fact, they were a lot more complicated than Zidane could have ever imagined. Nobody ever turned out to be exactly how they seemed – he was more than a thief, Garnet was not just a princess, and her mother had bigger plans than just leading the kingdom of Alexandria. People came and went out of the adventures constantly until they were all over – or, at least, they seemed to be.
.ix.
Sometimes, Queen Garnet could be surrounded by all of the people of Alexandria, but still feel completely alone. She had never expected to find that one person who could affect her in such a strong way. As a princess, she had been taught that she would marry a rich, powerful nobleman who would stand by her side while she ruled Alexandria. It all reminded her of her favorite play, Lord Avon's "I Want To Be Your Canary". The story had always intrigued her as a child, but since her sixteenth birthday, it had an even more significant meaning. It had been the play Tantalus had performed while secretly working to take her away from Alexandria. She had slipped away from her mother's side halfway through the play in attempt to stow away on the theatre ship from Lindblum, just to run into a charming young man dressed in armor belong to the Knights of Pluto. Her initial reaction had been to run and get as far away from him as she could, but she would now give almost anything to run into Zidane's arms. In fact, she felt most comfortable in them.
Unfortunately, she had spent almost an entire year fearing that she would never feel his warm embrace ever again. At the end of their long-winded journey, Zidane had stayed behind at the Iifa Tree to keep their entire traveling party safer, as well as to attempt to save his long-lost-and-forgotten brother, Kuja, even though he had been their enemy. Garnet suffered from haunting nightmares of losing her first-and-only love every night until the day of her coronation. As a present, Tantalus insisted that they performed for her once more, with no kidnapping involved this time, of course. She did feel that she had something stolen from her that day, however – her heart had been taken once again as Marcus threw off his cloak in the last act and revealed a familiar blond man demanding "Bring my beloved Dagger to me!"
Life was beginning to get better. Garnet was the queen of Alexandria, yet she still loved Zidane, a former thief back from the dead. She traded in her responsibilities for a few moments in exchange to be held by her love. She cried her eyes out, begging him to never leave again. She asked him how he survived the living tree that had tried to trap and kill them all. He told her that he sand their song, the same song he had once walked up onto a balcony to hear her singing beautifully. The song that was a dearest memory that kept him reaching out to live. The rest of the coronation celebration went by smoothly and most of the audience even called it a night early in order to allow their queen to reconnect with the man they could all see that she loved dearly.
Everything was perfect, but unfortunately that did not seem like it would last very long.
.ix.
Authoress's Note: Well, there you have chapter one! It's basically a short-but-sweet recap of Zidane and Garnet's emotions throughout the game. I always seem to do this when writing fics that happen after whatever I'm writing about. Hopefully that's okay! Please let me know what you think!