2/13/2001 - Slightly revised to fix some grammatical errors and stuffz. Hope j00 like it! ^.^
A Promise's Secret
They sat together at a private table, the King and Queen of Alexandria.
Silence permeated the room, as if not even the soldiers on the ramparts nor the birds in the skies dared encroach on the oppressive, black anger within. Neither looked at the other, their hearts smoldering from the exposure of a horrid, nearly forgotten secret.
The perpetrator dared to speak. The calm, soft tone belied the misery within.
"I never thought you'd find out."
"How could you!" shouted the other, pounding a fist into the meticulously carved table. "You betrayed me."
"It wasn't meant to happen this way. I never intended you to find out like this."
"How else could I have known? Through the street gossip, after all the people have heard and we are both shamed?"
A sigh pregnant with guilt escaped quivering lips. "How was I to know the child would end up this way?"
"It's so obvious! Look at her! Everyone will know eventually, if they don't already!"
"Is it so bad, so detestable? Either way, she is still our daughter."
"You're wrong. This is YOUR daughter."
Outraged parental anger changed the perpetrator's tone. "I hear it in your voice, you lie to yourself!"
"I--We can't raise her!"
"Why not?"
Silence, again. Tears fell, tracing itchy, salty patterns. Swiftly, authoritatively, they were wiped away. The query came barely above a whisper.
"Do you even love me?"
"How can you ask me that?"
"I need to know."
"I do."
"Why then?"
"Because I was asked to."
"Ridiculous."
Melancholy gave way to anger. Resolution was impossible, so saw the perpetrator. After a long moment of agonization, the decision was made.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving. I will take her with me."
"You will not!"
"Her appearance will only cause you pain. And it is better this way, for both of us."
"How can I--How will I--" ...survive without you? "No!" Self vehemence accentuated the exclamation. "How will the kingdom fare without you? There are responsibilities that I can't do on my own!"
A smile, sad and accepting. "You were fine without me before. You are strong enough, my pretty Dagger."
"Never call me that!" the Queen shrieked, rising to her feet. "You've NEVER been allowed to call me by that name!"
The King walked to an ornately decorated crib, in which an infant wriggled and cried, brought to discontent by the sound of her mother's anger. He picked her up, cooing softly, smoothing her wispy silver locks with his hand until she was once again calm.
"Why?" sobbed the Queen. "Why?"
"He asked me to, in the moments before his death. He knew the power he had over your little group, and of the sorrow that you must feel. How could I refuse him, he who saved my life only to sacrifice his own?
"It was easy," he continued, "to do this masquerade, since I and him are twins in most every sense. The Tantalus group helped me with the obviously different physical aspects, but only after I'd explained what had happened. In truth, they never trusted me, but they honored their one-time companion enough to aide me in that one task. Believe me when I say I came to you at the play intending only to comfort you and yours and be gone from your life.
"But... you all accepted me so fondly... it filled the lonely gap in my heart... I couldn't leave... I swear to you that one day, somehow, I intended for you to know the truth. But there came a time when I fell in love with you, much as he once did."
She gasped.
Then Queen Garnet til Alexandros XVII walked up to the man, the lover, the hero she knew as Zidane Tribal, and slapped him full across the face.
"You are exiled from this place. I never want to see you again."
Her eyes, her tears spoke differently, and he nearly broke under their pain.
"I know," he responded, the flesh of his face stinging from the blow.
He picked up a blanket from the crib to wrap the child in. "I'll leave now with her, and please don't object. You know the power I hold, though the desire to use it fled long ago."
"You vile, disgusting monster! How dare you threaten me!"
"Only if it will make you angry enough to have me killed," he whispered, his face contorted from the deep, throbbing pain in his chest. "I have a heart, you know, I always did. Though my intentions when you met me were wrong, the compassion I have for you now is real. I have grown to love you, and my life from now on will be desolate without you."
He walked to the door, their daughter in his arms.
"Kuja..." she whispered, pleaded, condemned.
"Goodbye, my pretty Garnet."
The door clicked shut.
A Promise's Secret
They sat together at a private table, the King and Queen of Alexandria.
Silence permeated the room, as if not even the soldiers on the ramparts nor the birds in the skies dared encroach on the oppressive, black anger within. Neither looked at the other, their hearts smoldering from the exposure of a horrid, nearly forgotten secret.
The perpetrator dared to speak. The calm, soft tone belied the misery within.
"I never thought you'd find out."
"How could you!" shouted the other, pounding a fist into the meticulously carved table. "You betrayed me."
"It wasn't meant to happen this way. I never intended you to find out like this."
"How else could I have known? Through the street gossip, after all the people have heard and we are both shamed?"
A sigh pregnant with guilt escaped quivering lips. "How was I to know the child would end up this way?"
"It's so obvious! Look at her! Everyone will know eventually, if they don't already!"
"Is it so bad, so detestable? Either way, she is still our daughter."
"You're wrong. This is YOUR daughter."
Outraged parental anger changed the perpetrator's tone. "I hear it in your voice, you lie to yourself!"
"I--We can't raise her!"
"Why not?"
Silence, again. Tears fell, tracing itchy, salty patterns. Swiftly, authoritatively, they were wiped away. The query came barely above a whisper.
"Do you even love me?"
"How can you ask me that?"
"I need to know."
"I do."
"Why then?"
"Because I was asked to."
"Ridiculous."
Melancholy gave way to anger. Resolution was impossible, so saw the perpetrator. After a long moment of agonization, the decision was made.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving. I will take her with me."
"You will not!"
"Her appearance will only cause you pain. And it is better this way, for both of us."
"How can I--How will I--" ...survive without you? "No!" Self vehemence accentuated the exclamation. "How will the kingdom fare without you? There are responsibilities that I can't do on my own!"
A smile, sad and accepting. "You were fine without me before. You are strong enough, my pretty Dagger."
"Never call me that!" the Queen shrieked, rising to her feet. "You've NEVER been allowed to call me by that name!"
The King walked to an ornately decorated crib, in which an infant wriggled and cried, brought to discontent by the sound of her mother's anger. He picked her up, cooing softly, smoothing her wispy silver locks with his hand until she was once again calm.
"Why?" sobbed the Queen. "Why?"
"He asked me to, in the moments before his death. He knew the power he had over your little group, and of the sorrow that you must feel. How could I refuse him, he who saved my life only to sacrifice his own?
"It was easy," he continued, "to do this masquerade, since I and him are twins in most every sense. The Tantalus group helped me with the obviously different physical aspects, but only after I'd explained what had happened. In truth, they never trusted me, but they honored their one-time companion enough to aide me in that one task. Believe me when I say I came to you at the play intending only to comfort you and yours and be gone from your life.
"But... you all accepted me so fondly... it filled the lonely gap in my heart... I couldn't leave... I swear to you that one day, somehow, I intended for you to know the truth. But there came a time when I fell in love with you, much as he once did."
She gasped.
Then Queen Garnet til Alexandros XVII walked up to the man, the lover, the hero she knew as Zidane Tribal, and slapped him full across the face.
"You are exiled from this place. I never want to see you again."
Her eyes, her tears spoke differently, and he nearly broke under their pain.
"I know," he responded, the flesh of his face stinging from the blow.
He picked up a blanket from the crib to wrap the child in. "I'll leave now with her, and please don't object. You know the power I hold, though the desire to use it fled long ago."
"You vile, disgusting monster! How dare you threaten me!"
"Only if it will make you angry enough to have me killed," he whispered, his face contorted from the deep, throbbing pain in his chest. "I have a heart, you know, I always did. Though my intentions when you met me were wrong, the compassion I have for you now is real. I have grown to love you, and my life from now on will be desolate without you."
He walked to the door, their daughter in his arms.
"Kuja..." she whispered, pleaded, condemned.
"Goodbye, my pretty Garnet."
The door clicked shut.