"Garnet!"

The queen was momentarily blinded as she heard a familiar voice laced with panic calling out for her. At the last possible moment she swung her arms up to shield her face. Bracing herself for impact, she could only hope that Zidane and the others would survive this attack-

But no attack came. She heard a thud in front of her - had the attack missed? It seemed unlikely that a spell of that caliber could miss its target, especially with Kuja being the one casting it. And yet, she remained unscathed, as if she weren't in the middle of a battle at all. Though physically she was alright, her heart twisted around in her chest. What had happened to the others?

Her arms dropped quickly as her eyes moved to scan the battleground - but they never made it passed the area directly in front of her. There, at her feet, someone lay crumpled and badly injured; she could barely see signs of breathing.

She then remembered the voice that called out right before the attack.

Zidane.

Already her eyes burned as Garnet dropped to her knees, pulling the thief into her arms. "H-hold on, Zidane," she said shakily, picking up her rod. "I'll heal you, don't worry, okay?"

Her hands lifted above her head once more, she steadied herself long enough to start her spell-casting. The air around her took on a green tinge, and warmth surrounded her and the boy in her lap. However, even with all of the concentration she could muster, even with all her training and powerful magic, she could feel the warmth slipping away.

Her face screwed with utmost focus, she struggled to keep her spell alive. Little by little, the air around her grew colder, darker, and Garnet grew more desperate.

"My mana – it's gone!" she cried. She looked to her comrades who had since moved to protect her and the fallen genome. "Does anyone have an Elixir on them? Or a Potion? Or Eiko? Where's Eiko!"

The anguish in her voice was clear, and it spread like a disease to her friends around her. Determined faces grew weak and panicked as they rifled through their pockets while still fending off their enemy. A malicious laugh could be heard over their frantic search, but no one paid any mind to the man's taunts; they had to save Zidane.

Something light swept across the queen's arm; a hand. Her attention was ripped from the search for curatives as she quickly cradled the genome, pulling him as close as she dared without hurting him.

"Shh, it's alright." She tried to reassure him, but her shaking voice betrayed her. "Don't try to move, someone will find an item soon and I'll fix you right up and –"

"Gar..net.." She immediately stopped and for once looked him straight in the eyes; beautiful cerulean eyes that once shone so bright before were dimming, and she could tell it pained him to even keep them open. Her own eyes brimmed with tears, threatening to overflow at any minute. His condition was worsening the longer this went on, and he knew it. She sniffed loudly at a weak attempt to regain her composure.

"Yes, Zidane?"

"Will you…sing for me?"

Her heart nearly stopped. She could hear all of her friends, shouting as they still desperately looked for items, trying to wake an unconscious Eiko, realizing everyone had already used their curatives. She could hear Kuja's laughter growing louder as he took advantage of the confusion; they were still fending him off, but it was takings its toll on her teammates. She could hear everything, but none of it processed in her mind so much as the one question asked of her, the one she never wanted to hear like this.

"Of course," she whispered, her voice unable to go louder without cracking. The tears finally streamed down her face, and a whimper escaped as she attempted a pathetic smile. "Of course I will, Zidane. I always will."

Zidane settled back into her arms, a smile growing across his own face. "Thank you," he whispered back, closing his eyes. His entire body relaxed, and he looked for all the world like he was settling down to sleep. Slower breaths were drawn as he blocked out the pain. His whole body screamed, but it no longer mattered. Garnet's voice entered his mind, their song lulling him to sleep one last time.

Garnet knew the exact moment when he stopped breathing; she choked as she his chest stilled. She kept going, forcing herself to finish for him. By the song's close, her singing was nothing more than faltering words, her vision useless. His once warm chest became her cradle as she left the rest of the world behind her.

As long as we remember.