The wind blew through her newly short hair as she bounced along on Choco's back. Her arms were wrapped around Zidane's stomach, but she was looking around. She had never travelled by chocobo before. When he had come to find her in Alexandria, somehow she hadn't imagined going back to Lindblum like this. At first, she had been unsure, and suggested they take a small boat or airship from Alexandira. Zidane insisted that she go and see the chocobo. When she had approached the large, red bird, it looked at her with intelligent and compassionate eyes. It dipped its head to allow for her to pet it.

"I think it likes me." Dagger had said.

Zidane nodded. "His name is Choco."

After that, they were off. Riding on Choco's back was a lot faster than walking, and it was yet another new experience that she had with Zidane. She saw the Mist Continent in a whole new way, leaving her kingdom and trekking across mountains. She watched the monsters pay no attention to them as they rushed by them. At a walking speed, surely they would have had to stop for many battles.

As the day wore on, and the sun began to set, the temperature began to fall. It certainly was cold going over the mountains, Dagger thought. She was glad that soon they would be descending down to Lindblum. She wrapped her arms tighter around Zidane and laid her cheek against his back. He turned his head to look at her.

"Are you cold, Dagger? Should we stop and make a camp for the night? We could make a fire."

She shook her head against his back. "No, let's keep going. We are almost there."

He grinned back at her. "Don't feel safe camping out alone with me?"

She glared and pursed her lips, but did not remove her cheek from the warmth of his back. "No. I'd kick your butt if you tried anything." She felt his body shake as he laughed, and she couldn't help but smile. Ahead, she saw the edge of the mountain range, and the valley that would take them to the Lindblum Dragon's Gate. They pushed on, and after some time, Zidane called back to her, "Well, if you won't go camping with me, then how about we do something else tonight. You know, to celebrate."

"What did you have in mind?" Dagger asked, suspicious.

"Just say yes." Zidane called back. She sighed, and said, "Alrighty."

By the time they reached the Dragon's Gate, Choco was exhausted, and Dagger was freezing. Zidane looked at her apologetically. "Sorry, I wish I had something with long sleeves to give you, but…" He trailed off, holding up his bare arms. "Let me say goodbye to Choco."

"I want to, too." She said, and followed him. Choco was inching towards the small forest in the distance.

"Thanks, buddy." Zidane said, feeding him a gysahl green. "Go get some rest!"

"Thank you, Choco, we couldn't have made it without you." Dagger said earnestly. The creature nuzzled them both, and turned to run towards the forest.

"Now, let's get you warmed up." Zidane said, placing a hand on her back. She drew closer to him, wondering what in the world he was up to this time.

30 minutes later, Zidane had somehow 'acquired' a lovely hooded robe similar to her old white and orange one. She was fairly sure he had stolen it, but she was grateful for the warmth as they trudged through the streets of Lindblum. It was a chilly night here, too, downtown in the mountainous city. At first, Dagger had no idea where they were going. They were in a part of the city that was still somewhat unrepaired after the late Queen Brahne's attack. Dagger felt uneasy as they walked through the alley, which probably looked just as dark and scary when it was actually in good shape. As they walked, Dagger saw a warm glow from a damaged building up ahead, and the sound of voices began to reach her. She saw shadows moving in the light. She began to relax.

"Here we are," Zidane said as they reached the building, a damaged pub that still seemed pretty busy despite the fact that Dagger was fairly sure that one good push would knock the whole building down. He beamed at her. "I hope you're as hungry as I am. Pops makes some food that is out of this world."

Dagger couldn't help but smile back at him, happy as ever. "I certainly am." She said. "They won't miss us at the castle, will they?"

"Nah." He replied, taking her hand. "Tonight, don't worry about any of that!"

They entered the pub, which was pleasantly warm inside. It was small and crowded when they pushed in towards the bar. Dagger was surprised when Zidane didn't sit, but instead waved to the bartender, an older man with a graying mustache. He leaned over the bar and exchanged a few words. The bartender looked back at Dagger, who was watching with a puzzled expression. He nodded, and a moment later he had escaped from behind the bar and pushed through the crowd to Zidane and Dagger.

"Welcome!" The man said, reaching to shake Dagger's hand. "It's nice to finally meet you. Zidane has told me a lot about you. Well, mostly how many times he's screwed up trying to impress you."

Dagger grinned at his friendliness and humor, while Zidane rolled his eyes and sighed. "It's nice to meet you, too, Sir. Are you the owner?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Around here they call me Pops."

"You can call me Dagger." She replied.

"Let me take you to your table, Miss Dagger. If it was just Zidane, I'd tell him to get one himself."

"Yeah, yeah, keep talking." Zidane huffed. His expression, however, was good-natured. Dagger had a feeling they were great friends.

Pops brought them to a table near the back. Zidane pulled out the chair for Dagger. "Why, Zidane, what manners." She teased, and he simply smiled in response. A waitress came by, and Dagger asked Zidane to pick something out for her, not only because she wasn't really sure about the menu, but also because she wanted to know what his favorites were. She was sure that he had brought her here for a reason.

For a long time, Zidane had wanted to bring her here, to this pub. The one where he'd reunited with Freya, hit on waitresses with stupid lines, and spent more lonely nights than he could count in the time before he had kidnapped Dagger. He loved the people, and the rowdy bar fights, and the amazing, but minimalistic food. He loved the good conversation, too, but never had he had as good of conversation as he was already having here, tonight, with Dagger. The Queen sat across from him now, looking terribly unlike a queen and devastatingly beautiful with her short, wind-tossed, caramel hair, dirt splotches on her orange jumpsuit, and a stolen hooded robe hanging on the back of her seat. She was looking at him with those liquid chocolate eyes that made him melt with every word that left her perfect lips. He didn't realize he had been so distracted until she cleared her throat and started to smirk a bit.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I was too busy admiring this woman who is lighting up the whole bar. Everyone is staring at her." Dagger rolled her eyes but her smirk remained. "Oh, yes, I'm sure." She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I asked you why you came to get me in Alexandria."

"We were having a meeting." Zidane replied. He straightened as he remember the details that had slipped his mind in the long day. "Long story short, Hilda says that Kuja is not from this world and we have to go to some dude's castle to break the seal to go to another world."

Dagger stared at him. Zidane knew what he was saying sounded awfully ridiculous. "So… Kuja is…"

"An alien." Zidane nodded, very seriously, and Dagger kicked him under the table. He flinched, but grinned widely.

"Stop it," Dagger growled, trying not to smile back. "Are you making this all up?"

"I appreciate that you give me that amount of credit for my creativity." He replied. She pursed her lips at him. He tried to keep his mind on the subject, and off of her lips.

Just then, the waitress brought their drinks. Zidane had ordered that, too, and he wasn't sure how she was going to take low-class alcoholic beverages. She reached for it, and he almost warned her, but she took a sip, swallowed it, and contemplated for a moment before she said, "This isn't bad. What is this?"

Zidane exhaled and he hadn't even realized he had been holding his breath. He had known that Dagger wouldn't judge this place, the people, the drinks, or the food. He had known that, but somehow, he realized he had been waiting for her to judge anything, and therefore, judge him. He frowned, wondering why that was crossing his mind now, after all this time. But of course, she hadn't judged any of it, or him. It was Dagger.

"It's mead. Pops makes it himself. It's made with honey."

"Oh," Dagger said, taking another sip. "No wonder it's so good. Did you get the same thing?"

"It's my favorite." Zidane replied. He held his glass up to hers. "To good company."

"To good company." She replied, clinking her glass against his.

By the time dinner arrived, Zidane was no longer worried about Dagger feeling uncomfortable. She looked completely at home, sipping on her mead surrounded by a boisterous crowd. She scarfed down dinner like she had never eaten in her life. Zidane was hungry, too, but he found himself eating slower, fascinated by watching her inhale her meal. She looked up at him at one point and narrowed her eyes. "What?" She asked. "I'm hungry, and I think this is the best food I've eaten in my life!"

"You'll have to tell that to Pops." He said, and when she did, the old man was very pleased.

"It isn't every day that a queen eats in my pub," He had leaned close to the table and said. "And it's even more infrequent that they are so satisfied."

"Infrequent? You mean never?" Zidane quipped, and Pops glared at him and yelled, "But then there's Zidane, always telling me that my food tastes like the carcass of a rotting Zaghnol!" He stalked off back behind the bar, and both Zidane and Dagger laughed as he retreated.

Dagger's stomach was quite full, and she was feeling content and happy after spending the evening with the light conversation that went hand-in-hand with being with Zidane. She figured that they would soon be heading back to the castle to rest. After all, it had been a very long day. Zidane had crossed the continent twice. Weirdly enough, he still didn't look very tired to her. As the waitress removed their plates, Dagger saw a ragtag group come in the door toting instruments. They exchanged words with Pops, who cleared an area by yelling at a few rowdy customers. They scattered closer to the bar, where they resumed their banter, clearly unfazed by Pops' yelling and quite used to it.

The band started playing a jaunty tune that sounded vaguely familiar to Dagger. Zidane grinned when he heard it. He stood up, and held out his hand. "Wanna dance?" He asked her.

She looked around, back at his hand, and then at him. "Are you crazy?" She asked. "No one is dancing."

"They will be when they see how we dance."

"Do you know how to dance?" She asked, placing her hand hesitantly in his.

"I'm full of surprises," He replied, leading her to the front of the pub. She couldn't stop smiling as he pulled her close in front of the band and placed a hand on her waist. He began to move them, and she was really surprised at the way he could dance. She, being raised as a princess, knew how to dance, but this was a much faster and much looser dance than she was used to. She let Zidane ease her into it, and before she knew it, she was moving right along with him. The boisterous crowd began to laugh and cheer and gather around. Groups of other dancers appeared, and the band played song after song that kept them dancing. They began to pass along their partners, and Dagger danced with rough, tough men with awkward moves. She was laughing and clapping along with them, and she had completely forgotten her fatigue. She caught Zidane's eye across the pub as he swung his partner, a girl who, at the moment, looked a lot less rough and dirt-covered than Dagger. He grinned at Dagger and returned his attention to his partner, and Dagger did the same.

She felt like they were dancing for hours when she was finally swung back into Zidane's arms. They beamed into each other's eyes, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. They finished that dance, themselves and everyone around them getting sloppy and tired. The band started up another song, this time much slower. A lot of the dancers began to clear from the floor, but Zidane pulled Dagger a little closer. She put her head against his chest. It felt perfect there, and she closed her eyes and realized how much her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Zidane put his chin on her head and held her, swaying to the music, until the very last note.

Dagger was a bit unsteady on her feet as she and Zidane made their way through the dark, cold streets on their way to the castle. She was completely exhausted, but she was happier than she had been in a long night. She had forgotten every fear, every worry that had plagued her since before her mother's death. She pulled her coat tight around her, but she hardly felt the cold. She wasn't sure if it was the mead, or the warmth that had not left her since Zidane had held her so close. She reached for his hand now, and he took it with a big goofy smile on his face. His tail was swinging happily.

She quietly, contentedly, listened to his stories on the way home. He was never at a loss for ways to fill the silence, and Dagger appreciated that after so much silence in her life. He told her all about when he ran into Freya at that very pub right before the Festival of the Hunt. He told her about how he had met Freya in his past. He also told her about how Pops had been there for him, despite his caustic exterior, throughout some of his worst days. He tightened his grip on Dagger's hand as he said this. She watched his face as he talked, but he looked forward.

"It sounds like that would be lonely." Dagger said when he told her about the nights when he had left Tantalus, for some reason or another, and was lost in the city he knew so well. When he wandered in and stayed in the pub long after it had technically closed, only to have nowhere to go when he left.

"It was." He replied. "But I think now, I have a new place to call home."

"Where's that?" Dagger asked.

He smiled up at the sky. "It's always somewhere nearby, even when it isn't," was all that he said. When they arrived at the castle gates, the guards were rather suspicious at first, based on Dagger's short hair and disheveled appearance.

"You don't look like royalty." One guard said, and Zidane snapped, "You'd think, that with wars going on, they'd be used to royalty looking like a refugee." The guards checked her falcon claw, and recognized Zidane, so they let them pass. After all, they had all been instructed to give special treatment to the whole crew. The two walked slowly through the carpeted castle halls. Zidane took her hand again, and Dagger was too tired to care about the guards and their talk. When they reached the guest bedroom where they, as well as Steiner and the rest of the crew were staying, they stopped outside.

"Zidane, thank you for coming to get me." Dagger said. "I always know that I can count on you."

He reached and tucked a strand of her short hair behind her ear, and her heart beat faster. His hand lingered by her cheek, and she looked up into his eyes that were the color of the ocean.

"I'm the one that counts on you." He replied. His hand dropped, and he took her hand. He held it up and closed his eyes as he tenderly kissed her hand. His eyes burned when he opened them to look back into hers, but he dropped her hand motioned for her to go ahead of him into the room.

"Everyone's probably asleep." He said. She nodded, and tiptoed into the room. It was dark, and she was careful not to step on anyone who might be sleeping on the floor as she climbed the steps to her part of the room. She hesitated on the stairs. "Goodnight, Zidane." She whispered into the darkness.

"Goodnight."