Request by Fairyfan54!

Summary: Eiko leads the group from Madain Sari to the Iifa Tree.

Eiko confidently led the gang out of Condie Petie Mountain Path. She felt the familiar rush of excitement as she beheld the Iifa Tree looming in the distance, majestic and mysterious, but felt even more exhilarated than usual; she was going to break the seal. She felt that it was the right choice.

'Sorry, Grandpa…" Eiko thought. 'But I have to follow my heart.'

"Everything okay, Eiko?" Vivi asked, his large yellow eyes concerned. Eiko snapped back into reality and put her hands on her hips.

"Of course it is!" She said haughtily. "The Iifa Tree is right ahead!" She began to stroll ahead, but dropped back after a glance at Zidane. He was trying to walk close to Dagger, but she looked annoyed and kept changing her pace. Eiko saw her opportunity, slowing down to squeeze between them.

"Zidane, you're gonna love it there! The Iifa tree is even cooler up close! And wait until you see this Eidolon!"

Dagger had quickly and willingly scooted over to make room for Eiko, but she turned her attention to her now.

"What is this eidolon, Eiko?" Dagger asked. "I wonder if I've ever heard of it."

"I doubt it." Eiko said, but quickly changed the subject. She herself was not sure what Eidolon was there, just that it had been a failed summon.

The group encountered a few monsters on the way, but dealt with them rather easily. Eiko was thrilled to fight alongside Zidane, her new hero, in battle, and she loved how impressed he and Dagger were by her summons.

The group finally approached the base of the Iifa tree, and wound along the path to the seal. Eiko stood back and watched Zidane make a couple attempts to get through the barrier before he turned and asked, "Only you can break the seal?"

Eiko nodded and stepped forward. She concentrated her thoughts into her horn, beginning to communicate with the Eidolon, before she realized this was a great opportunity to impress Zidane, and began to chant a 'spell' out loud. Vivi, Dagger, and, most importantly, Zidane, watched with awe.

'Hurry up!' Growled a voice into Eiko's mind, and she could feel that it was the Eidolon Carbuncle. She finished the real spell in her mind, and the seal broke. A ruby tumbled to the ground, and she scooped it up.

"Finished!" She chirped, pleased at the impressed faces of her comrades. "We can go inside now."

"Thanks, Eiko! Let's go." Zidane began to walk forward, leading the group now. Dagger trailed behind him, looking deep in thought. The group wound and climbed through roots and branches, and at one point encountered what appeared at first to be a dead end. The roots were twisted in such a way that they could not progress, and Eiko could not initially see a way to keep going, especially based on the view from her short height. She bit her lip, hoping that she wouldn't disappoint Zidane if this was the end of their trip to the Iifa Tree.

"I don't think we can keep going in this direction." Dagger said, but Zidane was looking at the center of the twisting roots, where there was a slight gap, with great interest.

"I think we can get through here," He said.

"I don't think…" Eiko began to protest- she could tell easily that not even she, the smallest member of the group, could slide successfully through that hole, but Zidane ignored her, stretching his arms in a showy way as he stepped closer. The other three watched with raised eyebrows as Zidane tensed and sprang forward hands first into the twisting roots. His first attempt resulted in him sliding back out, but he tried again, this time with a little more force. He gained a bit of momentum with each lunge and wiggled his way into the roots.

"Zidane, you're going to get stuck." Dagger said disapprovingly, and Eiko giggled a bit. Zidane's tail was waving frantically as he tried to get through the roots. Eiko was distracted by that as Zidane continued to try to get through, but he suddenly stopped moving as he got the top of his waist into the hole. A moment later, he wiggled and kicked his legs, but nothing happened.

"Are you okay?" Vivi asked, which seemed to Eiko to be the only thing he ever said.

There was a moment of silence before they heard a muffled voice. "I think I'm stuck."

Dagger sighed. "Let's try to push him. Help me, Vivi." The two of them spent a minute trying various ways of pushing Zidane through, but to no avail. After several minutes with no progress, Dagger looked around. "I think we can climb over that branch and try to get around." She said, pointing at a nearby branch.

Vivi nodded. "Let's try it!"

"We're gonna try to go around and get you out!" Dagger called to Zidane, who suddenly went limp in the hole. His tail drooped. Eiko figured he was probably pretty embarrassed, but that thought was interrupted as she watched Zidane's tail swishing angrily on the ground.

Dagger and Vivi were so distracted trying to get over to Zidane on the other side that they didn't notice Eiko didn't follow them. She was staring at his tail. When she first saw him at Condie Petie Mountain Path, she had immediately noticed his tail. She had never seen someone with a tail before; was it normal where Zidane was from? Suddenly, she longed to touch it. Was it soft? Was it coarse?

She crept towards it like he could actually hear her approach or try to get away. She stooped behind him and reached a tentative hand out, just barely touching a tiny hair on his tail. It twitched. Encouraged, Eiko patted Zidane's tail, and then began to pet it.

'It's so soft,' She thought. She held it to her face. 'It feels like my moogles' fur!' She smiled serenely.

From the other side, there were muffled voices of the others trying to figure out how to get Zidane out, and Zidane's voice, saying, "…Is something touching my tail?" He tried to move his tail, but Eiko held it tight against her face. 'It's softer than my moogles' fur! I'm gonna cuddle this forever!' She thought, ignoring the protests getting louder. Zidane's tail wiggled in her grasp, which she tightened. She wrapped her arms around his tail, cuddling up around it. He began to kick his legs, which snapped Eiko out of her pleasant thoughts and she glared at his backside as she drew away. He stopped, however, when Dagger hissed, "Stop moving! How are we supposed to get you out if your legs aren't straight?"

"Something's got my tail!" Zidane said, clearly annoyed.

"Well it's gonna get your whole butt if you don't sit still!" She snapped back. "Now, Vivi, pull!"

Suddenly, Zidane slid through the hole, and his tail was wrenched from Eiko's grasp. She sat there for a moment, stunned, and watched the heavy roots immediately close the distance again of where Zidane had slid through. Eiko leapt up and scampered to join the others, not wanting them to come back and discover that the only thing on the other side to have been grabbing Zidane's tail was her. When she ran up next to them, Zidane was sitting on the ground, rubbing his sides with his sides, with his tail curled up around his body.

Vivi looked at Eiko, "Where were you?" He asked, not unkindly.

"So suspicious!" Eiko raised her nose. "You left me! I tripped and hurt my leg, and you didn't even hear me calling!"

"I'm sorry, Eiko!" Dagger said, concern in her voice. "Can you walk okay?"

"I don't know… it hurts pretty bad." She played it up.

"Zidane, can you carry her for a bit?" Dagger asked. He stood up, wincing a little, but said, "Sure."

Eiko would have felt bad for lying, especially when Zidane was the one that was probably actually a bit hurt, but she couldn't help but enjoy being carried piggyback by her hero with the soft tail along the branches of the Iifa tree.