Unimportant Details

The theater ship finally arrived the day before the play. Everyone made a big deal about it, because even though airships had become more familiar in Queen Garnet's reign than they were during her mother's, they were still a spectacular sight for the locals.

It had been a long time, Blank reflected, since he had seen his fellow Tantalus brothers—aside from Zidane, of course. He realized he had missed them. He remembered all the times Zidane had left the band, wondering if this was how he had felt every time.

But despite the nostalgia, he was still hesitant about going to the castle. Because he still had absolutely no idea about what he was going to do about one particular someone. He couldn't ignore her forever. Why did this have to be so damn complicated?

****

The Prima Vista 2 was very similar to its predecessor, the first Prima Vista, except for the fact that it ran on a steam engine rather than a Mist engine (obviously, there was no Mist anymore) and ran a lot faster. Blank had been on it before, but that had been two years ago. He let thoughts wander as he took a private tour to reacquaint himself with it.

He'd be flying on it again, probably tomorrow. Back to Lindblum. Yes, it had been a while. He was willing to bet that the place had changed since his last visit.

He hesitated as he thought he heard a sound. Where was it coming from? His eyes alighted on a storage closet. There it was again. Blank approached it as slowly as possible. Maybe a moogle had gotten stuck in there… that kind of thing happened to moogles all the time. He pulled on the door handle…

There was a shriek—but whoever it was cut themselves off right away. Those green-blue eyes were all too familiar.

"What the hell are you doing here, Princess?" he hissed through his teeth.

"Me? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I happen to work here, in case you forgot. Whereas you are trespassing."

"I just wanted a closer look. And I thought the place was empty."

"And just why were you hiding in a closet?"

"That's… not your business."

"Why not?"

"Okay, fine. I was hiding from Fabius."

"Hide-and-seek, huh?"

She gave him a shove. "You're awful."

"Somebody's short tempered."

"Well, you caught me off-guard."

"I could say the same to you."

Her gaze fell to the floor. "This wasn't how it was supposed to happen."

"How what was supposed to happen?"

"I was supposed to have everything worked out, and have everything I wanted to say planned out. But you had to go and catch me off-guard, like always. And… I'm still not sure what to say."

"You certainly don't make it easy when you stow away on other peoples' airships. You caught me off-guard…" The joking attitude disappeared. "I think I know what to say, but… I just don't know how to say it. Because it's crazy, and it's backwards, and it's everything else. I've tried to forget about it, but I can't do it. I can't."

"W-What can't you forget?" She sounded like she could hardly dare to believe what she was hearing.

"…You."

He didn't remember moving so close, but close they were. He could hear her heart beating as forcefully as his own. Time stood suspended, waiting for the pin to drop.

And then he kissed her.

****

It was like getting caught in a whirlwind, an earthquake, and a tidal wave all in the same moment. Eiko couldn't decide if it was the whole world spinning or if it were just her head. So this was what it felt like… No longer a bystander hidden from view, but an active participant standing in the limelight. It was nothing like she imagined it. It was a thousand times better.

****

Blank wasn't a stranger to these things. He'd been through this dance more than once. He knew what to expect.

Except that this was totally different. It was like an energy surge, like a pending explosion. Except that unlike an explosion, wasn't volatile. It blew his mind away.

****

After an eternity, they finally broke apart. Neither of them seemed able to speak.

Suddenly Blank started laughing. Eiko stared. "What's so funny?"

"It's just ironic on so many levels… I mean, this whole thing happened because of a couple of accidents, right? It's just… how the hell do you get a good thing out of a handful of mistakes?"

Now that she thought about it, it was funny. Or maybe it was just an after-effect of the euphoria. Either way, she joined in with Blank's laughter until both of had slumped to the floor with tears in their eyes.

There was a silence as they sat there, gasping for breath. Blank looked her in the face. "You're something else, Princess."

She stuck her tongue out. "Will you stop calling me that?"

He just grinned.

"Oh, shut up."

"I never said a word."

She couldn't think of a comeback, so she just let things lapse into silence. She looked into his face, and found herself incapable of looking away. He was smiling at her with a smile that seemed to transform his face.

"Can I ask you something?" she said after a while.

"You just did."

"Why do you wear that thing on your head?"

"What? This?" he asked, tapping the leather headband. "Well…" he began thoughtfully. "Truth be told, it started when Marcus told me my head would fall off if I didn't strap something to it."

"You're pulling my leg."

"I wouldn't lie to you," Blank said with surprising sincerity. As Eiko flushed, he added, "I guess I can't really blame you for being skeptical, though."

Eiko shook her head. "Just how old were you when this happened?"

"Not important, Princess. We were kids, give me a break," he returned somewhat defensively.

She couldn't resist winding him up, especially after the princess comment. "So what's your excuse now?" She asked playfully.

"I guess I don't really have an excuse. It just sort of became a habit. And then it became a personal thing. You're not the first one to think it's weird..."

"I never said that!"

He looked at her with those deep brown eyes. "No," he agreed, "I guess you didn't. Well… My thinking is this: Anyone who has a problem with it can shove their asses up a pole. The people who truly care won't care about unimportant details."

She took a moment to absorb that. "And… you don't care?"

"About the unimportant details? No. About what's important? Yes." He reached out and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.

" 'Asses up a pole…' don't forget you're in the presence of a lady."

"The same lady who sneaks out of bed after hours, runs into people without paying attention, and goes around kissing thieves." He finally stood up and offered her his hand.

"Touché," she replied as he helped her up. But neither of them let go. "Blank…"

"Lady Eiko?" came a voice.

"Shit!" she hissed, looking about her. "I have to go. I…"

"Don't worry about it. Just go," said Blank.

Eiko hesitated. "I—"

"Lady Eiko!"

"Damn it!" She took off full speed to her left.

****

So much for ladylike Blank thought with a slight grin. Yes, she was definitely something else. His musings were broken off by a puffing soldier of Lindblum.

Fabius noticed him standing there. "Ah, excuse me sir… did you happen to see a young lady with purple hair go by here?

"Yeah, I did, actually," Blank replied. "She went that way." He pointed to the right.

"Thank you, sir," said Fabius. "I appreciate it." He ran off… in the opposite direction Eiko had gone.

The smile still hadn't completely worn off yet.

Were there difficulties ahead? Most likely. But difficulties were just unimportant details.

He paused as something on the floor caught his eye. He picked it up and looked it over. It was a ribbon. At one point, it had been a vibrant pink, but time had faded it. Eiko must have dropped it. Blank pocketed it.