Content
Author's Note
Disclaimer
Chapter 13
Author's Note
Hi there^_^
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4 (f-o-u-r!) reviews for a single chapter O.O just wow! Thanks a lot!
Welcome Shazzy! All in one night? Sounds like I did something right *smirk* But don't worry, this is far (echo: faaaaaaaaaaaar) from over! *muhaha*
BTW: My life is pretty up-side-down right now and updates might take longer for the next one or two months. But I'm not dropping the story, so stay tuned^_^
Disclaimer
Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.
Chapter 13
God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages.
J. Deval
They stayed in the embrace for several minutes, until the young woman remembered that they were not alone.
She turned a brilliant shade of red as she looked at the blond girl apologetically and greeted her properly. Or as properly as possible since Zidane - who'd simply grinned at her halfhearted attempt to get free - refused to let go of his canary completely and casually wrapped his arm around her waist.
Mikoto displayed a small smile to put the visibly embarrassed queen at ease.
"I was on my way to the Knowledge Repository... I belief its called a 'library'?"
Garnet nodded, once again realizing how new and strange all this must be for the Terran. She was always so calm that this fact was easily overlooked.
"Leila will show you the way. Doctor Tot resides in the Guest Wing, you might be able find him in the library as well. And... If there is anything you need, feel free to sent one of the servants to get it for you."
"I will, thank you for your generous hospitality." she bowed her head dignified and left with Leila, who looked more intimidated by the forgein girl than by her mistress.
"How does 'lunch in the garden' sound to you?" asked the raven haired woman sweetly as the door closed behind the two girls.
"Just the two of us?" This sounded just to good to be true.
"Just the two of us."
"No guards?" his hopeful tone made her she giggle.
"No guards closer than shouting range."
Zidane pretended to think hard, considering whether this was an acceptable limitation or not. But the smile that tucked on the corners of his mouth gave him away.
"Ahhh, all right."
She beamed at him, before sending for two maids in order to get dressed in a more 'casual' attire.
To say her dress was nice would have been an understatement.
He simply loved it. At first he'd thought she wore her old orange outfit. The top half consisted of a white blouse that allowed a nice view of her cleavage, while the lacing hugged the fabric to her slender body. Then the top merged into a free flowing skirt that - in comparison to her formal dresses - ended halfway down her calf.
"I want to show you something." Dagger whispered in his ear, her breath tingling on his skin,"Please, close your eyes."
He complied, but Garnet didn't fail to notice how his muscles tensed or the way he turned his head to every sound around them.
You could take a fighter out of the battle, but not the battle out of a fighter, she thought with a proud smile. She took his hand forthwith and started to lead him deeper into the castle gounds.
"Are we there yet?" Zidane asked again, in a fashion that was in no way inferior to Eiko's talent to be terrible annoying at times.
She shook her head at his whiny tone, well knowing he wouldn't be able to tell.
She grinned as they reached their destination and placed him under a tree, facing her, with his back the way they had just come.
"You may look now." She hoped her nervousness wasn't as obvious as she felt it to be. After her return she had used every free moment to create this place just for him, hoping he'd see it one day.
His eyes opened and looked at her in confusion while he got used to the bright sunlight. He turned as he heard the familiar movement of water against the shore, and the sweet smell of flowers.
He gasped.
Before him lay a beautiful sap-green meadow surrounded by trees. Their pink blossoms just started to open up to anyone who might see them, showering the scene with delicate petals and an inimitable delightful scent.
Cherry trees!
At least two dozen of them!
A six feet tall waterfall fed a small, crystal clear pond in the left corner. Somehow he knew that behind that natural stone wall lay Alexandria's Grand Lake, which left the city through a deep fall from the majestic Crystal Falls. They had reached the furthest end of the gardens.
"They won't be harvest-able for several moons, but I made some jam last year." Garnet said as she stepped next to him, putting a big basket on the ground.
He looked at her wide eyed, eyebrows raised dramatically.
"Hey!" she protested half irritated, half teasingly,"Don't look at me like that, I can cook."
"I didn't say anything!" he laughed and held his hands up in a pacifying pose,"I know you can, after all, you didn't scorch the water last time."
If anything, years of training had taught him one thing: 'this' was the perfect time to start running.
"You're sure, we shouldn't ask ol'Rusty to try it first?" Zidane eyed the dark red stuff she spread on the buttered bead askance.
They sat on a small blanket in the trees' shades near the water, enjoying the quiet afternoon alone.
Of course he knew her cooking skills had improved during their journey – which wasn't that hard, considering she'd never been taught in the first place. After all, a future Queen regent needed other skills.
He chuckled as he remembered how adorable Dagger had looked when she proudly presented her first self-made stew to him. She'd gone a little wild with the seasoning, but he'd had worse. After all, Tantalus was a bunch of criminals – not cooks.
"Will you hush? Here... open up." Zidane grinned at her slyly and followed her order willingly.
"Well,...?"
It really tasted great. The sweet-sour fruit pieces combined with the sugar... delicious. Nevertheless he was pleased that she seemed to have remembered that sugar was very expensive - and therefore rarely used excessively by common people - making the jam less sweet than some he'd tasted before.
"They don't call you 'Queen of Hearts' for nothing." he joked, reaching for another slice of bread, enjoying the effect his statement had on the color of her face.
"So, who taught you to make this?"
"Quina." He almost choked on his bread.
"Quina is here?"
"Quina refused to go back to Master Quale and asked to stay with the kitchen staff.
"Go figure!" he grinned.
The afternoon continued and they enjoyed their time together.
He watched how her long hair swayed graciously in the breeze, while she was apparently lost in the lazy movements of his tail.
"Will you promise me something?" she whispered thoughtfully.
"Anything." his tail didn't miss a beat in its lazy rhythm.
Anything, Dagger hesitated.
For a short moment, she was tempted to ask him to stay with her, but it would be just as wrong as to trap birds in a cage. Instead, she wanted him to be like the doves on her windowsill: free to go whereever the wind takes them and returning to her by choice.
"Do not let me forget who I truly am. Never."
He looked at her and she knew he understood.
He jumped to his feet easily and reached for her hand to pull her up as well.
She had expected him to take her into his strong arms, telling her everything would be fine. Instead, he tilted his head forwards and started fiddling with two hands behind his neck. His tongue clicked in annoyance.
"Gotcha!" he muttered triumphantly as he unhooked the clasp.
Zidane smiled at her expectantly as he held a filigree silver chain in front of her eyes. At its end dangled a circular, flat silver pendant about the size of her thumb-nail. On closer inspection she marveled at the delicate bas-reliefs. One was a fine braid decorating the rim. The one in the middle was a heart with wings. Behind it was a sword and several stumps in a circular formation – a steering wheel.
The emblem of Tantalus.
Of course she had seen the pendant before – Zidane had worn it on an old looking leather string during their journey - but never from this proximity. He'd once claimed it to be every Tantalus' greatest treasure.
Before she could muster a protest, he had already stepped closer to her and fastened the chain around her neck. The blond took a step back and admired his work.
The Pendant was 'wrong side up', allowing the 'right' people to recognize it, while others only saw a plain circle decorated by a delicate braid on the rim.
"There," he stepped closer - obviously pleased by his work - and pecked her nose,"this will remind you whenever I'm not around to do so."
Her heart dropped but she tried to cover her disappointment that his words caused with a smile.
"Unless you want me to attend the meeting after all." he tried to decipher what had suddenly darkened her mood.
"The meeting!" Garnet shrieked and tried to determine how low the sun had already sunken into the sky.
"Do you really think Steiner would allow you to miss any meeting because you are spending time with a 'scoundrel' like me?" he laughed somewhat bitterly.
She stopped her frantic search for the sun and frowned like she always did whenever she was confronted with injustice. "You know he doesn't see you like that anymore."
He shrugged. But it was still good to know who his allies were in this place.
They agreed to head back as the first dark clouds appeared on the far off horizon.
Shortly before they came in sight of the castle guards, the two slowed to a hold. Zidane encircled her slender waist with his arms and pecked her lips teasingly before pulling away. Dagger felt cheated. Instinctively her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him towards her.
This was a kiss to her liking, but it ended too early because she couldn't suppress her giggles any longer. His tail had - obviously unnoticed by its owner - snaked around her ankle and the soft tip had started to tickle her calf.
He looked at her questionably before his face adopted a sheepish expression as he removed the formerly unsupervised appendix. He busied himself by carefully fixing her hair which had become quite messy from the wind and was dotted by white and pink flower petals.
"See you later, ok?"
"Where are you going?"
"Ruby's. She said she'd had a few problems with some guests lately."
"I could sent some extra guards in the area..." the queen offered. The eccentric actress' theater and bar had become a well known location among the citizens and castle staff.
"That would eliminate her problem, but probably scare off her other guests as well." he winked at her,"Don't worry, we'll make sure they know exactly who they'll have to answer to if they continue to bother her."
Garnet had seen him fight uncountable battles but still tended to forget that he possessed a side he'd never shown her. She found it was very difficult to imagine him as a criminal.
"Oh, co'on, I know you work in your own pockets, missy." Disgusted, Ruby starred at the filthy mercenary - once again - had caused trouble among the guests and staff.
"Dont 'missy' me, mister! Am tellin' yer for da last time: stop gropin' my gals, or-"
"Or what, missy?"
"Is there a problem, Ruby?"
A well covered sigh of relief escaped her lips as the drunkard got shoved backwards by a big hand on his shoulder. The man turned and was confronted by three men. The first two - a frail looking blonde and a sassy carrot-top - didn't even have a chance to bother him, but the third, a bulky man with two pointed teeth... promised to be a worthy opponent in a brawl.
"The gentleman was about to go, maybe you boys would like to show him the way?"
"Sure thing. We wanted to have a little chat with him either way." the hulk's grin widened, effectively baring even more pointed teeth.
"He won't cause anymore problems." Zidane winked at Ruby before he followed them, tail jiggling in excitement.
Fighting monsters with a weapon was one thing; quick and easy. But using psychological warfare on someone who deserved it... he licked his lips in anticipation.
A small knock on the window glass attracted the young man's attention.
Amethyst orbs flashed in delight as they scanned the parchment's content. He smiled as the cage's doors snapped close.
This was good news indeed.
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