Chapter 20

The Decision

We were chasing after Kuja on the Blue Narcissa, the waves crashing on the side of the ship. I was holding Garnet in my arms, staring intently at Kuja's ship. "He's landing!" Blank yelled. The Hildagarde landed in a small place that was familiar to me. It was Esto Gaza, and the hunk of towering rock next to it was Mount Gulug. I gritted my teeth. When the Blue Narcissa hit the land, Zidane, Vivi, and I quickly flooded out. The others slowly followed us. The three of us sprinted towards the blue colored plaza. A man in a blue and white robe stopped up, and told us not to run in this sacred place.

"Have you seen a man walk by here?" Zidane asked.

"Yes, a man and some of that mage's kind walked by here a little while ago," the priest said. "He walked toward Mount Gulug. Zidane ran off toward the large mountain that the priest pointed toward. I followed him, but he stopped me.

"You can't do this alone," I told him.

"He's right," Vivi said.

"But, Leo, look at yourself," Zidane told me. I looked at my hands and saw my knuckles and arms with bruises and cuts. Blood dripped down my arms and fell onto the ground. "Relax and get bandaged up. We'll take care of Kuja. I wan't to kill him as much as you do, but we'll do that one day, but we have to wait. Our main goal right now is to rescue Eiko, and then we'll see what happens to Kuja."

"Your right. I was letting my anger get the best of me." I made a fist and nodded. "Good luck, and find Eiko," I told him.

"Thanks. Garnet, can you take care of Leo really fast?" Zidane asked. Garnet nodded and I walked back to the ship. Garnet took me to the room underneath the deck where I sat on a chair while she took out a kit of medicine.

She slowly applied the potion to my arm and I winced. As my fist loosened, Garnet continued to apply to potion. As she bandaged up my arm, and I smiled. "You know, this is like the first time we met," she wrote.

"Yup," I replied. As she finished up bandaging my arm, she stretch.

"Thanks, for earlier," she wrote.

"No problem. Anything for you," I said. She pecked my lips and we walked up to the dock. Garnet walked up and out of the ship and to Zidane and everyone else. I waved to her as she walked away and sat on the railing on the deck, looking out at the sea.

"Isn't it amazing?" I asked.

"What? The excessively large lake?" Blank asked.

"You got it. The sea's amazing. All my life I always dreamed of grand adventures. Adventures that ranged from sailing all the seas, discovering new worlds, traversing all of the deserts and snow caps in every world. Going places where no one has set foot on!" I said, starting across the sea.

"I know how you feel," Blank said, coming over and leaning on the railing. "I always felt like that when I was a kid. Then I joined Tantalus hoping to find that adventure, and I sort of did."

We sat there for a moment and Blank quickly broke the silence.

"So what happened back there in the desert?"

"Not much," I said. "We went into Kuja's base, i was held captive in his hall while I watched him basically torture Garnet after beating me to within an inch of my life."

"That must have sucked. Having the one you love the most put through pain they don't have any choice over."

"Yeah," I replied, reliving the moments and shuddering. "But then, I saved her. I kind of went into trance and almost killed Kuja."

"Sweet, dude," he said.

"You said Trance?" Cid asked.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

He muttered for a while and snapped his fingers. "Your body is becoming one with Gaia. You're becoming Gaian," he told me.

"Really?" He nodded. I sat there on the banister, staring up into the sky.

"Did you give any though about what you're going to do after all this is over?" Blank asked.

"For real?" He nodded. "Well, I guess I planned on staying with Garnet. She's my life, my everything. But then there's the fact that she's royalty, so I don't know if she's want me as a partner or husband."

Blank nodded to himself. "But, you never know," he said. He shrugged. I sat there, looking down at my hands, thinking about what I was going to do. As my mind wandered, I sensed that something was wrong. I looked towards the dormant volcano.

"What's wrong?" Blank asked.

"I don't know," I mumbled. I grabbed my sword from below the deck and jumped off. I sprinted toward Esto Gaza, despite the efforts to stop me from Blank and Cid. I ran past the priest and to Mount Gulug. I jumped down the broken, wooden stairs and across the roof tops. I finally arrived in the large, central opening of the town, and saw Zidane, Vivi, Amarant, Quina, and Garnet standing there by a building. I began to sprint towards them, my lungs killing me. When I was three houses away, a large hunk of rock appeared in the sky and rocketed toward the ground. When it hit the ground, there was a large explosion. The smoke cleared after a second or two, and I saw Kuja running away, laughing maniacally. I jumped over the ground, and saw Garnet look up. I unsheathed my sword and brought it down near Kuja.

"You're not getting away!" I said, pointing my sword at his throat.

"You are not even in a good enough condition to kill me!" he yelled, still laughing.

"No, I'm not, but I can do this!" I yelled, driving the sword into his leg. His screams of pain echoed through the empty volcano and I smiled. I continued slicing at his arms and legs. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Garnet! And everyone else too! I've gone through two years of nothing but a crappy life, and when I finally found someone I can love," I began, feeling even more adrenaline rush through me. "This life will not be ruined by you!" I said, stabbing his leg once more. I looked down at his face splattered with blood. He chuckled.

"You pathetic, stupid child." He kicked me out of the way. "Do you think a couple of holes through my legs will prevent me from becoming a god?! NO!" He planted his foot directly in my stomach and I coughed up blood. Next time we meet, I will be the one to kill you. I promise that I will make it painful and long!" Kuja laughed as he walked toward the airship he stole. I got up and cursed under my breath.

"Garnet, get Leo out of here, now!" Zidane yelled. "He can't fight." Garnet nodded and grabbed my arm. She looked deep into my eyes and I sensed her worry for me. I nodded and ran up to the ship with her. Before Zidane and the group were out of my sight, I saw a demonic looking monster. It had Zorn and Thorn's colors, but their faces were formed together like molten wax. I looked away and followed Garnet the rest of the way up.

"Why did you do that?!" Garnet wrote.

"You know about that girl I told you about when we were in Black Mage Village?"

"Yes."

"I thought it was love when I saw here, but I was wrong. This is love. You're my love," I told her, hugging her. She put her arms around me and smiled.

"I love you too."

"Anyway, you've had a hectic day," I told her. "Get some rest." She nodded and laid down in one of the beds. I quietly went onto the deck where Zidane and everyone was walking back, including Hilda. She was in a yellow colored dress and looked like a queen, even though she wasn't in her kingdom.

"Hilda?!" Cid exclaimed. He ran to her and jumped into her arms. They hugged and snuggled a little bit while they all walked onto the ship. I jumped up to the highest point of the roof and lay on my back, looking up into the stars. I had finally made my decision. Blank took the wheel while everyone walked down below deck and got acquainted. I lay there, listening to the rolling of the waves, quickly falling asleep.

I sat there, looking into the large, open lake behind the Alexandrian castle. My right leg was in the lake, the water splashing up against my bare ankle. This day was peaceful. I felt my chest where Soul Cage had stabbed me, and the places where Beatrix cut me open. The wind blew my hair away from my eyes and I began to stand up. I put on my shoe and turned around to see Zidane running down the path leading to the lake.

"Hey," he said to me.

"Hey."

"Have you talked to Garnet at all? When we arrived back, you asked Blank to give you a ride back here, and then that was the last we heard of you."

"Sorry, I haven't," I said.

"Cid told me. About your worries," he said, grabbing my arm. I jerked my arm out of his grasp and walked a couple steps away.

"You don't understand."

""Don't understand what?! The feeling of loss you have felt?! I've felt that. Both of my parents were taken away from me. I understand what it feels like to lose a loved one!" Zidane yelled. I slowly walked away. I heard Zidane's footsteps and felt his arm on my shoulder. He spun me around and slammed his fist into my face. I stood there, and didn't move. "Do you really want to live a life without the person you love?! If you don't go talk to her, you'll hate yourself!"

"But-"

"Garnet is crazy about you! Don't you feel the same way?!"

"I do, but-"

"Then go, tell her. She's probably crushed because you vanished without a word. And here," he said, tossing me a stone. I turned it over in my hand.

"Thanks," Zidane. "I'm not going to hate myself anymore." I sprinted toward Brahne's grave.

When I arrived, I saw Garnet kneeling at her mother's grave. She heard my foot steps and turned around.

"Listen, Garnet. I want to tell you something, so just hear me out. I'm sorry for just disappearing like that. The truth is, I was just worried that you wouldn't be in love with me since you're royalty and I'm nothing special. The truth about how I feel is that I want to spend every moment of my life with you. I want to hold you in my arms and just tell you over and over again how beautiful you are and how much I love you. I want to wake up to you next to me every day, and I want to end everyday with you next to me." I slowly walked up to her and held her hands in mine. "Queen Garnet Til Alexandros XVII, will you give me the honor of marrying me?" She stared into my eyes, tears forming in hers.

A smile spread across her face. "Of course," she said. "Did you even have to ask? I'd marry you whenever!" She threw her arms around me and pushed her lips to mine.

"Sorry I don't have a ring, but here," I told her, handing her the stone. "It's a Garnet. You're as nice as that stone, and as beautiful as that stone. The moment I saw you, I was entranced, just as the viewers of the stone are."

"It's fine," she said, staring down at the stone, smiling. "Hey, could I use your sword?" I handed her my sword and she held it up to the back of her hair. Her hair fell into the water and drifted into the wind. She turned around, her short hair blowing in the wind. "How do I look?" she asked. I stood there, saying nothing, just staring. "Guess that means I look good?"

I blushed and she handed me my sword back. She kissed me again and we walked toward the airship dock.