Hey guys, sorry about the long wait, time kinda got away from me. I couldn't believe it when i realised i haven't updated in five months. This chapter i wrote before ff12 was released and with playing that i never got the chance to put it on here. The issue with Jess and the money did actually happen in my life although when i read it i have to admit it does sound far fetched. Well anyway...r&r as always :) and the next chapter is on the way.
"Besides," Zidane grinned, "winter festival is then."
Dagger laughed.
The Royal Pendant
Dagger sighed as she opened her bedroom door and hurried down the stairs, still clad in her pyjamas with her hair tied up in a messy ponytail, to answer the door. If it was Zidane that was ringing her doorbell early in morning again she was going to kill him. What sane person sleeps in during the week and gets up early on a Saturday. As soon as she had thought this however she realised how absurd a thought it was, Zidane would never be up early on a Saturday and knocking on her door especially since they had arranged the day before for him to meet her at the centre of the shopping plaza at 11. She frowned as she reached the bottom of the stairs, who was it then?
She slid off the latch on the door and slowly opened it, pulling her dressing gown close around her against the chill of the autumn wind. The postmoogle smiled at her, "Morning little Miss, sorry to have disturbed your sleep. I have a parcel for you here, kupo, if you can just sign this for me please?" He handed her a clipboard and a pen pointing to the dotted line where her signature was required. She did as she was asked and he handed her a box that wasn't too big nor was it too small. "Thanks" she said as he turned away from the door. She carried the box into the front room, placing it onto the coffee table. She was very curious as to what could possibly be in it but decided getting dressed was the first priority and since she had quite a few more clothes than she had a few days ago thanks to Jess it took longer to decide just what she felt like wearing. Dagger shook her head; the last two days of school had been very surprising.
ThursdayDagger sighed as she once more glanced over at Zidane and Jess where they sat off to one side of the rest of the class quietly talking. They had been for sometime and the concerned and sad look on Zidane's face worried her. She watched as Zidane shook his head slowly and sighed as he murmured something. He looked up and over at Dagger who looked back questioningly as he said something she couldn't here to Jess who immediately looked over her shoulder to the other teenager. Jess nodded to Zidane, slowly stood and walked over to Dagger.
"Er Dagger can I ask a favour please?"
Dagger frowned, "Sure"
"I'm not sure if its asking a lot…it is of Zidane but he said you're better off than he…er what I'm trying to say is my mum has run up a very large bill that has to be paid today and with our financial standing at the moment she can't pay it. I don't get paid until tomorrow so I can't help out. Zidane's family isn't much better than mine at the moment what with them no longer getting money from Robert but I suspect they'll get back on there feet again soon. So I wondered if it were possible to borrow one hundred gill off of you until tomorrow"
"Of course, Jess" Dagger replied immediately.
"Really?" Jess said excitedly as she threw her arms around her before beaming over her shoulder at Zidane who sighed with relief.
"Actually, Jess, you can keep it. One hundred gill isn't really that much to me and if your financial standing is as bad as she say it is then I really can't ask for you to repay me."
"What?" Jess asked stunned, "I'm paying you back Dagger, I couldn't not."
"I'm not going to take any money off of you Jess," She replied with a smile.
Jess sighed and nodded and began to move off to her seat when Dagger called her back. "Hey, Jess, who's Robert?"
Jess hesitated before replying slowly, "Ask Zidane,"
The end of history came soon after and they were all leaving the room for break when Zidane had caught up with her again. "Hey, that was really great of you." He said softly as they left the building and followed their friends at a slower pace. "Jess was really panicky this morning, she didn't know what to do, all she could think of were her little brothers and sister."
"Why was she panicky, she had only asked you? Surely she still had Amillia, Rose and the others to ask to? If not them then Alex?"
Zidane shook his head, "It's a closely guarded secret, how much her family is struggling. But apparently she has already told you in one of her "notes"…seriously though, what do you right in those things?"
Dagger laughed, "None of your business, its girls stuff."
He frowned, "You talk about shopping?"
She laughed, "No,"
"Oh ok…so, aren't you going to miss your hundred gill?"
"No, but I am expecting a call from my parents in a few days because of it, they are able to watch my bank account and would want to know where that much money just disappeared to."
"What will you say?" he asked apprehensively.
"I'm not sure yet, but I'll think of something."
Dagger had to admit although it was a shock it was a rather pleasant shock opening the door late Friday night to find Jess outside laden with shopping bags, tons of them. Jess had wandered into the living room and dropped the bags onto the sofa,
Friday
"Repayment," she replied with a grin before quickly leaving the house again. Dagger ran to the door after her, "Jess?" Jess stopped at the end of the front garden pathway. "I'm paying you back Dagger. You said you wouldn't take any money so you can take shopping instead, and you can't try giving it back to me none of it is in my size," Jess laughed, "See you on Sunday."
"Jess wait! At least come in and go through it with me."
Jess and stopped, looked thoughtful then nodded, "Any chance I can have some hot chocolate, it's freezing out here. I think winter's coming early."
"Yeah, come on in," Dagger smiled.
Most of the stuff Jess had bought, clothes, jewellery and all, would take Dagger some getting used to, it was so different to what she usually wore. She had a feeling that most of it her parents would disapprove of but couldn't quite bring herself to care. She was very touched by the gesture and was very surprised at the recently unearthed stubborn streak in Jess.
She shook her head remembering the parcel downstairs and focused on what Jess had said matched what as she glanced out the window to the weather before once more glancing back at the clothes and making as best a judge as she could on what was most suitable.
Twenty minutes later she sat down on the leather armchair in her front room, in front of the recently cut open box, reading a letter from her grandparents. They enquired after her health and that of the young gentleman that she had brought with her to their house, who, by the way, they said they gave their blessing. They also asked how she was coping living on her own and invited her over for Christmas in advance so that they were sure to get her before she made plans with somebody else and they had to go without their favourite granddaughter. They went on to explain that they understood that she had a interest in the great legend and that she was undertaking a project with earlier mentioned boy into it and so they thought she might like to have the books she read in her early teen years about the legend close to hand.
Dagger placed the letter onto the table and pulled the box towards her. Reaching in she found that all of the books were indeed there. She stared at them in surprise. Then something occurred to her that Zidane mentioned a few days back and she spent the remainder of the time she had before she had to leave flicking through the pages of each book.
Zidane sighed, it was bloody freezing. He really should have arranged to meet with Dagger somewhere inside, with heating he thought to himself. Where was she? He had thought he was going to be late but apparently it didn't matter.
"Zidane!" Dagger called from somewhere behind him. He turned round to find her approaching from the opposite side of the square rummaging through her bag for something. She brought out a book and opened it to the relevant page before handing it to him.
Slightly confused, Zidane read the title. "The royal pendant? I thought you said it was in a book you read at your grandparents?"
"It was. They sent me this book and a load of others through the post this morning."
Zidane nodded as he looked back down at the page and continued to read. "Seems like that pendant was pretty important to just be an heirloom."
"Maybe," Dagger said thoughtfully, frowning slightly. "Come on, let's go"
Zidane nodded and fell into step with her as they left the shopping plaza and headed off to the residential palace of Lindblum to see an old friend of Zidane's, the regent.
Zidane frowned, "Hey Dagger? Are those new clothes?"
"Yeah, Jess bought them as repayment…What do you think?" She asked uncertainly. They came to a halt.
He looked at her thoughtfully before coming to a decision that he relayed to her in a slow and wary voice, "It's different."
Dagger frowned worriedly, hastily asking, "Good different? I'm really not too confident about Jess's tastes. I'm pretty sure I've never seen her wearing anything like this."
Zidane shook his head with a small smile, "You look great, Dagger. You always look great." His smile faded and his tail moved agitatedly behind him as he hurriedly continued "– I mean … I…" He sighed, nodded and looked her directly in the eye, "That's exactly what I mean."
Dagger found herself blushing, just as she did a few weeks earlier, and yet instead of looking away, which was her first instinct she found herself searching his eyes for sincerity and when she found it she blushed a little deeper.
"Come on, it's freezing," Zidane whined, "Let's go."
Dagger nodded and they set off for the gates of the residential palace of Lindblum.
They walked down the red carpeted hallway in silence, Dagger with a thoughtful frown and Zidane with a sheepish smile and an air of expectancy about him.
Then…
"Zidane!?" Dagger said suddenly as she looked at the boy next to her in disbelief, "Are all those stories true?"
Zidane nodded hesitantly, running a hand through his hair, "afraid so."
"The headmaster and Regent must be very happy that you don't seem to be causing that kind of trouble this year." She shook her head.
"Yeah," he replied, "The head said it's down to you and this project. Shame there will be no turning back to normal after, this being our last year at school and all."
"Well, there is something to be happy about, I suppose. We now know the exact date that Lindblum was practically destroyed."
"And the date at which it was rebuilt," Zidane said with a nod.
"What next?" She asked looking at him for his answer.
"What did you say? Dali and Treno? Well they are close to each other aren't they; couldn't we do them in the same trip?"
"Yeah they are relatively close I guess. It might take longer than you think though; I hear Treno has a large library."
"Yeah, it was built about ten years back now I think."
Dagger nodded, "How about we take a visit to both places during the October break? That would give us a week."
Zidane winced slightly, "We can't. I'm going on holiday with my family for the week. It's kind of tradition."
"Oh?" There was a great amount of interest in her voice but it didn't totally mask the disappointment that was there also. "Where are you going?"
Zidane shrugged, "Not sure, actually. Mum did mention going to a town called Black Mage Village, my aunt Ethereal loves it there. She also said something about going to Ash bay in-"
" Alexandria." Dagger finished with a smile and a nod, "Yeah. I've been there. When I was about eight I think."
They exited the castle and walked down the broad streets to the market plaza near Zidane's house.
He glanced round, "Oh! Er…would you like to come to my house? I'm sure Middy would be glad to see you." He asked after realising where they were.
"Sure. I wouldn't mind a talk with your mother either."
He frowned, "What? Why?"
Dagger shrugged nonchalantly, "She's very interesting and gives excellent advice."
"What do you need advice on?" he asked slightly incredulously.
"Girls business," Dagger replied with a smile.
Zidane raised an eyebrow before hesitantly asking, "Shopping?"
"No!" She exclaimed laughing, "there really is more to girls than shopping. Really!"
They stepped inside the front door of his house and hung up there coats. They heard Mrs Ryan's voice from the kitchen, "Middy, go see who's just arrived." Zidane shook his head, his mother knew it was him; he was the only one who wasn't in.
"Ziddy!" Midnight squealed. She charged down the corridor knocking the shelving unit that stood against the stairs. A miniature statue fell and broke into a million pieces on the wooden floor. Midnight turned, looking sheepish and their mum appeared at the kitchen door way, hands on hips and shaking her head, "Third one this month, I really ought to move them. By the way Zidane a few of your friends came round for you earlier. Said they might pop back in later."
"Ok, who was it-"
"Zid lad, how did it go?" His father's voice came from the front room. Zidane motioned for Dagger to follow him as he entered the room and took a seat on the sofa.
"It went okay I guess." Zidane said nodding slightly.
"Ah, Dagger, it's good to see you again. With you around I know he isn't getting into trouble."
"Middy?" Mrs Ryan called down the corridor, "Your dinner is ready."
"But mum I wanna talk ta Ziddy's girlfwend." Midnight called back as she dutifully left the room.
Zidane returned his gaze to his father who was now giving him a calculating look. There will be no staying in his room alone with Dagger while his father was home anymore, he thought, why on earth didn't they deny it?
Dagger shifted in her seat uncomfortably before standing, "Erm, I'm going to go help in the kitchen." She said as she hurried out the room.
Mr Ryan raised a querying eyebrow at his son who hastily explained the situation. By the time he was finished Mrs Ryan was calling them for dinner.
Zidane yawned as he began to climb the stairs, Dagger right behind him. He wasn't even on the fourth stair when the doorbell rang.
Dagger watched amused as he turned on the spot and stared at the door. "Zid, lad, the door's not going to answer itself," his father told him as he made his way into the front room, newspaper in hand.
Zidane shook his head and went to answer the door only to find a grinning Jess, Alex and Emma the other side.
"Hey guys, my mum said you came by," Zidane murmured before stepping to one side and letting them in.
"Hey Dag! We heard Zidane was out with you this morning. You look great," Emma said as she caught sight of the other teenager still standing on the stairs.
"Hey, thanks. So what have you guys been up to?" Dagger asked as she made her way down the stairs to stand in the hallway with them.
"Well we came round for Zidane at about one," Jess said consulting her watch, "and when he turned out not to be here we went down to the coffee house in the food district and then," she pulled a face, "the burger bar,"
"Hey, you got to go to the coffee house so it was only fair that I got to go to the burger bar." Alex replied casually.
"Right, well, are you guys gonna stand in the doorway all night or are you coming in?" Zidane called over his shoulder as he turned and made his way up the stairs followed closely by Dagger.
"We're coming!" Emma called and hurriedly ran up the stairs behind them leaving Alex and Jess to close the door.
"I don't like coffee," Alex said.
"Me neither," Zidane replied, although he had dragged the guys to the coffee house many times himself, "but they have the nicest bagels there."
"The bagels are nice," Jess said, "but I go for the coffee."
"I go for the cute guy, you know, the lead singer of the band that play there." Emma smiled dreamily.
"Really!?" Jess said sarcastically, "You've never mentioned him before."
"I'm guessing she never shuts up about him?" Dagger asked, speaking for the first time in this conversation which had been surprisingly a long one considering they were only talking about a coffee house.
"She talks about him a lot, but considering that you haven't heard of him yet maybe not as much as we thought." Alex replied calmly.
Jess stood up, "We really should be leaving, it's half ten, can you believe it?"
The others exchanged looks of surprise. "I should be going too then," Dagger stood from where she sat on the floor back against Zidane's wardrobe.
Zidane was also climbing to his feet when Jess stopped him, "Oh don't worry Zidane, we'll walk Dagger home. There's no point in you walking all the way to her house and then have to walk home on your own is there?"
Zidane nodded smiling his thanks but he couldn't help feeling a little bit disappointed. He had taken to kissing Dagger on the cheek whenever he had to say goodbye to her. He didn't know whether it was to cover the first one that he had done unintentionally or just because he liked doing it. He didn't however kiss her on the cheek when they were in company he didn't even hug her then. He would miss not kissing her tonight although he was certain she thought it was purely platonic.
"Right well, I'll see you guys" He climbed the remainder of the way to his feet.
"Oh Zid," Alex stopped at the door and turned to him, "We're all hanging out tomorrow, dunno where yet, you joining us?"
Zidane shook his head, "Can't man, I told you on Friday that I have to look after Middy, my parents are going shopping for her birthday. I can give you a call when they get back though."
"When's Midnight's birthday, again, I could have sworn it's still months away?" Jess asked.
"Third of November, twenty days before mine, you know that." He looked down at his watch, "Exactly a month away actually." They began to file out of his bedroom and down the stairs, "My parents always buy the presents a month early so that she doesn't know they've got them."
The group said their goodbyes to Zidane at the door and he watched them go until they were out of sight. Closing the door gently behind him he turned and ran back up the stairs to his room.