A Tale of Two Tails
by: Kitty Kisara
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX, but I do own Jetta. Anything in this story that even remotely resembles anything copyrighted is purely coincidental, so please don't sue me! K, with that said, read on and review after! Thanx! Ja!
Zidane sat backwards in a chair leaning onto the windowsill, gazing out the window of the inn, longing for answers. Vivi, Steiner, and Dagger were all outside, doing whatever black mages, knights, and princesses do. He sighed. 'They all know who they are, know where they belong. They live with other people that look like them.' Zidane grasped his monkey-like tail in his gloved hand. 'But me, I don't belong anywhere.' He let his tail go, wrapping it around a leg of the chair for balance.
He sighed again and ran his hand through his blond hair, stopping to look at a lock of it. 'My hair looks like everyone else's, my eyes, ALL of me, except for.....' He sighed a third time and leaned on the windowsill, resting his folded arms on it and placing his head on them comfortably. He watched the townspeople scurry about outside, feeling an even worse sense of saddness. He heard quiet footsteps behind him, but he didn't move, expecting it to be one of the three travellers, when.....
"Meoww!" A cat jumped up to the windowsill, staring at a slightly startled Zidane. He smiled, pushing his sad thoughts aside, and patted the cat. It purred, grateful for attention. Zidane rested his head back on his arms to resume his thoughts. The cat, however,must have sensed his mood and was determined to prevent him from sulking. It rubbed its head against his cheek, making Zidane laugh. The cat looked at him, its yellow eyes boring into his blue ones, searching his soul. 'Maybe this cat has answers,' He thought jokingly.
Jetta walked hurriedly through the crowded streets of the busy city of Lindblum. She had five deliveries to make in an hour, each destination in a totally different part of the city. She sighed frustratingly and glanced at her watch. "I have NO time to be stuck in this crowd!" She bursted out in a run, clutching two small packages in each hand and grasping the fifth in her fluffy, white tail....
She manuevered through the crowd, ducking under men carrying pots. She leaped onto the low-hanging roof of a shop and climbed up a drain pipe. She reached the top, hearing shouts of "WATCH IT, YOU FREAK!!!" She smirked and laughed at the comment. She knew she shouldn't, but she couldn't resist...
"I'M A FREAK? YOU'RE THE ONE WITH A HUGE NOSE!!"
The man was furious. "WHY, YOU LITTLE-"
"See ya!" She waved and laughed, continuing on her journey across the rooftops, leaving the man fuming on the ground below.
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Zidane stepped out of the enormous castle to go explore the city. He searched around, buying things he thought were necessary to continue on. He stumbled across a fairly-new looking building with a large banner draped above the doorway. "'Bratelle's Delivery'? I've never heard of this before...." his curiosity got the better of him and he entered the building. There was one counter and some chairs around it, and a tall figure with waist-length, blond hair was facing away from him, rummaging through bags. The door closed behind him, a small bell sounding at the door's impact. The figure spun around to reveal a very tall girl, wearing white and red garments. She smiled. "Welcome to Bratelle's Delivery! How can I help you?"
Zidane smiled and shook his head. "No thanks, I don't need anything. Just looking around."
She nodded politely and disappeared through the door behind the counter. Zidane gave a wry smile and sat in a chair by the entrance to rest for a minute.
People hustled through the street outside the door, living their lives. Zidane sighed, feeling a strange sense of contentedness. The door behind the counter flew open, and a girl with brownish-red hair dashed past him, accidently bumping into Zidane, causing him to hit a package propped on a stool. The cargo slamed to the ground with a thud. Zidane looked up from his sprawled position on the floor, stunned. He became self-concious of his tail and tried his best to hide it. "I-I-I'm sorry..."
The girl tossed her hair back and pulled him to his feet. "Don't worry, just hope Bratelle didn't hear-"
"JETTA!!! What was that?!" Bratelle roared.
Jetta flinched. "N-Nothing!" The door swung open, Bratelle appearing open-mouthed. "Why is that package on the ground?"
"Uh, I did it! I'm sorry! Ya know how I'm such a klutz!" Bratelle's expression twisted in anger. "How could you be so clumsy?! It could have-"
A whistle sounded and Jetta smiled nervously. "Whoa, look at the time! Gotta go tah lunch, see ya later!" Jetta waved and dragged Zidane out the shop before Bratelle could protest. The two ran a good ways down the street before stopping at a small restaurant. Jetta motioned for Zidane to sit down at one of the tables set up outside. Zidane caught his breath. She smiled. "Sorry about that, Bratelle's nuts, and I didn't want her to get suspicious of you. Aaaaanyway, my name's Jetta." She extended her hand, wearing a watch and two silver bracelets. "I'm Zidane." He shook her hand with his gloved one and laughed. "I'm the one who should be apologizing! It was my fault in the first place!" She smiled and nodded. "Well, that _is_ true!" He laughed.
"Hey, since we're here.... you hungry?" she asked him, her dark green eyes lighting up with excitement.
"Uh... sure, I guess... I am hungry...." She smiled and stood up.
"Great! I'm starved! Let's go!"
"But, aren't we already here?"
She shook her head. "C'mon, trust me!"
"O...k..." Jetta led Zidane to the side of the building into a back alley.
"Stay here for a sec." Zidane nodded and watched as she climbed up a small pipe onto the roof. He noticed she wore a light blue shirt, sightly ripped, with faded dark blue flare jeans with pockets on the sides. Around her waist was a strange fuzzy white belt. Her hair fell around her face, outlining it, with white and black beads tying up her bangs and one lock that sat on her shoulder; the rest of her hair mid-back length. Zidane smiled. 'She's cute....' An image of Garnet flashed through his mind and he sighed. 'But Dagger....'
"PSST! Zidane!! Climb up!" Jetta's whispered intructions abruptly ended his thoughts. He nodded to her and climbed to the top. He found Jetta there, kneeling next to an open window. "Whaddya like? I'll get it for ya!" He looked down at a kitchen, people buzzing about. "Uh, I don't care-"
"Fish? Meat? Salad? Anything?"
"Whatever you get, I guess-" She smiled and slowly slipped inside through the window. Zidane watched as she stealthily slinked around the kitchen, grabbing some food here and there, and eventually returned to the open window.
"Hang on, I'm comin'!" Jetta placed the food neatly into a bag and slunked it over her shoulder. She ducked as a person walked by. She checked the scene and quietly climbed onto a table. Zidane looked on, and was appalled at what he saw next...
Jetta unraveled her tail from around her waist and gripped the bag with it, heaving herself up and out just as someone walked in, totally missing her.
She laughed and sat down on the roof, taking out the food she'd just stolen.
Zidane stood there, dumfounded, and pointing. She looked up at him. "Whatsa matter? Never seen a tail before?" She sounded slightly insulted.
Zidane nodded, still in shock. She raised an eyebrow. "Then, what?"
He grabbed his own tail and presented it. She froze, eyes wide, and took her own tail into her hands. She looked at one to the other, then at Zidane, who was gazing in disbelief. Jetta was the first to speak.
"I thought- I thought I was the only human in this world that had a tail..."
"Me too...." They examined each other's tail, both noticing how Jetta's was white and cat-like while Zidane's was light-tan and monkey-like. Her dark green eyes met his blue ones, gazing questionably...
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"I thought that was a belt!" Zidane said after the initial shock of the recent discovery. The two sat across from each other on the roof, munching on their 'lifted food, discussing the event.
"You hid your tail pretty good; I didn't even notice it." She smiled, tail slowly swaying back and forth intently.
The two ate in silence for a few moments, oblivious to the slowly setting sun....
Zidane jumped up, coughing. "What time is it?!"
Jetta glanced at her watch, confused. "Five, why?" Zidane's eyes grew wide.
"I gotta go!" He stuffed his half-eaten sandwich in a paper bag. Terra stood up half-heartedly. She really wanted to talk....
"Zidane, can we meet again somewhere? I wanna chance to talk some more-"
"Um... meet me here at 12 tomorrow." Jetta smiled.
"K! See ya tomorrow then!" Zidane smiled, slinging the bag over his shoulder. "Thanks for lunch!" he called over his shoulder. Jetta smiled to herself, a sense of warmth surrounding her. He was alot like her, so far at least....and not to mention really cute...She shook her head to snap back to reality. 'What am I
thinking? He may not even show up tomorrow....then again, he did suggest the time....' She shivered. The sun was barely visible over the tall Lindblum buildings, but the sky was shades of purple and pink and twilight, meshing together perfectly. It was growing colder by the minute. She wrapped her tail around her partially-bare belly and slid down the drainpipe to the crowded streets below.
Zidane tip-toed into the immense Lindblum castle, half focused on finding his way back to his room, half daydreaming about the cat girl he'd just met....
"Zidane?"
Zidane snapped back to reality to find Vivi standing before him.
"Oh, hey Vivi. What's up?"
"Um, you've been gone awhile, and Dagger's been really worried-"
Zidane froze and smiled weakly. "Oh, she's been thinking about me, huh?"
Vivi sighed. "Zidane-"
"Don't worry about it, Vivi! I can handle her!"
Vivi shook his head and walked past Zidane. "See ya in the morning, Zidane."
"K." Zidane quietly made his way down the hallway, checking each room to find his own, when he came across two large, intricate-looking doors. He silently pushed a door open to reveal a large room with a balcony overlooking the city. A dim light shone over a crescent-shaped bed, draped with fine purple silks and covered in lilac sheets. Zidane crept over to the bed, only to find it uninhabitated. He walked over to the balcony, feeling a zepher of wind tickle his nose. He saw the glass door opened just slightly, and decided to check out the view. The door slid open with ease, and a breath-taking sight of the bustling city awaited him. Zidane grinned and turned to enter the room when something caught his eye. At the very corner of the balcony was a small hole covered mostly by a concrete-colored rug. He moved the rug over to reveal a hidden passageway continuing down. The moonlight streamed into the shaft and Zidane couldn't help but check it out. He crawled into the cramped space and slid down the descending ladder. He hit the floor with a thud and peered around. He seemed to be in a large room, but it was pitch black except for the moonlit ladder before him. He stumbled aimlessly around, feeling nothing at all, and before long, he felt his nose hit wall. He winced in pain, but felt along the wall to find a switch. Flipping on the switch, he watched as the room flooded with light, revealing a sort of living quarters. He looked around to see a cot, a small put-out fire in the middle of the room, and a comfortable-looking made-up bed with sleeping figure turned to the side...
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Ooo! Cliffhanger! AH! What's gonna happen?! LOL keep an eye out 4 chapter 2! Plz review, I gotta hear what u think about da story so far!
Ja!
~Kisara~
^_~