The Second Act
Chapter 2
New Memories


By: Grand Lethal

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Final Fantasy IX!



Within the confines of the new theatre ship, a flamboyantly dressed, silver haired figure paced back and forth endlessly. He attempted to walk as lightly as possible so that the clanking of his boots against the hard wood floor would not draw attention in his direction. He was completely alone, left solely with his thoughts. He had no plan for the future, no reason to be in this place, and he found this concept quite amusing. His deep blue eyes floated about his surroundings as he unconsciously took note of what improvements could be made to the dingy atmosphere. He hated wasting time in this manner, and almost hoped someone would discover him there....just to break the monotony. Pacing again across the parked ship, he snickered at this pathetic situation.

His thoughts were broken by the sound of a thunderous applause; the only sound that had managed to make it's way through the walls of the ship all night. He rolled his eyes in annoyance. The shrill screams and claps seemed to go on forever, and he found himself mock-clapping with the blaring ruckus. Suddenly a sincere smile crept across his face as his hands continued meeting and parting with one another.

"Bravo...Zidane."


*****




Oh, the feeling of that beautiful face. So soft and tender against his hand, if not a bit moist from the sea of tears that he was brushing away. She reached up with her own dainty hands and caught his, holding it steady against her face. She closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling of his skin touching hers; a feeling she never thought she would get the chance to experience. Zidane smiled as his heart fluttered with a mixture of love and relief. He pulled her tiny body into his, and wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder, and taking in the sweet aroma of her hair.

"Tell me this isn't a dream..." He felt her warm breath whisper into his ear. He laughed silently from behind a huge smile.

"It's no dream." he squeezed her waist tighter.

The Queen Garnet led her long lost love into the Queen's quarters, where they could talk alone. She sat him down upon a gigantic satin couch, facing the fireplace. She had so many questions for him, but for now she was content simply looking at him.

"The Queen's bedroom..." Zidane smirked. "I'd wondered If I'd ever see the day...."

His Dagger smacked him playfully on the shoulder. "I see you haven't changed much!" she giggled. They both quietly chuckled, as they couldn't help but be reminded of old times.

"Dagger..." Zidane looked her in the eyes. "How have you been?"

Dagger tilted her head to the side and let out a sigh. "I don't know.....sad? maybe. I just feel.....felt.....like everything was lost...Mother, you...everything. But..." Her eyes squinted in a failed attempt to force back her tears. "But....here you are...and a big piece of me feels like it's been replaced!" He took her hand, and moved closer to her. "But I'm still...confused. It's been ....so long Zidane! Where have you been?!"

Zidane stroked her long chocolate locks. "I'm sorry" was all he could think to say. "I'm ....so sorry." He tried to comfort her as she could not seem to hold back this river of tears.

"What happened to you Zidane?" she finally inquired. "What kept you away?"

Zidane flinched, slightly hurt at the possibility that she may have thought he was away by choice. "I...I tried... I tried to hurry......" Zidane sighed, frightened at the possibility of what damage the truth might cause. Dagger looked at him quizzically, as if telling him to "go on."

"I tried.....we tried. .... walking aimlessly around that place without a map for months...no signs of life.......it was ...nearly hopeless."

Dagger stared at him wide eyed, not knowing which portion of his sentence to respond to first. She finally settled on the appropriate inquiry. "....we?"

Zidane bowed his head, and responded barely above a whisper. "Myself and....Kuja." He watched for her response.

Dagger closed her eyes and let out a long puff of air. She felt strangely unaffected by the idea that her worst enemy was still alive. Perhaps her anger was overshadowed by the fact that her greatest love was also alive. Still, she couldn't help but feel a hint of fear...

"Kuja's.....alive?"

".....Yeah." He responded somewhat hesitantly.

Dagger simply nodded in understanding. "But....I thought there was a limit on his life....I thought he was supposed to die..."

"There is...and...he will."

She could see the obvious pain in his eyes, and decided not to push the topic any further. Instead, she moved her body close to his and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head upon his torso. "Zidane.." she finally spoke, "Will you....if it's not too painful, tell me about what happened while you were gone.....it's.....it's..kinda like a void in my memory." He stared at her for a short while, wondering what she meant. "It..It's just that.." she continued, "It's just that I remember living a life in which I thought...knew.. you were dead. But you weren't dead at all, and I would like to replace those horrific memories with the truth. I want to remember it like it really happened...."

Zidane traced his memories back for a moment, to see just how much he could recall. His last memories of being in the Iifa tree, before escaping, were spotty at best. He remembered throwing his body over Kuja's, to block a barricade of severely out of control roots that were heading straight towards them. He remembered knowing that he was going to die, and he remembered the sharp crushing pain that seemed to slam into his back, right before everything went black.



Author's note: It was hard for me to decide whether or not to include the flashback in this chapter also, but I thought it would work better to make it into a whole separate chapter. That way I could post this up faster. So, anyways, the next chapter should be long. It deals with what happened within those eight months that Zidane and Kuja were gone. I'm sorry if this chapter may have been a little weak...I found it very hard to write Dagger's emotions. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up tomorrow, but it may take a little longer considering the expected length. Thanks! Please review me :-)


In the future: Kuja meets face to face with everyone.
Vivi's children are explained.
Zidane gets lucky!