Chp.4
Brother's Relating
Disclaimer: Once again...I own nothing from Final Fantasy 9!
Note: I seperated the present tense and the flashbacks with astriks. (****)
Also, sorry it took so long. This part has a lot of dialogue, and I found it kind of difficult to write. I hope the next part will be up sooner.....but that all depends on reviews!!!!
Dagger's head rested comfortably against her love. Yes, she was tired, but she dared not fall asleep in the midst of his miraculous tale. She felt her mind being filled with memories in which she never had...until now. She wanted every detail. Every ounce of dialog that was muttered, every beast that was fought, ...every turn that was made, be it physically or metaphorically, along his journey.
Zidane spoke slowly, and sometimes strained, as he tried to recall the previous events. Dagger just seemed to know when he would skip something, and beg him to fill in that portion. He stopped for a moment, pondering some detail, when his beautiful Dagger, for the first time in over an hour, spoke.
"Zidane..." she asked questioningly.
"Yeah?" he responded, glancing down at her.
"I just have to know......what was it like traveling with Kuja?"
Zidane giggled slightly at the question, before pondering a proper response. What was it like traveling with Kuja? Zidane scratched his head, contemplating how to answer such a question.
"Well...." he finally spoke, ".....we bickered a lot....."
********
The cool night air was upon them, as Zidane dragged his wounded brother back to camp.
"Now you see what happens when you only use magic?!" Zidane scolded. "Someone silences you, and your useless!"
Kuja huffed at the comment, and pulled free of his brother as they crawled into the tent. He laid his body down, crossed his legs, and rested his hands behind his head with a smirk on his face. Zidane just looked down upon him, shaking his head.
"You know your gonna have to learn physical attacks sooner or later...." He moaned.
Kuja just rolled his eyes. "I attacked that beast just as much as you did!" he retorted, with a childish air of defense in his voice.
"Ha!" laughed the other. "You didn't even have a weapon!.." Zidane began laughing harder.. "You slapped that dragon!.....you slapped it!" Zidane was now near hysterics, brought about by the memory of the fight.
"At.....At least your good for adding some humor to this situation!." He finally rationalized, after catching his breath.
Kuja narrowed his eyes, obviously annoyed by his brother's poking fun. "You don't think I can fight...do you?" he smirked.
Zidane stopped laughing and glared at the other, slightly amused. "No!" He boldly responded, after a few seconds of pondering. "I don't think you can.....but why don't you try and prove me wrong?" Zidane coaxed.
"Alright then..." Kuja responded; the obvious smirk still plastered across his pale face. He pulled his slightly injured body off of the ground, and reached for the supply bag. He grabbed a broadsword that his brother had stolen from some random enemy, and slid his body through the opening of the tent. Zidane shrugged and followed.
The two took their placed opposite each other, amidst a field just near their camp. Zidane unsheathed his daggers, and focused his gaze directly into the eyes of the other. Kuja drew the sword over his head, rather awkwardly, charged toward his brother, and swung the sword in a clumsy downward motion, that was easily dodged. Zidane chuckled at the foolish looking attack, and countered, drawing a small portion of blood from his opponent.
Kuja laughed at the attack. "How useless your methods are!" he shouted.
"Well then.." responded his brother, "show me what you've got!"
With that, Kuja grinned widely, and raised his unoccupied hand into the air and pointed it toward Zidane.
"What are you doing?" Zidane questioned, completely miffed by his brother's strange actions. Suddenly Kuja fell to his knees laughing, and Zidane's look of confusion was replaced by one of surprise and shock, as he realized that he was indeed on fire. He quickly fell to the ground, and rolled, smothering the flames that had nearly engulfed him.
Kuja, still laughing at his own brilliance, pranced back to the tent, and took his resting place. He laid reveling in the moment, before his brother stormed angrily into the tent; his clothes looking slightly charred. He simply glared at Kuja, his eyes saying all that needed to be said. Kuja simply continued his fit of giggling.
After a few moments, Zidane sighed, allowing a smile to creep across his face, before joining his brother in laughter. Shaking his head to and fro, he finally spoke. "Your such a bitch!.....your going down next time."
Kuja slowly ended his laughter, and curled one side of his lip upward in a show of annoyance. "Why must you talk like that?" he questioned.
Zidane looked rather confused. "Talk like what?"
"Like that!" Kuja responded with an heir of provocation. "You talk big;....like a small child whose trying to sound intimidating......it's exceedingly annoying."
Zidane laid his body down upon his resting spot, and pulled his covers over himself. His actions were short and quick, making it well known to the other that he was indeed insulted. "Well....your pretty annoying yourself!", he countered. "You try to hard to sound intimidating......just the typical villain banter!" he smirked.
Kuja huffed at the insult. Who did Zidane think he was? Typical! "Well", he finally spoke, "Typical....perhaps...but at least I can strike some semblance of fear!"
"I still beat ya!" Zidane quickly pointed out.
".......You and three friends."
******
"That sounds.....great.", groaned Dagger sarcastically. "He sounds like he really...changed."
Zidane smacked his palm onto his forehead, cursing himself for telling that particular story. 'What an idiot I am!' he thought. If he really wanted Dagger's forgiveness for Kuja, he'd better start making a good impression.
"He...he..." he laughed nervously. "I just thought it was kinda funny....". He thought for a moment. "We did more than just bicker....of course!... we....um....we bonded!"
His love glared up at him with questioning eyes, that seemed to burn into him, demanding that he explain himself.
******
Zidane tossed and turned relentlessly within the tent. He knew that he should be used to sleeping like this by now, but the rocks and sticks poking up through the bottom of the tent made rest practically impossible. He finally sighed in defeat, and resigned himself to the fact that this night would not be one of sleep. He glanced around restlessly, and found his brother awake also, and staring intently toward him. Zidane jumped, startled for a moment by Kuja's intense eyes.
"Couldn't sleep either?" Kuja questioned.
"I think that would be impossible...unless I knocked myself unconscious." Zidane growled, pushing himself up into a sitting position.
Kuja did the same. "Hmm....", he looked off thoughtfully. "I just have a lot on my mind...."
Zidane blinked his eyes several times in an attempt to focus. "Anything you wanna talk about?"
Kuja thought for a moment. "No.....well....I don't know."
"Oh, come on," Zidane prodded. "Tell me!"
Kuja's face was very somber. His eyes gleamed with despair; yet this was not a new sight for Zidane. So often along this journey had his brother shown obvious signs of depression. Of course this was understandable. Zidane couldn't think of one thing that his brother didn't have to feel depressed over. He sympathized greatly with Kuja....he could only imagine the regret and the sorrow.....and the fear, that must plague this poor soul on a constant basis.
Kuja tilted his head toward the ground when he noticed how intently that Zidane was staring. Finally, if barely above a whisper, he spoke; "What can I do to make them forgive me?"
A long puff of air escaped Zidane's mouth. He had been asking himself that question for some time now. "You.....you don't worry about that. Just let me take care of everything, and in the mean time.......just be humble."
Kuja looked back up toward his brother, seeming obviously unsatisfied with the answer. "...Whatever..." He finally sighed. "I'll be dead soon anyway, and the world will be rid of me."
"Don't talk that way!" Zidane instantly shot back. He knew what his brother said was true, but the thought killed him. It had been months since Zidane had had human contact with anyone else. Kuja was his family...and he loved him. He wanted deeply for the other's to accept his brother as he had. His eyes were now quickly becoming moist. "We....we don't even know how much time you have."
"I've been thinking about that too." Kuja softly responded. "Garland said my time would run out when you came of age. He sent me to begin my mission when I turned eighteen......so perhaps my life will stop when you reach eighteen years."
Zidane never knew his own birthday. He knew how many years he had been alive, and he knew approximately when that number would change....but it had always been a guessing game for him. He knew he was sixteen years of age when he went back for Kuja.......the last day he saw his beloved Dagger..... but considering the amount of time he had been traveling since then, it was likely that he was now 17.
"One year..." Zidane sighed. It hardly seemed like enough time.
Author's Note: Okay Okay Okay! I know it's shorter than I had imagined.....but I was struggling...and it was taking me a really long time. So...I'm cutting it off right here so I can go ahead and post it finally. I promise the next chapter will explain the escape, and also Vivi's children. I just hope it's a little easier to write. I wasn't very happy with this chapter...some parts sound kinda bad to me....but I really want to know what everyone thinks. Your reviews are what keep me typing!