Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy IX or any of the characters. All lines from the play "I Want to Be Your Canary" were taken directly from the ending of Final Fantasy IX.
Love's Lost Refrain
PART 2
"Zidane!"
Garnet was running towards him as he stood motionless. She came to a sudden halt when she looked at Ruby and her blood stained face. Garnet covered her mouth with her hand in shock. Zidane looked up towards Garnet as she slowly backed away.
"I-I didn't mean to..." he said, desperate now. Steiner ran to the scene with Beatrix not too far behind. He grabbed a hold of Zidane, and restrained him. "Hey, what are you doing? Lemme go! Ruby! Ruby wake up!"
"What do you think you are doing!?" Steiner asked. "Why did you do that?"
"I don't know why I did it or where I got the power to do it!" Zidane yelled back.
Beatrix had come to Ruby's aid now, and tried to stop the bleeding, however the bleeding was internal, and not much could be done.
"Take her in the back!" She ordered Baku. He picked her up gently and ran off stage. The crowd was now in chaos.
"Jeez, can't we have one normal production?" Cinna asked.
"Shut up," Blank answered.
Garnet quickly turned an ran back into the castle. Zidane chased after her.
"Garnet! Please come back!" Zidane pleaded. He let himself loose of Steiner's hold and ran after her. Steiner chased him into the castle. Zidane noticed Garnet crying on the staircase. "Garnet..." He approached her. But as he held his hand out to her she dodged it in defense.
"What are you doing!?" Garnet cried out.
"It was an accident! I, I didn't mean to!"
Steiner ran into the room.
"Step away from her! I'm warning you!" he yelled.
"SHUT UP!" Zidane yelled at Steiner. "Garnet- you know me! Ruby is one of us! There is no way I'd do something like this on purpose."
Garnet was still weeping in the corner.
"Well," she started, "the least you could do is be by her side. She's probably very frightened."
Zidane stared at Garnet with wide open eyes, but then he realized what he had to do. He turned around and ran into the room where Beatrix was trying to save Ruby.
"Beatrix!?" he yelled looking for them. "Ruby!?"
"Over here!" he heard Blank yell.
Zidane approached the group, all huddled around Ruby. He walked very slowly, as he could not see her lying on the floor. He thought to himself, "what happened? What did I do to her? Is she alive? Is she... dead? I don't have the kind of power to do something like this..."
"Z...Zidane..." he heard a whisper. It was Ruby's voice. The group that was huddled around her opened so Zidane could see her face. It was all cleaned up, and blood loss had ceased.
"Ruby..." Zidane was relieved to see that she seemed okay. "How is she, Beatrix?"
"Well," she started, "thankfully the internal bleeding stopped. It's a miracle. I think she'll be okay.
"Thank God!" Zidane thought to himself. "Beatrix?" he began. "I'm really, very sorry."
"Well sorry doesn't cut it!" Blank yelled. "You put a fellow Tantalus member in danger! What's come over you?"
"I... I really don't know. I guess I just punched her... too hard."
"Well you got that right!" Baku roared.
"I guess we can just be thankful she'll be okay," Beatrix added.
"Yeah," Zidane said. Just then, Garnet walked into the room, her eyes bloodshot from her crying. She was escorted by Steiner.
"How is she?" she asked.
"She'll be fine," Zidane answered.
Garnet had a smile on her face. She looked at Zidane and made a motion with her head to come to the other room with her. They both exited, and she turned to him.
"Zidane," she started, "I'm sorry I was upset earlier, and crying. I just want to put this day behind me."
Zidane answered her, "I'm sorry I put you through so much. I was hoping that this production would be our finest yet, like a gift to you for all your faith in me, but once again, it was another abomination."
Garnet put a smile on her face. "Another abomination? Heh..." He looked at her in bewilderment. "Zidane, that time me and Steiner interfered with your play... well, that was the best time of my life." Once again, he was in awe. "If it wasn't for that moment... I would have never met you."
Their eyes met each other, and the stared. They stared for what seemed like hours, but only lasted minutes. They both knew that this would be the start of something grand.
_____________________________
As days turned to weeks, Ruby was able to walk again. During one rainy night, she entered Zidane's room in the Prima Vista, which was still located in Alexandria. Zidane had just lied down to rest.
"Ruby!" he quickly sat up and ran towards her. "You can walk..."
"Better than ever!" she responded. There was dead silence for about five seconds. "Well...? Do you have anything to say?"
"Um, I already said that I was sorry about a hundred times..." he said. She handed him a paper.
"Recite this," She commanded.
"What is this, a joke?" Zidane asked, looking at the paper.
"Not in your life," she answered. "You put me through a lot of pain! It's the least you could do."
Zidane coughed and started to read the paper.
"O, love is the sweetest joy and the wildest woe. All I wish is to be by my..." she nodded, indicating him to continue. "...Is to be by my sweet Marcus' side..." Zidane had realized that these were the lines from the play, 'I Want to Be Your Canary.' "What the-"
"FIE!" Ruby interrupted. "It shall be war again unless this marriage is stopped. Ne'er will I let their plain come to fruitation." She turned to Zidane. "Good day to ye, Highness."
"Good day," Zidane responded, hesitant.
"Wist thee of Marcus?" she continued.
"Marcus... what news dost thou bring?..." Zidane tried to comprehend what she was doing. "Ruby- I really don't know what the point of this is, I-"
"This!" she screamed as she punched him in the stomach.
"Oof!" Zidane yelped as he fell to the floor. He looked up at Ruby. "What the hell was that for!?"
"Now you know how it feels!" she chuckled and walked away from his room. Just then, Dagger entered to see Zidane curled up in a ball on the floor.
"Did I miss something?" she asked.
"Nothing much." Zidane said as he tried to stand back on his feet. "So what brings you here?"
"I've come by to see you!" she answered happily.
"How did you sneak by ol' Rusty?"
"Hey," she answered, "I'm Queen of Alexandria now. I can do whatever I want! And besides, Steiner doesn't have the guts to stop me. I could just summon Ramuh!"
"Hey, I thought you pledged never to use your Eidiloins again?"
"Can't you take a joke?" They both started laughing.
"So..." Zidane began, "really, why are you here?"
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you."
"About what?"
"Zidane... I want to be with you."
"Well, we're together right now, aren't we?" he said with a smile.
"No..." she said, "I want to be with you... forever..."
He stared at her once again. He didn't know what she was trying to say.
"You mean, you want to give up the throne?"
"I don't know... if that's what it takes..."
"But you can't, Garnet! It's your mother's legacy! You've sacrificed so much to be where you are today!"
She stared at the ground, searching for an answer.
"Then..." she began, "then marry me." The words shocked him. "Become king, Zidane! We won't have to go on journeys or risk our lives, but we will always have each other!"
"Garnet, think about what you're saying!"
"I am!" she was quick to respond. "When you went into the Iifa tree, I truly thought it would be the last time that I would see you. I spent so much time wondering what had happened to you. But when I finally saw you, at the play, I was so relieved... words can't describe my emotions. But then... then you left, again. I don't want you to leave anymore!"
Zidane was speechless. He did not know what to say.
"I.... I don't know what to say... I'm gonna have to think about it." He left his room, and she stood in solitude.
"Say you love me..." she whispered, knowing he could not hear her.
______________________________
Zidane walked out by the lake, and sat down in a canoe. He listened to the tine waves hit the side of the boat, and felt the boat sway from side to side.
"What am I gonna do?" he wondered. "Oh Garnet... where has the time gone? Why can't it just be you and me going on adventures again... you looked like you enjoyed it so much. The freedom, the independence... don't you want that?" He put his head between his knees and sat in deep thought, when he heard Blank's voice.
"Uhh... I don't think she can hear you."
Zidane looked up to see him, Benero, Zenero, Cinna and Baku staring down at him, all laughing. He put his head back down.
"Hey," Baku started, "I hear Ruby gave you quite the beating today! Ha ha ha! Ho ho ho!"
"Shut up, Baku." He responded.
"What's wrong, Zidane?" Cinna began. "Can't handle a woman? Did she take your manhood?" They all laughed again.
"Shut UP!... Cinna..."
"Aw, Zidane," Blank said. "Where's your sense of humor? Did she take that too?" They were all roaring with laughter.
"SHUT UP BLANK!" Zidane grabbed Blank by the neck and held it tight until his face turned red.
"Hey!" They were all yelling. "Let go of him! What are you doing, Zidane?"
Zidane glanced over to the rest of the group, and threw Blank into a nearby tree. Blank held his hands by his neck, as he was desperately gasping for air.
"What the hell!?" Blank could barely yell.
Zidane walked away with no remorse, and as he passed Blank, he noticed an odd smile on his face. When Zidane left, Blank looked at the rest of the group, all of which were standing in awe of Zidane's actions.
"What's eating him?" Cinna questioned.
_______________________________
Zidane jumped back onto his bed.
"Oh God! What's come over me! Why am I doing these horrible things?!"
Zidane heard a voice... a voice from nowhere.
"You are my puppet!"
"What!?" He looked around frantically, no one was at the door, or in the room. "Who's there? Show yourself!"
"I believe that is impossible. For as you should know, I am controlling your moves from another place... another world..."
"Another world?" Zidane thought the voice sounded eerily familiar. "Who are you?"
"Who I am is not important. It's who I am through you..."
"What are you talking about!?"
"Zidane... on that fateful day in the Iifa tree... you came back alive, and everyone thought I was dead... but what you failed to tell Queen Garnet was that you saved my life too..."
Zidane felt sick. "Oh... no..."
It was Kuja.
Zidane had hoped that this day would never come.
To Be Continued...