Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX©..... Sqauresoft owns it all... *sobs*

Dedication: To all who enjoy fanfiction....

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~Chapter 2~

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~You and I will never exsist~

" What do you think you were doing, Majesty? " Steiner demanded as he stopped to stare at her.

Garnet frowned and then turned around to face him, Beatrix crossing her arms over her chest as she watched the both of them.

" I was just having a little fun, Steiner. Can't I be allowed to do that for once in my life? " Garnet asked, crossing her own arms over her chest.

Steiner opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. Beatrix nodded and answered for him, " Of course you're allowed to have fun, Majesty. It's just that... you shouldn't be prancing around in a bar....

Garnet lifted an eyebrow, " I wasn't prancing, Beatrix... I was just seeing what my people are doing on nights like this one... and I found out, they're having fun while I'm stuck in a castle doing nothing but meeting with mere suitors and uncle Cid... "

Beatrix nodded, " Well... isn't it about time that you settled down? Perhaps before something wrong happens? "

Garnet sighed heavily and bent over to scratch the back of her left calve, " Well.... perhaps I don't feel like settling down so soon... I still have a life that I want to live... want to explore. I don't feel like being tied down to some... man who only thinks of himself. "

Steiner scratched his jaw, " Not all the suitors who have visited you were thinking of themselves... what about that young man named Gregory McHolden? He was only thinking of you and only you... "

Garnet made a face and stuck her tongue out, " He's too... girlish! And besides... he'll end up just thinking of himself after the wedding. Just watch... wait, don't watch! Nothing's going to happen between us... I don't like him... "

" But he likes you... " Beatrix reminded her lightly.

Garnet shook her head, " But I don't like him... that's the thing, Beatrix... " she replied softly, looking down at the ground.

Steiner walked past Garnet and Beatrix, making his way slowly back towards the castle, " Well... let's not hang around any longer. It's getting late now and we'd had better get back.... "

Garnet nodded and remained silent as Beatrix walked up to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her close as they began to make their way back to the castle....

~~~~*~~~~~

' What am I going to say to her? How will I approach her? ' Zidane wondered to himself as he began to quicken his pace down the street, coming to a stop as he spotted three shadowed figures making their way towards the Alexandrian castle.

" My Gods.... alright, Zidane... here's your big chance. Hey! How are you doing? No, no, no... I can't say that... lovely night for a walk isn't it? Argh! Look... I was wondering if you and... I could... no, no, no! " Zidane began to talk to himself, waving his arms around in the air as he felt butterflies come to life in his stomach.

He then exhaled deeply and took a step towards the three figures, " Hey! Excuse me... " he heard himself cry out, waving an arm in the air as all three of them turned around to face him.

Zidane felt his heart stop. This was it, this was the moment where he was going to see her again, probably get a chance to hold her close again and kiss her soft smooth neck that felt like satin beneath his lips.

Garnet was the first to whirl around and spot him. She squinted her eyes in the darkness and then realized that it was the man who she had bumped into her in the bar. Steiner was by her side immediately and Garnet frowned deeply.

" Just hang on a moment, Steiner... don 't jump to any conclusions whatsoever.... " she warned him under her breath.

Steiner sighed heavily in defeat and nodded, " As you wish, Majesty... "

Beatrix came up to his side and reached out to link an arm through his, dragging him away from Garnet so they could walk up to the castle, giving the two young adults some space. Garnet crossed her arms over her chest and slowly walked up to the man who walked up to her with uncertain steps.

Zidane swallowed and scratched his chin as he stopped in front of the woman, completely at loss of words now from just looking at her radiating beauty under the light of the two moons. Garnet smiled lightly and waved to him even though she stood right in front of him.

" Hello.... nice meeting you... again... " Garnet said lightly.

Zidane chuckled and then lifted his arm up to scratch the back of his neck, " Hey... "

Garnet tilted her head to the side and looked at him, " What's the matter? Are you... nervous? "

Zidane shook his head, swallowed and was able to find his voice, " Huh? Oh... no, no, no... I'm just... I guess... happy to see you again. Yeah! That's it... I'm happy to be able to see you again before you were able to get away and leave me.... "

Garnet blinked and then giggled as she felt a light warmth spread across her cheeks, " L-leave you? I had to go home... but, I'm happy as well to have met you again... "

Zidane smiled and nodded, " Yeah... so where are you going now? "

" I'm going home... just as I said before.... "

Zidane blinked and then slapped his forehead with his palm, flashing her what looked like an impish smile, " Right! Sorry... look, I didn't quite catch your name back there.... what's your name? "

Garnet swallowed and looked down at the ground, searching it as if it would give her an answer, ' Should I give him my real name? What am I going to do? I can't tell him that I'm Queen of Alexandria.... '

Zidane blinked a few times, watching her, ' Why's she so quiet? I knew I shouldn't have been so.. abrupt with her... now she's probably not going to answer me... '

" W-what's the name of that weapon hanging on your belt? " Garnet finally spoke up, lifting her eyes to meet his.

Zidane cocked a light brow and then glanced down at the Ultima Weapon hanging on his belt. He brought his eyes back up and frowned at her.

" That's called the Ultima Weapon... it's very powerful... "

Garnet nodded and then pointed to the other weapon hanging on his other side, " What's that one called? "

Zidane followed her finger to the other side of his belt and blinked when he saw his old weapon; the dagger. He brought his eyes back up and flashed her a smile as he patted the old weapon with respect.

" That baby is old... I don't use her anymore. Why? You like it or something? "

Garnet nodded, " I see... but does it have a name? "

Zidane nodded, " Yeah... dagger... that's what the weapon is called... "

Garnet nodded, " That's my name... Dagger... " she said slowly, testing out the name.

Zidane arched an eyebrow and leaned towards her, causing her to take a step back, " How can that be your name? "

Garnet swallowed and looked at him with pleading eyes, " Please... just, can we drop the name subject thing? "

Zidane stood up straight, " A-alright... but, don't you want to know my name? "

Garnet squinted her eyes at him and then slowly nodded, " Yes.... that would be nice.. "

Zidane smiled lightly, " The name's Zidane... Zidane Tribal... "

Zidane... Tribal? "

" Yeah... is there... a problem? "

Garnet shook her head, " No... not at all... it's just that I've never heard that name before. Where are you from, Zidane? " she asked, glancing around his built body to catch the movement of the long beige tail swaying from side to side in content.

Zidane caught the glance and smiled, " I'm not from around here.... I'm a Genome... "

" What's that? "

" A Genome? Well... Genomes live on Terra.... " Zidane began, but Garnet held up a hand after looking around.

" Can we talk about this... some other time, perhaps? I really should be getting back... "

Zidane tilted his head to the side and watched her, " Are you sure? If you want, we can get out of here and go sit in one of the parks that they have around here... " he suggested lightly.

Garnet grabbed her lower lip and brought it into her mouth, setting it between her teeth as she began to nibble on it, " I... I don't know if that's such a good idea... " she said as she glanced over her shoulder at the castle.

Zidane reached out to gently grab her hand, catching her by complete surprise as well as himself. Garnet whirled around and stared at him, once again feeling that strange electricity run through her body from his one simple touch.

" I should be going, Zidane... I'm sorry that I must take leave of thee.... "

Zidane shook his head, " I can't let you leave, Dagger.... just please, come with me for a walk at least. It's not like I'm going to take advantage of you or something... I'm not like that.... " he said softly.

Garnet sighed lightly and slowly took her hand from his, " Zidane... I don't know... "

" Please... " he begged. " Do you want me to get down on my knees and actually beg you to come for a walk with me? "

The thought made Garnet giggled softly, placing a hand over her mouth to try and stiffle it, " I... sure! Why not? "

Zidane suddenly went down on his knees frowning, " Alright... Dagger, I beg of thee... cometh for a walk with me.... please? "

Garnet quirked an eyebrow and then chuckled softly, " You ever hear of ' I Want to be you Canary! '? By Lord Avon? "

Zidane remained on his knees and nodded, " Yeah... me and the boys always perform that play... know the words off the back my hand... "

Garnet nodded, " That's great, Zidane... "

" So? "

Garnet blinked, " What? "

" How about that walk now? "

Garnet looked down and eyed his body that stood erect, leaned forward a bit towards her, " ....alright... "

Zidane jumped up and smiled lightly, " Great! We can get to know more of each other if we go for a walk. Where to? "

Garnet smiled and then giggled as she spotted the green leaf tangled within the thick strands of dark honey. Zidane blinked and looked at her, watched the way her small heart-shaped face lit up when she laughed or smiled.

" What? What's so funny? Do I have something on my face? " he asked, beginning to frantically wipe at his face in search of something that wasn't there.

Garnet swallowed and then shook her head as she walked right up to him and stood up on tiptoe to grab the small leaf within the dark honey the shone lightly in the moonlight. Zidane closed his eyes and then held his breath as she stood right up to him and touched his head, running her slim long, beautiful fingers through his hair, trying to get rid of the leaf in his hair.

Garnet flashed him a smile and could actually feel his eyes roaming over her body that was stretched to it's length in front of his face as she grabbed the leaf with forefinger and thumb and yanked it hard, yanking out a few strands of hair as well.

Zidane yelped out in pain as he clamped his eyes shut against the throbbing pain that began to take ahold of his head. Garnet gasped lightly and then leaf dropped from her fingers as she reached forward to press her small hands to his head.

" You had to yank hard, huh? " Zidane groaned lightly as he tried to push the pain away.

Garnet bit her lip, " I'm so sorry! Terribly sorry, Zidane... I didn't mean to do that... " she apologized.

Zidane chuckled and then shook his head as he reached up to cover her hand with his own, giving it a gentle squeeze of assurance, telling her that it didn't hurt that much.

" It's alright, Dagger.... I'll live.. I'm not going to die because you yanked a few of my hairs... "

Garnet let out a small breath of relief, " Well... I hope you don't die if a few hairs of yours get yanked out... "

" Man... you do have to admit.. you yank pretty hard... I wonder how harder you can yank, " Zidane thought outloud.

Garnet blinked and then looked at him, slowly taking her hand from his head and his hand, " I... you what? You wonder how hard I can yank? "

Zidane blinked this time and stared at her, confusion etched in his deep forest green eyes, " What?! Did I just say that ouloud? "

Garnet blinked at his outburst and then took a step back from him, " I... yes, you did as a matter of fact... "

" Oh... well... sorry, " Zidane softly murmured as he reached up behind his head to scratch the back of his neck.

Garnet snorted softly and then turned her back to him as she began to walk to the nearest park in Alexandria. Zidane watched her and then frowned lightly.

" Was it something I said? " he called out to her.

Garnet stopped and then slowly turned to look at him, " No... it's just that you wanted to go to the park so badly that I thought that if I started to walk now, you'd follow me and we wouldn't be standing around doing this... "

" What's this? " Zidane asked as he swept out his left arm in the air.

Garnet turned fully now and looked at him, " N-nothing... we might as well hurry... " she said as she turned again and began to walk again, quickening her pace a bit.

Zidane nodded and then went to chase after her. He was almost right there behind her when the tip of his left boot got caught on something and he pitched forward towards the ground, arms frailing wildly about in the air as a light cry of surprise slipped from his lips as his face hit the ground hard.

Garnet whirled around, the cry of surprise hitting her ears hard as she saw Zidane sprawled out on the ground on his stomach, his weapons laying a few feet away from him. She watched him for a few moments until she got this sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach that dawned to her when Zidane hadn't moved an inch from his spot on the ground...

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" Where could she be? She's late! " Steiner exclaimed as he resumed the pacing he was doing earlier in the front hall of the Alexandrian castle.

Beatrix frowned deeply and then sighed heavily as she shook her head, " She's not late. We never gave her a time to be back, Steiner. She's probably out with that man... having a good time like she wanted. "

Steiner frowned and quickened his steps, " And what if he did anything to her? It would be my head, not yours... "

Beatrix couldn't help but chuckle as she walked over to him to grab his arm and pull him towards her, sliding her arms around his neck.

" Steiner... stop worrying about her... she's going to be alright. All we have to do is wait at least another hour or so and if she doesn't return, then we can worry our butts off. Alright? Now... is time to just relax and wait for her. She's not a little girl anymore... " Beatrix whispered to him, placing her mouth to his ear, inhaling the scent of fields on him.

Steiner sighed heavily in defeat as he wrapped his arms around her small waist, pressing her to him, shivering slightly from the chills that her warm breath sent down his spine.

" Perhaps you're right, Beatrix... I should stop worrying about her. But how can I do that after what happened to her mother? "

Beatrix smiled lightly at him, making the lines of stress in his forehead and by his eyes soften somwhat, " Steiner... what happened to her mother isn't going to happen to Garnet. You're just worrying too much lately. Have you been sleeping well? " she asked as she walked up to him and placed her hand to his forehead.

Steiner pursed his lips and then made a exasperated face as he gently took her hand from his head to hold onto it, " Look... I've been sleeping just fine lately. You shouldn't worry about me... worry about her. One of these days she's going to be snatched away from us right from under our noses too, and I'll I'm going to say while we look for is, ' I told you so! ' "

Beatrix frowned and then shook her head, " Steiner, Steiner, Steiner... look at you! You're like a father to her... "

" And you a mother! " he said abruptly, cutting her off.

" As I was going to say... how about we go out and retrace our steps to where we last left her... " Beatrix continued.

Steiner looked at her for a moment, " You're brillant, Bea! " he shouted as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her hard while twirling her around in a full circle.

Beatrix chuckled and placed her hands on his broad shoulders to steady herself, " Calm down, Steiner... let's go now before she takes off or something... "

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" Zidane! Zidane?! Answer me... say something... " Garnet begged as she dropped to her knees beside his unmoving body.

" Come on, Zidane... " she whispered firmly as she reached out to flip him onto his back and then reached over to brush aside the strands of hair from his face.

" Am I alive? " Zidane whispered softly, his eyes opening slowly to gaze up at her. " Ah... you're so beautiful... "

Garnet pursed her lips and shook her head, " Men! You're all the same... Zidane, you just bumped your head... just lay still for a few mom-- " she tried to say the rest, but Zidane sat up quickly and stared deep into her eyes, watching as a light pink decorated her cheeks.

" I didn't bump my head, Dagger... I meant what I said.. you are beautiful... " he murmured softly, lifting a hand to cup her cheek and then stroke it with the pad of his thumb.

Garnet cleared her throat and then pulled away, a darker pink decorating her cheeks this time as she stood up and began to brush herself off, " What did you do? Did you trip or something? " she asked, keeping her head bowed as Zidane watched her, standing up as well.

Zidane brushed his back and rear off slowly, his eyes never leaving Garnet's head, " I guess I tripped... hit my nose pretty hard too.. " he added lightly, hoping she would care.

" Oh. Are you... alright? " Garnet asked hesitantly as she lifted her head up, her eyes immediately making contact with his.

Zidane shrugged lightly and scratched the back of his neck, " I'm alive, aren't I? "

Garnet nodded slowly, " Y-yes... I suppose... "

Zidane frowned and then cocked an eyebrow at her, " Are you alright, Dagger? You seem a little... embarassed. Are you embarassed to be around me? The Zidane Tribal? " he asked jokingly as he leaned in towards her, his face only inches from hers.

Garnet swallowed and stared at his lips before bringing her eyes up to meet his again, " I.. I no, Zidane. I'm not embarassed to be with you... it's just that... well.... " she stopped.

Zidane leaned in closer, his breath beginning to quicken a notch as his lips suddenly became hungry, " Just... what, Dagger? Are you afraid? "

Garnet blinked and looked at him, watching him watch her through hooded lids, " A-afraid of what? " she asked, slowly taking a step away from him, but he snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her to him, hard and quick, making her gasp in surprise as their bodies slammed into each other.

Zidane smirked lightly as he slowly lowered his face to hers, " Afraid of... " he began softly and slowly, his lips only a centimeter away from hers before he closed his eyes completely and then pressed them to hers tenderly.

Garnet sucked in a sharp breath against his lips and she closed her own eyes as she slid her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his, in the same manner that he had done with her. Since this was her first kiss ever in her life, she just tried to push away the uneasy feeling in her stomach as she tried to follow along with what he was doing to her.

Zidane silently parted his lips, his warm, moist tongue slipping past the two folds to swipe at her full lower lip. It was then that Garnet suddenly jerked her head to the side, Zidane's lips slid along her cheek to rest just on her neck before he pulled away slightly, his arms still around her waist, to look at the side of her face in confusion.

" What's the matter? " he asked.

Garnet slowly brought her head around so that she was facing him completely, feeling his warm breath that smelt of alcohol and something sweet as it fanned over her mouth and nose.

" N-nothing... look, Zidane... I must bid thee farewell... " she said softly as she slipped her arms from his neck and then pulled away from him entirely.

Zidane shook his head, not willing to lose her so soon. He tightened his arm around her waist, " No, Dagger... you can't just go and leave me. How will I ever see you again? " he asked, his deep green eyes searching her face desperately.

Garnet bit her lip and then sighed heavily as she leaned over to press her lips to his cheek before she pulled away completely, " I'm sorry, Zidane... you can't see me anymore. You and I will never exsist... " she replied in a sad tone as she turned her back and began to walk away from him, leaving him to stand there, his arms hangin limply at his side as he watched her walk away from him, watched her walk out of his life as quickly as she had dropped in...

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Author's Note: Well, now. That was just a little mean of her, now wasn't it? Why exactly did she walk away from him.. again?! What do you think's going to happen in the next chapter? Something... good (*cough*FLUFF*cough*MAJOR fluff*cough*).... or something bad?(*Cough*murder!!!*cough*MASS murder!!!!!*cough*) But, ah well... I suppose she does have her reasons for having to leave him... well... I'm going to bed now... it's what? noon over here and I still haven't gone to sleep? Geez... *shrugs* ah well! I'll see you all tomorrow night with another chapter for some other story when I'm all refreshed and fully rested! Ja ne!!