Chapter Five: Before the Storm

Notes: Okay, so I lied. You get more of this ficceh. Is that a good thing? I hope so!

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Amaranth woke up the next morning, coming to a slow realization that once again he was not alone. Zidane was curled on his side, with his head resting on Amarant's shoulder. The bounty hunter had wrapped an arm around him in his sleep.

How did this keep happening? He hated the monkey. He despised him and wanted nothing more than to win this stupid contest he'd set up in his mind. So why did the boy interest him so much? And what the hell had he been drinking to begin anything with him, let alone something bordering dangerously to a relationship?

Zidane's words from the previous night came back to him. Did the blond want him to stay that much? The look in his eyes when Amarant had left had surprised him. He'd never guessed the depth of Zidane's feelings.

Beside him, the monkey stirred, waking with a small noise. "…Ama?"

"I don't know what time it is…but from the near-lack of sunlight I'd say it's pretty early."

Zidane nestled his head back on Amarant's shoulder. "'M still tired."

Amarant laughed a bit. "Lazy ass monkey."

He stuck his tongue out, not bothering to open his eyes.

"So are we moving on, or are you putting it off some more?"

"Haven't decided yet," he replied honestly. "But I feel a little better knowing you're here."

"You sound like a chick," he drawled.

"Good. Maybe you'll screw me senseless then."

"Thought I did that already…"

"You know what? He trailed off.

Amarant waited for him to continue. When he didn't, the bounty hunter looked down to find he'd drifted back to sleep.

Tired of contemplating why his brain was so fucked up, Amarant joined him.

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"I don't think we should be in here."

"Are you kidding? We're like adventurers, exploring the dark and forbidden!"

"It's forbidden aright. If he catches us in here, we'll be in major trouble!"

"Quit yer whining! Do you wanna see if he's in here or not?"

"…Okay."

The sun had only just begun to rise, poking a few holes of light into the near-darkness of the room. Amaranth awoke for the second time that morning, hearing muffled voices at his door. When he started to hear the sounds of a lock being picked, he slowly got up, careful not to wake the monkey sleeping beside him.

Amaranth stood in front of the door, ready for whatever hapless thieves decided the room looked like an easy target. The door slowly opened and Amarant slammed a fist against the doorway.

Eiko and Vivi screamed.

Zidane woke with a start, scrambling up and managing to fall to the floor in a mass of blanket and boy. "What's going on!"

"He scared us!" Eiko accused, pointing a finger angrily at Amarant, who crossed his arms.

"Little kids shouldn't go around picking locks," he replied icily.

Zidane sat up. "You picked his lock?"

The summoner nodded. "Vivi said you were probably here again last night, so I wanted to see!"

The blond looked at Vivi, who was looking down. Did he feel bad about sneaking in, or was it something else?

"Anyway, Dagger's waiting downstairs. She wants to know if we're leaving today," Eiko grabbed Vivi by the sleeve, jarring his thoughts. "So hurry up and get your butts down there!"

She left, dragging a thoroughly startled Black Mage along for the ride.

Zidane sighed, still sitting on the floor. He leaned his back against the bed frame. "Is it possible to wake up normally around here?"

Amarant snorted. "Not with all the nut jobs you hang out with."

He closed his eyes, leaning his head back. "Something's wrong with Vivi."

The redhead sat on the bed next to him. "You're just now noticing?"

Zidane looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

Amarant shook his head. "And I thought I was supposed to be the antisocial one. Can't you tell the kid's in love with you?"

"What? What're you talking about? He's too young to—"

"Just because he looks young doesn't mean he really is. He's different. I've never seen a kid act as old as he does."

Zidane blinked. "You sure know a lot about this…"

The bounty hunter shrugged. "I spend my time watching you all…I pick up things."

Zidane got to his feet, stretching languidly. "Well, at nay rate, we'd better get down there. I guess there's no use in avoiding it…"

Amarant, pulling his shirt on, raised an eyebrow. "You still can't decide?"

His shoulders slumped. "It's a hard decision, okay?"

"Why don't you ask them?"

Zidane stared at him for a moment. "You think that'll work?"

Amarant opened the door, ushering the blond out. "Only one way to find out…"

He sighed, starting down the stairs. They were waiting for him at the bottom. Behind him, Amarant blocked his escape route. "Hey guys…"

"So what's the deal?" Eiko crossed her arms. "Are we going to fight Kuja or not?"

Zidane looked at Amarant briefly, who nodded. "I…wanted to be sure you all knew you can back out if you want. No one's making you fight, and we won't hold anything against you if you decide to quit."

Everyone was silent a moment.

"Done now?" Dagger put her hands on her hips.

The thief blinked. "You're all staying?"

"Of course, you dork!" Eiko grinned. "We've all come this far, right?"

"I have to save my mother," Dagger reminded him.

"And I have to find out why he made the Black Mages," Vivi spoke up quietly.

"You're all absolutely sure you want to do this?" Zidane frowned.

"I could've told you a long time ago that none of them would leave," Amarant leaned against the banister.

The monkey looked back at him with mock-anger. "Then why didn't you?"

He shrugged, a small smile tugging on his face. "It's more fun to watch you squirm."

Zidane started to say something, but after a look towards the other three still standing there, he wisely kept his mouth shut.

"So what are we waiting for?" Eiko grinned.

"Breakfast."

She glared at him. "I was going to do a 'let's start the adventure' one-liner!"

Amarant's smirk grew. "I know."

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Once again, the redhead watched the rest of the party. They had quite a bit of distance to cover, and he monitored them for signs of slowing down. He knew Zidane was doing the same thing.

They stopped sometime around mid-afternoon, reaching Madain Sari. Zidane told them they had an hour, and everyone split up to do whatever they wanted to do on what might be their last day alive.

Amarant wandered around. He didn't care about final considerations. This was just another fight. If you went in there thinking about death, you were as good as damned.

Walking along the balcony of Eiko's house, he found Vivi gazing up at the clouds. He decided the least he could do was help the kid out a little.

He walked up beside him. "Hey."

The Mage looked at him, a bit startled. "H-Hi."

Amarant waited, seeing if the boy would speak. He didn't. Amarant really hadn't expected it. Vivi usually never initiated a conversation, unless it was with Zidane. This only proved his point further.

"Listen kid…" he suddenly felt very awkward. "I'm sorry if I scared you last night."

It was odd how he could read Vivi's eyes, even if they weren't human. They brightened a bit, relieved. "Really? Thanks. A-Are you and Zidane still fighting?"

Amarant frowned in thought. He hadn't considered that. Zidane had already told him he'd won, so technically the fight was over, wasn't it?

"…I guess not."

Instead of being happy like Amarant thought he'd be, the boy looked near tears. "So…you're gonna leave now, right?"

Again, Amarant was surprised. "What?"

"Y-You said that the only reason you were here was to fight Zidane. So now you don't have a reason to…s-stay…"

He hadn't thought of that either. The kid was right. He should be walking out now, ready to move on. But odd as it was, he didn't want to. He actually wanted to stay with this group of weirdoes. "I can't leave now."

Now it was Vivi's turn to be surprised.
Why? Is it because of Kuja?"

He could say that it was. It would save a lot of trouble in the long ruin. But he was starting to develop a complex about Vivi that he couldn't lie to him.

"Might be. I'm not really sure. I'll stick around for awhile though, see where all this leads."

Vivi nodded. "I'm glad. At first I thought you were scary, but I found out you're pretty cool. I'd feel bad if you left now."

Amarant raised an eyebrow. "You want me to stay?"

"Yeah! Did you think I didn't?" he looked genuinely worried that Amarant thought he hated him.

He shrugged. "Didn't really know either way," he smiled, tugging on the boy's hat a little. "Nice talking to you."

Vivi beamed. Yeah, you too."

He left before he said something even more incriminating. He wandered towards the edge of town, taking a seat on one of the huge rocks and waiting for the others to show up.

He must've fallen asleep or something, because the next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes to bright sunlight.

Something was putting a light pressure around his leg. Sitting up a bit, he saw Zidane sitting with his back towards him, and his tail circled around the bounty hunter's shin.

"It's almost time to go," Zidane said without turning around.

Amarant propped himself up on his elbows. "I suppose it is…"

"Any life-changing revelations before we go?"

"A few. But they can wait until this thing with Kuja is over with."

Zidane looked back, a silent question on his face. 'How do you know we're even going to survive?'

"I know because we have to," Amarant replied. Zidane was a bit shocked, not knowing his face was so easy to read. "If we don't do it, we lose. So losing isn't an option."

He blinked, taking this in. "I guess you're right. It looks better that way. I'm surprised. Optimism isn't usually your style."

Amarant offered him a smirk. "Life-changing revelations?"

"Ready to go?" Eiko ran up to them.

Zidane quickly disentangled his tail, a slight flush coming to his face. "Yeah, if you all are."

Behind her, Dagger and Vivi came at a normal pace. "No use in putting it off and longer," the princess replied.

"It's gonna get dark soon. We should hurry," Vivi looked at Amarant and smiled. Amarant nodded back, a little shocked.

Zidane stood. "Okay, let's go. Kuja doesn't know what's coming for him. Losing is not an option!"

Everyone looked at each other. Then they headed out for the Iifa Tree, and Kuja.

Amarant watched the party.

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Karu: Sheesh Ama's getting complicated. What happened to the one-dimensional stoic I knew? –cries- Anyway, here's the responses!

Devilish Kurumi: And the best part is that he doesn't even care, right? And that's a good angle to look at it from. Do you think Zidane knew that too? I dunno, and I'm the one writing this! -sweatdrops- That's a good point tho...

Until next time!