"Unsung Melody"
By Sephiroth 4000
Author's Note: This is a "what if" fic, in that it's set in an alternate universe where Zidane never came back from the Iifa Tree after going back for Kuja. Yes, that's right, he died there.
The
night was quiet on Gaia, the two moons shining tranquilly down on the town of
Alexandria. All was still, except for a
slender figure, garbed only in a thin white nightrobe. She paused, for only moments, to trail her
fingers lightly over her mother's monument, then continued to the pier.
The place, where she had
truly, in her mind, metamorphasized from Princess to Queen.
Garnet was old; Garnet was
tired. It had been at least seventy
years since Zidane had left her, seventy years of ruling and royalty. As she moved, and the moonlight carressed
her features, one could see that time had left very little physical
damage. Only a fine tracery of wrinkles
marred her fair skin, and the silver that had onceonly frosted her bangs in
thin streaks had eventually spread, until her head was as light in colour as
her enemy, Kuja's had been.
And now she was as lonely as
he had been. One by one, her comrades had died. It couldn't have been more then thirty years since Steiner had
passed on, Beatrix soon after. Only
Eiko lived on, Queen of Lindbulm.
A familiar ache tugged her
heart as she once again remembered him. . .For years she had been angry, then
bitter, then regretful, but in her heart she had always understood. Zidane had always done what he felt was right.
She lifted her face, and let
her voice rise gently over the calm lake, in a melody she had not sung for all
those lonely years. For before him, all
it had been was a wordless refrain, that generations of daughters of Madain
Sari had sung, the last remnant of her blood-mother, always summoning a vague
feeling of safety and comfort. Yet
after him, the song had always bought her memories of him, of a quiet courtyard in Lindbulm, the
joker in him stilled, with a look of peace and awe in his eyes. . .blue eyes,
sparkling with laughter, mischief, and affection. Her song. Their song.
To lose him after everything,
all those battles with Kuja, the Necron, the secret of his past which had
nearly destroyed him. . .to lose him at the very end of it all. . .
She blinked back tears, and let
her voice, as pure as it had been when she had been but a girl of sixteen, soar
out over the waves, to mingle with their gentle lapping, and invade the
restless dreams of a Genome sleeping under the docks. . .
He had no name. No one had needed a name in Black Mage
Village. The mages went by numbers,
while out of the Genomes, only Mikoto and the long dead Zidane and Kuja were
named.
For a long time, he had simply
stood by a stream in the village, struggling with the concept that all things
changed in this no world. Nothing was
constant, and everything was different from one moment to the next. In his soulessness, he could not understand
it, much less accept it.
To the best of his knowledge,
he had awakened about a "year" ago.
Something had pulled him to Alexandria, the same compulsion that had
pulled him to the Iifa Tree a year ago.
He had fallen asleep from weariness there, and woke. Awoke.
With his soul.
It had been odd seeing
Alexandria. Everything had felt
familiar, but nothing was the same. He
even remembered the faces and names of people living there. Yet he had never met them before in his
entire short life.
And tonight. . .
That melody. . .
Redolent with wistful longing,
and memories of events long past, all he could think of was a lovely dark
haired girl, singing with all her heart.
Yet her eyes were filled with such sorrow, it nearly broke his heart. Dagger.
And later, she had run off,
his dagger clutched in her hand. He had
given chase, frightened out of his life for her, and because of her words. "Remember
me the way I was. . . okay?" But
then she had turned, smiling. The
recently cut strands of her hair had been released, flying on the breeze,
carried by the wind past the damaged Summoning Sword. . .
He shook off the vivid dreams
(memories) expecting the singing to dissapate with
them.
But it didn't.
Instead it continued, thin and
lonely in the night, a bright ribbon of sound winding through the darkened
streets.
Impossible to ignore.
As if in a dream, he followed
the melody, swimming easily across the moat, shaking the water out of his hair;
it rolled easily off his hard suit. His
feet knew the way, but instead of the singing growing louder, it softened, as
if the singer grew weary. Through
moonlit gardens, through mysterious coridoors, he followed the trail of melody.
And then he found her.
Weary until death, she had
sunk down, kneeling, still humming lightly.
Before his eyes, she sank further still, silvery hair falling to veil
her face.
"Dagger!" he cried, and sprang
to her side.
She looked up wearily. Perhaps she though she was dreaming, or
perhaps that she was indeed near death, for this vision of her dead beloved to
come. Whatever she though, there was no
shock or anguish on her face, only joy.
"Zidane. . ." she murmured.
As well she might, for this
specter of the past. For the body was a
Genome's body, near identical to that of her love's. And the soul. . .the soul shining from the blue eyes was the same
too.
As if that was all she had
ever been waiting for, all those years, for one last look at him, she stilled
in his arms, and he could feel her soul fly away on the wind, unfettered by
joy. She had Stopped.
He simply held her, eyes lost
to tears and memories. But they escaped
him, not truly belonging to him anymore.
Eventually, all he could do was gaze on her serene face, and the
wondrous smile still on her pale lips.
Boo hoo. . .I'm sorry it's so soppy. Not much storyline either. Oh well. All complaints to Sephiroth_4000@hotmail.com . And you better review this!
