Melodies of Life
By Beatrix Malfoy Delacour
A/N: My first song fic! It uses the actual Final Fantasy IX song, Melodies of Life. This stories about Zidane reflecting on their journey, as he goes back to save Kuja.

Disclaimer: [Insert legal shit here]

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Zidane looked on as the ship departed, carrying his beloved Dagger away from him... Now he was all alone...

Alone for a while I've been searching through the dark

But you have to do this, don't look back,? he thought to himself, you'll see her again... He wondered if that was true? Would he ever look upon the divine face of the 17th Princess of Alexandria? He tried not to listen to his brain,instead, to his heart.

But that was exactly what he was doing, listening to his heart, by going back for Kuja...

But why? his logic chimed in again. He's going to die or be killed anyway, why not just go with Dagger?

Because that would be thinking about yourself, stupid, his heart told him. He finally decided he was doing the right thing, as he looked up again, tracing the horizon and saw the ship sail off, just speck on the horizon.

For traces of the love you left inside my lonely heart

He walked back towards the Iifa tree, thinking about his beloved...it had taken so long for them to realize their feelings for each other, bit by bit, piece by piece.

To weave by picking up the pieces that remain

Reaching the cliff, he looked down, into the depths of the trees roots.

"Kuja?" he yelled down. "Kuja!"

"No..." came a weak voice. "Go, you can still save your life..."

Melodies of life--love's lost refrain

"Stay where you are!" Zidane said, tightening his belt. "I'm coming down to get you!"

He jumped nimbly off the short cliff, just as the trees roots came alive. Now it wasn't a matter of Kuja's life, but his of his own as well. How had they ever crossed paths?

Our paths they did cross, though I cannot say just why

Fate? You couldn't know for certain. Noobyd ever knows fate.

But, Zidane thought, his heart racing as he jumped from root to root, quickly moving farther towards the bottom of the tree, isn't it fate that Dagger and I met? He remembered all the wonderful times they'd shared, laughing ,playing, crying... and he'd just said good bye...

We met, we laughed, we held on fast, and then we said goodbye

Would he see her again? Would they have a chance to tell their kids the exciting stories of their adventure, an echo of the past?

And who'll hear the echoes of stories never told?

Stop it! he commanded his brain. Of course you'll see her again. He had to stop thinking about her, and concentrate as his own tale, the fate of his brother, unfolded before his eyes.

Let them ring out loud till they unfold

Finally, he reached the end of the line. What now? Kuja below, unrelenting wilderness above...

He reached out towards the grond below, where the bottom of the tree and Kuja lay.

Jump.

In my dearest memories, I see you reaching out to me

"Kuja!!" Zidane called out his name as he raced towards the ground below.

Though you're gone, I still believe that you can call out my name

He hit the ground at lightning speed. Once he'd had a few minutes to regain some sense of where he was, he started his climb up to the tree limb where Kuja lay, dying.

"Zidane," Kuja said weakly.

That voice...

A voice from the past, joining yours and mine

Zidane hopped up one more branch, and looked upon the sight of a weak Kuja, the same being that had caused so much havoc and pain in the world. After a moment, he sat down next to his brother.

"The others, they got out allright?" said Kuja, lifting his head ever so slightly to look at Zidane.

Zidane nodded. "Yes," he said. "They did."

"I don't deserve to live," said Kuja. "I have no purpose."

"That's not true," Zidane said, turning to him. "Everyone's got a purpose. It's part of what keeps the peace and harmony in this world balanced."

Adding up the layers of harmony

"But all I did was destroy that balance," he said softly.

"But the world goes on..." Zidane replied, thinking painfully about his Dagger, moving on with her life.

And so it goes, on and on

"Zidane, get out while you still can," Kuja tried demanding. It was pathetic for Zidane to look upon this glorious person who had done such great yet terrible things, and now could hardly force him to leave.

"No," Zidane said. "I'm staying with you. If you don't get out, we both don't get out."

"My life means nothing though," he argued.

Melodies of life

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Well? What'd you think? I'll continue it soon, but right now I'm kind of sad about some shit, so I'll write it later. But please review it now! Thanks!
-Bea