So! Finally!

Sorry it took me so long to write the next part, but since FFN wasn't working all the time I had no reason to write and... well, okay, yes, I'm lazy. ^^ Will you forgive me?

Chapter V

By Kia

*** ***

Night had fallen. Again.

Was it really only two days ago, that it all started?

It felt like much longer.

It was silent. Only very little noise came up from the street and into the dark room. At this time, closer to dawn than to dusk, the city was like dead. Even the wind had stopped.

Blank still sat on Zidane's bed with his friend sleeping in his lap, sweat-damp blond hair plastered onto his pale face. The boy had not spoken much at all, told him just as much as he had to know to understand what happened and Blank hadn't asked for more since the words seemed to hurt him. After that he had just held him until Zidane drifted off to sleep again and also after, for a very long time it seemed because the sky outside went form grey to dark grey and then to black without him noticing it. In his mind he was trying to kit the few things Zidane had said him to a whole story, trying to understand what he had actually told him.

After what the boy had let him know he and Kuja had been staying in some small village somewhere after Zidane had managed to save his brother from that stupid tree, so that guy could recover a little. Apparently they'd gotten closer during that time, though Zidane didn't tell much about that. Blank had known that he had loved his brother before, that he'd fallen in love with him even before their last fight against him. 'He isn't a bad person!' Only Zidane could say something like that.

But what had Kuja's feelings been? Blank used to belief that his little brother meant nothing to him but now he wasn't so sure anymore. The last words Zidane had whispered before he'd slept in, more to himself than to the redhead were still running through his mind.

'He said that he loved me…' Was it possible that this was actually the truth?

However, even after all that happened Kuja still hadn't seemed to understand what he had done, how many lives he'd destroyed, how much tragedy he'd brought to the world. So Zidane had tried to tell him. To make him see how wrong it was what he had done.

And in the end Kuja had understood. In the end he had really seen what the death of every single person meant. And that he was responsible for so much grieve and pain. Only then, when he himself had someone who loved him for the first time, someone he seemed to care about too, he was able to understand the pain of the people whose beloved one died a senseless death because of him.

He understood too well.

It seemed to Blank that this guilt was just too much for him too bear, or maybe, that he decided that he didn't deserve to life and be happy when he was responsible for so much pain. However it was, one morning Zidane'd woken up and Kuja was dead, apparently killed by himself. Not an undeserved fate in Blanks opinion but then he just had to think about what it meant to Zidane. It was pretty obvious that he made himself responsible for it, and it was killing him. Loosing someone he cared about was just hard enough for him, but for Zidane who always said that one doesn't need a reason to help people being guilty for the death of the person he loved was just too much.

'He said that he loved me…'

Blank sighed softly and gently stroked Zidane's hair. Loosing a beloved person was hard, indeed. He suddenly felt so very tired.

Just that moment the door opened and Marcus appeared in it, a dark shadow outlined by the light that fell in from outside. Blank was a little surprised as the older one walked in since he'd thought everybody was already asleep.

Well, judging from the tired expression on Marcus face he had been asleep just five minutes ago. Blank only at him questioningly and Marcus only stared back at him and the boy in his arms for about one minute. Then he walked over to the bed and carefully took Zidane out of his arms and lay him back into a normal position. Then he looked at the unmoving boy thoughtfully while Blank was still staring at him, wondering why he had done that and also a little angry though he didn't knew why.

But before he say something, Marcus spoke, his eyes never leaving the sleeping form on the bed.

"You know, I think he is indeed quite pretty when he's asleep." he said quietly to no wake the others. Then he finally took his eyes off Zidane and looked at Blank, smiling a little. "I guess, I can almost understand you." His smile turned into a slight grin.

Blank frowned.

"What do you mean?" he asked suspicious. Marcus grin grew a bit wider and he patted his friends head.

"Do you think I'm blind? You care pretty obviously a little too much for our little boy here than a mere friend should. But why not? I mean, Zid's a cutie an' all…" He thought for a second while Blank still tried to figure out what to say. He was more or less speechless. Then Marcus finished thinking. "But, you'd better not let the boss notice it. He'd just kill you or something…." His face became serious again and he changed the topic before the redhead could say anything. "Go to bed," he commanded simply. "You need to sleep too."

"No." Blank answered and decided to forget that other thing for the moment for he found nothing to say about it that didn't sod totally stupid. "I'll stay here."

Marcus shook his head and sighed.

"Zidane won't die if you leave him alone for a few hours." he said.

"But! Remember what happened the last time I left him alone?"

"We can tie him to the bed if that makes you feel better…"

Blank only stared at him.

"You're kidding!"

"Of course I am." Marcus shrugged. "Sleep in his bed if you want to. Should be large enough for both of you. Just sleep a little, unless you want to pass out just when he really needs you or somethin'." With that he just turned around and left, closing the door behind him.

Blank frowned again. He hated it when somebody treated him like a child, but then again his words made sense after all, not to mention that he was tired. So after a second or two he carefully lay down beside his sleeping friend, trying to use as little space as possible. He closed his eyes and for some reason if felt kinda good lying here, so close beside him. They had often shared a bed when they were little but now it was different. He hadn't been in love with Zidane then. The thought made him smile a little and he softly caressed the boys face with one finger before he finally closed his eyes.

'He said that he loved me…'

Why, just why, where his eyes suddenly filled with tears?

***

It was a nice afternoon. The bad weather of the last two weeks had finally gone away and it was slowly getting warmer. The sky was finally blue again and even Blank was in a good mood this day.

His good mood, however, had mostly to do with  Zidane who was right now siting on his bed complaining about why he wasn't allowed to leave it. Nine days had passed since he had gotten sick and since yesterday he was finally feeling better again. Baku had even tried to make him eat something this morning but forgot that idea pretty quickly after Zidane had vomited most of in onto the floor just two minutes later. Of course Blank had been the one who had to clean it up with the others standing around and making fun of him.

Three day's ago Lario's wife Camilla had showed up for a quick visit and had given Blank something for Zidane, something in a bottle that smelled strongly like alcohol, so Blank had decided to better not tell Zidane about it after he'd woken up. In the end Baku and Marcus and sacrificed themselves and 'got rid' of that stuff, as they called it. Such brave heroes…

Right now Blank sat behind his friend on the bed and was busy brushing his hair which hung openly over his shoulders for once, while Zidane was playing with the small bottle of medicine the doctor had given them, occasionally smelling on it to make a disgusted face afterwards.

"Stop playing around and take you're your medication." Blank commended from behind him.

"But it smells like a long dead animal!" Zidane protested and coughed.

"I don't care what it smells like!" Well, at least he wasn't the one who had to take it. "You'll take it, it was far too expensive to waste it. Beside, it will help you getting better so you can leave this bed sooner."

"Or it will kill me…" Zidane muttered but he let some drops of the light green fluid fall into a glass of water and, after a few deep breaths, he drank all of it at once. After that he grimaced and shuddered. "I haven't tasted anything that bad since I was stupid enough to taste your first try at cooking." he stated. Blank looked at him angrily. Okay, so it had been the first time he had tried to cook and maybe he wasn't the best cook in the world, but was his cooking really that bad? Well, according to everyone else, it was…

That didn't keep him from pulling Zidane's hair right after he finished brushing it.

"Be nice!" he said.

"I am!"

"Since when?" asked Blank and pulled again. "You just keep making fun of everyone and getting sick like that without a warning and scaring everyone also isn't exactly nice."

"Ah! You were scared? For me? Aww, Blank, that's so sweet!" Zidane teased and turned his head to grin into his face. Blank frowned at him.

"See, you're doing it again!" he scolded. "And no, I wasn't scared. The others were, but no me. I wouldn't complain if you'd just die so you can't annoy me anymore."

Zidane gave him a quiet laugh.

"So you were scared." he noted. Blank wanted to protest but Zidane just shook his head and looked at him with a strange expression in his eyes. "Don't worry," he said and smiled oh so sweetly, but for some reason his smile seemed so honest, so serious. "I'm not going to leave you without saying goodbye."

Blank swallowed, suddenly feeling uneasy.

"Whatever," he snorted for he didn't know what else to say. Zidane's smile grew into a grin again.

"You are an idiot, Blank!" he said.

"Why that?!"

"Because I say so."

"That isn't a reason!"

"It is." Zidane looked over to the window, the grin still on his face, obviously satisfied that he had once more managed to annoy his friend. But his grin faded suddenly and he started coughing again and Blank, who was just about to smack him over the head with the hairbrush stopped as his coughing suddenly grew worse. Zidane's hands were pressed on his mouth, his  eyes wide open, staring at nothing and then they suddenly rolled back and he fell against Blank, who could only stare in shock at his friend and the blood that was suddenly smeared onto his face and hands.

"Oh, shit!" he whispered. He was no doctor or something but he knew that coughing up blood was always bad. Very bad in fact. "Hey, Zidane!" he said helplessly, shaking the boy a little. Now he was scared! "Can you hear me? Don't do this, okay!?"

Zidane didn't react, only lay against his chest like a dead weight and his breathing sounded as if he was going to suffocate right now.

"HEY!" Blank screamed suddenly, not noticing the hint of panic in his voice. "BOSS! MARCUS, ANYONE!

HELP!"

-tbc-

06.30.2002

So, it's finally done. This one took me a bit longer to write than to other chapters, but since it is also a lot longer than the others I think it's okay. Actually I finished it about two minutes after FFN went down for another two weeks. That was so frustrating! T_T And do you know what? Only two more chapters and one epilogue and this stupid fic is finished. ^^