Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Final Fantasy IX characters but my characters are my own creations and I do own the rights to them.



Chapter Ten: Emma's Story

"I woke up in the streets of Alexandria when I was about six years old." Phina could see Zidane wanted to question this but she waved a hand at him before she continued. "I couldn't remember a thing. Not my name. Not my family. Not what had happened before that moment."

"I wandered the streets for the next year after making a name for myself, when I met up with Emma. She was a bouncy thirteen-year-old girl who had been abandoned in the streets like me. We quickly became as close as sisters, both feeling that we were alike. And we were. Emma became my family for the next five years. We shared a small shack on the outskirts of town but it was a mansion to two girls who wanted nothing more than a hot meal. We had so many good times there. I was happy for the most part just because Emma was there and I wasn't alone anymore. Neither of us questioned each other's pasts. We thought that what had happened, had happened and that was it."

"You see, while Emma lived with me she worked at a delivery shop. She would take people's things and deliver them. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but from what I heard there was some bad blood between the owner and a deliverer that had been fired a while back. Emma said that he had started hanging around again and sometimes followed her to the houses she delivered to. He was really creeping her out so she started to take me along for safety."

"One day we were in a particularly bad part of town. After we dropped the package off we hurried back to the store. But on the way there tragedy struck. The man that I told you about earlier was out for revenge and decided to take it out on the eighteen-year-old that took his place. I was twelve at the time Emma was murdered."

"We were walking past an alley with the man hiding in it. Once we were within his sights he struck. He took out Emma first with a quick slash to her throat. I screamed and he came after me next. I wasn't so worried about losing my own life. I was worried about the brunette that lay on the street surrounded in blood."

"I'm not entirely sure about what happened next. The only way that I can describe it to you is that I snapped. Literally. Something in my brain popped and the next thing I knew the man was lying on the ground dead with his dagger in my hand. From that day forward I trained. I needed to be able to protect myself from more people like him. I never found another person I could trust until now."

Phina looked over at Zidane once she was finished to see the reaction on his face. She expected to see pity or horror or something that told her that he didn't like her anymore. Nothing of the kind was even remotely placed on his face. What she saw there instead was concern.

"So you lived by yourself for six years?" Zidane asked. Phina nodded looking down. She could feel more tears coming on.

"The one thing that really confuses me, though, is the fact that you just woke up one day without a memory." Phina knew it would come to this.

"Like I said I just woke up. The only thing that I recall coming from the first six years is this necklace." At these words, Phina slipped the chain over her head and handed it to Zidane. He took it and looked at the charm closely.

"What is it?" he asked, pointing to the feather.

"It's a phoenix's tail feather. I'm not sure how I know it is. I just.know," Phina replied with a shrug. He handed her the chain, which she returned to its resting place under her nightgown.

"Well, now that I know what's giving you those nightmares I can work on solving the problem. I think you just need some good friends. And from what I can see you're making those by the bushel. So those nightmares should clear up soon, right?" Zidane said giving her his biggest smile.

A tired smile came to Phina's lips as well but she felt guilty inside for not telling him what her nightmares were really about. Not that she knew herself. She so badly wanted to tell him. He was so kind to her but she didn't know why.

"Zidane?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you take me here? Why are you so nice to me? You didn't even know me before I stole your money that day. So why did you bring me back to the castle if I was so mean to you?" Phina asked, gazing at him.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not really sure why," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Liar," she snorted. Zidane looked at her in surprise before gazing down at the blue comforter. His cheeks became a dull red that was hard for Phina to distinguish in the dim light.

"Oh alright. I thought you were kind of.cute. I also thought you'd make a good sparing partner. So I just picked you up and took you home," he said quietly waiting to hear her reaction. He wasn't surprised when he heard a laugh emerge from her throat. Embarrassed he looked away. He didn't know why he was embarrassed. He'd told every other girl he'd ever met his feelings without shame. Phina was different, though. Her opinion mattered so much to him without him even realizing it.

"That's funny. You know I thought you were cute, too," Phina said with a chuckle. Zidane looked back over to the still laughing woman on the bed. His eyes were wide with shock at hearing this revelation. He couldn't believe his ears. She wasn't laughing at him, she was laughing at the coincidence.

Gathering his courage, Zidane leaned in and quickly did what his heart wanted him to do the most. He kissed her. His heart pounded in his ears as all his blood rushed to his head. Phina let out a surprised noise before relaxing and kissing him back. For her, the kiss ended too soon as Zidane leaned back and hopped off the bed.

"Alrighty then. With that crisis settled you should get some sleep." He helped her into bed and left the room heading to his own to catch some sleep. Once he was gone Phina smiled while a blush tainted her cheeks. She was really glad Zidane was there for her. She hadn't been so happy in a long time. Turning over she went to sleep with no nightmares to trouble her.

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This is where the romance aspect comes in. Hope you like it.