The Tantalous had returned to Alexandria to return Queen Garnet to her throne. As soon as Blank heard this he went missing. They looked everywhere but they couldn't find him. Zidane felt bad that his long time friend had turned up missing but right now he had other things to take care of.

"Garnet, I was wondering.. if.. maybe.. you'd.. like to," Before Zidane could finish his stammering speech Garnet spoke up.

"Zidane, I don't know how to tell you this, but I can't see you anymore." She diverted her eyes from him as he stood agape.

"Why not?!" Many ideas were running through his head, but none were put to place.

"It's just that, well, I'm a queen now, and it wouldn't look good for a queen to be courting a thief." This felt like a stab at Zidane's heart. The weird part of it was that it didn't hurt half as bad as he thought it would. "I'm sorry Zidane but I have already found a man, who has made so much more with his life than becoming a petty thief." Anger boiled inside of Zidane as he watched her back retreating into the castle walls. Zidane kicked a rock in front of his foot and started his journey back to the Prima Vista.

~~~~~~~

That night Zidane lay awake in his bed. His mind couldn't stay on one subject for more than a minute. It was flashing between today's events to everything that has happened on this crazy trip. He was jerked out of his thoughts as he heard the door to his room close. He rolled over onto his side to see who was coming in at such a late hour. He saw the strange person light a candle and sit on the lower bunk.

Zidane peeked his head over the edge a bit and saw some spiked red hair. Instantly he knew who it was. He still kept quiet knowing that if Blank had come in so late, he probably didn't want anyone to know he was back yet. It looked as though Blank had been in a fight with someone or something. His clothes were ripped and Zidane could see a large bleeding cut right on his side. He moved his eyes lower to see the smallest bit of red hair under his outfit. Zidane tore his glance away blushing. He heard the bed shift and lay down acting like he was asleep.

"You know I missed ya bro." Zidane didn't know if Blank knew he was awake or not, but he still stayed still. He felt Blank's fingers run through his hair and tried hard not to let the moan in his chest slip past his lips. "Well I guess I'll see you in the morning" The fingers left Zidane's hair and he heard the bed below him squeak again.

~~~~~~~

Zidane woke to find a hand running down his tail. It felt sooo good. He felt that second heart beat start in his pants and opened his eyes to find out who was doing that.

He opened his eyes to see a smiling Blank looking at him and stroking his tail. He wanted it to look like he hadn't seen Blank last night so he latched himself onto Blank enveloping him in a big hug. His tail wrapped around Blanks waist and he heard Blank hiss in pain. Blank pulled back and took Zidane's tail off his waist. Zidane looked at his side and saw that the long scar was still on Blanks side.

"Got into a few fights while I was out. I whooped their asses though," Blank said with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even though Blank had been gone a while he refused to eat with everyone else. Zidane would see him snacking on a few things though, and wondered why he wouldn't eat with everyone else. Baku didn't seem to mind except for one night…

"Blank your going to sit at the table and eat a meal, and that is final!" Baku didn't look happy but also he didn't look mad. Blank hung his head. He knew better than to fight with the boss.

"Yes Sir."

"That's better!" Baku smiled and slapped Blank on the back. From Zidane's hiding place he could see Blank wince.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So what happened to ya Blank?" Marcus asked while shoving a piece of chicken into his mouth.

"I just got into a couple of fights, nothing much." Blank had barely touched anything on his plate and was just pushing things aside with his fork. Baku coughed and Blank looked up at him. He put some chicken in his mouth and swallowed it and Baku smiled at him.

Dinner was almost over but everyone was still sticking around the table. Baku was laughing so hard his face was red, at the joke Marcus had said about Cinna. Everyone else was sniggering at Cinna. Zidane stopped his laughing when he noticed that Blank wasn't laughing. He had his head in his hands and he was just staring. He noticed Blank swallow hard and then he stood from his chair.

"May I be excused?" Baku looked at him curiously and then nodded. Blank all but ran downstairs. Zidane watched his retreating back as did everyone else. Zidane heard a slight strangled coughing noise coming from downstairs and he looked at Baku who had obviously heard it as well. Baku stood and ordered everyone to stay at the table. Zidane didn't listen though and he was downstairs quicker than Baku. Blank had been his friend since he could remember and he wanted to know if he was ok. Zidane got downstairs and saw that the bathroom door was half open. He peeked in and saw Blank sitting on the floor, propped against the wall looking very pale.

The door opened the rest of the way as he saw Baku behind him opening the door. Zidane moved out of the way to let Baku in and saw him try to help Blank up. Blank shook his head and then started vomiting into the toilet again. He wiped his mouth with a towel and then allowed Baku to help him up. Zidane came over and supported Blank's other side, as Blank gave him a weak smile.

'What's wrong with you Blank?' Zidane wondered.