Will You Be My Canary?
By Aquarius Mistress
A/N: My goodness, you guys are awesome! ^.^ Arigatou for the great reviews! *bows* Sorry for taking so damned long. Sprained my finger. o.O High school's hard... I'm suffering from Writer's Block at the moment. Please forgive me if you find this chapter too short.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the FF characters mentioned in this fic. Original characters such as Karen, Belle, etc. belong to me. I do not own Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella either. I'm not making any money out of this so don't sue me.
Chapter 4
No... what's happening? Mom... dad... Eiko... don't leave me here! Where are you going? Why are you leaving me? Mom, answer me! What's going on? What's this? A business card?! What the...?
Don Bartlett, Instructor of Marshall Academy. 'Where Hollywood stars are born?' What the hell is going on?! Is this why you're leaving me? No, if it means that I'll lose you guys, I won't go. No, please don't leave me!! Harumi, don't you go too! Please! I would give up acting for you guys! I'm begging you... please...
Karen? Not you too?! Beatrix, Belle. You guys too?! Please listen to me! I don't want to lose you guys!
Dagger fell to her knees, sobbing quietly. Pain wretched in her heart.
Why won't they listen? Marcus, Blank... please. Can't you guys at least listen? Zidane... Zidane... for once, just listen to me. Why are all of you guys leaving me? Was it something I've done? Was it something I've said?
Dagger broke out into a cold sweat, her eyes wincing with pain as small beads of tears rolled down the side of her eyes. Her left hand clenched onto the sheets and blanket, tight, while the other unintentionally grasped onto Zidane's hand, awakening the sleepy boy. Zidane groaned, tired and feeling rather uncomfortable sleeping in the chair he was sitting in. He vision was blurry, unable to make out where he was. Oh yeah. He was in Dagger's room.
"What the...?" Zidane muttered to himself, his memory of what happened still foggy.
"Mom? Is that you? Oh please, mom. Don't leave me here..." Dagger sobbed in front of a figure that looked exactly like Jane, her knees on the ground.
The figure remained silent, looking at Dagger with not only cold eyes but with an aura that felt like guilt. Guilt... and shame. She was ashamed of what Dagger has become. She was ashamed at herself for raising her daughter only to have her efforts in vain. Jane looked at Dagger with a very painful look and tears started forming in her eyes, but somehow managed to keep a straight face. She took a magazine out of her purse and threw it in front of Dagger.
"Read for yourself..." Jane whispered hoarsely, unable to call this human her daughter.
Dagger did as she was told. She took the magazine into her quivering hands, and opened the magazine to find a huge headline, reading out "Natori Does It All!!". Dagger gasped and immediately dropped the magazine. Hundreds of emotions ran through her heart like arrows, piercing her heart. She was unable to recognize what she felt. She didn't do this! She would never do something like this!! No... It's just one of those magazines that made up everything and lie, just to make money. Was this the reason why everyone was betraying her? Abandoning her? She never did and never would do something like this... They should know that. Jane, however, seemed quite convinced...
"No... Mom! I didn't do this! You know I wouldn't!" Dagger pleaded, sobbing quietly.
Jane's eyes began to well up, wincing with pain, as if Dagger was lying. Jane closed her eyes and raised her hand, whipping it across her daughter's face.
Dagger let out a painful cry. Zidane quickly glanced at Dagger, worried about her. Wait a minute... worried? Since when did Zidane let a rude, selfish, little bitch like her make him feel so uneasy? So... bothered? Especially about her? Not only was he worried about her... he was panicking! Dagger let out another cry, more severe than the first. Zidane gripped her hand tightly, feeling useless. He quickly stepped into her bathroom and grabbed a small face towel, soaking it with ice-cold water. He squeezed the excess water out and then ran to Dagger's side, attempting to ease her pain by wiping the cold sweat off her forehead.
Amazingly enough, it seemed to work. Dagger was no longer squinting her eyes in pain or giving out cries of agony. Zidane gave a great sigh of relief. Her breathing seemed to ease and she seemed more relaxed. Zidane folded up the towel and placed it on her forehead.
It was 3:00 in the morning and Zidane was dead tired. He sat back down on his chair and leaned against the side of the bed, immediately falling asleep. A few loose water droplets trickled onto Dagger's eyes, disturbing her sleep. She gave a quiet groan and she opened her eyes a bit, only to have shut them again. She slowly wiped the water from her eyes and opened them again. Her vision was a blur. She could remember every detail from her nightmare. Her body relaxed as she realized it was only a dream.
She reached for her Hello Kitty Angel but felt a warm presence. She looked around and she couldn't see anything, for it was too dark to see. She turned on her night lamp and saw Zidane by her side, sleeping peacefully. He must've stayed with her while she was unconscious. She secretly smiled to herself. No boy has really done something like this for her before. Sure, Jimmy McGrail was a very sweet friend back in high school... but that doesn't mean he would do something like this for her. She looked at Zidane delicately. Who knew an asshole like Zidane could be such a gentleman? He looked cute while he was sleeping too...
Dagger sat there, watching Zidane sleep for a few minutes and then turned off the light, slipped on the covers and went back to sleep herself...
~*~
"Zidane. Dagger. Wake up! It's 7:30!" a familiar, masculine voice rang out.
"H-huh? Wha...?" Dagger murmured as she rubbed her eyes to adjust to the light in her room. Well... not a lot of light anyway. It was raining outside. Pouring down quite heavily if I do say so myself.
"You guys better wake up. Especially you, Zidane. Our vocal classes start at 8:15 until class starts. Here. I brought some of your clothes. Hurry up an' get ready!" Blank urged him.
"Alright, alright. I'm up, I'm up." a rather grouchy Zidane muttered, scratching his head in a tired manner. Sleeping on an office chair and being woken up in the middle of the night didn't exactly satisfy his need of rest.
Dagger looked around, unsure of what happened. Just then, Karen came in, wearing a long-sleeved grey shirt with white trimming and a black skirt that went down to her ankles.
"Breakfast is ready!" she chimed, smiling her usual cheerful smile.
Zidane nodded to her and then stepped out, heading for the washroom down the hall of the girls' dormitory. Blank also stepped out to get breakfast, leaving Karen and Dagger in the room. Dagger placed her right hand on her forehead.
"My head hurts..." she groaned.
"Of course it hurts, silly. You were knocked unconscious yesterday." Karen replied with a giggle.
"I know that..." Dagger said dejectedly, pulling off her covers and slipping on her slippers, "I'm gonna go freshen up."
"You go do that. Better hurry though..." Karen said as she walked out of Dagger's room.
~*~
Dagger walked out of the bathroom, wearing a white blouse with a black t-shirt underneath and black jeans. Her hair was simply clipped in the middle by a pink barrette. She carefully took a silver necklace out of the grey, velvet box and clasped it around her neck, followed by the pink butterfly earrings she had before.
As she walked out, Zidane also passed by, wearing a dark blue sweater that says "Old Navy" across the chest, along with regular blue jeans. They looked at each other weirdly, not noticing that everyone was at the table, eating their breakfast. Karen looked at them and then came up.
"Hey, if you two don't stop staring at each other, the food's gonna get cold." Karen said with a slight giggle.
The two felt their faces flush and then walked over to the table, the two sitting at opposite ends. As Dagger bit into her toast, questions scrambled across her mind. Why did Zidane help her? What were his intentions? Or was he just trying to be a gentleman for a change?
"Zidane, Karen, hurry up! We have only 10 minutes to get there!" Blank urged him.
Zidane quickly gobbled up the bacon left on his plate, while Dagger kept asking herself the same questions over and over again. That's it. She wants to know. How is she gonna find out? She'll ask.
"Zidane... Why did you--"
"See ya!"
"Huh?"
The white door closed and Beatrix got up from her seat to lock the door. She missed her chance to ask. Oh well. She'll ask later. She was in no hurry... At least... that's what she thought.
"Hey, what's wrong, Dag?"
Dagger awoke from her thoughts. "What?"
"You seem kinda down. Something wrong?" Beatrix asked, a look of concern etched on her face.
"No, of course not." Dagger said cheerfully, taking another bite of her toast.
An uncomfortable silence drifted across the kitchen as Dagger, Beatrix, Belle and Marcus ate.
"... I think you're hiding something..." Belle said suddenly, sipping her soup.
Dagger looked up, confused. "What do you mean? Why would I lie to you guys?"
"I may not know you as well as some people do, Dag, but I know that look. What's wrong, girl?" Belle asked out of concern.
"Nothing. Nothing's wrong." Dagger replied.
Belle gave out a sigh and merely shrugged in return. The tense silence returned. Marcus, having not said anything, finished his meal and placed the dish in the sink, walking silently to the living room. Belle looked at him and then also got up and left the table. Beatrix sighed and Dagger sighed in response.
"... Does everyone know something I don't?" Dagger asked, fed up with the silent treatment.
No one responded.
~*~
"Do re mi fa so... *crack* la ti dooOooO~!" Karen sang. Everyone was warming up their voices by practicing scales. Karen was worse than everyone had thought, although nobody said anything.]
"... I really don't think she'll make a Cinderella, do you?" Blank whispered to Zidane.
"She needs some work on her projection. She's singing from her nose, not from her stomach."
The two boys turned around and saw a young-looking woman with long, flowing, blonde hair, green hairclips on each side of her head, wearing a grass green sleeveless top with a white collar and white jeans.
"And you are...?" Zidane asked.
"I'm one of your instructors, Mrs. Chere. You can call me Celes." she responded with a smile. "Who is that young lady there?"
"Oh, that's Karen, one of our friends." Blank responded.
"Hmm... I suppose you were the ones who recommended her to sign up for vocal classes?" Celes asked with a sly smile.
"Well, yeah. Just listen to her!" Zidane said jokingly, being elbowed by Blank and receiving a "Hey! I heard that!" from Karen.
Celes giggled a bit and then glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. "That Edgar... he's always late..."
~*~
Everyone finished their breakfast and helped clear the table and wash dishes. Soon, they all met up in the living room.
"Hey, you guys wanna practice a bit before we go to class?" Dagger suggested.
"Sure, why not. But who's gonna be who?" Beatrix asked.
"Well, with no doubt, we'll all have to share Marcus since he's the prince." Dagger teased, amused at Belle's reaction.
"Hey, Marcus is my prince. Find your own!" Belle said with a giggle as she grabbed Marcus' arm.
"Why not? I'm the only guy here." Marcus added, receiving a glare from Belle.
Dagger and Beatrix laughed in return, forgetting all about the conflict before.
"A-Actually, it's time to leave. It'll take us a while to get to our classes and if we don't leave now, we'll be late." Belle used as an excuse to change the subject.
Beatrix looked at her watch. "You're right. We'd better leave now."
~*~
"That was no class! The guy didn't even show up!" Blank complained as he walked with Zidane and Karen.
"I know! For all I know, he probably slept in or somethin'... Now we'll have to go tomorrow morning to make up for the missed lesson because of him." Zidane stated, kicking a can that someone dropped on the floor.
"Anyway, I'll see you two later. My classroom is this way." Blank said as he pointed down a hall.
"Alright. See ya." Zidane replied, turning back around and continued walking.
Karen fiddled with her keychain, making little jingle sounds with her keys.
"What's the matter? You seem quiet." Zidane asked.
"Awwww... I won't make the place for Cinderella..." she said sadly, stuffing her keychain back in her purse.
"What are you talking about?" Zidane asked, confused.
"I was playing with the little 8-ball on my keychain. It tells fortunes and it said that I won't be Cinderella." she replied with a depressed tone.
"It's just a toy. Just try your best." Zidane said, trying to Karen out of her depressed state.
"I guess so..."
~*~
"We'll be meeting 1B and Aeris in the Auditorium 2 for the auditions." Cloud explained to the class, only half of them listening attentively.
"Why are we pairing up with 1B? Why couldn't we pair up with 1E?" asked a boy with braids in his hair, dark-skinned, wearing a Fubu top and baggy, dark indigo jeans.
"Because, Keith, Aeris thought it would be a good idea if we combine classes since the auditions would be easier that way. Besides, that'll even out the number of boys and girls for each audition since you'll be pairing up with another person of the opposite sex from another class."
Keith replied with an "Oh..." and meanwhile, the class stood up and exited the door, heading towards the auditorium. 1B did the same, and the two classes met up in the dark auditorium, near the stage.
"Awww... that means I won't be able to audition with Marcus as the prince." Belle whimpered.
"Oh well... it's only an audition. You never know. You might end up as Cinderella and Marcus will be prince." Dagger said happily.
"I hope so..."
"Welcome 1B. My name is Cloud and this is my class, 1D. All of you will be working together during the auditions. Now, please pair up with someone from the other class of the opposite sex, please."
The two classes scrambled, asking each other to be partners. Karen went to ask Blank, Marcus asked a girl named Emily, Keith asked Beatrix and Belle asked Zidane. A guy named Zack asked Dagger but then a girl named Jackie grabbed him away. Soon, everyone was paired up except Dagger.
"Hmm... seems like we had a miscount..." Cloud inspected.
"No... Jimmy was sick today so he didn't come." Aeris said.
"Oh, alright then. Who can fit an extra member into their group? The male will have to audition twice." Cloud stated.
"We will."
Dagger looked at the person strangely.
"Alright. You'll be auditioning with Zidane Tribal."
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A/N: I am SO sorry!! This Writer's Block is horrible. I can't think. This must've been a really crappy chapter. Sorry... I'll try to update faster and make the chapter longer next time. :S
Finished: November 8, 2002
