Will You Be My Canary?
By Aquarius Mistress
A/N: *evil laugh* Betcha you guys thought I was dead. ^.~ I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting so incredibly long. I mean... that was so inconsiderate of me. =P Actually, for the past few months, I've also had other things to deal with. Aside from school, I also now have a domain and 3 other sites to manage. ^^;; So yeah, just a little warning that the next chapter is gonna take a while to roll along. *glee* Anyhoo, enough of my blabbering. I'm sure you wanna know what happened to poor ol' Karen. Let's continue, shall we? By the way, this chapter's a tad short. I spent so much creative energy lately that I'm beginning to get a total road block. Ack... never mind me. Just read on.
Disclaimers: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy characters mentioned in this story, Squaresoft does. I do not own Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare does. And whatever characters you don't recognize probably belongs to moi. XD
Chapter 6
Dagger, still half-asleep, didn't receive the message as fast as she should've.
"W-What happened?" she asked sleepily, beginning to wake up.
"Your friend, Karen Pietroth, has been in an accident. A drunk driver came by and ran through a red light." the doctor said sadly.
Dagger's mind froze. Her hands shook. Karen? In an accident? The rest of the group looked at Dagger worriedly.
"We need three people to come down here for her emotional support. She appears to be quite distressed." the doctor spoke stiffly.
"O-Okay..." Dagger managed to mutter. Her throat was dry and she was still in shock, trying to let it all sink in. She hung up the phone and turned to the group.
"What happened?" Blank asked, looking at Dagger worriedly.
Dagger couldn't speak. She could feel herself slowly going numb. Instead... she began to sob. Belle came over and hugged Dagger, giving her a shoulder to cry on. Dagger continued to cry. How could something like this happen to Karen? It just seemed so unfair...
"Dagger... it's okay. Everything will be alright." Belle said softly.
Dagger let go of Belle and wiped her face.
"Now Dagger... what happened?" Belle asked gently.
"... K-Karen got into a car accident..." Dagger began. Fresh, hot tears began to form again. Everyone was devastated.
"What accident?! What happened?!" Blank asked frantically, griping on the armrest of the sofa tightly.
"... The doctor said that a drunk driver ran through a red light and hit Karen. She's recovering in the hospital right now. He says three people has to go visit her for emotional support since she's depressed..." Dagger murmured, slightly shivering.
"... I'm going." Blank said as he stood up and walked over to the door.
Zidane looked at Blank, who gave him a stare and slightly tilted his head towards the door. Zidane nodded.
"I'm going too."
Dagger looked at Zidane, tears still in her eyes. Zidane bit his lip. His heart clenched to see Dagger in so much pain. He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her auburn eyes, not breaking any eye contact.
"You should go too. Karen will need you too..." Zidane spoke with a whisper.
Dagger looked away from his eyes and nodded. Zidane removed his hand from her shoulder and walked over to the door, where Blank was waiting. Dagger followed behind.
"We'll be back by ten. Don't bother waiting up for us." Zidane noted to everyone else. Marcus, Belle, and Beatrix all nodded.
Dagger quickly slipped on her sandals and walked out the door, Blank following closely behind. Zidane closed the door and Beatrix locked it.
"Hmm... I'm getting a bit hungry. Shall we go for an early dinner and try to get our minds off of things?" Beatrix suggested as she turned around to Marcus and Belle.
"Yeah. Where do you two wanna go? Anything's fine with me, really." Marcus shrugged off.
"Actually, I was hoping that we would stay here 'cos I wanna try and cook something for once." Belle said with a slight shift in her position.
"Sure! I'll help out, if you need any help." Beatrix offered with a smile.
Belle smiled back at her and the two girls got to work, while Marcus sat in front of the television, not having anything better to do.
~*~
The streets were dark with little spotlights everywhere from the lampposts. Why, if it weren't such an emergency, it would seem like a nice place to have a romantic stroll. Instead, Blank, Dagger, and Zidane all sat on a bench, waiting for a taxi to stop by to give them a ride to St. Anne's hospital. Since it was such an urgent situation, the last thing they wanted to happen is for them to get lost at night.
Dagger kept twiddling her thumbs, anxious to go see Karen. Zidane looked to his left to take a glimpse of Dagger. She looked so beautiful with the lamppost casting its magic over her. However, her face was full of concern, which worried Zidane the most. Without much thought, he placed his left hand over Dagger's right. She looked up at him, confusingly.
"Don't worry. Karen willl be alright." he said faintly, with a small flash of his smile.
Dagger gave a small smile back but turned away and continued waiting for the taxi. Zidane removed his hand from her, surprised himself that he would do what he just did.
"What the hell am I doing?" he thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Blank secretly watched the whole scene and shook his head.
"No wonder why Karen is so depressed..." he muttered to himself as he waved at the taxi driving by.
The taxi stopped in front of the trio. Zidane opened the door and let Dagger in first, him following behind, closing the door. Blank sat in the front seat.
"À l'hôpital de St. Anne, s'il vous plaît. (To St. Anne's Hospital, please.)" Blank said urgently.
The driver nodded and began driving down a busy street, lined with huge, elegant houses and fancy restaurants. Dagger kept staring out the window, wondering how long it would take to get to the hospital. She tried her best to keep her composure, instead of weeping. And to keep her composure, she began to think about why Karen has been so depressed lately. What could've caused Karen to leave the group in the middle of practice to go on a 7-hour walk? Something was definitely bothering her. But what?
Blank was also very anxious to get to the hospital to see Karen. It was very clear to him, what he felt about her. That funny feeling in his stomach was unmistakable. Yes, Blank has quite a liking for that girl. He actually didn't want Zidane to come along, but he knew that was who Karen wanted to see more than anyone else. Therefore, reluctantly, forced himself to bring Zidane. He gave a great sigh and also began staring out the window, waiting impatiently to arrive at the hospital to see her.
Zidane on the other hand... knew what Karen was depressed about. It was very obvious to him that Karen had a thing for him, probably obvious to everyone else too. But he just doesn't feel the same way about her and she does about him. Instead, it feels as though his heart has already been taken by someone else, but he just couldn't figure out who. He kept staring at the ceiling of the car for the whole trip.
As they drove by the busy restaurants, it began raining lightly. The light noise of the shower gently tapped on the car. It seemed to take forever to get to the hospital. And indeed, it took a while to get there. It wasn't very surprising that it took half an hour to drive there, since Karen walked around for 7 hours, without knowing where she was going.
The car stopped in front of the hospital's main entrance. Blank paid the driver and walked swiftly into the building, Dagger and Zidane following closely behind. Blank pushed open the doors and walked over to the secretary.
"Bonjour. I'm looking for Karen Pietroth. She's here for an emergency." Blank stated, becoming quite edgy.
"Ah, oui. Madame Pietroth iz in za vest ving in room 25." the secretary confirmed.
Blank nodded and walked hastily towards the left corridor, Dagger and Zidane having to run a bit to catch up with his pace.
"22... 23... 24... 25!"
Blank curved towards the door and a yelp of Karen's name could be heard. Dagger and Zidane quickly ran inside. There was Karen, laying in bed, eyes closed, hands clasped together on her lap, her head bandaged with a small patch of blood visible. Dagger fought to hold back her tears and walked over to Karen's left side. She sat down on a stool and took her hand in hers. She was still very warm.
"Karen..." Dagger spoke with a whisper. She didn't know what to say. Nothing like this has ever happened to her before. She gripped her hand tighter, her elbows propped on the side of the bed.
"... It's me, Karen. Dagger. Say something to me, will ya?" Dagger said softly, her voice a bit hoarse. Karen remained silent, her eyes refusing to open.
"C'mon, Karen... Open your eyes... Talk to me..." Dagger pleaded. "C'mon... Zidane and Blank are here to see you too."
Karen stirred vaguely, but continued to rest. Dagger smiled to herself. Knowing that Karen was okay was all that she wanted to know. Dagger let go of her hand and stepped back, allowing Zidane to sit by her side.
"Heya Karen. It's Zidane." he said casually, not know what else to say either. "Listen... umm... I know you're kinda down right now... so when you get better, maybe you can talk to me about your problems?"
Zidane scratched his head. What the hell was he suppose to say to her? Blank rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in frustration.
"You're really bad at this stuff, aren't you?" Blank asked with a smirk.
Zidane growled. "Oh gee, how'd you figure that one out?"
"Here, lemme handle this." Blank insisted.
Zidane muttered something incoherent under his breath and got up from his seat. Blank sat down and took Karen's hand into his. He flushed as he realized that he couldn't think of very much to say either. Zidane sneered at Blank as his ears turned red.
"T-There's no point saying anything. K-Karen's asleep, w-we shouldn't disturb her." Blank managed to stumble.
"Suuuure..." Zidane snickered.
"C'mon guys, let's go. Karen'll be alright. We'll come again tomorrow or something." Dagger suggested as she began leaving for the door.
"No, wait!" Blank yelped. Dagger turned around. "I... uhh... I'm gonna stay here with Karen... just in case something happens."
Dagger shrugged. "Suit yourself." She was too tired to worry about these matters too much. All she wanted to do was to go back to her dorm, take a nice long, hot bath and go to bed. She left the room and started heading towards the main entrance.
Zidane gave Blank a wink. "Nice call, dude. You get to stay with a lady all night."
Zidane frowned. He didn't get the reaction from Blank that he thought he would get. Instead, Blank had a big smirk on his face.
"I wouldn't be talking, Zidane. I'm sure you would enjoy your little quality time with Dagger in the taxi." he sneered.
Two words.
Total.
Backfire.
Zidane's face flushed, ear to ear. He growled at Blank and almost immediately, left the room. Blank chuckled to himself and turned his attention back to Karen.
~*~
"God, what took you so long? We missed our taxi ride, you jackass." Dagger protested, crossing her arms.
"Well, well. Someone's a little bitchy." Zidane muttered with a roll of his eyes, turning away from her.
Dagger glared him. Then she sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm tired. And when I'm tired, I get edgy." She gave a loud yawn.
Zidane slowly turned back towards Dagger. He also gave a big sigh. "It's okay..."
Dagger smiled faintly and leaned against a post, looking out onto the driveway, hoping a taxi will pull in soon. "So where's Blank?"
"Oh, he decided to stay behind with Karen." he replied with a chuckle.
"Hmmm... he really likes her, doesn't he?" she giggled.
"Looks like it." he said with a smile.
Dagger nodded. She looked outside, waiting patiently for a taxi to come by. It was still raining outside. Dagger could've sworn she saw a few flashes of lightning. She slowly slid down to the floor, sitting there with her back against the wall. What's taking the taxi so long? Must be the storm... stupid storm...
Before she knew it, Dagger nodded off to sleep, her head resting on her arms, which were wrapped around her knees. And nobody could really blame her. Today has been exhausting, especially for her, Blank, and Zidane, seeing as how they had to come all the way here to see Karen.
Zidane yawned. Today wasn't all fun and games for him either. Especially since he got into that fight with Irvine. Stupid Irvine. Why'd he have to go on and act like a bastard? But it didn't really matter anymore. He got what he deserved for harassing Dagger. Hmm... come to think of it. Why did Zidane protect Dagger?
After several minutes of waiting, Zidane raised his head, a bright flash of light catching his attention. The taxi has arrived. Zidane walked over to Dagger, who was still sleeping. He shook her shoulder a little.
"Hey, wake up. Taxi's here."
Dagger swapped his hand away and glared at him. Man, people just love taking sleep away from her, don't they? Zidane rolled his eyes and offered his hand. Dagger grabbed it and he helped her up. The two quickly ran into the taxi before they got totally drenched. The rain was more heavy than before and thunder could be heard, softly rumbling through the night sky.
"À Lord Avon, s'il vous plaît..." Zidane murmured to the taxi driver. The driver gave a quick nod and started making a U-turn from the driveway, heading back towards the road. Dagger instantly fell asleep again. Damn pig. She does nothing but sleep, doesn't she?
As the driver made the U-turn, Dagger's body slid to the right, her head now resting on Zidane's shoulder. Zidane looked at her sleepily. Damn pig. To use someone as her pillow while she sleeps. Zidane was a bit annoyed at this, but was too tired to even care. He took a glimpse of the digital clock near the radio.
'Hmm... what the hell? It's nine already?' he thought sleepily to himself.
They wouldn't be back at the dorms until at least 9:30. Zidane shrugged and went off to sleep as well, resting his head on Dagger's. It was gonna be a loooong ride...
~*~
Karen stirred in her bed, causing Blank to wake up from his short nap. She scrunched her eyes and then opened them, only to have started wincing again. Damn bright lights.
"Karen?"
"Huh? Blank?" Karen looked at him. Yup, it was Blank alright. "What're you doing here?"
"To keep you company." he replied with a warm smile.
Karen smiled back. "Did anybody else come?"
"Uh... yeah. Zidane and Dagger came before too." Blank said reluctantly. He was hoping she wouldn't ask him that.
"Zidane came?" she said happily.
"... Yeah."
She sighed happily. Zidane came for her. She smiled. She always knew Zidane felt the same way as her. She doesn't even remember why she was so depressed. Blank looked away. Somewhere inside, he was bleeding... Then he looked up at Karen.
"So Karen..."
She turned her gaze at him.
"... Why did you leave the dorm all of a sudden?"
Karen looked at him sadly. "I don't know. I guess I needed to clear my head for a bit. Things haven't been too great lately and I just needed some time alone."
Blank nodded. The two looked at each other in an awkward hush. Then Blank broke the silence.
"I'll stay with you here overnight, if that's okay with you." he mumbled softly.
Karen smiled, "I don't mind at all." Then there was some muffled giggling. Blank looked at her weirdly.
"What's so funny?"
She quieted down and smiled at him, "Blank Glace. Are you worried about me?"
A fast, red-hot flash of heat rose to his cheeks. Karen started laughing again.
~*~
The rain danced around the car, light passing through the windows as the car drove down the street. Zidane and Dagger slept peacefully throughout the car ride, both resting on each other. After about half an hour, the taxi stopped in front of Lord Avon's dormitories. The taxi looked into the mirror and saw the two sleeping. He honked the horn, causing Zidane to wake up. He looked around sleepily, his vision still a blur. Then he noticed there was a strange warmth on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw Dagger sleeping serenely. Slightly flushed, he carefully removed himself from her and shook her shoulder a bit.
"Hey, wake up. We're back." he murmured quietly.
Dagger began to shift a bit, her eyes opening. Zidane pulled her arm a bit.
"C'mon. It's almost ten and I wanna get to bed. We still have those auditions tomorrow."
Dagger almost immediately woke up. That's right! The auditions are tomorrow! She paid the taxi driver and climbed out of the car. The two walked into the building in a rather uncomfortable silence. It would be awkward to say anything. Zidane opened the door and allowed Dagger in first before he followed behind. As soon as they walked in, Beatrix, Belle and Marcus called to them. They were lounging in the living room.
"We couldn't go to sleep without knowing what was going on." Marcus explained, "So how's Karen?"
"She's recovering in the hospital right now. She was still sleeping when we got there." Dagger informed.
"Well... at least she's alright." Beatrix added with a sigh of relief.
"Where's Blank gone to?" Belle asked, looking around.
"Oh, he's staying at the hospital with Karen to keep her company." Zidane said with a slight grin on his face.
"Hmm... in that case, I'm relieved." Belle replied. "Let's go back. We still need our rest for tomorrow."
Everybody nodded and headed for the elevator. The girls waved goodbye and said good night as they reached their floor. Beatrix unlocked the door and the girls said their good nights to each other, everyone wanting to just go sleep. Beatrix locked the door and returned to her room as well.
Dagger quickly took a hot shower and changed into her Tweety pajamas. Then the thought occurred to her. If Karen and Blank is at the hospital, they can't audition tomorrow!
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A/N: Merrrrrr, this is my worst chapter yet. -_-* Also the shortest (I think?). It's so hard to get good inspiration these days. =( Not exactly a cliffhanger, but that's where it ends for now. Hope you guys didn't mind this short and plotless chapter. I couldn't get anything through my head and it just took so long that people were starting to e-mail me for previews of this chapter. o_O Anyhoo, I also have some news. I've opened up a RPG blog in the middle of July and I'm desperately looking for new role-players. This RPG blog is based on Final Fantasy 8 and 9, and so far, we have Dagger, Eiko, Zidane, Kuja, Vivi and Selphie taken. That's only 6 out of the 20 characters available. o_O Soooo, if you think you might be interested, go check out the site itself. The link to it is located in my bio, where the plugs are (all the way at the bottom). Here's what I wrote for the joining part of the site, and I quote:
"Joining Melodies Of A Lion will require you to follow rules, have knowledge of at least FF8 or FF9 and have at least the HTML basics down. You must also be honest, reliable, and good-natured, as you'll be allowed access to this blog. If you're interested in joining, e-mail me at melodies@azure-vision.net with your name, URL (...If you have one. If not, you can still join), the name of the character you wish to play, and a short, brief description of your character."
Tsk tsk tsk, such a shameless plug. *grins* Anyway, if you're interested, please join. I'm was hoping that this chapter will bring me some new RPers instead of just reviews and hopefully, it'll work. =P
Finished: August 07, 2003
