I'm Coming Back to You

Chapter 6- Answers

Disclaimer: You know the drill...

AN: Hey, I'm back! Sixth chapter. As I told you before, I plan to have Zidane POVs in a row, and this is the next one. Dagger is still waiting back in Alexandria, and that's all you need to know right now. I guess. I'm still trying to sort things out. Especially throwing new things into the story, and get prepared for more!!! *mwahahahahahaha*

Key: _..._ emphasize (italicize)

     /.../ thoughts

     "..." words

     *...* action

     When I awoke, the sun was halfway over the horizon, the sky bursting with color in all its glory. Blinking and trying to remember the events of the previous day, I stood and scrambled atop the stone structure beside me. Nothing marvelous or landmarks. /Dammit. I'm still lost./ Running a hand through my rumpled hair, I leaped from the rock and sighed. /Might as well look for something to eat./

     The memory of the dream struck me as I walked. Who was that girl? Something tugged at my heart, telling me that she was an important part of my lost memory. Was she a relative? Unlikely. A friend? Maybe even more than a friend. A girlfriend. Someone who meant a lot to me. Someone who meant everything to me. Someone who-

     There was a movement in the treeline that I had come upon. I sucked in a breath and ducked behind another large rock and a bush. Voices. I crept around to get a better look. Two figures. I squinted. One of them was short and wore bulky clothing. It had a tall, pointed hat that overshadowed its face. It was one of those creatures I saw in my dream! I growled and put my hand on my blade, then paused.

     It was the other person that caught my attention. She had shoulder-lengthed hair as mine and clothes similar to that of Zeithi. I peered at her and gasped. She, too, had a tail! I held my breath to hear what they were saying.

     "Mikoto," the short one was saying, "I was just at Alexandria, visiting Dagger."

     "Oh," the one with the tail replied, rather unhappily. "How is she?"

     I decided the mage wasn't very threatening. He had different color apparell than the war creatures that I had seen in my dream. He was also smaller and timid. "Well, she's still distressed."

     "Ah, she still must miss _him_, no?" Mikoto sighed. "So do I."

     "Me too. He was like a brother to me."

     She chuckled. "He was my brother. Something to that extent."

     "How many more mages do we have left?"

     "Oh, Vivi, they are dropping like flies. I wish we could do something."

     'Vivi' frowned. "Poor No. 288."

     "Indeed." She sniffed. "We must return. There is much to do."

     The two disappeared into the trees. I put a hand to my heart to find that it was thumping wildly. Who were they? Should I follow them? Who was Dagger, and that _him_ they spoke so sorrowfully of? What was a No. 288?

     I rose to go after them into the forest, when I heard a shout.

     "Zid! Is that you? Zid!"

     I turned my head to see Zeithi running across the sand, a look of relief spread over her face. When she approached, she began to yell. "What do you think you're doing?! Running away when I've done so much for you, without a goodbye besides a measly little note, and when you're not back to full health yet?!" She scowled at my calm expression. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

     "Who are they?"

     She blinked. "What?"

     "Them." I pointed into the trees where the two people-were they people?-had gone. "Someone who looked like me, and one of those things I saw in my dream."

     Zeithi frowned. "How-Did you-"

     I looked to her, eyes pleading. "You know something about them, don't you?"

     She groaned and gave in. "I should've known. I guess I better start from the beginning."

-0-0-0-0-0-

     She took a breath. "Not long ago, in Alexandria, Queen Brahne was still alive. If you ask me, she was the ugliest thing I ever did see...well, anyway, I had journeyed to the city to watch a theatre group called Tantalus perform everyone's favorite play, 'I Want to be Your Canary', by Lord Avon himself. And-"

     I blinked. "I've heard of that before. And Tantalus..."

     She looked at me curiously, squinting. "It can't be," she muttered to herself. "No. It couldn't."

     "What?" I asked.

     She shook her head. "Never mind. Anyway, during the play, the most beautiful woman on the face of Gaia, Princess Garnet, disappeared. Captain Steiner of the Knights of Pluto went out searching for her. I don't remember much to that point, but I remember Tantalus and Steiner engaged in combat on the stage. Tantalus tried to escape with the Princess, and Brahne, furious, bombarded them with cannons. It was a very well-thought plan for kidnapping, I'd suppose. However, they managed to leave Alexandria, but there were reports that they went down in the Evil Forest."

     Something clicked. Evil Forest? An image of a giant plant filled my mind...bug-like creatures chasing us...who was us? The boy who looked like me, a man dressed in a knight's armor who carried the lovely girl I saw last night in my dream. There was also the red-head I saw in an earlier dream, my first one, and...could it be? Was that the mage I saw earlier this morning? I shook my head.

     "What?"

     "Nothing. Keep going." I willed myself to listen to her.

     "I suppose Brahne was furious for losing her daughter, so she sent an army of these Black Mages to Lindblum, where the Princess was supposed to be. The city was devastated. Then she went on to conquer Burmecia, and chased their residents-the rat population-to Cleyra, in the desert. Things eventually went out of hand and the man who supplied Queen Brahne with her war creatures, the Black Mages, went out of control and killed Brahne. The place isn't far from here-it's called the Iifa Tree. I heard it's enchanted or something."

     "Enchanted?" I asked curiously. "Isn't that the place where you found me?"

     "Yes. I tried to escape from the warfare and moved here. Shortly after, the summoner that I saw disappeared. I haven't been in much contact with the outside world since."

     However, the people I saw earlier was still bugging my mind. "And the people I saw?"

     She shrugged. "I never met one up front. Too scared. Something about them is strange. They're connected to the recent war, somehow."

     I laughed, suddenly. "Strange? You're forgetting about me. I might be one of them. Am I strange?" She didn't smile, though. "Oh, yeah. I am strange. This dude you found somewhere in an enchanted tree who doesn't have any clue of his past." I sighed, my earlier joke losing its mirth. "I guess I'm strange."

     Zeithi was silent. She glanced toward the trees and said, "Did you talk to them?"

     I shook my head. "I was afraid, too. But I want to, now."

     "Please, you won't go to them right away, will you?" the glint in her eyes was ambiguous-I squinted, trying to figure out her motives. Why was she so anxious to have me stay? I agreed, though, because my stomach was rumbling, and my head was beginning to hurt again.

-0-0-0-0-0-

     A bowl of soup, a bunch of berries, half a Chocobo egg, and a glass of juice later, we were sitting peacefully at her kitchen table, leaning against the wooden backs of our chairs and burping contentedly. Zeithi grinned. "Can't...move...too...full..."

     I laughed, and she laughed, and we were just sitting there, writhing in our seats and clutching our sides and howling. Suddenly I stopped. Zeithi was arrested in mid-giggle-she stared at me. "What is it?"

     "I can't remember the last time I laughed like that."

     "Of course," she scoffed, "You've got amnesia, remember?" I hung my head. She _had_ to bring that up again. She gasped, with much remorse. "I'm so sorry Zid, I didn't mean to-"

     "It's Zidane." I stood from my chair and headed towards the door.

     She scrambled from her seat and came up behind me. "What?"

     I turned my head to look at her. "My name isn't Zid. It's Zidane. I figured it out."

     To my surprise, Zeithi let out a squeal. "You've remembered!" She blithely threw her arms around me in an awkward embrace of congratulations. I was so full of surprise I didn't move, just stood there, looking at her with wide eyes.

     "Oh!" then she leaped off me, tumbling backwards into the table, red as a tomato. "I...I..."

     Her expression was so hilarious I burst out laughing all over again. Zeithi, after looking at me for a moment, joined my silliness, and we just stood there, chortling and choking over giggles. Then, feeling energetic, I ran through the doorway and charged through the trees, Zeithi at my heels, both of us shouting like wild animals. We ran out into the sand and tumbled through a patch of grass, chests heaving, but grinning from ear to ear.

     Finally, after lying in the green for a moment to calm ourselves, I sat up. "Zeithi..."

     "Yeah?" She rolled over on her side to face me, propping her head up with an elbow. I observed her for a minute, the long strands of brown hair falling over her shoulders, occasionally rustling with the evening breeze. Her verdant eyes gleamed warmly. I bit my lip, knowing that what I was to say next would break our "moment".

     "Zeithi, how come you wouldn't tell me about the war before? You were...uncomfortable with talking about it."

     She instanlty flew into a rage. "I STILL AM!" Furious, Zeithi jumped up and stormed a few feet away.

     /Great, she's mad at me./ I clambered after her, stumbling through the weeds and sand. "Hey, wait a second! I just wanna know what's going on."

     "You have no right to know!" She stopped running, but crossed her arms defiantly and refused to face me.

     I walked around to her front. "I'm just trying to help, okay? You don't have to-"

     "LOOK!" She yelled. "YOU HAVEN'T BEEN THROUGH WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH! So just shutup and quit pretending you can make everything better all over again! Because you can't! You can't! Nobody can! Nobody..." She began to cry.

      I touched her shoulder, hoping to console her. "Zeithi...tell me what's wrong..."

      She sniffed and wiped at the tears, futilely. "It's my family, Zidane. My whole family was wiped out during the war. I moved here, but the rest of them were stuck in Alexandria. Eventually, they made plans to join me. And then-they were all killed in an attack. My dad left my mom before I was born, but I still had her and my little brother and sisters. And now they're...they're all gone!" She kept sobbing.

     Sympathy and compassion overtook me. I stepped forward and put my arms around her, letting her weep into my chest, and patted her back. "Shh, it's OK. Don't cry..." We remained in that embrace for a while, beneath the star-lit sky, until Zeithi's wails were reduced to sniffles, and I could now properly hear the night bugs chirping. "You alright?" I whispered to her. She nodded, but didn't let go of me. My foot was starting to fall asleep, however, so I shifted and pulled away slightly to look at her tear-stained face.

     Her eyes and nose were red, and there were damp streaks leading down her cheeks and chin. I pulled out a handkerchief-now where did I get that from?-and tried to wipe her to a state that was less embarrassing, for I found she was blushing crimson.

     "Thanks," she mumbled, taking the cloth and mopping her face further. She still had one hand around me, and I was getting more uncomfortable by the minute. /Oh, well. Anything for a Damsel in Distress, I guess./ I shrugged and patted her head again.

     "Hey...you feeling better? I'm really sorry about your family."

     She nodded, quiet, then looked up at me.

     "And I hope you feel better." I cocked my head and studied her.

     "Umm..." She looked down, cheeks burning scarlet, and sucked in a breath. "I just wanted to thank you, Zid-Zidane. I've been living alone for a while and it was nice to have company. And I-I wanna wish you luck and everything on finding out about your past."

     "Your welcome," I replied, as she lifted her head once more. I felt her leaning closer, but I didn't make any move, just anticipating what she would say next, but-

     Cool, smooth lips fell on mine. I just stood there for two seconds, trying to comprehend what was happening. Then, the realization hit me. I started, stumbling backwards and releasing Zeithi. She gasped and clutched both hands to her mouth. I gawked at her in complete disbelief and bewilderment, both of us frozen and gaping at each other. Abruptly, Zeithi spun 180 degrees and fled down the hillside and into the trees.

AN: Pretty long chapter there, eh? Of course, it's just like me to make more things complicated! Short AN now, I gotta go work on the next chapter... Reviews, please. Many thanks for your already-written reviews. =0)