I'm Coming Back to You

Chapter 11- Parallel

Disclaimer: Mine! All mine! Mwahahahaha… hey, I can dream if I want to.

AN: Well, guys, this fanfic seems like it's gonna be a long one. Twenty chapters, maybe twenty-five. I'm still trying to think of how I'm gonna finish it off with a good ending. I'll try to make it good.

In the tenth chapter, Zidane, Mikoto, and Vivi are waiting for Mognet Central to work again, so that they can tell Regent Cid that Zidane's got amnesia and needs Doctor Tot's help. But this chapter is going to focus on Garnet, who has now gone back to her old alias as Dagger, and is now wandering around looking for Zidane. Presently, she's met up with Blank, and they are now surrounded by…very mean men.

Key: _…_ emphasize (italicize)

       /…/ thoughts

       "…" words

       *…* action

     "Blank, what do we do?" I hissed.

     "We can't run, we can't fight…we're out of options." He sounded defeated.

     "That's right, you are," the man that had tried to make me kiss him earlier sneered at Blank victoriously. He turned to his "buddies". "Get them!"

     Blank tensed. I bit my lip. What could I do? Calling an eidolon would probably crush them or scare them away, but the whole of Lindblum would see, and Uncle Cid and Beatrix would know that I was here. But what about my white magic…? Blank and I stood back-to-back as they advanced upon us. What spell could I use?

     "Get the boy. I'll take the Queen." The kissy-kissy man walked menacingly toward me.

     Now or never. I raised the racket.

     The man snickered. "Whatcha gonna do, Your Highness? Hit me on the head?"

     "I'd love to," I practically spat, "but I've got important ROYAL matters to attend to." I waved the racket and expertly chanted a spell.

     "What—ahh!!" Mr. Gimme-a-kiss clutched his eyes and began to stumble around. "Hey…I can't see anything! Hey!"

     One of his henchmen tried to jump upon us, but Blank deftly swung his blade and knocked him to the ground, as I quickly cast Confuse on the rest of them. "Let's go!"

     We must've been a sight, running through the streets; me, clutching the Tiger Racket with my flushed face hidden beneath the robe's hood and Blank, hastily trying to sheath his weapon while maneuvering through Lindblum citizens as we made our way to the "hideout".

     Finally, Blank led me into another alleyway, with an inconspicuous door and window. We both stood there for a moment, panting heavily, until Blank wiped his brow and glanced at my racket. "A hefty helpin' of Blind and Confuse, eh?"

     I shrugged. "Sometimes I wish I had the White Magic capabilities Eiko does. Would've been a joy to cook them up with Holy."

     "Too noticeable. The Lindblum guards would'a seen it. I wonder if they saw us running through the Theatre District like that—a couple of panicked oddballs."

     "Blank? Is that you? Did you find her?" Baku came out the door. When he saw me, he quickly ushered us in. "What took you so long?" he demanded, but didn't even wait for the answer. "They're desperate to find you. You're lucky you haven't been caught yet!"

     I put my hands on my hips. "Yet? I won't let them catch me until I want them to."

     "If that's what you want, then you've gotta be more careful." Baku was anxious. "We need to get ya out of Lindblum. This place is crawling with soldiers. Dali might be a good place to keep you in hiding."

     "Hiding?!" I shrieked. The last thing I wanted to do was be locked up in a house. "I don't want to _hide_! The reason I ran away was to find Zidane, and I can't look for him if I hide!"

     Blank and Baku glanced at each other. "Maybe we could keep you safe until they stop looking for you," Blank offered.

     I snorted. "The only way they'll stop looking for me is if Steiner and Beatrix are _dead_. That's not going to work." Baku still had some disapproval, but I could see they knew that I was right.

     "Okay," Baku finally consented. "But we're gonna hafta change the way you look. Maybe Ruby can get ya some new clothes."

     "You'd better get to work on that, then," Blank said. "I'll tell Marcus and Cinna to get the Prima Vista ready, pronto. Next stop: Outer Continent; Iifa Tree."

                                                            -0-0-0-0-0-

     "Any sign of her, Steiner?" Beatrix asked as he entered the room.

     "No. We have done the best we can."

     Beatrix sighed and patted her bulging stomach. "Well, to catch a Queen, we have to think like one. Who do you think Garnet would have run to first?"

     "Perhaps one of her dear friends," Steiner suggested. "Say, would she have gone to Eiko?"

     "But how could Eiko help her?"

     Steiner shrugged. "Simply a thought."

     Beatrix looked at him thoughtfully, then smiled. "Steiner, schedule an immediate trip to Lindblum—four passengers. Arrange for two accompanying soldiers."

     "Only two? So who is the other passenger?"

     She stood and stretched. "Why, me, of course. And, just for good measure…why don't we ride the Red Rose?"

                                                            -0-0-0-0-0-

     "The Iifa Tree? But Beatrix already searched there! The only thing she came up with was a big hole and Kuja's dead body!"

     Marcus nodded. "We start where Zidane started. Hopefully it's not too late to pick up his trail from there. We don't aim to search for Zidane, Dagger. We're going to look for his footprints and follow wherever he went, and then catch up with him."

     "But wouldn't Zidane try to be heading back to the Queen?" Cinna piped up.

     "That's the point," Baku said. "If Zidane left the Iifa Tree when Beatrix found him missing, he would've already shown up at the palace already, otherwise he's got some kind of problem that's holding him up. We need to find Zidane and make sure that he's OK and not in any kind of danger."

     The plan was sounding good already, and deep down inside I hoped that it worked. It had to work. If I didn't find Zidane, dead or alive, I didn't know what I was going to do. The trip that Baku was making was even more dangerous, because they had a royal runaway in tow, which would mean that if my loyal guardians ever found out what they were doing, we'd all be in big trouble. "But why bring me along?" I said. "The people following me would just slow everyone down and make you guys have to be that much more cautious."

     "We don't want ya to get hurt, first of all," Baku replied. "We could use some of your White Magic. And you might as well come along with us—the more, the merrier, you know?"

     "Okay!" I said, excited they were ready to let me come along. "Let's go!"

     "Whoa, whoa, hold up." Marcus eyed me carefully. "You're not lookin' too good, Dagger. Maybe we should wait until tomorrow."

     What? Of course not! Zidane needed me now! "No, really! I'm fine, I can—"

     Baku shook his head. "Nah, Marcus is right. We'd better leave tomorrow. Cinna," he motioned to the Tantalus member who'd been heading for the cockpit, "never mind. Gear it up in the morning."

     I was silenced by their stern looks, and Blank said, "Here, we'll lead you to your room."

     The night air was chilly, but I didn't want to close the window. The stars blinked outside my window like a billion tiny little lights in the night sky. I folded my arms on the windowsill, a position I had come to adore, and rested my head. "Zidane?" I whispered. "Are you there? Can you hear me? Where are you? Well, wherever you are, and whatever you're doing, please remember that I love you, and that I can't wait to see you again." I closed my eyes. I wanted to see him again so badly that my insides ached whenever I thought about it. Tears sprang to my eyes. Furious, I wiped them away. I had to be strong. I couldn't break down and cry. I had this feeling in my heart that Zidane needed me to be strong for him, because he couldn't do it alone. He needed my support.

     The window closed with a thud, and I crawled into the warmth of the bed. We'd have to be up bright and early tomorrow, and circles were starting to appear under my eyes. With a sigh, I closed my eyes and let the comfort of sleep wash over me like a wave. /Zidane…I'll see you in my dreams…/

                                                            -0-0-0-0-0-

     "Lady Eiko, General Beatrix and Captain Steiner of Alexandria request an audience of you."

     "Why can't you just say that Beatrix and Steiner are here?" Eiko was in an especially bad mood today. The news that Dagger went missing had caught her off guard, and now she was mad as a hornet. "There you guys are! I was wondering when you were coming to see me!"

     Beatrix shook her head. "Eiko—we're wondering—"

     "No, she's not here with me," Eiko fumed. "What does Dagger think she's doing! Going off by herself, the idiot! I mean, running away with Zidane is one thing, but ALONE?!?! That's it, we're going to go look for her—"

     "Don't be ridiculous," Steiner interrupted. "We have all of Alexandria and Lindblum out for her. We do not need another Royal Princess out searching, too! Imagine what chaos would result if anything happened to you!"

     Eiko polished her Angel's Flute and faced Steiner defiantly. "No, YOU are being ridiculous. Ever heard the saying that it takes a thief to catch a thief? Well, it takes a summoner to catch a summoner." She winked. "And we all know there's only two summoners left on Gaia. And I'm one of them. So, when are we going?"

     Beatrix groaned. "Eiko, we don't want to get you into this whole mess."

     "So? You know that you need to get me in the mess anyway."

     She watched as the two commanding officers looked at each other, uncertain. Eiko smirked. /They'll have no choice. They know I'm stubborn, and if they said no, I'd find my own way./ "So…what'll it be?"

     Finally, Beatrix shrugged. "Sure, Eiko. It's fine with us. But, there's still one more question." The six-year-old raised an eyebrow. "Is it fine with the Regent?" The corners of her mouth collapsed. /Uh oh…/

                                                            -0-0-0-0-0-

     She was standing on a tower. A gentle breeze rustled her hair, and the sun bathed her in its peaceful warmth. She looked down to discover that she was very high above a field of flowers that shone in all its brilliance with every color of the rainbow. Birds circled above her, placing a crown of flowers in her hair and chirping their songs. The scene was enough to make her lethargic. She sighed with contentment. /Only one thing could make this better. One thing…if I could have Zidane. If Zidane were here, right next to me, this would all be perfect. Just perfect./

     Then, out of the blue, came a loud, booming, and not too kind voice: "Ahaha! There's only one reason for this, you know. Zidane would be here next to you, but he isn't. Do you remember that day? Zidane chose to see Kuja instead of stay with you. That means he doesn't care enough about you."

     The doubt flickered in her mind, but she yelled, "No! Zidane loves me!"

     "Maybe, but obviously his dying brother was more important than you were. Zidane doesn't care about you, Sara. He thought the destructor of Gaia was worth more than you are. Face it! Zidane thinks that you're dirt. Zilch. Nothing at all! He probably doesn't even know that you exist!"

     "Liar!" she screamed, but it wasn't even half-hearted anymore.

     "He's probably somewhere, surrounded by pretty ladies, drunk and perfectly happy without you. He doesn't need you. He doesn't want you. He doesn't care about your feelings. He doesn't care whether you're worrying and waiting for him. He only cares about himself, and nobody else! Especially you!"

     There was a tremendous flash of lighting, and suddenly the calm, serene place she had been standing in warped and changed. The sunlight was blocked out by dark clouds, which did not rain, but poured out its fury in bolts of electricity and roars of thunder. The flowers in her hair became slimy, crawling bugs and worms. She screamed and flailed her arms, trying to dislodge the insects from her hair, but tripped and fell over the edge of the tower, and only barely managed to grab and hold on. The field of flowers became a raging sea, waves crashing against the pillar, threatening to swallow her in its depths. She screamed for her dear life.

     "Ahahahaha!" the voice cackled. "Where's your Zidane now? Is he going to save you?"

     The sky flashed with an image of Zidane, a pair of scantily-dressed ladies clinging to his waist, his eyes half-closed and a silly grin on his face, while he walked around in a drunken stupor and laughing like he hadn't a care in the world.

     "No! Zidane!" she was crying now.

     "You see what I mean?" the owner of the voice was clearly enjoying himself.

     Instead of playful birds, shrieking bats swooped down and began to attack her, scratching and ripping her dress, biting her, flapping their rancid wings in her face, and caused her to lose her grip. With a final cry, she dropped towards the unwelcoming waters below, her last word, "NOOOOOOOOO!"

AN: Again, emphasizing the obsession. I really hope it's not coming across badly. It's nearly been a month and all. Hmm… Garnet is starting to get long chapters now. ^.^ Not really a bad thing, at least for you. For me, it means tedious hours trying to develop some sort of story that will maybe interest you enough to catch a review or two. Heehee. Did I managed to get some this time?