I'm Coming Back to You
Chapter 14- Lies
Disclaimer: Ah, you see? The title of this chapter is "Lies". So I'm gonna lie to you. I own Final Fantasy IX!!! Hehe. (Don't I wish. --And that's not a lie!)
AN: Ah, I'm back. With another chapter. I'll keep my AN short this time…you probably don't wanna listen to my ramblings and wanna just get on with reading. Hey, if I were you, I would, too!
Key: _…_ emphasize (italicize)
/…/ thoughts
"…" words
*…* action
"Zidane chose to stay with Kuja instead of you."
"Zidane thinks that you're dirt."
"He doesn't need you. He doesn't want you."
"Ahahahaha! Where's your Zidane now?"
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
"Wake up! Wake up! Hey, are you okay? Wake up!"
I nearly leapt out of my bed. "He doesn't love me. He doesn't want me. He hates me. He—"
"Hey, hey, calm down!" I looked up to see a pretty girl, with brown hair, and sparkly eyes, and— "You're all red and sweaty. What is this, the insomnia room? You know, my last guest couldn't sleep well in here either." She was suddenly silent, with a faraway look, as if reminiscing. I looked at her curiously. Then she seemed to snap out of it. "Ah! All in the past now. Oh, sorry, my name is Zeithi. How about you?"
"I'm G… Dagger. My name is Dagger."
"Oh, thank GAWD you know your name. You know, if you didn't, you would've given me a heart attack. I would've pinched myself." She laughed. Her laughter sounded sweet and beautiful, like chimes in the wind. "Oh, well. I bet you're hungry. You like broth?"
I nodded. "Thanks so much. I need something warm." I looked at her funny. She talked an awful lot. She seemed to notice the stare, and smiled. "I'm sorry…I…"
"I know, I know. I'm babbling, right? It's just been a while since I had company, much less _female_ company, and it's just exhilarating to have someone to talk to besides a wall." She frowned. "Is it annoying you?"
"No, no!" I said. "Not at all." Actually, her voice was very relaxing. Everyone I had spoken to recently had been strained or stressed, but she was carefree, comfortable and happy. I liked to listen to it—it was like her attitude was contagious, and I caught it almost instantly.
She smiled in relief. "Great! Well, you know, I'll go get your food."
I watched her go, and tried to remember what happened. Tantalus—the airship—the Red Rose—falling off the stage—landing in the bushes, and getting knocked out—and then, I suppose Zeithi found me. Speaking of Zeithi, she returned with the bowl and handed it to me. I ate it carefully, and silently. Finally, she said, "Wow, you eat like a princess or something."
"Huh?" I said, slightly panicked.
"It's just that, you eat so clean and carefully. Look, you didn't even spill anything!"
"Well, my mother always wanted me to be neat," I replied quickly. "Listen, Zeithi, I was wondering if you could tell me where we were. I mean…are we still on the Outer Continent?"
She nodded. "Yeah. My house is in the middle of a forest. The Iifa Tree's not far from here, but you were thrown awfully far. I thought I heard an airship. Was that…?" I nodded. "Oh. I see. Well, I found you in a clump of bushes, dragged you home, and patched you up. You're still probably a little sore, but not in bad shape."
"Thank you," I said again. My head began to throb, and I leaned back against the pillowcase. "I…I'm…"
She gently took the empty bowl from me and stood. "You're still a bit dizzy. Hey, I'll leave you to rest, okay?" She closed the door behind her.
I snuggled into the comfortable bed and remembered something Zeithi had said earlier. /What was it? '…my last guest…'/ My eyes widened. /Could she…Could she mean Zidane?/
-0-0-0-0-0-
Zeithi had left the house and was now wandering around in the open fields, looking for any sign of an airship. /I better find that girl's friends…they're probably looking for her./ Then, she sighed. /Who am I kidding? I'm doing this 'cause I wanna see Zidane again…/ She walked through the sand in the direction of the Iifa Tree.
There. That whirring sound again. She glanced up, shading her eyes from the sun, and saw the giant boat lift into the sky. "Hey…HEY!!!" She yelled, running towards the steam-operated vessel and waving her arms wildly. "Hey! Wait!! Your…friend…" The airship was gone. "Great…now what?" She looked around for help, and, finding none, decided to make her way back to the cottage.
-0-0-0-0-0-
I heard a noise from the kitchen. "Zeithi…is that you?"
"Huh? Yeah, it's me." She popped her head through the doorway. "Need something?"
"Umm…I just wanted to ask you something, really fast…"
"Oh, sure, anything." She came inside the room and sat down, her eyebrows raised expectantly.
I took a deep breath. This could be the moment I've been waiting for. "You…you know how you said that you had another guest in here, a while ago? And I was thinking also, about how you rather implied you hadn't had female company in a while. Could that mean…your last guest…was a male?"
"Yeah, he was a guy. Why do you ask?"
My heart was caught in my throat. "What did he look like? And did he…tell you…his name?"
Zeithi was quiet for a moment. She bit her lip and looked at me, long and hard. Finally, she said, "You're that queen, aren't you? The queen that's missing."
What?! How did she know that Alexandria's queen had gone? She lived in such a remote place, with no one around, how did she— "How did you know about that?"
"I heard it from some dwarves, in Conde Petie. They were, gossiping, and I, umm, you know, eavesdropped a little. And after seeing you eat so neatly…" She paused, then curtseyed quickly. "It's an honor, Your Majesty, to have you in my humble home."
I sighed. Even somewhere smack in the middle of nowhere, Beatrix managed to make my absence known. "Please," I pleaded, "Don't turn me back in! I know, there's a reward and everything, but I beg of you—"
Zeithi laughed, of course, with her pretty laugh. "I'm not interested in money."
"Oh, thank you so much!" I was so relieved. So far, people I've met up with didn't seem to want to return me to my throne. And I was glad. But there was still a question that Zeithi hadn't answered. "Please, can you tell me about your last visitor? Was he…did he have blonde hair? It's short-cropped… He has a tail, and he calls himself 'Zidane'. Oh, and he has blue eyes, amazingly blue eyes…rich and with a tint of green, as the sea… And he's so kind, and handsome, and thoughtful, and loveable…"
I looked up to see Zeithi, with an odd, strange look on her face. "No," she said finally. "My last visitor was an old man with white hair; I think he was a traveler. He didn't have a tail…and no, I didn't think him handsome or loveable… Oh, his eyes. I don't remember the color. Brown, I think?" She frowned. "He didn't tell me his name."
My heart sank. She hadn't seen Zidane. "Oh…well, then, sorry to bother you."
She didn't seem to hear me. She was looking out the window. "I…I have to… Oh, you look tired." She sighed. "You'd better just stay here and relax…I'm gonna…I'm gonna stand outside. You know, on guard. For…for whatever." She got up quickly, absently, and left the room.
I was glad to be left alone. Right then, I started to cry. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I hugged my pillow desperately. Why me? Why couldn't I just find Zidane, and be happy, and get all this sadness over with? I wiped away each tear and moaned to myself quietly. I wish I'd never left the castle. I wish I'd never met Zidane. I wish…
I wish I'd never fallen in love.
-0-0-0-0-0-
She was sitting in that spot again. The spot where they had sat together, side by side, and she had professed her love to him. And he had refused her, albeit gently. And although her speech to him (before he left) had been sincere, she hadn't forgotten him just yet. In fact, she still wished he would've stayed with her and forgotten about the other girl.
/Oh yeah, and while we're on the topic of the "other girl", let's talk about her more, shall we? She's beautiful, she's sweet, and she's so _nice_. Oh, not to mention she's a queen. And, did I forget to mention, she's IN MY HOUSE, RIGHT NOW?!/
Zeithi glanced at the door of her cottage, where she knew that behind it (and a few other doors) lay her rival. Well, Queen Garnet, who called herself "Dagger", was obviously very much in love with Zidane. And Zeithi couldn't compete with that, because she knew, deep down in his heart, Zidane loved Garnet back. And Zeithi was jealous.
/Yeah…jealousy. That's what made me lie to her—that poor, heartbroken soul. Somehow…I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth./ Sure, Zeithi felt remorse. But she couldn't tell Garnet about Zidane.
She knew she was being selfish, and that one day Garnet would find out the truth. Zidane would get his memory back, sooner or later, and Garnet would ask him how he escaped from the Iifa Tree. He would tell her about Zeithi. And her secret would be exposed. And Garnet would hate Zeithi for the rest of her life…
/Zidane…am I doing the right thing?/
AN: Again, this chapter is pretty self-explanatory. So I'll just get to work on the next one!