Author's Note: I know that was a deliciously evil cliffy, but I could not resist. Besides, the second chapter would be way too long if I did what I was supposed to do with it. Anyways, this chapter may be a bit weird sounding. Sorry for the long wait. Enjoy.

Assassin

Chapter 2

Kuja:

"What are you?"

The figure tossed its hair back with a flick of its head, revealing the face of a young girl. There was strength and fire behind those crimson eyes of hers. Crimson eyes? Was that normal? The girl grinned darkly.

"It doesn't matter who I am now that you are going to parish."

Where have I heard that before? I kept my hand on her weight, watching for any possible hint of movement. I kept my muscles tensed up and my mind clear. More magic I have at my disposal, the better.

"Apparently, you don't know who I am and what I can do," I said in a low voice.

The girl snorted and jerked her arm backward. Nice try. I tightened my grip on her wrist and planted my weight down. The girl snarled and literally tossed me over her head…and into the brush. I landed on my back a little rougher than expected and ended up gasping for air. In one split second, the girl had her sword in her hands.

"Enough games, little girl. You should have stayed home with your mother. This is the end."

I flicked my wrist at the set of trees nearest her. The top of the trees exploded in a ball of white hot fire. There was a startled scream and a loud thud as several trees fell to the ground instantly. I laughed wickedly and folded my arms. Several shouts from the castle's direction quickly reminded me of Zidane. I floated towards the ground and hid behind a very tall tree. I couldn't let any one see that the explosion was due to my magic.

I had convinced Zidane that I was powerless and unable to channel magic, period. But…I glanced back at the fire with a frown etched on my lovely features. I wonder if she is still alive…such beauty was wasted on her. Had she chosen something safer as a profession…

"Why am I thinking about her?" I whispered to myself.

I fired at her to kill so…why am I suddenly feeling so sorry for her? The shouts grew louder with each passing second now… Maybe I would go check on her body…

Tamiko:

The weight on my legs was unbearable and so was the heat. I screamed and screamed until my throat ran dry, which wasn't very long. The flames licked at my chest, eating away at the layer of clothes I had on. I tried to grab my sword so that I could put myself out of my misery. After all, that's what assassins do. The fire flared up in another puff of white heat that scolded my face. Tears poured down my cheeks, drying up halfway down my face. Right now…I wished Micah was here…

He wouldn't let me die.

"Big brother…please…" I whispered.

My vision started to turn black.

"Put that fire out!"

Alexandria Castle

7:48 A.M.

Kuja:

"Sir Kuja, what do you have to do with this woman?"

Hmm…uh…she was my assassin?

"I don't have a relationship with this woman," I said simply.

Dr. Tot glared at me through his thin-framed glasses. He was way too used to looking at me like that since he became the castle's physician.

"You're lying," Dr. Tot said softly.

I smirked.

"You can't prove it," I said in a sing-song voice.

"True. I'm going to see about more medicine for the woman. I will want an explanation later."

And with that, he left. I glanced at the bundle of bandages lying on the bed. Tamiko was almost dead when I finally asked for the fire to be put out. If it wasn't for the quick water spell I conjured, those idiot guards would have burned her up. That's one thing for sure…you can't trust a human to take over a genome's job. I smoothed my hair out of my face gently and walked over to the bed.

Amongst all those bandages was Tamiko's slightly reddened face frozen in dreamless slumber. In a way, I envied her. She was resting on the brilliant edge of life and death, meaning she could give up whenever her body fell like it. I knew that she was hardly feeling any pain after Garnet threw a cure spell at her. I was glad that she didn't ask me to do it as a joke.

"What is so special about you? Why couldn't I let you die?"

The words echoed around the room, forcing an annoyed growl from my throat.

"Kuja."

I whipped around, pasting a look of disinterest on my face. Zidane gave me a strange look before walking fully inside the room.

"What is it, Zidane? I was in the middle of something," I snapped.

"Yeah, that's what you want to think, basically. Anyways, we found something in this woman's jacket."

Jacket? But I thought the jacket was destroyed.

"What did you find?" I asked, trying to hide some of my interest.

Zidane ignored my expression and handed me a small warped black wand. What could Tamiko be doing with a wand? Assassins like her generally use swords, not magic. I took it out of his hands and waved it under my nose. It smelled strongly of the Treno Slums that it gave me a headache. I turned it over in my hand and saw a hint of cursive writing that read 'Micah…'

"Micah? Never heard of him," I muttered aloud.

"Heh, I'm not sure if there is a Micah in Alexandria."

Fascinating. It was funny how Zidane didn't pay attention to details. This wand came from Treno along with Tamiko. I handed the wand back to Zidane and sighed.

"We have no lead through that wand. Just…put it in my room, ok?"

Zidane gave me an incredulous look.

"Kuja, you know how Garnet feels about you having magical items on your person."

Queen Garnet can royally bite me on this one. I waved him off without a word.

"Garnet does not control me, you know that. Besides, you can tell her that she attacked me."

Zidane laughed.

"And you hit back."

Right. Whatever you want to call it. Zidane turned and left with a small chuckle. I glanced at Tamiko once again, scanning over her delicate features.

You know you'll have to kill her when she gets up, a voice in the back of my mind mused.

I wanted to laugh at the voice's reasoning, but I couldn't. It was true. I had no intention to die at the hands of some assassin. But…

I looked her over again.

…I may have to.

Later on that afternoon

Tamiko:

My eyes shot open, flooding my vision with light. Light? Was I in heaven? Had someone been kind enough to release my poor soul? As the light faded from my eyes, I saw the ceiling of a well kept room. Who…saved me? I turned my head and caught sight of a small nurse, reading a clipboard. Hmm…so I was in a hospital. Brilliant. I glanced down at my left arm, which was thickly covered in bandages. I imagine…I was covered with such bandages now. In a way, I was hardly surprised. After all, I was half burned to death.

Wait, was that fool Kuja still alive? Let's find out. I swung my legs over to the side of the bed as cautiously as I could.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

I watched with an amused smirk as she rushed over to me and attempted to push me back onto the bed. With a snarl, I hit her roughly across the head with my fists. The nurse let out a startled gasp and fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Hmm…humans are too easy."

I stood up carefully, noting the weakness in my legs. But I was fine. Someone had been foolish enough to heal me before putting me here. I glanced around the room, looking for some kind of weapon. There were none. The door swung open wildly, revealing a very weary Kuja. Excellent.

"I thought I wounded you," I snapped.

Kuja laughed.

"For someone who stood so close to death, you sure have a lot of mouth."

"You couldn't even kill me," I spat.

Kuja's eyes narrowed darkly.

"Oh…but I can."

Author's Note: This chapter was actually supposed to be cut in half, but both would be really short and not so sweet. So I put them together…and left you with yet another cliffy! Yay! Once again, sorry for the long wait. And…feed the authoress stares at her review box