A/N: Before I begin with this chapter, I just wanna say that the way this story's going is not because I don't like Zidane. In fact, I think he's the hottest FF character ever! I just find that his past is more interesting to work on than the others, and this story idea was an idea in my head that I couldn't get rid of!
Song: One Step Closer – Linkin Park
Hours later, Zidane opened his eyes wearily and sat up in his bed. He noted that he was not in the same bed as last time, and that it was night time. 'Damn, they must've found me!' he cursed, spotting Garnet asleep a little way from his bed. 'If I run away again, they'll only find me again. I have to think of something else...'
"Garnet?" he said gently, trying to wake her up. She stirred and tiredly opened her eyes.
"Zidane!" she cried happily when she realised that the genome was awake. She got off of her seat, walked up to him and hugged him. Zidane smiled, but was groaning mentally. 'How the hell is she possibly gonna understand what I'm gonna go though if Mikoto really was telling the truth? No, she can't find out...' Garnet looked at him. "You seem troubled. Why did you run away?" Zidane hesitated.
"I...I wanted to train against more powerful monsters as soon as possible. Just a way to impress you more!" he lied, grinning. Garnet smiled.
"You don't need to impress me." she said, smiling. "But it would be nice if you didn't nearly get yourself killed next time you do an amazing stunt." Zidane got a sick feeling in his stomach, and he tried swallowing it away, but with no luck. "That's twice I've nearly lost you today. It's almost as if you're doing this on purpose." she joked, walking towards the window, looking at the moon. The feeling in his stomach grew worse. 'Damnit, she's not makin' this easy on me.' he thought grimly. He got out of bed and walked up to Garnet.
"What are you thinkin' about?" he asked her, also looking at the moon. Garnet sighed.
"I don't know." she began. "It's a mixture of different things, like, when do we go back to Alexandria? What has happened since I left?" She looked at the boy. "And what to do if you run away again and I don't whether you are alright?" There was a brief silence. "I thought I had lost you when you went back for Kuja..." She was silent after that.
"But you hadn't!" Zidane said, trying to cheer her up. She did not smile.
"You were gone for almost a whole year!" she began, not looking at him. "You missed so much, and I thought that I would never see you again!" She paused. "You even missed my most important day; my coronation. I would have held that back for years if I could, just so you could be there. Unfortunately, I didn't have a choice."
"Garnet..." Zidane began. "I...I couldn't help it if I missed it. I made my way back to you, but I had a lot of problems along the way. I would've given anything to see that day!"
"I know..." Garnet sighed. "Sorry, I was just really worried, that's all."
"Is there anything else you need to talk about?" the genome asked. "I'm always here to listen, you know that." 'Damn, there I go, stabbin' myself in the foot again. Of course I'm not always gonna be there, I'm gonna be dead!' Dead. That word only just found meaning when he thought it through properly. "Err, Garnet?"
"Yes, Zidane?" she wondered, looking at him.
"I would like to go to Lindblum and see Tantalus again, tomorrow, if it's possible." he requested. "Would that be alright?" Garnet looked at him, puzzled.
"If you're sure you're alright." she replied. "Alexandria should be able to cope without me for a couple of days."
"Thanks. Come on, we'd better get some sleep."
'What the-? Where the hell am I?' Zidane asked himself as he stood in the middle of land with lakes of fire. 'Maybe I am in hell...' he realised, walking around the place. Hearing a laugh emerge over the roaring flames, he spun around.
"Who's there?!" he yelled out. He looked around his belt and found that he didn't have his Ultima Weapon. "Damnit!" he cursed.
"It's not so bad here, you know." Zidane began to run towards where he thought the voice was coming from. It seemed...familiar. He spotted a lone figure stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the flames of hell. It looked like a masculine figure, though a cloak and hood covered him. Approaching the figure cautiously, he stopped behind him and held his hand on his shoulder. The person spun around and grabbed Zidane's arm, his hood falling off from his head in the process.
"Kuja?!" the genome gasped as his brother grinned maliciously, his eyes a fiery red from the fire.
"Enjoy the time you have left, you'll be here sooner than you think." he said, his voice full of hatred. He pulled Zidane to his side and threw him off of the cliff. Zidane screamed as he fell further towards the flames below.
Zidane woke with a start, sweat dripping down his face as if he really had been in that place. Trying to calm down his breathing, he got out of his bed and walked towards the window. Staring at the moon, which was now partly shrouded by cloud, he sighed and lifted the catch, opening the window. He leant out of it and felt the breeze stroke his face. 'There might not be a time when I can chill like this...if you can call this 'chilling'.' he thought grimly. 'I want her to know that I won't be here as long as she wanted, but she's been through so much already...loosing two mothers and two fathers. Her kingdom got destroyed, and now this.' He realised he was getting lost in his thoughts and sighed again. Closing the window, he walked back to his bed, lay down and tried to get some more sleep.
"I hope you come and visit again!" June said, smiling as Zidane said his farewells. "I felt terrible when I was told what had happened to you yesterday. I hope you're going to be okay."
"Yeah, I'll be fine. See ya June, see ya Ben!"
"Bye!" Ben called after him as he walked off to the ship with his friends. Erin and the rest of the crew, who had also been exploring the village, didn't want to bother Zidane on his 'trip', but even they where also saying goodbye, even though they had never met the two villagers before. Boarding the ship, Zidane glared at Mikoto as she got on before him. Mikoto looked at him gently, and Zidane walked off to the opposite side of the craft to her.
"You've done nothing but think this morning." Garnet noted as she walked up to him. "You said I could talk to you, but can you talk to me?" Zidane sighed.
"It's not that easy." he started. "It's like you were last night. You were thinking of so many things." He stumbled slightly as the ship took off. Garnet placed her hands on her hips, looking annoyed.
"You haven't been yourself ever since you ran off yesterday!" Her face softened. "What's wrong with you?"
"If it was that easy, I'd tell you, but-"
"Zidane, we have a problem!" Zidane looked behind Garnet to see Vivi run up to him, then fall over.
"What's up?" he asked curiously.
"I-I think those grand dragons have it in for you after you killed one of them yesterday!" he said nervously, getting off of the floor.
"There's another one?" Garnet asked.
"Yeah, and it's headed this way!" The three of them looked around as they heard a ferocious roar from what seemed like all directions. A huge dragon appeared from what seemed like nowhere, its wing beat nearly sending them flying.
"Vivi, we have to get rid of it as quickly as possible! Use blizzaga!" Zidane ordered.
"A-are you sure? The ship will be damaged!" the little mage protested worriedly.
"JUST DO IT!!!"
"O-okay..." He swirled his staff around. "Blizzaga!" A huge ball of ice landed on the dragon, and shards of it hit into the deck of the ship. The creature began to fall, but flew back upwards and went for an aerial attack.
"Keep going!" Zidane encouraged him, though sounding very aggressive.
"Blizzaga!" Vivi cried again. The dragon dodged the move and the ice smashed all the way through the ship.
"Damnit!!" Zidane cursed. "Right, I'm goin' in now." Garnet grabbed his arm.
"Zidane, I can't risk you getting knocked off this ship again!" she said, determined not to let him fight. "I'll help Vivi, and you make sure that the others are safe."
"But-"
"Please!" she begged. "I don't want to lose you again!" Zidane sighed and nodded.
"Fine. Be careful, okay?" He ran off towards the other end of the ship. On the way, Erin ran out.
"Sir, the ship's gonna crash! There's nothing we can do!" she cried desperately.
"Well make sure it lands safe then!" Zidane ordered, running off.
"Steiner! Eiko! Mikoto! Are you three alright?"
"Where is Her Majesty?" Steiner demanded.
"She's helping Vivi fight the grand dragon. She may need help though!"
"And why aren't you helping?" he asked angrily.
"Because last time I got flung off this ship! Now let's go!" he snapped back. Running back to the other side of the ship, he saw Shiva casting a powerful ice spell on the dragon, and it fell towards the ground, dead.
"Good move, my Queen!" Steiner congratulated. "But now we have to get off of this ship!" The rest of the crew ran out of the bridge.
"It's headed for some rocks!" the pilot cried. "There's nothing I can do!"
"Everyone get to the back of the ship!" Zidane yelled. Vivi fell over while running towards the stern of the vessel, and Zidane ran up to him. "Com'on, we gotta go!" he said, getting anxious. Vivi stood up and made his way to the others. The collision with the rocks, however, sent Vivi flying towards the rest of the crew and his friends, but Zidane flew off in a different direction. The ship broke in two and Zidane felt himself plummet away from his friends as everything around him went black.