A/N: Whew, lots to talk about. First off, I know this chapter's long, but I just couldn't stop writing it. Plus it is V. Important. It started off as a filler then it turned into a full- blown proper important chapter.

I've figured out how this is going to end. I've started writing the final chapters (how could I not? I just had to put my ideas down) but there is a problem. I have two different, equally good ideas for endings!!! There's two things I could do here: I could put them both up and let you decide, or I could write them both out and decide myself. Which could be difficult. Whatever your opinion, please comment and let me know!

I saw the film 'The Cell' after I wrote this, and that helped me refine my ideas a lot. It's a good film, except I didn't see the beginning so I don't know who 'Edward' is.

Also, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism would be great instead of 'oh. That's good. Please add!' which makes you sound stupid as well as pissing me off.

Oh, and I'm sorry about the reactions in this chapter, especially Demeyra's. I know I get really pissed off at anyone else who writes crap reactions, but this was really the only way I could get the story going. I also apologise to anyone who is confused by my story, and I know that is the main flaw of my writing, and I'm working on it, okay?

Kuja sat in his wheelchair in the infirmary. Demeyra was sat on a table beside him.

"I can't believe this happened. Why on earth did the dragon fall?" Demeyra asked.

Kuja didn't reply.

"Come on, talk to us, Kuja. You haven't spoken to anyone for three weeks- three weeks! I'm sorry we tried to keep it from you, but look at you! We know how much you... take pride in your appearance. We knew this would happen."

Kuja remained silent.

"Kuja, come on. This isn't funny. We're all worried about you. Please let us help."Demeyra begged.

Kuja maintained his stony silence, gazing out of the window.

"Please..." Demeyra slid off the table and crumpled into a heap at Kuja's feet. She took Kuja's hands. They were cold and dry as paper. "Kuja...?"

Kuja blinked slowly. He no longer bothered to keep his appearance as he had done in the past. He had cut his grey hair much shorter, and allowed it to become tangled and matted. He had cast off his flamboyant clothes for a much simpler loose shirt and trousers. He wore a pair of spectacles Dr. Tot had had made for him. He hadn't seen his dragon in the three weeks since he had awoken from his coma.

"Speak to me, Kuja..."

Kuja suddenly looked up and met Demeyra's gaze fully. Demeyra almost recoiled in shock, but restrained herself at the last minute. For the first time, Demeyra realized how big and blue his eyes were, just like two lakes on a sunny day, and then she was falling into those eyes...

"Ahem..."

Demeyra span around. Zidane was stood in the doorway, with many curious faces behind him. Zidane grinned. "We thought we ought to come and see how you were doing." he said. "Plus we can sort out a few things while we're at it."

Demeyra was flustered, but Kuja simply wheeled himself away.

Zidane, Garnet, Vivi, Steiner, Eiko, Freya, Lani, Dr. Tot and Beatrix came in, filling the small room. Zidane began. "Phiran hasn't attacked for a while. This gives us chance to plot Mikoto's rescue."

Beatrix took over. "First, we need to find Phiran's ship, The Redwing. Any ideas?"

Eiko piped up. "What about the Hilda Garde 3?" she asked. "We could find it with that."

"Too vague." Garnet pointed out. "We could look forever in the Hilda Garde and never find the Redwing. Plus it's all the way over in Lindblum, and it's not much use in a firefight."

"C-could someone else fly the dragon?" Vivi ventured.

"Well, that wouldn't work!" Lani laughed. "Can you fly it, little man? No- one can fly it except Kuja. And it took him years to learn."

Everyone fell silent whilst they worked out possible strategies in their heads.

"Haven't we got any other ships that might work?" asked Steiner.

"What about the Red Rose? That's got cannons and stuff." asked Zidane.

"I suppose we don't have much choice." sighed Garnet. "We should try the north first, like Kuja said. After that..." she shrugged. "Pot luck."

Zidane nodded. "Okay." He said. "We'll meet up in ten minutes at the gates. I'll get the Red Rose ready."

They all nodded and filed out to their rooms to prepare. Zidane caught Demeyra's arm. "Erm... Demeyra..." he said hesitantly. "Look, I think it's best it you stay here, yeah? I mean, someone needs to stay with Kuja and all..."

Demeyra frowned. "Baby-sit Kuja? Aren't I worth more to you than that?"

Zidane squirmed. "Well, er, yeah, but... look." he sighed. "If you come along, that's another person to worry about, and I really think you'd be better here..."

"I can't look after myself? Is that what you're saying?"

"Well, no, but..."

"You can't keep me here! I'm coming with you!"

Zidane dodged out of the way, and, with the speed of the thief he had been for years, locked the door in Demeyra's face. "I'm sorry, Demeyra." he called. "But it's easier this way." He tossed the keys to Dr. Tot, who fumbled the catch. "Let her out when she's calmed down." he said.

"Er... yes, well... quite." stuttered the unfortunate Doctor, bending down to pick up the keys.

Demeyra hammered on the door. "LET ME OUT, ZIDANE! I'M WARNING YOU... IF YOU DON'T OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW I'M GOING TO BREAK IT DOWN WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS!!!"

Zidane's footsteps faded into the distance. Demeyra flopped into a chair, fuming. "Why does everyone insist on treating me like a child? I want to find out what's going on for myself, I want to fight with everyone else, I need to get out of here!" she paused in her ranting and looked at Kuja. "How am I going to get out, Kuja?"

Kuja's mouth formed words, but Demeyra couldn't hear them.

"What?" she said, drawing a little nearer.

"C-come closer..." Kuja whispered, so faintly Demeyra could barely hear it. She edged closer to Kuja.

"Closer..."

"Closer..."

"Closer..."

Kuja kissed her. Demeyra's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't pull away. Instead, she leant into the kiss and her and Kuja were kissing, and she knew there was something wrong about that, but she couldn't remember what...

Then suddenly, she wasn't in the Alexandrian infirmary, she was somewhere else altogether.

She pulled away and turned around. She was in a stone maze, full of staircases and ladders and doors. Numbers and shapes and sounds and pictures and stands of colour flashed and flew around at an alarmingly fast rate. Kuja was stood behind her, in his usual clothes... if you could ever call them usual, Demeyra thought with a smile.

"Kuja... you're standing!"

Kuja shook his head. "No, I'm not. I'm not really here."

"Then where are you?"

"In the infirmary, just as you are." When Demeyra frowned, he continued. "I've been here a few times before. Think of this place as... my mind. We are like spirits, but in places like this, we can touch things as if we were real."

Demeyra looked around her in awe. "Your mind is pretty impressive."

"Not really. It changes gradually, depending on what happens to me. Losing the use of my legs damaged it badly. It used to be much more colourful than this. Now it's just... stone."

"What are these little things flying around?" Demeyra said, trying to grab a flying picture but finding it passed straight through her fingers.

"Ah yes. You can't touch those. They are my thoughts, my memories. I can touch them." He said, pulling one from the air at random. "But... it's very difficult... to think about anything other than that..." he gave up and let it go. "When I need to concentrate, it's a great thing."

"How many times have you been here before?"

"Not many. I've been here a lot more since I got stuck in the wheelchair. Perhaps... eight or nine times altogether."

"Wow." Demeyra breathed. "Has anyone ever been here before me?"

Kuja shook his head. "I only just realised how to bring others here. It needs... deep physical contact..."

Demeyra smiled at Kuja's stilted embarrassment, so unlike the passionate soul he once was. "So why did you bring me here?"

"You wanted to follow Zidane, didn't you?"

"You can teleport me to the Hilda Garde?" said Demeyra excitedly.

"No. But I can do something else."

"What?"

"You might not like it. It requires a complete crossover of information; memories, thoughts, knowledge..."

Demeyra saw where he was going. "You're going to teach me how to fly the dragon?"

"If you agree."

Demeyra punched the air. "Of course! This is incredible! How on Gaia did you find out how to do all this stuff?"

"Well, this place is a maze." Kuja said, looking around him. "It's always changing, constantly developing along with me. All I had to do was... explore. You know how they say we only use a tiny portion of our brains?"

Demeyra nodded.

"Well, if I find out how to unlock doors, I can find out something new. I haven't had much else to do lately."

"If I had a place like this, I'd be here all the time."

"There are dangers. You can get completely lost in here if you are not careful. Apart from that, it takes a long time to find keys, and then you've got to find the door it corresponds to. Behind some doors, there are monsters, too."

"How come I don't have a place like this?"

"You do. You just haven't tapped into it yet. Every time I've been here so far has been at an emotional peak in my life."

"And you've been here eight times? You must have a pretty stressful life."

"You have no idea."

An awkward silence followed.

"So how do I learn to fly the dragon?" Demeyra said.

"It's difficult, and I don't know what side- effects there may be. But all you have to do is calm down and focus."

"On what?"

"On..." Kuja cast around for an idea. "On me." he said finally. "Concentrate on me, and don't be distracted no matter what."

"...Right." Demeyra nodded slowly. "And what then?"

"You'll receive everything I know, all my memories, all my knowledge..."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Yes." Kuja replied immediately, then smiled. "Someone's got to take care of my brother."

"And then what? How do we get out?"

"Once we've finished, you'll know." said Kuja with a small smile.

"...okay." Demeyra sat down, cross- legged, and breathed slowly. Kuja sat next to her, so close their noses were almost touching.

Thoughts swirled in Demeyra's head. She tried to calm them down, to be more open to Kuja. Gradually, ever so gradually, the images and sounds whirling in Kuja's mind congregated in one area, directly above Kuja's head. The concentration of ideas became intense, too intense... Demeyra's head began to throb but she stayed silent, waiting to see what would happen next. As the last ribbon of colour joined the mass of thought, it began to glow whiter and whiter, until it was so bright Demeyra's eyes began to water. But she kept her eyes open, because she just had to see what was going to happen next, she had to witness it...

The bright ball of light split into two. One half stayed over Kuja's head, and the other moved crawled towards Demeyra, until it hovered over her head. Then it began to descend. As soon as the light touched her head, she gasped. It was pleasantly warm, yet goosebumps rose on Demeyra's arms. It felt like liquid, yet Demeyra stayed dry. It engulfed her body as a silver aura. Demeyra felt her mind flooded with new concepts, new beliefs, and new memories. She saw a strange landscape filled with blue light; an old man with a pulsing red light in his stomach; a flock of silver dragons flying through the skies of the blue planet. She saw the red eye in the skies that so many people had feared during the Great War; she saw a beautiful city by the sea razed to the ground and the ocean around it stained with blood. She saw the old Queen staring into the eyes of a great dragon, and she saw a world made entirely of crystal. She saw... she saw...

A door.

A small wooden door, with a large iron lock. The wood was smooth from wear and age, but the hinges were rust- coated, as if the door had never been opened.

Open it, a voice inside her said.

Kuja? Is that you?

You can open this door. This door... I have seen it many times, yet I could never open it. I believe the room contains what Renne wants me to remember.

How do I open it? I don't have a key!

You see the hinges? They are almost rusted through. A good solid push will topple this door.

How come you've never opened it then?

I've never seen it like this.

Demeyra stood back from the door and drew on Kuja's memories. All the martial arts lessons Garland had taught Kuja flooded into her. Kuja had never been particularly successful at this sort of thing, but he knew what to do.

With a strength she never knew she had, Demeyra smashed into the door with a powerful kick. With a huge bang, the door fell over and Demeyra entered the room. It was huge and undecorated, with bare walls and a wooden floor. The ceiling stretched up so high Demeyra could not see its limits. The only striking feature of this room was the four stone trees along the far wall. Demeyra approached them cautiously, as if they might suddenly come to life and attack her at any moment. She soon noticed that all the trees had one branch that wasn't joined on correctly. She pulled the branch on the first tree. Suddenly a huge image appeared in front of her; the Invincible soaring over the Mist Continent. Although she saw it from far away, she could hear two individuals on the ship talking clearly:

"When are we going to carry out Master Garland's orders?"

"Listen to yourself. 'Master Garland'. You're pathetic."

"I only do my duty to Master-"

"Shut up! Shut up! I can't take it anymore! You've been in my way ever since you were created. Yes, created by your 'Master Garland'."

"Let me go!"

"Let's see how you help your 'Master' now!"

A speck appeared in the sky, too far away for Demeyra to see. But Kuja knew what it was, even as it rushed towards them at fantastic speed.

Zidane.

You did that!?

I...I...

And Demeyra understood, despite Kuja's inadequate explanation. She understood because part of Kuja was in her now. She had lived his life, through his eyes, and she knew what it was like. She understood him.