Chapter 27
Blank greeted the effusive hugs and delighted exclamations with tolerant amusement. Everyone was speaking to him at once, asking how he was feeling and if he needed anything. He shook his head, smiling at them and holding up his hands.
"Don't everyone mob me all at once now. I feel fine. Really."
"You still have two more infusions to take," Garnet told him sternly. She held out a cup full of a warm liquid to him. He took it and drank it down quickly. It was bitter, but soothing in an odd way. He grinned up at her. "Am I good to go now?"
"You still need to take one of those tomorrow morning," she said, "but I'd say that you're fine. Just keep lying down and don't do too much for now. It wouldn't do for you to have a relapse, now would it?"
Blank shook his head. "Of course not, Your Highness."
Finally, Garnet smiled at him, and Blank knew that she had been just as worried as anyone else. "Thank you for taking such good care of me," he said to her.
She bowed her head in acknowledgement as a tiny voice piped up from the bedside, "I helped too!"
Blank looked down to see Eiko standing with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring up at him. He swallowed a laugh, thinking it might offend her. Instead he reached down and patted her on the head. "So I heard. Thanks Munchkin."
She beamed up at him, apparently unconcerned by the nickname. "You're welcome!" she chirped.
He looked up from her when Zidane stepped forward. His friend hesitated for a moment, then knelt down and embraced him tightly. "I was really worried about you," Zidane said softly. "I'm glad you're okay."
Blank patted him on the back. He hadn't known he had so many friends. The thought brought forth an unexpected warmth in him, and he found himself blinking back tears. 'I won't cry,' he thought to himself. 'I won't cry over something this trivial.' And he didn't. But just barely.
"Anyway," said Zidane gruffly once he pulled back. (Blank suspected that he too was a little shaky in the emotions department at the moment.) "It's a damn good thing that Kuja knew where to get that antidote. You really owe your life to him." He turned to gesture at the chair where his brother was sitting.
It took Blank a second to realize that Kuja was not there. He felt his heart begin suddenly to beat rapidly in his chest. Unbidden, the memory rose into his mind of the look in Kuja's eyes at the end of their last conversation. Panic started to well within him, but he forced it down.
He threw off the blankets on top of him and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Immediately Garnet was at his side, her hand firmly gripping his upper arm and holding him down. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked, the stern tone returning to her voice.
"You don't understand," pleaded Blank. "I have to find him. The way he looked, I just- I need to find him! I need to make sure he's okay!"
"I'll go," Zidane volunteered. "I'll find him; you don't have to get up."
"No," said Blank, shaking his head. "Everyone has to go. Search the castle top to bottom if you have to. We need to find him!" Even he heard the panic entering his voice. He knew he couldn't keep calm much longer.
"Alright," said Garnet. "We'll all go look. But you'd better stay in bed!"
Blank nodded, and laid back as the others trooped out of the room. As soon as he was sure they were a good distance away, he threw back the covers once more and surged to his feet.
It was not a good idea. He immediately felt faint and had to sit down again. But a second, more cautious attempt yielded better results. Moving swiftly but carefully, he opened the door and jogged as fast as he dared down the corridor. He knew where he would find Kuja. There was only one place.
Kuja had come here on a dragon. And a dragon would only stay outside.
He made it down to the garden in a relatively short amount of time, though it took longer than he would have liked. He felt dizzy when he arrived, and it occurred to him that perhaps this was not the smartest thing he'd ever done. But the situation felt too urgent for any other course of action.
He stumbled out into the open and looked around desperately for any sign of Kuja. He had to be out here. He had to be.
A sudden shaft of sunlight shone onto the ground in front of him. Normally this would not have seemed strange, but the sky was overcast. The clouds were thick, and threatening rain, so the bright light seemed out of place. Blank looked up.
Here and there, something shone in the sky. Shards of light glinted off of some sort of metallic surface as something large moved through the clouds.
Blank knew instinctively what it must be. He wished desperately for his knife, but it was with his belongings, which must have been back up in the bedroom. He glanced around desperately for something to use, and his eyes settled on a fist-sized rock. Praying that it would be enough, he snatched it up and hurled it as hard as he could up at the silvery shape.
The response didn't take long. The silvery flashes quickened for a moment, then disappeared altogether. Blank held his breath, then let it out in a terrified gasp as a giant shape suddenly hurtled down towards him from the sky. He backed up hastily.
The dragon landed with a few downsweeps of its great wings and Kuja slid off from its neck. Blank felt a sense of deja-vu wash over him, remembering that his first conversation with Kuja had happened in just such a manner. But Kuja's eyes were not filled with righteous fury this time. They were annoyed, certainly, but the emotion was overwhelmed by an almost palpable despair.
Kuja approached him, then stopped when they were about four feet apart. "What are you doing, Blank?" he asked wearily.
Blank wanted to go forward, to take his shoulders and shake him, but he was hesitant to breach the distance that Kuja had imposed between them.
"Me? What are you doing?! Why on earth are you running away?"
Kuja looked down at the ground. "You'll be safer this way. You'll all be safer. I am the Angel of Death, Blank. Everything around me dies. Zaruyon perished for me, and you nearly followed the same fate. I will not put you or anyone else into that kind of danger again. It is best if I leave."
Blank felt himself gaping at this pronouncement. Was this really how Kuja felt? Had he been so depressed? He felt himself shaking his head, though he didn't remember consciously deciding to do so. "No..." the word came out of him on its own. "No, Kuja, you can't do that."
"I must," said Kuja softly. "I would never forgive myself if you were hurt again because of me."
"What do you think your leaving would do?" Blank yelled. "Listen Kuja. You remember when you got so angry at your brother and me for not letting you make your own decision about our relationship? Kuja, what do you think this is? Don't you think we should be the ones to make the decision about whether or not we want to stay with you?"
"But... I..."
Deciding to take his chances, Blank crossed this distance between them and put his hands on Kuja's shoulders. Startled by the touch, Kuja looked up and met Blank's eyes. It was his downfall. Blank could virtually see Kuja's resolve crumbling. He smiled and leaned forward, bringing their faces close together.
"I... can't..." Kuja managed, and then they were kissing sweetly. Blank grinned against Kuja's mouth. He knew that he had him now; there was no way that he would let Kuja leave again.