A/N~ Unless I get some reviews from you guys I won't put up another chapter, I don't want to feel like I'm wasting my time. I hate to do this, but until I get a total of five reviews no more chapters. But thanks to Sparks and AvaWolf for reviewing! ^^
Encounter with a StrangerShe sat on the stool in front of her mirror again while Mindy pulled her hair up into an elegant bun. Twin tendrils of dark hair curled down the side of her face. She was so excited, yet at the same time worried that Kuja wouldn't be the one her mother chose.
There was a knock on the door and Beatrix entered, holding a circlet, a pendent, and a pair of earrings in her hands. "Your mother wanted me to give these to you. She thinks they will match the dress."
Mindy helped her put them on. Her mother was right; they did match the dress. The circlet, the earrings, and the pendent were made of silver and they all had a diamond encrusted in them.
Garnet was speechless. Everything about her looked perfect. Tonight was going to be fun; she knew that now. She only wished that the bodice wasn't so high. Finally she convinced herself that she wasn't going to fall out and followed Beatrix out of the room.
She stopped in front of the door to the balcony of the ballroom, suddenly feeling extremely nervous. This wasn't her first ball, she had been to many in her meager seventeen years of existence, but none of them had been thrown to decide who she was going to marry. What if it wasn't Kuja? What if it was some old geezer who happened to be some old friend of the family and her mother just wanted to repay him a favor by letting him marry her? Her mother wouldn't do that…would she? She couldn't say; her mother had been doing things so differently lately that Garnet could no longer predict her actions.
"Princess…" A familiar voice said behind her.
She turned to see Kuja, dressed in a blue dress tunic and black pants. He looked good. She smiled; suddenly getting the feeling that everything was going to be okay. As long as Kuja was beside her, nothing could go wrong.
He held out his arm with a gentle smile coming over his face. She could feel herself blushing, suddenly reminded of the events of that moment as she slipped her arm through his.
He pushed open the door and they walked in. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping that he wouldn't notice how tense she was. She couldn't shake this feeling that something really bad was going to happen.
"Don't worry, everything is going to be fine," he said as if he could read her thoughts.
He led her down the wide balcony stairs, everyone turning from what they were doing to look at the couple. She could feel herself blushing even though she was used to people staring at her. After all, she was a princess. But they all seemed to know something… they all stared at her as if they hid something from her. No… she was only imagining things.
The crowd began to part, making a pathway to the magnificent thrones that stood against the far wall. For the first time she noticed how utterly silent it was. No one moved other than to get out of their way, and every eye in the room was on them.
Finally they stood in front of the thrones, where her mother sat in the left hand one. She smiled her unnerving smile, and Garnet knew that something was up. This was not a ball, she was certain of that now.
Her mother stood and all the eyes shifted from Garnet and Kuja to her. She took a deep breath, clearly enjoying the fact that everyone was so attentive.
"First off I want to thank you all for coming on such short notice. I know this is no way to plan any royal affair, but the wedding of my daughter simple couldn't wait any longer…" Queen Brahne said.
Garnet didn't hear any more after that. She had gone numb. Her mother had planned her wedding… This was her wedding? And no one told her until it was already in progress? Then another thought penetrated her mind… I'm marrying Kuja!
But somehow it wasn't as great as she thought it would be. There was some hesitation in her. She was only seventeen. She shouldn't be getting married. She wanted to see the world before she got married…it had always been her dream. That way she would know that she could really and truly settle down.
And there was something different about Kuja. He looked so arrogant, the expression on his face wasn't the kind and gentle one she was so accustomed to seeing. Her instincts were screaming that something wasn't right. Her mother had the look of triumph, and not the pride that mothers were supposed to get when their daughter got married. She looked as if she had achieved victory in some plot.
She took a deep breath. Her instincts were screaming for her to run. The feeling was so intense that she thought she would scream. There was nothing she could do but act. She wrenched her arm from Kuja's, who was so shocked that all he could do was stare at her. Then she ran.
She pushed through the crowd of people, all of them staring at her in awe. She lifted her skirts so that she could race up the stairs and slammed out of the doors. Kuja lunged after her after the initial shock had worn off and as the door slammed closed after her she could hear her mother screaming, "Stop her!"
She didn't look back as she ran; the guards were so shocked to see her running away from the ballroom that they couldn't react. This was unlike the Princess of Alexandria, who was so calm and serious. She could hear Kuja calling after her, but she didn't slow down, and she didn't want to go back.
Finally she reached the main doors of the palace. Bursting through them all she could pray for was the ferry was at the dock. Otherwise she was trapped, and she knew that she couldn't swim in her dress.
To her dismay the ferry wasn't there. It must have been on the other side, picking up passengers. Kuja would be on her any moment; she could stay here. She only had one choice. She kicked off her shoes and ripped at the stays on her gown. It fell to the ground leaving her in her thin petticoats. But she didn't care. She had to leave the palace.
Without looking back she dove into the cold waters of the moat. She was a good swimmer, Beatrix had taught her how. Beatrix…she would miss her. And Steiner to; annoying as he may be at times. But she couldn't stay. She had to get out of the palace. One day she would return, when she was ready. She could hear Kuja calling after her, along with Beatrix and Steiner. But she wasn't going back.
About midway she saw the ferry coming. She kept swimming, the guard who guided it and the passengers stared at her in shock, but they didn't realize that it was her, otherwise they would have yanked her aboard and she would be hauled back to the palace, shivering and soaked, and caged once again.
Only ten feet away from freedom…five feet…so close…
***
Zidane Tribal stood on the dock waiting for the ferry to come back. He had missed it by about two minutes. He sighed, knowing that he would hear it from his boss. He was supposed to be at the wedding representing Tantalus tonight since his boss had gotten so drunk last night with that whore. But he didn't mind, he wanted to see the princess for himself. He had heard rumors of her beauty ever since he first got here, and was just disappointed that he hadn't met her before Kuja did.
Suddenly he became aware of splashing at the edge of the dock. He walked over to the side and looked down; to his shock a girl was treading water there, looking up at him in frustration.
"Don't just stand there, help me up!" she cried, holding out a hand.
He grabbed it and hauled her out of the river. Then stared at her in shock, seeing that she was only in her petticoats, and they weren't very thick. Without thinking he pulled off his thick overcoat and handed it to her.
"Thank you so much," she said, pulling it over her shoulders. Then she smiled at him, "Who are you?"
He stared at her for a moment before answering. He'd never seen her before, and yet somehow she looked familiar, "My name's Zidane."
He waited for her to tell him who she was, but she just stared at him curiously. Then she snapped into reality.
"I've got to get out of here," she said, staring with wide-eyes at something in the direction of the castle, "Oh, no… where am I going to go?"
"Don't you have a place to stay?" he asked, looking at her in confusion.
She shook her head and looked at the ground, "If you know somewhere I can stay without anyone knowing I'm there, I'd be grateful." She looked up at him, hope in her eyes.
Shouts could be heard coming from the river, too far away to be understood, but she looked frightened just the same.
"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand. He couldn't just leave her there. Something was obviously scaring her.
He led her to the inn. She looked around, but no one was in sight. Everyone was at the palace, there for a wedding that the bride had run from.
He led her up the stairs, "I already have a room here," he said, leading her down the narrow hallway. He opened the last door on the left and moved to let her enter first.
The room was small, meant for one person. It was messy on account of him being in a hurry to get ready to go to the palace. He had gotten word that he was supposed to go last minute.
"Sorry about the mess," he said, watching her as she looked around the room. He could tell that she wasn't used to anything being out of place.
"Don't worry about it," she replied, sitting on the bed and shivering. He hurried over to his suitcase and pulled out an old shirt. It would be big on her, but it was better than wet petticoats.
"Here, put this on and I'll go see if there's anything hot for you to eat," he said, walking over to the door.
"Thank you, Zidane," she said. He could feel her gratitude from her tone of voice.
He smiled at her over his shoulder and left the room.
A/N~ I know you guys are like, why the hell did she run if she's in love with him. So before you flame me for it let me just get it clear now that it will be explained somewhere in the next few chapters. There's a reasoning behind everything that happens in this. Do I seem like the type of person who just has things happen for no rational reason? *glares evilly at everyone* Didn't think so.