Edonil: I'm currently at 3748 words, and its day two! I'm attempting to be at 4000 by the end of today… Wish me luck! Only about three-hundred more. Yay me!
Disclaimer: It's raining. If I owned FFIX, I would not be here. I would be considerably closer to the equator.
Claimer: Crims is mine. Sarah is mine. If only I could say FFIX is mine… But I can't. Oh well. I live in hope.
To Change
Chapter Ten
A very confused bird looked into the window. Normally, rich and powerful people stayed in this room. The bird was a mischievous little fellow, and liked to scream shrilly in the morning, thus waking up the unfortunate and late-sleeping nobles who slept there. At the crack of dawn. But here the bird was, ready to shrill (the stupid noble had slept through his squawking the previous day!), and the person was already up and mobile! This was ridiculous!
Oh well, he could still squawk.
And he did so, for several minutes, until-
---
Kuja stifled a groan. What was with that bird? Was it possessed? It certainly sounded like it. It was sitting on the windowsill, chirping away like there was no tomorrow! Deciding that if he didn't do something about it, he'd go insane, Kuja suddenly moved across the room and flung open the window. The bird fell like a stone.
That done, Kuja went to see about breakfast.
Breakfast was quiet, mainly because he was all alone. Kuja had never been the type to sleep in on a Saturday morning. Luckily, from what he knew of Crims, she wasn't either. Maybe he could go pay a little visit…
Yes, that's what he would do. She had to tell him what she'd decided…
"And just where do you think y-y-you're going?" a loud voice boomed, stifling a yawn. Kuja turned to see Captain Steiner.
"Am I not permitted to leave the castle?" Kuja asked. Why was the rusty fool awake?
"I suppose… But where are you going? Tell me, and I will let you pass." Kuja sighed.
"I'm going to see my girlfriend. Are you happy? May I go?"
"G-g-girlfriend?!" Captain Steiner stuttered. Kuja nodded impatiently. "When did you get a girlfriend?"
"On my journey here. May I go see her now? I promise I'll tell you all about her when I return." Captain Steiner was clearly in shock; he just nodded, and let Kuja go to the town.
---
"Come in." Kuja opened the door, and Crims jumped up. "Kuja darling, how are you? Still in shock?"
"I… don't know," Kuja admitted.
"I'll take that as a yes. Sit down; I don't want you to fall over and hurt yourself when I tell you what I've decided." Kuja obeyed.
"What is your decision?" he asked, his voice breaking near the end.
"I have decided… I've never had a child before, and it might be… nice. If it isn't nice, there are orphanages. So I have decided to keep the child. Are you ok with that?"
"I suppose…"
"Good. Now, are you going to tell your friends?"
"I… don't know."
"Why ever not?"
"I don't know what they'd think…"
"Something wrong with you having a girlfriend?"
"Actually, they think I'm gay, so no- stop laughing!" Kuja glared at Crims. She had started laughing when he'd told her his friends thought he was gay. "Anyway, they might not be into the idea of… children outside of marriage."
"And you care what they think because…?"
"I'm trying to make a good impression."
"Why? Did you do something horrible?"
"Um… I suppose I really ought to tell you."
Kuja then told Crims everything. All about his position as Gaia's evil arch-nemesis, and destroying Terra, and being a genome, and trying to destroy Gaia… She listened with rapt attention, showing no emotion whatsoever. Perhaps that was a good thing.
Finally, he finished. She didn't say anything at first, just sat there and looked at him. Silently. Kuja began to grow a little uncomfortable under her unblinking gaze. Finally, he asked,
"Are you going to say anything?"
"Such as?" she asked.
"Do you hate me now?" Kuja mentally cursed himself. He always tried to speak so eloquently, but that last sentence…
"No."
"Pardon?" Had he heard right? She didn't hate him? Why?
"I said, 'No.' I don't hate you."
"… Why?"
"Because I'm an assassin, and I'm not legally insane. I kill for money, remember."
"Oh." Kuja had nothing to say. He was speechless. She didn't hate him. She didn't care that he'd destroyed a planet… This was heaven.
"Now, are you doing anything today?"
"I… don't think so."
"Good. I'm exploring Alexandria. I've never had time before. If everything you just told me is true, and I don't think you would make up something like that, then you should know this place pretty well. Will you show me around?" Kuja opened his mouth to answer. "Good. Let's go. Oh, and someday I want to see this 'Desert Palace'. It sounds lovely." She then grabbed Kuja's hand and pulled him out the door and into the town. Kuja remembered to close his mouth and stop looking like a fish just in time.
Edonil: Voila! Not very many words today… Read and review!