Edonil: Sorry I've been so long! I was in the school musical (Cabaret) all last week, and haven't gotten to bed until after midnight, and had to get up early for school, so time has been very limited. I had so many emails to sort through… Anyway, I'm back! One more week until Christmas holidays! Yay!

Answers: These are answers to questions asked in reviews. Let's see… "I thought the baby was killed." No, it wasn't. Go back and read very carefully. I'll explain more in this chapter or the next… Probably this one. Moving on. "Get Kuja some new (manly) clothes." No. I find his clothes, or lack thereof, amusing. "More Eiko!" No. I do not like Eiko. I find her quite annoying, in fact. "Has Kuja changed his clothes from the GAY ones he used 2 wear?" No, he hasn't. And I would correct you on the use of gay (gay is not an insult!), but technically you aren't all that incorrect in your current usage. Unless you mean "happy", of course. And I think that's all of your time I'll waste.

Disclaimer: Let's see… Nope, don't own FFIX. Too bad.

Claimer: Hmm… I own Crims, Sarah, Kuja's daughter… Go me!

To Change

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"What do you think?"

"'Bout what?"

"About Kuja's daughter, you nitwit!"

"Oh, right. I dunno."

"You dunno?"

"Yep. What do you think?"

"I… dunno."

"You two gonna sit there all day, talkin' 'bout nothin', or are ya gonna find a way to get us off this rock?"

"Uh…"

"MOVE!"

"Yes, Boss!"

"Right away, Boss!"

Baku turned to Kuja. "I don't suppose you know when the storm will go away?"

"Actually, I have a theory."

"Really? Let's hear it."

"When… When my daughter came here, she was in essence putting herself back into the flow of time. Therefore, there were a lot of magical energies in the air. The energies would have collided, creating the storm that destroyed our boat. Now that she's here, the storm should have begun subsiding. We should now try to find a way to contact someone who can come pick us up."

"I see. BLANK! CINNA! GET YOUR REARS OVER HERE PRONTO!"

"Yes, Boss?"

"You two go find some way of contactin' Alexandria. But don't you do the contactin'; leave that to somebody with a brain!"

"I've got a brain, Boss."

"I wonder, sometimes. Now MOVE!"

"Yes, Boss!"

"Right away, Boss!"

"Now, Kuja, I'm gonna go look in that temple over there. You stay here, with… her. If anyone comes looking for me, tell 'em where I am."

Kuja watched Baku walk away. The man wasn't very intelligent. Going into a strange temple that contained a way to leave the flow of time… Stupid, stupid, stupid. Sighing, Kuja walked over to where his daughter was sitting.

She was huddled as small as she possibly could, shivering. Kuja would have healed her bruises, but he had very little healing talent, and besides, he wanted to conserve his energy, just in case. No point in using it all on something that might not work. But she didn't look very healthy…

"Are you alright?" he asked her. She looked up at him. Was she… crying?

"Yes," she whispered. Her eyes gave away the lie.

"No, you aren't. What's wrong?" Kuja sat down beside her. She immediately skirted away.

"Nothing." Kuja simply raised an eyebrow. "It's… The Master will be angry at me! And when he's angry, he hurts me! I don't want to be hurt…"

"Don't worry. I won't let him hurt you," Kuja assured her. She didn't look convinced.

"Nothing can hide from the Master. He knows everything."

"I lived with him for longer than you did. Don't worry, he doesn't know everything." She still looked scared. Kuja decided to change the subject. "So… Do you have a name?"

"Third Angel."

"What did Garland call you?"

"Third Angel. Sometimes he just called me "Angel", or "My Angel". Or Girl, Wench, Useless Whor-"

"I get the point," Kuja put in hurriedly. He had to work to keep his face emotionless. Garland was a… There were no words to describe him! Hurting Kuja's daughter, oppressing her, making her feel worthless… Kuja would get him!

---

Garland kicked the table. Curses! She'd gotten away. He'd checked the Monitor, a large machine that recorded all happenings in the temple, and quickly realized that his Angel had gotten away accidentally. Or not so accidentally, perhaps. Meddlesome fools…

He'd destroyed Kuja's daughter! He'd taken her when she was young, and open to influence. She couldn't even speak! He'd never told her about her parents, made sure she never even thought she was related… She was nothing like Kuja! He'd made sure of it! In essence, he'd destroyed Kuja's daughter! But now she had left. And if his estimations were correct, she was now with Kuja! Kuja was many things, but he wasn't an idiot! And Garland couldn't simply go back in time to before she'd gotten away and stop her! He was in a place that was of no time at all! One can't go back in time when one is not in the flow of time!

It wasn't fair! She'd been his Angel, a malleable soul for his taking! But she was gone! And he couldn't get her back! The only way to retrieve her was to go back into the flow of time and kidnap her again. But that would definitely send Kuja into a trance, which was the last thing Garland wanted… And the trade for Garnet's Eidolons was now useless. Kuja would never do it. And besides, Garland had nothing to kill Sarah with anyway. Unless he kidnapped her… No, that wouldn't work; security was on full alert, and he'd never get close enough.

Curses! All his plans thwarted by a single mistake!

Edonil: What think you? Good or bad? Please R&R!