Post-game, therefore spoilers for the entire game. Though not too many. Zidane X Dagger

Written as a birthday fic for Vitanifyrewolf


"What are you doing up there?"

Zidane nearly fell off the roof in shock. He looked down to see Garnet, Queen of Alexandria staring up at him disapprovingly, her hands on her hips.

"Er… hiding."

"From?"

"Master Tribal! Where are you? We still haven't fitted your pants! And we need to rehearse your part in the marriage ceremony after lunch!" A powerful baritone voice rang through the clear air, carrying to all four towers of the castle.

Zidane inclined his head towards the center of the castle. "That."

Garnet reached her hand up. Zidane wrapped his tail around the drain that ran along the tower roof, swung down, grabbed Garnet's hand, and swung her up. She sat down on the edge next to him and stared out over the city. "It won't be that bad, I promise. Leopold is a sweet man under all that muscle and anger."

"He frightens me," Zidane responded.

"You faced down the incarnation of universal death, and Leopold frightens you?"

Zidane appeared to think about this for a moment, then nodded. "Necron wanted to kill me and everything else in existence. He wants me to wear a really uncomfortable suit and learn a really boring ceremony for five hours."

Garnet laughed. "Oh come on. That's not that horrible a fate, is it?"

"Dag… Gar… Er…?" Zidane glanced at Garnet.

She smiled. "No one's listening. You can call me Dagger."

"Dagger, honey, I wasn't born to this sort of thing. All this scraping and bowing makes me really uncomfortable. So do the clothes."

Dagger leaned her head on Zidane's shoulder. "You weren't born for this sort of thing? I wasn't either. I was born for summoning on a continent that, until recently, few had heard of. And you were born for-"

"Ahhh," Zidane said, holding up a hand. "Let's not bring that up."

"Sorry, but I was trying to make a point. That birth isn't everything."

"So you're saying I could change into this role?"

"If you wanted to. I'm not saying you should. I don't think I would like you very much if you changed into this role. And I'm sorry to say this but you would make a terrible king."

Zidane reached his arm around Dagger and pulled her closer to him. "Well, good thing I won't be running the kingdom then, isn't it?"

"Yes, but you'll still have work to do. And you'll have to occasionally stand in on public ceremonies."

"Such as our marriage?"

"Such as our marriage."

"So if you don't want me to change and you presumably don't want me to run away, what do you want me to do?"

"Just put with it. For a while. The nasty parts will be over eventually, right?"

"Ain't it the truth?"

"Your Majesty? Would you please tell the monkey boy to come down here? Master Leopold is starting to break furniture."

Zidane sighed. "It's Beatrix and Rusty, isn't it?"

"Mmmhm."

"Crap."

"I'll distract them, you run."

"Nah," Zidane said as he gently pushed Garnet away. He knelt down in front of the edge and offered his hand to Garnet. She took it and he swung her down, letting her drop into Steirner's arms. He wrapped his tail around the drain and lowered himself down.

"Gotta grow up sometime," he said.