(A/N) I AM SO SORRY!

Truly I am! I've taken sooo long and it really sucks for everyone who likes my story and…

Well, at any rate, here you go!

The Ice Caves

The Cavern was amazing. It was huge, it was glorious, it was…immense, it was…

"Sh-shiny…" Ari mumbled, her wide eyes going over the icy caves.

"Amazing," Garnet whispered, her voice hushed from the mere giganticness of the cave. She bent down and reached out to touch the flower in front of her, perfectly incased in two or three inches of solid ice.

"Princess! Please, do not touch anything!" Freak demanded nervously, drinking one of their potions.

"Hey! Don't touch that!" Ari cried, seeing him. "We don't have that many, you know!"

Freak glared at her, replying, "Well, you're a white mage, and so is the princess. I think we'll be just fine."

"Look out!" Zidane cried suddenly, for there were suddenly four little beasties upon them, two weird jelly things, and two goblins. Ari and Garnet stood back a bit while Freak and Zidane took out the goblins, then Vivi torched the blue jelly.

"Good job, Vivi!" Ari cheered, while Garnet tended to all the odd status ailments that they'd gotten during the short fight.

Moving on, they went up through the caves, running into several monsters, then Zidane noticed something strange.

"Hey, Vivi, can you blast through this wall with your fire?" He asked the young black mage, a gleam in his sharp eyes.

"O-okay…I'll try," Vivi agreed, and so he did. The wall disappeared as soon as his fire touched it, making Zidane smile with satisfaction.

"Yeah, I thought so," he said, walking into the small compartment that'd previously been sealed with ice, and opening the treasure chest.

"It's a leather wrist band," he smiled again, handing it to Vivi. "You earned it!" He cheered.

As they headed up through the cave once more, passing a few more monsters, getting stronger, blasting another couple walls, soon they reached a fork.

Eyeing the blizzard to their right, they quickly decided to go to the left, which lead them into a small cave with a very strange ice ornament…

"It's a Moogle!" Ari cried, "Vivi, let it out!"

Vivi nodded and melted the ice away, but it seemed he used too much fire, because in an instant the poor Moogle was jumping up and down, trying desperately to put himself out. "Kuuuuuupo! That's hot, kupo!" He screeched, jumping around like mad. Of course, it was out soon, the cave was so cold.

"Thank you for saving me, kupo!" The Moogle said, after he'd calmed down a bit, or rather, a lot. "I thought I'd be trapped in the ice forever, kupo!" He added, settling down on his perch.

Zidane nodded to the Moogle, then they all turned around, preparing themselves to head into the blizzard, which now appeared to be the way out.

Leaving the Moogle behind, they left the room and rounded the corner into the raging, very cold winds.

Strangely, after a moment, Ari began to feel tired…

Vivi went first. "Vivi! Are you okay?" Zidane called as the little mage tottered along behind them, his yellow eyes almost closed.

"Z-Zidane…I'm feeling…really….tired……" Vivi trailed off, stumbling off the path and over a small, maybe 5 foot, ledge, and there he lay.

"Master Vivi!" Freak cried, kneeling over the edge. But in a moment, his eyes began to droop, and next instant he was falling on top of Vivi. There was a loud crash as he landed.

"Vivi! Rusty!" Zidane called down at them, his eyes wide with wonderment, and maybe just a hint of fear. Garnet knelt at the edge of the small ledge as Zidane jumped down next to them, shaking and yelling.

After a moment, he gave up, saying, "It's no good, they're long gone."

Back up on the path, Garnet had fallen sideways, and Ari was kneeling next to her.

Ari felt her eyelids drooping, and in an instant she was gone, the world going black. The last thing she heard was Zidane, yelling at them and then cursing at himself as he fell into oblivion.

"Hey, Ari! Keep up!" Zidane called to her, laughing.

"I'm trying, Zidane, I'm trying! Slow down!" Arianna called, stumbling over the rough terrain. Zidane stopped and turned back to her, but Ari didn't notice, and merely stumbled along right into him.

"Woah, Ari! Maybe you should take a break," Zidane suggested, gesturing to a log. Then he frowned.

"No, not that one," He muttered to himself, "Not that one…"

"Why not that one?" Ari asked, feeling suddenly reckless.

"Because-"

"I don't care why!" Ari laughed, running over to the log much faster than before, but as soon as she turned, she saw Zidane's look of blank despair.

"Zidane…?" Ari whispered, her mood gone, now merely frightened.

"Ari…ARI!" He yelled, suddenly frantic, starting to run to her.

Ari turned, and one word filled her mind.

'Death.'

It was everywhere. Printed on the log, printed on the rocks, printed on the very sky, and printed on the snow…

Snow?

"Ugh…"

There were moans and groans everywhere, and Ari raised her weary head to see Zidane coming back from the end of the cave.

"Where were you, Zidane?" Ari demanded, though obviously only just beating Rusty to it.

"Hey, nothing happened," Came his only assurance.

"You- you haven't done anything to the Princess, have you!" Steiner demanded, looking fierce.

"Just WHAT are you implying!" Zidane demanded, glaring at him.

"Steiner, don't be rude!" Garnet declared, obviously offended, "He said nothing happened!"

"Y-yes, princess," Steiner muttered, turning red.

"Zidane…?" Came the trembling voice of Vivi.

"Yeah?"

"Um… can we go now?" He pleaded, rubbing his gloved hands together.

They all agreed to this, and continued through the cave. There were no more monsters, and it was a quiet walk up through the cave. They all breathed a sigh of relief as they came up…

"We're above the mist!" Garnet exclaimed, spreading her arms and letting the sun embrace her.

Really short, I know. But I suddenly felt a shoot of compassion growing within me, so I decided to grant you a chapter.

Oh, faithful reviewers! I am so sorry it took me so long:'(

And now, to update The Dream!