One Day, We'll Meet Again
Chapter 9: Heart Desire
By: KawaiiLeena

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy IX! They are from Squaresoft!

Hahaha! Thanks for the reviews, everyone! I can't believe how some of you people don't want me to delete this. Actually, I will never delete a fic that means something so special to you, people! Promise! That was just a test, to see if you people are still reading it. I thought you don't want to read it again since I haven't got much reviews in Chapter 7.

Oh yeah, the song, FALLEN, is not from me! It's from a singer out there that I forgot the name…

Well, here's your chapter! And trust me, I won't delete this. I just hope the admin won't either…

Chapter 9:
Heart Desire

"Because I have a plan."

"What is your 'plan' then?" Eiko asks, crossing her slender arms and narrowing her emerald eyes. "This better be a good plan, because you're only driving Zidane further away from Dagger."

Ruby looks away and faintly smiles, "I guess so…" she shakes her head and turns to Eiko with an uneasy smile, "My plan is to actually make Dagger miserable."

"WHAT?" Eiko shrieks, standing up in disbelief, her eyes widening and her lips opening and closing like a fish.

Meanwhile…

After getting their ice cream and paying the sexy cashier, Vivi takes the handful tray full of different flavor of ice cream sundaes in his hands and turns to his business partner, Zidane.

"Hey, Vivi," Zidane starts, as he starts grinning handsomely. Vivi turns to him with a confused look. "Um… can you go on ahead? I have to… um… buy something… for someone really, really special."

Vivi stares at him, and after a while, he realized who Zidane was talking about. He chuckles, "For that girl –"

Zidane quickly puts his index finger to Vivi's soft lips and hushes him, "Shh!" he grins. "She might hear you." He then lets go of his finger that was before pressed to Vivi's lips. "I want it to be a surprise."

The young business partner smiles, "Always the cunning one, eh?" then he turns around. "Well, I'm not stopping you, Zidane. You'll probably and eventually do anything for Love."

"Thanks, Vivi," Zidane grins again. "Oh yeah, by the way, if someone asks where I have gone, tell 'em I'm in the bathroom."

Vivi smirks and walks away, "No problem."

The blonde man soon turns around and exits the Ice Cream Shoppe and walks to where he and Ruby were before, The Jewelry Store.

He enters the small but inviting shop, fascinated by all those tiny but beautiful objects that seem to shine brighter and brighter under the light. He smiles charmingly and walks to the counter.

"Yes, can I help you?" Zidane turns around and sees a Chinese Woman in her early 20s who has almond-shaped eyes and dark ebony hair tied to a messy bun with two chopsticks appearing. "You seem to be searching for something. For your girlfriend, sir?"

Zidane looks away and faintly blushes, "Yeah, I guess." Then he regains his senses and smiles. "Actually, I'm looking for a red Garnet necklace."

The Chinese girl nods and leaves. After for a while, she comes back with the same beautiful and sparkling necklace that caught his eyes earlier.

"Is this it?" the girl asks with a kind smile.

Zidane grins at the sight and replies, "Yeah, very much beautiful, like her…" he looks up, his other hand searching for his wallet. "How much?"

"33,640 yen, sir," the Asian woman smiles. Zidane nods and hands her his Gold Credit Card instead. The woman takes it, reads the name, and gasps, as a faint blush starts appearing on her cheeks. "Zidane Tribal? Owner of Joltan Company?"

She looks up to examine him, then, recognizing his familiar boyish features, she blushes more and is mentally thinking, "I can die, now!"

Zidane, not paying much attention to the Chinese woman, looks down to his watch and says impatiently, "Um… can you please hurry up? I'm actually here with my friends… I can't let them wait further."

The girl jumps and answers back, "Y-Yes sir!"

During that time…

"Ruby, are you mad?" Eiko asks, quieting her voice down a little. She narrows her jade eyes and hisses dangerously, "Are you insane? I seriously think you plan won't work!"

Ruby blinks and asks, "Who so? I think it's a great idea."

Eiko snorts and looks away. She responds, amused, "Great? Oh please, is clinging to Zidane to make Dagger jealous, then let her go berserk, cry and the almighty Zidane will follow her, and they will have a private time together to make things sort out, a GREAT idea?" she turns to the secretary and asks, "What if it won't work like planned? It will surely backfire!"

The blue-haired sighs and looks away. "Yes, I know. If it won't work, I'll end up with losing three things: Zidane's friendship; Dagger's trust, since I know she'll hate me for this; and most importantly, my job."

"If you knew the consequences," Eiko sighs, "Then why must you risk almost everything for them?"

A simple but meaningful answer slips out of Ruby's lips, "Because they're in love." She smiles sweetly. "I could've just step aside and butt out, but they're too stubborn to admit anything, I have to do it myself."

Eiko sighs again and locks her eyes with Ruby's. "Ruby… STOP. STOP what you are about to do. Stop it!"

"Stop what?" a familiar voice asks the two ladies. Eiko jumps and turns to the cute Vivi was giving them odd looks, carrying the tray full of ice cream.

"N-Nothing! Stop Nothing!" Eiko smiles sheepishly. "I was just telling Ruby to stop um… uh… killing and robbing people," she nervously laughs, but stops when Vivi and Ruby gives her a blank look. "Oh! What I meant was… um… uhh… Ruby should stop… um…"

"What she was telling you is that I should stop calling you Vivi-san," Ruby smiles, saving Eiko. "She's telling me you'll actually feel older if I continue calling you that."

Eiko stares at her, and then grins goofily. "Yeah, that's right!" Vivi smiles and nods and sits down. The purple-hair fashion designer then mouths a silent thank you to Ruby.

"Hi," Dagger smiles brightly as she comes back from the bathroom. Eiko turns to her and gives a worried look as she notices Dagger's amber brown eyes a bit puffy and red from all that crying. "Sorry I was a bit gone." She smiles again as she takes a seat beside Ruby.

"Hey, guys!" another familiar voice calls. The group turns to and sees Zidane, gasping and huffing for breath. It seemed like he was running a while ago. Zidane grins tiredly and stands up. "Sorry I was late. Just have to buy something."

Zidane was about to go to Dagger's side, when Ruby butts in, "Oh, Zidane! You look so tired!" she cries, giving a worried look, standing up and starts to touch Zidane's forehead. Zidane gives a surprised look. Dagger winces. "Come here! Oh my, look at yourself!" she giggles as she takes a seat beside Dagger, leading Zidane beside her again.

Dagger bits her lower lip, forcing herself not to cry. She swallows hard as she thinks, "Why must this always happen to me?" she sighs as she looks away and try to block away from the chattering of the group. "Damn it… I never thought that seeing Zidane again would be so much trouble."

Eiko turns to Ruby and Zidane, then to Dagger, noticing her amber eyes forming a little bit of water. "Dagger is taking it," she thinks with a slight frown. "Oh Ruby, I just wish you know what you are doing…"

After a little while, the group finishes their wholesome ice cream, and later on, starts to shop around the mall. Eventually, Dagger would be in Eiko's group, or just by herself. Zidane would try to go to her, but to no avail. This continues on until it reached the time of 5:30PM.

"I had such a blast," Ruby exclaims, clapping her slender arms. "Thank you, Zidane!" Dagger glances to them slightly, then, to her horror, her eyes widen in full shock as Ruby kisses Zidane's cheek.

Eiko and Vivi turns to them, their eyes full open. Ruby just kissed the almighty Zidane's cheek! Who could've thought of that?

"Man, Ruby," Vivi swallows hard. "I hope you're prepared to get fired tomorrow! Because Zidane will definitely will!"

Eiko shakes her head in disbelief, "Oh, Ruby! How could you! I never thought you will go that far!" she thinks as she glances to Dagger, who seems to be ready to burst to tears. "And now, Dagger…"

Zidane was also surprised. No one has ever kissed his cheeks before, except his mom and dad! He forbade everyone to ever kiss his cheeks! He always saves them for his childhood friend! And now, Ruby has stolen it!

Before they knew it, Dagger burst to endless streams of tears and runs away to the exit, as fast as she could to get away from the scene. "I hate my life! What's the use of having everything when you can't have what you really want? Why can't I feel love even for once?"

"Dagger!" Zidane and Eiko calls behind her, taking a step forward. Eiko turns to Zidane quickly and motions him to follow her. Zidane nods in return and starts to follow the young singer.

Eiko turns to Ruby, who seems to be perfectly fine and relaxed, with an angry face. She confronts the secretary and slaps her as hard as she could, getting some attention. Ruby's and Vivi's eyes widen in surprise.

Ruby touches her hot and painful left cheek, and turns to Eiko with guilty eyes.

"I sure hope you're satisfied now," Eiko huffs angrily. "There goes your plan, Ruby. Congratulations. Thanks for hurting Dagger's feelings, letting her feel that her true love is taken away. I HOPE you're happy!"

"B-but…" Ruby tries to reason, her voice stammering. Vivi watches from afar with a sad look. "I…I was only trying to help, Eiko! Promise! I…I didn't mean any harm! They'll get along soon, trust me!"

Eiko stares at her with an emotionless face as she says, "I DID trust you." She takes a deep breath as she adds, "But you ruined it. Earlier, didn't I tell you to STOP continuing your plan? But it seems that I was talking to someone with deaf ears. It's their problem, Ruby! Goddamn it, it's their problem! Has anyone ever told you to never butt in other people's private lives?"

Ruby looks away, forcing the tears not to fall. Eiko was right… it was their problem… she shouldn't butt in just like that. In fact, all will be well if she didn't do anything in the beginning at the first place…

"They have their own lives! You have yours!" Eiko says angrily. Then she cooled down a bit as Vivi pats her. "I hope you learned your lesson." Then she softens. "Come on, let's drive you home."

Ruby nods as the tears soon rolls down her cheek. She follows the couple to the car, hoping that Dagger will be all right. "I'm sorry, Dagger… I'm sorry, Zidane… please forgive me…" she thinks with a guilty frown.

Meanwhile, at Dagger…

The golden sun soon starts to fall under the mountains and trees, as the sky gives a lonely orange hue. People start driving towards their homes as the day is starting to fade in the distance.

Dagger sighs as she sits in one swing alone, looking at the dirty ground. She was alone, all alone. Like always. She tries to think of something cheery, but the picture of Ruby kissing Zidane replays in her mind all over and over again.

Ohh…
Yeah…

"Why must God always suffer me like this?" Dagger smirks at herself. "Maybe he hates me? Or maybe he is trying to teach me a lesson, a lesson that teaches me if you're a coward to do anything, you will never achieve what you want. Whatever it is, he sure is good at making me sad and feel overly depressed…"

She bits her lower lip as she says, "Okay, God, if you want me admit it, I love Zidane, alright? Why? Is it a crime to love your childhood best friend?" she asks as she looks to the orange sky. "It is a crime to love someone when he has someone else? Okay, I am also a coward! I'm a lousy coward that can't even tell someone the sweet three words of I Love You!"

Our little conversations
Are turning into little sweet sensations
And they're only getting
Sweeter every time…

She cries again as she says to the sky, "But I'm just a friend now, am I? Just a friend! Why can't I be more even for once? Why can't I feel the love I am longing for so long?" she bows her head as she continues, "I'm just a friend, and I made the biggest mistake of my life by falling in love with my childhood best friend… pathetic…"

"I'm so pathetic, aren't I?" she asks herself as she close her eyes tightly. "I'm just so pathetic that I can't stand seeing Ruby and Zidane together! Why shouldn't I? God damn it, I love him! I love him so much, but it just seems he can't even look in my way!" then she smiles to herself, "And to think we made that stupid and lousy promise…"

Our friendly get-togethers
Are turning into visions of forever
If I just believe this
Foolish heart of mine…

"And also to think, that night we danced together changed my life," she spats out sadly and angrily. "The way he touched me, the way he looked at me… I can't help but feel the emotion of love… but it's such a shame now… I can never be what I want to be… I'll always be a friend to him, nothing more…"

I can't pretend
That I'm just a friend
Cause I'm thinking that
That we were meant to be

"You know what, God?" she smiles sadly to the sky. "If I have one wish, that wish would be that Zidane would be happy and contented with his life, Even if it means letting him go to Ruby. I wish that he'd be happy… with… with… Ruby…"

She pauses a little. Then, a familiar voice tells her, "But I'll wish otherwise…"

Dagger gasps as she turns around with teary eyes and exclaims, "Zidane?" she rubs her eyes and starts to blink, "W-what are you doing here? Don't tell me you heard everything I said!"

I think I'm falling, falling
In love with you…
And I don't, I don't
Know what to do
And if you turn away
I'll say it anyway
I think I'm falling for you…
I'm falling for you…

Zidane smiles at Dagger, but Dagger simply looks away. I don't deserve his smiles. In fact, I don't deserve anything at all. Nothing. She sighs and turns around, ashamed to see Zidane's face. She chuckles and says softly, "So, you heard what I was saying earlier, right?"

"Yeah…" he replies softly. "But… I didn't mean to…"

Dagger sighs, still not looking at Zidane. "I… I understand…" she sighs again. "Now you know… I'm so stupid, aren't I? Yelling at no one at all, spilling out my emotions to the sky… I guess I'm just weird. Hehe… I guess that love can make you do stupid things, ne?"

Whenever we're together
Wishing that goodbyes would turn to never
Cause with you is where
I'll always wanna be…

But, Zidane protested. "You're not stupid, Dagger, and you know that." He steps forward and hugs Dagger from behind, surprising her. He embraces her tightly and presses his cheeks to her black hair, making the most out of this special moment. "You are never stupid. Never was, never will…"

Dagger could feel hot tears swelling her amber brown eyes, feeling Zidane's warm touch. "Oh, Zidane…" she cries silently as she lets Zidane embrace her. "I love you… I really love you… I just hope you feel the same way… but somehow, Fate forbids it."

Zidane chuckles lightly and responds with a kind smile, not parting from her. "You're wrong, Mimi. Fate has brought us together back again… I love you, too."

Whenever I'm beside you
All I really want to do is hold you
No one else but you
Has meant this much to me

The pretty singer gasps and struggles to get away from Zidane's grip. She stares at him in complete disbelief, not believing what she just heard. She tried to replay the words again and again to make sure she heard right.

"What's the matter?" Zidane asks, confused. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Yes, Zidane!" Dagger cries, streams of water rolling down her face as she continues, "You can't love me. You… you can't. I mean, it's not fair! You already have Ruby! You can't have me! No!"

Zidane looks at her for a moment, and then laughs whole-heartedly. Dagger turns to him with an angry with confused look. She wipes away her tears and asks a little coldly, "What's so funny?"

Zidane stops laughing and smiles, "Dagger, I don't love Ruby. I never love her. She's just a friendly acquaintance, trust me." He lifts her chin with his hands. "You're the one who I want."

I can't pretend
That I'm just a friend
Cause I'm thinking that
That we were meant to be

Dagger's eyes widen a bit, and then soften as she backs away a few inches. She turns around, not wanting to see him. She looks on the ground and asks in a soft whisper, "Do you… do you really mean that?"

Zidane smiles and nods and says, "Of course, Dagger. I mean whatever I say." He reaches for his pocket and reveals the Garnet necklace. He walks behind Dagger and then attaches it in her neck, surprising her a bit. "Do you remember 17 years ago?"

The singer smiles sadly and nods, "Yeah… we were about to move away… you gave me a necklace and I gave you a wooden bracelet." She smiles a little wider and holds the garnet diamond tightly. "I'm glad you still keep it, despite the long years that have passed." She turns around and hugs Zidane tightly. "I'm sorry for acting like a crybaby earlier, Zidane… I was just… jealous."

The blonde man laughs and hugs her back. "Don't worry… you have me now."

Falling in Love with you
And I don't, I don't
Know what to do
I'm afraid you'd turn away
But I'll say it anyway
I think I'm falling for you
I think I'm falling for you

Dagger looks up to stare at Zidane's beautiful blue-green eyes. They were so beautiful, so vast and so deep; she could feel she is looking at a clear ocean. Somehow, she can't define what she is feeling. Is this Love? Is this what she is waiting for?

Before she knew it, she leans closer and starts closing her eyes. Then, her soft lips met Zidane's, and then, they shared a passionate and meaningful kiss under the orange sky.

After for a while, they let go and hug each other again, tightly this time. Dagger secretly smiles. Yes, this is Love, an innocent, but meaningful Love.

I think I'm falling for you I'm falling for you
I'm falling; I'm falling for you
And I don't know what to do, yeah
Falling, I'm falling for you…

"I love you, Zidane…" Dagger softly whispers as she presses her face to her childhood's friend chest.

Zidane smiles and presses his chin to Dagger's hair, inhaling her sweet perfume scent. "I love you, too… Dagger…"

To be continued…

Wai! Finally! Another chapter finished! Well, some reviewer asked me if I can make the chapters longer, well, here it is! Lol! Anyways, yeah, I know! It's so corny! I'm sorry if it was cheesy, but I did my best.

Thanks for the reviews, by the way.

I won't spoil the next chapter for you! Tune in to find out more! Bye!