Chapter 6 – Reflection

Authors Note: Sorry it's taken so long for an update, but I've had lots of coursework to do and then I had my school play. But that's all over with now and it's the Summer holidays. Yay! Anyway, here's the chapter. Enjoy!

"A little to the right. No! Too far! More to the left. Wait! Yes! That is wonderful! No! I want the centrepieces to look more classy and elegant. Lose some of Lilies please! No, there's too many cloths on that side ! Take down the… one from the end on each side. Much better!"

Garnet was in the ballroom in Alexandria Palace, setting up for a party. One of the small chefs from the kitchens came scurrying up behind her. In his hands he held a deep, steaming bowl.

"Excuse me, Your Majesty?" He said

Garnet turned around and faced the little chef.

"Yes?" Garnet asked

"Here is the Crème Brulee for you to taste Your Majesty." The little chef said, offering the young Queen a spoon.

Garnet smiled and took the spoon. She dipped the spoon into the dessert and then lifted the spoon to her lips. She chewed the dessert in her mouth and then swallowed.

"Mmm, that is absolutely delightful. Yes, that will do." She said, smiling.

The little chef looked ecstatic at this and bowed, careful not to spill the dessert or drop the bowl. With that he turned and ran out of the room as fast as he could, careful not to drop or spill the dessert once again. He ran through the large double doors at the end of the ballroom, past a bewildered Zidane and ran back to the kitchens.

Zidane sidestepped the little chef and stared in bewilderment as to what was going on. He moved slowly, as if a sudden movement would cause the entire building to fall down upon him. He looked at all the walls with decorations upon them, the tables with clean, white table clothes upon them. And in the middle of all the chaos going on in the ballroom, stood Garnet.

"Err, Dagger… What the hell's going on?" He asked as he finally reached her.

"Oh! Zidane!" She said, a look of sheer disappointment on her face, "It was supposed to be a surprise!" She said, pouting.

"What was?" He asked

"Well, I saw how happy you were when Mikoto came back for a visit. So… I thought I would throw a party, a sort of 'Welcome to Alexandria' type of thing for her before she left in a few days." Garnet explained sheepishly

"Aww, Dagger! That's so sweet!" Zidane said, hugging her tightly.

"Really, it is no problem Zidane. I just hope she will enjoy herself." Garnet said as they pulled away.

"I'm sure she will. Hey, whatcha doing today? You wanna hang with Mikoto and me?"

"Yes. That would be excellent!" Garnet beamed, "Why don't we take her somewhere for the day?"

"Yeah! That's a great idea! … But where?"

"There's… Dali? Or Treno? Or Lindblum?" Garnet suggested

"She might enjoy Treno. Isn't there another Card Tournament on?" Zidane asked

"There might be. But it isn't like the one that you last went to, the one you won at. It's isn't as big as that one, this one is more for personal fun really." Garnet said

"That's fine… Ah… I may have detected a flaw in our plan." Zidane replied

"What might that be?" Garnet asked, tilting her head slightly to one side

"Well, he's kinda tall actually… fat… loud… stupid… rusty in colour…" Zidane smirked

"Steiner?"

"Yup."

"He won't be a problem. Don't worry."

"…Alright. He'll blame me anyway."

They both laughed.

"I'll go tell Mikoto." He said, and began to run off.

He stopped halfway to the door and turned back to face Garnet.

"Oh, and Dagger?" He said

"Yes?"

"Thanks." He said, with a meaningful smile

Garnet smiled back.

"Your welcome."

And with that, Zidane turned and ran out of the room to find Mikoto.

Mikoto sat on the grass by Queen Brahne's grave. The bright, golden sunlight filtered in through the trees from above, and the circular grave was sheltered from the gentle wind that day. Zidane had disappeared that morning after breakfast, Mikoto assuring him that she would be fine, and then she went for a walk and a little boat trip. Even though the guard wasn't exactly happy about it, she took Mikoto to the small island that Brahne was buried on. The only reason the guard took her there, was because she was Zidane's little 'sister' and Queen Garnet had explicitly told the guards to be especially kind to Mikoto.

Mikoto loved it here, even thought it was a cemetery. She loved it at the cemetery in the Black Mage Village too. Everything was so at peace there, just like it had been on Terra. Cemeteries also reminded her of the cycle of souls, and about Garland and Kuja. Even though everyone said how bad and evil they were, Mikoto thought of them almost as family. Kuja was her older brother after all.

Mikoto was thinking about death, and about 'stopping' as the Black Mages called it. Mikoto wondered what it was like to 'stop'. How did you know you had died? What happened when you? Where did you go? Would she see Kuja again? She knew the Black Mages had a limited life span. She had witnessed that first hand. A month after the Genomes moved into the Black Mage Village, Mr. 647 stopped. The Genomes didn't really react, following Mikoto's lead they paid their respects and went to the funeral the Black Mages hosted. But inside, Mikoto felt… strange. She felt… almost empty… at the thought that Mr. 647 would never say 'hello', or 'good afternoon' or anything ever again. Was this sorrow? She had wondered, on Terra she had never experienced anything like that before. On Gaia, everything was different. Water moved, there was all of these emotions that Mikoto was learning about everyday, life in general was completely different.

Mikoto ran a hand through her hair. Things grew here on Gaia, they didn't on Terra. Her hair had grown a fair bit during the past months, it was now just below her shoulder. It was weird. Why weren't things just still here? Like back on Terra. Why did everything move, far too quickly for Mikoto's liking. Mikoto's tail lay curled slightly around Mikoto, curling ever closer inwards and she hugged her knees tighter into her chest. Why did she feel this way about Queen Garnet's mother? Someone she had never even met?

"Mikoto?" Said a voice from the direction of the boat.

Turning she saw Zidane coming over. She let go of her legs and let them relax and stretch out a bit.

"Hi Zidane." She said quietly

"What are you doing here?" He asked confused, coming over to her.

Mikoto looked around the grave site.

"…Nothing. Just thinking. I like it here, it's quiet. I can think here." She answered

"Oh, I see… Do you know whose grave this is?" He asked, sitting down next to her.

Mikoto nodded, fiddling with her fingers.

"Queen Garnet's mothers. The former Queen, Brahne." She replied in that almost, matter-of-fact tone she had a habit of adopting at times without realising.

They sat there for a while, in the silence.

"Are okay Mikoto?" Zidane asked

"I could ask you the same thing." Mikoto smiled

The pair of Genomes sat in silence, neither willing to open up. Not first anyway.

"Oh yeah, umm, Dagger and I were gonna take you on a little trip if you wanted to go…?" Zidane finally remembered

"Yes, that would be pleasant. Where will we be going?"

"To a city near the Alexandria-Lindblum border called Treno. It should be really interesting."

Mikoto nodded, then remembering a phrase Zidane used that she had not heard of added,

"Well, what are we waiting for then?"

"I do not think this wise!"

"It is her choice to make!"

"It is dangerous! I cannot allow this to go ahead on such abrupt notice!"

"If she wishes to do something, then she shall! You know how strong-willed she is!"

"But Beatrix, listen to reason!"

"No you listen to reason Steiner!"

Garnet sat there on her throne balcony, listen to her two knights argue, rubbing her temple. She was slumped in her chair, her right arm on the armrest, rubbing her temple. They had been arguing like this for 20 minutes and had completely forgotten about her sitting there. Garnet was tempted to try and sneak away, but felt she should stay there. She was too tired to argue with Steiner now, she needed some relaxation and down-time.

Zidane and Mikoto approaching the balcony where the throne was quietly, they could hear Steiner's shouting from half-way across the castle. Zidane motioned to Mikoto to stay where she was, and he crouched down low and snuck over to Garnet's side, out of sight of Steiner and Beatrix.

"Hey Dagger." He whispered, and she started to turn to face him. "No! Don't look! Rusty'll throw his top if he sees me here. Mikoto and I are ready to go, I'm guessing I was right about the flaw?"

"Most definitely." Garnet sighed, whispering quietly so that her guards couldn't hear.

"Let's just go Dagger. We can sneak you out of here, you can get changed and then we'll hurry aboard the Invincible and be off! C'mon! You know you wanna!"

"I don't know…"

"Pleeeease? If you could see me now you'd see my cute, irresistible pouty face."

"…Okay then." Garnet said finally

"Great. Just wait a minute, don't move until I tell ya too."

Zidane moved round the back of the chair so he could see the two knights, but so they couldn't see him. He looked for when the argument was the loudest and for when the opportune moment arrived before signalling to Garnet to sneak away. Steiner almost turned in her direction at one point, but didn't and the three managed to sneak away.

Zidane waited outside Garnet's bedroom with Mikoto, keeping a close eye out for guards or for Steiner and Beatrix, while Garnet got changed into her old travelling outfit.

It felt strange to be wearing these clothes again after so long. Garnet hadn't worn them since they had arrived back in Alexandria from the Iifa Tree…without Zidane. She felt so much more at ease again with him here. She pulled on the brown, leather gloves and was ready. She was wearing her white peasant blouse and orange jumpsuit again, with the Royal Pendant hanging over the front.

She was so used to wearing her formal clothes. She had to be used to wearing them, she was a Queen now. She still was getting used to her friends calling her Queen Garnet or Your Majesty sometimes, still getting used to not being able to go and do what she wanted like she could when she was travelling with Zidane, getting used to ruling a kingdom.

How did mother manage it? Beatrix and Steiner always tell me that the people love me… but I'm not sure I am a good Queen. I wasn't born for this. I'm only here by chance. But I can't imagine not being here. If I hadn't been on that boat with… with my biological mother… then I would be dead.

Wouldn't I? Some people survived, Eiko's grandfather and parents… Maybe I could have survived… Maybe my parents would have survived… But then I suppose I wouldn't have met Zidane then would I. I wouldn't be where I am now for sure… I wonder what she was like… the real Princess Garnet… Would she have run away on her sixteenth birthday like I did? Would she have had the courage to do what I did with Zidane… Zidane… Would he have fallen in love with her instead?

No, I don't want to think about that. I just… I was so happy to see Zidane again. I hadn't heard from him at all, I feared he was dead. But I didn't want to believe it. I loved him more than anything, and still do. But… it just doesn't feel the same somehow… Like something's different. I hardly ever see him, and he's always with Mikoto these days. But I shouldn't blame them, it's neither of theirs fault. And she is his sister. But… I don't know… I feel like something is missing… from me? Maybe?

She went over to the mirror and stared at the person staring back. Queen Garnet Til Alexandros Seventeenth. But that didn't feel like here. She didn't feel like Garnet, or Dagger, or Sara. A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts. The door opened, without waiting for a reply, and Zidane's head poked around the side of it.

"Hey Dagger, you ready yet?" He asked

Garnet turned and looked into the mirror one last time. She must have been thinking for longer than she thought. She looked back at Zidane and nodded.

"Yes. Sorry." She said.

She went over to Zidane and the three of them, the summoner and the pair of genomes, hurriedly but sneakily left the castle and got on board the Invincible.

Sorry it took so long to update. Had school exams and everything then coursework and blah blah blah. But I'm still alive and I finally finished the chapter. I had most of it written for ages but I finally remembered to finish it today. So, reviewers review!