Author's Note: Did everyone survive the prologue:)That chapter will probably be the shortest in the entire story.
In my heart I reach you.
In my heart I reach out to you.
In my heart I touch the face of God.
In my dreams somehow—
"Arc of Space"—Bruce Dickinson
A Time of Peace. A Time of War.
Chapter II
Amidst the cheers and tears, Zidane and Garnet walked arm-in-arm passed the nobility. Once the two had re-entered the Castle, Garnet placed her head against Zidane's chest. Zidane ran his fingers through her hair until a large number of guests ended their bliss.
From the hallway entered: Freya, Vivi and his children, Amarant, Quina, Eiko, Cid, and Hilda. They were quickly followed by Steiner and Beatrix, who descended from the stairs.
Zidane smiled. "Looks like Vivi's been busy…How're all of you?"
"Zidane!" exclaimed Eiko, as she charged towards him and embraced him. "You foolishly jumped into the Lifa Tree, caused poor Dagger too worry, and all you can say's, 'How're all of you!'"
Zidane hugged Eiko. "Well, I missed you too, Eiko."
"All right, Zidane, you've got some explaining to do!" stated Freya.
"I'm curious to know what happened to you," responded Vivi.
"Yes, do tell," replied Cid.
"Whatever happened to you hasn't changed you any," said Amarant.
"You!" added Steiner, while he shook his fist.
Zidane returned his smile. "Hey, Rusty…doesn't look like I can call you that anymore since you have some new armor."
Steiner was silent.
But Zidane laughed. "Well, I guess I do have something to tell."
Everyone nodded.
"Okay, where should I start?"
"What happened in the Lifa Tree?" asked Eiko.
"Hmm…well, I guess that's a good place to start. Okay, my descent through the Lifa Tree was similar to that time Dagger, Vivi, Steiner, and I escaped from the Evil Forest…"
"The Evil Forest?" interjected Amarant.
"Oh, wait!" replied Eiko. "I think I've heard about that before. Was that the incident where you—and your brothers in Tantalus—kidnapped Dagger so you could take her to Lindblum, but the Theater Ship crashed?"
"That's correct. It crashed right in the Evil Forest."
"And the Forest started to come after you?"
"That's right."
"Nobody tells me anything," Amarant interjected again.
"That's because you never ask!" replied Eiko.
The party chuckled, but Zidane returned them to a serious level.
"Anyway, the roots of the Lifa Tree were beginning to close in on me, and I realized that if I made even the slightest mistake I'd be killed. I remember that I fell a very long way…I'm not even sure how far it was. But I remember that I hit the base of the Lifa Tree, and that somehow I survived."
"Did you see Kuja in the Lifa Tree?" asked Vivi.
Zidane nodded. "Yes, I did."
"Was he still alive?" asked Freya.
"…Yes…yes for a short time he was."
"Did he say anything to you?" asked Steiner.
"…Yes, he did."
"And what was that?" added Garnet.
Zidane sighed. "He said that he regretted what he did, and that he was glad that all of us made it out okay…He also said that after we defeated him, he finally discovered what it means to live."
Amarant squinted his eyes. "What does that mean?"
"Wait!" began Garnet, while she massaged Zidane's hand. "Zidane, is this bothering you?"
"No…not really."
Garnet nodded. "Okay, because I thought you seemed kind of annoyed."
"It's not that I'm annoyed. It's just that…well…I feel sorry for him."
"Sorry for him!" exclaimed Amarant. "How can you feel sorry for the guy that tried to kill you and the woman that you love! …Furthermore, he tried to kill all of us!"
Zidane nodded. "I'm aware of that, but Kuja was a victim of very bad circumstances. I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing if I was raised in those circumstances…"
"That's no an excuse," interjected Steiner.
"I'm not saying that it is. All I'm saying's that I understand him…When he said to me that he now understood what it meant to live, I could tell he was no longer angry at the world. That he'd reached some sort of inner peace…It's something that all of us desire…It's just too bad that Kuja didn't discover it until it was too late."
The party was silent. They took in Zidane's words. Finally, Vivi broke that silence.
"Zidane, what happened after Kuja stopped moving?"
Zidane smiled. "I can see that he uses the black mages' term…The Lifa Tree closed in on us."
"Indeed," replied Steiner. "That's what I discovered when I went on an observation of the Lifa Tree from the air after we returned to Alexandria."
"Then how did you survive?" asked Freya.
Zidane chuckled. "Dagger asked me the same thing on the stage…Would you like to answer her, Dagger?"
Garnet smiled. "Zidane said that he didn't have a choice. He said that he needed to come home to me."
Freya smiled. "That's so sweet, Zidane."
Zidane returned the smile. "Thanks, Freya. By the way, did you ever rediscover Sir Fratley?"
"Yes! After we defeated Kuja, I discovered him in Burmecia. He still doesn't remember our past, but our relationship has returned."
"I guess that means that he really loves you."
Freya blushed. "Yes…I guess so."
"So what're you doing now?"
"I'm helping in the rebuilding of Burmecia."
"So how's that coming along?"
That question, however, was a touchy subject; and everyone around Freya knew it. On this particular day, Garnet requested not to have politics discussed. For their part, the party did not change their expressions when they heard Zidane's question.
"…We're making progress…But hey, you're the star here today! I think you've got one more question to answer."
"Or more than one," added Amarant. "I've got another question to ask you."
"What's that?"
"While you say that you had to come home to see Dagger, I know there's something more to it. I want to know what you physically did to escape the Lifa Tree."
Zidane smiled. "Hey, the power of love's pretty strong!"
"Hmph!" replied Amarant.
Zidane laughed. "I think I must've gone into trance mode…Well, there's more to it than that as well. I sang Dagger's song…"
"Our song," interjected Garnet.
Zidane chuckled, and brought Garnet even closer to him. "Well, I sang 'Our Song,' and it helped me think of Dagger; and that certainly helped me."
"What's your song?" asked Freya.
"It's a song that I remembered as a child in Madain Sari. It gives me comfort whenever I need it."
"It was a bitch to climb out of that tree that much I can tell you."
"So then what happened?" asked Vivi.
"…I remember just being in horrible shape. But I thought about all of you. I remember that I made my way to the Black Mage Village. I remembered hoping that I'd see you there, Vivi, but you weren't there."
"When were you there?"
"I don't remember the specific date, but some of the mages told me you were in Alexandria…To be quite honest, you probably wouldn't have wanted to see me at that time. I had some pretty horrible looking wounds…The black mages took real good care of me though.
Once I was healed up, the mages were able to fix me up with a boat, and I returned to Lindblum…"
"And that's when he got back with us," a voice interjected.
Zidane turned and smiled. "Always coming in at the good times, aren't you Boss?"
Baku chuckled. So did the other members of Tantalus.
"Yep," Baku began, "Zidane returned to Lindblum. We were happy to see him alive, and I know that Zidane felt the same about us. But he often asked us about all of you guys…particularly his queen, Dagger."
Garnet smiled.
"And when Zidane heard that Dagger wasn't seeing anyone his face became as bright as the sun."
Everyone chuckled.
"Oh, I can just see that!" replied Eiko. "How cute Zidane'd look."
"Well, I don't care how Zidane'd look," began Steiner, "but I can tell you that the queen's heart was set on him."
Zidane kissed Garnet's forehead. "Thank you."
Blank chuckled. "Eh, that kiss wasn't nearly as good as the one that you did in front of the crowd."
Zidane smirked. "Who asked you to judge my kisses, Blank? Have you gotten any better with Ruby?"
With the exception of Blank, the Tantalus members laughed.
"I think Blank still can't control her," replied Marcus.
"But now it appears that everyone knows what has happened to Zidane up to this point," added Baku. "Now the only question is, what's Zidane going to do now?"
Zidane smiled. "What I'm going to do now is what all us Tantalus boys do when something good happens. A return to Dagger—and a reunion with all of my friends—equals a party!"
