It was late, the sun had long since set as the group camped near Maiden Sari. Garnet and Eiko had wanted to visit the Eidolon Wall one last time before the final fight that surely awaited them in Memoria. Zidane had hoped that it would be a lighthearted visit and a nice break compared to the heaviness of what they still had to face. For him, it wasn't just that they might not make it back from Memoria, it was more along the lines of what if they did? What then?

The group had arrived at the ruined city early that morning thanks to the speed of the Invincible, and Zidane would have been lying if he'd said that he hadn't hoped to spend some time alone with a certain dark-haired princess. But, after seeing the serious expression she carried as she walked past him through the destroyed city toward the carved wall that held many painful truths of her heritage, he had decided that it just wasn't the time. Being supportive was one thing, but sometimes people just needed to be alone. He reasoned as he made his way to the small weather worn dock that he and Garnet had shared a conversation what felt like so long ago.

"The Betrothed… What the hell was I thinking?" Zidane muttered to himself and picked up a small piece of broken stone, tossing it out into the water. "I just want to get this done with and then I can…" He trailed off and looked out over the broken railing above him toward the direction of the Eidolon Wall where the others were. "Do what?" he finished lamely. Everyone else had bright futures to look forward to if they could beat Kuja, but what did he have to look forward to? I'm not even human… He slid down to sit against the edge of the stone touching the dock. Almost in a daze he stared off across the water, losing track of time and not bothering to go check on the others. There was little doubt that they were fine. Grimly, he supposed that wasn't really the truth. Hell, Dagger probably needed to be comforted now more than ever. But he hadn't felt very talkative since what they had found out in Terra, to say the least.

It wasn't just the fact that he had been created by Garland to be his Angel of Death, though that fact alone would have been enough for most. It was more along the line of what he had taken away from him. The thought of one day finding family, or at least people like him, had always been something that brought him purpose and motivated him to keep pushing when he felt like giving up. No matter what new place he traveled to, that hope had always stuck with him and he had been sure he would finally have answers when they made it to Terra. He had gotten his answers alright… And even as the group made their way to a nearby clearing to set up camp instead of sleeping amongst the ruins, they had tormented him but he refused to let the others see it.

When he had first found out he had wanted to give up, call it quits, but it had been Dagger that had finally pulled him from his darkened state. It was with her that his thoughts now dwelt as he watched her sleeping fitfully on the other side of their small camp. She and most of the others had gone to sleep a couple of hours ago, but sleep was the last thing on his mind when he had volunteered to keep the first watch of the night. He was supposed to wake up Steiner right about now, an act that should have pleased him greatly, but he figured he'd just let the man sleep instead.

It was still hard to believe sometimes that Steiner would actually sleep while he kept watch. For so long the man had refused to let him take watch on his own. It wasn't out of niceness, he knew; it was because he didn't trust a lowlife thief to protect the princess. As much as Zidane wanted to, he could no longer begrudge the knight for the way he had felt toward him which made it that much harder to understand why he trusted him now. At worst, he was a killer, meant to be a destroyer of worlds. At best, he was a low life thief and that's what it had always come down to, wasn't it?

Dagger, no it would soon be her majesty Queen Garnet, was royalty. She was meant to be with someone of "high status"; a noble or a prince maybe? She was supposed to be with someone that had all the right table manners. Someone that knew all the fancy words and had studied under the most brilliant scholars. Someone that dressed in those nice suits that probably cost more than he would make in a lifetime. What chance had he ever thought he could have had with a woman like her? She was incredibly smart, wondrously beautiful, funny when she wanted to be, serious when she needed to be. Gods, her was voice was like an angel and she had the kindness to match. Not that she didn't have a temper and a hardheaded stubbornness at times, but that just made her even better didn't it?

Damn. He knew he had fallen hard. Too hard. It wasn't like him to get stuck on one girl. Hell, most of the relationships he had had in the past, if you could call them that, had lasted maybe a week at the most but no matter how hard he tried, and despite what blank would swear, he really had tried to forget about her before Alexandria had been destroyed. But, trying to forget her had only made him think about her even more. She simply wasn't like any other girl he had ever met. He'd be lying if he said his interest in her hadn't been almost entirely carnal in the beginning, especially the way that damn jumpsuit accented every curve, but gods how fast that had changed!

Even now as he sat silently and watched her sleep, he held none of the dirty thoughts that had filled his dreams on more than one occasion and had left him with little choice but to "take care of the problem" the old fashioned way. Instead, he would've loved nothing more than for her to wake up and sit by the fire with him so that he could listen to what she now referred to as her "boring castle stories". He almost chuckled thinking about how much she had changed since the start of their journey. Though he was sure she would never admit it, she too had thought of him as just a common thief at first. She had been so clever and yet so inexperienced with things that had always come to him easily.

He still remembered her surprise, and Steiner's distaste, when he had first cooked a mu that he had hunted and cleaned for them. Steiner had of course wanted to make sure he didn't poison anything, but to his own surprise she had started eating the meat quietly despite his protests. Being a noble, he imagined that was probably the first time she had ever eaten without the proper utensils, but even without them, she had still managed it gracefully. It wasn't until she asked what they were to drink that he got the reaction he had initially expected.

"I can't drink out of a stream!" Garnet protested as the walked toward the edge of a small stream near the Evil Forest.

"Why not? It's crystal clear." He argued, squatting down near the water's edge.

Garnet had visibly paled as she gazed into the water. She promptly stepped backwards with a resolute shake of her head. "What if some animal upstream.."

"Aw, come on, it's fine! I promise." Zidane persuaded, dipping the small pot they always carried below the surface. "If it'll help u feel better, we'll boil it over the fire first so there can't be any germs in it."

"If you say so…" She replied, still looking unsure. "are you sure there's no other way to get fresh water?"

"You just gotta trust me.."

Zidane shook his head to clear the memory but couldn't hold back a small grin. How he had slowly but surely corrupted her! Now she was often the one to go collect the water, which was sometimes closer to being mud than fresh water. She had even insisted on joining him during quite a few of his hunts, only becoming squeamish when he had begun to clean the animal. She's really become something else. He thought, for not the first time that night. I'd like for those pompous nobles to see her now. But, they would see her. Once this was over, she'd go back to Alexandria to rebuild and the Dagger he knew, the Dagger he had fallen hopelessly in love with, would be forever out of his reach. If he were lucky and tried hard enough, he might be able to see her atop her balcony once the castle was restored. If he squinted hard enough that is.

The truth was exactly what Steiner had insisted on telling him for most of their journey; she was royalty, and he was just a lowlife thief. Now he couldn't even claim to be that, he wasn't even human after all. What kind of person had he thought he could become? or rather, what kind of life had he expected? Dagger, or Her Majesty as he needed to get used to if he could bring himself to go see her, was destined for great things, but what about him? It was an endless circle, with no positive answer in sight. When this is all over maybe I should become a mercenary for hire or just try to stay out of everyone's way? Kingdom's hired mercenaries all the time, maybe then I would at least get to talk to Dagger occasionally. He let out a heavy sigh. Thinking had never been his strong suit.

Trying to push the cloud of thoughts from his mind, he carefully placed more branches onto the small fire and watched as the flames slowly grew, but as he stared into the fire his mind went back again to the one place he kept trying so desperately to avoid: He pictured Dagger on her wedding day. She'd be wearing a beautiful white dress, fitting her perfectly and contouring every curve. She'd be coming toward the alter, smiling at the man she'd spend the rest of her life with, but it wouldn't be him. It would probably be some rich snob from Treno! His tail thrashed against the ground angrily as he threw the last stick into the fire sending small sparks scattering. Why couldn't he have been born a noble? If he had had his own kingdom or wealthy estate, they wouldn't laugh and throw him out if he came to propose to her…

…

"You were supposed to wake me up hours ago." A stern voice came from behind him, though it held no anger or bitterness. Zidane shrugged dismissively, not too surprised that the man had eventually woken on his own. He was surprised however, that the clanking of Steiner's armor didn't wake the others up as he joined him to sit on the log by the fire.

A long silence filled the air as both men stared into the fire and that was more than fine by him. He no longer held any grudges against the man, but at the same time he didn't really feel like starting a conversation at the moment either..

"Something on your mind?" Steiner asked finally, in a low gravelly voice.

"Nah. I'm okay." He lied, not taking his eyes from the flames.

"Well, you haven't been yourself lately. I think the princess is beginning to worry." Steiner prodded, turning towards him and sounding uncomfortable.

"Does it matter?" He spat defensively.

Steiner returned to staring at the fire for a while before replying. "Is it because of what you discovered on Terra? We cannot change those facts, but for what it is worth we do not see you any differently."

"Yea, I know." He scoffed.

"Then what is the problem? I do not understand, if that is not it that what is it?" Steiner replied in exasperation.

He did not turn from the fire and replied in almost a whisper. "You wouldn't understand."

He expected Steiner to growl in frustration or at least leave him alone for the night, but the man did neither. "Perhaps not… I know that we often do not see eye to eye, but I will endeavor to try."

He turned to Steiner in surprise. "Can I ask you something and you be completely honest?"

"Of course." He answered with a slight air of hesitation.

"What are the odds that a lowly commoner could ever be with a princess?" he asked.

Steiner let out a heavy sigh. So, that was what was troubling him. "I assume you mean you?"

He didn't answer.

"Despite what I originally thought of you, you have proven to be both honorable and trustworthy. I think you would be a fine choice for her Highness… but as for the people…" Steiner trailed off not wanting to hurt him further.

"That's sort of what I thought." He replied tonelessly, having understood where the knight was going with it. "It wouldn't matter what I did or how hard I tried, in everyone else's eyes I'd still just be a common thief." To this, Steiner said nothing. What could he say?

After what felt like an hour had passed, he spoke again. "If I somehow became a prince or a king do you think things could be different?"

Steiner shook his head. "We can desire to be many things, but they are not always possible."

Zidane stood up and stared toward the stars then turned his gaze to Dagger who was still sleeping. "After this is over, after we beat Kuja, I'm gonna leave. As much as I'd love to always be with her, life isn't a fairytale. The lowly thief doesn't get the princess. I'll do my best to slip off quietly. Just.. tell her that I ran off with another woman; that it's just the kind of person I am. It'll hurt her less that way and she'll eventually forget about me." He walked toward his travel worn cot and began to lie down.

"Given the choice and chance. would you truly become a prince and deal in politics just for the princess?" There was a tone is Steiner's voice he wasn't sure he had heard before.

"If I could, I'd be anything she needed me to be... G'night Rusty." He turned over in his cot and let sleep claim him.

Steiner pondered the thief's words even after the battle was over and the airship flew toward Alexandria leaving Zidane to try to save the same man they had worked so hard to defeat. It was not the departure either of them had expected, but he could honestly say that he hoped it wasn't the last time he saw that particular thief.