My breath was slow and faint - but there, and stable. I ached a little, like I had gotten into a fight a few days ago and was paying for it now (which, I had - but that wasn't what was causing this). It was a far cry from what I was feeling before, that was for sure. I closed my eyes and rested there for a while, listening to my heartbeat. Until then, I never realized how much a part of my consciousness that one simple sound was... I didn't know why I suddenly had one again, but at the moment I really didn't give a damn.

Eventually, I knew I had to get up, and try to figure out what was going on. So, after a while, I sat up and looked around me.

I was in the Iifa tree all right - I had fallen near where Kuja had been lying before. I remembered... throwing my body over his, in some crazed attempt to save him. I looked over to where his body had been, but there was nothing there anymore...

... Save for a single white feather.

I felt my eyes sting a little as I crawled over to it, and cradled it to my chest. I wish... I really wish I could have saved him. Who knows? Maybe he would have lived for, heck, a whole few more decades... sure, Garland said he was mortal, and that he had a time limit on his life - but who doesn't? We all die someday... I guess I'll never find out, but sometimes I wonder if Kuja misinterpreted that bastard's words. Or, if he meant to be misleading on purpose. But I guess it didn't matter anymore.

Shakily, I managed to get to my feet, holding a nearby trunk as support. I was tired, I ached all over, Kuja was dead, and I was trapped in a freaking giant tree.

But I was alive.

Looking down at myself, I wasn't exactly pleased to see that my cloths had been damaged beyond all hope of repair, and were barely still hanging on to me. My daggers were still at my sides though - despite the fact that the sheaths were pretty roughed up. My hair hung loose around my shoulders, the tie gone. It was kind of annoying, so I blew it out of the way. That struck me kind of funny- here I was, in this crazy pile of shit, and I was annoyed about my hair. Thank god I wasn't anywhere near as vain as Kuja - he'd have had a heart attack if he had been in my place. Personally, I just found it annoying because it wouldn't stay out of my face. What concerned me more then anything else though, was my body. There was no evidence I had been hurt - ever - not so much as a bruise or scrape.

There was nothing - absolutely nothing.

In fact, the only visual evidence that I had ever been hurt was the blood that had dried all over me, mixed with dirt and sweat. Pleasant, right?

Feh. Again, not the worst thing in the world.

... It was still creepy though.

I was still in a mix of shock and survival mode, so I didn't take the time wondering about anything - it didn't occur to me to. All I could think about was getting out of that damn tree. I slipped the feather into one of the sheaths - carefully, so as not to damage it, then looked around.

Everywhere was gray darkness. I could see a little - but barely. The tree didn't give off any of it's own light anymore, but there were enough holes waaaaay in the distance that I could make some things out. I turned around slowly in a circle, my nose wrinkled slightly as the smell of death the tree gave off. On my upper right, about 100 feet or so from where I was, I saw a tunnel leading out of the area. I didn't know if it was blocked, but I figured it was my best guess, sense I couldn't see anything else.

So I climbed.

It wouldn't have been that hard - the roots were so close together that it was practically a staircase - but they were also very, very brittle. The first time one broke under me, I almost fell off... and into a really, really long fall. Which would have really sucked. When I finally reached the... cave-thing, I turned around and looked back at where Kuja had laid. I could barely see it anymore, but I bowed my head silently anyway, and stood there for a moment.

Then I turned, and walked away.

The journey out of the tree was a very odd experience. I've been in weirder situations - I've climbed through forgotten tunnels, wandered through an illusion (or was it real?) of space, journeyed through a place of memories... Hell, I've walked right up the The Crystal... And yet, this seemed more surreal somehow. To tell you the truth, I think I was still in shock. I felt kind of... numb. I didn't think very much - I had a sneaking suspicion that if I did, I'd start freaking out. But after I had been walking for about 20 minutes, I stopped dead, an odd expression on my face. I couldn't belive it hadn't occurred to me before - it was so obvious that I couldn't help it - I just blurted my thoughts out loud.

"Wait a second. Since when can I use Fire spells!"