Well, the fluff is gonna start to show itself in this chapter. Ish cute! Yeah, I'm having way too much fun writing this. This chapter was cowritten by my friend, so this chapter is dedicated to her. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The only thing I own is Zidane's hideout. The rest belongs to Square.

Garnet looked at the thief with wide eyes. How could this have happened? How could anyone have gotten past the guards and into her room? Why had he taken her prisoner? Why her? All these questions and more whirled around in her head, along with a surge of anger.

"Why did you bring me here?! What do you want with me?! I demand that you release me at once!"

Zidane smirked. "What good would that do me? If I did, you'd just go running off to the castle and telling the authorities the location of my hideout, and then I'd be executed by sundown. Whereas if I keep you here, I'll be able to wait until your parents pay the ransom, and then I'll be set for life."

Ransom. So that's what he wanted with her.

He closed his eyes and chuckled. "Besides, letting you go wouldn't be any fun for me."

Fear overtook Garnet as she heard this last statement. What did he mean by that? Did he mean that he was going to…?

"I'm warning you," she said, her voice quavering with panic and rage. "If you don't let me go this instant you'll suffer dire consequences."

Zidane laughed. "Like what? Like I said, letting you go would get me killed. Nothing is as dire as that. Keeping you here is the only choice. Sorry, My Lady."

Garnet gritted her teeth and glared at him as he walked closer. With a derisive smile, he took her chin in his hand and leaned in close to her. "Forgive me for sounding clichéd," he said, "but you're very pretty when you're angry."

The princess looked him in the eye, trying to hide her terror. Tears of fear began to fall from her brown eyes. She cursed inwardly for her lack of self control.

"Ooh," the thief hummed, brushing away one of her tears. "And you're even prettier when you're scared." He let go of her chin and stepped away. "Well, I'll leave you be for now. I have things to do."

Garnet watched as Zidane walked off, disappearing into some unknown dark corner of the warehouse. She stared after him, and a few minutes later, she heard the distant sound of a slamming door, signaling that he had left.

Did he…? She frowned, wondering why he had done something so ignorant as leaving her alone. Well, it didn't matter why he had done it, the point was he HAD left her alone. Realizing that it might be her only chance to escape, she began to pull at the ropes binding her wrists to the arms of the chair. Needless to say, this did almost nothing, seeing as the ropes were tied so tightly.

A fresh wave of fear washed over Garnet as several new thoughts entered her mind. What if he didn't let her go even if her parents DID pay the ransom? She didn't want to think about what might happen if she wasn't rescued. What if she was just left here?

Suddenly, her body tensed. Something felt… out of place. Almost like something was missing.

Her pendent!

Her right hand jerked upwards, trying to reach her neck, knocking the chair off balance as it pulled on the rope. She throw all her weight to the right, trying to find her center of gravity, but despite her efforts, she fell into the crates that were stacked beside her. Everything fell to the ground with a loud crash.

Ow… Garnet looked over to see how much damage had been done. She winced; not only had she knocked over several empty crates, but a piece of splintered wood from one of the crates had given her a long cut on the back of her hand. Luckily, it had also cut through a good portion of the rope. She pulled her hand upwards and the rope snapped.

Her right hand was free.

She struggled to undo the expertly tied knots. Damn that thief.

After working her way out of the ropes and the chair, she stood and brushed herself off. Nursing her right hand, she looked for an exit. Where had that slamming noise from earlier come from? If she could remember which direction it had been in, she would be able to find the door that the thief had used, and she'd be out.

She thought for a moment. "Well," she said quietly to herself, "if I was here…" She stepped to the chair's original place. "…then he went…" She turned around. "That way." Smiling at her victory, she walked cautiously foreword into the labyrinth of crates.

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Zidane watched from the top of a stack of boxes as the princess stood up in the pile of splintered wood. He smirked at her persistence. She was smarter than she let on.

"But not smart enough," he whispered to himself, smiling. He picked up his spyglass and continued watching.

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She stumbled through the warehouse, jumping at every little shadow or small noise. It was dark. Too dark for her liking. She was scared. Truly and utterly scared. She wanted to be out of here. She just wanted to go home, to be back in her bed. Was this what she got for wishing for more excitement in her life? The words of her tutor, Dr. Tot, echoed in her mind;

Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.

She brushed these thoughts away, knowing that she would need to concentrate to find her way out.

Finally, she found her way out of the jumble of boxes and into an open space. She looked around, and saw, to her delight, a metal door on the other side of the room. She walked towards it, elated that she would finally be going back to the castle. She smiled as she thought of the thief's reaction once he saw that she had--

"I'm afraid your little escapade ends here, Your Highness."

Garnet looked up in surprise, and watched, frozen in fear, as the Midnight Thief jumped down from some unknown dark region. He landed neatly in front of her, blocking her exit, and stepped closer to the shivering princess. He circled her, and she backed away, terrified, soon finding herself with her back pressed against the wall.

"You know, real thieves aren't like the ones in the storybooks you read," he said, grinning. "We're not bumbling idiots. True thieves are intelligent. We have to be, considering what our profession requires of us. And as the Midnight Thief… Well, I think you get the picture."

Garnet scoffed. "Thievery is a profession?" She covered her mouth, regretting having said something that arrogant to her kidnapper.

Zidane chuckled. "If you have the nerve to call sitting in an overstuffed chair and talking all day a profession as well, than yes."

The princess seethed. "You dare mock the Alexandrian royalty?! There is much more to being a part of the Court than you know! Diplomacy and keeping international relationships alive is very important and tiring!"

Zidane quirked an eyebrow. "And you know this from experience…?"

Garnet looked at the ground. "Well… I've heard what it's like from my parents, and I've watched them…" She blushed, realizing her mistake in responding to his taunt.

Zidane's smile faded, and he roughly grabbed Garnet's wrist and pulled her close to him.

"Let go of me!" she shrieked, struggling to get away. The thief kept a firm grip and pulled her back, keeping her in a bear hug while still holding tightly to her wrist. He looked closely at it and frowned. Garnet closed her eyes tightly, anticipating the worst.

"What did you do to yourself?" Zidane asked, incredulously. "Geez, you really should have just stayed there instead of trying to escape and getting yourself hurt."

Garnet cautiously opened one eye and saw, to her surprise, that the Midnight Thief was wiping the blood off of her wounded hand.

"C'mon." Zidane began pulling her again, leading her through countless piles of boxes, chests, and sacks, until Garnet had all but completely lost track of where she was. Soon she found herself in a cozy little corner of the hideout that was furnished with a small bed, a dresser and a washbasin.

His prisoner still in tow, Zidane began to search through one of the dresser drawers until he found a roll of thin, white cloth. He ripped off a long piece and held it in his mouth, then gently dipped Garnet's injured hand into the washbasin.

Garnet stared, astonished, as the thief proceeded to bandage her hand.

"There," he said, tying a final knot. "Now you know that escaping isn't an option. It'll just get you into more trouble. And hopefully, with that knowledge in mind, I won't have to tie you up again." He winked and walked off, leaving Garnet standing alone in his room with her mouth hanging open in shock.

To Be Continued…

WEEEEEEEE! Cuteness! I'll admit, there are a few small sections of this chapter that I'm not too pleased with, but whatever. REVIEW!