Hi!

Yeah, it's another update, yay!

Thanks to those who read and reviewed, I was so surprised! I didn't realise I would get so much love xD

Disclaimer: I own nothing here

"What the..."

Baku froze in the narrow room, unable to believe what he was seeing. Blank had dropped the lamp, although it didn't break, thankfully, and was hunched over the still figure, desperately looking for a sign of life. Baku rushed to Blanks' side the moment comprehension dawned, and he sank to his knees, looking at the figure that lay spread-eagled on the floor.

Zidane looked like a broken, discarded doll that had been put through a blender. His clothes, already ragged at the ends from his travels, were torn almost to ribbons, stained and discoloured with blackened blood. One arm was twisted horribly, in a way that made Baku's stomach turn. His tail, limp, was broken to the point where one could see a white flash of bone through the blood and golden fur. And a head wound, upon his temple, had caked Zidane's face and hair with blood.

"No." Blank withdrew in shock, hands shaking. "Boss... he's alive."

"What?" His loud voice boomed, and he pressed his ear against Zidane's chest, listening for a heartbeat. Because his own pulse was thudding so loudly in his ears, it was a moment before he was able to distinguish the faint, slow thump in the blonde's chest.

"O-Oh my..." The others had caught up, and they all gathered on their knees around Zidane in a circle, speechless in their shock.

"He's alive." Blank repeated, aware for the first time that, through the cold, numbing shock, a thrill off pure joy thrummed in his chest. "He's alive!"

"No way." Cinna stared at Zidane's broken arm, and rubbed at his own self-consciously. "But he fell..." He arched his neck upwards. "That far..."

"We have to get him out of here as soon as we can." Baku had apparently recovered from his stupor, and took charge of the situation as usual. "Benero, and Zenero, I want you to go and make a stretcher. I don' care what you make it out of, just get it done and get it strong." The brothers nodded, and were gone a moment later, Benero waving his own small lantern. "Ruby." He turned to the girl. "I want you to go through our stuff, and get me a blanket, some water, and rag if you can."

"Got it!" Ruby stopped to pick up the fallen lantern on the way, then disappeared. Blank blinked rapidly, trying desperately to force down the burning sensation in his eyes.

"This is unbelieveable." Marcus said flatly, He tried to push Zidane's shaggy mop of hair out of his face, but to no avail. "Jeez... How the hell..."

"I don't know." Blank stared down at the broken figure. "I don't bloody know..."

"Thank god Ruby persuaded us to keep going." Cinna pointed out, his face ashen. "If we'd turned back..."

"I got it!" Ruby kneeled beside Baku, pressing the supplies onto him with trembling hands.

"Thanks." Baku touched Zidane's good arm, and, just as he feared, the skin was freezing. "Cinna," He ordered. "Get some water on that rag and try to clean the blood off his head."

"Got it." Cinna poured the water on the rag, spilling a little on his clothing in his eagerness. While he did so, Baku covered Zidane with the blanket, in an effort to keep him warm. "Bloody hell, it looks awful." Cinna wiped at his forehead, in an effort to clean the blood. "This is really, really bad." He pushed Zidane's hair back, exposing his bloodied temple.

"... What do we do now." Blank stared down at his knees. "Can we get him out in time before..."

"We have to clean up his wounds and bandage them." Baku stared down at Zidane thoughtfully. "And keep him warm and watered." He looked at Marcus. "Hold his head up for me, will ya?" Marcus nodded, and did so, watching as Baku gently forced Zidane's mouth open, and poured a little water from the flask past his lips. The blonde coughed, from reflexes, not consciousness, the water spilling over his chin. "Damnit." Baku tried again, this time using just a few drops of water, forcing Zidane's mouth shut, and massaging lightly at his throat to coax him to swallow. "Keep doing that." He instructed to Ruby, handing him the flask. He stood up with a low groan, his knees creaking, and took Ruby's lantern, giving Blank a comforting pat on the shoulder as he walked back to where the others had dumped their packs, rifling through their contents until he found what he was looking for, a few rolls of bandages.

"Here we go." Baku returned to the others, sinking once more to his knees. "Wrap his head up." He threw a couple of bandages at Marcus, before turning his attention to Zidane's partially crushed tail. He could do little more than wrap a wadded bandage around it as tightly as he could, and then turned his attention to Zidane's arm. He lifted it gently, out from under the blanket, and examined it underneath the weak lamplight. Ruby winced, and turned her face away as Baku tried to straighten out the arm. "I think it's just dislocated... But I'm not touchin' it until a doctor looks at it. We could screw it up permanently." He pulled back the blanket, and folded the currently useless arm against Zidane's chest.

"Boss!" Benero and Zenero rejoined the group, holding a stretcher between them, made of strong tree roots, relatively straight, and one of their blankets. "We made it for you!"

"Excellent. Put it down." Baku ordered. "Now back, everyone, get back." His loyal troupe obeyed, and with the utmost care, Baku placed one arm under Zidane's shoulder, the other his knees, and lifted him, setting him down on the stretcher. He tucked the blanket back under Zidane, then relaxed on the balls of his feet with a sigh. "Time to get going. We might have to put another blanker on him, if he doesn't warm up quickly. God, I don't know how to look after people, I'm not a doctor..."

"It's all right." Cinna reassured his leader. "You're doing great. Marcus and I will carry Zidane, won't we?"

"Sure." Marcus nodded, bending down and grasping the handles of the stretcher at the tail end.

"Bwahahaha!" Baku clapped Cinna on the back with excessive force, unable to stop his chuckling. "What would I do without you, huh? All right, let's get going."

"Great." Cinna lifted the stretcher in sync with Marcus. "Let's start heading back up." The others followed, Benero and Zenero collecting the water and supplies before repacking them.

"Blank." Ruby stopped Blank, who had bent down to pick up Zidane's weapon. The dark-haired man froze, then relaxed, her hand on his shoulder comforting. "Yer doin' okay?"

Blank nodded soundlessly, his hands tightening on the synthesized daggers. "I'm better." He gave Ruby a small smile, then turned away, heading towards the others. "Don't worry about me no more. Worry about him."

"... Yeah." Ruby rubbed tiredly at her eyes. "Trust me, I am..."

A long time passed.

In reality, it couldn't have been more than three days, but for Tantalus, it felt like a lifetime. Twenty-four hours around the clock, someone was at Zidane's side, checking his temperature, his injuries, his hydration. Going uphill for hours and hours was back-breaking, and demoralizing work, and left them exhausted. And as Ruby was running low on food and water, they had to be careful about their rations, and, as a result, the time they spent hiking suffered.

But no one could deny the fact that the mood was so much lighter than the trip down. Jokes were shared, smiles and laughs experienced. Everybody knew that the danger was still very real – Zidane himself was inches from death, never waking, never even moving, but the simple fact was that he was alive. The man they had worked so hard to rescue was in their hands, and his life was still responsibility. To have him die now, after everything they had risked, and done for him, was an inconceivably horrible thought. So they tried their hardest, with their limited medical knowledge and supplies, but all knew it was failing. Zidane looked unhealthier than he ever had, his usually tan skin a sickly white, and he was looking thinner and thinner, even in the few days they cared for him in the Iifa Tree. So they pushed on harder, even skipping meals in their desperate attempt to get Zidane out of the tree and to help as soon as they could. Finally, on the third morning, they managed to drag themselves to the resting place of Kuja. Marcus had suggested, briefly, the possibility of taking Kuja as well, but Baku wouldn't hear of it. As far as he was concerned, Kuja was the reason for Zidane's departure and (possible) death, and deserved nothing more than to rot inside the tree.

When Ruby finally felt sunlight on her face, for the first time in almost a week, she cried, a little. To breathe fresh air and feel the breeze on her face was almost a luxury she'd forgotten she'd had. The others were just the same. Indeed, Cinna lay down on the ground, and proclaimed that he wasn't moving until he'd soaked up the sun for at least an hour. A swift kick from Baku's end soon put paid to that notion, however. It was Blank, the only one who knew how to commandeer a ship by himself, who had ran ahead, and brought the airship as close as he possibly could to the entrance to the outside world, and was able to –carefully- transfer Zidane to one of the bunks inside, and with Ruby watching over him carefully, the others all gathered in the bridge, putting their heads together in an attempt to formulate a plan.

"Conde Petie." Baku was firm. "It's a day at least to Alexandria and two to Lindblum. And... I'm not sure if going straight there is a good idea."

"The doctors in Alexandria will be excellent though." Cinna argued. "The ones in Conde Petie are just... dwarves."

"They know more than you think." Blank said gently. "And you forget, Alexandria is still pretty much ruined after what happened with Bahamut. I'm not sure they would have the resources and people to look after Zidane."

"We can just go to Conde Petie for now." Marcus suggested. "He needs to be treated for his immediate injuries, the patch job we've done is pretty crap. It's... Blank, how far away are we?"

"Like, five minutes." Blank peered out the viewing window. "See, you can see it right there."

"Conde Petie." Cinna agreed with the other three, albeit a little reluctantly.

"Are you tired from the walk?"

"No, Mr. 87." The Genome shook his head obediently. "I am fine, thank you."

"That's... Great." He shot him a strange look, then sighed dismally. True, it had only been three weeks since the genomes were introduced to the Black Mage Village, but the Mages all felt as though they still hadn't learned a thing. Even Mikoto was slow to catch on to Gaian concepts, even those as simple as money and trade. It was why, every day, The Mages decided to take a different Genome with them, and give them a small tour on the way to Conde Petie, the forests, Madain Sari, and of course, the dwarfish village itself. And every time, the Genomes just too it in with a quiet look on their face, as though they perhaps may have wanted to understand, but just weren't entirely sure how.

"Rally ho!" Harold saluted the Black Mage its' blonde follower.

"Rally ho!" Mr. 87 nodded.

"R-Rally ho?" The male Genome blinked, turning to Mr. 87. Did he do it right?

"Welcome t' Conde Petie!" The Dwarf gave the pair a flourish, who entered the tiny village.

"The people here look strange." The Genome noted in his blank voice.

"They're dwarves." Mr. 87 explained. "They live here because it is the best place for them to receive the sun, moon, wind and rain. So they say. And because it is so close to the Iifa Tree, or as it called, the Sanctuary." At the mention of the Iifa Tree, something in the Genome's face tightened, and he looked away. "Lets' just... go to the store." He signalled left, and guided the male across the strong bridge, which served as a pathway to the store which the Mages traded with.

"Rally-ho! Ah, 'ello ye pyntie-hets!" Wendy beamed. "An' What kin I be doin' fer yer?"

"Just-" The mage was cut short by a commotion coming from the hallway into the store. The Genome blinked in surprise at the noise, and before either could react, a group of strange-looking people, had burst into the store, three of them carrying a stretcher between them.

"What's that?" The Genome inquired as they bustled past, and left, not paying the pair any attention. "Mr. 87?"

"I'm not sure." The Mage frowned. "Wendy? Who were they?"

"Ah, it be t' travellers in t' Sanctuary." She shook her head. "We told 'em of t' dangers that pass, and they dinnae listen..."

"They were at the Iifa tree?" The Genome spoke up, confusion on his face. Wendy nodded, and before Mr. 87 had a chance to stop him, the Genome turned and ran to catch up with the group, who had stopped outside a door leading off from the Inn.

"God, I hope we're not too late." A dark-haired man in brown clothing bend over double, his hands on his knees.

"Blank, we tried our best." A blonde girl rested her hand on his shoulder. "Whut else can yer do?"

"Ruby's right." A man in a red bandana muttered. "We've done all we can for Zidane."

Zidane?

The Genome frowned, and slowly approached the group of people, who were still too involved with their own thoughts to notice him.

"Hello?" The male Genome spoke up. "Was Zidane the one you rescued from the Iifa Tree?"

"Yeah, who..." It was Cinna who first noticed the Genome, and was able to take in his appearance. "Holy crap." The slight build, face structure, hair and tail... It screamed Zidane, all over. Is this part of Zidane's... People? "Guys..." He froze, mouth open and hands unclenched at his sides. "Look..."

"Whoa!" Ruby's eyes widened at the sight of the Genome who stood a few feet away from them, a rather blank look on his face. "What in tarnation is goin' on 'ere?"

"There you are!" Mr. 87 caught up with the Genome, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, we have to- oh?" He finally caught sight of the members of Tantalus, who were standing in complete shock at the Genome who looked so much like their fallen comrade. "Who are you?"

"We're Tantalus." Marcus scowled, hands on his hips. "We're a theatre troupe in Lindblum. Which you helped destroy, by the way-"

"Marcus!" Ruby stopped the man. "Don't yer be so rude now!"

"We're Vivi's friends." Blank got up from off the wall, noting how the Mage relaxed visibly. "I thought you might know him."

"Oh, yes." The mage nodded. "It was Vivi who suggested that the Genomes stay with us in our village."

"Genomes?" Marcus frowned. "Is that what... They are?" He gestured to the blonde man, who merely kept his gaze on his shoes. The petty things the others announced were of no concern to him. "Why do they look like Zidane?"

"I... You do not know?" Mr. 87 was quite surprised. "Vivi told Mr. 288 as soon as he could... You are friends of Zidane?"

"He's a member of our troupe." Cinna's hands were on his hips, and he paused, hanging his head a little. "Was..."

"Is he..."

"No, he's alive, thank god." Marcus rubbed at his eyes. "For now. He's in the room there." He jerked his head. "With our boss and the doctor."

"What about Kuja." The Genome spoke up again, his sea-green eyes focusing on Marcus. "Is he..."

"Died." Marcus said gruffly. "And good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. We left him in the tree."

"He shouldn't be left there." Mr. 87 stared at the Genome in surprise. "He deserves better..." It was the first ever piece of individual thought and speech that had come out of the Genome's mouth.

"After what he did?" Blanks' voice was poisonous. "Almost destroying the world? Laying waste to our homes? Almost killing our friend?" His hands were clenched into fists. "I just hope he suffered before he died."

"Blank!" Ruby argued the man, but Blank turned, and pushed the door open inside the doctors' room, stepping over the threshold. He walked towards the bed slowly, the others' in the room not yet noticing his presence.

"Hey." He finally spoke up softly, his hands on the railing at the end of the bed. Baku jumped from the stool at Zidane's bedside, and shook his head, before looking up at Blank. "He's doing better?"

"Hardly." Baku muttered. "The doctor," He jerked his head over to a stone sink, where the doctor was rinsing liberal amounts of blood from his hands. "Said he was very, very lucky to be alive. The damage is worse than we thought Blank, way worse."

"How much worse?" Marcus called from the doorway, before entering the room. Baku sighed, and rested an elbow on the bed beside Zidane, his chin on a balled hand. No one could bear to look at the thin figure underneath the white sheets, bundled in bandages.

"His arm was broken in two places." Baku said dully, half-wishing this was a horrible dream. "Four ribs are cracked, his collarbone is fractured, as well as his eye-socket." Marcus winced. "He crushed two bones in his tail, and..." Baku let out a sigh. "He thinks there might be something wrong with Zidane's back."

"God." Blank sat on the edge of the bed, staring at his hands. "Could it get any worse?"

"Well, if he doesn't eat immediately, his body will be too weak to fight and keep going, But the doctor knows how to feed 'im with a tube." Baku sighed. "And he doesn't know how to fix Zidane's head."

"Oh no." Ruby held her hand over her mouth, her face crumpling. "Whut do we do?"

"I cannae fix 'im in the noggin." The doctor joined the others, wiping her hands, concern evident on his face. "Ye best be takin' 'im t'the others in t' Mist Con'inen' quick-smart."

"We're going to do that." Baku agreed, standing up. "And we thank you a lot for helping us to patch him up for us."

"Glad ta help ye!" The doctor shook Baku's hand with a smile. "Good ta see t' lad alive."

"You're not kidding." Blank muttered, looking at Zidane for a brief moment. "So we'll head to Lindblum, and-"

"No." Baku groaned. "We can't. It's a two-day trip and I'm just not sure that he can handle the journey."

"We dragged him out of the Iifa tree okay." Cinna argued. "The place may be in ruins, but there will be someone there to help him. He's the goddamn hero that saved the world, remember?"

"We have several Mages in our village who have researched extensively on healing and medicine." Mr. 87 offered. "If you are wanting to keep Zidane close by until he is ready to travel..."

"... Can we do that?" Marcus looked up at Baku. "Getting Zidane out of the tree was really risky... He almost died."

"... I know." Baku groaned, sitting back down on the stool beside Zidane's bed. "It's not a good idea, those airships move around a lot, especially when we land... A long journey might be really harmful." He looked at Marcus and Cinna. "No?"

"... I think the best doctors are in Lindblum." Cinna argued. "If we're careful, we can handle getting him there. But..." He shrugged. "It's up to you."

"... Do what you think will get Zidane better." Blank muttered softly. "You're the boss."

"... Okay." It was a full minute before he stood up, hands on hips. "We're going to the Village. You can show us, right?"

"I certainly can." The Mage nodded, then gave a short bow.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Vivi set down the metal contraption, and cocked his head to one side, before shooting Mikoto a glance. "Yeah... I sorta do..."

"It's an airship!" She stood up, and ran across the small room, wrenching open the front door. "I wonder who it is..." Mikoto's heart fluttered a little, in a bold dare to hope...

"It's from Lindblum!" Vivi explained, watching as the airship set down in the forest clearing, a short distance away. "I'd recognize one of their ships any day!"

"Vivi, wait!" Mikoto pleaded as the little mage broke into an excited run, plunging into the forest, ducking and dodging the thick tree trunks and low branches. "It might just be a trading ship or a delivery, we don't..." She stopped as she approached the little clearing, catching her breath. Vivi just stood slightly in front of her, staring solemnly as the gangplank of the airship slowly swung down onto the ground. The first to depart from the ship was a man Mikoto failed to recognize, quite short, a dark-haired man in brown clothing.

"Blank!" Vivi, however, knew exactly who the strange character was, and sped towards the man at top speed, tripping over a log in his excitement, but clamouring back up again eagerly, approaching the man. "What are you doing here?"

"Aw, Vivi." If the mage had hair, Blank would have ruffled it. "Well, let's just say that due to our current circumstances, travel to Lindblum would be near impossible with our... special guest on board."

"... What...?" Vivi gasped as Blank stepped aside, barely able to believe what the bandit was insinuating. It was Cinna and Marcus who were next, squabbling amongst themselves as normal. However, Vivi paid no attention to them, his eyes fixed on the stretcher they carried, and the almost unrecognizable figure inside it. All that Vivi could link to Zidane was the brief glimpse of golden hair that wasn't swathed in bandages. "No!"

"He's alive." Blank nodded, looking oddly grim. "We were just in time, but-"

"Zidane?!" Vivi rushed towards the stretcher, standing on tip-toe. "Zidane, are you all right? What-"

"He's unconscious." Vivi stilled at the sensation of Blanks' hand on his shoulder, then sighed, and nodded despondently. "Been completely out of it ever since we found him. But he's going to be all right." He squeezed Vivi's shoulder reassuringly. "You all right?"

"Uhuh." Vivi nodded, then straightened his hat. "I knew he was alive." He looked up at Blank.

"You did?" Blank and Vivi followed the others, who were being led by Mr. 87. "How?"

"I know you think I was just hoping, like everyone else." Vivi sighed. "But Mikoto agrees with me too."

"Mikoto?"

"Yes?" Blank blinked, and spun around to see a girl standing next to him, a hand on her hip. "What?"

"I... Never mind." Blank shook his head. "Not like you'll understand." He muttered in an undertone, continuing to follow the others. It was a cruel thing to say, but Blank didn't understand that Mikoto was, aside from Zidane, the sole Genome with a mind and soul of her own, and after spending even just the short airship trip to the village with that horribly blank lookalike of Zidane, Blank was both terrified and disgusted. What was wrong with him? And to learn from the Mage that they were all the same...

"... That's not completely true." Mikoto murmured to herself, now all alone in the clearing. "I understand more than you think." She sighed deeply, and rubbed at her eyes. She was relieved, so relieved, that Zidane had been found alive, although not exactly well, and at the same time, the look on the Genome's face told her about Kuja's fate. Strange. She didn't know how exactly to feel about his death – it was inevitable, of course, he was always going to die, most likely in the circumstances he did, but all the same, it was still... upsetting?

I feel wrong for being sad – he's caused so much pain. He tried to destroy everything. And he killed Garland. If it was for the Terrans', then I would understand, but it wasn't. By that point, he didn't care about us at all. He just wanted to destroy everything. But then again, he was almost like a brother of mine. He was, really. Is. I can't be happy my brother is dead... But he saved them all. He did the most admirable thing, in the end.

Why did I have to have feelings! Mikoto groaned, head in her hands. This is so ridiculous. I didn't have to worry about things like this in Terra. Just a few short weeks ago, life was so much simpler. I didn't have any liking towards Gaians. All I cared about was the assimilation of souls. But now Terra is destroyed and we're all refugees here...

I could do it again, of course. Build a new machine... But strange thing is, I don't have any desire too. When I see this new world of thousands and thousands of different souls... It's so strange and new.

"Mikoto?" The blonde jumped to see Vivi standing behind her, looking confused. "You coming?"

"... Yeah, I should." Mikoto nodded, and forced a smile. "What did you learn?"

"That he's really bad." Vivi's shoulders slumped. "They still don't know if he's going to make it... but the Mages are gonna do all they can. They're very grateful for what he's done for them." He cheered up a little, as they started to walk back. "I knew he was gonna be okay." He repeated, nodding to emphasise his point.

"Yeah." Mikoto nodded, following Vivi as they wound through the village houses to the Inn, which would become a makeshift hospital. "You never gave up hope, did you?"

"Mikoto, it wasn't hope." He pleaded. "I really did know he was going to be fine."

"I know." Mikoto followed as Vivi pushed open the inn door. "I knew he was alive too. Just very... Hi?"

"You!" Mikoto gasped as Baku approached her. "You're the one?"

"I am?" Mikoto gave Vivi a frightened look.

"You're Mikoto?" Cinna asked. The entire group was in the inn, the Mages requesting they be left alone whilst they attempted their best on Zidane.

"... Oh!" Mikoto nodded, slightly relieved. "Yeah. The one that can talk and all that."

"... Why is it just you?" Blank asked quietly, a look of deep concern on his face. "Everyone else we passed just looked so awfully... vacant."

"It's how they were made." Mikoto sighed, leaning against the wall. "Only a select few were actually given the ability to think independently."

"Made?" Marcus' eyes widened in alarm. "What do you mean, made?"

"I mean..." Mikoto ran her hands through her hair, fighting back a groan. "I'm not sure I should tell you about this. It's Zidane's life, not mine. It's not my descision."

"No way." Baku stepped in, making the most of his height over the Genome. "Girl, I've raised that kid since he came up to my knee. For twelve damn years I've watched out for him. I think I deserve to know where the hell he came from."

"What he means to say," Cinna rescued the head bandit. "Is that Zidane's been desperate to know about his birthplace and parents for as long as he can remember. Trust me; he would want us to know."

"Twelve years?" Mikoto paused with a frown. "Wow. You must have..." She looked over at Vivi, who gave her a short nod. He knew, of course, of Zidane's origins, and clearly thought that his brothers at Tantalus completely deserved to know. "Okay." She wrung her hands a little as she spoke, feeling a little nervous.

"Well... Terra is, if you didn't know, a completely different planet, really unlike Gaia. It's also very old. I won't give you the boring details, but there's this old man, Garland, who's mission was to assimilate the souls of Gaia and Terra, to create them as one and therefore, Terra could be saved from decline. In order to do this, he needed to create an angel of death, to cause havoc and destruction on Gaia, making way for Garland to continue his plan. Twenty-four years ago, he created Kuja. He turned out to be a reject, and too outwardly powerful, so six years later, he... Made Zidane." There was a collective silence around the room.

"... Holy crap." Cinna finally murmured, stunned. "He... Was made to destroy Gaia?"

"Nah." Baku shook his head. "Not Zidane. There's... He's not capable of anything like that."

"He is." Mikoto argued. "But let me finish. When Kuja found out that Zidane wasn't just back-up, he was to be Kuja's replacement, he went beserk. Garland said he destroyed half of the castle, before taking Zidane and leaving the planet, coming here." Baku was listening intently, a thoughtful frown on his face. "Kuja wanted to kill Zidane, so he dumped him in the ocean, from thousands of feet up. Well, that's what he told Garland. And until he came back just recently, it was the last Terra ever saw of Zidane."

"... He was six, wasn't he." Baku muttered, his arms folded.

"Yeah..." Mikoto nodded. "Why?"

"I found him." Baku straightened up with a sigh. "On the docks at Lindblum. At first I thought it was some sort of drowned animal, floating on a log... Didn't realise it was a kid until I picked him up."

"And he stayed with you ever since?" Mikoto enquired, never knowing about what actually happened to Zidane in those twelve years.

"Well, he left a couple of times in a huff to find his family, but pretty much, yeah." Baku agreed. "Who do you think taught him everything he knew?"

"Zidane's been in Tantalus longer than everyone 'scept Baku." Marcus said. "I'd been in since I was sixteen... So's Cinna. Blank was a bit younger, and Ruby only joined a couple of years ago after running away to be an actress."

"It worked!" Ruby retorted, hands on her hips. "At leas' I 'ain runnin' around thieving like yer all!"

"Yeah, but you never minded the money, did you?" Cinna shot back. "Spending it all on clothes."

"Yeah, 'cos I buy costumes, unlike yer with yer rags-"

"Hey, I keep these in good condition!"

"Yeah, Cinna, but Ruby's right. You could do with a new pair of boots."

"Says the man who's worn the same bandana for six years!"

"Blank, don't get me started-"

"Guys, Guys!" Baku stepped in, arms held up. "Calm frigging down. I can't believe you won't stop fighting..."

"I think we've been together too much." Cinna commented. "All the stress."

"You reckon?" Blank shrugged. "Ah well. Say boss, any chance of grub around here?"

"I know where the food store is." Vivi offered. "Do you want me to take you there?"

"Sounds good!" Marcus agreed emphatically, his stomach whining. "We haven't had a proper meal in days..."

"All right then, follow me!" The little Mage led the way out of the Inn, and the troupe followed – that is, except for Baku, who still stood, leaning against the wall, a frown on his face.

"You're not hungry?" Mikoto ventured carefully. Baku shook his head, and sighed, stomping across the room to a low stool, which he took a seat on.

"The kids' been through a lot." Baku finally muttered, after a long period of silence. "I knew something was wrong when I first found him. It was like a savage dog, which had been kicked too many times. He just had this raw violence in him and I didn't know why..."

"Kuja would have hurt him." Mikoto's heart... hurt. "In his anger... It's something he would do."

"... But he was a kid." Baku said slowly. "A little defenceless kid... Who the hell picks a fight with someone who can't fight back?"

"Zidane survived falling in the ocean." Mikoto pointed out. "And not only that, he managed to make it to shore. He wasn't weak."

"I know that." Baku sighed. "I know. I just..." He ran a hand over his eyes. "Sorry for puttin' this on you. I shouldn't."

"He's my brother, Baku. It's okay." The altered Genome gave Baku a weak smile. "I want to know about when he was little. How old was he when he first learn to fight? When did he run away?" It was so strange. Now that she finally had something she could identify with, someone who was like herself for the first time ever, Mikoto felt greedy, almost, for knowledge, to know as much about Zidane as she could. Especially if he was to...

"Uh..." Baku screwed up his face in thought. "Well... When he was... eight, I think, he went with me and my crew on a mission to Treno. We were supposed to perform this play, and Zidane was going to rob the patrons' mansion while we kept him occupied. It was a big place, full of guards, but he was little and fast, and more than that, he really wanted to prove himself, show he was one of the boys and all that. So anyways, we're performing, and Zidane's making off with one of the sweetest hauls we've had in ages, and we'd finished, when we hear this weird yelling in the grounds. Their guards investigated, but my men and I got their first."

"What was it?" Mikoto asked, entranced. "What happened?"

"Zidane was almost over the walls, when the nobleman's best defense system kicked in." He should his head. "Fangs." Mikoto gave him a quizzical look. "They're like dogs, but way bigger and nastier. And this one was a big one. I mean, twice the size of me. It turns out he had Zidane cornered, and the little bugger managed to jump on his back, and stab him in the neck with a dagger he'd stolen." He smiled a little in remembrance. "When we found him, he was covered in blood, and shaking. We thought that he'd been mauled or something, until we saw the Fang... Man, Zidane got him a beaut. He realised he couldn't beat him with strength, so he used agility and speed. Clever kid, huh?"

"And he was only eight?" Mikoto was impressed. When she was eight, there was no way she was up to fighting anything or anyone. She was still stuck inside Pandemonium, always at Garlands' side, as he lectured and taught for hours at a time on assimilation and souls and Terra...

"Yep. Only got a bite on the shoulder. Quite nasty though, he could have gotten his arm ripped off." Baku fell silent, brooding. There was of course, what happened after, a memory so private, he didn't dare share with anyone. How Zidane flew at Baku, wrapping his tiny arms around his knees, begging and pleading for him to never leave him alone again.

"Did you realise then that he was... Special?" Mikoto supplied rather tactfully. I mean, it's not every kid that can beat a wild animal with a weapon."

"... I kinda figured." Baku sighed. "He wanted to learn with the dagger the moment we returned to Lindblum. Demanded, all right. He'd had his taste for fighting, and wanted more. By the time he was ten, he could disarm me... Yeah, no ordinary kid can do that."

"... Why did he run away?" Mikoto asked after a moments' silence. "When?" She looked over at Baku, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Oh, that." Baku shook his head, chuckling. "It was really inevitable. It happened when he was about twelve. Maybe he was thirteen. Anyways, it was when he started getting interested in girls. And I had to give him 'the talk'."

"The... Talk?" Mioto tilted her head to one side. "I don't understand..."

"You know, where babies come from and all that." Baku groaned. "Well, Zidane got all embarrassed and didn't want to hear it, no matter how hard I tried to talk to him. I said it was the job of the father to tell his son that, and Zidane protested I wasn't his father. I said that his own father wasn't around, then he really started screaming at me. Stupid teenage moods. I didn't think anything of it, but eventually he stopped yelling at me and said he was going to find his real parents. Walked right out of there without saying goodbye and I didn't see him for almost a year."

"... Poor Zidane." Mikoto murmured. "I never thought about having biological parents... Thought it was a ridiculous concept."

"Well, you didn't know any better." Baku suggested. "I dunno... I reckon kids need parents to grow up healthy. Look at Zidane. You said he was supposed to destroy the world, not save it."

"Yeah. You're right, I guess." Mikoto murmured. "But he didn't need parents for his purpose."

"His 'purpose' was wrong." Baku said flatly. "There's no way he was supposed to be the destroyer of Gaia. Have you seen him with Garnet, the Queen? He'd have to kill her, otherwise. But he loves her more than anything. He risked his life for her."

"I know, it comes down to circumstance." The girl said. "And I'm glad he turned out the way he did, of course. You don't know how hard it is though. To grow up, spend your entire life being told what's right and wrong... Then to have it completely inverted..." She trailed off. "Oh, I don't know."

"I'm glad Zidane found out how he was made." Baku said. "And that there are others like him. But he's not staying here with you, no matter what you say. His place isn't with these weirdo's. It's with us."

"You're protective." Mikoto gave a wry smile. "I understand, don't worry. I don't think he would want to stay here, baby-sitting the others. They're like children. Worse than children. Children learn and understand. It's like they're refusing to detach from what they've learned, no matter what I tell them. There's only so much I can take..."

"It's so creepy." Baku muttered. "Making them... The Mages I understand, they're not human at all, but them... They could pass off for ordinary people. And to just be... and for you and Zidane, and... Kuja," He spat out the name as though it tasted bad. He hated to think of Kuja and Zidane of brothers, people with a link between them. "They must have been advanced as hell."

"I don't know how we were made." Mikoto said quietly. "But I know how regular Genomes are made. There's a lot of power there, and ability. In every Genome. It's just waiting for a soul to harness it."

"So our problems might not be over yet." Baku shot Mikoto a dark look. The girl frowned.

"If you're insisting the Genomes are implicated on some sort of uprising again the Gaians', you're very wrong." There was a note of anger to Mikoto's voice. "They are learning. Slowly. Very slowly, like the mages. Like Zidane. I promise you, I'll make sure none of them pose a threat to the Gaians'.

"I'm not accusing you of anything." Baku groaned. "Just... It's hard. Seems like everyone new that's been popping up recently has been wanting to kill us. Kuja, the Mages... I'm sure if people knew about the Genomes, they would be angry."

"Probably." Mikoto's shoulders were slumped. "That's why it can never be known that Kuja was one of us. If we're to become people of Gaia, we can't hide out here forever. When the Black Mages die out, we'll be alone. It'll be just like Terra..." The girl trailed off, then shook her head. "Sorry. I do not mean to put that on you."

"Ah, no prob. Good to know about Zidane, ya know?" Baku straightened up. "Look, I am starved. When the Mages come back out, you get me, all right?"

"Certainly." Mikoto agreed. "But they could be ages... I may be waiting a while. Not that I don't mind." She added in a rush. "I'm just saying..."

"That's fine." Baku nodded. "All right, I'll catch you up, all right?"

"... Yeah." Mikoto nodded, sitting herself down on the stool Baku had left behind.

Yaaaay, another chapter down!

Unsure of when I'll update again, or how long it will be or anything, sorry...

But anyways, read and review!