-Kweh and chirp are the same, huh? -sighs- That cloak of Zidane? Pretend he's wearing Roxas' cloak, only brown. I always thought he'd look good in an Organization cloak—but then again, everyone does because the Organization made one of the most awesome cloaks ever.

Disclaimer: I do not own FFIX, if I did, the story would have a little more juice. Like, Kuja shattered the crystal and there's like, a whole disc FIVE! And then you have to retrieve the shattered pieces before the world slowly deteriorates! That's like, a somewhat FFVI rip off man! xD

"Zidane..." Freya shook her head, a sign of pity from her. "You...you need rest. You've been through too much, in my opinion." She said. "First, causing the one you love to wait far too long, then you find out everything that you did with...him, were..." She trailed.

"It isn't as bad as I make it sound, really..." I muttered.

"I probably would have as well. Zidane, you saw him as a brother. You treated him as one and he treated you the same, even if it wasn't...what you thought. An eleven-months' worth of time is enough for one to treat even that man as a loved one." She said, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry."

"Well, I guess it's not just that..." I said, staring at the ceiling. "Before, me and the group promised each other that no matter what, we wouldn't kill anyone. It became a life goal for me and all. It's just that, knowing I killed or, at the very least, let Kuja die, was enough for me to have a ton of regret." I sighed.

"Ah." Freya said. "A heart so pure can easily be discouraged."

"Did you just say I have a pure heart?" I looked back at Freya who merely nodded.

"Is there any other explanation you think is plausible? I feel it's the only explanation for you being too guilty about killing Kuja. You even tried to save the mad man." She said, taking her turn to stare at the ceiling. "You know what he's done. And yet, you give him another chance. Baku raised you well, Zidane. It's only every once in a while do you meet a man with such a pure heart. Even though you may flirt with girls and all that nonsense, it doesn't mean you don't have a clean heart." She smiled at me.

"Thanks, Freya." I said softly.

"You must be hungry." She stood up, offering a hand. I smiled back at her. I took her hand and got up.

I was glad I knew my friends were real.

I munched on a piece of chicken, my mind wandering off to what Freya said. 'A heart so pure can easily be discouraged'. She said it was a good thing, but I guess most good things in life have their bad points too. I mean, why would I want to be easily discouraged? Then again, a pure heart is something worth having. It's something good, isn't it?

Freya was cooking something else, to my surprise. Fratley was across the table. I could tell he was a bit nervous with me around. He hasn't exactly talked with me before. Last time we shared a few words, it really was a few words and I yelled at him for forgetting Freya. Yeah, you can say we had a good time getting to know each other by one percent.

"Um, hey." I managed to say, a small smile. I felt a bit better releasing my bottled up, how to say, pain? It didn't feel like pain to some extent. I saw Fratley raise his head, a brow arched. "Um, nice place you got here, sir. I like the beds." I grinned sheepishly.

He smiled a bit. "Thank you, um, Zidane, yes?"

"Yeah."

"I heard from Freya, about your..." He coughed. "I am terribly sorry for your...loss....?" He didn't seem to know if 'loss' was the right word, but his intentions were good. I just nodded my head silently and took another bite off the chicken.

"I'm not really sure if it's a 'loss'..." I muttered, but Fratley heard it well. Burmecians must have sharp ears. I mean, they are...er, rats, but I preferred to not say they were unless they pissed the hell out of me.

"I am humbly sorry if I offended you."

"Nah, you didn't. Fratley, you're a good man. Otherwise, Freya wouldn't love you so much. I understand your intentions and all that, okay? There's no need to say sorry." I grinned, still holding my barely finished piece of chicken leg. He smiled and nodded while Freya came in with steaming soup that smelled too delicious for its own soupy good.

"You look very hungry, Zidane. Are you sure you aren't that hungry and-or did not starve yourself?" Freya asked, her brow arched as she set the bowl of soup down in the middle of the table and wasn't that far from me. Which is good.

"I'm not exactly...sure." I admitted, staring at the soup. I never knew Freya could even cook. My slight, hungry smile turned to a slight frown, losing my appetite. "I think I'm sure." I said softly, lowering my gaze. Freya looked at me apologetically, even if she had no fault.

"Freya? Can I stay here for a few days?"

"Sure." She nodded, letting go of the soup. "May I ask why?"

"Well, approximately..." I said, shifting on my seat. "it takes a day or two for the Prima Vista to reach Lindblum from here. Unless they're on a chocobo, for some strange reason, time and distance is different for them. I have to go back to Tantalus before I go back to Dagger. I have a small plan." I grinned.

It was past a few days. Freya stood by the gates to Burmecia with Fratley. It's only been like, three days, and me and Fratley got along pretty well. He really is one of the best Dragon Knights out there, he beat twice in a row, and I barely beat him the third time. Freya and Fratley were standing together like a close couple—which they were—as they waved and said their goodbyes to me. It kind of saddened me that Freya couldn't bring back Fratley's memory, even though it's been a year.

I waved back, yelling regards and farewells. Finally, I managed to walk away feeling good, until I found chocobo tracks on the ground. I didn't even completely place the Gysahl Greens on the ground and Choco already came running at me.

"Choco! How are ya, buddy? I haven't seen you in a long time!" I pat his head as he let out a soft 'kweh'. "Hey, we gotta go to Lindblum; can you?" I asked. Choco gave another kweh and dived under me to get me on top again. He gave another kweh and began running at full speed.

Somewhere along the way, Mene popped up out of nowhere. I was used to seeing Mene pop out of nowhere. Choco immediately pulled to a stop and chirped happily.

"Hey, kupo. Just thought I should check on you two, kupo." Mene grinned.

"Well, we're fine. Heading to Lindblum. You wanna come along? It's pretty dangerous." I said, looking around while holding onto my stuff Baku left with Freya. Mene began to float into the air and landed on Choco and in front of me.

"I might as well, kupo. I haven't seen my fellow moogles, kupo." She sighed. "Are there moogles in Lindblum?"

"Yeah, but only a few, even if Lindblum was big. They're hard to find, too. Lindblum is so darn big, they tend to explore. Makes it harder for people to find moogles. Could be the same for you, Mene." Choco began running like he always did, climbing the mountain near Gizamaluke's Grotto.

"I guess so, kupo." She sighed again.

"Hey Mene? How come it's faster on chocobo rather than airships? It doesn't make sense." I asked. It's been hovering in my head for a while. An airship can take a few hours to get to Cleyra—which isn't on a tree anymore; the residents decided to build things instead—and by chocobo, it only took, what, minutes?

"Well, kupo, chocobos have a different distance and time, as weird as it sounds, kupo."

"...different distance and time, huh?" I said, with a bit of a questioning tone. I guess I was sort of right after all.

"A kilometer for humans and others is only a few meters or so for a chocobo, or so what Choco tells me, kupo. Maybe he's just faster when you ride him, but it isn't obvious. No one knows exactly, kupo." Mene sat on Choco's neck, gripping tightly. I stared at the trees zipping by; I guess Mene did make sense.

"Hey Mene, Choco can fly, can't he?"

"Yeah, he can."

"Can he fly now?"

"He'd rather not." Mene sighed. "When you were gone, he had a bad experience with flying. Some kind of dragon managed to take hold of him, kupo. Since then, he prefers to run around, kupo." Mene stroked his feathers as he ran, revealing a scar on his neck. "It's what that horrible cat-dragon-rabbit thing did to Choco, kupo. He's very happy you killed that cat-dragon-rabbit thing and wants to make it up to you, kupo. I want to leave Choco with you, by the way. I can't protect him as well as you can, kupo, so I want to leave him with you. Is that alright, kupo?"

"Um, sure Mene, it's alright with me. But is it alright with you?" I asked, the wind pushing against my whole body. It was threatening to push me off, as well as Mene. I had to hold on to her or else she'd just fly off. I felt Mene sigh from behind. Those kinds of sighs that sort of tells you that the person is absolutely sure, although it was absolutely against her will.

"Yeah, kupo, I'm sure. After all..." She looked back and managed a smile. "A moogle can't do a really good job of keeping a chocobo safe."

"But...I don't understand Choco."

"Sure you can, it isn't all that hard, kupo." Mene looked at me, that kind of look that said she believed in me, even if it really was impossible for me to understand Choco. I gave Choco a look of uncertainty from behind.

"You have to understand what the chocobo wants first. Then soon, you'll start to understand it. Next thing you know, you'll be able to understand chocobo, kupo!" Mene smiled. "Zidane, Choco needs to be with you, okay? He can't keep staying with me—he gets into too much trouble, kupo. In fact, he had many more injuries whenever he left the forest without you to watch over him. Whenever I'm there, Choco can only run and I can only run with him, not hold the monster back while he runs away. I can't do much for Choco, kupo. I'm just sorry I didn't realize that sooner, kupo." Mene started sniffing and I could only pat her back. Choco came to a stop next to Lindblum.

"Kweehh..." he sighed, once me and Mene got off. I could vaguely see a tear in his eye.

"Choco, you really need to stay with Zidane, kupo. I can't keep protecting you the way I do, kupo. It gets your hurt in the end."

"K-kweh! Kweehh kweh. Kweh..." Choco started sniffing as well. "Kweh! Kweh kweh k-kweh kwee kweh! Kweeeehhh!" Choco seemed to protest, trying to hold back chocobo tears, however that worked. I haven't exactly seen animals cry before.

"Choco," Mene sighed. "You got so many wounds while you were with me. I don't want to see you get hurt even more; all I do is just tend to your wounds and follow you around a small forest you can't leave or else you'd get another wound, kupo."

"Kweh....k...kweh...!" Choco started crying, sitting down and looming over Mene as she started crying as well. "Kwwweeeehhh!" Choco flapped his wings as if it would take him somewhere, but obviously couldn't. He went back to his previous position and sniffed.

"Don't worry, Choco, I'll find some place to stay. I'll visit you a lot, too, kupo...!" Mene managed to say, rubbing her cheek with what I considered a paw or hand. "You just stay with Zidane and be a good chocobo. He'll take care of you. He'll take care of you and he won't be like your last master, kupo."

"Kweehh..." Choco looked at me and gave a desperate look. When he did, I could almost swear I heard someone say 'help me'. Choco sniffled and looked back at Mene, then I decided to protest, even if I saw Mene's point, in all honesty.

"Mene, you can't just leave Choco with me. Choco needs you, and Choco knows you need him. You both can't be torn apart—inseparable. You guys are the best of friends and...you can't just throw that away. Besides, I don't think they would allow Choco in there..."

Mene nodded and looked up at Choco. "Choco? Will you let me have another try at protecting you, kupo? I'll make sure I'll do my best, okay?" She smiled a little, even though she seemed unsure of what she was doing. I guess some part of her really didn't want to let go of Choco, even if it was for his safety. I guess it's an instinct to be a bit selfish.

Choco nodded, and I could almost see a smile on his beak. He jumped on his two feet and flapped his wings in happiness and looked at me with a thankful expression. He gave a happy kweh and continued flapping his wings again.

Thank you!

I just smiled and stupidly replied, not even knowing if I was just hearing things. "Don't mention it, Choco."

I may have not mentioned it, but I brought a cloak with me—a brown one. I was wearing it now to prevent me from being seen because I've seen Eiko roam around when Regent Cid and Lady Hilda were busy with other things. Often times, they would have a security breech just looking for Eiko. She really has a thief's potential.

As if on cue, I came across Eiko, who could tell my voice from a mile away. I stayed silent as she walked passed me, trotting in a cloak of her own, but her face wasn't covered properly. I gave a glance at her. I assumed she was seven plus now, if she was six flat when we met her. She had grown quite a bit, and she seemed as demanding as ever as she practically yelled at the man selling fruits for an apple. I didn't manage to see the whole scene because I was this close to tripping over a rock and bumping someone. I didn't want to cause a scene.

I went straight to the aircab and hitched a ride going to the Theater District. The man beside me started talking to me out of nowhere. He said his name was Locke, and before I knew it, he started talking of how the Industrial District was still being rebuilt and was almost completely blocked off from the rest of Lindblum, even after almost a year. He said that there were a couple of accidents that keep happening in that district. Locke started criticizing the people in charge of rebuilding.

"But the Industrial District isn't completely destroyed, is it?" I asked.

"Yeah, it isn't. The Regent said it's best they partially isolate the part that hasn't been repaired yet. He claims a lot of accidents happen because too many people linger around that area. Nonsense I say! It's because those workers are just too clumsy! Back in my days, being clumsy could get one killed! Why, I bet I could do a much finer job than those klutzes."

And just like that, he sparked an interesting fight as the aircab neared the station.

"Who are you calling a klutz, old man?" A worker demanded, standing from his seat, arms crossed. "It's not like you could do any better."

"On the contrary, I can, rude little boy. Back in my days, I was a great treasure hunter, part of a rebellion!"

"You must mean thief." The guy retorted.

"Now in the Theater District." The guy manning the aircab announced. "Is anyone getting off?"

I slowly raised my hand as the two started fighting, walking away from the two as fast and as silently as I could, or else they might drag me into it. A good thing was that they didn't, a bad thing was I actually started forgetting my way around Lindblum. I started walking, away from the station, looking left and right. I walked left, going down the stairs.

In a few minutes, I was in the Tantalus hideout. I knocked on the wood put against the wall and took a few steps in, not even bothering to wait to be noticed. The first one that looked at me was Blank, then Marcus, the Nero Brothers, Ruby and then Baku. It made me uncomfortable seeing everyone stare back at me, but I took my hood off and grinned.

"Hey guys!"

It's been a few weeks and the Tantalus group was about ready to go to Alexandria for Dagger's birthday, January 15. We were going to perform her favorite play, I Want To Be Your Canary. We went through our scripts because we wanted it to be absolutely perfect, since this was a dramatic reunion between me and Dagger. I want her to be surprised, like a birthday gift. The thought was nice, but I didn't know if it would work, I mean, isn't it the idea seems better in a thought, rather than when it's in action? Maybe not all the time, but you get what I mean.

Right now, we were halfway to Alexandria. My heart felt like it was racing with excitement, anxiety, nervousness...the feelings made my gut twist and made me jump a little. Admittedly, I've never felt like this in my entire life.

I could see the castle from afar. We were definitely nearing it and we would definitely have to perform as perfectly as possible.

"Well, the moment we land, the moment ya get out there and do your thing. Yer ready for this?" I heard Baku say. I turned around to face him, my back facing the window of my room. He continued before I could even reply. "When you step out there, you have two choices. One, you go with your plan and eventually become a king or at the very least a prince, leaving your old life behind. Two, you stick with your old life, sacrificing your love." Baku finished, staring out the window.

I took it as a sign to not look at Baku and face the window, watching everything go by. For a second, I wondered who was piloting, but I figured Blank took over. I sighed and stared at the floor.

"It's kinda hard to leave everything behind—even if it's for Dagger. It's just...I like life the way it is now, honestly. I just don't know how much it's gonna change when I begin living in the castle. I don't know how much my life is gonna change, how much I'm gonna miss my old life...and how much I'm gonna change."

"Well, we can't be afraid of change. Change doesn't hurt, unless the person you like does. When you go out there, I just want you to make the right choice. I'm talking to you as the father who isn't the real father but raised someone since birth. Zidane, as a father, I know you can make the right choice. As your boss, I demand you give the best performance you've ever done because it's gonna be your last. Are we clear?" He gave a grin. But I knew he didn't exactly like the two choices I had.

I mirrored his grin. "Yeah...we're clear."

I was wearing that brown cloak I had, trying to look different. It was that part when Princess Cornelia didn't arrive at the dock and Cinna, who was acting as some guy, was telling me to leave without her. Now, I was just reciting everything like a pro, almost forgetting a few lines, but nevertheless, it was good. And in an instant, I remembered my old life, Tantalus, the fun we had, going around. My dream of seeing everything—reaching the sky. I remembered Dagger, how she cried when I was about to go to the Iifa Tree.

'Promise me you'll come back.'

I pulled the cloak off with a great force and shouted as loud as I could, to Dagger, mostly.

"Bring my beloved Dagger to me!"

And I saw her face so clearly. She looked so worn out from what I thought were endless days and nights when she couldn't do her work or even sleep because she wasn't with me. Her face was filled with shock, she stood for about a minute and actually considered jumping off the ledge. Good thing she didn't. Almost as if she was frustrated with the ledge blocking her and me, she ran behind and that was the last I saw of her from up there.

It didn't take long for her to get to the stage, it was almost as if it took her only a few seconds to run down the stairs of the castle. Before I even knew it, she was running at me, her face stained with tears. She threw her crown to the ground and jumped at me, if not lunge. I brought her into a tight hug as she buried her head on my shoulder.

She gave me a really, really hard glare and looked like she was about to slap me but held back. I could only give one of those sheepish grins. Dagger just shook her head and hugged me again, then she started pounding my chest, but at least we were together. She let another sob and buried her face as she pounded. I just stroked her hair, knowing it would calm her down.

"How...how did you survive...?" She asked, above all the noise; the crowd cheering.

"I...had no choice. So...I sang your song. Our song."

Dagger raised her head, cheeks still wet from crying. She lowered her head again and pounded my chest again. "Why...did you make me wait...?" She muttered softly, but I heard even if the crowd was going wild. I caught a glimpse of everyone—Freya, Quina, Eiko, a ton of Vivis and even Amarant. Dagger tried to suppress a sob but couldn't.

"It's...a long story, Dagger."

"Do you have any idea what I've...?" She hiccuped. "I'm...so glad...!" Again, she buried her face on my chest. It made me feel like I was the luckiest thief in the world—I'm hugging a queen and she was burying her face on my chest. I felt lucky because someone so beautiful and pure loves me; someone who's not even the least bit innocent—then again, Freya says otherwise, and for her age, she's pretty wise.

"Come on Dagger, let's celebrate your birthday. I'm sorry I had to ruin your birthday-play. Ooh, I rhymed." I grinned. She raised her head again and gave a joyful smile, despite the tears streaming down her face. I wiped her tears off, but I noticed something about that smile...

She looked like she was relieved of such great burdens not caused by just me.

"So...that's why." Dagger muttered softly, her hands on her lap as she sat elegantly on an intricately designed chair made with what felt like white ivory. The cushions were faint, but dark red. The chair itself looked beautiful, so what more the whole castle? I could get used to living here.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy." I admitted. "I don't know why it's hitting me harder than I expected it to."

The others were here too, actually; even Amarant—which is very unbelievable. Nevertheless, they were all in the room listening to my story. Or was. It kind of felt weird that they were all staring at me; it made me feel uneasy. I shifted in my seat a little. Dagger only nodded.

"Oh, Dagger? About you, um, refusing to be a queen...can I ask why you did that?" I asked in a small attempt to satisfy my curiosity and to change the subject. "It's just that I don't understand why you would. You didn't have to do so..."

She stayed silent a while, then she raised her head and gave a smile. "I was just so grief-stricken when you left. I had a hold of you, and you just slipped away." She stood up. "How would you think I'd feel? You're..." she put both her hands to her chest. "you're the only one in my heart and it's...well, distracting when you're not here. I don't know if you're safe or if..." she trailed. I smiled softly as everyone just watched and hugged her tightly.

"Don't worry Dagger, I'm here now. Everything will be alright and I'll never leave your side. Even if I'm torn in half, I'll make sure my upper half gets to you; if I have my arms ripped off, I'll make sure I can still walk so I can be by your side." I whispered. "Wait, that was a bit too morbid, wasn't it?"

"Yes." she giggled softly.

"Well, me happy you two happy!" Quina said with a little jump. "I go make good food for friends! I make sure I cook great food for occasion! I make sure it very exotic and very yummy food! It will have frog legs and frog meat!" S/he then went out of the door, going down the corridor to cook some, what Quina called, 'yummies'.

"Heh. What a happy ending. Whatever, I'm outta here." Amarant uncrossed his arms and was about to leave the room until I called.

"Hey, Amarant. You might as well stay for some of Quina's food. S/he will be pretty happy if you ate some of it." I said, smirking. Amarant seemed to shudder and kept silent. He turned to me with what looked like a frown—since his hair was so big—and crossed his arms again.

"Frog meat and legs? Pass." and he left without another word. And to think I thought he had a heart somewhere down there.

"Zidane!" Eiko called, her hands on her waist. "You better not do anything crazy, okay? We were all worried about you, seeing the Iifa Tree collapse and stab itself with...itself!" She jumped, as if in anger but I knew that she was just far, far too happy. "You...! You better not leave Dagger again! Or any of us!" She gave a supposed angry pout and stormed out, leaving me and everyone else behind.

Steiner saluted me. "Zidane, I believe you know that since the queen loves you, I must treat you with respect—like a prince, if not a king. If I were to not have reassess everything that had happened before I gained my respect for you, I would have detested my orders—and my duties. But now that I have seen you are deemed worthy for the Queen by not just me and our allies, but everyone else of Alexandria, how you are such a brave warrior...I do not regret anything. I humbly apologize for making such a speech and taking your time—I shall go now." He said, and he was about to clank off to go where everyone else went.

"Steiner, it's okay." I called. "I don't know why everyone's going all dramatic and everything, but...hey, you don't need to be so polite. To me, anyways. And you didn't take our time," I nodded. "We're friends, alright?" I said, tail swinging slightly. He hesitated but faced me and bowed. Then he left.

"Zidane, I shall see if everything is going alright there, okay? I'll be back." Dagger said, her voice nice and sweet. She gracefully went to the door and left, hurrying along. I turned to Freya, who was the one left with me in the room.

"Well, well." Freya shook her head. "I guess I won't be seeing you in a while, then. I assure you that you won't miss anyone—Garnet is most likely going to keep you busy with being a king; something I would have never guessed you to be one day. There were two choices you had when you were on that stage, as you obviously know. One that leads you to a grand life, the other leads you to go back to your normal life—everything before you met Garnet. I just want to know if you really think that it's necessary for you to pick only one choice?"

"What are you saying?" I asked, tilting my head slightly.

"I'm saying," Freya said, her hand adjusting her hat a little. "in life, sometimes the two choices you face with can be merged. It's not entirely impossible for you to have Garnet and be a thief at the same time—the only problem is how people accept you. For you, that must not really matter, does it?" She smirked, looking straight at me.

"Well, I guess it kind of does. It affects Dagger. Besides, I can't just refuse the crown if I marry Dagger, can I?"

"Not quite; I believe there is a loophole. I've known the laws of Alexandria for some time now, and it is even in this book"—she pulled out a book from one of Dagger's shelves—"right here. Page 24, Section 5, Paragraph 3. It states that a royal figure is allowed not to take the throne so long as someone can fill in and-or another royal figure, such as a queen, is already ruling the kingdom." Freya looked back up at me.

"Wow. Well, I guess I didn't have that much of a choice after all." I muttered.

"It really is up to you, Zidane. I can read you better than anyone else just as you can read me better than anyone else. We've been friends for so long, and that is enough for me to be familiar with the way you think, the way you act. You really aren't that hard to understand—given if one has have the right clues, the right thoughts. Capriciousness may be your specialty, but you always have a pattern."

I arched a brow. "What are you trying to say, Freya? You've always been quite mysterious with things."

"I'm simply saying that you really don't know the answer to your questions. Such as this—wanting to be a king or not, or perhaps both ways? Tell me—can you look deep within yourself and choose an answer?" She smirked, turning a bit away from me, both eyes closed. "I don't think so."

I fell silent.

She looked at me with one eye. "Where am I going with this, I'm sure you're wondering? I'm simply saying think over everything—and I mean everything. All your actions, all your decisions...think about them. Or to put it bluntly, maybe what you think wasn't there was."

"Freya, if this is—"

"Yes, it's about Kuja." She smirked. "See? I can read you like a book. Nevertheless, Zidane..." she gave a dramatic pause, reaching for the knob. "Some of the most important questions you had were answered by other people—it's time you found out if Kuja was there or not. I honestly think he was."

And she left, leaving me alone in a room to ponder what she said.

When I reached the dining hall for lunch, I immediately got distracted because I saw a dark swirl of something from the corner of my eye, somewhere in the dark part of the castle. When I turned, it was gone, so I figured it was my imagination. That didn't bother me much, but I was surprised to still see Amarant around.