This chapter... Oh man, this chapter...

You all are going to kill me. (Except Spark the Clairvoyant! Thank you for being on my side.) But, please, make my death a quick one?

Please R&R!

Chapter 12- Ame

Even if I cling to my memories, I can't return to that time.

((((()))))

"So that… was a manikin…?" Celes huffed, hands on her knees.

Cloud nodded, swinging his sword on his back. "Nasty things. Look just like you, except for the discoloration."

The Warrior of Light and the Mage of Light had split the warriors into four groups the night before, taking care to evenly distribute their abilities. No one really liked their choices for groups, but after a death glare from their leader, not one spoke a complaint.

Celes, Cloud, Kain, Firion, and Squall were now out exploring a new world. It apparently came from Squall's world- a large stone building surrounded by gardens. He called it Balamb, where the SeeDs trained under the watchful eyes of Cid and Edea, who founded it.

Meanwhile, at a ruinous city called Zanarkand, Yuna led the expedition with Bartz, Zidane, Tifa, and the Warrior of Light in tow. They were having a wonderful time fighting off manikins while listening to Bartz and Zidane bicker.

The Mage of Light, Cecil, Lenna, Tidus, and Maria were currently at the Tower of Zot, in which Cecil was trying his hardest not to get them all lost. The last time he was here, Rosa had led the way.

It turns out Cecil isn't good with directions.

Finally, Garnet, Rinoa, Terra, Luneth, and Arc led the final group through the labyrinthine castle belonging to Garland on Terra.

Every turn Squall took led to another fight with the manikins, and they were quickly growing tired from the consecutive battles- especially those who weren't used to the onslaught Dissidia offered.

Still, they had to find their way through the new area to rally with the others, so onward they marched.

((((()))))

Squall quietly held watch that night while the others rested. He couldn't help being distracted by the familiar shine of the moon, the soft wind rustling the nearby shrubs, or the illusionary sounds of laughter echoing from the base.

Seifer, Selphie, Zell, Quistis, Cid, and Matron… I've left them all to come here.

He let out a sigh and stuck his gun blade into the soft soil.

Why was it me? I'm not cut out for "leadership" or "teamwork". Leave that to the others; they actually enjoy the company of these idiots.

Softly, Squall heard quiet footsteps behind him. With a quick look, he saw Dagger, cloaked in white light shed from the moon, quietly step over the sleeping warriors. The SeeD rolled his eyes and looked back.

Monkey-boy's moronic friend.

His eyes went wide.

…who was not supposed to be here.

In one quick motion, Squall jumped to his feet and drew his gun blade, pointing it at the frozen manikin. "I-I…-" she started.

Squall didn't give her time to respond, firing his gun.

Celes shot up with a sharp scream. Gasping, she turned to Squall. "What was that for?" she demanded, groping for her sword in the night's darkness.

"Manikin. Go back to sleep,"

The Magitek Soldier, however, turned to see the enemy for herself. "Dagger?" she thought to herself. "That's the first manikin of her we've seen yet."

Cloud, who was also awake now, furrowed his eyebrows. "It's not dead."

Celes carefully moved over to the manikin, with her sword tight in her clenched, slightly shaking hands. "D-Dagger?" she asked.

It groaned, sounding very un-manikin like. Dagger turned to her with dark eyes, whispering, "M-mistake…. Only came to w-warn you…."

Celes let out a sharp scream.

((((()))))

Bartz bit the inside of his cheek while they sat around a hastily built fire, the five of them indulging in peaceful silence. Yuna had- unsuccessfully- tried to summon aeons, believing that when they arrived in the Chamber of the Fayth, she would be able to draw power from it as in the old days. She now sat and looked into the fire, absently humming an upbeat tune to herself.

Zidane's head suddenly shot up. "Did you guys hear that?"

Bartz cocked an eyebrow. "Hear what?"

Groaning, he put his forehead back on his knees. "Stupid Garland, I guess."

"You can hear Garland?" Light asked, intrigued.

The genome shrugged, obviously troubled by something. "Whenever he feels the need to drop me a hello, anyway. But geez…. That sounded like Squall's gun blade and… and…."

He suddenly stood, eyes wide. "Dagger screamed. She's not with Squall, right? Right?"

After a confused nod from his companions, he sighed again, sitting back down. "Then Garland's playing one of his stupid games. You know, for an old geezer, the man acts like a five-year-old."

Yuna, Light, and Tifa went back to their silence. Bartz, however, prodded his friend's arm. "You alright, man?"

Zidane nodded. "I'm alright. I'm just too screwy because Dagger's here, and we're not around to keep Squall in line."

Tifa suddenly fell on her back, squinting up at the stars. "I feel useless. Do one of you want to come with me and fight off some manikins?"

Bartz and Zidane both jumped to their feet. "I will!" they cried.

The thief turned to the mimic. "You're so noisy, copy-cat."

"You're so noisy, pickpocket."

The Warrior of Light sighed. "We'll all go, alright? It's been too long a day to have you bickering like this. Maybe we can meet up with Mage and the others. That tower isn't too far from here."

Yuna giggled as Zidane and Bartz burst into song about Light and Mage.

Zidane suddenly stopped, eyes wide, and fell forward on his face. Yuna shrieked, jumping away in shock. She drew her guns, cocked and ready to fire at any manikins. The thief struggled to pick himself up, grunting in pain.

"G-Garland…!" he growled. Zidane let out a cry, squeezing his eyes shut.

The Warrior of Light turned to Yuna and Tifa. "You two go the Tower of Zot and bring the others here. Bartz, can I trust you to go find Dagger?"

The three dashed off, leaving Zidane and Light alone.

Grinning, Zidane leapt to his feet. "Nice job, Edea."

Fading back into the sorceress, Edea smiled and gave a mock bow. "You did well on your part as well."

"Very well, considering I'm Zidane."

Edea's smile crumpled as the thief drew his daggers and charged.

The sorceress easily jumped out of the way, but Zidane did a back flip and jumped onto her on his way down. "The Warrior of Light wouldn't have split us up just for little ole' me," he grimly explained.

She smirked. "Of course he wouldn't. Your fearless little Warrior of Light. Always looking out for his comrades, eh?"

((((()))))

Kuja smirked, watching the scene behind a pillar. "One down," he grinned, turning away. "Bravo, pawns. Bravo."

((((()))))

Kain returned to the camp soaking wet. "I couldn't find Light or Mage," he explained, strapping his javelin back. "It seems like both teams are missing."

Cloud's eyes widened- if only a fraction. "Then it's safe to say the enemy found them?"

Celes finished wrapping Dagger's wound and turned to Squall with a fierce glare. "Will you please take care to look at what you are shooting?"

Squall, who was idly leaning against a wall of a grass maze, opened one eye. "She should have made her presence known instead of sneaking past here like a fool. It's not my fault I acted accordingly."

Firion caught her arm as Celes gritted her teeth, ready to fight. "You're doing no one a favor acting like this!" he shouted, pulling her back. To Squall, he growled, "And you should have woken us if you thought an enemy was here, instead of wrongly attacking her!"

With a blank face, Squall pulled out his blade again. Firion took a step back from the weapon. "I know you better than this, Ultimecia."

"What!" he burst, reaching for his bow and arrows. In dismay he turned to see them still on the ground, feet away. Firion turned back to Squall with a glare. "No, I'm not Ultimecia. You are. Squall would never turn against us like this!"

"You think I wouldn't?" he challenged, slashing his sword.

Celes blocked the slash just in time with her own. "I am your opponent, remember?"

He nodded. "Very well."

"Stop it!"

Obediently, both warriors paused long enough to see Rinoa.

Tears sprang from the sorceress's eyes. "You all are idiots!" she screamed, pointing to Dagger, who had gone pale. "Stop fighting and help her already!"

Celes dropped her sword and ran over to the queen's side. "I'm sorry…," she breathed, shaking her head and flinging new raindrops away. "I-I'm so sorry, Dagger…."

Rinoa stuck out her hands and, with only the snap of her fingers, all time froze. "I can't believe them," she muttered, kneeling down to pick up Dagger. "Squall can't even tell left from right- let alone who his real enemy is."

Rinoa cracked a grin. "Isn't that right," she said sweetly- sickly sweet, "my little doll?"

((((()))))

Finally unable to go on, Arc plopped down on the ground. Seeing enough was enough, Luneth followed suit, taking off his helmet and running his hand through his hair. Terra nervously turned and stuttered, "Boys, Dagger and Rinoa told us to keep going and to find the Warrior of Light. Shouldn't we keep going?"

Arc looked up at her and frowned. "I'm tired, and it's getting late anyway. We didn't even stop for dinner earlier. I think we've gone far enough."

The half-esper let out a defeated sigh. Even she couldn't deny that they had been walking for quite a long time with empty stomachs. What was worse, Dagger and Rinoa had been in charge of carrying the food.

"Today sucks," Luneth sighed.

Even though neither of them would have put it that way, Arc and Terra couldn't help but agree.

((((()))))

"Keep… quiet…!"

"NEVER!"

Edea finally had success in taping Zidane's mouth. The thief narrowed his eyes at the sorceress, but eventually gave up on trying to intimidate her- Why couldn't you make me look manlier, Garland?- and just sat still like a proper prisoner.

Nodding to herself, Edea purred, "What a nice little boy."

Zidane kicked her shin, silenced and tied up. Kuja must have been behind this, too, because Edea had even remembered to tie up his tail, his escape tool.

"Edea, we're back."

Both thief and sorceress turned to see Rinoa walk in carrying a pale, unconscious Dagger. Zidane's eyes went wide, and he struggled to break free. Rinoa less than gently set the girl down and walked over to the blonde. "You're going to be a nice prisoner for us now, alright? Whenever your friends come back, you're going to be Edea or Ultimecia. Whoever you prefer, of course."

Stepping back and clearing her throat, Edea turned back into the Warrior of Light. "Are we ready?"

Rinoa nodded. "Of course we are."

Zidane winced, as she let out a shrill scream. "DAGGER! HE GOT DAGGER! IMPOSTER!"

In less time than they had thought, Yuna, Tifa, and the warriors gone to the tower had ran back to the scene.

Rinoa's hand shook as she pointed to him in horror. "H-he attacked Dagger!"

The Warrior of Light nodded. "I took care to tie him up. He stabbed her in cold blood, and we knew it had to be the enemy."

Zidane stomped on the ground in fury, shaking his head wildly.

Biting her lip, Rinoa threw out a lightning spell. Zidane fell on his side, cringing from the pain. He glared up at the girl, still unable to say a word.

"Just look at the wound he gave to Dagger!" Rinoa tearfully continued, shaking again.

Zidane's eyes followed her point.

Dagger- the love of his life- lay on the cold ground amongst the ruins of Zanarkand, pale in the moonlight and blossoming from yellow to dark red. A hole, just the right size of his dagger, in her jumpsuit flowed blood from her side. Despite himself, tears sprang to Zidane's eyes.

Tifa suddenly yanked him up by the shirt. "How dare you?" she spat, punching him in the face. Zidane landed hard on the stone ground again, his hands now free from the impact. He ripped the tape away from his mouth and rasped, "N-not me…!"

"Lies!" Rinoa insisted, now kneeling protectively at Dagger's side. The brunette brushed back dark hair from alabaster skin. "Lies…. You… you did this to her…. You did!"

She burst into tears now, her act so believable that even Zidane couldn't help from flinch. Suddenly it dawned on him. "Kuja gave you acting lessons…, didn't he? He told you to frame me while did away with the real Rinoa and Light…."

Zidane numbly turned just as Tidus, running into him, placed a solid kick to the thief's stomach. Zidane slammed into a pillar, blood running down his chin. His arm shaking, he wiped the blood and slowly stood, staggering. Once again, he caught sight of Dagger, sending inadvertent tears spring to his eyes. He looked up at his allies, weapons drawn and ready for attack, glaring down at him.

He shook his head, and, as if that was a signal, they rushed him. With a cry, Zidane ran straight into them, intending to go down fighting- if only to be with Dagger.

Bring my beloved Dagger to me.

Opening quote: Flower, by Gackt (check out the version with English subtitles. It might take a while, but it's definitely worth the time put into the search.)