The thief and his princess
Summary:
When Zidane, the youngest thief in the infamous Tantalus group, meets the mysterious Dagger on the Alexandrian streets, he thinks of her as nothing but one of his many flirts. But with time, he will realize that the girl does not only hold the power to bind his heart forever, but that she is an unwilling part of a conspiracy that can easily destroy the world. - A FFIX AU Fan Fic
Chapter fifteen ~ A day of stories and truths
In the Alexandrian castle, within the Royal Chamber, Queen Beatrix was resting on her side. The sleep washed the fine lines of worry and sorrow away from her face, making her seem as young as a princess. Her chestnut hair spread out like a waterfall around her head and the eyes that Kuja had grown to love and hate at the same time were peacefully closed. The sorcerer stood near the Queen's bed, watching her with the mixed feelings of a man who took pleasure in seeing the agony of a woman all his life and then, suddenly, got to see her at rest only to realize that maybe, just maybe, there might be some beauty in peace as well.
Displeased, Kuja brushed away his silver hair. He verified his magnificent appearance in the gold framed mirror before he turned back to the Queen.
"Beatrix, my rose. It is time to wake up."
The Queen rose up in her bed as if a whole parade had woken her up and her eyes, these purple, fierce eyes captured Kuja, filled with a hatred that might as well destroy the whole world.
All those hatred, Kuja thought to himself with mad joy, What could the hatred in these eyes possibly do to the world? It is such a shame she is not the one to fulfill my wonderful plan.
"Kuja." Beatrix spat the name out as if it was a contagious illness. "I see you are still alive."
The sorcerer laughed. "Why yes, my rose. Had you seriously put hopes into the fleet of your brother-in-law? You should have learned enough of my abilities by now to know that nothing can stand equal to me."
The queen left her bed and made her way to a cupboard of the size of a small chamber. "I will not lose hope, sorcerer", she calmly said as she put on her female knight armor. As the last step, she put on her red and white sleeveless duster with a rose embroidered on the back – the rose that was responsible for the ridiculous nickname Kuja gave her. While clenching her teeth, Beatrix cursed the day when she had met the sorcerer for the first time.
It was only shortly after Richard had died. Beatrix had finally worked up the courage to fulfill her husband's dying wish and to tell Garnet everything. As to be expected, her daughter was utterly confused and had run away. She hid somewhere in the garden and Beatrix was searching for her.
Fool, she scolded herself as she searched for her daughter. She is only twelve years old, Richard just died and I try to explain to her he's not her real father? How stupid could I be?! It was a mistake all along, just as I told Richard! Remembering her husband brought tears back to her eyes. Over the years, Beatrix had learned to love Richard alongside with John. John, the man with whom she was only granted a few months before the illness carried him away. Now, both of the men she loved were dead and all that was left was her daughter and she was determined to never let her daughter come to any harm. As she walked around a corner in her spacious garden, she saw her young daughter, sitting on the wall surrounding one of the many fountains. Beatrix took a deep breath, relieved to have found her when suddenly, she saw a man sitting beside her. It was a tall, slender man with long and wavy silver hair with feathers in it. Although his lips were smiling when he talked to the princess, his eyes had a glare in them – as if he was a hunter who had just found his prey.
Of course, Beatrix had asked him to leave and, when he refused, tried to fight him, but even her skills with the sword and holy magic weren't enough to fight off a sorcerer of his capacity. Kuja ended the fight by threatening Garnet's life and Beatrix surrendered. This was the moment her life turned into hell. Kuja removed the memories of that day from Garnet's mind and put both mother and daughter under a spell, forcing them to do whatever he wanted. He forced her daughter, her beautiful, innocent and precious daughter, to prostitute herself just because he 'felt like it' and he pulled the strings so secretly that the princess thought it was her mother who did all those things. The damned sorcerer made a habit out of telling Beatrix his plans whenever the control spell wore off. Kuja loved hearing his own voice and he loved seeing the pain in Beatrix eyes whenever her mind was awake enough to realize what he was planning, what he was doing. And she, the queen of Alexandria, a woman as skilled with her tongue and sword as no one else, could do nothing but watch and suffer.
Only a few weeks ago did a glimpse of light appear in her life, in the appearance of the boy who managed to kidnap her daughter. Naturally, Kuja made her send out search parties all over the continent, burning down villages in search for her daughter but so far, she was nowhere to be found.
But judging Kuja's content expression, the queen feared he might have news that would toss her back into complete, hopeless despair.
"You refuse to let go off hope, my rose?", Kuja echoed. "But why? As for hope is such a foolish thing. It does not exist except for in the minds of those who hold on to it."
"The same goes for fear", the queen replied, even though she was tired of playing this game of words with Kuja. "Fear is not real. Danger is, evil is, pain is, but fear is nothing but a state of mind which people chose to feel. And that is why you will not reach your goal, sorcerer. Your plan to conquer the world by spreading out fear, spinning out a net to catch my daughter will not succeed as your tool is not reality."
The sorcerer smiled and fear clashed over Beatrix, making her body go numb. She was such a fool – any fear he spread was a lot more real than any hope she could cling on to.
"But I do not need a net of fear to catch this precious canary, my rose", he slowly said, enjoying the desperate look in her eyes the queen could not cast away whenever he talked about her daughter. "I am capable of finding her just on my own." And with that, he showed her the bracelet Garnet used to wear every day. He had managed to pull it off of her during the fight in the Fossil Roo; it was such a small accessory that the princess didn't even notice it disappearing but for Beatrix, it was once more a demonstration of Kuja's endless power. But as much as he would get to see the fear in her eyes, she would not give into it by expressing her sorrow through words. The queen simply stared at the bracelet she gave her daughter for her tenth birthday – in better times.
"As you can see, my rose, the canary might think it's spreading its wings, but only in the cage I allow it to have. I know where your daughter is. Do you not wonder why I have not brought her back home for you to see her again?" Kuja made a pause, for Beatrix to imagine all the horrible reasons he might have.
"To my great dismay, I had to discover that your daughter, beside all the hard work we put into her spirit, is not as strong as she should be. In fact, I am even disappointed. After all the trouble you and I went through to make her spirit grow, it was just so little – not even a battle could make her unfold her true powers."
Battle?!
"What did you do to my daughter?!", Beatrix snapped before she could hold herself back. "If you touched her with your filthy fingers, if you even dared to lay your eye on her, I will -"
"What? What will you do to me, my rose?", Kuja asked with pleasure and leaned in on her. "What can you do to me?" With a sigh, he made a step back and looked at his finger nails. "It is such a shame your daughter did not inherit your fiery personality, my rose. If she had, my plan would have succeeded already."
Against her will, tears built up in Beatrix eyes, but she brushed them away with her eyelashes before Kuja could see them.
"No matter what you do... No matter how many dirty tricks you play, how much sorrow you are placing on this world, you will never break my daughter's spirit!", Beatrix said, staring into Kuja's eyes. Then, his smile appeared again, turning the delicate face into a grimace of terror. With pleasure, the sorcerer bend forward until his eyes were only inches away from hers. He fed on the desperate look in Beatrix eyes, bathed in her helpless fear until he said: "It is not a question of breaking her spirit, my rose. It is only a question of making the darkness inside her rise to the point where the hatred consumes the foolish hope and kindness. And luckily", he added and grabbed Beatrix' chin, pulling her even closer to his face and making her smell his breath of peppermint and roses, "luckily, I have her mother helping me to make her see that kindness and love do not exist on this planet." Then, he let her go and turned away. To one of his shadowy assistants, who were nothing more than human silhouettes, he said: "Make sure our queen is presented a fine breakfast. She will need a lot of strength today, ordering a few more villages' destruction."
Only when Kuja was gone and she was left alone by the shadows, Beatrix allowed herself to shed the tears of despair and pain.
Zidane was leaning at the balcony in Madain Sari, staring out into the night. Dagger had just gone to sleep and tomorrow, they would leave for the Iifa tree, trying to unseal Leviathan. Freya and Dagger had made a plan on which Eidolons they wanted to get in which order and Zidane had tried to follow their conversation, but he could not even distinguish all the different Eidolons from one another. All he got to understand was that after Leviathan, they would want to go to the Forgotten Continent, which was far on the western side of the world map. He hadn't heard much of the Forgotten Continent – as the name states, it had long been forgotten, wasn't populated by humans at all and most of the former civilization laid in ruins.
The plan was fairly simply: After fetching Leviathan from the Outer Continent, they would go back to Lindblum and ask Cid for a ship to travel to the Forgotten Continent. Despite everything he had to say back then, without a ship of his fleet, they could not reach the Forgotten Continent – air ships were no option since the mist was only present on the Mist Continent and as far as Zidane knew, there were no underground routes to the continent either.
The thief sighed to himself.
"What's wrong, Zidane?", Dagger's voice came from behind.
"Dag'! Why are you still up? You should get some sleep before we head out tomorrow."
"And so do you."
The thief didn't know an appropriate answer to that, so he remained silent and only shook his head. Dagger walked up to him, leaning against the balcony just like he did and stared at the stars and the water beneath them. The breeze played with her short hair and the princess tucked it behind her ear.
"You can't sleep?", she asked after a while and Zidane shook his head.
"No, not really. Can't really keep up with all that Eidolon stuff – there's so many of them!"
"Leviathan, Atomos, Carbuncle, Phoenix, Fenrir, Madeen, Odin, Bahamut and Ark", Dagger listed them up one by one. "That's not that many, is it? Besides, Carbuncle, Phoniex, Fenrir, Madeen and Ark are Eidolons who are not listed on the map since they probably rest inside their binding stones and thus, we won't be able to find them, unless we stumble upon them just like we did with Ifrit and Ramuh. That only leaves Leviathan, Atomos, Odin and Bahamut"
"But still, remembering all their elements, powers and stuff", Zidane tried to defend himself, but Dagger chuckled.
"Whatever", the thief brushed the topic away. "I trust you to do the right thing, so as long as you're sure what to do with those, everything's settled for me."
Dagger nodded. "Thank you, Zidane. I hope that we won't have too much trouble finding the Eidolons. After Leviathan, we will try and find Odin and Bahamut."
"They are in one place, right? Ipsen's castle."
Dagger turned to the thief with a surprised expression. "You remembered that quite well."
"Naturally!", Zidane exclaimed and gave her a thumbs up, causing Dagger to raise her eyebrows.
"Alright, maybe I just remembered that place because I know a story from Ipsen", the thief admitted grinning.
"What story?"
"Ah, well, it's quite a long story and we should get some sleep, so maybe a later time, mh?"
For a moment, Dagger looked down to her hands, then she slowly whispered: "Zidane... There is one thing I'd like to ask you."
"Sure, what's up, Dag'?"
After drawing a deep breath, Dagger looked up and into Zidane's eyes. "Why are you still with me? Why did you decide to leave Tantalus and stay with me? Why did you not stay in Lindblum when we arrived? Why, just why did you come with me?"
The thief turned his gaze to the stars and took a moment to think. Then, his face got a gentle expression. "Maybe it is the right time for telling you Ipsen's story."
"What? No, don't change the subject here, Zidane, I -"
"Ipsen is a character from a play, but he's a real-life adventurer. I think the play is based on his adventures. It kind of goes like this:
Ipsen and his good friend Colin worked at a tavern in Treno. One Day, Ipsen got a letter. The letter was so wet from rain that most of the writing was illegible. The only part he could read said Come back home.
Nowadays, we have airships and stuff, but back then, it was really hard to travel. He didn't know why he had to go back, but he got some time off, gathered his things, and set out on his journey home. He walked a thousand leagues through the Mist. Sometimes he was attacked by vicious monsters, but he made it, because his friend Colin was by his side. And then, after much time on the road... He had to ask Colin something.
'Why did you come with me?'"
Zidane made a pause and his eyes turned to Dagger. The princess felt a tickling sensation in her stomach as she asked: "And? What was Colin's answer?"
"Only because I wanted to go with you."
Dagger stared at Zidane who turned to her. The grin that was usually hiding right in Zidane's corner of the mouth had made place for a much more gentle expression.
"Zidane...", Dagger whispered moved. "I... I don't know what to say."
For a moment, Zidane looked at Dagger's lips. But instead of doing what he wanted to do, instead of taking chance in the atmosphere he had created, he playfully nudged the princess and brought back his grin.
"Well, anyways, that's Ipsen's story, so that's why I remembered the place. I always liked seeing his plays. So adventurous 'n stuff. Always wanted to be like him – until I realized I already was. And I've got something Ipsen didn't have."
Dagger, who caught herself and smiled playfully, asked: "And what's that?"
"An irresistible sex appeal!", the thief answered proudly as he jumped on the balcony's balustrade. The princess laughed and Zidane pointed with his finger towards her. "Yeah, just laugh, little princess! But back home in Lindblum, I was the most wanted guy around."
"And you don't think that was just because of your tail?", Dagger teased him.
"My tail ain't got nothin' to do with that! I tell ya Dag', it's in my blood. You might have summoning powers and stuff. Yeah, quite fancy, but compared to my natural appeal, it's nothing!"
"Well, if you put it that way, maybe you should try facing Kuja. And instead of attacking him like last time, you seduce him!"
The two burst out into laughter that filled the empty village with a liveliness it had missed for years. When they finally got to control themselves, Dagger smiled at Zidane: "Thank you. For making me laugh so much. I am happy you came with me." Then, the princess turned away and waved Zidane goodnight.
The thief followed Dagger's walking silhouette until she was out of his sight, then he turned back to watch the stars again.
Zidane stood in silence for a while that seemed like forever. Then, he heard footsteps behind him. Thinking it was Dagger, he jokingly said: "My sweet princess, if you can't sleep that badly, then I'll gladly rock you to sleep, right on my lap."
"Well, I'd love to see that, my dear", Freya's voice answered amused. "Though I can't recall you ever calling me your 'sweet princess'."
The thief turned around and grinned to his friend. "Jealous?"
"Yeah, right", the Dragon Hunter laughed. "I was just wondering why you're still up – though the answer is clear to me."
"Is that so?"
The woman gave him a knowing look. "You are worried about Dagger. I just don't know why – she seems more determined than ever and she is in perfect control of the Eidolons. She laughs, she smiles, she can get a serious focus and she is protected by us and the Eidolons."
"Yeah, I know but...", Zidane tried to answer, then he sighed. "But I'm still worried. I'm worried sick, Freya. 'Cause once we get those Eidolons, we gotta face Kuja. I haven't forgotten our last fight with him."
"Then you should remember that Shiva managed to hurt him, my dear", Freya reassuringly replied and the thief hung his head down. "Yeah, I know. But... Argh, I can't explain. The thought of her getting hurt is... I just can't..."
Silence spread between the friends as each of them hung after their own thoughts.
"Do you want to know why I accompanied you, Zidane?", Freya finally broke the silence, her eyes glued to the waves.
The thief smiled to himself. "Well, you said you were worried about me."
Freya hung her head down a little more. "I guess I did..."
"But that wasn't the real reason." Zidane said it as a fact, not a question and the Dragon Hunter turned her head in surprise. "You know? Since when?"
"Since we met in Lindblum", the thief answered as he laid his head on the balustrade. "We're friends Freya."
"Then... thank you, for not asking me back then.
The truth is... I told you that Fratley left me, didn't I? And how he said we should go our separate ways? Well... he didn't say that to me. He wrote it in a letter."
Zidane raised his eyebrows in surprise, but didn't say anything.
"He also wrote that he is sorry for leaving me. That he loves me. But that he had found out something that has to be handled as soon as possible. He wrote 'Lives are at stake, darling. I have found out about something so terrifying and so dangerous that even the thought of sitting around and doing nothing to stop it tears my heart in two. I am sorry, Freya, but I can not get you involved. You are my everything and I fear that this journey of mine will end in death – for either the enemy or for me.'"
She must've read that letter an awful lot of times, being able to recite it word by word, Zidane thought to himself with pity. Tears had built up in Freya's eyes and drenched her fur.
"Ever since I read that letter, I had gone mad searching for him. 'Where might he be?' was all I could think. I hardly slept because my sleep would bring me nightmares of his death. Why didn't he take me with him? How could he think that a life without him is a life worth living to me? After all that I went through to find him in the first place?!"
Zidane placed his hand on Freya's shoulder as his friend cried out all the loneliness that had built up.
It took her a long time until she sniffed and continued: "Not so long ago, I overheard some scientists talking about the Eidolon Wall here and how they met a Dragon Hunter from Burmecia on their way there. That couldn't have been anyone else than Fratley. The way they described his apparel, his spear and his attitude... So I wanted to go search for him, though I didn't know how they reached the Outer Continent. I just made up my mind when you entered the bar."
"And you took the chance when it came to you", Zidane concluded with a nod.
"Yes. But I didn't find anything! I searched all around, I asked the dwarfs, keeping my eyes open for even a strand of his fur. But nothing..."
"You know Fratley best, Freya", Zidane said. "He's a master in so many fields. If he doesn't want to be tracked down, then there's no way to find him. Even for you."
The Dragon Hunter nodded. "I know. But I can not accept it. The same way you can not let go of the fear of Dagger getting hurt." His friend gave him a smile before she took a deep breath. She stood up tall and turned away. "Thanks for listening to me, my dear. I needed to get that off my chest."
"That's what friends are for", Zidane replied while waving his hands.
"Thanks." Just before Freya walked down the stairs leading away from the balcony, she turned her head back to Zidane. "My dear. About your worries. Don't you think it would be a lot easier for both of you if you let her know what you feel?"
Zidane closed his eyes. "I am a thief, Freya. And she is a princess. One day, a queen. Is there even a chance for this love? I am scared. Scared that when I make a true confession, she might jump back and reject me."
"So you keep hiding behind this teasing and joking?", Freya wondered. "Dagger is a clever girl, my dear. But also a bit naive. She begins to understand that your jokes might hold a bit of truth. Wouldn't you want to be there when she realizes what you are feeling?"
Zidane sighed. "I guess you're right. I will think about it. Goodnight, Freya."
"Goodnight, my dear."
Even after the conversation with Freya, Zidane's mind could not find any rest. With a sigh, he went away from the balcony, wandering around the village with the hope that the movement would clear his mind. He reached the town square, which was centered around a broken fountain. To his surprise, he saw Amarant sitting by the fountain, his arms crossed. When he heard Zidane's footsteps, the redhead raised his head, obviously displeased by the interruption. "What do you want here, boy?"
"And hello to you, too", Zidane replied with a grimace. "Strutting around. You?"
The warrior turned his head to the side. "None of your business."
Zidane sighed and walked up to Amarant. "You know, I think it'd be a good time to drop the act. We've been traveling together since quite a while now, so why do you keep acting like that?"
"It's not acting", Amarant replied annoyed. "Can't you accept the fact I dislike you?"
"Actually, no. At least not until I understand why."
Amarant gave him a long look. Then he grumbled: "Your face pisses me off."
"Huh?! What did you just say?", Zidane asked as anger built up inside of him.
The warrior got up slowly and creaked his knuckles. "I said your face pisses me off. This cheery attitude, these jokes, that grin. It makes me want to hit you."
"Sorry for being not as sour and horrid of a guy as you are!", Zidane replied as he stretched his back by swinging his upper body from one side to the other. "I'm sick of you acting so bossy all the time! How can Dagger even stand you?"
"How can she stand you with your false hopes?", Amarant asked back.
"False hopes?"
"You're constantly lying. About your condition, about her abilities. It's your fault she wants to face Kuja."
"So what do you prefer? Hiding her for the rest of her life, having her living in the dark? Dagger is a merry girl and she deserves better than that!"
"Ah, so you believe death is better than a life in security?!", Amarant screamed and Zidane made a step back as the redhead let his anger out.
"You came and threw over her life! Yes, her life in the castle was painful and harsh, but is the struggle with death a better option?! Do you seriously believe I was just sitting there doing nothing?! Can't you imagine you're not the only one who is trying to save her?! Kuja found us because we went the obvious route; he's a powerful sorcerer, god damn it! Don't you think he knows that Eidolons are his weakness? Don't you think he's constantly keeping an eye on their seals? You just jump around, cheering her on, pushing her to her limits, but you never think of all the pain she might go through and-"
"I do!", Zidane interrupted him, looking him straight in the eyes.
"What?", Amarant snapped with a frown. He was breathing heavily, the anger and worry about Dagger was written in his face, the mask of apathy crumbling down.
"I worry about her pain and suffering every single day. It's making me sick. Whenever I see her face being clouded with unhappiness, with pain or with sadness, I'd like to kick myself in the ass for letting those things getting to her." The thief clenched his hands into fists. "But what else can we do? Didn't I say it in Lindblum already? Didn't Kuja prove it to us in the Fossil Roo? He will always be after her. There's no place to run for her, no place to hide. If I could save her life by taking her to a place far away, I would! I would guard her for the rest of her life, I'd always be beside her if that'd be enough to ensure her safety! But it's not", the thief added with a dying voice and fell unto his knees. "Just what can we do? What else can we do than protecting her like this, helping her to become strong enough to wipe out the guy who is causing all that danger? If you have a better idea, tell me." Zidane looked up to Amarant, his eyes searching for a sign that the warrior did have a plan, an idea on how to save Dagger without risking her life. But he searched without avail. The warrior avoided his eyes and sighed. Then, Amarant bent down and held his hand out to Zidane. Daunted, Zidane took the hand and was pulled up on his feet.
"Sorry", Amarant grunted as he sat down on a bench.
"What? Did you just... apologize?", Zidane asked baffled. Amarant shot a glare towards him, but Zidane laughed and sat beside him.
"We're both quite worried about her, hm?", he said after a while. "Amarant, I asked you once but you didn't give me an answer. Why do you care so much about her? I know why I do – I like her. More than anything. Her smile is enough of a reward to me. But why do you care so much about her safety? Don't get me wrong", he added when Amarant didn't answer. "The most important thing to me is that she is being protected. If you don't want to tell me why, it's okay – as long as you continue to protect her."
Suddenly, Amarant remembered having had the same thought about Zidane; as long as he wanted to protect the princess, he didn't care whether it was love or anything else.
"A few years back, I worked as a mercenary", Amarant said, his eyes fixed to a point in the distance. "I started in Treno and worked for whomever had the most money to offer. Most of the mercenaries worked to afford luxury and woman or to gamble and drown their thoughts in beer, but I simply killed to kill." He shot a look towards Zidane, as if he was expecting an interruption, but the thief looked at the fountain.
"I was good at it. The best mercenary is a mercenary without mercy, and I had none of it. I lived this life for a long time. One day, a client ordered me to kill a man in Alexandria. The pay was extraordinarily well, so I accepted the job and made my way to the city. Finding the man was a matter of minutes – a face like mine might not be trustworthy, but my muscles and claws are fearsome enough to get the information I needed. I found the man in the back of the town and attacked him without a doubt. Only then did I notice the girl next to him." Amarant made a pause, his face showed guilt. "It was Garnet. She was twelve years old and stared at me wide eyed. When her eyes wandered to her father – Richard, I mean – and she realized what was happening, she summoned an Eidolon. No, summoning isn't the right way to express it", he interrupted himself with a thoughtful expression. "I believe she was barely aware of what she was doing. Shiva jumped out of her and for the first time in my life, I had faced an enemy too strong to defeat. The Eidolon crushed my bones while Garnet cried out for the guards. They threw me in a prison cell, shattered bones and bleeding and all and I was sure I would not see the next day. During the night, Garnet snuck into my cell. Richard had just died from the poison that I had drenched my claws in. I will never forget the look on her face. Her eyes seemed older than her age and when I saw her, I was sure she would summon that thing again. I felt fear and without realizing it, I cried. Let it be my pain or fear, but either way, when Garnet saw my tears... She healed me. Can you believe that?", he asked towards Zidane who stared at him with shock.
"I had killed her father and even though she had all reasons to hate me and all the means to kill me, she decided to heal my wounds. I still don't know why she was unable to heal her father but able to heal me."
"Maybe it was the poison", Zidane mumbled as he found his tongue again.
"Yeah, maybe. My execution was set for the next day. When the guards dragged me out of my cell, I didn't resist. I was healed and could have easily broken the chains keeping my hands in check and made my way out of the castle by killing the guards. But I didn't. I always judged mercy as a feeling for the weak but Garnet taught me that mercy requires more strength and willpower than anything else. I was ready to face whichever destiny the Alexandrian court had planned for me, but instead of bringing me to court, I was brought to the throne of Alexandria. Beatrix and Garnet were there, along with all the guards they could spare. When I came in, Beatrix asked her daughter whether she was sure, and Garnet replied with a yes. I didn't understand what was going on until Beatrix said 'I don't understand why, but both my daughter and my husband – may he rest in peace – require to grand you mercy. You may live. I hope you can even begin to understand the kindness my daughter expresses towards you.' The hatred I saw in Beatrix eyes was staggering. And Garnet... She walked up to me, took my hand and asked 'Why did you do that to Father?'"
Amarant paused as he looked down to his clasped hands. "At that moment, I fell unto my knees, and I begged them to let me guard her. You might imagine that Beatrix wasn't exactly appreciating that offer. But Garnet asked her to let me stay. Never have I been shown how unusual, how precious Garnet's kindness is. Her mother wanted to see me dead but for her daughter, she was willed to do anything – that was a feeling I always knew about, even though I never felt like that myself. But Garnet showed kindness, understanding and mercy not only towards her own blood or those who prove worthy to her, but towards anyone – even a murderer like me. Ever since that day, I am guarding her. She never talked with me about it and I have never seen any reproach or accusation in her eyes when she looks at me. Tell me, Zidane", Amarant whispered, his voice portraying the guilt he was carrying, "is there any way to make up for what I have done to her? Even a lifetime of service can't atone my sins. I might save her life every day for the rest of my life, fulfill her every wish but it won't ever be enough. And that is why I am here. I am here to learn of her kindness and to give back what little I can."
Abruptly, the warrior got up to go back to sleep, but Zidane's voice held him back: "You can't. I think you can't make up for what you did. But Dagger already forgave you. And to her, there probably isn't anything you have to make up for in the first place. That's the type of person she is."
Amarant lowered his head. "I know."
Author's note
What a chapter! Finally got the chance to clear up some of the questions most of you might be carrying ever since you started reading, hm? Honestly, I didn't even expect half of this to happen. But that is the art of writing and when characters start to act on their own, you gotta go with it to keep it authentic, right?
Much drama, revelation and emotion in one chapter – I hope it's not too much to handle.
And, on a side note, I'd like to pat myself on the back for uploading two new chapters in two days. I actually planned on writing one page per day to finally create content more frequently, but when creativity hits you, why not go with it?
Also, I am currently reviewing the former chapters. There are quite some grammar and word errors and I will clean them up over time. But don't worry, no important story content will be changed, maybe only minor details like year or day spans.
And yes, some of you might notice that I changed the summary of the fan fic at the top - I think my previous one was too boring and since I'm currently reviewing my story from start to finish, it's the best time to change that.
I hope you enjoy this chapter! Next one will be up quite soon as well, so look out for it!
Ruska