Rosa tugged at the bindings around her wrists. The irritation and the rope burn brought tears to her eyes, but she ignored it. She wiggled and struggled, bracing her feet against the stone pillar she was suspended from, but the ropes were too tight. Even with all of her weight hanging from her shoulders, her hands wouldn't slip through.
She felt stiff and sore, and exhaustion waned at her willpower until she couldn't fight any more. She let herself hang limply against the pillar, panting her breaths. She craned her neck upwards and caught the glint of the blade hanging above her, gently swinging on its chain. Taunting her.
It knew she was finished just as much as she did.
Her heart pounded in her chest, her tears fell freely again at the thoughts of death. She heard the sounds of Cecil's struggles in the floors below her feet, but knew he'd never reach her in time. She wondered if it would hurt. When the peg, stuck in one of the rungs of the chain, retracted and let the blade fall like Golbez said it would. If she would die instantly. If it would hit its mark, coming down on her neck and arms, or if it would miss. Just in case, she entertained thoughts of lowering her head to make it quick. She wondered what would happen if it didn't slice the whole way through.
She let out a sob, tugging at the ropes again, but it felt hopeless to her. She couldn't muster up the fervor she had before, knowing she was going to die there.
The sounds of her rescuers quieted down. No more spells, no more sword clashes. Sealing her fate. The blade trembled, almost shaking loose of its support. Another tremble or two, and it would be over.
She would die here.
Rosa's thoughts trailed to Cecil. She would never see him again. She would never feel his embrace again. She would never feel his soft kisses. Share his gentle glances. They were supposed to grow old together. They were supposed to live their lives. And the wave of hopelessness escaped her in more sobs.
"Cecil!" she yelled. One final time, as the blade shook again.
Suddenly, the doors across the room burst open, thrown so hard they crashed against the walls. He sprinted in first, and his royal blue eyes locked with her wide green. Everything happened in slow motion. His eyes widened, he never broke stride. He reached down and ripped the knife on his hip free. The blade above her groaned, metal scraped on metal. The peg retracted, sending the blade down on her.
She closed her eyes.
The tower blinked, a flash of white light pulsed, and Rosa opened her eyes in surprise to see that her surroundings changed. No longer in the tower of Zot, she instead lay in the water of Sanctuary. The Emperor's mines were all around her, and he stood a few feet away. The Death spell tumbled from his lips, and Rosa saw the ripple of power form in his palm. He charged it up and tossed it towards her.
She raised her arm, and her Reflect appeared, but quickly fizzled from existence.
She was defenseless-
Rosa flinched, jerking herself awake.
Sanctuary's ambient white light glowed peacefully, covering up the attack. Spiting Rosa's feeling of danger.
She pulled her pauldrons and cape off, dragging herself to a sitting position. Her eyes still felt heavy and tired, and she scrubbed some of the sleep from them. She rested her back against the crystal she slept next to and looked around, taking in the sights around her. Cosmos on her throne, but without Warrior. Firion was there, in his place. Vaan, Bartz, and Zidane sitting in a circle on the water. They had what looked like cards laid out between them. Onion stood off to the side, watching them intently, cupping his chin as though deep in thought.
Cloud and Laguna stood side-by-side behind Cosmos. To Rosa, it looked like they were guarding Cosmos' back. Cloud certainly looked like a body guard, with his arms crossed and his sword on his back. Laguna looked like a sentry, too, with his machine weapon in his hands.
Yuna was the last person Rosa saw.
No Cecil, and no Kain. Rosa admit, she was a bit disappointed. It was a drastic contrast from when she first lay eyes on him. Back then, which already felt like weeks and not imperfect 'days', she would have adamantly denied any sort of emotional connection to him. He was pushy, and generally overbearing. She knew now that it was genuine concern for her. And with each memory that returned she realized that their friendship was deep enough to warrant such concern. She couldn't muster up the pure emotions associated with that friendship yet, but she could feel herself growing more comfortable and relaxed around him.
She would have felt more secure with Cecil there. Someone she knew, that knew her. At the very least, she knew she could count on him for the utmost protection.
Speaking of Cecil, she had borrowed his cape. Rosa grabbed the little ball of fabric and pulled it close. She rolled it around in her hands and felt something inside of it, like a thicker piece of cloth. Rosa found a corner of the thin, lavender material and pulled the bundle open, holding it up to unravel it. Out tumbled a second piece of fabric. It was a thicker material, lined with fur. It was a pale gold color, with diagonal purple stripes. Each stripe had a red trim. She had seen it before, trailing behind him when he wore his Paladin armor, but she never took notice of it. It was just a part of his armor. She was curious to know if it had any significance, so she promised to ask him later about it. And about the cloth he wore on his hip.
Rosa folded the cloth into a neat square, then stood so she could do the same to his full cape. As she pulled the corners together and folded it, she noticed that Vaan, Bartz, and Zidane had paused in their card game and were all staring her way. Rosa met their eyes and smiled gently to let them know she saw them.
Zidane and Bartz averted their gazes, but Vaan returned her smile and waved. Zidane leaned over and slapped his hand down. It was comical, and Rosa allowed herself to chuckle at their silliness. The three of them leaned into the center of their circle and whispered amongst themselves, occasionally sending glances her way. Finally, the three of them nodded to each other, and they all stood up. Rosa sat back down and waited for the three of them to approach her.
"Hey," Bartz said, sitting next to her.
"Hey," she repeated back to him.
"You okay?"
"Yes," she said, but she could see on Bartz's face that he didn't believe her. He still nodded.
"Sorry about the Emperor."
Rosa shrugged. She was hoping nobody would mention it. She wasn't quite ready to think about it yet. She couldn't say why, but she knew attacks of that nature were not the norm. She could feel the shift in Sanctuary's energy, and the fact that Cosmos now had posted guards told her as much. She knew that the implications of the Emperor's attack were heavy. Things were going to change, and she knew it. "It's alright," she said, mostly because she didn't know what else to say. In truth, it wasn't alright. She was still scared, and she was still upset.
"Do you want to be alone?" Zidane asked. He pointed over his shoulder, and his tail flicked slowly from side to side, uncertain. "We'll go, if-"
"No, I'd actually enjoy the company," she told him. "To be honest, I . . . " she trailed off, debating on telling them the whole truth. " . . . To be honest, I'm not sure I want to be alone right now."
"Well! We can keep you company," Zidane said, flopping down in front of her. "Just until Cecil gets back, of course," he added, winking coyly.
"Hm," she hummed, glancing at the capes she had folded in her lap. When Cecil got back, she had questions for him. "Thank you."
"There's nothing to thank us for," Bartz said. "We had an excuse to come over here anyway, 'cuz we got you something."
"What? A gift?"
Zidane scratched at the back of his head. "No, no, not a gift. More like, something we got that we thought you'd find useful."
"You really don't have to give me anything-"
Vaan cut her off. "Sure we do! Besides, none of us have any use for it." Vaan held out his fist, and Rosa held out her hand under his. He dropped a pair of earrings into her hands. They were gold studs, fashioned into stars. "These are Star Earrings, and they'll increase your magic power by a bunch! So when you need to heal someone, it'll be even stronger. Or, when you need to kick the Emperor's butt next time."
The act was so . . . pure and unburdened. A nice gesture for the sake of a nice gesture, and Rosa was touched. "They're beautiful!" she said. "Thank you so much!" She touched her ears and felt a pair of earrings already hanging from her lobes, so she quickly unclasped them to put her new pair in. She tucked her old pair into a small pouch on her brown belt.
"It was Zidane's idea, really," Bartz said. "After the Emperor left, we were just kinda sitting around. He kept staring at you, all weird. I asked him why he was being creepy and he said, 'That lady needs some cheering up. Let's get her something.'" Rosa blinked at him in surprise as he imitated Zidane's voice perfectly. As though Zidane had said it himself. "We went out and found a moogle and got them. Sometimes his knowledge of women is a little . . . not good, but we figured we'd trust him on this one."
Zidane rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"I'm so flattered that you would think of me. And I did need some cheering up. Thank you." She paused, then added, "For a self-proclaimed 'lady's man', I do have to say you are perceptive, Zidane." He always seemed to know when someone needed help, and he was always the one to help them. She saw it in the way he interacted with his friends. Bartz was probably just as scared as she had been when he awoke, but Zidane befriended him right away. He tried to befriend her right away, and tried to introduce her to Cecil so she could make friends on her own.
Zidane scoffed, feigning insult. "Just because I know how to treat the ladies!"
"Is there a woman back in your home?" Rosa asked, genuinely curious. "Surely by now, with your charm, you've found someone to direct your energies towards."
Zidane's tail perked straight up into the air behind him. "Ha! Oh yeah!" he said. "Her name's Princess Garnet, and she's the most beautiful woman in Alexandria."
"A princess?" Rosa giggled, intrigued.
Zidane waved dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you're gonna say. 'Aiming pretty high, aren't ya,' or something like that. Even if she wasn't a princess, I'd still be aiming high. She's smart, and beautiful, and so far out of my league it's crazy."
"Does she return your love?" Rosa asked.
A genuine smile creased his face, only for a moment, before the playful glint returned to his eyes. "She denied it for the longest time," he said smugly, "but she came to her senses soon enough."
Vaan puckered his lips and made a kissing face, smacking his lips together loudly. He leaned close to Zidane, aiming for his cheek. Zidane leaned away, toppling over into the water. "Get away from me!" he yelled.
"What about you, Vaan?" Rosa asked, laughing.
"Me? Do I have a girl, you mean? Just my friend Penelo. I love her like a sister, though, so that'd be weird."
"Bartz?"
"Hmmm . . . I don't know. I still only remember a little bit from before being called here. Ummm . . . " he hummed, thinking through it. His face lit up, for just a moment, but he deflated a second later.
"Who are you thinking of?" Zidane asked. He saw it, too.
"It's not a some-one. Okay, this is gonna sound really weird, so don't judge me. Alright?" he asked, pointing at Zidane and Vaan.
"Psh! What about Rosa?" Vaan asked.
"Look at her. She'd never judge anyone. Okay, so, I remember this chocobo-"
"Oh, gods-" Zidane groaned.
"Ah! Ah! I said don't judge! You don't know where I'm going with this!"
"That's why he's afraid," Rosa quipped.
"Stop making fun of me! I don't know if it's my chocobo, just a chocobo. And we were the best buddies in the whole world, I think."
"Oh, thank the gods," Zidane breathed. "'Best buddies.'"
"Ew, Zidane! That's so gross!" Bartz's faced went a shade red as he realized what Zidane thought he was going to say.
"I think it's sweet," Rosa said. "A chocobo can be a real friend," she said, hoping to defend Bartz. "You must miss him, Bartz."
"Yeah, but I think that's where my feather good luck charm came from, and as long as I have it with me . . . It's one of those, 'he's always with me' things."
"Feather good luck charm," Rosa repeated.
"Yeah. I have this feather." He called the charm, and it flashed into his hand. "I think it came from him. Whenever I have the feather on me, it brings me good luck." The feather was creased and weathered in some parts. It wasn't exactly in peak condition, but Rosa figured that meant it was well-used.
"And what about you? Do you remember a certain man friend yet?" Zidane asked. His tone suggested he was clearly leading somewhere. Cecil was the first person to come to mind, but she truly wasn't sure. He felt important to her, and so did Kain. But perhaps it was due to the fact that they were the only people here she should know. As she said before, she just couldn't piece things together on her end.
"And how do you know I have a 'man friend'?" she asked, teasing back. Dodging the question.
"Oh, come on, Rosa. Someone as beautiful as you would've had half the kingdom asking for her hand. Also, you have a ring on your finger."
"Hey! You do!" Vaan said, pointing to it. "I never noticed that before."
Rosa held up her hand and spread her fingers, turning it this way and that to inspect the ring. The rose gold band. On a very important finger. She twisted the band with her thumb, turning it all around. "I don't know if it's a wedding band. I don't remember the man who could be my husband - if it is a band," she added. And it was true. She didn't feel anything special when she looked at the ring. And she supposed that if she was wed, her husband would be one of the first things she remembered if she truly loved him. She resolved that the ring simply ended up on a wrong finger. Rosa pulled the band off and tried it on the rest of her fingers, but it refused to fit. Even on her other hand. The fingers of her right hand were thick and strong from drawing a bow string for years and years.
Cecil was the closest thing to a 'man friend' she had, but she didn't think of him that way.
"Well, I'm sure he'll come back to you," Zidane said. He stared at her for what seemed like longer than he had to. Even his tail froze in the air, and then returned to its normal waving. She liked noting its movements. She suspected it always betrayed his true feelings, but the words he spoke and the sentiments he conveyed tended to match it. It led her to think he was genuine. If she wanted a purely honest opinion, even if it wasn't what she wanted to hear, she felt as though Zidane would tell her.
"What about Cecil?" Vaan asked.
Rosa looked up sharply, before she could control her reaction. "What about him?"
"Nothing!" he said quickly. "Just . . . uh, want to know what you think of him."
" . . . Oh," she finally said. "I thought you meant . . . never mind." She thought he meant in relation to her ring.
"Nice one, Vaan," Zidane said, elbowing him in the side. "What are you trying to do, freak her out? You can't just do that!"
"Do what? It was a simple question," he argued back. "He was the first person you talked to when you got here. I was just wondering what you think of him. Do you like him?"
"Yes, I do. I . . . Actually don't know that much about him." Which surprised her, now that she actually thought about it. She was constantly asking him for information and he (almost) always gave her answers about herself, about their home, and about this world and this war. She realized that she never actually asked him about himself, aside from one time after she remembered something he needed to explain.
She spent almost every waking moment of her time here with Cecil, but still didn't feel like she knew him.
Perhaps that was why her memories and feelings for him were being so stubborn.
"Well, that's easy to fix. Just ask him!" Vaan said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. His big, blue eyes stared innocently at her. "Try to get to know him!"
Rosa sighed, unsure of how to voice her reluctance. "I don't know if I . . . I don't think he understands . . . that when he . . . um," she stammered. "He's . . . he's a little off-putting sometimes." That seemed to be the best way to sum up how she felt. From their very first interaction he tried to get too close, too quickly. "When he expects me to remember things, I feel pressured. And when I disappoint him, it weighs on me - which is frustrating because he's unintentionally obligating me to have an emotional tie to all of this. I know we were friends in our home world, but I don't have any memories on my end to back him up. I quite literally don't know how to feel about him. Does any of that make sense?"
"Yeah, it does," Zidane said. "Cecil is . . . just Cecil. He's an honorable guy, really pure of heart, honest, really genuine and stuff. He's the kind of guy who knows what's right and wrong, and he'll stick to it no matter what. Even if sticking to it is bothersome for him. And he cares about people, like, a lot. Everything he does, he thinks about his friends before himself. He's always supporting us, and I've heard him say that caring for people is a source of strength for him."
"Is that so?" Rosa asked. "Now that you mention it, I've never heard him speak poorly of anyone. He had an opportunity before, to tell me something bad about a friend because it would benefit my memory. He wouldn't do it. At first, I thought he was being self-preserving and malicious in deliberately keeping it from me. But now that you say that, I realize that it would have ruined our friend's image. I realize how important it truly was to him to not speak poorly on a friend." It felt like a weak example, but either way it supported Zidane's point. "And . . . there's something that happened in our home world that he blames himself for. Ever since that day, he vowed to be a better person. It's why he's a Paladin."
"Yeah, he just cares a lot about everyone. He listens and empathizes with people. Here's how good of a person he is!" Zidane said. He hopped up onto his haunches, and his tail flicked faster in the air behind him. His eyes lit up, like he had the greatest story in the world to tell. "I remember this one time, a really long time ago. Like around when I first woke up here," Zidane said, waving his arms to emphasize how long ago. Rosa still couldn't fathom how long it could be. "Something bad went down on Chaos' side, and it sparked a civil war among his warriors."
"What happened?" Rosa asked.
"Okay, saddle up, because this story is a wild ride! Chaos' warriors are obligated to fight, just like we are, right? Only, a lot of them don't really see it as a moral obligation like we do. You can probably guess that, I mean, some of them have the moral compass of a drunk Wyrm. Anyway, Sephiroth - Cloud's enemy - decided that he wasn't fighting. Instead, he went off to do his own thing. Like, he still attacked us, but only if his plans led him to cross us, you know? 'I do what I want, when I want' kind of thing."
"How did it lead to a civil war?"
"Garland, who's like Chaos' Warrior, confronted Sephiroth about it. A fight broke out, but both of them left before they could really injure the other. Chaos doesn't allow his warriors to fight each other for real, so Garland took the Emperor, Ultimecia, Kefka, and Exdeath and squared up against Sephiroth, Golbez, Kuja, the Cloud of Darkness, uhhhh, Jecht . . . Like, half the warriors came to Sephiroth's defense, asking why they were fighting, saying they didn't want to be there, et cetera, et cetera."
"I don't remember this," Vaan said.
Zidane waved him off. "No, you wouldn't. You hadn't been called yet. Where was I going with this?"
"Cecil," Rosa reminded him.
"Oh yeah. In the fight, Sephiroth, Golbez, Kefka, and Garland got really messed up. Nobody held back, so they really needed help. Golbez dragged everyone on his side - even those who weren't injured - to Order's Sanctuary for Cosmos' help."
"Are you serious?" Vaan asked.
"Dead serious. As serious as your life. When they got here, Golbez staggered in practically carrying Sephiroth. He had his arm under Sephiroth's, holding him up. He took so many hard hits that his armor was all broken. He had bruises everywhere. He was stabbed and slashed, and he had burns and he was all sweaty and gross. He couldn't even talk, he was so out of breath. Sephiroth was even worse. He had, like, broken ribs, he had a couple of Ultimecia's arrows in him, he had claw marks on his leg and stuff. Both of them were bleeding everywhere. It was crazy.
"Here's the Cecil part: by that point, Cecil had only been in the war for a short while. He didn't really know Golbez well yet. He knew that Golbez had done some bad stuff, and he knew that he had to defeat him. When they got here, we were all caught off-guard and Warrior thought it was an ambush. 'To arms! To arms!' he yelled," Zidane said, waving his arms in a beckoning motion. Acting it out like a true storyteller.
"Warrior drew his sword and charged, whether the rest of us were ready or not. Everyone who wasn't wounded on Chaos' side got ready to throw down and they were about to start swinging when Cecil stopped them. He sprinted in front of Warrior and threw himself between him and Golbez. 'Warrior! Can you not see that they're wounded?' he yelled. I've never seen Warrior look so pissed off. He pointed his sword at Cecil and said, 'Out of the way. Wounded or not, they do not belong here. They are harbingers of Chaos!' Cecil drew his spear and got down and the two of them squared up. Cecil said, 'Be that as it may, how could you kill wounded warriors in cold blood? Is that who we're meant to be as warriors of Cosmos?! Would she condone such an act of violence?! We would not be any better than those who fight for Chaos!' Warrior paused," Zidane said, pausing himself for dramatic effect, "and slowly lowered his sword.
"Warrior turned back to Cosmos and said, 'It is your decision, my lady.' Cosmos didn't answer right away, and we all held our breaths to see what she would say. Would Cosmos really condemn them right there? That wasn't very Harmonious. And yet, it woulda been super advantageous if we wiped out half their ranks right then. Suddenly, the weakest, most pathetic sound I ever heard came from Golbez. He normally has this deep, gruff voice," Zidane described. He growled the words low in his throat. "But all he said was, 'Please.' That was it. Just 'Please.' He, like, hoisted Sephiroth up, and Cosmos watched them. She had the saddest look that I've ever seen on a woman on her face. And she finally said, 'Very well. You have asylum here.' Cosmos, and those of us who knew any semblance of White Magic at the time, which was basically Yuna and Paladin Cecil, had to heal Sephiroth and Golbez. Here's the real Cecil part," Zidane said, holding a finger up to indicate it. "Cecil - who didn't know a damn thing about Golbez, I might add - sat with him. For days on end. Golbez was unconscious most of the time but Cecil was right there at his side. He healed him, expending all of his magic power every time it replenished. When Golbez woke up for short periods of time, Cecil was right there. He didn't sleep, he didn't go on patrol, he didn't do anything but sit there with Golbez. Warrior asked him after a couple of days, 'Why are you so keen on helping your enemy? Why do you insist on healing those of Chaos' ranks?' And you know what Cecil said?" Zidane asked, leaning forward. Unconsciously, Rosa, Bartz, and Vaan all leaned forward as well.
"What?" Vaan asked.
"I'll never forget this. He got really serious. More serious than I've ever seen Cecil. And he actually glared at Warrior. And he said, 'No one, not even Cosmos, will ever order me to murder in cold blood again. I have done so in the past, and I refuse - I refuse - to ever do so again. This is right. This is the right thing to do. Mercy and compassion are the right reactions.'"
Zidane sat back down in the water, effectively ending his story.
" . . . Wow," Rosa said after a while. Unsure of what else to say.
"Yeah," Zidane said.
Cecil was so righteous, he was ready to go up against his friends if it meant he did what he thought was right. He was so caring of a person, he was willing to oversee the care of someone, even if they had directly wronged him in the past. Rosa was able to understand more fully how much his friends - and even his enemies - meant to him. How much his disgrace weighed on him, and how much his repentance healed his soul. She suddenly felt incredibly small compared to him. Like she would never achieve that level of selflessness, or that level of care for another person.
Zidane's story also gave Rosa some information on other Chaos warriors - not just the Emperor. They sounded just as ruthless, if not more ruthless, than the Emperor. Garland, Kefka, Ultimecia, and Exdeath teamed up with him and were willing to harm those on their own side if it meant Chaos' will was satisfied. She already knew Golbez was a comrade of sorts, but knowing that there were others questioning their roles here validated a bit of her concerns.
"Or, yeah! This one time," Vaan began, "I was on watch, but I was really tired and I accidentally fell asleep. I woke up to Cecil telling me to wake up. I thought he would be really angry with me - well, maybe he kind of was. But he didn't yell at me. He was like, 'Falling asleep on watch is extremely dangerous! Next time, if you're too tired, make sure you ask for someone to relieve you! Allow me to take your watch tonight so everyone is safe."
Compared to Zidane's story, Vaan's was a bit unrelated and weak. But, it got the point across.
"Okay, so he's gentle, too," Bartz said, rallying it back to the point. "Add it to the list!"
"Yeah, he's a really good guy," Zidane said. "So, you said he makes you a little uncomfortable? It's just him showing you that he cares, trying to get close to you. If you want my advice, try to think of it like that. Try to look for those moments where he's showing you he cares."
She felt compelled to apologize to Cecil. That, or hug him. Her heart felt full in awe of him, and he felt a bit embarrassed of her treatment of him. He was only trying to care for her by helping her regain her memory, and she repaid him with coldness and withdrawal from him. In the future, she vowed to view his actions differently. She would still not allow him to overstep her boundaries, and vowed to reprimand him if he did, but rather than grow angry with him she would treat him with patience.
"I will," she said. "Thank you for the advice."
"No problem," he said, clasping his hands behind his head. He rolled back and flopped into the water. "Next therapy session, I'm charging five Gil a minute." Rosa laughed, and they let the conversation lull for a bit.
"How long was it before you remembered everything, Zidane?" she asked after their silence. "You've been here the longest out of the three of us."
"Hmm . . . Good question . . . Well, it felt like forever, I'll tell you that," he settled on.
Rosa sighed. She didn't know what she expected at this point. "So, what did you do in your home world? What was it like?"
"Home for me was this city called Lindblum. I was . . . sort of abandoned as a kid? I don't know, I don't really feel like getting into it. But this guy named Baku 'adopted' me. I became part of his band of thieves that doubled as a theatre troupe to cover up our illicit activities." He said the last two words with a posh accent, briefly showing off a piece of his acting skills.
"So you're a thief. And were you successful?" Rosa asked, genuinely curious.
"With the thieving, or the acting?"
"Either. Both."
"Yeah. We made a lot of Gil on the productions and stole lots of stuff, and we sat on a lot of treasure. The most successful thing I stole was Princess Garnet."
"You stole your princess?!"
"Well, she sort of asked me to take her, but still, I'd consider it a success considering we got her out of there. Wrecked the stage ship really badly, though, 'cuz, you know, we were attacked and stuff. Haha!" he barked, perking up again. "So I had this friend, right? And he was this little Black Mage, like, no more than yea tall," he said, holding his hand up in the air. "Well, his hat made him, like, yea tall." He lifted his hand a little higher. "And one time he was going through some troubling times, right? I felt like he needed some cheering up, so I took him outside and we both sat out under the stars and-"
Vaan cut him off. "I don't think Rosa would appreciate that story. So I'm gonna tell one instead. I did hard time in prison, once."
"No you didn't," Rosa countered, but Vaan insisted.
"Yeah! I did! I snuck into the royal palace using the sewers, and-"
"You climbed through the sewers," Bartz said, crinkling his nose as though he could smell the water.
"Yep. Not my proudest moment. Anyway, I snuck into the palace and snatched a piece of treasure. On my way out I met two sky pirates who were also trying to snatch that piece of treasure. On our way back out through the sewers, we met our princess and got captured by some guards. I was thrown in prison with them, got in a prison fight, and escaped."
" . . . That was a wild ride from start to finish," Zidane finally said.
Rosa felt like it was her turn for a harrowing tale. " . . . I was kidnapped for ransom?" she tried.
"That sounds exciting! Do tell!" Zidane said.
"Um, so Golbez wanted all the crystals of our world for power. Cecil had one in his possession for safe-keeping, and Golbez kidnapped me in exchange for the crystal. He tied me up, and hung me by my wrists from a pillar, and he put a blade over me. After a certain amount of time the blade was supposed to drop and kill me."
"Was Cecil the one who saved you?" Vaan asked.
"He was." She didn't have the details of the actual rescue, but she remembered seeing him in the dream. She remembered feeling his arm around her waist.
"That's a crazy story. Bartz?" Vaan said.
"Hmm . . . okay. So, this one time, when I was little, we were playing hide-and-go-seek. Me and my friends. And I was looking for the perfect hiding spot. And I looked up and my eyes locked on the roof of the chocobo stables. And I thought, 'Yeah! That's it! I'll climb on the roof!' Genius level idea, right there, and I thought I was the brightest feather on the chocobo-"
"You're not in love with that chocobo too, are you?" Zidane asked, teasing him.
"That chocobo is metaphorical, and no I am not. Anyway, I used the hay stacks and the window ledges to get up on the roof and I buried myself in a bit of the thatch and stayed really quiet and nobody found me for a really long time. Eventually, they quit calling for me, too. I got up to see if they were still looking for me, and I went to the edge. On my way down my foot slipped. I fell off a two-story roof and hit the ground and broke my right arm and collarbone, split my head open, ever since I've had a bad fear of heights. Like, really, really bad fear of heights. My mom had to heal me. That was before she d-"
Bartz cut off. His eyes glossed over, his face went blank, and he stared into the abyss. After only a moment, he blinked himself back to awareness. His shoulders slumped, his aura shrank.
"What's up?" Zidane asked.
"Ah, nothing. We should get everyone to tell a story. It'll be like campfire tales."
Zidane was about to add something, but Firion called her name from over by Cosmos' throne. "Rosa!" he yelled. She turned and looked at him, and he beckoned her over.
"Oh. Firion's calling me. Thank you so much for the advice and for the company. It means a lot to me," she said, placing her hand over her heart to show them her sincerity.
"No problem - oh!" Zidane yelled. "Wait! I wanted to teach you something that I taught Vivi and Princess Garnet if they were ever in danger. The next time the Emperor comes stalking, you should try screaming back. If you ever see him again, you should yell, 'Get off me, you scumbag!' It surprises your attacker and empowers you."
"Get off me, you scumbag." Rosa had never heard the word 'scumbag' at all, let alone as an insult. When she pictured it, calling the Emperor a bag of scum, she couldn't contain her laughter.
"No, no, louder! More forceful! Pretend Bartz is about to grab you!"
"What-?" Bartz yelled.
"Just pretend! So Bartz tries to grab you, so you yell . . . "
"Get off me, you scumbag!" she yelled. The scenario was so ridiculous, Rosa couldn't say it with a straight face. Her smile ruined a bit of the effect.
"Yeah! That's it! Sort of. You'll get it. Just keep practicing."
"You're all ridiculous," Rosa laughed. "If ever the Emperor attacks again, I'll be sure to call him a scumbag."
"You won't regret it," Zidane said lightly, crossing his arms.
"Thank you again!" she said again, and she ran over to Firion and Cosmos.
This chapter was really fun to write as far as Rosa's interactions with the trio went. Zidane's a performer, so I figure when he gets going on a story he really commits to it. I wanted a nice, normal combination of smooth dialogue and awkward pauses. Let me know how I did.
Leave a comment if you have the time! Thank you to everyone who commented/kudos'ed/bookmarked/whatever!
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~Keyblader