A/N: I'd like to apologize for leaving you with that cliffhanger, hopefully you didn't dislike it too much. Upon finishing that chapter, I had a clear direction of where I was going to take the story for there. I even finished what would have been the next chapter, but as usual this story seems to have a mind of its own, so I trashed all the plans I had planned on taking with this story and instead somehow found m way to writing this chapter. I hope you enjoy it, and that it will make up for the last one. As always, I want to give a big thank you to everyone still reading this story, it means a lot to me. If you enjoy it or have any thoughts on how I can improve, please message me or leave a review and let me know. I am always open to criticism both negative and positive. Lastly, I need to give a shout out to my fellow ff9 fanfic writers, its awesome to see people keeping such an amazing game alive!

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Everything was black and yet he could see clearly. Zidane looked down at his hands as he stood in the darkness and could see them as well as if he had been in a brightly lit room. Taking a quick mental inventory, he felt fine. There was a strange sense of weightlessness akin to floating as he took a cautious step forward, but maybe that was normal here?

"Where am I?" His voice echoed across the empty space. For that matter, how did I get here? He wondered. He couldn't remember anything that might have led to him being where he was now, granted even his strongest memories seemed scrambled. "Is anyone here?!" He called. No answer except for the same echo moments later.

"Am I dead?" This time he didn't really expect any answer.

"Zidane…"

He quickly span around expecting someone to be nearby as the voice whispered through the air faintly. That voice… is it familiar? Not knowing which direction might eventually reveal an exit, he began his walk. Time stood still as each hollow footstep bled into the next. Has someone or something brought me here? Did I do something to deserve this? Have i-

Suddenly the floor shifted beneath him, jarring him from his thoughts as if he had been pulled. He barely managed to keep his balance, but when he looked down, the dark floor was unchanged and as empty as before. "What the hell was that?"

In the distance he could hear faint laughter. "Hey! Can you hear me?" There was again no reply, but the laughter continued, along with faint voices. Looking around, he could see a faint light in the distance. Both curious and hoping to find an exit, he hurried toward it. As he drew near, he slowed and had trouble comprehending what he was seeing. "This is… but how?"

He was still there, standing with his feet firmly on the blackness. There was no doubt about that, but there he was… the others too.

"No." Garnet replied firmly, crossing her arms as Zidane held flowers in his outstretched hand. "C'mon! where's your sense of adventure?" He grinned devilishly, knowing she'd give in eventually.

"No!" She repeated, taking a step back her eyes showing her fear. She stared up at the large beast crawling quickly overhead. "I am NOT getting on that thing!"

"C'mon, trust me it'll be fine! You know damn well I won't let you fall off or anything."

"Falling off!? What if it decides to EAT us!?" She squealed, nearing full blown panic.

Zidane smiled as he remembered this had been one of the first times her determination to match his braveness and daring had finally given way to her inexperience.

Feeling bad after seeing her genuine fear for the first time, Zidane lowered the smelly flowers and took a soft toward her, lowering his voice as he spoke. "I know you're scared, but this really is the only way out of here without turning back. I promise, no matter what if I'm breathing I'll make sure nothing happens to you. You just gotta trust me."

She eyed him suspiciously, but part of her fear seemed to subside. "Fine…" She sighed in defeat. "But… can we at least try to get on one of the slower ones?"

"You know, I never got to tell her that I always thought she was braver than I was." Zidane whispered, as the scene began to fade away. "I wish I had of told her then just how brave she was. No matter what she was faced with, she never ran away. I wish I could say the same…"

He continued walking, memories slowly making their way back in. "Did Kuja kill me?"

"Zidane…"

The voice called again, still too faint to make out who it belonged to. Why does it fill the room? He ignored it and continued forward. Without warning, he was jarred off balance again, this time falling to the floor. Though there was obviously nothing anywhere to be seen, he felt as if the whole world trembled and shook violently. It seemed as if even the nothing might break if it continued for long. When it did finally subside, he felt cold. Not that the air had gotten colder but the kind of cold you can feel deep in your bones.

Zidane stood up and rubbed his arms trying to regain some warmth. Will it be like the first time? He wondered, looking around. Sure enough, in the distance he could hear something again. "…Is someone crying?"

As he drew near, he saw Eiko sitting against one of the broken walls of Maiden Sari with her legs pulled up to her chest sobbing into her knees. He began to approach her to comfort her, but saw his past self drop down beside her instead.

"Hey, is everything ok?" Zidane asked softly.

"Just leave me alone!" Eiko exclaimed, trying to hide her tears.

"Why are you crying?" He asked gently, not backing down.

"I'm not crying!" She hissed, angrily wiping at her tears with her sleeve.

"Alright, so you're not crying because you're tough, right?" Zidane picked up a pebble and turned it over in his hands.

"I almost forgot about this." Zidane whispered softly as he watched the memory.

"That's right." Eiko replied finally. "Tough people don't cry; only babies."

Zidane chuckled and tossed the stone toward the water. "Who told you that?"

"You don't ever cry." She countered.

Zidane sighed heavily. "I do if there's a good reason."

"Hmph, and what's a good reason?" She was still being defensive, but at least she was looking at him now. "I think I'd cry if had to leave my home and my friends that I loved. I think that would be very hard, especially if I knew I might not ever even get to see them again. I think that would be a good reason to cry, what about you?"

"Hey!" Eiko exclaimed, beginning to cry again though this time she didn't try to hide her tears. "That's not fair, you can't steal mine!"

"I guess you're right." Zidane smiled. "But it's definitely something you shouldn't be ashamed to cry about."

"Thank you." Eiko replied, wiping away the last of the tears. "But I'm done crying now, I'm gonna go say goodbye to Chimomo!" Zidane watched as she ran off.

"So, what would you cry about?" Garnet asked softly, her sudden question almost making him jump.

"Me?" He asked stupidly.

"Who else?" She laughed.

Zidane got up and walked toward the railing. "I think-"

"Finding that place I could call home." Zidane finished before it played in the memory. "Some home it turned out to be." He kicked absently at nothing. "I spend my whole life looking for a place to call home, never realizing that it's the people you care about that makes it home, not the place you were born."

Grudgingly, he carried on; not surprised at all when the intense tremors reverberated throughout the darkness again, knocking him around as though he were in the middle of a storm at sea. He braced himself as best he could, wishing there was something, anything to hold onto to. Just as quickly as it started, everything calmed. The cold he had felt before now only intensified and no matter how hard he rubbed his arms, he felt nub with cold. "Why am I so cold?" Not even the echo gave its reply.

A loud clanking rang from distance ahead of him. "I'd recognize that sound anywhere, I just wonder which time it was…" stopping at the edge of the memory, he realized it was one he had completely forgotten.

"Damn you! What have you done to the princess!" Steiner stomped angrily.

"What have I done? You were the one guarding camp!" Zidane countered, not looking up at him as he threw a handful of white flowered plants into their small fire. The knight had done nothing wrong, but any chance to turn the tables on the large man was one he wasn't going to miss.

"Well I- You… I did nothing to cause this! She was fine earlier!" Steiner stumbled, though if Zidane had been looking at him, he would have seen the genuine guilt spread across the knights features as he looked down at Garnet.

She was laying on her traveling blanket with her head propped up, sweating profusely. Occasionally she would mumble something incoherent or toss and turn uncomfortably. "Gods! The princess is dying and its all my fault! I should have protected her!" He bellowed in agony, falling to his knees.

"From the mosquitos?" Zidane asked, placing a pot of water over the now steady fire.

"What do you mean, Brigand?" Steiner asked, shaking his fist. "If it was not for you, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!"

Zidane sighed. "She'll be fine if you just let her rest. Her fever should break soon."

To this, Steiner showed genuine surprise. "How can you know that? You're not a doctor!"

"Yea, I know. A thief can't be that smart." He waved dismissively. "But I've been around and through a lot of things ur not gonna see couped up in that fancy castle."

As the water began to boil, he tossed in some small green leaves to let them steep. "What is that you are making?" Steiner asked, his tone quietening down.

"We call it poor man's tea." Zidane replied. "It tastes a little bitter, but when she wakes up it'll help her feel better. He expected Steiner to reply in disgust, possibly even pour out the tinted liquid, but his next words were neither. "Why is it that you are doing this? What do you have to gain?"

"Huh?" He replied, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You're a Thief, a Brigand. Your type never does anything without some personal gain. But, I see nothing that you could gain from your recent actions. It is simply to hold her highness indebted to you?"

Zidane looked at him a moment and then at Garnet before answering. "I… I don't know. I don't guess I want anything from her. I told her I'd be here for her, and I meant it. I know you can't stand me, I get that, but I really am just trying to do what I can to help her."

"I hated Steiner for how he always looked down on me." Zidane commented as he watched Steiner move to sit by the fire somberly. "I don't guess I should have blamed him though. He wasn't a bad person; we were just used to living worlds apart." He shook his head and decided to move on.

"Gods, I miss them." Zidane spoke aloud after continuing for a while, he was waiting for everything to start shaking again. "I miss Eiko complaining all the time. I miss Vivi and his wisdom that always seemed much older than he was. Hell, I even miss rusty yelling at me!" As he expected, it happened again only this time he was thrown backwards, hard. Gasping, struggling to breath, he felt like he was being punched in the chest.

"Zidane!.. Please!" The voice was louder this time, and he could feel the urgency behind it. But why? He wondered as everything returned to normal. With surprise, he realized that not only was he numb with cold, but now his clothes were soaked and dripping with water. "Where did all this water come from?" he tried his best to ring out his vest, but it was no use. Giving up, he plodded forward shivering and leaving a trail of water behind him. "Please, I just want to get warm.."

Up ahead he could see light again. Not caring which memory it would be, he hoped the light would have some warmth. To his disappointment there was none, and with a groan, he wished it would have been almost any other memory.

Garnet stormed off, her face red with anger as Zidane chased after her. "Dagger, please! I didn't-"

"Don't talk to me!" She practically screamed at him as she whirled around. Zidane backed up; he had never seen her that angry before. "You don't understand it was- I had no idea that-"

"That I was standing there!?" She spat venomously. "or that you would love kissing her!?" He took a step back, a pained expression filling his features.

"it's not like that!'' He defended.

"Really?" She asked sarcastically glaring at him. If looks could have killed, he was sure that one would have done him in.

He broke from her gaze and looked down at the ground before replying. "What does it matter? Its not like we're dating, so why to you care?" He regretted the words before they had even left his mouth.

She tried her best to hide it, but her look of hurt she wore before turning back around and throwing her hand up would have been obvious to anyone. "You're right, I- I don't care! Just.. Go back and kiss her! Do whatever you want!"

"I shouldn't have let her leave then; I should have chased after her and made her listen.." Zidane commented, not longer watching. "I didn't know that girl was gonna kiss me, I honestly wasn't trying to flirt with her I just saw she needed help. Hell, maybe she was just being grateful, but either way I should have never let it happen and Gods know I never did again." He let out a long sigh and looked up into the darkness. "I know I'm anything but perfect, but if this is some kind of hell do I really deserve this?"

He knew whatever it was that kept happening after each memory would come again, but this time he decided to just sit down and wait for it to hit. If he was being honest with himself, more than anything he felt afraid of what the next memory would be. He didn't have to wait long, however. Instead of another tremor or driving force, light blinded his vision and his lungs felt like they were on fire! For the briefest of seconds, he imagined cold wet lips against his own and a strange alien warmth against him. Not a powerful warmth, but something just barely there, slightly warmer that he would have felt without it. As he finally regained his senses, he could still feel a pressure pounding into his chest and an almost numb throbbing pain in his side.

Struggling back to his feet, he suddenly felt overwhelmingly exhausted and had the strangest sensation that he desperately needed to see the next memory and that if he didn't, things would only get worse. It made no sense and was probably completely irrational, but somehow it felt true. So, even with each step cold and painful, he pushed on. As he finally reached it, he collapsed. It took everything he had not to fall asleep, but he would at least make it through this one, even if it killed him.

Unlike the others, this one came from his own perspective. He was back in the castle, staring at Garnet as she lay on the silk sheets covered in his blood from the knife that had torn into his side. That's why I'm hurting now.. he thought distantly as the events of that night came rushing back to him "I jumped into the water.." He coughed as in his memory he stood teetering on the balcony rail. He closed his eyes, he didn't want to replay this. He waited for as long as he thought it would take for the moment to pass, but when he opened his eyes, nothing had changed; he was still standing on the railing.

As if sensing that he was watching again, the vision resumed and went dark as he had closed his eyes for a moment, but all of the other sensations remained as he leaned forward on the railing. "Zidane!?" A voice gasped as he began to fall. "No!" The same voice screamed as he crashed into the water. Almost forgetting his exhaustion, he felt his heart suddenly pounding in his chest. I didn't remember this! That voice had to be! The vision filled the void around him and overwhelmed him as each scene began to crash into him without mercy as thou he were drowning,

For a second there clarity. He could see the castle in the distance, but the water was pushing him further away, he vaguely wondered why the water was moving so quickly, but he didn't have the energy to move… he was so tired. "Zidane, please stay awake!" A voice pleaded as he felt someone struggling desperately against the current beside him. "Oh gods! The waterfall! Hold onto me!" He tried, he really did, but that voice was so far away, and everything was fading to black again.

"Dagger?" Zidane choked in the darkness as it hit him again.

"Zidane! Please, no!.. Gods, I can't lose you again!" He heard her voice again, this time loud and directly above him. He was cold all over and everything felt numb, but somehow, he could still feel it when her lips crashed into his and her ragged breath filled his lungs. He was drowning! He coughed violently expelling water through his nose and mouth as he struggled to fill his lungs with air. When at last he opened his eyes and his vision finally focused a part of him wondered if this was the sweetest of dreams; he saw Garnet leaning over him, her hands still pressing on his chest. Her soaked hair clung to her face in a knotted mess, and her once delicate makeup streaked in small streams down her cheeks, staining what was left of her torn waterlogged dress. Noticing he was conscious, her exhausted face immediately washed over with relief. "Oh, Thank Ramuh you're alive!"