A/n: I apologize for the short chapters, but I plan on the next one being longer, and its been far too long since ive updated this story as often as I should have. I understand completely if a lot of the amazing readers that stuck with me through most of this story have given up on me finishing it. No matter my intentions, I often find my ability to hurry and finish the next chapter almost non-existent and can only keep striving to do better, because I truly enjoy writing these stories hopefully as much as you enjoy reading them. As always, if you enjoy this chapter or have any thought on the story or my writing in general, please comment and let me know!

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"It feels like forever since we've been here!" Garnet exclaimed as she looked over the iron railing and down to the icy water that flowed beneath Treno, her warm breath visible in the cool night air. "I almost forgot how beautiful this place is."

"I'm not sure beautiful is the word I'd use." Blank commented drably while eyeing a elderly man passed out against the stone wall to their right with the rest of his whiskey bottle dripping into a small puddle beside him. A nearby rat made its way hesitantly toward him, sniffing for leftover crumbs it could pilfer. "Though I guess I can say it hasn't changed a bit, still the city of hard luck. They say if you're lucky you win big, but most end up like this guy."

"While some of the occupants may be less than tasteful, the architecture is indeed quite beautiful." Beatrix added, trying to ignore the passed out man and coming to a stop near Garnet. "That being said, we should try our best to go unnoticed Gar- Miss Dagger." She finished, barely stopping herself from calling her by her actual name.

"I know." Garnet replied, trying not to let her mood dampen. She was glad that Beatrix wasn't as persistent at sticking to formalities as Steiner had been and had used her nickname as they had discussed on the way here. "We have to be careful not to be noticed, but I don't see any guards or people paying attention to us yet and I doubt we will find any here in the poor district."

Beatrix shook her head but joined her in looking out over the railing instead of persisting.

"Is something bothering you?" Garnet asked, knowing that she would have normally been unrelenting in what she believed should be done.

"Despite our circumstances, I am gladdened to see you far more carefree than you have been since returning to the castle. If you don't mind me asking, is it simply because Zidane has returned or is it because you are free from the duties of the castle again as well?"

Turning her gaze away from Beatrix and back towards the city, she let out a relenting sigh. "I know it's wrong of me to say after everything that's happened, but it is nice having a break from the stress of trying to run a kingdom and I do miss being able to travel to different places that I can't see from the castle window…" Her expression turned more somber. "I just hope Steiner and the people of the kingdom will be okay."

"Relax, I'm sure Steiner is alright, he's actually come a long way." Blank interjected, nodding to himself. "Right now, we need to worry about what the hell is taking Zidane so long."

They knew coming to Treno was risky, but for now their only real option was to return to Mélamar and try to regroup then hopefully come up with a plan to deal with Braxton and the corrupt council. Garnet had originally thought that returning to Lindblum would be best, but even Beatrix had agreed that the chance of them making it there without being captured would be slim at best. Fortunately, Zidane had remembered that Burtrard had been planning on heading to Treno after leaving Alexandria to tend to some unfinished errands and would hopefully still be there to fly them back.

"Let us just hope this Burtrard can be trusted." Beatrix commented dryly. "From what I have heard, the man is a snake."

"Zidane wanted us to wait here, but I say we go see whats goin on." Blank added, rolling his shoulder and starting in the direction his friend had taken.

"Wait." Garnet stated firmly, grabbing his arm. "We need to stay here."

"Since when do you do everything Zidane asks you to? You don't listen to him either." Blank countered, pulling his arm free. "If we keep standing around here, we might as well turn ourselves in."

Garnet faltered for a moment, then moved in front of him blocking his path. "You're right, I don't. But sometimes I wish I had. We don't know who Burtrard is, and Beatrix may be right in that we can't trust him, but I DO trust Zidane." Her stance softened a bit as she continued. "Let's just give him a few more minutes?"

"Ugh." Blank groaned, making no effort to hide his frustration. "Fine, but if he doesn't come back soon I'm gonna go look for him and you won't stop me, but I guess for now I'll see if theres anything we need in this item shop." He relented, heading instead to the nearby shop.

"Um…Excuse me?" a little girl asked, tugging Garnet's sleeve and almost making her jump. "Did you say Zidane?"

"Huh?" Garnet fumbled, surprised by the girl's question and not sure how to respond. "Yes, He's… a very dear friend of mine."

"I see." The little girl beamed up at her. "You must be his Girlfriend!"

Garnet's face quickly reddened. "No!- I mean yes!.. well, we haven't really… How do you know him?" She finally managed to get out, trying to avoid the question.

"Well, I don't really." She shifted uncomfortably. "My name is Melamie. I never met him myself, but he helped my little brother Ralph feel a lot better when he was sad, and I wanted to thank him for it."

Garnet knelt down to her; embarrassment forgotten as her curiosity peaked. "What do you mean, what happened?"

Mel sobered slightly and stared at a dirty spot on the concrete as she concentrated on remembering. "It was all because some bad men were talking about the Queen of Alexandria."

"What were they saying?" Garnet asked uncomfortably.

"It was mostly the one big guy talking loudly… he was saying that the queen sent an assa..in?" She shook her head in frustration at not being able to pronounce it. "She sent a bad person to kill a guard, his name was Arnas I think; I used to play with his daughter Molly, but I haven't seen her since he it happened... anyway, they also said the queen was a tyrant that wanted to take our food and stuff away and a bunch of other bad things that were really mean."

Garnet forced herself to swallow as she processed this. She wasn't naïve enough to think people spoke nicely of her everywhere, but that didn't make it any easier to hear. "Where does your brother come in?"

"Well, first I noticed the cloaked man in the crowd as he tried to push past me toward the man that was saying the bad things. Even though I couldn't see his face I could tell how angry he was. If that makes sense? I don't know what he was gonna do if he made it through the crowd, there were a lot of people in his way, but I did see him reaching for a knife he was wearing so I think he was planning on hurting him… but that's when my brother, who was supposed to be picking up fruit from the market, started screaming at the bad man."

This time Garnet said nothing, lost in her own thoughts. "Me and my brother are from Alexandria, so it made him really angry when they started saying bad things about the queen because our daddy was a soldier that protected the castle. He tried to get them to stop saying bad things about her, but he's still really upset about what happened to our daddy and when they said he was being stupid and started talking about him too, he ran away crying." Mel continued, trying to hold back her own emotions at remembering her brother upset.

"My brother said that the cloaked man, I know it had to be the same one, followed him into the alley then sat and talked to him until he felt better. He told Ralph his name was Zidane and one of the things he told him that he remembered was that sometimes we have to do things to look after the people we love, even if it means you can't be with them the way you want to. Since then, my brother has been working really hard to help Momma so she isn't always so tired and they both seem a lot happier… so I wanted to thank him if I saw him again… If you're his girlfriend, will you tell him for me?" Mel finished, giving Garnet a slightly confused look as she wondered why she was wiping her tears away with her sleeve despite smiling warmly at her.

"I promise, I'll tell him. And even though I may not can speak for the queen of Alexandria, I promise I'll do everything I can to make sure no one take your food or stuff away and one day if I can, I'll make sure your mother doesn't have to work so hard and you and your brother can play more." Garnet finished as Mel beamed up at her.

"Really!? Do you mean it?" Mel asked excitedly. Garnet nodded assuredly and the young girl thanked her again before running off to continue her errands.

"It took me a long time to learn that sometimes a simple act of kindness can leave a deeper impact than most great deeds accomplished on the battlefield." Beatrix commented a Mel disappeared down the alley. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"I feel… better. As much as a part of me wishes I could just live a simple life, she reminded me that we still have so much left to fight for." Garnet answered, standing up confidently as Blank rejoined them.

"Did I miss something?" He asked, noticing their change in mood.

Beatrix shook her head dismissively. "Nothing important."

He was going to ask her to elaborate, if only to pass some time, but before he could Zidane finally rounded the corner looking for more tired than when they had arrived but also relieved.

"Hey, I'm sorry it took so long, is everyone ready to go?" Zidane asked.

"Yea, let's get the hell out of here." Blank answered. The others nodded in agreement.