Filling In The Blanks

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 9 or any of its characters.

A/N: I'm very sad because no one is reviewing anymore :( I'm actually keeping up to date, and things are actually picking up, and no one wants to review. I'm very sad… When I get at least 2 reviews I'll update again :)

Chapter 35: On Our Way

"Come here you dumb asses so we can go over the plan again!" Baku barked the orders, and yet he saw his entire crew still chasing each other around with the canned cheese they found in Conde Petie.

Zidane defended himself with his tail – a long reach, and an easy spray to Marcus' face, who was otherwise too tall to get. That's when a shorter Blank knows he should ally himself with the hostile man, and jump on his shoulders to become invincible. Cinna was too fat to catch anyone, so he sprayed it on his hand and catapulted it across the room. Even Zenero was helping, spraying cheese on Marcus and Blank's backs when they least expected it.

The saddest part of this whole thing, was that Ruby sat at the other end of the large, wooden room, filing down her nails, as though she was too good to play with the rest of the crew. Baku smirked, screw plans… Why not have some fun…

He motioned to Marcus who threw him a can of cheese, and ever so slowly, he stalked over to an unsuspecting Ruby. When she finally looked up, she caught the scent, taste, and feel of the canned cheese. The substance muffled her scream as the others ran over to join in.

Finally they got Ruby to go kick ass, and she slammed her foot up in between Baku's crotch, causing him to stumble sideways and bowl everyone over. They all burst out laughing, besides their captain, who spewed curses as loud as he could. She glared, and wiped all of the cheese from her face, spatting it from her hand onto Blank.

"You of all people!" She huffed, stomping away.

That sent everyone into a new spout of howls, though this time it was Blank who sat up and crossed his arms to pout. "I didn't even start it and she's mad at me!"

"Maybe you should go help her clean up," Cinna nudged him in the arm, "I think she might shower!" Blank's face went beat red and again, the whole crew burst into hoots.

"She might even let you –" Marcus started with a nasty grin.

Blank slapped a hand over his mouth, "You utter one more word, this dagger –" he unsheathed his dagger and let it gleam in front of his team mate's eyes, "- will be shoved so far up your ass you won't be able to shit for three weeks!"

"That'll hurt to shit out!" Cinna laughed – this time, neither Marcus or Blank were laughing, while Zidane and the fat navigator rolled on the floor, tears in their eyes.

"At least I can get some…" Blank shot defensively, causing Cinna to stop dead in his tracks. Marcus, Zidane, and even Baku began to laugh all over again.

"I had a girlfriend once upon a time!" Cinna glared.

Zidane perked up, "What? He did?"

"It was a couple years ago," Marcus chuckled, "Cinna, she was blind… She couldn't see you!"

The blonde gaped, not really believing what he just heard, "What?" He snorted.

"It means I have a good personality!" He smirked a little, and smoothed out his clothing to act a smidge cooler.

"It means she musta been deaf too…" Blank sighed, getting up, and helping up the blonde. Baku staggered back over to the wheel and took it from Zenero while Cinna still sat upon the floor, absolutely shocked that someone could say such a thing about him.

"Now, since all of that fun is over, come here so we can look at the plan!" Baku barked, and everyone slowly made their way over.

"Who needs plans?" Marcus snorted, "Isn't improvising kind of our thing?"

"Nothing ever goes according to plan anyway," Blank stated bitterly, sitting in a chair and leaning back, "It hasn't ever since I've joined Tantalus."

"Can you just shut up and listen?" He glanced up, "Cinna get your big ass over here!"

That earned snickers from the rest of the crew, while the tanned thief grumbled and walked over. "Damn you all…" He growled, but everyone ignored him.

"Alright…" He pulled out his miniature castle.

"That's Alexandria…" Marcus pointed out, "We used that on the last mission."

"Well it's going to be Terra now, so shut up."

"You were too cheap to get a new one?" Cinna asked, disgusted.

"Like we've been anywhere that I could!" Baku yelled, "Just listen to the God damn plan!" He ordered, slapping himself in the face.

The young team glanced at each other and shrugged, gracing their leader with silence. The ship creaked, and they could hear the waves far below them ever so faintly. There must have been a storm coming – otherwise there wouldn't be a chance to hear the water, even if they were flying extremely low. For now, everyone ignored it.

Baku put his finger on part of the castle, "Okay. When we get to Terra, already we're going to be suspicious. God knows that Kuja is going to have his freaky guards everywhere, and we obviously do not want that. Act cool, and actually act like we're doing a play. Don't just sit and throw cheese at everyone like you were doing before."

Blank glared at the castle, suddenly sort of angry. They hadn't been here in absolute years, and now when they go back, they had to be undercover from the start. The last Tantalus mission he had gone on, they were able to move in and out of the city, and though questions had been shot at them, they were able to pass.

This time, they had to flat out lie, and he didn't like that. Sure, he was a thief, crafty, shady, and whatever else went along with being Blank. But he did know that, though it was the only way they could get into Terra and go about their mission, he hated it – it shouldn't be that way…

"So we should be serious then, huh?" Zidane asked, leaning on the table, his chin in his hand, elbow on the wood.

"Yes…" Baku slapped his arm, "And you're blocking the other half of the castle!"

The blonde sat up straight, "Sorry," he grinned at his teammates, who once again snickered in return. "Someone's crabby…" He retorted, causing a high pitched giggle to escape Cinna's mouth.

Instead of replying, everyone stared at the navigator, who could only shrug and wave his hand in the air, "Continue… It won't happen again…"

"When we get into Terra, we're going to be performing I Want to be Your Canary."

"Uhh…" Cinna scratched his chin, "Shouldn't we do something a little easier? No offense, but Zidane hasn't acted with us in a while, and…" He trailed, glancing at the blonde.

The Genome thought about his dreams of this play, and the once-world he remembered so vividly. He remembered how he had written the whole thing down, and was going to become someone by passing it off as his own in a world that was no longer his. He recalled reciting it to Dagger, and the flashbacks of when he had gone with Blank to see it for the first time came fourth in his head… He definitely had the play memorized.

"Don't worry… I've got it down," Zidane promised with a defiant nod.

"See? The kid knows his shit," Baku smirked. "Anyways, once we get into Terra, we're going to start performing right away. And we're going to be one of those theater ships that seems to be there for three weeks plus."

"Three weeks?" Blank's eyes widened, though no one could see it. "That's one hell of a long time to put on a play!"

"It'll be only twice a week… So we, in theory, won't be acting a whole hell of a lot… Anyways, it'll be typical – like a show that makes sure everyone who wants to see it actually gets to see it. I promise that I'll make sure it's sold out at least the first four times we do it…"

"How do you suppose you're going to pull that off?" Marcus questioned skeptically; he crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at the others. Cinna was scratching his stomach, and Zidane was flicking lint at Blank, sticking it to the cheese on his arm as he watched, oblivious to the doings of the blonde.

"I'll raise and lower the prices as need be. Not only am I a great actor, but I'm an excellent business man."

"What a surprise." Marcus rolled his eyes.

"Why do we need to be there for three weeks if we're just performing a play?" Blank asked, leaning forward in his chair. This caused Zidane to stop flicking fuzz and pay attention to the conversation.

"Our mission isn't to go to Terra, goof off, and sight-see… While we're there, we need to start rumors… gossip that spreads between people, which ultimately gets heard by Kuja's guards, and sent off the continent to the guy himself. We need him to take immediate action to get to Terra… Spreading the right words about resistance work (though definitely not directly what it is) and about one dreamer being in Terra will send him running over."

"How do you know he'll come personally?" Cinna stood and clasped his hands behind his back, walking around and staring at all the random paintings and accessories decorating the walls to make it more lively. "I mean, we have to look at it from a bad guy's perspective. Why would he come all the way over, if he doesn't have to, and can easily enough just have his guards do it?"

"Think about it…" Marcus spoke, before Baku could process an answer. "How many times has he been close to catching either Zidane or Vivi, and failed when they were almost in his grasp? He knows how good Zidane is, otherwise he wouldn't be after him…"

"And he must be swimming in agitation because he hasn't taken care of the resistance problem yet…" Blank nodded, shaking his finger in the air as the ideas dawned on him.

"Which would mean, Kuja would have to take leadership, and actually do something for himself!" Zidane finished in a rather excited tone.

"Exactly what I was thinking!" Baku announced, pleased with himself, though he did absolutely nothing.

"If both a dreamer and hardcore resistance members are at stake, surely he'll come himself…" Marcus decided, settling back into his chair to get comfortable.

"I know it'll be tough for just us and the band to do, but we'll need to steal Kuja's ship… Now these rumors, though they'll spread at a moderately good rate, will take a very long time to build so high and so true (without being proven of course) that Kuja will have to come over in a heartbeat…"

"Is that why we're going to be performing so much?" Ruby asked, walking back into the room, completely cheese free.

He nodded.

"Wait… Hold on…" Blank stopped the whole conversation and stood, his small being almost quivering, "You want us to steal Kuja's ship?"

"You were at the meeting," Baku shot back, "We need his ship to recruit people. Cid can't do all the work himself."

"I just find that far-fetched, I mean… we're going to need back up, otherwise Zidane's going to be killed. Or maybe even something worse!"

Everyone got quiet after that. Cinna and Baku exchanged quick, but multiple glances. The blonde was the first to pick up on it.

"I don't have any intentions of returning to the resistance, do I?" He asked bluntly, though cautiously. Again, he met silence.

"We wouldn't let you go, buddy!" Blank insisted, but still his voice met no reply, when he thought for sure, there'd be cheers of encouragement.

Marcus leaned forward in his seat, and after a long few minutes of absolute despair setting into the redhead he spoke, "So we gain a seventy-five percent advantage in this war, but at the price of someone we've just gotten back?"

That summed up their entire problem, causing the pain to be so obviously explained.

"I say we don't do it." Blank said simply, causing them all to look towards him.

"Blank –" Zidane began.

"No. I don't care about anyone else's opinion, but I'm not going through this again!"

"Come on…" The blonde tried to coax his mood back in – keep the calm.

"I refuse to lose a teammate, a fighter, my best friend to Kuja… for good this time. I'm not taking part in that again. I won't let it happen – I will blow our cover all at once to make sure he does not die."

"Don't be rash… It's me or a whole civilization, Blank… It's me or everything you all have worked for, for years."

"A life is more important than time. We have all the time in the world – Kuja's not going anywhere!"

"But then neither will we…" Zidane's voice was quiet as he stood from his chair.

Blank shoved the castle over, shattering it on the ground. "How can you even think like that? How could any of you let that thought creep into your mind, and not automatically stomp it out? It's suicide…"

This time, Zidane didn't even have anything to say back to the redhead. His anger evaporated almost as fast as it came, and his furious tone was replaced with a desperate plea, "None of you were there… None of you saw when that thing took him away five, almost five and a half years ago…" He shook his head, "No one knew the feeling of abandoning your best friend for the sake of your own life. To come back with the most help you could find, and see there wasn't a trace of him left besides the dagger. There was no laughter, no messing around, just no Zidane. I thought I had lost him forever, and you see what kind of wreck that put me through. But I didn't even know for sure that he was killed… This time I would know."

Blank shook his head when no one answered him, and walked off, kicking large chunks of the castle that were in his way, before he slammed the hallway door. They knew he was off to his room.

Ruby bit her lip and started to go after him.

"Ruby…" Marcus started. She turned back around, her big, round eyes pleading; he only shook his head, "Don't… Not yet… Give him time…"

She walked further into the room and bent down, starting to pick up the castle he had ruined. That's when Zidane walked over from his spot, and knelt down, sweeping the pieces together with his hand. The other three watched them as they picked it up.

It wasn't long before there was less picking up the castle, and more silent tears spilling onto the wood. Zidane noticed the first time a droplet soaked into the floor, causing one small circle to be darker than the rest. But he finally stopped cleaning and wrapped his arms around the girl when her shoulders shook. As soon as he pulled her into him, she sobbed quietly.

"Blank's right…" It was surprisingly, hardened Marcus who spoke this. "We were all effected by the loss of Zidane, but Blank took it the hardest. Think about his actual team… Think about Dagger – she needs to be strong enough to lead the resistance… She won't be if she finds out he's dead… Think about Vivi… As harsh as it sounds, he is one of our ultimate weapons right now. He won't be useful if his first ally is gone… If Zidane couldn't withstand it, being truthfully more powerful than anyone else, then how can the rest of us? How can the resistance as a whole stand a chance, if we let one of two of our most important members die? Think about if we all knew he was dead – there wouldn't be a hope left in this world."

"I won't let us sacrifice this mission for my safety. This is the best chance we have, and I know all of you know it…"

"I know…" Marcus nodded solemnly, "This is our best shot at having a hope of winning this war… But I'm not prepared to lose you over it…" He smirked slightly – a determined look spreading across his face, "There has to be another way."

"We're open for suggestions," Cinna threw in.

"Give me time, I'll work it out…" He knelt down next to the pair already on the floor and put his hand on Ruby's shoulder, "Ruby… please go calm Blank down… Tell him we're going to find a plan… Talk to him about it – you're both feeling some intense emotions right now."

"You really think you can pull off recreating a plan within a destiny?"

"It's destiny for Zidane to die, sure… But not until he's old and wrinkled, and can hardly walk anymore… This is simply an altered detail… Like I said – if you give me time, I'll think of something… And I'll have it done before Kuja arrives – you have my word."

Baku nodded, "We're counting on you Marcus."

"Right…" He watched as Ruby slowly, and shakily, made her way across the spacious room of the ship, and gingerly opened the door.

"So what now?" Zidane asked, tilting his head.

"Right now, we train, and we work on everything we need to work on… We're going to treat it as though nothing has changed – after all, Zidane's not in danger yet…"

"He's got just as much chance of dying right now, than we all do," the heavier thief threw in his two-sense as well, "Everything will work out…" Marcus' words had influenced his own feelings on the situation.

Zidane smirked, "I trust that I'm in good hands…" He high fived Marcus, and wandered off to find a broom, leaving the fighter, leader, and navigator to their thoughts.

Did Baku really believe they could save the blonde's life? Not really… but he wasn't going to dampen anyone's spirit… Who knows… his team had always been good at starting a fight with the impossible and winning…

Who says Zidane's life would be any different of an outcome?

?

"Vivi!"

The walls began to melt, the very detail blurring together in a slippery line he couldn't make out. "Vivi where are you! You have to help me! I can't do this alone! I can't be the only dreamer here!"

The others had perished, Steiner had been stabbed before his very eyes... His last words 'save the princess' rang through his head, causing his heart to throb. Beatrix had been kidnapped long ago – perhaps that's why the knight was willing to let go. He watched as the whole Tantalus crew fell at the hands of Kuja, all while performing the play, someone taking the blonde's role so he didn't have to be there.

And Dagger – precious Dagger… She was gone too. No where to be found, and he knew if he didn't hurry, she would be dead too. He couldn't let that happen to her – the pain was filling his lungs like water, suffocating and drowning him, causing him to seemingly run slower and slower.

"Vivi!" He shouted out. He needed the black mage more now, than the young boy had ever needed him. He had lost him. Vivi depended on him the most, and yet he had let also him get away…

He was nothing… Just a useless person, fighting for a cause that was lost long ago…

Suddenly, he rounded the corner and saw a girl. Her long blonde hair fell down her back, and he blinked a few times to make sure he had the gorgeous pink gown right. She turned lightly.

"Zidane? I thought that was you…" She smiled, and he could only make out the ruby on her lips – no other features were visible. The waves in her hair were pinned elegantly to the sides. "You're going to be late you know…"

"Who…" He trailed, as realization dawned on him.

She turned all the way around, revealing her gorgeous face. Her emerald eyes were lined with make up, and she truly was the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on. "Isn't this what you wanted, Zidane?" She picked up her dress and turned it completely, "You and me to be together? I know you always had thoughts that we would settle down…"

He took a step back as he realized that her hands were not the color of skin… but the color of blood.

"Elouise…" He breathed the name that sounded so very foreign to him now.

"What's the matter honey? Aren't you ready to begin our rule together?"

"Why is there blood on your hands?"

"Oh this?" She took her delicate hands off her dress, and he watched as droplets rolled down the beautiful, pink material, staining it. "Well… I had to take care of the revolt somehow…"

He dared to push past her, and saw what haunted him most. Blood seeped down the steps from a body. Though the head was behind a bench, he knew who it was by the slender and petite body.

"We're going to rule Alexandria together, aren't we? Just like you always told me?"

"What have you done?" He questioned in a whisper.

"I had to – for us…" She wrapped her arms around his waist, and somehow, though his mind screamed no, he found his hands pressing over hers. The warm liquid began to seep through his thin clothing. "It was the only way to get what we want."

"What about Vivi?" He questioned.

"Who?"

It seemed as though he were going into a trance. "The…" Closing his eyes, she whispered in his ear, words of encouragement and praise – words of Elouise's kind voice he hadn't heard in what seemed like years. "No one…"

"Zidane!" The small voice rang out of nowhere, "Zidane don't! Help!" The scream was louder than he had ever heard before, and suddenly it filled his very ears so loud he couldn't even hear himself think.

?

"Zidane!"

"Vivi!" He yelped, shooting up in bed. He was in a cold sweat, and his eyes were wide and scared.

"Whoa… What's wrong with you?" Sapphire eyes met chocolate ones, as Cinna poked at him. "You okay?"

"Worst dream ever…" He mumbled, shaking his head and rubbing it.

"Well, I came in here to tell you to look outside!" The thief insisted.

Both of them scampered over to the window as the blonde tried to let go of his dream as fast as possible. "Look…" Cinna pulled open the curtain and allowed Zidane to peak outside, "We're in Terra…"

Light blue and vibrant pink bulbs seemed to light the air. If he squinted he could make out distinct crystals giving off this mysterious light. Few people walked about, and those who did bore a beautiful, chestnut tail. Though some, wearing robes, and others wearing armor, were normal humans, you could definitely tell who was from Terra, and who wasn't…

Buildings shot up everywhere, being built around the lovely emerald grass, and sprouting, giant mushrooms. Terra's significance in the world was small, but the beauty was rare and almost always overlooked. Peace and quiet seemed to dawn over the gorgeous place.

Slowly, Prima Vista turned, and he could see the river flowing merrily through the town, sending off tranquil vibrations that made him want to fall back into a trance of a sleep.

"This is one hell of a place to stay for the next month…" Cinna mumbled, equally as tired.

Zidane watched as the light became more normal. The hues of the crystals shown brightly to the world outside of the city, but once under its field of light, the skies looked darker, like night as it should have been, the colors only as bright as stars. Surely in the day, it would look quite contrasting.

"This is it!" Marcus mumbled, moseying into the room, "This is our life for the next few weeks…"

"Take a good look…" Blank mumbled to Zidane, the only other in the room knowing what exactly the blonde was going to do while here…

?

A/N: I really loved that chapter, and I loved writing it! I like that I could bring that Tantalus crew as a whole back into this! So the solemn news about Zidane is shared. I really like how passionate Blank is, still feeling guilty after all these years about the incident in Treno.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter as much as I did! I cannot wait to write Terra – it's going to be so much fun! :D The dream was creepy, is it not? He tends to have those disturbances in his life, and I don't like them… Lol I wish he would stop :) Maybe if and when he meets Elouise ever again, they'll finally end. Enough of my ranting ^-^

Please review and let me know what you think!

-zesty-