Filling In The Blanks

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

Chapter 37: Life Without You

"Hey…" He handed the blonde a cup, steaming rising almost ominously out of it.

Sapphire eyes skeptically glanced up from the substance, though he squeezed the mug – it was warm on his cold hands. "Did you make this?"

"It's chicken noodle…" He shrugged and plopped down on the bed next to his friend's, and watched him.

The blonde glanced down again, swearing he saw something move. Taking a small sniff, he immediately recoiled, nose scrunching, "I thought it was cream of mushroom…"

The redhead huffed, "Just eat it!"

The blonde chewed his lip, before putting the mug to his mouth and sucking in some, before stealthily letting it slip back into the cup… Blank would never know…

Glittering light lingered, shooting through the blinds, and onto the bed and wooden floor in long strips. Not a lot of noise was heard from the highest room of the tall building in Terra, but there was enough from the rooms next to them that kept them occupied to silence.

"You know, Zidane…" Blank mumbled, causing him to look up, "It'll be any day soon… I hear rumors every time I walk down the street – people don't do a very good job in being quiet when someone from Tantalus walks by…"

Zidane nodded – he knew too… They had been in Terra for almost three weeks, and at first it was slow… They would do their act, and would live it up, and repeat the process… It was only a few mumbles that they never heard about, and suddenly it sprouted like a spring flower. The rumor that a dreamer was in plain sight in Terra had trembled through the city, and hopefully would be arriving in Alexandria soon…

Of course, this was excellent news to their mission, but the glum attitude of the team had definitely taken a toll… Their performance was still astonishing, but no one quite had the same energy they did when they first arrived… After the scare with Zidane had passed – he hadn't quite been the same.

He was quiet now, and more reserved, and everyone thought that was a delayed effect of the news of his inevitable death. He had, in truth, only told a surprising Cinna about the events that had truly sparked his attack that night… He didn't want to worry anyone else. The two had grown surprisingly closer after the facts were relayed to the other thief, though the difference to anyone else wasn't obvious.

Slowly, as each personally heard the rumor of Kuja's return to Terra to take the dreamer, and about the dreamer being there himself, their spirits began to drop, and all hpes relied on Marcus' promise to save Zidane's life…

"Our mission will officially start soon…" Zidane commented. There was an eerie silence for a moment, "Blank?"

"Huh?" The redhead replied, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms, all the while propping his feet up on the bed where the blonde resided.

"I don't want all these people to die…" He thought about how many people he had met, and even that strange girl – Mikoto, who had taken to Zidane like a sister, and become highly interested in Marcus.

"What do you mean?"

"When we take Kuja's ship, I know there's going to be a lot of people who are going to die…" He shook his head, "I don't want that to happen… These people have been amazing to us, and though the rumors are spreading rapidly, they've been nothing but confident and cheery… We can't just backstab them…"

"How do you propose we save them, Zidane?" Blank's face flushed crimson and he sounded suddenly angry. "We can't save you and all these people!"

He closed his eyes, the truth about his death had been settling in with him, knowing that Marcus could not do a thing about it, but he hadn't let it affect him. "You know I'd rather you save these people than me…"

"They're not quite as important as you…"

Zidane glared, "They're my race – they're just as important as me… They're the same… They all have families and hopes for the future, they all have things they want to fight for, and they probably all have the same amount of potential…"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Blank insisted stubbornly. "It's not like we could move the play, and make some big blow out performance to save a bunch of people! You're being unreasonable! And we can't store them away on our ship and taken them with us! That'd be even more idiotic!"

Zidane suddenly froze. Almost dropping the cup, he whipped it onto the table next to him and stumbled to stand. He hopped around the room trying to shove on his shoes and slip on his shirt all at the same time.

"What are you doing?" Blank demanded as the blonde made a beeline for the door, "I'm not done yelling at you!"

"Baku!" He yelled, bursting into the next room over. Everyone lazing around with their leader jumped – there hadn't been that much energy in Zidane's slur of words in a long time, and they were all a bit surprised.

"What's up with you, Kid?"

His finger jerked towards Mikoto, who leaned against Marcus, his body up against the wall. "Tell her!"

"What?" Baku glared, though confusing loomed over his features.

"Tell her everything!" Zidane barked, "Or I'm going to!"

"Zidane what are you –" Marcus began, but the blonde cut him off.

"I'm the dreamer Mikoto!" Everyone gasped, and Ruby jumped up; everyone was stunned, "We're all from the resistance and our main goal is to get Kuja here to capture his ship!"

She blinked a couple of times, face void of emotion. All was silent, now they wanted to hear the reply more so than stopping the reveal of their identities.

"I figured you were the dreamer, Zidane…" She already said, "That part is obvious… I think everyone actually probably assumes that."

A puff of air suddenly fell from Baku's mouth… He was shocked – how was no one else? Unknowing to him, the rest of his team had already pretty much thought that people must have been able to tell.

"But… This next part… I'm quite surprised about…" Her expression betrayed her words, but her eyes flickered with a mellow excitement. "The resistance?" She glanced at Marcus, "Who knew a couple of stars would be from that hardcore group…" She chuckled, flicking her own blonde hair from her face, "And who knew that you were all here to attempt a suicide mission…" She leaned forward.

"Kuja has had his eye on me for sometime… I won't deny that…" Taking in a deep breath, she knew she was revealing information not even Marcus knew, "There was talk for sometime that I would join him… Not necessarily as his partner, or some interesting, weird, marriage or anything, but more like his right hand… A power tool with the people – someone they knew isn't corrupt… But, that thought has been shot down by me many times…"

"Why are you saying all of this?" Baku demanded, suddenly gripping the hilt of his sheathed dagger, all as he narrowed his eyes, "What kind of traitor are you…"

"Believe me, I am no traitor…" She pushed off of Marcus, and leaned forward to look at Zidane directly, "I want to help… and I believe Zidane has an idea…" She nodded – through all of the noise this room had been creating, she had heard his and Blank's conversation…

"Let some of them join us…" Zidane jumped in immediately, obviously animated he already had the subject of his idea's support. "The next phase of the mission is to recruit people from around the world…" He nodded, "Why not start that now?"

"Because the first phase isn't over yet!" Blank tore into the room, eyes furious.

"If they want to help us, they can!" Zidane stared hard at everyone, "Why not get support from Terra, so that we don't have a need to come back here in the future. This place will be flooding with guards that I'm sure will never leave, and it will be all the more difficult to get help!"

Baku seemed to like the idea, but Ruby shook her head, "They'll all find us out!" She insisted, "Darlin' ya have the right frame of mind, but I'm dandy sure they ain't gonna let us continue if they find out what we doin'!"

"They won't find out…" Zidane insisted, "They want to help us! They could help us! And she could help us make sure we don't kill a bunch of innocent people!"

"Whoa…" Cinna sat up, "You didn't mention anything about saving people… Our plan is to capture Kuja's ship – isn't that enough for you right now, Zidane? I mean…" He glanced around, wondering if he should bring up the subject, but deciding now that decisions were being made, it'd be good to bring it up. "Your head is on the chopping block here – that's only going to make it even more inevitable that you're going to die."

"Who said anything about him dying?" Marcus glared, "I told you I'd take care of that!"

"Will you be able to? I still say we abort the whole damn thing!" Blank yelled, and soon voices erupted into arguments all around the room. Zidane squeezed his eyes shut, his head spinning.

"Everybody be quiet!" He screamed, causing most of the discussion to die into grumbles of protest. "We'll get to my death when we get there… But I'm not going to let Terra be wiped out to get this ship –"

"There were so many things we didn't think through before coming here…" Blank interrupted, slapping his hands onto either side of his head, "I don't think –"

"Shut up!" Zidane demanded as more people began to protest some more, "Please…" His eyes went wide and pleading, "We're a resistance fighting to make the world ours again… How is it going to look when we seek the help of others – if we just killed almost the whole population of Terra…" He shook his head, "Think about Lindblum and Alexandria, and Bermecia… What if we did that to those cities? Everyone would be mortified…"

The words slowly began to sink in, and everyone calmed down. Though all didn't necessarily agree with making the plan more dangerous and difficult, they couldn't argue that Zidane was right…

"What do you suggest we do?" Marcus asked.

"Move the play…" He smirked, his idea forming together, "Move the play out into the country, and keep me in the city… Make it obvious I won't be playing the role I normally do…"

"How do you suppose we get people to come to the play?"

"How do you suppose we offer you back up!"

"I got an idea…" Zenero offered, his often silent voice piping in. All eyes turned to him, causing him to shift uncomfortably, "If we want to offer Terra civilians the chance to join the resistance – why don't their first task be to take our spots in the play… Pretend we're all going to be there except for Zidane, and then hide us in the city to offer him support…"

"That's…" Zidane started, thinking about the downsides, but finding few, "Perfect!"

Mikoto spoke up next, "I'll make sure I get the word out to all who I know aren't loyal to Kuja… And make it the utmost secret that the resistance is recruiting…"

"That's excellent," Marcus commented, kissing her cheek, "Let's do it!"

"We don't have a lot of time," Baku warned, "If all of you spontaneous dumb shits want to do this… We have to do it soon!" His gruff voice was stern, and all of them nodded.

"We can make it work!" Cinna grinned, rubbing his stomach.

I hope so… Zidane through with a grin, masking the true nervousness of this situation…

Again he thought about how he would help the resistance, but his life was at an even higher risk now. What was the point though, if he couldn't make a difference?

And yet… thinking about the ones at home… about Dagger… Was making a difference worth dying for?

?

"You have very lovely hands…" He suddenly reached out and touched one of hers, and she blushed, glancing away.

"You see my hands all the time…" She murmured.

"Yes, but I just realized now how soft they were… I see them…" He leaned close and whispered in her ear, "But I don't always get to feel them…"

She didn't say anything as she looked away, eyes twinkling with embarrassment.

"Really though Garnet, they are lovely…" She shuttered, never quite getting used to the name…

"You should probably be going, Bronson… Steiner will be looking for his sparring partner…" He laughed, and turned over her hand, quickly bringing it to his lips and kissing it, before pushing off the ground, an exiting the tent.

The young girl leaned back on her right palm, while staring at the other. He had definitely taken an interest in her in the last two weeks, and surprisingly, she found herself with things to busy herself, despite the situation at hand…

And yet, when the thought of Zidane pierced into her mind, it ripped at her heart with a guilt too unbearable to imagine… She didn't consider this anything bad, and yet the way he spoke to her, the way he made her feel… Perhaps this was something to be worried about.

Bronson had known the girl for a two weeks. His sun-kissed, blonde hair, and tanned, toned muscles definitely weren't a sore sight for anyone's eyes. His beautiful chocolate eyes sparkled with a sense of pride and security that she seemed to radiate around his confidence.

He was an excellent addition to the resistance, and yet… To her feelings? She wasn't entirely sure…

Two Weeks Prior

"We're under attack!" Someone shouted, causing Dagger to glance up from her small game with Vivi.

He looked around, scared, "Oh no… What if they've been captured?" The young mage automatically thought of Zidane, and thought perhaps they were being attacked now because of the failure of the mission.

"No, it's okay, Vivi…" She insisted, jumping up and taking his hand to follow. "I'm sure they're fine!" She told him, shoving open the flap to her tent.

They had moved farther south – much farther south actually, and were near a forest. They didn't dare go any further, due to what could be in that forest, so they had decided to camp out away from there.

Now, as she moved outside, the autumn-like breeze, brushed her hair back and leaves towards her. People were running in and out of the forest, and confused, she moved to follow. Luckily, Beatrix caught both of them before they could get too far.

"No! You two can't go… You're the only people we need to protect right now… Go to the chamber, Cid will be waiting to stay with you!"

"But –"

"Go!" She insisted, pulling her long sword from it's sheath and running forward.

She began to back up as people began running out screaming. Vivi glanced at her, unsure of what to do, before she motioned to him, and retreated away from the woods.

Soon enough, she found the small stone path on the ground, carefully following it to a small, unnoticeable tree-root, sticking out of the ground in the shape of a handle. She pulled it, and a whole moss door opened, to reveal a small chamber below ground. Carefully, her and Vivi moved down the wooden log-like steps to the bottom. Cid was there already with a torch.

They hadn't made a very big safe house, that's for sure, but it was secure and sturdy, and they harbored a few supports in the small area. It was mainly for emergencies where only a handful of them had to be hidden… This was one of those times…

"What's going on?" Dagger demanded to Cid, who handed a blanket to Vivi and her – it was chilly under the soil.

"They've found people in the forest."

"Couldn't they be from Conde Petie?" She suggested, thinking all of this was silly, but obviously being nervous.

"No…" He shook his head, "True people… both are in armor, and both speak normally… At least, one screams normally and the other hollers with an Alexandrian accent."

"Alexandria…?" She yearned for thoughts of home, even though the city wasn't truly hers anymore. "What if they're allies –"

"That's what we're trying to figure out… Patients Dagger…" He put a hand on her shoulder and wrapped her in a quick hug, "It's far too dangerous before we know for sure… It could be a trick…"

And yet all she could think about was a lovely person who also shared the same dreams as her for restoring their homeland…

?

"Dagger! We need you!" Beatrix called out, pulling her along.

The danger had passed when they found one of the men wounded and unconscious, the other barley able to walk, but still fully there.

They were now calling in the young girl – their best white magic user – to help the unconscious man. She had viciously trying to fight her way in, and now she was getting there, though now more nervous than ever…

As soon as she entered the tent, she moved towards the man, who was unconscious, and barely breathing. "Please!" The other man scurried forward, "Save him! He's the only one I have left!"

She breathed, and glanced at the messy haired blonde, "I'll do my best…" With that she started the process she remembered she had picked up with almost natural talent, to save yet another person's life…

When it was all over, the man collapsed into the chair, glancing up at her through dirty bangs, "Thank you so much…" He shook her hand, "Bronson…"

"Dagger…" She nodded to him.

"I know you from somewhere…" He squinted, suddenly becoming suspicious.

Beatrix advised her to speak the truth – as any suspicions that could be killed right off the bat, should have been.

She sighed, and held out her hand, "Garnet Til Alexandros XVII…" And suddenly he beamed at her, bowing in front of her, instead of grasping her hand.

"Ahh… The future of our kingdom…" He spoke his words truthfully and in all seriousness, though the girl had to let out a laugh.

He was quite the charmer…

?

She had met him, and ever since had been spending every moment not training, with the man. He had learned everything about her so quickly, though part of her thought quite artificially as well. Sighing, she leaned back on both of her hands now, and thought about a mission far away from their own.

"Zidane…" She mumbled, closing her eyes with an ache. She missed him, and she was quite aware that Vivi missed him as well… And considering the glares that Steiner gave this new man, she was sure even he missed Zidane…

Smiling fondly, she pushed off the ground, and walked outside the tent, surprised to see sun leaking through the tree leaves. They had moved into the forest now, and were already setting up a resistance above and below ground. In the tops of the tall trees, small buildings were beginning to emerge, and long lines of ladders and intricate ropes were found, linking their small civilization above. Also, their underground fortress was being rebuilt with the same scheme as before – using the first dug out chamber, as their new escape, just incase…

They built it bigger, knowing they'd have more people joining them whenever Tantalus got back…

She bowed her head to stare at the multi colored leaves scattered about the ground. Though she had someone distracting her from the distress of losing Zidane, she knew that there was nothing going on that she couldn't stop…

She was waiting for Zidane to return, and when she did, she would be right back in his arms…

Since when was leading a resistance wrapped up with love affairs? That didn't seem like her at all…

?

A/N: I know the second part was random, but give it time, and it will all explain itself. And don't automatically hate Dagger – there are those people out there who are just swept off their feet by people… Besides, her and Zidane weren't dating…

Calm down :) hold your horses, everything will turn out don't worry! :D

-zesty-