Filling In The Blanks
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 9 or any of its characters.
Chapter 49: Time to Go
The sun's golden rays were just peaking over the horizon line. The air was crisp, stinging his nose and throat when he sucked it in. He adjusted the pack on his shoulder, eyes sweeping his companions. Not many were out yet – ready to leave the rickety home they had made for themselves after their flee from Dali.
Sapphire eyes caught sight of a blue jay, her song brightening the dreary mood of the morning, and lightening his spirit a little bit. Some animals could still go on being happy… that meant that every species still had a chance at it, right?
"Zidane…" He turned around, relief flooding his features.
Dagger was standing in front of him a little awkwardly. Her arms wrapped around herself protectively, like she was holding herself up, and her eyes were guarded, but hurt. The wind brushed her hair away from her face so he could see her clearly.
He straightened, and a small, lopsided smile took over his face. "Hey Dagger…"
"I…" Her frail voice clipped off at the end, and she blinked helplessly at him. But she promised herself that when she did finally speak to him, she would keep herself intact – strong. The girl sucked on her lip for a moment, before sighing and staring at him straight in the eye. "I'm going to protect you…"
His breath left him in a sort of laugh, and he made a swift motion towards her. Covering the three our four foot distance between them in almost no time flat, he swept her up in his arms and hugged her tight. She clung to him in return.
"You're coming home with me… I made a promise, and dammit… I'm determined to keep it."
"Oh Dagger…" He brushed his lips against her hair, feeling the warmth radiate from her, as he tried to make himself bigger to protect her from the chilly wisps of wind. "We still have time to talk… We will talk… We've got time…"
Not a lot of time… She wanted to remind him, but at this point, the raven wasn't going to be picky. So she nodded her head, tucking herself beneath him further. "Yes… we do."
Eiko looked on at them, smiling triumphantly. She had done her job in making the girl speak to her precious Zidane, and for that, she really had no reason to be angry.
The rustling of leaves brought her attention to the right, and her amber eyes slid to a stop on none other than Vivi. His eyes widened a little, obviously intimidated by the free opinion of this girl, and he took an unconscious step away from her.
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Is that any way to treat a lady?"
"S-sorry…" She imagined if she could see it, he'd be blushing right about now.
"Are you okay? There's no reason to be so grumpy this early in the morning!" He gave her a long, strange look, before shaking his head.
"I'm not grumpy," he insisted, "it's just early and cold –"
"Suck it up, buttercup! We're on the edge of the forest! A few feet into the wild plains and you hit desert! How could you possibly be cold?!"
He took another step back and she huffed, so obviously offended. He turned away from her then, and focused his attention elsewhere. It took a while of staring on her part, to realize he had no intentions of focusing back on her, before she finally followed his gaze.
The pair watched Steiner and Beatrix say goodbye to some people they'd been teaching to fight for months. There was a young couple from Dali who had fled with them, hoping to fight. And then there was a woman – probably around eight months pregnant, who swept Beatrix up in a hug, igniting a laugh from the chestnut haired woman.
A handful of braver young men ventured proudly towards Steiner to shake his hand and wish him the best of luck, and one even had enough nerve to sweep up Beatrix's hand and give it a chaste kiss.
"I wish that many people cared that I was leaving…" Vivi's shocked face turned towards the girl, who kicked at the dirt beneath her with her shoe.
"What?" He asked her, wondering if he heard right.
She gestured at the former knights in front of her with a shrug, "I mean look at them! They're basically famous – well… they are kind of famous, everybody knows about them… But I mean, watch how everybody says goodbye like they're genuinely scared they'll never come back… Do you see people coming up to me and saying that to me?" She sighed, "I know I've only been here a few months but… someone ought to care by now…"
Vivi stared at the girl for a moment. Her normally loud and happy (if not hyper active) nature was dropped, and she stared at the ground sadly.
"All I've ever had were the moogles… And they can't come with me – not even Mog…" She closed her eyes, feeling the first signs of warmth in the air when she shifted into the sun. "I miss them…"
Without really thinking about it, suddenly Vivi turned and started to walk away. She jumped at his sudden movement, her head snapping up, jaw dropping when she saw him so rudely marching away.
Blinking, the girl wasn't sure what to say, and slowly turned around. Her confusion clouded even the ability to be mad and scream at him, and that awful feeling of thinking nobody would even notice if she died on this mission sunk over her again.
She sat in silence for a few minutes, hearing the suddenly loud chatter around her. She saw everyone embracing someone – nobody (save for Amarant standing, angry, against a tree, but he hated everybody) was alone… except her.
Even Quina had a few of the younger children, not quite scared enough to stay away, but too frightened to get too close, coming to say goodbye to him.
"Excuse me…"
She turned around, annoyed that Vivi had so easily come back. But when she turned, she saw that his jacket and hat were on his head backwards, and he tried to squint his eyes to make himself look different.
A snort escaped her throat despite her best efforts, and she shook her head, "Vivi, what are you doing?"
"Vivi? Who is this Vivi you're talking to me about?" He asked, his voice shy.
"Oh?" She raised her eyebrow, "Who are you then?"
"I'm…" He glanced around nervously, unsure of what to say. But then his yellow eyes seemed to light up, "I'm Ivi!"
"Ivi… That's a funny name!"
"So is Eiko!" He told her, putting his hands on his hips. Her boisterous laughter stopped abruptly.
"Did you come here to make fun of me?! I don't want to deal with it right now!" Eiko stomped her foot, her cropped purple hair flying in front of her face.
He tried to stop a laugh as he straightened up, suddenly finding humor in her little tantrum. It was like he gained random confidence pretending to be someone else.
"I actually came to just tell you something…"
"What?" She snipped at him.
"I'm really glad I've gotten to know you over the last few months…" He started, watching her face closely for a reaction. It took a minute for her to realize what he was saying, but he stopped her before she could say anything. "You're um… voice is very formidable, and if I didn't see how short you are, I'd be kind of scared of you… Actually, I already kind of am – but" he threw his hands in front of him, shaking them side to side, "In a good way! And well…" In the quickest way possible, he leaned forward and pecked her cheek, before wheeling backwards, averting his eyes. "I hope that you come back alive…"
And just like that, he was racing away to nowhere in particular – just really hoping to get out of sight from the girl.
She blinked and touched her cheek, watching the mage run off. Had he really done all that just to please her? Her signature face-splitting grin plastered her face, and her eyes brightened. "You too!" She called as loud as she could, earning a few stares from others, but for the most part, going ignored… especially by Vivi himself.
"You look crabbier than usual, Blank," The blonde teased, passing him on the way into the airship.
Cinna snickered and made faces at the redhead as he walked by, sticking his tongue out and poking at him. Blank slowed down, an irritated scowl carved further into his face.
"Knock it off you two!" Baku barked from behind them, and the shortest thief turned around, desperation on his face.
"I wasn't even doing anything!"
Cinna snickered and continued to dance around him, trying to piss him off further. It didn't take long, however, for Marcus to catch up, and smack his plump friend on the side of the head. He lost his balance and tumbled into Blank.
The redhead couldn't get out of the way in time and tripped over his own feet, clawing at the air, trying to find something to catch himself. Zidane's shoulders' were the unfortunate victims and all three of them collapsed in a heap of tangled limbs on the ground.
Ruby was the next to pass them, and she flipped her hair over her shoulder, "How immature! I need ta find betta company!"
"Just shut up and get on the ship," their leader spoke to everyone, rolling his eyes and face palming.
Beatrix watched the group in silent awe as she walked. Her steps were careful, and her armored boots echoed on the wooden ramp they took into the Prima Vista. It wasn't exactly her choice of airship, but she wouldn't complain.
What really concerned her was Tantalus themselves. Here they were, all bickering and laughing with each other, no matter how eerie the attitude was. She imagined it was something like this – bitter sweet moments that had everyone letting out hard laughs – on the way to Terra as well, Zidane's short future laid out in front of them for all to see the ending.
With her hands clasped behind her back, her almond eyes swept over the first view of the ship. To be perfectly honest, she hadn't been on this ship many times in her life, and Tantalus had been with the resistance for what felt like forever. The theatre troupe was about as elite as they came, considering it was a group of teenage thieves who conned people by performing plays.
A wry smile formed on her lips as she flicked one of her large curls away from her cheek. The brunette wondered if they'd ever live long enough to do that again… Nowadays, very few places in the world could Tantalus go, without being recognized by Kuja's goons, and captured.
Captured…
They could all be captured on this next mission… Captured, tortured, killed… She found it ironic that Alexandria was the place she fought for, and yet… that would be her demise.
"Beatrix…" She jumped a little when her name was spoke, and she turned around to see Cid, standing behind her with a concerned look on his face.
"Yes, Regent Cid?" She gave a slight bow, but he put his hand up to stop her.
For a moment, he had to halt and looked at the woman. So many years he watched as the pain of the war ground into her eyes… Her hopes of having a family – of Alexandria being restored – slowly slipping away. And yet here she stood still, with her duties out in front of her, even enough to give a slight bow to a man who no longer possessed a kingdom.
"I know that you see it fit, despite what Adelbert says…" Beatrix raised an eyebrow in surprise. He only ever used Steiner's first name when he was about to say something really sincere… "That Garnet lead and does what she deems fit –"
"Regent –"
He held up his hand once more, softly though, a tender look in his eyes. "And I agree with that… Only…" He glanced up the board, seeing the last of the fallen Tantalus members gain their balance and board the ship, still horsing around. "I fear she will do whatever it takes to protect Zidane, and while I full heartedly agree that she should be allowed to do this," he looked away, almost ashamed, "if it comes down to the very last second, and it is a choice between letting Dagger live or die, please do not let my niece die…"
Needless to say, the former knight was positively shocked. The words that Cid spoke were so grave, yet so true. She tried to imagine, in all the images and knowledge she'd gained through the war, what the scenario would be like – ripping Dagger away from Zidane at the last second, when she still believed in her heart she could save him – if she had the strength to do it at all…
He took her silence as a cue to continue, "If we are to come out of this war, no matter how broken and batter, but victorious… That is the time that Dagger must rise to her true title as Queen Garnet Alexandros XVII," he shook his head gravely, "No matter what she may say, or the feelings she may hold, Garnet is our hope in this rebellion… Seeing that there is still a young ruler – a new generation that holds hope of a free future, people will fight… If Garnet falls…"
Beatrix had to look away. To pull Dagger away from the happiness she had found in this wretched war? That was almost unbearable to think about. But as the seconds passed and Cid remained calm, but steady for an answer, her eyes slowly found their way back to his face.
"I'll protect her…" Her eyes were hard, expression unreadable. "Just like I always have."
"Thank you, Beatrix… I know it is so much to ask, but I fear for my niece's safety… I wish with all my heart I didn't have to send her away – that I could keep her with me underground until all the bad in her world has gone away…"
"But she will fight…"
He nodded, his eyes slowly closing as he released a breath. "Indeed, she will fight…" At that point, the brunette wasn't sure if he was still talking about her will to help protect, or fight to protect Zidane in particular. "Good luck, Beatrix…" He took her hand in both of his, his deep eyes finally showing his age – especially after the toll of being on the run for so long.
"Thank you, Regent…" She smiled at him then, realizing that though she might not agree with his words, he deserved a little consoling once in a while too… Even though he did not participate in field battles, he made all behind-the-scene decisions, and losing your love and your kingdom could be a pretty difficult thing to swallow.
With that, she found herself turning away and finally, the last to board the ship. She was hoping that once they were done traveling the world as test dummies for other places to be scoured for help… Maybe she would finally have enough people behind her to go home… Not just to the broken sticks of the forest, or under the soil of Dali… but home to Alexandria.
Maybe they would win…
And then she entered the room, spying Dagger longingly watching Zidane tick off Blank, Ruby chastising the two, even though the redhead was saying nothing, and her heart sunk. If they won… what price would it come at?
Would Dagger even be fit to rule a kingdom, if Zidane's life was lost?
"Hey Marcus! How come you hate pissing Blank off nowadays? It used to be a pass time of ours!" Cinna griped, squatting down and then leaning back until he was on his butt, and could stretch his legs out in front of him.
"Ha ha…" Blank grumbled, narrowing his eyes, though his headband covered the hostile gesture.
Zidane grinned at Marcus, "He just can't watch someone else get tormented who has the same attitude as him… That wouldn't be right."
"You best shut your mouth, Zidane," Marcus warned, his steely eyes landing on his blonde friend, "Karma might come bite you in the ass!"
The thief sat up, eyebrow risen, in challenge. "Oh? What was that Marcus? An invitation?"
"I think that'd be a warnin', Zidane…" Ruby shook her finger at the duo on the floor, from her chair by the controls. "Ya'll better stop pickin' on Marcus and Blank, or they're sure to snap and come after ya!"
"I really doubt that!" Cinna rolled his eyes and laid back on the wood. "Hey, how come nobody else ever wants to come talk with us!" He glanced at the blonde beside him, who matched his stare with a perplexed look.
"Who's this 'us' you're talking about, Cin?"
Said thief stuck his tongue out, and then adopted an irritated expression. "No wonder why you're so good at annoying people!" That one actually earned a chuckle from Marcus, and Blank shook his head – signaling he at least thought it was funny.
"Would you guys shut up?!" Baku barked from the control chair, his conversation with Steiner finally interrupted enough to say something.
"You know what's the best?" Marcus questioned, ignoring their leader altogether.
"What?" The three other boys asked, taking the bait.
"Pissing Baku off," he hissed, an impish grin coming over his face.
The other boys chuckled, and decided they'd act on this.
"I wouldn't –"
"Ahh, you're no fun, Rubes! Go be a party pooper somewhere else!" Blank insisted, shooing her away. She huffed and stormed to the other side of the room, intent on talking to Dagger. But said girl seemed to be engrossed (like most others who were present) on the scene at the front of the ship.
Cinna got up, deciding to take one for the team, and become the bait. "Hey! Bak! Come look at this! I think there's something wrong with the meter!" He pointed, and threw a glance over his shoulder.
The others looked far too innocent for their own good, but the man didn't notice. Usually, Cinna knew his stuff when it came to ship maintenance. He flicked the auto pilot switch and hobbled on over to check it out.
With a battle cry all their own, the three other boys threw themselves at Baku, tackling him to the ground. With a cheeky grin from Cinna, he belly flopped into the fray of yelling, punching, and probably some biting as well.
"How unprofessional!" Steiner commented, aghast.
"You just don't know how to have fun!" Zidane insisted from the ground, barely dodging a punch from his angry (but somehow still laughing) superior.
"I know plenty how to have fun!" He insisted, crossing his arms in a huff. He heard a mellow giggle from Dagger behind him.
Marcus stopped for a moment. He knew the comment would get him in trouble, but at this point, he was willing to do anything for everyone to loosen up a little bit. "Oh is that what's going on when you summon Beatrix to your room at night? I thought for sure it was just battle stuff!"
In the most uncharacteristic way possible, Dagger snorted from her spot by the door, slapping a hand over her mouth to try and hide her fit of laughter. Beatrix, who had been standing and occasionally listening to the group by the window, honey brown eyes staring alertly outside the glass, whirled around, face as red as a tomato. But if her face was like a tomato, then there was no red deep enough to describe Steiner's face.
"You little shits!" He howled, and charged for the pile.
The boys tried to scramble to get out of the way, all yelling. But somehow, Baku managed to keep them all down on the ground. "You're getting what you paid for you little bastards!"
Steiner's thick armor clunked against the ground as he tried to pin Marcus down to get a rightful punch in the jaw, but if he was going to go after one of their teammates, Tantalus wasn't going to hesitate to fight back. Cinna kicked Marcus out of his grasp from between Steiner's legs, while Zidane's monkey tail wrapped around his leg, and yanked it out from underneath him. Blank proceeded to blind him by piling on top of him, but Baku decided he'd counter the attack and shove the redhead into his comrades.
Basically, all the boys wrestling on the floor formed one big clump that moved from side to side on occasion.
Beatrix wheeled around to look at Dagger, embarrassment still plastered over her face. The girl was trying too hard not to laugh, and even Ruby had an evil grin on her face.
"I can't believe you!" Dagger accused, her voice shrill, but still engulfed in giggles.
Beatrix yanked at her hair, suddenly more uncomfortable than either girl had ever seen. She flipped it over her shoulder, and crossed and uncrossed her arms and legs, anxiety taking over. "No!" She shrieked, "It didn't – I mean I, of course it – well! Nothing happened!" She tried to admit, stumbling over her words.
"I don't get it!" Eiko complained from her spot on the floor, also watching the boys. "I don't get it! Someone tell me why that was so bad! What is everyone talking about?!" This only added more humor to the situation, the girl's constant high pitched voice singing out over everything else.
Cinna and Baku were the first to opt out of the fight, so obviously out of breath after expending so much energy. They literally peeled themselves away, huffing and puffing, clawing at the wood to get out from the other vicious bodies. They laid next to each other on the wood, trying to catch their breath. Cinna even wiped the sweat from his brow and let out a light, but exhausted, laugh.
Steiner was next. He was overheating in his heavy suit of armor, and when he finally realized he had taken part in this barbaric behavior, he stood up quickly, shaking off the remaining Tantalus boys, and taking a seat at least several feet away, his eyes wide, embarrassment still written over his face. His eyes didn't swivel towards Beatrix at all.
As for Marcus, Blank, and Zidane – they continued to wrestle until both the eldest and youngest members ganged up on Zidane, forcing him to opt out of the fight, too tired from all of his laughing. He pulled himself away much like Baku and Cinna, the others playfully kicking him and poking at him as he went.
Marcus and Blank high fived, "All according to plan!"
"What?" Cinna bellowed, sitting up, "That was all your plan?!"
"Payback for trying to piss us off all the time!" Blank winked, his grin never faltering. "It worked well, didn't it!?"
"It wouldn't have, if you hadn't gotten Rusty involved!" Zidane told them between puffs of breath. "Steiner, you put up a good fight!" The man didn't answer, eyes still set wide and towards the floor. Snickers escaped a few in the room when met with his silent reply.
"How come all you boys can have all the fun?!" Ruby demanded with a stomp of her foot, "Ya'll never include us!"
"We included Beatrix!" Marcus happily reminded them. Both Steiner and said brunette cringed at the sound of her name. "Ask Beatrix if it's fun!"
Ruby rolled her eyes, her blue bangs falling in front of her face, but a smile never left her lips. "You boys…" was all she said.
Dagger's eyes lingered on Zidane, who's chest still heaved up and down healthily. When his eyes pivoted up to meet hers, his head upside down on the floor, he smiled. And for once, even though she was caught looking, her eyes didn't tear away.
She smiled back at him, and tilted her head to the side. He chuckled, and broke eye contact first.
The tender moment of no worries was shattered when they heard stomping in the hallway. Voices were heard in a panic in the hallway, and it was none other than Quina who burst through the doors.
"No food!" He bellowed, beady little eyes very upset. "You bring no food!" He ran (or probably more accurately – waddled quickly) to his favorite character in the front control center of the Prima Vista. "Zidane! You pack no food?!"
His tongue was flailing and his stubby little arms were trying to grasp Zidane's shirt in an attempt to get an answer quicker. Slobber was flinging in all directions, and the unfortunate blonde didn't miss his teammates cowering away, unwilling to help.
"What are you talking about, Quina?" He tried to calm down his friend, who only seemed to get more upset with each passing moment.
"No food on ship!" He shrieked out, and began running crazily all over. "Must go back! Must find food!"
"What are you talking about?" He tilted his head, glancing at his other companions who tried to meet his eye with a 'don't give it away' expression. But either Zidane faked it, or really thought it was a cruel thing to do to the Qu, and a dense expression still veiled his features. "There's plenty of food –"
Blank tackled him, and Cinna was shoved into the spotlight. "Ah – ah… Why don't we all try and find you something?! Marcus? Blank? How about you come help me out? Hey! Eiko! You come too!" He glared at her when she pouted, but all moved into the hallway.
Many chattering people bombarded them with questions about how they were going to starve on their journey, but Cinna assured them there must have been food somewhere on the ship. No voice rang out louder than Quina's broken English.
"Hey!" Zidane stood up, crossing his arms suspiciously. "How come everyone told Quina there wasn't any food?"
"I think…" Dagger smiled, "They didn't tell him anything… that was the point."
"What do you mean?"
"That damn Qu eats more than I do!" Baku barked, back in his chair, staring out at the skies. "Tantalus hid the food last night in storage bins so he wouldn't fucking eat everything! Then we really would starve!"
Zidane chuckled, finally let in on the joke. "I guess I can see that…" He looked down at himself and sighed, seeing Quina's spit drip off of him onto the floor. Then, another devilish idea came to mind, and he looked up with a wide grin. "Dagger come give me a hug!"
Her face turned bright red, and she watched in horror as the Genome moved toward her.
"Don't you dare come near me!" She warned, severity in her voice. Her chocolate eyes narrowed when his advance didn't stop.
"Aww, Dagger…" He put on a pouty face – quite comical with the amount of slobber all over his front from the Qu.
The girl let out a squeak and lept off the back of her stool when she realized the blonde wasn't going to stop until he spread the germs. "Zidane!" She yelped, scrambling to get out of the room. She didn't want to turn her back to him, because she knew he could outrun her, but she tried to back petal as far as she could, before he broke into a run.
A scream pierced the air, making everyone busily worried in the hallway turn their heads towards her. Their interest was not lost when they saw the smile dancing on the girl's lips, but definitely squished against walls to get out of the way of the Genome in pursuit of her.
She weaved through the people standing in the crowded hallway, cursing under her breath when she knew they would more easily move for Zidane – giving him the leverage. The raven haired girl ducked down and slide through a side door, not bothering to look behind her as she ran through the more deserted hall.
With her arms out at her side to keep her balance, her balance kept her on the balls of her feet, running around corners and down creaky wooden corridors with nearly no sound. Her smile never left her lips, through her quick glances backwards, almost hitting walls when she did so. Her eyes were more behind her at this point than in front of her, because she couldn't even hear Zidane coming.
Whack!
This time, she really did hit something, and she fell backwards, tipping towards the ground in a disheveled and surprised heap. But a strong pair of arms wrapped around her securely, pulling her back up.
Her eyes finally pulled back forward, focusing on her savior more than her fall. Her chocolate eyes locked with Zidane's piercingly sapphire ones. His tanned face was darker in the dingy lighting of their run-down airship, and his hair hung in front of his face – just like it always had.
His hot breath reached her face, and even though he had won the game, she held some satisfaction that it wasn't at least a total walk in the park.
But his eyes. She couldn't tear her gaze away from his, until he spoke.
"Got'cha… " He whispered at her lovingly, and then pulled her gently forward, locking her lips with his.
Dagger responded quickly, winding her arms around his neck, aware, yet unaware of the fact Quina's spit did indeed get on her freshly washed clothing, just like she'd been trying to avoid. Her own dark eyes fluttered shut, knowing that with Zidane holding her so closely, she didn't need to see to know that she was positively safe, all the way around.
A/N: So… There was a little less plot in this chapter, and a little more "Let's have some bonding time with everyone", but that's never bad, right? :)
At this point… I'm very thankful to my reviewer and obvious FFIX Chocobo fan, Bobby Corwen (now Jesters of the Moon)… She is what is definitely propelling me forward with such speed in this story, and quite frankly, I'm glad she's doing so… This hasn't been as much fun to write in a while, but I'm actually starting to enjoy it again, now that I know where I'm going with it.
Leave me love like she did, and I'll update even faster! :) Thanks for anyone who's stuck with me through my writing-constipated times!
-zesty-
