Filling In The Blanks

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

Chapter 58: Surprising Allies

Of course, Zidane's happiness was short-lived. As soon as his crate was plunged into the darkness of a storage area, fears of never escaping without being spotted crept into the pit of his stomach.

His insides churned as he slowly heard the last lively voices of the inner city fall away, echoing only in his mind as he shifted. His clothes were sticking to him, and he felt the wool squish beneath him with sweltering heat. More worry snaked its way around his throat when he realized Vivi might not be beside him as he had been when they began their journey.

Fear propelled him forward as he continually beat on the top of the box to get out. Growing irritated, he maneuvered himself in the tight space, and kicked hard with his feet, throwing the top of the crate spiraling across the room.

"Vivi!" Zidane yelped as he fell out of the crate. It was higher up than he suspected, but not enough to hurt him when he tumbled over the next wooden box down. "Vivi where are you?!"

Because silence was his only answer, a new fear slowly welled up inside of him. What if Vivi was found out? What if his crate was taken apart and they saw an aware black mage inside? They matched his face with the poster? He was already on his way to Alexandria…

"Vivi!" Zidane shouted roughly, throwing tops off and digging his dagger into the wood. His heart beat accelerated as paranoia gripped him.

Where was Vivi?


"It's been a long time…" Blank muttered, his hands stuffed into his pockets, covered eyes staring upward toward the building.

"It looks a little different now…" Cinna remarked with a sigh, walking timidly up to its outside walls.

"More run down," Blank decided, but then shook his head, "Or maybe it's just that they boarded up the windows!"

"I'm sure it was common knowledge to everyone who wasn't just a town's person that Tantalus was more than a theatre troupe…" Baku rolled his eyes, walking briskly to the door and jiggling the dark handle. The door creaked in protest, and he quickly stopped, all three of them wondering if the handle would fall off if he continued.

"Do you think Ruby will be able to find it?" Cinna questioned, glancing around as Baku kicked in the door.

"She'll be fine. She may have joined us a little later, but this was just as much her home as everyone else's, you idiot…" Baku grumbled, wandering inside.

Behind the front door was even worse than the outside. The whole place had been ransacked, every item of possible possession stolen from its shelves and chests. Of course, they didn't have many important things to begin with, but the fact that people had stomped all over their home was a little offending.

The redhead tentatively followed his leader in, and stared around the room. Dust particles from the uproar with the door floated around in the air, giving the hideout an older feel. The sun leaked through cracks in the boarded and-or shattered windows, rotting wood from the highest support beams of the ceiling having fallen and crumbled around the pathway. The gears on the far side of the room were caked in grime, and looked rustier than they remembered.

What used to be their furniture was torn apart and snapped into pieces, strewn all over the room. The trio sighed, and stepped over things where they could, crunching on top of things when they couldn't find a safe path.

"This is a mess…" The youngest grumbled, running a hand over what used to be their kitchen counter. It was splintered and grimy, but he remembered the finished product well enough.

Cinna had already climbed the long ladder up to the sleeping area and gasped, eyes gleaming with discovery. "Blank!" He cooed, holding up a torn, ancient teddy bear. "Look! Its Wuffles!"

The redhead's cheeks blared to match the color of his hair, "Cinna put that back!"

"It must obviously still hold something over you!" His companion snickered, before tossing it back onto the mattress. "It's a little gross up here, but the loft still seems to be in pretty good shape."

"For the whole place being raided, I'd say the fact it's still standing is impressive," Baku commented, poking his head into what was their bathroom. He spied most facilities in that room had been spared – nothing of importance ever being in the bathroom.

Underneath the loft were two entryways. One was into the bathroom – a crammed place made strictly for hygiene, and nothing else. A small, cracked mirror was nailed hastily to the wall once Ruby joined them, and it still hung, though layers of dust blurred Baku's reflection.

The other door lead to Baku's sleeping quarters. There was a bookshelf once filled with numerous novels, play acting scripts, airship blue prints, raiding plans, and various knick-knacks picked up during their travels. That was tipped over onto the bed, where the blankets had been torn and thrown about. His closet had a hump of clothing still splayed out in front of it – ones that probably didn't even fit him anymore, they were so old.

There was an old broken lamp that lay next to the bedside table. Slowly stepping over the mess, his heart seemed to break a little when he spotted the broken picture by the bedside. Baku was a little younger, and so was the rest of his team. The gleaming lights of Treno were the backdrop, strangely dress nobles, and many different performers dotted behind the group. Blank was shorter than ever, a grumpy expression carved into his face as Zidane's large hand pressed over his hair. His best friend's other hand sat upon Ruby's head.

Her hair was still its natural dirty blonde, hanging limply around her face as she turned away from Blank. It appeared she was probably appalled about something he'd done – not much different than the present days. Marcus was grinning ear to ear – more curious and playful when he was younger than he was now. His arm was thrown around Cinna's broad shoulders… Had the thief actually lost weight since they went underground in Dali? Baku glanced up, as though he would be able to see the older teen from where he stood… I don't know… Cinna's still pretty fuckin' fat… He shook the thoughts out of his mind, and glanced down at the picture again.

Benero and Zenero stood united, next to Cinna, Zenero shy and Benero fierce looking. Baku stood behind them all grinning himself, while the other orphans that belonged to Tantalus surrounded them. He hadn't any idea where the rest of his adoptive children had gone, or even if they were still alive.

His eyes traced Benero for a moment, and his heart broke. They were all together back then; the war still hadn't hit them enough to be damaging. Shortly after this picture – the day suddenly coming back to him in sharp focus – Zidane went missing, and all went down hill from there.

The old photo was scratched up a little from the glass, but after he rubbed away the sharp piece still clinging to the ink, he folded it lightly and stuck it into his pocket. A treasure like that still standing in the room? He was surprised, and he wasn't about to let it get away from him again.

After they'd lost Zidane in Treno, they'd spent weeks searching for him all around the Mist Continent. With no luck, and all of their hope gone (the worst of their fears assumed) they'd returned to Lindblum to mourn. Cid and Hilda had been driven from the kingdom long ago, but Tantalus still managed to hide out there with few problems – their ship planted on the coast not too far away.

But when talk of a small resistance in Lindblum started passing around town, they knew they were in trouble simply because these rumors were about Tantalus. They got out of the city before black mages and troops stormed their hide out – their home, but not by much… They literally flew over their building and theater in the Prima Vista – their last standing, familiar structure – and watched Kuja's men flood their now ex-base, along with various other Tantalus-owned buildings.

"If we cleaned this place up a little, it wouldn't be so bad!" He heard Cinna call from the loft sporting all of the beds.

"Then that's the first thing we'll do when everyone gets here," Baku decided, wandering into the kitchen, his eyes darting all around the area. "If we can go to the market and get some food, this will be the best place we've stayed in since the damn war started.

Blank and Cinna snickered at the irony, though the context wasn't really funny. Their leader shot them a grin before folding his arms over his chest. "What are you two dim wits waiting for?! Start cleaning!" He barked, and they scattered quickly, pulling debris off of the floor and piling it by the old fireplace.

Baku poked through all of their cupboards, grimacing when the rusted metal handles groaned with the creaking of the cupboard door. He tried to smoothly replace one handle that actually came off. The man eventually found what he was looking for when he spotted a rag, and meandered outside to find some water.

"I can't believe we're back here…" Blank mumbled to his friend as soon as the door swung shut.

"Me either… It's kind of eerie, don't you think?"

"This stuff is our past…" He glanced around, seeing a few things he hardly recognized anymore. "It's not who we are anymore…"

"But it was part of it…" Cinna smiled at him, "It'll be fine."

"Do you think Zidane and Vivi are making it in okay?"

"I don't think you have to worry about Zidane anymore," the taller thief grinned, his mustache crinkling up with his lips, "He was a bit rusty in the beginning – I'll give you that much, but he's grown back into his usual act-before-you-think, caring, disastrous self!"

"That's an interesting way to describe him," the redhead countered with a grin of his own. Cinna rolled his eyes and continued to pick up wood form the ground. "Do you think we'll get to stay here long?"

"Lindblum is going to be harder than Ipsen's because these people aren't trained fighters, and don't realize how good of a chance we have if they band with us, but it'll be more fuckin' comfortable!" Cinna let out a hearty laugh, leaving the redhead to roll his eyes.

"You're impossible," he told the other fighter, sighing and plopping down on the ground. "I wish Ruby would hurry up and get back!"

"Why?" The thief looked just a little too innocent. "You worried about her?"

"Ruby isn't the best at defending herself…" Blank squirmed, suddenly feeling chills that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room. "And I just have this awful feeling that we'll be recognized."

"You worry too much… You should direct some of that towards Zidane and Vivi – it's their faces plastered all over town!"

"That's another thing… How are we going to convince anyone we have dreamers with us, if they have to hide the whole time we're in Lindblum?"

"Who said anything about them hiding?" Cinna shrugged, "They'll find a way to maneuver, I'm sure, if they get in anyways."

"Aren't you the optimist?" The redhead mumbled, before lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. He remembered days upon days that he used to do this before, waiting for something more to happen. He'd familiarized himself with the ceiling so well that sometimes even still, he could imagine it above him when he fell asleep under ground or on the airship."

The door suddenly burst open, and in tromped Ruby with Steiner's group. "There so many darn people out there, yer never gon' believe how long it took!"

"We've been here the whole time," Blank told her, not bothering to glance at the girl. "We know how long it took you!"

"Well!" She huffed, turning away. The others stepped into the make-shift house, gazing around.

"This place is huge!" Beatrix gasped, not used to seeing buildings with such high ceilings due to all of her time with the resistance.

"There used to be so many people running around here," Cinna told her, glancing around with his eyes in a distant place as he remembered, "I never once thought so."

The brunette grinned at him as she set down her bag of armor and weapons. "Are you two cleaning up?"

"I am, Blank's not!" Cinna immediately accused, pointing a finger at him.

"Dammit Blank! You better get your butt of the ground, or I'm gon' shove my boot so far –"

"Okay!" He hopped up, obviously not ready for the rage of Ruby on their first day back in the city. "I'm going to head out and wait for the next group to come in!"

"You just don't want to help!" Eiko whined, already up in the loft. How did she move so unnoticed?

"Your right!" He sang out, very uncharacteristically, before slamming the door shut and running off.

From a place much higher above the Tantalus's old building, a golden pair of eyes watched on in anxiousness. Her line of sight continued with the redhead until he rounded a corner she couldn't see passed. That house hadn't been used in years. Why all of a sudden was it being used now?

Suspicion grew in her stomach as she turned her back towards the shining sun splashed across the city. She'd need to do her research and find out which of these people weren't who they said they were…


Nausea filled his stomach as he counted only five remaining boxes. With all the clattering and shouting he was doing, he realized that the chances of those boxes containing Vivi, who had yet to make a sound, were slim to none.

His stomach churned again as he stumbled over to the last pile, fear pricking his senses in panic. What was going to happen to Vivi? His dagger barely dug into the crack between the cover and the rest of the crate, the blonde too weak with worry and exhaustion.

He was still sweating – the room he was in almost hotter than the box itself, and his dry mouth screamed silently for something to drink.

"Vivi!" He groaned out, directing his gaze at the box again. He leaned close, fixing his blurred vision onto it, trying to pry the box open with his fingers now, instead of the blade. "Where are you?"

Another loud pop rang out into the air as he dragged the cover off, the fatigue catching up with him. Inside was just a box of provisions – not even anything to do with the sewing theme he'd found in every other crate.

But just like that, all his dizziness and weariness was replaced with his usually nimble and sharp senses when the door swung open, splashing light onto the floor.

He held his breath as he scampered behind the boxes silently, wishing with every ounce of his being that it was Vivi who waited for him at the door.

"Hello?" Someone echoed. It was a woman – probably an older one. The shuffling she created with her feet confirmed Zidane's suspicions. "I know I heard someone in here!" She sighed and turned back to the door, shutting it again.

The blonde waited for a moment before leaping back out, running to the last few crates. He had to check these out and then find a way out, and figure out where Vivi was. Maybe he would regroup with the rest of Tantalus. He slid his dagger underneath the second crate's top. Yeah! That's what he would do! Go find Blank, Steiner, Dagger and the others before setting out in the big city to find the mage. All he had-

The door flew open, and the lady was inside, a bow in her hand. He was caught redhanded, wide eyed in the light.

"Who are you?!" Her shadow demanded. With the light shining behind her, he couldn't get a good fix on what she looked like. Somehow, it sounded like the same woman as before, but not quite as fragile and old.

"I – err… Um, I'm –"

"Speak!" She commanded, pulling back the draw string on the weapon.

"I'm not here to steal from you!" He cried out, putting his hands up in the universal 'stop' motion. "I'm looking for my friend!"

"Why would your friend be in any of these crates?!" She demanded, her bow still not relaxing.

"I um…"

Further back her string drew, and the arrow, suddenly and menacingly, was pointed at his face. He winced when he thought of their cover being blown or his head being sliced open by the tip of that arrow.

"You have three seconds to tell me what you're really doing in here, before I kill you."

The usually tanned genome visibly paled, unsure of how to react.

"One…"

He chewed his lip nervously, "I'm really looking for my friend –"

"Two!" She shouted at him, standing a bit straighter.

He glanced around, wondering if there was a place he should try and hide before her count hit three. But then he watched how she held the bow and her face, and realized she probably wasn't a lousy shot, even on a moving target.

"Three."


Dagger sat worriedly at the window, her chocolate eyes reflecting the light that shone through.

"What are you doing just sitting here?" Beatrix asked, genuinely worried for the girl.

They had finished picking everything up off the floor awhile ago, and Baku brought back some water and cloths so they could wash everything down. Dagger was the only one who still hadn't changed out of her uncomfortable clothing choice, back into her yellow jumpsuit and white blouse.

"I'm worried…" She admitted with a sigh, feeling hard pressed to keep her eyes on the window, but tore them away so she could shoot a painful look at her brunette superior.

"Everyone is going to get here safely," she told the girl, and then changed her expression to a hard one, "everyone."

"How are they going to get in by themselves?" She questioned, still not quite believing her mentor's words.

"Zidane is smart, and Vivi is small – they're going to find a way in."

"What if someone has already caught them? We wouldn't know until tomorrow morning, and by then they would be halfway to Alexandria."

"If that did happen –" Dagger shot her a horrified expression, "- If!" Beatrix confirmed sternly, "We would chase after them and get them before they were brought to Kuja… It'll be alright Dagger…"

"I just –"

"Don't worry…" She put a hand on the girl's shoulder and gestured to the place. "Come eat… Ruby got us some food from the market."

The raven sighed and stood, stretching before moving towards the table. She allowed herself one more glance at the window, before shoving the painful thoughts from her mind, and sitting down at the large, run-down table to grab a bite to eat.


"Zidane?" Just as the woman was about to let go of the arrow, a voice rang out timidly into the room, causing relief to wash through the genome who'd just been questioned.

"Vivi!" He yelled, racing forward. He forgot the fact that the woman was about to shoot at him, and galloped to his friend, practically falling to his knees in front of the mage. "Are you alright? What are you doing here? I thought I'd – and then you and…" He trailed and smirked when he realized that the mage had taken care of himself.

"I was dropped off at the very front of the door…" His eyes moved towards the woman, standing confused and off to the side, her bow in the middle of being let go, yet still slightly drawn. She wasn't sure if she should be totally off guard or not. "We're lucky that we picked sewing crates to hide in."

For the first time since the aggressive almost-attack, Zidane glanced at the woman. She was old, lines in her face where she'd laughed too often, and worried too much, but her stance was still sturdy, hair curled tightly into a bun on her head.

"Who are you?" Zidane asked, looking a little sheepish. "Thank you so much for…" He gestured to Vivi, almost at a loss for words, "You know… not killing him."

"My name is Sally," she said closely, "It seems you and your friend decided to sneak into my clothing shop."

"Not really the sewing shop, ma'am…" After it looked like he was a burglar, and then a smuggled in run away, he scratched the back of his head, trying to suck up a little. He hadn't missed that her bow wasn't out of her hands yet. "Trying to sneak into the city…"

She raised an eyebrow and glanced at his little friend. "You weren't lying when you said this…"

Vivi shook his head and sighed deeply, "Unfortunately, no…"

Finally, upon hearing the mage's words, she disconnected the arrow from her bow, and Zidane let out a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding.

"Who are you?" She asked Zidane, light colored eyes scanning his body.

"My name is Zidane Tribal," he offered with a kind smile.

She stared at the duo for a moment, before taking a step back in shock. "The dreamers!"

Protectively, the genome stepped in front of Vivi, while both of them took a step back in caution. "We're not here alone! You won't get us far before Kuja's men are stopped –"

She bowed slightly, surprising them both.

"When Vivi admitted he was part of the resistance, I hadn't any idea until I saw you both together that you were the dreamers everyone speaks of."

"We're popular!" Zidane offered with a goofy grin.

"It's an honor to meet you."

"We really aren't that special, Sally…" Vivi tried to explain, uncomfortable under her scrutiny.

"And yet, little one, you have no idea how much of an inspiration the both of you are to those dwelling in Lindblum who wish for an uprising."

"Are there many?" Both asked together, hopefulness gathering on their faces.

The woman gave a curt nod, "But they're spread out, and most do not speak freely of it. Though there are no soldiers in the city, Kuja's eyes and ears are everywhere."

Though they knew they were safe in a secure cellar talking about such things, both of the rebels shuttered involuntarily.

"Let's go have some tea," Sally suggested, shuffling back into her shop, up the stairs and around the corner.

Zidane and Vivi followed, oddly confident that they could trust her. The blonde glanced out the whimsical shop window and winced when he saw the pointed hat of a black mage. How were they going to run around the entire city?

As though reading their thoughts, Sally stopped in front of her already brewing kettle, and spoke to them. "You two aren't going to get very far without being spotted. I don't know one soul in Lindblum who is rooting for Kuja during this whole fiasco, and yet… I only know a handful of people who wouldn't turn you in if you ran freely through the city. The mages act mechanically, and if you've seen someone who's wanted but don't turn them in, your house is up in flames in a matter of minutes…" She was suddenly turned towards them, her lips pressed into a hard line, and her eyes pleading. "You must understand."

"We do," Zidane assured her. "But how are we going to get out and into the city? We have others we have to meet up with… and we can't do our mission sitting behind a wall."

"This is true…" She stared down at Vivi for a few moments, "You could dress in anything, Zidane Tribal… And yet… Vivi…" She trailed, and both of them winced when they realized the direction her words were taking her.

"I'm going to give everyone away," Vivi told them miserably.

"I think I have a plan…" Sally said suddenly, "But we're not going to talk about it until we give you two something good and hot to drink."

"Could I bother you for some water as well?" Zidane tilted his head, another sheepish grin overtaking his features. "I was sitting in a wool box for a while –"

"Say no more!" She told him cheerfully, and grabbed a tin cup, filling it with water from her basin. "Water isn't tough to come by in Lindblum, despite the size of the city. It's not a bad place," She sounded like she was trying to defend her home. The two of them knew not to complain otherwise, considering where they'd been residing in.

They sat and talked to Sally for a long time. She told them about Kuja's take over – having been here the whole time. She revealed stories of when she was much younger – when Cid still held firmly onto Lindblum as the rest of the world fell prey to the dark man's magic. She spoke of the shift in power, when Cid and Hilda disappeared, their people not knowing whether they lived or if they died.

For awhile, Zidane and Vivi were able to hear of the struggles of the war from a completely different perspective. It was a much less dangerous one, but far sadder. None of these people had someone to band together under, and form some sort of a family.

Zidane stretched out his leg, scrunching his nose when the bone popped a couple of times. It ached from being underneath him for so long, so he leaned back, trying to flatten his body into a straight line to stretch all of his limbs. He turned his head toward the window, and his eyes almost flew out of his head.

"It's dark!"

Vivi seemed just as alarmed as he. Sally stared at them in confusion as both of them hustled to stand. "Where are you going?"

"We have to meet our friends!" Vivi insisted. "Thank you for everything you've done… We really can't appreciate it more –"

"You're not leaving…" She shook her head at their paling expressions. "Not yet anyways… Let me find you something more suitable to wear…"

She ushered them up the stairs into her house, attached to the top of her shop. She led them down the narrow hallway and into a room that was cluttered with things, but it seemed like nobody lived in there.

The older woman pulled out a chest and flipped it open, the two boys trying to nonchalantly peak inside. She pulled out a conductor's hat and threw it at Vivi. He wasn't sure what to say as she threw another jacket at him – this one blue and faded. She took one more glance at him before deciding he could probably do with the rest of his clothing.

"It won't do you any good if people look at your eyes," the woman shook her head, "But it's less conspicuous than the pointy hat." Vivi nodded, though gripped his hat like a life line.

"What's wrong?" Zidane asked him, staring down at his small form as she dug around in the closet this time for clothing that would fit Zidane.

"It's just… My grandpa gave me this hat… It's very old, and really precious to me and –"

"You can keep the hat," Zidane told him with a small, encouraging smile. "It's better that you don't wear it right now though… Just keep it with you tight when we head back to the hideout, and then you can keep it there for safe keeping until we leave Lindblum."

Before either could answer, she threw a shirt and gloves at Zidane as well. "You two should get going… They get weary of night time travelers in the city."

They meant to leave, but she rushed to them, pulling both of them into a hug. "I will spread the word to those I trust that you are here… Many will be willing to help your cause… Please, come back to me tomorrow with your friends… I would very much so like to meet them."

"We will…" Zidane nodded, "Anything after you've helped us so much already."

The old lady let on a smile and led them back downstairs. Both of the boys changed quickly, grinning at each other after they had switched outfits.

"Wish us luck!" Vivi called to Sally as they stepped out the door. She watched them through the window, glancing this way and that for any sign that they were being spotted as dreamers.

"Good luck…" She whispered, and watched them disappear into the night.


A/N: So what did you think? I kind of liked that chapter! :) I hope you all enjoyed it as well. It's nice to have a change of pace from Ipsen's castle – that place was such a bore!

Leave me some love!

-zesty-