Filling In The Blanks

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

Chapter 79: Slow Steps

Ruby stared at the building, her almond eyes hazy as she watched the lights dance in the fading sunlight. No longer did Treno cower away from its nightly activities, since the creatures that loomed in the darkness had been gone for years now, which meant shows and performances could continue unhindered.

People bustled around her – some people even knocking their shoulders into her, grunting an apology and then proceeding to grumble about people stopping in the middle of the road.

She ignored them for the most part, tilting her head to the side, long hair falling over her shoulder. The blue dye was slowly washing out – she wasn't keeping up with it anymore, and there was a tint of her natural dirty blonde color peaking out.

Blank had been in a particularly grumpy mood today – especially when he'd found out from Cinna (who'd been out grocery shopping to make them treats) that Zidane and Vivi had taken a stroll by themselves that morning. Marcus had vanished with a mail moogle, making her believe that Mikoto had sent a personal letter, and he was sneaking away to receive and read it. Zenero found his own festivities to attend to – nobody ever really knew what he did.

And Baku? He slinked off to a bar again, claiming it was for intel, and not the women and alcohol. He even made a big scene before she'd left about his list of people that the blonde and mage would have to seek out today – people he'd already talked to… Probably in a drunken, unbelievable stupor.

So here she stood by herself, gazing wearily at the theater. It wasn't like Tantalus' old theater in Lindblum – this one had flashing lights and a bar inside. There was restaurant seating with a large stage at one end of the building.

How could she have known this without going inside?

Her mother was a show girl there – that's how.

Ruby figured she was still considerably young. While her mother was probably only thirty-four or thirty-five now, she still probably worked there as a bartender or something. Ruby had been around the business long enough to know that while actors and actresses could last until they were too old to move, show girls were only good until they were hitting thirty.

The girl scoffed. Why in the world was she standing out there anyways? Ruby turned to leave, realizing her overwhelming desire to talk with her mother was ridiculous, and that she should get out of there. The odds of her mother being in the same spot were…

High.

Facing the building once more, mid-step, she stared at it with uncertainty. Why did she have that sudden urge? She had had a dream this morning – a distant memory coming to mind that she couldn't quite cope with when she woke up.

They were in the dressing room and Ruby was only little, still getting caught up in the smell of hairspray, and the glitter in the outfits when she heard her mother mutter about her father, complaining to her coworker that he had lured her into thinking he was a great guy because he said he had a son.

Suddenly this was popping out at her and she wasn't quite sure why.

Did it bother her that she had other family out there that she could have met?

The girl rolled her eyes, her gloved hands gripping the worn cloth of her green skirt tighter than she thought she should have. Turning with a defiant click of her heels, she marched away, determined not to let this dream of a family from long ago get the best of her.

Did it bother her?

Absolutely not.

At least… that's what she liked to tell herself…

From across the busy street, Baku narrowed his eyes as he watched Ruby storm away as though the building had personally offended her. He raised his eyebrows, realizing that she must have been thinking about her mother.

He didn't know a lot about the woman – but it had been protocol for him to make sure she was okay moving on from that part of her life when she had joined Tantalus, otherwise they would do everything they could to get her back to her living family that most members didn't get a choice of.

She had admitted that it would hurt her, and sometimes she yearned for the family she had always envisioned as a little girl… but he came to know very quickly that Ruby also loved her Tantalus family.

Still… he speculated as he watched her disappear down the street. She always wondered about her father and the whereabouts of her mother, and maybe if there was more to her family that meets the eye… He ran his thumb and index finger along his beard, thinking as the alcohol sloshed around in his belly. Maybe I'll have to do a little bit of… sneaking for her…

He grinned a Chesire grin, chuckling lowly to himself, shoving his hands back into his pockets and staring out from behind his goggles, amused, before slipping back into the bar.

That sounded like fun.


Fratley cracked his knuckles almost nervously. It was uncharacteristic of him – both to crack his knuckles and to be nervous… But today, he just couldn't help it.

Freya had been out there on her own for a whole night now, and while a long time ago he could trust that she didn't need back up to protect her – they all had grown so dependant on each other since the move, he wasn't sure anyone should be traveling alone.

"Sir Fratley," a guard he saw only on the first day they arrived in Cleyra – a week ago now – wandered shyly through the door into the grand library.

"Yes?" He asked, his voice ringing out a little strangely. Gone was the pleasant innocence he always enjoyed tacking onto his voice. A sense of self-doubt and sadness laced into his tone now, making the soldier wonder if he should still ask.

"Are you…" He sucked in a tight breath before gaining the nerve to continue, "Are you staying here to help us train?"

His voice was distant when he answered, and hesitant; it was so unlike Fratley to be vague. "Why yes… I do believe I am."

"Thank the heavens."

That snapped his attention back to the present. "What?"

The soldier became uncomfortable again, fidgeting under the emerald-eyed stare of a very skilled Dragon Knight. "I just… I understand that you wish to go with the resistance… Everyone can see it in your face, and nobody can stop talking about it –" Fratley flushed, a little embarrassed he was making it so obvious, "- but thank you for staying…"

He scooted a little closer and dropped his voice to just barely above a whisper, "I love the people of Cleyra. They have an interesting take on protection and ways to live, but not even the highest ranking Cleyrians know a thing about military tactics, and if we really are going to be attacked by Kuja again, I fear if we do not get help, we will perish.

"I have a wife and two children living here with me in Cleyra." He gave a soft laugh, "Twins – two girls who argue all the time, whine, and cry, and a father who loves to spoil them…" He sighed and rotated his hat around in his long, nimble fingers, sliding them around the visor. "I could not imagine having to give that up simply because Cotex and his people do not believe in any effective warfare."

Fratley's heart soared. These were the kinds of conversations that made him realize that he was doing the right thing. He sat with his back a little straighter, his shoulder-length silver hair pushed behind his shoulders. "I am glad I could be of assistance…"

"Of course…" He gave a small smile, "Once the threat is over here… I have every intentions of following you to the resistance – to repay you for what you have done for us."

"My dear friend," The Bermecian shot the young soldier a grin, "You do not need to do this…"

"But I want to…" He sat down.

"What is your name?"

"Glaven, Sir…" He nodded slowly, "I want to follow my brethren into the resistance to fight for a free world. I know that only a handful of soldiers are going to go to Qu's Marsh, but believe me when I say, if it wasn't for this threat on the last remaining village for our race, and Cotex's tight rule over things, more would be going… All of us would be going…"

It was true. While they were initially pleased that Cotex was going to give some of his people to this important cause, it fell short when they realized that when he said some, he meant roughly twenty soldiers… If even. And so, they had left the day before, wanting to go down to the Grotto and hook into Qu's Marsh, looking for a woman in charge with an eye patch and a Qu who loved to cook.

But what this man – Glaven – was telling him was a spectacular thing. Maybe Fratley would be able to move this along quickly and return even faster than he initially thought… And maybe he could bring more along with him…

As for the others – he had watched them leave only hours ago. They disappeared out of the sandstorm fortress, leaving Fratley there all alone. Amarant and Eiko had arrived only a few hours before they were scheduled to leave… Business in Cleyra was quick – far quicker – than they imagined it would be. Like they had all noticed from the start, Cotex was surprisingly uptight about his people and abandoning the city… Beatrix and Steiner – much like Freya – didn't enjoy it much, and preferred to move on quickly to their next location, hoping to find assistance, and to give it, elsewhere.

"Thank you for sharing that with me," he said gently, reaching out a hand and clasping the Bermecian's shoulder. "My friends are on their way to Bermecia… They will send word of any of Kuja's chocobo scouts, and tell us what has fallen over the core city."

"Good… I am glad for that…" Glaven nodded, feeling a little more confident than when he had just walked in.

Fratley let on a small smile before gesturing lightly down to his book. "Now, tell me where the real books are – the ones that are actually interesting to read…"

Glaven grinned and stood abruptly, gesturing in the opposite direction that Fratley had looked, before both of them settled into easy conversation about topics not quite as hard as war.


"I don' believe what Baku was spewing last night is actually true!" The man in front of them spluttered, spit flying this way and that, causing the frightened black mage to flinch. "When he said he'd send the dreamers our way, I thought he was lying through his teeth!" The man, sporting (or rather not sporting) a missing front tooth and leather garments much like Tantalus, one eye scratched and scarred and a headband that kept his already slicked back hair from falling in his face, snorted, his loud, boisterous personality complimenting the bar's atmosphere.

Zidane was no longer surprised. At first, when Vivi and he started doing this a few days prior, the blonde was delightedly surprised to find that Baku had indeed been talking to people about joining the resistance. These were the type of people they wanted – rough alcoholics who didn't give a damn what happened to themselves as long as they could break some skulls. Though Vivi (and maybe at least half of the people they'd picked up in Lindblum) probably thought otherwise.

But now, he had learned to trust their leader when he said there were a few people who wanted to meet them, and he let on an easygoing smile. People were starting to recognize them, and the hum of gossip buzzed around them whenever Vivi and Zidane were together, but it didn't bother the genome. Let people know they had come to rally up troops – Kuja already knew.

"We're here," he shrugged with a laid-back grin. "In the flesh."

"I guess!" The man hollered with a great laugh. "My is this a treat! Oh wow! I might just have to take Baku up on this resistance offer just because he ain't be lyin' 'bout possessing the dreamers!"

"W-we would love to have you," Vivi offered, though Zidane wondered if it was really sincere or not. He let on a toothy grin.

"Baku surprises us all, sometimes…"

The man squinted his eyes at the boy, tilting his head to the side. "But ye not just a dreamer…"

The genome pressed his lips into a thin line and cocked his head sideways. "What do you mean? I mean, I'm a person too and –"

"No," the man shook his head before leaning back and taking a swig of his liquor. "That's not what I meant…" He decided to switch directions for a moment, "Do ye know who I am?"

"Should I?" He asked sheepishly, a wave of guilt washing over him.

"The name's Boky, does that ring a bell?" The man became incredibly serious as he spoke, snapping both dreamers to their full attention. Zidane's silence gave enough of an answer, before the man burst out laughing. "Why, I'm Baku's cousin!" A gruff laugh echoed through the room, rising above the rest of the noise. Nobody noticed. "Ohhh I would recognize that ridiculous theater armor anywhere! Ye were part of Tantalus when ya were just a little squirt, weren't ya?"

A surprised chuckled tumbled passed Zidane's lips as he scratched the back of his neck. Was he supposed to believe this guy and go into details about the group when they were part of a resistance now?

"Yeah –" he couldn't get out much more before the man was snorting again.

"What a treat!" He repeated, enthusiasm peppering his animated call. "I remember seein' some shows in Treno whenever ya were in town! I suppose that's before Kuja really got goin, but –"

Zidane felt a pair of eyes settle on him uncomfortably. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see a lone man at the bar slide his eyes back forward, taking a light sip of his barely-touched drink.

"Maybe we should…" He started, abruptly cutting Boky off, "go somewhere a little less public."

The man seemed to realize the relaxed request for more than Zidane made it seem and nodded, throwing some gil down on the counter and finishing his drink with a satisfying sigh before following Vivi and the blonde out.

He put on another serious expression as they rounded the corner into a deserted alleyway. "Ya two have gained quite the reputation runnin' 'round in Treno… Tantalus is already a big deal here… Ye seem to be icing on the cake."

"That's what we're trying to do…"

Boky shook his head, "Ye lads best be careful about it… There are too many people who belong to Kuja in this city – not just the mages."

Vivi bit his lip, worry clearly visible on his face. "You don't think that we could be captured, do you?"

The memory of a little Zidane and an even littler Blank arguing about the lone creature in the alley as night crept towards them flashed in the blonde's mind. He stumbled and gripped the wall, feeling the rough brick underneath his worn glove.

"Ya alright?" Boky asked, Vivi staring at him with concern.

"I'm fine," he straightened up, trying to play it off as nothing. "So that man in there? I'm sure you saw him too… Do you think he was working for Kuja?"

"That quiet one at the bar?" Boky rubbed his beard, reminding the both of them very much of Baku. "It's possible… I've seen 'im before…" He shrugged, seeming to dismiss it with minimal worry. "But it's hard to tell if he's listening because he's a spy, or because he wants in… In Treno, you can't just go around recruitin' anyone you want…" He shook his head with a sigh and a heave of his shoulders. "I wish it was that easy, but with the strange uproar at South Gate, and the battle at Gizamaluke's Grotto just over a week ago now, Kuja's going to have his men out, and he's going to be looking for you two."

The tiny mage went rigid, rubbing his hands together as though trying to fight away the new chill that spiraled slowly down his spine. Zidane felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise. "So how do we tell?"

"I could help ye, if ya wanted it…" He shrugged, but no one could miss the excitement on his face. "I been buggin' Baku 'bout joinin' the resistance for years, but I suppose he don't want his baby cousin runnin' round getting' hurt!" He laughed merrily, all previous seriousness forgotten, "But this is a good excuse! I also might know some people who would be interested in joinin' me, if ye want them."

"We were just taking bakers and seamstresses at Lindblum," Zidane jerked his thumb over his shoulder, as though gesturing to an irritating thing behind him. "Anybody you can get us now would be a big help."

Boky let on a genuine smile. "I'm glad I can help ya… Let's get started then!"


Despite the growing tension weighing down the air, Cinna's happy whistle could be heard from the kitchen unit in the far side of the next room. Marcus' eyes slid to each of his friends, all tapping their feet or shifting uncomfortably in anxiety. He flinched when his eyes settled on the worse-than-usual scowl planted on their leader's face, his arms and legs crossed moodily across his body.

Every once in a while, he would mumble something that had all of the boys (and Ruby) staring at him for a moment, before he barked an insult ("What the hell are you asses staring at?!") and they quickly turned away.

The eldest thief tried to decide exactly where the tangible apprehension was coming from. Was it simply because of Zidane's grave words that they had to be more careful – that instead of creatures in Treno there were far more deadly spies of Kujas? Or was it because Baku's constant grumbling bewilderment about his cousin helping them and joining the resistance? Maybe it was a little bit of both, the strangling liveliness of Treno where there was such a task at hand beginning to take its toll on the mission.

Marcus knew he wasn't the only one who could feel their lack of incentive. Without more organized leaders who didn't get drunk every night (he respected Baku, but seriously?), he was afraid their progress, especially since they'd been in the city for a little over a week now, was hardly noticeable. Their organization was jumbled and their priorities were bouncing around the map. Blank was too uptight about the blonde being in Treno again, Ruby was mysteriously quiet after the first few days, and he figured it had something to do with revisiting her home for only the second time since she'd left. Zenero – nobody ever knew what he was doing anymore… But it was usually always like that with him – he checked out after Benero died, and the bandana-clad thief couldn't blame him. He knew Dagger was on Zidane's mind, and Vivi's grandpa was on the mage's mind – this issue with his cousin and the fact he was even smelling high amounts of alcohol for the first time in a long time was why Baku couldn't focus – so who did that leave?

Him?

Marcus chuckled to himself, earning a glare from at least half of his teammates. He knew he wasn't the only one who thought their progress was pathetic, and he was sure he wasn't the only one worrying that the other group of resistance members would be stuck in the now-dangerous Dali for at least a week with no word of Tantalus. But, Marcus was not self righteous – he had been just as busy communicating with the moogles about his letters from Mikoto, and none of these distractions helped.

The only thing he was hoping for – no… praying for - now was that Boky had done what he told Zidane and Vivi he was going to do a few days ago, and gather as many people as he could, just as Sally had done for them in Lindblum.

A knock on the door interrupted his musings, and all of them jumped to their feet at once. Baku scampered up and yanked on the door handle, grunting in frustration when it wouldn't budge. He started to kick and pound at it, swearing in a frenzy before Blank piped up in an annoyed voice, stating rather irritably that it was locked.

Marcus missed his boss' face flush as he swung open the door, and groaned, letting his shoulders sag as he kicked the end table by the door. The others tried to peer around him to see what had him reacting that way, and when Baku finally moved, they were all groaning, synchronized with him.

Cinna's face puckered as he clutched the pan a little harder. His eyebrows knitted together and his beard scrunched a little. "You guys are all assholes, did you know that?"

"Cinna –"

"All I try to do is make some nice peanut butter pie that I know everyone here likes, and when I come knocking on the door, excited to finally cheer you guys up –" he gestured with the pan, waving his oven mitt hands around, the glass dish still clutched tightly on top, "- and this is how I get repaid!"

"We thought you were Boky…"

The plump thief sighed and placed the pie on the table. "Why is everyone so crabby?" He demanded, "We're alive, we have nice beds, and Baku's cousin is willing to help us out on a job none of us are clearly focused enough to take on!"

"Cinna, you little –"

"He's right," Zidane decided, nodding slowly. "Cinna is absolutely right…" The blonde stood up and walked towards the coffee table placed in the center of the room and collapsed on the floor, grinning up at the thief with the shaved head. "Cinna, will you serve up your pie?!"

Finally, a smug little smile came through on the teen's face and he meandered over, placing the pie gently on the table. "We don't have any dishes so I'm just going to have to put it on the table. Zidane, you're cleaning up!"

The genome chuckled, his eyes sparkling like they always did when things were less heavy – less stressed. "Deal."

Ever so slowly, the others creeped in around him, Zidane and Cinna inviting them warmly into the conversation. Soon Blank, Ruby, Vivi, and even Zenero were laughing around the table, eating and babbling and reminding Marcus so much of when they were young and things weren't so hard. With a smirk of his own, he also slid onto the floor, crawling over and accepting the piece of pie before he was even at the table.

Despite all of the distractions, he knew they'd get through this. He watched Zidane, as carefree and optimistic as ever, poke Cinna's filled cheeks with his fingers, and Marcus' heart soared for his best friend: Cinna always had the ability to pick people up when they'd been down, and that wasn't about to change…

If anyone was the most focused, it was the thief whistling cheerily and making the peanut butter pie in the kitchen for so much more than just a delicious snack…

Eventually, they got Baku to join them, and by the time Boky swung open the door (it never being answered; he just heard voices inside) they all applauded and invited everyone to have a few bites of their treat.

"Good thing I started a second pie," Cinna joked, scampering over to the other room to retrieve it when more people still leaked through the door every few minutes.

Baku stared at his cousin with half-resentment, and half-gratitude. Finally, a grin broke out on his face and he stood, approaching the man with a puffed out chest. "It's fucking good to see you, Boky you ass!"

The latter burst into a howl of laughter and shook Baku's hand, "Ya still haven't changed I see! Not one bit!"


A/N: Wow! It's been forever I feel like! I've been so caught up with the story twenty chapters ahead that I forgot what was even happening in Treno! :P But I hope it's not too rough for you guys to follow! I also apologize if my editing wasn't as spot on tonight :P Just wanted to get it out there for you guys!

Thanks for sticking with me!

-zesty-