Filling In The Blanks

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

A/N: Here we go! Another intense chapter coming your way!

Chapter 99: J'ai Envie de Rêver, Mais…

It started as the chills.

He really tried not to blame his torture for the quaking, but a bitter part of his usually-optimistic mind chewed at the irony that he'd be injured and sick at the same time, just by coincidence.

The last round was unusually rough. Maybe it was because the guards were extra mad, or maybe it was because he could feel the fever running its poison through his veins, pulsing violently into his head. The way Avalanche fled from the room after he promised to look after Elouise gave his delusional mind some sort of a hint that danger was on its way.

He couldn't decipher any details, but a guard had said something about a 'break in', so the blonde, with the only simple thoughts he could muster, figured that had something to do with it.

But now it wasn't just the chills. Or the temperature.

His stomach churned in nausea, creaking like a rickety boat on high waves in the middle of the ocean. He scrunched his nose – really the only thing he could do anymore – feeling ridiculous for such a dramatic simile and simultaneously hating himself because he knew how absolutely true it was.

His elvish friend came back once – or maybe twice – more with little spurts of potions, and Zidane knew without much of a thought process that it was solely the minuscule bouts of potion that were keeping him alive. His body ached and whined, wishing for the genome's metaphorical signature to sign off on dying. But the blonde was more stubborn than that.

Though he would gladly welcome death like an old friend, after the stunted conversation about said 'break in' a few days earlier, he had the most microscopic hope that it was Blank and the others, coming to save him. With that notion, he would at least be able to see Dagger and the redhead one more time before he slipped away, finally happy and free of the pain.

His body sighed, relaxing at the very thought of letting go. But then Avalanche was in front of him again, and the sour stench of potion brought him back to the lowly existence Kuja had established for him in the dungeon.

"How long's it been?" he croaked as water found its way down his throat. He drank greedily (if not painfully), but Avalanche didn't overdo it. He knew Zidane's body could react poorly to so much liquid after being starved of it for so long.

"A few days," the taller blonde admitted. "I've been back every day since."

"Must be gett'ng weaker," Zidane snorted, allowing his eyes to roll to one side with any ounce of sass.

Avalanche appreciated his efforts for light-heartedness. But both of them knew that the blonde wouldn't have survived another few hours without the elf's aid. Light blue eyes swept over the broken body, still lying in the spot the guards tossed him three days prior. The first day Avalanche had arrived to save his life, he had rolled him over so he would be face up again, pressed his warm hands to Zidane's freezing cheeks, and prayed that the genome had enough energy to fight a fever.

He was freezing, had a temperature, a terrible cough that ripped at the wounds already inflicted on his damaged body and obvious swelling in his lymph nodes and eyes. Whether this was from the bruising or illness he wasn't sure, but neither were good.

He watched his friend as he pondered all of this and saw when his eyes shut, lips murmuring something even Avalanche's acute hearing couldn't pick up on. But that soon got louder, and the elder of the two tilted his head in a light curiosity.

"J'ai faim. J'ai soif."

He pressed a hand to Zidane's forehead, feeling the blaze on his porcelain skin. The fever was flaring, and he guessed the blonde had slipped into some half-dream, half-delusion.

"Mais J'ai de…"

While the dreamer was temporarily relieved of his pain, the elf leaned close, pulling sticky articles of clothing away from Zidane's body and ghosting a hand over his tangled limbs to assess the damage.

"… la chance, pour J'ai…"

"Zidane," he spoke, his tone demanding but light.

"tu."

Avalanche sighed. Perhaps he wouldn't try to reawaken the genome. He deserved whatever comfort he could get in this place until his friends were successful with their escape plans. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but according to the little he had heard from the generals wearing gold, they'd gotten awful close last time.

They had decided not to tell Kuja for the sake of their own lives.

"We have it under control" they'd said, and insisted the rebels wouldn't get so close again.

Avalanche prayed they were wrong.

He wanted to know what Zidane was mumbling about, but with his life teetering so close to the edge, the elf knew he deserved whatever relief he could get. If his friends did succeed, then he had a long, painful road to recovery in front of him and he wasn't about to rob the blonde of his last few comforts.


"How are you doing on potions?" Her body was bent, head tilted in front of his face because he refused to look at her – at anyone.

"Fine," he grunted in anticipated anger.

Dagger couldn't blame him. Blank was angry – probably angrier than her. He had been in the dungeons when Kuja released his elite troops; while they weren't dreamers, they were still dangerous. Their presences alone told the few who had infiltrated the passage that Kuja wasn't kidding around – they must have been near a breakthrough.

She was infuriated when Beatrix, weak but not quite weak enough to pull away from, dragged her away from the river. She saw it in the others' faces too; even Vivi was frustrated by the way the gold seemed to flicker a certain sadness through his orbs.

But something about today was different.

There was still the looming, unapproachable possibility that Zidane was already dead, but she didn't allow her mind to go there. She had prepared herself, consistently reminding herself of the way he looked after Terra, and pushing herself to not freeze up when he needed her most, like in Bermecia when Amarant was stabbed.

When she reflected on that day, she knew that the redhead could have very well died. Luckily, Freya wasn't interested in teaching the young white mage a lesson that day; something that the raven still didn't know how to thank her for.

Even with all of the negative thoughts in her head, she was feeling lucky. She shook out her cold hands before slipping her worn, mahogany gloves back on. After flexing her fingers, she clutched her staff, determined and rested.

She watched the way Vivi secured his hat on his head, and Eiko laced her boots a little tighter. Ruby slipped an extra dagger into her boots and had changed from her dainty, lace gloves into her grey combat gloves; something about Dagger's unwavering attitude was contagious.

Cinna tossed his new mace a little bit, feeling the weight, still working out the kinks. Even Marcus, one of the most pessimistic people she knew, had a sort of grimacing smirk on his face as he tightened the bandana around his head.

Her body moved on auto pilot, turning to stare the far-off city in the face. She was ready for it today. No excuses for not bringing Zidane home.

Steiner watched as they got ready to abandon their late-night camp sight. The younger generation stood a little straighter and squared their shoulders, and a pit of tight pride grew in his stomach. He was so proud; no matter what happened at the end of the rescue mission, he watched the infectious optimism sprouting off of Dagger and knew how hard she was trying – how much she had grown into a leader without anyone even realizing it.

But that also hurt him at the same time. Chills rolled up his armored arms as he looked at the older of the group. Baku settled his goggles back on his forehead, looking older than anyone; most of the time, Steiner could mistake his ridiculous expressions and sporadic actions for one of the crew members, but not today. Beatrix's hair clung to her neck, though she tried to hide her growing limp and the way she panted, exhausted and probably fighting an infection. Freya's eyes were never focused on the here and now, always gazing into the distance as her experienced but cracked hands rested firmly on her spear. Amarant's tight eyes and thin-lined lips gave away his usually emotionless face.

Nobody was ready for the reality of the situation except the four of them, and he prayed this wouldn't break the most elite of the next generation of resistance members.

He rubbed his forehead. "Ready to go?"

"Now more than ever," Marcus answered.

No one else said a word.

Amarant sighed, "Let's get this started."

Just like that, everyone took off at a quick pace. The air was stiff with the morning crispness. Little puffs of white trailed the air around them, their breath warm on such a damp morning. Fog waved, dancing around them in twirling tendrils. It was reaching for them, hoping to drag them away to fade into the distance, but the group sliced straight through it.

There was no time for doubt.

Steiner pushed it from his mind.

"Let's loop 'round the river the other way," Baku blurted without really meaning to. Eyes landed on him though they didn't slow down.

"Why would we do that? It's being closer to the castle for longer – more risk of being detected," Amarant replied. Nobody disagreed with him.

Baku rubbed at his chin like he was thinking hard. There was silence for only a moment before he spoke, "I grew up in Alexandria."

"You?!" Blank snorted before tripping and having to spring off of his fingertips to pick himself back up and not lose speed.

"Down in the slums, if you could call them that. The houses that anyone could waltz into and kids put boards across to get from roof to roof."

"Down by the theater ship landing?" Steiner asked, suddenly realizing he knew what the man was talking about.

The Tantalus leader nodded, tossing a glance back at the knights who ran side by side. He huffed a little, not used to conversation on a brisk run, but continued. "My good-for-nothin' parents were nobles."

The crew actually came to a stop then, and Freya ran into the back of Zenero, hardly staying on her feet. He turned and yanked on her hand, hoping to keep her upright.

"Where are you going with this, Baku?" Marcus demanded. He didn't like the idea of stopping, but Baku never spoke without reason.

"They lived on the side of the river we've been fucking infiltrating. Every time we pass the cobblestone that would lead me home, I realize how appealing this line of Alexandria always was. The river was a place of pride back then, ya guys can remember that, right?" he stared at Beatrix and Steiner.

The ex-captain nodded, "Yes, my brothers and I went exploring near the river almost every day."

"Why is it so appealing?" Baku prompted.

"It isn't still, makes noise, has a wide girth on either side –"

"Exactly!" Baku cried, slapping himself in the face like he was stupid for not realizing it before. "The damn river is so open! Kuja can probably see us from his sketchy-ass towers of the castle coming before we even make a sound. I don't think we ever had an element of surprise!"

"So where are you going with this?" Blank asked impatiently. His arms were characteristically crossed over his chest, eyes tilted down in a guarded expression.

Baku twirled once, turning on his heel to get a good look at everyone. "I grew up on the other side of the theater. The castle doesn't push all the way to the falls and mountain; there was always a couple rows of buildings."

"Buildings?! That's preposterous!" Steiner almost laughed, "we never knew about it!"

"Of course you didn't; you were worried about the upkeep of the city. Residential areas so far out of reach from the rest of the kingdom didn't really matter; not that we had much money to cause too much of a ruckus down there anyways – everyone was broke and no one had nothin' so we couldn't go after each other with crimes."

"And you want us to go around the castle that way, so Kuja doesn't have heightened defenses on the side of the river we sweep in on?"

"Right," Baku nodded.

Another pass of silence floated around them. Each members' head turned slowly, trying to read how everyone else was taking the situation with their eyes.

Cinna let on an undoubtedly goofy grin. "I don't have many epiphanies about why Baku is such a renowned leader in Tantalus." Confusion splashed the air around him, and he could tell Baku was offended without even glancing at him. "But today is definitely not one of those days. I say we do it!" he cheered, enthusiastic and proud of his boss.

"Any objections?" Dagger asked, her voice sounding maybe a tinge more hopeful about their new path than it should have.

"If you're okay with it, then I have none," Beatrix told her. "I swear to the gods though, Baku, if you're leading us astray –"

"Relax! I know what I'm doing!"

Amarant shook his head. "You people are fucking crazy," but despite that he took off, peeling away from the straight direction he was following before. Baku's words jumped into the silent air every once in a while to lead the head runner of the group.

Maybe this way would be better.

Maybe this way would give them a shot.


"Why are you even looking at that?!"

"What's wrong with just looking?" he scrunched up his nose, proceeding to pull out the worn old book even though she had questioned it. "If I'm going to write a winning play write, I should know all the classics, shouldn't I?"

"How do you even know if that's a classic?" she put her hands on her hips matter-of-factly. Her hair fell prettily on each side of her face today, and the long waves fell down her back.

He always loved when she wore her hair down. Something about it made her look more feminine and angelic, and those were generally traits that Zidane wandered after.

"It's falling apart, that has to be one sign at least, right?" he snickered as she rolled her eyes at his tendency to answer questions with more questions.

The light pooled onto the old oak table in front of them. There were plenty of people in Alexandria interested in theater, but not one of them would step foot back to the old, dusty part of the library. Except Zidane. She was leaned up against a bookshelf, her vivid green eyes watching his mannerisms as he swept the dust off of the cover of the book and tossed it on the table without even looking as he began searching for more.

She pushed off of the shelf, hugging her arms and letting her index and middle finger fiddle with the rolled up cuff of her grey shirt. "Aren't you going to take a look at that one first?"

"I'll get a whole bunch at once!"

"That's distracting," she chastised, "once you find one that interests you, you should really focus on it first. That way, your interest will stay up!" She popped the 'p' in 'up' to gather his attention; his head snapped back to the sound, so it clearly worked.

"Alright, you win," he nodded, a chuckle on his breath. He sat down, beckoning the girl to the seat beside him. "Take a seat, Eli, learn with me," he pleaded.

"You're so dependent," she snorted.

"Now Elouise, that's rude," he told her sternly, but could hardly keep a straight face.

She rolled her eyes again and shoved into his bare arm hard. "Let's just look at the book."

He was silent as he pulled the leather bound book towards him. It had engraving on the front to tell the title and writer, but didn't notice how it was written at first.

"It's French."

"It's what?"

She smiled, her eyes opening up to curiosity and wonder. He knew she was fascinated with the history of their city, so the blonde wondered if that had something to do with it. "We speak English now, but back before they even spoke Old English in Alexandria – the stuff that you read plays in mostly now – they spoke French! It was their own language, native to the city and only to the city. Besides perhaps Dali, or Treno, since they're both technically in the Alexandrian kingdom."

"Why French?"

She shrugged, "Who knows? I've never been able to find any more about history back then; must be pretty old!"

"So you don't know how to read it then, is what you're saying?"

She scrunched her face like she'd tasted something sour, pouncing on him with an accusing stare. "When did I say otherwise?"

"I'm just givin' you a hard time, jeez Louise!"

"That joke is so old."

He snickered in response.

She ignored him and continued, "You can't read this one if you can't read French, you know that right?"

"Well maybe the words are similar – like we can get kind of a meaning for what they're saying!"

She didn't argue with the notion though she doubted it true. He could tell that she did – it was written all over her face. He opened the book, the spine making a creaking snapping noise that an anciently bound book usually did. It fell to the middle – the most opened page in the book probably, considering the way it fell. That's what she had told him anyways.

"The language looks harder than even I expected," she claimed, running her fingers over the parchment, "find anything you recognize?"

He slapped a hand down on the page. "Not a clue," he mumbled, his sapphire eyes skimming the words. "J'ai faim. J'ai soif."

"What are you doing?" she asked him, peeking out from underneath her long eyelashes.

He glanced at her with a questioning look but ignored her, moving back to his reading.

"Mais J'ai de,"

She leaned closer, sitting on her feet and planting her elbows on the table. Her eyes tried to follow him, but she recognized nothing on the page. "How are you able to pronounce that so confidently?"

"Comes with being able to act," he tsked like it was obvious.

"No you're –"

But he was ignoring her again, sucked into what he was reading like he could understand. "-la chance, pour J'ai… tu."

"What's going on?!" she demanded, frustrated he was keeping her in the dark.

He laughed. It was the sort of 'I-have-an-epiphany-' laugh that made her curious. His eyes sparkled, and the abundance of joy nearly made her lose her focus. "I have hunger. I have thirst."

"What?" her eyes skittered between the pages and his gleeful expression.

"But I have luck, because I have you."

She blushed suddenly, unsure why it was happening. Elouise chalked it up to being flustered and annoyed that he wouldn't give her an answer.

"That's what I said just now!"

"I thought you said you didn't know French!"

He shook his head, "I guess... I suddenly remembered that I do." The genome fell back over the book, chuckling as he continued to read.

She sat back, staring at him while chewing nervously on her nails. When could he have learned French? How did he learn French?

Some things about Zidane maybe she would never know. And he knew that too.


No one could believe their luck. Not one person in the small group that had slipped inside could believe it. With Eiko's float spells (so Dagger could maintain her magic power) the soldiers standing out by the pond with binoculars didn't even hear them as they slipped into the shadows.

Even when Vivi had tripped out front, holding his breath and squeezing his eyes shut because he thought someone would hear, even though he had fallen on thin air, no one turned around.

This wasn't a trick.

If the men in gold standing a foot away from the water didn't turn to attack, they didn't know the resistance had literally slipped through their fingers.

While Dagger and the others were aware they would have to fight their way out, the fact that they had a little more time while in was such a good thing. Freya followed the right wall, trying to feel where drafts came from and what sounded hollow when tapped on, to try and put them in the right direction.

Marcus smirked smugly when they continued with his suggestion that no one would think to go to the left first.

They'd been blindly walking the tunnels for ten minutes before an alarm in the form of a large, consistent horn sounded.

"Scouts probably spotted us coming up on the castle the opposite way. But you don't get off easy if you send a false alarm. They probably waited for a little bit and just got here with the news."

"So we traveled faster than the news," Cinna commented; though no one could see him clearly, they could tell he was pleased.

"That's a first," Blank mumbled remembering harshly how fast his crew found out about him and Ruby in Dali. She must have been thinking the same thing because she let out a breathy giggle beside him. His brow fell further over his eyes in annoyance.

"Then we need to hustle – start taking some chances," Amarant insisted, "or this attempt will mean nothing again!"

"When you put it that way," Baku grumbled, determination lacing his tone, "Let's do this, dammit!"

As they rounded a corner, taking a sharp left into what they hoped was a deeper dungeon, they came to a staggering halt. Even those in back who couldn't see what the hold-up was knew not to make a sound. The light of a dimmed torch burned their eyes, having already become accustom to the dark.

Blank raised his dagger. "We don't have time for this – we'll cut you down if we have to!"

Immediately, the figure raised his arms. "I'm a friend."

"Who?!" he demanded, "Don't fuck around, we're in a hurry!" he barked.

"Blank," Ruby whispered harshly.

"Blank? You're his best friend?!"

"Who are you?" Steiner demanded. Dagger gripped her staff with anxiety.

"My name is Avalanche." He held the light to his face more clearly, showing his sharp blue eyes and long platinum hair.

"Why the fuck does that matter to us? You have five seconds to move or you die!" Blank pushed, though everyone knew he wouldn't slaughter the newcomer; he'd said too much and peaked too much interested.

"I'm a friend of Zidane's. We met in the Dream Alexandria."

Eiko reared back in angered fear. "You're a dreamer?"

"Why don't I trust you?" Marcus necessitated, coming to the redhead's aid.

"You have no reason to, but you must believe me. I can take you to Zidane!"

"Or straight to Kuja, Kuja-scum!" Cinna shot back. It was lame, but it made a clear point.

Avalanche shook his head. "I know you must not understand the dream world well… I do not either as I have just learned of its true nature and reasons for existance from Zidane a few days ago."

"A few days ago?" Vivi piped up, worried. He pushed passed the others to make it toward the front. "Is he okay?"

"Barely."

"Vivi get back!"

Vivi shook his head. "No," he answered timidly, trying to be brave. His glowing yellow eyes poured into Avalanche's own, searching for any sense of bad will against the resistance, or more importantly, their friend. "I think he's telling the truth."

He knew the others wanted to leap with questions, but they bit their tongues to listen to the mage.

"He spoke of a black mage – one not like the others. He's smaller and can talk – is aware."

Vivi's heart shuttered and he nearly staggered forward. "Zidane's alive?"

"He is, but if he doesn't get out of here, not for long! We have to go now –"

"Vivi it's probably a trap! Let's just kill him and –"

The little black magic user turned towards them and though they couldn't see most of his expression, they felt the sincerity of his words. "I was that mage. In Dream Alexandria is where Zidane and I met – out on the street. He saved me from some mean guys trying to steal my gil."

"Vivi –"

"I trust him enough; you don't have to follow, I can go see." Without another word, Avalanche moved swiftly, whipping in the other direction and hurrying down the hall. Vivi bobbed after him.

"Gah!" Blank griped, "Come on!" The rest followed the angry redhead as the two others moved ahead.

They turned down the next hallway, and turned right once more, and for a moment Marcus believed that he had been leading them in the wrong direction all along. But the elf spoke like he could read minds. "You were going the right way, but I fear you would have continued left. No one knows the intricate system of the dungeons quite yet, but there are some cells – more restricted – that you must make two right turns to get to while going left. There is one hallway to them, so you would never see them from another direction."

"Tricky bastard," Baku cussed, though no one knew exactly what it was he was referring to with his words.

"Zidane is not alone in the cell, I just want to warn you."

"Not alone?" Steiner parroted, "What does that mean?"

Avalanche stopped at a door and jingled his keys instead of answering. "We are here." With a quick motion, he had unlocked the door and Vivi sprouted a small fireball, contained in his hands, to lighten the room.

Dagger fought to be the first in, reminding herself that she said she wouldn't cry.

But one look at the boy changed all that.

His skin was a pale grey, and his eyes were swollen and purple. His neck looked puffy and his arm and leg sat at strange angles to his body. His body ghosted a trail of blood that lead to a small pool – Avalanche had dragged him out of it. There was no far away visual of his chest rising and falling, and his clothes were stained crimson and tattered.

"Zidane!" she cried, falling to a stoop next to him, her knees slamming into the damp stone. "Oh Zidane," she groaned, sounding like the name physical hurt her. Her hands shook as she bent to touch him, but hesitated much like any other, when she realized any sort of touch may damage him further.

The group piled in, Tantalus dropping next to their long-time friend in hopes that he was alive. Cinna bent low to his mouth, waiting for a breath when no one dared touch him for a heartbeat.

The thief nearly began coughing with delight as he leapt up with joy, "Breath! I feel his breath! Barely but it's there! Guys he's alive!" He cried out, tears of his own spilling down his cheeks in relief.

Ruby covered her mouth with both hands and stumbled back into Amarant. He steadied her with his hands, but too distracted by this good news to let go of her shoulders.

"Dagger?!" The sound was such a choke, they thought it was coming from Zidane. All of them stared with anticipation, waiting for him to say more. The delight of the mood halted like time had stopped.

"We're here, buddy," Blank encouraged, lightly brushing the genome's wet bangs from his eyes. Those closest to his face flinched back when they saw the smear of blood at his hairline.

"Dagger?" the croak sounded again, and that's when all eyes suddenly wandered to where Avalanche was moving about.

"This is who I spoke of," he said, his tone superior. It looked like he didn't have much taste for the man either.

"Bronson?!" the double take was nearly unanimous.

"No. Fucking. Way." Blank spluttered. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Were you not supposed to be back at our base?" Freya asked, just as perplexed.

Steiner's bewildered stare shifted from Dagger to Bronson to Zidane and back again, charcoal eyes moving faster than his mind could. Until it clicked. And by the dumbfounded look on everyone's faces (save for the shame that mutilated Bronson's once-proud air), it seemed he was the first to figure it out.

"You ratted us out," he said flatly, and heads swiveled to him.

Avalanche nodded to confirm, not realizing how big of a depth the situation had. "The bastard sold you out to Kuja – I've heard from some of the other dreamers that he suggested you would head to Dali."

"So Mae's kidnapping wasn't incidental," Beatrix murmured, horror filling her tone.

"You son of a bitch!" Dagger yelled, startling them all. Hands suddenly went flying out, trying to stop her uncharacteristic tirade as she lunged for the man. "Why?! Why did you do that?! Kuja set Dali on fire! On fire! Where you said your sister and mother were!" her chest rose and fell too quickly and she felt panic well up in her stomach. "You told them where we were hiding!"

"No!" he moaned, flopping over pathetically in his haste.

"He exchanged information to Kuja to spare the Princess. Is she with your resistance?"

"Yes," Ruby answered, acting quicker than everyone else. "She don't go out much, but she's with us."

"He apparently thought all hope was lost, and a scheme with Kuja was the only way to spare her."

"You are disgusting," Dagger commented, but Cinna grabbed her arm.

"Zidane," he reminded her, "let's get him out. We need to get out of here. They'll find us soon."

"He's right," Avalanche agreed. "You need to get moving!"

Eiko, terrified of the sight before her, mumbled a shaky float spell on Zidane and his body lifted into the air painlessly. Steiner took his feet to steer him out, and Dagger cast a quick cure spell on him for stability before they took their leave.

"Wait!" Bronson cried, the word broken into two syllables by his pathetic begging. "You can't leave me here. Don't leave me here. Dagger I'm begging you." At least he had enough common sense not to use her right name.

"We can't leave him," Vivi decided. "He's a human life too."

Avalanche yanked him off of the floor and onto his feet. Bronson's eyes were wide and barely clicking in on objects; instead, they sporadically flickered to each side, as though trying to find which way was forward.

"He moves with us until we break from the castle. Then he is not to be our problem anymore," Freya advised. "We have one goal, and it is to get Zidane to safety. We cannot harbor a traitor as well!"

"She's right," Beatrix decided, unsheathing her sword. "It's time to play! Be careful – they're going to be lethal!"

"Kuja shouldn't send out any dreamers. But the longer we wait, the more elite guards will pour out, so it's best to get going now!"

"Right!"

And through the halls they twirled. Steiner was careful to give Zidane enough room to be pushed lightly through the air without hitting anything, but worried when they didn't even get a groan out of him. His stomach churned when he stared too long at the strange angles of his limbs, but he tried not to think of such a ridiculous thing at that moment.

Beatrix led them then, her eyebrows knit together bravely. She jogged behind the elf, her arm and sword always tensed in defense in front of her.

"This is as far as I go," Avalanche said suddenly, coming to a quick stop. The light patter of footsteps slowing surrounded them as the entire group braked.

"If you're helping us now, come with us," Eiko said, blinking her turquoise eyes at him. "You'd be such a great help."

"My place is here," he nodded.

Dagger stepped forward, fear having left her eyes a long time ago in the platinum blonde's presence. "My real name is Garnet Alexandros til 17th. I beg of thee, please come with us. Aid us in this fight for a side you do not stand with."

Avalanche hardly even looked surprised, but he was grateful. He bowed low, the tips of his hair sweeping the grimy floors. "I am honored m'lady. Unfortunately, I will be better help here. The dreamers are dangerous, but not bad. They've just been very well lied to. I must be here to help them recover when the truth comes out."

"But –"

He held up a calm hand, "Besides… I made a promise," his eyes shifted to Zidane who was lifeless in the air; his heart ached for the genome.

"I understand," Dagger said gallantly. "Find us, please, when this is over, so you can be properly helped and credited. Families of the dreamers are still out there, and we can help you find yours."

"I appreciate that so much, Princess," he laughed, bowing lightly again, like a gentleman. "Take this tunnel to the opening." He pushed Bronson to Marcus, who hardly caught him and held him up in disgust. "I do not suggest following the river. Once they see you've succeeded in retaking Zidane, they will follow you, but not too far. Kuja will want as many people here as possible when he starts a more organized search."

"Just like Treno," Cinna nodded, his heart beating in his ears.

"You shall be good once you hit the forest." The others moved to go, nodding their most vivid of thank you's to their new ally. "Thank you, Master Vivi," Avalanche added with a smile. "For believing me."

"Thank you," the black mage replied, "for believing Zidane."

"Save his life."

"We will."

And they were off again, moving like lightening through the last stretch of tunnel. The hardest part was yet to come, but there was a lot of the journey behind them now.


"This way!"

It felt like the tunnel was getting longer, or they were moving slower.

Dagger huffed as they paraded the last yards, seeing the light so clearly in front of them, but feeling like they'd been seeing it for forever. The group didn't bother being subtle any longer.

She was behind Beatrix, one hand lightly touching the older woman's shoulder blade as they galloped. Her brown hair brushed the top of the raven's hand, and her heart clenched with pride. Beatrix was so brave.

"Be ready for anything once we step out of this tunnel!" she commanded, never missing a beat. Her sword acted more like a shield for her as the final steps in the dark were upon them.

Out of the opening they flew, filing out like the floodgates had broken. Immediately, Beatrix's long sword met with something, and she began to blindly swing. Anything in front of her now was an enemy – an obstacle to keeping her group safe. To keeping her family safe.

Vivi had already been summoning magic, and sprayed an ice spell up on their left – the way they'd come. He froze the first few soldiers, solidifying their screams before they hardly left mouths, and effectively blocking others from grabbing the resistance members for a few vital moments.

"Let's move! You know where to go!" the brunette called, encouragement in her voice. The Tantalus crew holding Bronson to keep him upright and moving dropped him, pointing down the river and telling him that he was on his own.

The blonde didn't argue, because he knew he deserved it. He had been a knight; hopefully (or maybe not) he could slink out of there undetected, very, very conscious of the mistake he'd made going to Kuja in the first place.

Steiner heaved his broadsword, feeling somewhat satisfied when his weapon was finally able to connect with something. He knocked down waves of people, feeling invincible with this unbelievable victory.

Blank and Marcus used each other to leap from one soldier to the next, jumping onto their shoulders or kicking off of their shields, using each other's hands and feet for momentum as well. Cinna and Zenero bowled over whoever they missed, behind like a mobile brick wall. The two heavier thieves laughed as they moved, high on the very sense of escape.

"You want a piece of me?!" Eiko yelled, sliding underneath people in her way, dodging weapons and causing the taller, less mindful soldiers to make mistakes and start slicing each other on accident.

Amarant smirked at her courage, "Heads up!" but she still squawked when he swooped her up. As they moved forward, he slipped his set of mythril claws onto Eiko's hand. "Up for a little excitement?"

She nodded, her eyes wide with exhilaration.

"Get ready" he warned her, as he wound up and tossed her forward. She knew exactly what to do as she curled tight into herself and swung at anything coming her way with his giant set of claws. "Quina!" he called, and when the qu turned, Eiko bounced harmlessly off of his belly and onto the ground, landing on her feet.

"Thanks, chief!" she giggled at the qu, who's eyes landed on Amarant with obliviousness.

"Amarant have food for Quina?!"

"Yeah! If we get out of here alive I'll cook you a gourmet meal!"

"Ha!" Freya barked at them as they pulled up ahead of the redhead, passing the qu as well. "I will believe that when I see it!"

"Hey now!"

"Focus!" Beatrix ordered. "Distraction makes openings for mistakes!"

"Yes sir!" Eiko chirped, falling into step with Ruby.

Amarant watched the two – how Ruby grabbed her hand to make sure she wouldn't fall behind, and the ever-proud seven year old let her, just because it was Ruby and no one could ever say no to the girl. He shook his head and continued following, knowing that no way could he think of abandoning the resistance now.

Baku had Zidane to worry about. He watched as the float spell lost its effectiveness, and nestled the blonde's broken body over his outstretched arms. He sucked in a sharp breath, secretly hoping for some sort of scream – or even a grunt – from the blonde to show that he wasn't completely lost.

Most of Kuja's soldiers were behind them now – not expecting the members on the run to fight back quite as much. They never had during an escape before – simply fled and disappeared, so they were unprepared and too little in numbers.

The gravel crunched underneath them, and crows cawed, delving into an eerie silence past the quick-lived fight.

"Something's wrong –Ahhhh!"

Steiner didn't even see it happen.

They were home free, springing past the abandoned shops and lifeless allies, so close to freedom. No one could have expected it.

Especially not to her.

He slid to a horrifying stop as the squelch of a sword pulling out of skin filled the gap of sound as everyone held their breath.

"Tch!" she gasped, pressing both of her hands on her side like water was spilling off of her. "Ah!"

There was no time to ask who this man was, or why he was alone, waiting for the right moment to strike. There was no thinking about it, or hesitating.

He was dead before he let his sword drop to his side. A satisfied expression, however, would be permanently sketched on his face as he fell to the ground.

"Beatrix!" Steiner yelped at her, breathing heavier than the woman in a panic.

"We need to keep – schhh –" her body shuttered as another wave of pain washed over her. A sharp intake of breath filtered through her teeth, creating a loud, painful noise. "m-moving."

"Dagger!" he cried, hoping for assistance.

The girl scurried towards him, fumbling over herself as she watched Beatrix fall slowly to one knee. Her face clenched, scrunching up as she tried to hold it together.

"A cure! No a cura, or even a curja! Do something!"

She cast the most powerful cure she could, letting it settle over the woman, but there was no change.

"No…" Steiner mumbled, having seen this before.

Freya must have thought the same thing as she stormed forward, taking a look at his sword.

"Don't tell me," he ex-knight prompted, staring at the Bermecian as he blindly reached for Beatrix. She met him halfway, squeezing his hand with her own.

"The same type of magic."

"Dammit!"

"We need to keep going. They aren't going to be behind us forever," Baku advised, leaning back to give Zidane more support to one side.

"We can't just go!" Steiner barked.

"Relax," Freya said, pushing the brunette's armor to one side. The wound was bad – horrible – really, but she tried to put on her best poker face to not worry anyone. Dagger's face was already looking a tinge green. She ripped off the hem of her bright red jacket, winding the long piece of fabric around Beatrix's middle.

The woman had a wide variety of grunts and moans to respond with, and a sharp yelp when Freya tight it firmly around her waist.

"You're hurting her!"

"I am saving her life," she shot back sharply. "Pull yourself together, Steiner, so we can get out of this alive."

As she stood, helping Beatrix into the man's arms, he knew the Bermecian was right. She was rugged and blunt, but the situation was dire. Zidane was inches from death and Beatrix was well on her way; now was not the time to be losing his cool.

"Alright, let's move," he said, nodding and sucking in a shaky breath.

"Stay away from the buildings!" Freya advised, "They may not make a sound now, but I am sure there are others! Kuja must have stationed them out here for that purpose!"

As if being found out, another wave of soldiers came from the allies and low porches of buildings. A battle cry rose and fell among them as the group protruded from their straight path.

Tantalus blocked those carrying someone injured. Their daggers glinted in the pale morning light, finally coming up over the eastern mountains. The others ran faithfully beside them; they wouldn't let anyone else get hurt on this run.

Exhaustion filled them, but the adrenaline ran deep and pumped through their veins still – even after the endless activity. Vivi turned as they ran, conjuring the most powerful fire spell he could muster. He tried to recall the rage Zidane prompted in him during their training in Dali, tried to blame Kuja and the soldiers for all of this stress and uncertainty, but he couldn't muster any feeling other than worry.

His most powerful fire spells would have to wait for another time.

For now, the line of fire spread between them and did what it was meant to do. The men leapt through the first, and even the second, but the lines became thicker as Vivi timed them better, and eventually, ghastly eyes were frozen behind licking flames of light.

Their figures seemed to disappear into a past that already seemed a million miles away as the group made the final stretch to get out of the city.

The mage shuttered, unable to let go of the sinking feeling in his heart. The worst was still not behind them.


A/N: Oh wow! What an intense chapter! I hope it wasn't anti-climactic for anyone; I hope it was fast paced and entertaining like I wanted it to be!

They got Zidane back! Yay! :D And Avalanche helped them do it! But Beatrix :( So much good in this chapter, but so much bad! I hope you all are itching to know what will happen next!

Thanks for your continued support! Lots of love to everyone! I apologize if the editing was not-so-great: I kind of got wrapped up in the storyline this chapter haha! It was one of my favorites to write (entertainment wise, not storyline, of course!), and sometimes I still lose myself in the plot of this story!

-zesty-