Zidane figured they were halfway up, judging from the view he'd gotten from the last window. The creatures in here were all like others he had fought before, but they were different as well. They were stronger, and often had one feature or another that was unique. Freya and Garnet were holding up fairly well, all things considered. Kuja didn't complain at all, and Zidane was seriously starting to worry that he was retreating into himself. Zidane needed him to be aware if they were going to make it. So far they had done fairly well, but every here and there they struggled with everything they had to just stay alive. They were taking a chance and resting for a few minutes to use their supplies and catch their breath.

"We can't take much harder than that last fellow Zidane." Freya looked over at her friend as she spoke.

"Yes, I know. And just think, we're only about half way there, I think." Zidane was having doubts about their survival.

"After all that climbing? We can't only be halfway!" Garnet looked exhausted, even using the supplies.

"You can look for yourself. We are up pretty high, but I don't think we're as far as we wish we were." Zidane saw her go over to the window and look down, then crane her neck around to try and look up. She sighed in defeat.

"I think it's an illusion." Kuja's eyes were closed as he spoke. "Garnet is right. We have climbed too far to only be halfway. We're probably almost to the top, really." He opened his eyes and looked toward the stairs. "We've been here over ten minutes, and nothing has come to attack us yet. Doesn't that seem strange to you?"

"He's right." Freya stood up and looked around them. Now that she did, the whole platform they stood on looked different from any other they had seen. She hadn't noticed when she first got here, she was so tired, but this place was much more decorated.

"Damn! That means we could have just walked right up to Miraina and not realized it until she was smiling at us." Zidane was glad now that Kuja was so quiet. Probably meant that he watched things more than the rest of them.

"Indeed." Kuja closed his eyes again.

"Were you going to say anything? Or just let us walk into our deaths?" Garnet snapped at the sorcerer.

"I was going to say something. I just thought you might want some real rest before having to worry you about facing Miraina." Was his irritated reply.

"Let's try not to fight, okay?" Freya began to pace lightly; more awake than she had been for a good distance they had been walking. "At least we know now. We can be ready when we face her."

"That's right." Zidane looked over his weapon. "I wonder how the others are doing?"

"Them? Probably kicking butt and wondering how we're doing." Garnet smiled now, but inside she was worried. How were they doing? She'd had a bad feeling for a while, that something was wrong, but she kept it to herself. They had other things to worry about.

Vivi and Steiner sat in a small room they had barricaded. They were both depressed and tired. They had lost Amarant first, when he fell down a hole that had opened under his feet. They couldn't see the bottom, and they never heard his body hit, but they assumed the worst. His loss had cost them dearly. In one of the battles, Eiko had been grabbed by some flying thing, and carried off. Following the creature, they had found only a ribbon and a pool of blood. After that, they fought as hard as possible just to find somewhere to hide. They knew, without Eiko's healing skills, they would never last very long. Even now, something was lurking outside the door.

"It was a pleasure fighting beside you, Master Vivi." Steiner held out his hand to Vivi, who took it a bit nervously.

"It isn't over yet Steiner. Zidane and the others could still pull through. We just need to hang on, and I'm sure we will be fine." The black mage sat against the wall, listening to the creature outside.

"Of course Master Vivi. And this is a highly defensible place. We can hold out for a long while." Steiner sounded confident, but he was scared out of his wits. He had failed to protect Eiko, and hadn't been able to do anything for Amarant. His sword had some scratches in it, and he only wanted to lie down and sleep.

"Wait." Vivi and Steiner held still. The thing outside the door seemed to go away and they breathed a sigh of relief. The fewer things they had to fight, the longer they could last. "Maybe they won't look in here. They are only animals after all." He tried to cheer up his friend. He was about to say something else when a new sound stopped his heart cold. The ground beneath their feet began to crack, a loud splitting sound. They both stood and watched in horror as some sort of worm broke through the stone.

"Good luck to you, Master Vivi!" Steiner charged in, slashing at the creature as Vivi powered up a Flare.

"Good luck to all of us." Vivi said quietly before letting loose his magic.

"So, we ready to go stop her for good?" Zidane and the others were all standing. Kuja nodded once, and Garnet squared her shoulders. Freya flipped her lance around to signal her readiness. Looking at these people he had come to trust so much, Zidane felt a wave of confidence. They could do this, he was sure of it. "Let's get going then!" He turned toward the door that had been the other strange part of this platform. Opening it, they came to a large room, and no more stairs. It seemed as though they had reached the top. There was a door at the other end of the room, as well as a large mirror along one wall.

"I have a decidedly bad feeling about this." Kuja said as they began to walk across the room.

"I know what you mean. No sign of anyone, or anything yet." Freya's grip on her lance tightened.

Garnet looked over at the mirror and gasped, making them turn to look at her in alarm. They followed her gaze and backed away from the mirror.

It didn't hold their reflections, but something in it was getting closer. And fast.

They all readied themselves as a creature just smaller than a grand dragon, but looking like it came through the mirror. It looked at them and licked its chops, seeing them as a nice little snack. Kuja lunched a Fira spell at it, which bounced off of a reflect spell. Garnet ignored the spell as it hit her, her armor absorbing the fire. She cast a reflect on herself as Zidane and Freya jumped forward to attack. Zidane's Ultima Weapon sliced open its scales, and Freya's lance ripped one of its wings. The creature cried out in pain, and slashed at them.

"This isn't so hard." Zidane got ready to go in for another strike.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Look at the damage you did." Kuja called over to him, even as he cast a Flare off of the reflect Garnet had cast. It hit the dragon and forced it back a few steps. Zidane looked where he was told, and saw to his dismay that the injury was already healed.

"Damn! So what else can we do?" He dodged a claw that would have taken off his head.

"You make a run for it and stop Miraina!" Garnet called over to them both. They turned to look at her as she summoned Bahamut. The dragon summon began to fight the evil dragon as she looked over at them. "I can hold him off, maybe even beat him. You have to stop Miraina though! The longer we take with these things, the more time she has to work!" Zidane was about to say something when she interrupted. "Just go! All of you! I'll catch up later." Kuja grabbed Zidane and ran toward the other door, Freya behind him. Before going through Kuja turned to look at the queen.

"Take care, Your Highness." Garnet smiled briefly and Kuja closed the door behind him.

Inside Zidane was leaning against the wall. He moved as if to go back, but Freya stopped him, and Kuja stood in his way to the door. They were in a narrow hallway, one door at the end. They began to walk down, their senses straining for anything. They reached the door without incident and opened it to some more stairs. Running up them quickly, they reached another platform before a silver door. It opened to another room with a gold door at the end. Before they could go through, though, a ball of slime fell from the ceiling. Freya managed to just push Kuja and Zidane through the door before it covered her. The door was knocked closed.

"Freya!" Zidane got up and tried to open the door, but it was stuck fast. He hit it once in frustration. Their group had been reduced by two in less than ten minutes.

"We have to keep going." Kuja stood and moved toward the gold door. Zidane followed him; determined to make Miraina pay for all that had happened. He couldn't think of her as the person she had been any longer.

The door opened to a fairly small room with a purple crystal in the center. It had strands of red and green moving through it. There was another doorway to their right, and from there came out Miraina. She was dressed in a long black dress, the stone in the coronet glowing brighter than it had before. She smiled crookedly at them, and made a mock bow.

"So you made it all the way here? My goodness, I am impressed. But where are the others? Didn't they want to come too?" She moved closer to the crystal. "Or were they not able to come? Maybe they're in nice little pieces?" She laughed cruelly and Zidane tightened his grip on his weapon, and his anger. Losing his temper now would get him killed. Miraina stopped laughing abruptly and placed her hand on the crystal. It glowed briefly, and they saw inside of it, Vivi and Steiner, lying side by side, blood pooled beneath them. It switched to the mangled corpse of Eiko, then to Amarant, who lay at the bottom of a hole. It switched again to Freya, who was stone, a silent scream on her face.

"Enough." Zidane's voice was hoarse. "I won't believe that this is true. You'd say anything to make us give up."

"Say? But I'm only showing you what happened to the others." She looked hurt for a moment, then brightened, a bit of malevolence in her purple-blue eyes. "Would you like to see your little queen? She is still alive, but not by much any more. I could let you watch her die, if you wanted." She looked back at the crystal, the picture moving to the room where the dragon still fought Garnet. Garnet was bleeding from several places, her left arm seeming to be lifeless at her side.

"No! Stop this now!" Zidane moved to attack Miraina and was thrown into the wall, his arm holding the Ultima Weapon cracking from the impact. The weapon fell to the floor uselessly. As Zidane watched, the dragon sliced open Garnet and the picture disappeared.

"So sorry. Guess you'll need to find a new girlfriend." Miraina looked thoughtful a moment. "Then again, if I kill you, you won't, will you? I suppose I could do you that little favor." She moved towards Zidane, when Kuja stepped between them. She actually looked startled. "You want to try something?"

"I can't let you hurt anyone else. Why can't you remember? Why can't you try?" His voice was pleading, but there was a note of defeat in it as well.

"Why? Why? I don't want to. I don't have a reason to." She smiled at him in a pitying manner. "Come now, you know you can't win. Maybe if you give up I'll kill you really fast." Kuja stood his ground, his hands behind his back. Zidane saw the Ultima was hiding there. "Oh very well. I'll kill you first, then him." She formed a ball of purple energy in her hand and threw it at him. In the last instant, he swung the sword like a bat and hit the spell back at her. Her eyes widened as it hit her, knocking her backward into the wall. She left a dent in the stone, but only seemed to be fazed.

Kuja ran forward and held the sword up to stab her. Then he hesitated. She sat there shaking her head, and for a moment, she seemed like Mira. He closed his eyes briefly. "I'm sorry Mira."

"So am I." He opened his eyes to see such hatred he nearly staggered back a step. He had waited too long. "Rude." She pushed her hand forward, palm toward him, and the next thing he felt was the wall as he impacted it. "So rude." She got unsteadily to her feet and stood glaring at him.

"You're a monster Miraina. You should be destroyed!" Zidane had gotten up and was cradling his arm.

"Well, too bad no one can accomplish it." Lightning blazed in her hands and Kuja watched helplessly as she blasted a hole in Zidane's chest. The young hero slumped to the ground, a look of shock on his face. She turned her attention back to Kuja as he stood up. "Gonna try again?"

Kuja's shoulders slumped in defeat and he tossed the Ultima to the ground. "I can't kill you. I was never able to, and not because you're so strong."

"Oh dear, sentimentality at its finest. How disgusting." She sneered at him. "Well, you're the last one. After you, everyone on the dear little planet will be fried to lovely crispy critters." She began to form a ball of pure black energy in her hands, larger than any other he had yet seen.

"If that's your choice. But you are Mira, even if you deny her. Even if she can't forgive you for what you've done, I can, since she forgave me. Remember that, Miraina." Kuja leaned back slightly and closed his eyes, more tired than he had ever been in his life.

Since he closed his eyes, he didn't see the change in Miraina. Something flashed across her eyes, some long forgotten emotion. Images flashed through her mind; the cottage they shared, the bed, the garden, and other things. A time before she knew him, when she watched him from a far, when he tore apart the planet causing chaos, to match the chaos inside of him. Her entire existence flashed before her, and the gem in the circlet cracked.

Kuja suddenly opened his eyes when he heard her scream. The ball of energy was still in her hands, but the center swirled with a pure white light. The gem was glowing with a blinding light, cracks appearing along its surface. She looked up and their eyes met for a moment, the depths of her eyes glowing a perfect blue, then she raised her hands and brought the deadly spell that was meant for him down upon herself. There was a blinding, pure light that engulfed everything, and then everything was black.

Kuja opened his eyes. Above him was blue sky and fluffy white clouds. A bright sun hung a bit to the right, sending warmth through everything it touched. He was disoriented for a moment, and couldn't remember much of anything. Then it all came back to him. He sat up and looked around him. Everyone was there, in the middle of a green field. Zidane lay next to Garnet, Vivi and Eiko were near each other. Steiner lay on his back, sleeping peacefully, his chest rising and falling gently. Amarant was near Freya, her lance held in her hands still. Even Quina was there, curled around a rock. They were all alive and well, everyone just asleep.

Kuja stood up carefully and heard the others begin to stir. He didn't quite recognize where they were, but it was very green. Garnet looked around her in confusion and shook Zidane gently. He was on his feet as soon as his eyes opened. He stopped when he saw everyone and looked spectacularly confused. The others all began to wake up, everyone as confused as the others, since all they remembered last was dying. Zidane walked over to where Kuja stood.

"What in the world happened?" Everyone got up and came over to hear the answer.

Kuja was silent a minute. "I'm not really sure." Not the answer they had wanted.

"But we were dead, weren't we?" Eiko was looking around her. "Maybe we still are?"

"Nope, sorry." They turned and saw Kupo landing. Behind him came all the moogles of Madain Sari. Eiko ran forward to hug them all, tears streaming down her face.

"You sure?" Zidane was watching the moogles.

"Quite, actually. We all saw the giant flash in the ocean. A massive wave of light washed over everything, and we, the moogles, began the search for you."

"But what happened?" Garnet knelt by the moogle.

"Well you see, it has to do with Mira. With who she really is." Kupo heaved a sigh and shook his head. "When the planet was in danger, it came up with its own defense. Just in case you all failed. That defense was Mira. She is a direct incarnation of the planet Gaia, with all the power of the life here on the planet at her disposal. That's why Garland wanted her under his control. I mean, how do you fight a planet? You could never win against such a thing. But Garland didn't count on her emotions." Everyone was around Kupo now to listen to him. "You see, her original purpose was not to kill Kuja, but to save him. To make him more stable and to extend his life, give him a chance at a normal future."

"The planet knew I was going to die?" Kuja looked startled.

"Yes indeed. As soon as you set foot on the planet. But you were supposed to destroy most of Gaia. Then, of course, you destroyed the crystal, and they had to fight Necron. While all this fighting was going on, one attack or another on the planet itself injured Mira, and she lost her memory. But, the initial wish to help you was still in her, which is why she wandered around the Iifa Tree for so long. She was looking for you, even when she didn't know it."

"So where is she now?" Kuja remembered the last blast.

Kupo shook his head sadly. "We don't know. We had hoped she would be here with all of you. She may have been destroyed, or she may have used all her strength. She restored all she destroyed, as well as all Garland destroyed. Treno is back to normal, the moogles are alive and well, and even you are all alive. She may not have been able to do all that and remain." Kupo looked down at the ground.

'…Kuja…' Kuja looked around and as at the Iifa Tree, no one seemed to have heard it. Kuja closed his eyes and saw Mira there, standing in the field before him. He opened his eyes and everyone was gone, except Mira. He knew this wasn't real.

"It could be." She sounded real, to be sure.

"What do you mean? Are you still alive?" He walked forward a step, but didn't seem to come any closer.

She laughed lightly, not like Miraina had done, but like he remembered Mira had always done. "Of course I'm still alive. As long as Gaia lives, so do I. But I wanted to know…" Mira looked away from him, her eyes looking sad. "Did you mean what you said? About forgiving me? What I did Kuja, you can never compare to." This time when Kuja stepped forward he did get closer, close enough to wrap his arms around her waist. She looked up at him in surprise, and he smiled at her.

"Of course I meant it. Have I ever said anything I didn't mean to you?" He leaned in and kissed her, feeling as if it had been forever since he'd done that. When he pulled away, he heard a noise behind him as the others starred. Mira hadn't been there a moment ago, but she was now.

"What just happened?" Zidane scratched the back of his head.

"Does it matter? Just be glad for heaven's sake!" Garnet mock hit him on the shoulder.

"What about Garland?" Eiko piped in. Mira turned to her.

"Gone, for good this time. I sent him somewhere special." Mira turned her attention back to Kuja. They had some time to make up for.

Epilogue

The crowd cheered as the two couples kissed on their cues from the priest. Kuja and Mira were locked a little longer than Zidane and got quite a few catcalls for it. Eiko made faces behind all their backs, and Vivi was holding onto his rice basket waiting to throw it at them. The double wedding had been planned for a month, and the whole planet seemed to be there. The wedding itself had taken place in the shadow of the Iifa Tree, which had been changed into a beautiful example of what nature could make if she really tried. The couples made their way down the makeshift isle, rice covering them.

"How did you talk me into this?" Kuja turned to Zidane as they got to the reception.

"I talked your wife into it first, and she pouted at you." Zidane said as he watched both their brides off gossiping.

"Oh yes, I forgot." Kuja looked down at his tux. "Now I'm married for real. How absolutely strange."

"No kidding." Zidane smiled as the women came over to where they were, Garnet wrapping her arm around his waist.

"Come on Zidane, I wanna dance with my husband." She dragged him off, his look of terror making Kuja laugh.

"I wanted to tell you something Kuja." Kuja turned to Mira, feeling the familiar melt in his chest whenever he saw her.

"Yes? Something wrong?" She giggled.

"No. It's something good." She took his hand and placed it on her stomach. For a second, he just starred, not comprehending. Then his eyes widened as it dawned on him.

"Us? …Kid? …Ours?" He looked from her face to her stomach, not sure what to do first, kiss her or tell everyone. He settled for kissing her and picking her up off her feet. "I'm gonna be a dad! Who woulda thought it?"

"Someone did, I'm sure. Now we'll just need names for them."

"Them?" Kuja started laughing in delight. "I can't wait to lord this over Zidane. I bet he doesn't get to have twins any time soon."

"No, probably not." Mira wrapped her arms around Kuja's neck, glad for everything in her life, and all that was right on the planet.

The End