Title: Second chances for an Angel of Death

Rating: R for language, and sexual content

Disclaimer: I do not own FF9 or any of it's characters. Yes there will be Yaoiness later.

Chapter 9.

The sound of crackling and a soft roar was slightly fuzzy and faint in the back of the mage's mind, as the smell of smoke and burnt wood stung his senses. The air was warm yet cool at the same time, and other sounds began to register in his subconscious, such as soft rain hitting what sounded like the roof or top of the shelter above him.

Soft black lashes fluttered slightly as the genome struggled with the ability to wake up. In the back of his mind he knew he had to wake up, but that laziness still lingered in each limb of his dull and weak body. He felt warm and secure though. He couldn't quite place it, but it was that warm feeling of being held by someone who cared about you. He didn't want to leave this warm embracive and loving warmth. He wanted to stay there forever, just like that, with the soft sound of rain around him and the warmth from a fire and perhaps warm arms around him. He snuggled into that warmth, finding it difficult to so much as cuddle because he was sore.

However he knew it was time to wake up and come back to reality, knowing he couldn't stay there forever- as much as he wanted to.

Slowly, soft ice blue eyes fluttered open, a bit hazed at first, but eventually focused on what was in front of him. Above him it appeared to be the roof of a tent. He frowned a little confused, not sure where the Tent had come from. Lifting his head a bit he saw a small lamp in the corner, burning brightly, keeping the tent warm in the cool mid morning shower. It explained the sound of rain, and the warm and cool air… but it didn't explain the warmth.

Kuja heard a soft coo whispered into his ear as soft arms looped around his waist. He came to realization of who was curled against him noting that the two genomes' tails were entwined together yet once again. Relaxing, he nuzzled into the other body curled against him, closing his eyes again.

He also noticed, to his pleasure, that he and the blonde were both in their undergarments. More or less to dry out their wet clothes and keep them from developing hypothermia as Zidane would have realized. It was apparent the blonde had tried to hard to keep them both alive. Kuja gave the blonde a lot more credit than he originally had in the past. Zidane must have worked very hard indeed, having to drag Kuja all the way, set up a tent somewhere safe where there was no threat of monsters, undress himself along with an unconscious mage, hang up the wet clothes and put out a little fire in a lantern.

Just by looking at the blonde he could tell Zidane had drained himself with all the effort he put into their survival. Zidane deserved so much praise… Kuja couldn't understand why Zidane struggled so hard, when most people in his situation, would have given up from the start. Not Zidane however. Zidane fought until the very end. He was resting now and he deserved it.

The mage sighed, closing his eyes as he snuggled into the warmth, thinking back on earlier that night. Kuja had come closed to being raped by the Captain's crew, and that frightened him. Even more so: his lack of magic. This bothered Kuja greatly, granted he knew it had been coming. Zidane had warned him so. Especially when Zidane, earlier that day, had warned him to conserve his magic. Kuja had disregarded him, and when he had needed it the most, he couldn't use it.

Just remembering the looks they gave him, and how they roughly pinned him to the railing sent shivers down the mage's spine. However…. When Zidane showed up in his trance form, that was the true pinnacle of that moment. Zidane had always been powerful, especially as an enemy, Kuja had always considered him a powerful threat. Granted the first time Kuja saw Zidane again for the second time as a grown young man, the mage considered the blonde to be nothing more than a nuisance. But seeing Zidane in trance to defend the mage… it made Kuja shiver from the sheer power that radiated from the younger man.

Sighing to himself, he felt comfortable enough at this point and began to drift off to sleep, inhaling the other's scent for a brief moment, finding himself caught in sleep's grasp. He was tired enough anyways, and began to fall back into slumber, unconsciousness claiming him.

…

Once again the mage found himself waking once more. This time to the sound of rustling inside the tent. He furrowed his brows and his ice blue eyes cracked open. He glanced around before catching sight of the blonde thief and sat up, rubbing his head when he saw the blonde packing up their items into the backpack, along with the fold up small lantern, and a blanket.

He eyed the blonde, noticing he had gotten dressed already and Kuja sighed, reaching for his own clothing. Surprised that it was dry already, he slipped his lavender shirt on over his head and glanced at the blonde with curiosity.

"Zidane….?" He asked, somewhat lazily. It was apparent he had just woken up and he was still indeed very tired.

The blonde jumped, mildly startled, not having heard Kuja get up. He glanced over his shoulder to see the mage, who was indeed awake and looking a lot better than he had last night. However Kuja was still pale from the whole incident and Zidane couldn't blame the man, after they had swam quite a ways in freezing cold waters. He was thankful that Kuja looked better though. At least a little…

"Good morning." He smiled lightly.

Kuja blinked, feeling a chill run down his spine. He reached for the leather tunic, slipping it on, as well as his leather pants and boots, getting dressed, while eyeing the thief. "I wanted to say thank you…" Kuja said quietly. How many times had he thanked Zidane since the blonde had first come to his rescue in the Lifa tree? Kuja most likely had said the word one too many times for his own liking.

Zidane smiled. " Your welcome." He said it softly full-heartedly.

His aquamarine eyes rested on the mage for a few moments, before the younger genome turned around again to continue packing things up. Kuja handed him his blanket and Zidane packed that away as well. After Zidane was finished inside the tent, he stepped outside, motioning for Kuja to come out as well as he pulled the little stakes out of the ground.

Kuja crawled out after Zidane, taking a few steps back and away from the tent as he watched the blonde tear the thing down with one simple gesture. Kuja quirked a brow at this, noticing that the tent was no good anymore, as the thing was only a temporary shelter anyways.

Standing on the other side of the tent however was a moogle. Kuja jumped in mild surprise and shock as he hadn't been expecting the little fluffy critter to just be… Standing there.

"What the-!" Kuja gasped, staggering back a little.

The moogle wrinkled its nose at Kuja frowning a bit. "How very rude, Kupo!" The moogle snorted, then hobbled over to Zidane. " Are you done with your tent, Kupo?" The moogle asked, tilting its head to the side.

The blonde simply nodded, walking to Kuja's side and handing the mage the backpack.

The moogle wrinkled its nose again and nodded, it's little wings beginning to flap rapidly as the little creature became air born, fluttering a foot off the ground. "Call me again when you need me, Kupo!" And then the little creature fluttered off into the distance, the tent's remains beginning to glitter and glow as the object faded from existence.

This got Kuja's attention as the mage tilted his head to the side in curiosity and confusion. He wasn't going to bother asking, as Zidane probably would go on and on about explaining it. Kuja didn't care to understand how or why either. Sighing he looked around their surroundings. The tent had been set up in a small passageway between the mountains. It was a little valley of grass, and a rather good place to sleep hidden between the mountains, as the monsters couldn't find them easily in the dark. Looking off to his left he could see the ocean off in the slight distance. He figured Zidane had carried him at least half a mild before setting up camp. The mage was slightly astonished by this, and blushed a bit looking at Zidane. The blonde wouldn't admit to doing anything, so there wasn't a point in accusing the blonde of any miraculous deeds.

Besides all that, Kuja looked to his right, seeing an open plain for miles. He wasn't exactly sure where they were. However he did know they were on the mist continent.

"Zidane… Where are we?"

The blonde blinked, looking at Kuja now after having seen the moogle off. He looked like a deer in headlights for a brief moment, not positive on how to answer that. He looked at his feet for a moment and scratched the back of his head. "Well…"

Kuja knew with an answer like that, he knew it wasn't good. He groaned to himself and sighed, staring up at the sky for a moment. "Spit it out Zidane. Where are we?" Kuja hadn't a clue, it could have been anywhere, but it obviously wasn't a good place. Not for Kuja anyways. The mage prepared himself for the worst. Although in all honesty, he couldn't believe it would have been a worse fate than perhaps the Black Mage village would have been.

The blonde inhaled a deep sigh and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Kuja with a sympathetic expression before looking down again, his tail swaying from side to side at his feet, as he shuffled the dirt with his foot. "Burmecia…."

The mage paled a bit in reaction. Burmecia? The silver haired man groaned, closing his eyes as he knelt down, not trusting himself to stand at this point. He felt as though he was going to be sick. Clearly, somebody up there hated him. Why did they have to end up in Burmecia, of all places? Kuja would have rather stayed on the outer continent, and took his chances with the black mages.

Burmecia was like throwing the man to the wolves. Of all the regions of the mist continent, Burmecia had to be the worst country to be present in. The mage knew well that getting through this country would be difficult. More than difficult almost damn near impossible. Trekking through a country that you had single handedly brought down to its knees, was never a wise idea. In this case, they didn't have much of a choice.

"Zidane…" The mage breathed. " You're joking…. right?"

The blonde didn't even make eye contact. He knew… oh he knew all to well. It wasn't just the people of this country they had to worry about… It was also the terrain and weather. Kuja would be absolutely miserable and Zidane knew that Kuja's self loathing would only get worse. Much, much worse. The blonde began to have second thoughts. Perhaps he should have escorted Kuja straight to his former desert palace and left him there to be a hermit? No. No, that wouldn't be right. He thought to himself.

Shaking his head and sighing the blonde reassured the mage of his fears.

"No, unfortunately I'm not. We are west of Cleyra in Burmecia. I suggest that we not go anywhere near Cleyra or the Capital city. Cleyra, to be more exact. Regardless, traveling through here is gonna be tough. Especially for you."

The blonde had set a plan out already of what they would do already. He would just leave the decision up to Kuja. In reality they had a few choices once they reached their first location.
The exasperated reaction he received from Kuja, was as expected. The older man stood finally, his head bowed in his depression. Nothing ever ended. It kept going on, in his mind.

"The agony doesn't seem to ever end. It's an ongoing repetitive stabbing to the soul." He sighed looking to Zidane, after gathering what composure he had left. He looked pained, knowing what kind of world he was walking back into. He would greet the faces of those whom homes he destroyed, families he had torn apart, and some causalities that he had caused. Closing his eyes Kuja hissed, trying not to think about it. He knew how well his mind would take every bit of information and twist it to the extremes. He covered his eyes with his hands for a moment and leaned forward as if he was trying to grasp himself again.

Zidane could see the inward struggle Kuja was having to remain composed and not loose it. He smiled weakly walking over to the other man to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. Kuja was so much more fragile than he had originally realized, since they had begun their journey from the outer continent.

Sighing, the blonde looked off to the east, where they needed to head, furrowing his brows a bit as he stared in contemplation.

"Our best shot is to head south east, and go through Gizamaluke's Grotto to get to the marshlands. From there we'll decide what to do. If we can make it to the grotto by tomorrow night, we'll be doing very good."

"By tomorrow night?" Kuja furrowed his brows slightly. "Can't we make it tonight? It's not that far, is it?"

The blonde quirked a brow and snorted at the mage. "Not unless you can catch us a chocobo. I'd catch one myself, but I have no greens. No greens, no chocobo. No chocobo, means we walk." Zidane stated, heading off deeper into the Burmecia country, allowing the mage to follow as he wished.

Kuja followed after, grunting at the blonde. Quite honestly, was it that hard to catch a damn bird? He decided he didn't want to find out or try. He'd had enough 'new experiences' to last him a lifetime.

…

The Sun was far from view behind the darkening clouds as the morning ran on into the afternoon. They had made many miles in the amount of time they had traveled since waking that morning, and the two genomes were famished and fatigued. Burmecia was large and open plains between the mountains. Nothing but grasslands as far as the eye could see. There was no longer mist on the continent, but it still rained in this country, which made it difficult to travel by foot. Even chocobos had issues on occasion, due to occasional storms that would arise. The only part of Burmecia, which was drastically different, was the perimeter of Cleyra; desert sand.

Oddly enough Cleyra happened to be within view for the two now, but it was of course still a few miles off.

Looking to the sky Zidane squinted. He didn't get the feeling it would just stay cloudy. He had his suspicions that a storm was coming soon, but he dismissed it and hoped they could get as far as t hey could and pitch a tent and stake out for the night.

Kuja on the other hand, didn't have a clue to these sorts of things. He was sore and cranky now, more or less upset that his feet and legs hurt, than his self-brooding. It was a better change for the mage of course, instead of constantly worrying about your past sins, worry about something trivial such as your wardrobe, hair, or soreness. It brought a smile to Zidane's face. At least Kuja was acting like himself at times like these. It also gave the blonde hope that the older man wouldn't loose himself completely to his despair.

The thief of course wasn't exactly the strongest person in the world either. He had to admit that the last several days of traveling had worn him out as well. His feet were literarily killing him, and his knees were beginning to make 'popping' noises when he walked. He figured they would give out soon if they didn't get a break soon. However looking the way things were with the weather, he wasn't sure they would get a break yet. Not for awhile.

Zidane's stomach growled and he whimpered a bit. "Urg…. I'm hungry." He finally gave up and gave into his weakness and started pulling a Kuja stunt and began complaining.

Kuja snorted at Zidane and furrowed his brows. He would have flattened his ears had he been a cat. "You're hungry? I'm starving. I don't think we've eaten anything since Conde' Peti."

The blonde nodded some and sighed bowing his head as they walked on. " Yeah, and I think we lost some of our food stuffs when we jumped off the boat… All I could retrieve was the backpack, which has tents and a few potions and elixirs in it."

The mage wrinkled his nose in disgust. " We're basically at square one like we had been when we were in the Lifa Tree."

"Basically, only it's not as hot, we're closer to our destination, and it could possibly rain soon."

Kuja groaned and stopped, gripping his head. " I'll be frank with you Zidane. This whole situation just… Sucks."

The blonde chuckled, smiling a bit as he looked back at Kuja. He stopped and walked over to the mage grinning at him. "Yep. Sure does."

The older man just blinked at the blonde for a moment, whom was smiling cheesily at him. "You buffoon." Kuja snorted, trying not to laugh. He found himself smirking, shaking his head a bit.

Yeah, it made the mage want to laugh. The situation did suck and they both knew it. They lacked energy due from lack of food, sleep, and rest. It was kind of funny how they always seemed to run into bad luck, and having to choose what to do about it. It was torture, and Kuja wouldn't be surprised if they lost their minds before getting to civilization.

Kuja smirked and shoved Zidane away from him and kept walking, producing a chuckle from the blonde.

The two continued on, walking for at least two more hours. They reached the outskirts of Cleyra now, and were close to passing by the entrance. However Zidane grunted when it began to sprinkle lightly. Lightning flickered in the distance, as it wasn't far off. He stopped now, taking the backpack off and setting it down for a moment, to rub his sore shoulders. Kuja stopped shortly behind Zidane and just stared at the remnants of Cleyra…

The once proud city of Cleyra had sat amongst the proud branches of the tree, which once stood in the center of the small desert in Burmecia. In it's wake sat half of a giant burned tree stump, the city gone and all that was left was roots and remnants of the bottom half of the large tree sister to the Lifa tree.

It was black like coal, and in plain view. Nothing was left, and Kuja knew this. For he had been the one to destroy what was left of the once proud race.

Becoming pained again he looked away and back at Zidane. "Lets keep going… I've seen enough-" But the mage was cut short when he felt the sprinkles of raindrops begin to dot his skin as well as the ground. Lightning flickered again, as the sprinkles became raindrops as a soft light rain descended upon them. Kuja sighed and pouted.

"I swear this is Garland's revenge. He's just pissed his dog got off the chain." He rubbed the temples of his forehead and groaned.

Zidane sighed as well and looked up at the darkening clouds above then to Kuja. "You were more of an ankle biter to Garland, no offence. You could say he got annoyed and drop kicked you."

Kuja glared sharply at Zidane for that remark. He wasn't some little ankle biting little dog! His pride took a giant stab with that insult. Kuja was not that weak… was he?

The blonde picked up his bag again and slung it over his shoulder. "Come on. We have to find shelter." He stated, starting to head towards Cleyra.

This however did not sit well with the mage and Kuja called after Zidane sharply. "I thought you said we should stay away from Cleyra!" he snapped, standing his ground. The thief of all people should understand the mage and why he didn't want to enter.

"Kuja I know your suffering, but we don't have a choice. It's going to be an all out storm pretty soon. I don't see any forests around or anywhere else that would provide wind protection. Cleyra is our only option."

The older man frowned some whimpering. "Zidane you said we should avoid Cleyra and any inhabitants of Burmecia." He tried to argue a loosing battle.

This made the blonde frown now as he stopped to face the mage. " Kuja! Take a good look! Do you see ANY inhabitants? I don't think you need to worry about it. Now stop whining and follow me!"

Kuja felt as though he had been stung with the venom of Zidane's words. He knew Zidane was right, but he didn't have to be mean about it. Turning back around, the blonde continued his way to Cleyra, allowing the mage to follow in suite. He flinched and ran after the blonde, following cooperatively as the rain grew into a heavy down pour.

Zidane lead the mage into the trunk and eventually found a clear area out of the wind. The ground was sandy of course and there was little rain in this area due to the trunk and it's massive size. Zidane figured it was dry and safe enough to at least set up the tent out of the wind, so he set the pack down and began pulling out the tent pieces and began constructing the little tent. It popped up and was available for use within seconds, and left Kuja in awe and amazement.

Zidane took the pack and crawled into the tent, assuming Kuja would follow. However the mage simply stood outside the tent for a moment watching the rain and lightning. He shivered as he looked around the hollowed out trunk of the tree, which held the proud race of people, which once thrived, in the city that used to be. The initial thought that he had brought this city to ruin made him shudder in disgust. At the time he had no remorse for the lives he destroyed, and nor did he care about those who would be affected by it. He had always figured the people of Gaia to be weak and disposable. However Zidane had proven him quite wrong.

The people of Gaia were very strong. Perhaps more so than the people of Terra. In reality, the genomes were weak and helpless. How Garland figured them to be a superior race was beyond him. At the time, all Kuja could think about was manipulating this world to his whim, just so he could kill Garland. The old man did deserve it he figured. Having gone through years of torment and neglect, he figured it was only suiting to destroy his maker.

Zidane interrupted the mage's thoughts as he popped his head out of the tent and frowned, waving for the older man to come.

"Hurry up. I know this place looks dry for now, but just wait until it really starts to downpour!"

Sighing, the mage wandered over to the tent as Zidane disappeared into the tent, all thoughts of past regrets leaving the mage for the moment. However something caught Kuja's eye as he took a quick glance over his shoulder… Not more than 30 yards away was a small fire ring. Nothing but charred firewood, and ashes. The embers looked like they had died not long ago when it had started raining. Glancing around the older man became slightly more alarmed as he felt he was being watched. He quickly dove into the tent and shivered, crawling to the Blanket neat the back of the tent and wrapping it around himself.

The blonde couldn't help but notice the other man's sudden nervous behavior and snorted squinting a bit as he began to light the lantern, setting it in the corner.

"What's wrong now?" He sighed with annoyance.

"Zidane, someone was here recently."

The blonde looked somewhat unsure of the mage and sighed shaking his head. " Look, Kuja- I don't think you have to worry-"

"Zidane, there's a fresh fire pit outside. Someone was here before us. Look outside if you don't believe me."

Zidane frowned slightly his eyes narrowing. He could tell Kuja wasn't lying due to the nervous expression from the mage. He crawled to the opening of the tent and peer outside, he noticed the fire pit and blinked. He tied the opening of the tent closed and sighed. Looking back at Kuja he suddenly had an uneasy feeling as well. Due to the current storm they couldn't just leave.

"Get some rest… Whoever it was, is gone now."

The pale man sighed and closed his eyes lying down as he curled around the pillow. The blonde couldn't help but feel sorry for the man, and crawled over to Kuja, curling up next to him.

"Don't worry, we'll leave first thing in the morn-"

The sudden sound of a scuffle startled both genomes and Zidane sat up sharply furrowing his brows, Kuja's tail becoming bristly.

"What was that?" Kuja whispered.

Zidane narrowed his eyes his own tail becoming bristly. Reaching for his dagger, he sat up, reaching over and also turning off the lantern with his other hand. He motioned for Kuja to be silent as he listened intently, looking around for a shadow of anything outside the tent. Looking back to Kuja he said quietly, but almost harshly.

"Someone's out there."

End of chapter 9

Author's comments:

WOW! YEAH! Okay, I know I haven't updated in like… FOREVER. But I've been very busy with Anime conventions, Drawing requests, Websites, and Even world of warcraft. (Note: Never EVER play MMORPGS. They suck your soul away!) But I haven't forgotten you guys. If you wonderful fans hadn't kept sending reviews I probably would have forgotten this fic. But thankfully getting a review everyday and threatening me with a fiery poking stick, has kept me going. Oo

Heh. I kinda feel bad about leaving you guys with a horrible cliff hanger last chapter, but eh. This chapter isn't really different… god, I know one of you is going to hunt my ass down and like… tie me to my chair and make me write.

Again I'm sorry if this chapter is too short. I was trying to make it a longer one. And I promise I'll try to get the next chapter going a little faster.