By Alria

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the FF 9 characters or settings.

Author's Note: Heh heh heh heh. I'll bet you're wondering why I have two stories that are exactly the same. Wellin a shortened form, fanfiction isn't letting me upload my original What is Love, Anyway?. I don't know why, but it freezes. So, instead of not uploading ever again, I made a duplicate of the story and put it here. This is the same story, word for word, accept that this one is uploaded and the other oneum, isn't. Okay? I'm sooooo sorry for the inconvinience, but it's the only way I could keep the story up. For you WONDERFUL people who have this story on you fav. list, I hope you find this. Once again, I'm really sorry, but it's out of my hands. Now, onto the original A/N for the beginning of the story.

Well, I got to thinking that I've written a fanfic story about every FF 9 couple I like except for Vivi and Eiko.

Now, this greatly disturbed me, for Vivi is my FAV character, and I thought he deserved a fic. I had absolutely NO idea of what

to do, until I read this story about Vivi becoming human. This intrigued me so much I had to stop and lean back in my

chairand BAM! I had a story! So for all my fellow Viko (no I didn't make that up) fans out there, this is for you. And to the

author of Our Love Will Never Fade, you saved my life! Thanx! (By the way, Vivi doesn't have anyKids in this one)

~ * ~

The sun's scorching rays beat down on the young man's back as he made his way through the crowded streets of Lindblum. His

thick, raven hair lay in unbrushed clumps down his pale face. Suddenly, without warning, his foot slipped on an old can, and

the tall youth landed on the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. He groaned and pounded his fist on the ground.

"I've been like this for god knows how long, and I STILL can't get used to these long limbs," he grumbled, brushing the long,

dark blue out of his face. Pushing himself up off the ground with his skinny arms, the young man stood up and started walking

again.

How long had he been living like this? Two years? Three years? Ten years? He wasn't sure nowso much of what had

happened was now a smeared blur in his memory. All he could remember now was the bright light, the pale cloaked figureand

the gut-wrenching pain. The young man shuddered. The pain was enough to keep him runningrunning from the pale man. We

wasn't sure exactly how long he had been running from this man, only that it was what he must do. To avoid the pain. And so

he kept moving, from town to town; a wandering vagrant.

The young man sighed. How he wished he could go back to the way things used to be. Adventuring with Zidane and the rest of

them. It was with them that he had finally felt safefinally felt loved. Why, he had even found out about where he had come

fromthough it had been quite overwhelming at the time to see black mages being produced before his eyes. He had been so

thankful to Zidane, Dagger, and everyone for being so kind to him. Everything had been so perfectand then it had all been

stripped away from him. Like a seashell plucked from the sand by the passing waves. Vivi felt his eyes water. That's what he

was, a seashell drifting helplessly among the sea. A seashell

~

Eiko, long purple hair flowing out in a wave behind her, burst through the castle door and out onto the busy streets of Lindblum.

She sighed and took a deep breath of the fresh, outside air. It was so much nicer out here than it was in that stuffy old castle.

Sure, she was grateful to Cid and Hilda for adopting herbut it just wasn't the same as her cozy little house in Madain Sari.

There she had been free to do whatever she wanted; playall the things kids enjoyed. But in the castlethere

were so many RULES to follow. Don't touch this, sit up straight, don't slurp your food. It was the same thing everyday. Why,

she was sixteen years old now, and Eiko couldn't even REMEMBER the last time she had just gone outside to have fun. And

that's what she was going to do now; go out and have fun. Whether her parent's liked it or not. And so, nodding firmly, Eiko

confidently walked out into the streets, dressed as a commoner.

The streets of Lindblum were much bigger and busier then anything Eiko could have remembered or imagined. People of all

shapes and sizes, running about and shouting at each other. Eiko smiled, the familiar coy sparkle twinkling in her emerald eyes.

Time to mingle!

Eiko readjusted her tight brown blouse and grinned confidently. She was going to be suavethe kind of woman a

man falls for in he blink of an eye. Wouldn't they have a surprise when they found out she was the princess! Yes, she was going

to put all her womanly mystery to work, toy with a few men's hearts, and then hurry home. She just had to be coolbut that

was no problem! Everything was under control!

Eiko awake from her daydream just in time to see a tall metal lamp post right before her eyes. Before she could react, her body

involuntarily rammed straight into it, and she fell to the ground in a heap.

"Ow! Owowowowow! Who's idea was it to put a lamp here anyway? Oww,' she moaned, a hand to the red bump forming next

to her summoner's horn. MysteriousHA!

Suddenly, a large, pale hand appeared in front of her.

"Are you alright?" asked a mellow voice. A very familiar mellow voice, in fact. Eiko would have dwelled on this thought longer

had it not been for the throbbing pain in her head. So, instead of thinking, she took the man's hand.

"Thanks," she muttered as he pulled her to her feet. Now that she was up, Eiko could see the young man more clearly. To her

surprise, the man was handsome; strikingly handsome, in fact. He had thick, ebony hair that was quite messy, but that didn't

seem to matter. The messiness seemed to add to his appeal. He wore long, tan pants, a black shirt, and a long, dark blue cape.

And he had black eyesno, wait! Eiko drew in quick breath. When the sun hit the young man's eyes, they no longer appeared

dark, but a shining gold. Golden eyesshe had never known a human to have gold eyes. She had once been friends with a

black mage with golden eyesbut never a human.

Eiko's throat clenched when she thought of the young black mage, Vivi. Everything had been going fine after the infamous

showing of I Want to be Your Canary; in which Zidane had revealed himself to be alive. Oh, the days after that had been so

wonderful; the whole gang just sitting and reminiscing old times. Oh, everything had been perfect; what with Zidane and

Dagger's wedding after that. It was like a storybook ending, everything in its place. But to everyone's dismay, this picture

perfect ending was shattered all too soon when something horrible happened. Vivi, innocent little Vivi, was kidnapped.

Eiko remembered when she had first heard the news. At first she had been shocked. Why would anyone kidnap Vivi? He had

always been to quiet and gentleit was horrible to think anyone could do something like that to him. Of course she was older

now, and understood how someone could do such an awful thing. The Vivi had been a black mage, and at the time of his

kidnapping, the only one still alive. To many, he was the symbol of the pain they suffered after the black mages killed so many

innocent people. The fact that Vivi had never taken part in the murders didn't matter; he was still a black mage. He had probably

been kidnapped by someone who hated himEiko shut her eyes tight, pressing the tears back. She couldn't bear to think of

what they had probably done to him. Vivi had been so kindso gentle. He had always been there for her; always no matter

what. He had given her the strength to join Zidane's rag-tag group, and encouraged her when no one else had. And to think that

he had died surrounded by hate and angerno one deserved that; especially Vivi.

"Umare you sure you're okay?" the young man asked. Eiko was apbruptly knocked out of her sorrowful thoughts. She smiled

meekly.

"Yeah. I was just thinking of a friend whopassed away," she said softly. The young man lowered his head.

"I lost all my friends years ago. I'm all alone now," he said in a voice no louder then a whisper. Eiko's smile widened, and she

placed her arm around the man's shoulder.

"No you're not, because now you've got me!" Eiko stepped backwards and held out her right hand. "Hi! I'm Eiko. Who are

you?" she asked in her usual sprightly manner. The young man's eyes widened.

"Eiko? YouYou're Eiko?" he asked shakily. Eiko rolled her eyes.

"Well, yeah! You don't have to look so surprised. I know I'm a princess, but I'm still a person," she said firmly, still holding

out her hand. The strange man looked into her deep into her eyes; his golden ones piercing her green ones. The look on his face

was of utter longing, of sorrow and grief. The sight nearly took Eiko's breath away. Those sorrowful eyes they were exactly

likeno it couldn't be. Vivi was gone; dead. Stillthe resemblance was remarkableand eerie. Who was this cloaked

strangerand what secrets did he harbor?

~

Vivi's heart was pounding heavily in his chest. Eiko!? This lovely princess was Eiko!? To think that the one person he had

prayed for all those lonely nights was standing right in front of him! Oh, how he longed to tell her who he wasto simply stay

and TALK to herbut that was out of the question. If he told her what had happenedeven his NAMEHe would find her.

Vivi shuddered at the thought of his precious Eiko in the hands of that man. The man who had inflicted the agonizing pain on

him. The man who changed him into what he was todayVivi shook shi head. He couldn't tell her who he was. If she was

caught because of himVivi was sure that his large, human heart would break in two. And so, he locked all of his emotions

back, and shrunk away form Eiko's open palm.

"II'm sorry. I can't. NNice to meet you," he said quietly, and turned away from the baffled princess. As he walked slowly

away, he felt the familiar trickle of warm water droplets falling down his cheek. Crying, he had heard it called. But it was quite

strange, for when he "cried," his throat was so knotted that he could barely even make a sound. Humans used such strange

words

A strange feeling had come over him when he turned away from Eiko. It was something he had never felt beforeand it scared

him. When he had seen how lovely she had becomesomething had stirred within him. A desire to hold her close, and just be

near herit was overwhelming. Vivi shook his head. What was wrong with him? These human emotions were so confusingit

had been so many years and he STILL hadn't experienced them all.

Vivi wiped the tears from his cheek and quickened his pace. He didn't want Eiko to him crying

~ * ~

Well, it took me awhile, but I finished. I hope all you Viko fans out there like reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!!! Once

again, special thanks to LeViAtHaN2001. THANX!!!! And remember to review!!!