Disclaimer: This story's characters and settings do not belong to me. They all belong to Squaresoft. Unfortunately, I don't own Zidane Tribal, either. ::pouts::

You're Not Alone

Garnet Til Alexandros awoke in the middle of the night, disoriented and breathing deeply. She opened her brown orbs, presently filled with tears, and rubbed them just as she then realized it was only a dream—or rather, a nightmare. One that she had for the past three nights at that, but Garnet didn't tell a solitary soul. The only person she would feel contented telling it to would be Zidane Tribal, her "kidnapper" and friend. He was the type to always listen to her. But she couldn't tell him. Why? The reoccurring nightmare that she had was about him. In that nightmare, he was a malign person. Now she was terrified to death of him. She knew he was the jovial, kind-hearted person in all of Gaia, but that did not matter. A feeling within her heart influenced her enough to now be scared of him.

It had only been three days since she and the others left the planet of Terra, Zidane's birthplace. Garnet could not forget the experience she had at that terrifying yet implausible place. There, his creator Garland told him of the truth—Zidane was actually an angel of death. This was all too much for Zidane to acquiesce, hence he turn against his friends. He didn't turn against Garnet, though; she was the one that made him realize she and the others sincerely cared for him. She also told him he should stay on Gaia's side, not Terra's, like he was initially supposed to be. As much as he hid it, though, Garnet knew he was still very miserable and mystified.

Just thinking about how sad he felt made her feel atrocious. Myriad tears then fell when she thought of what took place in her nightmare. The young queen dreamt that Zidane was looking over the Lindblum Castle balcony, near the telescope under the twinkling stars, a favorite spot of hers. She walked over to him and asked him what was wrong. He turned around, limping, pushed her down and told her that she was nothing but an adversary to him, just like the rest of Gaia's people was to him, the angel of death. Doing whatever she could do alter what he thought, she stood up and confessed her true feelings for him—she told Zidane that she loved him. But all he did was continue to walk away from Garnet and then told her he would never return as she cried uncontrollably. Day after day that dire dream occurred and she was quite tired of it. Garnet had to go and talk to Zidane, as much as she abhorred the idea of such a thing. She had to go talk to him, just to see his always-grinning lips tell her he would never impair her like in her dream.

Garnet sighed as she tried to get the dream off of her mind. She stood up and looked to her left, hoping to see Zidane sleeping serenely and then she could wake him up and talk to him about this dream. But his bed was vacant. She looked around the guest room of Lindblum Castle, where they had been spending the night, ready to depart in the morning to the Iifa Tree to eradicate Kuja as well as the Mist. But he was nowhere to be found.

"Zidane…" she whispered in an indistinct voice, wondering where he would be. "You're not in a good condition to be alone. I just wish I could make all your pain go away. You were always there to comfort me. I want to ease you as well." She crept out of the room and searched throughout Lindblum Castle, making sure to remember what Zidane had taught her about sneaking around. She giggled at the thought of what Steiner would say if he knew he taught her such things. The knight would most likely think Zidane was teaching her ways to be a thief. Zidane would evidently deny that and the two would get into another argument as she would stand there and laugh inwardly to herself, but on the outside, act like the regal queen that she always tried to be.

Garnet finally returned to the guest room with no luck of finding Zidane, a trifle tired from all the searching. She sighed and was about to go back to sleep when she looked to her left by the stairs. She walked in the door and ran up to the telescope above Lindblum Castle; a location she adored. Staring at it, she remembered when Zidane reminded her of their date she promised when they stood there, but she was too shy to nod her head as an endorsement since when he did inquire her, she hadn't had her voice at the time. Renouncing those thoughts, she let out a sigh of relief when she noticed Zidane was leaned over the balcony looking up at the stars. She could finally talk to him about her reoccurring dream and then comfort him since he obviously had a lot on his mind as well.

She gave a smile as she admired how handsome he was. He still stood tall even though he was leaning over the railing. His tail just laid there, motionless like the rest of his body, except for his amber-gold strands of hair, which flew about in the wind of the night. His aqua eyes stared out into the Mist as if he was in a trance. His always-cunning face was replaced with a grave one. She evidently could tell something was wrong with her kidnapper. He wasn't his cheerful self. He had been sulking ever since they left Terra and kept to himself. Garnet took a deep breath and started walking towards Zidane. He heard someone behind him and turned around irritably to see whom it was, causing Garnet to freeze. When she noticed the deprecating face he gave when he saw her presence, she reluctantly gave him a meek smile.

"Hi, Zidane," she stammered. "What are you doing out here so late? Thinking?" Inwardly she hoped he would reply by saying he was thinking about her or another similar flirtatious remark.

"I guess," replied Zidane in an inaudible voice.

Garnet let out a chuckle as she folded her arms and titled her head. "It's all right. We all do that sometimes," she remarked. Zidane grimaced, perceptibly not amused by her little joke. She quickly berated herself inwardly.

"What do you want?" he queried in an incensed voice. His eyes—seeming to be filled with fury—met hers and she felt so uncomfortable at that point that she instantaneously took her eyes off of him and in trepidation, sat down.

"Zidane, you're probably wondering why I'm out her bothering you," she said as he continued to stare at her. "I keep having this dream about you and I just needed to tell you so I'd feel better," the queen timidly explained to the thief. He turned away and looked back up at the Mist. Why was he acting like that? Him doing that seemed so familiar but she couldn't gather what it meant. She felt he wasn't even going to listen, but she told him anyway after a deep breath.

"Remember how you turned against everyone, except me, in Pandemonium?" she inquired. He quickly put his head down and sighed when she mentioned that. "You thought you were alone, and you didn't want to be our friend. That's what my dream was like, Zidane. I came out to this exact location and saw you looking over the balcony. I asked you what was wrong, and you turned around, limping like the day you did in Pandemonium. You told me I was nothing but a stuck-up queen and an adversary to you. I told you that were not true and I told you how I felt about you…that I loved you. You then walked over to me and pushed me down abruptly and continued to walk away from me. As I knelt there crying, something inside my heart told me I would never see you again." And after that explanation, the tears she fought to hold back escaped.

Those few minutes felt like an eternity to her. She looked up to Zidane, who still didn't move. She stood up and was about to leave. It felt much better now that she let out what she had to say. Zidane turned around and walked to her slowly. He had an angry expression on his face, their eyes locking. Garnet backed away a bit; actually frightened of Zidane. She was afraid that he might actually have pushed her down like he had done so in her dream. That dream she loathed the most was coming true. She wanted to run away so she wouldn't have to go through it, but her legs wouldn't allow her to.

Zidane put his arms on Garnet's and gently pulled her close to her. The young queen stood there bewildered and not sure what to do. Zidane gave her a small, reassuring smile and put some of her cascading, loose hair behind her ear as she looked at him with brown eyes holding fear. That fear went away, though, as he gently rubbed her cheek with his gloved hand. Garnet felt a bit light-headed when Zidane meekly smiled and kissed her on her cheek. She closed her eyes, but instead of continuing to kiss her, he pushed her down slightly, causing her to sit down. He knelt in front of her and took her shaking hand in his own, kissing it lightly. Her hand tingled from that kiss even though she had been wearing gloves. The feeling of the kiss he had laid on her hand made a shiver go through her body. She titled her head, wondering what Zidane was doing.

"Dagger…" he slowly whispered. Just the sound of that name made her sigh inwardly in relief; she adored that name. "Stop worrying…that dream will never come true. I would never turn against you or hurt you in any way. I care for you more than any other person in all of Gaia. I love—" Zidane couldn't finish his sentence. He was always able to speak his mind; but this time, he just couldn't.

Garnet could not believe what she had just heard. She was so alleviated that Zidane didn't act abominable towards her, like in her dream. How could she have ever doubted him? He was the sweetest person in all of Gaia. He would never turn against her. And he just told her how he felt about her. He couldn't finish; fearful she wouldn't feel the same. But what he feared—the Alexandrian Queen not loving him—is something he did not have to fear. 

Zidane gave her a heartening smile; a signal that he meant everything he said. He wiped the small crystal tear drops off of Garnet's face, stood up, and walked back to where he was standing, gazing up to the Mist, as if he were in that daze again. Garnet stood up and covered her tear-filled pools of brown. She felt so many emotions go through her mind. Albeit she told him about the dream and felt exceedingly better now that she found out he was all right and that dream wasn't going to come true, there was still an awkward feeling in her that she had to get out as well. But she just couldn't figure out what it was.

"Zidane!" she screamed as she ran over to him. As he turned around, she jumped into his arms. She ran to him so quickly that he almost lost his balance and fell backwards off the balcony. He blinked a few times before he realized that he had a queen in his arms—a thief, holding a queen. Garnet laid her head in Zidane's arms in a tight embrace, never wanting to let go. He put his hand under her chin and then cupped her cheeks.

"Dagger…" he said silently, caressing her hair. "I'm sorry you have to see me acting like this, but it's just difficult for me to understand the only reason why I should be on Gaia is to destroy it. I still don't know why you like me. Like I said before… I was just a hairbreadth from becoming the destroyer of Alexandria, your home…" he confessed again. Her glistening eyes of brown met his distressing eyes of aqua as the two held each other. Manifestly, the fact of Zidane being an angel of death didn't matter to her. She proved that by smiling at him genially and pulling him closer.

Zidane put his hand under her chin and tilted her head towards his. His lips tenderly brushed against Garnet's as they shared a gentle kiss. Zidane had unmistakably kissed before and she hadn't. Myriad thoughts flew through her mind; she wondered if she was doing it right. Inwardly, she told herself to break away before embarrassing herself. But Zidane kissed her so lightly that she began to be content and secure, never wanting him to let go of her. Garnet blushed a dark crimson after they separated. Zidane gave her an amiable smile and she returned his smile and hugged him, sighing in his arms.

"Dagger, you should go back inside and get some sleep," he suggested. "Tomorrow's going to be a long, hard and interminable battle and day." He let go of her and looked up to the Mist; fortitude in his eyes.

"You're coming in too, right?" Garnet inquired with an optimistic look on her face. She started walking away and turned around, gesticulating for him to follow.

"No…" he replied slowly, "I think I'll stay out here for the night. Besides, Rusty kept snoring and that's one of the reasons I'm out here. I can't get any sleep in there, plus I want to stay out here and think a bit more. Goodnight, Your Highness," he said, bowing to her. Garnet rolled her eyes as he smirked, returning to the edge of the balcony. He sat down on the ground and leaned his head back, looking intently up at the Mist. Garnet could feel the tears cascade from her eyes as she watched him. The wind kissed the moisture from those tears on her cheeks, causing her to shiver.

"I can't just leave him out here alone," she thought. "He feels solitary as it is… All he's done for me… Oh, Zidane," she whispered, walking back to him. She sat down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. Garnet really sought to comfort the one that was always there for her. So she told him what came to her mind. And after that, she added three simple words—the words that Zidane feared the Alexandrian Queen would never tell him.

"You're not alone, Zidane… And I love you, too."