Final Fantasy 9: You’re not Alone

By Gray

“Come to me my Angel of Death, come and fulfill you’re purpose. Help me restore our great planet to its former glory. You have no choice. It is your destiny given by me, you’re creator.”

Zidane awoke with a start. His heart raced and his breathing was rapid and quick. His blonde hair was matted to his forehead with sweat and his eyes searched the room frantically for any sign of his tormentor. Shaken, Zidane rose from the small bed he slept in. The group comprising of himself, Steiner, the rusty knight, the small black mage Vivi, and the beautiful Princess Garnet, or “Dagger” as he preferred to call her, were all staying in the illustrious city of Lindblum. They were hoping to obtain the aid of Dagger’s Uncle Cid, who was also the Regent of the country. He was staying in the palace and he could hear the annoying snores of Steiner all the way from across the guest room he, Vivi, and the oafish knight shared. Vivi was also asleep and Zidane noticed that the mage’s normally glowing yellow eyes were closed completely, and his face was entirely black.

“Kinda scary now that I think about it. Oh, well, whatever.” Zidane shrugged and decided to take a walk for a while, to try and get his mind off his strange dream. He left the guest room and absentmindedly snuck past the sleeping guard and got on the elevator and hit the up button. As the elevator shot upwards, Zidane thought about his dream again.

“It’s so weird, I have no idea what it was about, and the only thing I remember is a few words. Yet it felt so familiar, maybe I was dreaming of my real home?” Zidane shook his head somewhat bitterly at that thought.

“Nah, I should be so lucky. Figures, I couldn’t of dreamt of something good, like going on a date with Dagger, oh no, I’ve gotta dream some weird mysterious dream that I have no idea what to make of.” The elevator stopped and lurched slightly, startling Zidane from his scattered thoughts and causing him to steady himself slightly. The door opened and he stepped off the platform. He then decided to head up to the “special place.” He took a left at the main passage and headed up the stairs to the balcony of the palace. The crisp night air assaulted his senses as he climbed the steps leading up to the main balcony. He walked up to the telescope, but instead of looking through it, he simply leaned on it and watched the night sky. Despite popular belief, Zidane was capable of being quite serious at times, and even philosophical once in a while. Now was one of those times as he gazed at the stars. He breathed out a rush of air and sighed. He felt so alone all of a sudden. Of course, he always felt alone. He’s never really known what it was like to have a place to belong. Even in Tantalus, with his adopted family and friends, he never really felt like he was truly one of them. He glanced at his tail, the thing that symbolized his feelings of solitude. People had called him a freak many a time. After all, who ever heard of a human with a tail? It was preposterous.

“I’m all alone in this world. There is not a single other person like me on this whole damn planet. Why is that? Why was I born this way? Why can’t I find where I belong? Why can’t I find my place?” Zidane sighed again and looked down. If he had looked up he would have seen a star shoot across the night sky like a beacon of hope.

Garnet Til Alexandros had always hated nightmares. Ever since she was a little girl she had despised the things. She had been dreaming of a pleasant walk with Zidane in the Alexandrian Palace garden. He had been behaving himself for once and didn’t make a single pass at her. He was the perfect gentleman. It had been so nice. Of course she also liked his playful antics occasionally, especially since she knew he was usually trying to cheer her up. As they were walking though, her mother, Queen Brahne had suddenly appeared along with a white haired man in odd clothing. The oddly dressed man had suddenly pulled out a sword and stabbed Zidane. Zidane then rose and a gray haired man in black armor appeared and took Zidane with him. He and Zidane walked away without turning back. Then as she was weeping in grief, a giant eye appeared in the sky. It glared at her and made the sky swirl in an ugly reddish hue. She screamed and then she woke up. It had been so awful. She had to see Zidane, to make sure he hadn’t left her. She crept out of her room, making sure to remember what Zidane had told her about sneaking around. Steiner had objected of course, saying that the monkey was teaching her to be a thief. But she had just glared at him and that shut the knight up quickly. She now thanked Zidane for his lessons and made her way stealthily to the other guest room where the three guys slept. She opened the door and peered inside. She saw Steiner and heard his loud snores, and she saw Vivi, who had taken his hat off for once and was hard to see because of his black face. She then looked to the last bed and saw nothing.

“Zidane should be sleeping there! Where is he! Did my dream come true?” Garnet ran from the room and started crying softly. Why did he have to leave? Was it because she didn’t treat him that well? She had been polite, although she admitted that she was sort of spiteful towards him at times, especially considering that he had helped her several times, even saving her life. She headed for the balcony on a whim. Deciding that maybe she could clear her mind while up there in the cool night air. She made her way to the stairs and climbed them absentmindedly, still thinking of Zidane. She walked to the telescope and gasped at what she saw. Standing there, like some sort of heavenly being, was Zidane Tribal. The thief who had kidnapped her of her own free will. He was leaning on the old telescope, looking quite serious for a change. He had a thoughtful, if a bit sad, expression on his face and gazed at the stars before sighing looking down. Garnet felt an incredible surge of relief that he hadn’t left her but at the same time wondered what was wrong, and hesitantly walked up to him.

“Zidane.” She whispered softly. He turned so fast she barely saw him move and she saw his face change from shock back to it’s former sad expression. He turned away again, this time slowly.

“Oh hi Princess. Couldn’t sleep?” She nodded and said yes with a slight blush and stepped a bit closer to him. She saw him freeze and go rigid with nervousness, which in turn caused some of her own to go away. Shyly, she reached for his hand, this caused him to start but he didn’t struggle as she gripped it and gave it a slight squeeze.

“Princess, what are you doing?” He asked nervously. She smiled and leaned a bit closer. To his neck, causing him to shiver slightly, and not because of the cold.

“What? You’re not calling me Dagger anymore? As for what I am doing, well I guess I’m just saying thank you for all you’ve done for me.” He turned with a surprised look on his face and Garnet seized the opportunity to press her lips onto his. As the two kissed, they felt each of their own fears melt away to be replaced with feeling of happiness. But like all good things the kiss ended and the two pulled away. They just stared at each other for a while before smiling. Garnet then leaned in to whisper something else. “Just remember Zidane, You’re not alone…”

Author’s notes: This story came about when I was thinking about my life and a problem I was having. I was depressed and sad, but I realized that I’m not the only one with problems and then got the urge to write. The fic is titled after a particularly good song in FF9 called “You’re not Alone!” Duh. It’s played on disc three, when Zidane has just found out about his purpose from Garland. Please give me some feedback. Thanks.