Kiss From a Rose

by Kaitlyn Summers

(from Zidane's pov)

I have to smile to myself as I remember where we met; how fate had decided to entwine us together at that time, that place, that moment. She had been surprised to see me, and I her; the look on her face could have made a thousand hearts break. She had looked distraught; depressed; she looked as if all she had held dear had been taken, tossed, thrown out an open window to land, shattering, on the streets below.

Fate had brought us together because it chose to; it chose us to make something beautiful, pure, again out of the world. That is why Cid sent us,sent us to Alexandria's hollow halls to retrieve the beauty that had been left there. Garnet was like a rose in a thorn patch; the light shining in the dark; where there was no hope left for what had remained of good people.

Garnet had been there to do what she could about everyone; worry, help, triumph. She had brought the good from the bad in all those times thatI needed her; that so did everyone else. Vivi, Eiko, Freya, Beatrix.

They had all needed her as I did, they needed her because she was kind, beautiful, loving. Vivi had needed her advice, support, love. Eiko was there as a friend, as was Beatrix. But Alexandria's

General had been blinded by ambition, blinded by those dreams of Brahne that she couldn't see her way clear. Beatrix had done simply as the Queen had said, while not knowing that she was hurting

Garnet; she only knew orders and what would become of her if she hadn't obeyed. And Freya... She only knew Garnet as a mere aquaintance while I was there, but the two had seemed to be warm in greetings and polite in farewells.

Yet as I bring up these memories, I recall all those things that she had said to me. As we traveled across the world, the sights we had seen, the people we met, and even more were to come. Garnet had remained steadfast and headstrong to help her mother, to seize and capture whatever it was that drove Brahne to the edge of sanity, ambition. Blinded by greed.

Of all these things, these ashes of what had been said and remembered,rises a phoenix of the sort that I had been blind to see. Garnet had always cared for everyone ... but I wonder if she had

the eyes to see the way I felt to her, wanted her, needed her. Maybe she had always and only loved me as she did Vivi or Eiko. Even if she never does or ever did care for me the way I do for her, I always remember how close we are and were, even that night in Alexandria. It seems like so long ago ...

I suppose I had replaced all her wants, needs, suffering of being bound like a bird in a cage, just as she was trapped within the bare, hollow walls of Alexandria Castle. The way they had hunted her, tricked, lied to her was and is still enough to make me drop of the edge of my sanity. Garnet had never deserved to have her heart broken, for when she had heard the awful truth, the only thing she thought of was her mother. Brahne had either had very little love or none at all for her daughter, for even I don't know how she could plot such a scheme. Garnet had brought this to everyone's attention, I suppose, but why they didn't listen ... It could have saved many lives, many broken homes, and even worse still, abandoned kingdoms and crownless kings.

And the one person that stands out, to me, more than the Princess which I hold dear ... the sinister Kuja. I can believe what he wants with Garnet, what needs he wants to serve while watching her sweet face retaliate in disgust at his touch. I had been there when this happened; watching in distraught awe at how much power he had held, simply in his hand ... and even worse still, the bravery, intelligence and brilliance had been acquired throughout his service to the sloggish Queen Brahne.

So now new thoughts come to me, as I forget the past and look to the future. The past is no longer dull and solemn, but a reminder, a legend of what myself and my friends had been through. And through it all, we had become wiser, smarter,but above all, stronger. The events which had brought us close have also binded us, bound us, together, forever and always.

As I thought before ... Garnet is a rose in a thorn patch.

And a word from her voice, a smile from her face, the sparkle of her eyes ...It's more than the greatest thing I could ever wish for. Happiness. Bliss.

... A kiss from a rose.