@of-dilemma continued from here.
♡ ▐▒ ━━━ Steiner and Zidane stood before the dead forest that disguised Black Mage Village.
Its been a long while since Zidane had come here last. Mikoto brought Kuja and himself there, let their ragged, torn bodies rest for months before setting them free (Zidane had nearly stormed out, declaring his canary could wait no longer, and he left them suddenly and quietly). He half-wondered if Kuja and Mikoto would still be there, resting their bones after a journey that nearly took everything from the three of them. Zidane doubted it... Kuja was like him in that way--he wouldn’t linger longer than necessary.
Somewhere between Zidane leaving the village and getting back to Alexandria, Vivi stopped.
Zidane stood there, staring at the bare trees with their skeletal arms, eyes overlooking the ever-present, lone owl hooting somberly at them.
He’d asked Rusty to come along, but Zidane wondered if either of them was ready for this. Could he really look at Vivi’s grave and not shatter? Zidane nearly trembled as he stood there, a thousand memories of times he would rather forget crashing into his consciousness, distracting.
He took a step back, then another. He looked like he wanted to run.
“Um, so,” Zidane licked his dry lips, scratching the back of his head in that forced casual way. “You ready for this Rusty?”
But even the nickname fell flat, like iron falling to the floor, simply punctuating the sorrow permeating the air.