[FFIX] Through New Eyes (Garnet, PG)

[wallwalker]

Title: Through New Eyes
Author: wallwalker
Fandom: FFIX
Characters: Garnet (implied Garnet/Zidane)
Warnings: Spoilers for the ending
Summary: Her travels have made her see her home in a new way.
Notes: Written originally for fic_promptly.

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It was like seeing her home for the first time, Garnet thought as she walked through the streets of Alexandria, her voice disguised and her face hidden by a cloak.

She'd seen it often enough, of course. It was the only home she remembered, and she'd always loved it there. She always thought it was a beautiful place, looking down from the palace walls. But now, she was trying to get a different view. When she came back to Alexandria, she'd realized that perhaps she hadn't seen all of it, after all. The view from the castle was very different from the view from the crowded streets. She had thought that Treno was a strange, unique place, and in some ways it was, but in other ways, she could see some of it reflected in her own city, when she looked at it through new eyes.

She wanted to do this alone, she'd stressed to Steiner and Beatrix, although she knew that they hadn't listened. She'd caught glimpses of familiar faces shadowing her in the dark, some more skillfully than others. As long as they left her alone, she supposed that she would not punish them for it. She could not blame them for looking out for her.

A few months ago, Garnet reflected as she finished haggling with an old merchant, she would have found this horribly intimidating. But she'd learned a lot from her travels as Dagger, and now she found the whole thing fascinating. She was liking this view of the city as much as she did the view from the castle, although she could see many things that needed to be changed. Things that she now had the power to change... she would speak to her ministers about it, see what could be done. She did not want to be another uncaring ruler.

Zidane would probably helped her, she thought, with a momentary pang... but it was best not to think about that. Her birthday was coming in a few days, and her country needed to see their queen at peace. She turned away and walked down the crowded streets, trying to put him from her mind.