A/N : Hello. This was gonna be the prologue of a huge FFIX/GW crossover, but I kind of abandoned the idea months ago. So now it's just a short story about Mikoto and Mr.288 talking. Yes, I'm a lazy quitter. It's kind of cute. If you like, please let me know. I love feedback.

Disclaimers :I own nothing. One, two, better not sue.

"Good night old friends."

Mr. 288 stood in front of the cemetary, as he did every day at this time, gazing at the memorial with sadness. He knew that Mr. 36 and the others would rest peacefully tonight, and even though they were gone, he knew that somewhere they were wishing the same to him.

Wearily, the Black Mage started back into the village. It had been a very long day. Bobby Corwen, the chocobo, had escaped from his pen and gotten lost in the woods. The young chocobo was not big enough to fend for itself yet, and the Black Mages and the Genomes had spent hours searching for their little friend, afraid that one of the monsters living nearby had eaten him. Luckily, Mr. 111, Mr. 33 and Saru, one of the Genomes, had found him hiding in a nearby cave. Saru was so attached to Bobby, the young genome was literally bouncing with happiness when they found him.

The Genomes had come so far in such a short time it was remarkable. Their antisocial behaviour had quickly dissipated in the face of their own curiosity about life. Much like the Black Mages were when the village was constructed.

Mr. 288 cast a small fire spell in his hand to light the way through the darkness. The sun had set, and the light had disappeared with it. It was only a short distance to his hut, just past the inn. As the Mage approached the little bridge, he saw a figure sitting on the river bank. Upon closer inspection he recognized Mikoto, the Genome who was given a soul, much like Zidane.

When the Genomes had first arrived in Black Mage Village, she had been adamantly opposed to their ways of life ; after all, they were just empty vessels. How could they be expected to operate under these circumstances, left to their own and unsupervised. With Terra gone, Kuja and Garland both dead, and no hope of reawakening the lost souls of her ancestors, Mikoto had felt that her life served no purpose ; there was no reason to live. But Mr. 288 had said that there was a reason.

"Just to experience existence."

Looking at his friend now, a little frown creased his brow. She was staring into the water, tail flicking back and forth behind her pensively. She should have been resting. After all, tomorrow was going to be a big day.

"Mikoto?"

The female genome, startled by the sudden intrusion upon her privacy, stumbled forwards and landed into the river with an ungraceful splash. Glaring up in annoyance she saw the curious face of a Black Mage. He offered Mikoto a gloved hand, helping her out of the water.

"I'm very sorry about that," Mr. 288 apologized timidly, "I didn't mean to scare you Mikoto."

Squeezing the excess water from her soaking shirt, and her tail puffed out behind her, conserving heat in the chilly night air. She waved a hand at him in gruff dismissal. "It's all right, don't worry about it."

A silence stretched between them as Mikoto observed the mage thoughtfully. She'd been living with him, the other mages, and the Genomes in this little village for about six months now, ever since Zidane had rescued them from Terra's destruction. He had wanted her to take care of them ; their "family" as he put it. Zidane truly believed that these empty vessels had souls of their own, like the Black Mages.

And the more time she spent with them, Mikoto was beginning to realize that perhaps her "brother" was right.

They were evolving there own personality traits, much like she had witnessed within the Black Mages when they first arrived. The genomes were all so curious about the life their new friends had created for themselves. Like children, she had heard one of Zidane's companions say. The Mages had even been successful in getting the genomes to pick names. Conveniently, they had found a book in the items shop that was filled with them ; Mr. 288 had said that it was a human book, that women used to pick baby names. This had spawned the everlasting debate amongst everyone about where babies came from.

Maybe Genomes were more than just vessels. They had to have souls of their own, even if Garland hadn't specifically given them one. She wondered sometimes about her own misbegotten soul ; maybe she was the one who truly had none.

"I suppose that you're still going through with this Mikoto?" Mr. 288 questioned her, a sad tone colouring his words.

"Yes," she replied stoically, "When the light comes back."

"I'll feel sad when you leave. We all will. Especially the other genomes. You've been like their parental figure."

Mikoto resisted the urge to laugh at the thought of her being dubbed as anyone's 'parent' ; they didn't even understand what a parent really was. "They'll continue living without me. It's not as though I'm leaving forever Mr. 288. I'll return here one day."

"And maybe you can bring Mr. Vivi to visit again too?"

The young Black Mage friend of Zidane had come back to the village a few times to visit with his own family, but had opted to stay and help rebuild the cities destroyed on Alexandria Continent, formerly the Mist Continent. It had been renamed in honor of Queen Garnet after the defeat of Kuja and Eternal Darkness. Vivi's decision had saddened Mr. 288 and the other Black Mages, who were quite fond of the child. After all, he was their role model. The original soul. He hadn't come to visit in a long time though, and she feared that he may have "stopped", as the Black Mages put it.

"Perhaps. Maybe they will all come to visit."

There was another silence.

"Bobby Corwen will miss you too."

"I know he will."

"Are you sure you won't stay?"

"We've already been through this," Mikoto replied with slight frustration, "I have to go. It's just something ... I feel, you know? I want to see Gaia. And I want to see Zidane again."

Mr. 288 nodded slowly, the end of his long brown Mage hat dipping with the motion. He understood what Mikoto was saying. It reminded him of the time when all of the other Mages left with Kuja, but he remained behind. At the time he had a feeling that told him to stay. And he was glad he listened to it. Now, his friend was having the same sort of feeling, only hers was the need to explore. To reach out into the world.

"I understand ... I hope you find what your looking for."

Mikoto cocked her head to the side in confusion, and responded, "What?? I'm not looking for anything. I just wanted to see Zidane again."

Mr. 288 shook his head. "That's your excuse for going. I know that you genuinely do want to see Zidane, but I think that you also want to find something else."

"Such as?"

"I don't know. Yourself. A purpose for your life. A reason to come back. You tell me."

She snorted and plopped back down onto the river bank, "I already told you, I don't have a purpose. My life is meaningless now that Terra is gone and the Genomes are no longer needed."

"I think your wrong," Mr. 288 countered, "I think we all have a purpose in life, regardless of how we came into being. Just because we were made for instruments of war, it doesn't mean that us Black Mages are any less deserving of our own lives. And just because Terra is gone it doesn't mean that you don't have a right to exist either. It just means that you have discover your purpose. Besides, would you deny Zidane his life because Garland is dead?"

" ... no."

"Zidane is a Genome just like you. He has a soul. He experiences all of the same emotions that other life forms experience ; happiness, sorrow, love, regret ... all of the things that we are learning to feel. Do you know what my purpose is? I think I discovered it when I was watching over Mr. 36's grave. My purpose is to make sure that all of us, Black Mages and Genomes,, learn to appreciate life to it's fullest extent before we die. That we must live every moment and deal with every emotion we can, just for the sake of being able to say we experienced it. I am here to make sure that we reclaim our souls. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Sort of."

"Good. I don't want you to leave my friend. But I know that you must in order to find yourself. Just like I knew that the others had to leave with Kuja to find out the truth. I won't be the one to stand in the way of you happiness Mikoto."

"My ... happiness?"

Mikoto looked up at the Mage in confusion. His words did make some sense ; though she still didn't understand why she needed to discover her own purpose. Damned her feelings. It would have been so much simpler if she were destroyed by Kuja in Branbal, instead of being stuck on Gaia with these philosophical Mages. Perhaps when she saw Zidane again, everything would be much clearer to her.

"I'll be leaving early ... I don't really want to have to say good bye to anyone, it'll be to complicated."

"But they'll want to say good bye to you Mikoto," Mr. 288 said, "We want to see you again before you leave, because we won't again for a long time. The Genomes will be disappointed if you just take off."

"No they won't. They'll accept the situation. They always do."

"It's your decision. But before you leave, I want to give you something."

Mr. 288 stuck his hands into the pocket of his robe and dug around. The distinct sound of clattering metal and wrinkling parchment could be heard from within, but Mikoto paid it no notice. After a few seconds the mage pulled out a glittering object. Fastened onto the end of a thin bronzed chain was a small dark blue stone, set within a crudely sculpted pair of silver wings. Holding the object out to her, he coax the Genome into accepting his present.

"I made it for you. It's a necklace."

Mikoto slowly reached out to the proffered hand and took the item. She held it up in front of her face by the chain, examining it from all angles under the dim starlight. The wings weren't exactly shaped properly, and the setting was a little crooked, by it's little flaws was what made it beautiful. It must have taken the Mage hours to sculpt this at the Synth Shop. She allowed a small smile to tug at the corners of her lips before it turned into a skeptical frown.

"Why are you giving this to me? I did nothing to deserve it, there is no reason for you to create such a thing."

"Yes there is," the Mage countered with a small laugh, "You are my friend. Vivi once told me that people who like each other give one another gifts, just because they are friends. There doesn't have to be a reason for it, other than that I like you."

"I have nothing to give you," Mikoto said with a confused blink, "But ... I like you too Mr. 288. You and I are friends."

"You don't have to give me anything, you've already given me the greatest gift a person can. I didn't think that I would find another good friend after Mr. 36 died, but after you and the other Genomes came to our village, I found that my thinking was wrong. I did find another good friend. Please reconsider leaving so early when the light comes back. At least stay to say good bye to the Genomes."

"I ... I'll think about it."

"All right then, fair enough. I hope I will see you when the light returns, I want to say good bye then, not now. Good night Mikoto."

The Black Mage offered her a small smile and then started back over the bridge towards his hut, leaving Mikoto to her peace once again. He had hoped that his words would have some effect on the girl, and she would decide to stay to say good bye to all of her friends.

The tailed girl stared at her gift for a long time, running her thumb over it's smooth metallic surfaces. She had never owned anything so frivolous in her life, but the simple beauty of Mr. 288's work filled her with a sense of something. Sweeping her honey blonde hair out of her way, she fastened the clasp securely around her neck, allowing the stone to sit just above her chest.

*Strange,* she thought to herself, resting her chin upon her hands and staring back out over the trickling water, *I wonder when I stopped thinking of them as vessels and more as friends and family.*

Zidane had been right. The Genomes were like their family. A very large, extended family, but a family none the less. Mikoto had never expected to have something like this during her existence. She had predicted that her entire life would be spent watching over the empty vessels, or if the need arose, to go to Gaia and serve as Garland's instrument of war. An Angel of Death as he so eloquently put it. Living amongst the Black Mages and the other Genomes had not been a part of the plan. Hell, living had not been a part of the plan.

But it had happened anyway. She had a family of sorts, friends that she kept at a distance in the Black Mages, and a home. A certain sense of responsibility flared up inside of her, but Mikoto repressed it as she remembered her objective ; to find Zidane again. To learn her own purpose in life.

*I've become too human.*

Sighing, Mikoto rose from the river bank and began the slow walk back to her dwelling. Perhaps she would listen to Mr. 288's advice. After all, she owed her family at least one goodbye.