A good question, one Amarant was still debating with himself. No, they weren't friends as much as Zidane probably wanted to believe they were. On the surface, it was about settling a score. Zidane didn't just beat him in sheer brawn... but he did in ideology too! Time after time, that monkey-brained imbecile had gotten farther with others than Amarant could alone, the monk's sheer determination to succeed simply falling short of the jolly cooperation of the group the thief commanded! Being beaten by him once was bad enough... but SAVING him TWICE when they got to Garland's abode...? It was a blow to his ego, to everything he had believed was gospel. Even now, after everything, a piece of Amarant didn't want to let that slide. Not until they were even would Amarant let this go...

...But that went deeper than he wanted to admit.

Zidane reminded Amarant of someone.

"I knew a guy like that." He would respond after a notable silence. "He was a loser, always going out of his way to pick up after everyone, always trying to be a goody-goody. No matter what, no matter the scum, he always tried to pick them up and save them. Remind you of someone?" Amarant's emerald eyes would GLEAM at Kuja beneath his sanguine hair, almost an accusatory glance. "His ideology got himself killed, everyone he ever saved turned on him. The idiot wanted to think himself a hero. All he was, at the end of it all, was a moron, thinking that anyone actually cared what he was trying to do."

...Another pause.

"Zidane's going to get his dumb-ass killed if he keeps putting himself out there for people like you. That's not happening until I get even."

Without another word, Amarant would continue on his way and out into the ruins... his jaw clenched so hard, his teeth nearly gnawed DOWN into each other.