Vivi and her highness Garnet Til Alexandros XVII — whom he fondly calls Dagger — take to each other immediately. Dagger is a gentle but strong spirit who Vivi feels safe around. Vivi is like a younger sibling to Garnet, someone to watch out for and protect. But for Vivi, Garnet becomes much more than a dear friend and comrade: her loss sparks a revelation in his own heart about what exactly life and death mean.

After Bahamut turns on Queen Brahne at the Iifa Tree, destroying her ship and plunging her to the brink of death, Queen Brahne finds herself finally freed of Kuja's spell. Garnet comes to her then and sits beside her on the beach, where she lays dying. Her breath cut short by oncoming death, Brahne is able to tell her daughter how sorry she is, and even reminisce about the good old times when she, Garnet and her deceased husband were together.

Vivi finds himself strangely affected by the scene:

Vivi § I don't know why Bahamut attacked the one who summoned him. But we found Queen Brahne on the beach, next to her escape pod. She could hardly move. And I thought she'd come to a stop any second. I hate Kuja a lot. But I hate Brahne a lot, too...so much that I wanted this to happen to her. I should be happy, but... Once I saw Dagger start to cry, I didn't know how I should feel. I kind of wanted to cry, too...We went back to Alexandria on Queen Brahne's escape pod. We also brought...Dagger's mother with us...

A lot of revelations in one moment for poor Vivi. His simple view of life and death has just been uprooted and replaced with something much more complex. He's confused at feeling badly about Brahne's death, having previously wished death upon her. He realises that life and death aren't limited to one person or one perspective. Though Brahne had done terrible things with the black mages — things so terrible Vivi wished she would be killed — he suddenly realises his view of Brahne is limited. Seeing Garnet shed genuine tears for her mother shows him another view of the monstrous queen. He begins to feel sorry for her, perhaps as much as he does for Garnet, whom he knows is suffering due to her mother's death.

At the end of his monologue, Vivi makes an important distinction between "Queen Brahne" and "Dagger's mother". This distinction shows his new understanding of death: that death isn't simply a matter of life lost, without repercussions or influence. Further, he's shown the finality of death — and in contrast, the potentialities of life. For Vivi, death and life now hold a deeper meaning. This new understanding helps inspire a confidence in Vivi about not only what it means to live, but also the importance of living.

Garnet image ⁸

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