Sahrah: Well, for some reason, the idea of having no fanfic to update made me really sad. I guess I must like you guys... Ahem.

Editor: Sahrah...

Sahrah: Right! Right, well, hey thar! Welcome to "Their Story". It's about Shuyin and Lenne and their life in Zanarkand. Of course it's speculative, seeing as FFX-2 only tells so much. But I figured hey, I could write their story. It's not just about Yuna and the Gullwings and Vegnagun and Leblanc being a hussy... It's also about two lovers that died together in the Machina War one thousand years ago. It's also about Lenne, a songstress, a famous performer, sent to the front lines with hundreds of summoners, put up against machina that they couldn't hope to fight... It's about Shuyin, a helpless man who wanted to protect his love, even if it meant his own death.

Squall: You're talking too much. This prologue isn't even that special.

Sahrah: Shut up! It's very special! Hmph. Well, disclaimer. I do not own Shuyin, Lenne, FFX-2, Zanarkand, or Blitzball. That belongs to Square Enix. The music belongs to Celine Dion (because I think Lenne would sing songs like her), and the plotline and all other characters belong to me! Yay me!

Squall: Oh, and I'm from Final Fantasy VIII. I'm not sure why I'm here. Sahrah really just likes clinging to me and yelling stupid crap. Whatever...

Editor: Okay, enough. Here we go. The whole thing is in italics. Thoughts are in bold. Singing is regular font.

Prologue: Awakening

It was dark. Deep, dark. Floating endlessly in the abyss of pyreflies and silence. She sat on air, half dreaming. Alone. She didn't come here alone... did she? She couldn't remember. Something was missing, something important...

She was not lonely. She had been asleep, she had faded long ago, while she slept, the one she loved opened his eyes. He knew loneliness far deeper than anything she would ever know. Her love... Oh, he was scared, and lonely, and furious in ways she couldn't understand. He was so angry; she could feel it now as she woke.

She couldn't remember anything, but she didn't panic. She felt warm and safe, despite everything. But she was forgetting something. It was missing. Missing... what could it be? She didn't know.

She opened her eyes. Her eyes were soft cinnamon in color, gentle and warm, emotional and powerful. Suddenly could feel her lover's fury, his wrath. Violently, the memories that had almost faded into the dark nothingness seeped back into her head. She trembled as tears ran down her face. Every moment...

'Vegnagun.' 'SHUYIN!' 'Play me a song?' 'YOU MUST...' 'You have been selected for the draft...' 'DON'T LEAVE ME!' 'Hey, get out of my seat!' 'YOU MUST STOP!' 'The concert.' 'HER DAUGHTER'S NAME MEANS FREEDOM.' 'I found it.' 'COMPANY LEADER, TEAM N...' 'Please don't...' 'YOU'RE GOING TO...' 'The letter.' 'NO, YOU CAN'T BE DEAD!' 'My last night with him.' 'YOU MUST STOP!' 'Goodbye.' 'IF YOU DIE, THEN I...' 'I forgive you.' 'HE'S ONLY A CHILD.' 'It didn't hurt at all.' 'THAT'S ENOUGH...' 'I love you.' 'I can't reach...' 'Where...' 'Fading...' 'Shuyin!' 'I LOVE YOU.' 'Oh, Shuyin…I remember when it all started…' 'THE END.' 'Such a long time ago…' 'can't we rest now…?' 'I'm... So tired...'

She could feel warmth returning to her limbs that had grown cold over a thousand years. Her knuckles cracked quietly and she stretched her legs. Her long brown hair flowed around her. Was she in the ocean? She couldn't tell. She reached out her bare arms, but her fingers met nothing but air. Or was it water? She was naked, but for some reason she wasn't worried...

'It's so dark here… Here... Shuyin, where are you? What have you done in my absence?'

The memory of her first concert surfaced again. Her lips twitched. So many centuries of silence, her voice ached to be heard. Then she heard it.

A song.

"…shouting might have been the answer… what if I'd cried my eyes out and begged you…"

It was a song she had been writing the day before she got the letter. Her lips twitched again, and softly, she sang along. She didn't know who was singing. She didn't care.

"Not to depart… But now, I'm not afraid to say what's in—"

"-My heart!" Her eyes widened in surprise. She was standing on an unfamiliar stage. She looked around. Machina lights flashed behind her and above her. People watched, awestruck by her singing. Her clothes were familiar songstress clothes. This was not her stage, or her home. But she kept singing; it felt right.

She could feel the song pulsing through her veins. Every note wrapped around her tongue as it flew into the air, followed by the next. The song was beautiful and sad, and it spoke. It told of two lovers fated to die... The first victims caught in the net of Spira's circle of death.

And suddenly, it was a duet. A girl sang next to her, but the long-haired woman was unsure of how she got there.

The girl was dressed the same as her, but her hair was shorter, her eyes miss-matched blue and green, her voice silkier. She sang the melody.

So, the woman sang the harmony. They switched parts for the following verse. As they sang, she remembered. She remembered running, she remembered falling, she remembered him playing that death piano... She remembered running to him. Reaching for him. Wanting to save him.

She remembered dying.

Just before the crescendo at the end, she remembered everything. With a sad, longing look at the girl, she lowered her microphone slowly. She didn't belong on this stage. This was not her concert.

As the last note rang through the air, she disappeared again.

Once more, it was silent. Once more, it was dark. Once more, she was alone. But she knew who she was. She knew what she had to do next. She drew in a long breath, and let out a heavy sigh.

'That concert… It was just like the day it all started… one thousand years ago… we were in Zanarkand…'