It's night over the city of Zanarkand; all is silent, calm, and peaceful. The people are all in their homes sleeping, it seems a strange hush has fallen over them. The moon's eerie glow casts heavy shadows across the city. These moonlit rays hit the tall spires gently, enveloping them in a soft haze.
The water this night is calm, tiny ripples resonating about rocks and various trees. A few water creatures stir the water, leaving sudden silvery flashes across the surface. A strange scent none have ever understood before wafts its way across the sea to quietly smother the island, the cause goes unknown.
This is the first night in months everything has been peaceful; the first true night of security after the end of the war. This calm, the Eternal Calm as some call it was not caused by simple standing and waiting, but by the sacrifice of thousands of people. This includes hundreds of Summoners and their Guardians. Among these some are the familiar, others are not, but no matter whether they are known or not, but two stand far above the rest.
Down at Zanarkand docks stands a lone figure, her shadow gleams an indigo blue stretching across a patch of dark seawater. Her soft hair waves lazily in the night breeze and as she turns to stare at the large moon overhead her two eyes glint as if perfect mirrors of the celestial being hovering in mid-heaven. Her small feminine hand comes up to her lips and a shrill whistle shatters the silence of the night; the great city seems to suddenly shake with anger.
The small-framed female staggers back a step at the wind's sudden fury; she falls to the wooden boards beneath her and lets out a surprised cry. She remains here for quite some time, minutes, maybe even hours. As if out of nowhere footsteps can be heard and slowly they come up and softly stop just behind her; the gentle deep breathing of a man, a lover.
This new figure leans forward next to the girl's ear and whispers, "I'm here, Lenne."
At the sound of her name, Lenne's eyes flash open to reveal her perfect pair of luminescent orbs. The young man's fingers run down her arm to gently pull her hand into his; she does nothing. He carefully pulls her to her feet and lays his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. Finally turning from the moon to face him, Lenne's violet eyes shift back as she sadly tries to smile.
He frowns slightly, his eyes shadowed out by moonlit strands of whitish-blonde hair. She runs her hands over his armor and finally gets a half-hearted smile to appear. That smile is short lived as he starts to speak once again, "They're sending me to the front lines," he grows silent for a few seconds before continuing in an almost happy tone trying to lighten things, "I'll be fighting for you; doesn't that account for anything."
Lenne brushes his hair from his face to reveal two azure spheres staring back at her in concern. She looks out to sea then turns towards the Blitzball stadium saying, "Don't you get it? This isn't a game Shuyin; people are dying out there. You're my last Guardian…I could never replace you, not in a thousand years." Shuyin lets go of her shoulders as she begins to pace, her suede boots tapping softly against the wood. She spins to face him, "What if you die out there!"
Shuyin smiles and shakes his head, "I won't die."
Lenne's soft features grow angry and she starts to walk back down the dock, "You can't promise that; you can't promise anything."
Shuyin leans against a light post oddly placed and stares down at the water only a few feet below. Before Lenne can get much farther away he turns to face her, his hair swaying ever so slightly. He calls out, "I don't have a choice, you know that, Lenne."
The young songstress continues walking, annoyed at her Guardian for more reasons than she can put in words, or even in song. Entering the main street of the city Lenne finally looks back to Shuyin standing alone on the dock watching her leave, a look of simple sadness. She comes to a stop near a small restaurant of some kind and stands there waiting for the young blitz player to come after her.
She turns her eyes to the starry sky overhead, the moon still not quite high enough to see over the rest of the buildings. The haze over the buildings is in a strange way a pretty sight that inspires a flurry of words deep inside Lenne, the makings of a future song. While sitting and waiting Shuyin stands just around the corner thinking about what would happen if he was killed at the front lines and everything Lenne would suddenly have to face alone.
He stands watching her with a look of happiness as she plays with the beaded earrings he gave her. He takes note of every detail of her as to never forget, the way she smiles, her graceful movements, her long cascading hair, and the silky haze of peace that filled her eyes. Shuyin stares at the wood beneath his feet and sighs softly before walking out into the open to his love.
At first Lenne takes no notice, but the chains hanging from his belt clink together giving him away. Her soft eyes fall on him and she blinks sadly. He walks up and gently places her hands in his saying, "Don't worry cause I'll come back."
Lenne's voice comes out gentle and loving this time, "I know you will."
Shuyin smiles slightly as Lenne wraps her arms around him and starts to shake softly. He knew she was afraid of something, but he wasn't sure what; he strokes her hair wondering what to say that could comfort her. Both stand in their loving embrace in utter silence for quite some time when Lenne suddenly starts to cry. Shuyin not being very experienced in this area stands there slightly confused stroking her back trying to ask what's wrong.
Lenne doesn't reply and Shuyin is left concerned and confused as she starts to shake more violently than before. Finally convinced it's something more serious he carefully picks her up and starts walking, "We're taking you home," is all he says despite her protests. So, the Guardian carries his lady Summoner eight blocks back to their home.
Despite the money both have, they chose to live in a simple home on the outskirts of Zanarkand where they could see the ocean at all hours of the day. Their home was as normal and about as small as they came in Zanarkand. It was in the relative shape of what appeared to the front half of a boat and was elevated to one of the higher street levels in the city. Small unrailed bridges crossed the gap between their home and the streets that led to the rest of the city.
It is here that Shuyin brings his beloved and gently lays her in a large bed with a frame embroidered with wire flowers. The bed was brought from Lenne's home when they moved in; only a few items came from Shuyin's. Shuyin sits on the bed at Lenne's side, humbly getting anything she requests. The Summoner's Violet eyes eventually close and don't reopen.
Shuyin kisses her forehead and carefully removes her boots and gloves, leaving them by the door as he walks out into the main room. He turns a dial that switches off the lights in the bedroom before walking and sitting cross-legged on chair at a desk covered in hundreds of papers. Shuyin slowly files through the papers until he finds one titled, "1000 Words".
The desk is Lenne's work area where she writes all her new lyrics. Shuyin, like a good man, reads through everything she writes without complaint. The sheet he had picked up only had the first verse written:
"I know that you're hiding things
Using gentle words to shelter me
Your words were like a dream,
But dreams could never fool me
Not that easily".
Shuyin flips the sheet over to find her first ideas of the tune behind the words. He reaches under the desk and pulls out a red guitar in a slightly distorted shape. Trying the tune a few time he looks back at the bedroom to make sure Lenne's asleep as he changes a few notes to make the sound more melodic and peaceful. Quite a few hours pass like this before Shuyin gently sets everything back how it was and pulls off his jacket to hang by the door.Before entering the bedroom he types in a security code on a panel by the door, he installed it for Lenne's safety when he was away at a Blitz tournament or at war. Opening the door to the bedroom he unstraps his armor and leaves it in a heap on the floor along with his boots and lastly pulls off his glove that covers his left hand. Buried beneath this glove was a glinting golden band that had gone unnoticed for almost a year now.
Shuyin changes out of his uniform into a simple pair of pants and looks back at his sleeping bride. Lenne lays motionless with her hair fanned out around her head like a halo, her gentle fingers twisted in the mahogany silk. Shuyin blinks and stares over at his sword leaning against the wall as if at any moment the peace of the nation could be shattered. He turns his head away and looks at himself in the mirror with a feeling of emptiness filling him.
Beyond his azure eyes and kind exterior he knows what lies hidden, something so horrible that not even he alone can understand its horror and pain. It is the very thing that has led him to war, to the bloodlust in battle, the very thing that forced away his innocence in life. Shuyin knew he was a murderer and it was clear it disturbed him.
He looks around franticly for a few seconds then quickly drapes a cloth over the mirror before turning and staring at his beloved. An image of a woman killed by his gun in a battle only a few days before haunts him and he can't help but see Lenne being killed in the same way. He immediately shakes his head and stares back at her with a look of fear and sorrow. Shuyin whispers, "I will protect you…I won't let you die, I promise."
The sudden noise stirs Lenne and Shuyin immediately turns to silence once again to stare at her as her soft misty eyes open. She arches her back letting out a quiet yawn as she stretches. He smiles awkwardly as she lays and blinks at him sleepily. Finally he whispers, "Sorry," he turns to stare out the window at the ocean, "I didn't mean to wake you."
Lenne reaches out her hand, "Come sleep, you need it."
Shuyin smiles back at her kindly, "You need it more."
Her violet eyes look off past him as she sits up and sighs, "Shuyin, sleep." Slowly obeying his wife's command he walks over and crawls onto the bed to smile at her as she gives a fake glare. Lenne grabs a pillow and muffles Shuyin as she lays back down curling up into a ball.
Shuyin lifts the corner of the pillow to stare lovingly at Lenne. Wrapping his arms around her he whispers, "I love you."
Lenne pats his fluffy hair and answers back, "I love you too. Night."
Shuyin nuzzles her neck before shifting to use her shoulder as a pillow where he smiles at her sweetly. She strokes his soft blonde hair slowly putting him to sleep like a child. A gentle smile forms on Lenne's lips and she whispers, "I'll miss you when you're gone." Barely five minutes later she's fast asleep.
Guardian and Summoner, Husband and Wife, Shuyin and Lenne; both lay in peace this night. When dawn arises, a new setting will begin and so will the tragedy of Shuyin and Lenne.