Yay Dissidia. Not. Yuna got a shitty deal, yo. Anyway, since the release of Dissidia, Tuna is my rediscovered love. Why? Spoiler Alert; Yuna said a word that was not mentioned in this fic. (Self Victory.) Slight alternate route at end. (As in, the original direction of this ficlet.)
BTW: Stay away from the summoner!
He sat on the floor of the engine room with his knees against his chest. The chocobos running on the wheels powering the ship squawked at one another. The girl tending them hummed quietly as she prepared the next pair of birds.
Closing his eyes, he thought back to what had happened in Kilika. More so than before, he was homesick. He didn't like Spira. He didn't like Sin. But most of all, he didn't like all the death. The sending Yuna had performed made him feel sick. All those souls, the pyreflies leaving bodies, it made him uneasy.
He didn't know what he'd be looking for in Luca. So far, everyone had told him the same thing. "Zanarkand gone, dead for a thousand years." No one believed him. As far as Spira was concerned, he was infected, fuzzy in the head. And it pissed him off.
"Excuse me," he looked up to see the caretaker standing over him. "Could you, I mean. Um are you planning on going back on deck anytime soon?" He shrugged, "Could you maybe watch the birds for me? I'm tired, after what happened in Kilika, you know? I've pulled two shifts." He shot her a grin and nodded, letting his legs straighten.
"Don't worry about it. What do I need to do?"
She squealed, clapping her hands together, "Thank you so much! You don't have to do anything major, I just switched them out. Throw them some greens though, every ten minutes or so." She darted towards the door, but turned to him again before leaving, "If you need me, I'll be in the cabin!" And with that, she was gone.
He stretched as he watched the two birds. Both seemed fine, running at a constant pace. With a yawn, he began tracing plays on the floor of the ship.
Hearing the engine room door open, he looked up to see Yuna peeking in. Sighing slightly, he turned his gaze back to the birds. She slowly worked her way into the room and to his side. She slid down next to him, smoothing out her skirt beneath her. Her scent of vanilla overpowered that of the greens in the chocobo stall, and he found himself leaning towards her slightly.
"What are you doing down here?"
"Watching those," he lazily pointed towards the chocobos. "The girl, she's taking a nap."
She nodded, and rested her head against the wall behind them. "I was always scared of them."
He chuckled, arching a brow. "Seriously."
She smiled, looking away from him. "It's not funny you know. I was young." She leaned back, her eyes hazing over slightly, "I remember, when Kimahri was bringing me to Besaid, as a child, we stopped on the Mi'ihen Highroad." He quietly watched her, waiting for her to continue with her story. She laughed softly, "I was tired of walking, and so, he found a chocobo, and …Somehow, he managed to get me on it."
He smirked slightly at the mental thought of a mini Yuna clambering all over one of the big yellow birds.
"But…" Her face reddened slightly, "I sort of, pulled one of its feathers out." He placed a hand to his forehead, snorting. "My father had always told me they were good luck!" She defended herself, laughing with him, "It threw me off. And I cried. So Kimahri carried me the rest of the way."
He shook his head, leaning back as well, making a confirming mumble and drawing his knees back up to his knees. "We didn't have them in Zanarkand."
"Really?" She cocked her head to the side. "So, is this your first time seeing a chocobo?"
"I saw them on the way to Kilika." He grinned, "The girl, she asked me what backwater island I came from. "
She giggled softly, pushing herself to her feet. She walked over to the two resting chocobos, placing a hand on one's head, pushing back its feathers. The other let out a disgruntled squawk and craned its neck to move the summoner's hand to its own head. Its feathers ruffled slightly in content as she scratched under its neck. He watched as she used both her hands to appease the birds, smiling and talking to them softly.
As he watched her, his mind wandered back to Kilika, and the Sending. "Yuna, were you serious? About what you said, about wanting me to be your guardian?"
She inhaled slightly, her hands stopping. Regaining her composure, she continued on petting the birds. "I… I don't want to make you feel obligated…But yes. If you want, of course. You don't have to decide…now. We'll be in Luca till after the tournament anyways…"
"I still don't get it all though," he pulled himself up, scrambling to his feet. Joining her side, he reached out a hand for one of the birds, scratching at the feathered neck. "What do guardians do? Get you to Zanarkand, right?" She nodded, avoiding his gaze. "Is it… really that hard to get there? I mean, you've got Wakka, and Lulu. And I think Khimari is plenty scary enough to fight off fiends," he shot her a grin, only for it to fall when he saw her frowning. "H-hey, what's wrong?"
"I know…I have more guardians than other summoners. But…" she let her hands fall to her side, sighing. "I want… I want them with me." She turned to him, smiling, "And you. You want to see Zanarkand, don't you?"
He stared at her sudden change in attitude before nodding. "I know you all say it's destroyed…But, I've gotta see ya know?"
"Mhm." She placed her hands behind her back and headed for the engine room door, causing him to frown and stop his caressing of the bird. In return, the bird let out a frustrated cry and snapped at his hand. He let out a startled cry before falling backwards to the floor. "Oh!" She turned to see him rubbing his back as he sat up. The chocobo let out a victory cry, jumping into the air slightly.
He looked up at her to see her giggling, her hand over her mouth as if trying to hide it. "Jeez, thanks for your concern." He faux pouted, crossing his legs and arms as he turned away from her.
Her giggling came to a stop, and she smiled down at him. "Thank you."
He arched a brow, and watched as she left the engine room. Puzzled, but too tired to pursue it, he went back to simply watching the dangerous yellow birds.
Originally, the amount of guardians Yuna had wasn't included in this. It had to do with…Bleh. Just Yuna's blubbering about how she wanted him to be her guardian. But that was boring and geh. I also added in the whole Yuna being scared of chocobos bit... Because, I vaguely (I could be wrong) remember her saying it at the Moonflow? Maybe? Dunno. And it seemed fitting. (But after going back and changing it…. Maybe it was the shoopuffs?)
RandomFact: I adore the scene where Tidus walks into the Engine Room and discovers the chocobos. And the girl says "What kind of backwater island did you come from?" ("FAWKIN' ZANARKAND BEEOTCH!") I just find it ironically funny. (: