Axis
a Final Fantasy X fan fiction by Ciopimo
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, locations, etc. mentioned in this fanfic. They belong to Square.
Author's Note: This work assumes that the events of FFX-2 did not occur. Although some of the characters from the sequel appear in the fic, the timeline departs from the end of FFX. Contains spoilers for FFX, but not FFX-2.
Prologue
The sun beat down on Besaid village, as usual. Small bursts of laughter punctured the still mid-day air, a counterpoint to the ever present lapping of the waves. The laugher, a small curly-haired boy, was attempting to catch a small harmless machina that ran in circles before him. His father looked on, beaming. "Chappu's such a smart kid, ya?"
"Yeah, he knows he likes machina already!" Rikku winked at Wakka. "See how deprived you Yevonite kids were?"
"Yeah, yeah." Wakka waved her off with his hand. "We did ok though." Lulu rolled her eyes and Yuna laughed softly. The four women were mindful of the sleeping infant, even if her father was not.
The redheaded child ran up to the others. "Aunt Rikku, the mock-ya broke."
Rikku stood and stretched. "Well, let's take a look-see, Chappy."
He shook his head at her slowness. "It's Chappu, Aunt Rikku."
"Oopsie, forgot again." Rikku winked as Chappu led her to his faulty toy.
"I wonder which of them has more energy," murmured the brunette leaning on Wakka's shoulder. "Maybe she should baby-sit more often."
Wakka laughed. "He'll be a great blitzer, ya?"
Yuna stood, gingerly. "Thank you...so much for this afternoon. Both of you." She smiled shyly. "I still don't get out of Bevelle often enough, I guess."
"You certainly don't, young lady," Wakka scolded. "Karena still hardly knows you and Lu. And we couldn't have Chappu growin' up without his godmothers, eh?"
"I'm sorry."
"Ah don't be." Wakka and Karena stood as well, and Wakka gave Yuna an avuncular bear hug. "We know you're busy, ya? Jus' take a break every now an' then."
Yuna nodded, with a smile. "If you'll excuse me, I have to talk with Rikku for a moment." Yuna took another look at the sleeping child in Karena's arms, then turned and walked toward Chappu and Rikku, bent over the machina toy.
"Any luck?" She asked them softly. Rikku nodded, and with a grin, clicked a final component into place. The miniature chocobo chirruped back to life, and with a quick "Thanks, Aunt Rikku!", Chappu was off once more. In the background Karena yelled, "Be careful!" as Wakka laughed, but Yuna did not join in. Her look had turned deadly serious. "Rikku," she began.
"I know what you're going to say."
"Then why make me say it?" Rikku did not break the silence. "Is Cid really going to start a war?"
Rikku looked shocked. "Start a war? Who exactly was it that attacked our Home? Who used us as scapegoats for 1000 years? Who tried to force you into a marriage you didn't want?"
"Don't drag me into this, Rikku. Maester Seymour was an individual, and he's dead. That's no justification for a war."
Shaking her head, Rikku stepped closer and lowered her voice. "Yunie, so many of our people died, not at the hands of Sin, but of the Guado. Pops wants some justice, and I can't say I blame him." She hugged her cousin. "It's not that I don't see where you're coming from, but I lost so many friends to the pycdyntc, and they refuse to own up to what they did. We'll end it quickly, I promise." Yuna stepped away. Rikku shrugged and said "Let's get back to the others then."
Chappu ran up, laughing again. "I did it, Aunt Rikku! I caught 'im all by myself!"