Summary: When one hears about the death of his friends, how can one recover from his grief? Yuna tries her best to return a favor to Kimahri for his duties as a guardian. My tribute to Yuna's Ronso guardian.
Pairing: YunaXKimahri
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the places, fiends, characters or vehicles in this story. SquareEnix owns them.
It was night in the area of the Moonflow. Cid decided it was a good time and place to rest up so he asked Brother to land the airship, Fahrenheit, on the shores. Cid and the other Al Bheds stayed inside the airship.
Down on the ground, seven travelers rest. Yuna and her guardians: Tidus, Auron, Lulu, Wakka, Kimahri, and Rikku, were hanging around a campfire near the airship. Tidus was sitting on the ground with Jecht's sword, which was standing on its blade tip, in front of him.
Rikku was already asleep. She was lying on the ground with her back facing the fire.
Wakka sat on the ground with his blitzball in his hand. He was feeling both excited and nervous. Excitement for the possible outcome that they defeat Sin and liberate Spira from the so-called "Spiral of Death" and nervous for when the outcome becomes bad and he suffers the same fate as his brother, Chappu.
Lulu stared at the campfire from the rock she was sitting on. She was holding her fire moomba doll close to her. Though she rarely shows any emotion, there was no doubt that she was also afraid of what may come out of their final battle. Memories with her last summoner were going through her mind.
Auron was reclining against a boulder and would occasionally drink from the jug that was hanging from his belt. His left arm was out of his jacket, leaving the left sleeve hanging and ruffling with the wind. He was thinking about the times he had with High Summoner Braska, Yuna's father, and Jecht, Tidus' father/Braska's Final Aeon/Sin.
Yuna, having unattained her Final Aeon, thinks of a way to defeat the monster that destroys Spira, without sacrificing any of her precious guardians. She was kneeling by the fire with her staff lying on her lap.
Lastly, Kimahri Ronso stood by the shoreline of the Moonflow. He was staring into the sky where a beautiful, white, full moon shone brilliantly. Occasionally, a pyrefly or two would pass through then floats away. On the water, an equally magnificent image of the moon and pyreflies was reflected.
Thoughts in the blue furred guardian's head didn't just show about the upcoming battle but also the loss of his tribe members. Sure, he was always teased of being short and was exiled for his horn being broken off by Biran and Yenke but it didn't mean he didn't care about them. As much as he wants to, he could not shed a tear.
Yuna looked towards the Ronso spearman's direction. Feeling uneasy about Kimahri, the young summoner stood up and walked towards Kimahri. The others, after looking where she was headed, went back to their own business.
[Inside Yuna's head]
Yuna was standing on a field similar to the Calm Lands but without any monsters and humans. In front of her, was the image of Kimahri standing by the shores of the Moonflow. "Kimahri…" Yuna sighed.
"It's so sad to see him like that." A masculine voice said. The voice held an accent that was somewhat inherent to the people in Djose area.
Yuna looked behind her and saw seven people (two women, one boy and four men) and one dog behind her. Although this is her mind and no one should be able to enter her mind and talk to her, much less materialize in her thoughts, she wasn't scared at all. "You are… The Fayths."
"Yes, it is us." said Valefor's fayth. The image was that of a young, beautiful woman and her voice held a Besaid accent. "We came here when we sensed your distress. We now know what's causing it."
"It just seems so unfair that all of those Ronsos were killed just like that." Said Shiva's fayth; snapping her fingers for emphasis. Shiva's fayth was that of a middle aged woman, wearing thick clothing and her voice had the same accent as those from Macalania Temple.
"Even the Ronso fighters didn't stand a chance." Ixion's fayth said and was the one who spoke first. Ixion's image was that of a young male guard.
Yuna nodded. "It was hard to fight against someone who was strong alive and stronger now that he is a fiend."
The man that looked like a blitzball player nodded. The man's clothes held a hint of Kilika style. "Indeed. He can destroy us aeons with one blow." Ifrit said.
The aeons and Yuna stared at Kimahri's image and studied him. It wasn't until Bahamut looked towards Yuna that the silence was disturbed. "Lady Yuna, what's wrong?" The other aeons looked towards their summoner and found out what Bahamut meant. Yuna looked uncomfortable: fidgeting, eyes constantly moving and can't look into the aeons' eyes. Yuna wanted to explain but she couldn't seem to make a coherent sentence.
Ixion thought about it first and when he got an idea, he burst out laughing. The other aeons and Yuna looked at him questioningly. "You must not be used to seeing us like this." Yuna stiffened more after what Ixion said. Once the other aeons knew what was wrong, they too giggled a little. All at the same time, all of the aeons glowed brightly and so Yuna had to cover her eyes. When the light diminished and Yuna opened her eyes, she saw the true forms of the aeons. The dog turned into Yojimbo's partner, Daigoro. "Is this better?" Ixion said in a deeper voice than that of his fayth.
"Yes." Yuna replied with a smile; now feeling a lot more comfortable than before.
Anima/Maester Seymour's mother, a middle-aged woman with long black hair, moved forward and bowed to Yuna. "Lady Yuna, please do what you must to my son. I know what he has done cannot be repaired so I beg of you. Please send him to the Farplane as soon as possible." As Anima was bowing, tears were coming out of her good eye.
Yuna looked at Anima sadly. The summoner knew how hard it must be for Anima to see her son to do such dastardly deeds when Seymour was so much gentler in his childhood. Also, there may come a time that Anima will be put into battle against her own son. "I will do what I can." The summoner said gently.
Anima stood back up and tried her best to smile. "Thank you…"
Yuna and her aeons then resumed to stare at Kimahri's image. Instead of his serious face, it now turned into a very sad expression. It would seem that the ronso would cry any minute. "So much pain…" Yojimbo said blankly. Daigoro looked at Kimahri and would sometimes release whimpers.
"The pain of loss and loneliness…" Bahamut stated glumly.
"And just when everything was looking up for him and his tribe." Shiva sighed.
Yuna tried to reach out with her hand to the image but stopped about an inch from him. The summoner clenched her hand and drew it back. "I wish there was something I can do for him."
"But there is something you can do for him Lady Yuna." Ixion said as he dug his hoof, lightly, into the ground.
Yuna faced the white unicorn questioningly with her head cocked to the side. Valefor glided a little closer to Yuna. "You can talk him and try to comfort him. You're the person he loves the most. You are the first human to accept him as a Ronso with a broken horn. He treats you like his own daughter."
Yuna thought about it for a while. She went through her memories with Kimahri: their journey to Besaid, growing up, starting of her pilgrimage and all the events in her quest. "Yes… I remember… "Right after she spoke, images of Yuna and Kimahri appeared around the summoner and the aeons; images of Yuna's childhood while she played with a younger version of her ronso guardian, Yuna sleeping in his arms and Kimahri standing near her as she was studying for her pilgrimage. "When I was young, every time I was said, he would hold me close to him and stroke my head with his hand. When I'm lonely or angry, he would stay and listen to me and make me feel better. When I'm in danger, he tries his best to rescue me even if he gets hurt badly." He was the closest thing to a father when my real father died." Small tears ran down Yuna's cheeks. The summoner brushed them away and looked towards Kimahri's image. "Yes… I'll do my best to help him… It's the least I can do…"
Bahamut nodded and smiled at Yuna. "That's the spirit…." One after another, the aeons disappeared. Bahamut was the last to disappear but as he was fizzling out. "Oh and one more thing…"
[Moonflow]
Kimahri stood by the shore, not moving an inch from his position earlier. Occasionally, his fur would ruffle with the wind and his tail would wag a little. The pyreflies continue on their way, floating over the water of the Moonflow. The ronso spearman heard the grass behind him shake and footsteps were coming towards him. From the scent he could gather from the air, he knew it was Yuna and so he didn't turn around to look at her.
"Kimahri?" The summoner's soft voice asked.
Kimahri brought back his serious face and turned around to look his charge in her eyes. "Yuna… Shouldn't Yuna be resting?"
Yuna shook her head. "I'm fine. Thank you for your concern. How about you?"
"Kimahri alright." The young Ronso then turned around to look at the scenery. "Kimahri just wants to look at water and pyreflies."
Yuna knew this wasn't the only reason but she didn't want to push things further this early. She just made her way to the spot next to her guardian. "Mind for some company then?" Yuna asked. The only reply she got was Kimahri shaking his head.
Kimahri and Yuna stood there, taking in everything around them: the sight of the pyreflies dancing over the water, the tunes of the cricket, the beauty of the night sky and the water, and the voices of the shoopuf from their stables.
Yuna shifted a little, feeling the gloomy aura of her large guardian. Kimahri, being deep in thought, didn't even notice Yuna's discomfort. The summoner was kind of glad that he didn't notice. The least she wanted was for Kimahri to worry. 'I should… Ask him now…' Yuna took a beep breath in and deep breath out before looking towards the Ronso. "Kimahri-…!" The summoner noticed that the spearman was glaring and gritting his teeth. "Kimahri, what's wrong?" Yuna asked.
"Move away!" Kimahri growled without sparing his charge a glance.
Yuna, thought that Kimahri was angry at her, flinched at his voice. "W-What!? Why!?"
"Yuna, look ahead!" Tidus' voice rang. Yuna looked in front of her and saw two bite bugs heading her way. From the speed they were going, Yuna knew she wouldn't get away in time so she braced herself for the impact. A sound of something being pierced came but the summoner didn't feel a thing.
The summoner opened her eyes and saw Kimahri kneeling with his back facing her. He was gripping his upper left arm. Blood was dripping from his arm. "Kimahri!"
The blue guardian slowly looks towards Yuna, releasing grunts every once in a while. Kimahri was sweating heavily. "I-Is Yuna unharmed?" Yuna nodded which Kimahri smile a little. Pain surged through Kimahri's wound, making him grunt and grip his arm tighter.
The other guardians arrive to help. Tidus, Wakka, and Auron stood in front of Kimahri while Lulu and Rikku helped Yuna. In front of the party were hordes of Garms and Bite Bugs. "Where did these guys come from?" Rikku asked.
Auron stood at his place calmly. "Fiends don't really need to have a reason to attack… But…"
"They do not usually attack with such numbers." Lulu stated.
Wakka stretched his arms forward then cracked his knuckles. "Meh... This will be a good exercise before our battle with Sin, ya?"
Tidus quickly got hold of his sword and got on his battle stance. "Right! We'll destroy every last one of them." Tidus chimed.
Auron turned around to look at the injured ronso. Kimahri looked paler than usual and he was breathing erratically. The legendary guardian then faced Wakka. "Wakka, let's help Kimahri up and away from here."
"Got it!" The blitzball captain replied. Wakka and Auron helped their fallen guardian up, putting them selves under each of Kimahri's armpits and helped him walk towards the Fahrenheit. Yuna followed to trio, leaving Lulu, Tidus and Rikku with the mob of fiends, comprised of garms and bite bugs.
"Okay, let's get this over with!" Tidus yelled.
Rikku took out her claws and crouched. "This'll be a piece of cake!"
Lulu equipped her bangle and held her fire moomba close to her. She stood straight, ready to cast any spell required. "My, my, aren't you two eager?"
The fighting party eyed the fiends carefully but confidently. The fiends, on the other hand, held rage in their eyes, ready to tear the guardians apart. Aside from the growls of the fiends, Rikku spoke up. "So how are we going to deal with these guys?"
"How about we do this with one attack each?" The air around Tidus became heavy as he stores energy for an overdrive.
Lulu nodded. She drops her doll which stood up on its own. The mage raised both of her hands up while the doll imitated her actions. Magical energy was visible around Lulu. Rikku, following the plan of the others, started to dig in her pocket for any item that can be used to kill the fiends.
"ENERGY RAIN!!!" shouted Tidus once the charging was complete. He ran towards one of the garms then jumped up. The teen raised up his sword. The blade in his hand shone with an ominous glow then Tidus swung it down, releasing multiple bolts. The bolts crashed around the fiends, resulting in an explosion in their area.
Rikku, after much digging and choosing, threw a grenade. The grenade bounced off a bite bug and landed on a fiend group. The explosion that followed was so fast that the fiends didn't have time to move away.
"Ultima! Doublecast!" Lulu yelled after concentrating. The field around the remaining fiends warped into darkness. Above the fiends was an orb of light that was getting bigger. The orb of light grew and grew, storing up energy from the environment. Once the orb was big enough, the orb exploded, destroying half of the fiends. Another explosion came and took out the other half of the fiends.
After the battle, the three fighters cheered for their victory until they heard Kimahri growled behind them. Lulu, Rikku and Tidus hid their weapons and went to see if their friend was alright. Wakka and Auron were standing guard in case of any other fiend attacks. The trio went past them and saw Kimahri sitting on the ground while Yuna used her magic to heal the wound. The summoner was kneeling at Kimahri's side with her palms hovering over the wound. A bright light was radiating from her hands.
Tidus stepped forward and crouched down to look at the ronso at eye level. "How are you doing, big guy?" The blitzer asked.
"Kimahri just shook his head. "Kimahri fine… This nothing."
"There." Yuna said as the healing light from her hands disappeared. She inspected her blue guardian's arm for the last time. Kimahri also inspected the healed flesh. Once he was satisfied, he just nodded to Yuna as thanks. Yuna bowed her head and stayed like that for a brief moment before she looked towards Kimahri once more. "Kimahri, I-"
"Maybe we should get inside before more fiends attack." Auron stated nonchalantly. Everyone agreed with the idea and made their way to the ship. Yuna followed them from behind.
Yuna was feeling heavily guilty for what has happened to her friend earlier. She was again having a tough time approaching the ronso. When everything was going smoothly, something would always block her way or interrupt her and so she loses confidence. The summoner just went to her room to sleep and get her head straight. Hopefully by morning, everything will be better.
Poor Kimahri...
I really felt bad when Seymour told the party about what he did...
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