How to Save a Life
The air was freezing, as it should be on the mountainous peeks of Mt. Gagazet. Yuna and her guardians had just gotten done fighting a large machina Seymour's goons had left for them. Yuna looked ahead of her, stopped walking for a minuet, and sighed deeply. Yuna glanced at the cloud scattered sky, thinking of her father.
"What would you do…father?" She mumbled softly.
With that said, Yuna began to walk. Her eyes kept falling to the snow covered ground. Every time they fell, she quickly brought them back up. She had to stay strong. She had to bring the calm. She had to defeat Sin. Yuna walked towards a blue bar, and was almost startled by a Ronso jumping out at her.
"Summoner Yuna and guardians, leave here at once!" The male Ronso yelled. The rest of the party looked around, as they were soon surrounded by many other Ronso.
"Gagazet is Ronso land, sacred mountain of Yevon. The mountain will not bear the footsteps of infidels!"
"Enemy of Yevon is enemy of Ronso! Leave, traitors!" The Ronso standing next to Wakka yelled.
"I have cast aside Yevon! I... I follow the temple no more!" Yuna calmly answered back.
The Ronso standing in front of Yuna scowled. "Then you will die by those words!"
"So be it. Yevon has warped the teachings and betrayed us all!"
Wakka folded his arms. "Nothing but a bunch of low-down tricksters, eh?"
"Yeah! Yeah!" Tidus and Rikku chimed in.
Yuna sighed and shook her head. "We have no regrets."
"Blasphemers! Elder Kelk, what you think?" The Ronso in front of Yuna bellowed.
"A Summoner and her guardians…" Kelk pondered.
"Lord Kelk Ronso, if I may. Have you not also turned your back on Bevelle?" Lulu questioned, her brown eye's piercing through the former Maester.
"But still, you guard Gagazet as a Ronso, not a maester. Yuna is much the same." Auron joined in.
"Elder Kelk! Let Biran rend them asunder!"
"No escape! Not one!"
"No, we will not flee. We will fight, and continue on." Yuna said defensibly.
Kelk folded his arms in confusion. "You have been branded a traitor, but still you would fight Sin? Lost to the temple, hated by the people, yet you continue your pilgrimage? Everything lost! What do you fight for?"
"I fight for Spira. The people long for the Calm. I can give it to them. It's all I can give. Defeating Sin, ending pain...this I can do."
"Even sacrificing yourself? Kelk paused for a while. Ronso, let them pass! Summoner Yuna, your will is stronger than steel. Tempered steel that even the mightiest Ronso could not hope to bend. Yuna, we bow to your will! Now go! The sacred heights of Gagazet welcome you."
Yuna bowed deeply. "Thank you."
As the party walked to the entrance way into the frozen mountain, Yuna turned around to look at her guardians.
"Is everyone ready? Do we need to take a break?"
"Gaah, my neck's hurtin'." Wakka admitted, while sitting on the snow covered ground.
"Eh, it wouldn't hurt to take a little rest…" Rikku said, leaning against a rock.
Kimahri stood tall, his gaze fixated on the mountain's icy chill. Lulu stood by her self.
"Zanarkand's on the other side, huh?" Tidus spoke. A faint voice yelped in the distance.
Auron walked past Tidus and nodded his head. "I'm going to go further ahead."
"Ok. We will catch up sir Aurron," Yuna reassured.
Auron walked through the entrance way. The voice that he had heard when Tidus spoke sounded oddly familiar. He started to walk until he saw a blurry purple figure. As the figure walked closer to him, his left eye widened. Auron stopped in his tracts.
"Auron?"
Auron squinted his eyes a bit. The blurry figure was a busty Al-Bhed woman. Her long, blonde hair had become stickle from the cold wind of Mt. Gagazet. Her purple kimono had many rips in it; probably from fighting fiends on the mountain. The woman's eyes observed Auron and she instantly frowned.
"H-How could you?" She mumbled, her voice mono-tone. "H-How…how could you do something idiotic like that?"
Auron struggled a bit to keep eye contact, but he managed it. It had been ten years since he had seen the statuesque Al-Bhed. The years had changed her, but it had seemed as if he'd never really forget her jade eyes.
"Is-Is it true Auron? What Yunalesca told me? I-I….I told you not to die!" The woman said, clutching her fists while holding back bitter tears.
Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
You begin to wonder why you came
"Hmph….ten years and you still haven't changed…. have you Sophia?"
"D-Don't give me that!" Sophia shouted. "You promised me you wouldn't die!"
Sophia grabbed her injured arm and starred blankly at Auron. Was that the same man she fell in love with ten years ago? No….it just couldn't be! Why was he acting so strange?
"You big baka! You make Jecht look smart!" She yelled, stray tears running down her frost bitten cheeks. "I searched all over Spira for you! When I couldn't find you, I….I traveled back to Zanarkand! Imagine my surprise when I finally found out that you were…….an unsent!"
Auron shrugged. Love was an emotion he had long threw away. He couldn't feel it anymore. Auron had long buried his past. Standing in front of him, was indeed the woman he'd come to adore long ago. He felt nothing as he stared at her.
"Life is like a game…and I just lost at it."
Sophia was astonished by Auron's comment. "Life is like a game, and I plan to win," was what she'd often say. When ever Braska, Auron, and Jecht were over come by an obstacle, she'd say that line.
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
More tears started to run down Sophia's face.
"But--But Auron! You had strength! Something I didn't have! You were stronger than me!"
With that said, Sophia ran to Auron, tears streaming off of her eyes. Never had the Al-Bhed felt such sorrow. Auron slightly winced as Sophia started to whimper into his chest. Auron unintentionally rapped his arms around her the best way he could. Sophia grabbed the sleeve of his red kimono and started to bang her fist softly onto his chest.
"Why? Why? Why? She cried. Auron have you lost all feeling?"
"Sophia,….I've long abandoned those feelings."
With hearing those words, Sophia broke out of Auron's grasp. She glared at him.
"Why couldn't it have been me? Auron…I…I would have died for you! I…I love you!"
Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you
"Stop holding on to the past! What's done is done." Auron said, keeping his vacant glair at his former lover. His former teammate. His former friend. "No matter what you do, you can not bring back the dead."
"I'll try!" Sophia exclaimed. Auron chuckled slightly at her reply, knowing fully well that Sophia wasn't too bright.
"You think this is funny Sir Auron?" Sophia said, fire literally shooting out of her mouth. "If I have to force you to remember….so be it!"
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
Auron grabbed the handle of his blade. Sophia took a step back.
"You're not actually going to--"
"If it is what it will take to make you forget about me, then I will, Lady Sophia."
Sophia looked down at the ground, and then quickly collected herself. She put her guard up, looking at Auron's blade. As she took her stance, she started to think about Braska's pilgrimage. She'd never forget it. Moreover, Auron telling her otherwise began to eat at her soul.
"Auron!" Sophia yelled while charging blindly at him. Auron readied his blade and took a swift swing at her.
"Ha, you're to slow!" Sophia said as she ducked from under his blade. But when it came time for her to strike, she hesitated.
"Can't hurt me…can you? Please, leave me be."
Sophia looked down on her self. She was pathetic…was weak. She was incompetent towards him. She was lost in mixed emotions. Why? Why couldn't she get Auron to change his mind?
As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you'll begin to wonder why you came
"I can't let you go!" Sophia shouted, grabbing the end of Auron's blade, piercing her palms. Sophia winced in pain, but inside she felt nothing. She threw his blade several feet away from him, and started to through many punches at his face. He had gotten better. He had dodged them all.
"I idolized you! You were so dedicated to your work! If I have you break every bone in your body, then I will!"
Sophia started to chant something, and then pointed her arms at Auron.
"Firaga!"
A hot cloud of fire filled the sky. It was the brightest firaga spell Sophia had ever conjured up. As the smoke dissipated, Auron walked out of the steam caused by the snow and fire. Sophia stood, baffled by Auron walking out of that, unharmed. Auron walked nonchalantly to his blade.
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
How to save a life
How to save a life
Sophia knew there was no other way that she'd get Auron to remember. She balled up her fist angrily. Fire started to seep from in-between her fingers. Auron pulled his blade out of the ground.
"Come."
"Argh! Auron!" Sophia said, trying one last time to bring the warrior monk down. This time Auron was ready. Sophia reached him and prepared to punch the living hell out of his face, but she found herself in a rather slow state. Without hesitation, Auron took his chance, and swung his blade into Sophia. Sophia slowly, but surely collapsed onto the ground, blood seeping from her wound.
"Don't go…please…" She pleaded softly.
"It's was a move I learned from Jecht's son."
A tear ran down Sophia's cheek and into the puddle of blood she was now laying in.
"A-Auron…" She finaly said, her eye's closing.
The other's quickly ran to Auron's aid, there eye's glued to the woman on the ground. Auron put his sword back on his back, and turned to the others.
"I should…." Yuna started to say, but soon stopped when she glanced at Auron. He looked….heart broken….
"Don't worry. She's still alive. The Ronso will take care of her." Auron said. Tidus was simply overwhelmed by what he saw.
"What the heck happened?"
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
How to save a life
cries I--I hope you like it...