Author's note: I originally wrote the "Green Eyes" stories more than a decade ago, when FFX was in its first incarnation. In light of the remastered version of the game, I wanted to do a "remastered" version of Linna's story as well - keeping the essentials the same, but polishing some of the rough edges and adding plenty of new passages as well. I hope you'll enjoy reading this update as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

The brilliant, jewel-like lights of Macalania Temple danced in my eyes. The snow, which up until then had been searing my exposed skin, suddenly felt like a warm feather quilt. I looked up, dreamily, and realized the sky had never looked so blue.

I was actually getting out of it enough to think crap like that as I sat down carefully on the steps of the temple, wrapped my arms around my knees, and waited to die.

I was not in good shape. Al Bhed aren't used to cold anyway, and I was wearing this skimpy blitzball uniform because I hadn't expected to end up stranded alone in a snowstorm. Plus I was starving and irritated and starting to think that maybe this whole kidnapping-the-summoner thing wasn't such a hot idea, after all. I'd never've signed up for this idiotic operation if it hadn't paid so well. Looking back, all those zeroes in the number Brother'd offered me should've been a warning sign that the whole thing was destined to turn into a shitshow from the beginning. But I needed the money.

The fugue only lasted a few minutes, and then I was really irritated by the time they showed up, because the dying thing wasn't working out for me either. I'd heard somewhere that freezing to death's like falling asleep - no pain after a while, you just sit down and drift off. I'd had a couple of near-transcendent moments, been through several interesting shades of blue and my stomach hurt like a bitch, but I had yet to croak or even come close. So when the summoner herself and her entourage showed up and interrupted the traditional flashing of my life before my eyes, all I had the energy to do was snap grouchily in Al Bhed, "I'm hungry," and let my head fall back again. Let her fight Sin however she wanted; who the hell cared. I was in no position to stop her. Leaving Naaga behind was my only regret, I thought vaguely - but if she knew how cold it was, she'd understand.

If it'd been any other group of summoner and guardians, I probably would have gotten to go back to kicking the bucket, but someone - probably the blond guy, judging by the position - said, "She looks bad. We have to do something," and someone else cried, "Oh, you poor thing! Here!" and shoved a piece of bread into my hand. I stared at it for maybe a millisecond or two, then crammed the whole thing in my mouth and scarfed it down.

It wasn't until I'd finished every single crumb that I realized the second voice a) had been speaking Al Bhed, but b) didn't belong to anyone who was supposed to be on the job with me. I looked up through my frost-smeared goggles to see who it was and saw Brother's little sister, Rikku, standing there.

"Linnie!" she yelped in that enthusiastic way of hers that tended to grate on my already-short nerves. "What are you doing here?"

"Starving," I answered. "And freezing. Lost my gang."

"Huh? Gang? Wait, were you here with my brother?"

"I was," I said sharply, "but when he bailed out, I got hopelessly lost. Tried to get out of the wind, but those guys," I jerked my thumb at the temple, "are so worried about an impure Al Bhed defiling their rathole of a temple they won't even let me inside."

"Oh, no, that's terrible!" Rikku cried, instantly concerned for my plight. She looked ready to either burst into sympathetic tears or go beat up whoever had stranded me here. Aside from the fact that it was all her brother's fault, it wouldn't have been a bad idea - I had a sinking feeling that I wasn't going to see my money anytime soon.

"What are you even doing here if you weren't on the job?" I asked. She couldn't seriously be one of the summoner's guardians.

"I'm one of Yunie's guardians!" she said. Oh, for crying out loud. "She's here to get another aeon from the temple."

"Great." I rubbed my arms, trying to get the circulation back, then shoved my gloved hands in my armpits to keep them warm. "More power to her. Damn if I'm gonna get myself killed just to convince her she's an idiot." The food had worked wonders. Just had to get a little blood flowing and then I'd be ready to figure out how the hell I was going to get out of here. Trying to hike through the snowstorm hadn't done much for me the first three times I'd tried it, but maybe the bread'd make the difference.

"Don't say that!" Rikku cried. She seemed to cry just about everything she said. Couldn't say I'd missed that about her. "Yunie really thinks she can stop Sin! And she's my cousin!"

It was like she hadn't even been paying attention to the last thousand years of history. "If you really think this girl getting herself killed will stop Sin permanently, you're as stupid as she is. And if you think being her cousin's a good reason for you to get killed along with her, hey, go for it. But don't kid yourself that she can do any better than our machina."

"Fine! If you think that, you can just sit here forever and wait for Sin to destroy everything!" she almost yelled.

I might've been willing to get into this argument somewhere warm, preferably a bar. But probably not. I definitely wasn't interested in doing it out here in the cold. "Fine. Do what you want. Thanks for the food, but let's call it even for my advice. And tell that brother of yours that he's an idiot, and the whole thing would've worked just fine if he hadn't turned tail and run like a coward."

There was an awkward silence as I hauled myself up and turned to go - hopefully in the right direction; I was a little turned around by all the damn snow - but then I heard a voice behind me. In halting Al Bhed, the blond guy said, "Hey. Your clothing."

"What about it?" I asked wearily, in his language. He looked familiar for some reason, but I couldn't quite place him.

Looking grateful, he switched along with me. "It looks like a blitzball uniform. You blitz?"

"Yeah."

It was supposed to be the kind of deadpan one-word answer that kills a conversation, but it didn't work on him. "It's not from any team I've seen, though," he commented, studying the boots and the short, tailored bodysuit. "Who do you play for?"

I slouched against the wall - when a blitzer wants to talk game, you know you're not going anywhere for a while. "I'm a free agent. Forward."

'Free agent' was putting it optimistically. I hadn't ever, if you wanted to get technical about it, actually been employed by a professional blitzball team. But I definitely could be. If a lucrative enough spot opened up.

"Are you any good?" he asked bluntly.

Cute question. "My trademark move is Nap Shot 3."

He gave a low whistle. "I've gotta see this."

"You got a ball?" I asked.

"Hey, Wakka," he called to a red-haired guy who'd been standing in the back of the entourage with his arms folded, not paying attention, "lemme see the ball for a second."

"For what?" the guy asked. A little late, I noticed the Besaid Aurochs uniform. Oh, hey, I knew this guy. He was that old Aurochs captain who'd retired after the last tournament. Once I put that together, I realized where I'd seen Blondie before - he was that new free agent forward they'd used in the first half of the championship match.

Blondie pointed at me. "She's gonna show me something."

Shrugging, Wakka tossed him the ball. I took my right hand out of my armpit, blew on it, and caught the ball in one glove when Blondie threw it to me. Almost fumbled with my stiff fingers. "It's cold, ain't it?" I muttered. At least the activity would warm me up some. I lowered the ball in my right hand, closed my eyes for an instant to focus the black cloud of whatever-it-is that adds nap to a shot - don't ask me; I have no clue - on the ball, and kicked it so that it went sailing halfway into the stratosphere.

"Whoa," Blondie and Wakka breathed as one.

"You think that's cool?" As I said it, the ball zipped straight back down into my waiting glove. I spun it on one finger and then bounced it off my heel back to Blondie, who caught it mechanically, still watching me. Couldn't resist a smirk. Half-frozen, but I still had it.

"Linnie, that was amazing!" Rikku burst out, too excited to remember she was supposed to be mad at me.

"Who is this girl?" Wakka asked.

Blondie kept staring for a minute. Then his face broke into a grin. "She's the new forward for the Besaid Aurochs."