The first time it was purely accidental. She was too exhausted from her
miniature concert to bother changing her dressphere, and fell asleep with
it on. That was when she had the first dream. The dream that she later on
discovered had been caused by the memories in her outfit, the round sphere
encasing a lifetime worth of sorrow and joy.
Lenne's memories.
The journey had begun as a search for him...The man she had lost to the salvation of Spira, the Calm, but then it became a mission to reunite the two lovers of the Zanarkand that had come far before his. Yuna knew better, she should have, but as the quest progressed and the clues led to more and more dead ends, she began to do the only thing she could think to do.
She wore Lenne's dressphere to bed. Many times and many nights. And each night took her to a different time or place of Lenne's memories. One night Yuna was in his arms, smiling happily as they embraced during a warm summer's afternoon, and the next she was holding her arms out below him, begging him to stop. What that something was, she could not say, but whatever it was brought tears to her eyes and a hole in her chest when she awoke from those unhappy visions.
There were some nights, however, that were different from the rest.
Ethereal, evanescence, eternal...
One such of these, the former high summoner awoke in the familiar farplane; face down into the softly powdered crimson petals. The echoes and far cries of pyreflies floated in the air, and she allowed herself to become mesmerized by them as she wondered which of Lenne's twisted trials she would relive. Would it be a joyous memory with plenty of smiles and embraces? Or, instead, would she find herself shedding tears once again for the man whom she hadn't seen in two years?
It was neither.
Soft, yet anxious footsteps approached Yuna's rested body from behind. She braced herself, mentally preparing to look into the illusion of her lover's face once more. When she opened her eyes, his tan skin was pale, slanted eyes larger with chocolate brown encircling his pupils that matched the long hair flowing down his back. She turned her head away, allowed her pupils to dilate to the hot rays, and looked again.
It wasn't him. It wasn't him at all...
"You know who I am, don't you?" The figure, translucent but still very opaque and tangent stood just a few feet away, her apparel matching Yuna's identically. But the outfit suited her much better, like it had been molded to her likeness, her body poured into the dark navy shirt to do away with wear or wrinkles.
"Of course I do... Lenne."
The songstress tried to make Yuna feel welcome to her untraceable spot in the void with a smile, but it came out uncomfortably and wearily. They stared at each other, two beautiful women who had only heart numbing memories to share. And this moment, the moment when Yuna felt the uncomfortable peace of an unhappy afterlife with the thousand-year-old beauty, she had to stifle back her tears.
"He thought I was you."
"I'm not surprised..." Lenne stepped closer, closing the space between them so that only pyreflies could fit between their bodies. "You look just like me."
Yuna found herself shaking her head, knowing inside she could never match up to this woman. "No, we look nothing alike." She left her sentence at that, not mentioning the differences in their height, bone structure, and eye color.
"It hurts..." a ghostly hand rest just on Yuna's bosom, outside the chest cavity where her heart rapidly beat inside. "It hurts, doesn't it?"
The shorter woman just bowed her head into a slight nod, watching how the ripples of white lace flowed down her front. She stayed solidly until the singer spoke up again. "Now imagine the pain you feel now, and try existing with it for one thousand years..."
Yuna looked up into Lenne's eyes, understanding why Shuyin fell in love with them, but still wondering how he could have mistaken her heterochromatic greens and blues for those lush browns. She couldn't find it in her to ask the questions that needed asking. How did Lenne know? Had she been watching over Yuna this entire time, marking her life and its similarities and how she could use her to contact him? And Yuna wondered, did Lenne even know her name...?
"I have something I need you to do for me, lady summoner..."
"But, I don't understand..." Yuna shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. "Why me? Why... Why don't you just talk to him yourself?"
The long brown locks dangling along the woman's face swayed slightly as she gave a sad shake of her head.
"I can't..." Though whether Lenne had meant she literally couldn't or emotionally couldn't bring herself to do so went undetermined, and Yuna followed her habit of being courteous of other's privacy. Yes, even then, when the fate of Spira rested in the hands of a mad wandering soul possessed for vengeance.
Succumbing to her selfless heart, Yuna gave in. "What would you like me to do?"
Lenne grazed a finger along Yuna's jaw line, muttering no words for a while. Yuna had felt uncomfortable when Shuyin first touched her. At his hands, she could feel his desire and passion welling up inside his everlasting soul. But Shuyin looked like him. And she couldn't take that.
But with Lenne, it was as if she was looking into a mirror. A mirror that reflected back all of the loneliness and solidarity she had suffered from for two long years. At Lenne's fingertips, she felt that sadness. That feeling only abandoned women can feel. Perhaps it was that common thread that made the songstress choose Yuna.
"I have words I need you to bring to him... One thousand words."
Yuna blinked, not thinking of the hand cupping the side of her cheek. "One thousand...? That's a lot of words..."
Lenne shook her head once more. "Only one word for each year of separation..."
Yuna was almost silenced by this, until an obvious thought struck her. "I'm afraid I won't be able to remember all of that..."
"You have such a kind and sweet heart..." Lenne stared at her messenger forwardly, her eyes widening when she noticed for the first time the green and blue irises. She smiled again, this time a softer one. "I will give you my message in a song..."
The whistle of the pyreflies melded into a lulling melody, entrancing the young summoner into its blue rhythm. She would remember, she just knew, and her eyes closed for a prolonged period until she could hum the song forward, backward, and inside out.
"Can you do that for me, young summoner?" Lenne asked, snapping Yuna out of her trance.
Yuna nodded, slightly but confidently. She looked off into the distance where her conversation partner was looking, but found nothing besides pink sky and floating pyreflies.
"I want to help you, Lenne. I want to save Spira, to ensure the Calm my friends and I sacrificed to achieve... But I also want to help you.... And Shuyin."
"Such a kind heart..." The ethereal being repeated herself, gently stroking the short hairs from Yuna's face. "You of all people should know that even if you find yourself at a loss for words, there are always other ways of carrying thoughts of love and sadness."
"Lenne...?"
"I want you to carry this to him... my messenger..."
Despite the gentle and careful, almost non-existing touches Lenne had placed on Yuna's skin, she found herself shivering in fear when the pair of dead lips lightly rested against her own. The impact of the kiss almost knocked her off of her feet. In just those brief seconds a thousand year's worth of yearning and sorrow swept through her system and she gripped the blue ruffles dangling from Lenne's sleeves to be sure she would not fall over.
Lenne stopped this kiss, but she didn't let her lips wander far from Yuna's face. She continued with those appreciative strokes against the side of the summoner's face, watching with a knowing smile the deep breathes she was using to recover from the initial shock.
"You understand now, don't you...?" Lenne kept her eyes on her messenger, remembering that she was still a mortal being and being sure she would survive to aid her in the search for her lover of centuries.
Yuna repeated that same nod from before; unable to speak as she felt her pain mirrored a hundredfold spreading from her lips to her heart, then pulsing through her blood to every appendage of her body.
"I do understand your sadness, Lenne... That is why I want to help you."
"I have chosen you... now please, once he receives a message from me, I am hoping his old heart will awaken to the truth and away from vengeance. Do not forget any of these words..."
"I won't..." Yuna began, but her sentence was cut short by another kiss. Lenne pulled her closer gently, and Yuna wondered if she could have thought she was Shuyin, or maybe she was releasing all these emotions she had bottled for so many years. Lenne was a dream too, just like he was, no matter the unmatchable intimacy of this exchange.
Lenne cupped a hand loosely over Yuna's breast, using her supernatural powers to feel the heart beat inside, and measure its credibility. Yes, she had been wise in choosing this girl...
"And don't forget the three most important words, my sweet little messenger..."
Yuna softly gasped, not quite upset that even though this was her dream, she had no control over herself nor the woman haunting her. She held fast, trying to contain her pleas and submissive gestures while she lay again on the farplane, watching the pyreflies soaring through the air while Lenne took time in showing her exactly how she missed Shuyin...
"What words... are those?"
The songstress grasped onto Yuna's sweaty palm, holding her hand to support her body after the rush had cleared and the women had united in their sorrow and loneliness.
"The words that you told him... 'I love you.'"
The former summoner was too star struck to ask Lenne if she even knew her name...
Lenne's memories.
The journey had begun as a search for him...The man she had lost to the salvation of Spira, the Calm, but then it became a mission to reunite the two lovers of the Zanarkand that had come far before his. Yuna knew better, she should have, but as the quest progressed and the clues led to more and more dead ends, she began to do the only thing she could think to do.
She wore Lenne's dressphere to bed. Many times and many nights. And each night took her to a different time or place of Lenne's memories. One night Yuna was in his arms, smiling happily as they embraced during a warm summer's afternoon, and the next she was holding her arms out below him, begging him to stop. What that something was, she could not say, but whatever it was brought tears to her eyes and a hole in her chest when she awoke from those unhappy visions.
There were some nights, however, that were different from the rest.
Ethereal, evanescence, eternal...
One such of these, the former high summoner awoke in the familiar farplane; face down into the softly powdered crimson petals. The echoes and far cries of pyreflies floated in the air, and she allowed herself to become mesmerized by them as she wondered which of Lenne's twisted trials she would relive. Would it be a joyous memory with plenty of smiles and embraces? Or, instead, would she find herself shedding tears once again for the man whom she hadn't seen in two years?
It was neither.
Soft, yet anxious footsteps approached Yuna's rested body from behind. She braced herself, mentally preparing to look into the illusion of her lover's face once more. When she opened her eyes, his tan skin was pale, slanted eyes larger with chocolate brown encircling his pupils that matched the long hair flowing down his back. She turned her head away, allowed her pupils to dilate to the hot rays, and looked again.
It wasn't him. It wasn't him at all...
"You know who I am, don't you?" The figure, translucent but still very opaque and tangent stood just a few feet away, her apparel matching Yuna's identically. But the outfit suited her much better, like it had been molded to her likeness, her body poured into the dark navy shirt to do away with wear or wrinkles.
"Of course I do... Lenne."
The songstress tried to make Yuna feel welcome to her untraceable spot in the void with a smile, but it came out uncomfortably and wearily. They stared at each other, two beautiful women who had only heart numbing memories to share. And this moment, the moment when Yuna felt the uncomfortable peace of an unhappy afterlife with the thousand-year-old beauty, she had to stifle back her tears.
"He thought I was you."
"I'm not surprised..." Lenne stepped closer, closing the space between them so that only pyreflies could fit between their bodies. "You look just like me."
Yuna found herself shaking her head, knowing inside she could never match up to this woman. "No, we look nothing alike." She left her sentence at that, not mentioning the differences in their height, bone structure, and eye color.
"It hurts..." a ghostly hand rest just on Yuna's bosom, outside the chest cavity where her heart rapidly beat inside. "It hurts, doesn't it?"
The shorter woman just bowed her head into a slight nod, watching how the ripples of white lace flowed down her front. She stayed solidly until the singer spoke up again. "Now imagine the pain you feel now, and try existing with it for one thousand years..."
Yuna looked up into Lenne's eyes, understanding why Shuyin fell in love with them, but still wondering how he could have mistaken her heterochromatic greens and blues for those lush browns. She couldn't find it in her to ask the questions that needed asking. How did Lenne know? Had she been watching over Yuna this entire time, marking her life and its similarities and how she could use her to contact him? And Yuna wondered, did Lenne even know her name...?
"I have something I need you to do for me, lady summoner..."
"But, I don't understand..." Yuna shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. "Why me? Why... Why don't you just talk to him yourself?"
The long brown locks dangling along the woman's face swayed slightly as she gave a sad shake of her head.
"I can't..." Though whether Lenne had meant she literally couldn't or emotionally couldn't bring herself to do so went undetermined, and Yuna followed her habit of being courteous of other's privacy. Yes, even then, when the fate of Spira rested in the hands of a mad wandering soul possessed for vengeance.
Succumbing to her selfless heart, Yuna gave in. "What would you like me to do?"
Lenne grazed a finger along Yuna's jaw line, muttering no words for a while. Yuna had felt uncomfortable when Shuyin first touched her. At his hands, she could feel his desire and passion welling up inside his everlasting soul. But Shuyin looked like him. And she couldn't take that.
But with Lenne, it was as if she was looking into a mirror. A mirror that reflected back all of the loneliness and solidarity she had suffered from for two long years. At Lenne's fingertips, she felt that sadness. That feeling only abandoned women can feel. Perhaps it was that common thread that made the songstress choose Yuna.
"I have words I need you to bring to him... One thousand words."
Yuna blinked, not thinking of the hand cupping the side of her cheek. "One thousand...? That's a lot of words..."
Lenne shook her head once more. "Only one word for each year of separation..."
Yuna was almost silenced by this, until an obvious thought struck her. "I'm afraid I won't be able to remember all of that..."
"You have such a kind and sweet heart..." Lenne stared at her messenger forwardly, her eyes widening when she noticed for the first time the green and blue irises. She smiled again, this time a softer one. "I will give you my message in a song..."
The whistle of the pyreflies melded into a lulling melody, entrancing the young summoner into its blue rhythm. She would remember, she just knew, and her eyes closed for a prolonged period until she could hum the song forward, backward, and inside out.
"Can you do that for me, young summoner?" Lenne asked, snapping Yuna out of her trance.
Yuna nodded, slightly but confidently. She looked off into the distance where her conversation partner was looking, but found nothing besides pink sky and floating pyreflies.
"I want to help you, Lenne. I want to save Spira, to ensure the Calm my friends and I sacrificed to achieve... But I also want to help you.... And Shuyin."
"Such a kind heart..." The ethereal being repeated herself, gently stroking the short hairs from Yuna's face. "You of all people should know that even if you find yourself at a loss for words, there are always other ways of carrying thoughts of love and sadness."
"Lenne...?"
"I want you to carry this to him... my messenger..."
Despite the gentle and careful, almost non-existing touches Lenne had placed on Yuna's skin, she found herself shivering in fear when the pair of dead lips lightly rested against her own. The impact of the kiss almost knocked her off of her feet. In just those brief seconds a thousand year's worth of yearning and sorrow swept through her system and she gripped the blue ruffles dangling from Lenne's sleeves to be sure she would not fall over.
Lenne stopped this kiss, but she didn't let her lips wander far from Yuna's face. She continued with those appreciative strokes against the side of the summoner's face, watching with a knowing smile the deep breathes she was using to recover from the initial shock.
"You understand now, don't you...?" Lenne kept her eyes on her messenger, remembering that she was still a mortal being and being sure she would survive to aid her in the search for her lover of centuries.
Yuna repeated that same nod from before; unable to speak as she felt her pain mirrored a hundredfold spreading from her lips to her heart, then pulsing through her blood to every appendage of her body.
"I do understand your sadness, Lenne... That is why I want to help you."
"I have chosen you... now please, once he receives a message from me, I am hoping his old heart will awaken to the truth and away from vengeance. Do not forget any of these words..."
"I won't..." Yuna began, but her sentence was cut short by another kiss. Lenne pulled her closer gently, and Yuna wondered if she could have thought she was Shuyin, or maybe she was releasing all these emotions she had bottled for so many years. Lenne was a dream too, just like he was, no matter the unmatchable intimacy of this exchange.
Lenne cupped a hand loosely over Yuna's breast, using her supernatural powers to feel the heart beat inside, and measure its credibility. Yes, she had been wise in choosing this girl...
"And don't forget the three most important words, my sweet little messenger..."
Yuna softly gasped, not quite upset that even though this was her dream, she had no control over herself nor the woman haunting her. She held fast, trying to contain her pleas and submissive gestures while she lay again on the farplane, watching the pyreflies soaring through the air while Lenne took time in showing her exactly how she missed Shuyin...
"What words... are those?"
The songstress grasped onto Yuna's sweaty palm, holding her hand to support her body after the rush had cleared and the women had united in their sorrow and loneliness.
"The words that you told him... 'I love you.'"
The former summoner was too star struck to ask Lenne if she even knew her name...
