Warning: Spoiler for the extra Aeons side quest if you have not entered the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth and received Yojimbo.

Lulu-centric story, she has fast become one of my favourite characters because of the depth I have found in her character.

~*~Stolen Fayth, Stolen Dreams~*~

Yuna was determined to beat Sin; this meant obtaining even the most difficult Aeons. All of them.

So, of course, she had been adamant about taking the detour to the infamous 'Cavern of the Stolen Fayth' to which so many Summoners ventured; yet only a few returned.

Tidus had been with her the whole way, as had Rikku; anything to buy them more time to get out of this mess. But for some reason Lulu seemed hesitant to enter the cavern; although she insisted they did.

Tidus bounded down the path from the Calm Lands into the secluded area. A guard was idly wandering around but paid little attention to the group who easily slipped past him and entered the cavern.

Although the day was bright and fairly warm, inside the cavern was the exact opposite. Dark, damp walls enclosed the corridors which seemed to twist and turn for miles. The cold, musty air hung thick; death was strong in the air.

Lulu shivered involuntary, and it wasn't due to the temperature. Wakka momentarily wondered what could be wrong with the Black Mage when it hit him.

"Hey, Lu, this where?"

"Where what?"

Tidus decided to join the conversation, moving to the back of the group to where Lulu was trailing behind. Soon the whole group had turned to see what was wrong; Lulu sighed and decided she may as well tell them.

"The summoner I guarded on my first pilgrimage…died here."

There was a short pause in which Rikku and Yuna both gasped. Wakka looked down at the ground; he already knew this information. Auron looked slightly sympathetic but refrained from saying anything.

Lulu didn't want this, it was all in the past now.

"Yuna, let's go. The Fayth awaits."

Tidus looked up to Auron, who just nodded. So the blond moved forwards; deeper into the cavern, conversing with Rikku.

Lulu fell behind, lost in thought. Although she would never openly admit it her failure as a Guardian had hit her hard. She had almost backed down from guarding Yuna because of her mistakes last time.

While she was thinking a fiend skulking in the shadows had noticed the gothic girl, preparing to pounce, the fiend jumped out, claws blazing ready to strike her down.

Except…

…Lulu was no longer there.

Tidus sliced the fiend, causing it to explode in a cloud of pyre flies. Tidus threw the sword into the air, catching it one-handed and smirking to no one in particular. Yuna smiled at Tidus, and then turned her attention to Lulu.

"Auron, I appreciate that you saved me; but would you please get off me?"

Apparently Auron had knocked Lulu down and out of the path of the fiend. Auron stood, brushing off his long, velvet cloak and adjusting his shades.

Lulu did the same, adjusting the belts on her dress and her braids which had fallen out of place.

"Lulu, we must watch out for fiends, try to stay focused, okay?"

"Hmph."

Lulu crossed her arms; usually it was she saying that to a certain blond member of their group. But the memory of her previous charge just kept on nagging at her mind.

She couldn't help but wonder if the fiend that had just attacked had been the summoner?

"What's a Fayth doing in a place like this?"

"Don't ask me, Rikku, I barley know anything about this place. Lulu?"

Lulu's wandering mind finally registered the question, and it took a few more seconds to regain her focus.

"They say it was stolen from a temple long ago."

"Why would anyone do that?"

"With no Fayth summoners cannot train. Without training they cannot call the Final Aeon. Without the Final Aeon they cannot defeat Sin. That is why."

They all nodded as they made their way into a large room. There were no corridors leading out, but a transport pad in the centre of the room.

Yuna, Tidus, Kimahri, Rikku and Wakka all stepped forwards to meet with the Fayth.

Lulu took a seat on one of the rocks, Auron stood tall and strong; as always.

"For what reason are you not entering?"

"I…do not like the Fayth."

Lulu nodded; he was being informative as always. Auron cleared his throat.

"And you?"

"Too many bad memories."

Well two could play at that game.

"You mean the other summoner?"

"Yes."

Auron let out a short breath as if he was irritated. Taking out a sword he began to practice; twirling it over his hand and then slashing at a nearby rock. The innocent rock simply split in two; the top half sliding down to the floor.

Satisfied, Auron placed the sword on his back, only to whip it out again upon hearing a rustling noise.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"There, again."

"I don't hear anything Auron."

Lulu stood, walking over to stand by the tall man. After a few moments of silence she began to speak only to hear a faint sound; faint but growing stronger.

"Hear it now?"

"Yes, it's almost-"

Lulu gasped as a figure surrounded by a bright blue light stepped forwards; pyre flies were all around her, suddenly they filled the room.

"It is...it's you, is it not, Lady Ginnem?"

Lulu looked down to her feet, memories that had been pushed aside suddenly resurfacing.

"Forgive me. I was too young."

Lulu looked up into the bright eyes of Ginnem, and for a moment could almost see her fallen friend alive and well.

Yuna had only just arrived to Besaid. She was carrying a small bag which contained her possessions. Led by Kimahri she was shown into the large tent at the end; the Crusaders Lodge.

Inside were many strange people, Yuna instantly felt intimidated; tightening her grip on the Ronso.

"Ah, Kimahri, you've brought us little…Yuna isn't it? Why don't you go find the other children while I discuss arrangements with Kimahri?"

Yuna just stared wide eyed; never releasing her grip on the Ronso.

"Yuna go play. Kimahri must speak to Gatta."

Yuna felt herself being pulled away from Kimahri by a boy; he looked a little older than her and had bright orange hair which was spiked up at the front.

"Come on, I'll show you around! You can meet everyone!"

Yuna barely had time to look back before she was dragged out of the Crusaders Lodge. The boy had a firm yet gentle hold on her arm, and was guiding her to an area behind the tent next to the Crusaders Lodge.

"This is a top secret area, okay? It's only for us; no adults. You have to promise you won't say anything about it, okay?"

Yuna nodded, she didn't feel intimidated anymore but she had nothing to say really.

"Okay, here we go. Lu, Ginnem, it's a little girl!"

The children referred to as 'Lu' and 'Ginnem' turned around from where they had been standing. Lulu had long dark hair pulled into several braids fastened on top of her head. She was fairly tall and was wearing a black dress which was too big for her. She looked as if she were playing dressing up with her mother's clothes. She was also clutching a doll? Yuna looked carefully and saw that it was a doll. Lulu growled lightly, holding it closer.

The girl next to her looked much more friendly. She had short brown hair; like Yuna, only it had been pulled into two bunches. She was smiling brightly, her deep, chocolate brown eyes sparkling; she was wearing a long dark blue skirt with a black belt, and a cream blouse.

Ginnem was taller than Lulu, and looked a few years older too. She walked forwards to introduce herself; hugging Yuna.

"I'm so happy! Lulu, you don't have to be my only victim now, I can do Yuna's hair too!"

Noticing the horrified look on Yuna's face she was quick to laugh it off as a joke.

"No, really, I'm not that bad! I just need more practice. I love braiding Lulu's hair; it doesn't look that bad does it?"

Lulu stepped forwards, doing a little twirl to show round the back. She was trying to be sophisticated, and she walked forwards delicately, making her high heels click on the stone ground.

"You know I like it when you do my hair, Ginnem. So, Yuna, you are the daughter of Lord Braska?"

"Yes."

"Wow, are you going to be a summoner like him? I'm sure that you would be great at it, don't you think Ginnem?"

Ginnem said nothing. She simply looked down at her brown boots. She did not like to talk about summoners; the idea that they were sacrificed just so that Spira may have the Calm for a short period of time disgusted her. In many ways she thought like an Al Bhed on the topic. Lulu still had no idea that at the end of a pilgrimage the summoner died. That information was told only when a child reached his or her fourteenth birthday.

"Ginnem? Did I say something wrong?"

"No. Yuna, are you alright?"

Yuna looked up, a tear caught in her blue eye. The only exception to being told was, of course, if your parent was a summoner.

"I'm fine. Just…"

Ginnem leaped forwards and hugged Yuna, drying he eyes. Lulu stood by helplessly as did Wakka.

"I'm okay, really. It's just very soon since he…"

Ginnem nodded and Wakka guided her out of the 'secret area' back to Kimahri.

"What did I say? I only asked if she was going to be a summoner. I would love to be one, I love Aeons!"

"It's not such a great job Lu. Come on, lets go play something."

"Can you do my hair again?"

"I braided it this morning!"

"But I want it done again! Please? I'll be your best friend forever!"

"I already thought you were! Fine…"

~*~

Yuna had got settled in Besaid, and against the wishes of Gatta, Kimahri had been allowed to stay with Yuna. They lived happily in the village for nearly a year; in that time Yuna became great friends with Lulu, Wakka and Ginnem.

One night Lulu had snuck into Ginnem's tent, she quietly sneaked past the dog, and walked up to her best friend. She was sleeping, moonlight reflecting off her pale skin. Her golden brown hair was slightly wavy from where she had worn her hair in pigtails the previous day. Shaking the older girl gently she whispered her name.

"Mmmnn, go way Lu…early…"

"Ginnem, you have to come and see this! All of our parents are outside having a meeting, we can go listen in from our secret area!"

Waking slightly, Ginnem rolled over and stretched, yawning widely.

"Alright, alright, I'm up."

The two sneaked out quietly, not bothering to wake up Wakka and Yuna. They made it to their area, which was just outside the circle in which the adults of Besaid were gathered. Gatta was speaking loudly, in an irritated tone; as if he was trying to persuade them of something.

"Please, we must do something! Our reports show that Sin is alive and well, and you know that we have no summoner ready to stand up against it! All I am asking is that you let the Crusaders try to fight Sin. At the very least it will buy you some time to train up a new summoner."

Ginnem's eyes widened with fear, she moved closer to Lulu and spoke in a hushed whisper.

"Sin is back? What are we going to do? No one thought it would return so quickly; we have no summoner ready!"

"We could go fight Sin! Think about it, everyone would be happy; it can't be that hard to summon Aeon's right? And then when we finished we could have a big parade, like Braska!"

Ginnem stared down at her small friend, she had lost all sophistication that she usually tried for; whenever she was around her friend she relaxed more.

"We could try…I suppose. We would need a staff…"

"O'aka gave me one last time he visited Besaid! It's under my bed right now! Come on Ginnem, I could be a summoner!"

"NO! No, Lu, I'll be the summoner, okay? You can be the guardian."

Lulu looked a little frightened at the force in her friend's voice but agreed anyway. She rushed off to find the staff as Ginnem gathered a few supplies such as potions and antidotes.

They met at the gates of Besaid as dawn broke, streaking the dark skies with golden lines, the fire was still going strong in the centre of the village, and the adults were still arguing.

No one noticed the two girls leaving.

They decided that they needed to go straight to Zanarkand; no stopping off at the temples for Aeons and praying. There was no point really as Ginnem wasn't really a summoner, and if they were spotted they may have been sent back to Besaid. They wanted to instil the calm; to make Spira smile again.

Although, having successfully crossed the Calm Lands on the back of a rogue Chocobo, they noticed the twisting path leading away from the main bridge. They had been travelling all day and wanted to go have a look.

"Lulu, a cave! I wonder what's in it?"

"Looks dark. I bet there are lots of strong fiends in there. I don't think we're strong enough, Ginnem."

"With that kind of attitude we'll never beat Sin! Come on, there might be something that can help us out down there!"

Lulu followed reluctantly.

"I just have a bad feeling, Ginnem…Please be careful…"

They had made it deep into the cavern, fighting several fiends including a Master Tonberry. They were very pleased that they had fought so well; Lulu couldn't wait till they got back to Besaid so that they could recall their adventure to Wakka and Yuna.

"Ginnem! I see a teleport pad! There's some writing here too…I think there might be an Aeon in this cave!…Ginnem?"

Lulu looked around for her friend, but she wasn't in the room. Frightened Lulu ran out into the corridor screaming her friend's name.

"Ginnem! Please, where are you? This isn't funny! GINNEM!"

Lulu rushed over in time to see a Master Tonberry walk away. Lulu fell down beside her fallen friend, lifting her head into her lap she stroked away the strands of hair that had been covered in blood.

"Ginnem, please wake up, it's not time for sleep yet."

Blood was seeping through the green robes, Ginnem had begun to wear them to make her feel more like a summoner, trying to play the part better. But now all Lulu wanted was her friend back. Shaking her, Lulu attempted to wake her, there was no heart beat, no breathing.

Ginnem didn't wake up.

Lulu felt tears prickle at her eyes, then fall full force down her cheeks. Her friend was dead, and they didn't even get a chance to beat Sin. It was going to be perfect…they had it all planned out. Beat Sin, have a party, make everyone proud of them…But it all went so wrong…

That was the day Lulu grew up…she stopped pretending to be sophisticated. She became sophisticated, speaking only when she needed to, never opening her heart to anyone.

Lulu continued staring into Ginnem's eyes, the childhood friend was showing no hostile intentions, but she was an unsent; there was no certainty that she intended no harm.

But from what Lulu remembered Ginnem could do no harm, they had always been friends, she had been there for her and Wakka since they had been born, she had looked after them; being six years older than either of them.

Ginnem stepped forwards, the staff that Lulu had received from O'aka in her hands, but not raised; she wasn't going to summon anything. How could she? She wasn't a summoner, she had no Aeons; they had never visited a temple to acquire one.

Lulu already knew that Auron was an unsent, so what was the harm in having another in their party?

Lulu smiled to Ginnem, who smiled back.

"Would you, join us in defeating Sin? Maybe this time we will make it to Zanarkand? I know now that you would have died anyway. That is why you wanted me to be the guardian, and you the summoner."

Ginnem smiled and nodded.

"Lulu; you didn't fail me. I was proud to have you as a guardian, and as a friend."

While this had been taking place the others had returned from visiting the Fayth, Tidus grumbling something about his now empty pockets.

Wakka stared wide-eyed at the woman in front of him, as did Yuna. And Yuna did what she knew best…before Lulu had a chance to protest her childhood friend disappeared into a cloud of pyre flies.

Yuna had sent Ginnem.

The colour drained from Lulu's face as a dancing ball of light swirled around her head, disappearing with the rest.

Everyone else had left the cave; no idea of what Yuna had just done. Only Auron remained, and he walked up to the Black Mage.

"I am sorry; if I could have stopped her I would-"

"It doesn't matter. Not really. It was just…nice to see her again. After so long."

Auron nodded, daring to put an arm around her for support as she collapsed into tears. Hey fell to the floor, Lulu weeping into Auron's shirt, he wrapped his arms around in a comforting manner.

"She always knew how to make me spill out my emotions, when I'm with her it doesn't matter; she didn't care how I acted. Just as long as I was me."

"You don't always have to bottle your emotions up. I should know. Lulu, you have to cry sometimes…everyone does."

Lulu looked up as Auron removed his shades, she had never realised what mesmerising brown eyes he had, just like Ginnems. Staring into them she felt that she didn't have to prove herself, she could just be herself…and cry for her fallen friend.

They stayed there until the rest came back, wondering what could be taking so long. Lulu adjusted her hair, rubbing excess tears from her eyes; Auron replaced his glasses.

"We are now coming, Lulu, after you."

"Thanks. For everything."

Auron flashed her a smile, unseen to the rest but Lulu knew it was there, and it was only for her.

Yuna stared off the bridge into the sea below.

She was staring at all of the places she would never see again. Lulu, too was staring. Staring back at the cavern, at things that should have been done away with a long time ago. She turned and began staring at a new sight; Auron's eyes. Even with the shades they still gave her the strength she needed.

The strength to finally say goodbye to the friend she failed, and whose life was stolen, just like the Fayth

~*~Owari~*~

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