Hello all, and welcome to my first Fic. Thanks for dropping by, even if you don't like it. Something new, a Lukka. Inspired by KathleenDee, and I cannot thank her enough. Not inspiration for the story, okay a little bit, but inspiration to start writing. If there are any glaring errors, just let me know :) Read and Review, and I'll love you!
Note: I do not own FFX or any parts of it. This story is a Lukka, 2 years later. 'T' for now, who knows what my happen (lemony grin? Probably not).
This first chapter is dedicated to KathleenDee, for aforementioned reasons. Without further adieu.
Chapter One: Interruption of the Grind
Wakka stretched his arms and sighed to himself. The sun had been up for a little while, and it was already getting warm. Summers in Besaid were downright uncomfortable sometimes. Wakka started his warmup, like he did every morning, and started his run toward the beach. As he ran, he reflected, like he did every morning.
Two years now, since we parted ways. We all stuck together for months after we beat Sin, and then we slowly drifted. No more adventuring to do, no reason for the fierce loyalty we had back then. We ended up all over the place.
Khimari went back to Mount Gagazet, and started rebuilding what Seymour had destroyed. A leader of sorts now, he guessed. Probably THE leader, if he knew Khimari, and his people respected him greatly for the Calm. They weren't with the church anymore, but I have heard stories of them getting out more often. Gagazet is just too far away to just travel to now.
Rikku and Cid started rebuilding home on Bikanel, not so hidden anymore. They were near the water, and now that machina was allowed and used, it became a strong center for trade. Busy becoming the next leader and stuff like that was time consuming, ya. But I heard a weird rumor, off of the Winno. She hadn't been seen in a month or two, she disappeared. Wonder where to?
Yuna, now that she had Tidus back, was busier than ever. They got back together, what, around nine months ago? Last time he saw anyone on Besaid. She was High Summoner, now a diplomat leader of sorts, gettin everyone to get along and play nice. He didn't understand how or why, but he was happy for Yuna. She could finally experience the love she thought she lost.
Lulu has been gone for a while, ya. Don't know where she ended up, he hoped she was happy. No one had seen her, as far as he knew, since Tidus came back. He often thought and dreamt of her. He had always liked her, but family before self, and Chappu took his place. Damn Chappu, he thought to himself. He yelled at himself for thinking that, but nothing changed. He wished most of all that she would come back, but he really didn't know why.
Everybody thought that Yuna had sent Auron, back in Sin. But when Tidus came back, so did Auron. He was also extremely busy, travelling with Yuna for a while, and seeing to a bunch of stuff he never mentioned, so Wakka never had any idea what he was actually up to, not like any of them actually ever did.
"Ha" he exclaimed to himself when he thought about that last bit.
And then finally Wakka. He was the last to leave, even Khimari left before he did all that time ago. A year and half already since he left. He didn't have any family, and nowhere to go really. So he went back to Besaid, to try and resume life as it had been once. And it had been difficult, more difficult than he could have imagined. So boring, all the thrills he used to have, gone. So now he thought about the past a lot, and just kept trudging along.
Reaching the beach, Wakka stretched again. The water sparkled with a blue intensity that Wakka loved more than anything. He dove in, and swam again, feeling almost at home underwater than he did above it. He swam for a while, and just floated to the surface, waiting for people to show up. And show up they did. They showed up in pairs or groups, but the group grew to at least 30 people.
Wakka tried going back to playing blitzball, but found he had lost the excitement for playing like he used to, where the team meant everything. He lost the confidence, and thought it didn't matter any more. Ever since the game in Luca, where they beat the Goers, the team had new confidence, and actually won many games and still lost some. Wakka just couldn't go back to the way he was for some reason, a never ending funk, you could say.
So instead of doing that, he opened up a school of sorts, and taught people of all ages how to blitz. Everybody knew blitz rules and all that, but everybody also wanted to learn how to actually play. And Wakka knew he could teach stuff like that. People from all over spira, Yevonites, Al Bhed, Guados, they all came to play. Wakka didn't charge much, and had as much fun helping others with this as he used to in the sphere.
"Cap'n!" a rotund man on the beach yelled. Dressed in the Besaid yellow, he knew it was Keepa.
"Keepa, come on in ya, the water is good as ever," he said, and Keepa joined him.
Thirty people showed up today, about as many as there are every day. Keepa, Datto, and Wakka all worked with people learning how to play. Keepa and Datto were married now (not to each other, ewww), and their ladies didn't like the travelling kind, so they helped him now. Keepa and his wife just had their first son a couple of months back. Lots of celebrating and festivities, that was. They wanted to name the kid Wakka, but Wakka objected to it fiercely. They ended on the name Rali 'Wakka' Arben (Prounounced Rawl-ee). It still killed Wakka to have someone referred to as Wakka because of him. Keepa also made him the kid's watcher. You know, to help out as the kid was growing up, kind of like an Uncle.
"Nice job, ya," Wakka said after working with a young Guado male, and swimming off to see who else needed help. They all needed passing and tackling help, so they were broken off into several groups for the day, and the days to follow.
The boat entered the distance, signaling an end to the practice. 12:10 pm, like clockwork. Even with all the machina used now, the chocobo powered S.S. Winno was still here everyday. People slowly exited the water, and soon nobody was left in the water.
"Good practice, ya, go get somethin' to eat, ya'll be hungry after that one!" Wakka yelled out, and everybody said thanks. Wakka didn't charge much of anything for people to work with him, just enough to buy food and a little savings for travelling. Not like he travelled much, people were so busy. But maybe it was time to visit Khimari, he was the only one who wasn't all over the place nowadays anyways. He felt like he might need to get away a bit, get away from the grind. Maybe, but the folks here liked having a living legend.
Wakka sat on the beach, drying out in the sun on the beach. The boat docked, and he could hear the faint quarking of chocobos being fed in the belly of the boat. The boat was a little more loaded than normal, and around fifteen folks left the boat. Nobody he recognized, and Wakka laid back down. The grind was getting boring, getting to me. The loneliness too. The pilgrimage was always exciting, same routine everyday however, was not.
He was a legend now, legendary guardian. The entire village respected him, and he knew that. Kids would laugh and play when he was around, and anybody travelling through would want his autograph or to shake hands with him. See, some people came to see where Yuna was from, to learn something of it. Their own pilgrimage, they say. They come and donate some money to the church, and in general are very courteous.
He tried to break the monotony doing lots of things. He learned Al Bhed, Rikku will be surprised when she hears that. He had attempted to learn magic from people on the island, but had little success. He could light a cigarette, but he rarely smoked, and only when extremely stressed. But none of that seemed to help. Travel was sounding better and better every time he thought about it. His mind was distracted when a shadow covered up his sun.
"Would you mind, ya?" Wakka said with closed eyes.
"I didn't think that was how you would give myhomecoming," a very familiar cold voice said. Wakka opened his eyes, and saw Lulu.
"Lu!" Wakka exclaimed, hopped up from a laying position, and hugged the dark woman for what seemed to be an eternity. It was the last thing he expected. He didn't recognize anyone on the boat, so where did she come from?
"Hello. I see you are wondering how I got here? I saw how you stared at the boat when it came in," Lulu said, and released him. She looked much the same, dark colors, long hair, and beads all over. She looked extremely tired, however, which was something he hadn't seen since the pilgrimage.
"Ya, didn't see ya on the boat," Wakka said, and his voice lowered there at the end. Obviously, he wanted someone to come see him.
"You are oblivious, Wakka. The airship is docked on the other end of the village," she said and started to walk away.
"Say wuhhh? Who all is here?" Wakka said, and Lulu kept walking. He ran to catch up, but her walking pace was almost his jogging pace. He admired how she looked, as he always did. But Chappu appeared in his mind, and any thought of her dropped, as it always did.
They were near silent until they entered the village. The village was strangely quiet as well, nobody out and about like it was every day. What the flan is going on here? He thought to himself, and looked around. Lulu slipped behind him, and from her bosom produced a hankerchief. She deftly slipped it behind his eyes, and tied it tight.
"What you doin' Lu?" Wakka asked of her.
"Shut it. You'll know in a moment," Lu responded. Same old Lu. Wakka said to himself.
He heard a flurry of movement from a lot of people, and then it stopped. He could hear them all breathing, but saying nothing. He couldn't guess how many of them there were. And then Lulu took off the blindfold as people around him started singing.
"Happy birthday to you…" and people all around him smiled and laughed with the look on his face. A mixture of shock, awe, and happiness exuded from the smile he had from ear to ear. He looked through the crowd, and everyone in the village must have been here.
The song ended, and people cheered. The people split down the middle, and a giant cake in the shape of a blitzball appeared, carried by what auspiciously like Auron and Khimari.
"Holy mans, ya!" Wakka exclaimed as everybody laughed at his reaction. He saw Yuna and Tidus holding hands behind the cake, which didn't seem as odd as he thought it might. Cid, Rikku, and Brother were holding what looked like fireworks and grinning like school kids, standing behind the whole procession. Lulu turned to him.
"Happy birthday, you buffoon," Lulu said, and broke the embrace.
"Awww, they look so cute! Don't they guys?" Rikku broke out in her high pitched voice and the entire crowd guffawed loudly. Lulu blushed just a shade, and a thin curl of a smile pursed her lips.
"Why thank you, Rikku, now if you don't like thunder I suggest running," Lulu said, and Rikku's face turned from a face of laughter to a face of pure fear. The crowd laughed even louder, and Lulu regained her composition.
The crowd sat down and ate cake, with the seven of them sitting next to each other on one end of the crowd of people.
"You didn't expect us, Wakka?" Tidus said, and laughed when Wakka shook his head no.
"Forgot it was my birthday, ya. Same thing everyday kinda' makes you forget some stuff," Wakka said in between bites of cake. The conversation stilled for a while, nobody realizing how alone Wakka had been. Nobody had come and visited. The rest of them had seen each other, but Wakka didn't really have anywhere to go, besides back to Besaid.
"You look good, Wakka. Working out I see," Yuna said, and giggled. That caused Lulu to blush very slightly again, but Wakka was the only one who noticed. He was the only one who could ever see her emotions. He had been trying to stay in shape, must have worked from Lulu's reaction. He had gotten a little tubby for a while, but back was his harder-than-rock-chiseled appearance.
"I try. Blitz for tourneys ain't fun no more," he said, and about half of them gasped. It had been a long nine months. They just kinda sat there, with their mouths cocked open half full of cake, almost drooling. It suprised him, a little. Things change, ya know?
"So what do you do now?" Yuna asked of him, not thinking he could really do much else, he never had as long as she could remember.
"Ahh, I teach kids how to play now," he said, as if he was going to be made fun of. Not that he had to worry with this group, he WAS going to be made fun of. But he was kind of proud in a way.
"That's so sweet! See Lulu, he's perfect now," Rikku said and giggled a fit, and narrowly dodged a lightning bolt that appeared out of nowhere. As if she hadn't seen it coming. She just kept on giggling, to the amusement of the rest of the group.
"Hey, Khimari, you got cake on your nose man," Wakka said, and his face pulled into the fearsome smile they had grown to enjoy. Kind of hilarious, looking at it now, but I never thought he smiled before. Always the staunch defender.
"Thank you, Wakka," was all he said, and licked it off of his nose.
"So what have you been up to, Wakka?" Tidus asked him, and set his plate down. He had eaten the largest piece as fast as possible, like normal, and leaned back on his elbows to relieve the pressure in his stomach.
"Nuttin' exciting, ya know. Wake up at sunrise, usually. Warm up, work wit da kids until the boat comes in at noon, then cook myself some food, and find something to do. Usually swim or stargaze. Not much else to do, ya know?" Wakka said, and set his plate down as well. He looked sad, after saying that. The rest of the group definitely noticed.
"Cook?!" Yuna exclaimed, very suprised. All through their journeys, Lulu and Tidus cooked, but it was much better when Lulu did. Wakka always sat back and helped with clean up, if there was any.
"Ya, I can cook pretty decent. Maralee been showin me how, teachin me how to cook," Wakka said, and the group just looked amazed. Must have been really bored to do something like that.
"Maralee? As in the same Maralee we grew up with?" asked Yuna, excitedly.
"Ya, she married Keepa a year or so ago. Just had their first kid, Rali. I'm the watcher now," Wakka said, and kind of pumped out his chest to show how macho he was.
"That's so very good to hear," Yuna said and almost squealed. She always had like Maralee as a friend.
"What other kind of somethings? No special ladies or anything?" Rikku piped up, and Lulu looked angry again, or angrier than normal angry. Still has a short fuse, Wakka thought to himself.
"Mudc uv cdivv, oy ghuf? Oui cruimt caa ouin vyla nekrd huf!" (Lots of stuff, ya know? You should see your face right now) Wakka said, in the Al Bhed he had taught himself. He had help from some of his blitz students. It was hard, but with the amount of free time, and having Al Bhed blitz students to work on it with, it hadn't taken too long. Working with native speakers helps quite a bit too.
"Very impressive Wakka! Thought you hated us?" Rikku said and smiled. She knew he didn't anymore, but she still liked to poke fun at him for thinking that at one piont.
"Ya, my bad. Not anymore, though," he told her and smiled. Same old Rikku.
"You read something? What is going on?" Yuna said laughing, and the rest of the group joined in.
"'Nuff 'bout me. What about you guys?" Wakka asked the group, and they each took turns explaining what they had been doing.
"Ronso now have a real home. We building houses, on the mountain. They made me leader. Now 691 Ronso grace the mountain," Khimari said, and Wakka smiled. Seemed much the same to me, if not a bit more sociable.
"Good to hear, ya. Was thinkin bout comin to see ya," Wakka told him.
"Khimari would…enjoy that," he said, and the group laughed. Nobody ever heard Khimari talk like this, or not very often at least.
"Me, dad, and Brother have been busy working in Home. Less than two years, and it looks like a city already! Al Bhed come back everyday now, not so many as they did when we first made the announcement for all Al Bhed to come, but they still come. It's awesome. And I learned how to make fireworks!" Rikku said, and Wakka jumped back, afraid. Everybody laughed again. So good for everyone to be back, ya?" Wakka thought to himself.
"I have been working with the Calm Lands Monster Arena. I have been travelling much, and money is always needed," Auron said, and left it at that.
"Sounds boring, ya? Why more fiends, we done with all that," Wakka said, and laughed heartily. At least Auron was doing something he was good at.
"Passes the time, earns me money," was all Auron said, and left it. There seemed to be something else, but he really didn't know, so he dropped it.
"How about you two lovebirds, what's the story, ya?" Wakka asked, and Yuna blushed. Tidus' face just looked like victory.
"We are officially dating, and he comes with me all over. I am working on relations between the Guado, the Al Bhed, the Hypello, and us. It's slowly working though," Yuna said, and Tidus nodded. He looked so happy to be with her, Wonder when he is gonna pop the question,ya? he thought.
"Haha, good to hear. What about you, Lu?" Wakka asked, and Lulu was startled a bit. She had been trying to come with an answer that would be acceptable.
"I have been keeping myself busy. I have been working in Guadosalam and the Thunder Plains, eliminating fiends and such," she said, and Wakka knew that wasn't all of it. The Farplane was in Guadosalam. Damn you, Chappu.
"Its good to see ya'll back. I've been bored out of my mind, ya?" Wakka said, and they laughed.
"Actually Wakka, there is a dinner for Summoner Yuna and her guardians in two days. Would you like to join us?" Yuna asked, referring to herself in the third person.
"Hmmm…gotta' talk my kids, but I want to come with," Wakka said, and got up quickly. He ran over to where over half the kids were sitting and talking. They lived in the village when they were doing lessons, and had quickly been accepted by all as a normal part of Besaid life.
"What's up, Cap'n?" one of the kids quickly asked him as he approached. The other kids that he practiced with all came running when they saw him talking to a student.
"Big meeting somewhere in two days. Yuna and her guardians. You guys mind if I take a couple days off?" asked Wakka, and he realized he hadn't had a day off since he got off the boat after seeing Tidus and Auron come back. All the routine, ya.
"No problem Cap'n. Have fun," the student yelled back, and the rest of them voiced their agreement.
"Thanks guys, I'll make it up to you. I'll build the nets and we'll start shooting when I get back," he said, and they started cheering. He was their hero, after all.
Wakka ran back goofily to the rest of the group.
"I take that that's a yes, Cap'n?" Yuna asked, using the friendly moniker.
"Ye… why yes, my lady Yuna," Wakka replied, and the group laughed. He was ecstatic, leaving the island again for a while. Adventure!!