"How could you be so careless?" Tidus half yelled.

With the concert now over, Ranu was on the receiving end of a serious scolding from his father. His mother stood by with a stern look, but otherwise let Tidus handle the situation.

"That lady needed help, dad. And no one else could hear her over the music. I just happened to notice what was going on out of the corner of my eye. I knew I had to do something, or otherwise the crooks would get away. And I couldn't let that happen. I mean, seriously, how could I? Using the noise and hustle of a concert meant to benefit orphans to cover up their pickpocketing and bag snatching, I couldn't let them get away from it."

"It's all well and good to use your abilities to help folks out, Ranu. But to do it while a camera machina is on you…were you trying to get attention? "

"No, I just didn't have time to wave that blasted thing off. Truth be told, I was hoping I could lose it in the crowd while I went on after that crook."

"You should know by now that it wouldn't give up. It would have followed you to the ends of Spira, as long as you were doing something interesting. You're famous, remember?"

"And whose fault is that?" Ranu snipped, suddenly angered.

"What?"

"I never asked to be famous. I was just born. I'm only famous because you and mom are famous. The two most famous people in Spira, in fact. You two are why everyone thinks so highly of me, when I haven't done anything to deserve it. Everyone treats me like I've already saved the world, even when all I do most of the time is laze around at the beach on Besaid. And frankly, I'm sick of it. I'm just not one of those people who likes having everything handed to him. Everybody else has to earn what they get, so I should too. It's only fair. But, no. Everyone wants to give me every last thing. And I know why. It's to earn either mom's favor, or yours, dad. After all, mom's high summoner and you're her lord Zaon. So, even though the age of summoners is passed, people still want the favor of the high summoner and her spouse. So, I guess they figure that if they make me happy, it'll make you two happy and that'll grant them a blessing. Now, does anybody see the problem in that?" Ranu asked, looking in Wakka and family's direction.

They didn't answer. They couldn't. Because they all realized what Ranu was getting at.

"I didn't think so. The problem is that all those gifts aren't really for me. In the end, they're more or less for my parents. The problem is that my parents are my whole identity! The problem is that no one cares about who Ranu is. They just care about what I am! Can anyone name one person outside my family who knows a blasted thing about me? ….No one? I thought so. That's my whole problem. No one knows me, knows what I can do or what I care about, and yet they treat me like I'm stinking royalty! And to make matters worse, whenever I try to do something to help folks out, to actually earn the admiration I get for a change, I get my head bitten off by my parents if I make the tiniest mistake. And it really bites when you realize that both of them know what it's like to have famous parents and to have a lot expected of you. And still, they don't show an ounce of mercy. Even when they would've likely done everything I did the exact same way! So I wonder, is scolding me just a way to save face for when I, Spira's most famous son, mess up? Well, is it?" Ranu shouted, staring at his parents intensely.

"Ranu…." Yuna said softly, while her hand rose up to her heart.

Yuna walked over to Ranu and embraced her son in a tight hug. She placed one hand on his head and held him close to her.

"You're right, my dear. We should show mercy. And I think, starting now, we should always remember to do so. That said, let me clear something up. We don't scold you to save face. We do it out of parental instinct. It's what parents are meant to do and have always done as they try to guide their children through life. We do it because we want what's best for you. Even if you don't like what we have to say, remember that we do it because we love you. But even so, we should be a little less harsh. So, for being too hard on you, allow me to apologize. And let me say that I'm proud of you. I'm sure your father is too." Yuna said, turning away from Ranu and gesturing towards Tidus.

"Yeah, I am. And I also wish you would've brought this up sooner. I always thought you handled being a famous kid so well. I thought you liked it. I didn't know that it actually bothered you so much. I wish you'd said something sooner, instead of waiting for it to bubble over like it did just now. Ranu, buddy, you have to understand. We're your parents. We love you and if something is bothering you, we wanna hear about it. So don't keep all of this bottled up anymore, okay?"

"Okay. So, are we good?"

"Yeah, no punishment. You actually did good today, kid." Tidus said with a broad smile.

Ranu smiled back and then said 'So, now that you know how I feel, maybe we can talk about how I can go about earning the people's admiration. I was thinking that you could let me go out and try to become a real, professional fiend slayer."

Yuna turned back to Ranu and locked eyes with him.

"Out of the question." She said.

"Wait, what? After all that, you just shoot me down? Come on, mom!"

"I agree with her." Tidus said.

"Not you too, dad."

"What can I say? We may understand your desire to stand as your own man, but we're still your parents. And parental instinct says to keep your kid out of harm's way."

"Ugh! Come on!"

"We'll talk more about it later. For now, we need to get to the docks. The Celsius should be here to pick us up any moment now." Yuna said, walking away.

"Man, sometimes I feel like I'd get more done if just I just sat still and banged my head against the wall." Ranu said with a shrug.

"Heh heh, I told you, Lu. I told you Yuna would be the overprotective type." Wakka laughed.

"She is very 'nurturing'." Lulu said, making a small joke.

"Actually, the word you're looking for is 'smothering', aunt Lu!" Ranu yelled, over hearing Lulu.

"Come on, everyone. We don't want to keep brother and the others waiting." Yuna called.

Everyone picked up their feet and hurried to catch up with Yuna.

"Hey, mom." Ranu said as he ran up to his mother's side.

"Hmm?"

"Are Rikku and Meja going to be on the Celsius?"

"No, they won't. Sorry, dear. I know you'd really like to see your cousins, but Brother told me that Rikku and Meja are on Bikanel looking for machina parts to help maintain the new Home."

"Oh, well, okay. I understand how important that is. After what happened to the last one, I understand doing whatever it takes to keep this one in tip top shape. Come to think of it, they just completed it about two years ago, right? The project took fifteen years to complete if I remember right."

"That's right."

"Hey, didn't Rikku pick Meja up during the first year of the project?" Wakka called from his position two feet behind Yuna.

"That's right. You see, Meja's birth parents were attacked by fiends while looking for parts. Rikku was with them and managed to fight off the fiends using the powers of the garment grid. Unfortunately, however, she couldn't save them. Meja's mother died in Rikku's arms. The poor woman begged Rikku to look after her son before she died. She pleaded with her to make sure that, no matter what happened, her son lived a full life. Of course, Rikku promised to look after him. That led to Rikku officially adopting him and finding out that they had yet to give the month old infant a name. Remembering the woman's words and wanting to pay a small tribute to her, Rikku named the baby Meja, which means live in al-bhed. And that's how Rikku became a mother."

"Heck of a thing for Rikku to do, ya? I mean, she's never even baby-sited before and she goes and adopts a kid."

"Rikku has always been impulsive but quick to learn what she needs to do. And she definitely learned quickly. She learned so fast that, as far as I can remember, she didn't make any more than usual new parent mistakes."

"Ya, I guess that is fairly impressive. I gotta hand it to that girl. She's done really right by that boy. Ya, other than his birth mother, I don't think he could've gotten a better mom."

"Agreed. Now, let's hurry. I can see the Celsius in the distance.

Several days later, Ranu snuck out of his family's tent. He was carrying a flametongue, a sword given to him by an admirer of Yuna's a few years ago. While originally resenting the gift, he grew to like it when he realized that he could help deal with a strange phenomenon with it. Around the time of his birth, pyreflies began to be seen in increasing numbers all over Spira. Naturally, this meant a large spike in the number of fiends all over Spira, with Besaid being no different. As a result, Tidus, Yuna, Wakka, Lulu and Gatta would periodically go out to battle the influx of fiends on the road between Besaid village and the beach. Ranu saw this as a chance to earn his keep and to find a use for the flametongue. So, on several occasions, he had snuck out to practice with his sword. After a while, he figured that he had become proficient enough to go slay some fiends himself. So, he traversed the road and did, in fact, lay many fiends to rest. Coyotes, flans, sahagin and purpurea all fell to Ranu's sword or magic. However, things did not continue to go swimmingly the whole day. Everything changed when a garuda appeared. Ranu had heard how strong garudas were, but the success he had been having had swelled his pride. Believing he could defeat it, he rushed to attack. By the time his distressed parents and Wakka had found him, Ranu was barely keeping the beast at bay. The combined efforts of Wakka and his parents slayed the beast quickly enough and then Yuna actually screamed at Ranu. She yelled at the top of her lungs about how foolish what he had done was and wished that she could slap the person who gave him the sword to begin with. Once Yuna had finished her maternal tirade, Ranu quickly thought up an excuse to be able to keep his sword. Ranu explained that while he was sorry for worrying everyone so much, he wanted to keep the blade for self-defense against any possible fiend attacks. Picking and choosing his words carefully, Ranu eventually warmed his parents to the idea and they let him keep it on the condition that he never try to go fiend hunting again. Ranu had agreed to this, but had secretly been killing some fiends here and there ever since to feel like he was contributing something to his hometown. And this was his intent for today.

"And just where do you think you're going, young man?" Ranu heard from behind him.

Ranu turned on his heel to find his mother right behind him. Yuna furrowed her brow as she waited for her son's response.

"Well?" She pressured.

"I was just, uh, going to go practice a bit with my sword. You know, take on some of the weak fiends that show up near the village. I wasn't going to go farther than the monument on the hillside."

"Uh-huh." Yuna said while putting her hand on her hip.

"It's true, mom. I swear it's true."

"Now why don't I believe you?"

"'Sigh' Mom, please. You remember what I told you the other day at Luca. I wanna do something to help people. Everybody looks at me like I'm some conquering hero and I never get to prove whether or not I'm worthy of such praise. The least I can do to prove what I'm worth is keeping my home village safe."

"Hmm, well, the fiends near the village are fairly weak. And you would be doing some good for the village…."

"So?"

"Alright. You can go. But you have to take Vidina with you. Wakka mentioned wanting him to toughen up a bit. Playing blitzball makes you physically adept, but it doesn't necessarily mean you're ready to fight fiends. And Wakka knows fiends can pounce on you as soon as you leave the village and that it's a pretty good walk from here to the closest landing zone for the airship. And, as we all know, it's a fairly long walk to the beach if you have to go to Luca by boat. So, Wakka wants Vidina to get some combat experience in case something happens. So, if you simply must go, take Vidina with you."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll go scrounge him up right now….Uh, hey mom, do you hear a beeping sound?" Ranu asked as the sound reached his ears.

"Yes, I do. I think it's coming from our tent. It must be Rikku contacting me on the comsphere. Hmm, want to put fiend hunting on hold for a second and talk to your cousin?"

"Sure."

Yuna and Ranu re-entered the tent and removed the comsphere from its usual spot on the shelf.

"Hey, Rikku." Yuna said.

"Yunie! Glad I caught you. You'll never guess who just contacted me."

"Who?"

"Baralai."

"Really? What did he want?"

"He didn't say too much. He just said that he needed us to help the coalition out with something. He said they'd discovered something and they wanted us to help. I asked him how we could help and he said something about our pasts as 'discoverers of ancient secrets' being of great help. And he said that we would probably need all the help we can get, so he even recommended bringing Tidus, Wakka and Lulu along."

"Hmm, that's strange."

"I know. But, I could tell from talking to him that this is on the up and up. He doesn't mean us any ill will and I don't think he's been possessed again. So, whatever they've found must be huge if they're asking all of this from us."

"Hmm, well, it couldn't hurt to look into it. So, okay, let's go."

"I thought you'd say that, Yunie. The Celsius is on the way now. Be sure to have everybody ready."

"Roger that."

"By the way, I'm bringing Meja along. He can keep Ranu and Vidina company while we go see what Baralai wants."

"Great. Ranu's actually right next to me. He's got a big grin on his face right now. He's been dying to see his cousin."

"Well, he gets his wish. Anyway, I'll see you soon."

"Okay. See you. Okay, Ranu, help me find everybody."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ranu hurried around until he'd found everybody, including Vidina. They gathered at the usual landing zone and did not have to wait long. The Celsius soon arrived and Rikku came dashing down the boarding ramp, with Meja in tow. Meja was roughly the same height as Rikku, with blonde spikey hair, wearing a black jacket over top of a yellow shirt with yellow and black striped pants and similar colored shoes. Rikku quickly hugged everybody and kissed Ranu's cheek.

"Nice to see everybody. Glad to see everyone's doing well. Now, I hate to rush, but we gotta book it."

"Right, let's get going, Rikku!" Ranu shouted while making a mad dash toward the ramp.

"Hold it right there, young man." Yuna called.

Ranu stopped in mid stride, turned on his heel and faced his mother.

"What is it, mom? We gotta get going. A Governor is calling for us."

"No, he's calling for us." Yuna said, gesturing to Wakka, Lulu and Tidus.

"You are staying here with Vidina and Meja."

"You have got to be kidding me! This is why I had that big grin on my face earlier. This is a prime opportunity for me to help out Spira!"

"I don't care, Ranu. I feel something ominous about this. Truth be told, I'd rather go by myself. But, Baralai called for all of us. But, while I can't prevent the others from going since they were called, I can keep you out of harm's way. Now, get back here."

Ranu complied and sulked back to the village.

"We'll be back as soon as possible. Maybe you can show your little airship off while we're gone." Rikku said to Meja.

"Got it, mom. Stay safe."

"I promise. Well, later. I love you." Rikku said, kissing her adopted son's cheek.

"Love you too, mom."

Vidina and Meja waved goodbye to their parents and watched the ship take off.

"Think we should go check on Ranu?" Meja asked.

"Yeah. He tends to get into trouble when he's all sulky like this. Come on."

Meja and Vidina quickly found Ranu beating his fist against one the posts that held up the entrance to his family's tent.

"Damn it! First mom says she understands how I feel, then pulls this when a prime chance shows up. It's so damn frustrating!"

"You know she just wants to protect you, brudda." Vidina said.

"I know but that doesn't help my frustration."

"Well, maybe we could take my airship for a joyride around the island to let off some steam. I've got the trigger to call it right here on my wrist. I can call it and it'll be here in a just a few minutes. We think it was used as an escape ship or sort of helper vessel for a large ship way back when. It's really cool, Ranu. You'll like it."

"Well, I guess that could work."

Just then, Ranu heard a beeping.

"The comsphere again? Come on, maybe they changed their minds."

Ranu checked the comsphere. No sooner had he turned it on than a girl's a voice began shouting over it.

"Alert, alret! This is Taki from Kilika port! Please respond."

"Taki?"

Taki was the daughter of Donna and Barthello and lived in Kilika.

"Taki, it's Ranu. Can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear. Good to hear to hear your voice. Are your parents around?"

"No, their away on business. What's going on?"

"We've got a ton of fiends. They're pouring out of the woods. The coalition's forces are doing their best but we need more help to stem the tide."

"We should call the Celsius!" Vidina said.

"No, we call Meja's ship." Ranu said.

"Ranu, you aren't thinking what I think you're thinking, are ya, brudda?"

"Yeah, brudda, I am. We're going there. We're closer than the Celsius. Besides, this is a prime chance for me to help my fellow Spirans. And mom said that uncle Wakka mentioned wanting you to toughen up a bit. So, you're coming too. And no, you can't talk your way out of it, so go get some gear."

"Oh, man, this is not gonna end well." Vidina complained, but went to do as Ranu said.

"Meja, call your ship."

"Already did. And I'm backing you up in the fight too. I got some arm mounted machina weapons on the ship that I put together and I've dying to try them out."

"Knew I could count on you, cousin. Alright, Taki, listen. Our parents are too far out to do any good. So, we're coming instead."

"Got it. We'll hold out as long as we can. Please, hurry, guys."