Final Fantasy Fusion

Memories

Co-authored with Sariah Loire-Valentine

Arlann's POV

I placed some more wood on the campfire, not even bothering to open my eyes. I knew Phoenix got a little unnerved when I did that, always seeming to know just when the fire needed more fuel without looking, but despite the training I was giving her, it didn't change the attributes of our two different species. She's a human; I'm a Bangaa. My sense of smell was sensitive enough that I could tell when the fire started to die down.

It's been like this for little under 3 years now. After Kyeshia activated the first key, and we were cut off from his location, I had started training the clone before me to be a Dragoon. I had only thought of the idea because of my duel with Kain, showing that humans can become Dragon Knights. The only problem was getting Phoenix's legs strong enough to actually allow her to do the job. That was what 2 years was spent on: fitness. I doubt she liked it any more than me, but at least it helped her get in shape. After that, whilst we were in… what was it? Washington, I had gone to a shop that all other-worlders were recommended to go to if their needs were what the Earthlings described as antique, and started searching for a set of armour for her.

I don't think she was too thrilled at the only choice that there was, that matched her needs. A set of armour, that looked vaguely like the traditional Dragoon armour, minus the mask, but I doubted anywhere would actually be supplying Dragoon masks. It was fairly form fitting leather, with metal plating over the shoulders. It had an emblem on both shoulders, of a dragon. I don't think that was the problem; at least it covered her… partially. When it came down, it ended, with what looked like a leather set of, really short shorts, leaving all of her legs exposed. Bangaa tradition, I'm afraid, avoid excess covering of the legs. Yes, I wear a pair of trousers, but I'm a Bangaa, I have the advantage of being naturally developed for the jumping aspect of Dragon Knighting. She's human, so I have to make sure she can actually jump. That didn't stop her from punching me. Thank you Kyeshia for that regen, which never goes away unless idiots like Tetsuro decide to dispel it, otherwise, I'd probably still have a black eye. I should have picked a better time to give it to her than when it's that time of month. I still made her wear it. I am aware of the fact that I don't wear the traditional armour either, but I'm a hypocrite; sue me. At least she liked the lance better.

We've travelled a fair bit. Right now, we're in the danger zone, the area that isn't protected against the creatures that now roam Earth freely. If there were any nocturnal ones, we had yet to meet them, which was why we were actually camping here for the night. At least this guaranteed our space tonight. The amount of hotel rooms and cramped apartments we'd stayed in was getting annoying, but at least we'd only been forced to share the same bed once. I didn't care, but Phoenix may not have been too happy, but she's keeping however she felt to herself. I scooped up some more firewood and dropped them into the flame, eyes still closed. I actually heard the clone frown at me. I ignored her. She had fast learnt the golden rule of being with me: leave me alone at night.

My thoughts drifted back to Ivalice, my home world. I haven't been there in God knows how long. Probably won't ever go there again. I wonder how Montblank was doing. Or has he somehow got caught up in this whole affair on Earth. I don't see why Marche was so prideful about this world, it doesn't seem that wonderful to me. But then again, nothing can compare to your home, and Marche knew it. I wonder if he'll get involved with all this, or he's going to sit it out. I hoped it wasn't the former; he was a good fighter, and one of few that have earned respect from me. He was a formidable foe, even only in practise fights. A child, so powerful. I could beat him, even then, of course, but I doubt I'd be able to, he was a friend, and I don't want to loose that friendship. I sighed.

I shifted my thoughts, but was interrupted by Phoenix.

"Arlann?" She asked, softly.

I hissed angrily at her. I didn't speak, but the message was clear: 'what do you want?'

"I wanted to know… what's that ribbon tied to your lance?"

I opened my eyes, looking at the weapon that poisoned all but me: the Dragon Whisker. Where my right hand always held it, a light green ribbon was wrapped around it. Great… she made my think of the subject I least wanted to remember.

"It wasss my sssisster'ss." I hissed softly.

Phoenix looked as if she was about to ask something else, but I silenced her with a wave.

"She gave it to me, jussst after… I wass… thrown out of my family. I broke my familiesss tradition, every male wass to become a Templar, and the female didn't do anything involving clansss. She wass the only one who sssupported my choice of becoming a Dragoon." I explained, shutting my eyes to blink back some tears. "She gave it to me to remember her by. It wasss her favourite one."

I remembered the hell that I had stirred within my family. All because of a simple choice about what job to take up. Dragoon suited me better, I was a fighter, not someone to stand around, defending royalty as my family always seemed to.

"I doubt they even acknowledged me asss one of them when I was a member of Clan Nutssssy, in their prime. All that mattered to them wass that I broke the family tradition. They claimed that my actions would ruin the good name Sssalksssa. That'ss all they cared about, their status." I muttered loudly, refusing to open my eyes, lest Phoenix see my weakness. " Even after we saved them from a gang of muggers. But after Marche left, I wasss accusssed of murder. All I did was fulfil her wish and easse her pain, but sssomebody got the bright idea that I had murdered her, reported it. Becaussse it was done in the Ragdssss, the Judgesss could do nothing, but I wassss chucked out of the clan. Only Montblank believed me. No other clan would take me. I had no family to turn to. The Dragoon tournamentssss winningsss would only lassst me ssso long… Maybe I would have ruined my families name if they hadn't denied any knowledge of me. I doubt I would have sssurvived if it hadn't been for Kyeshia."

I stood up and kicked the dirt into the fire, snuffing it out. I stormed to my tent and crawled in.

"Arlann?"

What did she want now? Hadn't she caused me enough grief already? I remained silent.

"Do you regret leaving your family?"

Did I? Sometime I would ponder that question myself. It was difficult to answer, yet the answer was obvious.

"All the time." I whispered.

-

Phoenix's POV

I glare at Arlaan across the campfire as he drops the sticks into the waning blaze. He knows how much I hated it when he does stuff without opening his eyes. It's freaky.

Yeah, he's some kind of Bangaa-lizard thing, and I'm just a human, but still...

I've been with him for almost three years. It still amazes me that it's been that long since I was created. I snapped the twig I was holding in half, moving my eyes from the fire. I didn't like reminding myself of those days when I served under Tetsuro.

Arlaan is the one who trained me. After Kyeshia disappeared, Arlaan started conditioning me for the task ahead- becoming a full-fledged Dragoon. After the two years of training, we went to Washington, where we managed to locate a shop that sold 'antique' armour.

My skin is itching now, even without the mandatory armour on. I can still feel the metal on my skin even when it's not present. I fought tooth and nail against Arlaan against wearing those hunks of lead called 'armour'.

I didn't win.

The armour isn't that bad, since I take it off when we stop and rest... on nights like tonight. Then I wear the clothes that are always underneath my armour. Including those god damned shorts. I glower at Arlaan, just thinking about them.

Why I couldn't wear pants is beyond me. I'm not a Bangaa, obviously, so I didn't get the whole thing about the 'Bangaa tradition'. I still don't see what is has to do with walking around in a pair of leather short shorts.

It's not like I care about being immodest by showing that much of my legs, and… I guess they are practical when it comes to the task of jumping.

I can't help but smiling when I remember him picking out those clothes. He just had to give them to me that day. Why couldn't he wait till the next week? Maybe he would have skipped the black eye. The same black eyes that disapeared way too fast for my liking. That damned Regen that I tried to dispel many times that week never left him.

He just better be glad that I don't have to wear the mask.

For this place being a danger zone, it actually seems pretty safe. Since it's night, and we've yet to meet up with any night-active creatures, I don't mind. At least I don't have to share a bed with Arlaan again. That was annoying, particularly since I hate people snoring while I'm trying to sleep. If he had hogged the covers along with making that infernal noise, I would have kicked him off the bed.

Arlaan silently throws another stick on the fire, once again not opening his eyes. I glare at him so intense I'm surprised he doesn't burst into a flame himself. I open my mouth to say something, and then close it silently. I knew better than to bother him at night.

For night was when Arlaam slowed down enough to think. I smirk, as the thought crosses my mind before deciding not to say that aloud.

Everything's quite for a few minutes. Arlaan's brooding silently, as always. I look at his lance on the ground next to where mine lays. I see the same thing I've seen for a while... and have wondered about it the same amount of time.

Arlaan sighs, making me look over the fire at him. He's usually a master at hiding his feelings, seeing as I've never heard him say anything about his thoughts or if he's hurting emotionally.

"Arlaan"

My simple word was met with a hiss. I almost backed down, but I just had to know...

"I wanted to know... what's with the ribbon tied to your lance"

He finally opened his eyes, looking over to where his lance was. I regretted asking him, since just the simple question seemed to make him hesitate.

"It wasss my sssissster'sss." He softly hissed. The emotion in that statement startled me. I opened my mouth to ask him to explain further, but he raised his hand, quieting me.

"Ssshe gave it to me, jussst after... I wasss... thrown out of my family. I broke my family'sss tradition, every male wasss to become a Templar, and the female didn't do anything involving clansss. She wasss the only one who sssuported my choice of becoming a Dragoon." He quickly shut his eyes, as if trying to block the memory out.

"I doubt they even acknowledged me asss one of them when I was a member of Clan Nutssssy, in their prime." He continued, as I sat, silent. "All that mattered to them wass that I broke the family tradition. They claimed that my actionsss would ruin the good name Sssalksssa. That'sss all they cared about, their ssstatusss. Even after we sssaved them from a gang of muggersss. But after Marche left, I wasss accusssed of murder. All I did was fullfil her wisssh and eassse her pain, but sssomebody got the bright idea that I had murdered her, reported it. Becaussse it was done in the Ragdssss, the Judgesss could do nothing, but I wassss chucked out of the clan. Only Montblank believed me. No other clan would take me. I had no family to turn to. The Dragoon tournamentssss winningsss would only lassst me ssso long… Maybe I would have ruined my families name if they hadn't denied any knowledge of me. I doubt I would have sssurvived if it hadn't been for Kyeshia."

He stood up and roughly kicked dirt into the fire, slowly killing the flame. He spun away and nearly ran to his tent. His anger shocked me. In all the years we had known each other, I had never knew him to become so... angered... over a question.

I stood up and walked towards my tent, but stopped before entering. "Arlaan"

He didn't answer. I felt horrible for making him hurt so much. But... I only had one question left.

"Do you regret leaving your family"

He didn't answer immediately, so I decided to leave it alone. As I was fixing to crawl into my tent, I heard him softly whisper.

"All the time."

-the next morning-

I lay on the ground, staring at the top of my small tent, as I have been for the last hour and a half. I know Arlaan's gonna be ticked, but at the moment, I don't care.

I had lain awake most of the night, rehashing everything Arlaan had said in his story.

He had dealt with so much pain, yet... he couldn't look past his grief to see the blessing.

He might not be counted as one of them anymore, but at least he has family.

I turn over on my side, curling up in a little ball.

I was simply created. I have no home, no family. No one to look back on the memories of and smile… or… cry.

I work hard at keeping my composure from breaking. I have to be the strong-hearted Dragoon I was trained to be. I can't break down every time I hear of someone's family.

I flip back on my stomach, slowly crawling out of the tent. 'I wonder what it feels like to belong somewhere? To have someone who loves you?'

I start packing my stuff, but I can't shake the thoughts from my mind. Arlaan most likely notices that I'm strangely quiet, but, for once, I don't care.

I may not keep to myself as much as Arlaan, but when it comes to feelings; I hide them just as much as he does. Maybe even more, thanks to last night's remembrance.

My mind wanders back to last night. When Arlaan's story got exceptionally hard for him to tell, he closed his eyes. I knew from experience that the eyes show emotion more than words possibly could. So, I guess, in a way, I'm blessed to have these seemingly endless black orbs of mine.

I finish packing and walk over to where my armour lay. 'Back to being a walking tin can.' The thought crosses my mind, making me crack a wry smile. Just that small thought helps me shake off some of my pensive move.

I pick up my lance from where it lies, feeling the cool metal in my left hand.

I turn to Arlaan, nodding good morning to him. "Ready to go"

He simply looks at me for a few seconds, before turning and walking towards the rising sun, the same direction in which we were headed yesterday.

I smile and follow. Maybe I can understand Arlaan a little better now... and myself.

-End

In case you're wondering, I wrote Arlann's POV, Sariah wrote Phoenix's POV.