Chapter I

Our Zanarkand

Silver-white hair whisked across her face as she stood upon the dock staring out at the glistening azure ocean. The wind breathed once more causing her baggy clothes to ruffle and dance about her small frame. She gave a soft giggle and placed her hand above her eyes, well-guarded from the brilliant sun, she peered at the sky.

Another beautiful day in Zanarkand.

"Lin!" A young voice called from behind her. "Lin!"

She turned and smiled at the boy, only a few years younger than herself, who was running towards her.

"Tidus!" Beaming she patted his back as he bent over panting. "What's up?"

"Mom wanted me to tell you and...him...to at least make sure you have food, if you plan on staying out there for awhile." Tidus stated with a slight scowl.

"Okay, I'll make sure he gets some, just in case." She smiled again and gently set a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Tidus, cheer up. It'll most likely only be until sundown."

"Yeah, sure." He folded his arms across his chest and looked up at the young girl. "I just don't know why you would bother going."

Linnea turned from him and looked back at the ocean.

"If you want to come I'll talk him into it..." she said breathing in the salty air.

"Why? So he can call me crybaby the entire time? No way." He scowled again and looked out as well. "It's just not fair, he treats you normally..." the boy mumbled softly.

She looked at him from the corner of her eye and sighed, returning her gaze to the vast water.

"Well there are a lot of reasons why he does." She stated shrugging slightly.

"Yeah? Like what?" Tidus peered at her.

"Um, well," she put a finger to her chin and stood there thinking before looking at him. "He's probably treating you the way he does so that you'll learn to be strong...learn to think for yourself, ya know."

"Yeah right, he's not that nice."

"Then perhaps pity?" She asked cocking her head to the side.

"He doesn't believe in pity." Tidus stated, glaring slightly at her.

"Heh, I guess so huh." Linnea placed her arms behind her head and looked out towards the horizon. "Though I'm pretty sure it's the first reason...there's always guilt."

"Guilt?" He stared at her incredulously; she chuckled and nodded looking over before closing her eyes and smiling slightly at him. "Why would he feel guilt-" Tidus caught himself as his eyes moved instantly to hers.

He examined her left eye carefully. Almost at the corner was a scar, the skin much lighter than her light peach tone, which had the rough appearance of a hook that extended over to the middle of her eyelid before curving back and stopping just beyond her eyebrow. A wayward S, as it were, thicker in the hook-like area and thinning out over the lid to the brow. He shuddered recalling the incident and sighed, accepting that as a possible reason for Jecht's varying attitudes towards them. Tidus continued to stare at her as she slowly opened her eyes, the smile smaller now but still present. His gaze focused more intently on her left eye again. With her eyes open one could see what other damage had occurred. Her eyes were still a pale icy blue, but the left iris had a deep crimson red "bleeding" into it close to the afflicted area. It almost resembled blood but it too held the ice-like effect the rest of her eye possessed. Turning away, he peered back at the ocean; he could feel the tears welling up within.

'It's my fault– no...it's Jecht's fault. It's all his fault.' Tidus thought to himself, attempting to suppress his urge to cry out.

Linnea sighed and looked out as well, then chuckled and patted him on the back.

"Don't worry little bro, we'll be home soon, 'kay?" Smiling she placed her hands in her pockets and allowed the wind to once more dance with her loose clothing.

"What are you doing here? You better not be crying about not going." A strong voice said from behind them.

"I'm not crying!" Tidus retorted and stared up at his father venomously, tears slowly filling the corners of his eyes.

"So what do ya want then?" Jecht stared at the boy, setting down a bag of blitzballs, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I don't want anything from you!" Tidus hollered as he ran off, tears slipping down his cheeks.

"There he goes again, crying." Jecht pointed off after the young child and sighed, heavily, rubbing his shoulder slightly. "Let's just go."

Linnea sighed as well and stared at her father figure. She knew she could tell him to be nicer, but all that would accomplish would be the two of them ending up in a glaring contest, both too stubborn to yield to the other. Instead she merely grabbed the bag of blitzballs and carried them onto a small boat not far from where she had been standing.

Jecht watched as she did this. If there was one thing he could count on, it would be her understanding. She was rather mature for a ten year old, which surprised him to no end because she was nothing like her mother. Hell, it wasn't even something she could have possibly inherited from his side of the family. Her stubbornness, definitely; her agility and strong legs, probably...but that empathetic and mature nature, not in a million years. Whoever that Bontecuo guy was, he must have been one easygoing dude.

'He'd have to be to marry that woman.' Jecht noted to himself as he continued to watch the young girl.

Linnea waved her hand for him to get a move on. Complying, he stepped aboard, and off they sped leaving all trace of Zanarkand and civilization behind them.

*X*X*X*

She fed him another ball while retrieving others. One after another they whizzed past her, and one after another she would kick him a new one.

Jecht would catch the ball and hit it against the bottom of the boat overhead before performing the 'Jecht Shot'. Always he aimed in her general direction, perhaps to be easier for her to chase after it, but never at her directly...he knew the consequences of that.

Several moments passed and the two could hardly tell that night was coating the sky above the surface. They continued Jecht's training as the water grew colder. Linnea noticed the temperature drop and gazed around and up; they were too deep for the sun to have had such an effect on the water, perhaps if they were closer to the surface but not at this depth.

"LIAGHN!"

Her water garbled name broke her from her thoughts and she looked quickly to Jecht. However, it was the blitzball heading straight for her that grabbed her attention. The speed intense, she was barely able to flip back out of the way. Jecht quickly swam over to her. Linnea's body was trembling as she floated there, suspended in the water. Her eyes were clenched shut and her face pale, terror had taken her in its grasp. He grabbed her shoulders and attempted to open her eyes, after many unsuccessful tries she finally opened a single eye. She peered around and then gazed at him; he could tell she was trying to register what had just occurred. After a minute or so, her body trembling a little less, she nodded her head slowly...she was alright.

Jecht nodded and peered around her then pointed to the boat above. She nodded again and remained still for a moment before beginning to count the balls floating around them. Holding up seven fingers, she pointed to each ball, only six were present. They both glanced around the water before Jecht caught sight of a blue and white sphere down near the reef. He swam down and stared at it. It was lodged in a small crevice amongst the reef. He pulled on it for what must have been an eternity, or at least long enough for Linnea to collect the remaining balls, set them in the bag, let them float to the top beside the boat, and swim down to join him. Jecht breathed out heavily and rubbed his shoulder; too prideful to just let the ball go and leave, he kicked the sphere with all his might. The ball flew backwards as the reef collapsed making the crevice larger and revealing a small opening to an underwater cave.

Linnea smacked him upside the head and put up her hands as though asking what the hell he was thinking. Jecht glared at her slightly while soothing the back of his head. He made a gesture for her to stay here, but as soon as he saw the protesting look on her face he retracted it. One after the other they slipped into the hole. It was a tight fit for Jecht but he managed. Darkness enveloped them as they journeyed deeper into the depths and the farther they swam, the colder it became. This wasn't the cold of the deep water, no this cold was something very different...something unnatural. They could tell instantly when they made it to the end of the suffocating tunnel, it was still very dark but the water had become deathly freezing.

For a moment they both floated there, but due to the chilly water both decided to return and forget the ball. Before they could though Linnea felt the blitzball float past her arm and soon Jecht felt it past his side. Turning to grab it, his elbow nudged it; it wasn't terribly hard but there was just enough force for it to float rather quickly into a hard object making a loud water distorted THWACK. They both waited for a minute, worried that that would be all that was needed to cause some disastrous event. When nothing happened Jecht found her arm and began searching for the tunnel entrance. That is, until another sound met their ears; the sound of something shifting within the darkness behind them, and not something small either. As both turned to the source of the noise, blinding lights manifested from the rock before them. Jecht placed a protective arm around Linnea's shoulders while his other hand went to block out the light. Linnea placed both her hands over her face.

They floated there in the icy cold water, the temperature dropping by the minute. Quickly they realized the water around them was being pulled towards this glowing rock. Try as they might they couldn't escape the whirling water and were sucked beneath. There waiting for them was an even brighter light one that came from whatever the thing was above them. This light encased them in warmth; Jecht looked down at Linnea who peered up at him briefly before both of them were gone.

*X*X*X*

Jecht awoke in a warm bed. He panted heavily and rubbed his brow. A gentle hand touched his shoulder and he stared up at the foreign face. He was a young, darkly tanned man whose green eyes possessed swirled pupils and his golden blonde hair was pulled back in a small ponytail.

"Yr, oui'na yfyga. Ruf yna oui vaamehk?" The man said while looking quizzically at Jecht.

"Whah?" He stared at the young man.

'Must've hit my head or something.' Jecht thought as he looked around.

"Ah, pardon me. I merely noted that you were awake and I asked you how you were feeling." The man responded, his words heavily accented.

"Y-yeah." Jecht eyed him warily. "I'm fine-" his eyes widened slightly and he grabbed the man by the shoulders. "Lin! Where's the kid?"

"Calm down please." The man grabbed Jecht's wrists prying him off. "Miss Linnea is fine; she's in the other room." He pointed towards the entryway.

Jecht looked from him to the doorway then jumped to his feet and ran out stopping when he saw Linnea laughing and playing with some children. He gave a sigh of relief and leaned against the frame chuckling.

"Silly girl. Bet you weren't worried about me for minute." He said with a smug grin.

Linnea turned her head hearing his voice and her eyes lit up.

"Old man!" Running towards him she stopped just a few inches away and placed her hands on her hips. "You idiot 'course I was worried."

"Yeah, sure." He gave a slight smile and looked around the room. It had weapons on display and in bins. There were potions, vials, and bottles scattered about; all of them varying in shape, color, and size and most emitting pungent aromas. The labels and what writing he could see were all written in some other language. "What is this place?"

"This is a shop, my friend." The man from before stated as he walked past Jecht into the room. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Rin. I own this fine establishment, and a few others. But before long I will have many shops set up all over Spira." He gave a proud stance and smiled.

"Spira? What the hell is Spira?" Jecht looked at Rin incredulously and crossed his arms over his chest.

"E caa, oui fana yvvaldat yc famm." Rin muttered slightly before sighing. "Do not worry my friend; perhaps someone in the city will know you and your daughter."

Jecht continued to stare at the man as he turned to the children and kindly motioned for them to go out and play.

"He's Al Bhed..." Linnea said softly looking at Rin from the corner of her eye.

"What the hell is an Al Bhed?" Jecht muttered to her, watching Rin as well.

"No clue. When I asked him, he looked at me funny and when I told him what I remembered about the cavern he said something about meeting 'Sin'." She glanced up at him.

"Sin?" Jecht asked confusion playing across his face. Linnea shrugged, she was just as confused as he. "How the hell did we get here?"

"Apparently we washed ashore somewhere; he found us and brought us here."

"Okay then," he shook his head trying to sort everything out before looking at her. "Did you ask about how to get back to Zanarkand?"

"Mhmm," she nodded. "He said that it wasn't that far, beyond the Calm lands and then some mountain range..."

"What?" He stared at her then looked towards Rin who was helping a customer.

"I dunno, he said a lot of things I didn't understand..." she looked down and to the side.

"I'm thinking we need to get out of here and get back home." Jecht stated standing straight. "Well, uh, Rin. We'll be going now." He gently pushed Linnea towards the exit.

Before Rin could protest, Jecht ushered her outside and followed closely behind only to stop in awe. The city was large, golden, and red; the structures differed vastly from Zanarkand's. It was bustling and lively. He had never known there to be many other cities as large as, or larger than, Zanarkand. Linnea stared in wonder at the people; their clothing so intricate and the style so different from the crowds of her home. They both stared at the alien city in front them before looking at each other. They truly were lost.

Looking back out Jecht noted they must have been in some kind of square, there was a statue appointed in the very middle. They both knew they needed to find out how to get back home. After much thought Jecht pointed to his left and looked down at her.

"You go that way, I'll go right," he used his hand to indicate this. "And we'll meet in the middle. Ask anyone who will give ya the time of day."

Linnea nodded and did as she was instructed.

An hour had past and all they received from these foreign people were confused and horrified looks. Some had responded the same way Rin had, saying that Zanarkand was beyond certain areas, but once they asked the two why they wished to know and received the answers "It's my home.", or "I live there."...they too ran off angry and horrified.

"Well?" Linnea asked as they met in the middle.

"No luck." Jecht sighed and rubbed his eyes.

They looked out at the crowd, they were now being avoided. Watching as the people passed by Jecht noticed one of the citizens he had talked to was speaking with a soldier and pointing in their direction. Taking this as a bad sign Jecht grabbed Linnea's arm and began walking away but several soldiers stood in front of them blocking their way. While at least two came up behind them and took hold of them.

"You both are under arrest." One of the guardsmen said as he began to walk, the others following him and pushing the two with them.

"What? On what charges?" Jecht hollered attempting to free himself.

"Drunken disorderly and disturbing the peace." The man grasping Jecht's arms stated.

"But I'm only ten! I'm not allowed to drink!" Linnea cried out stomping on the foot of her captor.

The man released her with a yowl and she bolted, but the guard leading the way caught her by the back of her baggy shirt, choking her and restraining her once more before leaning down and muttering in her ear.

"You're the disturbing the peace bit."

With that, the guards led them away.

*X*X*X*

"You can't do this! How were we disturbing the peace by asking questions?" Linnea screamed down the dungeon hall, clenching tightly to the bars caging her in.

"I'm not drunk you bastards!" Jecht called out standing beside her and kicking the door, then the wall, and finally settling down on the floor staring up at the stone ceiling.

"Dammit..." she mumbled beneath her breath and turned around leaning against the bars and slumping down bringing her knees to her chest.

They remained silent after this, trying to process what just happened and attempting to come up with a way to get out of it.

Three days passed, neither had spoken a word. Not to one another or to the guardsman that brought them food…to nobody. They wondered how Tidus and mom were doing. If they were worried and had sent out some kind of search party for them.

On the fourth day both had given up trying to leave and figured they may as well wait out their sentence, even if the choice pissed them both off to no end.

"Forgive me, Lord Braska, but I don't believe this is a wise decision." A male voice echoed from the stairway leading to the dungeon hall.

"I understand your hesitance, Auron. But I think it is fitting, no?" Another male voice, perhaps belonging to this Braska, stated.

Footsteps were heard after this, slowly making their way towards the cell that housed the two Zanarkand locals. Neither looked up, they were too involved with their current thoughts to actually notice the footsteps had stopped and that two men were staring down at them.

"Lord Braska they're just a drunkard and his delusional daughter." The one named Auron commented crossing his arms over his chest.

"Delusional?!"

"Drunkard!?"

Both chimed in unison, standing up to face the man who had the gall to address them as such, especially considering Linnea had high kicked a guardsman that Jecht had punched for saying remotely the same thing. After that incident assault was added to their sentence, but at least no one bothered to say such things...to their faces anyway.

The one called Braska laughed at their reactions and smiled kindly at them.

"But there is such a fire and passion there. Perfect for guardians, wouldn't you say? And I hear they can fight." Braska chuckled again.

"If one could call their crude method of street brawling proper fighting." Auron said leaning against the wall opposite the cell.

"Why don't you open the cell and we'll see how effective that crude method is." Jecht snarled at him.

It was silent for a moment as Auron and Jecht glared at one another. It didn't take Braska and Linnea long to realize that the air was growing thick with hostile tension. Linnea slipped between the bars and her father figure pushing him back from them as Braska looked at Auron with a pleading glance. Auron snorted slightly and walked over to the stairway, standing there waiting. Jecht slumped in a corner cursing beneath his breath.

"I see you're the sensible one." Braska said with a small smile looking at Linnea.

"Well, someone has to be in the family..." she returned the smile and held out her hand through the bars. "Linnea."

"Braska." The man replied and gently shook her hand. "I'm here to ask if you and your father would like to be my guardians..." his azure blue eyes pierced through her.

'The sea...' she thought. That's what his eyes reminded her of. She looked him up and down. He certainly looked regal enough to be in need of guardians. His robes reminded her of flower petals, or perhaps an artichoke; and his head piece had the vibe of a samurai quail mix going on. The pale ivory of his skin brought out the blue-gray tint of his silver hair. 'Yeah,' she continued. 'He definitely needs guardians; I'm surprised no one has mugged him yet.' A small smile edged onto her lips.

"If we agree to be...guardians, that will get us out of this cell, correct?" The smile remained as she cocked her eyebrow and peered at him.

"All they want is to get out, the moment you open the door they'll disappear." Auron stated angrily marching his way over to stand beside Braska. "I say leave them." He glared down at her.

'Manipulative little brat,' Auron noted staring at the dirt covered girl.

As though she could read his mind she gave a sweet smile and chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess we could do that, huh? Thanks for the idea." She placed her hands behind her head and continued to smile.

'She's not a child but a fiend in disguise...' Auron thought dumbfounded by the girl.

"In all seriousness though, we'd be glad just to get out of this cell. And if it so happens you can't stand our presence anymore we'll make our way back to Zanarkand." She stated looking seriously at Braska.

"You say in all seriousness, and then you add you wish to return to ruins. You know it's a holy place and yet you continue to besmirch its-"

"Ruins?" Jecht stood and walked over staring at him.

"Zanarkand a holy place? Seriously?" Linnea also stared at him.

Both showed only shock in their eyes.

'They look genuinely surprised...' Auron thought to himself as he stared between the two.

"You mean to say you didn't know?" Auron questioned.

It was news to them. No one had mentioned that Zanarkand was in ruin. That it was some holy place. All that was said was how to reach it, and even that was vague.

"No..." Jecht muttered and looked down in deep thought.

'Not our Zanarkand.'


Disclaimer: *same as Prologue* XD

Al Bhed Translations: "Yr, oui'na yfyga. Ruf yna oui vaamehk?" = "Ah, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"E caa, oui fana yvvaldat yc famm." = "I see, you were affected as well."