Sahrah: Chapter two, HUZZAH!
Editor: Late, per usual.
Sahrah: You wound me with your words. Hmph. For your INFORMATION, I was putting my heart and soul into the WORLD PREMIERE high school production of Frankenstein, the musical. (Mary Shelley's classic novel. Reborn.) And then I bought a copy of The World Ends With You for the DS. And IT IS FANTASTIC.
Squall: Stop acting lame and start the chapter.
Sahrah: Boo. Fine. Leeet's see... uh... Much like "The World Ends With You", Final Fantasy X-2, Shuyin, Lenne, and all locations belong to the majesty of SQUARE ENIX. The lyrics belong to Celine Dion. The other characters are of the belonging to ME.
Chapter 2: Prayer
As usual, Lenne was hard at work on another song.
She had woken up that morning inspired. Marika slept soundly in the bed, and Lenne sat beside it, notebook on her lap, mechanical pencil scribbling away mercilessly at the paper beneath it.
It was a song about the war.
The aftermath of suffering that seemed endless.
A prayer.
"Can we touch the soul of heaven
Can we unite a sacred lesson
Every child creates a skylight...of beauty
Can you hear cathedrals fallin'?
All the universe is callin'
Cry single cello...from your heart
Since the world has lost her way
Loneliness journey endlessly
yet the promised chance remains
gift of what could be…"
Lenne frowned, tapping the eraser of her pencil against her lips in concentration.
"…So let the children remember the sun
Let them dance let them soar
for their lives have begun
Let the children engender the rain
as the river runs through fields
forever subsiding their pain…
Prayer…
Every voice along the shore line
Standing still within time
Spinning on resolved...the walking
as each season passes
through wonderlands, looking glasses
Secret garden shires... beckons you
Gentle flower don't fade away
sweet innocent still harbors near
In the faith of golden dreams
Where one love lives eternally…"
Nothing lasts forever, she thought to herself. The singer decided to put the notebook down, at least for the time being. In the bed beside her, Marika mumbled and roused to partial wakefulness, her swirly green eyes fluttering as she sat up.
"Morning, sunshine," Lenne greeted.
"Hey..." the Al Bhed mumbled drowsily.
"What do you want to do for breakfast? I was planning on hanging out with Shuyin today, because it's his day off, and I'm leaving tomorrow, so…"
"I have to work," Marika reminded the singer with a patient laugh. "So don't worry about me... and, uh..."
"Stay here as long as you need," supplied Lenne. "And no, I won't tell Shuyin."
"Well, that knocks off my next set of questions. I'm going to make coffee. Have fun on your date."
Marika yanked herself out of bed and towards the kitchen while Lenne got dressed in a cream-colored sweater and a short denim skirt. She pulled on the boots from her singing outfit, and tied her hair back into two low pigtails. She wore no makeup (she was pretty without it) and toted a purse the same color as her sweater. She also wore a pair of large sunglasses; every time she forgot them, people asking for autographs and photos would ruin her outing. A detriment of her career was certainly the constant need to be incognito in public.
With a quick goodbye shouted at her friend and ran to meet Shuyin in front of the small development of condominiums, each very lush and expensive. A benefit of her career was certainly the paycheck.
"Ready? Let's go," she said with a smile as he extended an arm. The two held hands as they strolled into the busy heart of Zanarkand, the streets buzzing with people, the metallic clink of gil into beggar cups and tip jars, and the opening and closing of car doors filling the air.
"Oh, woah," Lenne murmured as they passed a few stores. "Look at those earrings! They're so cute!"
The earrings she had noticed were several lengthy strings of beads hanging from gold chains that were attached to a silver diamond. The beads were pretty and eye-catching, and Lenne could see that they would look very good with many outfits. However, she did not buy those earrings that day. They were expensive, and Shuyin had little money to spend. She did not want him to buy them because he couldn't really afford it, and Lenne would not buy them herself because it would make Shuyin feel bad.
He nodded with a grin. "You'd look cute in them," he said.
"Ah well, there'll be other jewelry," Lenne smiled back, tightening her grip around his hand, giving him a silent 'leave it' as they walked on.
They spent the day window shopping, stopping at an outdoor café to eat lunch. They went to the sphere theatre and watched a movie (the only place where it was safe for the singer to remove her sunglasses). Lenne steered them away from expensive jewelry stores, and the couple enjoyed their date.
"Let's get some ice cream!" Shuyin exclaimed. The pair had arrived at the park, and were walking through it holding hands.
"Tsk, if you insist," Lenne giggled as she walked to the vendor and his little cart.
"Haha," Shu laughed, looking at the menu. "I want chocolate with rainbow sprinkles."
"Okay... May I have… vanilla with… Oreo pieces?" Lenne asked politely. The vendor nodded and handed the two their respective desserts, Shuyin paid, and they left.
The sun began to set as Lenne sat down on a bench, licking her ice cream daintily, and Shuyin leaned on the same bench from behind, biting into his frozen treat.
Lenne sighed happily, leaning back against his hand.
"I love you, Lenne," he murmured into her hair, kissing the back of her head. She reached up with her free hand and stroked his cheek.
"Love you, too." She smiled softly, withdrawing her hand and licking her ice cream. He jumped over the back of the bench and sat beside her. Shuyin finished his ice cream long before the singer, and so they sat in a comfortable silence.
"No one's left but us," he whispered into her ear. She nodded, her breath caught in her throat. No matter what, Shuyin had always been the only guy that really made her heart pound. "So I think you should take off your glasses. I can't see your pretty eyes."
He reached slowly towards her face, brushing her cheek gently, and pulling the sunglasses away from her face. He drew in a breath.
"Beautiful." She blushed, and Shuyin kissed her softly.
Shuyin dropped Lenne off at her ritzy apartment at nine o'clock, where Marika was already waiting to talk, equipped with hot chocolate and warm pajamas. They spoke for an hour and then turned on the news, where they started with sports, then went on to talk about Lenne's successful new album.
"Y'know, the first time I made news, I was really excited, but it really does get kind of old kind of fast," the singer commented to her Al Bhed friend.
The anchorman went on to say, "Also, in retaliation to tabloids, Lenne has revealed the question on many a fan's mind—who is she dating? Well, it isn't a Blitzball player, or a member of any band. It's a highschool sweetheart—" Marika switched the television off.
"It's kind of like watching someone narrate your life, huh?" she smiled. "Do you ever regret it?"
"Never," Lenne grinned. "I love my fans, and my friends, and Shuyin. I love to sing."
"What will you do, though? If you get drafted for frontline summoning?"
Lenne's eyes hardened. "Then… I'll fight."
Lenne and Shuyin were standing near the airship port in the very early morning, with Marika promising to watch the condo. Lenne was bundled up in designer winter clothing (It was still mid-fall, but the weather was growing steadily colder, and it was even colder in the early morning. Also, it was approximately 15 degrees colder in Zanarkand than in Luca.)
Lenne sported a long thick winter coat with a light blue criss-cross pattern. She had a matching white hat and mittens, and warm black boots.
Shuyin, on the other hand, was wearing a shabby, slightly worn light brown leather coat with a fleece lining. He had his hands in his pockets, and he wore a dark blue ski hat.
What the pair did have in common, however, was their cheeks were flushed from the icy morning wind, their noses were red as well, and they were both going to miss the other greatly in the week of Lenne's absence.
"See ya soon," he whispered.
"I wish you could come with me," she sighed wistfully.
"I wish I could, too."
Lenne's agent, Samson, walked up quickly dressed in a long black leather coat, hands in fleece-lined pockets.
"Lenne, we have to go," he said.
She nodded. "Give me a moment?"
Sam rolled his eyes. "Fine, lovebirds, I'll be in the room. And it's my turn for the bed closest to the window.
At this point, you may be finding it odd that Lenne is sharing a cabin with a man and Shuyin is not at all threatened by it. The following series of dialogue will clear any thoughts from the reader's mind.
"Oh, Sam, don't forget to call Darryl before you leave."
"It's a shame he's sick; I didn't get a kiss goodbye," the agent mumbled.
"Well you could have kissed him, but then you'd be sick, and I'd be screwed!" Lenne said cheerfully, drawing a smile from her saddened agent. Samson walked away, drew out his phone, and called his boyfriend, humming "Everytime We Touch" as it rang.
Now you understand, yes?
Lenne grinned and shook her head, and Shuyin laughed a bit.
"Speaking of goodbye kisses," she murmured, standing on her toes to reach his face. She pressed her chilled lips against his, wrapped her arms around his neck, and gasped slightly as he lifted her off the ground so they were eye level. Well, more precisely, they would be eye level if their eyes were open.
"WE'RE LEAVING WITH OR WITHOUT YOU, LENNE!" Apparently Sam had managed to convince the pilot to let him use the exterior loudspeaker, because the ship was screaming at the singer in annoyance. Clearly the pilot had never flown with Lenne and Samson before. Their normal pilot would never let the agent touch that microphone.
The two pulled apart, Lenne was set on her feet, and she pecked Shuyin's cheek before running aboard the airship, all the while yelling "I'M COMING, DAMNIT!" Shuyin laughed again and waved as the ship took off, waving until the ship left his sight.
Lenne sat down on the plush armchair in the first-class cabin, flipped open her notebook, and pressed the eraser of her mechanical pencil against her lips in thought. The song was still only halfway written, and the singer really wanted the lyrics completed before they reached Luca.
"Let the children remember the sun
Let them dance, let them soar
For their lives have begun
Let the children engender the rain
As the river runs thru fields, forever subsiding their pain
Prayer…"
She mumbled the words very quietly, off in her dreamy world of pretty lyrics and soft music.
" Let the children, for they are the light
They are the truth
The spirit in flight
Yes, the children engender the rain
As the river runs through life
Healing the pain…"
Sam looked up from his magazine and cocked his head.
"Hard at work on another masterpiece, Lenne?"
"You know it. Hey, how does this sound:
'If you can trust with your heart one more time
Sweet angel, concede, you have
Forever and always believed…'?"
"Gorgeous."
Lenne nodded and scribbled the words down, the tip of her pencil making quiet squeaking noises against the notebook paper.
"That's it, then," Lenne said with a smile.
"That's the end of another hit single? You've gotta add one more line, I think."
Lenne closed her eyes. The song was for Marika. Marika, who had lost her mother and her home because of a conflict that was both inane and lethal. It was for all the children, too, that had lost family, and all the summoners and soldiers that had lost their futures, as well as the ones who would soon lose their lives to a foolish cause.
The singer also thought of Shuyin, who struggled to make ends meet just to be with her. He wouldn't accept money or help; some people had to prove something to their own hearts.
Yes, this song was for so many people who were fighting. They were fighting for their country, for their family, for a dying cause, for the heart of another. This song was a prayer for the world that seemed to slowly be decaying, ripped apart by the sins of heartless sovereigns and monarchs, all too proud to admit mistakes or defeat.
Lenne looked up at Sam, who was reading about the latest and greatest styles from the fashion magazine in his hands. She looked back at the nearly completed lyrics. The last line of the song escaped from her lips.
"Prayer."
