Disclaimer: I don't own FFX

Authoress Note: Sorry for the long delay. While I was working on this story I was also pumping out chapters for another story. Plus there was work and things just got busy.

Question for anyone willing to answer because I was too lazy to research and frankly can't remember. Is Nooj (from FFX-2) Al Bhed? I don't know why I think he is. I know Gippal is but is Nooj? Unless someone says no, for the sake of my story he is.

The Path I've Chosen

By: animeroxsmyorld

Chapter 7

Jecht didn't realize how much he truly needed to rest. He had been pulling along fine considering all that had happened in the span of 24 hours but as Lodi left him to go find her husband one of the medics seemed to grow curious about his presence as he simply sat and watched them tend to Braska. He was so focused on paying attention to their movements that he didn't notice her until she was beside him, patting his knees for his attention and scaring him spitless.

Despite the multiple layers she bore and the mask that covered the bottom half of her face Jecht was able to tell that she was quite the old woman. Her skin was brown and rough as leather as she plodded over to him and motioned for him to lie down.

"No. I'm alright." Jecht responded as he waved her away, trying to keep his voice as polite as he could.

Her brow furrowed. "Oui muug dannepma. Oui cruimt mea tufh yht mad sa lralg oui." She snapped out, her voice cracking like only that of a senior's can as she jabbed at the bed strictly. Although he had no clue what she had said the tone and gesture was clear.

Lie down.

Any other day he would've openly argued with her despite the language barrier but at the moment he just didn't have the energy. He settled for muttering irritably under his breath and scowling to himself as he shuffled around and eventually laid down on the bed below him. He scowled at the ceiling then, intent on ignoring the old woman as she openly examined him, poking him in the side and talking to herself as he winced or grunted at her ministrations before suddenly she seemed to come to a decision.

Her hand suddenly slapped down firmly against his forehead startling him and making him yelp.

"What do y—"

"Shh!" She hushed him sternly causing him to blink. Huh. Apparently shushing someone was unanimous in every language.

And then he tingled. The sensation flowed from her hand, crawling through his head and down to his toes. It was cool before it suddenly warmed, the feeling warming every cell inside his body. He felt his muscles relax, turning to jelly as he sunk into the bed, his eyes feeling like weights as he struggled for consciousness.

"What did…you…do?" He whispered, exhaustion coating his words as his eyes closed, barely opening as he tried to peer at her tiny face.

"Sleep." She commanded, that one word so thick with her Al Bhed accent that he barely recognized it. But he couldn't ponder it for long before he felt himself drift.

Braska awoke after 2 days. His eyes opened and his vision instantly filled with several unfamiliar faces. They all pulled away in alarm as if he had burned them before the place was blasted with voices. It took him several seconds to realize it was Al Bhed and several more to actual wrap his head around what they were actually saying, the second being the hardest since most of the voices were trying to talk at the same time becoming one jumbled mess.

"Ra'c yfyga!"

"Dra cissuhan'c yfyga!"

"Cusauha kad Lodi!"

"Cid! Cusauha kad Cid!"

"Would you all SHUT YOUR YAPPERS?!" A male voice roared in Spiran, stunning all the raving Al Bheds into silence. Braska was only mildly surprised to find that the voice belonged to Jecht as the summoner shifted in his bed to view the blitzer glaring darkly at all the occupants. From his tousled appearance and the sheets drawn around him Braska came to the conclusion that Jecht had received quite the rude awakening. And from what little Braska knew of the man from their travels it was easy to guess that he wasn't a morning person, even in his best moments.

The sight of the guardian made Braska relax, the brunette summoner easing himself into a sitting position as the room hummed with whispered words now. One of the surrounding medics in the room whispered something to another and the medic disappeared out the room, the door sliding shut behind her.

"Jecht, where are we?" Braska asked his disgruntled friend as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. He felt absolutely ravenous but besides that he felt completely rejuvenated. He was sure he could take a stab at where they were judging by all the Al Bheds but it was better to have some actual clarification before he started making actual assumptions. As his words floated over to the shorter man it was like a switch was flipped and eyes suddenly snapped to him, Jecht straightening up on his elbows like lightning and whipping around to face him.

He looked absolutely stunned, mouth partly open before his face transformed, first brightening before going absolutely dark.

"You! You've got a lot o' nerve!" The guardian roared as he flung himself from his bed, landing on his feet with a solid thump. Braska blinked, surprised.

"I do?" He asked, eyebrows rising in silent confusion.

"Scarin' everyone like that! Who the hell stays comatose for two bloody days? For Yevon's sake!" Jecht continued as he made his way towards Braska's bed, the look on his face perfectly horrid as he neared but simply plopped himself down on the edge of the bed and glared murderously at the wall. At his words Braska felt his confusion disappear.

Ah. It was concern converted to anger for lack of an outlet.

Braska felt a small smile pull at his lips as he shifted up straighter in his bed, sitting perfectly upright now. He waited a few more minutes, watching as the blitzer continued to fume angrily towards the wall before he spoke.

"I apologize. I'll try not to repeat it in the future."

Jecht's eyes flickered to him, lingering for a moment before his lip twitched upward. Then he snorted and turned away.

"Feh." Was the response he received. If he was about to get anything more he would never know because at that moment a small elderly woman decided to pick that moment to run up to Jecht, a hand slapping him on the arm rather loudly.

"Fryd yna oui tuehk ib? Oui cruimt pa cmaabehk!" She yelled before she pointed back at the bed Jecht had previously flung himself out of. Her voice was ringing with authority and Jecht looked perfectly bewildered. Braska couldn't help the amusement that crossed his features as she smacked his arm again and gestured towards the bed.

"She wants you to go back to sleep." Braska supplied to his confused friend.

"I already slept!" Jecht argued back. He scowled down at the old woman, feeling completely rejuvenated now that he had slept. "I. Feel. Fine." He annunciated slowly.

"Mayja dra vunaekhanc ymuha Nally." A male voice called out, the woman flinching before turning to look at the doorway. Braska felt himself tense, oblivious as the woman called something back before walking away, mumbling under her breath. His gaze stayed locked on the man filling the doorway passing off instructions as he made his way over towards them.

Then his swirled eyes slid over and met Braska's and he stopped, planting his feet firmly on the ground.

Silence. That was all that passed between them for several moments before his eyes narrowed and the bald man before him spoke.

"Braska." It felt like an accusation.

"…Cid." An apology.

Cid looked at him quietly for several moments before he let out a low huff and crossed his arms over his chest. "I heard you became a summoner again." He stated, his tone displeased. Braska grasped at the blankets in front of him, already knowing the other question stirring in Cid's mind and preparing to tumble out. If the Al Bhed before him asked it, Braska wasn't sure he could voice his reasons properly, even trying to say his reasoning out loud to himself was hard enough.

"I did." The summoner answered. His voice sounded small to his own ears.

Jecht looked between the two, the tension between them obvious to even him and making him eye the bald man before him warily. What about him had Braska so out of sorts? They obviously knew each other, but how? Was there some kind of danger here that he should be aware of? He couldn't help shuffling around as he kept his senses glued to the slightly shorter man.

Cid's eyes narrowed further and he leaned forward, Jecht moving a bit closer to Braska as he did so, and asked the question Braska was dreading.

"Why?"

When Auron had first climbed upon the ship he was startled by the crew's attire. It took his exhausted, heat ladled brain several moments to recognize the people as Al Bhed. The process was sped up when they started speaking to him, the language so very obviously different from his own.

He cursed himself for not learning a lick of the language when he had the chance. Even from Braska when they were travelling. It seemed his arrival on the ship caused quite the commotion. He couldn't understand what they were saying but from the multiple gestures they made while they talked and pointed at him it seemed that at least a good handful of the crew wanted to just throw him back.

That did little to ease him.

Thankfully it seemed the man they kept referring these actions to seemed solid in his response in shooting them down, Auron could tell it was a no by the thin lips and the firm shake of the head. When pressed he made a sweeping gesture and went off in a rant.

Thankfully that man, Auron called him Captain for he surely had to be, seemed to have more people on his side and eventually the commotion fell away to irritated mutterings.

"They don't hate you." A young voice said pulling Auron away from the meal of slop that Captain had handed to him after witnessing Auron lose his stomach over the side of the boat. All the sun he was getting was beginning to get to be too much for him and he had been dragged into a very small corner of the cabin with a bucket and a small bundle of blankets. Every now and then one of the crew members would come in and ask him something but since he didn't know how to respond he'd only shake his head and they'd leave.

"What?" He choked out as he forced himself to swallow the food in his throat. The slop was tasteless and on more than one occasion, didn't sit well with his stomach. One of two reasons he needed the bucket in his room.

A young teenager filled the doorway of his very tiny cabin, brown hair pulled up in a ponytail of dreadlocks as he looked at Auron, a mop in one hand. Auron was quick to get over the small shock that the boy had actually spoke and made sense before speaking again.

"What do you mean?"

The teen rolled his eyes slightly but leaned against the doorway. "Those men arguing with Brutis. They don't hate you. They simply believe that an Al Bhed ship should hold Al Bhed passengers. No foreigners be they Ronso, Guado...you. It's a bit of loyalty that can get a bit…extreme." He explained, watching as the warrior slowly processed the information. Understanding seemed to slowly fill the ex-monks eyes and he straightened in his sitting position atop his few blankets.

"And the rest of the crew? The ones with Brutis?"

The teen gave a simple shrug as he moved away from the door. "A persons a person. We can't just let you die at sea."

Auron found himself staring at his slop, head bobbing at the boy's words before footsteps echoed in the room. He looked up in time to see the boy leaving, his ponytail just dipping out of sight when Auron called out quickly.

"Wait!"

The boy peered back in, disinterest on his face.

"If you er—"

"Nooj." The boy supplied.

Auron nodded. "If you could thank Brutis for me, and maybe ask him where we're headed." If he could get his bearings about him maybe he could find some information on Braska and Jecht. This small bout had temporarily driven the motion of being a guardian from his mind but once he reached land he would be back on full duty.

Nooj looked at him as if he had just asked what color water was before giving a snort that could've been mistaken for a laugh as he disappeared from sight, but not before he replied, "We're going home."

"I—"

"I mean you were already a summoner once." Cid continued as he straightened and began walking, pacing in front of the end of Braska's bed. Each footstep seemed to echo through the room, even more so as people seemed to trickle out of the room until it was just the three of them, minus the sleeping patients.

"I—" Braska tried once more.

"But you strayed. You got married and started a family. You let others have a chance to take up the summoner's path." Cid started.

"Cid—"

"But now you want to be a summoner again? Is it duty?"

"N—"

"Unfinished business?"

"N—"

"Or are you selfish? You don't care about your family?"

"NO!" Braska yelled out, anger flushing him at Cid's last accusation. "I love my family!"

Jecht could feel the atmosphere in the room drop but Cid was either oblivious or just one tough hard ass as his brow flattened and he met Braska's glare. "Then why are you here?"

"I became a summoner. Someone has to defeat Sin. I'm not doing it to avenge my wife. I'm not doing it because I gave up the first time. No, gave up is the wrong word. I fell in love and found a life worth living. But how can I live that life knowing that at any moment anything worth cherishing can be taken away in a heartbeat? That Sin can simply appear and destroy everything precious to me and I had a chance to put an end to it and its destruction? To bring a calm? I am here to ensure that my daughter can live. I entrusted Yuna to the temple in Bevelle." Braska replied, fire seeming to fill him as he spoke.

Silence enveloped the room for several moments. Cid's face was blank before he seemed to calm and seated himself on the edge of Braska's bed, his gaze far off.

"And not to me?" Cid asked after a moment. "I am her uncle."

He sounded wistful and sad.

Braska's fire was gone and he receded back into the pillow behind him. "You are also miles away in Bikanel desert." He countered. The bald man's shoulders seemed to droop and nothing was said until he picked himself off the bed and stood, back facing towards the two men.

"I'll get Lodi to come see how you're faring."

For the rest of the trip Auron's go to guy was Nooj. It help tremendously that he could speak Spiran. Brutis seemed to pick up on his dependence on the boy and before long Nooj was practically his captor for he felt like he was captive upon the ship. He had been ill inside the cabin for at least the few days it took them to navigate through the sea and turn back towards Bikanel desert.

And now they were on land and the heat and sand were irritating him beyond belief.

"It's not far." Nooj assured as he saw the sour look on the guardians face. The ship had pulled to the edge of the island but Home was located in the middle of all these fiend ridden dunes. The crew had to ride sand hovers which could seat at least 3 people, with of course the spoils of whatever they had found while out at sea.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you." Auron replied as he watched the sand swirl as the crewmates began to scurry up onto the awaiting hovers. Nooj's answer was a smile as he climbed onto a hover himself, forcing Auron to do the same for fear of losing his translator. Thankfully for Auron, like Nooj had promised, the journey to Home really wasn't far with the help of the hovers.

They swerved around several fiends and in no time the large building that was a home to any and all Al Bhed's made its appearance. Everything seemed to be going smoothly and it was only when they made to get off the hovers near the front of the building that things took a small turn.

A guard blinked before squinting and tilting his head, examining Auron as he passed some of the cargo over to Nooj. His face suddenly lit up and before Auron could understand what was happening the guard was shouting back to another guard and pointing.

"Ed'c oui! Damm Lodi E vuiht dra seccehk vunaehkan cra fyc muugehk vun!" He shouted and before Auron could really gather his bearings three guards had surrounded him and were rushing him inside Home. Lodi had never bothered to mention to the men why they were to be on the look-out for Auron so as far as they knew, he was someone of high importance which was why they were quick to whisk him away. Auron was too bewildered to speak and could only catch snippets of conversations as he was dragged through several corridors and down several flights of stairs.

The men turn suddenly and went through a wide door that slid open at their presence, a handful of people filling it's space.

"Lodi!" The three cried out in unison. Apparently this was their destination. All eyes turned to look at the sudden intruders and Auron physically started at the familiar faces.

"…Auron?"

Braska was blinking in confusion, having long ago been confused by the absence of his other guardian while Jecht let a large smirk cross his face.

"Auron! Man! Where have you been?!" The blitzer declared as he drew the stunned warrior into a one-armed hug. Lodi and Cid ignored the three as they listened to the guards, Al Bhed filling the silence as Auron just gaped mutely at his companions before the reality of the situation hit him.

And the memories of how everything happened.

His face darkened and his eyes lit like fire as he glared fiercely at Jecht.

"I should kill you!" He roared as he lunged towards the other man.

Oui muug dannepma. Oui cruimt mea tufh yht mad sa lralg oui. - You look terrible. You should lie down and let me check you.

Ra'c yfyga – He's awake

Dra cissuhan'c yfyga – The summoner's awake

Cusauha kad – Someone get (Lodi/Cid)

Fryd yna oui tuehk ib? Oui cruimt pa cmaabehk! – What are you doing up? You should be sleeping!

Mayja dra vunaekhanc ymuha Nally– Leave the foreigners alone (Nally)

Ed'c oui! Damm Lodi E vuiht dra seccehk vunaehkan cra fyc muugehk vun! – It's you! Tell (Lodi) I found the missing foreigner!