They grow up so fast.
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italics = denotes thought or memory (for the most part)
Not Mine
Dusky - 5 Days Until the Coronation
A loud scream interrupted Auron, forcing him to put the book he was reading down. Currently it was just himself and Naimi in the house. Which narrowed down the candidates of the scream. Leaving him to wonder just what had happened. Rikku had gone off into the village a little while ago to collect a few things for the ship, which meant he and Naimi had been left to their own devices. Naimi had gone upstairs to work on some machina project while he had tidied the house before settling down to read. For about an hour the house had been silent save a few muttered words from upstairs and the occasional sound of machina being worked on. The scream changed all that and Naimi came clunking down the stairs wrench in hand, "I had my window open for just a moment because my room was getting stuffy and Dusky saw a butterfly and just lept from the window!" Her eyes were wide, clearly shocked by what had happened.
Dusky was a monkey they had rescued during an excavation mission to the furthest side of Old Zanarkand. Apparently without humans around monkeys felt free to roam the dead city. With the lay of the land their own, the monkeys had made a home there. Naimi had spent the day chasing after their tails while Rikku worked and Auron fought off whatever fiend had the bad luck to stumble into their area. However one of the fiends had slipped past his radar and by the time he had seen it the giant Bashura had crashed through a great deal of rubble and was attempting to attack Naimi and the monkey she was currently holding. His daughter had scrambled out of the way monkey clutched in her arms for protection. Auron had run to her rescue but not before the monkey had managed to free itself from Naimi's grip. More rubble had gone flying, alerting Rikku who had sprung to action. With the two of them now in combat the creature had been easily defeated, but the damage had been done. In the middle of the scuffle something must have landed on the monkey because it was hollering, paw stuck under a rock.
Naimi had freed him and then spent the rest of the excavation seeing to its health. When it was time to go the monkey had followed her back to the ship. In front of the loading dock the monkey had sat in refusal, despite many attempts to get it to go back home. Finally both Auron and Rikku had given up exasperated and let the girl bring him on-board. It didn't take long for the monkey to grow on the crew and even less time for it to become a bit of an official mascot. Naimi had quickly named him Dusky, although no one really knew where the name had come from, "I'm sure he's fine." Auron told her.
"What if he doesn't come back!" Naimi cried, upset.
"Will it make you feel better if we go look for him?" Auron asked.
"Yes." She answered wiping her hands free of oil on her apron, face brightening considerably. Watching her Auron was reminded of how easily she was able to control the whims of her parents and sighed.
"Go clean up then, and we'll go see about finding him."
"Right away tyt!"
The young girl ran up the steps and came back down a few minutes later, most of the grease wiped off her hands and face. She had changed into red shorts and a loose fitting yellow tank top. A brown belt with an added pouch for potential collected items hung around her waist. Tucked into the belt was one of her mother's daggers, "You're not bringing that with you."
"What if we're attacked?" She inquired.
"That's what I'm for." Auron said strapping his sword to his back.
"And if you're outnumbered?"
He held out his hand and Naimi begrudgingly gave him the dagger. Auron hung it on the hook next to the door where Rikku stored her weapons after returning home. Making sure she exited first so she could not take the weapon back he joined her. Outside it was sticky and hot, Kilika well into it long summer. When the cooler season came the stickiness would go away leaving the warmth but without all the humidity. Naimi brushed her hair out of her eyes and looked out into the vast jungle in front of them. Watching his daughter, Auron resigned himself to the long search that was going consume the rest of the day and thrust aside the plant life venturing inside the thicket, "Are you coming?"
"Yeah, yeah hold on!" Naimi said while sweeping her hair up into a high ponytail that very much reminded Auron of how her mother wore her hair. Or had - before it became too long and a constant braid was the only answer.
Hair out of the way, Naimi followed her father into the brush and swatted at a bug as it settled on her skin attempting to bite down. While she loved her home away from home Auron knew she missed the metal and steel of her mother's airship. Something about it just resonated with her on a deeper level than that of Kilika island. Still, she didn't complain and often enjoyed swimming in the clear water in front of their hut, "How are your studies going?" Auron asked in reference to whatever she was working on in her room.
Originally Auron and Rikku had thought about enrolling Naimi into the one small school on the island, but their lives had proved too hectic. They agreed that enrolling her just to keep pulling her out of class wouldn't teach her anything. Rikku had also argued that she hadn't gone to school and she had been fine. After all, Rikku's own craft didn't need any sort of fancy training at school but instead required deep hands on study. So instead they had made a pact - Auron would teach her history and literature, while Rikku would teach her the science behind machina. They had both agreed that language was not necessary, Namai already spoke Al Bhed and as long as Rikku used it around the house every so often she would not forget it. Their daughter had taken to all subjects with relish, loving building and tinkering the most, "It's okay. Building power sources is hard - Sus should have warned me." Naimi stopped and cupped her hands around her mouth, "Dusky! Duskyyyy!" She yelled into the trees but only bird chirps answered her.
"Your mother has a very hands on approach, and even if she would have told you how hard it was going to be you would have done it anyway." Auron told her.
"I want to learn." They traveled deeper into the green underbrush, "Dusky!" Naimi called again.
This time they got two answers, a howl - which Naimi recognized and another more shrill shriek. The sound of the shriek sent shivers up Auron's spine and he narrowed his eyes past the trees and into the vast jungle. Twigs snapping and leaves being brushed aside alerted them to the fact that something was coming. As the sounds got louder and louder it became apparent that it was not just one something that was coming. No - it was one small something followed by many large somethings. Dusky swung out of the trees and onto Naimi's shoulder just before the ferns in front of them opened and five Dinonix, followed by one Queen Coeurl crashed into the small opening in which they stood.
The five giant lizard fiends leapt at Naimi and she rolled out of the way. One of them met Auron's sword blade but the distraction was enough that the cat like Queen Coeurl could take advantage of his position to swipe at him. Her claws dug into his shoulder and forced him away from Naimi - leaving her open and exposed. In that moment he wished that he had allowed Naimi her mother's dagger. For quite some time he and Rikku had debated on teaching Naimi to fight. They had compromised on teaching her the basics, so she could defend herself on the off chance they were not around. But her tutelage had not gone beyond that, "Naimi!" He called out to her.
"One second!" She seemed to be searching in her pouch for something and finally pulled out a squat flat disk that Auron recognized instantly. It was in that moment Auron was glad that Naimi took after her mother as much as she did, "Okay, let's see. How does this work? Sus would just twist it and touch and -"
She was cut off as she touched the node in the center and the magic and science took over. Moments later two small daggers appeared in her hands, "Be careful." Auron warned her.
"I'll try!" She looked up at the monkey gripping onto her for deal life, "Hold on Dusky."
A Dinonix leapt at her and she ducked out of the way again. With her left she stuck out - kicking it, but it did not go down. A second lizard attacked her but she was saved by her father's sword stroke. Together the two of them were able to hold off the attacking fiends but for each attack they blocked the two of them were pushed further and further back into the jungle. Despite this Auron couldn't help but be proud of the way that Naimi held her ground and was able to deflect attacks sent her way. In the heat of combat he noted that she was even able to kill one of the Dinonix fiends. Her minimal training was paying off and he was glad Rikku had managed to talk him into it.
The Queen Coeurl let out a growl and cast a powerful spell Naimi's way, but Auron seeing the cat's intent leapt in front of his daughter and took the brunt of the red colored magic. Naimi let out a little gasp but he turned to her and smiled, "Don't worry about me. I've finished charging."
From the many times she had seen her father fight while she was on the sidelines she knew what that meant. Straightening to stand tall her father leapt high in the air and brought his sword down into the ground. The shock-wave of the attack killed all the enemies in the field around them. When he felt like it was safe Auron turned around to look at Naimi who was catching her breath, "That wasn't as exciting as you and Sus make it out to be. It was scary!" She said.
"Sometimes battle can be exciting. If you are fighting with the right people." Auron said.
"You probably only think that because you are unsent." Naimi pocketed the garment grid and pulled out small potion and handed it to him to drink, "Sus says to always be prepared right?"
Auron drank the potion and felt his wounds slowly close, and health and vigor return to him. But hearing Rikku's name made him pause for a second, "Let's just not tell your mother about this - okay?"
Naimi gave him this look then, that she thought he was dumb for even suggesting it and he was glad to know that she agreed with him. He couldn't figure out if Rikku would be upset that she missed seeing Naimi's first real combat, or beside herself with worry. The most terrifying thought was that she would be both. Backtracking through the jungle took a bit longer than they had expected, and by the time they found themselves back on their beach front property the sun was already setting. Auron hadn't realized that so much time had passed - but what greeted his eyes did not lie. Rikku was standing on the porch staring at the both of them, bags most likely long put away, "Where in the fareplane have you guys been!?" She exclaimed.
"Dusky ran into the woods so tyt and I went to go find him." Naimi lifted Dusky up to show her mom.
"And you're okay?" She inquired.
"We are fine. Home safe and sound." Auron walked up the porch to kiss Rikku on the forehead, "I should have left you a note."
"Are you sure there isn't anything you want to tell me?"
Both Auron and Naimi shared a look and then Naimi shrugged, "Nope."
In what could have been no more than a blink of an eye Auron realized their mistake. While there were not many cosmetic differences to the Thief dressphere and what Naimi actually wore, the changes were just significant enough to be distinguishable. For someone like Rikku who wore the outfit often, it would be hard not to notice. And so of course Rikku would observe that her daughter's outfit was not the same as the one she wore when working on machina. It didn't even matter if she was holding the daggers or not. His wife was more perceptive than that. Rikku held out her hand, "Then you'd be okay returning my garment grid to me?"
"I-" Naimi paused unsure of what to say.
"We ran into a spot of trouble in the jungle." Auron came clean, "Naimi is okay and I am okay. She saved my life."
Rikku smiled at him, "That's all I wanted to know." She paused for effect, "Now who wants to tell me the details! And don't leave anything out."
A quick look at Naimi's face confirmed that this was not what she had expected from her mother. Auron reasoned that it was good that he knew how to read his wife. Something about the way she had looked at Naimi as she had held out her hand. How her eyes were just ever so softly smiling, instead of frustrated.
As Auron guided his daughter back into the house Naimi's brain caught up to Rikku's words and she launched into a tale of daring do, about how she had swooped in and saved the day. Her hands danced and Rikku laughed. In that moment Auron found himself incredibly proud to call the two people in front of him family.
A/N and Translators Note:
Sus: Mom
Tyt: Dad.
Dusky is a call back to the many, many monkey missions in FFX-2. I didn't like em, but I did em.
