A/N: Hello again! Sorry this update's so late but some of this chapter was just really hard to write in such a way that I'm not giving too much away and all that. Anyways enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy or the Hunger Games
Chapter 10: One Day At A Time
Of all the things Yuna thought she'd feel through the course of the games, she'd never thought she'd feel this. The feeling that was settling into the bottom of her stomach and grating away at her mind as she walked through the forest along with her group. Every tree looked the same, every root looked similar to the last and the dullness was tearing at her nerves making her feel sluggish and worn down.
Boredom.
She was unbelievably bored.
They had been walking for three days now since her sending and they'd only come across a fiend once and Zidane and Tidus had swiftly taken care of it. Her feet had pained her at first which surprised her since she had been trained to perform a summoning on any type of landscape and she really shouldn't have felt any pain at all. They had been throbbing not only an hour ago but now they were numb, void of any pain or feeling whatsoever. The process of putting one foot in front of the other without stepping on anything that could threaten her balance had become second nature to her now that she didn't even have to think about where to put her foot on the forest floor. She hadn't tripped just yet but it could well happen soon.
"You seem to be very close," Garnet's soft voice came from her left. Yuna turned to look down at the small girl, taking the chance to marvel at how dark her eyes were; if she looked close enough, she could see her image reflected in their dark orbs. "You and Tidus," she added after a short pause, her face holding a neutral yet kind expression.
Yuna allowed a small smile to grace her lips though it held sadness as she looked at the back of her best friend's spiky head of sun-kissed blonde hair. She returned her gaze to back to Garnet and nodded her head slowly. "We've always been really close," she replied softly. "We've nearly always been joined at the hip. It's not surprising since we grew up together… back in Besaid," a lump lodged itself in her throat as memories of her home flashed through her mind but she swallowed hard and continued on. "He used to always stick up for me when my older sister wasn't around and he used to always cheer me up when I was upset or when I hurt myself, or when Isaaru's training was especially harsh or when I was exhausted after practising spells. He tried to teach me how to play blitzball and how to use a sword and he never ever got mad when I couldn't do it or when I hit him with the ball by accident…" she trailed off and smiled sheepishly at Garnet, a slight rosy blush staining her cheeks. "Sorry for rambling."
"It's ok, I understand," Garnet said with a small smile of her own. A red-gloved hand reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek that Yuna hadn't even known she'd shed. Garnet's dark eyes shifted to the left then to the right before they returned to Yuna as she lowered her voice sot that only the two white mages could hear. "Zidane and I are the same. Don't tell anyone but… before I met him, I led a really sheltered life, I was a princess and he was a thief, we should never have consorted with one another but…" here she smiled slightly, her gaze flickering to the thief walking beside Tidus before it returned to Yuna, "he really changed my life. I don't know where I'd be without him…"
"I know the feeling," Yuna gave the younger teenager an understanding smile. She wasn't too surprised to hear that Garnet was of royal blood, when Yuna had first met her she had instantly noticed the way her posture was perfect and how she was so soft-spoken and mannerly. Even walking alongside the girl she'd noticed how unaware she was of the world around her and the way she sometimes marvelled at the sight of the towering trees or fiends. She had suspected that Garnet had come from a rich background but the thought of her being a princess hadn't crossed the summoners mind at all.
Her heart went out to Garnet though, despite the fact that the girl was in a place where it was either kill or be killed Garnet still looked like she was enjoying the small shred of freedom she was experiencing and the fact that she could talk to other people and just be normal for once – well as normal as one could be when in the games. Yuna knew how hard it was to be a figure that people looked up to and the pressure it came with, having to look perfect and act mannerly and always having to be protected and supervised. Granted Garnet's situation was probably ten times worse than her own, the priests in the Temple hadn't been too strict; after all they had let her live with a bunch of Al Bheds.
"Yuna?" Garnet questioned hesitantly getting the summoner's attention once more. "Do you ever… do you ever wish… that you and Tidus… you know…" A blush stained the fair skin of her cheeks as she stuttered through her question. "Could be more than… just friends?"
Yuna didn't answer the young girl straight away, lost in her thoughts as she tried to truthfully answer the question. She had to admit, she had thought about it, what it would be like to have Tidus as a boyfriend and maybe… well eventually a possible husband. Would they be happy like that? Did he even think such thoughts? Everyone at home used to tease them about it, saying they'd get married someday, she knew the priests wouldn't approve, they'd want her to marry a rich maester or another summoner rather than a blitzer. But what did she want? If she and Tidus had never come to the games, would they have gotten married? Would he commit to her even knowing what she had to do?
"Sometimes… I do," Yuna answered the patient girl slowly, choosing her words carefully as she shifted the rucksack on her shoulder into a more comfortable position. "But sometimes… I don't… It's complicated. Tidus… he'd make a great husband and father, I have no doubt that he'd take care of me for the rest of our lives but…" she trailed off casting a sorrowful glance towards her best friend before he eyes lowered to the ground as she walked on. "I just… I couldn't put him through that…"
Garnet gave her a confused almost horrified look. "What do you mean? I mean…" she hesitated a sheepish smile creeping onto her face as she let a small giggle escape from her lips, "you couldn't be that bad."
Yuna gave off a small laugh that held no humour the same way her smile held no warmth. "No… it's not that I'd be a terrible wife or anything like that, I just…" she let her sentence stretch off once more, afraid to give off to much information about her abilities and personal life. "People like me… we… we don't live… normal lives and… we don't live for very long. I guess… I just wouldn't let him commit to me if I couldn't return that commitment."
She let out a soft shaky breath as she finished her shady explanation. She couldn't reveal everything to the young girl; they had enough on their plate already neither needed to be thinking depressing thoughts about their duties. But even walking alongside the young mage, a thought kept nagging at her mind. Why bother to survive the games? Why bother to try and live when she'd only die in the future? Why try to prolong her fate? She couldn't change it, it was already sealed.
It was extremely tempting, to just lay back and die. She was carrying guns, wasn't she? All she had to do was raise the barrel to her temple and pull the trigger, it would be all over then. No more pain, no more fighting, no more watching people die just eternal rest, just reuniting with her family. Why not simply act on her thoughts and end it all?
She hadn't even realised she had been staring fondly at the pistol in her hands until the cool metal accidently brushed against the exposed skin of her abdomen, sending shivers up her spine and returning her to reality. She shook her head in an attempt to rid her mind of her dark thoughts and lowered the gun back to her side, finger off the trigger.
She couldn't simply end it here, Tidus would be heartbroken at the loss of his best friend and no doubt Rikku, Cid, Brother and Isaaru were watching this back at home. She had promised to end the spiral of death in their family, she had promised to bring hope to them, she couldn't just go back on that, she never broke her promises.
And then there was Paine, Lulu, Auron and Shelinda, even Zack! People who had helped her and been kind to her and trained her to survive the games, who had believed in her… well maybe not Auron at first but he had said he'd been wrong about her so she'd counted that as his subtle way of saying he believed in her. She couldn't simply let them down and she couldn't let her sponsors down.
Besides she couldn't simply abandon her duty as a summoner, she had sworn an oath when she had become a full-fledged caller of the aeons and that was one thing she would never turn her back on, no matter how dark the situation.
"I see…" Garnet eventually said breaking Yuna out of her thoughts. Although she claimed she understood by the look on her face Yuna didn't think that she really made sense of any of her words at all. "So if you can… never be with the person you love then… why bother? Is that right?" Her voice cracked slightly and even though the young girl tried to keep her expression neutral, the way her eyebrows slanted and bottom lip stuck out told Yuna she was failing. "I mean, why bother to tell them… what could've been and… what might've been when it can never happen… right?" She asked again, her dark brown eyes shining in the fading sunlight as droplets of unshed tears began to gather at the corners.
Yuna's heart wrenched at the sight of the young girl beside her, understanding her situation completely and knowing exactly who she was talking about. Even though she hadn't known the girl for long, she still wrapped an arm around her small shoulder and pulled her close to her body as a means of comfort. Garnet did nothing to fight the embrace and leant into the summoner's petite frame as a tear escaped from her eye.
"You know…" Yuna said softly as the sun began to dip behind the far off hills casting beautiful autumn colours across the darkening sky. "In these games… what you were before doesn't really matter, here we're all equals; we're all just teenagers who are just trying to survive. You're not a princess and Zidane's not a thief, you're both just tributes. So… if you really love him, then… go for it."
Garnet pulled away slightly to look up at the summoner, a small bit of hope flickering in her eyes but dying quickly as her face fell once more. "But only one of us… will survive-"
"One day at a time Garnet," Yuna interrupted her softly, giving the white mage a small smile of support. "Just take it one day at a time."
Garnet looked down, seemingly lost in her thoughts as both girls clung to one another for support while walking. Neither of the boys noticed their little moment nor did Ashe who was leading the troop ahead towards high ground. Yuna felt Garnet's arm tighten around her waist from the side and she gave the girl's shoulder a small squeeze in response. She knew she was treading on dangerous waters by acting so friendly and discussing such personal matters with another opponent, Paine was probably hacking away at a dummy shaped like Shelinda because of her actions but she couldn't help it. She just needed someone to lean on too at that moment.
"Dagger," Garnet finally broke the long comfortable silence.
"What?"
"Zidane calls me that sometimes," Garnet replied shifting slightly to look at Yuna. "You can too."
Yuna gave the girl a small smile as they continued to walk on towards where Tidus, Ashe and Zidane had stopped, probably to set up camp for the night. The young white mage nuzzled closer to Yuna, taking comfort in her natural scent and body warmth as the summoner hugged her closer.
"Alright, Dagger," Yuna whispered softly never seeing the small smile of joy that crept onto the girl's lips.
A cloudless night sky filled with bright stars looked down upon the small group of tributes. The cool breeze whistled through the trees and rustled the leaves, breaking the eerie silence of the twilight hour. A small fire flickered in the centre of their makeshift camp, giving the tributes a small bit of warmth and light as they huddled around in blankets.
Ashe had volunteered to take the first watch while Zidane perched himself up on a high branch as a second lookout with Dagger by his side. Yuna had to smile to herself as she noticed Zidane's tail discreetly wrap around Dagger's waist and pull her closer to him while the young girl blushed madly but smiled happily all the same.
Yuna was curled up at the base of a tree near the fire with a blanket wrapped around her. Tidus shared the blanket with her, his face looking so relaxed and childlike as he slept, his head resting comfortably in her lap. She played with his spiky hair as he snored softly, looking for a small task to do as sleep evaded her. She didn't know whether it was from her aeons being on constant alert, knowing their summoner was still in dangerous territory or whether it was her own nerves keeping her awake. She sent a silent plea to the fayth praying they'd give it a break and let her catch a small bit of sleep but her prayers went unanswered.
She rubbed her eyes tiredly as Tidus groaned in displeasure in his sleep when she stopped stroking his hair. She let a soft giggle escape her lips at his unconscious antics and resumed the task of soothing him while he slept. It soothed her too, to know that he was safe and well and in her company and the fact that she couldn't hear fiends roaming around as she had over the past few nights only helped her calm aura. Even though she wasn't sleeping, she still felt as though she was regaining lost energy from their long daytime travelling and for the moment that was good enough for her.
She stared at the fire for some time, simply watching as the flames twirled upwards creating puffs of smoke that drifted off into the night air, disappearing into the deep black sky to join the stars. She found her free hand unconsciously moving in sync with the flames, twisting them and curling them in her own way. She really appreciated Lulu's training in the arts of black magic, books had helped her a lot too but without Lulu she'd be at a complete loss. The black mage had given her so many tips about how to work with the elements, that spells were far more powerful when you treated the elements as equals not as slaves.
Like fire; it's hot and fiery and runs its own course. Work with it and it will warm you, abuse it and it will burn you. You can't control it; you must simply guide it, encourage it to run your way. Every element is different, for water you must be flexible, for ice, strong and solid, for thunder, sharp and precise and for fire light yet firm with a touch of gentleness.
She'd mastered the most basic forms of the four, and had some experience of them in their second levels but water by far was her best element, it felt like… home.
Happy thoughts of the life she left behind entered her mind as her eyelids started to droop and her hand ceasing its movement. The sea, the sunset, the sand beneath her feet as she watched Tidus play blitzball, it all felt so real…
Beware Yuna, Valefor's soft girlish voice broke into her thoughts though the young fayth sounded on edge and weary. Her eyes opened wide as she sat bolt upright, disturbing the blitzer on her lap but never noticing. She grows closer…
Who? Yuna questioned anxiously, shivers running up and down her spine as goose bumps appeared on her skin. Something about the way she could feel Valefor's wings shifting tensely in her soul sent cold fear into her heart.
Her surroundings faded around her, as did Tidus' confused expression. She could hear his voice calling her name but it sounded as if it were coming from the bottom of a well and it was slowly getting quieter and quieter until she could no longer hear him.
Darkness surrounded her, there was no ground beneath her feet yet she was floating as Vaelfor's fayth appeared in front of her, glowing slightly. The other fayth stood – or rather floated – behind the young girl, each expression neutral yet guarded though the thick tension in the air betrayed their feelings.
It will not keep secrets from its true owner, despite its unreal state, Valefor continued on as though she had not spoken at all, her voice sounding distant and hauntingly fearful.
True owner? Unreal state? What? Yuna continued to ask, closing her eyes and breathing deeply despite her rising panic. She focused fully on her aeons' voices and feelings just as Isaaru had taught her. The uneasiness of their instincts nearly made her gasp for breath as waves of alarm rolled over her. She took a final deep breath and released it slowly, calming down her aeons slightly.
This gaming field isn't real, Yuna, Shiva's firm, wise voice came into her mind, crystal clear but the summoner could sense a tone of fear lying beneath her feminine voice. It's made purely from new technology, nothing but an illusion.
So… you're talking about the field in general? Yuna tried to make sense of her aeons words and discover what exactly they meant by 'it'. The trees, the plants, the earth and the sky?
Not the sky, the sky is not part of her domain, Shiva responded almost instantly, each word sending shivers through Yuna's body due to her cold breath.
Who is she? She asked her voice quivering slightly. Her aeons' neutral expressions became suddenly fearful as they faded from her vision and images of fire and earth forced their way into her mind. The smoke, the heat, the weight pulling her down… it was just too much. Her concentration was lost completely as her panic finally broke to the surface and her aeons faded. Her breathing started to come in harsh, laboured gasps of air and her throat ran dry like the sands of the Bikanel desert.
She forced her eyes to open and release her from the torturous nightmares and concerned blue ones met hers though for once they did nothing to calm her down. Even though his mouth was moving, she still couldn't hear him, only one voice rang in her mind; Bahamut's voice.
Run.
For about the millionth time that day he sighed in annoyance.
He always guarded his emotions around others, especially those he didn't know but now that he was alone, watching the small group huddled around the campfire he could express them more leniently. There were only a few people who had ever really seen him annoyed or angry and even fewer had seen him happy or excited. His partner from his Sector had tried to get some emotional response out of him but to no avail although she had come close to it. His mentor had gotten a laugh out of him, he was one of the only people he could really show emotion to easily and voluntarily.
He pushed his thoughts of the three weeks before the games from his mind and continued to watch the girl with sandy hair patrol the perimeter. He was waiting for the tall girl to come around his way so he could stealthily take her out without her comrades knowing.
However she was taking her sweet time.
He sighed in annoyance once more, but remained still and quiet, concealed by both the shadows and the bushes. He could see the supplies from where he was crouching and his stomach rumbled at the thought of food. He hadn't eaten in over a day and his insides were paying the price, however he mentally shushed it and continued to observe and judge the group.
The smallest girl with the dark hair cuddled up to the monkey boy was no threat to him, she'd be easy enough to kill should she put up a fight and he should be able to best the boy beside her and the girl who was scouting easily in a fair fight. The blonde blitzer may pose a slight threat, he'd been studying him in the training at the Capitol and noticed how fast he was despite his strong build, though he didn't think that the blonde would be able to kill him either.
Finally his eyes rested on the sleeping teen which the blonde's head rested in. He slept happily as the girl played with his hair, eyes focused fully on the fire. He watched in interest as she moved her hand delicately out in front of her, the glow of the fire reflecting in her eyes as she rested her back against the trunk of the tree.
He didn't know what it was about her that he found so interesting, even before they entered the games his eyes always seemed to train on her, both consciously and unconsciously. She was just so hard to figure out, like a puzzle. When he'd first seen her, from the window of his hotel room as he watched all the tributes arrive, she'd seemed quiet and shy and in a way… delicate, nothing at all like her mentor, Paine. But then, she had almost seemed to shed her skin in training, showing a side to her that no one knew as she used her guns to target dummies.
What surprised him the most was when she protected Sector Eight's tribute against Garland's harassments. She didn't have to do it, yet she did and had even managed to get under the brute's skin with confidence that had come practically out of nowhere. The fact that she was a good six inches or so shorter than Garland yet glaring defiantly as though oblivious to such a detail had earned her a small bit of respect from him. Just a bit though.
But even now he couldn't figure her out, as he watched her eyelids slowly droop and eventually close completely. She was shy on her arrival then confident at the parade, fierce in training then sweet in the interviews, calm around allies yet wild around enemies. He'd even heard that she'd attacked the Turks and at first he hadn't believed it but now he was beginning to doubt his judgement.
He felt that he could best her in a fight but she always seemed to be full of surprises, he had never suspected her to be capable of holding up garland's sword nor did he expect her to be able to walk on water. He had thought she'd fight the malboro but instead she'd… danced? Of course she had shot the malboro and it had exploded into some kind of stars but then Kadaj had appeared. He died years ago in the games so how had he come back? Was she some kind of a necromancer? But why would she kill someone she'd resurrected? What was she trying to prove?
He found himself growing even more annoyed at the fact that she was simply unsolvable. He wasn't stupid, he knew his left from his right but her… nothing and that alone made him simply want to know her. She seemed to have this aura about her, it was strong and calm… almost sacred. He'd only really experienced this feeling from one other person but even then, it wasn't as strong as this.
His attention had drifted completely away from the girl scouting the perimeter of their camp as he watched a troubled expression cross the girl's face before she sat bolt right up, her eyes flying open in an expression of alarm. He raised a curious eyebrow at her strange actions before shifting into a more comfortable crouching position and watching the scene unfold.
The blitzer, his slumber now disturbed, sat up with her as worry flashed in his eyes. He placed a tanned hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly but it didn't do any good, her eyes continued to stare straight ahead, unfocused before closing as she took deep breaths.
The blitzer became more alarmed and sat on his knees in front of her, grabbing both her shoulders and shaking her a bit more harshly while calling out to her. "Yuna? Yuna!? Yuna, wake up!"
Yuna… the name was unusual yet it suited her all the same. He could remember her name from the interviews with Reno but somehow with all the running and fighting he'd been doing, it had simply slipped to the back of his mind. It had been on the tip of his tongue as he'd watched her dance on the lake's surface yet he couldn't seem to get it out. It was almost as if he had been in a trance, watching her twirl on a fountain as though she had done so her whole life. Perhaps she had.
Her eyes suddenly opened again and the rest of her party had gathered around to see what was wrong. It was the perfect opportunity to steal the goods and run off before they even noticed and he wouldn't even have to kill anyone, it wasn't that he had a problem with killing others he just wanted to avoid it if possible and now he had his chance!
But he never took it; his eyes were glued to Yuna as she gasped for air. Had she had a nightmare or something? Beads of sweat had gathered on her forehead as she coughed, her shoulders shaking as she tried to support herself. The blitzer held her around the shoulders as her coughing ceased and he tried to console her but she pushed him off and stood to her feet, slightly wobbly at first but maintaining her balance.
"We have to leave," she blurted out suddenly. The other tributes looked at her in confusion as did he. Had she seen him? No, she couldn't have, he was quieter than any average human and practically undetectable when he wanted to be. Could she sense him or something? Was that even possible for a human like her?
Then a new thought crossed his mind, was she even human? Was she genetically altered as members of SOLDIER? Was she injected with cells of Jenova and infused with mako? He wished he could see her eyes again, just to see if there was the familiar eerie glow but the fire reflected in them obscured his vision of their colour. Or maybe she belonged to that mythical race of people, maybe she was a part of the Ancients…
"Grab the supplies and put out the fire," she continued on, picking up her bags and hefting them over her shoulder before turning back to her teammates. "We need to move now!"
The patroller stepped forward with a dubious expression in her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why? What's wrong?"
"Something's coming, another tribute," Yuna explained hastily as she packed up the other bags. When she noticed her team hadn't moved a look of desperation entered her eyes and her voice took on a pleading tone. "We're about to be ambushed, we need to get away from here!"
"How do you know?" the monkey boy asked, his arm wrapped noticeably around the youngest girl who leaned into his embrace.
He found himself leaning forward with interest, anticipating Yuna's answer, maybe this would be the answer to his puzzle, maybe he wouldn't have to figure her out, she could simply tell him… unknowingly.
The gunner looked like she was hiding something as her eyes darted to the floor and she began to nibble on her bottom lip in a cute manner. It was evident the only answer she could think of to his question was the truth but she didn't want to tell it.
Much to his annoyance the blitzer decided to answer for her. "She can sense things," he explained vaguely with a shrug of his shoulders.
"She's never been wrong before?"
He looked her dead in the eye and shook his head. "Never." With that, he picked up two of the bags and hefted them over his shoulder and looked to the other tributes with a raised brow, obviously coaxing them to follow suit.
The young girl seemed to trust Yuna as she left the comfort of her boyfriend's embrace and picked up her own bag, a determined look in her dark eyes. "I trust her," she looked to the two remaining tributes with a tilt of her head. "She can explain in detail later."
Yuna nodded once in appreciation and picked up a bag to her left, tossing it to the young boy who caught it and gave a silent nod of acceptance as he reached for another. Ashe however remained still, suspicion written all over her face.
He strained to hear them more clearly and that's when he heard the click. It was so soft and quiet that no ordinary human would've heard it. He tensed and kept his eyes on the opposite side of the forest where it came from. Yuna must've sensed something too by the way her shoulders tensed and she pulled her twin pistols out from the back of her boy shorts, squinting into the dimly lit trees.
A flash of silver reflected against the moonlight and caught both Cloud and Yuna's eyes, forgetting about his cover he threw himself to the ground on his stomach as the sound of gun being shot echoed through the quiet night and Yuna's body hit the ground.