Hello everyone! :) I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a very long time. My laptop broke, school's been insane, the usual time consuming stuff. But now I'm back and I hope to finish this fanfic before taking a huge break again. Enjoy!
We joined back up with the rest of the group and walked into a vast forest. Living in Nevada, I had never really been in a forest before, but I knew that the woods weren't supposed to have blue tinted trees and shining crystals on the branches.
It was really beautiful, and a bit chilly.
I noticed that Rikku was still kinda crouched over, as though she was hiding from the thunder. I walked up to her and lightly touched her back.
"I think we're safe from the thunder now, Rikku." I said.
She looked up at me and sighed in relief.
"I know. I just wanted to be extra sure!" She said before she giggled.
She was always such a bubbly person. It's such a great quality.
I turned around and noticed Tidus and Auron still off in the distance discussing something that made Auron's face more stern that normal. I decided to stay away from that for a bit.
I made my way over to Lulu and began to talk to her.
"So, how much longer until we get to the temple?" I asked.
She looked at me and responded. "The temple is just on the other side of the woods. We just have to cross all the trees' branches and the frozen lake. Then it's just a little bit furthur from there."
I groaned, "Sounds like a bunch of walking to me."
You would think I would be used to all the walking by now. But I'm not. I loved being lazy.
I looked over to Tidus and Auron once again and got lost looking at Tidus. It seemed that every time I would look at him, the more handsome he would become. But I couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about.
TIDUS' POV
"You're worried about Yuna." Auron told me.
I scoffed. "Actually, I'm not. Even though I'm her guardian, I want to stay out of whatever she's planning."
He raised an eyebrow, "You're certain?"
"Yeah. She's a lot stronger than what we think. And if she really wants to get married to make Spira happy, it's fine by me. It isn't smart, but it's for the people, I suppose."
"Hmmm, I wonder." He began to trail off.
"What?"
"She's strong, but she won't go alone. Riley will go with her." He replied.
At the very sound of her name, my heart skipped a beat. I looked over to catch a glimpse of her talking to Lulu. She turned her head to look at me and smiled. Of course I smiled back.
It was then that I realized that Riley would stay by Yuna's side whenever she would face Seymour. That was what worried me.
"Well then, why don't we do something about it?" I asked.
Auron
"Yuna wants it this way. And so does Riley. She hates Seymour more than you do."
It was true.
"I know, but I don't want Ri- I mean both of them to risk getting hurt just to go through with this plan."
Auron took a few steps closer to me so that his face right was in front of mine.
"Do not let Yuna know your feelings for Riley." He whispered in a harsh tone.
I gulped, but shook my head anyways. He took a step back so he wasn't in my personal space any longer.
"It can be obvious from the way you look at her and the way you two speak."
I sighed heavily, "I can't help it! She's everything I could ever ask for and more."
"She is not of this world or yours!" He said strictly.
"I don't care! That shouldn't matter!" I was starting to get angry. How dare he say who I should and shouldn't have feelings for?
He looked at me and chuckled. He really knew how to confuse me.
"You're right." He said.
I folded my arms and huffed. "'Bout time."
He began to walk away from me, signaling that our little chat had ended. But he turned and came back.
"Just don't forget to be a guardian to Yuna. It is your duty."
I shook my head and with that, walked back over to the group.
"Slowpokes!" Rikku shouted, jumping numerous times.
It must be her way of getting energy out, which she has a lot of.
"Sorry!" I replied.
I took a quick glance at Riley, only to catch her looking at me. I winked at her, making her blush and look down at her feet. She was so cute.
Maybe I have more of a chance with her than I thought.
RILEY'S POV
I can't believe he winked at me! I hope no one else saw it. We'd be in deep shit then.
After I had calmed down a bit and the red had left my cheeks, we headed off into the Macalania Woods.
The fiends here were much stronger than the ones we had previously encountered. But we still managed to take them down a step at a time.
We walked through the forest on the wide tree branches, mostly keeping to ourselves. It was becoming too quiet for me since I could hear the breathing of several people.
All of a sudden, we heard a frantic screaming. Everyone stopped walking and began to look around curiously.
"What is that?" I asked to no one in particular.
Around the next corner came Barthello the bonehead running and yelping something about his summoner. He caught sight of us and yelled, "Hey!"
He stopped running and began to pant like a dog.
"You, have you seen Dona?" He asked.
"Can't say we have." I replied.
I wanted to say, 'Oh, you mean that poor excuse for a summoner?' But I kept my mouth shut for once.
"What's up?" Wakka asked, just now coming into the conversation.
"We got separated on the way here. Damn it all! I've got to find her!"
Poor Barthello looked like he was about to yank his hair out of his head whenever Auron decided to pitch in his two cents.
"Calm down." He said.
"But, if anything happens to her..."
"Running around in a panic is not going to help. Right now, you have to keep cool, and search."
I nodded my head in agreement with Auron.
Barthello stuttered,"But-"
"Guard your emotions, then guard your summoner."
And just like the flip of a switch, he was calm. "You're right."
"Shall we search?" Auron offered.
Great, put us off schedule even more.
He shook his head, "No, I've taken up enough of your time. Thank you, Sir Auron."
He performed the prayer gesture and ran off again.
Rikku started to run after him for some reason, but she stopped.
"Rikku, where are you going?" I asked.
"Oh, I just wanted to wish him good luck."
"I'm sure he'll find her. Even though he gets a little bit out of control." I said.
Everyone nodded and we set off again into the woods. The deeper into the woods we got, the colder it became.
I folded my arms and walked closer to Lulu.
"Is it going to be cold like this all the way to Zanarkand?" I asked.
"Macalania and Mt. Gagazet are the only places that should be cold, but I have never been beyond the Calm Lands so I can't really say for sure."
I nodded my head. Awesome, maybe I can freeze to death when we're in the middle of a battle. That will fly really well with everyone else.
Eventually, we reached a little pathway where the road forked off into three different paths.
"Wait. It is here...somewhere." Auron said.
"What's here?" Tidus asked.
"Something you should see."
"But, Sir Auron..." Yuna interjected.
"It won't take long." He said while pulling out his katana blade. He sliced a big tree, making it fall over. He walked in to the hole he had made, and the rest of us followed.
We walked into an area where the ground was soaking wet. There was a small lake in the back of the area and a tree right in the middle of it.
"This place... It's just water, isn't it?" Tidus asked.
"This is what spheres are made of. It absorbs and preserves people's memories." Auron explained.
The idea of water forming into spheres amazed me. But how could they absorb people's memories just like that? It wasn't logical to me. Then again, not a lot of things made sense to me in Spira.
Suddenly, a huge blob of geletin-like water arose from the lake and took the form of a sphere.
"What's that?" Wakka asked.
"Fiends are also attracted to these places." Auron replied.
We all took out our weapons and began the battle. Our bullets, swords and blitzball couldn't hurt it very much, so we had to rely on Lulu's black magic. Every time she would hit the sphere with a spell, it would form into another sphere that required another type of spell to take it down. Eventually, we all weakened it enough to where Lulu cast a fire spell and it began to melt back into the lake. When it disappered, a small orange sphere was floating on top of the water.
We all took a look at it as Tidus picked it up.
Wakka had a surprised look on his face. "Whoa, this is old! Don't know if you can play it back."
"Jecht left it here ten years ago." Auron announced.
Everyone gasped, including me. It would be exciting to see what Tidus' father looked like. Even though he supposedly isn't a good man.
"Play it back." Auron commanded.
Tidus did as he was told and began to play the contents of the sphere.
We all watched as a younger version of Auron. This video was old! Auron had jet black hair, his arm wasn't in a sling and he wasn't nearly as muscular.
"What are you taking?" He asked someone.
Even his voice sounded younger.
A man with a gruff voice began to speak. He sounded as though he had been smoking for over ten years. "Well, you said it was gonna be a long trip."
We watched Auron and another man with a robe and long lilac colored hair walking, with a large building in the background. Someone was holding the sphere as though it were a video camera.
"We'll be seeing a lot of neat things, right? So I thought I'd record it all in this. To show to my wife and kid, you know."
"This is no pleasure cruise!" Auron said angrily.
"Hey, Braska. Ain't this supposed to be a grand occasion? Where're the cheering fans? The crying women?"
The man with the lilac hair turned around.
"This is it. Too many goodbyes-people think twice about leaving." He said.
'So that must be Yuna's dad.' I thought.
"Hmm... If you say so. Well, it better be a lot more colorful when we come back. A parade for Braska, vanquisher of Sin!"
Braska began to laugh. "We should go. Day will break soon."
The sphere turned off, but came right back on to show an icy landscape. ; A Travel Agency is in the background and Auron is standing by a very tan man only wearing black shorts, a red headband and he had the same symbol for the Zanarkand Abes on his chest that Tidus wore around his neck.
'He must be Jecht.'
"Auron, could you stand closer to him?" Braska asked.
Auron sighed, nodded, waited a few moments before he went to stand by Jecht.
"Good. That should do it." Braska said.
Jecht looked at Auron and crossed his arms. "What's the matter? Afraid I might bite?"
"Jecht..." Auron said, losing his temper.
"Braska! You should take one, too. It'd make a great gift for little Yuna!"
He sighed, "I suppose."
Auron stepped forward and took the sphere as Braska got in the picture.
"Lord Braska... We shouldn't be wasting our time like this!"
"What's the hurry, man?" Jecht asked.
Auron began to walk closer to the two men as though he were going to strangle Jecht. "Let me tell you what the hurry is!"
"Auron!" Braska yelled before the sphere was turned off again.
"What's the point? He wasn't on some pleasure cruise." Tidus said.
Rikku took the sphere from Tidus and began to play around with it. "I think there's more." She said.
The sphere turned back on again and showed the area we were all standing at now. The same tree was even in the middle of the lake. and company are now in is shown, with the same big tree in the background.
The sphere suddenly turned off, and back on again in the same area. This time, Jecht was sitting in front of the lake, looking at the sphere.
"Hey. If you're sitting there, watching this... It means you're stuck in Spira, like me. You might not know when you'll get back home, but you better not be crying! Although, I guess I'd understand. But you know what? There's a time when you have to stop crying and move on. You'll be fine. Remember, you're my son. And... Well, uh... Never mind. I'm not good at these things."
He stood up, walked out of view and turned the sphere off. He soon turned it back on and showed the scenery instead of his face.
"Anyways... I believe in you. Be good. Goodbye."
The sphere shut off and we all looked at Tidus, waiting to see his reaction.
"He sounded almost serious, but it was too late." The blonde said.
"He was serious. Jecht had already accepted his fate." Auron said.
"His fate?" He asked.
"Jecht... He... He was always talking about going home, to Zanarkand. That's why he took all those pictures-to show them to you when he returned. But as he journeyed with us and came to understand Spira, and Braska's resolve... It happened gradually, but Jecht changed. He decided he would join Braska in his fight against Sin."
"So then, he gave up going home?" Tidus asked.
"That was his decision." Auron said.
I guess I kinda understood why Jecht would choose to stay in Spira. Maybe he thought that in a way, his helping in defeating Sin would keep Tidus safe. It kind of made sense to me.
"All right! Let's go, guys!" Tidus declared.
I didn't understand that though. He just completely shrugged off the fact that his father was attempting to reconcile with him.
But besides that, maybe I should start accepting my own fate.
I've been in Spira for a long while now, and going home was nowhere in sight. Maybe...maybe I was meant to be here in this video game.
Maybe I was meant to meet Tidus and fall in love with him and help defeat some big monster from the people.
I was trying to make sense of my own situation that I didn't notice everyone else leave the area.
"You coming, Riley?" Tidus asked.
I shook my head to get the crazy thoughts away from me and smiled.
"Yeah. I was just dazing off." He smiled back at me and together we walked out of the woods and into the snow.
