Rikku pushed her little pair of yellow tinted sunglasses up on her nose and massaged her temples slowly. "Could you yell a little quieter?" she whispered. Her two friends were looking none too friendly this morning. Wakka kept staring at her in his patented, I am socially and morally superior mode, and Lulu just looked annoyed. The remains of the Jenquo festival were strewn up and down the beach, along with quite a few unconscious villagers.
"What, did you both get drunk, Rikku? At least you made it home. What kind of state was Yuna in when you abandoned her in that crazy party?" Wakka shouted. Rikku's wince of pain didn't even phase him. "Anything could have, and probably did happen. Yuna hasn't been herself lately. I thought you knew enough to look out for her, keep her safe. Just cause we aren't on a pilgrimage doesn't mean we stop watching each other's backs!"
"Wakka." The quiet word and a touch from Lulu was enough to silence him for a moment. "She is not a child. They went to a party and apparently had a good time. Yuna's probably asleep on this beach somewhere."
"Where anything could have happened to her!" Wakka pouted.
Rikku groaned and covered her ears. "Let's go find her, okay? Then you can yell at her for a while and let me recover."
"Let's go. Wakka, we're going this way. Most of the partying went on this way. Rikku head that way. Give a shout if you find her," Lulu said. She started off down the beach pulling Wakka along with her.
"I'm not finished with you!" Wakka shouted over his shoulder. "I'll talk to Cid about this! I'm sure you're dad would love to hear about you're partying lifestyle!"
Rikku sighed and trudged blearily up the beach, occasionally stopping to take a closer look at an unconscious villager. The sun seemed way too bright for springtime, and honestly Rikku just wanted to crawl back in bed and sleep for about two days. She stopped to splash some of the cool seawater over her face and turned to peer up the beach. She'd stopped seeing debris from the festival around fifty feet back. It was probably pointless to continue the way she was headed. "The farther this way I head, the farther from Wakka and his big mouth I get." Rikku grinned impressed with her own logic and trudged on.
"Hey," Rikku said. She waved at a figure just visible up the beach. The person didn't appear to have heard her over the waves and Rikku wasn't willing to shout quite yet. Instead she trudged on. They could probably tell her if there were any party-goers farther up. She continued on with her eyes trained on her feet, slitted just wide enough to keep her from tripping.
"Rikku, did you come looking for me?"
"Woah," Rikku gasped. The figure from up the beach had apparently spotted her, and surprise of surprises, it was Yuna. "Yunie? Where have you been. Wakka gave me heck this morning when he realized you didn't come home at all last night." Rikku had been going to launch into a long list of her woes, not the least of which was her killer hangover, when she got a good look at Yuna. "Oh Yunie, are you okay?" The former summoner was pale, almost gray, and there were huge dark circles under her eyes. She looked like a ghost.
Yuna smiled the most genuine smile she'd been able to produce in nearly a year. "I feel terrible, but I feel great too."
"What happened? Are you sick? You weren't drinking when we split up," Rikku said. She wrapped her arm around Yuna protectively and started rubbing her pale goose-bump covered arms. "You're an ice cube." She was trying to herd her cousin back toward the village but Yuna wouldn't move.
"I have to tell you what happened last night. I'm glad you didn't bring Wakka, or even Lulu. I don't think they'd understand." Yuna settled herself on the white sand and stared out over the ocean. She seemed detached, like part of her were far away.
Rikku was torn. She was supposed to let Wakka and Lulu know the moment she found Yuna. "Okay, but we have to make it quick. Wakka would just love another reason to tear into me, and he's looking for you right now."
"The quick version? Is there a quick version...?" Yuna closed her eyes and nodded. "Tidus is back. The old Jenquo woman, Nual, brought him back."
Rikku shook her head slowly. "Yunie, she couldn't have. He's gone, remember? Whatever that old woman did, she couldn't have done that." Why would that woman mess with Yuna's head like that? Rikku had never been really angry with a Jenquo custom before, but this was just cruel and destructive.
"No, listen," Yuna said. She took one of Rikku's hands and wrapped it in her two cold ones. "We made a tiny fayth, one part Nual's soul and one part mine. It killed her." Yuna paused and the detachment broke for a moment. "I didn't ask her to do it, Rikku. I didn't ask. I swear. She offered and she never said it would kill her."
"Nah Yunie, you imagined it." Rikku looked Yuna straight in the eyes. "You can't just bring people back from the dead and Tidus is dead."
Yuna didn't look away. "It was a unique little fayth that we made, powerful and simple. I used it to bring him back. I resurrected him. Trust me, Rikku. I have used several faiths in my life. I know what a fayth is. I know what I did."
Rikku started to argue but there was a strange certainty to Yuna's voice that was a little scary. Was it possible? They'd done some pretty amazing things. "Are you going to be okay though? You used part of your soul... Yunie, if you brought him back, where is he then?"
Yuna shrugged. "He's somewhere in Spira, and he doesn't remember anything." Tears started pooling in her eyes. "He's alone, Rikku. We have to find him. The old woman said something bad would happen if we don't find him."
Rikku felt chill bumps rising on her arms, despite the rapidly warming beach. "Something bad?"
"She was dying, and she didn't finish saying," Yuna whispered. "I guess it just means we'll have to hurry and find him so nothing bad can happen."
"No honey, we're going to the Jenquo. With a fleet this big, they'll have another old mother. We'll ask her about what happened. Let's hurry before Wakka and Lulu come back around. I'm not even ready to try and explain this to those two," Rikku said. She bounced to her feet. "We'll find out exactly what we're dealing with, okay?" Yuna let Rikku lead her down the beach without argument. "My old bud, Aldon, will help us out." She pointed to a ship they were rapidly approaching. "See there's the Solomon right there."
Yuna balked at the ladder onto the Solomon. "First promise me, promise you'll help me find Tidus."
Rikku wasn't absolutely convinced there was a Tidus to find, but she nodded. "If he really is back, we will find him."
"He is, and we have to," Yuna said.
Rikku tried not to worry, but Yuna looked like death. Whatever this resurrection had cost her, hopefully it wasn't a permanent loss. She enfolded Yuna in a hug. "I promise, I'm going to take care of you cuz. Come on."
"If it isn't old 'knees and elbows' herself, back again," a very tired looking Aldon announced. He was only half dressed with his shirt hanging open and his boots missing. His cheeks were covered in a fine stubble. "I knew you wouldn't be able to stay away for long." He leaned over the edge of the boat and grinned, showing all his teeth. Gazing down at Rikku, his deep dark eyes were sparkling with something more than amusement.
"You look like you had fun last night. Thought you'd still be asleep," Rikku said.
"Oh I would be, but I have responsibilities that happen to include getting up at the crack of dawn. I'm a little late this morning, but so's everyone. I was about to take a swim, and wash the last of that alcohol out of my pores." His grin took on a strikingly flirtatious tone. "Would you be interested in joining me?"
Rikku hardly cracked a smile. "Any other day, I'd bust your chops for getting saucy with me, but I need your help this morning so I'll let it slide."
Aldon didn't appear in the least worried about getting his chops busted. "Come on up then. Is that your cousin behind you again this morning?" Aldon yawned dramatically as the ladies pulled themselves onboard. He took one look at Yuna and froze. He muttered an unintelligible curse under his breath and tried not to stare. "Are you okay, Lady Yuna?"
"No she's not okay, you big jerk. I took her to get her fortune told last night, and one of your old mother's ran her through the wringer," Rikku said. "I want an audience with an old mother first thing this morning, and I mean right now, to discuss what went on last night."
"I'll get Nual, she's our most experienced old mother. She'll have a long talk with whoever hurt the summoner. I'll make sure something's done," Aldon said. "Everyone was supposed to be on their best behavior last night."
Rikku shook her head emphatically. "Absolutely not, get us up with the second most experienced one you've got. No Nual." Rikku decided against mentioning that Yuna had claimed old mother Nual was dead.
Aldon frowned and waited for an explanation. He'd offered to fetch her the best? Was Nual involved in this? Rikku just tilted her head up and waited. "Okay? Lady Ina just finished her training, so she isn't that old yet, but she's sleeping below deck here. It wouldn't take a second to fetch her," Aldon offered. He kept stealing looks at Yuna and his concern seemed genuine.
Rikku nodded her consent. She turned to Yuna and half-forced her to take a seat on the stairs to the next higher deck. "You don't need to be on your feet." Rikku tapped her foot and waited for several seconds, before she started pacing. "He said it wouldn't take a second," Rikku snapped.
"Give the woman five minutes to get dressed. She probably partied as hard as you did last night," Yuna said.
Rikku paused. "Probably, I'm just freaked out."
They didn't hear the arrival of the lady Ina. The glitter of the beads in her hair and on her dress heralded her arrival. "Someone hurt the summoner Yuna?" The woman turned to Aldon, who was standing over her shoulder. "One of the mothers?"
He threw his hands up. "Hey, Rikku wouldn't lie. One of the mothers messed with her. She looks like a sinspawn chewed her up and spat her out." Rikku shot Aldon a nasty look for that comment. He shrugged and mouthed silently, "It's true."
Yuna examined the woman through the slots of the stairs' railings. She was dressed a lot like the old woman, Nual, had been, but she was younger, hardly middle aged, though silver twined prematurely through her otherwise jet black hair.
"Girls, I'm the old mother Ina. Would you come here Yuna?" Yuna came to her feet and turned to face Ina. The woman's casual curiosity seemed to vanish and all the color drained out of her face. "Come." She touched Yuna gently over her face and arms. Ina's breaths were irregular and shallow as though the air were unpleasant to breath. Finally she moved back, but her smile was brittle. "You're okay. I want you to go below deck with Aldon. He'll take you to my room where you can get some sleep. You must be exhausted."
"Hey, she has a bed at the villiage..." A sharp look from Ina, stopped Rikku's protest cold.
Yuna just took a deep breath. "I am so very tired. I couldn't sleep last night."
It wasn't until Aldon took Yuna's arm and led her below deck, that Ina spoke again. "It was mother Nual, wasn't it?" Ina nodded to herself. "I knew there was a reason she wanted to come on this journey. She had to try it before she died, to Hell with the risks, to Hell with the natural order. I could just wring her neck, but I imagine she's already dead."
"Yuna said she died last night. She also said that together they resurrected this guy Tidus, so I'm not sure the information is reliable." Rikku shrugged and waited for Ina to scoff at the resurrection claim.
"You'd better believe they resurrected someone, but the risk... It should never be done." Ina crossed her arms over her chest and stared out over the ocean. "They'll just have to find each other quickly. The Jenquo will help as much as we can, since we started this."
"A resurection?" Aldon said. He propped himself in the doorframe to below deck and glared at Ina. "Who resurrected who, and why did it hurt the summoner we came here to bloody well honor?"
Ina winced and cut her eyes away from the young man glaring at her. "I know you don't like the old mothers, and what we stand for, but I didn't do this. Nual did. None of us wanted her to but she did anyway."
"Wait, this was something planned? Nual came here planning to hurt that girl and you didn't tell anyone?" Aldon snapped. "Cousin or no, Ina, I will turn you in for this."
"You don't understand. It wasn't the summoner she was targeting," Ina said. She shook her head and her shoulders slumped. "I don't know if you can understand."
Rikku moved closer to Ina. "Explain it to me. Help me understand. I thought old mothers just told fortunes and made poultices."
"Let me try and explain," Ina began. "Old mothers, to enter the training you have to have at least one intimate experience with death. I was attacked by a stinging-ray fish three years ago. I hovered near death for some time before I was nursed back. Nual offered to train me afterwards." She fingered some of the white strands of her hair. "We can see little glimpses of possible futures, but mostly we can see the truth about now. Some are better at this profession than others. We really don't do much of anything besides make poultices and tell a few harmless futures."
"And resurrect people," Aldon added. "Why did Nual do this?"
Ina shrugged. "Because she could. She's wanted to beat death, to cheat it just once for as long ak I've known her."
"Why?" Rikku echoed. "I don't understand."
"I don't either really. I trained under her. I loved her... I was afraid of her." Ina said. "What I've heard is mostly second hand. You see, Nual entered the training long before I was born. According to some, she and her family, a husband, three boys, and a baby girl, were attacked by sin spawn. They died. She lived and hated herself for that."
"Beating death was her life's work. She didn't want to live forever. She didn't want anyone to bring her back. She wanted a second chance for someone, anyone. It was her life's work." Ina folded her arms together and stared at the deck. "She taught me how she'd do it, the risks, the consequences, just in case she didn't live to try it. She hoped I might some day attempt it. It was her fondest wish, her only reason to continue on."
Rikku felt the chill bumps rising on her arms again. "Everyone keeps bringing up risks, but nobody ever says what they are. Quite frankly, If Yuna's okay and Tidus really is back then I'm happy for them. Nual did a good thing if that's all there is to this, but there's more isn't there? Yuna mentioned a risk that Nual didn't quiet manage to tell her about before she died. What's going to happen if we can't find Tidus?"
"You need to know I suppose." Ina took a deep breath. "Tidus was dead. Then Yuna gave a large part of her soul to create the special fayth used to resurrect him. Now both Yuna and Tidus have strong ties to death. Unless those ties can be severed, death will reclaim them, but more than that, they will never reach the farplane in their current condition." Ina couldn't look Rikku in the eye. "There is no Hell, unless you count that tiny place in between the afterlife and the living. It is inescapable and immutable. To die now would be a catastrophe."
"Yevon," Aldon hissed. "You've killed the summoner who saved Spira. I'll not have you or any of your kind on my boat any longer Ina and I will bring this to council. You witches mucking around with death and making your proclamations about the future. I won't stand around and just take it anymore. I can't believe Nual did this."
Rikku sank down onto the steps Yuna had used earlier, and shook her head in disbelief. "Wait. If we bring them back together, everything will be okay though? Tidus will be alive. Yuna will be alive. They'll both be okay?"
Ina looked from Aldon's angry glare to Rikku's hopeful gaze and back again. "Probably. If they both loved each other, truly still love each other, they can cut the ties that bind them to death by simply finding each other, then with time and love their souls with regain their natural state."
Rikku wiped at the tears streaking down her cheeks and nodded. "We'll find him. It'll be okay."
"Damn right, we'll find him. Every ship here will set sail and search." Aldon offered. He tried to smile reassuringly. "Spira isn't that big a place."
"We have to tell Yuna. She needs to know this," Rikku said. She came to her feet and tried to slip past Aldon.
Ina stopped Rikku with a gentle gesture. "That would be a mistake. Fear, despair, guilt, anger, negative emotions, will draw death to her. Keep her hopes up. Keep her laughing. It is the best way to keep her safe now."
Aldon placed a hand on Rikku's shoulder in silent support. "I meant what I said, Ina. I want you off my ship."
Rikku shook her head slowly. "No, she is the only one who knows anything. We can't just get mad and leave her behind when she might be able to help." Rikku turned to face her friend Aldon. Then out of nowhere, tears streaming down her face, she laughed. "Wakka's going to kill me, and I don't blame him."
"This isn't you're fault," Aldon said. "Nual is to blame. The coven we harbor in the Jenquo society, they're to blame, not you."
Rikku shook her head. "I trusted you guys, Jenquo, like family and I left her alone." Rikku punched Aldon ineffectively in the chest and walked away from him. "I have to find Wakka and Lulu. Will you keep her safe? Can I trust you?"
"You shouldn't have had to ask," Aldon said. "I'm still your friend Rikku. I'll guard her with my life."
"I'd expect no less from a friend," Rikku said. She vaulted over the side of the ship and hit the dock with a thud. "I'll be back real quick."