Author's note: Hey guys! Sorry that last time I took so dang long to get that last chapter up, but I'll make it up to ya by trying to get the stories out quicker…sound good? I'll do my best to keep this promise…anyhoo, we're on to the adolescent years of Auron's life….there's gonna be some drastic changes made here!

Part Two: The Trying Years

Chapter 6: Life's Lessons

The girls giggled when thirteen-year-old Auron walked past, looking at him and batting their eyes at him. One of them even blew him a kiss, which made his face turn bright red even though he pretended not to notice. He was walking through the Field to his next lesson with his Uncle Drogan, his Master who was teaching him the finer points of being a warrior and swordsmanship. Auron enjoyed having Drogan as his master, mostly because he saw what Braska was having to put up with. Braska's Master was someone who was new to the village of Westra, a man preaching about something called Yevon. No one in the village had ever been exposed to these teachings, and it was quite a shock to all of them when the man had summoned a giant flaming monster. Auron had never been outside of his village, except when Reemes had kidnapped Sonja, and even then it was just the other side of the forest. That had been the only time that Auron had ever seen the sea, and he yearned to leave this backwater town to find other places.

"No, no, no, NO!" He stopped when he heard high-pitched voice yelling in the Field, which had been emptied for the Summoner's training of his new apprentice. Braska. "You must focus on the prayer! You're letting your mind wander!" The man was shouting in Braska's face, spittle flying out of his mouth and landing on Braska's nose.

"What do you want me to do?" Braska was red in the face from exertion and frustration. "I've done this stupid prayer so many times…"

"Don't you DARE call Yevon's prayers STUPID!" The taller man somehow managed to thrust his face even closer to Braska's, his eyes filled with a wild, fanatical look. The vein in his balding head looked as though it was about to pop. He took a step back and took some deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. "I'm sorry, boy, I sometimes forget that you were not raised praising Yevon's name. Don't worry, that's why I'm here, to teach you Yevon's way." His dark, beady eyes narrowed on Braska's gangly form. "Now, let's try that prayer again." Braska sighed, and performed the motion again, trying to be graceful. Auron laughed to himself and felt a slight twinge of sympathy towards his best friend.

If I had to put up with that, I wouldn't have stuck with it as long as Braska. Auron shook his head in bewilderment and continued down the path, headed for Drogan's newly constructed hut.

"Auron!" A girl's loud voice came from behind him. "Auron! Wait up!" Auron sighed resignedly. Sonja. The only drawback for Auron was that he had to train with Sonja, his only match in the entire village. He hadn't won a match against her in a long time, and Auron was tired of losing. Sonja reached him at a slight jog, her blonde hair pulled up in a pony-tail, her green eyes bright from the exercise. "Ready for today?" She was bubbling with energy, as always.


"Yeah, sure, I guess…" Auron said gloomily. He saw her smile out of the corner of his eye as he turned to continue on up the trail. "Are you?"

"Yup, can't wait!" She quipped. "You know, Auron, I'm sorry that I hit you so hard the other day…I really didn't mean to…"

"Don't apologize." Auron bristled.

"But, Auron…I really…"

"I said, don't apologize!" Auron's voice rose slightly. He instantly became quiet again; he knew that what had happened was his fault, but he blamed her anyway. Teenage insecurities ran high in this young man. He was the best fighter in the village, but he could be beaten by a girl. He clenched his fist, trying to hide his anger that was just bubbling below the surface.

"Auron?" Her voice was timid, almost a whisper. He turned on her so fast that she almost fell backwards.

"Look, I don't need your sympathy, okay?" His tone was harsh, and he was at his breaking point. "You beat me, fair and square, for the tenth time in a row! Do you have to keep reminding me with your stupid apologies?! Admit it, the only reason you DO even consider apologizing is because you love to rub it in my face!" Sonja's face was riddled with shock. Her mouth was slightly open in protest, but no sound came out, and tears began to well up in her emerald eyes. Her slender form started to tremble, but not from crying. Rage was beginning to fill her, and her jaw was clenched.

"You think THAT'S why I'm apologizing?" Her voice was high-pitched with anger. "I'm not apologizing because I beat you, I'm apologizing because I hurt you! I'm sorry that I care, but I probably shouldn't say that because that means that I'm going after your stupid inflated ego again!" Sonja shoved past him, throwing him off-balance, and stormed up the walkway. "Well, from now on, I won't apologize!" She called over her shoulder. "I'll just stop caring whether or not I hurt you. How does that sound!" She ran the rest of the way to Drogan's house, which left a stunned Auron still standing on the path.

Great. Auron knew that today would not be easy, all because he couldn't control his temper. All she was doing was apologizing, you idiot! He admonished himself. Stop behaving like a child! He walked somberly to the cabin, which was a little ways into the woods, where the Cove used to be. Drogan had loved the spot so much that he had decided to build his new home there, while Stephan had decided to open up a weapon shop in town.

When Auron had finally made his way to the cabin, he saw that Sonja was already waiting for him on her side of the log that had fallen across a small ravine in front of the giant waterfall. Drogan stood on her side with his arms folded over his chest, a disapproving glare directed towards Auron as he approached his side. Obviously he had gotten some idea of what had happened, (it had happened a few times before), and judging from Sonja's steely look, Auron was in for a bad day of training.

"Braska!" The balding man groaned. "That's not right…How many times have we gone over this?" Braska moaned his own protest.

"But how am I supposed to know that the Al Bhed are bad when I've never seen them before in my entire life?" Braska questioned. "You can't say someone's bad without ever knowing them!" Braska folded his arms over his chest defiantly. "Have YOU ever actually gotten to know an Al Bhed?" He asked pointedly.

"Well…This is ridiculous!" The Summoner turned around and threw his hands up into the air with frustration. "A mere child telling ME what to think…HA!" A grim smile had formed on his small face, and he wrinkled his large nose with his laughter.

"Master Simon, that…"

"Just be quiet!" His expression immediately changed from one of amusement to that of pure anger, and by that time his neck had become red while his face was turning purple. This was the worst that Braska had ever seen Simon become. "Yevon is the all-powerful, the all-seeing, and you'll realized that someday, if not today!" His menacing glare was enough to make Braska cringe. "You'll know soon enough!" With that, he turned and walked away in a hurry, his colorful Summoner robes swishing behind him.

"Whew!" Braska hadn't realized that he'd been holding his breath, and heaved a heavy sigh of relief. "What's wrong with him?" He asked no one in particular. The warm summer breeze whisked through the field, making the long grass wave and ruffled Braska's dark hair. Yevon, Summoners, prayers, teachings…are all these things so important? If they are, then why did I not learn them before? Braska shook his head. They must be important and powerful, if a weakling like Simon can summon up such frightening creature. I wonder…can I do that? Braska looked down at his rough, callused hands, and the wind picked up again, whipping his hair about his head.

"Graagh!" Auron fell to his knees, gripping his abdomen after Sonja dealt him a punishing blow. She hit him again, this time in the ribs, knocking the wind from his lungs. He gasped, trying to breathe and get to his feet, but he just stumbled and fell back to where he'd started. "I give up!" Auron cried out as Sonja prepared to attack him again. She stopped mid-swing, and the look of disappointment on her face told him she'd wanted more. She threw down her wooden bo that they were currently training with and stomped back to her side of the log, casting him a wicked glance on her way there.

"That's enough for today, Sonja." Drogan had walked up the bank and was now helping Auron to his feet.

"But…I wasn't even warmed up yet…" She protested. Auron grimaced as he grabbed at his ribs, and his russet eyes were dilated from pain. Sonja almost looked as though she was sympathizing, but she decided against it. "Fine. If he can't handle it, then I can wait until tomorrow." She walked towards them and retrieved her bo, and then stormed past them in a huff, walking briskly back to the village.

"By the Gods, Auron, what the hell did you do to her?" Drogan grunted as he hefted Auron up by pulling his arm.

"I told her to stop apologizing to me for hurting me, and she took it the wrong way." Auron said, not looking his uncle in the eye.

"Mm hm, I see, well, if that's the case, I think from now on you should just hold your tongue and accept her apologies like a man, eh?" Drogan said knowingly. "Anyway, don't worry about training tomorrow, Stephan and I are going hunting, and it would probably be a good idea for you to rest those bruised ribs." He nudged Auron's ribcage, making him stumble backwards. Drogan chuckled slightly, and then went back to his cottage. "See you the day after tomorrow!" He went inside.

Auron slowly made his way down the path back towards the village, and was caught off guard by Braska who was waiting for him in the Field, sitting by the entrance to the forest on the side of the walkway. He looked up as he heard Auron's footsteps.

"I saw Sonja…" Braska started, but decided against it. "Anyway, Simon let me off the hook for awhile, do you want to get something to eat?" Auron's stomach rumbled when it heard the word 'food.'

"Yeah, sure." He rubbed the back of his neck, and he looked towards the village. "Braska…I want to leave here…I want to see this Spira that Simon keeps talking about." Braska didn't look in the least surprised.

"I know what you mean, Auron," Braska told him. "Don't worry, I have a plan." Auron nodded, and they walked together towards the village.

"So what did Simon talk about today?" Auron inquired.

"Well, after he told me the usual 'you'll be a great Summoner someday if you train hard enough' speech, he started to talk about the Al Bhed, people who use machina, or machines."

"Machines? You mean like what old Gaffer builds? Those weird house-cleaning things?"

"Yeah, and to tell you the truth, Simon was not at all happy when I told him about old Gaffer's inventions." Braska laughed, but then became serious. "Auron, do you think…I could really become a Summoner?"

"Of course!" Auron looked a little surprised by this question. "If that zealot Simon can become one, then of course you can. And besides, you're a lot stronger than he is, in the heart, head, and body. You've got nothing to worry about." Braska nodded slightly, as though going over what he'd just heard. "Anyway, it smells like my mom is making some of her roast, so let's go eat!" His eyes danced with laughter. "Race ya!" He took off, and Braska, laughing wildly, ran after him.

Sonja sat by herself on a rock at the edge of the village, watching Braska and Auron walk together back to the village. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and there were tear stains on her face. She felt as though she would start crying again just by watching them, so she turned and walked back towards her house, dodging through the many huts. She stopped when she heard voices.

"The boy Braska…He has a promising future as a Summoner?" Came a high-pitched voice that sounded like Simon.

"Yes…I've seen that he will become the Summoner to bring us the next Calm…" Came an old woman's raspy voice.

"Good…"

"Also, that boy, Auron…he has an interesting future as well…linked to Braska…both of them will help rid the world of Sin…forever…"

"What?!" Simon cried out.

"All I can tell you is what I've seen…until next time." The old woman made sounds of moving away, while Simon stayed put. Sonja decided to peek around the corner, and to her surprise she saw Simon with his head in hands, sobbing.

"I can't let Yevon's teachings be overridden…I have to stop those…those heathens!" He looked up suddenly, and Sonja ran away, hoping that he hadn't seen her.

I have to tell Auron and Braska…