Chapter Five

Conversations with guardians


Jecht found the bar down by the peer a little disappointing by his standards. Auron and Braska had released him from his no-more-drinking-promise years earlier. The man was dead. Why not let him have a beer? It seemed only fair. But the singular pub on Besaid served only drinks with little, colorful umbrellas in them, which was not at all to Jecht's liking.

"Lady Yuna doesn't approved of hard liquor being served on Besaid, Sir Jecht." Maroda explained to him as he glared at the glass in front of him.

"Yeah, and neither did Braska, but he would never stopped people from having a good time." sulked Jecht.

"True enough, I suppose, but with Luca so close these days ..." shrugged Maroda.

"Point taken." said Jecht. "You know, my son never mentioned you, not that I can remember, and he told me just about everything about Yuna's pilgrimage." he commented.

"We were not the of best friends." said Maroda quietly.

"You were enemies?"

"Not exactly. We were ... on different sides when Lady Yuna was branded as a traitor to Yevon, although it was not by choice. Strange, no?"

"Yeah, strange." agreed Jecht. "You know, Maroda, maybe we should go back now. We've taken care of business and all."

"You're right." he answered, closing his notebook, which was filled with information, some startling and some trivial, which Jecht had imparted to him willingly. "We would not wish to worry your son." he added.

"Yeah, Tidus might come looking for us." agreed Jecht. As they walked out of the bar Jecht asked him, "A lot of kids are named after Auron and Tidus, right?"

"Yes." Maroda nodded as they stepped onto the sandy white beach.

"How come no one was named after me? I was a great guardian too, you know."

Just then a large, but scruffy dog dashed past them toward the spray of the ocean and the gentle waves that touched the shore of Besaid. Hot on its heels was a small boy.

"Come back here, Jecht! Come back!" the boy yelled after the hound.

Jecht stopped in his tracks and glared at them. Maroda chuckled softly.

"You were Sin. It would have been an ill omen to name a child in your honor." he said to placate Jecht.

"Yeah, well, I don't think it's funny. Not one bit." he growled as they continued walking.

"Of course." said Maroda, hiding a smile as he made one last note on his subject.


The light of the midday sun stung Auron's good eye as he left the cool and shadowy temple interior with Aurie, returning to the sunlit and busy outer world of Besaid. He moved his glasses up slightly to fend off the offensive glare and glanced at Aurie as she allowed the wind to ruffle her sun-bleached hair and took a deep breath of the air of her hometown. She always felt as though she were stepping out of the past and into the present when she walked out of the temple. Glancing at the scarlet robed figure at her side, she acknowledged that at least this time she had good reason to feel that way.

"Auron, are you sorry you came here? Or are you glad?" she questioned, watching his bronze eye sweep over the crowded market beneath them at the bottom of the temple steps.

"It is an unexpected chapter of a story that I thought had ended long ago. I am both. I am sorry that it has been so long and that it seems that we have all returned in a time of trouble and unrest. I am glad to have the chance to see what has become of my friends and of the world that I called home for much of my life." he replied.

"Wow. Deep." she commented, her gaze coming to rest on Pacce, who was seated on the last step below them.

"You are in love with the young guardian?" he questioned, following her gaze.

"I lived among the Al-Bhed for a while. I learned a lot from them, not just about machina and mechanics though. They taught me that it is best to pursue with all my heart that which I love, because no one can say when I may lose it. Ever since, I have been pursuing Pacce." she told him slowly.

"Deep." Auron chuckled, smiling softly at her behind his collar.

"Tell him that." she laughed, elbowing the elder guardian.

"I think he knows. But perhaps he lacks courage where you are concerned."

Aurie giggled and said, "Then I'll just have to find a way to give him some of mine!"

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A/N: Thank you for reviewing the previous chapter, rock-star-vt: "I'm very intrigued in how Tidus, Jecht, and Auron came back." Yeah, I'm going to answer that one. But not soon.