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Yuna awoke at the sounds of pounding footsteps and hurried clanging, hushed voices and slamming doors. Outside, the air was brewing into a fine storm, which was just a tad unnatural to take place in this protected valley.
She pulled on a flannel yellow robe over her modest white nightgown, whose gentle folds of soft fabric seemed endless. She had her hair French-braided on the back of her head, but it was a bit unkempt due to the few hours of sleep the Summoner had so far managed to acquire. She pulled on her tall Al-Bhed boots, which totally contrasted with her other choices of clothing.
She sort of felt something in the air. The inevitable tensions that stirred up before a battle. After almost a year on the road, battles day in and day out, a person could merely feel to know something of what lay ahead. At this point, Yuna felt a bit wary; she did not possess the Nirvana (it was tucked away at home between the folds of one of Braska's old robes), or any other staff for that matter. Besides, she had all but given up magic in the last few years.
At the door of her room, she stopped and considered. What use will I be in a battle? I can hardly perform any magic without an amplifier, and there is no way in this world I would inflict damage with my hands alone. And I don't even know who's fighting!
She sensed it was someone she cared about. She had heard loud thumping up and down the stairs, which probably meant a Ronso. The Ronso were her friends.
She went.
When she arrived, she saw Rikku spitting out some speech with much contempt to two people across from her and Kimahri. But Yuna could not make out the words. She was cautious of stepping into the line of fire; too many times this had resulted in the injury of one of her comrades. Without her spells and her summons…she was useless, weak. The woman resisted the urge to fall to her knees and bathe in self-pity and despair.
Yuna then noticed that there seemed to be some sort of bubble. Directly surrounding the foursome a little ways away, the weather was perfectly clear, and the moon shone through brilliantly. However, as one worked their way from the inside of the circle, the weather grew progressively worse until it was a fierce and blinding blizzard smacking into the houses and other buildings.
This was strange—quite so. There must be some spell at hand here, she realized. She squinted at the people, and they were too busy squabbling with each other to possibly be working on something of this magnitude. Kimahri, however… His aura seemed to be twinkling a deep sky blue in the moonlight that favored him.
Kimahri is breaking the spell, just a little. Is it him? No… He doesn't know how to cast something like this… And why would he cast it anyway? Who benefits from it?
Yuna faced the wind bravely as it swirled around and cast miniature daggers upon her face. She realized she was blood red all over in only a short while, but it was an unavoidable occurrence with her naturally pale skin.
She laced the top tie of her robe tightly around her neck and began to march around the perimeter of the village. Her ears burned. It was far easier to let the wind carry her three steps back then to progress one forward, but she would not relent. Who is casting this spell? she had to know. They are trying to stop the villagers from seeing something…? Probably. What could they want? They—
It was too late when Yuna found out what these aggressors sought to gain by visiting the Ronso village and conjuring a storm. She must have been too sleepy or too blinded by the wall of snow to put the pieces together.
As she walked, she felt a pair of leather gloves possessed by cold, hard hands firmly grip her own fingers, restraining the woman with her hands clenched behind her back. Her cries were lost in the breeze.
Rikku saluted at her shoulder with two short pats, showing off her weapon threateningly. "We gonna fight or what?"
The warrior monk spread his feet apart, and a purple shell seemed to grow around him as he crossed his arms above his head and brought them down to cross below his waist. "Let's get started."
"A magician?" Rikku asked cockily. Damn. Where's Yuna when we need her? The Al-Bhed knew enough white magic to get by, but she had no confidence in it. Sure, it was fine for mending scrapes and all that, but…
Kimahri possessed a warrior's honor. "You fight Kimahri Ronso, of Sacred Mountain Gagazet," he announced formally before bringing up his lance.
"And I'm Rikku of the Al-Bhed—uh-huuuh!" she added in a sing-songy voice. Secretly, she was in awe of Kimahri's imposing presence. He seemed taller than usual, bigger than usual, and, most of all, more powerful than usual.
"Introductions, then?" the Guado said coolly, pushing on hip to the side and tilting her head in the opposite direction. "Well, here is one for you." She whipped her long hands under the decorated coverings of her people to withdraw two thick, identical wooden staffs. "My name is Paav. It would do you well to remember that name."
"Aw, who could forget such a weird thing!" taunted Rikku. She really hated the Guado…
"I am Rede, defender of Yevon," spoke the round man. In his hand was a long, thin metallic object. It was a gun.
Such noble titles… Rikku spun around to enchant the air surrounding her and Kimahri. "Luck-y!" she announced, and felt the power of the gods of gambling enrich the air. She winked, rushing forward to sock Rede in the stomach. She was rewarded with a small pouch, presumably of potions.
Rede cursed, bending over his stomach (the site of recent impact). He groaned, too, and swore again more fiercely.
Rikku's shoulder hurt a little from ramming into his magical barrier, but she had overcome many such tricks before and it wouldn't stop her this time. She tucked her treasure away to be evaluated later.
Paav looked down at her companion with disgust, then pushed out her arms and slammed the two light brown staffs together in a burst of blue and white magic, which healed him. "Weakling," she muttered, reaching again into the air. She pointed one arm at the air and the other at Kimahri, and chanted a silent spell with pursed lips.
Rikku's emerald eyes darted to Kimahri. He was standing there, his spine curved slightly, his clawed hands gripping the spear tightly. It was obvious he was concentrating on something, for he gave off a faint light a few shades above the color of his fur. Did it have something to do with the strange storm?
"Lesson one, little girl," Paav announced, her body spinning so that her arm was aimed at Rikku in a flash. A black bolt of light struck out at the blond woman and she screeched as the combination of flaring pain and pure energy surged throughout her small body. "Never let down your guard," finished the Guado as the spell finished its damaging shot.
Kimahri growled and was blocking his friend in a second, but it was a split second too late to help Rikku very much. He opened his mouth and growled. He glowed more brilliantly, and the bubble surrounding them grew by at least a few feet.
Rikku was on her knees, her legs soaking up the moisture of the snow. How indecent, for them to do that to a fine Al-Bhed lady such as herself! Rikku quickly cast a cure spell sprung up to her booted feet.
Kimahri was like a statue in front of her, unmoving. The anger on his face was unmistakable, even if it was hidden under horns, fur, braids, and all that. He took flight, charging directly into the Guado and knocking her down. Then he raised his spear again and jabbed her shoulder with it, imbedding the point into her flesh and tearing it out hastily.
Rikku gasped. He's scarier than me when I'm mad!
Paav was on the ground, staining it red. Her face remained unreadable except for the way she clenched her teeth and how her squinty eyes shook. Her Guado arm was long enough to reach up and easily cover the wound.
"What are you doing, idiot!" she demanded of the monk. "Heal me!"
Rede seemed rather impressed after the Ronso's show of muscle. This battle wasn't looking like such a good idea…
"Damn you! I'll do it myself." She rose to her knees as steadily as she could and picked up one of the dropped staffs. However, with her power diminished by the lack of a second weapon and the development of a serious wound, she only managed to cease the bleeding and get to her feet.
Rikku was ready to strike again, take Rede down for real now that he had no one to back him up. But she halted because a great gust ended the swirling storm, expanded the bubble in all directions until all the snow that descended onto the land took the form of a few soft flakes.
"What?" Paav jerked her head to the right.
"I got her, it's okay! Let's get out of here!" called a new voice from somewhere within the darkness.
Paav stared daggers at Kimahri, and then let her eyes feast angrily upon Rikku.
"C'mon," urged Rede. "You heard him. Let's go."
Rikku launched forward. "Ooh, no you don't!" she declared, but, by the time she had finished her proclamation, the enemies had already spirited away in a bright flash of light, leaving two pairs of sparse footprints leading to the shadows.
The Al-Bhed followed but found the path ended in a dead end. "They're gone. And they have someone…"
The spiraled green eyes and the glowing yellow ones fixed upon each other.
"Yuna," they realized together.
Lulu wore a distinctly worried frown. It was not just her mouth, either; her thin lines of eyebrows came down into a v shape above disheartened, purple-red eyes.
They hadn't stopped, these feelings. There kept being more of them, more frequently at least.
"Lu?" He was sitting there across from him in the dim room, working on relighting an old lantern. It had grown ominously dark outside.
"Wakka…" Should she tell him? Would it only make matters worse? Well, she would have to tell him eventually.
"Is it…time?" Here he was, on top of things, matters…and she hadn't even cared to notice. She should stop underestimating this man she loved, this man so filled with concern for only her…
"I…believe so," she admitted. "I think I have been having contractions for four hours or so."
"You waited a long time to say, ya?" He raised his eyebrows and peered at her, not in anger or suspicion, but in jest. Yes, he was struggling to keep his heart afloat in these turbulent times, maybe tossing her a life preserver…
"What in the world are we going to do?" she wanted to wail. It came out instead in a clear, concise sentence in her slow, calm voice. "What now?"
"I…" Now, the man was helpless to reply.
"It will probably be a while, yet," she said. She had been pacing up until this point, so she slid easily onto a stool and began to sort out a plan. "The first baby is supposed to take a long time." A long, stressful time, she added in her mind. "It might be as much as a day—possibly more."
"Wow, that long?" His blue eyes opened wide. "That's a long time!"
Lulu shook her head slowly. He certainly did not have the first clue about women, did he? Well…that was humorous now, but it would definitely hinder later developments. Could she count on Wakka of all people to serve as midwife?
Her stomach was turning and it wasn't just the baby. However, the rest of Lulu surprised her by being perfectly calm, much calmer than when the contractions first began hours before. Perhaps she was growing slowly more and more accustomed to the idea. The idea of dying, perhaps.
But there was something more. A rare piece of optimism was carefully thriving in the very depths of her. Maybe it was this thing called motherhood, finally taking root inside. Even if she died, there would be a child, and she wanted more than anything for this child to be healthy, to live a happy life.
He would never know Sin. He would never know the kind of sacrifice people used to face every day. He would never have an inclination to become a Guardian, or, even worse, a Summoner. He could actually work on building Spira instead of just rebuilding it. Yes, he could find happiness.
"Whatcha thinking about, Lu?" wondered Wakka, who had been sitting in contemplation as well.
"I… Nothing."
She just smiled.
Wakka took the lamp he was holding and placed it in the middle of the table, sending out weak waves of light to wash over the room and everything in it. The wind and the rain still wreaked havoc just beyond the walls, still attacked the small village of Besaid. However, this had been going on for so long that it was only background noise.
He spread his knees apart and leaned down, forearms on his thighs, and considered his hands carefully as he turned them over repeatedly. "We need a plan, ya? We should try, get to the temple—"
"How in the world we get over there, Wakka?" she muttered, interrupting him.
"Somehow," he growled, his eyes flashing with determination. He lifted his chin and gazed around the room sadly. "This house…'s been shaking…too much."
"You no longer have any confidence that it will endure the storm?" Her voice was flat, uncaring, but she cared more than anything.
"We gotta leave soon, Lu." He stood up, presumably looking for essentials they might need to bring.
"What about the eye of the storm?"
"We don't even know if the hurricane is passing right over us… Could be that it's just going along the coast."
"No one has studied hurricanes for a long time… We know so very little," she reflected, frustrated. All the hurricanes that had come were usually confused with Sin's attacks. No one had really cared about them for a thousand years.
Sin or storms. It didn't matter. Death was everywhere. Merciless.
"Wakka, should we really go? Maybe it's too dangerous to risk."
"Too dangerous?" he exploded, causing her to freeze. "What happens if the baby comes while the house is getting torn apart, ya?" He realized from her shocked expression that he was shouting far above the wind whipping along the walls outside. "I…I gotta take care of you."
"And the baby," she added quickly. What do I matter? I might die anyway. She corrected, Probably, I will… Oh, but…
"C'mon, we'll make a run for it," he said, crouching down to dig for a shawl in a pile of clothes. He found one, black in color (of course), and wrapped it around Lulu's shoulders delicately.
"Wakka…" She held her hand nervously near her mouth. "You know…I can't run."
"I'm running," he declared. "I'll carry you."
Lulu wondered if this was possible, but she preserved his dignity by not speaking.
"Ready?"
"Oh, let me get some things…" What if this house does fall apart? We'll lose everything… She went to the bed and took up an old, ragged moogle doll from the nearby shelf. It was a bit dusty, but the thing was precious to her. It was her very first doll, and, even though right beside it sat her dignified Onion Knight, this was the one she chose.
I'll come back for you, she told the Onion Knight. It was a falsified but comfortable sort of optimism.
Wakka pulled on a bright yellow jacket he usually wore during the winter fishing season, when the men went out on their boats to catch the really big prey that came in toward the warmer shores. The ice-cold pellets of seawater could sting as bad as a hornet, hence the protective yellow jackets.
He was struggling a little; the coat sure did not fit like it used to. Was he getting old and plump already? He would have to get back to blitz if he was ever going to be very presentable.
Lulu took out her oldest, most favorite book, tucking it and the moogle deep inside her shall. Both items had seen worse situations than this, so she really didn't mind taking them out into the weather.
The woman stumbled a bit, surprised at the fierceness of the next contraction. Funny; she had almost forgotten about the baby for a minute there. Now it was reminding her of the urgency.
All right, she commanded herself, this isn't for you, Lulu, so don't be selfish. Come on, now. Your baby… She shivered even before Wakka began to take down the boards on the door and the malicious rain rocketed inside to soak the very man trying to go out into it.
This is it… Lulu fought to remain strong as she huddled against the wall near the door. And I can't help but feel selfish, now that it's so close. I don't want to die. What will happen? I want to stay with Wakka…! I don't want to die… Please, he's all that makes me happy anymore. I want to be with him… I want to stay… She squinted tightly to protect her deep eyes from both the tears of her heart and those of the sky.
"Hup!" Wakka groaned, swinging her up from vertical to horizontal in one swift but painful motion. He had one arm around her shoulders and the other tucked beneath her knees. Her round belly was squeezed between her thighs and breasts.
Lulu's arms instinctively shot out to squeeze his neck, and she tucked her face somewhere near his collarbone. Her hair flapped wildly in all directions as they stepped out into the village.
Well, what was left.
It was hard to make out in the dark and through the blinding rain. However, as Wakka waded out through progressively deepening water, he thought he saw through squinted eyes a distinct lack of huts and an abundance of debris. Still, the great temple was there, the focal point of Besaid. It was unchanged, even by the onslaught of a hurricane.
Thank goodness.
"Wakka…" She knew it was slowly but steadily getting closer. Birth…death…everything. Everything.
"We'll make it," he said through gritted teeth. It was not that far, in reality, to the temple. But it could have been a million miles to just the steps. One foot forward, then the other. Then stop, wait for the wind, then again, and yet again. Climbing the stone stairs was even trickier; they were more than slippery.
He panicked as a long piece of wood went flying just a few feet above his head. He ducked, clutching the fragile woman even more tightly to his chest.
"Ahhh…what was that?" she cried.
He fought to stand up again. He was blind, and all he could use for guidance were his feet, half submerged in muddy puddles. And then, he reached the temple, almost ramming his precious burden into the boarded door.
"Let us in!" he screamed, but it was futile. He kicked at the door, but again, it was doubtful anyone inside would hear. He knees buckled. It was close to impossible to remain upright against the wind.
He set Lulu down gently, just as the wind changed directions, shoving both their bodies against the wall. The wood left deep splinters in his face, releasing small trails of blood that zipped across his powerful features.
Wakka raised his arms and grabbed at the nailed wood. He groaned with the effort, his fingers desperately clinging to the rough but slippery surface. Finally, he was able to rip off one edge of a large board, and it swung out wildly in the wind.
There was a rush of feet not long afterward, a man of few years armed with a hammer and another piece of wood.
"Don't close it up!" shouted Wakka through the open space, which was about half a foot by a foot long. "We gotta get in!" He reached through the opening and waved to the world that lay beyond.
"Sir Wakka?" a voice could be heard faintly on the other side. Soon, an army of men was busy undoing their previous work, and Lulu and Wakka were allowed to climb inside. Immediately, the door was patched up again.
Lulu leaned heavily on Wakka as they reached the main room of the temple, which was ablaze with firelight. About thirty people were crowded around a few separate fires, huddling close together. And all sixty eyes were soon focused on the late arrivals.
"Lady Lulu!" more than one mouth cried out. Here she was, one of the Seven Saviors of the world, stumbling in and sagging under the enormous weight of the life inside her.
"The baby…" gasped Lulu before she collapsed on the floor.
"What's happened?" inquired Zysac sleepily. A more-impatient-than-usual Rikku had just dragged him from his bed. As he wiped the drowsiness from his green Al-Bhed eyes, the boy was forced to stagger after Rikku in the dark.
"Yuna! We're gonna go get her—right away! That's the way to do this stuff," the woman was muttering to herself. She threw open the door to her room and began shoving her belongings back into a bag.
Zysac was left scratching his head. "So, we're leaving?"
"Of course! Now get ready—we're so outta here."
"But what about the sphere?"
"We'll worry about that later. Don't be cheeky."
"I…" His shoulders drooped. Wasn't that thing important? Ah…maybe I was wrong.
"Come on," she ordered, grabbing his collar and dragging the boy along.
He was tripping over his own feet, what with being pulled backwards like that. He whined quietly.
"Oh, fine. Just hurry," she relented, releasing him by uncoiling her tight fist. He sped along at her heels as she raced around the building.
"Kimahri!" Rikku cried. "We're going right away to the ship! Ki-mah-ri!" she called. She didn't care about waking anyone up. This, right here, was a full-fledged emergency.
Only a few moments had passed since an exhausting search of the surrounding area. Rikku's voice was hoarse, her legs were pulsing with pain, and her skin was ice cold. But she couldn't stop. Not until she found Yuna.
Kimahri thundered down the stairs to reach them near the front door. "We leave?"
"Aren't you staying here?" Rikku wondered.
He shook his head. There was a rustling of bells.
"Okay, then! We're gonna get down to the ship right away…" She retrieved a small metallic pad from her things and began pushing at two black buttons on it.
Zysac peered at it. He had seen the captains of many Al-Bhed ships use these before. The devices were used to send messages transmitted in simple code to other Al-Bhed, almost always in the case of emergency. The technology was pretty new—well, newly recovered. The precise details of how the technology worked boggled him.
Kimahri announced he was going to get the snowmobiles prepared, and promptly left. Zysac, with Rikku's nagging, went and gathered up all of his things (which mostly weren't his, but the group's) and what was left of Yuna's belongings, too.
Rikku sighed. What a night. What a horrible night. She would get her revenge on that stupid Guado girl, and that fatso priest too. Yes, soon… Revenge.
She felt a bit more content.
"Miss Rikku?" Zysac had returned, his cloak buttoned all the way up his throat, his goggles affixed tightly around his head. He swung down to the side and let the heavy pack slip off his shoulders to thud on the floor.
Rikku looked at him and smiled weakly. "Hey…sorry to drag you into this."
He cocked his head, confused. "Why are you apologizing now?"
"It's just…well, you're a kid. I was your age when I went out on the pilgrimage with Yuna…and the others." She looked out at the crystal clear moon, shining brilliantly within it's frame of silver clouds layered upon a raven black sky. So beautiful…
"I was too young, too," she reiterated, voluntarily removing her mind from its calm yet concerned reverie. "I still am. But Yuna is still our Summoner, in a way; and we're still Sacred Guardians, you know? Even I never trusted in Yevon and the teachings…I did want to protect Yunie. And now, Kimahri and I are the only Guardians around to help."
Zysac stood in contemplative silence.
"Damn," whispered Rikku, punching the wall. "Where could you have gone?" Yunie, where are you?
Somewhere, somewhere painfully close but terribly far away, Yuna awoke.
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Author's Notes (whee):
Hey, thanks for staying tuned, boys and girls! I had most of this chapter done several days ago, but I needed to finish up the last bit. I have the next chapter all planned out. It's gonna be mainly Lulu/Wakka stuff. Oh, please remember to grab your hankies for that one. ;.; I almost don't want to write it…
But find out what happened to Yuna soon too! Thanks! Please review, since you've already read!