Author's note: I do not make any claim to Final Fantasy X or any of its characters. The only characters in this story that belong to me are the obvious ones.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yuna sat alone on the beach of Besaid Island. The wind gently blew her hair, along with the surrounding palm trees. She smiled, slightly, as the waves crashed over her bare feet and splashed up onto her purple skirt. The young woman stared into the sky blankly. The setting sun caused her skin appear a dark shade of orange, she had been there for quite some time now, longer then she had intended.
A silent tear rolled down her cheek, and she rested her head on her knees. She wanted to sob, she felt she needed to, but couldn't allow herself to do it. "Why am I feeling like this, when I know that he will never come back to me?" Yuna said softly to herself. She wiped the tear away and tightly closed her eyes.
She shuddered when a something touched her shoulder. "Wha…?" She turned around to see Lulu standing behind her with a weak smile on her face. "Lulu, I'm sorry, I meant to come back sooner. I guess, I just got distracted."
Lulu looked down at her, "Don't worry, Yuna," she said, "let's just hurry up and get back to the village, everyone is waiting." She took Yuna's hands and pulled her to her feet. "Now put you shoes on and dust yourself off, no one wants to see you with sand all over yourself."
Yuna giggled and quickly dusted the sand off of her skirt. She then reached for her black boots that were lying in the sand. She quickly picked them up, brushing the sand off of them, and slipping them onto her feet. "Is Rikku there? I was really hoping she would come."
Lulu nodded. She quickly turned around and began to walk towards the village, her black dress dragging in the sand, her head held high.
Yuna reached out to her. "And Kimahri, and Wakka?" She received a quick nod from Lulu. She smiled and quickly followed the older woman. While still walking, she turned her head and mouthed the words 'I'll come back to you.' She turned her head back into its normal position and sighed.
Yuna followed Lulu all the way into Besaid village and into a small house. Her eyes widened when she saw all of the people that had gathered there. She was surprised by a sudden hug given to her by a young girl. "Happy Birthday, Yunie!" Rikku half screamed.
"Thank you, Rikku," Yuna said, hugging her Al Bhed cousin. She looked around curiously at all of the people that had come to celebrate her eighteenth birthday. She, herself, did not understand what the big deal was, it was simply another year of her life gone past, nothing else. She looked from Rikku to Wakka to Lulu and then to Kimahri standing isolated in the corner.
Yuna walked towards Kimahri and he looked at her. When she was close enough, she collapsed into his arms, giving the Ronso a hug. He held her close, like a father his daughter, and she snuggled her head into the fur on his chest, her friends staring at her in adoration.
Rikku tapped Yuna on the shoulder, shaking her from a daze. Rikku quickly shoved a small, sloppily wrapped box at her. Yuna tried to refuse the gift, but Rikku insisted, and Yuna reluctantly took it from her. She slowly opened it, first removing the loosely tied ribbon, and then clawing away the wrapping paper. Yuna pulled opened the lid of the box and almost dropped it when she saw what it contained.
Yuna reached inside the box to pull out its contents, but Rikku stopped her. "It's a machina weapon, it's called a gun. It fires bullets at a very high speed," Rikku whispered into Yuna's ear. Yuna opened her mouth to ask why, but was quickly interrupted by Rikku, "I thought that they might come in useful some day, you never know." Yuna nodded, immediately putting the lid on the box and setting it down on the floor.
"Kimahri has present for Yuna," Kimahri said in his deep, booming voice. Yuna smiled sweetly as Kimahri handed her a small, unwrapped plush Ronso. She grinned from ear to ear and gave Kimahri another huge hug.
"Thank you, so much, Kimahri," Yuna said. Other people, even ones that she did not know personally, rushed towards her, forcing presents into her hands. She sighed, knowing that she would probably be there for a long time.
Later, after everyone except for Lulu, Wakka, Kimahri, and Rikku had began to leave, Yuna stared shocked at the many gifts she had received, including a new staff from Lulu, (good ole Lulu) and a blitzball from Wakka. (Did you expect anything better?) Yuna said her thanks as everyone walked out the door. As the last person left, Yuna slumped against a wall and let hr self slide to the floor. "Do you guys think this was all necessary?" she asked, pointing to the gifts.
"You have many admirers, Yuna, and I don't blame them," Lulu said while trying to put the gifts in an orderly fashion.
"Ya, I don't know what I would have done if I had gotten that much stuff for my birthday. Ya know?" Wakka stated. Yuna shook her head and sighed. Wakka walked to her and sat down next to her. "It's not the presents that are bothering you, is it, Yuna?"
Yuna's expression turned annoyed and she growled softly. "You can tell us, Yuna, we're here for you," Lulu said, kneeling down and looking into Yuna's eyes. When she received an angry glare from Yuna, she quickly stood up and returned to her task.
"Yunie," Rikku begged, "we really want to help you, no matter what the problem. Is it about Ti…" She suddenly stopped when Yuna stood up and stomped out of the house. "Yunie, wait!" she called after her, preparing to run after her, but Kimahri jumped in front of Rikku and shook his head.
"Yuna go to be alone, let Yuna be alone," Kimahri said. Rikku put her head, knowing that Kimahri was right.
"But don't you think that maybe we should check on her, you know, just to make sure she's okay?" Rikku asked. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to Yunie!" Lulu nodded and Rikku smiled, happy that someone agreed with her. The two girls immediately left, following Yuna's trail.
Kimahri and Wakka stood in the room alone. Wakka looked at Kimahri, asking him what to do. Kimahri answered his stare, "Lulu go, Rikku go, Kimahri stay and let Yuna alone." Wakka shrugged his shoulders and quickly ran after Rikku and Lulu. Kimahri remained where he stood, motionless.
Wakka, Lulu, and Rikku followed Yuna back to Besaid beach, and watched her, making sure they remained unseen. Yuna sat down in the sand and began to cry, not holding anything back. She slammed her fist into the sand, and asked softly, "Why?" She looked up into the sky and screamed, "Why did this have to happen to me? It's all your fault, I hate you!" She stopped suddenly, and began to breathe heavily.
Rikku tried to run to Yuna so that she could comfort her, but Wakka grabbed onto her making it impossible for her to move. She squirmed violently, but gave up with little effort.
Yuna turned her head away from the sky. "But, I think, that I would give anything to see your face again," she said, her voice calm now. As if in answer to her prayer, a great light appeared in the sky. Yuna looked up at it, shading her eyes. She stood up and began to back away.
Lulu and Wakka stared at it as well, and Rikku found the opportunity to break free of Wakka's grasp. She rushed to Yuna, but stopped when she was about three feet away from her. Yuna continued to back up, and the light grew. She suddenly fell backwards, Rikku catching her in her arms. The large light turned into a swirl black vortex.
Lulu and Wakka hurriedly rushed to where Rikku stood holding Yuna. Rikku set Yuna on her feet, and stared at the vortex in awe. "What is that?" Wakka asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Rikku answered. All four stood there with their mouths wide open. The vortex grew larger until it was less than a yard away from Yuna's feet. None of them could move for they were paralyzed with terror. Yuna stood motionless as the other three slowly back away from the spiraling vortex.
"Yuna, stand back!" Lulu commanded, but the girl did not move. Suddenly the black mass was on top of Yuna, vanished without warning.
"Yunie!" Rikku said, jumping after her cousin. She disappeared as Yuna had, and Lulu and Wakka's eyes widened. Suddenly, without warning, Lulu jumped into the vortex, hoping to save the two younger girls.
Wakka looked around to see if there was anyone else there, but there was no sign of anything except the vortex and himself. He began walking back towards the village, whistling with his hands behind his back. Suddenly to large black tentacle like objects flew out of the vortex and wrapped around Wakka's ankles. They quickly snapped back, pulling Wakka into the black hole.
Slowly the hole began to shrink. Unexpectedly, Kimahri rushed to the beach and stood in the exact spot in which Yuna had been standing. He reached out to the vortex which he knew had his friends, and was still shrinking. "Yuna!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yuna opened her eyes, but quickly threw her hand over them, shading them from the bright sun. She slowly sat up and looked around curiously. The ground beneath her was no longer sand, but rough concrete. All of the buildings around her were tall, some even taller than those she had seen in Bevelle or Luca. "Where am I?" she asked. A few people walked past her. She heard them snicker and looked around to see what might be so hilarious.
She stood up and looked around, noticing that the people were staring at her. "What is she wearing," she heard a young woman say. Yuna looked down at her outfit and then at those of the surrounding people. Most of the people were wearing shorts, made out of a blue material, and shirts of many different colors and odd designs.
She decided to ignore the people making a mockery of her and began to stroll down the sidewalk. She heard some voices down an alleyway, two, it seemed. "Hey baby, how much for a night," one of the people, a man, said.
"Ya baby cakes, how bouts you take off your dress for us," the other man said. Yuna quickly turned down the alley, hoping to help whomever it was that these two men were pestering. She smiled when she saw the woman. It was Lulu. She stayed out of sight, waiting to see what Lulu would do.
One of the men reached out, trying to grab at Lulu, but Lulu pushed him away. The men growled and lunged and her, but Lulu raised her arm up in the arm and the brought it down, along with a bolt of lighting onto the man. Yuna giggle as the man's hair turned black and he stood stiff. The other man quickly ran off without another word.
Yuna jumped out of her hiding place. "Lulu," she screamed, "I'm so glad you're okay!" She ran over to Lulu and smiled.
Lulu gave Yuna a quick hug and asked, "Have you seen Rikku or Wakka?" Yuna shook her head. "We should look for them." Yuna nodded, and the two walked back onto the main section of the sidewalk. The two stood out like a sore thumb. Lulu's large black dress, being very low cut and the bottom half having been made out of belts, was something most people did not see everyday.
Suddenly the two women's heads turned when they heard shouts, "Stop or we'll shoot!" shouted a man, holding a machina like the gun Rikku had given to Yuna. Yuna looked around curiously for whomever it was that the man was speaking to. People on the sidewalk began to stop and mutter among themselves. Yuna and Lulu's jaws dropped when they saw an all too familiar face running from the man with the gun.
"Wakka," Lulu said under her breath. Yuna jumped up and down, trying to catch Wakka's attention. Wakka saw them and quickly ran towards them and tried to hide behind them, but was, unfortunately, too tall. The man with the gun walked up to Lulu and Yuna, with Wakka trying to crouch behind them, and looked them over.
"Do you two ladies now this man?" the man asked while obviously looking at the girls' clothing. Yuna smiled innocently and nodded. "Well, ma'am, he seems to be carrying a weapon, some kind of ball with spikes all over it. Now, I told him that if he gave me the ball then I would let him go, but he simply took off running. Maybe you can convince him to give it up.
Lulu rolled her eyes and looked to Wakka. "Wakka, give him the blitzball."
"But…" Wakka said, but Lulu cut him off with a sharp glare. He growled and handed the spiked ball to the man. The man smiled.
"Now, don't let me catch you with anything like this again," the man commanded. The man walked away, checking over his shoulder to make sure they didn't do anything weird.
"Man, do you guys even know where we are?" Wakka asked. He scratched his head and looked around at all of the buildings and people.
"I don't know, Wakka, but perhaps we should look for Rikku, maybe she knows," Yuna suggested. Lulu and Wakka both nodded.
"Oh, Yuna, I brought your staff along with me, I thought you might need it," Lulu said handing it to Yuna. (Don't ask me why no one noticed it before, Lulu's just tricky that way, I guess.) Yuna happily accepted the staff and smiled at Lulu. The three suddenly heard a happy squeal coming from near a large metal object sitting next to the sidewalk. The squeal, the immediately knew, came from none other than Rikku.
Rikku was jumping up and down next to the object. "What kind of machina is this?" she asked excitedly. Lulu, Wakka, and Yuna rushed over to her, Lulu and Yuna giving her hugs. "It's weird, it seems to have an engine and other mechanical parts, it's obviously some kind of machina, I just have never seen it before." She put her thumb and index finger on her chin, pondering.
Suddenly a roar came from down the road. An extremely large machina (a semi truck) appeared in the view of the four. "A machina!" Wakka screamed.
"Yunie, do something!" Rikku commanded. She looked at Yuna, her knees shaking.
"What can I do? I can't summon an aeon, the fayth don't exist!" Yuna responded.
"Just try!" Wakka yelled. Yuna shrugged as the machina came closer to them. She held her staff in front of her and began to twirl it around. Suddenly a large flash of energy came from her staff. The energy exploded, knocking everyone off of their feet.
Yuna woke up to some shaking her. She opened her eyes slightly, but her vision was blurred. She could see that someone was holding on to her, trying to make her come to, she was unable to see clearly enough to tell if it was a male or a female. She blinked several times, trying to make her vision clear. She murmured slightly as her vision cleared.
When the person in front of her became clear, she wanted to pass out again, and did, but first asked, "Tidus?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
So what do you think of chapter one of my first ever, real Fan Fiction. Did it meet with your guys' standards? If some of the characters are a little off, just tell me in your review and I'll try to make it better in the next chapter. I think, that I made a pretty good cliffhanger at the end, what do you think.
I would like to ask that if you review that you put more than 'Good job, write more!' or simply 'this is really good. Write the next chapter.' I'd preferably like it if you would tell me reasons why you like, what I can do to improve, etc. Thanks for reading my story. ~ Rabid Minkey