A note from the Hime no Argh herself–
Wow, I'm surprised at the reactions I got to my first-of-several cliffhangers. ^^; Good to know that I still know how to do the suspense thing. I must apologize, however, for the cliffhanger doesn't really get resolved until the next chapter. ::wince:: Sorry! I'll try to have Chapter 11 out ASAP.
I've been writing up a storm lately, not of this fic actually but a new thingy of mine, a Samurai Jack fanfic. I'm planning to post it but haven't gotten around to it, being the lazy author that I am. Anyway, if anyone's an S.J. fan, I do hope you'll do me the honor of looking at my 'Jack fic when it's up. 'Tis much shorter than this one, anyway, so there's not a lot to commit yourself to.
Blah blah, shameless self-promotion, blah blah. On with this fic. Lots of Al Bhed in this chapter, which was a b*tch for me to translate ('scuze the language) but lucky you, you get the translations right at the bottom of the page! ^_^
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Chapter 10
Fimlusa Home
The midday heat sizzled in the white sands of Sanubia. Yuna had tied her hair back in an attempt to keep cool, but could feel the sun beating harshly on the back of her neck from a cloudless blue sky. Even in a sleeveless top and her light, airy skirt, Yuna felt overheated. She couldn't imagine how Lulu felt in her heavy black dress with fur trimming.
Rikku and Brother, on the other hand, seemed quite at home in the desert. They both scouted ahead, easily cresting tall, sandy dunes, while Yuna and Lulu dragged behind and rapidly consumed their water supply.
"Hurry up, you two!" Rikku called back to them, bouncing up and down excitedly. "We're almost there!"
"Oh, joy," Lulu muttered, panting as they attempted to keep up with the two energetic Al Bhed.
Rikku had gone off ahead again, scampering to the top of a particularly large dune. At the peak, she halted and pointed off into the distance. "Muug!" she cried. "Home yryat!"
"It's about time," Yuna gasped as she and Lulu huffed and puffed their way up the dune. "I hope they have more water."
Brother waited for them at the top of the dune as Rikku ran ahead. "Fimlusa Home, myteac," he said cheerfully as the women crested the dune.
Home fell away before them, an enormous, round structure nestled in the scoop of a desert valley. The sunlight glinted off brightly polished chrome as banners and flags flapped proudly in the wind. Six red banners were evenly spaced around Home's cylindric hull, each embroidered with the same blue design that was painted on machina and tattooed on Brother's chest, the Al Bhed sign.
Dozens of Al Bhed milled around the perimeter of Home, armed with handguns and rifles. Though a time of peace had befallen Spira, the Al Bhed lived in fear of an attack like that of five years ago, in which the survivors had been forced to evacuate and destroy their first Home.
An Al Bhed spotted them and cried the alarm, but Brother raised his hands unworriedly and grinned at the guards that came running to meet them.
"Ouin geh yna Home!" Brother and Rikku cried in unison.
The Al Bhed gaped for a moment, then suddenly swarmed around Rikku and Brother with many friendly slaps on the back and exclaims of, "Fimlusa Home!" Yuna and Lulu hung back awkwardly until Brother beckoned them forward.
"Drec ec Grand Summoner Yuna yht ran kiynteyh Lulu," Brother announced as he clapped Yuna on the shoulder, grinning broadly.
The Al Bhed goggled at Yuna, and several bowed. The cries of "fimlusa Home!" echoed all around them as the three women and Brother were borne, by an honor guard of Al Bhed, to Home's welcoming doors.
* * *
The man who arrested them was what Auron called a court priest, a monk charged with upholding justice. Of course, Auron added dryly, justice took on different meanings when it came from Bevelle.
"Hold your tongue," the court priest snapped at him when he made that remark. His men were busily binding their charges' wrists together. "I am indeed a court priest, and our justice is as fair as anyone else's." He ignored Tidus's disbelieving snort. "You may call me Sir Jeecan."
"Sir Jeecan, eh?" Jecht demanded harshly. "Here's what I'd like t'call you, you-" The rest was a stream of the worst curses Jecht could think of, which stopped only when Jeecan threatened to gag him.
Tidus thought it was rather funny that a whole military squad had to be called in to escort three men and a Ronso to Bevelle. The guards surrounded them as they marched along the path to Bevelle, silent and grim-faced with their rifles at the ready. What did they think a small group of unarmed people could do?
On the other hand, their situation seemed very serious. Tidus could not imagine why they were being arrested and dragged to Bevelle, unless their captors somehow knew who they were–three people who took part in the destruction of Sin and Yu Yevon, and one who had been Sin himself. A frightening thought abruptly struck him–what if Yuna had been captured and brought to Bevelle? What if she'd charged with ridiculous crime and thrown in the dungeons, or.... He swallowed. He couldn't dare to think of it.
There was no more time to think anyway, for at that moment they crested a hill, and the city of Saint Bevelle fell away before their eyes. Tidus blinked, dazzled by the beautiful, shining city on the edge of the sea, its spiraling towers and domed peaks gleaming in the early dawn light. Five years hadn't changed it a bit, as far as he could see–it remained a glorious tapestry of elaborate structures and long, elegant walkways extending across the water. At the very center lay the Palace of Bevelle, the home of the temples, courts, purification, and former Fayth cloister.
Bevelle's beauty was lost on them. It wasn't enough to mask the darkness that lay far beneath the city's gleaming surface.
* * *
"What d'you mean, there's no airship?!"
Yuna and Lulu looked quickly around at Rikku. Their energetic friend was known to switch from one language to another when she became upset or excited, but Rikku was back to Al Bhed now, jabbering away with a group of her kin in the corner of a large hangar.
"Did...did she just say there's no airship?" Yuna said uncertainly to Lulu.
"I certainly hope not," Lulu muttered, holding a hand to her forehead.
Yuna and Lulu were seated on wooden crates that housed spare machina parts in one of the many hangars within Home. In fact, nearly all of Home was comprised of dozens of hangars of varying sizes, their cold metal surfaces cluttered with machina. Yuna and Lulu had been politely examining the machina in this hangar, which all appeared to be some type of land-roving vehicle, while Rikku questioned her follow Al Bhed about the location of Cid and the airship. From Rikku's tone of voice and the few words Yuna understood, both seemed to be missing.
Deciding she wouldn't think about that until she knew all the facts, Yuna looked over at Brother, seated on the floor beside them. He seemed to have appointed himself as the women's guardian, and kept throwing suspicious glares at the Al Bhed who stared at Yuna as they walked by. Yuna was inclined to giggle at his protectiveness, but at the same time felt warmed–Brother acted as though Yuna were his little sister, just as Rikku was.
Yuna cast a glance at Rikku again, wondering when she was going to be finished with her discussion.
"Zicd mega Cid du dyga dra airship cusafrana frah fa haat ed," Brother muttered. Yuna looked quickly at him, sure she had heard the words 'Cid' and 'airship' in there. Brother, too, was watching Rikku, but unlike Yuna he could understand what was being said.
A moment later Rikku seemed to finish; she nodded to her Al Bhed companions and trotted to the pile of crates where her friends waited.
"There's a teeny-weeny problem," Rikku began carefully.
Yuna sighed heavily. "The airship's gone, right?"
"Apparently. Cid took it to make a few deliveries around Spira. They don't know when he'll be back."
Yuna exchanged a glance with Lulu. "Now what am I going to do?"
"There's no need to get excited," Lulu replied calmly. "Cid could be back tomorrow for all we know."
"Or he could be back in a month," Rikku said evenly. "Sometimes he takes a while."
"A month?" Yuna exclaimed. "I can't wait that long!"
Lulu shrugged. "Then we'll just have to search without the aid of the airship."
Yuna chewed her lower lip, thinking. It was true, they could search without the airship, but having it would make the search that much easier. Even if they borrowed a vehicle from Home, there weren't any that matched the airship's speed, and unfortunately the ancient machina was the only flying vehicle the Al Bhed had at the time.
Brother, who seemed to sense what the dilemma was, addressed Rikku in Al Bhed. "He says we should wait a little while," Rikku translated for the others. "Stay Home for a week or so, then if Cid hasn't shown up by then, we can decide what to do next. We're all welcome here."
Lulu glanced at Yuna. "It's your decision," she said quietly.
Yuna hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Tell Brother we'll stay for a night, at least. I need some time to think."
Lulu nodded. "That seems like the wisest course of action right now."
With that decided, Rikku found the women a trio of mattresses to use that night. The Al Bhed slept together in large rooms called bunkers, which housed two dozen each–Yuna supposed it went along with the Al Bhed's strong sense of family. She'd had experience with these kind of sleeping arrangements; the summoner's sanctum in the old Home had been much the same. Rikku was used to it, of course, and Lulu never complained, though she sniffed upon learning that the sexes shared bunkers.
"Hardly proper," she commented, but didn't say anything more.
The women joined Brother in the mess hall for supper, where his fellow Al Bhed had cooked up a highly unappealing mess of beef, corn, and desert spices and dished it out at long tables where the diners could help themselves, buffet-style. The four of them found a table in a corner of the room, concealed from the curious stares from the Al Bhed, all of whom seemed to be buzzing excitedly about the arrival of Yuna and her friends.
"They're just wondering what we're doing here," Rikku said through a mouth full of food, mostly to alleviate Lulu's suspicion. She chewed and swallowed before adding, "Everyone wants to help the Grand Summoner."
"That's nice of them," Yuna said delicately, taking a careful bite of the beef-and-corn mess, which turned out to be much better than it looked.
"Oui kuehk du ayd drec?" Rikku asked Brother, swiping a piece of bread from his plate.
"Dyga ed, e tuhd sehd," Brother replied in a sarcastic tone, cuffing Rikku around the head. He regarded Yuna seriously for a moment. "Ruf muhk yna oui ymm cdyoehk?"
"E tuhd ghuf," Rikku replied carelessly, leaning back in her chair and placing her feet up on the table as she gnawed on the bread. Lulu gave her a disapproving look, which she ignored. "Edc ib du Yunie."
Brother stared at Yuna for another moment, then looked down at his plate. "Cra cruimt cdyo vun y frema," he muttered.
Rikku sat up and looked around at Brother, a strange, curious expression on her face. "Fro?"
"What are you two talking about?" Yuna interrupted a bit jealously, wishing, not for the first time, that she understood Al Bhed.
Rikku eyed Brother for a moment, staring into his plate with a surly expression, then glanced at Yuna. "Never mind, Yunie, it's nothing."
Lulu neatly folded her napkin and placed it beside her tray, her grave eyes glancing at each of them in turn. "It's late," she said quietly. "Shall we turn in?"
They all agreed this was the best idea. Brother left Yuna, Rikku, and Lulu at their bunker and a group of Al Bhed women helped set up their mattresses, chattering amiably with Rikku. Yuna sat on a pile of blankets and let Lulu comb her hair, thinking.
"I wonder what Rikku and Brother were talking about," she said abruptly. "Rikku was giving him the strangest look."
Lulu was silent for a moment, working through a tangle in Yuna's hair. "I don't think it's anything you should worry about, my dear," she murmured at last.
"I suppose you're right," Yuna said doubtfully, hugging a pillow to her chest. The Al Bhed women had dispersed and Rikku was settling herself in on her mattress, tucking her blankets up to her chin.
"'Night, guys," she yawned, and was almost immediately asleep.
Lulu rolled her eyes at Yuna, then said her goodnights and lay back on her mattress. Yuna buried her face in her pillow and listened as Lulu's breathing grew steadily more even, until she was sure the woman was fast asleep.
Yuna sat up and stuffed her feet into her boots, then got out of bed as quietly as possible and snuck stealthily past dozens of sleeping Al Bhed. She climbed the stairs up to Home's surface level and went straight out the front door, never hesitating. The guards that roamed in and out of Home gave her curious glances as she walked past, but didn't stop her.
Outside, Yuna breathed in the cool, dry air with relief, gazing out at the stars. Home, despite its large rooms and high ceilings, always tended to give her a feeling of claustrophobia. Yuna supposed that was because it was mainly underground and enclosed. She was used to living on a cool, breezy island where the only walls surrounding her were that of spacious, airy tents.
"It was frightening to be held prisoner in the old Home," she murmured to Tidus, whose presence she felt beside her.
"Yeah?" His voice warmed her heart, banishing some of her nervousness at being enclosed within Home's sturdy walls. "How so?"
"I guess because the summoner's sanctum was so far underground." She hesitated for a moment. "And enclosed. It was crowded, and the air was stuffy and hard to breathe. I think I'm a bit claustrophobic," she added upon reflection.
"It's okay." He grinned at her when she looked at him, a bit teasingly. "Even great summoners have their faults, I suppose."
She giggled. "Oh, you're just mean, making fun of me. I never mention your faults!"
"What faults?" he said arrogantly, which made her giggle again.
There was a silence while they looked at each other, and Yuna's smile faded.
"Listen, Tidus," she said quite seriously, "I think you should go away. Lulu said you're just a dream I'm having. You see, my heart longs for you, so my mind recreates your image when you're not really-" She stopped. He was already gone.
"Listen to yourself, Yuna," she whispered softly. "Talking to air."
The moon was shining from a cloudless, star-filled sky, reflecting a pale glow off of Sanubia's white sands. Yuna stood still and listened to the wind rustling across the desert, then put her face in her hands.
I'll never find him, she thought hopelessly, fighting back tears. We haven't had a sign of him since leaving Luca, there's no airship, and I'm hallucinating more than ever. Why did I ever think he was somewhere in Spira?
A touch on her shoulder jerked her from her despairing thoughts, and Yuna turned quickly. It was Brother, and judging from the expression on his face, a mixture of worry and deep sympathy, he had witnessed her most current waking dream.
"Yuna," he said quietly.
The words poured out of her before she could stop them, regardless of the fact that he couldn't possibly understand her. "It was just a waking dream. Lulu says they happen when I get really sad and lonely. I don't mean to do it, it just happens, and I can't stop it, I can't do anything-"
She stopped then, because Brother had put his arms around her and was holding her so tightly she could barely breathe. She closed her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder, feeling glad, in spite of everything, because he didn't expect her to say or do anything more.
* * *
To be continued.
* * *
Translations
Fimlusa Home – Welcome home
Muug – Look
Home yryat – Home ahead
myteac – ladies
Ouin geh yna Home – Your kin are Home
Drec ec Grand Summoner Yuna yht ran kiynteyh Lulu – This is Grand Summoner Yuna and her guardian Lulu
Zicd mega Cid du dyga dra airship cusafrana frah fa haat ed – Just like Cid to take the airship somewhere when we need it
Oui kuehk du ayd drec? – You going to eat this?
Dyga ed, e tuhd sehd – Take it, I don't mind
Ruf muhk yna oui ymm cdyoehk? – How long are you all staying?
E tuhd ghuf – I don't know
Edc ib du Yunie – It's up to Yunie
Cra cruimt cdyo vun y frema – She should stay for a while
Fro? – Why?