Death lies on her like an untimely frost
Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.
~ Romeo and Juliet
I watched you dance that day. I never told you. It was a day of firsts for me; the first time I'd met someone as bewitching as you; the first time I'd truly experienced love. It was the day my inbred prejudice was swept aside by cupid's bow. I was mesmerised by your gait, the gentle sway of your hips. Intoxicated by your scent as you swept past me, correctly dismissing me as another 'Yevonite bastard' as you turned your thoughts to that dance. The 'waltz of death' we called it. Do you remember? Forgive me for this; I wish I didn't recall these memories. The pain of living without you, if you can call this 'living', is bad enough without the added hurt of remembering our happiness.
I watched you dance, alternating between swooping lows and dizzying, tiptoed heights, moving as gracefully as a leaf on the wind. The staff you held caught the sun, reflecting shafts of honeyed light back at us, the Yevonite's sent to train you for death. You smiled, the wind catching your hair as you spun. I sensed the priest's relief; they saw the smile and thought you ready to face your fate. They did not see the eyes that betrayed the smile, wide and scared. All they saw was a way to defeat Sin. I saw a woman, a beautiful woman. I also felt her brothers' glare on my back. You and I, we used to laugh about that day, sniggering like school children. After you were gone, Jecht and I tried to laugh about it. We couldn't. It hurt too much.
Cid's gone, Ruba. Renea too. I know how close you were; she was so upset when you…never mind. They made you an Aunt, you know. Rikku. She'll be fifteen now. I often wonder what she's like, how she and Tidus have faired. I pray often to whomever is kind enough to lend an ear to this old monk that they have spared the children from the fate of their forebears. Even Lia's dead. The day she died…Jecht never recovered. Tidus would cry for his mother and Jecht would turn to me, looking helpless. For such a big man he was vulnerable, broken by her loss. He'd ask what he should tell the boy, beg me to help him end the torment. I took the child and told him his mother was sleeping with the faeries. 'Like Aunt Ruba?' he'd asked. My gut wrenched and I nodded. 'Like Aunt Ruba.'
It's been fifteen years since your death, ten years since Braska and I led your brother, Cid, to his. Ten years since I saw our family, ten years since Braska became Sin and ten years since I truly drew breath. In all honesty, I died with you. The day those bastards told me your Guardians had failed, that they'd left you, alone and afraid in the wastelands of Zanarkand to die. An act of revenge for some imagined Al Bhed slight years before. Nothing to do with you, just a grudge, and a lust for blood which was sated by your needless death. They shrugged as I raged, turned a blind eye as I hunted down your murderers and killed them in cold blood like the dogs that they were. Death was too good for them, I only wish I could have avenged you better. The asked me back to the order, offered me the hand of the Maester's daughter. Jecht tried to persuade me to go. I told them in no uncertain terms to fuck off and leave me to my grief. I loved you so much. I still do. Not a day passes where you don't dominate my thoughts.
When Cid died, when Braska had sacrificed his life and I had thrown mine away, I went to a dream. It was the past, a Zanarkand of years gone by. I made a promise to watch over Braska's child, and when she was ready, bring her to Spira and end the wrath of Sin. He made me promise. I'll do it for him. I'll do it for you. It's nearly over; the scene has been set. Years of waiting are nearly at an end and soon, soon we'll be together once more. We have a lot to catch up on, you and I. I won't keep you waiting for any longer than is necessary. I promise.
Auron rose from his position by the small memorial he had erected a lifetime ago, smiling grimly as his wearied bones creaked and popped with the movement. He ran a hand lovingly over the marker, his breath catching in his throat as the sun rose over the bluffs. How many times had he sat here with her, watching the sunrise but never truly seeing it? Watching her instead, concentrating on the slight rise and fall of her chest, her head against his shoulder a pleasant weight. The thought pained him and he turned abruptly from the monument and in doing so, his memories. Weakness was an indulgence he could ill afford. He offered a silent prayer to those watching over Yuna to keep her safe until they re-grouped. He never renounced a promise.
~*~*~
Yuna cracked open her verdant eye slowly; wincing as a headache forced it closed again. She felt a slight pressure on her shoulder, shaking her gently. The blitzer frowned, batting at the irritation lazily. "Just a little bit longer."
"I've never heard a girl snore as loud as you do. It's very impressive."
Yuna sat up abruptly, her forehead connecting with that of the youth she'd glimpsed yesterday. He reeled backward clutching his head, mirroring her own pained expression. He offered her a sheepish grin. "Remind me never to tease you again. It's not becoming of a summoner to walk about with a bump on his forehead."
She blushed scarlet. "I, I'm sorry. You startled me, y'know?"
"I apologise. How are you feeling?"
"Woozy." She giggled, before fixing him with a serious expression. "Tidus, right?"
He nodded with a smile. "Right. Do you remember anything, Yuna?"
She decided to go with the safe option. "Uh, no. Sin's toxin and all that."
He frowned, inclining his head to show his understanding. "Of course. You had a lucky escape you know. Most people who come in contact with Sin never live to tell the tale."
Yuna grinned, running a hand through her hair. "Well, blitzer's are made of stronger stuff than most."
"You blitz? What team?" He asked, surprised that the slight stature belied her sport.
"Star player of the Abes!"
He crossed his arms. "Never heard of them."
Yuna slumped, remembering that Zanarkand and its teams were as good as non-existent here. "No, you wouldn't have, would you?" She murmured to herself. Seeing Tidus' face fall, she added brightly. "Don't worry 'bout it, it's nothing."
A look of concern flickered over Tidus' face. "If you're sure…" He trailed off hesitantly.
"I'm sure."
"No problem. Well, I'll come see you soon. Places to go, things to do, y'know."
He turned and walked out, leaving her with her confusion. She brought her knees up to her chest and leaned her head against them lightly. "Damn you, Auron." She whispered.
~*~*~
The woman swayed gently in time to a rhythm only she could hear, a series of small, tentative steps before launching into the dance proper. She was vaguely aware of the gaze of the warrior monk on her, but she brushed aside his presence and concentrated on the waltz. She inhaled deeply, pasting on a smile as she twirled the staff in nimble fingers, twisting her body through a series of highs and lows. Her hair joined with her in the jig, billowing about her shoulders like a length of silk. She stumbled, heard the gasps before she righted herself with an apologetic smile, but still she was unable to hide the fear in the swirling eyes of jade. "Not that they'd notice," she thought bitterly. "'The Al Bhed can dance, she smiles, therefore she is ready.' Send me to my death, my fate has been sealed."
As she took the final steps, she turned to Jecht, a sad smile gracing her brother's face. He nodded grimly, his own brand of congratulations. Her elder brother was biting his lower lip while his wife wept openly, Cid and Renea had always been more emotional than Jecht and his wife Lia. She walked up to her family, grinning. "I think you're safe. I think I've done it."
Cid narrowed his eyes. "I don't want to be safe. It should be me going, not you."
"You've got someone to take care of, Cid. There'll be children for you; there's no one to care about my death apart from you four. Don't let's have this argument again, ok? It's done."
"Yeah, it's done alright." Jecht growled, clutching his wife and infant son to him protectively. "It's done and you're going to die."
"We knew it was going to be one of us, it always is. Maybe someone will defeat Sin before I do? I don't know, but it's better to safeguard your futures."
A cough startled them. Jecht turned coldly to the man who'd dared interrupt their conference. He eyed the warrior monk warily. "What the hell do you want, kid?"
The younger man drew himself up to his full height, trying not to be intimidated by the rough Al Bhed. "A word with the Lady."
Cid barked a laugh. "Hear that, Ruba? You're a lady now that you're going to die for them. Now don't that make it all worthwhile?"
Ruba shot a sharp glance at her brother. "Enough, Cid." She turned to the Yevonite. "I'll come with you. Your name?"
"Auron."
"Ok." She looked at her two siblings. "Behave." She warned.
She followed Auron's lead, surprised when he addressed her nervously. "I watched your dance. It was perfect."
"It wasn't, I stumbled." She replied bluntly.
"I never noticed."
She shot him a withering glare. "You're new then?"
His russet eyes twinkled as he chuckled. "That obvious?"
"Yes."
They walked in silence for a while, before Auron turned to her. "You're very beautiful."
"You're Yevonite. I'm Al Bhed. I know how you bastards like to 'initiate' the female Summoner's. Try it and you're dead. My brother's would make sure of it."
" I wasn't meaning…Ah, forget it."
"Good." She sniffed.
"Ruba?" He placed a hand tentatively on her arm, frowning as she stiffened. "I don't want to hurt you."
She snorted with laughter. "A Yevonite that doesn't wish death and destruction on me? Gods, what a rarity!"
"There are some of us, you know." He muttered, staring at his feet.
"I'm sorry. Maybe I was a little hard on you." She admitted grudgingly.
"You were more than a little hard." He sulked.
"It's just hard for me to trust your people."
"I know, but…trust me. Please?" He entreated.
She looked into his eyes, rust coloured and free of deception or falsehood. Instead, a genuine respect and affection had residence. She nodded slowly. "I'll try. It's all I can do."
~*~*~
Yuna remembered the day Braska had disappeared. He'd gone out training that day in the ocean, something he'd often done. He'd forgotten to take her with him like he said he would. That was something he'd done often too. The wind had whipped the sea into a frenzy, the usually calm, blue waters were a menacing black tipped with frothy white. She'd watched from the deck of her home as lightening flashed across the sky, offering her scant glimpses of her father out there in the middle of the brine. One of those brief illuminations had picked out the shape of a towering entity against the blue-black. Towering above Braska. She'd screamed and screamed, her mother rushing onto the deck to calm her child. Yuna had pointed a trembling finger to where she'd seen her father with the thing.
They'd waited until the next flash and saw…nothing. No monster. But no Braska either. He'd disappeared, vanished into thin air. As the years went by, people speculated she'd seen not a monster, but her fathers watery death, and in her trauma invented a beast to keep the terrible vision at bay. She knew the truth; she knew what she saw that day. But how could she know that the harbinger that haunted her nights was the same that terrorised Spira's days?
~*~*~
Auron stood at the gates of Home, scanning the surrounding dunes with impatience. A hand was placed gently on his shoulder, a voice roughened by a lifetime of cigarettes and whiskey spoke softly, a hint of grief making the tone slightly more gravelled than usual. He turned slowly to meet chocolate, spiralled eyes, heavy eyebrows knitted together. "Auron." One simple word, but the intonation filled him with dread.
He nodded in recognition of the man in front of him. "Jecht."
The Al Bhed swallowed a lump in his throat. "They came back an hour ago."
"Where? Why wasn't I told? Is she safe, where is she?" The words came out in a rush.
Jecht said nothing, his unruly hair falling over his face, hiding his emotions from the younger man. Auron frowned; he grabbed Jecht by the shoulders and shook him, hoping to get the answers out of him that way. "What is it? Tell me, damn it!"
The Al Bhed looked up, his eyes flashing darkly. "She's dead. Her Guardians turned on her in Zanarkand, they left her to die."
Auron's hands fell to his side as he stumbled backwards, away from the words he didn't want to hear. "No." He fell to his knees in despair, looking up to Jecht, almost pleading with him to tell him the words were false. "No…she can't be!"
Jecht placed a hand on the broken mans shoulder, offering him the small comfort of human touch. "She loved you, you know. She wouldn't have wanted you to stay here and die a fool's death with us. She wanted you to live, advance within Yevon."
Copper eyes shot up to meet Jecht's, disbelief only just keeping the rage in check. "She was your sister and she died because Yevon willed it so! How can you ask me to return to them, knowing they killed her?"
"It's what she wanted, Auron."
He narrowed his eyes, raising himself from the sand and strode toward the desert purposefully. Jecht ran after him, his hand flung from the warrior monk's shoulder. "Where are you going? Don't be foolish, we'll sit and talk and…"
"Talking will solve nothing! My wife, your sister, is dead. Dead, Jecht. Do you know what that means? She's never coming home. I'll be damned if I sit and let them get away with murder. They'll pay for this, I swear it on my life."
A/N: Another day, another chapter. Ah, the full extent of my man in red obsession is shining through. Makes me proud, tear in the eye and all that.
