I Searched For My Love

"You don't understand. You will never understand," I said as I knelt on the floor in defeat. "I only wanted to protect her," I continued. The memory of the day Bevelle invaded Zanarkand was clear to me as though it just happened yesterday.

"Bevelle troops are here!" Screams echoed the streets of Zanarkand as citizens ran for shelter. Bevelle came with their destructive airships and weapons and brought down buildings and killed every living person the soldiers detected. "We must call forth the Summoned Beast to hold them back," the head of Zanarkand said. "Quick, assemble the Summoners!"

"I must go. I have to defend Zanarkand with my powers. Please understand, Shuin, I'll come back. Don't worry," Lenne said to me when I refused to let her join the battle. Lenne, the love of my life, Zanarkand's beautiful and talented singer and powerful Summoner looked at me with determination in her eyes. I clenched my fist.

"Lenne, they have all the machines out there! Zanarkand don't stand a chance to win this war. Please, Lenne, stay here where you will be safe," I begged. "Shuin, if I stay here, Zanarkand will be destroyed and we will all die," she told me. "But if you go, you might die," I protested. "I don't care if I die or not, I will defend Zanarkand to the end," Lenne said as she walked out of the room and joined the other Summoners.

"I must protect Lenne no matter what happens. I cannot let her die," I said. I know that I am just like any other ordinary young man but I will try to save Lenne from death. The only way to do it was to seize the enormous weapon Bevelle had made. It was said that Vegnagun was sealed beneath the city and was well guarded and it seemed to have a will of its own, being able to sense threat but was unable to identify friend or foe. Vegnagun have the power to destroy the whole world but I don't care if the whole world will be destroyed as long as Lenne is safe. So, I went to Bevelle alone in search of Vegnagun.

"Can you help me save Lenne?" I asked as I drew near to the monstrous Vegnagun in an enormous dark chamber. I began to pound on the controls and Vegnagun responded. The lights were then turned on and this alerted the guards. I was caught and was thrown into prison. I was furious that I was caught when I almost succeeded in controlling Vegnagun. Everyday, I screamed at the guards, I demanded to see Lenne again but I was ignored.

Somehow, I managed to escape the prison and returned to Vegnagun. Lenne tried to persuade me to stop my plan in using Vegnagun but I would not listen. So she followed me to Vegnagun secretly. As I pounded on the controls again, Lenne ran into the chamber with her arms spread out to stop me.

"Stop! That's enough!" she shouted from the lower platform. I stopped my poundings and looked down at her. Before I could say anything, Lenne turned around and saw guards running into the chamber with their rifles. I ran down to her and held her close to me. I glared at the guards as they prepared to fire at us. Lenne looked at me and I looked at her with sorrow in my eyes that I failed to protect her. Lenne smiled at me even though a tear ran down her cheeks as if she's saying 'thank you for being there for me till the end'. The guards fired their rifles. Lenne and I released each other and fell on the platform.

I fell face first on the platform and Lenne on her back. I tried to extend my hand to her to tell her 'I'm here' but she seemed to be so far away. Lenne also tried to reach out to me as another tear fell from her eyes. Then, we disappeared together.

When I woke up in another realm, I tried to find Lenne but I could not find her. I travelled all over the world and I realized that this world has not changed even though a thousand years have passed. People still fight over the most trivial things and my anger towards this world grew. I knew Vegnagun was still sealed beneath Bevelle and I desired to change this world and make everything disappear, and end this useless world.

To put my plan in motion, I needed a body now that I have no body of my own. I possessed the body of a man and manipulated him to use Vegnagun. But three meddlesome women came to stop me and they destroyed Vegnagun, much to my amazement. When I released my victim's body, I fought the trio but I was still as weak as I was a thousand years ago.

"You will never understand," I repeated again looking at the floor. "Shuin," a voice called out. I looked at the women whom I mistaken as Lenne and saw Lenne's spirit emerged from her body. "Lenne?" I gasped. Lenne walked towards me but I tried to push her away in anger. She caught hold of my hand and held it close to her cheek.

"We finally meet," she said. I looked at her and said, "Ah, I've waited a thousand years for this moment." Lenne smiled at me and said, "Shuin, your love for me touched me deeply but I never got the chance to say 'thank you' a thousand years ago. Shuin, thank you for being there for me till the end. Enough with this ending-the-world plan, come home with me."

"Can I?" I asked bitterly. Lenne released my hand and put her hand on my shoulder and said, "It's alright, Shuin. It all happened a thousand years ago, it's all behind you now. You must let go of your anger. Rest now, Shuin. Together forever," Lenne said to me. I looked at her and wrapped my arms around her tightly. She too wrapped her arms around me.

"Did you hear my new song?" she asked cheerfully. I shook my head. "I wrote it specially for you," she told me. Lenne sang me the song as white light engulfed the both of us and we disappeared together again. This time, when I wake up, I won't be alone anymore; Lenne would be right beside me forever.