GoodGurl: I have so many stories to finish, yet I can't seem to find the right time to finish them, especially if there is someone who is very commanding for another chapter before their school starts….Oh yes, you know who you are! o.O LOL! Anyway here it is. This is only a one time thing, because like I said, there are other stories I have to finish too! @_@ Oh yes, I don't know Al Bhed language so please bear with me….
Chapter 16 – Al Bhed Home
There was silence and darkness around them. Everyone slowly stood up, their bodies feeling like they were thrown back and forth inside a box.
And they were…
Rikku's hair flew around her face as looked around looking for signs that everyone was alive. To her relief, Auron and Lulu were standing beside her, while Wakka and Tidus, who were holding onto Yuna, were safe. Kimahri was still in the position he had earlier. She glanced in front of her and frowned, planting both her fists on her hips.
"POPS!" Rikku yelled in her native tongue, as she moved her hair from her eyes. "I don't think you needed to do that! We probably had enough fuel to get back!" She looked around for her letter and it was sitting on the floor just behind her father. Quickly, Rikku picked it up and stuffed it back inside the pocket of her shorts.
Cid didn't seem to hear what his daughter told him instead, he turned his face to look at everyone. "Welcome to Al Bhed Home!" He turned to Giron, with his hands clasped behind him in a very 'captain-ish' manner. "Giron open the door!"
Giron reached over in front of him and pressed a button. Cid turned and walked passed the tired looking bunch and headed out towards the deck where the door was opened first. Rikku followed suit, mumbling something in Al Bhed and from what Lulu could tell, they did not sound right as they all followed Rikku. Auron was right behind Lulu, then Kimahri and Wakka. The only ones who didn't leave the ship yet were Yuna and Tidus. Lulu turned to look what they were doing, stopping just in time to see them head towards Kai's room.
Auron noticed that Lulu was no longer beside him. "Lulu?" he said, turning around to see her just standing there, staring at the darkness of the ship.
"They went into Kai's room." Lulu decided to head for his room as well, followed by a curious Auron. They both stopped just by the door, wondering what was going on and then the voices on the other side confirmed it.
"Is this really necessary?" Kai asked, his voice sounding bored and annoyed at the same time. They could hear the sound of chains being moved around, followed by two snaps.
"I'm not going to let you walk around freely is all I'm going to say!" was Tidus' answer in a harsh tone.
Lulu straightened herself up and opened the door. The three people in the room all looked up at the sound of the door opening. They noticed Lulu and Auron standing by the door, curious looks etched on their faces. "What's going on?" she asked.
Yuna was the first one to answer. "Sorry Lulu, but we still don't trust him. I understand that you do and he seems to trust you, but we don't want to endanger anyone else's lives." There was a pleading look in Yuna's eyes that Lulu had no choice but to agree.
"All right," she said. Lulu and Auron moved out of Yuna's way.
Tidus tugged at Kai's chains to force him to stand up and they both followed the young Summoner out the door with Lulu and Auron not far behind. Curious about what Yuna said Auron turned to look at Lulu. He wanted to ask about what happened between her and Kai earlier, but chose not to, knowing full well that Lulu would reply to him.
All five of them stepped out into the fresh air. Rikku, Wakka, Kimahri, Cid and surprisingly, Cess, were waiting for them at the front doors of a large gate, made of Machina parts. Rikku was waving her hand at them. "Come on you guys! Hurry up!" She didn't seem to notice that Kai was chained and was being dragged around by Tidus like a dog, because she was far too excited to see her home again.
The five of them walked faster to catch up to them and once they were finally joined together, the gate suddenly opened. Anyone who loved Machina would be amazed at how much Machina was used in the building of a large city like Al Bhed Home. Cess, Auron, Lulu, Tidus, Yuna, Wakka and even Kai looked around, their eyes fixed from one building to the other, each with its own unique design.
"Wow!" Yuna gasped. In every home, there was at least one Machina moving around inside the buildings, tending to their masters. Cid led the way down the hollow street. Right behind him was Rikku, who seemed awed at what seemed like the changes of the place she grew up in.
Just at the end of the winding road, they were greeted by two young men. One had a blond Mohawk, while the other had a dark skin wearing round, blue glasses. Cid seemed to have been hesitant to greet them, so he allowed Rikku to run ahead of him towards the two. "BROTHER! BUDDY!"
The blond man opened his arms to Rikku as she ran into them. "Rikku!" he said, in an Al Bhed accent. "I have not seen you in a long time," he added in their Al Bhed language. The dark skinned man just nodded, but he was shocked when Rikku hugged him as well. He was too stunned that he just patted her back awkwardly, though Lulu could see the blush on his face.
"Buddy, how are you?" Rikku asked, this time in normal language.
Buddy seemed to be the only one out of the two that knew how to speak non-Al Bhed language. "I'm fine Rikku. It's been a long time."
"YES!" Brother suddenly yelled only for Rikku and Buddy to understand. "Three years and yet you did not write! How could you Rikku!?" He titled his head back dramatically, but Rikku knew he was just being sarcastic.
Cid mumbled something about Brother, but Rikku and Brother chose to ignore that. "I'm going to get some of the parts." He paused and looked at Yuna and the others. "You might have to stay here the night. It could take all day for us to get the ship fixed again. You don't mind?" he said, looking at Yuna, then at Tidus.
The couple both nodded in unison. "We don't mind at all," Yuna replied softly.
"I don't mind sleeping back on the ground again," Tidus said, stretching and yawning.
"Rikku I want you to show everyone to where they can rest for the night." Cid chose to ignore what Tidus said and without even saying hello to his son and to Buddy, he turned and walked off.
"Is he still mad at you?" Rikku whined, sighing.
Brother frowned and said nothing.
Shrugging, Rikku turned around to face everyone. "All right everyone! Welcome to Al Bhed Home, but I guess that welcome was already established by my dad…" She rolled her eyes and glanced at her brother and his friend. She gave a smile, before saying, "Brother, Buddy, I'd like to meet everybody. This is Yuna, Tidus, Lulu, Auron, Wakka, Kimahri and Cess!" A few nods were exchanged, but Brother's eyes immediately landed on Yuna, before he realized that Tidus was holding her hand. He turned his eyes from her and noticed someone just behind the blond with long dark hair.
"Who is that?" Brother asked, his accent visible as he spoke those words.
Rikku turned and glanced at the dark haired man wearing blood red robe torn at his sides. "Oh, that's Kai." She turned and began to lead the way, avoiding Brother's curious looks. "He's just someone we picked up," she added in Al Bhed. Brother and Buddy nodded together knowing that that was going to be the only answer they'll get from the blond girl.
Rikku, Brother and Buddy led everyone into their rooms on the second floor of the large, city-like building. Yuna and Tidus were in separate rooms, due to Kimahri's and Wakka's protest not to put them together. Yuna was fine with it, but Tidus seemed even reluctant to leave Yuna's side as he was led to a room two doors down. In those rooms were going to be Kimahri and Wakka themselves. Even if Yuna was old enough to make her own decisions, Kimahri and Wakka were still protective over their young Summoner and even if Tidus was trustworthy, they did not trust him in the same room with Yuna. Tidus handed the chains attached to Kai's legs to Auron. Auron took it without a word, much to Kai's annoyance and went into his room to sleep. Right next to Tidus was Lulu and when it was Auron's turn for his room, he glanced at Kai first, then at Rikku. "I do not trust him to be in the same place as Lulu," he said, whispering to Rikku.
Cess was nowhere to be seen.
The blond girl waved her hand at him. "Don't worry! Don't worry!" she replied enthusiastically. "I'm going to give him a different room not from here." She took the chain from Auron and watched him go inside his room, who was still unsure about trusting Rikku, her brother and their friend with Kai. Rikku's smile, however assured him that and when he was pretty confident with the three of them, he closed the door behind him.
Rikku, Brother and Buddy walked back down to the third floor with Kai trailing behind, once in a while tugged by Rikku to go faster as if he was indeed a dog. There would be growls of protests from Kai, but Rikku just ignored him, while Brother and Buddy kept giving the older man nervous glances. At first Rikku didn't know where she was going and as they turned around a corner of the first level, the blond girl's memories came back to her. Brother and Buddy were too nervous with Kai's presence to realize that Rikku had JUST remembered where the Basement level was.
Buddy was walking just behind Kai, when they rounded another corner, but as they did, Rikku bumped into someone tall. "Woah!" the voice said. The blond girl managed to place her feet behind her to keep her balanced so she wouldn't fall. She looked up and noticed a tall, blond young man, about a year older than her dressed in purple and red and had a black eye patch covering his right eye. He was looking at Brother first. "Hey Brother!" His eyes were now on Rikku. "Hey! When did you get a girlfriend?" He peered his one eye at her up and down. "She's cute!"
Rikku blushed. Brother just looked at her odd and looked up at the tall man frowning. He folded his arms across his chest and said in their native tongue, "You idiot, Gippal! Don't you remember Rikku? My sister!?"
The man just kept staring at her, trying to remember who she was, which was making Rikku quite uncomfortable. "Ohhhhhhhh, Cid's girl!" he said suddenly.
Startled, Rikku stared at him. Who was this guy?
"Hey! How you been?" The blond suddenly turned and walked away without another word, leaving Brother and Rikku speechless. The blond girl turned to her brother. "Who was that?" she asked.
Brother sighed and rubbed his temples irritably. "You don't remember him?" he said, looking up.
Rikku placed a finger underneath her chin, trying to think, but no memory came to her. "Hm…No, I don't think so. I don't think I've met him before."
Brother took a deep breath and shook his head. "Oh well, I don't think it's a big deal. Let's go! You just grew up together, that's all!" He walked passed her and led them all down the hall, but Rikku wasn't finished with him yet. She tugged at Kai to go faster and was able to catch up to him before Brother made it to the elevator leading down to the Basement level. Buddy trotted towards them, gasping for breath.
"What do you mean, it's no big deal!?" she yelled in Al Bhed. She stopped beside Brother and looked at him annoyingly. "It's a big deal for me because you just told me he and I grew up together! Why won't you tell me who he is!?"
Brother looked at her. "Because he told me not to tell you!"
Rikku just stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
Without giving Rikku an answer, Brother stepped inside the elevator and gestured his sister inside, with Kai rolling his eyes and hoping that he could die right here right now instead of listening to a brother/sister quarrel. Buddy was the last person to step inside and was the first one to press the button to the Basement Level.
It wasn't long until they arrived at their destination. Rikku kept giving Brother curious glances; while in return, the Mohawk man just ignored her and led them down a dark path. "This is where you will stay…uh…Kai," Brother said.
At the end of the dark path, there was a door and as soon as Brother opened it to reveal a dungeon setting, Kai knew what he was in for.
Kai rolled his eyes. "Yippee, I am jumping for joy," he said in a very bored voice. He was quite surprised really at how clean the dungeon was, despite the name. The trio didn't seem to be unnerved at the fact that the dungeon was clean…too clean. The dark haired man could hear Rikku mumble some words in Al Bhed, while Brother just unlocked the door to the first 'room' in front of them. The cage-like room opened with a squeak and, without anymore protests, Rikku led Kai inside quietly, obviously still frustrated about her brother's unwillingness to talk about that man they met earlier.
"I'm going to bring down food for you soon," Rikku said quietly. "I'll let Lulu know you're here since she seems to trust you."
Kai said nothing. He didn't know he felt relief when she said that about Lulu.
Without a word, she walked back down the dark pathway while Brother locked the door in front of Kai. After, both and he Buddy followed Rikku down the pathway and back up the elevator, leaving Kai alone in the dark.
******************
Lulu laid in bed, thinking about the events that happened these last few days. She still remembered Kai lying earlier in his bed, mumbling some things in his sleep while she sat there, listening. Lulu never found out where he got his scar from, but she knew it would take him forever to finally reveal his story to her. A mixture of her memories with Kai and the kiss she shared with Auron kept coming back to her.
"Lulu?" someone called from the other side of her door. The voice was followed by a soft knock as Lulu stood up to answer it. Rikku was standing there smiling, her hands clasped behind her back. "Hi Lulu!"
Lulu looked at her curiously. "What is it, Rikku?"
"Oh I just wanted to tell you that Kai is down at the Basement level so you don't have to worry about him for a while! I'm going to the kitchen now to get him something to eat." Rikku smiled again and left, leaving Lulu confused and quite relieved. At least she knows that Kai won't be going anywhere for a while.
"Hey, Rikku?" she called, before the young girl could step inside the elevator heading for the kitchen area.
"Yeah?" Rikku bounced her way back in front of Lulu's door.
"I'll take the food to him," she said.
The blond looked at her strangely, then nodded. "All right. You can come with me and carry the food down to where he's staying."
Lulu nodded and followed Rikku down to the elevator and to the kitchen area. Al Bhed chefs and customers surrounded the kitchen area and from the looks of it, Lulu thought she was standing right inside a restaurant. Rikku led her down to the back way, greeted some of her Al Bheds on the way and grabbed any already prepared food from the kitchen counter. Lulu was shocked at this. Rikku was grabbing food that should be for the customers, but as she did so, none of the Al Bhed kitchen crew seemed to be unnerved by this. And then the Black Mage remembered that Rikku was Cid's daughter, the founder of Al Bhed Home.
Rikku stuffed her arms with chips, sausages or anything from the counter. Her hands were so full that she shoved some of them into Lulu's arms, much to the Black Mage's surprise and led her back out of the kitchen. It took Lulu a moment to realize what had happened, before she said, "Are you sure it's okay to take these?" They were just heading to the elevator when she asked the younger girl.
The young Al Bhed girl looked at her and giggled. "Of course! Why wouldn't it be?" She stopped in her tracks when she noticed something ahead of them. Lulu looked at her. "What is it?" The Black Mage looked up and noticed a blond man, standing around six feet tall approaching them with an eye patch over his right away, his mouth forming into a thin grin.
"Heeeyyy! It's you again, Cid's girl!" the man said in their native tongue, looking at Rikku.
Rikku frowned, which surprised Lulu because usually the blond girl was a happy-go-lucky type. "I have a name and Brother mentioned it earlier! It's Ri---kku!" She said her name much slower as if talking to a dumb person.
The man just laughed. "Every time I see you, you get even cuter!" He ruffled her hair and left. Rikku just turned away, but Lulu turned her head towards her just in time to see her blush. 'Interesting' she thought.
When they arrived at the Basement Level, Lulu was greeted with a very frustrated looking Kai, who sat on his thin mattress bed. He looked up at the sound of footsteps coming, but did not move from his spot. He just glared at Lulu as if he couldn't believe he was put in a place like this. "Well, if it isn't my 'best friend,'" he mumbled.
Rikku looked at Lulu, but the Black Mage just ignored the blond and approached the cage. She grabbed an apple from the food gathered in her arms and handed it to Kai. "Here, eat this. You look pale."
Kai turned away. "No thanks," he murmured.
Lulu sighed. "You need to eat something if you want your strength back, Kai." When he didn't answer, she began pushing the food through the small food flap made of metal. Rikku followed suit, knowing she's supposed to do the same thing and watched as Lulu stood back up. "We'll just leave the food here. If you're hungry just take it from here."
"I got a question for you," Kai finally said. He looked up, his eyes glaring at Lulu and Rikku. "Why am I in this position right now? Don't you guys get that I don't have a weapon to make to help me escape? And why exactly do I have to have these CHAINS…" He lifted up one leg to indicate the metal things attacked to his leg. "AROUND MY LEG!?"
"You almost killed all of us, therefore, we believe it's much safer for you to be in here," Rikku answered as a matter-of-factly.
Lulu sighed and nodded. "She's right, Kai."
Kai turned away and growled. "Fine…" He folded his arms across his chest and leaned his back against the wall. "You can go now."
Rikku turned and walked away, but Lulu remained for a while. "Kai, this will only be temporary until we leave to defeat Sin tomorrow morning."
"And then what?" Kai asked, looking up. "What happens to me now? What happens to us?"
Lulu frowned. "There was never an 'us' Kai. That's in the past now." With that said she turned and left, leaving Kai angry, yet at the same time, heartbroken.
******************
When she returned to her room, she found Auron standing by her doorway. Surprised, Lulu looked at him curiously. "What are doing here, Sir Auron?"
Auron peered through his glasses. "I went to knock on your door, but you weren't there so I got worried."
Lulu laughed. "There is nothing for you to worry about, Sir Auron."
Auron was taken aback by Lulu's reaction. That was the second time he has heard her laugh like that. It was music to his ears. "Oh all right," he said quietly. He slowly turned and began walking away, but Lulu's voice stopped him.
"Sir Auron? Do you want some company?" she asked.
That question surprised Auron the most. He turned and looked at her, while Lulu just shrugged and looked away. "Well, I just thought maybe you needed some company." Even with all that's happening, every time she saw him, she would still remember that kiss. She couldn't get her mind off of it. "I- I still can't get that kiss out of my mind," she said truthfully.
Auron blinked. He was quite relieved that she said that because he felt the same way. He turned away. All of a sudden, something caught his throat. He cleared his throat quietly and said, "What do you wish to do?"
Lulu shrugged. "Would you like to go for a walk?" she suggested.
The swordsman nodded agreeably. "I do not mind a little walk. Walking will help us both to sleep and think about what happened…" Those last few words were hard for him to say, but good thing he managed to get it out of his lips.
Lulu nodded and smiled. She led the way through the hallway, while Auron followed behind, quietly keeping his cool. The two of them decided to go down the stairs to reach the first floor. It was now almost dinner time and many of the Al Bhed Home residence were still roaming the streets, talking amongst each other in their native tongue. They didn't seem to realize Auron and Lulu there, the only two people who did not speak Al Bhed.
They were both quiet for a while, unable to say any word that would help start the conversation. They continued to walk down the street, looking at the buildings and the people other than each other. It bothered Lulu that both of them couldn't start a conversation. It was the perfect time to be talking, but she knew that even this time was not the perfect time. At time she noticed Auron glancing at her and then would quickly turn away whenever she looked at him.
Finally, Auron was able to see something that caught his eye. To his right, he noticed a doll shaped like a person and to his shock, it looked like Lulu. Lulu seemed to have noticed it too, because she stopped walking. "Is that-?" Lulu could not contain herself as she approached the doll resting on top of other dolls similar to her.
Auron stopped to look and walked to her side. She was picking one up and was staring at it curiously. The man who was selling the dolls was speaking in Al Bhed so none of them understood what he said. Lulu just gave him a nod, giving Auron occasional looks of disappointment that she wasn't going to know WHY they had dolls that looked like her. Sighing, she put the doll back down and began to laugh. Even when she hid the disappointment behind her laugh, Auron could still hear that same music in his ears. "I guess I'm popular here!"
The swordsman said nothing.
*************************
There was sweat all over his face. His third dream of the day came to haunt him. He stirred, mumbling something in his sleep. He kicked and punched as if he was fighting someone in reality.
The figure approached him slowly, sword gripped tightly inside the intruder's hands. The concealed figure watched as the man laid in his bed, drenched some more with his sweat, his eyes moving as they stayed closed.
"Nooo…. Please….please… no more…" he moaned. "Father….don't hurt me…father…"
Cess stopped and lifted up the sword above her head, ready to strike.
"I promise to be good. I promise to bring Lulu back and marry her. Please don't use that on me. Please…" He turned, his back now facing Cess hovering above him, revealing more than just his back. Because of his torn clothes from his injuries, she could see something red running across his back. It was a scar. Curious, Cess stared at it as he continued to moan. "Please not that. I promise to kill her parents. Just don't hurt mother. Please just don't hurt mother and Lulu…Don't hurt them…"
Cess' eyes widened in anger. "So it WAS YOU!"
At the sound of her voice, Kai opened his eyes, staring right at her. She was hovering above him ready to strike with her sword. The dark haired man was able to get away at the last minute, quickly moving away from where she had struck. Cess' eyes were full of hatred for the man.
"I won't EVER forgive you! It was a mistake to keep you alive in the first place! I don't care if they said to keep you alive, just as long as I can bring your head on a platter to prove to them that you were GUILTY!" She swung her sword, but due to her anger, she was unable to touch him as much. Kai easily dodged each attack.
"You got it all wrong…" Kai gasped, taking a deep breath. But Cess would not listen. Her loud growl was evident that she wasn't listening. Damn! He hissed to himself. There was no use in speaking to her now. If she kept this up, there was no way for him to move anymore. The manacles around his legs were tiring him out. She dived for him, but the only thing the sword stabbed was the apple lying neatly on the bedside table. Kai moved to the other side, but Cess, despite being angry, was fast enough to cut him across the face. Kai was startled. Blood poured from his face. He didn't have time to wipe them off when Cess charged again.
This time, Cess had hit the target. The sword pierced through Kai's already injured side and just as she was about to make a second strike, a pair of hands curled itself in between her arms and forced her hands behind her back. Cess tried to struggle, but the arms were much too strong for her. The sword fell from her hands and clattered on the floor. Kai fell on the floor, bleeding at his side and the last thing he remembered was the face of a blond young man with an eye patch over his right eye.
GoodGurl: HAH! There! Finished! Now what do you guys say??? THANK YOU OF COURSE! ^^
Chapter 16 – Al Bhed Home
There was silence and darkness around them. Everyone slowly stood up, their bodies feeling like they were thrown back and forth inside a box.
And they were…
Rikku's hair flew around her face as looked around looking for signs that everyone was alive. To her relief, Auron and Lulu were standing beside her, while Wakka and Tidus, who were holding onto Yuna, were safe. Kimahri was still in the position he had earlier. She glanced in front of her and frowned, planting both her fists on her hips.
"POPS!" Rikku yelled in her native tongue, as she moved her hair from her eyes. "I don't think you needed to do that! We probably had enough fuel to get back!" She looked around for her letter and it was sitting on the floor just behind her father. Quickly, Rikku picked it up and stuffed it back inside the pocket of her shorts.
Cid didn't seem to hear what his daughter told him instead, he turned his face to look at everyone. "Welcome to Al Bhed Home!" He turned to Giron, with his hands clasped behind him in a very 'captain-ish' manner. "Giron open the door!"
Giron reached over in front of him and pressed a button. Cid turned and walked passed the tired looking bunch and headed out towards the deck where the door was opened first. Rikku followed suit, mumbling something in Al Bhed and from what Lulu could tell, they did not sound right as they all followed Rikku. Auron was right behind Lulu, then Kimahri and Wakka. The only ones who didn't leave the ship yet were Yuna and Tidus. Lulu turned to look what they were doing, stopping just in time to see them head towards Kai's room.
Auron noticed that Lulu was no longer beside him. "Lulu?" he said, turning around to see her just standing there, staring at the darkness of the ship.
"They went into Kai's room." Lulu decided to head for his room as well, followed by a curious Auron. They both stopped just by the door, wondering what was going on and then the voices on the other side confirmed it.
"Is this really necessary?" Kai asked, his voice sounding bored and annoyed at the same time. They could hear the sound of chains being moved around, followed by two snaps.
"I'm not going to let you walk around freely is all I'm going to say!" was Tidus' answer in a harsh tone.
Lulu straightened herself up and opened the door. The three people in the room all looked up at the sound of the door opening. They noticed Lulu and Auron standing by the door, curious looks etched on their faces. "What's going on?" she asked.
Yuna was the first one to answer. "Sorry Lulu, but we still don't trust him. I understand that you do and he seems to trust you, but we don't want to endanger anyone else's lives." There was a pleading look in Yuna's eyes that Lulu had no choice but to agree.
"All right," she said. Lulu and Auron moved out of Yuna's way.
Tidus tugged at Kai's chains to force him to stand up and they both followed the young Summoner out the door with Lulu and Auron not far behind. Curious about what Yuna said Auron turned to look at Lulu. He wanted to ask about what happened between her and Kai earlier, but chose not to, knowing full well that Lulu would reply to him.
All five of them stepped out into the fresh air. Rikku, Wakka, Kimahri, Cid and surprisingly, Cess, were waiting for them at the front doors of a large gate, made of Machina parts. Rikku was waving her hand at them. "Come on you guys! Hurry up!" She didn't seem to notice that Kai was chained and was being dragged around by Tidus like a dog, because she was far too excited to see her home again.
The five of them walked faster to catch up to them and once they were finally joined together, the gate suddenly opened. Anyone who loved Machina would be amazed at how much Machina was used in the building of a large city like Al Bhed Home. Cess, Auron, Lulu, Tidus, Yuna, Wakka and even Kai looked around, their eyes fixed from one building to the other, each with its own unique design.
"Wow!" Yuna gasped. In every home, there was at least one Machina moving around inside the buildings, tending to their masters. Cid led the way down the hollow street. Right behind him was Rikku, who seemed awed at what seemed like the changes of the place she grew up in.
Just at the end of the winding road, they were greeted by two young men. One had a blond Mohawk, while the other had a dark skin wearing round, blue glasses. Cid seemed to have been hesitant to greet them, so he allowed Rikku to run ahead of him towards the two. "BROTHER! BUDDY!"
The blond man opened his arms to Rikku as she ran into them. "Rikku!" he said, in an Al Bhed accent. "I have not seen you in a long time," he added in their Al Bhed language. The dark skinned man just nodded, but he was shocked when Rikku hugged him as well. He was too stunned that he just patted her back awkwardly, though Lulu could see the blush on his face.
"Buddy, how are you?" Rikku asked, this time in normal language.
Buddy seemed to be the only one out of the two that knew how to speak non-Al Bhed language. "I'm fine Rikku. It's been a long time."
"YES!" Brother suddenly yelled only for Rikku and Buddy to understand. "Three years and yet you did not write! How could you Rikku!?" He titled his head back dramatically, but Rikku knew he was just being sarcastic.
Cid mumbled something about Brother, but Rikku and Brother chose to ignore that. "I'm going to get some of the parts." He paused and looked at Yuna and the others. "You might have to stay here the night. It could take all day for us to get the ship fixed again. You don't mind?" he said, looking at Yuna, then at Tidus.
The couple both nodded in unison. "We don't mind at all," Yuna replied softly.
"I don't mind sleeping back on the ground again," Tidus said, stretching and yawning.
"Rikku I want you to show everyone to where they can rest for the night." Cid chose to ignore what Tidus said and without even saying hello to his son and to Buddy, he turned and walked off.
"Is he still mad at you?" Rikku whined, sighing.
Brother frowned and said nothing.
Shrugging, Rikku turned around to face everyone. "All right everyone! Welcome to Al Bhed Home, but I guess that welcome was already established by my dad…" She rolled her eyes and glanced at her brother and his friend. She gave a smile, before saying, "Brother, Buddy, I'd like to meet everybody. This is Yuna, Tidus, Lulu, Auron, Wakka, Kimahri and Cess!" A few nods were exchanged, but Brother's eyes immediately landed on Yuna, before he realized that Tidus was holding her hand. He turned his eyes from her and noticed someone just behind the blond with long dark hair.
"Who is that?" Brother asked, his accent visible as he spoke those words.
Rikku turned and glanced at the dark haired man wearing blood red robe torn at his sides. "Oh, that's Kai." She turned and began to lead the way, avoiding Brother's curious looks. "He's just someone we picked up," she added in Al Bhed. Brother and Buddy nodded together knowing that that was going to be the only answer they'll get from the blond girl.
Rikku, Brother and Buddy led everyone into their rooms on the second floor of the large, city-like building. Yuna and Tidus were in separate rooms, due to Kimahri's and Wakka's protest not to put them together. Yuna was fine with it, but Tidus seemed even reluctant to leave Yuna's side as he was led to a room two doors down. In those rooms were going to be Kimahri and Wakka themselves. Even if Yuna was old enough to make her own decisions, Kimahri and Wakka were still protective over their young Summoner and even if Tidus was trustworthy, they did not trust him in the same room with Yuna. Tidus handed the chains attached to Kai's legs to Auron. Auron took it without a word, much to Kai's annoyance and went into his room to sleep. Right next to Tidus was Lulu and when it was Auron's turn for his room, he glanced at Kai first, then at Rikku. "I do not trust him to be in the same place as Lulu," he said, whispering to Rikku.
Cess was nowhere to be seen.
The blond girl waved her hand at him. "Don't worry! Don't worry!" she replied enthusiastically. "I'm going to give him a different room not from here." She took the chain from Auron and watched him go inside his room, who was still unsure about trusting Rikku, her brother and their friend with Kai. Rikku's smile, however assured him that and when he was pretty confident with the three of them, he closed the door behind him.
Rikku, Brother and Buddy walked back down to the third floor with Kai trailing behind, once in a while tugged by Rikku to go faster as if he was indeed a dog. There would be growls of protests from Kai, but Rikku just ignored him, while Brother and Buddy kept giving the older man nervous glances. At first Rikku didn't know where she was going and as they turned around a corner of the first level, the blond girl's memories came back to her. Brother and Buddy were too nervous with Kai's presence to realize that Rikku had JUST remembered where the Basement level was.
Buddy was walking just behind Kai, when they rounded another corner, but as they did, Rikku bumped into someone tall. "Woah!" the voice said. The blond girl managed to place her feet behind her to keep her balanced so she wouldn't fall. She looked up and noticed a tall, blond young man, about a year older than her dressed in purple and red and had a black eye patch covering his right eye. He was looking at Brother first. "Hey Brother!" His eyes were now on Rikku. "Hey! When did you get a girlfriend?" He peered his one eye at her up and down. "She's cute!"
Rikku blushed. Brother just looked at her odd and looked up at the tall man frowning. He folded his arms across his chest and said in their native tongue, "You idiot, Gippal! Don't you remember Rikku? My sister!?"
The man just kept staring at her, trying to remember who she was, which was making Rikku quite uncomfortable. "Ohhhhhhhh, Cid's girl!" he said suddenly.
Startled, Rikku stared at him. Who was this guy?
"Hey! How you been?" The blond suddenly turned and walked away without another word, leaving Brother and Rikku speechless. The blond girl turned to her brother. "Who was that?" she asked.
Brother sighed and rubbed his temples irritably. "You don't remember him?" he said, looking up.
Rikku placed a finger underneath her chin, trying to think, but no memory came to her. "Hm…No, I don't think so. I don't think I've met him before."
Brother took a deep breath and shook his head. "Oh well, I don't think it's a big deal. Let's go! You just grew up together, that's all!" He walked passed her and led them all down the hall, but Rikku wasn't finished with him yet. She tugged at Kai to go faster and was able to catch up to him before Brother made it to the elevator leading down to the Basement level. Buddy trotted towards them, gasping for breath.
"What do you mean, it's no big deal!?" she yelled in Al Bhed. She stopped beside Brother and looked at him annoyingly. "It's a big deal for me because you just told me he and I grew up together! Why won't you tell me who he is!?"
Brother looked at her. "Because he told me not to tell you!"
Rikku just stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
Without giving Rikku an answer, Brother stepped inside the elevator and gestured his sister inside, with Kai rolling his eyes and hoping that he could die right here right now instead of listening to a brother/sister quarrel. Buddy was the last person to step inside and was the first one to press the button to the Basement Level.
It wasn't long until they arrived at their destination. Rikku kept giving Brother curious glances; while in return, the Mohawk man just ignored her and led them down a dark path. "This is where you will stay…uh…Kai," Brother said.
At the end of the dark path, there was a door and as soon as Brother opened it to reveal a dungeon setting, Kai knew what he was in for.
Kai rolled his eyes. "Yippee, I am jumping for joy," he said in a very bored voice. He was quite surprised really at how clean the dungeon was, despite the name. The trio didn't seem to be unnerved at the fact that the dungeon was clean…too clean. The dark haired man could hear Rikku mumble some words in Al Bhed, while Brother just unlocked the door to the first 'room' in front of them. The cage-like room opened with a squeak and, without anymore protests, Rikku led Kai inside quietly, obviously still frustrated about her brother's unwillingness to talk about that man they met earlier.
"I'm going to bring down food for you soon," Rikku said quietly. "I'll let Lulu know you're here since she seems to trust you."
Kai said nothing. He didn't know he felt relief when she said that about Lulu.
Without a word, she walked back down the dark pathway while Brother locked the door in front of Kai. After, both and he Buddy followed Rikku down the pathway and back up the elevator, leaving Kai alone in the dark.
******************
Lulu laid in bed, thinking about the events that happened these last few days. She still remembered Kai lying earlier in his bed, mumbling some things in his sleep while she sat there, listening. Lulu never found out where he got his scar from, but she knew it would take him forever to finally reveal his story to her. A mixture of her memories with Kai and the kiss she shared with Auron kept coming back to her.
"Lulu?" someone called from the other side of her door. The voice was followed by a soft knock as Lulu stood up to answer it. Rikku was standing there smiling, her hands clasped behind her back. "Hi Lulu!"
Lulu looked at her curiously. "What is it, Rikku?"
"Oh I just wanted to tell you that Kai is down at the Basement level so you don't have to worry about him for a while! I'm going to the kitchen now to get him something to eat." Rikku smiled again and left, leaving Lulu confused and quite relieved. At least she knows that Kai won't be going anywhere for a while.
"Hey, Rikku?" she called, before the young girl could step inside the elevator heading for the kitchen area.
"Yeah?" Rikku bounced her way back in front of Lulu's door.
"I'll take the food to him," she said.
The blond looked at her strangely, then nodded. "All right. You can come with me and carry the food down to where he's staying."
Lulu nodded and followed Rikku down to the elevator and to the kitchen area. Al Bhed chefs and customers surrounded the kitchen area and from the looks of it, Lulu thought she was standing right inside a restaurant. Rikku led her down to the back way, greeted some of her Al Bheds on the way and grabbed any already prepared food from the kitchen counter. Lulu was shocked at this. Rikku was grabbing food that should be for the customers, but as she did so, none of the Al Bhed kitchen crew seemed to be unnerved by this. And then the Black Mage remembered that Rikku was Cid's daughter, the founder of Al Bhed Home.
Rikku stuffed her arms with chips, sausages or anything from the counter. Her hands were so full that she shoved some of them into Lulu's arms, much to the Black Mage's surprise and led her back out of the kitchen. It took Lulu a moment to realize what had happened, before she said, "Are you sure it's okay to take these?" They were just heading to the elevator when she asked the younger girl.
The young Al Bhed girl looked at her and giggled. "Of course! Why wouldn't it be?" She stopped in her tracks when she noticed something ahead of them. Lulu looked at her. "What is it?" The Black Mage looked up and noticed a blond man, standing around six feet tall approaching them with an eye patch over his right away, his mouth forming into a thin grin.
"Heeeyyy! It's you again, Cid's girl!" the man said in their native tongue, looking at Rikku.
Rikku frowned, which surprised Lulu because usually the blond girl was a happy-go-lucky type. "I have a name and Brother mentioned it earlier! It's Ri---kku!" She said her name much slower as if talking to a dumb person.
The man just laughed. "Every time I see you, you get even cuter!" He ruffled her hair and left. Rikku just turned away, but Lulu turned her head towards her just in time to see her blush. 'Interesting' she thought.
When they arrived at the Basement Level, Lulu was greeted with a very frustrated looking Kai, who sat on his thin mattress bed. He looked up at the sound of footsteps coming, but did not move from his spot. He just glared at Lulu as if he couldn't believe he was put in a place like this. "Well, if it isn't my 'best friend,'" he mumbled.
Rikku looked at Lulu, but the Black Mage just ignored the blond and approached the cage. She grabbed an apple from the food gathered in her arms and handed it to Kai. "Here, eat this. You look pale."
Kai turned away. "No thanks," he murmured.
Lulu sighed. "You need to eat something if you want your strength back, Kai." When he didn't answer, she began pushing the food through the small food flap made of metal. Rikku followed suit, knowing she's supposed to do the same thing and watched as Lulu stood back up. "We'll just leave the food here. If you're hungry just take it from here."
"I got a question for you," Kai finally said. He looked up, his eyes glaring at Lulu and Rikku. "Why am I in this position right now? Don't you guys get that I don't have a weapon to make to help me escape? And why exactly do I have to have these CHAINS…" He lifted up one leg to indicate the metal things attacked to his leg. "AROUND MY LEG!?"
"You almost killed all of us, therefore, we believe it's much safer for you to be in here," Rikku answered as a matter-of-factly.
Lulu sighed and nodded. "She's right, Kai."
Kai turned away and growled. "Fine…" He folded his arms across his chest and leaned his back against the wall. "You can go now."
Rikku turned and walked away, but Lulu remained for a while. "Kai, this will only be temporary until we leave to defeat Sin tomorrow morning."
"And then what?" Kai asked, looking up. "What happens to me now? What happens to us?"
Lulu frowned. "There was never an 'us' Kai. That's in the past now." With that said she turned and left, leaving Kai angry, yet at the same time, heartbroken.
******************
When she returned to her room, she found Auron standing by her doorway. Surprised, Lulu looked at him curiously. "What are doing here, Sir Auron?"
Auron peered through his glasses. "I went to knock on your door, but you weren't there so I got worried."
Lulu laughed. "There is nothing for you to worry about, Sir Auron."
Auron was taken aback by Lulu's reaction. That was the second time he has heard her laugh like that. It was music to his ears. "Oh all right," he said quietly. He slowly turned and began walking away, but Lulu's voice stopped him.
"Sir Auron? Do you want some company?" she asked.
That question surprised Auron the most. He turned and looked at her, while Lulu just shrugged and looked away. "Well, I just thought maybe you needed some company." Even with all that's happening, every time she saw him, she would still remember that kiss. She couldn't get her mind off of it. "I- I still can't get that kiss out of my mind," she said truthfully.
Auron blinked. He was quite relieved that she said that because he felt the same way. He turned away. All of a sudden, something caught his throat. He cleared his throat quietly and said, "What do you wish to do?"
Lulu shrugged. "Would you like to go for a walk?" she suggested.
The swordsman nodded agreeably. "I do not mind a little walk. Walking will help us both to sleep and think about what happened…" Those last few words were hard for him to say, but good thing he managed to get it out of his lips.
Lulu nodded and smiled. She led the way through the hallway, while Auron followed behind, quietly keeping his cool. The two of them decided to go down the stairs to reach the first floor. It was now almost dinner time and many of the Al Bhed Home residence were still roaming the streets, talking amongst each other in their native tongue. They didn't seem to realize Auron and Lulu there, the only two people who did not speak Al Bhed.
They were both quiet for a while, unable to say any word that would help start the conversation. They continued to walk down the street, looking at the buildings and the people other than each other. It bothered Lulu that both of them couldn't start a conversation. It was the perfect time to be talking, but she knew that even this time was not the perfect time. At time she noticed Auron glancing at her and then would quickly turn away whenever she looked at him.
Finally, Auron was able to see something that caught his eye. To his right, he noticed a doll shaped like a person and to his shock, it looked like Lulu. Lulu seemed to have noticed it too, because she stopped walking. "Is that-?" Lulu could not contain herself as she approached the doll resting on top of other dolls similar to her.
Auron stopped to look and walked to her side. She was picking one up and was staring at it curiously. The man who was selling the dolls was speaking in Al Bhed so none of them understood what he said. Lulu just gave him a nod, giving Auron occasional looks of disappointment that she wasn't going to know WHY they had dolls that looked like her. Sighing, she put the doll back down and began to laugh. Even when she hid the disappointment behind her laugh, Auron could still hear that same music in his ears. "I guess I'm popular here!"
The swordsman said nothing.
*************************
There was sweat all over his face. His third dream of the day came to haunt him. He stirred, mumbling something in his sleep. He kicked and punched as if he was fighting someone in reality.
The figure approached him slowly, sword gripped tightly inside the intruder's hands. The concealed figure watched as the man laid in his bed, drenched some more with his sweat, his eyes moving as they stayed closed.
"Nooo…. Please….please… no more…" he moaned. "Father….don't hurt me…father…"
Cess stopped and lifted up the sword above her head, ready to strike.
"I promise to be good. I promise to bring Lulu back and marry her. Please don't use that on me. Please…" He turned, his back now facing Cess hovering above him, revealing more than just his back. Because of his torn clothes from his injuries, she could see something red running across his back. It was a scar. Curious, Cess stared at it as he continued to moan. "Please not that. I promise to kill her parents. Just don't hurt mother. Please just don't hurt mother and Lulu…Don't hurt them…"
Cess' eyes widened in anger. "So it WAS YOU!"
At the sound of her voice, Kai opened his eyes, staring right at her. She was hovering above him ready to strike with her sword. The dark haired man was able to get away at the last minute, quickly moving away from where she had struck. Cess' eyes were full of hatred for the man.
"I won't EVER forgive you! It was a mistake to keep you alive in the first place! I don't care if they said to keep you alive, just as long as I can bring your head on a platter to prove to them that you were GUILTY!" She swung her sword, but due to her anger, she was unable to touch him as much. Kai easily dodged each attack.
"You got it all wrong…" Kai gasped, taking a deep breath. But Cess would not listen. Her loud growl was evident that she wasn't listening. Damn! He hissed to himself. There was no use in speaking to her now. If she kept this up, there was no way for him to move anymore. The manacles around his legs were tiring him out. She dived for him, but the only thing the sword stabbed was the apple lying neatly on the bedside table. Kai moved to the other side, but Cess, despite being angry, was fast enough to cut him across the face. Kai was startled. Blood poured from his face. He didn't have time to wipe them off when Cess charged again.
This time, Cess had hit the target. The sword pierced through Kai's already injured side and just as she was about to make a second strike, a pair of hands curled itself in between her arms and forced her hands behind her back. Cess tried to struggle, but the arms were much too strong for her. The sword fell from her hands and clattered on the floor. Kai fell on the floor, bleeding at his side and the last thing he remembered was the face of a blond young man with an eye patch over his right eye.
GoodGurl: HAH! There! Finished! Now what do you guys say??? THANK YOU OF COURSE! ^^
