*means thought*

- -

~~~ Tearful Red Encounters~~~

-Bikanel Island, 6 ½ months later-

I awaken to hushed voices.  "Wh-what happened?"

"Congratulations darling, you have a little girl!"

"May... I see her?" the healer glances over at Cid, as if seeking his permission.

"Of course you can hold your little girl," Cid says, glaring over at the mage.

A child with a cap of black fuzz on her head is handed to me, she is wrapped in a small pink blanket.  "Hello there little one." I whisper to her.

"I know, you can be her godfather, Cid!"

"A godfather she will never know."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't raise her here, you're going to have to find a family that will adopt her."

"No, she's my daughter, I will not leave her!  Please Cid, I'm begging you..."

"NO, you cannot raise her."

A tear escapes my eye and trickles down my cheek, "I love you my little one, and I will find you a family who will love and cherish you just as much as I ever could."

-Bevelle, same day-

"Wait, you're saying the Maester wants you to marry his daughter?" Jecht asked, incredulously.

"Yeah, he started becoming all friendly with me a few months ago.  Damn the man, he doesn't understand that I'm already betrothed."

Jecht sighs and puts his hand on Auron's shoulder.  "I don't know what to tell you pal, maybe Braska can help."

"I don't want to trouble him, but perhaps you're right.  I will request leave for the day."  Auron nods to Jecht and walks off.

-Bikanel Island, 1 week later-

"You are not coming with us!"

"She's my daughter, Cid!"

"Zali, you're still weak."

"I don't care, I want to meet her new family, I love her Cid, and I want to be sure they can take care of her."

"It's a long trip to Besaid, a long and dangerous trip."

"An adventure, how exciting, perhaps I can ask Valefor if he knows where Behey is."

"You are not coming and that is final."

"Cid..."

-Luca, 10 days later-

"Explain to me how you talked me into this again."

"Hmm, well Cidie, I basically begged, pleaded, and made a downright nuisance of myself, oh! And I got all the people in the town on my side, which helped a lot."

"It figures."

"Ooh!  There's a blitzball tournament going on!  Why don't we go and watch it!  Come on Cid, please!"

Cid grumbles and finally gives in, "Very well, we might as well."

I smile happily up at him and skip off to the stadium.  We arrive just in time for the second round.

My mouth drops open in shock; it's the Bevelle Beaters against the Luca Goers.  Jecht is on the Beaters' and he always drags Auron along to watch him play... I glance around the stadium, and catch sight of a flicker of red off to the right.  Scooping up my daughter I duck away from Cid and lose myself in the crowd.  Occasionally the crowd parts and I see Auron's telltale red coat flickering in front of me.  I hurry after it, clutching my infant to my chest.

He stops and I catch up to him.  I grab his sleeve and tug on it.  "Auron..." I whisper, looking up at him.

He whirls about at the sound of my voice and croaks, "Zali? Is that really you?"

I nod and wrap an arm around his waist, burying my head into his chest.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart, I... here, let's go somewhere more private." He leads me out of the stadium and into the Beaters' locker room.  Only then does he notice the little girl I am carrying.  "Is that her?  She's beautiful... she'll grow up to look just like you."

I smile, "Yes, this is our little girl."

He leans down and gently kisses me, "I love it."  He kisses me again, this time more passionately.

At that moment, Cid barges in.  My eyes flicker open, and I whirl about, holding my child.  Auron protectively wraps an arm around us.  "You again..."

"Her brother put her under my care.  I'm afraid that you are not allowed to see her."

"Cid..." I whisper quietly, "go away."

"No, Zaliestia, I'm afraid I can't do that."

Auron looks down at me, "Zali, princess, will you marry me?"

"Do you even need to ask, Auron?  Of course I will marry you, I love you."

"Aww, how romantic, now Zali, we have somewhere we must be going."

"Cid, I can scream, and everyone will come tearing down here, you don't want that to happen, do you?"

"It wouldn't matter, we are leaving."

I stare at him, tears filling my eyes, and I back up slightly, farther into Auron's protective embrace.  "Please..."

"We're leaving."  Cid throws a flashbomb and grabs my arm, hauling my daughter and me out of the room.  She starts crying.

Less than a half hour later, I am leaning against the ships railing, on the way to Kilika.  From there, we will take the boat to Besaid.  Cid walks up to me and stands just behind me.  Even though I cannot see his face, I can sense that he is frowning at me.

I turn around and look up at him, sure enough; a frown is plastered on his face, "Was there something you needed?"

"Yes." He says shortly.  "Follow me."

I sigh and follow him down below deck.  He leans against a wall, and I sit on the ground next to him, cradling my daughter in my lap.

"Why did you leave?  We've been over this many times!"

"And every time my answer has been the same."

Cid sighs, "You don't believe me."

"Of course I don't.  Besides, I saw Aurie in the crowd.  How could I not follow him?"  I shake my head lightly and smile up at Cid.  "One day, you may come to understand love, but until then, don't say that it's stupid."

Cid shakes his head, "You may be right, but your Auron is engaged to the Maester's daughter."

I shake my head firmly, "I am no Maester's daugh—what did you say?  He can't be, he asked me to marry him..." A tear trickles down my cheek, and Cid hesitantly reaches up and brushes it away.

"Look, I don't know if he's going to accept her or not, but it's common news, everyone knows."

"Then why haven't I heard about it?"

-Luca, same time-

"Damn it Jecht, she was here!" Auron shouts.

"Who was?  The Maester's daughter?"

"No, you idiot, Zali!" Auron says, staring at Jecht.

"Well then, where is she?"

"The damn Al Bhed threw a flash bomb, and it blinded me, giving him a chance to wrench my beloved Zali away from me."

-Besaid, two days later-

I walk off of the boat and onto the shoreline of Besaid Island.  My adorable baby is sleeping silently in my arms.

I walk up the trails, following Cid.  We make it to Besaid with few encounters.  Cid took me over to the temple, where I was to hand off my little girl.  He had arranged for a family to meet us there.

The woman came in with her husband; she had coarse brown hair that was pulled up in a bun and she was wearing a green dress.  The man had sandy blonde hair and was wearing an Auroch's uniform.

"Excuse me Miss," the woman says, "My name is Elaine."

Cid buts in, "Ahh yes, right on time."

I glare at Cid, "She was talking to me, you know." I turn back to Elaine, "My name's Zali, I hear you're interested in adopting my daughter?"

"You're the girl who was kidnapped?" the man asks, more of a statement than a question, his eyes widening.

"Oh no, not at all, those stories are widely rumored.  My brother sent me off with Cid here to protect me from the people who murdered my mother."

"Please, ignore my husband, yes, we would love to adopt her, she's such a beautiful baby." She smiles over at the tiny priceless bundle cradled in my arms.

"Oh, thank you, I can't express how glad I am to hear that, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to find her a good loving home."

I kiss my daughter's cheek and forehead one last time, and give her a slight squeeze before handing her over to the older woman.

I smile bravely, thank her once again, and flee the room.  I find myself wandering up carpeted stone steps, and through a door.  I either ignore, or do not hear the resident Summoner yelling after me to stop, that I should not enter this door.

Something on the other side of it calls to me, something or someone.  As if in a daze I pick up spheres and place them in brackets, continuing on in this fashion until I reach an arched doorway.  I step through the door, into a circular room.  Up a small flight of stairs is an opening, sealed off by some strange door.

I walk forward, stepping up lightly onto the first step, and then the second, and so forth.  When I reach the top, I lean forward and gently brush my hand against the wooden door.  It gives off a rattling creak and begins to rise upwards.  I duck my head and step through, the door squeals shut behind me.  The moment it closes I am lost in momentary darkness, and then, suddenly, lights flash on and I see that I am standing in another circular room, this one with a small clear dome in the center.  I step forward to investigate and a woman appears.  I blink, and take a step back.

"Who are you to disturb my slumber?" the woman asks.

"I am Zaliestia, a friend of the Aeons, and I was drawn to this room."

"What is it you wish to ask, child."

"Where is Beheyshee?"

"The Aeon is gone, gone like the wind, he was never summoned, so he never became real.  He is now mortal, a poor mewling mortal.  He will only be an Aeon again when he has been summoned.  Or maybe he will not.  He was sentenced to protect you, and fail he did."

"No, you lie!  You must be lying!  Behey just can't hear me, that's all... he can't be a mortal... can he?" I say softly, a tear trickling down the side of my cheek.

"He can and he is, he is nothing more than a poor mortal, but out of the mortals, he is a braver race, not a pathetic human, or a fawning guado, he is a brave ronso."

"If I may ask one more favor of you?" I say quietly, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Speak child."

"Look after my daughter; I fear her road will be long and troubled."

"Yes, I will look after her, it is hard for a mother to leave her child behind.  What is her name?"

"Her name?  It is Lulu."

- -

I'm so sorry!  You must think I died or something.  But actually, I just had a severe case of writer's block, and then there was the whole start of school thing!  Yeah, it's kind of amazing, this chapter wasn't gonna be anywhere near this long, I was going to end it when they came into Besaid, but I was having so much fun writing it and all, and I realized that if I stopped there, it would be a long time before I wrote again.  Originally I was going to have Lulu's name revealed in the beginning, and I did, right up until I finished it, and realized that the end would be a great place to put it, so if I didn't delete an earlier Lulu and replace it with, baby, child, or whateva, please let me know.  Also, Lulu is the Lulu in FFX, so yes, we have to make Auron a little older than he is in the game, but oh well.  I can play with ages and stuff.

Please review, I'm begging you *gets down on hands and knees and begs*