Summary: Tidus x Rikku. Yuna x Auron. An alternate take on the story that is Final Fantasy X.
Spoilers: Final Fantasy X
Disclaimer: Square Enix rocks my world. Hopefully, they won't find this or they will…do bad things to me. I'm only playing!
Author's Note: Now that Tidus hasn't fallen off the Al Bhed ship, I re-introduce Auron a lot earlier than he reappears in the game. The real emotional punch will be in the scene that follows this, the real reunion.
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This is My Story by danakate
First Posted: 2004-02-01
Scene 02 – Where Auron Returns, but in Besaid This Time
Lulu turned at the sound of footsteps echoing off the stone walls and narrowed her eyes as their visitor came into view.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, annoyance apparent in her voice and demeanor. "Didn't think we'd be able to handle it?"
Wakka strolled in, hand on the back of his neck and looking bashful.
"Uh, it's not that…but it's been over a day, ya? I can't help but feel a little worried, ya know?" he tried to explain.
Lulu's expression softened imperceptibly. She turned back to watching the door at the top of the steps, her many beads and buckles jangling with the movement. Wakka winced and threw a helpless look at the room's other occupant…but Kimahri just stood by as stoic as ever. Wakka sighed and started to pace. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long.
The oblong door to the fayth's chamber rose. Framed in the doorway stood a young woman, her head bent as if carrying a heavy weight. She held onto the frame of the door with one hand and slowly stepped forward, wobbling slightly. Lulu, Wakka, and Kimahri stood mesmerized by her appearance. The young woman took one step forward, then another, and tottered dangerously at the top of the stairs. Lulu and Wakka gasped in frightened surprise. Kimahri, who was readying himself to run up the stairs and catch the girl, suddenly had his attention drawn elsewhere. An old scent he did not expect was very close by…
As the young woman began to fall, a streak of red ran past the Guardians and up the steps, catching the girl before she hit the stairs.
Her head snapped up and she stared in speechless shock at the man who had saved her.
"You have done it, Yuna," he spoke, voice tinged with a hint of sadness. "You have become a Summoner."
"Sir…Sir Auron?!" Yuna managed. A thousand memories and emotions flew through her mind.
"I have come to offer you my services as a Guardian, Lady Yuna," Auron stated. He knelt lower before her, bringing him to eye level as she was still crouched on the stairs. "Will you have me?"
"I would be honored."
The words were out of her mouth before she knew it, but it didn't matter. She'd have said "yes" to just about anything Auron asked at that moment.
"Is it really you?" she whispered. Yuna reached up with a hand and touched his cheek. Auron did not shy away, just as the Auron she remembered didn't flinch at anything, either. The face was a little older, a little more rugged, but it was still the face of the Auron of her days in Bevelle as a younger girl.
And then there were his eyes. Those piercing brown orbs that could evoke fear in his enemies, yet be so kind to his friends…they were the same save for one nearly sealed shut by an old wound that hadn't been there when she saw him last.
"It is," he replied and his voice rumbled deep in his chest. Yuna felt it through her hand and she drew a quick breath.
For a long moment, Yuna could only stare. But then her eyes fluttered shut and her head suddenly drooped, the fatigue of the past day's trials finally catching up to her.
"I thought you'd died…" she whispered, voice trailing, before falling forward into Auron's strong embrace.
"I did," he murmured, but she was already asleep.
Gently, Auron picked up Yuna's slight form and carried her down the stairs. Lulu and Wakka were still staring at Auron in dumbfounded shock.
"Uh…" Wakka tried, but he couldn't think of anything he could possibly say at that moment.
"Kimahri did not expect to see you again," the blue Ronso spoke, coming closer to the group.
Auron carefully set Yuna on the ground, propping her head and shoulders up with an arm, before turning to address the Ronso.
"I have not yet fulfilled my promise," he said. "But I must also thank you for bringing Yuna here as I asked."
"Kimahri had a promise to honor, too," he replied.
A look of understanding passed between them. Auron would have to speak with Kimahri later. Not only had he fulfilled his promise, but the Ronso had gone far beyond what he'd asked, staying with Yuna in Besaid. He wondered how much Kimahri had sacrified for his request.
"Uh…" Wakka tried again.
"Who are you?" Lulu interrupted, stepping forward with a look of curiosity and concern. Clearly this man knew Yuna but she did not know how nor what his intentions were. As one of Yuna's Guardians and friend, she did not take this man's sudden appearance lightly. And, judging from the look of him, he was clearly a warrior. All the more reason to learn about him.
"My apologies," Auron said, nodding to Lulu. "I am Auron, former Guardian to Lord Braska."
Lulu's eyebrow arched in surprise, her visible red eye widened in shock.
"The legendary Guardian Auron?" Wakka finally managed to say. His face was the picture of awe.
Auron smirked. "Just a Guardian," he replied.
"But, why are you here?" Lulu asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"As I said, I have not yet fulfilled my promise to Lord Braska," Auron answered.
At that moment, Yuna began to stir and further questioning halted.
Yuna blinked slowly, her blue and green eyes attempting to focus. Lazily, she brushed strands of hair away from her face. She looked up sharply when she realized someone was holding her.
"You really are here," she breathed, both relieved and surprised.
"I am," Auron reassured. "Lady Yuna, are you able to stand?"
She nodded, brow creased in confusion.
"Then we should leave the Cloister of Trials and show Besaid you have become a Summoner," Auron explained. "There will be time for reunions later. The people need you right now."
Yuna sat up straighter at Auron's words. "You're right. I have lingered here too long."
With Auron's help, she stood and, after a moment to orient herself, Yuna led the way out of the Cloister of Trials and the Besaid Temple without any assistance. At the top of the Temple steps, Yuna looked out across the small village she'd come to call her home. A few village people were milling about and several stopped to stare at her.
"Wakka, please gather the people in the village," Yuna requested.
Wakka nodded and ran off to gather as many people as he could find.
Yuna, in the meantime, walked to the little clearing in the middle of the village and took a deep breath to center herself. Closing her eyes, she took a moment to reflect on everything she'd learned in the past day of praying to the fayth. Her mind was still filled with everything that had just happened but she forced herself to think only of her task. Auron was right, now was not the time for reunions and old memories.
Auron stood off to the side and observed the young woman. He marveled at how similar to Braska she held herself. He wondered if Yuna realized just how much she was her father's daughter.
"I hope you're watching, Braska," Auron thought. "Your little girl has become quite a young woman. And she's following in your footsteps, too."
A little frown of worry crossed Auron's features. Yuna was much younger than Braska was when he began his pilgrimage. She had to have known the inevitable outcome before she decided. Now that he was here, and knowing what Yuna would face, was he willing to allow Braska's only child to walk the path of a Summoner at the tender age of seventeen?
Auron returned his attention to the group of people who had gathered around Yuna. He watched as she expertly and effortlessly summoned the Aeon Valefor. The sounds of awe from the people washed over him and he saw the look of fulfillment on Yuna's face and he knew: if Yuna was anything like her father, dissuading her from this path would be next to impossible.
But he was one of her Guardians, now. And he had experience. He would protect Yuna, find a way to defeat Sin for good so she would not suffer the same fate as her father, even if it killed him. Again.
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TBC
Revision History:
2004-03-27: Added words and fixed a typo. I cannot, for the life of me, expand this segment to be at least 2,000 words. Ah, well, maybe later.