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Final Fantasy X - Epsilon
Book I - "The Time Of The Turning"
by Daz Shier
In the big house
Where the sun lives
With the walls so white and blue
In the red soil
All the green grows
And the winds blow across your face
They blow across your heart
It's the time of the turning
And there's something stirring outside
It's the time of the turning
And we'd better learn to say out goodbyes
All the earth breaks
Like a stale bread
And the seeds are folded in the soil
Oh the sun pours
Then the rains fall
While the roots reach out right through the ground
They reach out through the ground
It's the time of the turning
And there's something stirring outside
It's the time of the turning
And the old world's falling
Nothing you can do can stop the next emerging
Time of the turning and
We'd better learn to say our goodbyes
If we can stand up
When all else falls down...
We'll last through the winter
We'll last through the storms
We'll last through the north winds
That bring down the ice and snow
We'll last through the long nights
Till the green field's growing again
Growing again...
- Taken from Peter Gabriel's "Story of OVO".
________________________
Let us begin, at the ending.
And at the new beginning which followed.
Yuna's story begins in the first week of the second month of the Eternal Calm. Sin was finally defeated forever, but not without price. Yuna had sacrificed all of her Aeons to defeat Yu Yevon. We were victorious. Sir Jecht was released from his decade of torment, and found his peace on the Farplane. And, having fulfilled a pledge to his friend, Sir Auron followed. His final words to us all as Yuna sent him were; "This is your world now."
Without Yu Yevon to continue their eternal summoning, the Fayth faded from our world, and their dream ended. Our friend was part of that dream. I still remember how sad we all felt, especially Yuna, as we watched him say goodbye to us all, and soared from our airship into the magnificent sea of pyreflies.
He faded away, like any dream does when the dreamer awakens. We never saw him again.
Yuna sent the sea of pyreflies that had once been Sin to the Farplane. Evil was fading from the world. All whose souls had been held hostage by Sin were released and found their peace.
Yevon lay in ruins. It still remained in our world, but its temples were empty. The faith of its followers, foundered. Yunalesca, Seymour, and Mika - They had all been sent. Our former religion still lingered in Spira, though hollow and lifeless, like an Unsent.
As the sea of pyreflies faded, the airship turned around and headed back towards civilisation. None of us said a word. In fact, Yuna did not speak for three full days. That was when Maester Isaaru invited us to Bevelle so we could tell him that this time, Sin was truly gone forever. Isaaru announced to all of Bevelle, and it spread out into the world. Sin was defeated everlastingly, and that the Eternal Calm, a new dawn for Spira, had begun. Yuna and we, her Guardians, were pardoned, and even given a personal official apology. Yuna was declared a High Summoner, the only living person to ever have been given the title.
Yuna chose not to stay in Bevelle.
She wanted to return to Besaid. "For just... a little while, at least." The Al Bhed agreed to take us there. Cid was going to use the airship to look for a land where his people could build their city, New Home. Isaaru pardoned the Al Bhed, and declared all hostilities between Yevon and the Al Bhed over forever.
The Al Bhed took us to Luca, and not Besaid as first planned. All the people of Spira wanted to hear Yuna speak on Sin's defeat, and the new future for Spira. It took organizing, and some time waiting for so many people to show up. Yuna made her address in Luca stadium, before a crowd measuring thousands. The Eternal Calm had truly begun.
Kimahri was next to leave us.
He was no longer needed as Yuna's Guardian in this peaceful world, and wanted to return to Gagazet, so he could labour in restoring his shattered tribe. Yuna promised she would come and visit him someday.
Rikku chose to leave the Al Bhed tribe, for the moment. She wanted to stay with Yuna as much as I did, despite Besaid not being Rikku's home.
When we returned to the village, Wakka found the Besaid Aurochs, and rejoined the team, filling the empty place his friend had left. He returned to his duties as Coach and Captain, and was astonished when the team were invited to use Luca stadium as their training ground for the next season. It was an offer he couldn't refuse, and that was how he left us. He promised he would return when the season ended, however.
Yuna and I stayed in the hut that Wakka and I had once shared. She no longer wanted to live in the temple as she had before her pilgrimage. I was welcome to have her, and we were more like sisters than ever before. It is at this point, several weeks after the defeat of Sin, the second month of the Eternal Calm, and the twilight days of Spira's summer, that Yuna's second story begins.
The story of the drought which swathed our world, both of rain and faith, of Yuna's second pilgrimage, the tragic and heroic events that followed, and the war that they sparked - The war for the Restoration of Spira.
Listen...
Chapter I - "Slow Burn"
Yuna opened her eyes.
She slowly sat forward, gripping the thin sheets with her hand and pinning them to her chest. The hut was empty, but Yuna still felt the need to preserve her modesty. Old habits died hard, after all, and Yuna had this thing about decency.
She sighed and pressed her free hand to her forehead, stroking for a few seconds before wiping the sleep from her eyes. That had been the fifth night in a row that she had had to sleep in just her bare undergarments. Spira's heat wave continued unabated, and the nights were no colder than the days.
When she thought about it, she remembered she had not seen rainfall in... well, since before her pilgrimage began. Well, there had been some on the Thunder Plains, but that was a permanent storm, and a long way from Besaid.
Yuna and Lulu's beds were separated by a small round table towards the back of the hut. They were small, low, but comfortable, traditional wicker beds. There was a mirror resting on a small wooden locker next to Yuna's. Yuna reached out and turned it towards her, and stared at her heterochromic eyes looking back at her. She winked one, then the other. It was an idiosyncrasy she had picked up when she was a child. When she was younger, she would look in the mirror and alternate closed eyes. She could pretend the other eye was blue, or the other eye was green. She had no desire to change herself at all, though. Heterochromia ran in her family, and Rikku was always telling her how cool they looked.
Yuna smiled as she put her earrings back onto her left ear, leaving the long, large beaded one for last. She had never been the type to use words like "cool". Though it was certainly a temperature she could go for right now, she reflected as she brushed her mousy-brown hair (Bed hair! Again! This never seemed to happen to Lulu...) and looked around.
The hut was empty, but there was some breakfast waiting for her on the circular table next to the. bed There was a note lying next to it.
Yuna got up and pulled on her long, purple skirt, followed by her white kimono, which she tied up. She left the faded pink and white clamp and yellow silk obi for today, feeling a little too hot for them. She walked over to the small table by the stove and kneeled down. Lulu had indeed made breakfast for her, and this morning, it was sushi.
She picked up the note and read the kanji. Like everyone else, Lulu spoke Zanark, the common language of Spira, known by all except most of the Al Bhed. However, being able to speak a language and being able to read and write it are different things, so like almost everyone else in the village, Lulu read and wrote in Kilikan, the native language of Spira's provincial islands. Yuna had lived in Besaid since she was five years old, and could easily read and write it.
"Nokorimasu ni mitsukema Rikku. Shima choshuku." she read to herself. "O-daiji ni, - Lulu."
So, Lulu had gone off to find Rikku after leaving breakfast for Yuna. Yuna put down the note and smiled to herself, happy that Rikku had wanted to stay with them. Having her cousin and surrogate sister with her was comforting. Besaid just wouldn't be Besaid if she had gone to stay here all by herself. It just wouldn't be the same without the sense of family she associated with this village.
She picked up a pair of chopsticks and began to help herself, picking a piece of fish from her platter. She idly wondered what time it was, and how long Lulu had been gone. Yuna had developed a bad habit of sleeping in, these days. If today was the same as yesterday, and the days before that, then it had to be around noon.
The green tea Lulu had left for her was still warm, so she could not have been gone that long. Yuna finished her meal and cleaned up. Both Lulu and herself were very neat people, so the small hut was rarely in any state of untidiness.
Yuna paused and looked around at the belongings on the shelves. Blitzball trophies, won by both Wakka and Chappu. Mystical ornaments, bought by Lulu. Mementos of previous pilgrimages Wakka and Lulu had brought back with them. Movie spheres of memories and important events. Yuna knew Wakka liked to keep a few of his favourite games on sphere. There were also music spheres. Just soothing ambient tunes now, because Yuna and Lulu both preferred peaceful ambient music for when they did their daily meditation. Wakka had preferred a more bouncy, upbeat kind of tune, and had taken those spheres with him. Rikku, on the other hand, well, Yuna didn't even know what the music was called that she liked. She didn't even know it could be called "music". She mostly listened to restored spheres that had been popular in Zanarkand a thousand years ago. The sound was always all heavy and loud, and the long-dead singers tended to shout their songs rather than sing them...
Yuna also noticed that there were some pictures on the shelves too. One of her favourites was of herself, Lulu, Wakka and Chappu. And there was one of just Lulu, back when she was still in her pre-teens. She hadn't worn black much back then, and wore her hair loose, but still masking her left eye. There was one of Wakka and Chappu, holding their first Blitzball trophy. "The Blitz Brothers" was the title of the picture, which was they had liked to call themselves. There was a picture of young Yuna sitting on Kimahri's massive shoulders, and one Lulu kept that was just Chappu.
And there, Yuna felt the sudden quick stab of regret - that she had not taken a picture of the one she had fallen in love with, as Lulu had. She just never had the time, and she had only met him at the start of her pilgrimage. A pilgrimage she had never believed she would come back from alive. What good would a picture have done her? And even when he had promised that she would live on after he found a way to defeat Sin, she could never have even believed that he would be the one to go. To ...just... fade... away...
No. Stop thinking that. Yuna squeezed her eyes shut and smothered the pain. Not now, and not today. Today could be too nice, so no sense in ruining it. Besides, she was supposed to enjoy life now. Right?
Yuna stopped thinking and just stepped over to the doorway and stepped into her boots. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, through the drapes and out into the blazing morning sun. A perfect vanilla sky draped the heavens, and the white light and white heat of the sun was spread over anything below it.
"Good morning, High Summoner Yuna." greeted an elderly person as he walked past, about his business. Yuna bowed softly in greeting. 'High Summoner'. It was a title she was still trying to get used to, but truth be told, she still preferred 'Lady Yuna'. Also, High Summoners were supposed to get a statue in every temple, weren't they?
Yuna looked to her right, where the temple rested atop the small hill. Barely anyone was going in or out. It was likely that despite Yevon's pardon, the faltering religion had enough problems of it's own, and her statue was not top of the list. Maester Isaaru had a lot on his plate these days. The Ronso had promised a statue, but like Isaaru, Kimahri was also probably very busy trying to help the remaining Ronso rebuild their clan.
Well, she did not mind in the least. There was very little in Yuna's personality that could pass for vanity. Some people just want a name for themselves, some want a crown, some want a statue, but some, like Yuna, just want their own little slice of happiness.
Yuna looked over at the empty space between the huts opposite from hers. Where a hut had once been was just a cluster of palm trees, but now there was a hammock tied between two of them, and some chests, and a few odd-looking but assured harmless machina. This was where Rikku lived.
"Good morning, Lady Yuna!" called one of the village children.
"Good morning." Yuna replied, smiling. "Tell me, do you know where Rikku is?"
* * * *
Rikku was, at that precise moment, dangling at least forty feet above the lapping waves of the sea below her. She was holding on to an outcrop of rock on the steep mountain face with one hand. She let her body turn in the wind, feeling the sea breeze over her face and through her hair. She had been climbing for about twenty minutes, without safety gear. She never needed any. It was just one of many skills she had picked up in her days as a treasure-hunter.
She had been swimming in the coral reef around the east side of the island, when the sonar machina on her left hand had begun to emit noise, indicating treasure in the area. When she had surfaced, she discovered that the treasure was, in fact, all the way up the side of a steep mountain She recognised it. On one side was a steep but passable road to the summit, but on this side was a sheer drop.
Never one to be daunted, Rikku had begun to climb. She reached this point, and the treasure was just a few feet to her left, and she was almost at the peak. She had gotten a firm grip on both hands, and a secure foothold under each foot. She then moved herself a little, and rock her left hand was on fell away. Rikku lost her footing, and almost fell, except for the grip in her right hand remained secure.
She didn't even panic however, and was grinning from ear to ear, enjoying the moment. A sensation in her right shoulder, though, was telling her that she couldn't stop to appreciate the view. She reached down to her pouch with her left hand and adjusted the volume on the music sphere there until the music began to pound in her ears so loud that even the seagulls could probably hear it.
She reached up and held onto the rock with both hands and reached her right leg out to a foothold. She reached out her right hand and began to make her way sideways towards the shining red sphere stuck in the small crack in the rock. She pulled the small orb from where it was trapped clear and pocketed it in the little pouch she wore on her right thigh.
Satisfied, she reached up and tried to find another handhold, but only finding bare rock. She frowned and wondered what next move to make. She drew back her first and punched her Claw into the rock above her, jamming it in. That formed an artificial handhold. She grinned, pleased with herself and pulled herself up and over the side of the cliff, rolling onto the wind-blown grass and sighing, contented with herself.
She suddenly became aware of someone next to her, blotting out the sun.
She looked to her left. No feet, but a big, wide, long leather sarong, the front of which was an array of belts. Looking up, further past that, past the gap left between the some of the belts, which showed a glimpse of stocking, up to the fur-lined corset and the face that was staring at her with the permanent cold expression. No doubt about who it was. There was only one person on the whole island who always wore black all over.
"Uhhh, hey Lulu." Rikku greeted. "Whatcha doing here?"
"I was waiting for you." Lulu replied.
"Gee, thanks." said Rikku. "Um, why?"
"You've developed a habit of doing this lately, haven't you?" said Lulu. "Turning over every nook and cranny on the island. Now mountaineering, too?"
Rikku stood up, blushing. "Hey, I can't help it and all. I need the adventure. Back when I lived in the desert, there was always so much to do, places to explore, fiends to fight and treasure to hunt. But, wellllll, no offence, but Besaid is tiny! I'm talkin' micro-scope-ick."
"That's how some of us prefer it." Lulu stated, crossing her arms and looking out over the sea. The cool sea breeze blew her braided hair back behind her. "Nobody's forcing you to stay."
"Hey, I want to stay." said Rikku, shrugging. "Yunie needs me, you know?"
"Exactly." agreed Lulu. "She needs the people she cares about to be there for her. How do you think it would affect her if you had fallen off that cliff? She's still coming to terms with losing one loved one, she doesn't need a double tragedy."
"Hey, I was never in any danger." Rikku explained. "I used to do stuff like this all the time back on Bikanel Island. Besaid may be tiny, but I like to explore, you know? And there's not nearly as much fiends around anymore. More's the pity, there's none to Mug. So, I go exploring for cool stuff around the island. Everyone needs a hobby."
"And how goes the robbing and plundering trade?" Lulu asked, with an almost-grin.
"I prefer the term treasure hunting!"
"And what 'treasure' did you find?"
Rikku fished into her pouch and held up a small red marble. Lulu sighed. "All that effort for a sphere?" she asked, raising her hand to her forehead and shaking her head.
"Hey, it's not just any sphere!" said Rikku, excitedly. "It's a Fortune Sphere! Alright, I was hoping it woulda been something much bigger and cooler like a music sphere, or maybe even a Jecht Sphere! You know, maybe one we missed? That woulda been cool, but these ain't so bad. I mean, they're supposed to bring you good fortune. You know, give you good luck."
"That's just a superstition." said Lulu.
"Said the Black Mage." giggled Rikku.
Lulu frowned. "I'm going back to the village to spend time with Yuna. Are you coming?"
"Sure!" said Rikku. "I'll give the sphere to Yunie. As a present."
Lulu said nothing. She turned around and walked back down the steep hill to the village, leaving Rikku standing there, facing the sea and feeling pleased with herself.
"Yeah, Treasure Hunter Rikku at your service!" she said to herself, not hearing Lulu leave. She was almost dancing, the way she was moving around. "Hey, you're that thief Rikku, ain't ya?" she said, putting on a masculine voice before reverting to her own and raising her Claw against the imaginary insulter. "Hey! Call me treasure hunter, or I'll rip your lungs out!"
She stood still and laughed. "Think that would be cool, eh, Lulu?" she asked her hero. Rikku turned around. Lulu was gone, walking away down the road. "Hey! Wait fer me!"
* * * *
Yuna found herself staring at the temple before her. It would be so easy to just go in and pray again. Just lose yourself in prayer, shut out the rest of the world and seal herself away from human contact for ages. Sometimes, she wished she was as strong as Lulu, strong enough to not feel the pain and loneliness of lost love - or at least strong enough to live with it.
"Yunie!" came Rikku's voice. Yuna turned and looked back towards the village entrance, a trademark smile already overriding her previous sad expression.
"Rikku..." she said as she saw her young Al Bhed cousin and Lulu walking up to her. "Good morning." she said.
"Yeah, it is." said Rikku. "Every single one, seems to be. Don't you people ever get rain, here? I mean, it even rains in the desert, you know.
"...Yes." replied Yuna, peering up at the sky. "It's... odd. It hasn't rained in a long time now."
"Summer is ending." stated Lulu. "And yet, the heat remains constant."
"Well, it better rain soon." muttered Rikku, scratching her cheek. "Otherwise this place will start to look more like Bikanel Island every day."
Yuna nodded, not really interested in the conversation. It was obvious Rikku was walking on eggshells. Everybody seemed to deliberately avoid the issue with her. They never even said his name around her, not once.
"Hey!" Rikku perked up. "Maybe Lulu can make it rain!"
Yuna and Lulu looked at each other. Lulu crossed her arms and shook her head. "That's not my job, Rikku." she sighed. "When I cast Water spells, it's just false water. It doesn't last. Rain would be more of a Summoner's job."
"Huh?" said Rikku. "I thought Summoners only called Aeons and performed Sendings and went on pilgrimages and stuff?"
"A Summoner does more than that, Rikku." Yuna explained. "...We're Shamans. We also heal the sick, practice White Magic, perform exorcisms, deliver babies, and yes, sometimes we perform tribal dances, like the Prayers for Rain."
"Excellent!" Rikku called. "Let's go do that!"
Lulu stared at Rikku as Yuna gasped. "Rikku!" she hissed.
"...Perform the Prayers for Rain?" Yuna asked, a touch of despair rising in her voice. Rikku quickly began to sense that she had poked a raw nerve. "Uhhhh... yes?" she hazarded.
"The Prayers can only be performed on Spira's highest point - Gagazet's peak." Lulu explained, more than slightly annoyed. "That would require another pilgrimage."
Rikku stood silent for a moment. She looked at Lulu, then at Yuna, trapped in their stares. Then she grinned. "Well, that's great, Yunie! Just what you need!" she laughed, clamping her hands down on Yuna's shoulders. Yuna gasped, mystified. "Just what I need?" she echoed in disbelief.
"Yeah, totally!" exclaimed Rikku. "Another pilgrimage, a chance to get out on the road again, and to stop moping around the island, you know? A chance to forget about sadness for a while!"
Yuna broke away from Rikku. "...No!" she cried. "I don't want to! "Don't want to... to go through that again. Go through it without him... NO!"
"Yuna!" Lulu called.
"Yunie!"
But Yuna was already gone, walking briskly out of the village and up the hill. Rikku made to follow, but Lulu blocked her with her outstretched hand. Rikku looked up at her, but Lulu just shook her head. "Let her be alone, for a while." Lulu advised.
Rikku sighed. "I thought she'd welcome the idea. Really, I did."
"Don't ever forget where the road paved with good intentions leads. She still needs time." was all Lulu said.
Rikku looked up at her. "You've been there before, haven't you?" she asked. "Wakka told me about you and his bro."
"Chappu." said Lulu, closing her eyes.
"Well how much longer?" Rikku wondered. "When does the pain get any less?"
"It doesn't." assured Lulu, opening her eyes again and watching Yuna off in the distance. "For the rest of your life, the pain never gets any less. You just get stronger."
Rikku hung her head. "Oh, man. Guess I acted like a moron just there, huh?"
"No." said Lulu, glancing at her. "You acted... just like him."
Rikku suddenly went wide-eyed, and realised Lulu was right. She'd been acting exactly like a certain Mister Star Player Of The Zanarkand Abes and she hadn't even noticed it. But Yuna had. In her eyes, it had been him standing right before her, urging her to go on a second pilgrimage. But that just served to remind her he wasn't there, and he never would be again.
Rikku slapped her hand up to her forehead. "I gotta go tell her I'm sorry."
"Yes." said Lulu. "But later. Wait until she's had some time to herself, first."
"Great. What are we supposed to do til then?"
Lulu went silent for a moment, then thought of something. "Have you been practising your Black Magic skills yet?"
Rikku groaned.
* * * *
Up here, the sea breeze was stronger, and somewhat cooling. Yuna found herself walking past the shrine and along Waterfall Way by herself, with the wind coming in from the ocean on her right. She was hugging herself, more so for comfort than against the elements.
Then she discovered it reminded her of someone else's arms around her. Arms that slowly became less and less tangible, until she could see through them.
She fought back the urge to cry. She hadn't cried in months, not since she had been in the Spring with him. She didn't want to cry, in case that somehow getting overcome by the sadness would only amplify the pain, rather than let it out. After all, Lulu had never cried when Chappu was killed...
I grieve
For you
You leave me
So hard to move on
Still loving what's gone
They say life carries on
"But I'm not Lulu!" she said to the wind. It's only reply was a quickening of the breeze against her, like nature itself was trying to dry the tears ringing her eyes. "...Why?" she asked herself. "Of everyone who I had to lose... why was it you? Anyone else... Lulu, Rikku, anyone... I could have dealt with this pain with you..."
The news that truly shocks
Is the empty, empty page
While the final rattle rocks
Its empty, empty cage
And I can't handle this
I grieve
For you
And you leave me
"I wish I could hate you." she admitted, sitting down on a rock and looking up into the sky. "Hate you like you hated Sir Jecht, for leaving me. You knew you were going to leave us, and you never told us. You... never told me And that's why I can't hate you, ...because I knew you loved me and you couldn't hurt me by telling me..."
Let it out and move on
Missing what's gone
They say life carries on
They say life carries on and on and on
She wiped her eyes and gritted her teeth. "...And I can't hate you because I love you so much!" Her only reply came from the empty wind blowing over her, and the sound of gulls overhead and over the sea. And the gentle lapping of the waves. Life continuing, oblivious.
Life carries on
In the people I meet
In everyone that's out on the street
In all the dogs and cats
In the flies and rats
In the rot and the rust
In the ashes and the dust
Life carries on and on and on and on
Life carries on and on and on
Not even a sphere... they had never thought to make one of their journey, like Sir Jecht had done. A sphere... that would have been nice. A way to save the memories they had shared together...
"But I already have that..." she realised, and touched her heart. "If there's anything you've taught me, it's that I should live my life... and you don't want me... to sit here and cry..."
Did I dream this belief?
Or did I believe this dream?
Now I will find relief
I grieve
"There's somewhere I need to go, first..." she said, standing up and starting to walk down the idyllic path of Waterfall Way, past the many water cascades and towards the path down to the beach.
* * * *
Rikku stared at the plant had Lulu placed on the table before her.
"So," Lulu began, crossing her arms. "What can you tell me about this plant?"
Rikku blinked and stared at the plant again, like this was a trick question. She looked at it this way and that, her spiralled green Al Bhed eyes telling her slightly more information about the plant than other human races saw. Al Bhed eyes could see magnetic fields, a gift evolution had granted the only species to work closely with machinery for a millenium.
"Thaaaat it could use a little watering?" she hazarded, looking up at Lulu's cycloptic stare. Not even a shaking of the head. Eeep. "I dunno!" Rikku whined. "This isn't exactly my forte, you know? Why didn't you let me try with some useless machina or something?"
"Because machina are vulnerable to Thunder magic." explained Lulu. "Are you sure that's what you want to start off on?" Rikku quickly shook her hands and her head. "No! No! No! No-No! Fire will be good, thanks! ...Oh! I just got it! It's a plant, it's weak to Fire! ...Now what?"
Now you convince the plant's elemental structure to become hot, and quickly, hotter than it's ever been..." described Lulu. "You project your inner emotions, the ones you associate with heat, like anger or fury into the plant itself..."
"Great!" exclaimed Rikku, and stared at the plant again. After a few seconds, a green petal weakly broke off and fluttered to the ground. Rikku was pretty sure it wasn't her doing. "Umm, how do I do that, exactly...?"
Lulu shook her head. "I'm sorry..." she said. "Not everyone can use Black Magic. Just a limited few."
"Okay then, moving swiftly on..." said Rikku. "Where do I get an outfit like that?"
Lulu almost laughed. "You're not serious?"
"I am!" Rikku stood up, serious but still playful. "A lot of other Al Bhed girls have started making themselves look more like hyuman women these days... like dying their hair brown or black, or wearing dark colours. They've even thought about inventing little lenses you can wear right in your eyeballs that change their colour. Doesn't that sound cool?"
"...What's wrong with who you are?" Lulu asked.
"Oh, absolutely nothing." said Rikku. "I'm still proud to be an Al Bhed, it's just different, that's all. Well... there is one thing..."
"Yes?"
"I know Yevon pardoned us and all, and we're free to go where we want as we please, just like other hyuman people and races, but... some of the old prejudices are still around, I've heard. My old man told me that the Al Bhed still aren't welcome in places like Bevelle, despite what Isaaru says..."
"It takes a while for people to change, Rikku." said Lulu. "Even longer for a whole world to, but the world is changing. As far as history is concerned, this is a very exiting time to be alive. We should enjoy it."
Rikku looked sad for a moment, then turned to face the shelves behind her, and all the collected memories resting there. "Try telling that to Yunie..."
"She's..." Lulu began, then halted herself "...still grieving."
"Aren't we all?" Rikku asked. "I hope Yunie will be fine..."
"She will be." said Lulu, stating a simple fact. "...As fine as I am."
"Hey, where are you going?" Rikku asked. Lulu was making for the doorway, slowly.
"I should probably go talk to her." Lulu explained. "Be good."
Rikku merely waved, and began to look at Wakka's pictures. She saw a picture of a younger Lulu, in the arms of a man. Chappu... Lulu and Wakka were right, there was a resemblance.
* * * *
Lulu found her, down by the pier, sitting on the end with her boots off, dangling her feet over the water. As Lulu approached, Yuna placed her fingers to her lips and blew a loud whistle, the only reply to which came from the gulls overhead.
"Why do you do that?" Lulu asked, squatting down beside her.
"Oh..." breathed Yuna, just noticing her. "It's... just something we had. He said that would be our signal to each other, if we ever needed each other... you know?"
At first Lulu seemed not to reply. Yuna looked up at her. She was staring ahead, out over the sea, with a strange expression on her face. Nostalgia...
"Yes, I know." she said, eventually.
Chappu and I... We were a lot like Yuna and her love, though I never told her that. He didn't just look like Chappu, he acted like him too. Chappu would always be very energetic, trying to make me as enthusiastic as him. To his dying day, I think the only thing he failed to get me interested in was Blitzball. So alike... I knew Yuna was going through what I did, and I remember hoping that she wouldn't become like me...
Lulu glanced back down at Yuna, her thoughts broken when she saw Yuna wiping her eyes. She wasn't crying, not yet. Lulu recognised it, the few cracks in the dam of emotion, not far from giving way to the flood. "Are you alright?" she asked, knowing she wasn't.
"You know what it's like, then..." said Yuna. She looked up at Lulu, opposing eyes ringed with tears. "You know how bad it hurts."
Lulu put an arm around her, which made Yuna lean into her. "Yes." said Lulu. "I know."
"When will it stop hurting?" Yuna pleaded. Lulu sighed.
"Never." said Lulu, emotional and breaking character. "It never will. The pain never gets any less, you'll just get stronger."
"...I heard you didn't cry when Chappu died."
"That's..." Lulu started. "That's true..."
...It wasn't.
"Everything I have of Chappu, I keep with me." Lulu explained. "I keep him alive in my heart, and in my head. I realised that if I did that, kept him in my memory, then Sin would never be able to touch him again."
"Sin's gone forever..." said Yuna, tears drying up. "But the cost we paid, I'm starting to wonder if it was too much. ...And then I remember that the needs of the many... they're more important than the needs of the few..."
Lulu sighed. "The price of love." she said. "I know it's not cheap."
There was silence for a few moments. Just the gentle lapping of the waves against the old wood of the pier. The ferry was gone for the day, but it would be back tomorrow, in time to take anyone who wanted to go to Kilika. Or anyone who wanted to go on another pilgrimage.
"Rikku is sorry." said Lulu. "She's just thinking about you, and she hates not being able to help you. She hasn't lost someone like we have, you see. That idea of a second pilgrimage, she meant well. She thinks another journey would do you good."
"The Prayers For Rain..." Yuna sighed. "I... wouldn't have to visit the temples..."
"Just Gagazet." said Lulu. Yuna had told her all about a Summoner's various duties that most outsiders didn't know. Yuna would have to travel on foot from her home and scale Gagazet, up to it's tallest peak, and pray for rain from there. If satisfied that the world's need for rain was that important, then apparently God would approve and send the waters to the world below.
"Do you think I should?" Yuna asked, earnestly.
"I don't know." Lulu replied. "I can't see the harm. ...Maybe it would be for the best, if we went out and saw how Spira was doing."
"It... would be nice to see Wakka and Kimahri again..." said Yuna, not necessarily agreeing to do it, just stating a fact.
"Are you thinking of doing it?" asked Lulu.
"I'll think about it..." said Yuna. "I just want to stay here, for a little while longer..."
So they did.
* * * *
As they walked along Waterfall Way, back to the village, they passed a familiar red-haired man, coming in the opposite direction. He was shorter then most men, but made up for it with his proud personality. His hair was like Wakka's, only tighter and more mauve than red.
"Sir Luzzu." greeted Yuna, bowing.
"High Summoner." Luzzu replied, bowing in return, then nodded at Lulu, who nodded back. For a moment, Yuna noticed she was going to have to live with being called a High Summoner for the rest of her life, even though she had no Aeons to speak of at all. For a second, she thought glumly about her decision to kill them all one by one...
"This heat is unnatural." said Luzzu, making conversation. "There's a drought on the wind, I fear."
"Not just of water, either..." Lulu added. Fewer and fewer people were stopping by the temple anymore, and both she and Yuna suspected this was true for all over Spira. A deprivation of rain, and a famine of faith. People's faith in the Yevon orthodoxy was fading. The temples were emptying, and the shrines were no longer being prayed to.
"I know." said Luzzu. "I noticed that people don't even pray at the shrine before they leave on a journey anymore."
"Another price we've paid..." Yuna murmured. "We've been freed from subjugation, only to have or faith thrown out with it."
"But I see some still believe, right, Lady Yuna?" asked Luzzu.
Yuna looked startled. Then nodded, slowly. "It's true, that I no longer have faith in the church of Yevon, or most of it's teachings... But my faith in what lies Higher has never been shaken. I have never doubted..."
"We should all be grateful, if we had even half your strength." Luzzu sighed. And there it was, lying open for them to see. Luzzu was a broken man, with no more faith in himself than he had in Yevon. He had led young men into battles, and outlived them. And he had to see their widows, parents, brothers, sisters and loves when he returned without them. He had lost all confidence, in himself as a person and himself as a Crusader. Now he seemed awkward around Yuna and Lulu, or anyone for that matter. It was hanging in the air, over the conversation, words deliberately not being said.
You both had loves I went into battle against Sin with - and I outlived them both.
"The ferry will be in port tomorrow." said Luzzu, changing the subject. "I'm leaving the village. There's no work for a Crusader in this town anymore, with Sin gone and the fiends all dying from the drought. But we haven't disbanded, at least, not yet, anyway. There's going to be a meeting in Luca to decide what to do. All surviving Crusaders are going to go. We're either going to reform as a law enforcement organization, or just disband completely. We'll decide in a few days."
Yuna bowed. "I am sure that whatever is decided, will be for the best. For Spira, and for you, Sir Luzzu."
"Thank you." said Luzzu, then said goodbye and walked away. Yuna and Lulu watched him go. "It's sad..." said Yuna.
"A drought of faith." said Lulu. "Both in our religion, and in ourselves."
"He said that the ferry will be in port in the morning..." Yuna reflected.
"Are you still thinking of going?" Lulu asked.
"I was thinking... maybe if the drought breaks, people's faith may return." "If the drought breaks." Lulu pointed out. "And even then, it's only a maybe." Yuna sighed, and looked to the cloudless sky. "I can't help …but wonder, how many more are like him? …How many of the people who have helped me to get this far and defeat Sin are also suffering this crisis? They don't deserve …to feel like this. This Eternal Calm, it was supposed to be a prosperous time, …a season of peace. But instead, it's a time of quiet desolation…"
"You're right." agreed Lulu. "We're not in bloom at all. We're all slowly burning under the searing sky, and nobody has the faith to even hope for an end."
"Then I must go." stated Yuna. "I must do what I can to end this drought."
Lulu looked at here. "I would hope you're not planning on going off alone."
Yuna smiled. "I would hope you're not planning on letting me."
"Come on. Let's go find Rikku."
* * * *
Rikku looked up when Lulu pushed open the flap guarding the entrance of Lulu and Yuna's hut. She got to her feet when she saw Yuna walk in behind her.
"Yunie…" she began. "Yunie, I… I'm sorry. I didn't know." She held out the Fortune Sphere she had found on the cliffs in her hand, offering it to her. "…Forgive me?"
Yuna smiled. "It's alright, Rikku. I know you didn't mean it."
"Yeah, but still…" sighed Rikku. "Feel like the world's biggest idiot for pushing you like that, you know?"
"It's okay, really." said Yuna. "Actually, I've been thinking about what you said. …A lot. I think you may have been on to something…"
"I was…" mused Rikku. Then blinked. "I mean… I was?"
Yuna nodded. "The people need rain, regardless of how I feel. And besides, it would be nice to… see everyone again…"
"So you're going to do it?" asked Rikku.
"It's not such a long journey, when you think about it." Lulu pointed out. "We won't have to visit the temples, and there's no risk of attack by Sin on our way. And the fiends are low in numbers, so we won't have to worry about them, either."
Rikku grinned. "Alright!" she yelled. "Let's goooooo–"
"Tomorrow." Lulu quickly interceded.
"–ooo tomorrow, as soon as Yunie's all ready, is what I was going to say." the Al Bhed finished, then smiled. Yuna laughed, and Lulu shook her head. It was just like old times already.
We slept easy that night. It was the first time in a long while that I didn't hear Yuna having any sad dreams. Rikku slept soundly in her hammock, tied between two trees on the other side of the village, amidst a pile of machina she always insisted were useful. They used to marvel the local villagers, but no longer. The night passed without event, and the morning broke with yet another cloudless day. We packed what belongings we were going to bring, but because of the heat, chose to travel light. We bid our fellow villagers a farewell, and left for the ferry shortly before it's departure. At that time, we had no idea how great an adventure we were embarking upon. As I look back on it now, I'm reminded of a story I heard when I was a child. A character in the story said that it was always best to be careful when you step outside your door, as you never know where you might end up. That was especially true for us. We had no way of knowing that at that very same time, dark forces were already drawing against us, and evil was preparing to flood back into the world…
"I know that…" said Rikku. "I'm just saying, that if there's time, it would be cool to check in on my Dad along the way and see how he's doing, is all."
"If there's time." Lulu conceded, then stopped. They had walked up the hill leading from the village, and turned left toward Waterfall Way and the road down to the beach. But Lulu had just noticed that Yuna was missing, having fallen behind. Rikku and Lulu stopped and looked back. Yuna was kneeling in front of the shrine, praying.
"Hey…" said Rikku. "Why's she's doing that? There's no Sin to worry about anymore, right? And I thought she didn't follow Yevon anymore…"
Rikku felt Lulu's eye on her. She returned the gaze, and Lulu watched Yuna again. "She's praying for a safe journey, regardless of Sin. And she's not praying to Yevon…" "Oh." said Rikku, then got it. "…Oh." As Yuna finished her prayers, she got up and picked up her staff, that she had placed on the ground next to her. "You didn't really need to bring that." Lulu called over.
"I know." Yuna called back. "But I like it… I've… grown used to it, even if I don't have any Aeons. I can still use it as a walking stick. It may not be a long journey, but it's still a lot of walking."
"And if we don't start soon," said Lulu, turning and walking down the path toward the beach. "Then we'll miss the boat."
"Yeah!" Rikku giggled, also turning and following Lulu. "Don't fall behind, Yunie!"
Yuna smiled as she watched them go. A cooling wind blew over her, and she stood still for a moment, watching her cousin and the friend who was like a sister to her. She refused to take anyone for granted on this pilgrimage, and just stood there thinking for a few seconds, before she started walking down to the beach.
Thinking about how much she loved them.
Once, I thought I knew
Everything I needed to know about you
Your sweet whisper
Your tender touch
But I didn't really know that much
The joke's on me, but it's gonna be okay
If I can just get through this lonesome day
Hell's brewin', dark sun's on the rise
This storm'll blow through, by and by
House is on fire, viper's in the grass
A little revenge and this too shall pass
This too shall pass
I'm gonna pray
Right now, all I got's this lonesome day
Better ask questions before you shoot
Deceit and betrayal's bitter fruit
It's hard to swallow, come time to pay
That taste on your tongue
Don't easily slip away
Let Kingdom Come,
I'm gonna find my way through this
Lonesome day…
* * * *
"Lonesome Day" written and performed by Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band. Copyright Bruce Springsteen.
"I Grieve" written and performed by Peter Gabriel. Copyright Peter Gabriel and published by Real World Music Ltd.
"The Time Of The Turning" written by Peter Gabriel and performed by Richie Havens. Taken from Peter Gabriel's "Story Of OVO".Copyright Peter Gabriel and published by Real World Music Ltd.
Book I - "The Time Of The Turning"
by Daz Shier
In the big house
Where the sun lives
With the walls so white and blue
In the red soil
All the green grows
And the winds blow across your face
They blow across your heart
It's the time of the turning
And there's something stirring outside
It's the time of the turning
And we'd better learn to say out goodbyes
All the earth breaks
Like a stale bread
And the seeds are folded in the soil
Oh the sun pours
Then the rains fall
While the roots reach out right through the ground
They reach out through the ground
It's the time of the turning
And there's something stirring outside
It's the time of the turning
And the old world's falling
Nothing you can do can stop the next emerging
Time of the turning and
We'd better learn to say our goodbyes
If we can stand up
When all else falls down...
We'll last through the winter
We'll last through the storms
We'll last through the north winds
That bring down the ice and snow
We'll last through the long nights
Till the green field's growing again
Growing again...
- Taken from Peter Gabriel's "Story of OVO".
________________________
Let us begin, at the ending.
And at the new beginning which followed.
Yuna's story begins in the first week of the second month of the Eternal Calm. Sin was finally defeated forever, but not without price. Yuna had sacrificed all of her Aeons to defeat Yu Yevon. We were victorious. Sir Jecht was released from his decade of torment, and found his peace on the Farplane. And, having fulfilled a pledge to his friend, Sir Auron followed. His final words to us all as Yuna sent him were; "This is your world now."
Without Yu Yevon to continue their eternal summoning, the Fayth faded from our world, and their dream ended. Our friend was part of that dream. I still remember how sad we all felt, especially Yuna, as we watched him say goodbye to us all, and soared from our airship into the magnificent sea of pyreflies.
He faded away, like any dream does when the dreamer awakens. We never saw him again.
Yuna sent the sea of pyreflies that had once been Sin to the Farplane. Evil was fading from the world. All whose souls had been held hostage by Sin were released and found their peace.
Yevon lay in ruins. It still remained in our world, but its temples were empty. The faith of its followers, foundered. Yunalesca, Seymour, and Mika - They had all been sent. Our former religion still lingered in Spira, though hollow and lifeless, like an Unsent.
As the sea of pyreflies faded, the airship turned around and headed back towards civilisation. None of us said a word. In fact, Yuna did not speak for three full days. That was when Maester Isaaru invited us to Bevelle so we could tell him that this time, Sin was truly gone forever. Isaaru announced to all of Bevelle, and it spread out into the world. Sin was defeated everlastingly, and that the Eternal Calm, a new dawn for Spira, had begun. Yuna and we, her Guardians, were pardoned, and even given a personal official apology. Yuna was declared a High Summoner, the only living person to ever have been given the title.
Yuna chose not to stay in Bevelle.
She wanted to return to Besaid. "For just... a little while, at least." The Al Bhed agreed to take us there. Cid was going to use the airship to look for a land where his people could build their city, New Home. Isaaru pardoned the Al Bhed, and declared all hostilities between Yevon and the Al Bhed over forever.
The Al Bhed took us to Luca, and not Besaid as first planned. All the people of Spira wanted to hear Yuna speak on Sin's defeat, and the new future for Spira. It took organizing, and some time waiting for so many people to show up. Yuna made her address in Luca stadium, before a crowd measuring thousands. The Eternal Calm had truly begun.
Kimahri was next to leave us.
He was no longer needed as Yuna's Guardian in this peaceful world, and wanted to return to Gagazet, so he could labour in restoring his shattered tribe. Yuna promised she would come and visit him someday.
Rikku chose to leave the Al Bhed tribe, for the moment. She wanted to stay with Yuna as much as I did, despite Besaid not being Rikku's home.
When we returned to the village, Wakka found the Besaid Aurochs, and rejoined the team, filling the empty place his friend had left. He returned to his duties as Coach and Captain, and was astonished when the team were invited to use Luca stadium as their training ground for the next season. It was an offer he couldn't refuse, and that was how he left us. He promised he would return when the season ended, however.
Yuna and I stayed in the hut that Wakka and I had once shared. She no longer wanted to live in the temple as she had before her pilgrimage. I was welcome to have her, and we were more like sisters than ever before. It is at this point, several weeks after the defeat of Sin, the second month of the Eternal Calm, and the twilight days of Spira's summer, that Yuna's second story begins.
The story of the drought which swathed our world, both of rain and faith, of Yuna's second pilgrimage, the tragic and heroic events that followed, and the war that they sparked - The war for the Restoration of Spira.
Listen...
Yuna opened her eyes.
She slowly sat forward, gripping the thin sheets with her hand and pinning them to her chest. The hut was empty, but Yuna still felt the need to preserve her modesty. Old habits died hard, after all, and Yuna had this thing about decency.
She sighed and pressed her free hand to her forehead, stroking for a few seconds before wiping the sleep from her eyes. That had been the fifth night in a row that she had had to sleep in just her bare undergarments. Spira's heat wave continued unabated, and the nights were no colder than the days.
When she thought about it, she remembered she had not seen rainfall in... well, since before her pilgrimage began. Well, there had been some on the Thunder Plains, but that was a permanent storm, and a long way from Besaid.
Yuna and Lulu's beds were separated by a small round table towards the back of the hut. They were small, low, but comfortable, traditional wicker beds. There was a mirror resting on a small wooden locker next to Yuna's. Yuna reached out and turned it towards her, and stared at her heterochromic eyes looking back at her. She winked one, then the other. It was an idiosyncrasy she had picked up when she was a child. When she was younger, she would look in the mirror and alternate closed eyes. She could pretend the other eye was blue, or the other eye was green. She had no desire to change herself at all, though. Heterochromia ran in her family, and Rikku was always telling her how cool they looked.
Yuna smiled as she put her earrings back onto her left ear, leaving the long, large beaded one for last. She had never been the type to use words like "cool". Though it was certainly a temperature she could go for right now, she reflected as she brushed her mousy-brown hair (Bed hair! Again! This never seemed to happen to Lulu...) and looked around.
The hut was empty, but there was some breakfast waiting for her on the circular table next to the. bed There was a note lying next to it.
Yuna got up and pulled on her long, purple skirt, followed by her white kimono, which she tied up. She left the faded pink and white clamp and yellow silk obi for today, feeling a little too hot for them. She walked over to the small table by the stove and kneeled down. Lulu had indeed made breakfast for her, and this morning, it was sushi.
She picked up the note and read the kanji. Like everyone else, Lulu spoke Zanark, the common language of Spira, known by all except most of the Al Bhed. However, being able to speak a language and being able to read and write it are different things, so like almost everyone else in the village, Lulu read and wrote in Kilikan, the native language of Spira's provincial islands. Yuna had lived in Besaid since she was five years old, and could easily read and write it.
"Nokorimasu ni mitsukema Rikku. Shima choshuku." she read to herself. "O-daiji ni, - Lulu."
So, Lulu had gone off to find Rikku after leaving breakfast for Yuna. Yuna put down the note and smiled to herself, happy that Rikku had wanted to stay with them. Having her cousin and surrogate sister with her was comforting. Besaid just wouldn't be Besaid if she had gone to stay here all by herself. It just wouldn't be the same without the sense of family she associated with this village.
She picked up a pair of chopsticks and began to help herself, picking a piece of fish from her platter. She idly wondered what time it was, and how long Lulu had been gone. Yuna had developed a bad habit of sleeping in, these days. If today was the same as yesterday, and the days before that, then it had to be around noon.
The green tea Lulu had left for her was still warm, so she could not have been gone that long. Yuna finished her meal and cleaned up. Both Lulu and herself were very neat people, so the small hut was rarely in any state of untidiness.
Yuna paused and looked around at the belongings on the shelves. Blitzball trophies, won by both Wakka and Chappu. Mystical ornaments, bought by Lulu. Mementos of previous pilgrimages Wakka and Lulu had brought back with them. Movie spheres of memories and important events. Yuna knew Wakka liked to keep a few of his favourite games on sphere. There were also music spheres. Just soothing ambient tunes now, because Yuna and Lulu both preferred peaceful ambient music for when they did their daily meditation. Wakka had preferred a more bouncy, upbeat kind of tune, and had taken those spheres with him. Rikku, on the other hand, well, Yuna didn't even know what the music was called that she liked. She didn't even know it could be called "music". She mostly listened to restored spheres that had been popular in Zanarkand a thousand years ago. The sound was always all heavy and loud, and the long-dead singers tended to shout their songs rather than sing them...
Yuna also noticed that there were some pictures on the shelves too. One of her favourites was of herself, Lulu, Wakka and Chappu. And there was one of just Lulu, back when she was still in her pre-teens. She hadn't worn black much back then, and wore her hair loose, but still masking her left eye. There was one of Wakka and Chappu, holding their first Blitzball trophy. "The Blitz Brothers" was the title of the picture, which was they had liked to call themselves. There was a picture of young Yuna sitting on Kimahri's massive shoulders, and one Lulu kept that was just Chappu.
And there, Yuna felt the sudden quick stab of regret - that she had not taken a picture of the one she had fallen in love with, as Lulu had. She just never had the time, and she had only met him at the start of her pilgrimage. A pilgrimage she had never believed she would come back from alive. What good would a picture have done her? And even when he had promised that she would live on after he found a way to defeat Sin, she could never have even believed that he would be the one to go. To ...just... fade... away...
No. Stop thinking that. Yuna squeezed her eyes shut and smothered the pain. Not now, and not today. Today could be too nice, so no sense in ruining it. Besides, she was supposed to enjoy life now. Right?
Yuna stopped thinking and just stepped over to the doorway and stepped into her boots. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, through the drapes and out into the blazing morning sun. A perfect vanilla sky draped the heavens, and the white light and white heat of the sun was spread over anything below it.
"Good morning, High Summoner Yuna." greeted an elderly person as he walked past, about his business. Yuna bowed softly in greeting. 'High Summoner'. It was a title she was still trying to get used to, but truth be told, she still preferred 'Lady Yuna'. Also, High Summoners were supposed to get a statue in every temple, weren't they?
Yuna looked to her right, where the temple rested atop the small hill. Barely anyone was going in or out. It was likely that despite Yevon's pardon, the faltering religion had enough problems of it's own, and her statue was not top of the list. Maester Isaaru had a lot on his plate these days. The Ronso had promised a statue, but like Isaaru, Kimahri was also probably very busy trying to help the remaining Ronso rebuild their clan.
Well, she did not mind in the least. There was very little in Yuna's personality that could pass for vanity. Some people just want a name for themselves, some want a crown, some want a statue, but some, like Yuna, just want their own little slice of happiness.
Yuna looked over at the empty space between the huts opposite from hers. Where a hut had once been was just a cluster of palm trees, but now there was a hammock tied between two of them, and some chests, and a few odd-looking but assured harmless machina. This was where Rikku lived.
"Good morning, Lady Yuna!" called one of the village children.
"Good morning." Yuna replied, smiling. "Tell me, do you know where Rikku is?"
Rikku was, at that precise moment, dangling at least forty feet above the lapping waves of the sea below her. She was holding on to an outcrop of rock on the steep mountain face with one hand. She let her body turn in the wind, feeling the sea breeze over her face and through her hair. She had been climbing for about twenty minutes, without safety gear. She never needed any. It was just one of many skills she had picked up in her days as a treasure-hunter.
She had been swimming in the coral reef around the east side of the island, when the sonar machina on her left hand had begun to emit noise, indicating treasure in the area. When she had surfaced, she discovered that the treasure was, in fact, all the way up the side of a steep mountain She recognised it. On one side was a steep but passable road to the summit, but on this side was a sheer drop.
Never one to be daunted, Rikku had begun to climb. She reached this point, and the treasure was just a few feet to her left, and she was almost at the peak. She had gotten a firm grip on both hands, and a secure foothold under each foot. She then moved herself a little, and rock her left hand was on fell away. Rikku lost her footing, and almost fell, except for the grip in her right hand remained secure.
She didn't even panic however, and was grinning from ear to ear, enjoying the moment. A sensation in her right shoulder, though, was telling her that she couldn't stop to appreciate the view. She reached down to her pouch with her left hand and adjusted the volume on the music sphere there until the music began to pound in her ears so loud that even the seagulls could probably hear it.
She reached up and held onto the rock with both hands and reached her right leg out to a foothold. She reached out her right hand and began to make her way sideways towards the shining red sphere stuck in the small crack in the rock. She pulled the small orb from where it was trapped clear and pocketed it in the little pouch she wore on her right thigh.
Satisfied, she reached up and tried to find another handhold, but only finding bare rock. She frowned and wondered what next move to make. She drew back her first and punched her Claw into the rock above her, jamming it in. That formed an artificial handhold. She grinned, pleased with herself and pulled herself up and over the side of the cliff, rolling onto the wind-blown grass and sighing, contented with herself.
She suddenly became aware of someone next to her, blotting out the sun.
She looked to her left. No feet, but a big, wide, long leather sarong, the front of which was an array of belts. Looking up, further past that, past the gap left between the some of the belts, which showed a glimpse of stocking, up to the fur-lined corset and the face that was staring at her with the permanent cold expression. No doubt about who it was. There was only one person on the whole island who always wore black all over.
"Uhhh, hey Lulu." Rikku greeted. "Whatcha doing here?"
"I was waiting for you." Lulu replied.
"Gee, thanks." said Rikku. "Um, why?"
"You've developed a habit of doing this lately, haven't you?" said Lulu. "Turning over every nook and cranny on the island. Now mountaineering, too?"
Rikku stood up, blushing. "Hey, I can't help it and all. I need the adventure. Back when I lived in the desert, there was always so much to do, places to explore, fiends to fight and treasure to hunt. But, wellllll, no offence, but Besaid is tiny! I'm talkin' micro-scope-ick."
"That's how some of us prefer it." Lulu stated, crossing her arms and looking out over the sea. The cool sea breeze blew her braided hair back behind her. "Nobody's forcing you to stay."
"Hey, I want to stay." said Rikku, shrugging. "Yunie needs me, you know?"
"Exactly." agreed Lulu. "She needs the people she cares about to be there for her. How do you think it would affect her if you had fallen off that cliff? She's still coming to terms with losing one loved one, she doesn't need a double tragedy."
"Hey, I was never in any danger." Rikku explained. "I used to do stuff like this all the time back on Bikanel Island. Besaid may be tiny, but I like to explore, you know? And there's not nearly as much fiends around anymore. More's the pity, there's none to Mug. So, I go exploring for cool stuff around the island. Everyone needs a hobby."
"And how goes the robbing and plundering trade?" Lulu asked, with an almost-grin.
"I prefer the term treasure hunting!"
"And what 'treasure' did you find?"
Rikku fished into her pouch and held up a small red marble. Lulu sighed. "All that effort for a sphere?" she asked, raising her hand to her forehead and shaking her head.
"Hey, it's not just any sphere!" said Rikku, excitedly. "It's a Fortune Sphere! Alright, I was hoping it woulda been something much bigger and cooler like a music sphere, or maybe even a Jecht Sphere! You know, maybe one we missed? That woulda been cool, but these ain't so bad. I mean, they're supposed to bring you good fortune. You know, give you good luck."
"That's just a superstition." said Lulu.
"Said the Black Mage." giggled Rikku.
Lulu frowned. "I'm going back to the village to spend time with Yuna. Are you coming?"
"Sure!" said Rikku. "I'll give the sphere to Yunie. As a present."
Lulu said nothing. She turned around and walked back down the steep hill to the village, leaving Rikku standing there, facing the sea and feeling pleased with herself.
"Yeah, Treasure Hunter Rikku at your service!" she said to herself, not hearing Lulu leave. She was almost dancing, the way she was moving around. "Hey, you're that thief Rikku, ain't ya?" she said, putting on a masculine voice before reverting to her own and raising her Claw against the imaginary insulter. "Hey! Call me treasure hunter, or I'll rip your lungs out!"
She stood still and laughed. "Think that would be cool, eh, Lulu?" she asked her hero. Rikku turned around. Lulu was gone, walking away down the road. "Hey! Wait fer me!"
Yuna found herself staring at the temple before her. It would be so easy to just go in and pray again. Just lose yourself in prayer, shut out the rest of the world and seal herself away from human contact for ages. Sometimes, she wished she was as strong as Lulu, strong enough to not feel the pain and loneliness of lost love - or at least strong enough to live with it.
"Yunie!" came Rikku's voice. Yuna turned and looked back towards the village entrance, a trademark smile already overriding her previous sad expression.
"Rikku..." she said as she saw her young Al Bhed cousin and Lulu walking up to her. "Good morning." she said.
"Yeah, it is." said Rikku. "Every single one, seems to be. Don't you people ever get rain, here? I mean, it even rains in the desert, you know.
"...Yes." replied Yuna, peering up at the sky. "It's... odd. It hasn't rained in a long time now."
"Summer is ending." stated Lulu. "And yet, the heat remains constant."
"Well, it better rain soon." muttered Rikku, scratching her cheek. "Otherwise this place will start to look more like Bikanel Island every day."
Yuna nodded, not really interested in the conversation. It was obvious Rikku was walking on eggshells. Everybody seemed to deliberately avoid the issue with her. They never even said his name around her, not once.
"Hey!" Rikku perked up. "Maybe Lulu can make it rain!"
Yuna and Lulu looked at each other. Lulu crossed her arms and shook her head. "That's not my job, Rikku." she sighed. "When I cast Water spells, it's just false water. It doesn't last. Rain would be more of a Summoner's job."
"Huh?" said Rikku. "I thought Summoners only called Aeons and performed Sendings and went on pilgrimages and stuff?"
"A Summoner does more than that, Rikku." Yuna explained. "...We're Shamans. We also heal the sick, practice White Magic, perform exorcisms, deliver babies, and yes, sometimes we perform tribal dances, like the Prayers for Rain."
"Excellent!" Rikku called. "Let's go do that!"
Lulu stared at Rikku as Yuna gasped. "Rikku!" she hissed.
"...Perform the Prayers for Rain?" Yuna asked, a touch of despair rising in her voice. Rikku quickly began to sense that she had poked a raw nerve. "Uhhhh... yes?" she hazarded.
"The Prayers can only be performed on Spira's highest point - Gagazet's peak." Lulu explained, more than slightly annoyed. "That would require another pilgrimage."
Rikku stood silent for a moment. She looked at Lulu, then at Yuna, trapped in their stares. Then she grinned. "Well, that's great, Yunie! Just what you need!" she laughed, clamping her hands down on Yuna's shoulders. Yuna gasped, mystified. "Just what I need?" she echoed in disbelief.
"Yeah, totally!" exclaimed Rikku. "Another pilgrimage, a chance to get out on the road again, and to stop moping around the island, you know? A chance to forget about sadness for a while!"
Yuna broke away from Rikku. "...No!" she cried. "I don't want to! "Don't want to... to go through that again. Go through it without him... NO!"
"Yuna!" Lulu called.
"Yunie!"
But Yuna was already gone, walking briskly out of the village and up the hill. Rikku made to follow, but Lulu blocked her with her outstretched hand. Rikku looked up at her, but Lulu just shook her head. "Let her be alone, for a while." Lulu advised.
Rikku sighed. "I thought she'd welcome the idea. Really, I did."
"Don't ever forget where the road paved with good intentions leads. She still needs time." was all Lulu said.
Rikku looked up at her. "You've been there before, haven't you?" she asked. "Wakka told me about you and his bro."
"Chappu." said Lulu, closing her eyes.
"Well how much longer?" Rikku wondered. "When does the pain get any less?"
"It doesn't." assured Lulu, opening her eyes again and watching Yuna off in the distance. "For the rest of your life, the pain never gets any less. You just get stronger."
Rikku hung her head. "Oh, man. Guess I acted like a moron just there, huh?"
"No." said Lulu, glancing at her. "You acted... just like him."
Rikku suddenly went wide-eyed, and realised Lulu was right. She'd been acting exactly like a certain Mister Star Player Of The Zanarkand Abes and she hadn't even noticed it. But Yuna had. In her eyes, it had been him standing right before her, urging her to go on a second pilgrimage. But that just served to remind her he wasn't there, and he never would be again.
Rikku slapped her hand up to her forehead. "I gotta go tell her I'm sorry."
"Yes." said Lulu. "But later. Wait until she's had some time to herself, first."
"Great. What are we supposed to do til then?"
Lulu went silent for a moment, then thought of something. "Have you been practising your Black Magic skills yet?"
Rikku groaned.
Up here, the sea breeze was stronger, and somewhat cooling. Yuna found herself walking past the shrine and along Waterfall Way by herself, with the wind coming in from the ocean on her right. She was hugging herself, more so for comfort than against the elements.
Then she discovered it reminded her of someone else's arms around her. Arms that slowly became less and less tangible, until she could see through them.
She fought back the urge to cry. She hadn't cried in months, not since she had been in the Spring with him. She didn't want to cry, in case that somehow getting overcome by the sadness would only amplify the pain, rather than let it out. After all, Lulu had never cried when Chappu was killed...
For you
You leave me
So hard to move on
Still loving what's gone
They say life carries on
"But I'm not Lulu!" she said to the wind. It's only reply was a quickening of the breeze against her, like nature itself was trying to dry the tears ringing her eyes. "...Why?" she asked herself. "Of everyone who I had to lose... why was it you? Anyone else... Lulu, Rikku, anyone... I could have dealt with this pain with you..."
Is the empty, empty page
While the final rattle rocks
Its empty, empty cage
And I can't handle this
I grieve
For you
And you leave me
"I wish I could hate you." she admitted, sitting down on a rock and looking up into the sky. "Hate you like you hated Sir Jecht, for leaving me. You knew you were going to leave us, and you never told us. You... never told me And that's why I can't hate you, ...because I knew you loved me and you couldn't hurt me by telling me..."
Missing what's gone
They say life carries on
They say life carries on and on and on
She wiped her eyes and gritted her teeth. "...And I can't hate you because I love you so much!" Her only reply came from the empty wind blowing over her, and the sound of gulls overhead and over the sea. And the gentle lapping of the waves. Life continuing, oblivious.
In the people I meet
In everyone that's out on the street
In all the dogs and cats
In the flies and rats
In the rot and the rust
In the ashes and the dust
Life carries on and on and on and on
Life carries on and on and on
Not even a sphere... they had never thought to make one of their journey, like Sir Jecht had done. A sphere... that would have been nice. A way to save the memories they had shared together...
"But I already have that..." she realised, and touched her heart. "If there's anything you've taught me, it's that I should live my life... and you don't want me... to sit here and cry..."
Or did I believe this dream?
Now I will find relief
I grieve
"There's somewhere I need to go, first..." she said, standing up and starting to walk down the idyllic path of Waterfall Way, past the many water cascades and towards the path down to the beach.
Rikku stared at the plant had Lulu placed on the table before her.
"So," Lulu began, crossing her arms. "What can you tell me about this plant?"
Rikku blinked and stared at the plant again, like this was a trick question. She looked at it this way and that, her spiralled green Al Bhed eyes telling her slightly more information about the plant than other human races saw. Al Bhed eyes could see magnetic fields, a gift evolution had granted the only species to work closely with machinery for a millenium.
"Thaaaat it could use a little watering?" she hazarded, looking up at Lulu's cycloptic stare. Not even a shaking of the head. Eeep. "I dunno!" Rikku whined. "This isn't exactly my forte, you know? Why didn't you let me try with some useless machina or something?"
"Because machina are vulnerable to Thunder magic." explained Lulu. "Are you sure that's what you want to start off on?" Rikku quickly shook her hands and her head. "No! No! No! No-No! Fire will be good, thanks! ...Oh! I just got it! It's a plant, it's weak to Fire! ...Now what?"
Now you convince the plant's elemental structure to become hot, and quickly, hotter than it's ever been..." described Lulu. "You project your inner emotions, the ones you associate with heat, like anger or fury into the plant itself..."
"Great!" exclaimed Rikku, and stared at the plant again. After a few seconds, a green petal weakly broke off and fluttered to the ground. Rikku was pretty sure it wasn't her doing. "Umm, how do I do that, exactly...?"
Lulu shook her head. "I'm sorry..." she said. "Not everyone can use Black Magic. Just a limited few."
"Okay then, moving swiftly on..." said Rikku. "Where do I get an outfit like that?"
Lulu almost laughed. "You're not serious?"
"I am!" Rikku stood up, serious but still playful. "A lot of other Al Bhed girls have started making themselves look more like hyuman women these days... like dying their hair brown or black, or wearing dark colours. They've even thought about inventing little lenses you can wear right in your eyeballs that change their colour. Doesn't that sound cool?"
"...What's wrong with who you are?" Lulu asked.
"Oh, absolutely nothing." said Rikku. "I'm still proud to be an Al Bhed, it's just different, that's all. Well... there is one thing..."
"Yes?"
"I know Yevon pardoned us and all, and we're free to go where we want as we please, just like other hyuman people and races, but... some of the old prejudices are still around, I've heard. My old man told me that the Al Bhed still aren't welcome in places like Bevelle, despite what Isaaru says..."
"It takes a while for people to change, Rikku." said Lulu. "Even longer for a whole world to, but the world is changing. As far as history is concerned, this is a very exiting time to be alive. We should enjoy it."
Rikku looked sad for a moment, then turned to face the shelves behind her, and all the collected memories resting there. "Try telling that to Yunie..."
"She's..." Lulu began, then halted herself "...still grieving."
"Aren't we all?" Rikku asked. "I hope Yunie will be fine..."
"She will be." said Lulu, stating a simple fact. "...As fine as I am."
"Hey, where are you going?" Rikku asked. Lulu was making for the doorway, slowly.
"I should probably go talk to her." Lulu explained. "Be good."
Rikku merely waved, and began to look at Wakka's pictures. She saw a picture of a younger Lulu, in the arms of a man. Chappu... Lulu and Wakka were right, there was a resemblance.
Lulu found her, down by the pier, sitting on the end with her boots off, dangling her feet over the water. As Lulu approached, Yuna placed her fingers to her lips and blew a loud whistle, the only reply to which came from the gulls overhead.
"Why do you do that?" Lulu asked, squatting down beside her.
"Oh..." breathed Yuna, just noticing her. "It's... just something we had. He said that would be our signal to each other, if we ever needed each other... you know?"
At first Lulu seemed not to reply. Yuna looked up at her. She was staring ahead, out over the sea, with a strange expression on her face. Nostalgia...
"Yes, I know." she said, eventually.
Chappu and I... We were a lot like Yuna and her love, though I never told her that. He didn't just look like Chappu, he acted like him too. Chappu would always be very energetic, trying to make me as enthusiastic as him. To his dying day, I think the only thing he failed to get me interested in was Blitzball. So alike... I knew Yuna was going through what I did, and I remember hoping that she wouldn't become like me...
Lulu glanced back down at Yuna, her thoughts broken when she saw Yuna wiping her eyes. She wasn't crying, not yet. Lulu recognised it, the few cracks in the dam of emotion, not far from giving way to the flood. "Are you alright?" she asked, knowing she wasn't.
"You know what it's like, then..." said Yuna. She looked up at Lulu, opposing eyes ringed with tears. "You know how bad it hurts."
Lulu put an arm around her, which made Yuna lean into her. "Yes." said Lulu. "I know."
"When will it stop hurting?" Yuna pleaded. Lulu sighed.
"Never." said Lulu, emotional and breaking character. "It never will. The pain never gets any less, you'll just get stronger."
"...I heard you didn't cry when Chappu died."
"That's..." Lulu started. "That's true..."
...It wasn't.
"Everything I have of Chappu, I keep with me." Lulu explained. "I keep him alive in my heart, and in my head. I realised that if I did that, kept him in my memory, then Sin would never be able to touch him again."
"Sin's gone forever..." said Yuna, tears drying up. "But the cost we paid, I'm starting to wonder if it was too much. ...And then I remember that the needs of the many... they're more important than the needs of the few..."
Lulu sighed. "The price of love." she said. "I know it's not cheap."
There was silence for a few moments. Just the gentle lapping of the waves against the old wood of the pier. The ferry was gone for the day, but it would be back tomorrow, in time to take anyone who wanted to go to Kilika. Or anyone who wanted to go on another pilgrimage.
"Rikku is sorry." said Lulu. "She's just thinking about you, and she hates not being able to help you. She hasn't lost someone like we have, you see. That idea of a second pilgrimage, she meant well. She thinks another journey would do you good."
"The Prayers For Rain..." Yuna sighed. "I... wouldn't have to visit the temples..."
"Just Gagazet." said Lulu. Yuna had told her all about a Summoner's various duties that most outsiders didn't know. Yuna would have to travel on foot from her home and scale Gagazet, up to it's tallest peak, and pray for rain from there. If satisfied that the world's need for rain was that important, then apparently God would approve and send the waters to the world below.
"Do you think I should?" Yuna asked, earnestly.
"I don't know." Lulu replied. "I can't see the harm. ...Maybe it would be for the best, if we went out and saw how Spira was doing."
"It... would be nice to see Wakka and Kimahri again..." said Yuna, not necessarily agreeing to do it, just stating a fact.
"Are you thinking of doing it?" asked Lulu.
"I'll think about it..." said Yuna. "I just want to stay here, for a little while longer..."
So they did.
As they walked along Waterfall Way, back to the village, they passed a familiar red-haired man, coming in the opposite direction. He was shorter then most men, but made up for it with his proud personality. His hair was like Wakka's, only tighter and more mauve than red.
"Sir Luzzu." greeted Yuna, bowing.
"High Summoner." Luzzu replied, bowing in return, then nodded at Lulu, who nodded back. For a moment, Yuna noticed she was going to have to live with being called a High Summoner for the rest of her life, even though she had no Aeons to speak of at all. For a second, she thought glumly about her decision to kill them all one by one...
"This heat is unnatural." said Luzzu, making conversation. "There's a drought on the wind, I fear."
"Not just of water, either..." Lulu added. Fewer and fewer people were stopping by the temple anymore, and both she and Yuna suspected this was true for all over Spira. A deprivation of rain, and a famine of faith. People's faith in the Yevon orthodoxy was fading. The temples were emptying, and the shrines were no longer being prayed to.
"I know." said Luzzu. "I noticed that people don't even pray at the shrine before they leave on a journey anymore."
"Another price we've paid..." Yuna murmured. "We've been freed from subjugation, only to have or faith thrown out with it."
"But I see some still believe, right, Lady Yuna?" asked Luzzu.
Yuna looked startled. Then nodded, slowly. "It's true, that I no longer have faith in the church of Yevon, or most of it's teachings... But my faith in what lies Higher has never been shaken. I have never doubted..."
"We should all be grateful, if we had even half your strength." Luzzu sighed. And there it was, lying open for them to see. Luzzu was a broken man, with no more faith in himself than he had in Yevon. He had led young men into battles, and outlived them. And he had to see their widows, parents, brothers, sisters and loves when he returned without them. He had lost all confidence, in himself as a person and himself as a Crusader. Now he seemed awkward around Yuna and Lulu, or anyone for that matter. It was hanging in the air, over the conversation, words deliberately not being said.
You both had loves I went into battle against Sin with - and I outlived them both.
"The ferry will be in port tomorrow." said Luzzu, changing the subject. "I'm leaving the village. There's no work for a Crusader in this town anymore, with Sin gone and the fiends all dying from the drought. But we haven't disbanded, at least, not yet, anyway. There's going to be a meeting in Luca to decide what to do. All surviving Crusaders are going to go. We're either going to reform as a law enforcement organization, or just disband completely. We'll decide in a few days."
Yuna bowed. "I am sure that whatever is decided, will be for the best. For Spira, and for you, Sir Luzzu."
"Thank you." said Luzzu, then said goodbye and walked away. Yuna and Lulu watched him go. "It's sad..." said Yuna.
"A drought of faith." said Lulu. "Both in our religion, and in ourselves."
"He said that the ferry will be in port in the morning..." Yuna reflected.
"Are you still thinking of going?" Lulu asked.
"I was thinking... maybe if the drought breaks, people's faith may return." "If the drought breaks." Lulu pointed out. "And even then, it's only a maybe." Yuna sighed, and looked to the cloudless sky. "I can't help …but wonder, how many more are like him? …How many of the people who have helped me to get this far and defeat Sin are also suffering this crisis? They don't deserve …to feel like this. This Eternal Calm, it was supposed to be a prosperous time, …a season of peace. But instead, it's a time of quiet desolation…"
"You're right." agreed Lulu. "We're not in bloom at all. We're all slowly burning under the searing sky, and nobody has the faith to even hope for an end."
"Then I must go." stated Yuna. "I must do what I can to end this drought."
Lulu looked at here. "I would hope you're not planning on going off alone."
Yuna smiled. "I would hope you're not planning on letting me."
"Come on. Let's go find Rikku."
Rikku looked up when Lulu pushed open the flap guarding the entrance of Lulu and Yuna's hut. She got to her feet when she saw Yuna walk in behind her.
"Yunie…" she began. "Yunie, I… I'm sorry. I didn't know." She held out the Fortune Sphere she had found on the cliffs in her hand, offering it to her. "…Forgive me?"
Yuna smiled. "It's alright, Rikku. I know you didn't mean it."
"Yeah, but still…" sighed Rikku. "Feel like the world's biggest idiot for pushing you like that, you know?"
"It's okay, really." said Yuna. "Actually, I've been thinking about what you said. …A lot. I think you may have been on to something…"
"I was…" mused Rikku. Then blinked. "I mean… I was?"
Yuna nodded. "The people need rain, regardless of how I feel. And besides, it would be nice to… see everyone again…"
"So you're going to do it?" asked Rikku.
"It's not such a long journey, when you think about it." Lulu pointed out. "We won't have to visit the temples, and there's no risk of attack by Sin on our way. And the fiends are low in numbers, so we won't have to worry about them, either."
Rikku grinned. "Alright!" she yelled. "Let's goooooo–"
"Tomorrow." Lulu quickly interceded.
"–ooo tomorrow, as soon as Yunie's all ready, is what I was going to say." the Al Bhed finished, then smiled. Yuna laughed, and Lulu shook her head. It was just like old times already.
We slept easy that night. It was the first time in a long while that I didn't hear Yuna having any sad dreams. Rikku slept soundly in her hammock, tied between two trees on the other side of the village, amidst a pile of machina she always insisted were useful. They used to marvel the local villagers, but no longer. The night passed without event, and the morning broke with yet another cloudless day. We packed what belongings we were going to bring, but because of the heat, chose to travel light. We bid our fellow villagers a farewell, and left for the ferry shortly before it's departure. At that time, we had no idea how great an adventure we were embarking upon. As I look back on it now, I'm reminded of a story I heard when I was a child. A character in the story said that it was always best to be careful when you step outside your door, as you never know where you might end up. That was especially true for us. We had no way of knowing that at that very same time, dark forces were already drawing against us, and evil was preparing to flood back into the world…
"I know that…" said Rikku. "I'm just saying, that if there's time, it would be cool to check in on my Dad along the way and see how he's doing, is all."
"If there's time." Lulu conceded, then stopped. They had walked up the hill leading from the village, and turned left toward Waterfall Way and the road down to the beach. But Lulu had just noticed that Yuna was missing, having fallen behind. Rikku and Lulu stopped and looked back. Yuna was kneeling in front of the shrine, praying.
"Hey…" said Rikku. "Why's she's doing that? There's no Sin to worry about anymore, right? And I thought she didn't follow Yevon anymore…"
Rikku felt Lulu's eye on her. She returned the gaze, and Lulu watched Yuna again. "She's praying for a safe journey, regardless of Sin. And she's not praying to Yevon…" "Oh." said Rikku, then got it. "…Oh." As Yuna finished her prayers, she got up and picked up her staff, that she had placed on the ground next to her. "You didn't really need to bring that." Lulu called over.
"I know." Yuna called back. "But I like it… I've… grown used to it, even if I don't have any Aeons. I can still use it as a walking stick. It may not be a long journey, but it's still a lot of walking."
"And if we don't start soon," said Lulu, turning and walking down the path toward the beach. "Then we'll miss the boat."
"Yeah!" Rikku giggled, also turning and following Lulu. "Don't fall behind, Yunie!"
Yuna smiled as she watched them go. A cooling wind blew over her, and she stood still for a moment, watching her cousin and the friend who was like a sister to her. She refused to take anyone for granted on this pilgrimage, and just stood there thinking for a few seconds, before she started walking down to the beach.
Thinking about how much she loved them.
Everything I needed to know about you
Your sweet whisper
Your tender touch
But I didn't really know that much
The joke's on me, but it's gonna be okay
If I can just get through this lonesome day
Hell's brewin', dark sun's on the rise
This storm'll blow through, by and by
House is on fire, viper's in the grass
A little revenge and this too shall pass
This too shall pass
I'm gonna pray
Right now, all I got's this lonesome day
Better ask questions before you shoot
Deceit and betrayal's bitter fruit
It's hard to swallow, come time to pay
That taste on your tongue
Don't easily slip away
Let Kingdom Come,
I'm gonna find my way through this
Lonesome day…
"Lonesome Day" written and performed by Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band. Copyright Bruce Springsteen.
"I Grieve" written and performed by Peter Gabriel. Copyright Peter Gabriel and published by Real World Music Ltd.
"The Time Of The Turning" written by Peter Gabriel and performed by Richie Havens. Taken from Peter Gabriel's "Story Of OVO".Copyright Peter Gabriel and published by Real World Music Ltd.