----- FLASHBACK (start and end)

… TIME ELAPSES

NOTE REGARDING IT FOLLOWS AT END OF CHAPTER

-…- SUDDEN CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE

CHAPTER 3

The sun was almost at its highest point in the sky as two men waited at the Besaid docks by the SS Liki's gangplank. "Where could she possibly be?" asked Ilised, the blue-eyed swordsman who was getting very impatient with his fellow guardian, who at the moment was nowhere to be found. "Who knows? Knowing my little sister, she could be anywhere." Lamented Landien, the gray-eyed summoner as he looked around hoping to spot his sibling.

"Oi! When can we leave?" called out the Liki's captain sarcastically. "Spare us a few more minutes please. I know my guardian will arrive momentarily." Implored Landien as he bowed apologetically to the man. The ship's captain only rolled his eyes at this. 'Leave it to those accursed Al Bhed to delay my ship.' Thought the seaman grudgingly as he turned to return to the bridge.

-…-

'I know he'll just go crazy about this. He'll absolutely love it.' Hypothesized Lydia ecstatically as she held the two newly purchased packages tightly to her chest. 'He deserves this.' She thought as she quickly navigated through the mountain paths of Besaid towards the pier where her brother was waiting.

'Oh dear! Brother… pier… BOAT! I'm gonna miss it.' Mentally exclaimed the mage as she hitched-up her dress so she could run faster. As she turned a corner she collided with something solid and fell flat on her back.

"Ouch…" she whooped. "Are you all right miss?" said the brown-haired man she had smashed into. He was dressed in the finest garments that Spira had to offer, which was reserved for the only the wealthy. He was followed by a small caravan of people, carrying boxes and sacks. "Here, let me help you." He offered as he assisted her to get up. "Watch where you're going!" blurted out the frustrated guardian as she shoved away the opulent-looking man's hands. "Sorry…" he said, staring, mystified by the young lady's beauty.

But the rushing guardian ignored his words and his stare as she began her hasty dash through his entourage toward the docks with a single package clutched firmly to her chest. "Ili is gonna kill me!" Lydia sighed as she quickly made her way to the SS Liki, her collision already forgotten.

However, back at the trail the brown-haired man stood with a gorgeous dark blue cloak folded over his arm. He was torn between chasing after the beautiful lady who dropped this hand-woven coat and performing his duty as Olin – son of Mezaro, the chief supplier of Spira's goods.

'I'll keep this for now,' thought Olin as he carefully folded the garment and placed it in his satchel. 'It'll give me an excuse to speak with you again.' He added, making him smile as the salty sea wind blew into his cream-colored face, which was slightly flushed from his encounter with the blonde 'goddess' and tousled his shoulder-length hair. And if you looked closely enough you would see his emerald eyes filled glee and whimsy.

…

"No! No! No!" whined Lydia as tore through her pack below deck in their room aboard the SS Liki. "Oh… where did I put it." Whimpered the vexed mage. "It must be here!" she exclaimed as shifted through her possession that she had thrown to the floor in search of the new hand-woven cloak she had bought for herself. It was no where to be found. The mage gave one last defeated sigh before she broke down into frustrated sobs on the floor.

"Hey! Its all right." Comforted Landien, who now wore a beautiful multicolored cloak over his black robes. Only minutes before had his sister given him this hand-woven specialty of Besaid. And only minutes before, Lydia had been giddy with excitement as she presented to him the kaleidoscopic garment she had purchased in town, this generous gesture had made him forgive her for being late.

Unfortunately, Ilised did not possess the Summoner's lenient nature and was still quite irate from Lydia's tardiness and blatant disregard for time. "Maybe you left it out of sheer stupidity!" he yelled hotly, losing all self-control. This made both summoner and mage stare wide-eyed at him in shock. "Ilised." Berated the summoner.

"What!?" exclaimed the male guardian. "Do you realize, she could have us made miss this boat, thus, delaying your pilgrimage! Have you even thought of that Landien?" he bellowed as he pointed an accusing finger at Lydia. But he immediately regretted these words when he saw her pained expression. Ilised then made for the door, "I gonna get out for some fresh air." He said meekly as he left the cabin for the main deck.

"Ignore him. He's just a little mad." Said the summoner. "But he's right." Retorted his sister bitterly. "What kind of guardian am I? I'm so irresponsible." She continued, thoroughly frustrated. "Do you think I should talk to him?" she inquired, more to the air than Landien. "Yeah, I should." Finished Lydia, answering her own question as she left to go find Ilised.

'I do hope those two sort it out.' Thought the summoner as he began to pack his sister's things.

…

Landien and his guardians reached Kilika waters late in the afternoon that day. The sun was already beginning to set when the boat anchored at the seaside town. The reception they received here was very different from that in Besaid. Everyone they met acknowledge in a friendly manner.

The Summoner knew that this community had been attacked by Sin only days ago, most of the village was still in ruin; but despite that the townsfolk were not bitter. Landien was very thankful for this. 'I'm glad that they don't know… what I am.' He thought as he greeted a boy who was probably the same age as he was. 'Back home, a boy this age would never think of bowing to him, he'd be too busy punching him.' He mused.

"We should make our way to the temple," suggested Ilised. "Yeah, but we'll entire the Cloister of Trials tomorrow. It's too late now. What do you think, Landi?" Finished Lydia.

'Thank goodness that they made up. I don't think I would have survived if they were to bicker.' Thought the summoner, relieved that his guardians reconciled on the ship. Of course, they were not yet as chummy with each other as they usually were; but Landien knew that come tomorrow, it would be as if nothing happened. "I agree," he said finally, answering Lydia's question.

-…-

'Where could she be now…' pondered Olin as he looked out into the night waters from the deck of the Intrepid, his own personal ship. '"Watch where you're going!" , she has said. Oh! How divine her voice was.' Thought the love-struck man.

In all his twenty-five years of travelling Spira, he had never encountered such a beauty as this. 'Oh what a fool I am.' He cursed himself for not finding out her name. 'Perhaps she came from Besaid… No. I've been there too many times, and this is the first I have ever seen of her.' Analyzed Olin. 'She must be a traveler, like me. Yeah, that's right. She's traveler that's why she was headed to the docks.' He concluded.

That night Olin replayed his encounter with the radiant 'goddess' over and over again. Each time, the image of her amethyst eyes, golden hair and tanned skin pained him so because he knew not whether he would ever be able to behold them with his own two eyes ever again. And as he dreamt of her that evening, his ship made its way to Hadura, the 'home' of his 'goddess'.

NOTES:

"Mezaro" – I just thought that maybe, all of those potions, antidotes, softs and the like came from one source.

Please give me feed back on this chapter and whether or not I should pursue the character of Olin.

Also, thanks for taking time to read my fic.

Lastly, Kogoro, I can't read your fic just yet 'coz I haven't played X2 yet… and well, it would spoil the story. Sorry…