*****Standard Disclaimer. I do not own FFX or the characters in it. They are owned by Square-Enix. I do own this story, and my original characters. The title of this chapter is from a song written and performed by Bob Seger, particularly in reference to the lyrics at the end, "Ain't it funny how the night moves, when you just don't seem to have as much to lose?"******
When they found the chocobo rental agent in the Calm Lands, she was reluctant to part with any chocobos, as she was in the process of replenishing her stock, and the ones she had were about half-trained, at best. It took some convincing, and not just with words, before they could have the mounts they needed to reach the hidden temple. Tidus found training the big birds to be a lot of fun, so when they reached the lost temple and found the challenge race outside, he was eager to test himself against this supposed 'champion chocobo'. Auron only let him try the race once before they went inside the temple. Tidus beat the champion, but the prize was very strange. It was a cloudy looking mirror. He wasn't sure if it was good for anything, but he had won it fairly, so he planned on keeping it, just like he kept all his Blitzball trophies. They weren't actually good for anything either, but he still hung onto them. Until the old man dragged him to Spira, anyway.
Inside the temple, Belgemine related a little of the history of her home, Remiem Temple. They were all surprised to learn that she was an unsent, like Seymour, and Maester Mika. But Belgemine's purpose was to help Yuna, not to hinder or harm her or her friends. She wished to train her, as she had trained many summoners before her, by challenging her to an aeon duel. That was the purpose that had bound her to Spira. Any summoner who could not defeat Belgemine was not ready to defeat Sin, not yet. Yuna battled Belgemine's aeons with her own, defeated each of them in its turn, and was rewarded for her efforts. After the last of the duels, Yuna had the distinct impression that Belgemine might not be through with her, not yet, but had no idea what that might mean. The party left the echoing temple. Yuna's training there was complete, for now.
Tidus had watched the duels with interest, but a part of his mind had been thinking about the chocobo race he had won. There were six chests on the racetrack. He had only been able to get three on his first attempt. He thought he could get them all, if he just had one more chance…
The minute they were outside the temple, Tidus said, "'Scuse me," sprinted for the challenger's chocobo, and mounted it before anyone had a chance to say anything. Most of the group smiled indulgently, then leaned over the rail to watch the race. Auron just groaned at the waste of time. Tidus reached the finish line in record time, having opened all the chests. He raised his arms over his head in triumph, a cheeky grin splitting his face. The reward didn't matter to him; it was the challenge that he savored. His prize was a parchment map, covered in completely illegible script. He thought at first that it was just some language from Spira that he couldn't read. But when he showed it to the others, he discovered that no one could read it. He still put it into his pack, but as he placed it on top of the strange mirror, the mirror reacted, it sort of, well, hummed. He got the mirror and the parchment out of his pack and held them together. The mirror hummed louder, but nothing else happened. What was that all about? he wondered. He wrapped the mirror in some of his clothes, so his backpack wouldn't hum the whole time he was carrying it. Weird, really weird, he thought.
As they traveled down the eastern edge of the Calm Lands by chocobo, they found a break in the rock wall. When they entered the narrow canyon, they discovered an old man, bemoaning his inability to open his prized combat arena, due to a lack of fiends for training purposes. Both Tidus and Wakka were all for helping the old guy out, but Auron stopped them, condemning the whole enterprise as, "A waste of time." If he heard Tidus mutter something like, "Killjoy," under his breath in Wakka's direction, or saw Wakka nod in reply, he made no sign.
Lulu's thoughts about Sir Auron had taken a rather dangerous turn since Yuna had relayed the information about his lost wife. She had always considered him to be a strikingly handsome man, but also an extremely distant one, seemingly out of any woman's reach. Tidus' revelations, although second-hand, had shown her that her conclusion was in error. The fact that he had been vulnerable once might make him doubly so now. Perhaps…
It was time for her to move on, and she thought often about turning toward Wakka, but if she did, because Wakka had always been part of her life, that turning would change the future, whether the resulting relationship worked, or didn't. But she might be able to assuage a little of Auron's loneliness, and, in turn, he might offer her a bridge back to living. She knew there was probably some irony in that thought, but didn't care to pursue the contradictions further. Still she continued to hold back. Probably out of conscience. If she did pursue this "line of reasoning", even once, and Wakka ever found out…
After the battle with Lady Ginnem, her resolve failed her, or her need for comfort overrode her conscience. In either case, the confrontation with her first failure left Lulu with a need to live only in the moment, with no thought, for once, of the troubles to come. As they made camp for the night, on the ledge before the opening that led down to the Cavern of the Lost Fayth, Auron isolated himself from the group. Lulu took this as a sign that he might want the comfort she needed to give him.
He really just wanted to be as far away from Yojimbo's cave as possible. He felt betrayed by this fayth, and his promises. He knew that Yuna needed all the aeons, but Auron wished that she could have let this one pass, if it were possible. The masked swordsman's words from five years ago ran through his head, over and over, he couldn't seem to escape them. He wasn't sure if he was a bigger fool then, or now. The fayth had been right about one thing. It had been sweet. Very, very sweet. But who had neglected to play their part? Who?
She was coming. "Sir Auron, may I speak with you a moment?" Lulu asked him archly. He silently gestured an invitation for her to speak "In private," she continued.
He inclined his head to her, and they began to move down the narrow path, to the next place where they could comfortably stand together to talk. There was a rusty sword stuck in the ground. Idly, Auron pulled the old sword out of the niche and leaned it against the standing stone next to his katana, as he stared down at the black mage, waiting for her to raise whatever issue she had to discuss with him.
"Sir Auron," she began, her voice soft. "Auron." She leaned close to him, resting her hands on his left arm within the sling of his coat. "We have both lost someone very dear to us because of Sin."
Auron's control slipped for just a moment. The word burst out before he could stop it. "How?…"
"Did I know? You talk in your sleep, sometimes. You must miss her very much," she went on, hoping for a response, but she received none. He had charge of himself again. Inside he was thinking, Damn the boy, he must have told them, but his face showed nothing.
Lulu plunged on, feeling that she had committed herself too far to turn back. "I believe that we could…comfort each other." Her eyes locked onto his, her hand came up to touch his cheek. Automatically, his eye closed in response to the caress. The mage took it as encouragement, and leaned nearer still, slipping her right hand behind his neck as her left pulled his collar down. She pressed her lips to his, and his mouth opened in astonishment. She believed this was going to work, she really did. And, for a moment, as her full breasts pressed against his arm, and her breath was in his mouth, he slitted his eye open, trying to convince himself that in the shadows, her tightly braided dark hair was Mercy's short cap instead. He gripped her waist, but his hand found her boned corset, instead of Mercy's soft skin and taut form. His senses would not even allow him to fool himself long enough to take the cold comfort the mage offered. So, he was tempted, but only for a few seconds. And he would hate himself enough for those. Carefully, he stepped away from her. The hurt expression on Lulu's face as he broke away was another form of punishment.
"That is enough," he said, making his voice cold and emotionless as only he could.
"But, Auron…" she moved towards him, her hands outstretched.
He raised a hand to her in warning, and Lulu stopped in her tracks. "Stay away from me in future. We are both Yuna's guardians. Except for matters concerning the pilgrimage, we have nothing else to discuss. Return to the others–now. I will guard your passage from here."
Lulu looked up into his face, imploringly, one last time, then she began to walk away. As she headed back toward the others, her pace changed from a dejected slouch to a hip-swinging strut. Within a few steps, she turned to Auron, her face filled with pride, and anger. "You'll regret this," she challenged him.
He had felt sorry for her, but, seeing her face now, he felt nothing but relief. He responded, "You aren't fit to wipe her boots." She turned and strode the rest of the way to the campsite, filled with righteous indignation. He stood there feeling slightly stupid; listening to make sure that he didn't hear her scream as fiends attacked her. The silence was only marred by the sound of a slight "thud" behind him. As soon as he was certain she must be safe, he followed the path to its end, his katana over his shoulder. Where the path dead-ended there was a chest, dust still settling around it. This is unusual, he thought, as he opened it. Inside, there was a crest, similar to ones they had already found, but this was a Minerva Crest, whatever that might mean. He stowed the odd crest in his pack, and retrieved the rusty sword on his way back to the camp.
On the other side of Mt. Gagazet, a dark figure tumbled down, at the water's edge, into the ruins of Zanarkand.
End Chapter thirteen