Malika saw him first. The new guy, I mean. We were standing on the edge of
the waterfalls, and she bumped me and pointed him out.
"Look at that," she whispered, her eyes wide. "He's..."
I cut her off.
"He's old, 'Lika. Look at him."
"Like age matters here." She stuck her tongue out at me and we laughed. It was true. We were both over a thousand years old ourselves. Ok, so we didn't look it. But we were. Besides, Malika was always looking for her true love. I tried to tell her over and over that you find your true love when you're alive, not after you're dead. She never believes me. Anyway, this grizzled man with the scar and the really big sword really fascinated her. "I wonder who he is?" She sat down and watched him. He ignored the other people and just walked to a darker corner, under the trees.
"HEY!" I stared. "That's our spot."
Malika just grinned. I rolled my eyes. "Here we go."
Maybe I should explain a little bit. My name is Maya, and Malika is my best friend. We're dead. I suppose I should be a little more upset about that, but it's been a thousand years after all. It doesn't really bother me. We live on the Farplane, along with the others who died in Zanarkand, during Sin's first attack. It's not so bad, after a while. Its really nice here. Anyhow, Malika and I are 24. Our parents were best friends, and so we are too. Malika's always on the lookout for the true love she missed when we were alive. Me, I could care less, but in my opinion, true love is something found in life.
Sorry. Guess I got sidetracked.
When we got down, she walked up to the stranger. "Hi there."
He kind of gave her a funny look, and went back to cleaning his sword. She cleared her throat, and I rolled my eyes again. "I said hello, mister. Aren't you going to say hi back?"
He paused and then answered her in a gravely voice. "No." That took her by surprise a little bit. "Why not?" I grabbed her arm. "Malika, leave the man alone. Sorry, mister." I drug her off by the arm. "'Lika, what are you doing?! He quite obviously didn't want to talk." She nodded. "I know. But he seems so sad!"
"Sad? He seems cold to me, not sad." She shook her head, but dropped it. For now.
I watched her from a distance after that, letting her talk to the strange man without me. I guess I'm just the cautious one. I'm of the mindset of live and let live. Even though we're not living. But she wouldn't leave him alone. I got to thinking he was like ice. He was always cold, and brusque with her. Never quite rude, which I suppose is why she kept after him. But he was never friendly. Now that I think about it, I guess Malika was our ray of sunshine. She would come to me, and tell me about the new thing that he had done. He... frightened me, I think. But she was never afraid. She came over to my place one night, laughing and flushed.
"He said hello."
I blinked. "What?"
"He said hello. The man under the trees."
I nodded. "And?"
"And nothing. He said hi. That's as far as I've gotten."
I sighed. "Well, congratulations, I guess."
She nodded, hugged me goodnight, and went back to her place.
Another time, a giggling, delighted Malika tackled me in the middle of the field.
"What, did he say hello again?" "Yeah, but that's not all. His name is Auron."
I nodded. "And that's all he said, huh." Her smile never faded as she nodded happily. I just sighed and patted her on the head, to which she stuck out her tongue. We spent the rest of the day picking flowers and talking.
Months passed and every day, Malika was there, pestering Auron. I enjoyed watching her. I also enjoyed watching him, but it was because of the strange looks on his face whenever Malika bounded into the area. I wasn't about to follow her over there, though.
One night, Malika got sick. It was nerve wracking for me, because its rare to get sick once you're dead, but it does happen. I sat up all night, caring for her. I wasn't aware of it at the time, but because she got sick, she missed her "usual" time to go but Auron. At just before dawn, I heard a knock on our door, and went to answer it.
My heart skipped a beat.
Auron stood there, silently. He looked right over my head, into the room, and saw Malika.
It might have been my imagination, but I swear his good eye widened for a second. He turned and leaned on the doorframe, his sword resting across his back. I just closed the door quietly, leaving it open a crack, and went back to my friend. The night caught up to me and I fell asleep beside the bed, and the next morning I was awoken by Malika hugging me. I hugged her back and checked her over.
"Are you ok?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm ok. I feel a hundred percent better."
"Ok." Then I remembered Auron's late night visit, and walked to the door. When I opened it, he was gone, almost as if he had never been there. But there were boot prints in the grass.
I think it was then that I started to trust him. I think it was about another month before Malika bombarded me with another Auron Achievement. This time she stumbled up wide-eyed. "Maya... Auron knew Jecht." My heart stopped. Like any Zanarkand girl, I grew up worshiping the blitzball champion. We had been eleven when Jecht had disappeared, and anyone who had actually known the man was an incredible find for us. "No... way."
As you can imagine, the rest of the day was spent remembering Jecht and all his achievements.
The next time I saw him, though, he was still under our trees. Malika was at lunch with her family, so I walked over to him. He glanced up and then went back to his normal silent stillness.
"Hey." He didn't move. "I just wanted to say thanks. You know, for coming to see Malika."
He still didn't move. This was getting unnerving. "So... thanks." I turned and fled, and spent the rest of the day at the top of the waterfall where we had first seen him.
Grinning, Malika cornered me at the house one day. "You remember that blonde blitzer you liked so much? Tidus?"
"Jecht's kid, yeah, why?"
"Auron knew him too. Pretty well, it seems."
I wrinkled my nose and sighed. "Too bad I'm dead, huh. Maybe he could have set me up."
Together we laughed and talked for a few hours, before she went home again.
This was how it was, for months. She would show up every few weeks with another tidbit of information from Auron, and we would chat about whatever it brought to mind. We spent a lot of time together, so I was never jealous of Auron. Besides, it had been a long time since Malika had been this happy and entertained. I enjoyed seeing her like this.
Auron started to leave that little grotto under our trees, walking with Malika. Sometimes I went, but usually they were out after dark. Less people, she said, and so it was more comfortable. More privacy.
One of the days that I went with them, we were ambushed by a gang of fiends.
Maybe I should explain how we have fiends in the Farplane. The entire place is made up of memories of the dead. In the beginning, there were no fiends because Zanarkand didn't have fiends. But as more and more people from post-Sin Spira showed up, they brought their memories of fiends with them. The only exception to the rule is Sin. It's never showed up here. The farther away from the waterfalls and clearings you go, the worse the fiends are. Of course, this was the day that Malika talked us into going outside the field and into the woods.
Anyway, the fiends were bigger than we were used to. A lot bigger. Malika and I were not at all equipped to handle this, and as the first one lunged for us, I squeezed my eyes shut. I heard a dull thud and a yipe of pain. When I looked, Malika and I were sitting on the ground, clinging to each other, and Auron was standing over the very dead fiend, waiting for the next one to attack. It took him one hit. Those monsters were strong. Auron was stronger. He turned and helped us up. For the first time, I heard him speak more than one word at a time.
"Are you ok?"
I nodded as Malika said we were.
"Good. Wouldn't want you two hurt."
The walk was ended then, as he turned and started back toward the fields. We looked at each other, and followed meekly. But I saw something in Malika's eyes that night.
The next morning, we were sitting on the waterfall again, and Malika spoke.
"I think I love him, Maya."
"I know." I had seen it the other night, when he had saved us. "I saw."
She nodded and leaned against me, staring down at the waterfall below us. "What will you do?"
"I don't know."
I knew what she'd do. She'd do the same thing she always did. Nothing.
I'm not sure when I changed my mind about love after death, but I knew at that point that it was possible.
"I think you should tell him."
And I told her about the night she had gotten sick, when he had come to find her.
Her eyes widened and she chewed on her lip. "I don't want to ruin it, Maya. What if..."
I cut her off. "Don't talk like that, hon. I think he returns that love. Just... in a much quieter manner."
She went to her next rendezvous with him and asked me to come with her. She said it was just for moral support. I agreed, sitting with my back to a tree, hidden behind a bush. I'm sure he knew I was there, but he never mentioned it. He must have been around young women before. I'm sure it tipped him off that there was something different about tonight.
"Hey, Auron." "Hello."
She sat down, and I noticed that she seemed a lot older now. More mature, I mean. It was like being around him helped her to grow up a lot. She had always been the playful, screwy one. Now, she was still cheery and playful, but she was less prone to doing stupid kid stuff. "What's up?"
He looked at her and a small smile crept to his lips. "You didn't come here to exchange pleasantries, Malika. What's wrong?"
I had never seen him like this. He was acting normally, smiling and talking. Was this what Malika had done?
She sighed, and leaned back against another tree. "Just messed up a bit, that's all." She smiled a bit and looked at him. "Auron, have you ever been in love?" He nodded. "I did, once. When I was a little older than you."
She grinned. "You were never older than me, but I know what you mean." He laughed under his breath. It was a low, chuckling laugh. It was also the first time I had ever heard him do it. "It didn't work out?"
He shook his head. "It would have. But I was called to do something else. She wasn't."
"Oh."
I was getting butterflies myself. What would he say?
Malika played with a bit of grass.
"Are you in that situation now? Loving someone?" He watched her face, and I was sure that he knew exactly what was happening. On the other hand, I had no clue what he'd do about it. She nodded slowly. "Yeah. I am. I'm just afraid that he'd think of me as a kid. He's a lot older than me, you know." She glanced up at him, watching for a reaction.
Apparently I was wrong, because he figured it out at that moment, and he looked as though someone had kicked him. I could see him scanning through his mind about the guys we spent time with, and coming up with the fact that the only one significantly older than she was... His eye widened and he pushed his sunglasses up to cover it.
"Malika, you're not a child. Anyone with even one good eye could see that."
Now it was her turn to look amazed and shocked. "Really?"
"Really."
I moved away at that point. It seemed everything was going just fine.
From then on, you rarely saw Malika without Auron nearby. He never really became friendly, not the way that most people think of it. But Malika never minded. She had fallen in love with him because of his personality.
Near the beginning of this story, I told you that Auron seemed like ice.
Well, Malika is sunshine. And even the toughest block of ice will melt if it's left in the sun too long.
I think that's just what happened here.
"Like age matters here." She stuck her tongue out at me and we laughed. It was true. We were both over a thousand years old ourselves. Ok, so we didn't look it. But we were. Besides, Malika was always looking for her true love. I tried to tell her over and over that you find your true love when you're alive, not after you're dead. She never believes me. Anyway, this grizzled man with the scar and the really big sword really fascinated her. "I wonder who he is?" She sat down and watched him. He ignored the other people and just walked to a darker corner, under the trees.
"HEY!" I stared. "That's our spot."
Malika just grinned. I rolled my eyes. "Here we go."
Maybe I should explain a little bit. My name is Maya, and Malika is my best friend. We're dead. I suppose I should be a little more upset about that, but it's been a thousand years after all. It doesn't really bother me. We live on the Farplane, along with the others who died in Zanarkand, during Sin's first attack. It's not so bad, after a while. Its really nice here. Anyhow, Malika and I are 24. Our parents were best friends, and so we are too. Malika's always on the lookout for the true love she missed when we were alive. Me, I could care less, but in my opinion, true love is something found in life.
Sorry. Guess I got sidetracked.
When we got down, she walked up to the stranger. "Hi there."
He kind of gave her a funny look, and went back to cleaning his sword. She cleared her throat, and I rolled my eyes again. "I said hello, mister. Aren't you going to say hi back?"
He paused and then answered her in a gravely voice. "No." That took her by surprise a little bit. "Why not?" I grabbed her arm. "Malika, leave the man alone. Sorry, mister." I drug her off by the arm. "'Lika, what are you doing?! He quite obviously didn't want to talk." She nodded. "I know. But he seems so sad!"
"Sad? He seems cold to me, not sad." She shook her head, but dropped it. For now.
I watched her from a distance after that, letting her talk to the strange man without me. I guess I'm just the cautious one. I'm of the mindset of live and let live. Even though we're not living. But she wouldn't leave him alone. I got to thinking he was like ice. He was always cold, and brusque with her. Never quite rude, which I suppose is why she kept after him. But he was never friendly. Now that I think about it, I guess Malika was our ray of sunshine. She would come to me, and tell me about the new thing that he had done. He... frightened me, I think. But she was never afraid. She came over to my place one night, laughing and flushed.
"He said hello."
I blinked. "What?"
"He said hello. The man under the trees."
I nodded. "And?"
"And nothing. He said hi. That's as far as I've gotten."
I sighed. "Well, congratulations, I guess."
She nodded, hugged me goodnight, and went back to her place.
Another time, a giggling, delighted Malika tackled me in the middle of the field.
"What, did he say hello again?" "Yeah, but that's not all. His name is Auron."
I nodded. "And that's all he said, huh." Her smile never faded as she nodded happily. I just sighed and patted her on the head, to which she stuck out her tongue. We spent the rest of the day picking flowers and talking.
Months passed and every day, Malika was there, pestering Auron. I enjoyed watching her. I also enjoyed watching him, but it was because of the strange looks on his face whenever Malika bounded into the area. I wasn't about to follow her over there, though.
One night, Malika got sick. It was nerve wracking for me, because its rare to get sick once you're dead, but it does happen. I sat up all night, caring for her. I wasn't aware of it at the time, but because she got sick, she missed her "usual" time to go but Auron. At just before dawn, I heard a knock on our door, and went to answer it.
My heart skipped a beat.
Auron stood there, silently. He looked right over my head, into the room, and saw Malika.
It might have been my imagination, but I swear his good eye widened for a second. He turned and leaned on the doorframe, his sword resting across his back. I just closed the door quietly, leaving it open a crack, and went back to my friend. The night caught up to me and I fell asleep beside the bed, and the next morning I was awoken by Malika hugging me. I hugged her back and checked her over.
"Are you ok?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm ok. I feel a hundred percent better."
"Ok." Then I remembered Auron's late night visit, and walked to the door. When I opened it, he was gone, almost as if he had never been there. But there were boot prints in the grass.
I think it was then that I started to trust him. I think it was about another month before Malika bombarded me with another Auron Achievement. This time she stumbled up wide-eyed. "Maya... Auron knew Jecht." My heart stopped. Like any Zanarkand girl, I grew up worshiping the blitzball champion. We had been eleven when Jecht had disappeared, and anyone who had actually known the man was an incredible find for us. "No... way."
As you can imagine, the rest of the day was spent remembering Jecht and all his achievements.
The next time I saw him, though, he was still under our trees. Malika was at lunch with her family, so I walked over to him. He glanced up and then went back to his normal silent stillness.
"Hey." He didn't move. "I just wanted to say thanks. You know, for coming to see Malika."
He still didn't move. This was getting unnerving. "So... thanks." I turned and fled, and spent the rest of the day at the top of the waterfall where we had first seen him.
Grinning, Malika cornered me at the house one day. "You remember that blonde blitzer you liked so much? Tidus?"
"Jecht's kid, yeah, why?"
"Auron knew him too. Pretty well, it seems."
I wrinkled my nose and sighed. "Too bad I'm dead, huh. Maybe he could have set me up."
Together we laughed and talked for a few hours, before she went home again.
This was how it was, for months. She would show up every few weeks with another tidbit of information from Auron, and we would chat about whatever it brought to mind. We spent a lot of time together, so I was never jealous of Auron. Besides, it had been a long time since Malika had been this happy and entertained. I enjoyed seeing her like this.
Auron started to leave that little grotto under our trees, walking with Malika. Sometimes I went, but usually they were out after dark. Less people, she said, and so it was more comfortable. More privacy.
One of the days that I went with them, we were ambushed by a gang of fiends.
Maybe I should explain how we have fiends in the Farplane. The entire place is made up of memories of the dead. In the beginning, there were no fiends because Zanarkand didn't have fiends. But as more and more people from post-Sin Spira showed up, they brought their memories of fiends with them. The only exception to the rule is Sin. It's never showed up here. The farther away from the waterfalls and clearings you go, the worse the fiends are. Of course, this was the day that Malika talked us into going outside the field and into the woods.
Anyway, the fiends were bigger than we were used to. A lot bigger. Malika and I were not at all equipped to handle this, and as the first one lunged for us, I squeezed my eyes shut. I heard a dull thud and a yipe of pain. When I looked, Malika and I were sitting on the ground, clinging to each other, and Auron was standing over the very dead fiend, waiting for the next one to attack. It took him one hit. Those monsters were strong. Auron was stronger. He turned and helped us up. For the first time, I heard him speak more than one word at a time.
"Are you ok?"
I nodded as Malika said we were.
"Good. Wouldn't want you two hurt."
The walk was ended then, as he turned and started back toward the fields. We looked at each other, and followed meekly. But I saw something in Malika's eyes that night.
The next morning, we were sitting on the waterfall again, and Malika spoke.
"I think I love him, Maya."
"I know." I had seen it the other night, when he had saved us. "I saw."
She nodded and leaned against me, staring down at the waterfall below us. "What will you do?"
"I don't know."
I knew what she'd do. She'd do the same thing she always did. Nothing.
I'm not sure when I changed my mind about love after death, but I knew at that point that it was possible.
"I think you should tell him."
And I told her about the night she had gotten sick, when he had come to find her.
Her eyes widened and she chewed on her lip. "I don't want to ruin it, Maya. What if..."
I cut her off. "Don't talk like that, hon. I think he returns that love. Just... in a much quieter manner."
She went to her next rendezvous with him and asked me to come with her. She said it was just for moral support. I agreed, sitting with my back to a tree, hidden behind a bush. I'm sure he knew I was there, but he never mentioned it. He must have been around young women before. I'm sure it tipped him off that there was something different about tonight.
"Hey, Auron." "Hello."
She sat down, and I noticed that she seemed a lot older now. More mature, I mean. It was like being around him helped her to grow up a lot. She had always been the playful, screwy one. Now, she was still cheery and playful, but she was less prone to doing stupid kid stuff. "What's up?"
He looked at her and a small smile crept to his lips. "You didn't come here to exchange pleasantries, Malika. What's wrong?"
I had never seen him like this. He was acting normally, smiling and talking. Was this what Malika had done?
She sighed, and leaned back against another tree. "Just messed up a bit, that's all." She smiled a bit and looked at him. "Auron, have you ever been in love?" He nodded. "I did, once. When I was a little older than you."
She grinned. "You were never older than me, but I know what you mean." He laughed under his breath. It was a low, chuckling laugh. It was also the first time I had ever heard him do it. "It didn't work out?"
He shook his head. "It would have. But I was called to do something else. She wasn't."
"Oh."
I was getting butterflies myself. What would he say?
Malika played with a bit of grass.
"Are you in that situation now? Loving someone?" He watched her face, and I was sure that he knew exactly what was happening. On the other hand, I had no clue what he'd do about it. She nodded slowly. "Yeah. I am. I'm just afraid that he'd think of me as a kid. He's a lot older than me, you know." She glanced up at him, watching for a reaction.
Apparently I was wrong, because he figured it out at that moment, and he looked as though someone had kicked him. I could see him scanning through his mind about the guys we spent time with, and coming up with the fact that the only one significantly older than she was... His eye widened and he pushed his sunglasses up to cover it.
"Malika, you're not a child. Anyone with even one good eye could see that."
Now it was her turn to look amazed and shocked. "Really?"
"Really."
I moved away at that point. It seemed everything was going just fine.
From then on, you rarely saw Malika without Auron nearby. He never really became friendly, not the way that most people think of it. But Malika never minded. She had fallen in love with him because of his personality.
Near the beginning of this story, I told you that Auron seemed like ice.
Well, Malika is sunshine. And even the toughest block of ice will melt if it's left in the sun too long.
I think that's just what happened here.