Our Last Chance
Final in Lost Love/Innocence of Heart Trilogy
Chapter Two
Moonflow
Piper stood in Shinra's small office, grinning wildly. The crisp warmth of the Bikanel Island was felt even in the air conditioned Home. She had wanted nothing more than to get away from her parents, and have some fun with her friends. Inhaling, she smelled the fumes of metallic machines, smoke, and the burnt smell of sand.
"Welcome back, Piper," the genius waved, hardly looking up from a group of spheres he seemed intent on working on.
"Hey Shinra! Whatcha doin'?" Zalèa asked, her trademark emerald eyes curious.
Shinra shook his head, "Nothing much. Just a DNA test of a sphere."
"What's the sphere of?" Nari questioned.
"Nothing important. Now go on," he shooed.
The quartet hurried out of his office, down to a long hallway leading toward the dock. "He seemed crabby," Piper commented.
"He's always crabby when he's working. Don't take it to personally," Evan chuckled.
Piper looked as the machine-operated door slid open, revealing an array of different colored airships. The one that caught her eye was a small one on the far left - a small yellow airship. "The Dandilily!" she giggled, remembering the absurd looking ship.
"I'm going to force my parents to get me a new one," Zalèa rolled her eyes, "The intense yellow might blind someone."
The four friends laughed as the boarded the Dandilily, taking their own seats behind Zalèa's navigation panel. "'Kay, now be quiet for a minute guys," Zalèa said, turning on a switch. "Dandilily to Home, come in!"
"Hey Z!" a bouncy male's voice came over the intercom.
"Briar! You working today?" Zalèa laughed.
Briar. The name seemed familiar. Piper guessed it was one of the guys who had been at that party, the day she came to Spira.
"Yeah, and what? You're off joy-riding again in the yellow bug you call a ship?" Briar teased over the intercom.
Zalèa scoffed, "I didn't ask for it to be yellow. How's your mom?"
"Eh, she's here and there. She's really bummed out about Hobo."
"Hobo?" Piper whispered to Nari, confused.
"He means, Hojo. The guy who posed as his dad and Paine's husband," she whispered back.
"How about that Piper girl? Has she woken up yet? I mean, geez, it's been months! The blitz tournament is starting soon, I know Evan wanted her to be on our team. He always makes such a big--"
"She's just fine!" Evan yelled, cutting off Briar.
Piper raised an eyebrow at her friend's action, confused once more.
Briar's laughter was heard, "Oh come on, everyone knows you like her!"
Piper turned a bright shade of vermilion, but nothing could beat the red in Evan's cheeks.
"Uhh, Briar?" Zalèa said, a goofy grin on her face.
"What?"
"She's here. Like, awake. And here on the airship."
"Oh, uh, sorry there Evan..." Briar said with an apologetic tone.
"Yeah, yeah. Can you just let us go?" Evan asked, his face buried in his hands.
"Sure, no problem..." Briar sighed as a door above them opened. "Have fun, and good to know your up Piper!"
"Thanks," Piper said quietly.
"Briar, over and out."
Nari burst into a fit of laughter, on her knees as Zalèa lifted the Dandilily into the scorching heat of the Bikanel skies. Even as the sun was setting, it was still too warm to be comfortable. "Oh Spira! Have you ever seen a funnier thing?" she said through giggles.
Zalèa shook her head, putting the ship in autopilot. "But speaking of the blitz tourney, we better get things ready. I'm not going to publicize a non-existent team."
"Yeah! You have to join Piper! With you, Evan, Rydia, Vidina, Andre, and Briar, we'll be unbeatable!" Nari laughed.
"I'd love to!" Piper grinned, "But..." she looked down, stray strands of copper hair falling from a messy bun. "I don't know if I'll be able to stay."
"What do you mean?" Evan asked, a worried expression on his face.
Piper shrugged, "My home isn't Spira. I grew up five thousand years ago. I don't know if my parents will let me stay in Spira..."
A pensive silence crept over the four friends, causing each to realize the possibility that the four of them could be separated. Zalèa climbed back into her seat, "We're just about there guys. Looks empty tonight - no tourists or anything. Tolita and her dad must not have a show tonight."
"Tolita?" Piper inquired, again at the edge of confusion.
"Yeah, Tolita. She's a cutie. Daughter of the oh-so-famous Tobli. He supposedly helped my mom during one of her magnificent journeys," Nari rolled her eyes.
"Yup-yup," chuckled Zalèa. She landed the Dandilily in an open area, that looked recently cleared for the purpose of parking airships. "Everyone out!"
Piper followed the twins out, musing to herself on how different they really were. The area was beautiful, the stars poking out of a perfectly clear midnight blue sky. A soft breeze brushed through the trees, giving the setting the atmosphere of a crisp, early autumn night. "It's pretty," she commented quietly, wandering around the small area.
"This?" Nari gestured around. "We aren't there yet! Come on! It's not far!"
"I'll race you!" Zalèa challenged, sprinting past her friend.
"Hey!" Nari chased after, leaving Piper alone with Evan.
Piper smiled softly, realizing how upset he was by Briar's comment. She wondered if it was true. And if it was: what would she do about it? The last time he had expressed feeling for her, she had blown him off. "I suppose we should follow them?"
"Y-yeah," he said, scratching his head through his soft sun bleached hair. Evan walked with her, but said nothing, creating a nervous silence.
Let's just hope nothing catastrophic happens today... she prayed silently, wanting the rest of her day to end perfectly. The only sound in the area was the laughter of Nari and Zalèa, arguing on who had won their race. "So, did you guys stay long in my time?"
Evan nodded, "We were there for the past few weeks." He didn't seem talkative at all.
"Do much exploring?" she asked.
"Sort of. Went to your mom's old house and stuff. Visited the graves of people I never knew. We basically just followed our parents around," Evan shrugged, staring at his feet as they walked.
"Yeah. Guess it doesn't even come close to the beauty of Spira though," Piper said, looking up at the sky again. She felt silly, just rambling on about nothing important. "I'll really miss it here. Spira's pretty cool." She stopped, shaking her head. "I'll have a lot of explaining to do to all my old friends."
"Hey, we're there," Evan pointed ahead.
Piper's eyes widened as she looked at the end of the path. It turned a sharp left, and part of the Moonflow was visible from where they stood. An array of colors and flowers decorated the bank of the river, where pyreflies seemed to dance. "Wow, it's so pretty!"
"Come on!" Evan jogged ahead, making Piper do the same to follow. "Moonlilies," he commented as Piper bent down to see a flower up close.
A slender green stem held what looked like any plain lily, but colored so much more. Each petal was pointed, shaped perfectly, the infinite spectrum of colors rippling through them. It seemed almost magical, the color-changing moonlilies, the dancing pyreflies, and the feeling of being alive. "Zalèa was right. This place is absolutely amazing," Piper said quietly, looking across the water.
"So, do you want to go back to your home?" Evan asked.
Piper shrugged. "If you had asked me after my first few days here, I would've said 'yes' without hesitation. But now..." She sat on the ground, her feet resting in the slightly damp earth. "I want to stay here, be with you, Zalèa, Nari... But I know I have to go home."
"Why Piper? Why don't you just stay here?" Evan sat beside her, an almost hurt look on his face.
"I don't know why..." Piper brought her knees to her chest, sighing. "I just feel like I have to go home."
Another long silence crept over the two.
"Then I'll come to your home too," Evan grinned.
"What?" Piper looked at him, an incredulous look on her face.
"You heard me - I'll come live in the past."
Piper shook her head. "I-I don't think you should..." What am I saying...? He should come!!
"Why not?"
"I don't know," Piper whispered. She was fighting with her own instincts.
Evan let himself fall backward, heaving out a frustrated sigh.
Piper closed her eyes, listening to the shimmering sounds of the pyreflies. She didn't know why she was denying every chance to be with Evan. Although she didn't want to admit it openly - or to herself - she knew she wanted to be with him. "Hey Evan...?"
"What?" he said, obviously frustrated and tired.
"This morning, you were telling me..." Piper opened her eyes, looking back at him, sprawled on the ground. She couldn't help but crack a smile. "You said there was something you wanted to tell me."
Evan sat up, his face sincere. "Piper, we had all given up hope. We all believed you were going to be like that - forever."
"I thought so too," she replied quietly.
"Piper, you are an amazing person. After everything you had to go through, you're still a bright, beautiful..." Evan trailed off, shaking his head.
"I'm not, though. You say I'm all these things when I'm not," Piper felt hot tears burning in her sapphire eyes. "If I hadn't been so selfish, none of that would've happened. If I had just gone home like Yuna told me to, I wouldn't have been in a coma for two months. And Charis would still be alive. But I killed her. Nothing can ever make up for that." The thought of Charis made tears fall, as she relived the feeling of thrusting the blade through her own friend. She felt an arm around her shoulder, causing her to look up into a pair of turquoise orbs.
"Listen to me, Piper. You had no choice in the matter. Charis wanted you to end her life so she - and everyone in Spira - would be saved. You did the right thing," Evan smiled.
"No. I didn't. I gave in, and killed my best friend. I'll never forgive myself. I'll never --" she was interrupted by Evan's index finger on her lips, hushing her.
"You. Did. The. Right. Thing," he said quietly. "Believe me."
Piper closed her eyes, unconsciously resting her head on his shoulder. I hope so... I really, really hope so.
A/N: A little EvanxPiper fluff for you guys - Sorry it took so long. This chapter is dedicated to Anidrin and Emrelle. Emmy's read the entire trilogy since Lost Love started and Anidrin read the entire thing just 'cause... Well I don't know why. Well I won't update as often - more stories, less time - so don't worry, I'll let you know if I'm going to put it on hold!
Always - Letselina