Disclaimer: I still own nothing! Disclaimer 2: Minor, minor smut. Well, sort of... There is "nudity"! So, read accordingly. ;)
Hey everybody! Thank you so, so much to all of you who have left such wonderful reviews. ) You are the reason I picked this up again and started typing. ) I sincerely hope it won't be "months" before I update again. Thank you for reading my story! I hope you continue to enjoy it.
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When Lenne woke up she could feel Shuyin's arms wrapped protectively around her, and she shifted a little bit, showing she was awake.
"Good morning," he said quietly, kissing the top of her head. "God, it's bright," Lenne said, squinting. "Nice to see you, too," Shuyin replied. "You really need to go find your shirt," Lenne countered. "Can't have you walking all over Spira half-dressed. Someone'll steal you from me." Shuyin laughed lightly and leaned to give Lenne a soft kiss.
"I'm no going anywhere."
The two stood, stretched, and proceeded to walk out of the cave into the sunlight. Lenne stopped and rubbed her inner thighs with a grimace. "I swear you leave bruises," she said jokingly, mock-glaring at Shuyin.
"You know you like it." "Moving on..." Lenne said quickly. "I think that's your shirt." She walked over to the tossed item of clothing, somehow safely caught on an over-hanging rock, and reached to pull it down. As she did, she stubbed her toe on what looked like an oddly shaped rock mostly buried beneath the snow.
"Whatcha got there?" "I'm not sure," she answered. After a few moment of scraping away snow, she revealed a treasure chest. She pulled a bobby-pin from her hair and began to pick at the small lock. After another few moment, she had successfully pried open the chest to reveal a large sum of money.
"Who just leaves a chest of 5,000 gil on a mountain pass?" Lenne asked/ Shuyin shrugged. "Whoever it was is now 5,000 gil poorer. C'mon, let's get going," he answered, taking Lenne's hand and leading her away from the now-empty chest.
They were closer to the Calm Lands than they had originally thought, and a few hours later walked through the gate guarded by the Ronso. They had simply explained where they were heading, and had passed through without trouble. "That guy must have just been paranoid," Shuyin remarked to Lenne as they walked hand-in-hand into the Calm Lands.
"Oh God... why do I know this place?"
"Did you just call me God?"
"Shut-up."
Lenne released Shuyin's hand and walked over to the canyon's edge. There was a monument with and inscription on it, explaining something about the canyon's origin.
"The first battle with Sin?..." "Sin?" Shuyin asked, eavesdropping on Lenne's audible thoughts. "A powerful aeon." "Yeah. Okay." Shuyin had never fully understood the significance of summons, but he knew that it was an unstated fact that all aeons were powerful. So, for Lenne to actually say the aeon was powerful, really meant something.
Lenne shook her head quickly to clear the daze. "Sin. What destroyed our Zanarkand 1,000 years ago." "God..." The two stood in silent reminiscence for a few more moments before making the seemingly endless trek across the plains to the inn that they had been told about.
"Where are we going to go from here?"
"Well, I'm going to need to get a job..."
The two were having a conversation in a small café that was part of the inn. "The only thing I was ever good at was Blitzball..."
"Did you just say you play blitzball?" asked an oddly dressed man, turning from his seat at the bar counter to face Shuyin.
"Yeah, pretty much," answered Shuyin.
"Wonderful!" exclaimed the man. "My name is Isaaru, and I'm the new scout for the Luca Goers, and we need a new player! What do you say?"
"How much will I be paid?" asked Shuyin. "To start, 150 gil a game, but if you prove to be, shall we say, "special", then that sum could raise significantly."
Shuyin looked to Lenne, who smiled. "It's what you love to do."
"But what about you? Do you want to live in Luca?"
"I'll be fine.
"You've got yourself a playa!" Shuyin said to the scout, standing to shake his hand. "When do you want me?"
"In three days for the first practice of the season. I'll have a contract for you then."
"Alright."
The two men nodded to each other as the scout left the café.
Shuyin was practically glowing, he was so happy, and Lenne couldn't help but be happy for him. But, 150 gil was an awfully small sum of money, and she knew that they couldn't live on that alone. However, she was not about to burst his bubble and drag him back to earth just yet. She decided to be a little more subtle. Unfortunately, not subtle enough.
"What do you mean you need to get a job!" Shuyin exclaimed, far more loudly that he had meant to. A fire began to burn behind Lenne's amber orbs.
"I want a job! What do you expect me to do? Sit around and do nothing while you play? Do I look like a sit-around-and-do-nothing kind of girl to you, Shuyin? It's not like I want to be a stripper!" She was off. The two began yelling at each other, not listening to a word that the other was saying.
"Don't you trust me?" Shuyin asked, eyes pleading. Lenne sighed. "Damn it, Shu, of course I trust you. I want to help! I need to do something! Why can't you understand that?" Lenne's voice was back to her natural tone, once again devoid of anger, though God knows she was still burning inside.
Shuyin's heart softened as he tried with every fiber of his being to understand why she couldn't just rely on him for everything she needed. He shook his head defeated.
"Fine, Lenne. Fine..."
Lenne's face brightened immediately: she had won. She wasn't going to take this for granted. She stood from her chair and walked around to Shuyin, wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you." "Hm." He crossed his arms and grunted. There was nothing more to say.
Lenne walked gaily out of the little café and went for a walk. Shuyin, meanwhile, settled for a drink and grumbled to the hypello barkeeper in the small out-door bar a short walk from the inn. They both needed a little time away from each other to cool off and warm up again. In a few hours both returned to the room they had rented at the inn.
Lenne returned refreshed and happily calm, Shuyin returned quietly, almost unnoticeably. In fact, he entered so quietly that Lenne never heard him come in. She, when he came walking into the bedroom just as Lenne was stepping gout of the bathroom, loosely wearing a towel, she was so startled that she let out a shrill scream and released her hold on the towel.
As Lenne scrambled to regain her decency and composure, Shuyin just crossed his arms and smirked. Just as Lenne had re-wrapped the towel around her frame, Shuyin strode quickly toward her and trapped her against the wall. She was still so shaken that she once again released the towel, leaving her trapped and literally naked in front of the smirking blonde. His smirk grew as he placed his hands against the wall and leaned down to kiss her trembling lips. When he pulled away, Lenne was returning his previous look.
She moved her hands slowly up his body to his chest. Wasting little time, she quickly unbuttoned his shirt and coaxed his arms down so she could slide it off him. In the same fashion she unfastened his belt, and pants, and he kicked them away behind them.
Shuyin closed the distance between them, pressing his body up against Lenne, pinning her tightly to the wall. His hands roamed her body and her breathing quickened. She couldn't take much more of this foreplay, and she knew he was ready to go. But he wasn't through teasing her yet. He knew what she wanted, and he'd give it to her: when she screamed for it. He grabbed her ass and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around him and he carried her to the bed.
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A small group of visitors to the Farplane were giving their last respects before heading home. When they reached the bottom of the flight of stairs they turned quickly around at the sounds of a large thud. The gateway to the Farplane shuddered violently, as though it were breaking, then returned to normal. The source of the thud stirred, then rose to its feet. One of the tourists made a connection. "Maester!" he exclaimed, and the group performed the practiced "prayer". The Maester smirked at the tourists and walked right by them, never saying a word.
