Life for the
four 'orphans' was going considerably well except for the fact of
a few arguments after Wakka and Chappu got back from their game a
week later. Their boat from Kilika to Luca broke down halfway there,
apparently the Chocobos didn't want to work that day. It took the
supervisor of the Chocobos and half of the ship's crew five hours
to realize that they weren't happy about their food. So much for
Chocobo power. They had to wait another three hours for another ship
to come with a fresh supply of Gyashil Greens for the miserable
Chocobos. As soon as they were fed and content, they ran to motors
all the way to Luca. The Besaid Aurochs almost missed their game if
they hadn't run to the Stadium and check in. They were allowed an
extra 15 minutes to get changed and warm up since the reason they
were late was because of the transportation system. The Psyches were
not happy about having to put off their game just because of the
Chocobos.
"That's why we use Machina." one player
said gruffly in Al-Bhed. He was an older man and he hadn't been too
happy to be matched up with the Aurochs, even if they could beat them
easily.
"On the contrary, I can see why they use those
birds; they are faster in certain environments." another player
argued also in Al-Bhed. This one was younger, with a strong build,
but he was years ahead of Wakka and Chappu, likely he had a family.
The older player gave the younger player a dirty look, but all the
younger one did was flash him a smile.
The Aurochs lost their
game seven to nothing. It was the last game in the season and they
already knew that they were going to be in eighth place. After the
game back in the locker room, Wakka checked the Season stats that
were posted on the screen above them. He groaned as he read the top
ranking statuses. The Luca Goers attained the championship status for
the thirteenth year in a row. Right behind them was the Al-Bhed
Psyches; their win against his team caused them to rise from third
place to second. The Guado Glories took third and the Aurochs played
them in the first game of the season, and lost three to one with
Datto scoring the only goal. The Kilika Beasts took a surprising
fourth place after defeating the Ronso's by one point. The team's
trip back home was a quiet one, as rowdy as they were on the way
there, people began to wonder what was wrong. After some asked the
coach, everyone on the ship knew why the Aurochs were so down. They
had placed last for yet another season. Once home, they all went home
somberly. Wakka and Chappu had discussed what to do since the season
was over and Wakka was seriously beginning to wonder if he should
stop playing for the Aurochs. Chappu had no discouraging words for
his brother about his decision for he loved playing with them,
despite the fact that they would always lose.
"Hey,
cheer up brudda. Things will get better, you'll see. Half of the
team is the same age as us, once we all get older and stronger,
winning will be easier! You saw how old some of the people on the
other teams are, old enough to be our grandfathers. They have more
strength then we can imagine having at the age we are, we have to be
patient." Chappu said placing an arm around Wakka's shoulder.
"I'll be glad just to be back home for a while. No
more traveling like that again. I may be fourteen, but that's a lot
of work!" Wakka sighed and continued walking. Chappu laughed as
they came down the slope that enters the village. As expected, Lulu
was standing at the entrance with Yuna sitting on the ground at her
feet playing with a bug she had recently found.
"And how
are my two favorite girls?" Chappu shouted halfway down the hill
to the two of them. Yuna looked up and smiled, then dropping her bug,
she stood up and ran to the two.
"Hi Wakka, hi Chappu. I
missed you!" She said hugging Chappu, then Wakka. Then she ran
back to Lulu who brushed the bug Yuna tossed blindly that landed on
her shoulder, on to the ground.
"Took you two long
enough. Lemme guess, the Chocobos decided to take a strike and not
move?" Apparently she hit the nail on the head and had no idea.
The two guys started laughing. Lulu raised in eyebrow wondering what
was going on.
"You could put it that way. Now come on,
time to go do some fun stuff." Wakka said ushering them all back
into the village.
A year had passed in Besaid Village and
Wakka decided to play with the Aurochs for yet another year. All four
of them were at home one day with nothing to do, it was a quiet day,
and all you could hear was the laughter of the children outside and
the hum of the weather outside. The heat was getting more intense
since the seasons were changing and it made things harder to do. Lulu
managed to keep herself cool in the weather by staying inside when
she was not needed. Yuna would play around with the other children
outside and occasionally got wet when a villager would splash the
children with water from their house. Wakka and Chappu were playing
Sphere Break on one of the beds, mumbling insults at each other when
a good move was made. Neither of them were very good at the game, so
they took long turns. They were not expecting another Blitzball game
in two weeks since they were told that's when Yevon Cup tournament
was starting. While Lulu was sewing a doll, this time another Moogle
and the boys were content with their countless rounds of Sphere
Break. All in this time, they had no idea someone had come into the
house. The person, a man, came in quietly and snuck in behind Wakka.
He quietly raised his hands to place on Wakka's shoulders. He was
lucky that Chappu was in the middle of his turn so he wouldn't look
up. Wakka was waiting quietly, listening to the sounds around him.
Just then, the stranger placed his hands upon Wakka's shoulders.
"Come on boys! We have a tournament to play!" He
yelled loudly. Wakka's eyes widened with surprise and he jumped,
sending the Sphere Break board off of the bed and sailing into the
wall and lading on the floor with a soft thud. Chappu looked up just
in time to miss the board hitting his face and saw the man behind
Wakka. Lulu's head shot up from her work and she poked her finger
with the needle, making her yelp with pain. She gave the intruder a
dirty look and went back to nursing her wound.
"COACH!
What in Yevon's name are you trying to do to us?!" Chappu
yelled trying to regain a normal heartbeat. Outside, Yuna and the
other children heard the calamity inside, stopped what they were
doing and looked to the house.
"Yuna, what's going on
at your house?" One girl asked looking over.
"I
don't know.....Sounds like Chappu got mad at Wakka again or
something." Yuna said shrugging. Back inside, Wakka turned
around to look up at the coach who was grinning.
"What
are you talking about? There's no tourney for another two weeks!"
Wakka said, also trying to regain a normal heartbeat.
"That's
where you boys are wrong. Luca decided to shove the tourney date up
two weeks. Apparently the Goers are anxious to win the Cup again."
The coach said releasing his grip on Wakka's shoulders and went
over to the wall and picked up the game board. He placed it back on
the bed and looked at the boys again.
"Well? Shouldn't
you boys be getting ready? The boat leaves in half an hour! The rest
of the team is already waiting at the dock. We thought you knew."
"Word doesn't travel fast around us, coach...."
Chappu said rolling off of the bed and on to his knees on the floor.
"Yeah, well we are glad you told us at least."
Wakka said gratefully and grabbing his already filled bag on the
floor by his bed. Then the coach looked over at Lulu, who was already
sewing again.
"Sorry to scare ya there littl' lady.
Just wanted to get my boys hyped up for the tournament." He said
smiling. Lulu looked up at him and gave him a small smile.
"It's
all right. I thought I saw someone or something come in, but I
decided not to say anything."
"We're ready to go
coach!" Both boys shouted in unison at the door, with their pack
on their shoulders. The coach laughed.
"My, aren't we
the speed demons? All right, let's go, those boys are waiting for
you two." He said walking out the door. Wakka took one more look
at Lulu who was still sitting there and blew her a kiss. She took the
kiss and held it to her heart. Wakka saw this and tried to keep a
happy face as he waved goodbye to her. Outside, Yuna watched as the
coach left with Wakka and Chappu on his tail.
"Where you
guys going?" She said chasing after them and tugging on Wakka's
arm.
"The Blitzball tournament is a little closer than
we expected, so we have to leave for a little while."
"How
long?" Yuna pouted.
"Not long, about a week or so."
Wakka kept a smile on his face, but Yuna kept pouting.
"Don't
worry squirt, before you know it, we'll be back. You won't even
know we were gone. Lulu will take good care of you." He mussed
her hair and followed the others.
"Bye bye Wakka, bye
bye Chappu!" Yuna waved from the village entrance.
Three
days had gone by before something happened again. For the first two
days Lulu taught Yuna how to sew dolls. She had been a very attentive
listener and did everything she was told to do, that way the doll
would come out right. On that third day, still hot and muggy, Yuna
was inside sewing her doll. Lulu was changing between watching Yuna's
sewing and reading up on her Mage techniques. Just outside there was
a sort of commotion.
"What do you mean there are Al-Bhed
here?" The head priest asked the commander of the Crusaders
"Like I said, there is some Al-Bhed people here. They
came by the boat from Kilika, probably coming straight from Bikanel
Island. There's a man, a young boy and girl. I suggest we just let
them be for the time being. The man won't do any harm; the boy and
girl look like his children." Said the commander calmly but the
priest's facial expressions were exactly opposite.
"Fine,
I'll just ask them what they are doing here." The priest was
ready to head off to the dock in a huff, but the commander gently
grabbed his shoulder.
"That would not be the wisest
idea. No offense, but you are a Priest of Yevon. If you come up to
them like you want to, they might feel threatened and not say a
thing." He said quietly.
"None taken. You do have a
point though. All right, you can go, but do be careful. You don't
know what he might try to pull on you." The priest left after
giving him the Yevon Prayer, and the commander did the same in return
before heading to the beach.
"Vydran, E's punat! Fryd
yna fa tuehk rana?" Seven year old Brother complained in his
native language.
"Oui tehk-tuhk! Fa'na rana du caa
luiceh Oihy!" Five-year-old Rikku spat back, still trying to
prefect the language. Being five, she had a long way to go.
"Ymnekrd oui dfu xied ouin oybbeh. Braska dumt sa drec
ec frana cra cruimt pa." Cid said with patience in his voice.
You had to have it when trying to calm Brother down. Just then the
Commander was coming up the beach path to the dock to greet them. He
wasn't fluent in Al-Bhed but it would help him communicate with
others that he met on the job.
"E famlusa oui du Besaid"
he said, holding out his hand to shake Cid's. Cid laughed at the
commander's forced accent.
"You don't have to speak
that babble in front of me. The name's Cid." He said plainly,
and shaking the commander's hand
"Well, lovely. Then I
shall get down to business. I was wo-"
"Tytto, fryd
yna oui tuehk?" Rikku interrupted quietly, tugging on Cid's
arm. Cid looked down at her; some of her beautiful blonde hair was in
her face while she looked up at him with sad, green eyes. Brother,
off to the side rolled his eyes at her pathetic-ness.
"Cilg
ed ib Rikku, oui fesb." Brother muttered.
"Pa xiead
puo....oui ghuf paddan dryh dryd." Cid snapped then turned back
to Rikku.
"E's zicd dymgehk du drec hela syh Rikku, zicd
y sehida, ugyo?" He said smiling and brushing the hair out of
her face, like he always did. Rikku cheered up a little but still
hung on to his hand.
"I see the little ones are not
familiar with our language yet?" Said the commander, looking
down at Rikku. Rikku looked back, smiled and hid behind Cid.
"Yeah,
but my boy here's going to learn it soon. And I'm sure little
Rikku here will pick up on it easily." Cid said, proud of his
children.
"I'm sure you are very proud. But back to
what I was saying, I was wondering what business you have here."
"We are here to see my niece and their cousin Yuna. We
haven't seen her at all because of her living in Bevelle most of
her life." Cid said bluntly, but put a little emphasis on Niece,
of which he was proud as well.
"Oh, so you are Braska's
wife's brother! It's a pleasure to meet you sir. I'm sure we
can arrange a time that you can go see her." The commander said
joyously.
By the time that the commander came back to the
Crusaders Headquarters, most of the town knew that there were
Al-Bhed's on the island. Some said that they would welcome them,
and other's did not like the idea of them being on the island at
all and believed that they should be cast off. Cid, Rikku and Brother
were all welcomed into the Crusaders HQ and were told to wait while
Yuna's "Caretakers" were informed.
"Sorry to
interrupt whatever you are doing Miss Lulu, but I could I speak with
you for a moment?" The commander said politely at the door of
the house. He watched as Lulu put down her book, made sure Yuna knew
what she was doing, then stepped outside with the commander.
"Is
there a problem, Commander?" Lulu said quietly.
"No,
no problem at all. I just received word that Yuna's Uncle and
cousins are here to see her, and I was wondering if this would be an
opportune time for them to see her."
"Oh, well."
Lulu looked surprised. "I'm sure it would be okay. Let me go
ask Yuna." Lulu rushed inside, still wondering that if she had
some family out there, why couldn't she live with them.
"Yuna."
At her name, Yuna looked up.
"Yeah Lulu."
"Apparently, your uncle and your cousins are here to see
you. Do you really have an uncle and cousins?" Lulu asked
curiously.
"Uncle Cid's here?" Yuna jumped up and
dashed outside. Lulu raised an eyebrow, guess she did have family.
"Did I just hear my favorite little Niece?!" Cid
said playfully as he came out of the Crusader's HQ and ran to Yuna,
picking her up.
"I missed you Uncle Cid. Can I see my
cousins?" She said hugging him.
"All right, hold
your horses little one." He said as he put her down.
"Rikku!
Brother! Kad uid rana oui dfu meddma nyclymc!" he shouted. At
his shout, out came Rikku, smaller than Yuna and she ran over to her
dad.
"Tytto, tytto! Frana'c Yunie?" Rikku asked
looking around; all she could see was this little brown haired girl
that was taller than she was.
"Dryd'c ran Rikku. Ku cyo
re." Cid said nudging Rikku to Yuna. Rikku looked up and smiled,
she had one green eye like hers, but the other was blue!
"Hi
Yunie!" Rikku said simply and hugged Yuna. Hi was the only word
she knew that Yuna could understand other than the variation of her
name. Cid laughed.
"She's been calling you Yunie, even
before she met you! I don't know why, but it's stuck on her I
guess." Lulu came out of the house and walked over to the three.
"I see you've met your Uncle and cousin, huh Yuna?"
Lulu's eyes drifted from Yuna's uncle, down to the little girl.
Both had Al-Bhed eyes, but Yuna only had one. There was a slight
resemblance between Yuna and the little girl, it was amazing! The
rumors of Yuna's mom being Al-Bhed must be true! And this man was
her mother's brother!
"I'm sorry I don't think
we've met before. I'm Lulu." Lulu nodded at Cid.
"It's
a pleasure, I'm Cid, and this is Rikku." He pointed down at
Rikku and she waved at Lulu.
"And this is-what the...?"
Cid was going to point behind him, usually Brother was right there,
this time he wasn't.
"Ouihk syh, kad ouin vyhho uid
rana huf!" Cid shouted back to the HQ. A small voice came from
inside, and shouted back with almost as much power,
"E
tuh'd fyhd du saad hu rymv Al-Bhed luiceh....E'mm cdyo rana dryhg
oui."
Cid looked a little frazzled, but he replaced it with
a smile as he looked down at Yuna.
"Just a sec Yuna."
And with that he marched back to the tent. He was there for only a
second because Brother was hiding just on the inside of the
headquarters. When Cid came out, he had Brother under his arm,
squirming like a worm.
"E tuh'd fyhhy, E tuh'd fyhhy!"
he muttered. Finally Cid put him down in front of Yuna. He was
pouting and had his arms folded across his chest.
"This
is your other cousin. Rikku's called him Brother for so long that
he refuses to be called anything other than that. I think you two are
about the same age, he may be a month or two older than you. Say hi
Brother..." He gave Brother a harder nudge than Rikku. Brother
scowled then took another step forward.
"Re Yuna."
Brother said quietly, not looking up.
"Yff lusa uh
Brother, muug ran eh dra aoac yht cyo ed." Cid said nudging him
again. Brother complied and looked up.
"Re Yuna."
he said quietly again, but this time, you could tell it was sincere.
His mood had changed slightly.
"That's better. Now, we
should go inside, shouldn't we?" He looked to Lulu when he
asked the question.
"Sounds good to me. Lulu said
walking inside.
