I'm sorry about the long delay in posting this chapter. I had another idea for a Final Fantasy fanfic, and it has taken up a lot of my time. I'm going to finish this first, though, or at least get near the end. It will be a miracle ifI manage it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Baaj Temple, Seymour, Yuna, Tidus or any Final Fantasy characters that may appear in this fanfiction. The only character I claim ownership to is Nirvana.

Chapter Two - Seymour's Discovery

After Nirvana went to bed last night, I stayed awake for a long time. I sat by the fire, thinking about her. She had talked about her mother, and I admit I had been surprised. The Lady Yuna I had known would never have argued with anyone, or been intoxicated by the people's love for her. And these changes had led to daily battles with her husband, which led her to battles with her other friends about the battles with her husband - I shook my head, my thoughts trailing off into the night. It was too confusing for me to entirely comprehend.

I woke up the next day and dressed swiftly. Then I went out to see Nirvana, and found her knelt in the centre of the room making her makeshift bed. She looked up abruptly when she saw me, and pulled down the sleeves of her loose-fitting top. "What is wrong?" I asked her, slightly alarmed, moving towards her. She hid her hands behind her back. "Nirvana?"

"Nothing's wrong!" she snapped, too fast for me to entirely believe her.

She was lying. Something was very wrong indeed.

"You don't have to lie to me," I said gently, sitting down beside her and taking her left arm, pulling it into the light and rolling up her sleeve. What I saw sent me numb, then sent a wave of sick horror crashing over me.

Angry red lines, lines that could have been drawn with a ruler, stood out like ink on paper against Nirvana's pale wrist. They were scars, and I was in no doubt whatsoever that Nirvana had inflicted these wounds herself. "Nirvana," I whispered, staring at her. "Why?"

Nirvana began to cry. "Everything," she wept, trying to hide her face with her free hand. I pulled it away from her face, so she had nowhere to hide.

"Tell me," I pressed, gently but firmly. When she didn't speak, I continued. "You need help, Nirvana. If you really are injuring yourself, then you need someone to help you stop."

That seemed to get through. "It's Mum," she cried. "Ever since I was little, she's been too busy arguing with Dad to even look at me. Every single night, I'd take myself up to bed alone at half past seven, and if I didn't then she wouldn't notice me to take me there herself. And then there were the bullies at school, and Fauna misinterpreting my sadness and using it against Lulu, who used Fauna's hostility against Mum. Eventually it just… got too much. I began to give myself physical pain - to drown the mental, emotional pain."

I let go of her arms, shocked. I could barely imagine sweet, gentle Yuna ignoring her only daughter for the sake of arguing with her husband.

"Seymour, don't tell anyone! Please, promise me-"

I bit off her torrent of pleading before it could begin. "Who could I tell?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry. I'm stupid, I'm useless, I'm good for nothing and I'm selfish. I hate myself."

"Is that what your parents said?" I asked her carefully. She stared.

"How did you know?" she asked sheepishly.

I took her face in my hands and raised it so she was staring into my eyes. "Don't let anyone tell you that, Nirvana. You are an extremely beautiful, intelligent, brave young woman, and though you have many flaws you are far from selfish."

A fleeting smile grazed Nirvana's lips. "Thank you." There was an awkward pause; none of us really knew what to say next. "Do you really think I'm beautiful?" she asked me after an eternity.

"Yes, I do," I replied, entirely honestly. She was beautiful - there was no point denying it. Her hair was brown, like her mother's, and piled messily on top of her head, and her eyes were blue just as her father's had been. But her physical beauty was nothing compared to her mental, emotional beauty. It seemed that what made others weak made her strong. In her misery now she was more beautiful than any woman I had met, even Lady Yuna. Her sadness gave her strength. "As I said, do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Now, tell me about these bullies."

She was nervous; I could tell. But she nodded. "Rei Lake. Karin Opal. They hated me, they thought I was a spoilt little brat just because I was the child of Lady Yuna. Every day, when I arrived at school, they'd find me. They'd stalk me out and beat me until I was black and blue. And then they'd leave me. One day, when it was snowing, I was beaten up in the playground and couldn't get up afterwards. I stayed out in the cold almost all day, until my teacher realised I was missing and came to find me, and was off school for a week."

What was there to say to that?

"I'm sorry, Seymour," she said suddenly. "I shouldn't pour out all my troubles on to you, seeing as I only met you yesterday, but…"

I knew what was coming before she finished. You're the only one I can tell.

"It's OK. I understand," I replied, the words seeming empty in the face of all she had told me. But it was true; I really did understand.

Reviews appreciated, constructive criticism welcome.