Chapter 7
Auron hadn't seen Besaid since before his days with Lord Braska and Jecht. Spira was still extremely resistant to change, somehow. When he set foot into Besaid Village itself, the soft rhythms of a guitar carried him almost into a state of slumber. He noticed a thin, tan-skinned man strumming it gently on a straw mat before one of the tents, feeling as if he had always been there, and that Auron had always been listening to the tranquil music. With the exception of familiar and unfamiliar heads poking out of those tents and whispering like crazy, this was perfection within itself.
He stood frozen at the sight of Tidus standing in the grass next to the old Yevon temple, bouncing a blitzball on his knee and getting an odd- looking young woman to catch it. It had taken him awhile to get past the long wrapped braid trailing down to her boots and the spiked, fringed ends of the chestnut hair, as well as the new style of clothing. No matter how different she looked now, she was still unmistakable for the little Lady Summoner Yuna he guided on a second pilgrimage to Zanarkand. The old, silent guardian had seen Yuna happy before, as a little child, but this was a whole new level to happiness. He didn't want to admit to himself that he found the sight of Tidus showing Yuna to blitz was cute, and that they looked more than ready to finally marry. Looking at this new arrangement made Auron feel almost in love, too, but these thoughts were too ridiculous for him to bear in mind. He drove them off with haste.
"Like... this?" Yuna caught the spinning ball in its bounce off Tidus's knee, tossed it up into the infinite blue, and shot it onto the roof of what used to be the Crusaders' lodge. "...Oops..."
Tidus smiled, rubbed Yuna's head lovingly, and let out a piercing whistle with his fingers in his mouth. "That was... good!" Seeing Auron standing not far off, only a few paces away, his blue eyes enlarged and he dropped his arms to his sides, his mouth hanging open stupidly.
You'd think that after the whole guardian experience, he'd know not to do that.
"Yunie!! Over here!!!!" Rikku yelled almost in Auron's ear.
"Ouch, Rikku!"
"Whoops... sorry. YUNIE!!!!!!!" The blonde Al Bhed jumped up and down, waving her arms frantically.
Yuna completely forgot about Tidus's new ball up on the roof of the inn, and squinted into the sunlight before gasping. She held a hand to her fluttering heart and came running, harder and faster than she ever had since two years ago.
"Sir Auron!!" she exclaimed. "Wh-How-Is it really you?"
Auron nodded his head slightly in politeness. "Lady Yuna. At last. It's good to see--WHOA!!!!"
Yuna leapt at him and flung her arms around his body. "Sir Auron, it is you!!!"
Unable to resist smiling, Auron merely patted her head. "I see we've forgotten the formalities of the past, haven't we, Yuna? You've changed a lot."
"Oh, and you... you're quite the same as we all remember! Oh, how we've missed you..." Yuna withdrew and folded her hands like a little schoolgirl. "How are you?"
"I'm... I don't know. It's hard to say." He nervously shifted the collar of his coat. "But I'm happy to see that you're safe. Spira still hasn't changed at all, has it?"
"Where... what have you seen? When did you...?"
"I don't know how to explain this, I..."
"We found him on this island just now," Rikku cut in as Tidus made his way over, panting and staring hard at Auron.
"We-ell! Nice to see you made it, and finally joined us!" Tidus exclaimed, slapping Auron's shoulder hard. "When'd you get here, old man?"
"Just today." Auron tried to look down at Tidus with the same look he did two years ago. He was still so young, so careless and naïve... though he had to admit, the boy carried himself pretty well as a summoner's guardian. He himself had begun a pilgrimage, but even then he was twenty-five. How old would his friend Jecht's son be now, nineteen?
"Sir Auron?" Yuna addressed him meekly.
"Yes?"
"...If you're not planning anything, I want to invite you to join our Valentine's Day activities."
Auron laughed hard, without needing to feign it. "Me? Celebrate Valentine's Day?"
"The high summoner is also quite the little pop singer," came a familiar voice. Lulu came outside of the tent she and her family lived in, a wide purple smile spread across her face. "Sir Auron, you're back." She walked up to him and hugged him shamelessly. "We've missed you. Are you going to stay with us for a time?"
Auron rubbed Lulu's back in circles with his fingertips and grinned foolishly underneath the high collar of his overcoat. How he remembered Lulu. She was definitely his friend. It was she and Kimahri that he had gotten along best with during those long days on Yuna's pilgrimage. She had been the alternate pillar of stability, determined and with her heart and mind in the right places at all times.
"If you'll have me," Auron replied almost timidly. "I don't want to impose."
"I do not know how it is that you have come back to us, but no matter what, you are always welcome here, and perhaps everywhere else in Spira. Wakka and I will be glad to have you with us, if you want to stay in our home."
"Where is Wakka?"
"Inside, with the baby."
"The baby?"
"Hold on.... Wakka!!!" Lulu called out. "Wakka, come out! There's someone here you might want to see!"
When he came out of the tent, Wakka carried a tiny bundle of blankets in his arms and a very uncomfortable look on his face. "Lu! Won't you help me out here? He's just spit up on my-WHOA!!!!! SIR AURON!!!!!!!" Startled, he nearly dropped his son until Lulu came running to catch him. Lulu took her baby into her arms as Wakka ran up to Auron looking shocked.
"Heh. Good to see you again, Wakka." Auron nodded again, shifting the katana on his shoulder and looking up at the sky. "It's nice today, isn't it? I hope you've been doing well."
Wakka hung his mouth open. "Well, talk about a blessing, ya.... Isn't that something? Tidus comes back, and now we see Sir Auron, right here in Besaid Village! Um... uh... Sir Auron, wouldn't you like to come in for something to eat?"
The conversations that followed went spinning in Auron's mind when he tried to replay them later on. It was like his body knew what to do and say, yet everything... all those memories, and hearing all these familiar voices... clouded his mind so that he could barely think. A couple times he almost got misty-eyed over it, when his heart warmed at the feeling that it was almost like he never left his friends.
Auron hadn't seen Besaid since before his days with Lord Braska and Jecht. Spira was still extremely resistant to change, somehow. When he set foot into Besaid Village itself, the soft rhythms of a guitar carried him almost into a state of slumber. He noticed a thin, tan-skinned man strumming it gently on a straw mat before one of the tents, feeling as if he had always been there, and that Auron had always been listening to the tranquil music. With the exception of familiar and unfamiliar heads poking out of those tents and whispering like crazy, this was perfection within itself.
He stood frozen at the sight of Tidus standing in the grass next to the old Yevon temple, bouncing a blitzball on his knee and getting an odd- looking young woman to catch it. It had taken him awhile to get past the long wrapped braid trailing down to her boots and the spiked, fringed ends of the chestnut hair, as well as the new style of clothing. No matter how different she looked now, she was still unmistakable for the little Lady Summoner Yuna he guided on a second pilgrimage to Zanarkand. The old, silent guardian had seen Yuna happy before, as a little child, but this was a whole new level to happiness. He didn't want to admit to himself that he found the sight of Tidus showing Yuna to blitz was cute, and that they looked more than ready to finally marry. Looking at this new arrangement made Auron feel almost in love, too, but these thoughts were too ridiculous for him to bear in mind. He drove them off with haste.
"Like... this?" Yuna caught the spinning ball in its bounce off Tidus's knee, tossed it up into the infinite blue, and shot it onto the roof of what used to be the Crusaders' lodge. "...Oops..."
Tidus smiled, rubbed Yuna's head lovingly, and let out a piercing whistle with his fingers in his mouth. "That was... good!" Seeing Auron standing not far off, only a few paces away, his blue eyes enlarged and he dropped his arms to his sides, his mouth hanging open stupidly.
You'd think that after the whole guardian experience, he'd know not to do that.
"Yunie!! Over here!!!!" Rikku yelled almost in Auron's ear.
"Ouch, Rikku!"
"Whoops... sorry. YUNIE!!!!!!!" The blonde Al Bhed jumped up and down, waving her arms frantically.
Yuna completely forgot about Tidus's new ball up on the roof of the inn, and squinted into the sunlight before gasping. She held a hand to her fluttering heart and came running, harder and faster than she ever had since two years ago.
"Sir Auron!!" she exclaimed. "Wh-How-Is it really you?"
Auron nodded his head slightly in politeness. "Lady Yuna. At last. It's good to see--WHOA!!!!"
Yuna leapt at him and flung her arms around his body. "Sir Auron, it is you!!!"
Unable to resist smiling, Auron merely patted her head. "I see we've forgotten the formalities of the past, haven't we, Yuna? You've changed a lot."
"Oh, and you... you're quite the same as we all remember! Oh, how we've missed you..." Yuna withdrew and folded her hands like a little schoolgirl. "How are you?"
"I'm... I don't know. It's hard to say." He nervously shifted the collar of his coat. "But I'm happy to see that you're safe. Spira still hasn't changed at all, has it?"
"Where... what have you seen? When did you...?"
"I don't know how to explain this, I..."
"We found him on this island just now," Rikku cut in as Tidus made his way over, panting and staring hard at Auron.
"We-ell! Nice to see you made it, and finally joined us!" Tidus exclaimed, slapping Auron's shoulder hard. "When'd you get here, old man?"
"Just today." Auron tried to look down at Tidus with the same look he did two years ago. He was still so young, so careless and naïve... though he had to admit, the boy carried himself pretty well as a summoner's guardian. He himself had begun a pilgrimage, but even then he was twenty-five. How old would his friend Jecht's son be now, nineteen?
"Sir Auron?" Yuna addressed him meekly.
"Yes?"
"...If you're not planning anything, I want to invite you to join our Valentine's Day activities."
Auron laughed hard, without needing to feign it. "Me? Celebrate Valentine's Day?"
"The high summoner is also quite the little pop singer," came a familiar voice. Lulu came outside of the tent she and her family lived in, a wide purple smile spread across her face. "Sir Auron, you're back." She walked up to him and hugged him shamelessly. "We've missed you. Are you going to stay with us for a time?"
Auron rubbed Lulu's back in circles with his fingertips and grinned foolishly underneath the high collar of his overcoat. How he remembered Lulu. She was definitely his friend. It was she and Kimahri that he had gotten along best with during those long days on Yuna's pilgrimage. She had been the alternate pillar of stability, determined and with her heart and mind in the right places at all times.
"If you'll have me," Auron replied almost timidly. "I don't want to impose."
"I do not know how it is that you have come back to us, but no matter what, you are always welcome here, and perhaps everywhere else in Spira. Wakka and I will be glad to have you with us, if you want to stay in our home."
"Where is Wakka?"
"Inside, with the baby."
"The baby?"
"Hold on.... Wakka!!!" Lulu called out. "Wakka, come out! There's someone here you might want to see!"
When he came out of the tent, Wakka carried a tiny bundle of blankets in his arms and a very uncomfortable look on his face. "Lu! Won't you help me out here? He's just spit up on my-WHOA!!!!! SIR AURON!!!!!!!" Startled, he nearly dropped his son until Lulu came running to catch him. Lulu took her baby into her arms as Wakka ran up to Auron looking shocked.
"Heh. Good to see you again, Wakka." Auron nodded again, shifting the katana on his shoulder and looking up at the sky. "It's nice today, isn't it? I hope you've been doing well."
Wakka hung his mouth open. "Well, talk about a blessing, ya.... Isn't that something? Tidus comes back, and now we see Sir Auron, right here in Besaid Village! Um... uh... Sir Auron, wouldn't you like to come in for something to eat?"
The conversations that followed went spinning in Auron's mind when he tried to replay them later on. It was like his body knew what to do and say, yet everything... all those memories, and hearing all these familiar voices... clouded his mind so that he could barely think. A couple times he almost got misty-eyed over it, when his heart warmed at the feeling that it was almost like he never left his friends.