Luca Meetings
I strode through the streets of Luca, the blitzball stadium my destination, slipping through the crowd as inconspicuously as I could. Blending into the scenery was harder here than it had been in Zanarkand, though -- for every person who ignored me, another turned and gaped, or pointed and whispered to a companion. Fame brought some clear disadvantages. I did not acknowledge the attention, since I had no desire to answer any of the questions my presence was almost certainly raising in these people's minds.
As I passed the byway leading to the residential area of the city, I paused and glanced down it. Did I have time to search for Kera? Ought I to make time? The decision was made for me when I caught a glimpse of a familiar dark silver head belonging to a figure perched on the top of a shop. As I approached the man, I realized that he was not Xan -- the man pounding shingles into the roof was shorter and stockier than my brother-in-law, although the resemblance was plain. This must be one of his cousins, a member of the family that had lived in Luca for generations and that had invited him here ten years ago. Perhaps he would know the whereabouts of Xan, or Kera, or even Paine.
"Hello?" I called up to the worker.
The man glanced up, his hammer pausing in mid-air. "What?"
"May I have a word?" I asked.
"Hold on a sec." The roofer finished hammering a nail into place, then laid down the tool and clambered down from the top of the building. Once he stood before me, he froze with recognition. Would everyone in Spira know who I was? "Beg pardon, sir," said the man. "How can I help you?"
"Are you by chance related to a builder named Xan? He's an old friend, and last I heard he was living in Luca."
He nodded. "Yeah, he's a distant cousin. We worked on the sphere theater job together. But that was years ago. He and his daughter left town when his wife died, and he fell out of touch with the family."
When his wife died. The words, spoken in such an offhand manner, echoed in my head, growing louder and louder, intruding on my attempts to focus on the man and form my next question. "His wife-- do you know how?"
"Childbirth, I think." He looked apologetically at me. "Sorry, sir, that I don't know more. Did you know her?"
"Yeah." Lifting my face to the sky, taking in the bright sun shining down and the wisps of cloud floating in the perfect blueness, I took a deep breath. "I knew her." I closed my eye for a moment and saw my sister's face, so much like mine had once been, rusty brown eyes sparkling with laughter or fury -- sometimes it had been difficult to tell which. We had never reconciled, and now she was gone, the opportunity for forgiveness forever lost. Then I let the air free and looked at the builder. "Thank you for the information."
"You're welcome, sir." The man brought his hands before him and bowed, then returned to his work as I turned into the side streets of Luca, wandering blindly down its alleys, taking a moment alone with this new sadness.
"Okay, enough." Paine dropped her sword and took a step back from the student she was fighting -- it happened to be Repparu at that moment, using a light blade against her broadsword. He let his arms fall and nodded to her. "Good work Repparu, everyone." She looked around at the group as they sheathed weapons, shared water, and waited for her next order. "Next week, you'll start master classes. Most of you should have a good idea of what your specialties will be, but if you have any questions or concerns feel free to talk with me or any of your superiors. Be ready to make your decision within the next three days. Dismissed."
The cadets murmured a "yes, ma'am" and began to disperse, forming into the loose teams and alliances that had solidified over the first six months of training. Liss stood with her usual gang, chatting animatedly with Sam, who kept pushing his new glasses up his nose -- he was still getting used to the spectacles, and he had a tendency to fiddle with them. The corrective lenses had made an immediate difference for the boy, who had improved markedly in only a month. He'd never be a brilliant marksman, but he was certainly competent with a gun now, and his swordplay was so much better that Paine, who had been planning to recommend that he stick with magic alone, had started wondering whether he ought to study the sword as well.
Liss glanced away from her friends and saw Paine looking in her direction. She waved, then said something to the group and broke away from them. "Paine, are you available right now? I'd like to talk with you."
"Yes, I'm free," Paine replied. "Although I thought you were had settled on continuing with swords and shooting."
"I am. It's not about that." Liss glanced over her shoulder. "This isn't so much a commanding officer thing as a girl needing advice from her older cousin."
"Ah." Paine followed Liss's gaze to Sam, who was now talking with Maura as they walked away. She had wondered if this might be coming. Liss had been spending more time with her fellow cadet since the blitz tournament, but an observer would be hard-pressed to call them a couple. "Of course. Come on, let's go to my office."
The cousins strolled in companionable silence. The early fall day had been pleasantly warm, but the sun would be down soon and a chill hovered in the air. When the pair arrived in Paine's office, she shut the window and lit a small fire. Then she turned to Liss, who had settled a bit uneasily into a chair at the table. Paine settled down across from her and waited.
Liss took a deep breath. "Paine, this may be a dumb question, but I have to ask anyway. Are you happy?"
"Happy?" This was not what Paine had been expecting. "In what way?" she asked, stalling while she considered how best to answer.
"With Baralai," Liss clarified.
Paine lifted her eyebrows. "Well, sure. It's not perfect every minute, but relationships are like that. We're at home together at the end of the day, and that's the important thing." She shifted in her seat. "Why do you ask?"
Liss leaned forward on her elbows. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry. I know you don't like talking about your life much. But I was wondering, because Baralai told me once that you were in love with someone else. So I just wondered if it was possible that you could be really happy with him."
Paine glanced out the window at the city, taking in the beginnings of the Luca sunset. "Baralai needs to learn some self-confidence," she said with a smile. "That was a long time ago." Returning her gaze to Liss, she continued. "No, Baralai wasn't my first love. It's true that a different person held that place in my life. But he is here now, and he makes me very happy. Believe it or not, the person you fall in love with when you're sixteen may not be the person you're destined to be with forever. Sometimes things go wrong, sometimes you just become different people and move on."
"Which was it for you?"
"Neither, really." Paine laid her hands flat on the table and stared down at them. "He died." She heard a soft gasp, and she looked up, meeting Liss's sympathetic eyes. "It's okay. Like I said, it was a long time ago."
"Do you miss him?" Liss asked quietly.
"Sometimes." Paine smiled again, a little ruefully this time. "But that hasn't kept me from going on with my life. You mourn, and then you move on. My father did that. He remarried a couple of years after my mother's death, did you know?" Liss shook her head. "Yeah. I was a little slow to accept it at first, but Ilana was a good woman, and she made him happy."
Liss looked thoughtful. "So you saw it then. Love lost, then found again with another."
Paine nodded with understanding. "But you haven't. When Auron died..."
"My mother mourned. But she never moved on." Liss sighed. "And she still hasn't, not really."
Paine reached across the table to touch her cousin's arm. "You aren't destined to be your mother, you know. Maybe you and Sam will live happily ever after, maybe not. But if you really do care for him, I'd say it's worth taking a risk."
"Thanks Paine," said Liss, standing up. "This helps."
"Anytime." Paine raised her hand in a farewell wave as the girl turned and left the office. She sat for a few minutes, again looking out the window, seeing her memories rather than the view. Then she turned to her CommSphere and punched in an access code. Everything she had said to Liss was true -- she had a good life, she was content, she had moved on. But just at this moment, she didn't feel like being alone.
"Hello?" Baralai's face appeared on the sphere, his Bevelle office in the background.
"Hi," said Paine, her mood lightening at the sight of him. "It's me."
It took a long walk and some meditation in a quiet park to clear my head.
Since my death, I could consider almost any situation dispassionately, but I had trouble distancing myself from this news of Kera. I'd lived so long in the cocoon of Zanarkand that I'd forgotten the fragility of life in Spira. Kera's death was a brutal reminder that no one I loved was safe. Was Xan dead, too? Or Paine, or my old friends in the ranks of the warrior monks? Even Relle could be gone. I had already felt myself to be alone in the world, but the prospect of this being literally true was almost more than I could bear.
I had promises to keep, though, and brooding would not help me accomplish my goals. All roads in Luca led to the arena, and soon I was climbing the stairs to the bleachers. The crowd was buzzing about the final game, which I gathered was about to start. Most of the talk centered around various players and teams and their chances, but I could not have cared less about that. My interest was in finding Yuna and Tidus. I still had heard nothing about the boy, and my concern was growing. I'd been so certain that I'd find him in this place. Perhaps he'd be in the stands.
From my seat on the end of a front-row bleacher, I took in the arena. I noted with interest that Mika was still Grand Maester. He was flanked by guards and a Maester whom I did not know, a tall young man of partial Guado ancestry. I didn't see Brac and wondered at his absence -- he had been a serious blitzball fan and never missed this annual tournament.
I continued to scan the crowd. It occurred to me then that I might not recognize Yuna. I'd last seen her as a little girl; now she was a young woman, a summoner. Would she resemble Braska? Or--
Her mother.
There she was, seated in a lower box one section over from the Maesters' dais, in a place of honor reserved for summoners and their guardians. Braska's brown hair brushed her shoulders, but everything else about her said "Tessa" -- the short stature, the slim body, the shape of her face. In fact, I could almost have mistaken her for Tess but for the hair color. A woman with long dark braids and the look of a black mage sat to her right, while on her left was a Ronso, towering over the women but still short for one of his race, with a broken horn. I sat up straighter at this sight. Was he the same youth I'd met on the Calm Lands and charged to take Yuna to Besaid? His height and coloring were right, as was the damaged horn. I felt a small thrill pass through me. The Ronso -- what had his name been? Kimahri, that was it -- had rescued Yuna from Bevelle and seemed to be with her still. So I had succeeded in one thing, at least.
I rose, intending to make my way over to Yuna and her companions, but then the entire crowd stood with me, roaring their approval for the players entering the arena. I took a moment to look and was startled by the familiar face that appeared on the sphere screen: Tidus, still in his Abes uniform, playing with the team from Besaid. I shook my head, a chuckle that was half exasperation and half amusement escaping my lips. It figured that he would get himself involved in a blitz championship within a week of his arrival in Spira. I glanced over to Yuna and saw her jumping and cheering as the Besaid players were announced. Had they found each other already? I felt an odd prickling at the back of my neck at this incredible coincidence.
Improbable or not, it makes your task many times easier, I told myself. Don't knock it. I sat back down on the wooden plank and settled in to wait out the game. One thing I would say for blitzball: the games passed quickly. Out of habit, I kept my eye on Tidus. Even I could see that he had improved since going professional. Early in the second half, I watched with amazement as he executed Jecht's signature shot to break a scoreless tie. For years, he'd been trying to pull off that move without success. I didn't applaud the feat, preferring to keep a cool facade, but part of me wanted to.
I tuned out after that, turning inward to consider my next move. There was a ruckus in the crowd, and then in the blitz pool, and then in the crowd again, but lost in thought, I didn't pay much attention. Nothing really registered until the spectators around me started getting up to leave, excitedly chattering about the Besaid team's win. More than one person speculated about Tidus's skills and origins, which made me smile a little into my high collar. Already the boy was making waves in my world. I could only hope that he'd be willing to help me instigate the tsunami I was contemplating.
Should I find Tidus first, or Yuna? I settled on Yuna, although I rather thought now that connecting with one would mean finding the other. Once again, I rose to walk over to her, and once again the sound of screaming changed my plans. But this time, the screams were rather different in nature -- they were in reaction to a giant vouivre walking down the aisle.
Fiends? In the blitz arena? Occasionally Sin would threaten here but the stadium was too well guarded for fiends to slip through. But here they were, and so I had a job to do. I could wonder at their presence later. I pulled my left arm out of my coat, removed my blade from its sheath, and faced the vouivre. The lizard-monster roared in my face, preparing to lunge. With a single blow, I separated head from neck, and the beast fell over, twitching and releasing its pyreflies.
"Hm." I turned away from the dead fiend and looked around. The stadium was infested with monsters -- raptors large and small, water fiends crawling out of the sphere pool, vouivres and dingoes prowling the walkways. I was about to wade into battle when two voices called my name from behind, one familiar, the other that of a stranger. I turned around to see Tidus and another blitz player, a tall, tanned man with improbably spiky red hair. Before I could exchange words with either of them, I heard another roar and the beating of wings overhead. The three of us looked up, the blitzer jumping out of the way as the large head of a garuda pecked at him.
"Aye-yah!" the man shouted, hefting his blitzball and throwing it at the fiend. The ball hit the garuda in the face and left a cloud of black smoke behind, blinding the creature. I glanced at the fellow, impressed; I had never seen a blitzball used as a weapon before. The large flying fiend cried its frustration, pecking futilely at the ground and beating its deadly wings in the wrong direction. Tidus and I hacked away, and soon the creature was dead, lying limply on the ground. As we fought, I noticed that the boy had acquired a much better sword and the ability to use it. I found myself pleased with his progress.
No sooner had we taken out the one garuda, though, when another replaced it, as a vouivre approached from our right and a small pack of dingoes from our left.
"Gimmie a break!" Tidus groaned.
"Look!" his companion shouted, pointing up to the Maesters' box. I turned my head to see what might be worth pulling our attention from an imminent fiend attack.
The young Guado Maester stood there alone, at attention. He brought his long, narrow hands before him, then bowed as magic for a summoning gathered around him. With a screech, a heavy chain fell from the sky and buried itself in the ground, then slowly rose, hoisting an aeon I had never seen before. Vaguely bird-shaped, enveloped in folded wings with a single eye dripping blood, the aeon let forth a series of unearthly screams. With each cry, a different fiend exploded into pyreflies, starting with the garuda flying over our heads. In a matter of moments, the stadium was clear.
"Maester Seymour," the blitzer murmured reverently, bowing.
I looked up at the dais again, examining this Seymour as I put away my sword and returned my arm to its usual position. He looked over the now-secured area with an odd smile on his face, his expression almost smug. A Maester and a summoner -- very unusual combination. And his was no ordinary aeon. As perhaps the only person currently walking the face of Spira to have seen a Final Aeon in action, I might be alone in my recognition of that kind of power for what it truly was. But how could Seymour summon his Final Aeon and not be killed by it? And why hadn't he used it to defeat Sin? A puzzle.
"Hey Auron!" Tidus pulled me out of my thoughts. "Is there anything you'd maybe like to explain to me?" He stood next to me, arms crossed across his chest, his expression comprised of equal parts irritation, confusion, and relief.
"In a moment," I replied. "Perhaps an introduction first?"
"Oh, sure," he said, gesturing to his companion. "Auron, this is Wakka, captain of the Besaid Aurochs. He's also one of Yuna's guardians. I guess you already know who Yuna is."
"I do." I turned to the blitzer, Wakka, who traced a circle with his arms and bowed deeply.
"An honor, Sir Auron!" he said, his tone still one of awe.
I nodded to him. "Likewise, to meet one of Lady Yuna's guardians. I should like to speak with her as well."
Wakka rose from his bow. "She'll be happy to meet you, sir."
"Very well. Shall we meet on the stairway to the Highroad in an hour's time?"
"Sure thing." Wakka turned to Tidus and slapped him on the back. "Thanks again, brudda. Could never've won the cup without you."
"Thank you too, Wakka." Tidus punched him lightly on the arm. "See you later, maybe."
Wakka bowed to me again, then left the stadium. Tidus stayed by my side, the glare that had slipped slightly with his farewell to the blitzer returned in full force. The boy was right; I owed him an explanation. "Come," I said to him. "We need to talk, privately." I headed out the stadium and to the dock, Tidus right behind, thinking about the difficult conversation about to come.
The afternoon sun beat down on us as we mounted the stairs to the Highroad. Tidus lagged behind me, walking in stony silence as he digested the information I had just given him. I'd decided that he needed to know that Jecht was Sin, although I hadn't shared many details. He claimed not to believe me, but I could see the doubt in his eyes. The boy had traveled within Sin. Though Jecht hadn't contacted him directly, he must have been able to feel his father's presence. He would come around eventually.
I was not, however, going to tell Yuna or her guardians. Not yet. Sharing that particular fact would raise too many other questions, and I hadn't decided how to deal with them. It would be weeks before our arrival in Zanarkand; I had time. So I would keep the truth quiet for now, play the staunch follower of Yevon, loyal warrior monk, devoted guardian. Should be easy enough; I'd played the part for twenty-four years, after all.
Yuna stood on the final landing before the last set of steps to the Mi'ihen Highroad, chatting with Wakka and Lulu, the woman I had seen by her side in the arena. She was a indeed black mage; Tidus had told me that she possessed considerable skill. Kimahri was there, too, standing silently off to the side, his expression watchful. As I approached, the conversation came into focus.
"...think I'll go see him... Oh!" Yuna gasped as she looked up and saw me walking toward her. "Sir Auron!" She bowed deeply, as did her companions.
"Yuna," I said, making every effort to keep emotion out of my voice. The resemblance to Tessa was still strong, but I could see more of Braska in her now. It was not so much her features as it was the way she carried herself -- confident and reverent at the same time, a familiar seriousness in her manner. Seeing my two old friends in their daughter was not unexpected, but being reminded of them both so strongly still struck a melancholy chord.
"Sir?"
"I wish to become your guardian," I said. "Do you accept?"
Yuna gasped again, and Wakka let out a sound of surprise. Lulu raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You're serious?" she asked.
I turned to the mage. "You refuse?"
"No, no!" Yuna stepped forward. "We accept! Right, everyone?" She looked around to her guardians.
"Of course!" Wakka stuttered. "No problem."
"But..." The black-haired woman shook her head, her expression still skeptical. "Why?" Intelligent eyes, healthily suspicious -- I liked the look of this one. Perhaps she would be the first to convert to my cause.
I thought back to my conversation with my friend in Besaid Village, my oath to take care of Yuna. "I promised Braska," I said. Kimahri seemed to have done a fine job so far, but now I needed to get personally involved. I was the only one who might get her through this alive.
Yuna's eyes went wide. "You promised my father?" she asked softly, almost breathless with surprise. She bowed again, more deeply this time. "Thank you. Thank you, Sir Auron! You're welcome to join us!"
I glanced behind me to make sure that Tidus had followed. Seeing him there, I laid my hand on his shoulder and yanked him forward. He flailed a bit, then regained his balance and sheepishly scratched his head. "He comes, too," I said, in a flat, commanding tone that allowed no room for argument.
"Uh. Yeah. Hi, guys." Tidus scratched his neck, a mannerism that reminded me quite strongly of Jecht every time I saw it. "Howdy."
Yuna glanced at the ground with a shy smile, while Wakka and Lulu looked to one another, some communication passing between them. Interesting; so they had already formed some opinion of the boy. I wondered what they were. Kimahri, on the other hand, betrayed no reaction, continuing to stare into the distance. "This one I promised Jecht," I said, by way of explanation.
"Sir Jecht?" said Yuna, her head snapping up to attention. "Truly?" I nodded. "Is he alive?"
"Can't say. Haven't seen him in ten years." I kept my tone impassive. Tidus twisted his head slightly in my direction, the barest hint of surprise in his face. I looked at him, making my expression as forbidding as possible; he took the hint and said nothing.
"I see," she responded, her face falling a little.
"I hope you'll meet, eventually," I said.
The young summoner bowed yet again. "I look forward to it!"
I took a moment to evaluate my new fellow travelers. Two athletes, a Ronso warrior, and a mage, all guarding an untested summoner. And me, with my secret knowledge and hidden agenda. I would need to keep them alive, then guide them to the truth that waited in Yunalesca's chamber. A daunting task. I hoped I was up for it.
Settling on Lulu as the most likely to be in charge, I took a step toward her. "What's our itinerary?" I asked. "Where are we headed next?"
"Djose Temple," she replied. "We came from Besaid. Yuna has also gained the aeon of Kilika. We expect to be at Djose within the week." She bowed lightly to me. "But then, I expect you already know that, sir."
I raised a shoulder in a shrug. "I still wish to know your plans. Please, I ask for no reverence or deferral. I am a former warrior monk turned guardian, like a thousand others before me. Treat me as you would any other in your party."
Lulu and Wakka exchanged another look. They seemed to know each other rather well. I wondered, idly, if they were lovers. No matter if they were, as long as it didn't get in the way of protecting Yuna. Getting her to Zanarkand in one piece was the only thing that mattered to me now. "All right, Sir Auron," Lulu finally said as she turned back to me. "Let me share the details of my plans." The two of us chatted about the itinerary, travel times, and known dangers, with Wakka adding his occasional comments. It transpired that the two of them had journeyed before, as far as the Calm Lands, and I was pleased to learn of their experience. Perhaps I wouldn't need to carry the group, after all.
The talk was productive and enlightening, but I only participated with half my attention. Yuna and Tidus had drifted away as their elders discussed the trip, and now the two of them stood at the railing, talking. Had they already formed a connection? It appeared possible. I watched them out of the corner of my eye and, in the depths of my mind, began to hatch a plan.