Braska's translation notes: Another gap in the writing, and the written script changed dramatically – I can only assume this is written by the same person.
It is no longer possible to stay on the island; the last big storm destroyed most of the buildings we'd worked so long to build. Those of us left alive have moved back to the mainland; we hope to find a place of safety in Luca.
The situation was horrifying right after the war; Bevelle suppressed all news from Zanarkand, and all the rest of Spira knows is that they won the war, and Zanarkand was defeated. What they don't know is the news we have heard from sympathizers; Bevelle had replaced the regular soldiers with temple troops for the last assault, and the victorious temple troops drove all the survivors out of the city. It was the darkest part of winter, and the pass over Mount Gagazet was blocked by many feet of snow, but still they herded the people out. Women, children, old men, it didn't matter to them. The last people of Zanarkand climbed out of the city, forced to at gunpoint, and they all died on the mountain.
May Yevon curse Bevelle for the lies it tells now. Only two years after the destruction of Zanarkand, and its already beginning. I overheard a story today while I sat in a small café in Luca. Two men spoke about the role Bevelle played in starting the war – and its nothing like what I know to have happened. The damn war started over a stupid disagreement, like kids arguing over a favorite toy, not as a holy war against blasphemers! The men spoke of a split in the doctrine, how Yu Yevon had led Zanarkand away from the true teachings and Bevelle had punished Zanarkand for their sins. I knew this wasn't true, and it was all I could do to keep silent, even though I am still in danger, even now, from the priests of Bevelle; they would have killed me on sight if they knew I was a priest of Zanarkand, and a summoner.
Yesterday I heard several priests of the Bevelle temple saying that Yu Yevon performed a special summoning with help from his daughter Yunalesca and her husband, just before the city fell, and that there is a new fayth there now. I later asked Brother Rillic why Yu Yevon would have done that, what he thought to accomplish, and he told me a strange story. Yu Yevon had discovered a way to combine the powers of a fayth and a summoner; he planned to use that power to create a tremendously strong aeon, and armor it somehow, in order to defeat Bevelle. Brother Rillic said it must not have worked, because Zanarkand fell anyway. No one knows where Yu Yevon is now, so we can only assume he has died.
They had reached Luca the evening before, and this was Braska and Leyona's first full day as man and wife; Leyona hadn't been happy with the idea of traveling to the temple in Kilika, and Braska had reluctantly agreed to a shipboard wedding – they needed to get to Bevelle as quickly as they could and they couldn't really spare the time because they would have missed the ship to Luca, and would have had to wait three days for it to return.
In the end they'd persuaded the captain of the S.S. Winno, the ship they'd transferred to at Kilika, to marry them at sea, with just Auron and the first mate as witnesses. Auron had stood as best man, and had dropped the ring Braska had purchased in Kilika – it had taken several minutes to find it where it'd rolled under the bracing for the ship's wheel. Auron was just hoping the tale didn't reach his friends in the guard – they'd never let him forget about it. He was also hoping nobody ever found out about his current predicament.
"Oh, Braska! Look at this one," Leyona cooed as she held a brightly colored tunic up to show her new husband. "There's a pair of leggings to match too!" Auron rolled his eyes and Braska chuckled at his friend's expression. Auron knew he looked ridiculous with his sword strapped to his back and his arms full of packages. Some guard he was…more like a pack mule!
"I told you Luca had great shops!" Braska grinned as his bride exclaimed over a set of hair combs that matched the outfit. He quietly picked them up after she moved to another display, and added them to the stack of clothing she had already picked out.
They had been shopping for hours, and Leyona showed no signs of slowing down. Auron was just glad that they had to be down at the docks by late afternoon to catch the ship to Bevelle, he just wasn't sure he'd last that long.
"Leyona, you might want this as well." Braska pointed to an overcoat matching the tunic and leggings she had already picked out. "Bevelle gets a little cool at night, and you'll need a light coat." He was enjoying the outing, but was beginning to get hungry so he nudged Auron and nodded towards a small café a little further down the street.
Auron sighed and rolled his eyes as Leyona disappeared once again behind a curtain at the back of the shop to try on the outfit. "Shall I meet you over there when she's finished here?"
Braska smiled widely with amusement and nodded agreement to the plan. "I didn't expect it would take this long, but we did drag her off without very many of her belongings, and most of the clothes she has are just too…Al Bhed. She needs clothes that won't set her out from the crowd; living in Bevelle is going to be hard enough on her as it is." Braska turned back as Leyona stepped out from behind the curtain of the changing area to model her latest outfit. It was a soft golden orange that set off her flowing blond hair, with a rounded neckline decorated with a band of a darker orange, the sleeves long and flaring at the wrists, the lowest point accented with a small tassel. The bottom of the tunic hem was decorated with a geometric pattern of interlocking squares in a darker red, as was the bottom of the loose leggings. Braska handed her the matching coat, and she pulled it on as well, turning to admire herself in a nearby mirror.
"This is beautiful; does it come in any other colors?" Leyona asked the attendant. She giggled when she caught Braska's bemused expression and took pity on him. "I don't really need another outfit, I was just kidding." She hugged Braska, then ran back to change out of the outfit, quickly pulling on the bright yellow wrap skirt and short sleeveless tunic she'd purchased in Kilika. "We can go eat in just a minute," she called. She had seen Auron's exasperation, and knew he'd had enough shopping. He'd been amazingly patient so far, but was obviously not used to shopping with a woman.
Braska smiled and motioned the shopkeeper to add a similar outfit in a soft green to the stack of clothing Leyona had picked out. She totaled his purchases and he started counting out the gils, wincing slightly at the final cost. Braska hadn't received his regular pay since he'd left Bevelle, he suspected it had gone into High Priest Balamus's pockets. The church would hardly be willing to pay for his new wife's spending spree, so he'd had to stop at the Luca office of the family shipping business, now his since his father's passage to the Farplane, for a loan out of his portion of the quarterly profits. Luckily the manager had recognized him, and had already received notice of his father's death. Even better, the captain of one of the ships on the regular Luca to Bevelle shipping route had been in the office, and they'd quickly secured passage with him.
Auron sat outside the door of a small café, in the shade of a large umbrella, sipping a cold glass of wine gratefully as he watched Braska and Leyona walking towards him. His feet hurt, he was hot, and he had had his fill of shopping hours ago…he looked at the numerous packages balanced precariously on the chair beside him and sighed, reaching out to add the newest package to the stack as they settled into the other two chairs at the small table.
Braska waved to catch the notice of the waitress. "Two glasses of iced juice please, and the menu?" The young woman waved cheerfully and ducked inside the door, returning almost immediately with their order. They quickly made their choices off the menu and she left, smiling and winking at Auron as she left; she seemed amused at his predicament…much to his disgust.
"This is such a beautiful city," Leyona said as she sipped her juice and watched a group of young men pass the cafe, tossing a blitz ball back and forth as they walked down the wide street towards the stadium. She tipped her head back to look at the tops of the tall buildings around them, and then turned to smile at Auron. "Do we have time to watch a game today?" She'd never had an opportunity to see a blitz ball game, even though there was talk of starting an Al Bhed team.
"No, I'm afraid not…we have to catch the ship in a couple hours, so we need to finish your shopping." Auron looked at the stack of packages again and thought about the other things they had left in their rooms at the tiny inn they had stayed at the previous night. "I think we need to buy Leyona a trunk, maybe a BIG trunk, because all this isn't going to fit in her bag." He looked at Braska and raised an eyebrow as his friend.
"The shop over there has some I think," Leyona said innocently, pointing to a nearby building where a mixture of wares overflowed onto the sidewalk. Auron rolled his eyes at her and they all burst out laughing.
"Sounds good, but we should probably hurry a little; we still have to get back to the inn to get our things." They were going to travel on one of Braska's ships, a large cargo trimaran, scheduled to leave on the evening tide. The captain had been gracious enough to offer the newlyweds his quarters, and Auron would be staying in an extra crew cabin. Braska was looking forward to the trip as a last time of peace before he had to return to the piranha pool of politics Bevelle had become in recent years - he wasn't looking forward to the confrontation he would face at the temple or the emotional issues of dealing with his inheritance.
Short as this trip would be, Braska could not have planned a better honeymoon. The weather stayed clear, bright sunlight during the day and crystal clear nights with a warm breeze. The ships cook prepared wonderful meals, and then served the young couple under the brilliant stars at a candle lit table on the upper deck while several musically talented crewmen softly serenaded them from the lower deck.
Auron thought that he had not seen Braska this happy since they were kids…
There had been many discussions about the future during the trip. Braska had decided to leave the Temple and work to rebuild the shipping line he had inherited from his father. He wanted to use his ships to get the raw materials needed to the site since most shipping lines and merchants wouldn't deal with the Al Bhed, that way he could monitor progress and the quality of materials being delivered – there would be a lot of people opposed to this project, and sabotage was a possibility.
Auron had decided that he was going to resume his position as Captain of the Temple guard. Braska didn't need a guardian, now that he was going to leave the temple; maybe he could help when the project was further along.
Leyona was going to have to wait and see if the Al Bhed would allow her to help with the project - Cid and Aja had been furious when she left, so she might have to wait years. Mean while, she would be busy making a home with her new husband.
There was so much to do, but first Braska had to go talk to the Maesters…
It was a beautiful day when their ship docked in Bevelle harbor, and the crew wished their group a warm goodbye as they threw the luggage on a small trolley and headed out of the harbor towards Braska's family residence.
"Braska! This is your home?" Leyona stood in the street with her mouth open, staring up at the imposing mansion. She had known that Braska came from an important family, but she hadn't understood what that meant in real terms. She was used to living pretty simply, so this opulence was a bit overwhelming. Bevelle was so much larger than any city she had ever seen, and she had been wide eyed since the ship had docked; now she was totally astonished.
"It's our home now," Braska responded, smiling at her as he rang the door chime. "It's been closed up for quite a while though, so I'm not sure what condition it's in…you might be disappointed." He hoped that at least the butler had stayed on to watch the house. Evidently he had, because the door was soon opened.
"Lord Braska, welcome home," the elderly man wheezed as he bowed, out of breath from having hurried from the back of the house to answer the door. He lifted his eyebrows when he saw Leyona, but bowed again as Braska led her inside.
"Leyona, this is Roggis, he's been with our family since before I was born. Roggis, I'd like to introduce you to my wife." Braska's heart swelled as he introduced Leyona. Wife…it still startled him to think of her that way, and the word rolled sweetly off his tongue. He put his arm around her and smiled widely as the family retainer bowed deeply and murmured his pleasure at meeting her. "Where is the rest of the staff?"
"I am sorry sir, but I am the only one left now." Roggis eyed the stack of baggage doubtfully and moved down the steps to look at the luggage trolley piled high with trunks and boxes. "Where would you like your luggage taken?"
"Don't worry about that now," Braska said hastily as the old man attempted to lift a trunk. "We'll bring everything in…it can stay in the foyer until we decide where we'll stay. You could arrange for the return of the cart though." Braska and Auron unloaded the small wheeled cart they had borrowed at the dock, stacking the luggage to one side of the foyer.
Leyona stepped into the music room as they worked, pulling back the edge of the dust cover to reveal the keyboard of the grand piano.
The men finished with the trunks, and Auron smiled at Braska as they clasped arms. "I guess I'll head back to the temple and see what's been going on. It will take a little while before the news gets out that we're back, and I may be able to listen in on a few conversations."
Braska pulled him closer and hugged his oldest friend with tears in his eyes. "Thank you, Auron," he said quietly. Braska had known Auron for most of his life, and he didn't know any other way to say how much he'd appreciated his best friend's support over the last few months; Auron had never been one to show his emotions openly. "Come by in the morning for breakfast and we'll go present ourselves to the Maesters."
Auron slapped Braska on the back with a wide grin, understanding the meaning behind the simple words. "Tomorrow then…don't let Leyona keep you up too late." He turned and left quickly, before he embarrassed himself by saying something sappy. Braska walked to the door and watched as his friend strode quickly down the street.
"A whole room just for making music?" Leyona asked herself in wonder, tapping curiously on a piano key. She was startled as an out of tune plink, plink resounded through the room. "Can you play this Braska?" she called.
Braska's smile was a little sad as he stepped into the room beside her. "It belonged to my sister." He reached out to stroke one of the keys, resolving to get it tuned. "I never learned to play."
"Well our children's lives will be filled with music," Leyona promised with a small smile, and then walked across the foyer to the room opposite. "I love this room! Can I use it as an office?" Without hesitation Braska agreed, reaching out to run his fingers across the partially finished painting which sat on the easel. It was of the city of Luca at sunset, as seen from just offshore, bright streaks of gold and orange sky, the city gilded by the setting sun; it still lacked the finishing details. His mother had traveled a lot when she was younger, following his father from place to place as he learned the family shipping business from his father. She'd painted most of the pictures hanging in the house, and Braska knew she could have been famous, if she had wanted, but her family had always came first.
Leyona wandered through the downstairs rooms with her green eyes lighting up at each discovery. She ran her fingers across a small carved box to feel the detail, and then moved on, looking at the hand painted flowers on tall porcelain vases, lifting tiny glass figurines nearly buried by dust, and gazing at beautiful paintings of scenes from across Spira. She could not believe the size of the house and Braska took great pleasure seeing her smile with each new treasure she found. It had been years since he'd seen more than his father's room, so he was also surprised at some of the things they found in their explorations.
Braska ran his fingers across the top of the long dining room table, looking at the streak left in the deep layers of dust. He rubbed his chin absent mindedly, then looked at his dirty hand in dismay. "We might need to stay at an inn for a couple days until our rooms are cleaned. I've asked Roggis to hire some temporary staff to help with the cleaning, but it's going to take a lot of work to make this a home once more."
"I'm sure we can make do for now – I'm not afraid of a little dust!" Leyona giggled, reaching up to wipe a streak of dust off Braska's nose. He laughed and offered her his arm, leading her up the staircase to choose an unused bedroom suite for them to settle in. He would have the new servants clear everything out of his family's old rooms, and pack up whatever Leyona didn't want.
It was time to start fresh and begin his new life...with Leyona.