((A/N: I like this chapter... I JUST finished it. Read, Review, Enjoy, keep coming back, you know the deal. XD ))

Chapter Seven

Pieces of a Past

Dawn brought the sun peeking through the window, landing on Ren's face as she slept within an unfamiliar, yet extremely comfortable bed. Turning onto her left side, she sat up quickly, pain screaming through her body. Looking down, she lifted her shirt to glance her wound and found it completely bandaged, yet it still hurt. "Awake?" she heard.

Turning her head, she looked to the man who'd spoken and remembered who he was after a few quiet moments. "Meyvn Nooj," she said and eyed him suspciously.

"Lady Naoska Rensan," he replied with a slight nod.

She gave him a look that was more like a glare than anything else and he shrugged. "You wanted formalities," he told her and she looked to the window, an annoyed expression surfacing. "You can be yourself here," he told her. "I'm not about to tell your precious Baralai your secrets."

"I don't need your pity," she said to him.

"It's not pity, it's respect for your privacy," Nooj replied.

"You've no need to respect me," she said, annoyed, "I'm just a—"

"A washed-up old summoner?" he inquired.

"I'm not old," Ren grumbled.

"But you're still washed-up," he told her.

"And you, Nooj, meyvn or not, are still a jerk," she growled.

He chuckled and stood from the chair in the corner of the room. "You haven't changed one bit," he said as he walked toward her.

"If only that were true," she whispered and lay back down, pulling the blanket up to her chin.

"How's Kal?" the meyvn asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I haven't heard from him in months," she told him.

"A summoner should never be without his or her guardians," the meyvn said.

Ren groaned, "Oui'na kaddehk uh so hanjac, umt syh." With a sigh, she then added, "I asked if you wished to join us. You declined."

"First, we're the same age, so you're old as well. And second, you only asked because you were trying to be nice," he told her.

"You're right, I was."

"You were?" His eyes widened and he looked to her with a bit of surprise.

A light smile passed over her lips and she said, "I actually wanted you to join us." Inhaling deeply, she said, "I miss the old days."

"You mean when we had to fight Sin?" he inquired and she kicked him, though it wasn't hard.

Placing her hand on her wounded side, she said, "No, during the Calm, when we would all gather in Luca for blitz season, or when we spent a week at the Moonflow."

"Or when we spent two weeks in Macalania Woods learning how to play the harp from Bayra and the troupe?" the meyvn said, reminiscing.

"So you do remember," Ren said, sitting up a bit, leaning on her arms. "What about the time we tried dodging lightning. Or the day—"

"You got married."

A silence filled the room and Ren lay flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She turned her head so he couldn't completely see her face. "I... wish I... I wish I could forget that sometimes," she said softly.

"You don't mean that," the meyvn replied, watching her.

Taking a breath, she slowly sat up and turned, placing her feet on the floor. Getting to her feet, she went to the window and pushed it open. Gazing down into the Youth League Headquarters below, she asked the meyvn, "Are you sure your followers won't be angry with you for saving the fiancee of New Yevon's Praetor?"

"I don't see it as if I am aiding the future wife of the praetor, I see it as if I am aiding an old friend," Nooj replied.

Ren watched the scene on the ground below, people rushing here and there and doing their work. She was silent for a very long time and before either of them knew it, an hour had passed in complete silence. "It was all in vain," she said finally, softly, weakly.

"Don't say that," the meyvn replied.

"But it was... It was in vain..." She quickly shook her head side to side as if trying to erase the memories. "My pilgrimage... our sorrows, our pains... our sacrifices... their deaths, Nooj, none of it made a difference. It was all for nothing..." Her hands tightened on the windowsill until her knuckles became white.

Slowly getting to his feet, Nooj limped over to stand next to her. "Naoska," he began to say, and it was as far as he got before she turned quickly, wrapping her arms around him. He made a slight sound of discomfort and then he consolingly put his arm around her. The meyvn only let his followers know one side of him, and because of this, they did not know the real Nooj who was only seen by a close group of people; a group where only two people remained.

The tears streaked her cheeks and soaked into his clothes. She shook and choked on her tears as she cried. Soon, it was not so much crying as it was sobbing. Her arms slipped from around the meyvn and she dropped to her knees before him. Hunching over, she covered her eyes and the unhappiness worsened.

Nooj stood there, eyes on the ex-summoner. He knew at that moment that the Naoska he had once known was no more. There had been a time that the two of them, had laughed together, but seeing her like this gave him the feeling that she would never laugh again. Never had he seen her like this, not even when the sorrows, the pains, the sacrifices, and the deaths had happened.

Eventually, the ex-summoner cried herself to the point of exhaustion, and from there she drifted to sleep. Nooj pulled the blanket from the bed and set it over her. He wasn't about to move her and risk waking her to depressive state. He moved his chair near her and watched over her as she slept.

The sun outside was beginning to set when she finally awoke. Sitting up, she held onto her aching side and winced in pain. Slowly she pushed herself to her feet as she pulled the blanket up and around her shoulders. Glancing around the room and finding it meyvn-less, she turned to the window and saw a very similar view to the one she had previously seen through the window.

Leaning forward she looked straight down. Seeing Nooj speaking to a few of his squad leaders, she stood up straight and turned her eyes to the horizon. With a sigh, she leaned forward again and found the squad leaders walking away. A mischievous smirk appeared on her slips and she leaned over the windowsill a little more. Gathering saliva in her mouth, she took a breath and then slowly let it seep through her lips. The line of spit lengthened until she finally let it go and it dropped toward the ground, landing on Nooj's shoulder.

Slowly he turned his head and looked at the disgusting wetness. Rolling his eyes, and making a slightly audible groan, he turned and looked up to the window. Ren jumped back out of sight, yet she knew that he knew it had been her. Chancing it, she leaned forward slightly and peeked out the window. When she saw Nooj still staring at her, an annoyed expression on his face, she grinned broadly, innocently, and waved like a little kid. The meyvn smiled ever-so-slightly, shook his head, and then entered the headquarters.

Laughing, Ren left the window and went to the door, her boots clattering on the floor. She dropped the blanket and opened the door. Stepping out into the hallway, Ren glanced both ways and became very confused. It was then that she remembered she had been brought here. "Crap," she said loudly and it echoed down the hall in both directions. Covering her mouth, she appeared a bit embarrased, even though no one was there.

Turning right, she began to walk down the hall, unsure of where she was headed, but knowing it couldn't be as perilous as her uncertain pilgrimage through Spira as a summoner. Entering a circular conference area, she found Yaibal speaking with a few other people and she froze in her tracks, remembering the incident the other day.

One of the other Youth League members noticed her and his head tilted slightly in recognition. "Lady Naoska?" he asked and he, as well as the rest of the small group that spoke to Yaibal, quickly approached Ren. Yaibal remained where he was, back to the ex-summoner.

"Um, hello," Ren said hesitantly.

"I heard you were marrying the Praetor of New Yevon. Is that true?" one of them asked.

At the realization that today she was supposed to have married Baralai, Ren swore loudly and looked around rapidly. Turning, she found the exit to the room and ran for it, running straight into Nooj. They staggered backward and then stared at each other for a moment. "Rushing off?" the meyvn asked.

"Nooj, I'm supposed to get married today!" Ren said.

The Youth League members behind her conversed among themselves and their mixed voices reminded the ex-summoner of the hum of bees. Angrily, Yaibal turned to them and said, "It's a yes! She's getting married to the praetor." Glancing to Ren, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Traitor."

The meyvn watched as his childhood friend looked to the ground in a guilty manner, and he asked her, "And what would you like me to do, Naoska?"

Her attention darted to him and quickly, confidently, she replied, "Help me get to Bevelle."

The expression upon Nooj's face resembled confusion. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Remembering Aitigus's threath, she knew that she had to get there as quick as possible. If Baralai had returned and spoken to them of what her village had done to them, then the village along the Mi'ihen Highroad would surely be destroyed. Yet, what if the praetor had not returned to the city? What if her village had killed him? Taking a deep breath, Ren knew that she had to protect her village; she wouldn't turn her back on them, even if they turned their backs on her. At that precise moment, she knew she would take the blame. "I need to get to Bevelle," she said, eyes locked on the meyvn's.

He nodded and then told her, "Then I'll get you to Bevelle."