A/N: It's been a while. Haven't updated this in a long time. We'll I won't keep ya that long. I just wanted to say here's another update and, of course...
Enjoy!
The road further down had a few more fiends waiting for us, but everyone was able to handle the situation easily. Yuna even called out her Aeon again, and it was a lot more beautiful than before. Perhaps knowing that it was tamed made me comfortable, but I wouldn't be able to say for certain that was it. However, we started to enter in familiar territory and I looked at Tidus. He nodded, that usual smile seemingly carved into his face. How he's able to stay calm and optimistic about almost everything is beyond me.
We made it to the beach, its scenery basically unchanged since Tidus and I met Wakka, but there was a load of people standing at a dock that I didn't notice before. Many were waving, giving a family atmosphere, but all eyes were focused on one person: Yuna. Some were smiling as we passed by them on the floating floor of the docks. Others had serious faces, but mostly out of respect. However, as we made our way unto the ship, I saw one boy running up, brushing past all of the people with tears filling his eyes. I looked at Yuna as she noticed him and she waved at him with a soft smile like as if she was saying, 'It's going to be all right.' But there was something else in her eyes. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was guilt.
Before we knew it, we shoved off and the island soon disappeared from sight. I made the front mast my seat and just watched the horizon. Honestly, I never have been on a moving boat before. I always thought I'd get seasickness within the first few minutes, but the experience itself was very relaxing. However, that soon left as I heard my brother cause a ruckus with a man holding binoculars. Obviously, Tidus wanted to be the toddler and use the piece of equipment for fun.
I turned away, slightly embarrassed, and tried to enter my little world again, but that was near futile when Yuna and Kimahri walked by. My eyes trailed to them and Yuna stopped, waving towards Tidus' direction. Not long after, a loud clunk sound was made and the man before picked up his binoculars and gave Tidus a warning glare. I silently laughed as my brother just made an innocent face and scratched the back of his head.
"Having fun?" I turned once more to see Wakka standing beside of me, a slight smirk on his face.
I shrugged. "Well, kind of." As my eyes trailed, I noticed a large mass centering around Yuna up front. Tidus followed suit and started listening in. "What are they doing?"
"Wanting to talk to the Summoner, no doubt." Wakka's face suddenly showed amusement as he shook his head. "I told Yuna this was gonna happen."
"I guess Summoners are prime celebrities," I said with a giggle.
"Yeah. Especially Yuna. The daughter of High Summoner is quite a title."
Wakka caught my full attention at that last term. "High Summoner?"
"Hey, Wakka!" Right on cue, Tidus walks up and derails our conversation. I felt like punching him in the back, but then he asked, "Question: Is Yuna's father famous or something?"
A smirk appeared on the Captain's face as he glanced at me. I would guess he was thinking 'typical siblings.' "She's the daughter of High Summoner Braska. You saw his statue at the temple."
"Which statue?" I asked. Last I remembered, there were dozens of statues there.
"Remember that statue I was standing next to?" Thinking back, I did recall a tall statue symbolizing a robed man. "Well, that was Yuna's dad, Lord Braska." I gazed at Yuna's face for a second and then closed my eyes, comparing the two faces. Once I noticed the resemblance, I realized the two of us, I mean the three of us, had more in common than I thought. "He defeated Sin ten years ago. Yuna's the heir to a great legacy!"
"'A great legacy,' huh?" I repeated loud enough for those close enough to hear.
I heard Tidus sigh as he walked over and sat beside me. "It's tough when your father's famous, eh, Jeena?" I smiled at him and nodded, getting a confused look from Wakka.
"Wakka's… a bit lacking in the imagination department," Lulu stated suddenly, catching me by surprise.
"Thanks, Lulu," Tidus said through a laugh. "I'll keep that in mind."
When I caught on, I looked at Wakka again. To my amusement, he had an even deeper confused look on his face. I couldn't help but let a chuckle escape as I watched him, still puzzled by our words. However, although I felt like I should tell him what was going on, I thought it best to leave things alone for the moment.
Another couple of moments went by and the crowd soon dispersed, leaving no one but Yuna up front and the Aurochs on deck practicing. The ship kept moving along smoothly even as a tail wind caught the sails and sped us up slightly. It was all so peaceful and I leaned back against the mast, ready to take a quick nap, but then my brother moved and that peaceful feeling quickly left. I'm not sure why, but whenever Tidus moves, I seem to have this trigger that flips on as if it was saying 'Get ready for anything.'
However, he just went over to Yuna and started talking; making me feel kind of stupid for thinking he'd cause trouble again so quickly. So, I discarded that warning and relaxed once more, ready to truly get some rest. I just let the rocking of the boat be my cradle as my senses dulled and I drifted off into slumber.
But it was short lived as something hit the boat and tilted it in a 45 degree angle. I couldn't grab on to anything and started tumbling down until I hit a… soft spot on the boat? Looking up, I noticed it was actually Wakka with his back up against the side.
"What happened?" I would normally say 'thank you,' but the sudden turn of events had me too shaken to be proper. "Did we hit something?"
"I don't know!" He yelled over the rushing waters. I tried to get off of him, but the ship suddenly changed tilt and I started tumbling again. Wakka was able to hold on to a wooden rail and reached out his free hand for me to grab, and I did with my gloved hand, making him cringe at the impact, and held on until the ship leveled itself.
Now I was officially seasick. Both Wakka and Lulu had to help me up after the entire event and even then I needed some extra support just for standing. I will admit, I felt like throwing up, but I held myself while we walked up to where Tidus, Yuna, and Kimahri were now standing. "You alright, Jeen?" my brother asked with concern on his face.
"Honestly, I'm feeling a little sick," I answered as I held my stomach. "Just tell me that's the last of it."
Right on cue as if to prove me wrong, something huge shot out of the water and scared everyone on, and probably off, deck. Once the water fell for us to see, a large, scaled fin towered above us. It wasn't mechanical, but entirely organic, and the man behind us yelled out its identity: "Sin!"
Sin quickly swam forward, its fin moving directly in front of us. Everyone around me seemed fixed on it, but uncertain of what to do. However, two men ran up, manning the harpoons on either side of the front part of the ship and aimed their sights directly to the gigantic fin.
"What do you think you're doing?" Wakka demanded, letting go of me and letting Lulu hold me up. "Stick a harpoon in him and we'll all get dragged under!"
"Sin is going for Kilika!" the first man answered. "We gotta distract it!"
"Our families are in Kilika!" the other man added before turning towards Yuna with a guilty face. "Forgive us, Lady Summoner!"
Yuna didn't say a thing. After a second, all she did was nod at the man, who returned the nod with gratitude. "Wait!" Wakka started to protest, but soon noticed it was too late to say any more. "Oh boy!"
The men launched the harpoons, one missing the target entirely. However, the second one dug in deep and in no time flat, the ship was pulled forward, now riding at the same speed Sin was traveling. The sudden jerk made me lose my support from Lulu as we split and I tried to find my balance. The ship kept swaying with Sin as he moved around the waves he was creating to shake us off. Before I knew it, a rush of water was taking over the ship and I looked around to find something to hold on to.
All I could find was the rope that acted as guards to keep from people falling into the see and I tried to reach for it, but I slipped and was caught with the wave. I fought as much as I could, trying to find something to grab onto in order to keep myself from falling overboard. By the time I did, the water left without me and my body didn't find a flat place to fall on. Instead, I was dangling off the side of the ship, only one arm keeping me from being lost at sea.
I kept trying to grab the ledge with my other hand, but the glove was on it and the added weight was keeping me from swinging all the way (not to mention the continuous shifting of the ship). I tried bringing the glove to my mouth to pry it off, but before I could even bring the leather to my chin, the fingers I was using to hold on to the ship slipped and I let out a scream as I noticed it happened. It was a sudden realization that I was falling to my possible death, and it felt completely different compared to what happened on Rikku's ship. I knew what was happening here, and there was no confusion about what was going on.
They say your life flashes before your eyes just before you die, but that wasn't the case for me. It was like time slowed to the point that every millimeter I fell was the distance of a mile. I just kept looking up, hoping that something, anything would happen to bring me to safety. But then I noticed something peach colored. That color then turned to fingers, and those fingers connected to hands. They were somewhat small, slightly smaller than mine, and they reached down for me. I took hold of one and it gripped mine tightly, following the other to increase the hold. But the face I saw wasn't who I expected.
"Yuna?" I whispered, the waves tuning out the small volume.
Her face was ferociously serious, something that was totally surprising in the time that I've known her. Her arms were trembling, apparently trying to pull me up without anyone helping. "Come on!" Her soft voice was straining, which made me concerned, and I quickly came up with a plan.
"Yuna!" I yelled loud enough for her to hear me. "Just keep holding on! I'm going to swing up!"
Her eyes were still as she nodded and I started moving back and forth, trying to find a rhythm with the ship. I was able to find one and then started gaining speed and height. Yuna's grip was slowly loosening, but I knew she'd keep her word. Not before long, I got up to the height needed to get my free arm over the side and took the chance, hooking it over without fail.
Yuna helped me over most of the way, but the final stretch had Tidus and Kimahri rush over and secure my safety. "Thank you… Yuna," I said in between gasps of air as I tried to get my breathing down.
"Don't worry about it," she replied through her own hard breathing, but better controlled than mine. "However," without any warning, she grabbed my gloved hand, jerked my weapon off, and swung it to Kimahri who caught it without that much trouble, "no more of those unless you're fighting. That's an order." Her face was still serious and her bi-colored eyes were deep with resolve. Looking at such eyes, there was only one thing I could say.
"Understood."
"Incoming!" Wakka yelled and everyone started scrambling once more. I got up as quickly as I could with Yuna and Kimahri's help just in time to see Sin's tail start crashing down into the water. Another large wave appeared and my heart sank, fearing of a repeat performance of my near death experience. However, this time Kimahri took both Yuna and I into his arms and held us in a protective manner. I was too frightened to even think of why he would do this for me, but I held on to him for dear life. If anything were to happen, I wanted it to end quickly… and it did.
The most that happened to the three of us was that we were wet, but secure on deck. Several waves of relief washed over me as Sin was no where to be seen and the waters started to calm. I would've started to laugh it off, but I was drained from the chain of events and felt ready to drop. However, then Yuna put her hand on my back and she closed her eyes. I suddenly started gaining my strength back, and rapidly. Looking at her again, she let out a deep breath and then returned the glance with a smile. Apparently, Summoners are meant to be healers. At least, that's what I gained from Yuna's gentle smile.
"Is everyone all right?" I heard Lulu's voice ask.
"I believe we're fine," Yuna answered, but when I looked around, I could not find Tidus.
"Where's my brother?" I asked and everyone started looking around. Then, at that moment, we heard someone gasping, but it wasn't on the ship. Wakka turned to the front and then jumped overboard with no warning. Yuna and I both gasped and started running after him, but the Ronso grabbed our arms.
"Let go!" I exclaimed while trying to fight his grip. "I need to save Tidus!"
"You're in no condition to save anyone at this moment," Lulu told me, but I didn't look at her.
"I don't care! He's the only family I have left!"
"So are you not the same to him?" I stopped, realizing she was right. When I looked at Lulu's face, it was stern and fixed, but almost motherly. "I understand how you feel, but if you charge into danger yourself, both of you have the chance to lose the last of your family. I know it's a step of faith, but trust Wakka to bring him back safely. Besides, I would imagine Tidus will be worried about you once he's on deck."
I looked down in shame after she finished. If I put myself in harms way, Tidus probably would get on my case for it. He may be obnoxious sometimes, but he does care about me a lot. The only problem is that I care about him too. However, I guess that's your typical brother-sister relationship.
"Hey!" Wakka's voice rang out from the side of the ship and we all ran over to see both him and my brother waving for someone to bring them up. I smiled as more relief washed over me and I saw a rope lower down for them. To be quiet honest, that was the most drama I have ever went through in my life, and I didn't want to go through much more.
"What the…" As Kilika came into view with the setting sun, we all saw the place was destroyed. Homes were now pieces of driftwood and what was left of the port looked like rickety decoys. But the worst part was when belongings could be seen as we got closer. Obviously people died here, and it wasn't too long ago.
"I will defeat Sin…" Yuna declared while looking at the devastation with me on the front of the ship. "I must defeat Sin."
The carnage I both witnessed and experience with Sin was unreal. The more I thought back of home, the more I wanted to wake up from this nightmare. Sin was the one who brought me and Tidus here, right? Wouldn't he also be the one to send us back? However, there was something inside of me telling me otherwise. My home was out of reach and is nothing more than a fading memory. This was our new reality, and we were stuck with it for good.