Firion's Story
Firion stood silently, watching the darkening horizons of the grassy plains where he had saved Tidus earlier. The sun's last rays were disappearing behind the distant hills, creating a beautiful gradient of orange to purple on the cloudless sky.
Tidus had recounted his experiences with Tifa as Firion tended to his wounds and Firion had pondered on what could have made Tifa act the way she did. The exhausted Tidus had fallen asleep almost immediately after his final bandage was tied on his right leg. Firion had also boiled some water and soaked a few scrap pieces of cloth to warm up Tidus's frozen wounds.
Diverting his eyes away from the charming scenery the sun painted, he turned to check on Tidus. Tidus is no more than a boy. Why make a boy fight? What could Cosmos have in mind summoning people who are inexperienced in war and putting them in danger? Despite knowing that the athletic Tidus was perfectly capable of protecting himself, Firion could not help questioning the situation which called for it.
His thoughts wandered to Tifa who acted bizarrely. The look he saw earlier was unfamiliar even in Tifa's features. Or maybe, because it IS in Tifa's features… He corrected himself. The lovely martial artist has always been gentle. Not in her kicks and punches, but she would never harm a fellow ally. At least, the one Firion used to know.
Subconsciously, his thoughts then wandered to the stunning Lightning. The pink haired beauty had captured his interest ever since she came across his wild rose. The wild rose which Laguna accidentally found had continuously reminded him of memories which he cannot recall. It was like trying to light a fire unsuccessfully. There are sparks but no flame. Firion had treasured it ever since, trying to solve its mysteries. Then came Lightning, who claimed that she felt the same sparks emanating from that rose. With memories of their homeland only in bits and pieces, Firion had ever since wondered if Lightning could have come from the same world as he did. Not only that, he thought, maybe we were even from the same town, or maybe we were friends, or family, or… husband and wife!?
Firion shook his head fervently. No, he knew he should not be jumping into conclusions. It would be better to wait until more of his memories have returned. Yet, every time he saw Lightning gradually becoming closer to Kain, his stomach seem to twist horrendously. Was it jealousy? Or was it only because he did not want Kain to be close to someone who MIGHT be his wife? This is ridiculous, he thought, snap out of it Firion.
And he did snap out of his train of thoughts when the sound of clanking armor drew close to their little campsite, prompting him to turn swiftly at the source with his hand readied on his bow. Tidus stirred, mustering his seemingly non-existent strength to return to consciousness. The figure of the dark armor-clad Golbez, Cecil's elder brother and a Warrior of Chaos, gradually drew near. Woken up with the shock of an abrupt visit by an enemy warrior, Tidus sleepily summoned his sword as he sat up.
"You won't need those weapons of yours today." Golbez said calmly, stopping several feet away from them. "I came to you to ask that you pass a message to Kain."
"What message?" groaned Tidus, visibly annoyed at the unwelcome disturbance to his sleep.
"I fear that he let his emotions get in the way of his goal." Golbez continued, unperturbed by the obvious annoyance in Tidus's voice. "Tell him that his dreams are futile. That he should not be swayed by 'what ifs'. That he should give it up before it's too late. For the sake of others."
"Huh?" Tidus stared at him blankly. As he processed Golbez's words, he was certain that those words did not make sense and that it was not attributed to his lack of sleep. "You want us to tell Kain a load of gibberish? He'll kill us! You have never seen Bartz being chased by a flying lance he threw have you?"
Goblez merely let out a soft chuckle and replied, "He'll understand them."
"Why don't you tell him yourself?" Tidus asked stubbornly.
"Let's just say… He'll misunderstand my intentions." Golbez replied succinctly and with a swish of his dark mantle, he was gone in a flurry of black flames.
"Wonder what he meant…" Tidus mumbled. "I guess I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep after that. What do you say to searching for Kain, Rosebud?"
Firion was deep in his own thoughts, pondering over Golbez's cryptic message that it took him a full ten seconds to react to Tidus's question. "Huh? Oh… Sure… why not?" he replied. And the two listlessly packed up their scattered belongings and set off.
After a short journey, Tidus caught sight of the glow of campfire in the distance. Knowing that the Chaos Warriors have no habit of setting up camps, the pair approached the campsite with Tidus shouting excitedly to get the campers' attention.
It turned out that the campers were none other than Cecil Harvey and the little Onion Knight.
"Hey, Cecil! Onion!" Tidus cried out, delighted at the sight of other allies.
"Hey!" Cecil called back, a smile formed on his handsome, albeit rather feminine face, "Didn't expect you two to still be wandering around late at this hour."
"We're looking for Kain," Tidus replied as he seated himself next to Firion, "we got a message from your brother… hey! Maybe you can help us decipher it!" The blonde ace suddenly got excited at the possible thought of Cecil throwing some light on the situation.
"Golbez wanted you to give a message to Kain?" Cecil asked, puzzled. Firion saw Onion Knight give the same look but infused with an extra dose of suspicion as he seated himself next to Tidus.
"Yeah, listen," Tidus began. He then cleared his throat and imitated Golbez's deep voice, saying, "'Tell him that his dreams are futile. That he should not be swayed by 'what ifs'. That he should give it up before it's too late. For the sake of others.' Do you get what he meant Cecil?" He finished with his ever cheerful voice.
"Hmmm….. I'm afraid it sounded as gibberish to me as it did to you." Cecil said slowly. He wondered what could Golbez be trying to convey to Kain, that he as Golbez's brother and Kain's best friend did not know.
"It could be a trap," the Onion Knight piped in. Despite his young age, the little knight was surprisingly wary of people, even more so that the naïve Laguna or Bartz who were both much older than he was.
"It didn't sound that way…" Firion said hesitantly.
"Maybe it's some kind of code!" Tidus cheerfully suggested.
"Maybe…" Cecil slowly said, "It has something to do with Lightning…"
"What!?" Firion exclaimed in shock. "Why Lightning?"
"Umm… nothing… it's just that they're close aren't they? She… could have known something." Cecil hastily added. He knew how Firion felt towards Lightning, after all, he had been the one who caught Firion staring long and hard at the statuesque lady. And he did not want misunderstandings between Firion and Kain.
"Tidus, let's continue searching for Kain!" Firion abruptly stood up.
"But we just came!" Tidus protested. His eyes had been eyeing the fish crackling above Cecil and Onion Knight's bonfire ever since they arrived.
"We have a mission," Firion replied shortly before beginning to stride off. Tidus groaned and reluctantly picked himself up.
"Be careful," Cecil warned, "We saw Sephiroth lurking around that direction earlier. He said he was looking for some 'rat'." He pointed towards the woods where Firion and Tidus were heading.
"We got it! Thanks!" Firion said as he waved the pair goodbye.
...
"And there you go!" Zidane added cheerfully as he struck a finishing blow at a crystalline figure of ExDeath.
"Wow! That was impressive, Zidane!"
Tifa's voice caught the monkey-tailed thief by surprise. I must have been too engrossed in finishing up those manikins that I didn't see her, he thought.
"Tifa? What a pleasant surprise." Zidane said as he gave her his trademark lady-killer smile.
Tifa let out a small giggle and said, "So for that awesome finishing, I think you deserve a date. What do you say?" A flirtatious smile formed on her lips and her eyes glinted with mischief.
"A date!?"
"You… don't like theidea?" Tifa asked apprehensively, her expression turned into that of disappointment.
"No! It's not that!" Zidane quickly said. "It's just that… I usually do the asking."
Relief spread across Tifa's pretty features as she let out another flirtatious giggle. "So you'd like to ask now?"
"Nah… We'll leave it this way. It's kinda refreshing to get asked out. A date it is!" Zidane happily chirped. It was extraordinary that Tifa would approach him asking for a date, but that's probably her finally realizing my charm, Zidane thought proudly and set off with Tifa.