002: Search

It wasn't easy but she hadn't expected it to be. Yuna came to develop the theory that Ifalna was out there with the daughter from her letters, a woman part of a dying race that had sought escape and comfort from her father. To when he exactly ventured off to this distant and closed off land, she hadn't known, only that it was before she was even born and before her parents were officially together. Had they already known that Braska became a summoner and sacrificed his life for Spira or had this news been lost to them? These are questions she came to memorize as she prepared for her long journey. She took most of the things she would need to take but she had to travel light – a lesson she learned from Lulu about four years ago when she began her pilgrimage. Most importantly, she carried her weapons just in case she ran into any trouble and two photographs – one of Ifalna and one of her parents. She figured if she carried this with her then Ifalna would recognize her father and would actually believe her be the daughter of Braska.

It hadn't been exactly clear on others why she wanted to do this or why she had to, it wasn't even clear to her, but there was extra 'push' that indicated this was something she had to seek out further. It was a whole new environment to explore…as crazy as it sounded, it may have been just the very thing to help her. Not only would she able to find her father's old friend along with her family, she would have a chance to build a new life, she would have a purpose. Had this been a foolish plan though? She received many lectures from Wakka and Lulu, including that following morning of her departure.

"I'll write to you as soon as I can!" She promised, but she had no idea how long the trip would be and just how far away this other land was.
"You just got back and already you're running off again?" Wakka had his arms crossed to his chest; Lulu was at his side holding onto Vidina by her hip, the small toddler had already grown tall enough to stand on his own and has mastered walking, even if he has to wobble on his stubby feet and often falls down. At Wakka's remark, Yuna had only shaken her head. "It's been two years…" She replied. Two years was long enough for her to settle back in and begin the routine of finding peace within herself, it was enough time for her to move on with her life with Wakka, Lulu, and everyone else in Besaid Island, and in all of Spira itself. But right now, it was time for her to search for her goal…even if she hadn't been exactly clear what that goal was.
"You have no idea what is out there," Lulu warned, hoisting her son up as he slid down her waist, he watched Yuna with his ruby eyes nibbling on his small fist, those eyes were of his mother's,"yet you want to travel so far?"
"My father's been there before! According to his journal everything is so different." She took note to avoid talking about the 'advanced machina', despite machina playing a larger role in their society since the Eternal Calm had been granted, Yuna still worried of disappointing of the 'old fashioned' folk, even if her mind had opened up more to a whole different world and culture; she wasn't one to judge. This was a very important lesson many had taught her throughout her whole life. "I can do it, I know I can, you just have to believe in me." It was just like two years ago when she first ran off at the sight of the mysterious sphere that Rikku found and no one was able to stop her. It was just like this now and her friends knew very well it would be hard to get her to back down from this. Yuna was no longer the child she was four years ago, she had grown admirably and became a savor and icon for many people, because of this she chose to stay behind Besaid to tend to everyone, to tend to her friends and their new baby, and to simply live a normal life and offer advice to those who needed it; they depended on her and she couldn't turn them down. But it was Yuna's turn again, it was her turn to do something for herself, yet in a way, she was still doing this for others. She was doing this for her father, and not just him, but Ifalna and her daughter, Aerith, as well.

"Yu..Yun…" Vidina mumbled behind his small fist, his eyes curiously watched Yuna as both his parents had done as well. She could only offer them her most optimistic and sincerest smile. "I love you all and I promise I'll come back." How long she would be gone and how long she would stay at Gaia had been left out on purpose, these were details even she hadn't known yet but once she knew she was sure she would write to them right away. And just like two years ago, Yuna had set off and this time it was on her own; another personal journey with another personal purpose.

Wakka and Lulu had still been very happy to see her to something for herself, yet they continued to try to convince her to think about it more, to bring someone else along (Rikku and Paine had also offered to come) but she couldn't do that as everyone had spread out and developed their own lives, and part of her felt that this was something solely meant for her. She couldn't describe it; it was like a feeling that was drawing her in closer and closer.

It's been almost an entire week and she had to make due with ride after ride, hitchhike after hitchhike, on Celsius that carried her across the ocean for a good few days till it was time for her to depart once again, on carriages being pulled by chocobos, and strange vehicles that resembled familiar machinas…cars, was it? Trucks. She sat at the back one truck one morning as she was awoken from her sleep by a bumpy road. The surroundings were changing drastically, she didn't exactly realize how long she slept but she was sure the grass had been much…greener…no this area didn't even contain grass – it was just dark plain for miles and miles. This was Gaia? She hadn't been sure anymore, she really should've stopped and asked for directions.

"So where you headed to?" The driver of this strange contraption had asked about a few hours before she got on.
"Uh…wherever you're headed to is just fine." So with that, she was headed to whatever town this man had been taking her. Yuna should've thought about this more, should've asked him about certain places but as of now, any town or city mentioned by her father had been a blur…Ifalna, Aerith…these were names that were planted in her mind, the most important ones, but there was another one. "Shinra?"
"Excuse me?" The man had asked from behind her, the small window at the back of the pick-up had been open, made it easier for the two of them to hear each others words and requests.
"Oh, nothing…I was just…"
"Did you say Shinra? The company?"
"You know them?"
"Who doesn't? They're the world's largest incorporation; they built Midgar, and helped built Edge after Meteor ruined most of it." He hadn't turned to her as he spoke; he kept his eyes on the rocky plains, the blue of the sky above had faded away, dulling to a gray. "You never heard of Shinra before?"

"Well, I've heard of a Shrina…" She spoke of the little Al Bhed boy who joined the Gullwings of course.
"You mean the President?"
"President…?"
"Don't tell me you don't know who President Rufus Shinra is." The girl who sat at the back of his truck certainly gave off a vibe different from the other folk around here, from her looks and her overall sense, she was definitely a foreigner. But Shinra was well known around the whole world, even towns like Wutai had their fair share of Shinra, and thus why they've been bustling with tourists for the past few years.
"No, no…I've heard of Shinra!" She's only heard very little from Ifalna's letters, all she knew that they were obviously a group somehow, someone who had been after her father's friend for whatever personal reason. It had to do with her race, right? But that was all she knew, her knowledge hadn't been very far from that she had read in the letters, and that hadn't been many.
"Then you must know of the rumors of how they've 'changed', right? They were the ones who help built Edge after all, and built that monument for Meteor. You've been to Edge, right?"
"No…it's my overall first time here."
"We're almost there – it's my last stop so you're going to have to make due on your own for the time being. Will you be alright?"
But Yuna had ignored his question. "Shinra built Edge so…Shinra must be there, right?"
"I don't know, not many people like Shinra for all that they've done." If they provoked fear to a woman who was once the friend of her father, she would imagine so. This was her only clue and right now she needed to take it, Shinra was connected to this Edge place, someone was bound to know where they resided, with that clue she can find Ifalna and Aerith.
Next stop, Edge.

This city was very unlike any other city she has seen, even the ruins of Zanarkand had felt much livelier and had more color than this; and this was before all the tourists began to fill the entire area. As populated as the streets had been it still felt rather depressing with the grayed up sky, the bulky buildings that seemed to all lack life, and most importantly, what appeared to be homeless citizens sitting among alleys or outside shops looking dreadfully pale and hungry. Unfortunately, she hadn't carried much gil with her and she needed some of it for herself in order to find a room at an inn for the night. But she still offered a little bit of it to an old man covered in a dark cloak that covered all but a wrinkly, fragile hand. He croaked out a thank you and Yuna leaned down to his level, pressing her palms against her knees. "Take care alright?" She said in a soothing, hushed voice but then a shocked gasp escaped the clothed man and the tender smile that had appeared on her face quickly faded away replaced with a confused and lost expression. The young woman turned side to side before finally hurrying away, the old man had remained silent and hadn't uttered another word.

Yuna was a newcomer, she knew this, she was a foreigner and compared to others she was incredibly different, the big contrast between the melancholy feel and that certain 'glow' about her had grabbed the attention of the people around her and she knew it from their stares. Really, she only had one question in mind – where was the president of Shinra?

"Excuse me?" But no matter how hard she tried to talk to someone, to gain their attention, no one would take the time to speak with her. They all shunned her and passed by, some didn't even turn their heads, they probably hadn't heard her speak…or they just didn't trust her. Is everyone in this 'other land' so cold like this? At this rate, she would never get too far, but she needed to try. If asking around didn't work, then maybe she can look around instead? The president shouldn't be too hard to find, especially with such a high rank, though as Yuna continued along the pavement, waving through others, the shoulder of a much taller and burly man had bumped into hers with enough force to send her forward on her side. Instead of helping of her up and apologizing though, he had stepped by as if nothing had happened; he hadn't even turned to look at her. How rude; incredibly rude of some people… and to make matters worse, as Yuna got back on her feet her elbow and knee had been scrapped pretty badly with an angry red patch with fresh blood on each of them, and her skirt, similar to the blue and white sash she wore with her 'Gunner' outfit, had been torn and dirty at the front. Well, this day was starting out just fine.
"Dammit!" She hissed to herself in a whisper, inspecting the wounds, she needed to get these cleaned up. As she straightened herself out her vision immediately fell upon a small figure—a little girl—who stood a few feet away from her, watching her with gentle brown eyes. Straight cut bangs had hung at the front of her forehead and her hair had been pulled back to a small braid, held at the top with a pink ribbon, her outfit was white, consisting of a sleeveless turtleneck and a long skirt. Unlike the rest of the citizens around here, she had actually acknowledged Yuna; a worry look to her face as her eyes went from Yuna's face to her knee. "You're hurt," she said.
"No…I-I'll be fine." She put a hand assuring the small girl that nothing was wrong, though her scrapes stung. "I just need to clean them up so they don't get infected…some dirt might have gotten in them but I think I can handle it…" nothing a little healing magic couldn't help right?
"Does it hurt?"
"A little but I'm alright."
The small girl only shook her head, her hands propped themselves on her hips as she looked up at the woman. "You don't need to act, if you're hurt we have to fix it." Before she knew it little fingers had wrapped around her hand and pulled her away from the pavement, Yuna tried to halt and tried to explain to the small girl that she was fine, the scrapes weren't that serious and she had suffered worse. But the two still approached a two story building, at the top there had been the logo – what looked like gold daggers forming into a circle, the black '7th' in the middle had been the most noticeable and around this circle, inside the 'daggers', had been the words 'Seventh Heaven' in red.

The small girl passed through the front doors bringing Yuna along what appeared to be a humble looking bar. A few tables at the front had lined here and there though not too many, many photographs and art; all framed had decorated the walls. At the back had been the bar, a woman in black had casually cleaned up dishes and shot glasses behind the counter, she stopped when she realized Yuna and the little girl had walked in.
"Marlene, who's…?" It was hard to tell in the lack of light but dark bangs had framed her face, the woman watched the both of them curiously through her dark eyes, almost matching her hair.
The girl named Marlene had simply shaken her head, clasping both of her hands behind her back. "She's injured."

So the young girl's name is Marlene? The dark haired woman's attention turned from Marlene to Yuna, she noticed the blood on her knee, the dirt on cheek as well as her torn skirt. Most importantly she noticed how distinctive she had been. Her sense of clothing, her jewelry (mostly the sole earring at right side which had consisted of different shades of blue and yellow beads, ending at a soft blue fur at the end), just everything about her had been so distinct from what anyone else in this city.
"Are you alright?"
"I-it will be alright." The woman had pulled up a seat from one of the tables nearby, offering it, to which Yuna took without hesitation; she didn't realize how exhausted she felt till now. Of course, she quickly collected herself, offering a polite smile to the woman and thanked her.
"Don't sweat it, I'll find some bandages, in the meanwhile would you should relax," the woman turned to her back to her, not before looking back, offering her own polite smile as well. "By the way, I'm Tifa."