7 To Trust a Guardian

I turned away from her, refusing the delicious looking fruit that she was offering, I continued to pound away at the nail with my rock. I was really hungry, but I knew that it was so much more important for her to keep her strength up than for me to. This world's fate rested on her shoulders. The only thing's fate that had ever rested on my shoulders was the outcome of a blitz game. I felt so useless and insignificant, but that didn't matter. She left, and I could hear her retreating footsteps on the old, worn wooden dock. I leaned down, grabbing another nail from the bowl at me feet, and began to pound it into the house. I decided that after I finished putting in this nail, I could move on to the next house. My arm ached from pounding in nails for hours, since long before sunrise. My stomach complained loudly at me, reminding me that I had just turned down food, when I hadn't eaten since early the day before. My throat was dry, and I could hardly swallow. My whole body was covered with filth, my once yellow vest was still covered in dried blood, as well as my chest and most of my body from the spawn attacking me the day before.

If it weren't for Yuna, I wouldn't even be alive right now…were would I be? Would I go back in Zanarkand? Would I just cease to exist? What happens to people when they die, anyway?

I finished off the nail with one last, extra hard blow, and then stepped back to admire my work. The house looked terrible. I was certainly not a carpenter, but, it looked strong, it would do its job. I walked around the house, testing every corner and wall until I was satisfied that it was sturdy. Then I decided to go check on the injured people, and, if needed, carry out anyone who hadn't made it. I just hoped that Yuna'd been able to heal them. As I walked through the village towards the building, I saw a young girl sitting crying in a rickety shack, which was swaying dangerously back and forth on the stilts that held it out of the water. I started to call out to her, saying that she should get out, but just then, a large bird landed on the roof, and the heavy boards sagged, and almost in slow motion, began to crash down towards her. Without thinking, I dove into the building, grabbed her, and dove back out rolling to a stop on the dock as the whole building crashed into the water, and the bird flew screeching away. I helped the girl stand up, and then she did the prayer gesture, my Zanarkand's blitz victory sign, to me and then ran off. I realized that that I'd probably just saved her life. After thinking on that for a moment, I continued to walk down the way towards the building where all the injured people were. Some villagers were scattered here and there, making repairs to the demolished buildings. I saw a man working on some pipes of some sort, but I didn't know what he was doing. When I arrived at the building, one of the only ones that hadn't been completely torn apart in the tidal wave, I was very glad to see that the people who had been lying there, dying this morning, were sitting around the room, alive and well, eating fruit. I smiled, knowing that Yuna must have been successful.

I just hope it didn't take too much of a toll on her.

Seeing that she wasn't here, I figured she must be okay, so I walked in, smiling. "Do you have any more of that fruit? One of the women nodded, a large smile on her face, and extended a basket to me. I took several, wolfing down the first one in only a few bites.

"Thanks! Do you know where Yuna went?" The woman pointed me in the direction towards the place where Yuna had done her dance the night before." I nodded and hurried off, hoping that she hadn't tried to do a sending so soon. It didn't take a lot of knowledge about this world to know that it took a lot out of her. I hurried in the direction, forgetting about the fruit I was carrying. I became very worried when I saw that the bodies that I had helped carry there this morning were gone. That meant that she must have done a sending, but she should be nearby and I didn't see her anywhere.

I slowly scanned over the water, and I thought that I saw something glistening a long way out. Something stirred nervously in my stomach, and I decided to check it out. I dropped the fruit which I had long since forgotten, and waded quickly into the water until I was waist deep, and swam as fast as I could to the place that I'd seen the sparkling thing. I kept my eyes open, and the salt water stung, but I kept my eyes glued to the spot. I had no trouble holding my breath, and I swam very quickly, having practiced for years back in Zanarkand. When I got close to the spot, I could see a dark form deep in the water. My heart lurched with fear, and I kicked hard, darting quickly towards it, and wrapping my arms around the person's body and swimming to the surface. As I pulled the person up, I saw the glistening thing that I'd seen from shore. It was Yuna's staff. New fear enveloped me; the person in my arms was Yuna.

When I reached the surface, I pushed her head up out of the water. Her face was pasty white, her eyes closed, and her head hanging limply. I treaded water, hoping desperately that she was breathing. Suddenly her head shot up, and she gasped, coughing and gasping again. Relief coursed through me, and I turned her so that she could see me. She looked at me, her face contorted in pain, her eyes clouded with exhaustion.

She said nothing, and didn't appear strong enough to swim, so I swam back to the dock, pulling her along with me. When I reached the dock, I carefully hoisted her onto it, and then pulled myself out of the water. She lay there gasping for breath, a cycle of coughing and gasping that lasted for several moments. I sat beside her, waiting for her to finish. Once she stopped, she just laid there, with her eyes closed. I waited for about a minute, and when she didn't speak, I did.

"Yuna…why'd you do that? You could've died!" I almost felt angry at her, wondering what could possibly be so important about a sending that she had to do it before she had fully recovered from her last one. She opened her eyes, frowning slightly.

"Fiends…I didn't want them to become fiends." She exhaled loudly, as if saying only a few words drained her.I was more annoyed than anything else at this moment. It was irritating that there was so much I didn't know about this world. I wanted to ask her about it, but I knew that now was not the right time. I stood up, feeling a bit awkward.

"Uhhhh. You need to get back to the inn, to rest." She opened her eyes, and blinked at me, acknowledging that she'd heard me. There was no way I was going to leave her here to go get Kimahri to take her back, so, I stooped down, gently picking her up, and carried her back to the inn. As I walked, I received some curious looks from the villagers, but no one said anything. I felt a bit uncomfortable carrying her like this, but I had to do what I had to do. When I finally got back to the inn, I placed her on her bed, and hurriedly backed out of the room, but I bumped into someone standing behind me. I turned around to see a very displeased looking Lulu.

"Ah, heh heh. I ah…" I stuttered, not sure what to say, and wondering why she was always looking at me as if I was about to do something terrible at every second. It was unnerving. I wished Yuna would say something in my defense, but I looked back at her, and she was asleep. Lulu didn't say a word; she just stalked past me, towards Yuna. When she saw Yuna clearly, she turned around and growled at me under her breath.

"What happened?" It sounded like a statement, not a question. I stumbled over my own words, trying to explain. "She-she was in the water, and I saw a sparkly thing, and it was her wand, so I went to get her, and then I took her here, and then I was leaving and then I bumped into you, and then you glared at me…" I was getting out of breath, and she just stood there, looking annoyed. I took a deep breath, and realized what I should say.

"She did another sending!" Lulu's eyes grew wide at this. "Oh." She turned and looked once again at Yuna's pallid, soaked form. Just then, Wakka came in, with Kimahri not far behind. When Wakka saw Yuna, he exclaimed, "Wh-what happened?" "She did another sending…Without telling us." Lulu's second sentence was tinged with irritation. Wakka scratched the back of his neck."Oh." Kimahri grunted, and crossed his arms. All eyes went to me, who was equally as wet as Yuna.

"I-I…she sank, and I pulled her out of the water…" Wakka blinked at me, Lulu glared at me, and Kimahri stood with scowl, though he always scowled. Finally, Wakka broke the uncomfortable silence. "Well! Thanks brudda, it looks like we owe you!" I shook my head. "Nah! Just, uh…can I have some food?" "Sure thing!" Wakka turned to Lulu. "Lu, can you and Kimahri watch her,while I get Tidus and me someth'n to eat?"

Lulu continued to glower, but nodded. As I followed Wakka out of the room, I could feel her stare on the back of my head. She really bothered me, more than ever now, but I pretended that I didn't notice.

I slept in bed for the entire rest of the day, recovering from my second sending, and my second near-death experience in the last two days. By the time the sun had set, I had woken up, but I was still exhausted. Lulu was sitting pristinely in a chair next to my bed, and at first she didn't realize that I was awake. Then I noticed a small flame flickering above the tip of her left index finger. I knew she did this when she was mad. I rolled over to look at her, and she finally noticed that I had awoken.

"Lulu. What's wrong? The flame grew in size, before extinguishing.

"Yuna, you could have DIED." she hissed. "Where then would Spira be?" I felt ashamed. I thought I could do it! I didn't mean to put myself in danger! I-I'm sorry Lulu, I didn't mean to…"

She turned to me, her expression softening. "It's alright, Yuna. You're alive. Just don't ever do that again. I am ashamed of myself. I left you to be saved by…Tidus. He isn't even your guardian, but I failed. We all failed."

"Lulu. It's okay…you…it was my fault. I was the one who didn't tell you." She gave me a brief, almost imperceptible smile. After a moment, she spoke again, moving on to the next subject. "Wakka and Kimahri were repairing in the village all day, so they need to rest. I'm going to be in the next room over, just shout if you need something." I smiled at her. "Thanks, Lulu."

She stood, pointed at the lamp, and a few drops of water fell on the wick, extinguishing the tiny, bright flame. She then left, closing the door behind her. I rolled onto my back, stretching my arms and legs, before rolling back onto my side. I tried to sleep, but though I was worn out from the past couple days, sleep wouldn't come. I laid there for several hours, and the hot, humid island air thickened with every breath I took. Finally, I threw my covers off, and slid carefully out of my bed. I was tired, but my body felt steady, so I padded quietly into the hall. All the doors were closed, and the halls were empty, as was the lobby. I went out into the village, gratefully breathing in the cool, refreshing night air. I sat with my legs dangling over the edge of the dock, above the calm water, looking up at the full moon sitting high in the black sky. After sitting for a few minutes, I closed my eyes, taking in the peace of the night. I tried to distract my mind from the thoughts of what must be going on in the other villages, but visions of people dying, and turning into fiends haunted my thoughts. I jumped when I heard footsteps behind me. I twisted around to see Tidus standing there. His clothes were stained from blood, his hair was messy, and his eyes looked dull and exhausted. He rubbed his eyes, looking at me, confused. "What are you doing? It's kinda late…" His voice was a bit slurred from his weariness.

"Sorry…I just needed some time to breathe. I'll go back now." I felt a little silly, being caught out so late at night, but no one told me I couldn't…Lulu'd probably be upset. I smiled at the thought. Though Lulu could be easily angered, I knew it was just because she cared. I stood up and followed Tidus back to the entrance of the inn. He let out a small shout of surprise as he almost fell headlong into lobby, tripping over a piece of wood carelessly left in the doorway.

I laughed, but covered my mouth, realizing that if any of my guardians came out here, they'd have more questions that I cared to even try to answer. He looked sheepishly at me, before going down the hallway, and disappearing into one of the rooms. I smiled to myself, hurrying to my own room, and climbing into my bed. After a long while, I drifted off into a fitful sleep, my dreams filled with cries of people, weeping over the loss of their loved ones.

TidusxYuna Always