Chapter 13: Nighttime

Charlene was tired, and had fallen asleep quickly, but dozed fitfully and ended up wide-awake after a disturbing dream of Wakka pelting Rikku with rotten vegetables and car batteries. Feeling frustrated, the young woman put her shoes on and stepped outside for some fresh air. It was late afternoon, and the sun was a colossal scarlet ball hanging low in the west, turning sea and sky alike into endless stretches of rose and violet fire, and unlike Kilika's sunset, which blazed like an uncontrollable wildfire, this one burned more along the line of a cheery fireplace on a chill winter's evening. "Oh wow!" Charlie softly exclaimed, ignoring the bewildered look Wakka shot in her direction before dropping back into his sulk.

She watched the sunset a while longer, but then noticed Yuna sitting alone in the grass near the cliff. "Hey, why are you out here all by yourself?" she asked, inadvertently startling the summoner.

When Yuna regained her composure, she turned, gave Charlie a friendly smile, and then patted the grass beside her in a clear gesture of invitation. Then, she turned her attention back to the quiet sunset. "Pretty…" she sighed, probably not even realizing she spoke aloud.

"It really is," Charlie fervently agreed.

"I wish I could live in a place like this," the summoner said with longing. "Peaceful…living with a smile on my face everyday."

"I'd probably die of boredom, myself, but ANYTHING is better than dealing with Sin." However, Charlie kept her opinion to herself, and replied, "You can when you beat Sin, can't you?"

Yuna nodded sadly, and said, "But then a new Sin will be born anyway."

"Yeah, but if it shows its ugly face, then you could just beat it again!"

"I wish I could."

"You can! You're the best summoner there is, I just know it!" Suddenly, the young woman realized that the subject was uncomfortable for Yuna, so she changed it. "Why does Sin keep showing up, anyway?"

"Sin is punishment for our vanity, and it will not go away until we've atoned," the summoner replied, sounding as if she were reading it from a book.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Charlie wanted to know, "What could we have possibly done that was so bad in the first place? Wait…is it the machina thing Wakka told me about? Why would using machina be so bad, anyway?"

"It's funny…" Yuna began, looking thoughtful. "Ever since I was young, I never questioned it, but now that you ask me if it is that bad or not…I don't know. I really don't know."

Suddenly, Charlie jumped to her feet and began stroking an imaginary beard in her best imitation of a highly affronted old man. "That is some dangerous thinking, young lady!" she said, her voice low and harsh despite the fact she was trying to keep from laughing. "When I was your age, we did as we were told without question, and we'd get the ol' hickory switch if we didn't mind our elders!"

Yuna laughed at that, and got to her feet. "That wasn't very nice, you know."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Anyway, when you keep looking up at the sky, you'll end up tripping over something on the ground, but if you just keep staring at the ground, you'll just end up with something falling on your head, you know?"

"Okay…" the summoner's expression was a mix of confusion and doubt.

Charlene wracked her brain, trying to come up with a better explanation. "Uh…I guess what I'm trying to say is that while thinking about other things is good, you should really just keep moving forward until you reach your goal, if that makes any kind of sense. You'll have plenty of time to worry about the future after you beat Sin, so you really shouldn't worry, Yuna."

"I guess…"

Just then, Charlie blinked, as if she just realized something, and she said, "Wait! How do you kill something as big as Sin anyway?"

"The Final Summoning," Yuna solemnly replied. "It's the only way to defeat Sin…the only way. With it, we can call the Final Aeon; that's the goal of the pilgrimage. The Fayth of the Final Summoning lies waiting in the far north, to greet summoners that complete their pilgrimage…" She stopped and performed the prayer before saying, "At the world's edge…in Zanarkand."

"Zanarkand?" "But I thought…"

Before she could ask Yuna about the supposedly ruined city, Auron's voice rang out behind them. "She means the ruins of a city destroyed a thousand years ago."

As the swordsman walked over, Charlie turned back to Yuna and asked, "Are you sure that place was really destroyed?"

"That's what I've heard."

"You'll see for yourself soon enough," Auron stated, and then turned and walked away. "Yuna, come back inside."

The summoner looked at her friend and asked, "Will you go with us…to Zanarkand?"

Charlie nodded. "I'll go. Even if it's just to see these 'ruins' for myself, I'll go."

As Yuna smiled and walked back to the Travel Agency, Charlene looked up at the sky, where the first few stars of the evening glittered uncaringly down at her. "A place that's been dead for a thousand years and a fayth for the Final Aeon… Why does that name sound so sinister?"

…

A while later, Charlene had returned to her room and had fallen asleep again, figuring that Auron would just come in whenever he felt like it. She did not know how long she had slept, but she woke up quickly when the swordsman strode purposefully into the room and snatched the blanket off her. Half-asleep and angry, the young woman threw her pillow at his head, accompanying it with a blistering curse. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Do you have any idea what time it is? What if I wasn't wearing anything decent?" she hissed, keeping her voice down to avoid waking the others.

"It's around midnight, and I'm fairly sure that you wouldn't sleep naked, knowing that you're sharing this room with me," he replied after deftly dodging the pillow. "Now get up and come with me."

"Why?"

"You wanted some training didn't you?" When Charlie nodded, he continued, "Then get up and follow me."

Muttering under her breath, Charlene got to her feet and followed him outside, where he handed her one of two practice blades, which she hefted experimentally. "What in the world is this thing made of?" she wondered, staring at the dull white sword. "It's not wood, but it isn't metal or plastic, either. Whatever this stuff is, it isn't anything that I've ever seen before, that's for sure!"

Before she could ask Auron about it, however, he picked up his own blade and said, "Attack me."

Charlie blinked. "What?"

"You heard me…or are you afraid?" His voice held more than a hint of challenge in it.

The young woman stared at him in complete disbelief, but then shook her head and said, "No."

"Excuse me?" It was his turn to blink in surprise.

"I'm not doing anything until you take that damn collar off!" Charlie stubbornly declared. "If you're going to be my sensei or whatever the hell you call them here, then I have to be able to trust you, and I don't particularly trust people who hide their faces like that."

He glared at her, but she just glared back. "The collar…Take. It. Off," she ordered, emphasizing each word."

Seeing that Charlie was not going to back down, and realizing that she did have a point, Auron finally took his collar off and set it aside. "There, are you satisfied now?" he demanded, sounding like he would throttle her if she said no.

"Yes, oh Great Master of the Sword," she mockingly replied, with an impertinent bow. "God, he acted like it would've killed him to take that damn thing off! I don't know what he needs it for anyway…it's not like he could scare Godzilla with that face or anything!"

Purposely ignoring her acid tone, Auron took on a fighting stance and said, "Now that that's out of the way…attack me."

…

A few minutes later, Charlie was lying on her back for what had to be the tenth time, wondering how she got there. Suddenly, the tip of Auron's practice blade poked her in the shoulder as he stood over her and said, "Guess what? You died again."

"Oh, shut up!" she spat, acknowledging her defeat.

Charlene knew from the very beginning that she had the proverbial snowball's chance in Hell of beating Auron in any kind of fight, but it was still extremely frustrating to have it proved to her again and again. The swordsman let her get to her feet, and smirked at her. "Do you wish to continue, or have you decided to give up?"

"Sadist," she muttered under her breath. "Since you're just SO superior, then why don't you show me what I'm doing wrong, instead of beating me into the ground."

He chuckled, propped his own sword against the wall of the Travel Agency, and walked over to her. "First of all, your grip is incorrect," he said, placing his hands over hers. "Your hands are too close together, and it throws the balance of the blade off when you hold it that way." He corrected her grip and let go. "See?"

Charlie swished the sword experimentally, and said, "I see what you mean. Anything else?"

Auron then gave her various pointers, mostly about defense, due to the earlier episode with the Bombs and her tendency to throw herself into the fray without thinking. "I just hope she remembers most of this when it actually matters," he thought to himself as she finished following all his advice.

"Well, are we going to continue with the torture, or are we done for the evening?" Charlie asked, bringing him back to reality.

Instead of answering, he retrieved his practice blade and turned to face her. "Try it again."

The young woman rushed him, and put all her strength in an overhand strike that he easily blocked. "You shouldn't put all your strength into any single attack unless you are completely sure of victory," he told her, barely suppressing a smirk at her fierce expression. "If you put all your force in one attack, your blade can get caught in an enemy's armor, or worse, miss them completely, especially if they're faster than you., and the recovery time you need will leave you wide open for a counterattack."

As if to emphasize his point, Auron shoved her away roughly, but to her credit, Charlie managed to stay on her feet AND get her sword up in time to block his counterstrike. "So what am I supposed to do then?" she demanded, trying not to buckle under his superior strength.

"Outsmart them," he replied, neatly kicking her feet out from under her.

Charlene landed ingloriously on her backside, and facing defeat yet again. "You cheated, you dirty bastard!" she spat, glaring up at him.

"Fiends won't play fair," Auron told her, not bothering to hide his amusement.

"So I should fight dirty?" Charlie continued to glare at him until he put his sword away and turned to leave, but then she climbed to her feet and grinned. "Well, if it's a dirty fight he wants, then that's what he'll get." However, Auron seemed to expect an attack, because he turned around just in time to catch her flying tackle. Unfortunately, it was also the same moment that Charlie had a klutz attack and somehow got her legs tangled with his, causing both of them to topple over like a couple of felled trees. Suddenly, the two of them were lying on the ground in an extremely awkward position, him on top of her and face-to-face. "God, get off me!" the young woman yelled, "You're squeezing my liver!"

Just then, the Travel Agency's door opened, and Wakka, looking somewhat disheveled, looked out and gaped at the two of them for a long moment, before a blush, followed by a huge grin appeared on his face. "I'll…uh…just leave you two alone, ya?"

"No, wait!" Charlie shouted, but it was too late. "Oh great! Now he thinks we were out here making out or something!"

"No one told you to try to jump me from behind!" Auron growled, rolling off her and getting to his feet.

"You were the one who said that I shouldn't play fair!"

They glared at each other for long moments, and the swordsman finally said, "Your lesson is over for today. Go get cleaned up and go to bed."

"What about you? Are you going to just stay up all night?"

Auron ignored her, so she just went back inside, where, after a quick clean-up, she returned to her room, stripped down to her halter top and overalls, and crawled in the bed. "Ehh…I just know I'm going to feel all these bruises in the morning," she groaned, shutting her eyes just as sleep claimed her.