The next morning, I wake to the smell of coffee and the sounds of breakfast being prepared. Even without moving I can tell that I am fine, my energy is restored and there are no lasting effects from yesterday's drainage. I smile a contended smile and glance over at my bunk mate. Auron is awake, or something like, and rubs his hand over his face.
"How do you feel?" he asks me, and I wonder how he knows I am awake.
"Good morning to you, too!" I chirp with a little irony seeping into my voice. Auron rolls his good eye. I am not rubbing off on him, am I? The thought makes me grin.
"I'm fine," I say at length, throw back my blankets and sit up. "Really," I tell him in answer to his questioning glance, "this wasn't my first drainage. I know how far I can go, and what is needed to get me back into shape. I am well, my energy is back, and all I need to become my old self again is a shower and a cup of coffee. By the smell of it, the kids are already working on the coffee part, and I am going to shower now. So stop looking at me like that."
Auron grunts and turns away as I get up, and I smile to myself. Auron tends to his own morning routine while I gather my wash bag, towel and some fresh clothes. I do feel rather gross, with my bikini, the salt from the ocean and the sweat of yesterday's exertion dried to my skin and hair.
"Lady Eanna!" Yuna greets me as I leave the tent. "Are you well?"
"I am well, thank you," I tell her. "How are you? Any after effects from your efforts yesterday?"
Yuna shakes her head. "No, I am fine! I am very sorry to have drawn so much of your energy, Lady Eanna. I should have taken care not to drain you."
She looks at me with solemn regret in her big puppy eyes.
"Nonsense! You didn't take more than I was prepared to give. You needed the energy in order to heal Wakka, and I offered. Why should you not take it? You did very well yesterday, that spell really needed a lot of skill, and you performed exceptionally!"
Yuna's cheeks redden as she listens to my praise, but she sadly hangs her head. "Still, I should have taken more care. When I manoeuvred the spell into a dead end, I only wasted energy. I should not have let that happen, let alone twice!"
I want to take her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her, but alas, my hands are full. "Yuna," I try for a calm tone of voice, "never before have you performed that particular spell, and judging by the amount of energy it took, you never tackled anything remotely similar either. Am I right? Look at me," I command, and she slowly raises her head to meet my gaze.
"Honestly, I expected you to make many more mistakes! That spell is more complicated than anything you are used to, it requires far more energy than you normally handle, and what happens? You only make two mistakes! You have incredible skill, Yuna."
I smile briefly at her and make to walk into the direction of the shower facilities.
"Lady Eanna?" Yuna's gentle voice halts me. "If I may ask, as a black mage, how come you can cast Cura? And very well, too!"
My smile widens. "My late husband was a very talented healer. We connected our skills, and some of it stuck with me even after he died. I like the idea that something of his is still with me."
Yuna bows her head. "I am sorry for your loss."
"Thank you," I say simply, and take a deep breath. "I really need a shower now, see you at breakfast, okay?"
"Okay!" Yuna says, much happier than at the beginning of our talk, and skips off.
When I turn to finally make my way to the shower facilities, I see Auron stand in the entrance to our tent. I guess he's been present for the bigger part of our conversation, and I briefly wonder how much Yuna resembles her father, Braska. Quite a bit, at least in character, I guess from the wistful look on Auron's face.
Breakfast is ready and set up when I return, finally clean and refreshed. My long blonde hair is still wet and flows freely over my back all the way down to my waist. I have no drive whatsoever to redo the braiding I usually wear to keep it out of the way. I know I will have to at some point, at the latest when we engage in the training session scheduled for later today. For the moment, however, I enjoy the feeling of my unchecked hair.
"Yo, Sir Auron, Lady Eanna's hair is quite a bit longer than one might think, with all the braiding she usually wears it in, don't you think?" Wakka calls out with a suggestive glance at the seasoned warrior.
I manage to limit my reaction to mutely rolling my eyes at Wakka's blunt attempt at matchmaking, but completely lose my cool when I see the irritated expression on Auron's face. I almost double over from laughing and barely manage to help myself to some coffee. When walking past Wakka, I smack him on the back of his head, hard.
After the kids have cleared the breakfast things away, we sit together to talk through yesterday's events.
Wakka opens the conversation with quite an impolitic question: "So, what kind of punishment will Lulu get?"
Auron harrumphs and Lulu narrows her eyes at the Blitz player. I can see her desire to zap him again as clear as day, but this time, she holds back.
"Punish Lulu?" I ask Wakka, "Why?"
"She tried to kill me, ya!"
Auron harrumphs again and makes Tidus and Kimahri tell us about the events leading up to Lulu hurting Wakka with her spell. Nes and Yuna help with translating Kimahri's signs, and I realise that all of the kids take turns doing so when either Auron or I have had problems understanding them over the last couple of days. They even make sure to alert Kimahri when we start talking without confirming first that Kimahri can actually follow the conversation. Shame wells up inside me, and I silently vow to do better. I also realise how naturally they all pick up on sign language. Nes, having used it as means of communication himself for a time, and Yuna having grown up with Kimahri are best at it of course, but the others are quite good, too. Even Wakka, who isn't the most open-minded person in all of Zanarkand. Those kids have been friends for years, so accommodating Kimahri has become second nature.
As it turns out, Tidus and Wakka were teasing Lulu relentlessly over something or other while making dinner. At some point, she said something along the lines of demonstrating with them at the receiving end, but instead of shutting the boys up, the comment only egged them on. They continued to badger the black mage until she snapped, blasting Tidus off his feet and pinning Wakka under her spell.
Next, Lulu explains how she simply wanted to make them stop teasing her by zapping them only a little, and how her anger got the better of her. She elaborates on how she used a new form of Thundara which she had come up with herself, but had not had the time to finish yet. Finally, she shares how her spell got out of control almost instantly and how she tried to dissolve it, without success.
"Pity that we are here at this rather luxurious camp ground," Auron comments evenly when Lulu has finished her account. "You two," he jerks his head to the Blitz players, "deserve latrine duty for the rest of the trip!"
Both of the boys give incredulous little yelps, but Auron talks over them.
"You pushed a black mage beyond her limits, what did you expect to happen? It is all sherry and giggles until somebody gets hurt. You should know better than to push your luck like this, and you should know better than doing this to one of your own party. You effectively took out both your black ages, your white mage and one of two fighters with long-range skills for the entire night. That is half of the party. Out in the wild, your childish antics would have cost lives, maybe those of all of us. Think of that, when you are next about to regress into the mental state of a three-year-old."
Note to self: Never be at the receiving end of Auron's glare. He does not need his second eye at all to glower any mere mortals in the vicinity into the ground. He succeeds very well with only one eye.
"Oh, do wipe that smug smile off your face, Lu!" It's my turn to glare now. "To let yourself get carried away like that, to cast at members of your own party in anger, to use a spell that's essentially a lucky bag for being only half finished yet, what were you thinking?"
Lulu's cheeks turn as crimson as her eyes, and she has the grace to lower her gaze.
"Well, off you go now. Get your combat gear and start practice at the clearing, Auron and I will follow after we discuss what we are going to do."
"Will you cut the trip short and send us home?" Yuna asks, her voice timid and small.
"Maybe," Auron deadpans.
Everybody is silent for a moment, until Kimahri rises from his seat and quirks a questioning eyebrow at his comrades. They rise as one and do as I told them, hanging their heads.
As I watch Nes's retreating back I know that I will not have the heart to cut the trip short. This means so much to him, I simply cannot bring myself to take that away from him because of the misdeeds of others. With a sigh I get up to help myself to some more coffee and extend the coffee pot in Auron's direction. He shakes his head.
"Well, what do you think?" he asks when the last of the kids have vanished through the trees. I put a finger to my lips to shush him, close my eyes and concentrate for a second.
"That's better," I comment before I sit down again. "I conjured a protective bubble. We will hear everything that happens around us, but nobody should be able to hear what we are saying."
I take a sip of my coffee, and continue. "Well, I think that Lulu's spell is a fine piece of magic, half-baked or not. By the way, nice shield you conjured there, yesterday. I didn't know you had any power."
"I have not, or rather I only have minuscule powers. Braska taught me that shield spell on our pilgrimage, he argued that if I insisted on taking hits for him he could at least make sure that I have the full use of any means of protection available to me."
"Still, to conjure a shield for oneself and extending it to protect somebody else are quite different things. If your talent is as minimal as you tell me, your discipline must be impressive."
"Braska was relentless in his drills." Auron shrugs his shoulder. "So were the warrior monks I grew up with. Discipline is an old friend of mine."
His statement does not seem to warrant an answer, so I take another sip from my cup.
"Are you really thinking about returning early?" I ask finally.
Auron harrumphs. "No," he answers, "I do not think that it would carry any point. You?"
I shake my head, relieved. "Me neither. But as latrine duty isn't feasible, I am fresh out of ideas here. I suppose another lecture will have no effect at all, neither do I believe that we have anything of substance to add to what we have said already."
"Nes has not given you that much trouble then, if you cannot think of any punishments," Auron states. I suspect he is hiding a smile in his coffee cup, too.
His comment makes me laugh. "Well, I had my share of troubles with Nes, but hardly any of them were due to misbehaviour on his part. You see, he was severely traumatized by the death of his parents. They died in a glider accident caused by a Bevellian air raid, and Nes was in the vehicle with them. At five years old, he was just old enough to understand the horror of the situation."
"Is that why he did not speak for a while?"
"Yes. It took years until he was able to speak verbally again. How do you know?"
"Tidus told me. That boy is talking non-stop when he returns from school. A few years ago he told me how he had asked Nes how he came to know the sign language so well, and Nes told him that he was non-verbal for a time. I gather this is how you come to understand Kimahri's signs."
"Well, at least when the big guy takes it easy with me. Since Nes started talking again, I forgot many of the signs I had. Anyway, you got any ideas about what to do with the bunch?"
Auron pulls his full lips into a mischievous smile. "The warrior monks were firm believers in physical punishment. While I do not believe in dealing out blows as a means of making a person understand their misconduct, I believe that some physical exhaustion might be in order."
"A training session?" I ask.
"The mother of all training sessions," Auron corrects.
"Not only for Wakka, Tidus and Lulu, but for all of them." I warm up to the idea. "You can take the boys through some physical exercise, I am sure the warrior monks left you with some ideas," I smirk, "while I take care of the girls. Magic training," I explain at his raised eyebrow, "when I finish with them they will be just as done for as the boys, I promise."
Auron and I indulge in smirking at each other for a moment, our eyes glinting mischievously.
"Ugh, I can't believe we are doing this!" I exclaim suddenly. "Punishment with educational value!"
Auron's hearty laughter completely floors me.
The kids interrupt their practice fights when Auron and I enter the clearing a few minutes later in full combat gear, but minus claymore and coif, respectively.
Auron, who is a master orator for all his being so taciturn all the time, is in no hurry to break the silence as he positions himself in the middle of the group. He makes sure his katana rests comfortably on his shoulders before he begins to speak.
"We will part the group. Yuna, you and Lulu will train with Lady Eanna. The boys will train with me."
He lets this pronouncement hang in the air until Tidus cannot take the suspense any more. "Have you decided on our punishment?" the Blitzer demands to know.
"Yes," Auron says flatly, and everybody waits for him to elaborate. He does not.
"So what will be our punishment?" Lulu asks.
"You will see."
"Will you cut the trip short?" Wakka wants to know.
"No."
The group gives a little cheer at that, even Kimahri grins widely for a second. I can hardly stand the relief that plays out on Nes's face that moment.
"So what will be our punishment?" Tidus's voice has a distinctly whiny quality to it.
"We will make sure that you wish we had cut short the trip," Auron states ominously. Before any of the kids can speak up again, he commands them to get ready.
I lead the girls to the far side of the clearing and give them a little lecture on the groundwork of magic. It involves the terms "discipline" and "physical fitness" and it used to make me sick with boredom when I was a young mage. I can see Lulu's eyes glaze over.
"Good, then, Yuna, put down your staff, and off we go. Ten laps around the clearing should do the trick." Both girls look at me incredulously, but do not dare object. So we start jogging. I start out slowly, and increase our speed with each lap.
Once, I imagine to see the ghost of a smile on Auron's lips, when we pass by him.
In the spur of the moment, I add an eleventh round, in full sprint. Lulu and Yuna are panting heavily when we finish.
"Good," I say. I am pleased that I hardly sweat, in spite of the heat. I am fully aware that I owe that fact to my training with the claymore, were I 'only' a mage like Yuna and Lulu, I'd certainly not be in any better shape than they are.
"Lulu, you have been given the task of finding a way to get some offensive property to Yuna's staff. Let's see how far you've gotten there. Yuna, you attack Lulu. Lu, only defence, please, not attacks. Ready? Go!"
I watch with a critical eye as Yuna attacks. Apparently, Lulu has not been the only one working with Yuna, but Kimahri as well. Yuna deals some substantial blows with her staff, even without any magical enhancements. So Kimahri's lance expertise helped her just as Auron hoped it would. When Yuna whirls around to deliver another blow, this time combined with some battle magic, I realise that the three of them must have taken time to practice together. Yuna moves gracefully, even in battle, and each of her movements with her staff as a weapon is well timed with any spells she casts. Even though Yuna still needs a lot of practice, she pushes Lulu back pace by pace. The black mage has her hands full deflecting Yuna's attacks, and needs to jump to evade them more often than not.
"Enough"! I call when Lulu trips over a root and lands on her backside.
"Very good, both of you." I pull Lulu up.
"Again!"
Obediently, the girls start a new practice fight, while I throw in comments as necessary.
"Yuna, footwork!" or "Lulu, concentrate!" and the like.
The second fight ends with Lu flat on her back, ironically floored by a Thunder spell she could not deflect.
I have the girls repeat the exercise a few more times, varying the instructions only slightly, like having Lulu try and reflect all spells back to Yuna instead of deflecting them just anywhere, or having Yuna try and land more physical blows to Lulu than magical ones.
After a while I call for a break and make the girls drink some water. We watch Auron making the boys do push-ups for some reason, a very entertaining sight.
"Okay, let's continue. Lu, you will attack now, and Yuna will defend."
I can tell the girls want a longer break, but that's not what we set out for today.
The practice fights last longer with tasks divided like this, as both girls are in their respective comfort zones now. Yuna has managed some really impressive protective spells over the last couple of days, her progress in that regard surpasses her progress in offence techniques by a wide margin. I decide to spice things up by giving them additional rules to observe which works quite well. Lulu eventually manages to beat Yuna, and I tell them to repeat the exercise a few times.
"Very well," I tell them after Lu has beaten Yuna the fourth time, "let's shift the focus. Up to now, you have been working on your skills, and on your use of energy. Now let's work on your concentration. You will both conjure a permanent shield now, and attack each other. Your goal is to take down the shield of your opponent, understood?"
Both girls nod tiredly.
"Ready? Go!"
Technically speaking, there is no such thing as a permanent shield in battle. In order for the shield to protect the caster without inconveniencing them, the spell needs to be held up actively all the time. It does not necessarily require a huge amount of energy to be kept up, but rather a steady flow of energy to stabilize it. As this requires no little amount of concentration, in a real battle situation a mage would conjure a shield only as needed, which means that shield training usually focuses on speed and precision, not on permanence. By telling Yuna and Lulu to keep their shield up at all times, I force them to devote a huge amount of concentration to this, thus making it harder for them to attack. As expected, the exercise rapidly depletes their strength.
After a while Yuna, for whom the shield spell is easier to maintain, has the chance to blow Lulu's shield into her face, but lets it pass. With a lazy gesture, I obliterate Yuna's shield and send her flying.
"Yuna!" I admonish her, as she picks herself up, a little confused. "We are not here to play nice! When you have an opening in battle, you either use it, or you die!"
"Yes, Lady Eanna!"
"Ready? Go!"
I torment the girls relentlessly with ever new rules to their practice fights, until Auron decrees that it's time for lunch break. We make them all eat and drink a little, and throw a round of potions in order to restore their strength.
"How's it going?" I ask Auron with a grin. Judging from the sweat soaking the boys' clothes, it's going quite well.
"They will be too tired to even think of teasing anyone tonight," he confirms. "How about you?"
I throw him an evil smile and collect the girls for more training. This time, I conjure the shield, and have them attack me with the goal of bringing it down. It takes them an awful amount of time to come up with the idea to coordinate their efforts. Still, as I am not attacking them and can concentrate on my shield, they are not able to break through. So I start commenting their spells again, pointing out mistakes, potential for improvement and missed opportunities. Yuna and Lulu learn quickly, and even though I do not say so, I am very proud of them.
After a while, I start hurling random spells at them, not to hurt them per se, but rather to break their concentration. I do not change their target of bringing down my shield and am pleased to notice that their attacks do not lose much of their power in spite of the increased difficulty.
When I get bored, I call for another short break for us all to drink something.
"Okay, girls, now you will fight each other. No limitations, only one rule: Do not kill each other. We don't have that many Phoenix Downs. Ready? Go!"
Lulu and Yuna are well matched in strength, even though their skills are very different. Yuna excels in defence, Lulu in offence. Never the less, their fight is rather balanced, making it very interesting to watch. Lulu wins the first fight, but her victory is far from easy.
I set them against each other again, this time commenting their performance again. Lulu wins three more times, until, during the fifth fight, a very exhausted Yuna manages to get behind Lulu's defences and punches the black mage on the nose with all her strength.
Immediately, both Yuna's hands fly to cover her mouth in alarm and shame, while a very surprised Lulu shrieks out in pain. Blood gushes over her face and spills down the front her dress. I grab her by the arm and lead her to a tree, where I make her sit down on the ground. With one look I can easily tell: "Your nose is broken."
I hear Yuna's gasp behind me, and set her to fetch some clean water and a cloth. Lulu glares daggers at her retreating form.
But it's nothing very complicated, and I repair the damage with Cura before Yuna is even back from her errand.
"I am so sorry," the White Mage says over and over again, as I clean all the blood from Lulu's face.
"Why?" I ask her, "because you inflicted pain? That's what this is all about! You saw an opening and used it. Besides, this is easily repaired, and will not leave a trace."
"It still hurt a lot, thank you very much," Lulu throws in crankily, and I laugh.
A glance over at Auron's group reveals that their training is still in full swing, but one look at Lulu and Yuna determines that it makes no sense to set them against each other again.
"Okay girls, back up to your feet again. This time, you will fight together, against me. I will mostly defend, to give you a fighting chance. No funny rules, just don't kill anyone."
I take my stance and watch the girls circle me, Lulu to the right and Yuna to the left. They both attack at the same time, and I deflect their spells easily. I quite enjoy myself. Yuna is quick, and Lulu is strong, besides, the black mage has a lot of anger to vent.
They are no match for me. Yet, I silently add. They are certainly talented, and if they keep up the hard work, they, especially Lulu, will catch up with me sooner than I care to admit. I admire their resilience and their stamina, as they relentlessly attack me, even though I give them some hard work with my own attacks. The shadows grow longer on the clearing, and the boys come over to watch. Apparently, Auron has ended their training. Still, Lulu and Yuna fight fiercely, even though their strength is failing. However, they do not seem willing to give up just yet, and land some very neat hits on me.
Soon, however, the two girls can hardly keep themselves on their feet, so I step back out of my battle stance. Yuna and Lulu relax, too, the latter puts her hands on her knees in order to catch her breath.
"Lulu, Yuna, you've done very well today," I tell them, really meaning it. "Let's leave it at that."
I turn to the group and look into some very, very tired faces.
"Okay, Kimahri, Yuna and Lulu, off with you to take a shower. In the meantime, Wakka, Nes and Tidus will cook us dinner." I forestall Wakka's protest with a raised hand. "You can have a shower later, while the others wash the dishes."
With some very tired groaning, the kids pick up their gear and make their way back to the camp.
"So, how was your day?" I ask Auron while I bend to pick up my water bottle.
"Put the boys through some good exercises. You?"
"You bastard! You enjoy this!" I playfully box Auron's chest and he does me the favour of acting as if I knocked him slightly out of balance.
"You do not?" His voice is so low and gravelly; it makes my groin vibrate.
"Fair point," I tell him, and turn in the direction of camp. "Shall we switch groups tomorrow? You can put the girls through some non-magical combat practice and I will torture the boys."
Auron falls into step with me. "Agreed."
The boys give me quite a workout the next day, but I enjoy it. By the time we finish, I am drenched in sweat, yet I feel happier and somehow lighter than I have felt in weeks.
"How long will you two keep this up, ya?" asks a very tired, but also very irritated Wakka, his combat Blitzball tucked under one arm.
"Well, Sir Auron did say they'll make us wish they had cut this trip short," Nes points out, while cleaning his blades off with a rag.
"But this is insane" Wakka cries out in protest. He points an angry finger at Auron. "So, what gives?"
"You disappoint me, Wakka, I would not have thought that this would finish you off after only two short days," Auron drawls at the redhead. "Suggest something. How long should we keep this up?"
"Well, just quit it, will ya!"
I raise an eyebrow at him. "Do you really think we'll let you off the hook so easily? Oh no, you'll have to offer something better."
The group is silent for a while, until Tidus speaks up.
"What if we beat you? In a practice fight? We beat you, and you go back to our original itinerary."
I look at Auron, and nod my head slightly. I like the idea. Auron stares back for a moment, then shrugs.
"Very well," he announces. "You will fight us tomorrow afternoon, after training. If you win, you plan the rest of the trip. If we win, we will continue as we see fit."
Wakka and Tidus each pump a fist in the air. "Day after tomorrow will be an off day!" Tidus declares confidently, a wide grin almost splitting his face in two. The mood is severely lightened by this pronouncement, although I can see that not everybody shares his optimism. The kids pick up their gear and head back to camp.
When they are gone, I feel free to grin widely. "They have no idea what they have gotten themselves into," I quip, and Auron harrumphs in reply.
"But it's actually a good idea," I continue while we follow the group at a slower pace. "It'll give them some opportunity to learn how to work as a team."
True to our word, we end the training early the next afternoon, and line up a practice fight between the kids on one side, and us on the other side. Auron and I stand back to back while the kids spread in a loose circle around us. Despite their best efforts, they last about five minutes before they are all either knocked flat on their backs or otherwise incapacitated.
I help a very shaken Yuna pick everybody up with Cura, and Auron passes around some potions. Then we all sit on the ground. I cannot suppress a compassionate smile at so many dejected looks turned towards Auron and me.
"Tell us what went wrong," I challenge the group.
Nobody speaks for a while, until Nes states the obvious. "We underestimated you." Lulu, Kimahri and Yuna nod in agreement.
"So what happens now?" Tidus asks, somewhat crestfallen.
"You fight us again tomorrow afternoon," Auron retorts, as if this was obvious. "Dismissed."
"You do realise that they need a break," I ask Auron later, as we get ready for the night. Dinner was a very quiet affair, all the kids mulling over the seemingly impossible task we have set before them.
"Yes," he answers, and lowers himself down on his bedroll. "What do you suggest?"
"Tomorrow, we continue as we did today. Training, and a fight against us in the afternoon. But on the day after tomorrow we need to take it slow, not matter who wins. They will have had four days of intensive training in a row, then. So let's give them a break for one full day, and then pick up where we have left off. Or better, vary the scheme a little. We can take them out hiking, there are a few physically challenging trails in the surrounding mountains. I think they are ready for some mild fiend slaying, as well. If we have a day off before we go on such a trip, we should have enough time to plan something feasible."
"Agreed. But the kids should do the planning, and we will not tell them about the break until after the practice fight."
This makes me snort, and shake my head at the same time. "You are so evil, sometimes!"
"Sometimes?" Auron asks drily, which makes me laugh.
Auron switches off the glowing sphere while I settle into the blankets.
"How long do you think until they come up with the idea to coordinate their attacks?" I ask into the darkness. Now it's Auron's turn to snort.
The next afternoon after a long day of training, Auron and I face a set of six very grim faces when we take our battle stances back to back. Despite their disappointment yesterday and the hard training today, none of the kids back down. They seem to have learned at least part of the lesson, as their attacks are more controlled, more thought-out than yesterday, if not really better coordinated. They make Yuna stand back a little, though, and have her focus on healing instead of dealing damage. Still, as they do not protect her, it's far too easy for me to take her out. The group does not last long after that.
I nod in approval after the fight has ended, and smile. "Guys, please listen for a moment before you go back to the tents. We have decided to cut you some slack, so tomorrow we'll all have a break." Their combined cheers interrupt me, and my smile widens.
"After breakfast you will plan our first outing, a hiking trip. We'll have lunch together around mid-day, so that we know that you are all still alive, and curfew will be the same as always. The rest of the day you can do whatever you want, just don't get yourselves killed, okay?"
With more cheers and quite an amount of excited chatter, the kids skip back to the camp. Except for Lulu. She's much too grown up to skip, even though she gets carried along by the happy mood of the others.