Destiny: Memories of Water Chapter 2
Lady Yuna
By IceWolf645
I came out of washing looking like a whole new person. No longer ragged and grimy, my long golden hair was swept over my shoulder in one of Ruka's hair bands and I was wearing some old clothes of Sanya's. Unfortunately, scratches don't wash off, so I still had about a hundred of those in various places. Ruka grinned as I reentered the cluttered 'house' and motioned to the hammock. "Wakka and Sanya are gonna be back with some dinner soon, and then it's off to the temple."
"Okay," I said. This was fine with me, considering that I was famished. I was prepared to eat anything. It didn't take long for the father/daughter duo to get back. They were carrying four steaming bowls of some sort of soup, and Sanya had a grimace on her face stressing how hot it was.
"Take it! Take it! Oh man, that's some hot stuff," Sanya said handing me one. Wakka handed Ruka hers and sat his in whatever free space he could find, before searching through one of the boxes. He pulled out four spoons and passed them out.
"Eat up, okay? If I'm gonna tell ya exactly who Yuna is we're probably gonna be at the temple past midnight. The story takes a while to tell, ya?" he said, sipping down a bit of his soup. He shuddered. "It's a bit hot yet. I'd better get us somethin' ta drink, ya?"
He walked out of the hut for a second and returned with a few glasses of water. Everyone accepted them gratefully. The soup was enough to light your tongue on fire. I knew first hand from taking an experimental sip. I decided to let it cool and set it off to the side.
Sanya already had half of her soup drained. She seemed to like the heat, as long as it wasn't on her hands. "So," she said after she gulped down a few noodles and some broth, "when's the vacationin' trio comin' home, eh?"
"Should be home tomorrow. They been gone for a week already," Wakka said in between slurps of soup and water.
I was curious. "Where did they vacation to?" I asked. I wanted to fill my head with as much knowledge as I could. I felt very unhappy knowing so little.
"They went to Guadosalam to visit the Farplane, and then to Luca to have a nice week away from guys and pestering, annoying offspring like us," Ruka said with a grin.
I finally chanced a bit of my soup. "What's the Farplane?" I asked while slurping a noodle into my mouth. I knew it was bad manners, but not a person in the hut had really good manners.
Wakka spoke up. "The Farplane is the place where dead souls rest after being sent by a summoner. It's the only old tradition that didn't die out after we beat Sin. Everythin' else is history, ya?"
"Sin?" I questioned, wanting to know more.
"You'll find out about Sin when you hear Lady Yuna's story," Ruka said. I contented myself with that answer and sat back, listening to the chatter that flowed back and forth across the room, trying in vain to absorb it all into my brain. It was mind boggling how much I had yet to know.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The temple turned out to be the large building I'd noticed before. I wasn't very surprised. None of the huts looked like they could house anything special. Wakka pushed the stone doors opened and beckoned me inside. Ruka and Sanya followed, but looking a bit serious for once. Statues filled the room. Each was a replica of a summoner, Wakka pointed out. He named them all and finally came to the newest looking statue in the room. It was of a young girl who looked no older than myself. She held a staff in her frozen hands and had a sweet smile on her face.
"That," Wakka said, "Is Lady Yuna, the last summoner." He smiled at the statue and patted it, and then began to tell me the story.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Wakka was right. It was about midnight when he finally finished, and I found that I had tears in my eyes, as did Ruka, Sanya, Wakka, and the small crowd of young children and elders who'd gathered. Ruka leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I've heard it so many times, but I cry every time I hear it. It's worth it to hear it from everyone, but Lady Yuna doesn't like telling it that much."
I could understand that. It's hard to try and tell or retell something that's sorrowful. I was crying like I'd cried when I'd first seen Bahamut. I cried, and I only halfway knew why. I remembered hearing Wakka say something about Bahamut. He'd called the dragon an aeon, the spirits that summoners called to assist them in times of need. It felt strange, in a way, to know that Bahamut had appeared to me and sent me to Besaid, the place where Wakka's story had begun.
I let my eyes fall on Yuna's statue again, and realized that her smile was a sad one. I had a weird feeling in my stomach, and looked away. It was that feeling, the one where I wanted to cry and throw up. Wakka must've noticed, because he said, "Hey, you don't look so good. Better get ya to bed, ya?"
I nodded and swallowed. I felt like I was going to faint, and staggered out wearily after my three friends.
~*~*~*~*~*~
It took me awhile to get to sleep that night, and when I did it was disturbed by strange dreams. Dreams of Bahamut. This time he was accompanied by two other creatures, a lion with an eagle's wings, and a fiery red bird. They spoke to me.
"You are ready, are you not?" the lion said in a calm voice. He gestured towards the waters. "They call to you."
I started. He was a powerful creature, but I couldn't help but trust him. His eyes were familiar, and so was the scar that ran down one of them. The bird wasn't as familiar, but I got the same feeling from it as I did from the lion. "May the strength of the past go with you," he said. His voice was peaceful and soothing. He looked at Bahamut, and the dragon spoke.
"Give it time," he said, half to me, and half to the other beasts. They nodded, and one by one, faded into the darkness of the dream world, and I awoke.
It was dawn outside already. I could hear Wakka conversing with Sanya and Ruka about me. I didn't want to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help it.
"It is a lil bit freaky, isn't it?" Ruka was saying. "She wasn't there five minutes before we found her. I was looking out there."
"Maybe you just didn't see her, ya?" Sanya said, sounding incredibly giddy for someone who'd probably just woken up.
"I don't know..." Ruka said hesitantly. I heard Wakka sigh and speak up, a little bit sleepily.
"Jus' drop it, ya? There's no reason to get all jumpy about it! She coulda been in a shipwreck or somethin'!"
"You're probably right," Ruka replied reluctantly.
I sat up. I knew what they were thinking. Wakka'd told me all about him yesterday. The boy, Tidus, had appeared in almost the exact same way that I had. I ran my fingers through my hair and lay back against the hammock. I didn't blame them for being suspicious. I was suspicious of myself, considering that I knew about as much about me as they did.
I tried to make myself go to sleep again, but I couldn't. The sunlight was shining in on my face and birds were twittering their songs joyously in light of the new day. I sat up once more, and stood up from the hammock, all the while watching my feet for those strange dolls. I walked outside into the sunlight and welcomed it happily. The sky was full of fluffy white clouds and it was a pure blue. Wakka, Sanya, and Ruka were sitting outside enjoying the sun themselves.
"Hiya Destiny!" Sanya said cheerfully. "It's about time you woke up!"
Ruka turned her head around to look at me and said, "C'mon, sleepyhead! Breakfast is almost ready."
"Okay." I sat down next to them and tried to get sight of whatever Wakka was cooking. It smelled delicious, and I was starving (again). I raised my chin a bit and tried to peer over Wakka's shoulder.
"Hey! No peekin', ya? Wait 'til it's done," he said with a grin. I sighed and slumped back. I watched a few little kids playing for a while, wondering when Wakka would be done with whatever he was making, when a shadow appeared over Besaid. I raised my eyes into the sky and was greeted with the sight of a flying machine-thing that was bigger than the whole village itself.
"Mom's home!" Sanya said. She jumped up from her sitting position and grabbed the back of my shirt. "C'mon! Ya gotta go see them with us." She pulled until I was standing, and then raced off down the road. Ruka jogged after her, and I followed, running to catch up with them. Wakka came behind me a few moments later, panting.
"Whoa.. I'm not as young as I used to be, ya?" he said to Sanya. She grinned apologetically, and trotted out into the sands of Besaid Beach. The great flying-machine thing was landing in the water as smoothly as it could. People were waving from the dock happily. I recognized one of them as the lady in the portrait at Wakka's house, and the other as, of course, Lady Yuna. The third person was a blonde haired woman who could only be Ruka's mother, and the last person on deck wasn't even human. He was huge, and covered with bluish gray fur. A broken horn stuck out of his forehead and his face was pulled into an everlasting look of solemnity. He didn't bother waving. He just acknowledged our presence with a nod.
"Kimahri came too! Hehe.. he's so much fun," Ruka said with a mischievous grin. She motioned towards the blue-furred creature. "Kimahri's a Ronso. He was one of Yuna's guardians during her pilgrimage. You remember hearing about him, right?"
I remembered Wakka describing Kimahri vaguely. I nodded. "Yeah, I remember." I noticed the Ronso staring at me with his piercing yellow eyes. He seemed to be contemplating something. "I thought Kimahri went back to Mount Gagazet to help rebuild his home after Sin was defeated," I said.
"He did for a while. He's too close to Yuna to keep himself away for long. He considers himself her permanent guardian, I guess," Ruka said, waving to her mother. A set of stairs was lowering itself from the flying thing to help the three women and the guardian down. I was surprised when another person came out with them, a bald man with a muscular body.
"That's Cid, the local airship pilot," Wakka said. So that's what the big thing was called, an airship.
"Yup! That's grandpa Cid!" Ruka said, rushing forward to greet everyone. Wakka and Sanya followed, and I trailed along behind. I felt sort of uncomfortable, especially with Kimahri's eyes burning into me as they were.
"Hello everyone!" Lady Yuna said happily as she descended the last step. She embraced Wakka and the two girls joyously, and turned in a little circle. "So, what do you think?" She was wearing a dress that glittered in the morning sun and danced a small graceful dance to show it off.
"Beautiful, Yunie!" Ruka said, clasping her hands together. Yuna bowed gratefully and smiled.
And Kimahri's eyes penetrated my flesh, and for a moment I had the feeling that he knew more about me than I did.