Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ A Thousand Things ❯ A Thousand Things ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Lenne 
A one-shot expanding on Lenne and Shuyin's last moments together.
Possibly FFX-2 spoilers.
Please review ^_^
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Fantasy / Romance / Angst | Type: One Shot | Uploaded On: 03.06.2004 | Updated On: 03.06.2004 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.3K | Visits: 403 | Status: Completed
A one-shot expanding on Lenne and Shuyin's last moments together.
Possibly FFX-2 spoilers.
Please review ^_^
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Fantasy / Romance / Angst | Type: One Shot | Uploaded On: 03.06.2004 | Updated On: 03.06.2004 | Pages: 1 | Words: 1.3K | Visits: 403 | Status: Completed
A Thousand Things
I start up the machina carefully, following to the metaphorical letter the instructions burned into my mind. After all, it would be foolish of me to risk activating any defences... at the very least, I should wait until the welcoming committee arrives... I'd wager my last Gil that my entry to the machina lab has not passed completely un-noticed.
Glancing toward the door, I wonder if I maybe I have enough time to escape after all... if there's some slight chance or fortune that means I can complete this mission and return home unscathed...
I'm deluding myself, of course. I knew from the very beginning what the end result would be... that this step would be final, irrevocable... but oh, so worth it...
It's then that I see her.
The most beautiful woman in Spira, her rich brown hair shining in the dim light of the lab, large dark eyes fixed upon me as she steps up onto the platform and glares at me.
"What in the name of the High Summoner do you think you are doing? A foolhardy and reckless mission ever I saw one!" Tears fill the dark eyes as she looks imploringly at me, hands clasped before her in what seems to be a traditionally pleading gesture - until, that is, you notice the set of her shoulders and her stubborn chin.
"How do you think you will be able to get away with this... thing!" She waves a dismissive hand at the machina I stand aboard. "You can't surely expect to be able to ride out of here unchallenged - and surely *someone* would notice that their prize weapon is missing, and when that happens, you'll have a dozen squadrons on your heels, surer than the sky over Besaid is blue..." As I watch, her eyes fill with horrified comprehension as the only possible answer dawns upon her.
"No... you can't..." A single tear traces its silvery path down one pale cheek, one hand pressed to her lips to smother the sob emerging from within. "Please, Shuyin... tell me I have it wrong... that you're not going to... to..."
"To destroy Vegnagun and as many of the enemy soldiers as possible? To sacrifice my life to save thousands of people... and the woman I love? I sigh inaudibly, looking down on her with regret for all that we could have been, had it not been for the enemy, for this war, for her duties as a Summoner...
"I'm sorry, Lenne, but I once promised that I would never lie to you, and I'm not about to start now..."
The gauzy blue material of her sleeves flares dramatically about her as she raises her arms, as if such a gesture from a single human, no matter how beautiful, or how powerful a Summoner, could bar the path of Vegnagun.
"I won't let you do this! I won't let you die like this, won't let you die for me..."
"Lenne..." I stop, sighing softly, unsure what to say. She's right, of course, I'm doing this for her... everything is for her, only for her... The whole of Spira could collapse into nothingness, and I wouldn't care, so long as Lenne was safe and well. "I have to do this, love, it's the only way"
"No, it's not!" Her angry glare wounds me to the core, hurting me like only she can. "There must be some other way... I won't accept this, I won't let you do this!"
"Lenne, there IS no other way!" Why can't I make her understand that??
She shakes her head, refusing to listen to me, to believe. "There must be!" Her dark eyes, full to the brim with unshed tears, fix intently upon me. I feel myself moving as, almost against my will, I climb down from the controls and stand before her, my lady, my love...
"Why? Why must there be? So much has been lost already in this war... I don't want for you to be lost as well... I want to keep you safe... after all, that is my job" I grin ruefully at her, trying to elicit a smile with my teasing tone.
"Without you, I am nothing" Her whispered words wound me further, driving a red-hot blade into my soul. "Without you, I may as well be dead..."
I close my eyes briefly, awash in the pain brought by the image of Lenne, alone, grieving for me.
"It's not too late, Shuyin, we still have time... Give up this mission and leave with me now, we can still make it... find some other way..."
But even as she speaks the words, the dark shadow in her eyes, mirroring the one I know is in my own, shows the truth. The sound of footsteps in the corridor, voices, weapons being readied, carries easily through the hangar door.
It's too late. They're coming.... No. They're already here.
She looks up at me, her beautiful eyes filled with unshed tears... tears for herself, tears for me... but most of all, tears for all that could have been... all that *should* have been... all that we could have had together... but that now, we never will...
As I look into her eyes - eyes a man like myself could easily drown in, eyes that I would give anything to be able to gaze into for all of time - she smiles at me - the most beautiful smile I have ever seen - and whispers softly to me, so quiet I can barely hear her words.
"There are a thousand things I should have said to you... that I wanted to say, but could never find the words... Shuyin, I- Aaaa!" Her whispered words become a gasp, a strangled exclamation of pain, the unshed tears slowly tracing a path down her cheeks as she crumples slowly toward the ground, bright fluid spreading across the material of her shirt.
Strange... the white-hot searing pain of the bullet, tracing it's path through my chest, seems alien, distant, almost as if it is happening to someone else... But no, the pain of impact with the cold metal floor, shortly followed by the warm liquid seeping to the floor beneath me, tell me otherwise
"Lenne..." I call out to her, but no sound emerges from my lips. Where is she? Whe- There! She lies facing me, separated from me by only a short distance... but one that seems endless.
I see her, lying so still, just a few feet away, almost within reach... I extend my arm toward her... But I can't move, every nerve and muscle is afire, paralysing me... All I can do is watch... Watch, unable to move, as her breathing slows... falters... ceases altogether... and a single crystal tear traces it's lonely path down her cheek, falling from her lips to the cold floor.
"No! Lenne!" My mind is screaming, protesting, but no sound is heard.
Finally, everything fades to black.
*******************************************
AN: This is my firt fanfic, so please review ^_^
I start up the machina carefully, following to the metaphorical letter the instructions burned into my mind. After all, it would be foolish of me to risk activating any defences... at the very least, I should wait until the welcoming committee arrives... I'd wager my last Gil that my entry to the machina lab has not passed completely un-noticed.
Glancing toward the door, I wonder if I maybe I have enough time to escape after all... if there's some slight chance or fortune that means I can complete this mission and return home unscathed...
I'm deluding myself, of course. I knew from the very beginning what the end result would be... that this step would be final, irrevocable... but oh, so worth it...
It's then that I see her.
The most beautiful woman in Spira, her rich brown hair shining in the dim light of the lab, large dark eyes fixed upon me as she steps up onto the platform and glares at me.
"What in the name of the High Summoner do you think you are doing? A foolhardy and reckless mission ever I saw one!" Tears fill the dark eyes as she looks imploringly at me, hands clasped before her in what seems to be a traditionally pleading gesture - until, that is, you notice the set of her shoulders and her stubborn chin.
"How do you think you will be able to get away with this... thing!" She waves a dismissive hand at the machina I stand aboard. "You can't surely expect to be able to ride out of here unchallenged - and surely *someone* would notice that their prize weapon is missing, and when that happens, you'll have a dozen squadrons on your heels, surer than the sky over Besaid is blue..." As I watch, her eyes fill with horrified comprehension as the only possible answer dawns upon her.
"No... you can't..." A single tear traces its silvery path down one pale cheek, one hand pressed to her lips to smother the sob emerging from within. "Please, Shuyin... tell me I have it wrong... that you're not going to... to..."
"To destroy Vegnagun and as many of the enemy soldiers as possible? To sacrifice my life to save thousands of people... and the woman I love? I sigh inaudibly, looking down on her with regret for all that we could have been, had it not been for the enemy, for this war, for her duties as a Summoner...
"I'm sorry, Lenne, but I once promised that I would never lie to you, and I'm not about to start now..."
The gauzy blue material of her sleeves flares dramatically about her as she raises her arms, as if such a gesture from a single human, no matter how beautiful, or how powerful a Summoner, could bar the path of Vegnagun.
"I won't let you do this! I won't let you die like this, won't let you die for me..."
"Lenne..." I stop, sighing softly, unsure what to say. She's right, of course, I'm doing this for her... everything is for her, only for her... The whole of Spira could collapse into nothingness, and I wouldn't care, so long as Lenne was safe and well. "I have to do this, love, it's the only way"
"No, it's not!" Her angry glare wounds me to the core, hurting me like only she can. "There must be some other way... I won't accept this, I won't let you do this!"
"Lenne, there IS no other way!" Why can't I make her understand that??
She shakes her head, refusing to listen to me, to believe. "There must be!" Her dark eyes, full to the brim with unshed tears, fix intently upon me. I feel myself moving as, almost against my will, I climb down from the controls and stand before her, my lady, my love...
"Why? Why must there be? So much has been lost already in this war... I don't want for you to be lost as well... I want to keep you safe... after all, that is my job" I grin ruefully at her, trying to elicit a smile with my teasing tone.
"Without you, I am nothing" Her whispered words wound me further, driving a red-hot blade into my soul. "Without you, I may as well be dead..."
I close my eyes briefly, awash in the pain brought by the image of Lenne, alone, grieving for me.
"It's not too late, Shuyin, we still have time... Give up this mission and leave with me now, we can still make it... find some other way..."
But even as she speaks the words, the dark shadow in her eyes, mirroring the one I know is in my own, shows the truth. The sound of footsteps in the corridor, voices, weapons being readied, carries easily through the hangar door.
It's too late. They're coming.... No. They're already here.
She looks up at me, her beautiful eyes filled with unshed tears... tears for herself, tears for me... but most of all, tears for all that could have been... all that *should* have been... all that we could have had together... but that now, we never will...
As I look into her eyes - eyes a man like myself could easily drown in, eyes that I would give anything to be able to gaze into for all of time - she smiles at me - the most beautiful smile I have ever seen - and whispers softly to me, so quiet I can barely hear her words.
"There are a thousand things I should have said to you... that I wanted to say, but could never find the words... Shuyin, I- Aaaa!" Her whispered words become a gasp, a strangled exclamation of pain, the unshed tears slowly tracing a path down her cheeks as she crumples slowly toward the ground, bright fluid spreading across the material of her shirt.
Strange... the white-hot searing pain of the bullet, tracing it's path through my chest, seems alien, distant, almost as if it is happening to someone else... But no, the pain of impact with the cold metal floor, shortly followed by the warm liquid seeping to the floor beneath me, tell me otherwise
"Lenne..." I call out to her, but no sound emerges from my lips. Where is she? Whe- There! She lies facing me, separated from me by only a short distance... but one that seems endless.
I see her, lying so still, just a few feet away, almost within reach... I extend my arm toward her... But I can't move, every nerve and muscle is afire, paralysing me... All I can do is watch... Watch, unable to move, as her breathing slows... falters... ceases altogether... and a single crystal tear traces it's lonely path down her cheek, falling from her lips to the cold floor.
"No! Lenne!" My mind is screaming, protesting, but no sound is heard.
Finally, everything fades to black.
*******************************************
AN: This is my firt fanfic, so please review ^_^