Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Shades of White ❯ What Words Beget ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1

Kaysa moved swiftly, yet deliberately, through the market. Her path took her straight through the throng of people, only veering off course to stop at one of the few shops that did not sell some form of machina part. She paused when people greeted her, kindly smiling and waving at them in response. Despite the constant stops, her mind remained on following her mental map of the market, one that she has been following for years, as well as making sure her charge was close by.

Kaysa glanced down at her hand, and was rewarded with the sight of her old canvas bag, filled with various vegetables. What was supposed to be a young girl was instead some produce. Worry began to creep into her mind as she started to scan the surrounding area for what she had lost. An initial look of the nearby shops turned up nothing. Kaysa, her worry starting to become replaced with fear, began to run back the way she came, her gaze looking everywhere.

"Oh, I hope she hasn't been taken. If my baby is gone, I don't know what I'll do," Kaysa thought. She knew that Cid had some political enemies, but none that would go so far as to strike at his family.

"Lady Kaysa? Are you alright?"

Kaysa turned towards the sudden voice, her attentions momentarily taken away from combing the market.

"Hello, Varsa," the older woman replied, struggling to maintain her disposition. "I'm sorry that I cannot talk, but my daughter is missing."

Varsa smiled knowingly at the reply.

"She's getting into trouble again, I see," Varsa said. "It's a good thing I had to pick up a new valve for one of the hospital's speeders."

"Why's that?" Kaysa said, perplexed.

"Look over there," the nurse said, pointing in the direction of a nearby stand. At first, Kaysa only saw numerous Al Bhed meticulously going through the shop's wares. Several moments went by, and Kaysa saw nothing of interest. She was growing agitated and was about to bid the nurse farewell so that she can find her child, but something suddenly caught her eye. Amidst the sea of grime covered leather and tarnished buckles, Kaysa caught a glimpse of what Varsa was talking about.

Two well toned men that Kaysa recognized as members of the Psyches were arguing over what the team needed more: new equipment for the team or replacement parts for the team's fishing boat.

"How are we supposed to beat the Goers this year if we don't even have blitzballs to practice with?" One questioned.

"We have balls to practice with. Why do we need to buy new ones?" the other retorted.

"They're as old as the last Calm!"

"The team needs to eat!"

"You mean the team needs to go out on fishing trips."

"Yeah, what's your point? You can eat fish."

"But.. hey watch it kid," the first said.

A young girl, no more than four years old, rushed between the two, and instantly began to rummage through the bin that the two were standing over. Her little hands began to pore through the assorted machina, getting them completely covered in oil and grease. She had to stand on her tiptoes in order to reach into the bin, her blond ponytail bobbing as she examined the different parts.

Kaysa saw the ponytail and instantly recognized it as belonging to her daughter. She quickly thanked Varsa for being so observant and began pushing her way through the crowd. Shoving aside the two hapless blitzers, she grabbed her daughter by the arm.

"What's gotten into you? Do you have any idea how long that I've been looking for you? Don't do that to me, Rikku. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you," Kaysa scolded, her voice calm despite the fact that she was extremely worried about her child.

"I'm sorry, mommy!" the girl wailed. "I just wanted to take a small peek, but there was so much fun stuff…I'm sorry."

A slight frown etched its way onto Kaysa's face.

"I've told you before, Rikku. I don't want you playing around with machina," she said while literally pulling the girl away from the stand.

"But daddy lets me," the young girl sulked.

"Well, I'm not your daddy," she said. "Now, let's head back home. I'm going to make your favorite tonight."

Rikku's eyes began to widen and a smile erupted at her mother's words. Eagerly, she took her mother's hand and started to skip in time with her mother's pace through the market, not once straying from her side.

****

"I thought I made it clear that I don't want our daughter to be involved with machina."

"I understood you perfectly, Kaysa."

"So why did she tell me today that you let her? Are you calling your daughter a liar?"

Silence reigned for a moment.

"And what's wrong with machina?"

"Nothing, unless all you do is constantly pore over it in a workshop every day for hours on end!"

"I didn't realize that I married a Yevonite."

"Call me whatever you want, Cid, because I really don't care at this point. I'm warning you though. If I find so much as a smudge of grease on Rikku, no stupid contraption will help you."

More silence.

Finally, a door opened and closed. Soft footsteps made their way down the hallway. They stopped briefly in front of Rikku's room before continuing on their way down the stairs and out of earshot.

Rikku lay in her bed, very awake. She had heard every word that was yelled by her parents. Each shout caused her to wince and threatened to drive her to tears. All throughout the argument, she clutched her pillow tightly with her eyes screwed shut, trying to shut out the sound of her parent's screams. Finally, her youthful resolve gave in and she began to softly sob into her pillow.

Rikku had never heard her parents talk to each other like that before. She was used to hearing them trade stern words, especially when it concerned machina, but she had never heard them actually yell at each other. Her parents' argument left her with a terrible feeling in her chest. Because she had to look at that stupid engine, her mommy got mad. Really mad. Rikku knew that her parents' yelling was her fault. She felt terrible and wanted to do something about it, but she didn't know what to do. She wanted her parents to not be mad at each other. She wanted to get rid of this horrible feeling in her chest. More than anything, however, she wanted everyone to be happy.

"I have to go talk to my mommy," she thought. "I have to tell her to not be mad at daddy."

Working up the courage, she hopped out of bed with one last sob. Immediately, her legs started to buckle and she almost fell. Rikku quickly steadied herself, and made her way over to her door. Fumbling for the handle in the dark, she slowly pushed open the door. The door swung soundlessly and with little effort. Cid made sure that anything mechanical in his house, door hinges included, operated to its full potential.

Rikku made her way to her parents' room as quietly as she could. Hopefully Brother was still asleep, and Rikku didn't want to wake him up. She wasn't sure why, but she was afraid. Her instincts told her to run back to her room and hide under her covers.

"No," she thought. "I have to make things better. Must not be afraid."

Furrowing her face in determination, she pushed the door open to her parents' bedroom. Her mother was sitting on the bed, alone. She looked up at the sound of the door being opened. Her face was a mask of weariness. Rikku had never seen her mother wear an expression like that. She always thought of her mother as so kind and angelic, always so helpful and nice. It was unsettling to see her almost broken. Rikku felt her fear quickly start to rise as the image of her mother burned itself into her mind.

"Rikku? What are you still doing up, baby?" Kaysa said. Her voice sounded extremely tired and strained.

Hearing her mother's voice was too much for Rikku. Tears began to trickle down her face, and her lower lip started to quiver.

Kaysa immediately recognized her daughter's emotional state and scooped the girl up. Rikku wrapped her small arms around Kaysa's neck, tears still streaming down her face. Kaysa stroked her daughter's blonde hair, trying to soothe the child.

"Don't be mad at daddy, please," Rikku whispered.

"What was that, baby?" Kaysa said, barely hearing what her daughter had whispered.

"Don't yell at daddy," she repeated, burrowing her forehead into her mother's neck. "I don't want you to fight. Please, mommy."

Kaysa was speechless. She was still mad at Cid, of course. However, seeing her child like this broke her heart. It was hard to hold onto her anger with Rikku hugging her, almost pleading with her.

"Please, mommy?" the girl said once more.

"Of course, sweetie. Of course," Kaysa finally said.

The sleeping girl never heard her.

++++

A/N:

Whew, finally got this thing started. I kind of like the way things have started to develop. I'm going to see Tool tomorrow (sugoi!), so I hope to start the second Chapter on Friday if I have time. It'll be up sometime next week, hopefully.