Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Long Way Home ❯ Rikku ( Chapter 3 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Neon Ronin 
A look into the mind of the most energetic Al Bhed you ever met.
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.06.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 268 | Status: Completed
A look into the mind of the most energetic Al Bhed you ever met.
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.06.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.3K | Visits: 268 | Status: Completed
[A/N: The Neon Ronin owns not the characters, just his imagination… though that is subject to discussion. Please to review; the more I get, the more I will post.]
The Long Way Home
Rikku
Y’know, it isn’t always easy putting on a happy face. A lot of people just take the world at face value and act like major grumps most of the time; they say they’re being realists when really all they are is pessimists. Me, I’m an optimist. One of the things Pops taught me when I was little- practically the only good bit of advice he ever gave me- was to always look on the bright side. And if there wasn’t a bright side, try your damnedest to make one. I guess that sort of ties into an old saying we used to pass around- how memories are nice, but in the end that’s all they are. I could’ve dwelled on the destruction of Home until it drove me miserable, but I didn’t. It was something we had to do to save the Al Bhed as a whole, and on the bright side, we don’t have to live in fear anymore. We can go wherever we please.
Thing is, sometimes that isn’t enough. Being an optimist doesn’t always keep you smiling, and having a saying about memories doesn’t make some of them less painful. The day Sin died for good, my dearest wish came true in that my cousin Yuna didn’t have to die to make it happen.
But at the same time, I lost a good friend, and Yunie lost part of her heart.
I’d known Tidus ever since he first washed up on the ruins we were exploring, despite the fact that because of that stupid Sin we got separated for a good long while, and I won’t deny that I did develop some pretty strong feelings for him. His straightforward attitude, that goofy smile of his- I guess he just reminded me so much of myself, it was hard not to like him. Still, his cluelessness could be a little much, but I can’t really blame him for that- he didn’t grow up in our Spira, after all. Don’t get me wrong, I never actually fell in love with him or anything like that. Those were feelings I was saving for someone else, someone I hadn’t seen in a while who I could verbally spar with and actually enjoy it- someone whom I was hoping hadn’t gotten himself killed when he left Home to join the Crusaders. If there was going to be anyone I fell in love with, as crazy as it may sound it would probably have been Gippal anyway. Attitude aside, he and I have known each other since we were toddlers and have always gotten along well- a few misunderstandings here and there, but he’s all right. As for Tidus… he was more like a brother than anything else. Certainly more of a brother than Brother had ever been.
That day, I tried real hard to keep my smile as he started to fade away, hollering out that we were gonna see each other again soon, even though I didn’t know if that was true or not. Most everyone else just stood there, kinda stunned by what was going on. He’d fought by our side, he’d jumped at the chance to fight tradition and find a way to save Yunie’s life when he discovered what the Final Summoning involved, he’d even gotten Wakka to get over his prejudice against the Al Bhed. Most importantly, he’d been there to give Yunie a shoulder to cry on. I never told anyone that when we were camped out in Macalania, I caught sight of the two of them together in the lake. I couldn’t sleep and had gone for a walk when I heard them talking, so I hid and watched for a while. It was all I could do not to start crying when she did; she’d kept those emotions bottled up so long and never showed them, probably thinking it wasn’t right for a summoner to be afraid. She hadn’t confided in Lulu or Wakka, who’d known her longer, or even in Kimahri, who’d practically raised her. Yet to this one mysterious Blitzball player, she opened her heart.
It made me want to cry, but smile at the same time. I’d seen the hints along the way, the little glances they gave each other, the way they worked as a perfect team when we broke out of Bevelle and doubled back to make sure Kimahri got out with us. Sure, they were somewhat different personalities, but their hearts were so similar it would’ve taken a whole slew of bad karma to stop them from falling in love.
And then he was gone.
Everyone else in Spira was jubilant, there were parties on just about every city block celebrating the final demise of Sin. I decided that the best thing, for the moment, was to be immersed in the crowd and feel the same happiness they felt. Yes, it was painful at first, but I’ve always been a party girl at heart and it wasn’t long before I was forgetting the bad times and living it up as only I knew how. But I wasn’t the only one who needed to live it up; this was Yunie’s night too, and she deserved to have a good time and realize that she had really beaten the odds. Not only was this Calm not temporary, she had survived- and that was reason enough to party in my book. So I took her by the hand and led her on a grand tour of the nightlife of Luca. We must’ve bounced around between three different parties that night.
It sure looked like she was having a good time… but as the night wore on, I knew something was amiss. The smile she had was the one she used whenever things seemed to be bad, the one she once told me she used to keep from feeling sad. I remember feeling more than a little aggravated and how I kept trying to pull her out to the dance floor to just let it all out. Okay, she did eventually start to smile a little more and I got the sense she was finally enjoying herself, but it was still hesitant. Then it occurred to me that once the parties end and people start to rebuild their lives, get things back on track, what was Yunie going to do? Would she be able to cope with the new direction her life had just taken, or would she back away from it and start to dwell on her memories?
I had decided to look on the bright side, to believe he wasn’t gone for good and would be back someday- but I didn’t know if she believed it. I think that’s the moment it was hardest to put on a happy face; knowing she wasn’t happy made me unhappy.
That’s why I started coming to Besaid whenever I got the chance. If there’s one thing I have any confidence in, it’s my ability to make people smile. Gippal told me once when we were younger that my attitude is infectious, so I was gonna play it for all it was worth.
Okay, so maaaybe some of the smiles I got were unintentional; I can’t help it if I’m an occasional klutz! Besides, that chocobo looked tame to me…
Still, what smiles I did get were worth it. And my suspicions were spot-on, too; with Yuna suddenly in the spotlight, she really did begin to shy away from a lot of people. With good reason, might I add- it couldn’t have been more than three months since the defeat of Sin when people began to send her invitations to lead the New Spira, or to help them with an exceptionally minor crisis, not to mention the dozens of marriage proposals that showed up at her hut on Besaid almost daily. And I won’t lie, a lot of those proposals were rather blunt and unintentionally in bad taste. I didn’t blame Yunie one bit for turning down the offers, but I would’ve been happier if she’d been less polite in her refusals. I mean, come on! She’d just defeated the greatest fiend that ever lived and she was still acting like a temple acolyte or something! The least she could’ve done would be to let her emotions loose once in a while!
Then she did let them loose. Sometimes when I was visiting, other times not. I can still remember being jarred out of a perfectly good dream by her voice as she cried out, miserable after another one of her nightmares. I remember Wakka and Lulu being there in an instant to make sure she was okay. Sometimes I would be right there with them, helping to calm Yunie down and usually pulling a funny face to try and get her to smile. Other times Wakka would take me aside, saying that she and Lulu just needed a little time- those were the nights the nightmares were at their worst, and the last thing she needed was the two of us being goof-offs at that moment. My happy face faltered then, too- but at the same time, I would remember how much Wakka had once hated the Al Bhed, and compare it to how well we got along nowadays. That in and of itself made it a bit easier to keep smiling. We’d walk for a while as Lulu was tending to Yunie, and he’d tell me stories about his early Blitzer days and the memories he had of his childhood with Lulu and Chappu- at least, the memories that didn’t get washed away by Sin.
It was on one of those nights he confided in me that he’d fallen for Lulu, and at first I thought he was kidding. I started to laugh until he produced the gold ring with Macalania crystal, at which point I did a double-take and practically exploded with joy. He was going to propose to Lulu, and I was the first to know!
I didn’t need any prompting to keep my smile on for that news, obviously. That was the point where I resolved to make it my personal mission to drag Yunie out of the depression pit she’d been digging herself, and get her up and going again. With news like this, she had to realize there was more to life than moping!
Unfortunately, it took a while to get around to it. Pops butted into my life again and more or less ordered me to help Brother out with a project he’d been working on since the Calm began, which didn’t do much to help my demeanor. Of course, then I found out what the project was- another airship, which he and his friend Buddy had located in the frozen North Lands and wanted to get running again. That alone almost made up for Pops dragging me away from Yunie, and I dove into the project full-force, even though I knew it meant near-constant arguments with Brother at all times. Thankfully Buddy was there as a peacemaker, so we ended up focusing more on the ship’s reconstruction and less on throttling each other. On the down side, Project Celsius- as they had named it- took longer than I anticipated, and I wound up getting back to Besaid just in time to miss Wakka and Lulu’s wedding. I was sooooo pissed off at Brother and Pops, but then I caught sight of Yunie. She was still wearing her Summoner’s robes, which were getting a little frayed, and her hair had grown a lot- and she was smiling. Not that lame “smile to ward off sadness” smile, but a real smile.
Then she told me how she wanted to remake her image and get back on her feet again, and would I help. Boy, was that a no-brainer! Sure wasn’t hard to be happy about that!
First we had to work on her clothes- and frankly, I was surprised she didn’t say no to a lot of my suggestions. With all her Summoner’s training, I figured she would’ve turned down the sheer top and jean shorts idea, but not only did she accept it, she added a little flair of her own. Sort of a homage to her one and only- and yes, I was still sure we’d see him at some point or another. I couldn’t help but grin at the thought of how many male eyes would be drawn to that Abes logo. After the clothes came the hair, a lot of which she was glad to be rid of even though she still kept a bunch in that ponytail of hers. We’d planned to go on a sightseeing tour of Spira…
Then Brother called me up again. Said he needed help with another project. With a groan, I said goodbye to a now-happier Yunie and left Besaid once more.
A lot of time passed before I was able to make good on my promise to her. I wound up doing some investigative work on Bikanel, a few odd jobs with Brother for a new group calling themselves the Machine Faction. That’s when I found out Gippal was still alive, but he was so busy with Faction business and I’d been in a sour mood because of my close proximity to Brother, so our reunion didn’t really go very well. We both wound up saying stupid things we didn’t mean, and eventually left on a bad note. It really sucked because in my heart I still had a crush on him, and I know he meant well, but some of the things we said hurt both of us for a while.
Eventually things got smoothed out and Brother unveiled his plan for the airship- he wanted to found a team of Sphere Hunters. At first I thought it was a corny idea, but later realized it might prove kinda fun.
A lot of things happened in rapid succession after that. We started out solo, with me as a primary hunter. Then we crossed paths with Paine, who joined up seemingly on a whim- someone who was real quiet and not too personable. Just the sort of treasure chest I wanted to crack! Of course, that sword of hers was a real bonus in a fiend fight… Then we located the sphere with a certain image of a certain person, and I knew Yunie had to join us at that point! Finally, we were going to get our tour of Spira, and maybe get her man back in the process! Okay, so maybe it was a bit sudden the way we spirited her out of Besaid, but she didn’t mind. In fact, she seemed to love it.
Then a whole lot of other things started snowballing us at once. The LeBlanc Syndicate, then the people of New Yevon and the Youth League fighting with each other was just an appetizer. Sure, we were able to operate like a well-oiled machina, but it was still pretty stressful. It didn’t help any that Gippal was acting cockier than usual when we saw him again; I guess he was still sore over some of what I’d said last time. But then… then when we got mixed up in the whole Vegnagun incident, that’s when things started getting hard.
It was hardest of all when we found out about Shuyin. The fact that it was him in that sphere, not Tidus, must’ve been a real gut-wrencher for Yunie. I was still trying my damnedest the whole time to keep her mind on the bright side, but it wasn’t easy. Go figure, huh; the world was arguing with itself, fiends started pouring out of the temples, and a 1000-year old ghost was hijacking the biggest machina I’d ever seen and wanted to blow us all to pieces. And to top it all off, it seemed like we were the only ones capable of doing anything about it. And all I’d wanted was for Yunie to have some fun hunting spheres with me.
Not exactly the easiest time in the world to be the sunny one of the crew, I’ll tell you right now.
But then he came back…
It was right after we’d finished off the whole Shuyin mess and were heading back to Besaid. I remember whining about missing the big party back in Luca, and I was really curious as to why Yunie had this nervous/happy look on her face. I was guessing something had happened in the Farplane and was trying to figure out what it was, when all of a sudden she was scrambling towards the elevator and hollered at Brother to land right then and there! She was on the lift so fast I didn’t have time to ask what in the name of the Fayth she was doing; the next thing I knew, the whole ship was shaking as Brother splashed down in the shallows just off the beach. Paine headed straight for the elevator and I was stumbling along right behind her, and about a minute later we were climbing down the access ramp when something caught my eye.
She was in his arms, happier than I had seen her in the longest time. Neither of them seemed to really be paying attention, so for the moment I just shut up and let them be as a grin spread across my face. I didn’t even bother to call out and let them know the villagers were coming down to the beach; it just wouldn’t have been right.
I didn’t know how it was possible, but it was. Her guardian and her love, my best friend and surrogate brother… he’d come back. This was one time I didn’t need to force a happy face; I knew everything was going to be all right.
And then that cdibet(stupid) Wakka had to shout out and suggest they get a room…
Oh well, at least it broke the tension and got more than a few of us laughing. It wasn’t long before we’d all reunited up on the beach and started swapping stories about what had happened those past two years. I knew we were in for one of the biggest parties Besaid had ever seen.
That night, when I caught a glimpse of the two of them stealing away from the party, their arms entwined and their lips pretty much all over each other, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
This was much better than any Luca shindig could’ve been. And maybe it wasn’t always easy, but…
Who says being an optimist doesn’t pay off?
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The Long Way Home
Rikku
Y’know, it isn’t always easy putting on a happy face. A lot of people just take the world at face value and act like major grumps most of the time; they say they’re being realists when really all they are is pessimists. Me, I’m an optimist. One of the things Pops taught me when I was little- practically the only good bit of advice he ever gave me- was to always look on the bright side. And if there wasn’t a bright side, try your damnedest to make one. I guess that sort of ties into an old saying we used to pass around- how memories are nice, but in the end that’s all they are. I could’ve dwelled on the destruction of Home until it drove me miserable, but I didn’t. It was something we had to do to save the Al Bhed as a whole, and on the bright side, we don’t have to live in fear anymore. We can go wherever we please.
Thing is, sometimes that isn’t enough. Being an optimist doesn’t always keep you smiling, and having a saying about memories doesn’t make some of them less painful. The day Sin died for good, my dearest wish came true in that my cousin Yuna didn’t have to die to make it happen.
But at the same time, I lost a good friend, and Yunie lost part of her heart.
I’d known Tidus ever since he first washed up on the ruins we were exploring, despite the fact that because of that stupid Sin we got separated for a good long while, and I won’t deny that I did develop some pretty strong feelings for him. His straightforward attitude, that goofy smile of his- I guess he just reminded me so much of myself, it was hard not to like him. Still, his cluelessness could be a little much, but I can’t really blame him for that- he didn’t grow up in our Spira, after all. Don’t get me wrong, I never actually fell in love with him or anything like that. Those were feelings I was saving for someone else, someone I hadn’t seen in a while who I could verbally spar with and actually enjoy it- someone whom I was hoping hadn’t gotten himself killed when he left Home to join the Crusaders. If there was going to be anyone I fell in love with, as crazy as it may sound it would probably have been Gippal anyway. Attitude aside, he and I have known each other since we were toddlers and have always gotten along well- a few misunderstandings here and there, but he’s all right. As for Tidus… he was more like a brother than anything else. Certainly more of a brother than Brother had ever been.
That day, I tried real hard to keep my smile as he started to fade away, hollering out that we were gonna see each other again soon, even though I didn’t know if that was true or not. Most everyone else just stood there, kinda stunned by what was going on. He’d fought by our side, he’d jumped at the chance to fight tradition and find a way to save Yunie’s life when he discovered what the Final Summoning involved, he’d even gotten Wakka to get over his prejudice against the Al Bhed. Most importantly, he’d been there to give Yunie a shoulder to cry on. I never told anyone that when we were camped out in Macalania, I caught sight of the two of them together in the lake. I couldn’t sleep and had gone for a walk when I heard them talking, so I hid and watched for a while. It was all I could do not to start crying when she did; she’d kept those emotions bottled up so long and never showed them, probably thinking it wasn’t right for a summoner to be afraid. She hadn’t confided in Lulu or Wakka, who’d known her longer, or even in Kimahri, who’d practically raised her. Yet to this one mysterious Blitzball player, she opened her heart.
It made me want to cry, but smile at the same time. I’d seen the hints along the way, the little glances they gave each other, the way they worked as a perfect team when we broke out of Bevelle and doubled back to make sure Kimahri got out with us. Sure, they were somewhat different personalities, but their hearts were so similar it would’ve taken a whole slew of bad karma to stop them from falling in love.
And then he was gone.
Everyone else in Spira was jubilant, there were parties on just about every city block celebrating the final demise of Sin. I decided that the best thing, for the moment, was to be immersed in the crowd and feel the same happiness they felt. Yes, it was painful at first, but I’ve always been a party girl at heart and it wasn’t long before I was forgetting the bad times and living it up as only I knew how. But I wasn’t the only one who needed to live it up; this was Yunie’s night too, and she deserved to have a good time and realize that she had really beaten the odds. Not only was this Calm not temporary, she had survived- and that was reason enough to party in my book. So I took her by the hand and led her on a grand tour of the nightlife of Luca. We must’ve bounced around between three different parties that night.
It sure looked like she was having a good time… but as the night wore on, I knew something was amiss. The smile she had was the one she used whenever things seemed to be bad, the one she once told me she used to keep from feeling sad. I remember feeling more than a little aggravated and how I kept trying to pull her out to the dance floor to just let it all out. Okay, she did eventually start to smile a little more and I got the sense she was finally enjoying herself, but it was still hesitant. Then it occurred to me that once the parties end and people start to rebuild their lives, get things back on track, what was Yunie going to do? Would she be able to cope with the new direction her life had just taken, or would she back away from it and start to dwell on her memories?
I had decided to look on the bright side, to believe he wasn’t gone for good and would be back someday- but I didn’t know if she believed it. I think that’s the moment it was hardest to put on a happy face; knowing she wasn’t happy made me unhappy.
That’s why I started coming to Besaid whenever I got the chance. If there’s one thing I have any confidence in, it’s my ability to make people smile. Gippal told me once when we were younger that my attitude is infectious, so I was gonna play it for all it was worth.
Okay, so maaaybe some of the smiles I got were unintentional; I can’t help it if I’m an occasional klutz! Besides, that chocobo looked tame to me…
Still, what smiles I did get were worth it. And my suspicions were spot-on, too; with Yuna suddenly in the spotlight, she really did begin to shy away from a lot of people. With good reason, might I add- it couldn’t have been more than three months since the defeat of Sin when people began to send her invitations to lead the New Spira, or to help them with an exceptionally minor crisis, not to mention the dozens of marriage proposals that showed up at her hut on Besaid almost daily. And I won’t lie, a lot of those proposals were rather blunt and unintentionally in bad taste. I didn’t blame Yunie one bit for turning down the offers, but I would’ve been happier if she’d been less polite in her refusals. I mean, come on! She’d just defeated the greatest fiend that ever lived and she was still acting like a temple acolyte or something! The least she could’ve done would be to let her emotions loose once in a while!
Then she did let them loose. Sometimes when I was visiting, other times not. I can still remember being jarred out of a perfectly good dream by her voice as she cried out, miserable after another one of her nightmares. I remember Wakka and Lulu being there in an instant to make sure she was okay. Sometimes I would be right there with them, helping to calm Yunie down and usually pulling a funny face to try and get her to smile. Other times Wakka would take me aside, saying that she and Lulu just needed a little time- those were the nights the nightmares were at their worst, and the last thing she needed was the two of us being goof-offs at that moment. My happy face faltered then, too- but at the same time, I would remember how much Wakka had once hated the Al Bhed, and compare it to how well we got along nowadays. That in and of itself made it a bit easier to keep smiling. We’d walk for a while as Lulu was tending to Yunie, and he’d tell me stories about his early Blitzer days and the memories he had of his childhood with Lulu and Chappu- at least, the memories that didn’t get washed away by Sin.
It was on one of those nights he confided in me that he’d fallen for Lulu, and at first I thought he was kidding. I started to laugh until he produced the gold ring with Macalania crystal, at which point I did a double-take and practically exploded with joy. He was going to propose to Lulu, and I was the first to know!
I didn’t need any prompting to keep my smile on for that news, obviously. That was the point where I resolved to make it my personal mission to drag Yunie out of the depression pit she’d been digging herself, and get her up and going again. With news like this, she had to realize there was more to life than moping!
Unfortunately, it took a while to get around to it. Pops butted into my life again and more or less ordered me to help Brother out with a project he’d been working on since the Calm began, which didn’t do much to help my demeanor. Of course, then I found out what the project was- another airship, which he and his friend Buddy had located in the frozen North Lands and wanted to get running again. That alone almost made up for Pops dragging me away from Yunie, and I dove into the project full-force, even though I knew it meant near-constant arguments with Brother at all times. Thankfully Buddy was there as a peacemaker, so we ended up focusing more on the ship’s reconstruction and less on throttling each other. On the down side, Project Celsius- as they had named it- took longer than I anticipated, and I wound up getting back to Besaid just in time to miss Wakka and Lulu’s wedding. I was sooooo pissed off at Brother and Pops, but then I caught sight of Yunie. She was still wearing her Summoner’s robes, which were getting a little frayed, and her hair had grown a lot- and she was smiling. Not that lame “smile to ward off sadness” smile, but a real smile.
Then she told me how she wanted to remake her image and get back on her feet again, and would I help. Boy, was that a no-brainer! Sure wasn’t hard to be happy about that!
First we had to work on her clothes- and frankly, I was surprised she didn’t say no to a lot of my suggestions. With all her Summoner’s training, I figured she would’ve turned down the sheer top and jean shorts idea, but not only did she accept it, she added a little flair of her own. Sort of a homage to her one and only- and yes, I was still sure we’d see him at some point or another. I couldn’t help but grin at the thought of how many male eyes would be drawn to that Abes logo. After the clothes came the hair, a lot of which she was glad to be rid of even though she still kept a bunch in that ponytail of hers. We’d planned to go on a sightseeing tour of Spira…
Then Brother called me up again. Said he needed help with another project. With a groan, I said goodbye to a now-happier Yunie and left Besaid once more.
A lot of time passed before I was able to make good on my promise to her. I wound up doing some investigative work on Bikanel, a few odd jobs with Brother for a new group calling themselves the Machine Faction. That’s when I found out Gippal was still alive, but he was so busy with Faction business and I’d been in a sour mood because of my close proximity to Brother, so our reunion didn’t really go very well. We both wound up saying stupid things we didn’t mean, and eventually left on a bad note. It really sucked because in my heart I still had a crush on him, and I know he meant well, but some of the things we said hurt both of us for a while.
Eventually things got smoothed out and Brother unveiled his plan for the airship- he wanted to found a team of Sphere Hunters. At first I thought it was a corny idea, but later realized it might prove kinda fun.
A lot of things happened in rapid succession after that. We started out solo, with me as a primary hunter. Then we crossed paths with Paine, who joined up seemingly on a whim- someone who was real quiet and not too personable. Just the sort of treasure chest I wanted to crack! Of course, that sword of hers was a real bonus in a fiend fight… Then we located the sphere with a certain image of a certain person, and I knew Yunie had to join us at that point! Finally, we were going to get our tour of Spira, and maybe get her man back in the process! Okay, so maybe it was a bit sudden the way we spirited her out of Besaid, but she didn’t mind. In fact, she seemed to love it.
Then a whole lot of other things started snowballing us at once. The LeBlanc Syndicate, then the people of New Yevon and the Youth League fighting with each other was just an appetizer. Sure, we were able to operate like a well-oiled machina, but it was still pretty stressful. It didn’t help any that Gippal was acting cockier than usual when we saw him again; I guess he was still sore over some of what I’d said last time. But then… then when we got mixed up in the whole Vegnagun incident, that’s when things started getting hard.
It was hardest of all when we found out about Shuyin. The fact that it was him in that sphere, not Tidus, must’ve been a real gut-wrencher for Yunie. I was still trying my damnedest the whole time to keep her mind on the bright side, but it wasn’t easy. Go figure, huh; the world was arguing with itself, fiends started pouring out of the temples, and a 1000-year old ghost was hijacking the biggest machina I’d ever seen and wanted to blow us all to pieces. And to top it all off, it seemed like we were the only ones capable of doing anything about it. And all I’d wanted was for Yunie to have some fun hunting spheres with me.
Not exactly the easiest time in the world to be the sunny one of the crew, I’ll tell you right now.
But then he came back…
It was right after we’d finished off the whole Shuyin mess and were heading back to Besaid. I remember whining about missing the big party back in Luca, and I was really curious as to why Yunie had this nervous/happy look on her face. I was guessing something had happened in the Farplane and was trying to figure out what it was, when all of a sudden she was scrambling towards the elevator and hollered at Brother to land right then and there! She was on the lift so fast I didn’t have time to ask what in the name of the Fayth she was doing; the next thing I knew, the whole ship was shaking as Brother splashed down in the shallows just off the beach. Paine headed straight for the elevator and I was stumbling along right behind her, and about a minute later we were climbing down the access ramp when something caught my eye.
She was in his arms, happier than I had seen her in the longest time. Neither of them seemed to really be paying attention, so for the moment I just shut up and let them be as a grin spread across my face. I didn’t even bother to call out and let them know the villagers were coming down to the beach; it just wouldn’t have been right.
I didn’t know how it was possible, but it was. Her guardian and her love, my best friend and surrogate brother… he’d come back. This was one time I didn’t need to force a happy face; I knew everything was going to be all right.
And then that cdibet(stupid) Wakka had to shout out and suggest they get a room…
Oh well, at least it broke the tension and got more than a few of us laughing. It wasn’t long before we’d all reunited up on the beach and started swapping stories about what had happened those past two years. I knew we were in for one of the biggest parties Besaid had ever seen.
That night, when I caught a glimpse of the two of them stealing away from the party, their arms entwined and their lips pretty much all over each other, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
This was much better than any Luca shindig could’ve been. And maybe it wasn’t always easy, but…
Who says being an optimist doesn’t pay off?
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