Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Ninety-ninth Sacrifice ❯ VIII ( Chapter 8 )

VIII

983 S.A.

 

Cid stood at the rail of his boat in the early morning. Barely any of his crew was awake this early in the morning. The deck was bare, alight with the golden rays of an early morning sun. The sun also glinted heavily off of the beach at which they were docked.

Cid had been making berth at this island for months now, as had many other Al Bhed ships. This was the island of Bikanel, ancestral homeland of the Al Bhed. Hundreds of years ago the island was decimated by Sin and the Al Bhed people were scattered all throughout Spira. Even though Bikanel was just a desert now known as Sanubia, the Al Bhed still flocked here.

Beside him sat the ship's newest member, a young man named Auron. He slept while sitting up, his back leaning against one of the vertical bars on the ship's hand rail. Cid had a good reason for staying awake, but not the young man. This was his, Cid's, sister giving birth, a woman Auron had only met months ago. But the man was resolute in staying at least semi-awake during the entire ordeal.

Cid pet Niisa on the head when he burbled. The baby boy was slung comfortably to his father's chest in a carrying sac his mother made just for him. Niisa's mother was in the room with Sara and Braska, helping in the delivery process. Cid was left to take care of the baby.

Feeling anxious, he kicked Auron in the boot to wake him. The young man awoke quickly, blinking his eyes open. Muttering a “yes sir” in Al Bhed, he climbed to his feet.

“I need you to hold him,” said Cid, gesturing to Niisa.

Only a slight look of confusion on his face, Auron took the baby from Cid. Niisa was a very tolerable child and was settled comfortably when his sac was secured on Auron's shoulders. “Have you ever held a baby before?”

Auron nodded, “I had a little brother much younger than me. But he drowned when he was five.”

Little remarks like this were the only window into Auron's being that anyone had. Other than being loyal to a fault, he was never seen nor heard. Cid was really beginning to feel sorry for the young man who was so gentle with is son. “Be a good boy Niisa,” said Cid, kissing his son on the forehead.

Niisa replied in a burble then closed his eyes and went back to sleep. Leaving Auron and the baby, Cid ventured into the same room his son was born into almost a year ago. He found that he was a little too late to console his sister when he heard a baby's screaming when he entered the inner part of the cabin.

“It's a girl!” said Mitsuki happily, cutting the umbilical chord. After cleaning away the birthing blood from the baby, she handed the little thing to her mother.

“She's so beautiful,” sobbed Sara happily. “What did you want to name her again?” she asked Braska. She had forgotten the names in her painful ordeal.

“Yuna,” smiled Braska, patting her head. “My little girl, Yuna.”

“Here,” said Sara, offering Yuna to Braska. “I'm so tired, I need to sleep.”

Braska took the little baby girl carefully, not wanting to disturb her. Holding her close to his body, he stared at her face, transfixed. He had never expected to have children in his whole life, especially after the fate he had laid before himself. Now, in his arms, he held his daughter, a shining example that his life was not over yet. In this world he had now forever importance in someone's memory, if only one person's.

Cid came up to Braska and watched him with his daughter, Cid's new niece. “I can see the same look in your eyes that I had when Niisa was born. Magical, isn't it?”

Braska smiled and rocked the baby gently. “I know what is going through that very round head of yours right now.”

Cid caught eyes with his wife, who looked away to go back to her duty of cleaning up. “And what would that be?”

“That this beautiful little girl has no place in Spira. She's half Al Bhed, half Yevon, and that's never going to change.”

Cid placed his hand reassuringly on his brother-in-law's shoulder. “Yes, that is true. But if she will be anything like her father, I know that she'll be a good person to whom national boundaries will have no meaning. Her life will be a good one as long as her father will always remember to tell her that she's loved.”

Braska kissed his little daughter on her forehead, and replied, “Thank you, Cid. That really means a lot coming from you.” Holding little Yuna close to his body, he emerged from the room into the cool morning air. He smiled when he found Auron sitting on the deck, Niisa sleeping on his chest.

When he saw Braska, Auron stepped carefully to his feet, trying not to disturb Niisa. Niisa only gave a burble arguing to movement. When he was on his feet, Auron smiled at the newborn baby. “What's his name?” asked the young man, rocking Niisa gently.

Braska smiled and said, “Her name is Yuna.” Braska held his newborn baby girl closer to Niisa, who had awoken. The baby boy watched Braska with interest. When Braska held Yuna very close to Niisa, the baby boy stretched out his pudgy little hand and grabbed her blanket. He let go and gave a “gah” happily. “You see that, making friends already. They're cousins but they'll be more like siblings.”

Auron sighed happily while watching the new father. “I never knew anything like that.”

“What was that you're talking about?”

“To my parents I was a burden, their only reason for marrying each other.” Auron put his hand near Niisa's so the baby could grab it. “I was never a part of their lives, and I was blamed for the death of my little brother. Life was hell after he died.”

“My family died in Sin's wake during the last cycle.” Braska rocked Yuna, who slept peacefully in her father's arms. “Now, the people on this ship are all I have left.” He watched how Auron cared for the little baby boy in wonder. “Auron, how old are you?”

“Eighteen,” he said, smiling at Niisa.

“I guess you'd be too young to think about having you own family then,” said Braska, seeing Mitsuki come out of the cabin.

Auron unstrapped the sac Niisa was in and gave him to his mother. Mitsuki took Niisa and proceeded to tickle him on the chin. Niisa gave a baby's chuckle and then cry a little bit. “Oh, I thought you were hungry,” smiled Mitsuki. “Make sure she gets to sleep near her mother soon,” she added, nodding to Yuna. Braska nodded to Mitsuki and she disappeared once again into the cabin.

Auron leaned tiredly on the rail of the ship. His eyes followed the horizon as the sun emerged from behind the dunes of the Sanubia desert. “I don't know. Whatever happens, well, happens. I don't usually have any say in the matter.”

“It's pretty simple, kid,” smiled Braska, “There's only one way to make a baby, and whether or not you've done it will determine whether or not you're a father.”

Auron's cheeks flushed a deep shade of pink, his eyes still on the rising sun.

“Ah,” said Braska. “So, you're not so innocent after all. Are you a father?”

Auron shrugged heavy shoulders. He cared about the matter, thought about it deeply, but he always wanted to keep an air of nonchalance. “I don't know, probably. I've slept with her … Tralisa … well, enough to get her pregnant. And she's a lowly fisherman's daughter who would have to keep it.”

“Don't you have any regret that you might have a kid out there you may not know about?” asked Braska. Braska was unused to such feelings, himself being a student of the Temple of Yevon until he was twenty-five, therefore sworn to celibacy. He had never experienced the angst as Auron had, which he found was to his benefit.

“Yes,” admitted Auron, “But I could never show my face back there again, after how I left. And, if she did have a kid, her father would kill me on the spot.”

Braska held his hand out to Auron. “I promise you now that one day I will go with you back to your village if only to find out whether you have a child or not.”

Auron gave a convoluted smile and shook Braska's hand. “Sure, but what do you want me to do, in return?”

Braska looked around the deck and was content when he saw no other people. “I am going to tell you a secret, and you can not tell another living soul, unless I say you can, understand me?”

Auron nodded, standing closer to Braska.

“I vowed when my family was killed that I would get my revenge.”

“But,” said Auron, “Didn't Sin kill your family?”

“Aye,” he answered.

“So, what are you thinking?” Then Auron realized why Braska wanted to tell him this in secret. In a hushed voice, he said, “You're planning on becoming a High Summoner?”

“Please, don't tell Sara.” Braska looked down to his daughter's face. A daughter he never would have had if he weren't in Bevelle three years earlier. “I want her to have a happy life without the knowledge that I deigned myself to this fate. And I want to live that life to the best of my abilities, even if I know when I'm going to die.”

“Alright then,” said Auron. “If you're going to become a Summoner, then I'll just have to be one of your guardians.”

Braska smiled and watched the sun over the sands of Sanubia. “I would really appreciate that, Auron.”

 

 

 

 

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