Categories > Games > Final Fantasy X > Drawn Toward Unity
"So, what's up with you and my pop?" Rikku asked Lulu from the other side of their prison cell.
Lulu glanced over at her from where she was trying to see if her magic could make a fire hot enough to melt the bars, annoyed at the distraction. "Nothing is 'up.' Why would you even need to ask?"
"Come on, don't give me that!" Rikku sidled up to her, and nudged her lightly in the ribs. "You too were looking awfully cozy back on the airship. I saw the way he was fussing over your wounds, when he didn't even yell at me about the scratch on my leg!"
"Rikku, you've gotten worse injuries slipping on the ice when we were on the way to Macalania Temple. Somehow, I expect that he's used to you having scratches like that." Lulu dismissed her fire with a frown, realizing the effort was useless, and slid down to sit on the floor. "We only knew each other for half a day, how could you think that during that time anything happened worth discussing?"
"Well, first of all it doesn't matter if he's used to it or not, he always yells at me when I'm hurt somewhere he can see it. It's, like, his really stupid way of showing that he cares. And /secondly/, you disappeared for ages then later I found out that you were hanging out with him in his room! One of the ladies I talked to while I was waiting around during the fight against Evrae even called you 'Cid'c Fusyh'!"
Lulu frowned. "That Sina woman? What does that even mean?"
Rikku rolled her eyes. "She's calling you my dad's woman, Lulu."
"Cid's... . No. Rikku, do you really think I'm the sort of woman who'd do anything inappropriate with a man I'd just met?"
Rikku flopped down on the floor of their cage and raised her eyebrows at Lulu, flashing her a teasing grin. "If I say yes, will you tell me the truth to stop me from getting crazy ideas?"
Lulu couldn't help but laugh, and bowed her head slightly in defeat. "He just wanted me to tell him about Yuna, since I've known her since we were young. Nothing untoward."
Rikku grinned even wider. "Yeah, I figured it'd be something like that. Like I said to Sina, what would a woman like you want with an old moron like my pop? I mean, I love my mom, syo dra cyhtc cuudr ran cuim, but she had really bad taste in men."
"Rikku, you shouldn't say such things about your family. Your father cares about you."
"I know that," Rikku said, stretching out to pat Lulu's knee with a strangely sympathetic look on her face. "Course I know that. If I didn't, I wouldn't say things like that. I rag on him, he bugs me; it's a family thing, Lu. Didn't you ever act like that with your family?"
Lulu remembered the jealousy she and Wakka had felt toward Tidus on the boat ride to Luca, for having had his family long enough to remember his father well enough to hate him, as it welled up inside of her once more. A family thing; Rikku said it so easily, as if it went without saying that she would be able to call back more than the smallest scraps of memories about her mother and father. Such a luxury the Al Bhed had, if that were true.
But she pushed that feeling back, reminding herself that even if that were true the Al Bhed certainly had enough troubles no Yevonite ever had to deal with to even things out, and instead turned her thoughts to Chappu, Yuna, and Wakka. To the closest thing to a family that she had really had for most of her life. "I understand," she said at last. "I--"
She was cut off by the sound of people approaching. They both turned warily toward the door of the cage they were in, Lulu quietly moving to place herself between it and Rikku. In a moment their suspicions about what was coming were confirmed by a group of guards stopping in front of them.
"Judgement has been passed on the traitor guardians," the leader of the group said emotionlessly. "You will come with me now to the Via Purifico."
Lulu bowed her head and curled her hands into the prayer, making herself look to all appearances like a penitent Yevonite accepting her punishment as the lock turned in the key. If the guards had only had the imagination to realize that someone granted the position of Guardian could, in the right circumstances, be anything but, they may have lived a longer life.
"Rikku, /run/," Lulu ordered as the shards of ice from the spell she'd cast drove themselves into the heads of the guards. From so close there hadn't even been a chance of her missing the portion of their faces their helmets didn't cover.
"Lulu, what are you doing?" Rikku asked, the shock evident in her voice not bad enough to keep her from scrambling out of the cage.
"As I said before, Rikku, your father cares for you. That's why he asked me to do this for you. I may not be able to do my duty as Yuna's guardian now, but this, at least, I can do." She sent a blast of fire toward another guard yelling down the hall, the distance great enough that she couldn't kill him outright, but sent him screaming to the floor in flames. "Now move. As long as I live, I'll keep them so distracted that they won't even think to look for you."
She pushed the younger girl in the direction free of guards, and turned the other way once Rikku began to run. If she was going to die that night she would do it guarding, the way it was meant to be, not by going along with the orders of corrupt Maesters. The church may spread the word that she was the greatest traitor since Omega because of this, but she believed that in the next world Yevon would look favorably upon her for not bowing before such perversion of his sacred teachings. Perhaps he would even forgive her for doing so to protect an Al Bhed.
She took out another group with her fire, not realizing that she should have checked the room on the other side of the cages first until she heard a sudden loud bang and, before she even really registered the noise, felt a sudden intense pain in her arm. She held back her scream and silently berated herself for letting the gunman get close enough to fire without noticing him as she sent electricity crackling through him. She immediately noticed the difference in the strength in her spells caused by not being able to move her injured arm, but pushed the thought out of her mind. As long as she could use any magic at all, Rikku would be--
Rikku would be coming back, pressing her hands softly against Lulu's shoulder and sending a familiar-feeling wash of white magic through her injured arm, pushing the bullet out from where it embedded itself and healing the wound enough to make the pain bearable when she flexed the muscle.
"Rikku, why did you come back?" Lulu asked, suddenly just feeling drained. There was no chance that Rikku would get away unspotted again, now that they'd lost the advantage of surprise, and, if she couldn't protect the girl, Lulu found herself losing the will to fight.
"Yunie's still out there," Rikku replied, warily glancing at the guards who were slowly starting to approach them, their weapons at the ready. They'd even brought up a few of their machina now, the rusted old monstrosities that were much too big for Rikku to make fall to pieces by stealing a few important screws. "If they're taking us all someplace together, than I shouldn't be the one you die for, Lulu."
Lulu leaned against the wall waited for the guards to approach, not making any movement that would give them cause to shoot. Yes, Rikku was right. Although she didn't really believe that a summoner would be given the same punishment as her guardians, if there was any chance that they would end up in the same place she should go there. Even if there was nothing she could do once she got there, for Yuna's sake she would live.
Lulu glanced over at her from where she was trying to see if her magic could make a fire hot enough to melt the bars, annoyed at the distraction. "Nothing is 'up.' Why would you even need to ask?"
"Come on, don't give me that!" Rikku sidled up to her, and nudged her lightly in the ribs. "You too were looking awfully cozy back on the airship. I saw the way he was fussing over your wounds, when he didn't even yell at me about the scratch on my leg!"
"Rikku, you've gotten worse injuries slipping on the ice when we were on the way to Macalania Temple. Somehow, I expect that he's used to you having scratches like that." Lulu dismissed her fire with a frown, realizing the effort was useless, and slid down to sit on the floor. "We only knew each other for half a day, how could you think that during that time anything happened worth discussing?"
"Well, first of all it doesn't matter if he's used to it or not, he always yells at me when I'm hurt somewhere he can see it. It's, like, his really stupid way of showing that he cares. And /secondly/, you disappeared for ages then later I found out that you were hanging out with him in his room! One of the ladies I talked to while I was waiting around during the fight against Evrae even called you 'Cid'c Fusyh'!"
Lulu frowned. "That Sina woman? What does that even mean?"
Rikku rolled her eyes. "She's calling you my dad's woman, Lulu."
"Cid's... . No. Rikku, do you really think I'm the sort of woman who'd do anything inappropriate with a man I'd just met?"
Rikku flopped down on the floor of their cage and raised her eyebrows at Lulu, flashing her a teasing grin. "If I say yes, will you tell me the truth to stop me from getting crazy ideas?"
Lulu couldn't help but laugh, and bowed her head slightly in defeat. "He just wanted me to tell him about Yuna, since I've known her since we were young. Nothing untoward."
Rikku grinned even wider. "Yeah, I figured it'd be something like that. Like I said to Sina, what would a woman like you want with an old moron like my pop? I mean, I love my mom, syo dra cyhtc cuudr ran cuim, but she had really bad taste in men."
"Rikku, you shouldn't say such things about your family. Your father cares about you."
"I know that," Rikku said, stretching out to pat Lulu's knee with a strangely sympathetic look on her face. "Course I know that. If I didn't, I wouldn't say things like that. I rag on him, he bugs me; it's a family thing, Lu. Didn't you ever act like that with your family?"
Lulu remembered the jealousy she and Wakka had felt toward Tidus on the boat ride to Luca, for having had his family long enough to remember his father well enough to hate him, as it welled up inside of her once more. A family thing; Rikku said it so easily, as if it went without saying that she would be able to call back more than the smallest scraps of memories about her mother and father. Such a luxury the Al Bhed had, if that were true.
But she pushed that feeling back, reminding herself that even if that were true the Al Bhed certainly had enough troubles no Yevonite ever had to deal with to even things out, and instead turned her thoughts to Chappu, Yuna, and Wakka. To the closest thing to a family that she had really had for most of her life. "I understand," she said at last. "I--"
She was cut off by the sound of people approaching. They both turned warily toward the door of the cage they were in, Lulu quietly moving to place herself between it and Rikku. In a moment their suspicions about what was coming were confirmed by a group of guards stopping in front of them.
"Judgement has been passed on the traitor guardians," the leader of the group said emotionlessly. "You will come with me now to the Via Purifico."
Lulu bowed her head and curled her hands into the prayer, making herself look to all appearances like a penitent Yevonite accepting her punishment as the lock turned in the key. If the guards had only had the imagination to realize that someone granted the position of Guardian could, in the right circumstances, be anything but, they may have lived a longer life.
"Rikku, /run/," Lulu ordered as the shards of ice from the spell she'd cast drove themselves into the heads of the guards. From so close there hadn't even been a chance of her missing the portion of their faces their helmets didn't cover.
"Lulu, what are you doing?" Rikku asked, the shock evident in her voice not bad enough to keep her from scrambling out of the cage.
"As I said before, Rikku, your father cares for you. That's why he asked me to do this for you. I may not be able to do my duty as Yuna's guardian now, but this, at least, I can do." She sent a blast of fire toward another guard yelling down the hall, the distance great enough that she couldn't kill him outright, but sent him screaming to the floor in flames. "Now move. As long as I live, I'll keep them so distracted that they won't even think to look for you."
She pushed the younger girl in the direction free of guards, and turned the other way once Rikku began to run. If she was going to die that night she would do it guarding, the way it was meant to be, not by going along with the orders of corrupt Maesters. The church may spread the word that she was the greatest traitor since Omega because of this, but she believed that in the next world Yevon would look favorably upon her for not bowing before such perversion of his sacred teachings. Perhaps he would even forgive her for doing so to protect an Al Bhed.
She took out another group with her fire, not realizing that she should have checked the room on the other side of the cages first until she heard a sudden loud bang and, before she even really registered the noise, felt a sudden intense pain in her arm. She held back her scream and silently berated herself for letting the gunman get close enough to fire without noticing him as she sent electricity crackling through him. She immediately noticed the difference in the strength in her spells caused by not being able to move her injured arm, but pushed the thought out of her mind. As long as she could use any magic at all, Rikku would be--
Rikku would be coming back, pressing her hands softly against Lulu's shoulder and sending a familiar-feeling wash of white magic through her injured arm, pushing the bullet out from where it embedded itself and healing the wound enough to make the pain bearable when she flexed the muscle.
"Rikku, why did you come back?" Lulu asked, suddenly just feeling drained. There was no chance that Rikku would get away unspotted again, now that they'd lost the advantage of surprise, and, if she couldn't protect the girl, Lulu found herself losing the will to fight.
"Yunie's still out there," Rikku replied, warily glancing at the guards who were slowly starting to approach them, their weapons at the ready. They'd even brought up a few of their machina now, the rusted old monstrosities that were much too big for Rikku to make fall to pieces by stealing a few important screws. "If they're taking us all someplace together, than I shouldn't be the one you die for, Lulu."
Lulu leaned against the wall waited for the guards to approach, not making any movement that would give them cause to shoot. Yes, Rikku was right. Although she didn't really believe that a summoner would be given the same punishment as her guardians, if there was any chance that they would end up in the same place she should go there. Even if there was nothing she could do once she got there, for Yuna's sake she would live.
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