Categories > Games > Final Fantasy X > Drawn Toward Unity
Note: Sorry for the lateness of this one. There was some real life stuff keeping me from working on it for most of the week.
- - -
Lulu sat away from the sleeping bodies of the others, gazing out over the Calm Lands and trying to ignore the way her stomach was twisting.
She thought of the Calm Lands as a trap, as much of a way to weed out summoners too weak for the final summoning as Gagazet was. When a person stepped out from the Macalania woods onto the cliff overlooking the Calm Lands, the flatness of the land made the distance to the mountain seem deceptively short. If a summoner and their guardians were fooled, and tried to cross it as quickly as they thought they could, they would reach the end too exhausted to survive the final stretch of the pilgrimage.
Lulu had learned that lesson well her first time there, when she and Ginnem had rushed across the plain as if Sin itself had been on their heels. They had managed to cross it incredibly quickly, true, but by the time they were following the path down into the valley just beyond they'd been so tired that they could barely defeat the fiends they came across on the way.
Lulu curled her knees to her chest at the memories. With the wisdom of hindsight she realized that that should have been a warning to them, but that wisdom had come too late for Ginnem. At least it had managed to save Zuke from Zanarkand; her forcing them to move slowly and rest at night to preserve their strength had been what finally gave his doubts time to catch up with him. He had announced he would be abandoning his journey before the second night was through.
And Yuna's pilgrimage would end there as well, Lulu knew with great certainty. Not with abandonment, or, she prayed though her fears gave her doubts, at the end of a fiend's claws, but by battling Sin until her body was burnt out and The Calm came again. She had never been so sure that a summoner she'd met would be able to make it through Zanarkand, not even when she'd briefly seen High Summoner Braska when she was a child.
But there was one more thing Yuna would need to do before moving on to that place, and Lulu desperately hoped that it would go well.
She absently raised Cid's radio to her mouth, not really thinking about what she was doing, and quietly said into it, "I'm afraid I'll need to apologize to you once more, Cid."
"What for this time?" he asked, so quickly that part of her wondered if he kept his radio as close to him as she kept hers.
"I'm afraid that soon I'll be leading Yuna, and Rikku, into danger that could easily be avoided." She kept her eyes fixed on the cliffs to the north, the images of the bridges they would cross and the cave below vivid in her mind even after so many years.
"What in tarnation are you plannin' on doin' that for?" he asked, but she noticed that he wasn't immediately arguing for her not to do it the way she'd expected he would. Did he really trust her so much, even after they'd known each other such a short while, to believe she'd have a good reason that easily?
"...This is my third pilgrimage."
"That supposed to be your excuse? 'Cause it don't exactly make sense as one." He replied when she paused briefly to chose her words.
"It's the start of one." She shifted, stretching one leg out in front of her, studying the four round scars on it where a Valaha's claws had pieced the skin when it stamped down on it, fracturing the bone. Ginnem had half-dragged, half-carried her to the entrance of the cavern, where a Ronso had found her a day later and brought her to their healer, then she had gone back in alone to try and find the fayth. It had been the last time Lulu saw her. "When they think I can't hear them, there are people who call me a cursed guardian, and say I bring failure to any pilgrimage I'm on. I suppose they'll take Yuna being branded a traitor as further proof of that. My first pilgrimage ended nearby, with the death of my summoner. I waited as long as I could before starting my journey back to Besaid, but no other summoner made it that far for as long as I was there, and Lady Ginnem was never given a sending." She sighed, and curled her leg under her once more. "I know it is wrong to ask Yuna to enter a place that has already claimed one of my summoners, but, if there's anything left there for her to send, I must. As my final duty to Lady Ginnem."
He let out an audible breath, and she could just picture him rubbing the back of his head. "Well, can't exactly blame you for takin' care of a friend, can I?"
"More than a friend. Ginnem was the one who raised me after my parents died, though she was hardly older than a child herself. But, she was my only living family, and when the church contacted her she came rather than let them care for me. I owe her a great deal, but I'm afraid that now a sending is all I can offer her."
"Than take care've your family, Lulu. Ain't no Al Bhed on Spira who can't understand someone doin' that. But you better keep takin' care of those two l'il girls while you're at it."
She balled her free hand into a loose fist. "Of course I will. I intend to never fail those relying on me again."
"That's all you've gotta say. The Sands know I've dragged my kids off into too many fiend-filled ruins to have any room to talk when someone else wants to do it."
"Thank you, Cid."
"Eh? What for?"
"Talking about this helps. With the memories, I mean. And I could not have done so with the others, not this close to the end. No one wants to give much thought to a fallen summoner now; they all want to either focus on Yuna succeeding in receiving the Final Aeon, or on finding a way to turn her from the path she's on so she'll survive."
"Well," he said roughly, "glad to be of help."
Lulu turned, looking across the agency to where Yuna was sleeping, and frowned thoughtfully. "One last thing..."
"Yeah?"
"It won't be that long before we reach Zanarkand. I know you wanted to see Yuna before... before her Calm begins. Do you think your ship will be fit to fly in time to beat us there?"
There was the sound of papers ruffling on other end of the radio before Cid spoke again. "I don't rightly know. Repairs should be done in a few more days; think maybe you could slow her up some to give me time? Or would that be against some sorta guardian's code?"
"Don't worry about /that/," she told him. "One thing I can assure you is that I'll be making sure Yuna goes slowly enough so she won't waste any energy between here and there. It will certainly be several more days, at least."
Yes, she had learned that lesson well indeed.
- - -
Lulu sat away from the sleeping bodies of the others, gazing out over the Calm Lands and trying to ignore the way her stomach was twisting.
She thought of the Calm Lands as a trap, as much of a way to weed out summoners too weak for the final summoning as Gagazet was. When a person stepped out from the Macalania woods onto the cliff overlooking the Calm Lands, the flatness of the land made the distance to the mountain seem deceptively short. If a summoner and their guardians were fooled, and tried to cross it as quickly as they thought they could, they would reach the end too exhausted to survive the final stretch of the pilgrimage.
Lulu had learned that lesson well her first time there, when she and Ginnem had rushed across the plain as if Sin itself had been on their heels. They had managed to cross it incredibly quickly, true, but by the time they were following the path down into the valley just beyond they'd been so tired that they could barely defeat the fiends they came across on the way.
Lulu curled her knees to her chest at the memories. With the wisdom of hindsight she realized that that should have been a warning to them, but that wisdom had come too late for Ginnem. At least it had managed to save Zuke from Zanarkand; her forcing them to move slowly and rest at night to preserve their strength had been what finally gave his doubts time to catch up with him. He had announced he would be abandoning his journey before the second night was through.
And Yuna's pilgrimage would end there as well, Lulu knew with great certainty. Not with abandonment, or, she prayed though her fears gave her doubts, at the end of a fiend's claws, but by battling Sin until her body was burnt out and The Calm came again. She had never been so sure that a summoner she'd met would be able to make it through Zanarkand, not even when she'd briefly seen High Summoner Braska when she was a child.
But there was one more thing Yuna would need to do before moving on to that place, and Lulu desperately hoped that it would go well.
She absently raised Cid's radio to her mouth, not really thinking about what she was doing, and quietly said into it, "I'm afraid I'll need to apologize to you once more, Cid."
"What for this time?" he asked, so quickly that part of her wondered if he kept his radio as close to him as she kept hers.
"I'm afraid that soon I'll be leading Yuna, and Rikku, into danger that could easily be avoided." She kept her eyes fixed on the cliffs to the north, the images of the bridges they would cross and the cave below vivid in her mind even after so many years.
"What in tarnation are you plannin' on doin' that for?" he asked, but she noticed that he wasn't immediately arguing for her not to do it the way she'd expected he would. Did he really trust her so much, even after they'd known each other such a short while, to believe she'd have a good reason that easily?
"...This is my third pilgrimage."
"That supposed to be your excuse? 'Cause it don't exactly make sense as one." He replied when she paused briefly to chose her words.
"It's the start of one." She shifted, stretching one leg out in front of her, studying the four round scars on it where a Valaha's claws had pieced the skin when it stamped down on it, fracturing the bone. Ginnem had half-dragged, half-carried her to the entrance of the cavern, where a Ronso had found her a day later and brought her to their healer, then she had gone back in alone to try and find the fayth. It had been the last time Lulu saw her. "When they think I can't hear them, there are people who call me a cursed guardian, and say I bring failure to any pilgrimage I'm on. I suppose they'll take Yuna being branded a traitor as further proof of that. My first pilgrimage ended nearby, with the death of my summoner. I waited as long as I could before starting my journey back to Besaid, but no other summoner made it that far for as long as I was there, and Lady Ginnem was never given a sending." She sighed, and curled her leg under her once more. "I know it is wrong to ask Yuna to enter a place that has already claimed one of my summoners, but, if there's anything left there for her to send, I must. As my final duty to Lady Ginnem."
He let out an audible breath, and she could just picture him rubbing the back of his head. "Well, can't exactly blame you for takin' care of a friend, can I?"
"More than a friend. Ginnem was the one who raised me after my parents died, though she was hardly older than a child herself. But, she was my only living family, and when the church contacted her she came rather than let them care for me. I owe her a great deal, but I'm afraid that now a sending is all I can offer her."
"Than take care've your family, Lulu. Ain't no Al Bhed on Spira who can't understand someone doin' that. But you better keep takin' care of those two l'il girls while you're at it."
She balled her free hand into a loose fist. "Of course I will. I intend to never fail those relying on me again."
"That's all you've gotta say. The Sands know I've dragged my kids off into too many fiend-filled ruins to have any room to talk when someone else wants to do it."
"Thank you, Cid."
"Eh? What for?"
"Talking about this helps. With the memories, I mean. And I could not have done so with the others, not this close to the end. No one wants to give much thought to a fallen summoner now; they all want to either focus on Yuna succeeding in receiving the Final Aeon, or on finding a way to turn her from the path she's on so she'll survive."
"Well," he said roughly, "glad to be of help."
Lulu turned, looking across the agency to where Yuna was sleeping, and frowned thoughtfully. "One last thing..."
"Yeah?"
"It won't be that long before we reach Zanarkand. I know you wanted to see Yuna before... before her Calm begins. Do you think your ship will be fit to fly in time to beat us there?"
There was the sound of papers ruffling on other end of the radio before Cid spoke again. "I don't rightly know. Repairs should be done in a few more days; think maybe you could slow her up some to give me time? Or would that be against some sorta guardian's code?"
"Don't worry about /that/," she told him. "One thing I can assure you is that I'll be making sure Yuna goes slowly enough so she won't waste any energy between here and there. It will certainly be several more days, at least."
Yes, she had learned that lesson well indeed.
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