FicWad

"Let's stay the night here, before starting over the mountain," Lulu had said, after they'd been accepted by the Ronso tribe.

Tidus and Rikku had agreed right away, wanting the extra time to plot she was sure, Wakka surprised her by being the one who convinced Yuna to take a break. He pulled her not-quite far enough away to keep Lulu from overhearing them, though she was sure he thought they were, and muttered to her, "I think we oughta stop too. Lu's had a really tough day, ya know? With Lady Ginnem an' all."

Even just a few weeks before, Lulu would have snapped at him for believing her to be so weak that she'd need rest to deal with her grief, but now, so near to Zanarkand and so worn by all that had occurred over the past several days, she had just found herself feeling grateful that at least one thing remained unchanged. That, whatever else happened, Wakka would never learn how not to rouse her temper.

At any rate, what he'd said had worked, and Yuna had gone back to Kelk Ronso to ask for rooms for the night.

Lulu certainly hoped that Cid would appreciate her buying him another day to beat them to Zanarkand, because otherwise she never would have wished to stay in a Ronso cave again. It was, thankfully, a different one than the one she'd stayed in all those years before, but the thick stone walls surrounding her still reminded her of the long days she'd spent waiting for her leg to finish mending, staring out the window carved into the cave wall and praying that one day she would see Ginnem walking up the path to the village. If there was one point in her life that she'd rather not have cause to dwell on, that was it.

She was just preparing to leave her room and go pace the beginning of the path leading up the mountain until she became tired enough to fall asleep without her memories keeping her awake when the door banged open and Rikku came in.

"Hey, Lulu! Do you mind if I hang out here for awhile?" Rikku asked, already plopping down at the foot of Lulu's bed.

"It would have been polite to at least pretend you would take no for an answer, Rikku." But Lulu settled down in a chair herself, resigned to the fact it would be awhile yet before she had a chance to walk.

"Sorry!" Rikku said, but it was obvious from her grin that she was completely unrepentant.

After that they stay quiet for awhile, Lulu waiting for Rikku to say whatever she was there for, and Rikku twisting and fidgeting, apparently trying to get comfortable. Finally Lulu lost patience with this. "What is it, Rikku?"

"Oh! Um, Well~ nothing really!" Rikku twisted the cover of the pelt covering the bed and wrinkled her nose. "I just don't really like it here."

"So you come to me?" Lulu asked, feeling faintly surprised.

"Well, yeah. Not like there's anyone else. I mean, I didn't mean that how it sounded! Just that Yunie really should get rest, and all the others aren't really all that comforting."

Lulu wasn't quite sure whether she should be insulted or touched by Rikku's babbling. "And I am?"

Rikku's face scrunched up thoughtfully. "Well, not, like, in a normal 'hug me and tell me everything'll be all right' way, but you're tough, and you're cool, and I know you'll watch my back, and, well, you wouldn't get freaked out by being in a place like this."

Lulu wondered what Rikku would think if the girl knew she was probably more unsettled than she was, than sighed and moved to sit beside Rikku on the bed, somewhat uncomfortable resting a hand on her shoulder. She never really tried to give comfort to anyone but Yuna, and couldn't quite feel at ease doing so. "Why does it bother you here, Rikku?"

"It's just totally different from back home, you know what I mean? The desert's all hot, and flat when you're not somewhere with dunes, and this place is so cold and... not flat. It's kind've scary, thinking we're gonna start going over the whole thing tomorrow."

"You knew that Gagazet was on the path to Zanarkand, Rikku."

"Yeah, but knowing that is way different that actually looking at it." Lulu could feel Rikku's shoulder shudder under her hand. "What if we fall off?"

"We won't be climbing up the face of a cliff, Rikku. The path is supposed to lead all the way to Zanarkand." She let go of Rikku, and absently smoothed the skirt of her dress as she thought for a moment. "Perhaps you should speak with Sir Auron about what it will be like. We're lucky to have him with us; I don't believe I've ever heard of a Summoner who travelled with someone who already knew what would be coming when they reached the mountain."

"Come on, Lulu. You know there's no way I'd be able to get anything out of Mr. Closed-Mouth if he doesn't want to tell me. He'll just say something like 'You'll see what it's like when we get there' and look all /smug/." Rikku fell back on Lulu's bed, flinging her arms over the head. "I wish my pop had waited around for us, so we could fly right over it!"

"Ah." Lulu looked down at her hands in her lap. "Well, perhaps he will catch up with us, and you'll be able to ride in the airship on the way back."

Rikku smiled at the thought. "I wish. And then we could shove Yunie inside, and fly her away to an island somewhere so she'll never be able to get to the Final Aeon!"

Lulu closed her eyes. "Rikku, you know you wouldn't be allowed to do that."

"/Why not/?" Rikku shot upward again and stared at Lulu, eyes wide. "You don't want her to die any more than I do! I've noticed how much you've made us slow down now that we're getting closer, and I thought, maybe..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Maybe you'd be with me and Tidus about making her stop."

"I made her go slowly so she'll have energy to face the mountain, Rikku," Lulu said, suddenly feeling very tired. "Of course I'd be glad if she decided to turn from her path, but that's her choice to make. No one else's."

Rikku propped her elbows up on her knees, rested her chin on her hands, and let her hair fall forward to obscure her face. "I don't know how you and Wakka and Kimahri can act so cool about it."

Lulu slowly reached on to rest her hand on Rikku's back. "Because Yuna would have gone on without us if we'd tried to stop her. Because this way at least we can be with her until the end. Because it's all we can do."

But she knew that neither of them were really happy with that answer. Cid, she thought to herself, I'm sure that, wherever you are, you'd be happy if you knew your daughter is still holding onto your goals.

Lulu was sure it wouldn't work, but she was glad that Rikku, at least, still had hope.