FicWad

Lulu would normally joined in any celebrations held in the village, but tonight she decided to make an exception. She had left the village and its joyous mood behind her and proceeded to one of her favorite spots on Besaid; the beach.

She would remember the nights when her mother would take her on strolls along the long beach, telling her stories of their long forgotten ancestors. She had learned to love the dark night, cherishing the only source of brightness bestowed upon the land by the moon, and respecting the land of Spira enough for her own existence. She was a descendant from the tribe that blended in well with the night sky of Spira, just like how the residents of sunny Besaid blended in so perfectly with the sun.

Lulu had prayed on this beach, sending her wishes into the night wind with soft hummings of songs, and hoping the great mother of the land would hear her. She seldom sang in front of the people, as her mother had taught her, she would sing only to smooth the pains of the beings who couldn't let go of life. Lulu could imagine perhaps long before Sin existed, her ancestors had sent the deceased in songs rather than performing the Sending like what most Summoners did now. As she looked up into the night sky, a star fell through the sky, just like Lord Braska.

Lord Braska. The new High Summoner who had brought the Calm upon defeating Sin with the Final Aeon. The man who had left his young daughter behind in Bevelle to mourn for his death.

Yuna.

Lulu remembered the name well. The voice of her calling out to her father with all her strength, her struggles to stand up tall and proud when she fell to ensure her father went without worries; Lulu remembered every single seconds of it.

Bevelle would be holding a huge celebration on the new Calm, among the crowded city filled with people with smiles for the temporary happiness; there would be a young girl who would mourn for the death of a great man and a loving father, alone.

Lulu recalled the structures of the great city, imagining where she might be now. Would she be standing out there at the dock recalling the last goodbyes she had made to her father? Or maybe she would be hiding herself away by climbing out of her house window tonight, seated on the edge of the rooftop, with her head buried in her knees as the sadness finally came to her and made her dropped a tear.

Lulu closed her eyes and lowered herself as she kneed onto the soft sand.

Yuna, you will not mourn and cry alone tonight. Wherever you are, I'd sing for you and your father... and...

It was then it hit her, thinking back on the rumors that she had heard of Lord Braska's guardians. It was said that Sir Jecht had sacrificed himself to defeat Sin, and Sir Auron had managed to survive the pilgrimage but had went missing.

Survivor of the pilgrimage, the witness to the death of his friends. Lulu could understand why he might had decided to vanish from the main scene and perhaps, became a hermit.

/... and Sir Auron/.

She lowered her head as she began to feel her surroundings, merging herself with the gentle waves of the sea and the soft cool breeze that had seemed to come to carry the notes of her singing, with the thin hope that it might travel far enough to Bevelle, the Farplane; or where Sir Auron currently was.

"Lulu."

She knew that voice, she knew he had been there for a long while, and she was glad that he did not interrupt her singings. She got up slowly, sweeping off some of the sand that had caught onto her dress, and greeted him.

"Yes? Chappu."

Chappu was there, not that far away from her. She smiled at the thoughtfulness of him. He always knew the distance that she was comfortable with, and he always gave it to her.

They were far away from the village, with no fire around to provide lighting for them. But Lulu could see his face clearly in the moonlight. He had on this faint smile on his face that told her that he might be feeling the same way as she was. He placed his hand behind his neck and rubbed slowly on it, a habit he probably picked up from his brother, Wakka.

"I saw you walked out alone."

Lulu looked at Chappu for a short while as she turned her gaze towards the horizon of the sea before them.

"What's there to celebrate?"

The fall of Sin meant the fall of a summoner. The lives that had been sacrificed to put Sin away. But Sin always came back. It was just a matter of how long it would take for it to make its comeback again. She did not see the point of celebrating the death of another great man.

As Lulu tore her gaze away from the horizon to look back to Chappu again, she felt a part of her accessories dropped off as she heard a very soft and light thud on the sand. She lowered herself to pick up the pieces as she realized the beads on one of the string were all loosen and shattered.

Chappu approached her quickly to help her pick up as much beads that might have dropped off as possible. He took a couple of huge steps and was by her side soon enough, it was then he realized she was still looking at the broken string of beads she held in her right palm.

"Lulu...?"

Pulled back to the current situation by Chappu's voice, she began to recall all that she could remembered about the magical accessories made by her ancestors. The string of beads she was holding onto now was originally a string of twins, but she had gave a part of it away to Sir Auron.

"Lulu, what is it?"

Lulu then looked into Chappu's eyes, she hesitated but she decided there was nothing to hide.

"Bad omen."

~ * ~

/So this is death/.

He felt a part of him died when he saw Braska walked out of Yunalesca's chamber alone, and another that broke apart when Braska summoned the Final Aeon.

Jecht, who had became the Final Aeon came with such power that left him speechless. Auron could not recall what had exactly happened anymore, for there was one and only scene that kept replaying itself in his head whenever he remembered the first second of the arrival of the new Calm.

Jecht had vanished with Sin, sending countless pyreflies spiraling up into the sky. He watched as his lord's body began to tore apart, to pay the price of summoning the Final Aeon to end Sin's legacy, for now. He remembered all the battles fought on the way to Zanarkand and back, he had blood on his hands and his body, but he had never feared.

But the sight before him sent a shock through him more than he could ever imagine. And suddenly with the outburst of the flesh, muscles and blood from Braska's legs, he began to fall backwards. Auron rushed up towards him with his arms stretched out to his lord.

But he had grabbed nothing.

Braska fell through his outstretched arms right before his very eyes.

He was right there, in front of him, and yet... he had slipped through from his hands. He remembered he was making unintelligent noise as his fingers scrapped through the broken body of his friend, trying his best to savor any part of him possible; maybe if he could gather all the broken pieces and put them together, he would not be dead.

But no matter how much he tried, he could not stop the pyreflies from exiting the broken body and spiral up to the sky with the rest of what was left of Sin.

Sensibility flew out of his head together with the pyreflies of his friend, as he made his last trip to Yunalesca. It was painful. But he couldn't know if the physical damage on him hurts more or the despair of the loss of his friends did the final killing.

His right was lost, forever. And perhaps his life as well. The last sight he recalled, was the giant paw of the young Ronso who called himself Kimahri hovering before his one good eye; and a final prayer of wishing him to rest in peace.

He should have been dead.

But then the promise came back to him. He had entrusted Yuna to Kimahri, but there was still Jecht's son. Jecht had trusted him to find his way to Zanarkand to take care of his boy. The pull of the Farplane was so strong, Auron was tired and he almost let himself floated off.

He knew he was dead.

The senses returned once again. He could feel the pain on his body once more. He struggled his eye to open and tried to turn his head around. Kimahri was no longer around, but his sword and clothes were still there. He thought perhaps the young Ronso did not left for too long.

/I made a promise/.

Fighting the pull of the Farplane was more difficult than fighting Sin. He knew that a strong mind would be able to keep himself here, in Spira, even though he was already dead. But he had to be careful, for becoming a fiend was easier than becoming an unsent.

Rage and hatred was so much easier.

He swung his arms and grabbed onto his clothes that was hung near his bed and fell onto the ground with it. His fingers crawled through the thick fabric, an effort of trying to find something to cling onto this world without the aid of rage.

The feel of the fabric and the ground was not as solid as he had remembered, frustration came over as he continued to struggle. It was then his fingers came across his shoulder armor and touched the string of beads that was attached to it.

Strangely the feel of the beads were actually more real than anything else he had came in contact to. He grabbed it tightly into his hands and closed his eye, a smoothing feeling came and he found himself starting to calm down.

Perhaps the magic of the ancient tribe was still here...

Auron did not know how much time had passed. But by the time he was able to open his one good eye fully to see the dawn breaking through the thin curtain of the room, he felt his normal strength had returned. He pushed himself off the ground slowly, his hand not letting the beads go.

The pain had subdued, leaving only scars. He breathed in heavily, his one hand on his chest. Another sharp intake of breath when he realized the familiar feel of heartbeat had left him. He was truly dead. And now he was an unsent.

Jecht and Braska had once wished that Auron would continue to live after the end of the pilgrimage. An instant regret washed over him, he had threw his life away in a fit of anger. He had failed to keep the promise to his friends that he would live through Braska's Calm.

Auron shook his head and began to command his senses and seized back the control of his body again. He stood up and get dressed, grabbing his sword and walked out of the room without waking anyone up. He looked up to the sky, searching for his next destination, the place where Sin had fallen.

Where Jecht would become Sin.

He carried his sword behind him, and started his walk on another path of his life. The unsent could do things that the livings could not.

/Zanarkand/.

He had failed to keep the promise of staying alive, but he would not fail another. He would find his way to Jecht's Zanarkand and see the son of his dear friend.