GYWO 7 Days, 7 Stories - Day 4
Apr. 23rd, 2020 11:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deemoyzaI missed Day 3, but I'm back, and riding my raft to Rarepair Isle for a little FFX Lulu/Luzzu.
This pairing necessarily plays around with canon a bit. Firstly, by following the scenario where Gatta dies at Operation Mi'ihen instead of Luzzu (RIP Whiniest Crusader; at least you weren't cut in half). Secondly, and most importantly, by ignoring Eternal Calm/FFX-2's pairing of Wakka and Lulu. That just never sat right with me. I like to think of them as being nothing more than good friends, so you don't have to worry about a jealous Wakka stomping through this story -- they both simply work on establishing their own lives after their journey in FFX, and Lulu and Luzzu both have a lot of grief and guilt to sort out, alone and, possibly, together.
Snippet below the cut.
The air was warm and heavy, sliding down Lulu's throat with each breath, sticking in her lungs and making the next breath more difficult. She kicked off the thin sheet covering her and adjusted her sweat-dampened pillow, hoping for sleep to carry her away from the discomfort, to dull the irritation of clammy skin and buzzing insects for at least a few hours.
It was no use. Any time she drifted to the edge of consciousness, a new annoyance presented itself and pulled her back. The tickle of a drop of sweat running down her temple, creatures skittering through the tall grass behind her hut, the itch of hair clinging to the nape of her neck. She sighed and rose, then pulled a light robe over her nightgown and stepped outside.
That brought little relief. The night was still, with nary a breeze rustling the trees and the acrid smell of the evening's bonfire still hanging in the air. Faintly, she could hear the rumble of the waterfalls outside the village, and, without thinking, she headed toward the sound.
The full moon bathed the path in pale light, and kept the fiends confined to the shadows. Gravel crunched beneath Lulu's slippers, insects hummed in the trees, and the ghost of a grin played across Lulu's face as a memory came rushing back.
Yes, it had been a night much like this one, sultry and melodic, when she had slipped out of the village to meet Chappu. They had walked among the waterfalls for a time, talking quietly, before he helped her down a slope to the stones below, which might as well have been their own little world. Moonlight filtered through the curtain of water and glinted off skin slick with mist and sweat, shadows danced in time with clumsy, frenzied movements, and the roar of the waterfall muffled moans and cries and exclamations of ecstasy.
It seemed an age ago to Lulu now, and the girl who'd emerged onto the path at dawn with wet clothes and flushed cheeks hardly resembled the woman she'd become. Yet, standing behind a waterfall and catching glimpses of the moon over the sea, the familiar ache of the past two years returned: the twisting in her heart, the dull burn of a dying ember in her core.
She might have reminisced for much longer, had she not caught movement in her peripheral vision. Turning toward the village, she saw a man with broad shoulders and a steady gait approaching her. Though she knew he was likely a villager, and so, likely not a threat, the reflexes she'd developed over three pilgrimages kicked in, and she tensed her body and prepared a spell, just in case. As the man came closer, apparently unaware of her standing in the shadow of the waterfall, she recognized him as Luzzu, and dismissed her fire spell in a flurry of sparks.
"Whoa!" Luzzu jumped back, then peered into the shadows. "Lulu? Is that you? You scared me half to death!" He laughed as Lulu emerged into the moonlight. "I thought the fiends around here had upgraded their repertoire."
"That would be a problem," Lulu said, "for you, considering that you're walking around unarmed. What are you doing out here?"
"I should ask the same of you."
"I couldn't sleep. It's cooler here than in the village."
"Indeed, it is." He sighed. "I couldn't sleep, either. The village is quiet, but I can't say the same about my mind."
"Nightmares?"
"And guilt." He closed the distance between them, then leaned back against the cliff face, crossing his arms and looking out to sea. "I know I've said it before – too many times, maybe – but I really am sorry. About Chappu. You don't have to forgive me, but I just have to say it. It … takes the weight off, for a while."
"I understand. And I have forgiven you." She mirrored his stance, pulling her arms tighter against her body as the bitterness of truth welled up in her chest, into the back of her mouth. "You didn't force Chappu to do anything. He chose to join the Crusaders. And he chose to join because of me." Her throat constricted around those last words, and she swallowed hard to clear it, to no avail. "If anyone is to blame for his death –"
"It's not you." Luzzu turned toward her, his eyes gleaming in the pale light. "Like you said, he chose to fight. If anyone is to blame, it was Sin."
"'Being with your girl is good, but keeping Sin away from her is better.' That's what he told you, right? Sin was the reason, you were the means, but I … I was the impetus. I'll make my peace with it, someday. At the very least, it's proof that he loved me." Lulu gave a dry, mirthless laugh. "It's too bad, I suppose, that people assume they must sacrifice themselves to prove it."
"People?"
"My first summoner, as well. She saved me from a fiend attack, at the cost of her own life." Lulu exhaled slowly, then tried to brighten. "But that is not your concern. You needn't add another sad story to your restless night."
This pairing necessarily plays around with canon a bit. Firstly, by following the scenario where Gatta dies at Operation Mi'ihen instead of Luzzu (RIP Whiniest Crusader; at least you weren't cut in half). Secondly, and most importantly, by ignoring Eternal Calm/FFX-2's pairing of Wakka and Lulu. That just never sat right with me. I like to think of them as being nothing more than good friends, so you don't have to worry about a jealous Wakka stomping through this story -- they both simply work on establishing their own lives after their journey in FFX, and Lulu and Luzzu both have a lot of grief and guilt to sort out, alone and, possibly, together.
Snippet below the cut.
The air was warm and heavy, sliding down Lulu's throat with each breath, sticking in her lungs and making the next breath more difficult. She kicked off the thin sheet covering her and adjusted her sweat-dampened pillow, hoping for sleep to carry her away from the discomfort, to dull the irritation of clammy skin and buzzing insects for at least a few hours.
It was no use. Any time she drifted to the edge of consciousness, a new annoyance presented itself and pulled her back. The tickle of a drop of sweat running down her temple, creatures skittering through the tall grass behind her hut, the itch of hair clinging to the nape of her neck. She sighed and rose, then pulled a light robe over her nightgown and stepped outside.
That brought little relief. The night was still, with nary a breeze rustling the trees and the acrid smell of the evening's bonfire still hanging in the air. Faintly, she could hear the rumble of the waterfalls outside the village, and, without thinking, she headed toward the sound.
The full moon bathed the path in pale light, and kept the fiends confined to the shadows. Gravel crunched beneath Lulu's slippers, insects hummed in the trees, and the ghost of a grin played across Lulu's face as a memory came rushing back.
Yes, it had been a night much like this one, sultry and melodic, when she had slipped out of the village to meet Chappu. They had walked among the waterfalls for a time, talking quietly, before he helped her down a slope to the stones below, which might as well have been their own little world. Moonlight filtered through the curtain of water and glinted off skin slick with mist and sweat, shadows danced in time with clumsy, frenzied movements, and the roar of the waterfall muffled moans and cries and exclamations of ecstasy.
It seemed an age ago to Lulu now, and the girl who'd emerged onto the path at dawn with wet clothes and flushed cheeks hardly resembled the woman she'd become. Yet, standing behind a waterfall and catching glimpses of the moon over the sea, the familiar ache of the past two years returned: the twisting in her heart, the dull burn of a dying ember in her core.
She might have reminisced for much longer, had she not caught movement in her peripheral vision. Turning toward the village, she saw a man with broad shoulders and a steady gait approaching her. Though she knew he was likely a villager, and so, likely not a threat, the reflexes she'd developed over three pilgrimages kicked in, and she tensed her body and prepared a spell, just in case. As the man came closer, apparently unaware of her standing in the shadow of the waterfall, she recognized him as Luzzu, and dismissed her fire spell in a flurry of sparks.
"Whoa!" Luzzu jumped back, then peered into the shadows. "Lulu? Is that you? You scared me half to death!" He laughed as Lulu emerged into the moonlight. "I thought the fiends around here had upgraded their repertoire."
"That would be a problem," Lulu said, "for you, considering that you're walking around unarmed. What are you doing out here?"
"I should ask the same of you."
"I couldn't sleep. It's cooler here than in the village."
"Indeed, it is." He sighed. "I couldn't sleep, either. The village is quiet, but I can't say the same about my mind."
"Nightmares?"
"And guilt." He closed the distance between them, then leaned back against the cliff face, crossing his arms and looking out to sea. "I know I've said it before – too many times, maybe – but I really am sorry. About Chappu. You don't have to forgive me, but I just have to say it. It … takes the weight off, for a while."
"I understand. And I have forgiven you." She mirrored his stance, pulling her arms tighter against her body as the bitterness of truth welled up in her chest, into the back of her mouth. "You didn't force Chappu to do anything. He chose to join the Crusaders. And he chose to join because of me." Her throat constricted around those last words, and she swallowed hard to clear it, to no avail. "If anyone is to blame for his death –"
"It's not you." Luzzu turned toward her, his eyes gleaming in the pale light. "Like you said, he chose to fight. If anyone is to blame, it was Sin."
"'Being with your girl is good, but keeping Sin away from her is better.' That's what he told you, right? Sin was the reason, you were the means, but I … I was the impetus. I'll make my peace with it, someday. At the very least, it's proof that he loved me." Lulu gave a dry, mirthless laugh. "It's too bad, I suppose, that people assume they must sacrifice themselves to prove it."
"People?"
"My first summoner, as well. She saved me from a fiend attack, at the cost of her own life." Lulu exhaled slowly, then tried to brighten. "But that is not your concern. You needn't add another sad story to your restless night."
