Besaid was a small, tropical island where the people all knew one another and were quite pleasant. The place was famous across Spira for its fabrics and for being the place that High Summoner Yuna called home. The half Al Bhed girl was quite pleased to be allowed to share this part of her life with D, to be given the opportunity to show him where she had come from and what had turned her into the young woman he had taken as his traveling companion.

Yuna had introduced D to her friends and guardians and was careful to keep an eye on the Dhampir to be sure he wasn’t ever overly uncomfortable. The elders who considered Yuna something of a surrogate child, and the children who considered her like a big sister were especially curious about this stranger that the summoner was so taken with – The children were much more open with their curiosity, however, approaching him and asking questions; they didn’t seem to be frightened of him at all, though. D, Yuna mused, was rather good with kids. Perhaps because they didn’t judge like adults did.

An inn room had been rented for the duration of the pair’s stay on Besaid and was where the small woman was currently located. She stepped from the bathroom, hair damp from her bath as she tied the sash of her nemaki (sleepclothes) and folded her clothes with care. She canted her head at her companion and a small smile tilted on her lips.

“Hi.” She ventured as she moved to be nearer to him. “How are you liking it so far?”

Fill in the blanks!

- I _____ Yuna.
- Yuna is _____.
- Yuna likes to ______.
- I want to _____ Yuna.
- Yuna can ______.
- Someday Yuna will ______.
- Yuna reminds me of ______.
- Without Yuna, it would be _____.
- Right now, I bet Yuna is thinking about _____.
- Yuna makes me want to _______.
- If I could spend the day with Yuna, I'd _____.
- Yuna is made of _______.
- If I could be Yuna for a day, I'd ______.
- Yuna's alter-ego is __________.
- I want to give Yuna ______.

Yuna was not unused to travel by any means; she had once journeyed across Spira on foot during her pilgrimage to Zanarkand and she knew the trials and hardships that such journeys brought on. It had been two years since she had traveled, but the summoner was quick to learn the ropes when she left the Markus brothers and joined D. Despite her endurance and her determination, though, she was not as well-adapted to the lifestyle as D was and did need the basic necessities of any other human girl – Rest was one of those necessities.

She felt guilty at her weaknesses, sometimes, but the guilt was chased away at the idea that he couldn’t be as invincible as he appeared; surely the Vampire Hunter needed the rest too, and surely he would put it off as long as possible if he didn’t have Yuna to consider. Regardless, the pair had ridden for most of the night and the summoner was grateful when their pace slowed and then stopped. On occasion, the pair would procure an inn room if they were in town, but camping seemed to be more frequent.

Yuna didn’t mind. This was how she best remembered her pilgrimage.

She dismounted Ixion with a practiced grace and dismissed the mount so that he could rest as well – She wondered, absently, if the mechanical horses needed rest too, or if it was just something they did to pass the time when their riders were dismounted.

They had passed through the village of Ransylva the day before, and Yuna had been more quiet than usual after an encounter with a woman there, but she spoke now, breaking the quiet as she brushed back her hair:

“It’s a nice night.”

1. Think of the first word that comes to mind when you think of me.
2. Go to http://images.google.com and search for that word.
3. Reply to this post with one of the pictures on the first page of results -- don't tell me the word.
4. Put this in your own blog so that I can do the same.

She approached the castle on the back of Ixion, gripping his mane as she would the reigns of some other steed. They had moved at a feverish pace until the fortress had come into view and then Yuna slowed her mount to come nearer with much caution. Dread rose up in her breast; the whole place gave off a sense of foreboding that the summoner had not felt since Zanarkand. Closer and closer she came until she clicked her tongue and Ixion lowered himself so that his master could dismount.

Yuna was armed – one pistol was in her hands as the doors of Cheyte Castle swung open for her, a second pistol was strapped to her thigh and her staff was on her back so that she would be ready if the opportunity for a Sending presented itself. Her steps were quiet, but her breathing was less so. They had Grove, the girl reminded herself and she became that much surer of her actions, they had Grove and she would get him back. It would be a simple trade and she hated Seymour for it, but when had she ever left a friend in need without assistance?

Grove would have done it for her, after all.

Her heart pounded in her chest and she bit her lip as she stepped inside of the castle. The doors swung closed behind her and she gasped, turning to face the heavy things and recoiled a step. The sound of her boots on hard-wood floors echoed and Yuna gripped her gun as if it were a life-support as she moved.

“Grove?”

She left the entrance hall and moved deeper into the ominous fortress, cocking her gun with great care.

“Anyone? Hello?”

Only her echo met her and her brow furrowed as she continued on.

It would be a simple trade. Grove would be freed and Yuna would be taken, but this was nothing new; she could handle Seymour – even if she could not Send him, she could escape from him and that was what mattered at the moment.

Where were they? She had been told to come to Cheyte Castle…why weren’t they here?

“Hello?”

“Yuna.”

The illusions had begun, and the summoner turned to the man that had spoken, come from nowhere. He was tall and gruff, with graying hair and a scar across his eye but Yuna would know him from anywhere in that great red coat and the monstrous katana that he held over his shoulder.

“Sir Auron?”

He nodded, once, but made no move to approach her. “Are you ready?”

“Ready? What for, Sir Auron?”

“It’s time to go home.” He mused in that uninterested voice Yuna recalled so well. “I promised your father, during his pilgrimage, I would come back for you.”

“…Welcome back, Sir.” He was dead. Yuna had Sent him herself! Why was he here? The more rational side of her mind was burning with logic but the man who had been like a second father to Yuna was right there, right before her. If she reached out, she could have touched him.

Why was she here again? And where was here?

Yuna suddenly didn’t know the answers to those questions, didn’t question why the marble room had melted into the tropical forests of Besaid. The illusion twisted itself around Yuna like a warm blanket, blinding her better judgment and feeding her childish dreams of a home and a family, a normal life where she wasn’t being trained to be a human sacrifice.

“We should get going.” The illusion of her father-figure spoke. “It’ll be dark soon and the fiends will attack.”

He extended a gloved hand to her and Yuna eyed it warily before making to take it, the hand holding the pistol falling to her side with a quiet sort of forgetfulness.

And then a thought spilled from her lips. “…But what about Grove?”

((posting order: D, Meier, Markus brothers sans Grove (Leila, Borgoff, Kyle), Carmila, Seymour, Grove, Yuna, D, Meier...etc))

She had been silent after her earlier encounter with the Dhampir, with D. The others didn’t notice it, or if they did they didn’t say anything about it, but Grove did. Of course Grove would recognize her distress - her mannerisms that were even more mild than usual as she sat with him and when she spoke her voice was disconnected and far away, with her thoughts.

“Miss Yuna…”

He’s going to ask her what wrong. She dreaded that, because she would have to acknowledge that it was on her mind then. “Grove?”

“…There is something troubling you deeply today.” The sickly man ventured to his first outside companion in years. “Won’t you tell me what is bothering you, Miss Yuna?”

( Her heart ached, that was what was bothering her... )

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