Disclaimer: I do not own FFX-2.

The fog had crept up from the lake in the north, which proved to be quite an advantage for Lenne and her friends. What with the concealment of their fairly huge party consisting of a wounded man who challenged the height of a Ronso himself, a very annoying Al Bhed, a not so low-profile Ronso and a broodingly handsome man who spoke little but seemed to be projecting an aura that made him anything but unnoticeable, was anything but easy.

Lenne sighed as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand as she surveyed her handiwork on the man who wielded an axe for a weapon, now crouching on the moist ground of the Macalania Woods. The man had calmed down, actually, and he had stopped crying about an hour ago, but his eyes were glassy and lifeless as it stared back at her, once in a while murmuring "Ronnellie… " under his breath, which Lenne assumed to be the name of the woman who she had just sent. She shivered at the memory… It was such a gruesome sight.

Leaning forward slightly and touching the man's shoulder, she managed a weak smile. "Will you be all right?" she asked.

The man blinked a bit, making one lone tear fall from those sad, sad eyes… "Who are you…?" he asked her, but there still was no evidence of him noticing anything around him. "Where… am… I?"

Sighing once more, as if she had not been sighing more than enough already, she sat on her heels and hugged her knees to her chest. "I am the Summoner Lenne, from the city of Zanarkand. And you are?"

The man blinked again and once more, another tear fell. "Ronnellie… "

Lenne shook her head and was about to say something when suddenly, a voice came from behind her.

"You won't be able to talk to him that way, Lenne."

The former Songstress whirled around and got to her feet and saw Shuyin sitting stiffly on a dead stump, his broadsword lying across his lap. He was wiping the weapon with what looked like a dirty rag, his eyes unseen in the shadows playing at his hard, serious face.

Lenne did not realize he was back. About an hour ago, he had asked permission to scout around the area to maybe get some food for them all, and asked Xarrine and Parish to stay and guard Lenne. Both men had been more than willing to agree. It seems like they also sensed that Shuyin wanted to be alone.

"Why not?" she asked him silently. The question made Shuyin snort. Very uncharacteristic of him to make such a sound.

"You just can't. Let me talk to him." With this, he swiftly got to his feet, using his broadsword to help him stand.

Lenne eyed the Blitzball Player curiously as he slipped the sword in its scabbard and made his way to the crouching man next to Lenne. She did not like the look of those eyes.

"Shu - Shuyin? What are you going to do?"

The man peered up at the Blitzball Player and Lenne watched as another tear once again fell. It made her heart ache at the sight of him so broken down like that. For the hundredth time that hour, she asked herself who could that woman possibly be. A sister? A friend?

A lover?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Shuyin suddenly grabbing the man by the collar and shaking him violently.

Lenne shrieked in horror.

"Get your act together, man!" Shuyin said between gritted teeth. "There is no use crying over her death. If you don't pull it together, you, along with the rest of us, could be next." And with a final vigorous shake, he let him drop in a heap on the ground.

"Shuyin!" Lenne protested as she rushed immediately to the man. But as soon as her fingers touched his shoulders, he recoiled and curled up into a tight ball. The Summoner eyed Shuyin with a wide, questioning stare, mouthing a silent "What in Spira is wrong with you?"

But all she got in return was a cold, deadpanned expression.

"I couldn't save her," the man suddenly wailed, cowering even more. It looked weird, having to see such a big person try to be as small as possible. "I was her Guardian! My life offered before hers! My blood spilled before hers! May the Aeons take me away to the Farplane this moment! I have failed my Ronnellie!"

And at the revelation, Lenne froze. She had been a Summoner… and this was her Guardian. Bevelle Guards killed her…

The mere thought made her skin crawl. She looked around helplessly, shivering involuntarily as a strong gust of wind blew in from the North, bringing in more fog. To her left, she could see Xarinne's glowing green cat-like eyes look at her through the ever-thickening fog, and somewhere to her right, she could hear Parish humming that odd hymn. Both, she knew, were eyeing her warily, wondering what she could possibly be thinking after discovering a Summoner has been slain here, for the mere reason of her craft.

It was only Shuyin who did not dare glance at her. As if he already knew that she was scared half to death about this fact. Instead, his ice blue eyes were intent on the man. And the next thing that came out of his mouth made Lenne feel weak.

"You were in love with her, weren't you? You were in love with your Summoner," Shuyin blurted out suddenly, his voice full of spite.

And with this, the man broke down completely.

"My Ronnnellie! My beloved Ronellie… I have failed you… "

Lenne slowly felt her knees buckle, and if it weren't for Xarinne, who hurried to her side the moment he saw her waver, she would have fallen flat on her face on the ground.

He was in love... A Guardian in love with a Summoner...

She felt all the energy in her limbs drain out of her body, and she held on Xarinne tightly. Shuyin briefly cast his eyes to her, for an instant the coldness vanished, but returned the moment he turned away.

"We leave at once," Shuyin declared quietly, slowly slipping out his sword from its scabbard immediately. "I'm scouting ahead to the Thunder Plains. Hopefully, it's a safe journey for us through there. Parish."

The Al Bhed, startled at having been addressed civilly by the Blitzball player, stood in full attention as if waiting for what he had to say.

"The Al Bhed Agency in the middle of the plains, can we rest there?"

Parish nodded, his unnaturally colored hair falling into his ringed eyes. "My father owns the agency. We will be safe there."

Shuyin nodded. "Good." He narrowed his eyes at him. "I have a lot of things I have to ask you there. And you'd better have answers." With that, he slashed his broadsword in front of him, making the fog swirl and dance around him. He stalked towards the direction of the Thunder Plains without another word.

Lenne took a deep breath again, this time counting up to ten before finally letting it out. She steadied herself on Xarinne, then turned to the man. They had to get out there as soon as possible. Bevelle... they killed Summoners for the mere sport of it... They had to get out of there immediately...

"Come with us," she said to the cowering man. She turned to the Ronso. "Xarinne, help him up. I can walk on my own. We will take him with us. It isn't safe here... Shuyin is right. We need to go."

That in itself got the Ronso and the Al Bhed going. With Xarinne helping the man walk and Parish loping ahead to check for any danger, Lenne was starting to feel quite lost in her thoughts… Things were happening in Bevelle. Great things that she did not know about. Her memory of the people she had seen in the Al Bhed Agency in the Calm Lands swam around her head and she asked herself what was really brewing in the blasted Maester of Bevelle.

-- 0 -- 0 -- 0 --

The Thunder Planes was a broad expanse of dead land that promised little or no support of life. There were a few people who opted living there, building tall, towering buildings made of rock and cement, but that was because their families have been living there over the last few decades. However, Shuyin was not sure if the inhabitants of the Thunder Plains would last any longer. The storm that had been gathering strength and with some mysterious force preventing it from dispersing was, if anything, far worse that it had been for the last five years or so. Lighting storms had been reported to have destroyed several stone houses in the center of the Plains, no one has died – at least not yet – but Shuyin believed that the people should not even wait for severe casualties before leaving the place.

Standing on the edge of the dark and dreary place, his eyes and ears keen on any lighting bolts that might strike them dead if they were careless enough, he found his mind drifting back to Lenne who he had left in the clearing back in Macalania woods. She was such a careless, hopelessly naïve girl.

He looked over his shoulder when Parish emerged from behind him. The Al Bhed looked at him with his ringed eyes and looked like he was about so say something when a lighting bolt zigzagged across the dark skies looming over them, followed by loud, deafening thunder that drowned whatever words Parish had to say.

Shuyin turned away from him and removed his scabbard from his belt, wondering if he would ever get to the agency without getting struck down by lightning.

"I hate this place. The storm gets worse and worse every passing year," Parish said as he walked over to him.

Shuyin glanced over to him again and was surprised when the Al Bhed handed him something that looked like wool he had produced from his pouch bag. "Fnyb drec ynuiht ouin cfunt. Drec ec fryd fa tu frah fa lnucc dra Thunder Plains. Ed rambc y meddma, pid tuh'd pa lynamacc."

Shuyin scowled at him, but took the cloth from him with silent fury, hastily wrapping it around, sheathing the scabbard and hilt of his broadsword completely. However he thought it nice of Parish to think of his welfare, he still did not like the guy. "Oui Al Bhed fymg ynuiht eh dra Plains mega ed'c hudrehk. Tuh'd oui ajan kad cdnilg po mekrdehk?"

"Fedr ymm dra machina fa ica, ed sygac sa fuhtan ruf fa tu ed."

Shuyin scowled even more. He looked over his shoulder when she heard Lenne emerge from the undergrowth. It pained him, the expression on her face, which was a cross between frustration, confusion, fatigue and fear. She was followed shortly by Xarinne who was supporting the man they had come across to in the woods. He was such a huge fellow, broad shoulders, bulky arms. It made Shuyin snort at his pathetic behavior, crying and whining…

But then, can you blame him?

He lost a loved one in the hands of Bevelle. He had a right to cry.

But what good will they do to him? Crying won't bring her back… It's his fault that he fell in love with his Summoner.

Something in the pit of his stomach churned violently as his eyes swerved back to Lenne, who was now approaching him, her knees wobbling a bit as she made her way to stand next to him. Her grey eyes looked out into the distance where lightning ripped the sky once more. Thunder rumbled faintly after it.

Shuyin blinked as he eyed her serious face. It really did not suit her, not smiling like that. He felt his hand reach up as if to caress her face, when suddenly she looked over at him and nodded. His hand froze in the air, and he felt it fall to his side.

"Let's go," She said in a voice he did not recognize.

He couldn't think of anything else to do but follow. Taking small hesitant steps after her wake, watching her hair swishing behind her gently, he frowned to nothing in particular.

The only thing that distracted him was when Parish moved closer to him and whispered in English, "A Guardian can't fall in love with a Summoner, because the relationship makes duty too complicated. But then again, you're not a Guardian, are you?"

With that, the Al Bhed walked away, humming to himself that strange tune. In the distance, thunder sounded off, and Shuyin found himself lost in his own sea of thoughts.