Yuna found that with a smaller group, monsters seemed less interested. Either she was harder to see, mistaken for something insignificant, or they were hungry and wanted a meal rather than a snack. Either way, she did have her share of monster encounters as she found her way through the glowing abstract woods and into the less preternatural landscape as she neared Bevelle.
She wandered along the gavel path, wondering at her decision, but even more wondering at her past decision. How could two summoners defeat sin? How could she have hoped to catch up with him within two years? Of course he’d left to die… but… some part of her hoped he’d at least hoped not to end as he had.
The city would have been within view had she not bee looking directly at the ground when a sudden feeling of vertigo hit her. No, there was no spinning, only… only what? What was happening?
She was sharing sight. It was no nightmare taking over her vision, but something sharing her eyes… or their eyes. She started walking again, despite the strangeness. The uneasiness faded slightly as she began moving.
She saw the road from her own eyes. A straight path, lit by the late afternoon sun, which would begin to set in an hour. Too, she saw the same road, from a higher vantagepoint and a slightly faster gait. Whoever was watching was looking back and forth, as if nervous. The road was lit by the sun just after dawn.
No, her vision-giver hadn’t been nervous, she could feel it now. She could smell the dawn and the dew fading, the coldness of the rocks, the scent of all the green, yet insignificant plants around her. She felt the cold lifting away with the dew and she felt it mix with the air. She’d never felt such things before. Also, the smells of the city seemed stronger, but different. The concrete smelled, strong, but lifeless. There was a strong smell of litter, which repulsed her more than the smell usually would, even this strong. She smelled vague hints of smoke and metal, again with the strange lifeless repulsive scent the concrete and litter held.
Who was this person? What were they looking for?
Then she saw it—more precisely, they saw it.
What she saw looked to be a tall patch of unruly grass a slightly different color from that which surrounded it. What they saw was flowers on the grass. Beautiful, delicate, deeper-than-blood red flowers.
Yuna stood there as the vision kept going. They bent down to carefully pluck the flowers, making sure to give them long stems and damage them as little as possible.
Yuna ignored the flowers, although she could feel the elation the vision-bearer held for them. She saw the hands. Long, beautiful… it was his hands. He’d been here. He really hand been pinking flowers outside of Bevelle.
True to the story Rikku had told her, the vision came with sounds, which were heightened as well. An Al Behd sprang from the vegetation, but clumsily stopped short, shocked at something he saw, most likely Seymour’s appearance.
Seymour didn’t seem to move.
The Al Behd cast several quick glances, from something sitting near Seymour to Seymour himself.
Then, after taking a few more blooms, Seymour grabbed what was by his side, which turned out to be his staff, and stood up.
The angle at which they stared at each other was quite intimidating. The Al Behd took off into the foliage again just as Seymour had stood up to his full height and Yuna rubbed her neck, despite the fact that she was staring straight ahead.
The vision and the scents it held faded.
He had been here. He had been picking flowers. But… why in Yevon’s name did he do it?
She continued, her thoughts soon turning to food than to mysteries, however, it seemed simpler things would have to wait.
There was suddenly a hand on her shoulder, the pressure not only strong enough to halt her if she wanted to break free, but it seemed the owner was trying to pressed her into the concrete road.
"What part of ‘Don’t come near the Measter again’ did you not understand?" the owner asked, not waiting for her to look at him.
………………………………………………………………………
"Rikku?" Tidus asked. He’d been traipsing around what seemed like half the forest—the half that was deserted—looking for her.
The Al Behd didn’t move. She was standing hip-deep in water that looked amazingly—most likely magically—clear. The ribbons of her shirt drifted on the still water like dead fish.
"Come on, get outta that puddle, you’re gonna freeze to death."
"You really don’t understand at all, do you?" she said.
"Um…" he answered, stepping into the water slightly.
"She’s gone."
"You can catch up with her," he said, stepping into the water until he was right behind her. He didn’t touch her. "Just… please don’t cry."
"She’d going to Zanarkand, Tidus. She’s… she’s giving up."
"I don’t get it."
"That’s… that’s where summoner’s go at the end of their journey. They go there for the final Aeon and… they die. Them and one of their guardians… they die."
"Then… what’s the point?"
"I don’t know. It doesn’t even kill Sin. It just comes back after ten years. I don’t want Yunie to die."
"She won’t," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "We’ll stop her."
"How?" Rikku asked.
"Easy. We’re her friends. All we have to do is give her hope. She proved it wasn’t that hard."
"She loved him, and he left."
"That didn’t mean he didn’t love her back, did it?"
"You’ll never leave me, will you?"
"Of course not," he said. "Why?"
She finally turned her face to him. She had been crying, and hard, but there were no more tears on her face, just the streaks left by them. "Because I love you," she said, and they kissed, who was the giver and who was the taker was unknown to them both.