Memory
Fandom: Final Fantasy V
Genre: General
Characters: Bartz, Krile
Rating: G
Author's Notes: I have a fandom journal wut?
It was Bartz's turn for the watch; Faris, Lenna and Krile were asleep in the tent. He didn't mind the solitude... for one thing it wasn't really solitude when you could hear the other three breathing in there... or, in the case of one of them, snoring to high heaven. Funny. Out of all the things about that old cuss, he never would've thought it was the snoring he would miss the most. And then the sound of an enraged roar, followed by a babble of the absolute foulest language when Faris threw water from her canteen on him to make him stop... then a gradual decrease in volume until Bartz could pick out Lenna's soft, calm, and sleepy voice talking the two of them down.
Not anymore, though. Bartz sighed and began counting potions again, still alert to any noise of monsters looking for a nighttime meal. There was a rustling noise of cloth behind him, the tent-flap. "Hey, Krile," he said quietly, knowing her at once by the light sound of her footfalls. "What are you doing up?"
"...Couldn't sleep." She sat down next to him on the log and started helping him sort out the rest of the supplies. Bartz nodded. This wasn't unusual for her. They sat in silence for a while until Bartz began replacing the things in the pack.
"Hey, Bartz...."
"Yeah?"
"How did you guys meet Grandpa?"
He looked at her. She had barely spoken about Galuf, not since the balcony at Tycoon. Bartz certainly hadn't brought it up; he didn't want to say anything about Galuf for fear of bringing up the grief again. But if she wanted to talk about him--well, that was probably a good thing.
He thought back... it seemed like years and years ago, now. How long had it been, really? There was no way of knowing; not like he'd ever been one for keeping track of the days anyhow... he just wandered. "Well..." he began. As far distant as it seemed, he could still remember it clearly. "Boco and I were just up... I was cooking breakfast. Then all of a sudden I heard this... this whoosh, and looked up and saw something bright red falling to the ground. And then there was a huge crash. So we went to go have a look--"
That was how he'd met Lenna too; met her first. Gone to take a look at the giant rock that was suddenly sitting there and blocking up the whole valley. "--and then we heard this groaning noise like an old man, so we went to go have a look. And well, we found one. He couldn't even remember a thing because of the crash though, barely even his own name."
Bartz glanced at Krile... there was a faint smile on her face. "Silly old fool," she said quietly. "How hard is it to land a giant rock?"
"You know he kept using that as an excuse, too. Like when we met Faris on her pirate ship... it was his big plan to steal it from under her and when we got caught? He 'couldn't remember.'"
"That was his idea?" Krile said, sounding skeptical. "He said that was yours!"
"What? No way! I wouldn't come up with a harebrained scheme like that!"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah! That was all him."
She reached out and poked him in the arm. "So why'd you go along with it?"
"Well... look, we didn't have a whole lot of options, okay?" At least it had been a better plan than asking for a ride, Lenna's idea. Of course then she'd done that anyhow when they got caught. Amazing the four of them had got to this far, really--
--right... different four. "Hey... did he ever tell you about what happened in the ship graveyard?"
"I think so. That's where you found out Faris is a girl, right?"
Bartz chuckled. "Well, yeah, that. Did he tell you about the Siren, though?"
She thought about it, and shook her head. Yeah... he hadn't thought so. Trust Galuf to keep quiet the one time when he'd really been a hero... Bartz looked up into the darkened canopy of the forest. "She showed us illusions... people we loved, to lure us closer, and then..." At the memory he could feel the cold dry chill. "She took our souls. Er... I think, that's what it felt like, anyway. It all went kinda dark... then suddenly he was slapping us back to our senses. It was a tough fight against her, too..." He glanced over to Krile.
"He never told me about that," said Krile, quietly.
"I'm not surprised."
She stared up into the leaves. "I miss him."
"Yeah... me too."
There was a long silence... each of them remembering different things, the crazy adventures and cussing, the stories he'd told... that deep laugh he'd had... could still almost hear it, coming up from the very bottom of that giant heart. Bartz drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"He's not gone," said Krile, at last, placing a hand over her heart. "He's here..."
"...Yeah."
She reached over and touched his shirt, right over his heart. "And here, too."
Bartz glanced down at the hand, and slowly smiled. "Yeah," he said again, hugging her around the shoulders.
Genre: General
Characters: Bartz, Krile
Rating: G
Author's Notes: I have a fandom journal wut?
It was Bartz's turn for the watch; Faris, Lenna and Krile were asleep in the tent. He didn't mind the solitude... for one thing it wasn't really solitude when you could hear the other three breathing in there... or, in the case of one of them, snoring to high heaven. Funny. Out of all the things about that old cuss, he never would've thought it was the snoring he would miss the most. And then the sound of an enraged roar, followed by a babble of the absolute foulest language when Faris threw water from her canteen on him to make him stop... then a gradual decrease in volume until Bartz could pick out Lenna's soft, calm, and sleepy voice talking the two of them down.
Not anymore, though. Bartz sighed and began counting potions again, still alert to any noise of monsters looking for a nighttime meal. There was a rustling noise of cloth behind him, the tent-flap. "Hey, Krile," he said quietly, knowing her at once by the light sound of her footfalls. "What are you doing up?"
"...Couldn't sleep." She sat down next to him on the log and started helping him sort out the rest of the supplies. Bartz nodded. This wasn't unusual for her. They sat in silence for a while until Bartz began replacing the things in the pack.
"Hey, Bartz...."
"Yeah?"
"How did you guys meet Grandpa?"
He looked at her. She had barely spoken about Galuf, not since the balcony at Tycoon. Bartz certainly hadn't brought it up; he didn't want to say anything about Galuf for fear of bringing up the grief again. But if she wanted to talk about him--well, that was probably a good thing.
He thought back... it seemed like years and years ago, now. How long had it been, really? There was no way of knowing; not like he'd ever been one for keeping track of the days anyhow... he just wandered. "Well..." he began. As far distant as it seemed, he could still remember it clearly. "Boco and I were just up... I was cooking breakfast. Then all of a sudden I heard this... this whoosh, and looked up and saw something bright red falling to the ground. And then there was a huge crash. So we went to go have a look--"
That was how he'd met Lenna too; met her first. Gone to take a look at the giant rock that was suddenly sitting there and blocking up the whole valley. "--and then we heard this groaning noise like an old man, so we went to go have a look. And well, we found one. He couldn't even remember a thing because of the crash though, barely even his own name."
Bartz glanced at Krile... there was a faint smile on her face. "Silly old fool," she said quietly. "How hard is it to land a giant rock?"
"You know he kept using that as an excuse, too. Like when we met Faris on her pirate ship... it was his big plan to steal it from under her and when we got caught? He 'couldn't remember.'"
"That was his idea?" Krile said, sounding skeptical. "He said that was yours!"
"What? No way! I wouldn't come up with a harebrained scheme like that!"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah! That was all him."
She reached out and poked him in the arm. "So why'd you go along with it?"
"Well... look, we didn't have a whole lot of options, okay?" At least it had been a better plan than asking for a ride, Lenna's idea. Of course then she'd done that anyhow when they got caught. Amazing the four of them had got to this far, really--
--right... different four. "Hey... did he ever tell you about what happened in the ship graveyard?"
"I think so. That's where you found out Faris is a girl, right?"
Bartz chuckled. "Well, yeah, that. Did he tell you about the Siren, though?"
She thought about it, and shook her head. Yeah... he hadn't thought so. Trust Galuf to keep quiet the one time when he'd really been a hero... Bartz looked up into the darkened canopy of the forest. "She showed us illusions... people we loved, to lure us closer, and then..." At the memory he could feel the cold dry chill. "She took our souls. Er... I think, that's what it felt like, anyway. It all went kinda dark... then suddenly he was slapping us back to our senses. It was a tough fight against her, too..." He glanced over to Krile.
"He never told me about that," said Krile, quietly.
"I'm not surprised."
She stared up into the leaves. "I miss him."
"Yeah... me too."
There was a long silence... each of them remembering different things, the crazy adventures and cussing, the stories he'd told... that deep laugh he'd had... could still almost hear it, coming up from the very bottom of that giant heart. Bartz drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"He's not gone," said Krile, at last, placing a hand over her heart. "He's here..."
"...Yeah."
She reached over and touched his shirt, right over his heart. "And here, too."
Bartz glanced down at the hand, and slowly smiled. "Yeah," he said again, hugging her around the shoulders.