[Thread; Closed]

[lastsummoner]

Characters: Eiko, Tifa and Denzel
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: Eiko detours to Madain Sari on the way back to Lindblum and drags the others along.
Location: Madain Sari
Date: January 1804
Warnings: You could die of the cute?

Comments

[heartofheaven]

Eiko was always surrounded by moogles. It never ceased to amaze Tifa just how many there were. She held Denzel's hand as she looked around the empty village. The place was beautiful, but also desolate. If it weren't for the moogles, it would feel much too quiet.

"This is your home? But it's in ruins..."

[xnotyetaherox]

The Lifestream hadn't managed to cure Denzel, but he was trying not to let it get to him. After all, he had put up with it for this long without dying, so there was no reason he couldn't keep on living with it. But any self-pity and wallowing he had soon vanished when he found out that Cloud had gone off to do hero stuff and Shelke had gone with him. He wasn't too happy at being left behind. He could be a hero too!

Yet, he was secretly glad that Tifa had caved in and taken them to Eiko's home. He held onto Tifa's hand, looking around in wonder. It might be ruins but it was still so beautiful. Nothing like Midgar at all! "Woah..."

[lastsummoner]

"Yep! Home to the summoner's tribe." Eiko puffed up with pride at that. She was choosing to ignore the fact that she and Dagger were the only two summoners from that tribe left alive. No point in telling them that either. It was pretty obvious that the only inhabitants left were all the moogles.

"We're going to have company tonight, so you're all going to help me cook!" she informed the moogles. A general groan set up from the winged creatures. They remembered just how well Eiko cooked and it hadn't improved much in the last four years. "Hey! I said you're helping and that's that!"

She whipped around and beckoned for Tifa and Denzel to follow along, chattering the whole way. "The village has been like this since before I was born. Grandpa said that a big storm happened, but Dagger says it was really the Invincible. We'll stay at my house tonight, okay?"

[heartofheaven]

Tifa followed, smiling at Eiko's chatter. So did that mean that Eiko had been living here all alone? Well, except for the moogles.

"Sure," she replied. "You know, I can cook. I'd be happy to cook for you all tonight."

[xnotyetaherox]

The boy slipped his hand free of Tifa's and jogged ahead, looking around with wonderment. He still couldn't get over the way moogles always flocked to Eiko, it was an amazing sight.

He ran over to Eiko, still looking around. "What's the Invincible?" he asked the girl, following her like a shadow.

[lastsummoner]

Some of the moogles flitted ahead towards the seaward side of the village, and Eiko followed after them. "The Invincible is an airship. It used to belong to Kuja, but we used it to escape from Terra when he destroyed it." Naturally her explanations made perfect sense in her mind and she didn't once consider that she was just opening the door for more confusion and questions

[heartofheaven]

It was good to see Denzel running around. Sometimes his condition got so bad that he couldn't leave his bed. Perhaps Eiko would do him good... A child his own age could cheer him up.

Tifa ducked through the door after Eiko, glad that at least the kitchen seemed intact. Eiko's reply to Denzel only brought up more questions, but she could leave Denzel to ask the obvious ones; it would keep him occupied.

"Sure, fish - why not?" Tifa looked around the kitchen and rubbed her hands. "I can start straight away. You kids have fun, and dinner will be ready in no time."

[xnotyetaherox]

The boy continued to follow Eiko, staying only a couple of steps behind her, becoming less of a shadow and more of a puppy dog. Confusion was evident on his face. "Who's Kuja? Where's Terra?" He wanted to know everything and the questions just seemed to bubble out of him before he could stop them. He watched as Eiko removed her earring and yet more questions came. "What are you doing?"

He watched her for a moment longer before heading back into the main room, noticing some writing on the wall. 'Eiko three years old, Mog three years old, same age!' "Hm? Who's Mog?"

[lastsummoner]

Eiko issued orders to the moogles about giving Tifa everything she asked for, and grumbled under her breath about not being a kid, but then, with Denzel's question, she squatted down and looked at her own childish handwriting. "Mog was my best friend," she explained quite seriously, pulling a pink and white ribbon out of her pocket. "She was a moogle, and we were born on the same day. Only she was really an eidolon who became a moogle so she could be with me. You met her already. This was our friendship ribbon. We each had one to wear when we grew up and become fine ladies."

Her face grew more sober, and she added, "She sacrificed herself to save me from Kuja and his goons." The other questions were temporarily forgotten at the opportunity to talk about Mog.

[heartofheaven]

Tifa busied herself in the kitchen as moogles popped in and out with various ingredients.

"More of that - yeah, do you have...? Wait, am I cooking for all you guys? Just how many of you are there?"

She glanced back occasionally, half-listening to the children's talk. "That's twice now you've mentioned Kuja. Who was he?"

[xnotyetaherox]

Denzel crouched down beside Eiko, curling his arm around her. "She musta really loved you to protect you like that." He scrunched up his nose, slipping his free hand into his pocket to pull out a handkerchief with pink flowers on it - far from manly but it was special to him. "I had a friend who sacrificed herself for me. She wasn't my age though, she was an old lady. She took me in and cared for me, and then... she gave her life to protect me."

He pocketed the handkerchief again, tightening his arm around Eiko slightly, resting his head against hers. "If... if she's an eidolon... that's a summon right? So... she's still with you kinda?"

[lastsummoner]

Eiko looked at the handkerchief with curiosity, both of them bonding over mementos of friends gone. She gave Denzel a hug and a quick nod. "Yep, she'll always be with me." For a minute she toyed with the idea of showing Denzel the Eidolon Wall, but he wasn't a summoner so she really wasn't supposed to. "Your friend will always be with you too. Right there." And she poked a little finger at Denzel's chest.

Tifa's question was the only thing that broke up the childish sharing going on. "He was the guy who made the black mages and attacked Alexandria and helped Garland try to turn Gaia into Terra." Actually, there was a lot more he'd done, but it was pretty complex and hard for her to explain. "He destroyed Terra and tried to destroy the Crystal."

[heartofheaven]

"Terra?" Tifa frowned. "I have a friend called Terra..."

That couldn't be what Eiko meant and Tifa had a nagging suspicion that she'd heard something about this before, but she couldn't think when. But before she could dwell on it, another moogle appeared, this time with a freshly caught fish in tow.

"That's great!" said Tifa, delighted. "Good work."

The moogles worked well together and they all seemed to have taken a liking to Tifa, so in no time the delicious smell of frying fish filled the air.

[xnotyetaherox]

Denzel didn't like the sound of this Kuja person once little bit. "Why would he do all those bad things? Didn't he like Gaia and why would he try to destroy the crystal?"

Sniffing the air, Denzel gave a grin and grabbed Eiko's hand once more, dragging her over to the kitchen. He loved to watch Tifa cook. He loved to see her work in the bar too. And he liked to eat the food she cooked even more! "How long 'til dinner, Tifa?"

[lastsummoner]

Eiko had to admit that Tifa's cooking smelled pretty good. And her female pride was pricked that it was probably better than hers. She so badly wanted to show them both that she could take care of herself, like she had before.

Ignoring icky topics like Kuja for the moment, Eiko echoed Denzel's question. "Yeah, how long? I still need to pray at the Eidolon Wall." She'd gotten distracted by having company around.

[heartofheaven]

"Just a couple of minutes," Tifa promised. "Could you guys set the table?"