[thread; CLOSED] Some grown-up girl bonding time.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Characters: Dagger and Eiko (with a Cameo by Auron)
Progress: ongoing
Summary: after many months of delays and re-scheduling, Eiko finally comes for her Monthly Visit
Location: Alexandria
Date: Mid-November
Warnings: None?

Being back in Alexandria was not what Garnet had expected; she had expected to return home quietly once the threat of Kefka had been lifted. After being kept in hiding for just over a week, and then finding herself spirited away to the outer continent, the world is unrest, she'd had no choice but to returned to her half-ruined home. The damage from the night of the Ball remained, and added on top of it, the dust that settled and the effects of time passing them all by. The fields were being harvested furiously, an attempt to salvage what of the produce had not rotted from neglect. The queen had her work cut out for her once more.

But on this particular afternoon, the repairs to the ballroom were well under-way. The palace had already been cleaned of dust and cobwebs, and the maids were busily making up two of the guest rooms. Eiko was due to arrive this afternoon, and as Garnet had heard it, she was to be accompanied by a personal guardian. Not that Garnet really blamed Cid... The world had somehow become an alien and dangerous place to all of them.

Dressed down for the afternoon, Garnet made her way out to the dock. Hair braided loosely, clad in one of her silk riding shirts, tan pants, and a decorative marigold bodice with front laces, The young queen paced the door, looking across the the water to the city skyline. The airship had to have arrived by now, right?

And that's when she saw them; the bouncing form of the nine-year-old summoner, and behind her a tall man with dark hair, peppered with streaks of grey. Must be her guardian, Garnet mused to herself, standing on tip-toe, and waving across the water as they boarded the small ferry boat to bring them over to the palace.

Comments

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

Bouncing indeed was what the little summoner was doing, as she was like to burst out of her skin with excitement. It'd been months since she'd seen Dagger, then there was that stupid thing that Father wouldn't let her go to the birthday party and... she wasn't going to gripe about it. For now. Over the years, Garnet had become something of a big sister to Eiko, even if the child still insisted that she was the one looking out for the queen. She was the senior summoner, after all.

The second the ferry paused, Eiko leaped the distance from it's edge to the dock, only a distance of a couple of inches, but certainly not safe since the ferry hadn't been tied down yet. "Dagger! Dagger!" she called out, waving an arm over her head.

The only thing stopping her from a full-on assault hug was Mother's injunction to 'be a lady on this trip.' She at least looked the part, as she'd been dressed in a respectable gown with a sash tied in a big bow and even dainty little gloves and silk slippers. Being a lady is really uncomfortable, she'd thought on the trip to Alexandria. So, as instructed, she curtsied fully, but then forgot the rest of the lesson about waiting for 'leave to rise in the presence of a reigning monarch' and got in her hug.

[stoicguardian.livejournal.com]

Auron was beginning to wonder how he was going to keep his sanity following this child everywhere she went. She was a ball of energy (even more so than Rikku) and he was starting to have a hard time keeping up with her. It was when he watched her bounce and almost (but not quite) full-on tackle the queen.

"Be careful." He called and continued at leisurely pace after his charge. He wasn't very worried about Eiko's safety. He was sure Garnet had plenty of guards and the like to look after her. But still. He just wanted to be sure.

He had never really been in the presence of royalty. Not this kind anyway. The Maesters back home commanded respect, but there was something different about Garnet and so he inclined his head respectfully to her.

He wouldn't intrude on their bonding time. So the moment Garnet dismissed him, he would go find something else to do.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Garnet wanted to giggle. Over the years, she had scene Eiko dressed up like a doll curtosy of Aunt Hilda, but the image never stopped being amusing; she just looked so out of place in lace and satin, as if the fine fabric could ever truly hope to contain Eiko's larger-than-life personality and spirit. Seeing her curtsy like that was almost awkward (on Garnet's end-- she'd told Hilda before that Eiko didn't need to worry about that around her) and she was more than happy to throw protocol aside. She gleefully embraced the younger summoner, letting out the smallest of giggles, though unable to hide her brilliant smile.

"It's so good to see you again! I've missed you!" said Dagger (and she would always be Dagger to her friends, she wanted it no other way).

And then she looked up to greet Eiko's companion with a much softer smile.

"You must be Auron, right?" she asked, arms still loosely draped on Eiko's shoulders. "Welcome to Alexandria."

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

Eiko's little head bobbed in confirmation. "Yep, that's him. He may act grouchy, but he's nice." This conclusion had been reached by consensus one day last week between Eiko and all the moogles flocking the castle in Lindblum. The girl was genuinely becoming fond of the older man, and had long since gotten over her frustration at having a "babysitter." Once she found out that summoners in Spira had guardians, she'd been all for having one of her own.

Another hug for Garnet, and a bright smile too. "I've missed you too. I'm still mad I missed your birthday party. Was it fun?" Wiser heads had prevailed in Lindblum and kept the sordid truth from reaching the girl's ears, on pain of Hilda's magic.

[stoicguardian.livejournal.com]

He confirmed Eiko's answer with a nod of his head but raised an eyebrow when she mentioned that he was grouchy. He didn't know where she got that idea. He wasn't grouchy. Just opinionated. So he hmp'd behind his cowl and turned his head in another direction.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Dagger had to crane her neck a bit to look up at Auron. He (like most Sky People that Dagger had met) was a fair bit taller than the average Gaian, and she was beginning to grow used to feeling small in comparison. At Eiko's description, she almost laughed again. Grouchy. For a moment, she thought of Amarant. Wondered, was he alright? Probably... he rarely came around anyway.

Her attention was once again diverted by Eiko's question; one she wasn't sure she aught to answer honestly.

"It would have been more fun if you'd been there," she said finally, "but we can talk more later. Let's head inside."

She spared Auron another look, and yet another warm smile. "We've set up quarters for you both during your stay. If you'd like, the maids can show you to your room, and you're free to come and go as you please."

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

It was all good in Eiko's book. She was opinionated too, just louder than Auron about it. She giggled at his grunt of a response, then grabbed hold of Dagger's hand. "I want to hear all about it. Nobody will tell me anything at home."

At that, she pouted, every bit the nine-year old child. It was really exasperating to her to be treated like the child she was. Not that Mother and Father did too much, but the servants and the guards did, no matter how much she yelled at them.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

From there, Dagger fell momentarily into her Queen mode - maids were gently directed, bags were dispersed, and while Auron was given the freedom to go where he pleased, Dagger insisted Eiko get something more comfortable to wear (she knew from experience that dresses like that were rarely comfortable), and instructed her to come to her chambers when she was ready.

On her way down to meet them at the dock, Garnet had sent for tea, sandwiches, and a few sweets from the kitchen, to which the Qu head-chef was more than happy to oblige, and even delivered himself. The trays were set on the table in the queen's sitting room when she arrived, and she smiled. This would be perfect. It was just too bad it was so cold outside now...

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

Knock knock knock!

Eiko stood at the door, finally freed from that silly dress she'd worn to travel in. Her old jumper dress from Madain Sari had long since been outgrown, but at least she still had a healthy supply of play clothes, which she'd stashed under her formal gowns to smuggle them out with her.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Dagger smiled. That was fast. Not that she had really expected any less from Eiko. She hastened back to the door, and pulled it open to let the younger girl in. "Hope you're hungry, I had the chef whip up some lunch. And dessert." she winked, and moved over to the table.

Even though she was not usually one to admit it, Eiko's visits always did wonders to lift her spirits. Eiko was just so full of life, and even though they'd had a rough start back when they first met, the younger summoner had become as close to her as family. Until recently, they had been the last of their kind in this world, and it was something they had really bonded over.

That, and neither of them had ever had any brothers or sisters.

"So, where do we start?" she asked, dropping two cubes of sugar into her cup, and and pouring the tea over top.

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

"With dessert!" Eiko answered, entirely serious about beginning with the sweets, then lunch. She skipped over to the table and sat herself rather unceremoniously down. Dagger didn't mind and Mother wasn't around to tell her to mind her manners. That lady stuff was harder than she thought it would be.

Still, she was delighted to have the chance to finally catch up with Dagger, who was very much like family to her too. And a summoner too. Two sugar cubes went into her own tea, and a third one into her mouth to suck on. "I've got so much to tell you! I met Rydia's eidolons, and boy is Leviathan different. But Whyt and the Sylphs are great. Oh! And I can summon the Sylphs now. They're so pretty! What about you? Have you met any new eidolons?"

Leave it to the child to immediately jump to summoning. It was only partially because they had that in common. The girl had a natural curiosity about her abilities and a strong sense of duty to preserve the tribe and its ways. Dagger was a queen, so it fell to her to accomplish.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

In the time it took Eiko to rattle off all of that, Dagger had poured tea for both of them, added milk, and put a small slice of cake on each of their plates. With her fork poised between her fingers, but the cake untouched, Dagger paused.

"I haven't seen any of Rydia's Eidolon's... or any, really. ...Do you supposed Leviathan's appearance would have to do with what was written on the Eidolon wall? I remember reading something there, about Shiva appearing as a beautiful woman, or as a young girl..."

Pausing in her musing, she cut a small piece of cake with her fork. "...you know, I haven't met any eidolons, or summoners, but there's this girl I met. Her name is Terra, have you met her? She told me that her father was -- well, she called him an Esper, but from what I've heard, it's the same thing as an Eidolon."

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

Ladylike went out the door as Eiko dove into her own cake. Mother would never let her start off a meal with sweets! At least she remembered to only talk between bites, although everything was being punctuated by her fork being waved around like a smart silk banner.

"Yep. I really like her. And I talked to her dad too. He's nice. But he says Terra won't summon him." That bothered the child and it reflected in her face. Some of the nuances behind the grown-ups behavior puzzled her mightily, and this was one of those cases. After an uncharacteristically quiet pause, she finally answered Garnet's first question. "I think it does. He looked like an old guy, but Rydia says he's like a father to her, and king of their eidolons. I liked him. So, we painted him like that on the Eidolon Wall too."

She and Rydia had actually spent quite some time painting new eidolons on the walls, including her Mog. Even with her eidolon form with her at all times, Eiko missed her best friend since birth. Putting down her fork, she picked up her teacup and took a sip, before staring into it hard. Some things were just too hard to talk about, and she was determined to be a lady and not cry like a little kid.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Dagger watched Eiko quietly, perplexed by the lapse into silence. She had her own questions about Terra's father, but more important at the moment was Eiko. The elder girl reached a hand across the table.

"...What's the matter?"

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

"I painted Mog," she answered simply, before hiding her face in her teacup again. Not gonna cry. Nope. Not gonna. Another couple of itty sips and then she put it down. It didn't make any sense to her why it bothered her so much. She could still summon Mog, and it's not like she died like Grandpa.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Someone didn't need to die, for them to be missed. Dagger knew this first hand. She saw that look in Eiko's eyes, and recognized it far too keenly; she'd seen it in the mirror too many times for her tastes.

She smiled just a bit. For Eiko's sake. "I'm surprised you didn't do that sooner."

Her hand lifted from the table top, and reached to run over Eiko's hair. Dagger turned her smile up just a little, from commiseration, to understanding.

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

With anyone else, Eiko would have protested the head pat as treating her like a little kid. But with Dagger, she knew it was a comforting touch, and if she was being honest with herself, a nice one too. She liked it a lot, so she smiled in response, the gloomy mood dispelled. "Well, it was a lot of work," she confided. "Rydia knows a lot of eidolons I've never heard of."

After a split second, she added, "But the one at the Eidolon Wall wasn't one of hers, or even Yuna's. She's Seymour's instead. But Rydia summoned her." That wasn't too much of a surprise to the child per se. Eidolons had some say in who they answered to and if Seymour's eidolon liked Rydia, well then that was that.

"She's really sad though. I guess it's because she's stuck in that statue, but she was in chains." And from the cranky expression on Eiko's face, it wasn't difficult to extrapolate exactly how she felt about any summon being chained.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

"Stuck to a statue? In chains? You mean like a seal?" Dagger remembered well the seals on Carbuncle, and Leviathan. At the time, all it had taken was the right words, a bit of prayer...

So why was this one bound so tightly? "Have you tried to release--" she stopped abruptly. Seymour. That name sounded so ...

"Wait-- Maester Seymour is a Summoner too?!"

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

"Huh? Sure he is," Eiko replied calmly. Was it a secret that wasn't supposed to be shared or something? "I took him to go see that singing statue summon that showed up."

Shrugging off Dagger's ignorance of all the new summoners around, she plunged ahead with answering her question. "It wasn't like any sealed eidolon that I've seen. I tried to set her free, but she told me that I couldn't. Um, let's see..." And with that, the little one went into the explanation as she'd gotten it: that people gave up their souls to become fayth, and the fayth was put in the statues, and then bonded with the summoners to make the aeon, and an aeon was another word for an eidolon. "It's really weird though. There was a lady hovering over the statue while the statue was singing, but she doesn't look anything at all like her aeon."

Not that Eiko really had any place or business passing judgment on the form an eidolon chose to take, and by and large, she never gave it a moment's consideration. But there was something so sad and eerie about Anima. And the child could sense pain surrounding that poor summon, it hurt her not to be able to heal it.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Whether it was a secret or not, Dagger didn't know. She'd been in the same room with him, sitting right across the table and had no idea he was a summoner. Did anyone else know? I knew I was a bit behind, but to be this out of the loop? She let the thought slide for the time being.

The very 'explanation' of Fayth and Aeons went very nearly over Dagger's head. Not that she should have expected any different; it had been nearly four years since she'd first summoned, and in that time she'd only been able to learn what books and Eiko's child-perspective ramblings had to teach her about her heritage. Legends were created around Eidolons, or Eidolons were born from Legends... it was never clear. None of it ever was.

Contemplatively, Dagger lifted her tea cup, but didn't quite sip.

"That sounds... so sad."

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

Eiko's grasp on her heritage wasn't quite as strong as she liked to believe. More and more, her attitudes about being a summoner were being forged by her own opinion, rather than actual knowledge passed down by her grandfather. There were books in the abandoned village, and the Eidolon Wall still stood, but truthfully, the vast wealth of knowledge died with the tribe.

She picked up her own cup, and took another drink from it, then nodded her agreement. "It does. I wonder if Anima gets lonely there all by herself." Soft echoes of the loneliness she knew she felt being all alone in a destroyed village.

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

Lonely. Dagger mused silently, taking another sip of her tea. They all knew a thing or two about loneliness, didn't they? She, and Eiko, and Freya, Zidane. Even Steiner, Beatrix, Quina Well, maybe not Quina, it was hard to tell if the Qu felt anything but hunger, and Vivi...

She paused mid sip, and swallowed. Their old friend had slipped into her thoughts more than once, recently. It was still so hard to believe he'd been gone for nearly three years already. Longer than they had all been together...

"I ... begin to wonder if loneliness is something we all must endure at some time." There were times, even now, that she was lonely still.

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

Eiko watched Dagger with a thoughtful expression. Something was going on and it was her job to take care of the other summoner. If she didn't look out for Dagger, then who would? The discussion on loneliness took the child by surprise. She hadn't felt lonely since she'd left with them years ago. Sure sometimes she worried it would happen again, like when she woke up halfway around the world from home. But nothing like what she'd experienced before.

"Why do you look like that?" she asked bluntly. No point in tiptoeing around whatever was on Dagger's mind. "Did Zidane leave again?"

[crowned-jewel.livejournal.com]

"Well, no he--" Dagger blinked, the cup mere inches from her lips. How had this become about Zidane? Her eyes averted. "It's sort of a long story."

Slowly, she lowered her cup, and it clicked against the matching saucer. On the eve of her birthday, after spending that time with Zidane in the garden, she thought things would be alright. But with things as they had been, she hadn't seen him since. The whole night was beginning to feel like a dream.

"He came to my party, and we... well, he apologized. For leaving like he did."

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

"He better. I didn't give him up just so he could run off again. Men!" That last word was uttered in a tone of complete exasperation that Eiko could have only learned from overhearing it. She herself had no actual experience in the realms of romantic relationships, outside of her old crush on Zidane. She just thought she understood them. Then again, at the ripe old age of nine, the child had a rather keen grasp on people, product of her watching and absorbing everything around her.

Unfortunately, Garnet broached the wall surrounding the topic of the party, so Eiko decided to march boldly ahead with it. "So, tell me about the party! I want to know everything!"