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[Nov. 18th, 2006|03:32 am] |
For ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) bottle_of_shine for my fic request meme. She wanted Chappu, Lulu and politics. I twisted the theme a touch and it is secretly AU. Oh, yes.
Fandom: FFX
Characters: Chappu, Lulu, Wakka, Beclem, Luzzu
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 461
Title: Sovereign Heart
His girl and his big brother were about all Chappu had left in the world and two weeks ago they'd pledged their guardianship to some two-bit temple priest by the name of Zuke. Two weeks ago, angry and hurt, Chappu had joined the crusaders with his buddy Luzzu.
“Al Bhed premium alloy, all mined from the deserts of Bikanel.” Beclem grinned. “Heathen's Aeon, they call it. Non-elemental, but a hell of a lot more efficient than a sword. You can take down a Garuda with just one hit, if you aim her right.”
It was cold, small and heavier than it ought to be. Chappu aimed the gun experimentally at the sun, which was just starting to climb over the horizon with a band of orange glow.
“All you need is good aim and quick instinct. Should be nothing for a blitzer like you.”
But it was something, hard and cool and foreign in his palm.
“You ain't got a problem with it, do ya?”
Chappu had already said goodbye to her once. He'd already mourned her and when she returned, he took her back with tears in his eyes. Before then, he'd never actually believed that someone could cry tears of joy. Before then he'd never had such joy as to have his girl, so very alive, so very back in his arms and saying how much she loved him. When she told him she was leaving on a second pilgrimage, he smarted. When she said she was taking his brother, it was then that he turned bitter.
He joined the ranks of the crusaders and left everything behind. The island with its yawning views of the sea and sky, his little hut with its grass-thatched roof, the Aurochs with their hopeless roster, Wakka with that sword he'd been so proud to give his little brother and of course, her. Especially her. The way he figured, he'd given all the love he had to her and there wasn't much use in sticking around in a world without any love in it.
So he left Besaid and reported for duty without so much as a regret. They gave him some machina called a gun and now he was gonna learn to use it. If the crusader's tactics couldn't take down Sin, maybe these Al Bhed jobbers could. And if that didn't do the trick, he'd fight with whatever he had left.
As long as Sin was in the world, Chappu wasn't going home. He wasn't gonna sulk in his hut doing nothing but waiting for news of their death. Chappu had never been real good with words, not like Lulu. But this kind of stuff –the stinging grief, the scalding resentment, and the hollow loneliness, was way too much for words. Truth was, a thing like this just might take all of him.
“Nah. No problem.”
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| Comments: |
Ouch. I was thinking they'd gone off after he died, but I'm hazy on the chronology, and this seems so painfully plausible.
FFX weaves so many sweet tragedies, and you just wove another patch on the quilt. I love the anger you give Chappu. I always thought of him as gentle, but this feels right-- and he might well understand Lulu better if he had a spark like that inside.
I'm not able to nitpick anything here; the whole emotion and tone of it is very seamless. But the paragraph about him welcoming her back after he'd already mourned her once is gut-wrencher.
I love the fact that he doesn't take to the machina blithely -- something that would please and sadden Wakka. There's a bitterness in Chappu's heresy, along with all the rest.
Amazing how powerful a piece can be when a huge part of its weight is never mentioned: Chappu's fate.
The chronology is off, I think...*cheerily adds "AU" tag*.
Hah.
Thank you.
Oooh. Ouch. My favourite pairing from FFX. I really like it, especially the phrase "his girl" which echoes what Luzzu says later at Mushroom Rock. I also like the informality of Chappu's internal monologue, and how bitter and angry and hurt he is that Lulu left him not once but twice, and the second time she took Wakka with him. It's so lovely.
This is gorgeous and sad and makes Chappu into a real person for me with real motives. I like the idea much better that Chappu goes off out of a sense of helplessness and uncertainty rather than simple machismo (gotta keep my girl safe), not that the latter isn't good and noble. It's just quite a cliche and I really don't see Lulu as ever allowing such an attitude to exist.
I really like Chappu's hesitancy about using the machina too.
Nitpicking:
"But this kind of stuff –the stinging grief, the scalding resent, and the hollow loneliness, was way too much for words." Replace "resent" with "resentment."
Thanks so much, especially the nitpicking!
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