Stargate SG1 Fan Fiction / Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Stargate: Atlantis Fan Fiction ❯ April Ninth ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Well, in response to a number of questions posed by the readers, here's a non-diary chapter for your perusal and qualification. Enjoy!

“Feh… He ain't Al Bhed, but he sure act like it, ya?” Wakka groused, watching John Sheppard sitting out on the moonlit deck of the ship. Lulu rolled her eyes nearby.

“He did volunteer to play for the team did he not?”

“Yeah, well, blitzball's one thing. It's not written down in Yevon, ya?” Wakka shook his head. “It's pretty specific about machina? And here he is, usin' one like it don't matter. Like he ain't gonna get killed because o' it and take us with `im.”

“Oh no you don't,” Lulu stated icily. “Don't you dare bring Chappu into this.” Lulu looked out onto the deck, watching the black-haired man kicking around a blitzball awkwardly.

“I… I wasn't!”

“First, you give Tidus Chappu's old sword, now this,” Lulu sighed in exasperation. “Focus on the now, Wakka. Not the past. It didn't help with our last summoner, did it?”

“… No, I suppose not,” Wakka sighed, crossing his arms and looking out over the moon light dancing across the waves.

John sighed, closed his eyes, and tried to recall the steps leading up to the kick-off his soccer coach had shown him back in high school. It was a pretty long time ago… Not that long, mind you, but still long enough for the muscle memory to have descended to the back of his mind. He strode forward and kicked, sending the ball spiraling directly upwards, until it bounced off the superstructure of the ship and flew right back at his face.

“Gah!” He caught the ball, but lost his footing and crashed to the deck in a very ungraceful heap. John groaned, as a feminine giggle emerged above him. He looked up blearily, and saw Yuna watching him, her hands behind her back.

“Er… Believe me, that's usually a whole lot more impressive,” John explained, shaking his head and running a hand through his unruly hair. Yuna laughed a bit harder, walking over and taking the ball from his hands as he got up.

“I would imagine so.” Yuna smiled at him kindly as he got to his feet. “So… You promised to tell me where you came from some time before?” Sheppard inwardly groaned.

“Well, er… I was, kind of… We were in a bit of a fix, then… Kind of dramatic moment?” At Yuna's amused expression, he rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay… So… What do you want to know?” Sheppard tossed the blitzball up in the air and caught it easily, spinning it around on one finger.

“What is this `football' you speak of?” Yuna asked. Sheppard smiled.

“Well, it's a really big sport back where I come from… Basically, there's this large field, about, well… Maybe three times the length, and twice the width of this boat, okay?” Yuna nodded. “Well, every tenth of the field in length is marked out by white lines… Ten yards, twenty yards, and so on. At either end of the field are field goal posts-“

“Field goal posts?” Yuna asked, blinking. Sheppard shrugged.

“Yeah… for field goals.” At Yuna's blank expression, Sheppard coughed.

“It's… Complicated. But fun… Trust me.” Yuna tilted her head thoughtfully.

“So… Where is your home?” Sheppard laughed wryly at that.

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you…” Yuna smiled prettily back.

“Try me.” Sheppard stared at her, mentally shrugged, and cleared his throat.

“All right… I come from a planet called Earth. I'm, well… An alien, I guess you could say.” John pointed up at the sky. “Earth is in a distant galaxy, called the Milky Way. We call this galaxy the Pegasus galaxy.” Yuna nodded thoughtfully.

“How did you get here?”

“I was following this evil alien starship through a hyperspace jump… But, I guess I didn't follow fast enough to keep up with them, because I fell out of hyperspace in orbit around Spira,” Sheppard continued, unconsciously making sure no one else was within earshot. “And my ship crashed because I was too steep in the gravity well.” He looked at Yuna expectantly. She smiled and shook her head.

“I only understood… Perhaps half of that.” Yuna shrugged. “But, well…”

“No crazier sounding that being thrown a thousand years into the future, right?” Sheppard asked. Yuna smiled sadly.

“I suppose not.” She shook her head and looked at him carefully. John fidgeted.

“Er… Something on my face?” Yuna smiled again.

“You never had to deal with Sin on Earth?” Sheppard shrugged.

“Not… How you mean it, no. No huge giant monsters trying to wipe out civilization, if that's what you mean.” Yuna nodded.

“There must be a lot of people there, then.” John nodded with a grin.

“Yeah… Cities, like, a hundred times bigger than Killika island.”

“Bigger than the village?” Yuna asked.

“Bigger than the whole island,” Sheppard corrected. Yuna gasped, her smile growing.

“Really? Wow… How do you not get lost?” John shrugged.

“Well, we have maps… And this thing called GPS… And if all else fails, you ask for directions.” Yuna nodded, and walked past John, looking out over the sea. John, blinking slightly, followed, standing next to her.

“Will you… Show me Earth, someday?” She asked. John shrugged.

“Sure… Why not? I mean… There isn't exactly a tight schedule to your pilgrimage, is there?” John asked softly. Yuna's smile became sad once more.

“We Summoners… We are the hope of Spira. We give people hope for new Calms…”

“Yeah, but… No one said the Calm had to be right now, right?” John asked. “There are other summoners… One of them might defeat Sin… And that'll let you have a break. Your own Calm for a while, right?” Yuna laughed quietly.

“Yes… I suppose…” She sighed. “Still… As Lord Braska's daughter, I am expected to defeat Sin.”

“And die?” John asked quietly. Yuna swallowed audibly.

“… Yes. But… If it makes my people safe, and happy… Then I am willing to do it. I think that's worth a life, right? To give people freedom from Sin, if only for a little while.” John sighed.

“Well… If my people ever find me, I promise… We'll find some other way of defeating Sin. And we'll make it so no one else ever has to die in defeating it. I promise.” Yuna looked at John steadily.

“That's quite a big promise,” Yuna replied quietly. John smiled back, handing her the blitzball.

“The important ones always are.”

More revised chapters to come! Stay tuned!