Never Ending Chase (L'Cie, Open)

[Sazh Katzroy]

Bright lights blinded, loud noises deafened, though people seemed to enjoy it none the less. Children ran around with piles of cotton candy slobbered over their faces and hands, chased by their parents, people laughing and having fun within the amusement park of Nautilus. It was a nice view for the most part, it was not like Sazh was a grumpy old man, if anything he enjoyed the place to some measure. Though it was true that he wanted to take his son here, but PSICOM had had other intentions for the pair of them. And being a L’Cie did not help his case anymore either. He remembered Vanille had enjoyed the Chocobos’ further into the amusement park before they were attacked. No where was truly safe now days.

While he had many worries on his mind, he had tried his best to wear a happy face and lighten the moods. However, spending so much time with his new collection of friends, he had found that the mask he wore had faded, and he had even enjoyed their company. They were almost another family to him, and no matter what PSICOM threw at them, he would do his best to look out for them, protect them when he could. He may be the old man of the group, but he liked to think he wasn’t past it yet.

Sazh wondered through the crowded path, gazing about from time to time. He had gotten lost, which was no major surprise. Last time he was here he had a general idea of where to go, but chatting to Vanille sort of distracted him from where he actually went. Though he ended up in the Chocobo pen, he remembered that. The baby chocobo in his afro poked out slightly, and chirped a gentle chirp of acknowledgement, causing Sazh to brief look upwards, a lopsided smile on his lips.
“Heh, you remember more than I do eh… ain’t surprised.” [/b]
He softly chuckled to himself as he made his way towards one of the stairs. After a short walk, the scent of birds caught his nose. Yes, the scent of birds, their left overs’, their food, and all other things Chocobos tended to stink of. The dark skinned pilot peered into the birds pens, looking around for any familiar faces, lightly itching his cheek with his finger as he scanned the contents of the area.

[Oerba Dia Vanille]

Hopeful Dreamer
Wishes can come true. But not if you just wait for miracles. Miracles are things we make for ourselves. Here, and now.

Nautilus, the city of dreams. Why go here now? Where everyone wanted to have a good time and not worry about this L'Cie and Pulse stuff? That was exactly why. No one would be searching for L'Cie here right? Although last time being here with Sazh, Vanille and him were most certainly being hunted by PSICOM soldiers and what not. That was not a fun time during their time together, especially after that PSICOM commander lady...whoever she was, Vanille didn't really care, revealed what Vanille wished to tell Sazh herself...that she was the Pulse L'Cie who was to blame for his son's transformation into a Sanctum L'Cie. Good thing that was all behind them.

Vanille walked along a small path into the chocobo pen. The smell reminded her of Gran Pulse and their chocobos, so naturally, thats what drew her there. She stood facing one of the cute birds and pet it's head and around the beak. It squaked a few times fluttering its feathers and Vanille only giggled. It reminded her of the Chocobo chick Sazh had carried around before, cute little guy. Vanille sighed as she rested her head against the Chocobos soft yellow feathers and stared at the ground. Where was everyone now? Were they okay? She hoped so.

A heavy sigh was released from Vanille's lips as she continued to stare at the grass. "You must like it here..." She said to the chocobo she was leaning against. "You've got your friends...family...everything you could dream of...people and fellow chocobos who love you." She then looked at the Chocobo in the eyes as it knelt its head down to hers to be eye level. "Me? No. I've...been separated from my friends lately...And Fang..." Vanille looked around her, no one was paying attention or even listening, she smiled at the chocobo. "Can you keep a secret?" The bird squaked and Vanille laughed. "Im a Pulse L'Cie...thats why you my friend...are lucky." She whispered quietly stroaking the bird once more before hearing a sqeak...a familiar squeak.

Vanille's green eyes looked over and caught sight of a familiar little chocobo chick, and a familiar friend of hers. She clasped her hands together with a gasp of excitement as she sqealed running over to Sazh. "Sazh!! You're here!" She squeaked, her voice giggly as ever, so happy to see a familiar face, aside from a chocobo.

[Sazh Katzroy]

Sazh was peering into the chocobo pens, he remembered his son always wanting to ride one some day. He would make that wish come true sooner or later; he was just that kind of father. His attention was quickly stolen by quirky friend of his now running towards him in a joyful explanation. A smile touched the middle aged mans lips at the sight of her. Vanille, the pink haired Pulse L’Cie. They had gone through a lot together since he became a L’Cie himself, and after it all he liked to think they were pretty good friends. The business with her involvement with his sons’ transformation… he had forgiven, and that thought never even glimpsed in his mind upon seeing her.

As she closed the distance, the chocobo chirped happily and flapped its wings with haste, swiftly gliding down towards the pink haired girl. Sazh let out a rough chuckle as the chocobo let his afro, giving his head a small shake.
“I swear that little guys loves ya’.”
He said pleasantly as he watched the bird escape him. He had hoped to give the baby chocobo to his son, something he had always wanted. One day he would, there were a lot of things he would one day do. Sazh crossed his arms, one hand briefly caressing his beard as he continued.
“Yeah, took me a bit of time but I finally found this place again. Nice to see everyone happy and the like, it’s too rare now days.”
With a grin, the dark skinned man patted Vanilles shoulder. Sazh stepped around her, turning slightly as he spoke, heading towards one the chocobo the pink haired girl was previously relaxing with.
“Though I knew I’d find ya’ here… well, sorta knew. Guessed really.”
Upon reaching the giant bird, he looked it over, though kept his hands to himself. He was not about to start patting some random bird.
“Any sign of the others. Fang?”
He turned back to face her, quirking his brow in question.

[Oerba Dia Vanille]

Hopeful Dreamer
Wishes can come true. But not if you just wait for miracles. Miracles are things we make for ourselves. Here, and now.

Vanille had slowed down her face pace to a complete stop as she stood about three feet infront of Sazh. She giggled as the Chocobo chick had flown to her. She held out her hands for the little chocobo to sit in them as she smiled and giggled at the cute little creature. "Oh he's still cute as ever..." She said using one of her fingers to pet the chick on its head lightly as it chirped and fluttered around in her palm. "I loved this place..." Vanille said sniffing the air, oh the smell of chocobos...the smell of pulse really. "The events...the happiness...and of course these cute feathery friends" She giggled yet again looking at all the chocobos!

When Sazh mentioned the others...and Fang, Vanille's cheerful attitude seemed to die down a bit and a slight frown crossed her face. She kept her eyes locked on the little chocobo chick to hide the disappointment in her eyes. "No...I saw Fang a little while back but...she ran off I think...as did I...other than her...I haven't seen anyone." Smile, just smile and be happy. Vanille always told herself that. "But you're here and now everythings even better!" She said forcing a smile back onto her face as she let the chick flutter off back towards Sazh.

Where was Lightning? Snow? Hope? ....Fang? Hopefully they all were doing okay and were safe. "Im sure we'll run into them eventually...If that city...Palampolum wasn't guarded with PSICOM so much we could go try and find Hope...but...I don't want to risk being on the run again." She sighed looking down, her pink pigtails swayed in the light breeze as she couldn't keep that forced smile on her face. No matter what she did, it just ended up a frown.

[Sazh Katzroy]

The dark skinned man nodded softly a few times to Vanilles reply, studying her frown briefly and mentally cursing himself for bringing down the mood. What he enjoy about her company, was that she was as lively as him sometimes, but for a while they were both wearing masks of joy. He would always try and bring up the mood however. As she spoke of recently seeing Fang Sazh looked about the chocobo pens, scratching the back of his neck in guilt, along with the mentioning of the others, being she had not seem them for ages. When Vanille brought up his own presence, he could not help but smile, and laughs under his breath, giving his head a small shake.
“Someones gotta be the mature one around here.”
He said jokingly as he turned on his heel, slowly wandering back in the girls’ direction. Fang and Vanille had a strong bond, sisterly and a strong friendship, not like any he had seen before. Certainly Fangs resolve to protect Vanille was something fierce, making him glad he was on their side in times of combat. Though that same feeling was likely what he felt when it came to Dajh. A complete disregard for your own safety, the other person being the top priority. It was a nice thought.

Sazh mentally agreed they would soon or later run into the others, but Hope was in Palampolum. The gunman sighed softly and nodded, both hands finding their ways onto his hips.
“We’re always on the run, that’s our luck now days. But we gotta keeping on moving forward, we all got our goals right. Bah, lettin’ an old man blabber on again ain’t you.”
He grinned, ruffling her pink hair before tapping her arm and motioning towards the stall of chocobo gifts.
“Come on, I’ll buy ya’ something.”
Sazh made his way over to the collection of various items for sale. Big teddy like chocobos, tiny dolls, foods… and loads of things he had no idea were. The tall man scratched his beard in thought as he peered over the stall, instantly feeling a back-whip to this plan of cheering up-ness. He glanced towards Vanille, seeing baby chocobo was still enjoying her a lot more than his afro for the time being. Though it always seemed to find its way back to his hair.

[Oerba Dia Vanille]

Hopeful Dreamer
Wishes can come true. But not if you just wait for miracles. Miracles are things we make for ourselves. Here, and now.

Vanille tried to keep herself smiling as always, even if it wasn’t real, a smile simply kept the mood happier, and if things got happier, maybe a real smile would be placed on her face instead of this fake one which she tried so hard to keep. She laughed when Sazh said someone had to be mature. “Well you’re right for the job eh pops?” She giggled a bit as her mood did indeed start to lighten up. She dropped the subject of Fang and the others in her mind and decided, at least someone was here and they weren’t being hunted for the moment, of course PSICOM could show any minute, which was why Vanille was always on edge, she could run any second she heard gunfire.

Vanille only let out a slight giggle and looked down a bit as her fake smile had pretty much disappeared. Apparently Sazh could tell Vanille wasn’t her natural cheery bubbly self right now, she tried though. A real smile did appear, not a huge one, but still, once her hair was ruffled and she followed Sazh over to the chocobo gift stand. She looked at the items there, but she didn’t want Sazh wasting any gil on her, It was such a nice thought though.

The little chocobo chick had made its way fluttering on Vanille’s head as she stood there looking. The little guy could always make her smile and giggle as it reminded her that there was still a long way to go…lots of time to change things, so why dwell now when things were bound to get better. With that thought in mind Vanille folded her arms and shook her head lightly so the chick wouldn’t fall off or anything. “No. I will not allow you to buy me anything. You really should save that for your son.” She smiled as she poked Sazh in the arm.

Rocking back on her heals, Vanille thought of an idea. “Sazh…since we’re already on the run…why not try and find Hope, or light or anyone else? “ She asked looking at her friend with her big green eyes, trying to be all cute like. Even if it all meant fighting off some PSICOM here and there, the two were a great team who seemed to get out of almost any tight spot when they were traveling together from the Vile peaks to the sunleth waterscape. “Perhaps…if we are lucky, they are looking for us also? Why not just seal the gap and meet them all halfway...?”

[Sazh Katzroy]

Sazh felt a wave of relief flush over him as Vanille denied his offer of a gift from the stand, not that he was overly surprised however. She was a kind girl who wished little from others but to give a lot, was simply part of that big heart of hers. He had somewhat of a warm heart himself, but he just saw it as being youthful as an old man. As she refused the offer the dark skinned former soldier nodded slightly, his brow rising in acceptance. She was right again, he should be buying gifts and enjoying the park with his son, one day he would. There was nothing he looked more forward to than being reunited with Dajh.
“Sometime soon without a doubt eh? Sure he’ll love it here. He’s always wanted to ride a chocobo...”
Sazh chuckled lightly, looking down to the girl.
“...Loves the things.”

Then Vanille brought up Hope once more. Sazh briefly glanced about the pen for people around them, it seemed fairly clear. Though he had not thought of that before when he mentioned being on the run, it seemed rather pointless to be over cautious now. He looked down to her, her wide green eyes bubbled up at him in some sort of Vanille-evil attempt to sway him, yet it always worked. The dark skinned man rubbed the back of his next, the clear concern on his expression at the idea of running into PSICOM or any other soldiers. Though they made a damn good team in dire situations he would never want to put the girl into any danger, protecting her on their journeys was also a high priority.

With a defeated sigh, Sazh spoke.
“Alright, alright. I guess it’s worth the risk of us all getting’ together and sorting out whatever we gotta sort out.”
He mumbled, giving his head a shake at his own weakness to adorable faces. It was a curse many middle aged men carried. Chocobo hovered from Vanilles head and climbed back into Sazhs’ afro as if it knew they would be heading out soon.
“We’ll head towards where Hope is first, with any luck we may run into Lightning with him, or any others.”
He turned on his heel and began to slowly walk towards the chocobo pen exit.
“Using that face is cheating, by the way.”
With a joking tone.

[Oerba Dia Vanille]

Hopeful Dreamer
Wishes can come true. But not if you just wait for miracles. Miracles are things we make for ourselves. Here, and now.

Vanille smiled as Sazh talked about his son, and the chocobos. “You’ll get your chance to bring him here real soon…I’m sure of it.” She said looking around at all the happy kids running around to pet the chocobos and little lamb creatures. All of them, happy and without worries. It made Vanille smile that at least some people in the world, could go around and be happy with nothing to worry about, everything for them certainly was sugar and rainbows…a life she wished she had. But no. She was a L’Cie, and being a L’Cie…a Pulse L’Cie in fact, wasn’t something to be overly happy about. Not that she wasn’t happy anyway, being a L’Cie gave her some new friends…a new family was more like it.

Looks like Vanille’s over trying cuteness was a success. Her smile widened as Sazh agreed to go along and search out the others. If they were starting with Hope, they’d have to go back through Nautilus and the Sunleth Waterscape, another place that fascinated Vanille, it was so green and as she put it before, naturey. “I’m sure Hope’s at home with his father…if not, maybe Mr. Estheim can tell us where he may be?” Vanille shrugged some hoping to run into at least Hope or Lightning. Anyone else would be great as well.

Vanille followed Sazh towards the exit, a quick small fist pump for her success in swaying him to say yes, once her little victory was over, she simply walked, her arms swaying happily towards her sides as she smiled, humming lightly to herself before Sazh had told her she cheated, her face fell at first but she laughed anyway. “It’s not cheating! It’s just…an advantage…” She giggled before restating something she had said before. “Cute girl like me, it’s hard to keep your eyes closed huh?” and with that she skipped ahead some and turning around, walking backwards now facing Sazh once again. “Palampolum…here we come!” She said in a high pitched voice as she clasped her hands together again, happy to be with a very good friend of hers once again on another journey…even if it was to just Palampolum, it wouldn’t just end there. There would be a lot more from there once they met up with their fellow friends.