Follow you Heart

Chapter 1: The shy summoner

"She's been inside the temple for a full week now."

"No summoner's been in the Chamber of Fayth for that long of time."

"Whomever her guardian is should be there with her."

….A young man, with waist length silver hair, a katana, and emerald green eyes sneezes and falls off the steps of the temple, landing on his face. The old men who had been so worried about the summoner quickly turned their attention to the boy. He sits up quickly and dusts off his robes. "Aren't you a guardian?" one of the men asks. "Yes. I just finished my training as well," he answers, "I'm just waiting on my summoner."

"Wait. Is your summoner the summoner inside the Chamber of the Fayth?"

"Yes, she is." The old men turn to him, "Go inside and help her!" The boy stands at attention briefly and quickly run inside.

---

Easily figuring out the cloister of trials, he walks into the waiting area outside the Chamber of the Fayth. He leans against one of the walls and closes his eyes. In his mind, he tried to picture the summoner coming out and smiling softly at him. As he dozes off, the doors to the Chamber of the Fayth opens. He looks up to see a young woman stagger out, dripping in sweat, leaning against the wall for support, and panting. The girl turned her pale blue, almost gray, eyes to him and smiles weakly at him. "Umiko…" he says softly, walking up two of the step as the girls faints, landing in his arms and knocking him back to the floor. He looks down at Umiko as she lay sleeping on his chest and sighs. He wanted to get her back to her hut by the beach, but the village has been waiting on her to become a summoner and planning a celebration for her. He sits up and holds her in his arms as a monk walks in.

"How is the young summoner doing, Byakko?" the monk asks quietly.

"She's fainted," he answers, "Is it ok to post pone her celebration until after she rest?"

"It would be for the best. Take her back home." Byakko stands up, being careful not to wake her, and bows, "Thank you."

---

"I'm so proud of you, Umiko…" he says quietly, walking out of the temple with the young summoner on his back, "You've finally became a summoner." He walks down the path from the village towards the beach with a smile on his face. Going down this path, past the unbelievable waterfalls reminded him of the first time they met over five years ago. Byakko walks down the path and stops in front of a door almost completely hidden by wild grass and small piles of sand. He opens the door and steps in. The hut was small enough for just one, maybe two people; it had a small bench for a couch and a fire place that was only lit during the winter months. He goes to the bench and lays Umiko gently on it. Byakko sees a blanket and lays it on her. He sits on chair and looks at the young woman who laid sleeping peacefully. Byakko couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was; she reminded him of a slumbering angel. As his mind began to wander, she began to open her eyes. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the bright light that flooded the hut and spot a figure sitting over her. She softly hit the figure with the back of her hand as Byakko grabs her hand and smiles.

"B..Byakko?" she asks softly in confusion as he kisses her hand.

"You were in the temple for a whole week, Umira," he whispered, " I was so worried…"

"I didn't mean to make you worry…I wanted to make sure I would have the Fayth help me out," she whispered, "I didn't think they would aid someone who was…" Byakko puts a finger to her lips and smiles.

"Get some rest, Umira. The whole village has a celebration planned for you, but you need to rest first." Umira nods and sits up, looking deeply into Byakko's eyes. Byakko turned many shades of red before turning his head away, looking at the floor. Umira giggled a little and stands up, "I'll go to bed right now. After I wake up, I'll head towards the village."

That innocent sounding giggle of hers…it made Byakko's heart skip a beat. It drove him crazy how much of an impact her voice makes on his warrior soul. He wondered what was happening to him whenever he was near her. It couldn't have been love; he ruled that out a long time ago.

"Byakko?"

He looked over at the woman who had softly called his name, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Yes?" he asked with a goofy grin on his face.

"Did you hear me? I said I was going to bed and then heading towards the village. You could stay here if you like."

"Thanks for the offer, Umira, but I have to head back to the temple to see when it's ok for you to leave for your pilgrimage." Umira walked over to him and kissed his cheek, "Ok. I'll see you at the celebration." The young man smiles at her, stands up and walks out.

---

"You're wondering when it's ok for the summoner to leave for her pilgrimage?" the head monk asked, looking up at Byakko, "The best time would be soon. Sin has plagued our world for far too long. Tomorrow afternoon, a ferry will be here to take some of our merchants to Kilika. That is when our young summoner should leave." Byakko nodded and headed for the entrance as he heard cheering coming from outside. He saw the villagers celebrating, streamer falling everywhere and in the center of all of this was Umira, smiling and laughing. He smiled himself as he walked over to her.

"I thought you were resting," he whispered to her. The summoner turned to him and smiled, "I couldn't stay away from the village knowing there's a celebration going on."

"Summoner Umira! Summon your aeon!"

"Yes! Show us you're ready to begin your pilgrimage!" Umira sighed and picked up her staff, walking to the steps of the temple with Byakko behind her. She closed her eyes and began her summoning. Byakko watched in a trance at the beautiful young woman as Valefor appear a moment later and landed beside her. The village cheered as Umira petted the aeon gently. "We can leave tomorrow afternoon, Umira," Byakko whispered softly, "But for now, let's celebrate." The woman smiled brightly, dismissing the powerful aeon and joined the villagers below.

---

The moon was fixed high in the night sky; the ocean reflected its glow towards the shore as Byakko sat on the beach, alone, as he always did at night. His thoughts focusing on the upcoming quest he and Umira would undertake together. He would have to put all thoughts of love aside to help her. She needed a guardian…not a lover. Byakko was soon brought out of his thoughts by the sounds of someone walking on the beach behind him. He had no sooner grabbed the katana that laid beside him when the person kneeled behind him and put a blanket around his shoulders. The young warrior sighed as he saw Umira sitting next to him.

"What are you doing up so late? We have to leave tomorrow and you should be sleeping." he said, trying to sound like a father-figure. The summoner giggled and his heart skipped a beat. "I couldn't sleep, that's all," she noted, "I guess I'm so excited and nervous about this whole thing." Byakko looked over at her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him.

"I understand," he said softly, "You can stay here until you fall asleep. I'll get you in the morning."

"Could you stay here with me, Byakko?" she asked softly, putting her head on his shoulder and smiling, "You're so nice and warm…." At those words, Byakko's face turned red. He turned his head the other way so she couldn't see his face.

"…Maybe you should head back home…." he said, standing up, "I need to go to the temple one last time." The summoner looked at him, feeling a little rejected and stood up. She hung her head as she walked past the warrior, "See you then." Once she was out of sight, Byakko sat back down and held the blanket in his hands. Even this had her smell on it…. He held it close to him and closed his eyes. Memories of them spending time together came back to him, memories of her. He still couldn't explain why he felt the way he did whenever she was near, or when he heard her voice. He knew for sure it wasn't love… he had ruled that out a long time ago.