I arrived home today, it was a usual day, as far as usual can go. Psyiah had been away fighting in a war when she was caught up in a terrible storm. She returned home to me eventually but the very next morning after her return, she disappeared. I was well into month two without my wife. I had come to accept my new life, alone, my wife no where to be found. She had disappeared, without a trace. A few weeks had passed since her disappearance.
Upon climbing the steps, leading to my front yard, I noticed I had mail. “Probably bills,” I said to myself as I opened the mailbox. What I found inside brought me to my knees…there was a letter, from Psyiah.
“Could it be!? Could my wife really be alive!?” The thoughts raced through my head. I knelt in the grass and cried to the gods. “Oh please let this really be from her. Let her be at the chapel waiting for me! Oh gods PLEASE!”, I cried out into the night. I summoned my fastest steed and rode like my life depended on it, leaving the city of Mist behind me.
As I approached the chapel I slowed down and dismounted. A figure sat in front, shrouded in darkness. I approached slowly, the shape seemed familiar yet also different. “Psy…..Psyiah?”, I spoke softly and with uncertainty.
I thought I heard her speak to the butterfly on her shoulder. If it was Psyiah, the butterfly was a gift I had given her months before. Slowly the stranger stood up and turned to face me. I gasped as I saw a face I didn’t recognize; but the eyes… they stood out. She spoke, “hi Anni.”
It was Psyiah! I began crying with joy and ran to her. I threw myself into her body and wrapped my arms around her. I sobbed into her shoulder and she, into mine.
Reluctantly she lifted her hood and exposed her new form to me. We both wept. She was filled with the fear of what I might think of her while I was filled with mixed emotions from seeing her new form and from her disappearance.
Not much was said and many tears where shed.
She appeared weary and tired. I helped her climb onto my chocobo and took her home.
The sun now up, I could better see her new body and shape. Her new hair, skin and…..scales. Slowly I undressed her. Her skin was dirty. Patches of dust, dirt and dried blood could be seen here and there. Her clothing was not entirely her own, it was battered and worn.
I saw her bare back, marked with bruises and scars. She had been beaten. She explained how she had been abducted and put into a dungeon. She knew not who her captors were but they were skilled. No less than three times had the authorities scoured our property, after her disappearance. Not once did they ever find an indication of foul play; leaving me to believe she had left me. I broke down crying again, seeing her home and beaten broke my heart.
I finished undressing her and pulled her naked body into mine. I held her in my arms as we cried and cried and cried.
She began explaining her treatment and how she had become her new self. Her captors, desiring to dismantle our combined strength had set out to divide us. They forced her to drink a foul potion. Over the course of a few weeks her body transformed into that of an Aura.
‘They sought to separate us.” Psyiah explained. Thinking no one, including myself, would want her now, with her scaly body and horns. I looked into her eyes, “they were wrong.”. I drew a bath. Gently I washed the dust and blood from her sore body. Without her notorious feline healing powers, she was taking longer to recover from her treatment while imprisoned.
After bathing her, I held her in my arms and embraced her. She wept and whispered in my ear, “I am home…”. I squeezed her tighter, still crying, I whispered back:
“I am whole.”
When you love someone that love transcends all. Nothing can separate you or take you down. Those who mean to bring an end to your love know not of the power of true love.
There is no force in the entire universe stronger than that of true love.
Go to your loved ones, share our story and let them know of the power of love, tell them of the gift you give to them and hold them in your arms.
The Nalanis 