Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Dreams Come True ❯ Unwanted Surprises ( Chapter 12 )

Mom, Dad and I stood behind Yuna's original guardians, who stood well behind Yuna, who stood at the podium, speaking to a standing-room-only blitzball stadium. She hadn't wanted any chance of us being seen - yet. Her speech would reveal many surprises, us included. Mom and Dad were silent for the most part, my old man out of patience. Mom was in a kind of clueless wonderment, wanting to look at everything. She'd never been to Spira, after all. She and Rikku were fast friends; but then again, there were few people Rikku didn't befriend. The Al Bhed were the closest things to Zanarkand's people that Mom had, I guess. Technology-wise, I mean.

I know I hurt Mom earlier. I didn't mean to, but...

I don't know. I should've been really happy. But it was more disturbing than anything. First Dad, then my mother...it made me wonder what other ghosts from the past would be dug up, polished off, and thrust at me to deal with.

"...things are happening quickly; I assure you that peace between the nations of Spira is very secure, and to my Al Bhed cousins I wish the greatest luck in their endeavor to rebuild their Home. Yes...I know some of you know, but some of you don't; I am...half Al Bhed."

That caused many murmurs in the crowd and some outright exclamations, but it wasn't as severe as Yuna had expected. She went on: "I hope, for those of you who've never had much love for them, that you will now understand that they are highly misunderstood, misinterpreted...I urge you to secure terms of peace with them on your own. This...that isn't the only surprise, though...many miracles have come about in the past week."

Our cue. Rikku beamed at me and moved out of the way, as did Lulu. Jecht went first, Amia following a pace or so behind. I would be the final surprise, so I stayed relatively out of view.

If there had been a murmur at Yuna's revelation, there was a *roar* at Jecht's appearance. Whole masses of people surged to their feet, some already screaming in their obsessed fandom, some merely rubbing their eyes. Yuna kept talking, a little bit of laughter in her voice.

"We don't know why yet, but...it seems our esteemed Sir Jecht has returned to us. Following shortly was his wife, Amia, whom he'd been forced to part with before his pilgrimage..."

The roar grew louder, and I could hear my old man laughing. He'd always loved adoring crowds, after all. His arm was around Mom happily, and I couldn't help but think, *How typical.* They were off in their own little world, like always.

"Well...one more thing!"

The crowd died down a bit, but only enough to be able to halfway-hear what she was saying.

Yuna turned around with the brightest of smiles on her face, motioning that I should come stand beside her at the podium. I obeyed, and when she wrapped her arms around one of mine and uttered a single word, my name, into the microphone, the crowd's response was deafening.

Women cried. Their husbands applauded. Children cheered. It was nothing new to me, but somehow, it was...different. It wasn't the same kind of mindless adoration that a normal blitzer would get.

Yuna was speaking into the microphone: "...two generations of heroes have been given to the people..." Even up here, I could barely hear her.

Heroes?

Was that what we were?

Well...that would make sense. But I sure didn't *feel* like a hero. Just a lucky guy who got a second chance. I didn't want to be a hero. Didn't even wanna feel like one. That was supposed to be over and done with, right? Hero-dom...hah. Sports star, yeah - I could live with that. But I couldn't live with the entire world looking up to me and kissing my toes. Sports freaks were enough.

Yuna turned her face towards me and sent me a grin, mouthing a silent 'I love you.'

I smiled. Yuna...I didn't want her to adore me like my mother adored Dad. I didn't want her to think of me as flawless, because I wasn't. Yuna knew me inside and out and still loved me, and that was just fine. Adoration was as mindless as the next teenybopper blitzball fan, and just as useless, too.

"I'd also like to..." Yuna began, and that gradually quieted the masses down to an excited murmur. She cast a sideways beam at me, and I couldn't help but chuckle at how excited she was over this.

"I'd like to announce our engagement," Yuna announced, her tone and her smile telling me she was so happy she could have been dancing. "and that the marriage will take place very soon, within the month."

Yuna and I had spent only a few moments choosing the time and place; aside from the playful suggestion of 'Today!' from me, we'd both had similar ideas. Besaid, of course, would be the place; it was her hometown after all, and I wouldn't ask her to hold it anywhere she didn't want to. It really didn't matter to me where it happened, because after all, a wedding's a wedding, and whether we held it on Besaid Island or in a sewer didn't change the fact that we would be married. So, that one was up to her. The time, though, was something that took a bit more tinkering. She'd wanted a good month and a half or even two to prepare, and I was thinking something more along the lines of 'as soon as possible.' But we'd compromised. We'd agreed that we'd start the planning within this week, and if all went well, we would be able to hold it well before the end of the month.

Anyway...Yuna had wanted everyone to find out at once. And everyone did.

I will never, ever forget the responses that we got from our friends at that news.

Rikku's jaw dropped; she squealed and clung to Wakka, starry-eyed and babbling ecstatically. Rather hilarious, actually - Wakka's smug 'told you so' grin induced the bully in Rikku, who promptly gave his arm a charlie-horse. Wakka stopped grinning.

Lulu had been sipping a glass of red wine, which she almost choked on.

Kimahri grinned a cat-like grin. I guess that's the only way he *could* grin, but then again, I wouldn't know. I'd never seen him grin to begin with.

Amia was smiling, in that eerily, hopefully bright way of hers. She said something to Jecht, and he 'harumph'ed. Dad didn't seem too pleased, but it didn't bother me. Dad was never that happy to begin with - so hey...whatever.

The crowds loved it, though. Every reporter in the stadium - and there were many in every section - had their sphere recorders trained on us.

The side of me that knew how to act in public was telling me to be the immaculate gentleman. But I couldn't help seeing the chance for mischief. I could grab her now and give her a kiss the reporters and their sphere recorders would absolutely eat up; I almost did, actually. But this wasn't the time. Yuna had a job to do.

"Jecht and Tidus will, if the Aurochs will be so kind as to let them, play in today's game..."

Yuna had planned to say more, but the cheers and whistles of general approval gave her not even a hope of being heard. She waited, smiling, for the clamor to die down.

Once it did, she grinned and bowed slightly. "Well then, I'm sure you're all eager to see some blitzball, yes? Let the Spira Tournament Finals begin!"

The game hadn't even started and the crowd was going crazy - I could bet that many of them would lose their voice by halftime, at this rate. But that was alright.

Yuna turned back to us and grinned. "Well...was that okay?"

I kissed her temple. "Wonderful. They love you, Yuna."

She smiled, and at that point Rikku threw her arms about her cousin and gave her what seemed to be a very constricting hug. They were both laughing, though, and Rikku turned her happiness to me.

"You! Why didn't you tell me you two were getting *married?*"

"It was a surprise," I laughed.

"...So?"

Yuna grinned. "It was my decision not to tell any of you until now, so if there is any fault, it's mine. So...what do you guys think? Is it alright?"

"*ALRIGHT?!* Are you *kidding,* Yunie!? You're gonna get married and have lots of babies and it's gonna be so *great!*"

Yuna was laughing, a rich, heartfelt sound that I'd rarely heard on the pilgrimage. I'd missed the sound. "Well...I wouldn't count on babies just yet, but we *are* getting married!"

"Congratulations..." Mom smiled and embraced Yuna awkwardly, then turned to me and did the same, almost hesitantly. I hugged her back, feeling entirely out of place.

"Tidus...I'm so glad you're happy." She murmured. Funny -- she'd never been half so affectionate when I was a child. When I needed it. Okay, so she was affectionate sometimes - but it was rare.

"Thanks," I found myself saying simply, and that was it. That's all I could say. I couldn't force some half-hearted emotional blabber out of myself. She would have liked to hear something nice, something a long-lost son might say to his mother, but...nothing would come to mind.

Yuna sensed a moment of uncertainty and took my arm, smiling. "Win for me...okay?"

I couldn't help grinning back. "Yes, ma'am!"

So it turned out, we were playing some very uncertain-looking Goers. Jecht grinned at that news, and I sensed trouble coming.

"The big one, in the middle - who's he?"

"That's Bickson. He's your general bastard," I muttered, distracted with my own stretching. We were due out in a minute or so.

"Ha! I mutilated his father in the sphere pool. Even his dad was awful. The man blitzed like a shoopuf."

"That's nice, Dad."

"Tell you what, just wait until I whip out my old shot..."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Dad, you're not the only one that can pull it off, y'know."

He snorted. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Even now he didn't realize I was talking about me.

Brother walked by and knelt down beside me, grinning. "Hieta dy ky? Dni Goers cyyg cugi dnia'hi epyod dy bumm dniuh berdm..." He laughed, talking in Al Bhed, only back-translated. It was the version of his language he used around other teams, and if the situation was desperate enough to call for a sacrifice of precious air, what he spoke when he yelled across the sphere pool. Brother was our prize player; his high PA and EN ratings made him nearly unstoppable, not to mention highly coveted. Some of the bribes we'd been offered to trade Brother to another team reached into the seven- and eight-digit range. Brother could rest assured, though - he was too valuable to the team to be traded, and besides, he and I were like...well...*brothers.* "Dnum mnyoct pi urdihimdurk."

I swept out my hand and shook his, chuckling. "Hieta. Pid ayo e dnyomert Gil dni mbnihi byyc zucc pi aiccyz pa necwduli."

"Yri mnyoct ryd zemdi dniuh Gil yr aiccyz zedih, whuirt!"

With that he gave a loud guffaw. Standing up, he turned and went back towards his locker, giving a brief and respectful nod to my father.

"What the hell was that all about, eh?" Dad asked me.

"That's Brother, our center. Also the airship navigator. The guy he just passed is Wedge - he's our goalie. The Guado's name is Giera, and he's our right-forward; you'll be taking his place, so he'll likely run defense. Naida and Botta are our usual defense, though - those two are over in the corner, see?"

Botta waved appropriately. "Hey, Coach -- congratulations, ya?"

"Thanks," I grinned. Vaguely, I was aware that being 'in the spotlight' would put Jecht off -- he was so used to having center stage. It made me wonder how he felt. "Hey, Botta, are you going in for defense, or is Naida? Jecht's snagging Giera's spot for now, so Giera's gonna take over defense."

Naida and Botta exchanged a brief look, then Botta shrugged. "Let Naida go in, her AT's higher."

"Gotcha. Alright, guys - let's go!"

I was pleased to see that the Goers did not at all look enthusiastic to be playing against two legends in the same game. There was no pre-game taunting; even our opponents seemed to be in reverence of the occasion. They were playing against *Jecht.* *The* Jecht. Not to mention Tidus, too, but Jecht...whoa. And that was okay.

The Aurochs on the field - Giera, Brother, Naida, Wedge, plus Jecht and me, were all lightly resting on our posts. Lesson one, day one: Never grip your post like a liferaft. Hold it lightly at the front and plant your feet firmly either at the post's center or near its back. This allows for an efficient, rocketing sendoff. Especially important for the middle-forward.

There are a million little things to worry about in blitzball, and though it sounds boring, it's heart-pounding to actually be doing it. You're constantly worrying about whether you've forgotten something; you have to keep an eye on the position of *every* other teammate, and if you're the center, you've got to worry about being almost everywhere at once. If there's no hope of scoring a goal, you have to worry about the kind of defense you're running, and try to make sure that the opposing team doesn't score a goal, at least. God forbid you got the air knocked out of you -- that's lesson two, day one. No matter what happens, keep the air in your lungs. Even if you're getting stepped on and cut up and smashed into oblivion, you sure as hell better not let go of the oxygen you have. An airless player is a useless one; sometimes a dead one.

Brother reacted far faster than I did to the sendoff - in fact, I had gotten into the bad habit of watching *him* as a signal of the start of the game, instead of the blitzball. So when he shot up towards the ball, I immediately surged forward, slipping easily over a Doram who seemed surprised that I found her head useful as a leverage point. Jecht was fast to catch onto the strategy, and practically slammed his way through poor Balgerda.

That's one of the beautiful things about blitzball - once you're in the sphere pool, gender doesn't matter one damn bit.

It's also why not a lot of women get very far in blitz. Not to say they can't be a good sport and take some brutality in stride, but it's just that they aren't bred to take such beatings. Men are, I guess. Oh, don't get me wrong, female blitzers are often very capable of beating a male blitzer into mashed potatoes, but they simply aren't designed to take what they dish out.

Anyway, Doram was hot on my tail at once, and kept on guard as I positioned myself to the left of the goal. The ball was involved in a game of Monkey in the Middle with Brother and Naida, and Abus as the unfortunate primate. After a couple passes back and forth Brother fired it to Giera, who promptly sent it back to him. After a scuffle with Abus - a close one, too, because it seemed his EN almost ran out - Brother passed it to Jecht.

Almost a minute into the game, and the crowd had gone silent. Every sphere recorder in the stadium was trained on my father; I knew his body language and realized he was gearing up to show off. Appropriate, for Jecht, but I still had to control the urge to roll my eyes. What would it be this time -- Mark III, aka the Jecht Shot? Again?

Oh, yes, of course it was. I saw him knock out Balgerda, and the spinning, and the firing of the shot...

Even I had to admit it was magnificent. The goalie had been outdone seamlessly - Goal Number One for the Besaid Aurochs. The audience went back to their fanatic screaming, their enthusiasm twofold now. Jecht sent a 'Hey! Told you so!' smirk my way, but it wasn't condescending. Surprisingly, I recognized the look; I'd worn it countless times.

But why the hell was Jecht looking for *my* approval?

No time to worry about it *now,* anyway. We had better things to do. I sent him a thumbs-up, turned back towards the other goal, and swam for my post again.

The exact same thing happened in the next round. The other team got the ball: our stronger players held mastery of it, taunting a single opponent: Brother fired it to a shooter.

This time it was me.

I held the ball in my hand, weighing my options. Doram was strong, but not that strong - I broke to her, and even though she managed to inflict a nasty Venom attack on me, I was free and clear.

What now?

A sphere shot would be plenty. But today called for some extravagance. And anyway, Yuna was watching. I promised her she'd see me play, and with that I'd promised her victory. Showing off would just make it all the better. But doing a Jecht Shot would only relate me and Dad. No, I'd made some improvements on the Jecht Shot, enough to call it the Jecht Shot II.

That would be just perfect. The goalie, Raudy, wouldn't even know what hit him. Literally - the shot would be invisible.

There were no opponents to knock out, so I went right into the routine. I didn't want to stop and look at Jecht to see his reaction, nor think about whether Yuna was watching, which of course she was, so I just concentrated on the spin, on the direction in which I would stop, how I would strike the ball...

Spin, stop, connect - the smack of the ball against your foot is amazingly gratifying, and the harder it hits, the better.

I closed my eyes, slightly disoriented from the spin, but grinned as the shot buzzer shouted in my ears. Of course the shot made it. Of course the sportscasters and audience alike were in flurries of excitement.

Very faint, very softly, I heard the shrill, high sound of a whistle in the distance. From the stands, of course; and should I open my eyes, I could point out exactly where it came from.

Another whistle joined that one, weaker but just as enthusiastic, for a little duet of appreciation that made me - and my father, I was sure - smile.

I still didn't look his way to see his current expression; instead, I simply sent a quick hand-signal of victory to Brother to share the gloating, and made my way back to my post again.

The Goers didn't stand a chance.

**

I had gathered from Tidus' explanations of Zanarkand that his city's people were blitzball fanatics by nature, but I hadn't thought much of it. As soon as the game started, quiet, gentle Amia went through a startling personality change. I thought *Wakka* had been a vocal onlooker - but even he was outdone, and by far.

"Get 'im, Jecht, GET the bastard!" Amia yelled fiercely, her hands balled into fists and her eyes alight with something dangerous. "GET HIM!"

She glanced to her right then, looking at me and grinning an idiotic, enraptured grin. "Your first blitz game, huh?"

"Yes..."My smile was a sheepish one. "Sad, isn't it?"

"I guess not. This isn't Zanarkand, though, so I don't think I can really judge. Most kids have been to three or four blitz games by the time they hit second grade there." She turned her head back towards the pool momentarily and screamed a string of obscenites at Balgerda, who'd just managed to sneak the ball out of Giera's hands. After she'd finished, she turned back to me, no less pleased. "It doesn't matter if the score's 20 to 1; even if Jecht is practically doing his victory dance, I'm still going to be rooting for his team. The first half was great, wasn't it? Five minutes of Goer-crushing glory. I love it when it's one-sided."

"Oh, the first half was wonderful! You know, Amia...you'd think that the Goers would think it an honor to play in the same game as Sir Jecht. I don't think they really care if they lose. If I found myself out there, heaven forbid, I'd likely be handing it to him right in front of my goal. You know...? It seems like maybe there's more honor in losing to Jecht than in winning."

"Yeah. I wouldn't doubt it. But of course the Goers' coach will kill them if they don't try, so I wouldn't exactly count on a forfeit. Oh -- look!"

Jecht made another stunning shot, the hurtling blitzball just barely missing the goalie's head. Poor Raudy barely had time to blink. I clapped, delighted, while Amia leaned over the railing and whistled happily. She then yelled something I couldn't understand - she repeated it, beaming, and laughed to herself.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" Amia grinned. "What I just said?"

"Yes,"

"Oh, that's just a trade tongue the merchants used in Zanarkand. I picked it up in college, and I figured no one else here'd understand it, so hell, why not. I taught Jecht a bit of it. Enough to be able to tell when I was damning him to hell, anyway..."

"What'd you *say?*"

"Oh, just some ugly things about the Goers. I think somebody'd kick me out of here if I said it in a language they understood. Jecht'll have a laugh, at least,"

"If he heard you, that is."

"That's the beauty of it - he can't possibly! I'll tell him about it later, though."

The sheer pointlessness of it made me laugh. "So, you scream at the top of your lungs even when you know he can't hear you?"

She looked at me, smiling in a way that seemed to be empathetic and infinitely bitter at the same time. "What, don't *you?*"

Her tone was light, but her meaning serious. Amia was speaking of Tidus' absence, and Jecht's as well, for her. Perhaps we weren't very different at all...

"Yes, I have." I nodded simply, sensing that most of the humor in the conversation had died out with that. "Amia..."

"Hn, sorry." She smiled again, and I could sense that it wasn't at all forced. "I tend to get carried away like that. Always did. I still can't believe so much time has passed...since..."

"Don't think about it!" I interjected, and she looked surprised at how sharp my statement was. "Believe me, don't think about it! Just...smile. No matter how much it hurts. You're together now...right?"

She looked slightly confused, but the smile didn't leave her face - in a moment, it grew, just a little bit. "I'm sorry. I was always a worrywart."

"I had to smile...before Sin was defeated...because if I frowned I would make everyone else all the unhappier. It was near impossible to smile after Tidus left. But once he came back, he said he couldn't promise me he'd stay, but he could promise me that he'd be at my side as long as he was here...and that made me realize that every moment is precious. It isn't worth the time stewing over what happened then...all we have is now. You know...?"

Amia nodded. "You're right, Yuna. But it is sort of hard, once you slow down, and you have time to think..."

"I know. Just don't think about it, though; think about now. It stops you from being sad, at least to an extent...that's the purpose of blitzball here. To take away people's worries."

"Really, now. I don't think anyone ever bothered to think about *why* we had blitz in Zanarkand - it was just kind of a given. The pool had always been there; no one remembered when it'd been built."

Glancing at the scoreboard for a moment - 3 to 0, a little more than 1:30 left on the clock - I marveled at how quickly the game had gone by. No wonder people kept coming back. It was wonderful to watch, but it was seemingly over far too soon.

"I think the Aurochs are going to win...what do you think?" I laughed at Amia, pointing down to the water, where Tidus had just inflicted poor Raudy with sleep via Sleep Shot.

"Hm, I wonder. That Tidus is a show-off, he is." Amia's smile returned eagerly. "I remember the first time I took him to a blitzball game. It was to watch his father, and when he saw Jecht do a Sphere Shot, he looked at me and said, 'Mama, I wanna be as good as Daddy when I grow up. I wanna be just like Dad.'"

"How cute," I mused.

"Oh, Jecht gloated over that for days; it was incredibly funny..."

"Is that why he pushed Tidus so hard?"

"Nn, I suppose...he was trying to be supportive, I think. He just really didn't have a clue how. It's a long story, but he didn't exactly have a stable family. I guess he just never learned support. But he did try. He did. Tidus may not have seen it, but I did...I think it took awhile for Tidus to realize how much Jecht was trying to be a good father." Amia's eyes twinkled with humor. "His kindnesses and affections were meant for women, not little boys. Even a son."

"A daughter would have been different, then?"

Amia seemed to pause at that, almost imperceptibly; she faltered, but only for a moment, and then her strange expression was gone. "Yes...I suppose it would have been...very different..."

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Oh, no, it's...nothing." She shook her head and smiled at me, but I knew that it wasn't nothing.

"Sorry to ask, I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that children in general are precious here -- life expectancy wasn't that high for a long time...but I suppose in a place like Zanarkand it's different, isn't it?"

"Yes...sometimes."

I sensed this was a tender subject -- and decided to drop it. "Oh, look at Brother...he isn't going to try to shoot, is he?"

"Hn?" Amia looked down at the pool, squinting slightly. "Oh, he sure is gonna shoot...see how he's inching his way to the goal? Damn, his EN must be out of this world..."

"Only forty-five seconds left! Is he gonna have time?"

"Brother wouldn't shoot if he didn't."

Four of the Goers' five men were on Brother's tail, and each one of them had a decent AT.

Thirty-eight. Balgerda managed to poison him.

Thirty-three. Bickson hit him hard, but Brother was still standing.

Twenty-eight. Graav tried to Sleep Tackle him, but to no avail - Brother evaded it entirely.

Twenty-three. Doram nearly got him - nearly! - but Brother endured, and found himself face-to-face with an open goal.

Wisely he didn't bother with a fancy shot - he just fired, simply fired, and for several moments time seemed to stop entirely.

And then a loud buzzer was heard, and the screaming in my ears was almost deafening. Three seconds left on the clock. The Aurochs, of course, had won.

Amia beamed, whooping enthusiastically for them, and then grabbed my arm. "Come on! Let's go see them!"

"Ah! We can *do* that? I mean...already?"

"Oh, yeah, they'll be just getting in. And assuming who you are, miss Grand Maestress, I don't think they're going to *refuse* you! Besides - your fiance's the coach!" She laughed. "Come on! Lead me. I don't know where I'm going,"

So I did. The crowd had just begun to disperse, and it wasn't that hard weaving through the masses of people that were leaving the stadium. Some of the onlookers recognized us and called out to us, but I had a feeling that Amia was somewhat trained in the art of avoiding screaming mobs - she kept her head down, shoved her way through, and didn't let go of my arm.

There was a brutish-looking man guarding the Aurochs' locker room, but he saw me and instantly scuffled out of the way to let Amia and me through. I grinned him a quick 'Thanks!' before opening the door and leading Amia in.

She broke free of me then and absolutely tackled Jecht, but that's all I stopped to see - I saw Tidus, stretching out a shoulder while he leaned against the wall of the locker room.

"Tidus!"

He looked up and grinned at me, so I scooted my way past Giera and, upon reaching him, threw my arms about his waist and reached up to kiss him.

"That was wonderful!" A kiss, again, and he responded happily.

"Told you I'd win." Tidus chuckled. "Ah, Yuna, just watch the shoulder; I think I pulled something."

"Where?"

He gestured to his right shoulder - his throwing arm - and I gingerly poked at it. "Here, I can use a spell to help -"

"No, it's alright." He smiled. "I don't mind being hurt sometimes. Give it a few days, and if it's still annoying me, then go ahead."

"Well...alright, I suppose...but what about this...?" I grazed my finger over a swelling on his jawline, and could see where a bruise would be within a few hours. He flinched when I touched it, which spawned a concerned look on my face.

"Ah, that's just a little present from Doram."

"It looks pretty bad...at least let me heal *this!* Are you sure the bone didn't crack? I mean -"

At that, Tidus laughed to himself, using his good arm and stroking my hair. "Yuna, I got off easy. Just a bruise - and sure, go ahead and work your magic on that, if you like."

"Blitz is dangerous..."

"Amen to that."

"Why do you still play?"

"Love of the sport, of course." He laughed silently to himself. "You never asked me why I still followed *you.* That was dangerous too."

"Tidus, are you saying I'm a *sport?*" I demanded, which made him laugh again; aloud this time.

He kissed me playfully. "Oh, yes. The devoted athlete must always look out for a chance to score."

"*Tidus!*"

"Well, are you gonna heal me or not? I don't mind a bruise or a pulled muscle now and then, but Doram packs a nasty punch."

"Of course," I matched his smile, and then pressed my fingers lightly to his wound, concentrating until I saw it take on an illuminated green tinge; a sign of success. I took my hand away, and the light faded. "There...the swelling should be gone by tonight."

"Feels better already." He pressed his forehead to mine, crossing his eyes and making me giggle. "Thanks. I love you."

"Love you too...you know, now I'm going to have to come to all of your games and make sure you don't get hurt too badly."

"What? Me? Get hurt? Hardly!"

"And here you are saying you got off easy...!"

His grin was sheepish, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Alright, so I did. It's pretty dangerous. I've broken bones plenty of times."

"Oh, that just helps so much...now I'm going to be fully paranoid whenever you play," I glared at him good-naturedly.

"Well that's why you're here! To piece me back together."

"Yuna!" Jecht called, and I raised my head to look over at him. Amia had her arm linked in his, and wore the most delighted expression I'd ever seen...like all of her was just alight with happiness simply by touching him. It made me happy to see her that way.

"Yes?"

"We're staying in Luca for the night, right?"

"Yes, that's the plan,"

"Well...where?"

"Oh! It's on the other side of the sphere theatre, next to the pub and the cafe. Do you need rest?"

"Ah, no. Not now, anyway. I'm damn hungry. I know if I eat I'm gonna pass out soon after, though."

Amia laughed and slugged his arm in jest. "Jecht, you'd eat an elephant if it gave you half a chance. And you sleep half your life away. Sleep before a game - sleep after a game and after eating half the house."

"So?" He grinned.

"Well...why don't all four of us go down to the cafe and get something to eat?" I suggested.

"If there's food, I'm in." Jecht opted.

"Alright," Tidus nodded. "Sounds good."

"Well, wherever Jecht goes, Mia's sure to follow!" Amia added cheerfully, nudging Jecht again.

"Woman, stop beating me up, will you?"

"What? This, from the great Jecht?"

Jecht looked at me and grinned sheepishly. "I have a feeling I'm about to get a picking-on...can we go now?"

I laughed and nodded. "Of course,"

Heading for the entrance with Tidus in tow, I felt him grasp my hand tightly, and smiled.

"Come on!" I turned my head to grin at him, and tugged his hand as I stepped out of the room.

Once I saw the corridor in front of me, though, I stopped dead in my tracks.

It was packed full of people - people who looked frighteningly familiar. All of them. They stood silently, as if at attention, all staring at me calmly.

All fayth.

Every one of them martyrs. I had seen their faces not in life, but engraved and captured in the great wall along the path to Zanarkand from Gagazet.

That's when I noticed the little one - the child, forever cloaked in a worn, deep-violet garment. Holy. But he was all too frightening now.

My voice was pathetic, something akin to a whimper. "Tidus..." I clenched his hand firmly, but he made no sound.

The child called Bahamut walked forward and took my free hand in both of his, and it was shocking to find that he was fully real, fully...there, not some apparition. His hands were warm. Why was that so astounding?

His voice was not unkind, but his eyes were piercing, which for some odd reason I found alarming. "Aganwi, eii-Yuna? Nan tde. Nan, dedhan no, bali mirahn gais pra eini proar."

My eyes narrowed. "What?"

I heard Tidus swear under his breath.

"What, do you know what he said?"

It was Amia who spoke. "He asked if you were afraid. Told you not to be. He said we aren't finished; he said there are still plenty of miracles for Spira's priestess to perform. Odd...he called you Sainted Yuna..."

I felt sick. Not again. Not again, not now, not when everything was just right... "Not again," I heard myself whisper angrily. "Leave me alone...leave us *alone!*"

"You don't want to send us away." Bahamut answered smoothly, in plain Spiran. "We would not call on you for nothing, Lady Yuna."

"I don't want anything to *do* with you!" I seethed. "Wasn't bringing the Eternal Calm enough? Wasn't losing Tidus sacrifice enough? What more can you possibly ask of me now?"

"You're the only one that can help us. Don't send us away. Just listen; aren't you known for your sympathy?"

"I don't want to lose him again. Not Tidus, not Amia, not Jecht."

"I had reasons for sending them. You would not have helped us if he wasn't here." Bahamut's gaze turned to Tidus.

I was truly disgusted. "My family, bribes...how *sick.*"

"If you don't help us, there's nothing we can do for you. Or your lover. Or Spira, for that matter..."

I took a deep breath. In that short time Tidus squeezed my hand, a vague but present reassurance. It was also something akin to a death sentence. I knew what I had to do, then; and I realized that our story was indeed far from finished.

"I'll listen," I quietly agreed, dread already seeping into the corners of me; I found myself more afraid than I'd been since Sin. "but I hope to god your story's a good one."

___________________

A/N: *Gasp!* Someone finally figured it out...! o_o;;

Noelle was the first to point out that this story has been almost entirely pointless, insofar as real plot goes.

Was this enough plot movement for ya? XD

And yes, it is necessary for me to show the backgrounds of the characters. It may not be necessary in the story, but I can't write a novel-length piece without character background in it. It's just my thing. It lays a solid groundwork for...uh...later ;D And it shows the development of the character as well. DCT is meant to be novel-length, able to stand on its own but also able to clump together with Remembrance, Always and a few other fics I'm planning (*devious cackle* Not like the biggest ones are announced in my info or anything O-o ), and there's something about me that won't let me write a novel without making the reader understand a little bit about why each character acts the way they do. It may seem to drag out, but scan through the entire story and pretend you're reading it the first time; it looks better when you don't have several weeks' wait in between chapters. x_X I promise.

So there! :P