Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Dreams Come True ❯ Waltz for Possibility ( Chapter 13 )

Pre-chapter A/N: For this chapter, you'll have to dust off every little bit of technical information you've ever learned about the pyreflies, Yu Yevon, and Sin. This chapter's very informative and as straightforward as I could make it, but if you wanna go in-depth, it can take a substantial amount of brainpower to hack through. If there's something you don't understand, by all means, mention it in a review or email me your questions ^^: I'll be glad to clarify. Make sure you've read Chapter Seven in its entirety before pursuing this. Oh, and BTW, beware of some light Yuna/Tidus saucy-fluff at the end ^_~ No, this isn't gonna be a lemon. Lemons are hard to write. x_x; And besides, I find myself lacking in the proper experience. XD So just read the chapter already, ya? Leave the poor author alone! =p

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Per Yuna's request and a small compensatory sum, meals were brought from the cafe to the inn where she and her party would be staying for the night.

The High Maestress had reunited with the rest of her company, but the young fayth had asked that they not be present at this impromptu meeting. The only ones that this problem concerned at the moment, he had reasoned, were the ones present at their first meeting. Jecht, Amia, Yuna. Tidus. Yuna had not understood, had insisted that all of her party be present; at that, young Bahamut had seemed to become angry, and reminded her that it was not worth the time arguing over who would be present. They could relay the specifics to their peers later on. Time was precious. So, Yuna gave in.

And here they sat, on the edge of a bed or on the floor or on a couch, wherever fit. Save for the occasional clink of fork against plate as they dined, all was silent. Bahamut, who had chosen not to eat, had not said a word. Each minute added a little aggrevation to Yuna's temper - here this child-fayth had burst in, proclaimed that after all she had done she was not finished yet, and now chose to sit in utter silence before them. Time. He was wasting time, which he had claimed was dear to them. Hypocrite. She could not help hating him at this moment. Here, sitting right before her, was a blatant threat to everything she held dear - and she could do nothing about it.

Yuna rose and set her plate down on the small table near the door.

"So," She began softly, though her tone could have sliced through steel. "Now that you've sat here for nearly half an hour and not said a word, can we begin?"

The little fayth turned his head to look at her. His voice was calm and matter-of-fact, as always. "Please. Sit down."

Yuna returned to the loveseat she shared with Tidus. He in turn set his unfinished plate on the floor, preparing himself for listening.

"Why...are you here?" asked Yuna.

Bahamut turned to face her, and his tone was bitter. "You know why."

"No...I don't,"

"Surely you've realized it by now."

"Realized...*what?*"

"What can the fayth not live without? What is the root of their existence - the reason for their being?"

"Sin." answered Amia.

"No."

"Not Sin," Yuna shook her head. "Yu Yevon."

"Correct. Yu Yevon and Sin are symbiotes; we are symbiotic as well, to Yu Yevon."

Amia sat silent, listening intently. Jecht shook his head and sighed, and that was when Tidus stood up.

"So you're saying that you can't exist without Yu Yevon. And Yu Yevon can't exist without you."

"Not quite. We do not depend on each other as true symbiotes do...but if one exists, so must the other. That is why we are here."

"Because this Yu Yevon guy's still alive!" Amia interjected sharply, as if she'd realized how to create money out of thin air.

"Yes. And no."

"What do you mean, 'yes and no?'"

Bahamut's tone was level, patient. "You have killed his physical body, yes?"

"Yes, of course, that's -"

"And once a being dies..." He began, and something in Yuna's mind clicked.

"It becomes a fiend, unless it's sent..." Yuna answered slowly.

"But Yu Yevon *was* sent. Your Lady Maestress surely only intended to send us aeons, but Yevon went along, as well."

"Then what's the problem...? If he's sent, all should be well...right?" Yuna pressed.

"The problem is that even in death he still performs his tasks. Gather the dead. Consume the souls, grow stronger..."

Tidus sat back down heavily, having nothing more to say. Jecht's glare was aimed solely at the fayth. "Hold on, just wait a minute. So what exactly are we facing here?"

"Let me continue. Yu Yevon, even as a pyrefly, performs what he has performed for a millenium. He gathers other souls and uses them to build up his strength. Many, many of the pyreflies have already suffered an untimely cessation of life."

"And what exactly do you want us to do? Catch him in a butterfly net, put him in a bottle, and let people see him for a Gil?" Jecht grumbled.

"You have to kill him, of course. If this continues, all of Lady Yuna's work will be undone! Yevon will in time grow so strong in his life-force that he will be able to revive his physical armor: Sin. That *must* not happen, or the cycle will merely begin anew."

"Sir Bahamut, but if Yu Yevon is....killing...the pyreflies...why is Tidus here? Or Jecht, or Amia?"

Bahamut seemed to sigh slightly, but it gave the feeling of weariness, not impatience. "That is what my brothers looked on as undesirably necessary. The Lady Maestress is the only one with enough experience to have any hope of successfully ridding the Farplane of this...*plague* - but of course, she would undeniably be too sick with grief to help us in her state of mourning. Resurrections are rare events, but this was an emergency case, and it was the only way that Yuna would comply. So, we resurrected the pyrefly called Tidus. And then we began looking at Yevon's rate of consumption - each day, more pyreflies were being devoured. I discussed it with my brethren, and it was agreed on that we should resurrect the more...important figures. It would be of better use to our cause, make for a faster finishing of this unfortunate turn of events. But they, too, had their ties. This is why you see the woman Amia here with you. Jecht is vital to you. Amia is vital to Jecht. It all intertwines. We *must* have efficiency in this, and if that means a few more resurrections, then so be it."

"Well, then, why can't you just resurrect *everyone?*" Amia asked. "If there aren't any more pyreflies for Yevon to consume - "

"That would not be practical. There are likely over a billion pyreflies present in the Farplane -- what would Spira do if suddenly, a billion of its dead were back on its surface? Your nations may be flourishing, but that doesn't mean that Spira can feed a billion of its past citizens. There would be a famine -- a good number of them would just die again. Besides that, there would be no place for them to live. Like Besaid, many of the places on Spira only expand to accomodate their current populations, which grow slowly no matter what, over time; it takes years. It would wipe out Spira's resources. Thus, we only feel it necessary to help the souls vital to our cause."

Yuna had no ethical protest this time - she knew that the fayth was right, saddening as it might seem.

Instead, she seemed slightly confused and altogether a bit hopeful. She risked a questioning look at Tidus, then Bahamut. "If it was a resurrection, then...if we..."

Bahamut smiled, just a little. "He was real once, and he is real now. Our fates do not determine his."

"So...he's..."

"He's as real as you are, Lady Maestress. Mortal to the bone, as always; he will have to figure out his own way to die. I might recommend, however, that he wait a few decades. After doing so much complaining about the way his life was cut short twice, it would be a pity if he were to die *now.*"

Yuna's face was alight with joy when she looked at Tidus; he in turn grasped her hand firmly, head down.

"Thank you..."

"Pure circumstance." Bahamut shook his head. "There is no reason to thank us. We are doing what we must do to preserve peace. This is not a personal favor, as much as you might like to think so."

"Well that's no fun," snorted Amia. "The least you could do is *pretend* it was for them. Spare the moment, for god's sake. Look at how happy she is!"

Yuna shot a sheepish grin at Amia, who laughed.

"Very well. You're welcome." Bahamut nodded evenly. "But we still do not perform personal favors."

"Ah...Sir Bahamut, what about you? You're here...are you not? Does that mean you're resurrected as well?" Yuna queried softly.

Bahamut audiby sighed. "We aeons can no longer reside in our former homes, the Chambers of the Fayth. We could not reach you that way, and so resurrecting ourselves was thought to be the only way to be able to communicate with you. You wouldn't have figured it out on your own, you see - Sin would reappear, eventually, and you would have no idea why. It would be far too late then. We *had* to reach you now."

"What about all the other fayth that were with you? What are they for?"

"My brethren and I -- all of us, since the defeat of Yu Yevon, resided in the Farplane as pyreflies, like the rest of the dead. A few stayed behind, but the majority of the fayth decided that becoming mortal once again, as they were in the beginning of their lives, was better than being sacrificed to the hungry soul of what was once Yu Yevon. If we are no more, we are utterly useless. We sacrificed ourselves, martyred ourselves, to help the fight against Yu Yevon; what could we possibly do if we were erased from existence?"

"I understand. You're welcome to travel with us, Sir Bahamut, if that's what you wish." Yuna smiled.

"Yes. That will do. Thank you." He nodded. "In that case I must request that you alter any traveling plans you might have -- it is important that we reach the Farplane as soon as possible."

"It's already taken care of." said Tidus. "We were planning to hit Guadosalam next anyhow."

"When are you departing from Luca?"

"We've already made arrangements to stay here tonight, so I suppose we can depart in the morning. Is that alright?" asked Yuna.

Bahamut nodded once. "That will do. If you wish to go inform your party of this now, feel free..."

Jecht rose, and Amia followed suit within a moment. Bahamut turned to the man.

"You. Sin."

"I thought I retired from that job." Jecht scowled.

"You were the last one. He's going to try to reach for you...try to retake control. You're important to this."

Jecht didn't even blink. "I doubt I'd be here if I wasn't, so why're you telling *me?*"

"Stay alive. That's all I ask of you, just for now. We'll need you once we reach the Farplane."

Amia had gripped Jecht's hand while Bahamut spoke - she looked nervous. Jecht, on the other hand, looked unconcerned. "I hope you're not planning for me to distract the bastard and get eaten while the rest of these guys zap him to death or something."

It was the fayth's turn to scowl. "We've all poured too much effort into bringing you back here. Do you really think we would be so careless?"

"Ah...Sir Bahamut, Sir Jecht, please..." Yuna cut in, interrupting the two. "If you're going to bicker, can you at least wait until we're outside?"

Both of them grumbled darkly to themselves, but Yuna's motherly tone commanded them, and they stayed relatively silent. Yuna bowed slightly to Bahamut and then to Tidus' parents. "Thank you."

Jecht left the room first, followed as always by his wife, then Bahamut.

Yuna turned to Tidus and gave him an elated grin. Laughing, he embraced her tightly, kissing her temple with a smile to match her own.

"C'mon," Tidus took her hand and kissed her once, and together they left the room.

When they got outside, Bahamut was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd Bahamut go?" Yuna asked Jecht, and he shrugged.

"Off somewhere, I guess. He'll be back."

Jecht went back to saying something to Kimahri and Lulu - Amia was cheerfully chiming in from time to time, in her usual manner. Yuna glanced at Tidus, and he glanced back, both of them beaming with conspiratory agreement. Tidus took one step back, tugging lightly on her hand, and she followed one step - two, three, and Tidus turned to the stairway heading towards Mi'ihen Highroad. Laughing, he pulled lightly on her arm; she ran with him.

"Hey! Where're *they* running off to?" Rikku peered at the fleeing couple. "They could have at least *said* they were taking lunchbreaks!"

Amia approached her, looking amused. "Don't worry about them. They'll be back, but I doubt we should expect them anytime soon. We'll tell you what happened."

*****

"Race you!" Yuna nudged Tidus' side, then let go of his hand and sprinted up the steps.

"Hey!" Her companion laughed, bounding after her. "Come back here!"

It was easy for Tidus to catch up to her, but he stayed just behind, not wanting to grab her and have her fall from loss of balance. Yuna reached the top of the stairways first, turning to face Tidus but backing away from him. He in turn surged forward and seized her around the waist, easily lifting her up. She shrieked and laughed, feigning a struggle to escape until he held her firmly enough so she couldn't fight him at all. Yuna laughed lightly then, still flushed with playful energy, and kissed her lover. He returned the affection and set her down.

It was with eyes closed that Yuna then accepted a thousand light, soft kisses, each just barely touching her lips. She thought it odd - he seemed to be in a strange mood now. More playful than usual, which could be attributed to the fact that his life had just been spared, but still...

Yuna pulled away and smiled up at him quizzically. "What's all this, hm? Just happy...?"

He planted a kiss on her forehead and nodded, burying his nose in her hair. "You wouldn't believe how happy."

"I'm glad..."

"You're gonna be mad, but...don't kill me. I love you. Well...regardless of what I said...I didn't expect to stay. At all...and that's why I wouldn't promise you...all I could do was act positive."

Yuna didn't seem angry; just slightly confused. "Then...well, when you first came back, you said...you lied-"

"No!" Tidus shook his head fervently. "I just...couldn't bear to say what I really thought would happen. I thought maybe if I said aloud that I was staying, it would be true. Stupid, I know. I didn't have a clue how long I'd have with you. I thought...I guess I thought if I told you not to expect me to stay, you'd be afraid. It'd make you sad. I tried to tell you as best I could the morning we left Besaid, but..." He paused for a moment, laughing to himself. "All that came out was the Zanarkand version of 'Marry me, woman!'"

Yuna laughed as well then, but quietly. "You know I wouldn't say no to you."

"That's what *I'm* glad for."

Her eyes sparkled mischief. "Well, what if I *had* said no?"

Tidus' grin was a quirky one. "It would have been a very unexpected move on your part. I was counting on the fact that you'd say yes. Oh, I'd have whined a bit, and begged, pleaded, and probably groveled..."

Yuna giggled. "You know me too well,"

"Yeah. But then again I can never know my Yuna *too* well."

"Oh, it's *your* Yuna...?"

"Hey! Better me than anyone else, right?"

Yuna smiled and nuzzled his shoulder. "Of course. I wasn't complaining; I like that."

"Well, that's good. Here, come on. It's been awhile since we were last here, huh?"

Tidus took Yuna's hand, strolling over to the railing.

"I guess..." she agreed. "It's beautiful."

And it was. The sun had just begun to set, draping the city with a reddish-orange glow. The view they had was spectacular - both of them could see everything.

"So we don't have to laugh like maniacs this time...?" Tidus smirked.

Yuna chuckled, shaking her head. "No, not this time."

"Alright."

"No one's coming up here from the city...I wonder why. People are always passing along this way because of the Highroad..."

"Betcha Lulu's probably stopping them or something."

"*Lulu?*"

He laughed. "Hey, it's worth a try..."

"She accused me of...! Well, I mean, she thought we - she'd never..."

Tidus laughed again. "She'd never give us a second alone, huh?"

"Something like that," smiled Yuna sheepishly.

"Well, then, maybe it's Kimahri." Tidus opted, slipping an arm around her waist.

"In that case, he'd probably frighten the poor travelers. They'd all be afraid to come near the Highroad ever again!"

"Good point. Probably Rikku, then."

"Well that's possible...though she'd be too busy peeking at us."

Tidus grinned. "Yeah, true. Hm...oh well. Come with me; this way!"

"Huh?"

Yuna's lover took her hand and led her up the steps to Mi'ihen Highroad. "Just come on!"

"Where're we going?"

"Not far." He tugged on her hand, veering off the trail to the right, his boots crunching loudly through the waist-deep brush. "It's a great view, I promise. Even better than before. I found this place when we all split up and went monster-catching...remember that? Yeah...see that big rock, over there?" Tidus pointed, and she could see a long, relatively flat boulder sitting on the edge of the bluff that overlooked Luca. Yuna nodded. "It overlooks *everything.* I didn't have the chance to show it to you during the pilgrimage. No time, really...here, c'mon! The view's gotta be *perfect* right now..."

He kept stepping through the brush towards his destination, but he stopped once he saw it, and a displeased look crossed his face; Yuna saw.

"What is it?"

Tidus pointed; little Bahamut was already there, back turned to them and facing the sunset, sitting cross-legged and perfectly still, as if in meditation.

"Well, there goes another romantic moment," Tidus mumbled to himself. Yuna did not hear - she had already begun to approach the child.

"Sir Bahamut!" Yuna called, but the young fayth didn't move. She called again more softly, but Bahamut didn't so much as turn around. Yuna stepped forward, touching his back lightly; he didn't make any move to retreat, nor did he particularly welcome the touch. "Are you alright...?"

"Tidus." said the motionless fayth, and his voice was almost shaky as he switched between tongues. "V'ant. Go."

"Eh? Uh, okay..." Tidus sent a half-confused look to Yuna, and she shrugged, before holding up one finger. Time - she just wanted a moment. He nodded and retreated a hundred feet or so, busying himself with picking the burrs out of his boots.

When he looked up several minutes later, he found himself surprised. Yuna sat cross-legged beside the fayth on the large rock, her head turned to him, and Bahamut evidently talking - explaining something, for his hands often made quick gestures. Yuna wasn't smiling - she seemed, actually, to be closely concentrating, thinking about whatever it was Bahamut was saying to her. And then he stopped; his head seemed to droop, he seemed to sigh. Yuna's hand stroked his head, then rested on his shoulder. He saw her give a smile, a comforting smile, to Bahamut and then stroke his back once. He said something again, and it made Yuna chuckle; Tidus could tell she was thoughtful in her response, for she had that familiar, slightly distant look on her face as she spoke. She seemed to frown as she continued; likely speaking of something to do with her pilgrimage. Once she'd finished, Bahamut apparently made some remark, which caused her to show one of her gracious smiles. Gracious, for Yuna, was either when she didn't know what to say or when she felt some sort of empathy.

She turned and slid off the rock, and Bahamut followed slowly. Yuna offered him her hand, and he took it - Tidus could have sworn he saw the child smile, just a little.

"Tidus!" Yuna called, beckoning. "Come on!"

He jogged to meet her, and she kissed him happily when he did. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine...so, what's up?"

"Well...Bahamut might have a plan. He's still working on it, though...he'll probably have it figured out by the morning."

"That's good. So, what is it?"

"He hasn't said," Yuna shrugged.

"I'm not sure whether it will work." Bahamut said evenly. "I'll either tell you in the morning or discard the idea completely."

"Ah."

Without prelude, Bahamut turned from them and began walking back towards Luca.

"Eh?" Tidus quirked an eyebrow at Yuna in question. She smiled.

"He told me a little bit about his situation. It took some explaining - that's what took so long."

"Why didn't he want me there?"

Yuna's smile turned fond and motherly; she lightly kissed his cheek. "He didn't want you to see him crying. He's just a child, Tidus, believe it or not. And he looks up to you for what you've done. He's doing his best to help us; take it easy on him."

"After being alive for so long, he's still a kid?"

"He was sacrificed before he turned eight. Seven years old, Tidus...what kind of a life is that? He said that no matter what they may learn or how they grow mentally, they always look the same as they did upon sacrifice. He's a child, and he'll sometimes respond in childish ways, though he does his best not to. Give him a bit of a break...this is hard for him. He hasn't been mortal in a very long time."

Tidus nodded. "Gotcha. I think we should go back, then...we'll hit this place another time, huh?"

"I'm sorry."

"Naw, don't be. Lulu'll hate me if I keep you too long, anyway."

Yuna smiled and kissed him. "Alright then. How'd Bahamut say it, then? Vont?"

"V'ant. But that's more of an order. Like...'you -- go!' V'anden is the plural we'd use here. Let's go. V'anden."

"Got it. V'anden!"

He took her hand and grinned. "Noiche t'anu."

"And what's that mean?"

"You learn quickly."

"Oh, well then...noochy thanoo to you too!"

Tidus laughed. "Close enough. Let's go."

The rest of the evening was uneventful. Jecht and Amia retired to their room early, upon which they were soon forgotten about; Rikku and Wakka went down to the cafe to see what the newscasters thought of the star-studded blitzball match earlier in the day. Kimahri went hunting, likely out of sheer boredom. There was little to do, which was fine with everyone present. Tidus' blitz game was catching up to him; he grew sleepy, so retreated to his room for a catnap that was to last the rest of the evening. Lulu and Yuna spent the remainder of their time beginning wedding plans; Lulu was, to Yuna's surprise, quite eager to help.

Time passed; Kimahri returned, full and content, and stalked straight to his room. Wakka returned, followed by a Rikku that was bickering playfully at him in Al Bhed, talking a mile a minute. After spending a little more time with Lulu and Yuna, both of them, too, retired for the evening.

But when Yuna went to bed, she did not sleep.

She waited, silent, until she was sure even Lulu was fast asleep. Then she rose, slipped silently out of her room, and carefully crept into Tidus'.

Yuna smiled to herself at his face in repose; there was an innocently sweet child-like look to him that she loved to just simply stare at time and time again. But she was not there for staring.

She slipped beneath the covers and nestled against Tidus' side, surprising herself at how easily it was done, as if she did that sort of thing her entire life. That didn't wake him, though - Yuna nudged his ribs lightly, but he only gave a soft grumble in response.

"Wake up," she whispered softly. Nothing. "Tidus!"

Convinced that he was either unconscious or playing a trick on her, she paused to think.

Yuna propped herself up with one arm on his chest and kissed him lightly. It was to no avail, though she could have sworn he moved, just a little. She could feel him breathing, feel his heart beating - he wasn't *dead.* And for as long as she had traveled with him, he had always been a light sleeper, able to wake at the slightest noise. This was a trick - definitely a trick. Yuna kissed him again, longer and sweeter, daring him to keep still. She could feel the tiniest restraint in him, and smiled to herself.

She kissed him once more, taking his lower lip between her teeth and tugging on it.

"Wake up already!" she mumbled.

"Mmmmm." he chuckled approvingly. "Alright, alright." Tidus wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close against him. "Hey."

"I *thought* you were playing a trick on me..." grinned Yuna accusingly.

"Mm. Sorry. Do that again?"

Yuna laughed quietly, trying to keep silent, and shook her head. "No, you're awake now."

"Well here, lemme go back to sleep - ow! ...Okay, okay, you win." smiled Tidus, after suffering a brutal poke in the ribs from his lover. "So, what's the matter?"

"Well...nothing really...I don't know, I'm just nervous, I guess. I'm sorry." She lay her head on his shoulder.

"Whatcha nervous about, huh? The wedding...? Or this thing that Bahamut just dumped on us?"

"Oh, no, not the wedding at all! I can't wait," Yuna smiled, but the smile soon faltered. "It's Bahamut I suppose...it just...I don't know...I guess I'm afraid that...no matter what he says....."

Yuna trailed off on the sentence, and Tidus knew what she meant. Afraid that no matter what Bahamut said, he would be snatched away again. It wasn't an idea foreign to him - it had been worrying him since Bahamut told them of this plight.

Tidus nodded. "I understand. It's making me a bit nervous, too. But you know what?"

"What?"

With a slight grunt of effort Tidus rolled, pinning Yuna beneath him, much to her surprise. He propped himself up above her on his elbows and kissed the edge of her mouth lightly. "I'm marrying the most wonderful woman in the world; I'm here with you, and I love you, and to hell with everything else...okay, so I don't know what'll happen tomorrow, or when we get to Guadosalam, but...I know we've got tomorrow. And today. And right now. I don't really think we can change what's gonna happen...we've got to finish this. I think Bahamut's telling the truth; I don't think I'm going anywhere. But there's that 'maybe.' Well...that's all it is. A *maybe.* Don't worry about it unless it becomes a certainty, which I seriously doubt it will. You've got too much to worry about otherwise. I'll help you with that as best I can, but please, Yuna, don't worry about what'll happen to me. You know full well I'll be at your side as long as I'm here. But if I have to leave...Yuna...if it'll save everyone, if it'll save *you,* then -"

"Then don't." Yuna gripped his arm with a force that surprised him. "Just don't do it. You told me the same thing once. Just don't do it. You're being a hypocrite, anyway. Telling me not to worry when you're doing just that...good Yevon, Tidus, I tell you I'm a little nervous and you go into a heroic spiel about how you'll sacrifice anything under the sun for me and Spira. That's not what I want. I have you back, and it's not fair that you're so ready to go jump out on a limb and forsake that so soon. Just be greedy with this for once...I want to be able to pretend that all we have ahead of us is a simple life, at least for awhile. And I want to believe that when I'm old and grey I'll still have you snoring beside me when I wake up, and I want it to be *true,* Tidus. At least give me that much. That's all I want."

"Well, put it on your Christmas list, and we'll see what we can do."

"Tidus, that's *not funny...*" She protested, hiding a grin.

"Eh...well...maybe not. But I tried."

Yuna smiled. "That's important."

"Here, see? Got you smiling again. There we go."

Yuna's hand reached up, gently toying with a lock of her lover's hair. "It's strange...I don't feel like I need to smile all the time now...even though I have more responsibilities than ever, and everyone is surely depending on me even more. You know, I didn't even *want* to be High Maestress...I just wanted to be left alone. Is that selfish?"

Tidus turned his head and kissed the inside of her arm. "No way. You just said it a moment ago, Yuna; you want a simple life. There's not a person in the world who could argue with that."

"There are people who would take my place in a heartbeat,"

"But no one who could do it better than you do. I *told* you you were the best summoner out there. Remember?"

Yuna nodded. "That was a long time ago,"

"So? Hasn't changed."

"And that's why I'm keeping my position. There's no one else to do it."

"Y'know...give it a couple years, wait until there's someone you know well enough that you're sure they could do it just fine, and you could always step down..."

"Maybe," admitted Yuna, "but not for a long time." Then she grinned up at Tidus, and laughing to herself added, "I'll probably be a crabby old matron by then."

"And I bet you're gonna look just as beautiful at forty-five as you do at seventeen."

"Eighteen," Yuna corrected cheerfully.

Tidus smiled and kissed her. "Oh, since when?"

"The last week of summer; harvest time. Or, about a month ago..."

"What, no particular date?"

"Oh, I'm sure one of the old women in the village would know, but I never much paid attention to days. Time was time, you know? I spent a lot of my childhood in the temple. My parents would certainly know, but they're not exactly...*here,*" she explained. "But always in the last week of summer harvest people would stop by and bring little gifts. And when it was another person's birthday, Noma would take me and we would give them gifts in return. But the exact day wasn't really considered important. Harvest time's too busy for that."

"Mm. Who's Noma?"

"One of the old nuns at the temple. She died a few years ago, but she acted as surrogate mother to me in the beginning. She was old-fashioned, but you would have liked her. And she would have absolutely adored you." Yuna laughed. "She used to tell me right out loud in public who I should marry and who I shouldn't. It was...embarrassing." She took on an old woman's voice. "'Now Yuna, don't go wedding a traveling merchant or something, you hear me? They're gone all the time - not a speck of honor in that, and no children out of it, either! See that one, over there - he'd make a fine husband, he would! A tradesman, a tradesman's a fine match for you. Respectable, honest work there. And you've plenty of time to tend to him - why, you'll be surrounded by little ones within a decade!' She had a horrible case of granny lust."

"*Granny lust?*" asked Tidus, crinkling up his nose.

"The intense desire of an old woman to see her grandchildren before she dies, and bounce them on her knee, and things like that. She insisted that I was going to have lots of children. End of story. There was no arguing with Mam Noma."

Tidus laughed, nuzzling her jaw. "What would she've said about me?"

"Mm...you mean now, or when you first came to Spira?"

"Both,"

"Well, in the beginning she would have taken one look at you and said no. She had nothing against athletes, but you *were* kind of shallow...however dashingly handsome. She didn't like muscleheads at all," Yuna blushed, and her companion grinned.

"Hey, are you calling me a brainless *jock?*"

"Well, you *were...!*"

Tidus chuckled to himself and kissed her neck lightly. "Alright, alright, so I *was.* Go on?"

"But now? Well...she'd have made sure we knew each others' names, at least, and then she would have dragged us to the altar without a second thought. Oh, she'd have loved you to death, Tidus. Who knows, she might have renounced her nunhood and married you herself!"

"Uh, no thanks..." Tidus kissed her neck again, lips lingering on her skin. Yuna let him for a few moments, enjoying the unsolicited gesture of affection.

"You know, I can't think when you do that..." Yuna poked him, and his breath was warm on her as he laughed.

"Well, good." Tidus continued; again Yuna allowed him to, closing her eyes and relaxing under his touch. "Do you mind?"

She smiled, muttering a quiet 'no.' When his kisses traveled to her earlobe, however, she lightly pinched his side and laughed. "Fiend,"

"Mmm. Maybe." admitted Tidus happily, nosing her jawline. He raised his head and kissed her chin, then her lips once, lightly, before smiling fondly at her. "Happy birthday. I'll have to get you something. What do you want?"

Yuna reached up to briefly meet his lips with hers, and spoke calmly. "You."

"Hmm!" Tidus smirked, playfully interested. "I would have expected you to want to wait, but hey, if you really wanna -"

"Oh, you! You know I didn't mean it like that," his lover scolded with a laugh. "Well...at least not until the wedding."

"Which will be as soon as possible, right?" Tidus pressed enthusiastically. Yuna smiled.

"As soon as everything's ready. I'm not settling for an impromptu wedding, no matter what you say. It's the best day of a woman's life - you can't cut that short."

"Aw, I'm just kidding. I don't mind waiting, but I see absolutely no reason not to complain about it."

"Well...Uncle Cid isn't coming until late in the morning, so I'll have time to see one of the Luca dressmakers, and maybe make some arrangements...oh, I'll have to bring Lulu and Rikku, they'll just *die* over some of the dresses they have here!"
"What, you've looked?"

Yuna looked a little sheepish. "Well, what woman *hasn't?*"

"Ah. One of those girl things, huh?"

"You could say that. I told you once that Spira was a little short on fun...well, marriages and their preparations can make an entire village lively and content. And especially for the bride, because she gets spoiled to death, at least for awhile." Yuna smiled broadly. "It's one of the happiest parts of her life. It's even better than blitzball,"

Tidus looked skeptical. "Better than blitz, huh? You sure about that?"

Yuna laughed lightly. "Yes, I'm sure. You might not believe it, but women love weddings more than any sport out there."

"Naah, it's too hard to believe." He joked. "Love you."

"Love you,"

"So really, what do you want? You name it, you get it."

Yuna relaxed, laying her head flat against the pillow to stare past Tidus, at the ceiling, in contemplation. It was a long moment before she answered; and when she did, her eyes locked with his .

"...Time. Just time." Her hands slipped around the back of his neck, fingers interlocking and pulling his head down to hers. He kissed her, long and deep, musing to himself that that must be about as much as she would *let* him do. Had he been in this particular situation in Zanarkand, it would have been a perfectly acceptable course of action to let his hands roam over her body aimlessly, which they itched to do; his better judgement prevented it. Yuna wouldn't care for it; she'd already told him no, however subtly. He could not remember caring, at any time in Zanarkand, what his significant others of any particular time period wanted. It didn't matter. Even if it had, he wouldn't have cared. Blitz was his life, and women just happened to come along as a convenience.

Yuna was no convenience.

Independent, stubborn, headstrong, with a natural beauty that just didn't exist in Zanarkand - following her had oftentimes meant trouble, but it was worth every second. She made it worth every second.

Yuna was currently doing just that; her arms had wound around his neck, and she was enthusiastically returning his kiss. It was making coherent thinking difficult.

She stopped suddenly, laughing to herself, and unwound one arm from his neck. She gripped his hand tightly then, and it made Tidus snap out of his daze - he realized it had been gradually wandering up her ribcage, toward a goal he was working to keep out of his mind. "Ah! Uh...sorry, wasn't thinking..." He mumbled sheepishly before taking his hand away.

"I didn't come in here to be *groped,* Tidus, no matter what *you* want," Yuna replied cheerfully, unoffended. "You'll have to wait a little while for that."

Tidus feigned a sigh, exaggerating a droop. Yuna laughed and kissed his nose. "Here, come on. I just want to stay close to you tonight; can I? Please?"

He smiled. "You don't even have to ask."

Tidus moved off of her and stretched out, bringing her close into his arms.

"I love you," She murmured into his collar.

"Love you too. Is this gonna be routine, now?"

"Hmm?"

"Crawling into each others' beds in the middle of the night?"

Yuna smiled, her eyes already closed, drowsily. "Mmmhmm."

"Okay. Sweet dreams, Yuna."

She did not respond; she only held him close as sleep claimed them.

_________________________________

A/N: Awww. n_n Go Tidus and Yuna. Hehe. This chapter was actually pretty fun to write...I dunno, but I think FF.net's state of disfunction kinda helped me. =3 I didn't waste time staring morbidly at odd stories and lamenting yet again over the sorry state of the FFX category. As most of my fellow authors know by now, I loathe pointless/stupid fics with the most profound abhorrence known to man. ^_^ Also you may have noticed a relationship between my Macalania one-shot fic and Yuna's 'birthday request' in this chapter ... Time. If you haven't read the one shot, go give it a peek!

Please tell me if the saucefluff seems a little OOC...I tried to make it as in-character as possible, but it's GOT to have some level of OOCness if Yuna's being saucy at all. =B And seeing as Yuna doesn't go around seducing Tidus left and right...it's kinda hard to write a Yuna that's anything but proper and pure. (Though it would be interesting if she DID go around trying to seduce him left n' right...muhaha. Lustful Yuna. XD Scary.)

Speaking of which! (Timmeh, here we go! Whoo! It'sh now offishal. :D )

I will be taking time off from Ch. 14 to write a one-shot...^_~ You'll see what it is, but it's my one (probably only) attempt at humor. Inspired by Fire Rules' AMV review rut...;-; Poor Timmeh! Of course, that'll have to wait for awhile, because I'm goin' to Texas (again ^_^ ) to accompany my grandmother and my cousin, who are moving out there, so they don't get lost on the Greyhound. Hehee. Won't be back until somewhere between the 7th-9th. Gomennasai about the delay, but hey, you'll never see me miss a chance to leave stinky California for awhile! ^_^ Who knows, maybe I can scribble out some of Ch. 14 on paper.

XD! An'....an'...I GET TO TEACH 5 OF MY CUTIE-PIE COUSINS HOW TO SWIM! YAAAY!

o_o; Okay, I'm done now.

And I get to take the train back. All by myself. n_n About two days before Amtrak goes kapoopie. Hmmn...I've never been on a train before! =3 I feel like Selphie. Train, train...how did that song of hers go?

Mucho credit to Fire Rules for beta-ing the first part of this, the evil technicals...and for being inhumanly nitpicky, all to my benefit. Thanks a million, Timmeh! Oaky? :D You're the best, mon.

More to come soon (Well, as soon as I can write it, anyway...)