Authors Note: Heyo! I'm redoing this story because I'm not happy with its current state. :7 There won't be any humongous changes, so no worries there. I apologize for not updating it for so long and then deciding to redo it, but this shouldn't take too long. ^^; Hopefully the story will turn out better than before. Lemme know what you guys think! :D Thanks!

------------------------------------

Tidus leaned back against the trunk of a towering tree and yawned. The group had been moving along briskly for hours, not stopping to rest at all until just now, even when Tidus had begun to moan and groan.

In fact, it seemed that the more he had argued and griped, the faster Auron had made the group travel.

"Annoying old man," Tidus grumbled to himself.

Auron shot him a quick glance but didn't reply. Ignoring the evil look and resting the back of his head against his hands, Tidus began to daydream.

I wonder if I'll ever get back…to Zanarkand…

"Get up," a gruff voice boomed. "Don't just sit around and nap, go find some firewood so Kimahri can cook dinner."

"Ya! I'm hungry," Wakka joined in. "I'll help you look for firewood Tidus."

"I would," Tidus retorted, opening one blue eye to stare at the tall, red-cloaked guardian towering in front of him. "But I'm just too tired from that 60,000 mile race you had us run."

Auron shook his head. "Pathetic…"

Tidus' face turned as red as a stop sign, but just as he opened his mouth to argue with Auron, Wakka interrupted.

"Hey Tidus! Bet I can find more firewood than you, ya?" Wakka taunted.

Auron's remark forgotten, Tidus' face began to revert back to it's normal tan color.

"I, uh, you're on, Wakka!" Tidus announced loudly as he rushed into the woods to get a head start.

He thought he might have heard Auron chuckle at him as he disappeared into the forest, but he didn't care.

"I didn't see him doing anything useful! What's his problem anyway?" Tidus angrily thought out loud as he fought his way through the clinging masses of branches and shrubs.

Suddenly, his face drained itself of all color as he recalled something Auron had said.

Kimahri's cooking? Whaaa?! I can't believe it! Where did that walking blue rug learn to cook?

Just then Tidus caught his foot on a strategically placed log and, with his arms waving wildly in the air, sprawled face-first into a small clearing.
Shaking the dirt from his blonde tresses, Tidus quickly sat up and blinked in amazement.

"Whoa…Score!" he cheered.

The clearing Tidus had tumbled into was by no means any ordinary clearing. Small branches, dried leaves, and peeled birch bark littered the forest floor just waiting for someone like Tidus to come along and pick them up.

Becoming paranoid, Tidus narrowed his eyes and peered around, searching for any sign of his opponent, Wakka. Once satisfied that Wakka was nowhere nearby, he lunged for the nearest piece of firewood and giggled madly to himself.

"They won't think I'm so lazy when I bring this stuff back by the ton! Heh, Auron - "

A rustling coming from a nearby clump of bushes caused Tidus to freeze.

"Wakka…Is that you?" Tidus whispered softly as he crept towards the bushes.

Suddenly, a small object flew from the clump of bushes and whacked Tidus right between the eyes.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, hunching over in pain.

"Ack! I'm sorry!" cried a feminine voice that Tidus didn't recognize. "I didn't mean to - "

Tidus pointed his sword at the petite brunette standing in front of him with a look of concern on her face and more rocks clenched in her fist. Only, he wasn't holding his sword. Instead he had a firm grip on a long thin branch he had found moments before.

The girl raised her hands above her head and stuttered, "I - I come in peace!"

Noticing that she had no visible weapons other than the small rocks she carried, Tidus lowered his "sword." "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Eh heh, my name's Katie and I'm lost," the girl gave a friendly but nervous smile.

"Lost? And what are you doing with no weapons? You could be attacked by fiends!" Tidus gestured wildly at the surrounding woods.

"Fiends?" Katie pronounced the word as if it were foreign to her.

"…Never mind. I don't have time to explain. We should be heading back to my camp soon," Tidus sighed. "It's getting dark pretty fast."

------------------------------------

After collecting armfuls of firewood, the two began to make their way back towards Tidus' camp.

"So…" Katie began. "Are you ever going to introduce yourself?"

"Oh! I completely forgot!" Tidus apologized. "I'm Tidus, guardian of the Summoner Yuna."

"Nice to meet you Tidus," Katie replied politely. "But, uh, what's a guardian? And while we're at it, what the heck is a summoner?"

"Whoa, you must have gotten too close to Sin or something. You don't remember anything?" asked Tidus, moving a step or two away from the "contaminated" girl.

"Sin?" Katie was beginning to feel really left out right about now.

"Never mind again."

"Ok," Katie shrugged. "So are you traveling with anyone else Tidus?"

"Well, I already mentioned Yuna. She's the daughter of the High Summoner Braska." Tidus watched Katie's face for any trace of recognition, but she quite clearly did not understand.

"Oh, I see," she murmured.

"Then there's Rikku. She's Al Bhed and always happy. It scares me," Tidus stated bluntly. "And there's Lulu, who's always PMSing, Kimahri the might-as-well-be mute fuzz ball, Auron the hot shot who thinks he's so great, and Wakka the blitzball team captain with the goofiest hair you've ever seen. He looks like a rooster or something."

Katie was silent for a moment, then she asked, "You're all Yuna's guardians?"

"That's right! Now you've got it! And, of course, I'm the best out of all of them!" Tidus boasted.

"Oh really," Katie said slyly.

"Uh huh, I'm pretty handy with a sword."

"If by a sword you mean a large tree branch, sure," Katie laughed.

"Uh no. No, you - you jut caught me off guard, that's all!" Tidus stammered, his face turning a crimson hue for the second time that day.

"And what about you tumbling head-over-heels into that clearing?" Katie nudged Tidus' shoulder. "Hmm?"

"I…tripped over a log! Yeah, a log! Because there are a lot more logs in these woods than in most others. Sneaky logs! Why I oughta - "

"Riiight," Katie rolled her eyes. She thought she noticed Tidus' face getting red yet again, but he said nothing more as they walked on.