Never alone

"Hurry up, Yunie, we're about to take off!" I called out to our last remaining slacker of a friend, "Lulu's three months pregnant and she can move faster than you!"

"Hold on," Yuna called, "I have to say goodbye to Vidina first."

"You already said goodbye to him twice, Ya?" Wakka called, "Even I beat you, and I'm the kid's father!"

"Then maybe you should be doing this!" Yuna taunted.

"If you lived with the kid, you'd think one goodbye was good enough," Wakka muttered.

"Wakka!" Lulu said sternly, "what a thing to say!"

"Sorry", Wakka said meekly.

"You guys," I said, laughing as I walked to the pilot seat. I looked to my left to see our remaining member, Tidus, still trying to tie down the luggage.

"Why don't you put that in the cabin?" I asked.

"It's full!" Tidus said, obviously exasperated, "I'd expect over-packing from you and Yuna, but Lulu surprises me!"

"She's just as much of a girl as we are," I said, "besides, she's pregnant. You weren't here when she was pregnant with Vidina. You'll have to learn, Tidus, what Pregnant Lulu wants, Pregnant Lulu gets."

"Alright guys, I'm ready!" Declared my ever-tardy cousin."

"Great!" I said, "let's go!"

"I'll navigate!" Tidus declared.

"No, Yuna will," I said, "No offense, but you still don't know Spira that well." I sat down in my chair and started up the airship.

"Wait Rikku," Wakka said, "what's the sound, ya? Something's rattling."

"Probably the girls' luggage," Tidus said, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever!" I said, pretending to be offended, "Let's go." I slowly pushed up on the accelerator, feeling the airship slowly lift off the ground. "Next stop, the Bikanel paradise Hotel, compliments of Rin."

"Sounds wonderful," Lulu moaned, "I could use a vacation before our next child arrives."

"What are you going to name it?" Tidus asked.

"her, actually," Lulu corrected. I half listened to all the names she had thought of, laughing at the thought of Wakkina, courtesy of her father. The sky was a cloudless blue, perfect time for flying. Unfortunetly, fiends thought so, too.

"Hay! You wanna quit zig-zagging so much? I'm getting sick back here, yah?" I opened my mouth to give Wakka a piece of my mind when suddenly the airship gave a jerk.

"That was mean!" Wakka said.

"Shut up!" I snapped, "listen. Everyone quieted down, and the unmistakable sound of rattling assaulted our ears.

"I don't think that's our stuff," Yuna said.

"Rikku, can you take us down?" Lulu asked.

"I can Tr-." I began, but the airship gave another, more violent jerk. "Oh, Yevon," I said under my breath.

"What's going on?" Tidus demanded.

"I'm not sure!" I exclaimed, but I was sure. We were going down, and we were going down fast.