(A/N: Hello again and thank you for coming to the second chapter of my story, hopefully you read the first one otherwise this won't make much sense to you. This update may seem quick but a really good review got me writing more than usual recently (thank you Bonzai1990) and hopefully I can get this story out and put on the internet for all of you to read, and hopefully review. Good thoughtful reviews make me write faster so please hit that little button at the bottom of the page.)

(Disclaimer: I own the children (except Vidina) and the plot, I am only making people smile with this fic, so please do not sue me.)

Chapter 2 The Trip

The three children once again stopped running when they reached the tree line. It had been three months since Cressan's birthday party, and the children still played at fighting fiends every week when their families came together for dinner. And, like always, they shared what they had learned over the course of the week.

"Come on Vidina," Cressan asked with excitement, "Show us your spells, have you perfected them all yet?"

"Ok, ok, draw four X's on the ground." Vidina replied with a smile, he was always amused with Cressan's antics, always bursting with enthusiasm. When Cressan had finished with the fourth X, Vidina said, "Now stand back." He flung his arm at the first X, shouting "Fire," and the X burned for a moment then winked out. He then turned to the second X, shouted "Thunder," and a small lightning bolt zapped that X. Rounding on the third X and shouting, "Blizzard," a small block of ice fell on the X. Vidina turned on the final X and shouted "Water." drenching the fourth X, turning the ground to mud.

"Wow Vidina, all four elements." Cressan was examining the scorch marks from the fire spell.

"And with perfect accuracy too," Cetan clapped his friend on the shoulder, "impressive."

"My turn now," Cressan said getting up from her spot next to the scorch marks, "my dad's been teaching me the basics of the Power Break move and I think I've just about got it." She eagerly unshouldered her stick and focused on the empty spot over one of the X's that Vidina had used, then her stick began to glow ever so slightly and she slashed the air while her stick stopped glowing. "I got it, I got it! Just wait till I show my dad."

"Very nice," Vidina smiled, "now you know both Power Break and Cheer."

"Not that anyone needed to teach you Cheer," Cetan added, "you learned that one on your own." Cressan couldn't have looked happier.

"Now show us what you've learned, Cetan," Cressan was bouncing from foot to foot with anticipation. "And have you gotten a weapon yet? Did your dad get you one yet?"

"Yeah, actually he did," Cetan was now almost as excited as Cressan, "he says it's very similar to his first sword, except mine's smaller, which is just the right size for me."

"Well, did you learn anything new this week," Vidina asked, containing his excitement much better than the other two, "or are you still working on the Dark Attack move with my dad?"

"I'm still working on it, but I've gotten much better," Cetan raised his stick into attack position, "the key is to aim for the eyes, but that's hard to do when I can't practice on real fiends."

"It's a shame we can't fight real fiends yet," Vidina said, now a little disheartened, "cause we're as ready as we are ever going to be."

"Yeah, I mean, Vidina knows all four spells," Cetan turned to Cressan, "you, Cressan just learned to sharpen your sword, right?" Cressan nodded, "And I just got mine, so why don't just bring out weapons next time and…"

"We can't," Cressan interrupted, "besides; I already promised my dad that I wouldn't fight fiends until he said I was ready."

"But that's the thing," Cetan replied, "if we wait until they say we're ready, then we'll be waiting until were much, much older, cause they don't want us fighting fiends."

"I agree with Cressan on this one," Vidina said with a sigh, "we promised our parents we wouldn't fight real fiends until they think we are ready and we should keep our promises, but," Vidina put his hand on Cetan's shoulder, "Nothing says we can't ask them to let us fight real fiends sooner rather than later."

"Ok," Cressan agrees, "how about this, if they don't say anything by next week's dinner, then we ask them about it." And both boys nod in agreement.

Meanwhile, the adults were having their usual conversation about the children's training, "I'm very proud of Vidina," Lulu muses, "He has mastered the first level spells faster than I expected."

"Cetan is doing quite well too," Tidus said, leaning back in his chair, "he's got speed and accuracy that I didn't think were possible at his age."

Wakka then added, "Plus I think he's really starting to get dat Dark Attack move I showed him."

"Oh," Yuna exclaimed looking at the two men, "so that's what you've been doing when you say you've been going to practice with Cetan, you both have been training him."

"Hey, the boy's got a talent for it," Wakka said defending himself, "and really sharp eyes, ya, he was picking it up on his own, so I just decided to give him a few pointers. Besides with Lulu taking care of Vidina, I figured I better help out somewhere, you know."

"Well, I'm not certain how Cressan's doing," Rikku eyed Auron, who actually smiled a slight smile at the mention of his daughter's name, "but from the look on your face, Auron, I'd take it she's doing well."

Auron's grin widened a little, "Her strength increases with each session; I think she is almost ready to enter real combat."

"I was wondering when that would come up," Lulu smiled a smile of her own, "I think Vidina is ready now, however, since the children are already a team, I wanted to wait until the others were ready before sending them out to fight real fiends."

"Hm, I think fighting some real fiends would do Cetan a world of good." Tidus replied after a moment of silence, "But how would we arrange it, I don't think we should just let them go on their own yet, and where would we take them to?"

"How about down to the beach and back?" Rikku asked the group, "The fiends here on Besaid are relatively weak, plus we would be able to see what their limits are."

"And all we would have to do is follow them," Yuna added, "To be certain they don't get into any real danger."

"When could we do this, then?" Wakka asked, "Sometime this week maybe?"

"Next week," Auron stated, "We will arrive early in the morning, and the children will have all day to go to the beach and back."

"Then we can have our dinner as usual." Yuna finish, when a bell went off in the kitchen.

Lulu got up to get the meal, while Rikku said, "And not a word to the children, ok, lets make it a surprise." And everyone agreed as Yuna went to the door to call the children.

Not a word more was spoken about the trip to the beach that day, even after the children were asleep. The adults guided the children to bed or the airship, and Rikku told Brother that next week they would need the Celsius early in the morning instead of late in the afternoon. During the week the parents watched the children train even more closely, and were reaffirmed that they were defiantly ready for real combat.

The evening before the fateful trip, Auron asked Cressan a question that had been bothering him for quite awhile, "Why do you wish to be a fiend hunter?"

"Because," Cressan replied without really thinking about it, "I've been having dreams about being one ever since I can remember." She then looked at her father and was worried that she may have given the wrong answer due to the slight look of concern on his face.

"I see." was all he said in reply.

The morning of the trip, Cressan's morning exercises were interrupted by the unmistakable sound of the Celsius landing in the clearing. Cressan ran out, still in her pajamas, and saw her mother speaking with her uncle. She cautiously approached and managed to hear her mother say, "When I said early in the morning, I didn't mean the crack of dawn… Oh good morning dear," she had been noticed.

Cressan ran up to her mother and asked the first thing that popped into her head, "Is Uncle and Buddy and Shinra coming to eat breakfast with us?"

"Yes breakfast, sounds like a good idea to me," Brother said holding his stomach, "We get up really early to take you to Besaid, so we get breakfast, is fair deal to me."

Rikku sighed, now that her daughter had mentioned food to Brother there was no getting rid of him, well she could have Auron glare him away but that would only cause problems later. "Ok, gather up Buddy and Shinra, breakfast will be ready in a little while. Cressan, dear, why don't you go finish up your morning exercises then come out for breakfast, we're going to Besaid early today."

"Ok, Mom." And Cressan ran back into the house to do as she was told.

Not ten minutes later, Cressan was showered, dressed and at the table waiting for breakfast to be served along with the crew of the Celsius. Auron came into the kitchen with Desudro, sat him in his highchair, and then took his seat next to Cressan. Rikku looked up from her cooking to the full kitchen table and sighed once again, "Pancakes are almost done, so don't even think about pounding on my table Brother." Brother lowered his hands to the table.

Rikku brought out the first batch of pancakes and gave one to each person at the table; ignoring Bother's pleads for more, then went back to her griddle and started on the next batch. Cressan watched as the others ate, Brother went at it like a fiend who hadn't seen food in days, Buddy and Shinra ate like human beings, and her father ate his own while cutting Desudro's up for him. By the time Cressan had finished with her pancake, her mother was already coming out with the next batch; everyone, except Desudro, got a second one; then returned to the stove to start the third batch. Because the pancakes were huge, Cressan got up from the table after the she finished her second one and put her dishes in the sink and rinsed them free of the sticky syrup. "Thanks Mom," she said as she passed, "they were really yummy."

Just as she was about to leave for her room, Auron said, "No training today Cressan, just wait in the living room." Cressan nodded then turned to enter the living room were she sat on the couch and picked up the picture frame Shinra had given her for her birthday. She spent the next several minutes looking at the ever-changing picture; until she saw the others get up from the table and join her in the living room.

"Good breakfast," Brother stated as he sat down on the couch across from Cressan, "Rikku has improved much since becoming a mother."

"I agree," Buddy said sitting down on the opposite end of the couch from Brother, "It sure beats the breakfast that Barkeep usually makes."

"Mom's pancakes are the best, aren't they?" Cressan added to the conversation as she put down the picture frame, "That's my favorite breakfast. Dad's miso soup is a close second though."

"I'm glad you all liked them," Rikku had just entered the living room, "well, we had better get going, we're expected in Besaid."

All as one, the boys of the Celsius got up and ran to their airship, leaving Cressan alone with her mother, "Mom, why are we going to Besaid so early today?"

Rikku couldn't suppress her smile, "You'll see when we get there, now go board the Celsius, while I go help your dad with Desudro."

When the Celsius landed in Besaid, Cressan was surprised to see that both families were waiting just inside the gates. Cressan bounded down the open ramp to Cetan and Vidina, "Do you know what's going on?" she asked.

"Nope, Dad said that he would tell me when you got here." Cetan answered.

"My parents said the same thing." Vidina also replied.

"Hey," Cressan suddenly turned to her parents, who had just joined the others, "Why are we in Besaid this early, and…" her father had just pulled out her sword, "why did you bring my sword here?" although the second question came out more confused than the first.

Cetan and Vidina each turned to their own parents, who had brought out their weapons as well. Yuna then said, with a smile at the children's looks of confusion, "Because today you will fight your first real fiends."

All the parents smiled, including Auron, as the children looked at each other and shouted, "Alright!" then each of them got their weapons from their respective parents, "Where are we going?" Vidina asked.

"And when do we leave?" Cressan added.

"You will be going to the beach and back," Rikku explained, "and although we will be following you, you have to try and make it without our help. And we leave as soon as the three of you are ready."

Cressan shouldered her blade, "Well I'm ready, are you guys?"

Vidina tucked his moogle into the crook of his arm, "I'm set."

Cetan grabbed his sword and set the tip to the ground, "Me too."

"Here," Wakka gave the children a few Potions, "just in case, ya."

"Ok, now we are ready," Vidina replied, tucking the Potions away.

"Let's get this show on the road," Cressan shouted, then ran to the gates, "come on, come on, come on."

When the three were at the gates, they started walking with their parents, except a slightly pregnant Yuna who stayed behind with Desudro, not far behind. On the way up the first hill Cetan just had to ask, "How do you carry that thing, Cressan? It looks like it weighs a ton."

Cressan giggled, "It does, but I'm used to it cause I train with it everyday."

Cetan was just about to answer when three Coyote fiends appeared out of the bushes lining the road. "Looks like I'm up first," Cetan smiled as he quickly killed one of the Coyotes with a single swing then leapt back to the others as the pyreflies swarmed upward.

One of the Coyotes ran towards Vidina while the other charged Cressan. Vidina dodged his and aimed a fire spell at it, but it shook it off. Cressan tried to slice hers only to have it dodge and bite her on the arm drawing a little blood. Cetan raced over and slashed the one that bit Cressan then turned to Vidina's and quickly killed that one too. Then both boys approached Cressan who was using the hem of her shirt to wipe up the blood seeping from her wound.

"Are you ok?" Cetan asked looking at the blood on her arm.

"This? This is a nip, training with Dad hurts worse than this, I'm fine." She said having stopped the bleeding.

"Ok, but now we know," Vidina replied, "leave those kind to Cetan."

"I'll agree with that." Cressan's smile was already back on her face as they continued their walk up the hill.

A little further up the hill a Flan Azul slithered into view, Vidina shot a Thunder spell at it killing it instantly.

"Hey," Cressan exclaimed, "You could have let me take a swing at it." She pouted a little.

"Nah," Vidina responded, "those fiends are really weak against Thunder magic, so leave those to me."

"Don't worry Cressan," Cetan said putting a hand on her shoulder as they continued walking, "we know this area, and if we're lucky, we'll run into a fiend that you can attack."

"Oh ok," Cressan lit up again, "and in the mean time I can use Cheer so the fiends will hurt us less."

That's a good idea," Vidina replied, "cause we only wanna use our potions as a last resort."

The children continued up the hill, and after one more pack of Coyotes, finally made it to the prayer monument over looking the village. Cressan ran to the edge and looked out over the village. Putting her free hand over her eyes to block out the sun's glare, she commented, "It's so pretty up here."

"Yeah, it is," Cetan said as he joined her at the edge, "I've seen it lots of times and I still think it's pretty."

"Come on you two," Vidina called out, "are we going to the beach or what?"

"Coming," Cressan calls back, as she backs away from the edge getting one last look, before running to join Vidina, with Cetan right behind her.

The children continue down the path through the ruins, fighting off mostly packs of Coyotes with an occasional Flan Azul thrown in, until they come across a Purpurea fiend growing in the road. Cetan makes the first move and puts a nice deep slice in its side. Backing away Cetan shouts, "You finish it up, Cressan!"

"Okey-dokey," and she runs up and brings her sword down cleaving the Purpurea in two before it bursts into pyreflies, "That was fun; I hope we find more of those types of fiend."

Cetan looked a little wary of Cressan's blade and said, "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"Oh," Cressan realized what he meant and laughed, "Don't worry, this blade is for use on fiends only, I'd never use it against anybody, let alone my friends."

"Hey man," Vidina said putting his arm on Cetan's shoulder, "have a little more faith in out partner, ok?"

"Ok." Cetan replied, and the three of them kept walking along the road towards the beach.

More Coyotes, Flan Azuls, and two Purpureas later the children were ambushed by an Iron Giant fiend, who hit Vidina hard with it's sword before turning its attention to the others. Cetan ran to Vidina and used their last Potion on him; the others had been used to combat bites from the Coyotes, the Water spell one of the Flan Azuls had managed to cast, and a Seed Cannon that had hit Cetan. Cressan attacked the Iron Giant then managed to side step its next attack. Just as Cetan had Vidina out of critical condition, an idea struck Cressan, "Guys, I'll use Power Break on it!"

"Just do it!" Cetan yelled barely managing to push himself and Vidina out of the way of the Iron Giant's next attack. Cressan made her blade glow and used Power Break on the fiend reducing its attack power and damaging it even more. Vidina then finished the fiend with a well placed Blizzard spell.

"That was intense." Cetan stated as he brushed himself off and gave a thumbs-up to the worried parents. They had been watching the children fight off fiends amazingly well; they had honestly expected the children to stop after they hit the second Purpurea, which had been the one to hit Cetan with Seed Cannon, so watching them fight off an Iron Giant was mind boggling and a little frightening, especially to the mothers.

"Yeah," Vidina agreed, "it got a little scary there when the giant got me."

"Well, now we know," Cressan responded, as the group got under way again, "that the first thing we do when we see one of those is to let me do a Power Break on it." Cetan and Vidina quickly agreed.

A little while later and the children had all but made it to the beach; they had only been attacked by Coyotes and Flan Azuls after that fight with the Iron Giant, when suddenly a Coeurl walked into their path. The parents were horrified as the children went and attacked the dangerous fiend.

"Don't attack it," Rikku cried out, as she and the other adults pulled out their weapons, "just run, let us take care of it!"

"No," Vidina called out as he let loose a Water spell, "let us try!" the Water spell hit true as Cetan managed to cut a nice gash in the Coeurl's side. This served to anger the Coeurl, who then raised its whiskers and fired a Blaster at Cetan knocking him down to one HP.

"Ahhh!" Cetan screamed as he fell to the ground barely conscious, before managing to get into a crouching fighting stance, "Watch out, that Blaster move really hurts!"

"This ought to help with that." Cressan then made her blade glow once again and hit the Coeurl with Power Break. But once again the Coeurl raised its whiskers and fired a Blaster at Cressan, which knocked her own to one HP.

Vidina managed to unleash a Thunder spell right after the Blaster hit Cressan, so while Cressan picked herself up and got into another fighting stance, the Coeurl casted a Fira spell knocking Vidina out. Cetan had just managed to put another gash in the Coeurl's side when it turned around and used a Blizzara spell on him, knocking him out as well. The Coeurl was just about to unleash yet another spell when Cressan gathered all her strength, jumped up, and impaled the Coeurl causing it to burst into pyreflies.

Leaning heavily on her sword for support, Cressan yelled, "Stop!" startling all the parents who had just begun to rush in to help, "Let us finish." Cressan then stood up strait, shouldered her blade, then leaned down to pick up Vidina's limp and burned form, and half carried half dragged him the remaining fifty feet to the water's edge. When she turned around to return for Cetan, she noticed her father putting out an arm to stop the other adults from interfering. Cetan made a mental note to thank her father later as she picked up Cetan, who was still very cold from the Blizzara spell, and carried/dragged him down to the water as well. Cressan then sat down; gently put her blade down beside her then collapsed herself next to her two unconscious friends.

The adults followed her down to the beach and looked at each other before tending to the children. "When an amazing team they make," Tidus said turning his son over so he was face up in the sand, "to take down a Coeurl in the state they were in."

"Cressan," Lulu sighed before looking at Auron, "She is most defiantly your daughter, Auron."

Auron smiled a little looking at the children, and then at Rikku who was using a Phoenix Down on Vidina, "They are all commendable."

"Yeah," Rikku continued, "they all did spectacularly well, especially for their first real fiend fighting trip."

"Thanks," Vidina said getting up after Rikku finished with him and moved on to Cetan, "we'll do even better next time."

"Next time?" Lulu asked, looking her son over for any burn spots that were missed by the Phoenix Down, "Do you want there to be a next time?"

"Definitely," Cetan replied, getting up himself as Rikku moved to Cressan, but stopped when she heard the conversation.

"Are you sure?" Tidus asked his son, "That Coeurl nearly got all of you, do you really want to go through that again?"

"It was fun, wasn't it Cetan?" Vidina responded looking at his friend.

"Totally fun, now could you heal Cressan," Cetan asked, turning to Rikku, "please?"

"Oh, right, of course," Rikku used her third Phoenix Down on Cressan, who opened her eyes and got up slowly, for fear of getting dizzy.

"Hey," Vidina called out in surprise, "How did we get to the beach, I remember passing out from that Fira spell over there." pointing at the spot where the Coeurl was.

"Yeah," Cetan agreed, "So do I."

"Oh," Cressan walked over to the two boys and put her arms around their shoulders, "I finished off the fiend, then carried, and partially dragged, the two of you to the beach. Then I sorta collapsed myself." Both boys looked at each other then at her as if she had grown a second head. "What?" she asked bringing her arms down and getting in front of them, "I thought we should at least make it half way to the goal together."

"You more than made it to the goal," Tidus said smiling at the children, "We didn't expect you to make it much past the ruins, let alone all the way to the Beach. We are all very proud of you three."

The children looked at each other smiling brightly, then Rikku asked, "Do you want to do this again, Cressan?"

"Absotivley-posilutly." Cressan answered without hesitation, then looked at the boys, "You guys said yes too, right?"

"Yup." replied Cetan.

"Indeed." answered Vidina.

"Yea," then she turned to the parents and said, "So we're doing this again next week right?"

All the parents looked at each other, then one by one they all nodded to each other, and Lulu said, "It seems like it, but don't forget that if you ever want to call it off for any reason, just tell us alright?"

"That isn't going to happen Auntie Lulu." Cetan responded, putting his hands on his hips.

"Yeah," Cressan chimed in, "this is just more training, and really fun training at that." The parents only smiled and shook their heads in defeat.

Vidina's stomach started growling, "Hey, can we start heading for home now, my stomach says it's time for lunch."

"Lunch sounds like a good idea, ya." Wakka said moving towards the way that led towards the village.

"Next time we should bring lunch to eat here at the beach," Rikku suggested, "that would be fun." The others, especially the children, agreed.

The walk back to the Besaid Village was a lot more peaceful than the way to the beach, mostly because Rikku had equipped her Charm Bangle, which repels fiends. When the group got back to the village, everyone went to Yuna and Tidus's house to eat, partially because it was closer and partially because they knew Yuna would be waiting for them there. Yuna had a plate of sandwiches made, and brought them out to her waiting friends and family. After they had polished of the sandwiches, the children excused themselves and ran outside, leaving their weapons behind in the house as they had agreed to on the way back to the village.

Once the children had made it to their usual spot they started talking about the battles they had fought. Once they had run out on that subject, the boys noticed that Cressan hadn't said much, which was unusual for her.

"Hey," Cetan said as he waved a hand in front of Cressan's blank face, "Cressan, are you in there?"

"What," she exclaimed, snapping out of her trance-like state, "oh, sorry for zoning out there, I was just thinking about something my dad asked me yesterday. The look on his face when I answered him really bugged me, and has been bugging me ever since we got back from our trip to the beach."

"What did he ask?" Vidina questioned, focusing his attention on Cressan.

"He asked me why I wanted to be a fiend hunter." Cressan replied, "And I told him it was because of some dreams I've been having for the longest time."

"Wait, wait a minute," Cetan said, very confused, "You've been having dreams too?"

"You as well?" Vidina was startled, "I thought it was a little strange that we all wanna be fiend hunters, but if we all have been having dreams about it…what kind of dreams have you been having Cressan?"

"Well," Cressan began, "my favorite is a dream where I see the four of us, Dyne is the fourth person cause he's the smallest, coming together from four different directions, then putting our hands together in the middle and giving a cheer."

"I've had that one," Cetan states, "but my favorite is of the three of us walking into the sunset, then a fourth person, I think he is Dyne too, joins us and the four of us disappear into the sun's light."

"I've had both of those," Vidina continues, "but my favorite is the one I had the night of your party Cressan; I see the four of us, all grown up, traveling together across Spira and fighting huge fiends."

"I started having that one the night of my party too." Cressan exclaimed.

"Me too." Cetan quickly added.

"I wonder what it means," Vidina said, his voice heavy with thought, "it can't be a coincidence if we all had these dreams at the same time. Something must be behind it."

"But what?" Cetan was puzzled. All three children became quiet as the tried to think f a reason why they would all have the same dream at the same time. When they couldn't come up with anything Cetan groans, "There has to be a reason for it, there just has to."

"Well," Vidina was just as frustrated, "what ever it is, we aren't going to find it sitting around here."

"And let's not tell the adults, ok." Cressan looked from Cetan to Vidina and back again, "If they react like my dad did, they might stop us from hunting fiends."

"Good idea," Cetan agreed, "because I defiantly want to go hunting fiends again."

"So it's decided then," Vidina put his hand in the middle of their group, "the dreams stay secret from the adults, at least until we know why we are having them, agreed?"

Cetan and Cressan both put their hands on top of Vidina's and said "Agreed."

(A/N: Ok not as long as my first chapter, but still long for me. And yay for me, I leave you with foreshadowing, these dreams will play a major role in the plot line of this story. I need all the inspiration I can get so please review, it inspires me.)