Final Fantasy X-2 and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X or X-2 storylines (such as Rayne and Michael) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(After Two Years of Eternal Calm)

Nearly another year had passed and Rayne could stand it no longer.

She was now thirty-one years old and, as she had come to learn with her age, there were certain situations when attempting to wait something out didn't work.

Clearly, this was one of them.

So, twenty-three months after she had been resurrected, Rayne packed what little things she had, loaded Boky, and set off for Bevelle.

"I'm here to speak to Fereria." She said to the guard of the first door.

"Lady Rayne?" Rayne winced, then nodded. The guard nodded back, "The praetor would like to speak to you."

Sighing, Rayne followed the guard through the front gates and into Bevelle, ordering Boky to stay where he was. Once inside the main building, the guard directed her to a lift.

"That will take you to Praetor Baralai's office. Present your full title as it was recognized by the former Yevon church and you will be admitted immediately."

Sighing heavily, Rayne stepped onto the lift and waited as it rose, regretting complying with the guards directions as each moment brought her a few feet closer to the highest ranking official Bevelle and New Yevon currently had.

When the lift stopped, Rayne stepped off and walked down the short hall, crossing her arms and speaking to the two guards that stood before the only door the hall held, "Lady Rayne, former guardian of High Summoner Braska and High Summoner Yuna."

The two guards bowed and opened the double doors for her, giving her plenty of room to step in before they shut the doors again.

The office was located in one of the higher towers of Bevelle, this one unique in that it was made almost entirely of glass. Before her was a large, dark wood table covered with neat stacks of papers. On the other side of that table, standing near the glass and looking down at Bevelle, was a young, dark-skinned and silver-haired man.

"Praetor Baralai, I presume?" Rayne asked with a sigh.

The young man flinched slightly, having been broken out of whatever thoughts he was occupied with, and turned, nodding before bowing slightly to Rayne, "Lady Rayne. It is good to see you again."

Rayne frowned, "See me again? …" She thought for a moment, studying Baralai and his face, "…Wait, I do recognize you… Where have I seen you before?" Then it hit her, "Oh, yes, I remember now. You were one of the four involved in that… case that was somehow connected to Operation Mi'ihen. Your case was presented to the Court of St. Helemine and several of our sisters were sent to sit in on the final trial." Rayne blinked, "I wasn't one of them, but I was part of the escort. We saw you and the others shortly before the trial…"

Baralai nodded.

Rayne sighed and shook her head, "You'll have to forgive me; my time in the court was spent under severe brainwashing, so little remains clear."

Baralai nodded again, "I know. Several other Helemine sisters had been brainwashed, as well. That was part of why I disbanded the court when I was elected praetor."

Nodding slowly, Rayne stared at Baralai for a moment before blinking vapidly, "Was there some actual reason for your summons, Praetor, or did you just want to wile and beguile me with your act of disintegrating the hell hole the late Maester Mika shoved me into?"

"You came to see Fereria, yes?" When Rayne blinked, Baralai walked to his desk and picked up an envelope, holding it out, "She left Bevelle some time ago and joined the Youth League. She asked me to give this to you when you came."

Stepping forward, Rayne took the envelope and opened it, reading the letter out loud, "Left Bevelle. Gone to Youth League. Should be at Headquarters, look for us there. Fereria." Frowning, Rayne looked up from the letter, "Where is the Youth League Headquarters?"

"On the shores where Operation Mi'ihen took place." Baralai answered.

Rayne winced, "What a place…" Sighing, she shook her head before bowing to Baralai, "Thank you for your help, Praetor."

"It was an honor, Lady Rayne," Baralai insisted, "If there's ever anything else…"

"Actually, there is." The former guardian smiled, "Could you perhaps arrange for a transport to take myself and a chocobo as far as Guadosalam?"

Baralai nodded immediately, "It shall be waiting for you at the edge of Macalania."

"Thank you once again, Praetor."

"I assure you, Lady Rayne, it is an honor and a privilege to be able to help you." Baralai assured with a smile.

Bowing once more, Rayne turned and walked out of the room, stuffing the letter into the sleeve of her tunic as she did.

"Lady Rayne."

She paused at the door, not looking back.

"Lady Rayne… will you not reconsider the matter of joining New Yevon? Your support would be much appreciated—"

"I understand that you, in particular, want me to join out of sheer sincerity, Praetor Baralai, but there are still those in Bevelle who would seek to use the fact that a former Guardian of the High Summoner Yuna has joined New Yevon." Rayne said, still facing the door, "None of you… have any idea what we went through… or what I have personally faced in the past with Yevon. I am sorry, but I will not join."

"I understand." Rayne was thankful that he would not push the matter.

"Still… feel free to take heart in the fact that I will also join neither the Youth League nor the Machine Faction." Rayne paused, then nodded, "I beg your leave." Rayne left the room quickly, wanting to leave the presence of Bevelle altogether.

On the Highbridge, Rayne quickly mounted Boky and took off, ignoring the scandalized looks and angry calls of the angry Bevellians for her 'desecration of the holy temple'.

At the first intersection, Rayne tugged sharply to the right on Boky's reigns and he ran into Macalania. There, she nearly rode over someone and jerked back sharply on the reigns, making Boky falter and jump, the bird accidentally tossing her.

"Are you alright?" Rayne looked up into the worried face of a melancholy Guado, the person she had nearly run over, who had walked over to her when she had fallen.

"Yeah," Rayne grunted, standing and brushing herself off before taking Boky's reigns and calming him. When she was sure the bird was fine, she turned back to the Guado and blinked, "So, Tromell decided to bring you all to Macalania?"

The Guado nodded, "We Guado fled Guadosalam not long after you advised us to. Macalania was the first, most uninhabited place we came across, so we chose to remain here and die with the forest."

"Die?" Rayne frowned, appalled, "What's this about Macalania dying?"

"After the fayth disappeared at Macalania Temple and the Temple sank into the lake, the forest began to die," The Guado said sadly, "Because of this, few go into the forest itself, and those who do come in this direction pass through to Bevelle or the Calm Lands. Thus, hiding in Macalania Forest was the best option for we Guado."

Rayne nodded, then asked, "Tell me, where can I find Tromell?"

The Guado stared at her for a moment, gauging her trustworthiness, then sighed in defeat and answered, "The northern spring within the forest, where the scourged known as Spherimorph, the fiend your group defeated, once resided."

"Thank you," Turning to Boky, Rayne said, "Wait for me at the woods exit to the Thunder Plains, alright? I'll be there soon."

The chocobo squealed, then turned ran towards the Thunder Plains.

Nodding to the Guado, Rayne walked down the path to the entrance of the woods. After glancing between the energy path and the wooded path, she chose the energy, wanting to get to Tromell as quickly as possible.

As she walked, she noted the forest around her, noticing that it did, indeed, look like it was dying. Great patches of barren space, where there had once been trees, stood out prominently, and the trees that were left had lost their glowing luster. And as for what little seed pods were left…

"They look more dead than anything." Rayne muttered, frowning at the grey pallor the pods had taken compared to their previous rosy color. Sighing, she stepped off of the energy path when she had reached the end and took the first right she came to, emerging into northern sphere spring.

Many Guado glided through the trees like specters, sparing her melancholy glances but never saying a word.

Ahead of her and beneath the tree that grew from the sphere pool, Rayne saw Tromell, standing with his back to her. She approached slowly, not wanting to startle him.

Subtlety, however, wasn't necessary.

"Lady Rayne," Tromell said in his thick voice, not turning around but lowering his head, "I never believed you would come back from the final battle… We Guado were so sure you would pass on."

"I did." Rayne nodded, "But then Bahamut decided he needed something from me."

Tromell turned at this, staring at her, "The fayth sent you back?" When she nodded, the Guado blinked slowly, "I knew as soon as I met you that you were not of the living, but to have ties to the fayth and to be able to sustain yourself on your own now that they are gone… it would mean that you must be one, yourself."

Rayne paused before nodding, "Yes, I was one of the fayth. Actually, I was a denizen of Zanarkand." If there was to be anyone on Spira Rayne would admit the truth fully to, it would be a Guado. After all, they were the one race who knew death best.

"I see." The interest in Tromell's eyes died after he said that and he sighed, lowering his head, "Why have to come, Lady Rayne?"

"I came to see how you were doing as leader," Rayne answered airily, crossing her arms and quirking a brow, "And I see you're doing a shitty job."

Tromell stared at her gravely, "After Seymour, there shall be no more leaders for the Guado." He then narrowed his eyes at her pointedly, "Have you been to see Lady Yuna?"

"Ohh, that's low." Rayne hissed, glaring at the Guado.

Tromell lifted his arms and shrugged helplessly, shaking his head, "Lady Rayne, you can hardly chastise the Guado if you, yourself, refuse to face your problems. Now, we Guado deserve our fate; we allowed and assisted Seymour in letting Spira become consumed in chaos. You, on the other hand, My Lady, have been given a rightly deserved second chance by the fayth, but judging by how much you smell of the Calm Lands and the fayth stone of Magus Sisters, I am willing to venture to say you haven't left Remiem much since you were granted your new life."

Rayne opened her mouth to protest, but Tromell held up a hand and silenced her, "Lady Rayne, I am touched that you would seek to sympathize with the Guado, but you should not waste your time. We Guado will pass, either without notice or by a well-deserved punishment. You, on the other hand, have a purpose, assigned specifically to you by the fayth, your brethren. I am in no position to tell you what to do, but I suggest you do whatever they need you to quickly, because the fate of Spira may lay in the balance of your completing the mission or not."

After staring at the Guado for a moment, Rayne nodded, "Just do not forget what I said to you two years ago; when the time comes and you must lead your people, I expect you to do it well."

Tromell watched her as she walked away, lowering his head and turning back to the sphere pool when she was gone.

Back at the intersection, Rayne turned and headed for Rin's Travel Agency, needing to see the fate of Macalania Temple, herself.

Despite having been told what had happened to the temple, she was still caught off guard.

The ice of the lake had all melted, leaving behind a gaping chasm edged by a snowy bank. The chasm extended down the old path to the forest in a thin, black line, and from what she could see there was no sign of the entrance to the temple. It really was gone.

Rayne sighed, crossing her arms and closing her eyes, "Rest in peace, Shiva."

"Ca'hn I he'p you?" A familiar voice called from the direction of the Travel Agency, making Rayne look.

"O'aka XXIII?" She asked, blinking at the familiar man with the close cut orange hair, blue vest, giant green backpack and ridiculous small black hat.

"That'd be me." O'aka nodded, then narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, "You were'n sent b' Rin, were yeh?"

Rayne was immediately extremely thankful that she had changed her outfit long ago to one that had a high-necked cape and a wide brimmed hat, because had O'aka recognized her word of her return would spread all over Spira like wildfire.

"No," She shook her head, "I just came to see if what they said about the temple was true. I haven't been here in so long, so I hardly believed it."

"Aye, it was quite a shock." O'aka nodded, still looking at her suspiciously, "How di' you know me name, anyway?"

Rayne knew of one absolute way to distract O'aka from suspicion; flattery. "Who hasn't heard of the great O'aka XXIII?"

It worked. The suspicion on O'aka's face faded immediately and he smiled widely, rubbing the back of his head, "Ah, yeh don't mean that."

"I do, I do." Rayne assured, nodding and smiling. She then started backing away slowly, waving, "Well, I'll be going now."

"'ave a good day!" O'aka called after her.

'I suppose it's a good thing I haven't had much contact with the outside world,' Rayne thought as she walked back towards the Thunder Pains, 'Though I do think it's made me a bit… harder.'

Boky was waiting beside a hover as she approached, jumping and squealing when he saw her.

"Miss Rayne, I presume?" The driver asked, bowing.

"Mrs., actually." Rayne corrected, stepping onto the bed of the hover and sitting down on the wraparound seating, leaving a large, flat expanse in the center for luggage, though this time it was occupied by a chocobo.

Boky followed her on willingly, bending his knees and settling down.

After the driver had mounted the seat and started the hover, it rose into the air and they took off down the dark road of the Thunder Plains. As they flew, Rayne noticed something.

"Why isn't the lightning striking the ground?" She called out over the roar of the engine.

"The Al Bhed." The driver called back, "They renovated and recalibrated the lightning towers so no lightning ever strikes the ground!"

Rayne blinked, then nodded and looked at the rocky plains, raising a hand and fingering the beads that took up a small portion of her upper-back-length hair that she had braided, the same beads Rikku had given her so long ago.

'So, the Al Bhed are finally accepted enough that the people of Spira trust their knowledge of machina? That's a relief…'

As Guadosalam came closer, Rayne reflected on the surrealism of her situation. To years ago, she had spent nearly half a year traveling from Besaid to Zanarkand. Now, in a matter of hours, she had gone from her residence in Remiem to Guadosalam.

"Have you been to Guadosalam recently?" The driver asked as he stopped the hover.

"Not in two years," Rayne admitted, encouraging Boky to stand and guiding him off of the bed of the hover, "Why?"

The driver winced, "Two years… Then I must warn you that the city… is not what it once was. It now houses the Leblanc Syndicate and sphere hunters, so…"

"Thanks." Rayne growled after he trailed off, turning and glaring at the entrance to the city, "Leblanc, huh? I wonder if it's just a coincidence…"

"Beg pardon?"

"Oh," Rayne turned back to the driver and smiled, "Nothing. Will you please deliver my thanks to Praetor Baralai?"

The driver nodded, "Good day, Mrs. Rayne."

Rayne backed away as the hover started, the machina rising a few feet into the air before turning around and taking off across the barren, blackened plains. When it was well out of sight, she turned back to Boky and grabbed his reigns, "Let's go, Boky. I think we have to make a quick visit to an old friend."