Chapter 4: Problems

"What exactly is this place?" The blonde spiky haired man asked as he watched little orbs of colorful light flow around the water.

The brunette girl laughed a little as she placed a curled finger to her lips. "This place is the Moonflow." she smiled. "And those things right there are pyreflies." She said as she pointed to the glowing sphere.

"And what exactly is a pyrefly?" Cloud asked as he watched the orbs dance.

Yuna took a few steps forward. "Pyreflies are souls of the dead that float around and linger." she told him as a couple of them danced around her.

The guardian nearly blushed as she looked at the girl with spirits dancing around her. "I see." was all he said before turning away. "We better get moving, we don't want to miss our ride."

"Alright." The summoner called out to him before following close behind. She quickly caught up with him as they walked down the road and around the corner, only to send Cloud into a near shock.

"What the hell is that thing?" He asked as he caught sight of a giant blue elephant type thing that had a long curled trunk and the tail of a fish.

Yuna laughed as she recognized the creature from her past. "That's a shoopuf. We're going to ride it across the Moonflow, that's why there's a harness on it's back."

"Shoopuf huh?" was all he said.

"Yeah, it's a lot of fun. I only road it once but I enjoyed it, I hope you like it too." The summoner smiled as they walked to the loading dock.

In front of the loading dock there was a blue creature standing there. The man kind of looked like a frog when Cloud got a better look at him. "Ride ze shoopuf?"

"Yes." Yuna smiled at the creature.

"All aboard!" The creature then called out as he pulled a lever, lowering a basket down to their level. They both quickly stepped inside and closed the gate as the creature pulled the lever again and lifted them up to the basket on the shoopuf's back. Once they were on, the giant creature stepped into the deep water and started to carry them across the Moonflow.

After they rode in silence for a while Cloud finally asked. "What exactly was that thing back there?"

"Oh, that was a hypello!" She smiled. "They're really great workers, though that's all I've really ever seen them do. I wonder if they're happy?" she asked herself sounding almost depressed as she got lost in thought.

He nodded at her. "I'm sure the working ones are alright, they look like they belong in the water though."

The summoner smiled again as her guardian kept the conversation going, she always enjoyed having him talk. "They do, they're a lot faster in the water. Maybe they should start a blitzball team of their own!" she cheered.

Cloud laughed a bit at her enthusiasm, catching Yuna off guard. In fact he's been doing that to her a lot lately, as if he's slowly changing and warming up to her. "If they're that good in the water, wouldn't that be...cheating?" He teased her as his eyes lit up a bit with the new game he was playing.

She blushed a bit and became flustered. "Yes! But...uhh..." the soldier burst out into pure laughter at her reaction which made her more concerned for him but she laughed too, in fact as she thought this was the first time he ever let his walls down enough to laugh and tease.

Once they hit the shores of Guadosalam all the playfulness left Cloud's eyes as he became serious once more. "Ah Lady Yuna, I was wondering when we would meet again and here you are." A familiar voice called out, making the guardian want to grit his teeth together.

"Oh Maester Seymour." Yuna said in surprise as she bowed down respectfully. "What a surprise to see you here." It took everything the soldier had to not walk up and punch Seymour in the face. There was something he didn't like about him that's for sure.

The man just laughed a little, "You're in my territory. You both are just in time, I just got a meal put together. Your guardian is more than welcome to join."

The summoner bowed and smiled a bit. "That's really kind of you, we'd be happy to join you. I don't want to be rude or anything." she blushed a little, making Cloud want to kill the guy that much more.

They both joined Seymour in a meal that Cloud hated to admit, wasn't half bad. "May I speak to you in private for a minute Lady Yuna?" Seymour asked once they had finished and started for the stairs. The summoner nodded and willing followed behind as the soldiers eyes were locked on her. The two of them spoke in hushed tones so he couldn't hear anything that was said but he caught the last thing Yuna said.

"I'll have to think about it." were the hushed words whispered as they made their way back towards his direction. "Come take a walk with me." The summoner said as she held her hand out towards her guardian, which he took without hesitation.

"Where are we going?" he asked as she led him outside and up a bridge.

She smiled a bit. "The Farplane."

"Farplane?" he asked unsure what she meant.

She nodded as they stood outside a portal looking doorway with pyreflies coming out of it. "The Farplane is the place where all the spirits go after they have been sent. I need some advice from my father...who knows, maybe you'll see someone you lost."

Cloud shook his head. "I don't think so, I'm not from this world remember?" he said solemnly and Yuna could tell he had locked himself up again.

She bit her bottom lip for a second as she though. "It doesn't hurt to try." she told him as she led him through. Once on the other side she released his hand which they both couldn't admit they didn't want it to end. At first cloud was in shock at the sight. They were standing on a platform floating above a flowered ground and waterfalls as pyreflies danced everywhere. The summoner simply walked to one corner and focused hard as a figure appeared in front of her.

"Doesn't hurt to try." The soldier muttered to himself as he focused on the memory of his two best friends. Before long in front of him was the image of a girl with long twisted brunette hair pulled up in a bow wearing and ankle length pink dress that was slit in front up to her knees and a deep pink jacket over it. Next to her was a man with black spiked back hair wearing a uniform similar to his. She had been right, you could see the dead here. He smiled for a few minutes as the memory of his friends stood close together and waved at him.

"Your friends?" a voice called from behind him, breaking his concentration on his memory and making them disappear.

"Uh...yeah...well they were..." He stammered a bit as he rested his eyes toward the ground.

Yuna looked down to, feeling sad for him. "I'm sorry...I didn't know...I guess that's why you never wanted to talk about them." It was quiet for a moment before she looked back up and sighed. "I'm done here so I guess I'm going to head back. You could stay if you'd like..."

He instantly shook his head at her. "No, I'm going with you." he said as he led the way back to Seymour's house. "So what did that guy ask you earlier?" The guardian asked out of curiosity.

"Oh...uh..." she blushed a little. "He asked me to marry him."

Cloud looked stunned and surprised. They barely knew each other and he popped the question. That was bond to give him a no. "What did you say?"

"Well...I didn't give him an answer yet, but I think I'm going to say yes." She answered shyly as she turned away from him, not sure what to expect next.

His heart felt as if it had physically shattered. "What?" he choked out in a hurt whisper. "How could you say yes? You don't even know him!" He said getting louder and angrier with every word.

"I have my reasons, I thought you'd understand..." She said feeling her heart squeezing tightly in her chest.

He shook his head and took a deep breath. "I don't..." he said in a quiet bitter tone, which made it worse than if he was screaming at her.

"I see..." was all she managed to say when they reached Seymour's front door. Cloud didn't bother to look at her or her to-be husband. His body was shaking with hurt and betrayal.

"Have you come to an answer?" Seymour asked calmly.

Yuna sighed trying to hold back the tears that were forming in her eyes. It wasn't fair for her to cry she had hurt him, not the other way around. "Yes, and I accept your offer."

Cloud could here the man give off a small laugh. "Very well then, I will escort you for the rest of your journey then. You are no longer needed and are free to do as you please." he spoke to the former guardian as he placed his hands on the summoners shoulders.

The soldier looked up at the girl he loved on last time as she placed her hands over her chest and a tear fell from her eye and onto the ground below as they turned and walked away.

Once they were gone it took all of Cloud's strength to keep from blacking out or collapsing to his knees. He took a few deep breaths and wiped away the moister from his face as he walked away, not sure where to go from there.

Authors Note: Sorry for the late update. I just finished moving so now I'm back. Hope this chapter makes up for the long wait!