Author's Note: Final Fantasy X and X-2 are owned and created by Square Enix. I take no credit in creating the characters or world in either games. I have, however, created characters of my own in this story and do take credit for them.

Yuna and Tidus strolled down the path leading to the beach near the dock. Tidus looked over at Yuna. "Should be good to be out and about for a while, huh?" asked Tidus. Yuna nodded. "I'd like to see how things have been going since I went back to Besaid." she responded. "I'm glad you're going with me." said Yuna, looking at Tidus. She bounced over to the side and put her arms around her love, resting her head on his shoulder. Tidus put one arm around her and nodded in agreement. "I'm glad I'm going with too. It's been a while since I left... well... anywhere." he said. The two let go of each other and continued walking. "Think the world's pieced itself back together since New Yevon and Youth League merged?" asked Tidus. Yuna shook her head. "I don't know." she responded. Yuna continued, saying, "I remember Baralai saying that he was having trouble making sure the people in New Yevon followed his lead." Tidus sighed. "There will always be people who can't let go of old beliefs like that." he said. "It was a great part of Spira until Sin was finally defeated for good." added Yuna. Tidus beamed. "Thanks in no small part to the great summoner Yuna and her faithful guardians." said Tidus, puffing out his chest as he mentioned "her faithful guardians". Yuna couldn't help but giggle.

The two came into view of the docks, setting foot on the sand of the beach. The two saw the Deadboys, Paine, and Rikku sitting near the docks. Sarge spotted the two down the beach and smiled. He drew his cigar from his mouth and stood up. "Look at this, avian enthusiasts." he bellowed, putting his hand towards Yuna and Tidus. All eyes turned to Yuna and Tidus, who drew closer to the docks. Sarge grinned. "It's a pair of reclusive lovebirds, who have fluttered down from their tropical little nest." he said. All seven let out laughter. Ace looked over at Sarge. "Now, Sarge, I don't think it's correct to call Yuna a bird, do you? A woman of her disposition, and age?" asked Ace. Sarge paused, then shrugged. "Definitely not old enough to be a bat..." muttered Sarge, taking another puff from his cigar. Ace laughed again as Sarge turned and began to walk towards the docks, where a large ship awaited. Paine, Ace, and Ironsight followed him, walking up the dock and then boarded the ship. Rikku met with Yuna and Tidus at the ramp up the docks. Rikku smiled. "You two ready to leave home for a little while?" she asked. The two nodded, and together, the three of them walked up the dock.

Within minutes of the entire group stepping on the ship, the ship embarked on its journey to Kilika. There were others on the ferry, but Yuna and company set themselves apart from the rest. They moved towards the bow of the ship, set up so they could hear each other as they talked. Before the conversation began, Sarge looked over the side and smiled a bit, still puffing his cigar. Rikku looked over. "You spend time on boats a lot, Sarge?" she asked. Sarge shook his head. "Can't say I that I have, but I have keel-hauled someone before..." responded Sarge. Ace laughed, saying, "I'll have to hear this story sometime." Sarge turned towards the rest of the group. "So... Paine. Wanna tell Yuna why you came to Besaid?" he asked. All eyes turned to Paine, who seemed reluctant to speak. Eventually she spoke. "I had a dream that I was standing in front of woman with blue skin and hair. She was imprisoned in a block of ice. Then, I heard a woman's voice in my head, saying, 'Go to Besaid.'" Ace looked at Yuna. "We were wondering if you could shed a little light on this." he said. All eyes turned away from Paine, who seemed somewhat relieved. Yuna thought for a moment. "Well, given the description, I think you saw the aeon Shiva in your dream." she said. Yuna thought a little more on the dream. "I'm not sure about the voice, though." she said. Yuna looked at Ace. "Why do you ask?" she asked. "Well, I can't claim to know much about the ideal that the aeons were created from. But, given what we've seen from the spheres and from Paine's dream, it seems like someone, or something, is reaching out." replied Ace. Rikku looked at Ace. "What do you mean about the spheres?" she asked. "They only glow when certain people hold them." he responded. "The one we found in Kilika glows when Sarge holds it, and the one from Besaid glows when Yuna holds it." continued Ace, looking at Sarge. Tidus asked, "You think the spheres have something to do with the aeons?" "Don't know." replied Ace. "But we can assume they are based on the fact that we found them when an aeon was around."

Yuna looked at Sarge. "You defeated Ifrit?" she asked. Sarge paused. "Big beast looking thing?" he asked. Yuna, Tidus, and Rikku nodded. Sarge nodded, puffing his cigar. "Then yeah. I did." he said. Ironsight looked somewhat distressed at this news. "Ifrit's a wild beast" said Yuna. "How did you manage to take him down?" Sarge shrugged. "I'm not sure. Didn't seem that strong to me." replied Sarge. Ace chuckled. "I'm not too surprised. You probably would've killed Valefor if she hadn't thrown you into the bushes." Ace said. Paine nodded in agreement. Ace looked back at Yuna. "So what can we figure out from this? With the aeons reaching out to us and all?" he asked. Tidus looked at Yuna, asking, " How many off the aeons are left?" Yuna paused. She then looked at Ace. "Well, there are a total of eight different aeons. Are you saying that there are aeons reaching out to every one of us?" she responded. Ace shrugged, replying, "Not sure." He looked towards the sea, saying, "But it's plausible, isn't it? I mean, you've pulled their assess out of the fire twice already, right? You're one of the few people in the world, probably the only one living, that they could trust." Ace turned to Yuna. "Would it be impossible to think that in a time of need they'd turn to you again?" All eyes were on Yuna. Ace smiled. "You've saved this world twice. You ended a the reign of a creature who had terrorized the world for an eternity, and years later you destroyed a man-made weapon that was going to be used to collapse reality. Face it, Yuna. You are this world's savior." explains Ace.

Yuna smiled. "Thank you, Ace." she said. Ace just bowed his head. "I can't say for sure we know what the aeons are trying to do. We've only contacted two of them, and neither of them really in a speaking mood." she said. "I'm not sure what the spheres are for either." explained the former summoner. Yuna looked back at the rest of the group. "We don't know enough to figure out what's going on. I think if we investigate some of the other temples, it might give us a little more insight on to what's going on in the world." she said. Ironsight nodded in agreement. "I think that would be best thing to do. Knowledge is power, after all." he said, smiling. Sarge smiled. "So, until we can figure out anything else, I say we treat this like a vacation." he said, reaching into his coat and pulled out a flask. As Sarge began to unscrew the top, Ironsight looked over, smirking. "You treat EVERYTHING like it's a vacation!" declared the sniper. Ace laughed as Sarge lifted the flask up to his lips. "Well, I have a lot of fun, don't I?" Sarge responded before drinking from the flask. Paine couldn't help but smile. "You're a bit of a party animal, huh?" she asked Sarge. Ace shook his head, looking at Paine, and spoke, "You can say that all you want, but he's never used parties as an excuse to drink." Rikku giggled. "So you're saying he's just an animal." Ironsight nodded. Ace replied, "Yep. Just an animal. A junkyard dog." Sarge puffed his cigar, a look of joy on his face as he enjoyed the taste of both the cigar and the contents of his flask. Sarge looked at the others, occasionally sipping from his flask. "So, what's our next move?" asked Sarge. Ace continued, saying, "We get on the ferry from Kilika to Luca, jump onto our airship, then fly to Bevelle. Sound about right?" "Sounds about right." responded Rikku. Sarge nodded. "Good." he replied. "Then we can enjoy a nice leisurely cruise from here to Kilika, then get some sleep on our way to Luca and get there in the morning." said Sarge. The others nodded in response. Tidus looked over towards Ace. "So, Ace." began the blitzball star. " You know a fair amount about us. Why don't you guys tell us a bit about yourselves?" asked Tidus. Yuna smiled, adding, "I'd like to know more about you guys too. As long as we're traveling together, we might as well get to know one another."

"You wanna hear our story?" asked Ace. He sighed, shaking his head. "I'm afraid that it's not as... romantic." Ace looked over at Sarge. "That the right word?" he asked. Sarge thought for a moment, then nodded. Ace looked over at the Gullwings and Tidus. "We're not much more than soldiers." explained Ace. "Oh, come on." said Tidus. Rikku shook her head. "You guys are waaay too good to just be 'soldiers'." said Rikku. Ace shrugged. "Well, that's the vibe I'd like to give off. Draws less attention." Ace responded. "I don't think I need to explain much about our abilities." Ace grinned. "I do enjoy to boast, but, all of you saw what we did on Besaid. I think that speaks for itself." said Ace, puffing his chest out. "You can guess what our... uh... specialities are." said Ace. Tidus looked at the Deadboys. "Well, Let's see." he muttered. "Ace, you're the strategist of the group." said Tidus. Rikku looked at Ironsight. "Ironsight's the sharpshooter." said the Al Bhed girl. Yuna looked over at Sarge. "And Sarge would be..." she said, trailing off. There was a moment of silence, during which Sarge smiled. Yuna cleared her throat, then spoke. "Uh... Sarge is... Sarge?" she said. Ace nodded. "That's the best way we could describe his abilities." he said. Sarge screwed the top on his flask and slipped it back into his coat as he puffed from his cigar. "We were a part of the Crusaders for a while. Eventually we got fed up with what they're doing and decided that there are plenty battles to be fought elsewhere." explained Sarge. He grinned, "And the rest is history."

Ace smiled, looking at Yuna. "And you?" he asked. "Why don't you tell us about yourself? The books never tell the whole story." Ace said, his smile spreading.

Ironsight was the last of the group to set foot on the docks of Kilika. Yuna and Tidus strolled ahead of the group, their hands locked with one another. "Hard to believe I haven't been here in a while." she said, enjoying the familiar sights. Behind the rest of the group, Sarge and Ironsight walked side by side. Ironsight looked over at Sarge, smiling. "What's the count?" he asked. Sarge paused for a moment before replying, "222." Ironsight nearly jumped for joy at this response. "226!" declared the sniper. "Yes!" he yelled, thrusting his fist in the air. Sarge shook his head, grinning. The group reached the end of the docks and stepped into the village. Sarge tapped Ace on the arm, saying, "I'm going to get the stryker. Be back as soon as I can." he said. Ace nodded. Ironsight watched as Sarge walked away, but decided to stay with the group. As the group walked deeper into the village, many heads turned as they saw Yuna. Yuna smiled, then looked back at Ace. "Ace, how long will it be until Sarge gets back with your... machine?" she asked. Ace replied, "Not too long. Why?" Yuna looked at Tidus, then at Rikku and Paine. "There's someone in the village I'd like to go see." she said. The group walked to a house one supports jutting out of the water. Standing outside of the house, talking to a man in armor, was a slender, dark-skinned woman wearing revealing clothing, and appearing to be a little older than Yuna. As the armored man turned away, the woman saw Yuna. A small smile spread on her lips as she walked over to great them. "Why, if it isn't Lady Yuna." she said, bowing. Yuna nodded. "Hello, Dona." replied Yuna. Dona stood up straight. "This is something rare, a visit from the great summoner. What brings you to Kilika?" she asked. "Just felt like stretching my legs for a bit." she responded. Dona nodded. "It's odd that you should show up at this particular moment." she said. Yuna tilted her head. "What do you mean by that?" asked the former summoner. Dona looked towards the forest, then looked back at Yuna, saying, "I thought you would have heard. Kilika Temple has been destroyed." she said.

Yuna seemed somewhat startled by this, as did Tidus. Rikku looked back at Ace, who showed no reaction to the news. Rikku looked back towards Dona. "The temple's been destroyed?" repeated Yuna. "What happened?" she added. Dona shook her head. "Nobody is sure yet, but we did find the unconscious and dead bodies of a malevolent group of Al Bhed mercenaries. Most people are blaming them." explained Dona. "At this point," continued Dona. "It's difficult to figure everything out. The temple had some fiends inside and someone hired some local guns to deal with them." Yuna nodded. "What do you think happened?" asked the former summoner. Dona shrugged. "I'm not really sure. We've got people combing through the ruins of the temple to see if there was anyone caught in there. I'm sure that after do a little digging, we'll figure out what caused this." replied Dona. Yuna nodded, replying, "I hope so. This is unfortunate to hear. The temple on Besaid collapsed earlier today." Dona's face contorted to one of shock. "The temple of Besaid has fallen as well?" she asked. Yuna simply nodded. Dona sighed. "Two temples in one day? What's happening?" she asked. As Dona was about to speak again, Dona saw a large bare-chested man standing down the path to the jungle on Kilika, smiling. Dona smiled at the man then turned back to Yuna. "I'm sorry, Lady Yuna. I must excuse myself. Please, come back another time." she said, smiling and bowing to Yuna. Yuna smiled, saying, "Of course!" Dona walked away from the group and towards the large man near the jungle's entrance. Yuna and company walked towards the dock, seeing a large ferry arrive at the docks. As soon as the group was out of earshot of Dona, Yuna shot a look over to Ace.

"It was Sarge, wasn't it?" she asked. Ace sighed, nodding. Yuna shook her head. "Why did he do that?" she asked, her tone of voice stern. Ace chuckled, looking back at Yuna. "You're asking me? I can't explain why Sarge destroys EVERYTHING." retorted Ace. Yuna scoffed, looking at Rikku. Rikku shook her head, saying, "Don't look at me. I don't know." The group walked down the docks, and up a ramp that connected the ferry. "Fine." said Yuna.

The stryker rolled down the docks, some of the wood creaking as the large vehicle drove over. A side of the ferry had opened up, allowing the vehicle to move inside the vessel's storage space where Sarge immediately parked it. With a lit cigar in this hands, Sarge clambered out of the stryker from a hatch on top of the vehicle itself. Sarge nodded at some of the ferry's crewman, who slid the side of the ferry shut, which sealed upon closing up. Sarge walked out of the storage area, through the passenger dorms, and up to the open bow. Sarge saw his traveling companions, but noticed that Tidus and Yuna were not among them. Sarge puffed from his cigar as he sauntered up to Ace, who was listening to a conversation between Rikku and Paine. The three of them looked up as Sarge got close. "Yuna figure out I 'caused the temple to be destroyed'?" asked Sarge. Ace nodded, saying, "Those two are off for some alone time right now." Sarge looked towards Ironsight, who was by the side of the boat, his rifle drawn, aiming at the water. "Convenient." said Sarge as he sat down next to them. "You can't really blame her for feeling a bit of animosity towards you, can you?" asked Ace. Sarge shook his head. "No," began Sarge. "But she killed Yu Yevon herself. She effectively destroyed that religion by killing the figurehead at the top." Sarge took one last puff of his cigar before pitching the butt over his shoulder and into the water. Sarge looked over at Ace. "No use living in the past, is there?" asked Sarge, grinning. Ace looked away from Sarge and down at the ground. Sarge gave Ace a pat on the back then looked over at Rikku and Paine. "There's plenty of things people could do with the space and resources from those temples." Sarge stated. Rikku said, "But those temples are monuments to the people that protected this land from Sin." Paine leaned back in her seat as Sarge smiled at Rikku. "Don't you think that the books, and the other statues in the world, and even the fact that everyone in this world is monument enough to summoners?" injected Ace. Rikku turned her gaze towards Ace. He continued, saying, "Besides, Yuna doesn't seem the type that wants tribute for her actions. I'd bet she'd die if she found out that anyone was going to build a statue of her."

Paine smiled at this comment. Rikku smiled somewhat, nodding in agreement. "People have enough trouble letting go of things as it is. If the people of Spira are really serious on going in a new direction and soldiering forward in the future, they can't be looking back at times like when Sin was around." said Ace. Ace paused for a moment then looked at Sarge. "You know, I think you're the only person who could ever talk about sacrilege in a positive light." stated Ace. Sarge smiled, but before he could respond, Ironsight interrupted, saying, "I'll never look at cheese and crackers the same way again." Sarge burst into laughter as Ace shook his head. Ironsight shot his rife, then yelled, "229!"

On the other end of the ship, Tidus and Yuna sat, holding hands and watching the waves made in the wake of the ferry. Far off, the sun was nestling itself into the horizon, sending gentle hues of red and orange into the sky. Tidus smiled and looked over at Yuna. "Feel good to be spreading your wings again?" asked Tidus. Yuna nodded, smiling. "It's nice." she replied. Yuna laughed a bit. "I'm glad that I get to see Rikku and Paine. I've missed them a lot since they both went off to do their own thing." she added. Tidus looked back towards the wake of the boat. "That makes sense. Those two are probably your closest friends. You've saved the world with them, twice with Rikku." explained Tidus. The blitzball star looked over at Yuna again, saying, "And what about our newfound friends?"

Yuna looked up for a moment, pondering. "Well, they seem nice enough." said Yuna. "Not sure I trust them all that much yet." she added. Yuna returned Tidus's gaze. "They're three men who took the destruction of two different temples very lightly." she said. "I mean, yes, they helped defend Besaid..." Yuna continued, looking away. "But, there's something more to them, and the fact that Ace tries to avoid explaining some things is evidence of that." Tidus nodded, tilting his head a bit. "Well, everyone has things they don't want to talk about, Yuna." said Tidus. "Ace probably feels the same way about you as you do of them." he added. Yuna looked down at the churning waters behind the boat again. "I suppose so." she said. Tidus looked towards the horizon, just as the last of the suns rays disappeared. Left in the sky was the black of space, decorated with the light of the stars. Yuna and Tidus looked up, gazing at the stars. "Probably time to get some rest." said Yuna, moving to stand up. But, Tidus gripped her hand and looked into her eyes. "Do you mind if we stay out here for a little bit?" he asked. Yuna smiled and sat back down, resting her head on her love's shoulder.

The Deadboys, Rikku, and Paine walked down into the hallways of the passenger dorms, where there were others filing into their respective rooms. Ace lead the group to two rooms side by side, both with three beds in them. All six stood in the hallway, waiting for Tidus and Yuna. Sarge reached into his jacket and pulled out a piece of beef jerky and tore off a large piece with his teeth. Ironsight looked over at Sarge and grinned. "Run out of dog biscuits?" he asked. Sarge reached into his jacket with his free hand and pulled out a small plastic bag that had the picture of a biscuit shaped like a bone. "Yeah." Sarge responded. Sarge continued to chew his beef jerky as Ironsight raised an eyebrow and the rest of the group laughed. "The food on that ship from Besaid to Kilika was decent, but what do think we are, birds?" said Sarge. Rikku's eyes widened. "Birds? You had like three plates of food!" she said. Sarge just shrugged. As Sarge put the plastic bag back into his jacket, Paine asked, "Why do you eat those things?" Sarge swallowed a mouthful of beef jerky and replied, "A little fiber never hurt anyone, did it?" Ace cringed. "A little fiber?" he said. "You need more than a little. I remember the night you were assigned as my superior officer. You came out of the bathroom and it smelled like something had died!" exclaimed Ace. Rikku and Paine cringed at this. "All right, that's enough!" yelled Ironsight. All eyes were on Ironsight. Ironsight looked at Ace and Sarge, then at Rikku and Paine. "We don't want to give these fine ladies any nightmares, would we?" he asked, winking at the two. Rikku and Paine chuckled a bit as Sarge shook his head. "Everyone should be able to appreciate a little toilet humor." he said.

The group heard footsteps down the hall, and heads turned to see Tidus and Yuna walking towards them. "E's kmyt dryd luhjancydeuh'c ujan." muttered Rikku. Ace smiled. "All right you two, time to get some sleep. We'll need our energy for tomorrow." said Ace as he turned around and walked into one of the rooms. Ironsight walked in behind him. Rikku and Paine walked into the room next to that one as Sarge remained outside of the room, finishing the rest of his beef jerky. Yuna walked into the room with Rikku and Paine. Tidus was about to follow, but he felt himself being pushed back by Sarge. "Where do you think you're going?" asked Sarge. Tidus's mouth was agape for a moment as he looked at Sarge, then looked into the room and saw the Gullwings. "Oh... uh..." croaked Tidus. Yuna gave him a kiss on the cheek and smiled. "I'll see you in the morning." she said. Yuna turned and closed the door behind her.

Yuna smiled at Rikku and Paine, who were beginning to take off their gloves and boots. Yuna followed suit, sitting at the foot of her bed and undoing the laces of her boots. Then, from the room next to theirs, the Gullwings could hear Tidus say, "Three beds? What the hell?" There was silence for a moment before Sarge said, "I'm sleeping in the hall." The Gullwings couldn't help but smile. "Long day, huh?" Yuna said to her friends. Rikku nodded, frowning a bit. "I've had a really long day... Kinda sore." she groaned, stretching a bit. Yuna smiled. "Yeah. I'm still a little tired from the fight at Besaid." she said. Paine shook her head. "You two have gone softer than you already are." said the leather-clad Gullwing, who had finished removing her boots. Rikku shot a glare over at Paine, saying, "Just 'cause we doing fight as much as you do, Dr. P."

Minutes later, Yuna flicked a switch on the wall, shutting off the lights in the room. The three fell back into their beds, and drifted off to sleep with a smile.

Character Profile -

Ironsight -

"If you can't do it with one bullet, Ironsight probably can." -Ace

Class - Sniper

Weapon - Sniper Rifle - "Kingslayer"

Overdrive - Sharpshooter

I'm Here Too!

The One Shot

One of the Deadboys. Ironsight's marksmanship is the stuff of legends. Able to pull extraordinary shots with relative ease, Ironsight takes great pride in his skill and is deeply offended if anyone puts it down. He is highly competitive, and is always looking for the next test to prove his skill. His most competent competition as of late has been Sarge. While a skilled marksman, Ironsight is known to have talent as a thief and is a skilled cook.