The little girl ran around happily, cheering and giggling. Yuna smiled as she watched her and explained to Tidus about Sin. Auron drowned them out, the sound of Calli's laughter and cheerfulness sending waves of guilt and regret through his being. He missed his son dearly, wanted to see that smiling happy but mischievous face once more. He paused for a moment and looked to the sky, is this how you felt leaving Yuna,, Braska? He sighed inwardly and when he thought he couldn't last another moment they moved on, for that he was glad.

Lulu walked point this time and the other fell into formation. Auron busied himself with catching small snippets of conversation around him and putting out more focus on keeping a look out than usual. He needed to busy his mind, keep thoughts of his family away before it overwhelmed him. He knew he would see them again, but he wanted to see them now and it was torture.

His attention was torn away when he saw Yuna headed in the direction of a clearing that two crusaders had just run into. He caught sight of them, a lean trimmed dark-skinned young man and a bulky, solid red-headed man. He looked at Yuna and then back at the two crusaders and rightly assumed that they knew one another. When they got there, the young man began gushing.

"Hey, we saw the game! You guys were great!

"Congratulations, Wakka," the red-haired man said. Yuna smiled.

"They did do great didn't they?"

"Hey, there was no doubt, ya?" Wakka grinned and looked around proudly. Lulu placed a hand on her forehead and shook her head.

"So, Luzzu, Gatta, what are you doing with the wagon," Tidus asked and looked at them. Before Luzzu could respond, the chocobo knights came running up and halting.

"Hey, stop loafing around," Elma ordered. The young man dropped his eyes to the ground and began stuttering.

"Uh... The lady summoner and her guardians..."

"This mission requires our full attention. We've no time to waste! Understood," Lucil said sternly. Luzzu saluted her and Gatta just nodded.

"Yes, ma'am! Apologies, ma'am," Luzzu said.

"Carry on," Lucil said. She turned her chocobo around and rode off with Elma and disappeared down the Highroad.

"See? Keep your head down, say "sir" a lot, and you'll do fine," Luzzu said softly to Gatta.

"Right...sir." Yuna chuckled and smiled. Luzzu turned his attention towards her and gave her a sad smile.

"Hey, Yuna. Even though Yevon rejected us... we still believe in you. That won't ever change." Yuna looked a little confused but nodded.

"Thank you, Sir Luzzu, Sir Gatta. But, you know... It's not too late for you to go back to Besaid, and..."

"We should be going, sir," Gatta said cutting her off. Luzzu turned to look at him and nodded and they ran off, barely waving goodbye.

"Well that was rude," Tidus grumbled.

"Crusaders are busy, ya? They got stuff to do," Wakka said, "Still, would've been nice to at least have a goodbye."

"Let's not forgot we have things to do as well," Lulu said sternly. Wakka nodded and they fell back into formation and continued walking. Tidus immediately began spouting his mouth off.

"You know, I wonder what they were doing with their cart. Was it just me, or did it seem coincidence that Captain Lucil appeared before Luzzu told us? Hey, is anyone else getting hungry? Ohhhh! Heeeeeey! I think I see the end of the road! What's up ahead? Is there somewhere we can stay?" It went on and on and on and on and on. Auron, despite being extremely irritated the boy would not shut his mouth, burst into laughter causing everyone to jump and turn to look at him. He recovered himself and ran his gloved hand through his hair and coughed slightly.

"Your continuous talking is getting annoying, shut up."

"And what was sooooo funny," Tidus asked looking at him.

"It reminded me of Jecht. Far too often he would lapse and just run his mouth." Tidus crossed his arms and began walking backwards.

"Well I won't speak anymore. Nope, nu-uh. I'm done. In fact, I'm going to be so quiet you're going to beg me to talk." Auron chuckled. "What'd I say?"

"You are a replica of Jecht."

"Take it back!"

"Never." Tidus grumbled and turned around and began walking faster. The others followed and remained silent as they followed him. They didn't stop again until they heard shouting near the end of the road. A crusader came into view with an acolyte. The crusader was shouting at the nun and she was cowering in his presence.

"We'll defeat Sin any way we can!"

"But Yevon's teachings say..."

"Enough," the crusader snapped and stormed off. The acolyte clasped her hands behind her back and looked down, shuffling her feet.

"I-I only meant to..."

"Are you all right," Yuna asked. The acolyte gasped and bowed deeply, her eyes going wide.

"Lady Summoner?"

"Yes, I am Yuna."

"It is an honor, my lady. My name is Shelinda. I am a disciple of Yevon."

"What was all that about? The Crusaders' operation," Wakka asked. Shelinda turned to look at him and nodded.

"You mean the one Gatta and Luzzu were talking about," Tidus asked.

"Mm," Wakka nodded.

"I heard they were to use forbidden machina! I had to stop them," Shelinda said.

"Huh? Why," Tidus asked.

"The use of machina is strictly forbidden by the Yevon priesthood," Lulu explained.

"That's bad, ya," Wakka said before he heard Auron speak. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Let them use whatever they want. They still won't defeat Sin," he said. Shelinda turned to look at him.

"But, it's not about defeating Sin! The teachings of Yevon must be upheld," she said her voice turning into distress. Auron just stared at her blankly and she flinched and turned away.

"Yeah! Right," Wakka agreed. Auron mentally growled, he knew Wakka's head was overrun by the teachings. He didn't know if he was going to last the entire pilgrimage without strangling Wakka if he continued to spout off everything out of the Maester's mouth. It disgusted and irritated Auron and he imagined many strings on Wakka that disappeared somewhere into the sky making him a big puppet controlled by Maester Mika's hand, the image somewhat amused him and made him angrier at the same time.

"But you don't understand! The Crusaders won't even listen to me. And it's all because I'm just a lowly acolyte," she said her voice dropping and she shuffled her feet again.

"Don't say that," Yuna pleaded. Shelinda turned to her and gasped. "Well, I haven't been a summoner for very long myself, you see. Still, I can't put myself down every time I fail. People are depending on me. They're depending on both of us!"

"Yes! Yes, you're right, my lady. Absolutely right," Shelinda said breaking out into a large smile and Yuna did the same. "Thank you so much, Lady Yuna! Now I feel I have the courage to finish my training." She smiled and ran off to go talk to more crusaders and try to sway their opinion.

"Do you think she'll succeed," Tidus asked.

"Not likely," Auron said.

"I hope she does," Yuna said softly. Everyone nodded, except two stoic guardians and they continued their walk. The path branched off just ahead and an inn came into view. Auron stopped in front of it.

"We rest here," he commanded. Everyone was about to agree with him before Wakka stopped and crossed his arms, frowned.

"But, this is an Al Bhed shop," he protested. Auron turned to him and glared.

"Is that a problem," he demanded.

"They don't believe in Yevon, and in Luca they... They kidnapped Yuna!"

"Where were her guardians?" Wakka groaned and face-palmed himself, Lulu shook her head looking down, Kimarhi's eyes cast downward and growled, and Tidus whistled innocently and kicked the dirt. Yuna clasped her hands to her chest and looked at everyone.

"Sir Auron's just concerned about your health," she said softly.

"I'm not tired one bit," Wakka declared loudly. Auron stared at Wakka before turning on his heel and ending the discussion.

"Well I am," he said with a tone that left no room for argument, "Have fun sleeping on the ground." Wakka growled as Auron disappeared into the agency. He went up to the counter and the clerk looked up and cowered, somewhat intimidated by the man in front of her.

"How many rooms are available?"

"Four." Auron nodded and looked at his companions.

"I can room with Lulu," Yuna said and Lulu nodded.

"Wakka can room with Tidus," Lulu said and the two men looked warily at each other.

"Erm..." Tidus began.

"Would you rather share with Auron or Kimarhi then," Lulu asked him and gave him a look. Tidus looked between Auron, who was glaring at him, and Kimarhi, who was also glaring at him, and then back at Lulu.

"I'll take Wakka."

"Good, that leaves the two of you to have your own separate rooms." Auron nodded and paid the woman and handed the keys out before he turned and left for his own room. The others followed and laid down to sleep. Tidus was the first one up, Wakka's snoring following him as he left the room and groaned as he stretched.

"As if I could sleep," he muttered to himself. He looked around, only Lulu was in the agency. She was standing off to the side and looking at the merchandise. "Where's everyone else?"

"Yuna and Sir Auron are outside, Kimarhi is still in his room, Wakka-"

"Is dead to the world." Lulu nodded.

"This might be the last time we can rest like this."

"There's no other stops along the way?"

"Plenty, but it's a far walk from here until Djose, our next resting point."

"Jeez." Lulu turned back around and Tidus walked out and stopped, his jaw dropping slightly as he gasped, "Woh...check it out," he whispered to himself. He compared the sunset to the one he saw in Kilika and decided this one was far more beautiful. It was quiet, almost gentle, nothing to disturb the beauty of it. He looked away and saw Yuna sitting on the grass.

"Whatcha up to," He asked. Yuna turned around startled and slipped something into her sleeve and smiled up at him as he sat with her and watched the sunset.

"Pretty..." Yuna breathed out in awe.

"Sure is."

"I wish I could live in a place like this. Peaceful... Living with a smile on my face every day."

"You can, once you beat Sin, right," Tidus asked looking at her with his cheerful smile. Yuna nodded and her voice dropped sadly.

"But then a new Sin will be born anyway."

"Well then, you can just beat it again."

"I wish I could."

"Hey, you can! Trust me! You are the best summoner out there," Tidus said grinning. He looked at Yuna when she remained silent and noticed her sadness and changed the subject, "Yuna, why does Sin always come back?"

"Sin is our punishment for our vanity. And it will not go away until we've atoned."

"How do we do that? What did we do that was so bad in the first place? Was it using lots of machina or something? Oh... Wait, was that such a bad thing, really?"

"It's funny... Ever since I was young, I never questioned it. But now that you ask me if it is that bad or not...I don't know. There are so many things I don't know."

"Well then, we're the same!" Tidus stood up and grinned as he dropped his voice in a low, droning old man whisper, "Ooooh... Such thinking is very unbecoming of a summoner!" Tidus grinned and winked at her, "Sound like Mika?" Yuna covered her mouth with her hands and laughed and shook her head.

"That's not very nice, you know," she said giggling and Tidus smiled. He was happy he had been able to make her laugh and smile and maybe even feel a little better. He stretched slightly and thought before he turned to her.

"You know... During a game, you have to think of blitz and nothing else, you know?"

"Okay," Yuna said nodding, not quite sure where he was going with this.

"You can't think, "That's a cute girl in the fifth seat from the right."* And you can't be thinking about where you're going to go on that date, because the minute you do, that's when you lose!" Seeing Yuna's confused expression, Tidus explained, "You see, uh, Yuna, what I mean is, you really shouldn't worry, you know? After we beat Sin, that's when you can worry about the future."

"I guess," Yuna said quietly and nodded. They stood in silence for a moment, staring out at the ocean and into the sunset before Tidus began running his mouth again, unable to remain quiet.

"But, Yuna, how are you supposed to beat something big like that," he asked.

"The Final Summoning. It's the only way to defeat Sin. The only way. With it, we can call the Final Aeon. That's the goal of the pilgrimage. The Fayth of the Final Summoning lies waiting in the far north, to greet summoners that complete their pilgrimage. At the world's edge..." she paused and performed the prayer, "in Zanarkand."

"In Zanarkand," Tidus asked turning to look at her surprised. Yuna tried to find the words and stammered and looked down when Auron's voice cut in.

"She means the ruins of a city destroyed a thousand years ago." They both stopped and turned, looking at him as he leaned leisurely against the pillar of the chocobo coral. Tidus turned slightly to look at Yuna.

"You sure it's ruins?"

"That's what I've heard."

"You'll see it for yourself soon enough. Yuna, come back inside," he said softly and turned to leave. They watched him walk into the agency before Yuna looked at Tidus.

"You will go with us...to Zanarkand?" Tidus nodded, he had taken an air of quiet and uncomfortable-ness.

"Yeah, I'll go," he said quietly, Yuna smiled happily and looked at him, "I'll go to Zanarkand to see it with my own eyes." Tidus was exactly sure what to expect, but he knew he wanted to see it just to make sure it wasn't his Zanarkand. He followed Yuna back inside and everyone settled down for bed for good this time and drifted off to sleep.

Tidus was the last one up in the morning. He rose and stretched and made his way out into the agency lobby. He looked around and noticed his companions standing outside and went to walk through the door only to bump into someone. He jumped backwards and looked at the man.

"Byntuh sa." Tidus blinked and looked at the man like he had three heads. He as tall and very blonde, his green eyes had spiral pupils and he was very tan. He had a solid frame and wore a yellow jacket with white trim that lay open and cut short so his chest and stomach showed but flared out in its coattails at the back. His blue pants looked like a medieval jester's triangular pattern and puffiness. His brown boots came up to mid calf and the rest of his pants vanished, tucked into his boots.

"Sorry?"

"Ah, forgive me, sir. I meant to say "pardon me," but it came out in Al Bhed," the man said in a heavy accent.

"Oh, you're an Al Bhed?"

"Mm-hm. I am Rin, owner of this establishment. Hela du saad oui."

"Huh?"

"It means, "nice to meet you.""

"Ah! Well helly doo sad wee to you, too."

"If you are interested... Al Bhed primers can be found all over Spira. Finding them and learning our language might be fun. Here, let me give you one in commemoration of our meeting. Although you might want to be careful where you speak our language," Rin said handing Tidus a pamphlet. Tidus flipped through it and nodded.

"Yeah, I hear Al Bhed aren't liked much. Oh, sorry," Tidus said realizing he might have offended the man.

"It is a shame," Rin said sighing heavily. The air was then filled with shrieks of terror.

"Someone, help! The chocobos!" Auron walked into the doorway and looked at Tidus and beckoned him outside.

"That's our cue, let's go," he said and left Tidus looking somewhat confused.

"Oh! Thank you for your help, please use this," Rin said and pressed a vial into Tidus' hand and smiled. Tidus nodded looking a little more confused before he grinned and ran outside. Once outside, he stopped and looked at everyone.

"To the chocobo coral," Lulu said and Tidus nodded. He had barely taken five steps when chocobos began to stampede and a loud roar was head above them. Everyone turned to see a large purple-bluish monster clutching a chocobo in his hand. The chocobo squealed and kicked around trying to get free and the monster opened its mouth, its two tongues wriggling waiting to taste the large bird.

"Hey you! Put it down," Tidus yelled at it.

"You think yelling at it is going to work," Auron asked, shouldering his katana. The chocobo eater growled and dropped the chocobo and leapt off the roof of the inn and onto the ground. Tidus looked at Auron and grinned at Auron scowled and they got into formation. Tidus was the first one to land a hit, striking the eater on its leg and it hissed and tried to swing at him. He dodged as Wakka's ball flew the air and blinded the beast. Kimarhi's spear stabbed and sliced through its hide as Auron hacked away next to him. Yuna stood at the ready to heal while Lulu stood back trying to decide what spell to use.

"How shall we do this," she asked herself before she saw the fiend hit Auron with a blizzard and smiled, "Burn," she said in a low voice as fire engulfed the eater. It yelled and swung its fist, knocking Tidus into Kimarhi and they sprawled onto the ground as the eater stomped its foot making the earth quake. Auron blocked its fist with his katana as Wakka's bag hit the fiend in the eye. It tensed and let out a mighty roar and close-lined Wakka, Auron, and a poor Kimarhi (who was trying to get back on his feet) to the end of the cliff. Auron's foot hit the edge and he almost lost his balance and glanced behind him and scowled.

"So, we're to be pushed off a cliff," he growled. He swore he saw the fiend's eye sparkle as if it knew Auron had realized what it was trying to do. He blinked and told himself he was going insane. Wakka, Kimarhi, and Auron attacked the fiend relentlessly. Their efforts doubled when the fiend came closer, making them take a step back. Eventually the fiend fell down on its back and writhed as it tried to get back to its feet.

"Attack noW! Push it back," Auron ordered. They resumed their relentless attack, now slicing away at the fiend's legs and poor bottom as Lulu aided them with fire and Tidus hacked away where ever he could find an opening. The fiend eventually scooted itself up and they were able to push forward. Their efforts doubled as the fiend was now enraged and trying to gain an opening to send one of them flying off the cliff.

After much frustration, the fiend finally found an opening and slammed Auron skidding across the dirt until his body hit open air. His fingers dug into the dirt as he watched his sword clanging and clatter all the way down the cliff. He winced, his abused sword could have been him and then he would be quite dead.

"Sir Auron! Are you ok," Yuna called as she cast a healing spell on Tidus who was now sporting a swollen lip.

"As good as I can be," he called back and hoisted himself back into the grass and sighed. He'd have to sit this fight out. He took a spot next to Yuna and watched the battle.

The eater was getting more irritated and enraged by the second. It swings became wild and did massive damaged. Wakka has a bruised rib cage and had to throw with his other hand which was weaker. Kimarhi was limping and his attacked were lessened. Tidus's lip was swollen, limping lightly, and had twisted his arm. Lulu was the only one to remain unharmed but not for long. One swift punch as enough to knock her out and sprawling on the ground. The other three battled fiercely and Auron tensed. He cursed himself for losing his sword and before he could stop himself, he leapt forward and delivered a strong punch to the chocobo eater's stomach. He clenched his jaw to keep himself from howling in pain as he heard several cracks in his hand and the eater returned his punch with one to the stomach making his eyes water.

"Are you nuts old man," Tidus asked and rushed forward and slashed at the eater.

"No more than you are," he growled and delivered another punch and winced.

"You're going to break your hand," Tidus yelled.

"Then quit talking and finish it!"

"Aeon!" The four retreated as Ifrit joined the battle, "Hellfire," Yuna commanded and Ifrit nodded. He jumped in the air and a large ball of dark fire began appearing and growing and growing until he threw it at the chocobo eater and it swirled around in its flames, screeching in pain. Ifrit landed on the ground and dug his claws into it and pulled. The muscles in his arms strained and tensed until a big hunk of ground came loose and he threw it. It impaled the eater and set the fire exploding as the fiend crashed into the ground and shimmered lightly before bursting into pyreflies. Ifrit rumbled and Yuna smiled, "Thank you, you may leave if you wish." Ifrit nodded and left before Yuna rushed to her guardians. She healed each one of them in turn and when she got to Auron, she stood in front of him, hands on her hips and gave him a look.

"What in Spira were you thinking?" He looked at her and opened his mouth and then closed it and hung his head.

"My apologies, not the brightest idea I've ever had...it was stupid. Forgive me, Lady Yuna." Yuna sighed and took his hand and healed it gently.

"No Sir, not the brightest one but...it did help."

"I shall try not to repeat the incident."

"Please don't, I need all of my guardians." Auron nodded and sighed as Rin and his attendant came over to them. Rin smiled warmly.

"Have you an interest in renting some chocobos? As a token of our gratitude, the first time is free of charge. Please ask the attendant, if you wish to rent."

"Thank you so much for saving the chocobos," she gushed and smiled.

"We will continue once we have rested," Auron said. They all happily agreed with him and returned to their rooms. Their heads were barely introduced to the pillows before they were out.