Note: I'm sorry, guys. I promised to bring AngelHeart back to life weeks ago but life had me under its chokehold. I can't believe it's been two years since I started this. Things have changed, my writing has gotten better, and I've found my voice. Nonetheless, AngelHeart has been revived by its 10th chapter, High Places. Enjoy!

Chapter 10:

High Places

"Oh, no no no! No. No!" she babbled, the look in her widened eyes saying far more than her words.

"What?" Tidus asked.

"You can not bring her here!"

"What?! But-!"

"-Look, I don't give an honest damn what you're about to say. There are some of us here that actually want to survive this thing and go home. Call me cynical, but I don't see how walking around with a timebomb in the shape of a flat-chested girl is going to keep me alive."

"That's exactly it!" Tidus exclaimed, the emotion in his voice raising Leblanc's thin eyebrows. "We fight and fight. No matter how many times we die or how long we stay alive, we're still here! Once we die we forget everything we managed to remember. Who's to say we haven't been here since the very beginning?"

"Who cares?"

"You don't get it! The gods keep coming back! And they keep making more soldiers. The only way for this war to really end is to kill one of the gods for good and Rinoa is the only one that can make that happen."

"Yes, and we'll let them duke it out. That's why both sides are searching for her—," Leblanc halted her sentence mid-breath. "Dear god. Don't tell me she's been with you this entire time!"

Tidus was silent.

Leblanc pinched the hill of her nose. "Look kid, I've saved your ass on more than one occasion but you can't expect me to keep saving you if you're trying to throw your hand on the knife."

"Leblanc, you and I both know that Chaos is the bad guy. Who knows what'll happen if he wins. He might-," Tidus stopped mid-sentence. His eyes widened to bulges as he stared, terrified, over Leblanc's shoulder. Perplexed, Leblanc followed the little blond brat's sapphire gaze to the zombie-like blonde girl floating in the doorway behind her.

"Traitor," the girl sang in an almost dazed tone. Before Leblanc could react, Terra was already blowing tiny glowing orbs out of the palm of her hand which flew pugnaciously at Leblanc. In the split second it took her to blink, Rinoa was suddenly standing between Leblanc in the orbs of magic, holding her open palm out and them and halting them in their tracks.

Tidus and Leblanc stared wide-eyed for a moment, before Rinoa flicked her wrist at Terra, sending the orbs charging right back at her. Terra summoned a semi-visible protect spell that faltered and disappeared as Rinoa's "shh" echoed off the walls of the hollow place. The orbs of magic made immediate contact with the mind-controlled Terra. The flames singed her hair, ate away most of her clothes, and created small pyres that crept across her body until she was covered entirely by the flames. She wailed and writhed as Rinoa, Tidus, and Leblanc cringed at the sight of the girl being transmuted into a human torch until, finally, her wailing stopped abruptly. The flames dispersed themselves in a wind that touched no one else and the girl fell lifelessly to the ground.

"No," Rinoa hyperventilated. "I didn't want to. I-I killed her. I-!"

"Oooooooh Leblaaaaaaanc!" a familiar maniacal voice rang out through the halls.

"Oh, living hell!" Leblanc complained in a sharp whisper. "We're finished."

"Rinoa, we have to move," Tidus said as he grabbed Rinoa's wrist and started to take off, only to find that she was planted firmly where she stood like a statue. "Rinoa?"

Rinoa stood there, sobbing, her eyes closed and her tears forcing their way out of her closed eyelids.

"Leblaaaaaaaaaaaanc!"

"Leblanc sucked her teeth. "I survived that last battle for nothing."

"Rinoa!" Tidus begged.

Her sobbing picked up and her the moments between the breaths she took lessened. Tidus and Leblanc's eyebrows furrowed as they stared upon a bright white light that shone through Rinoa's closed eyelids. The tears that seeped from her eyes became white and glowed the same brilliant light. As they rolled off her face, they took on a more thick and gooey consistency. They created a small puddle beneath their feet with expanded and began to pull the trio under with violent force.

"Wh-What the hell is this?!" Leblanc cried, trying to pry her feet out of the quicksand-like substance. As it pulled her and the other two under, she saw trance to the doorway where Terra laid, nudging her burned and mutilated corpse with the tip of his shoe.

"Well, that's unfortunate," he said in an animated voice right before he saw Leblanc, Tidus, and the precious Destroyer be completely devoured by the glowing white liquid that evaporated once they were gone. A smile crept across his face. Now he knew that the Destroyer had more friends that he could toy with. Traitors too. He couldn't wait to string the boy up by his thumbs and wring Leblanc's pretty little neck.

…

"I can't believe you dragged me into this, kid!" Leblanc complained as they wandered aimlessly through a wooded area that they resurfaced in. Since she was forced to kill Terra, Rinoa had gone completely mute. She followed after Leblanc, her arms wrapped tightly around herself and her eyes only paying attention to her boots as one of them place itself in front of the other monotonously. Tidus kept Rinoa cradled underneath his arm, eventually calling for her attention every now and again to see if she would respond. She never did.

"Ugh, Kefka's going to kill me. Literally," Leblanc continued to moan.

"Rinoa, it wasn't your fault. You had to or she would've killed all of us," Tidus whispered to Rinoa, only having her shake her head in response.

"It wasn't right," she finally replied in a monotone voice.

"Do you two even have any clue where we're going?!"

"That's why you're here, right? Once this is all over, no one else would have to die."

Rinoa heaved a heavy breath. "I just found out my name. How am I supposed to kill a god?"

Leblanc threw her hands up in aggravation and groaned loudly as she realized she was being ignored and she stormed off.

"You'll figure it out. Until then, you have us and a bunch of other people behind you."

The question mark on Rinoa's face as she finally looked up into his blue eyes made Tidus smile. "We have friends in high places," he said.

There was a sliver of hope for Rinoa. Being the "Destroyer" or "Deliverer" or whatever wasn't as hard or scary when she knew that she had people behind her. Her big brown eyes sparkled as they stared into Tidus's crystal blue eyes. His smile faltered and his face began to soften. The way the bright morning sun beamed down onto his face intensified his bronze skin. His emotionless face looked much older. He was beautiful.

Tidus looked down into the eyes of the petite raven-haired girl. He'd never put it out of his mind. Since he met her, he'd always thought her beauty was remarkable. She didn't look anywhere near as strong and powerful as she actually was but in her eyes was a fire. A fire to end this conflict. The same fire Tidus had been feeling in the pit of his stomach and in this moment, it linked them. He didn't know what he was doing when he did it. He had no clue what he could've been thinking but before Rinoa could react, Tidus brought his face down to hers and kissed her softly. Rinoa's eyes widened for a moment. She had no clue what was going on but when she felt Tidus's sweet, cloud-like lips begin to part her own, she found herself lost. For a moment, there wasn't the stress of being the Deliverer, the worry of dying, or the pain of having to kill innocent people. There was just this kiss. She felt his strong arm drop from her shoulder and fall to her waist where he pulled her in passionately, bringing her body roughly against his own. Her hand flew up to his bare chest where the last bit of her rational mind would have it push Tidus away but the heat from his body, it only created more passion. Tidus pulled away for just a moment, hopefully in an attempt to stop this madness, but the second his eyes opened just a tad and he saw Rinoa's rosy lips, his body and his mouth became nostalgic, missing their sweet taste and the way she felt against them. Just one more, he told himself, planting another soft kiss on her lips. And then another. And another. Their lips locked again and they both knew there was no way this could stop. This kiss became the heaven in their emotional hurricanes. Until Tidus suddenly stopped kissing Rinoa as a loud but muffled thud resounded in her ears and for some reason, there was a sharp pain in her chest right over her heart.

She opened her eyes and stared in fear at Tidus as he sputtered blood and fell over onto his face. Rinoa took a couple steps back with her hands over her heart. That's when she saw the blood. The tip of the arrow resurfaced through Tidus's chest and got her just enough to draw the scarlet liquid that stained her blue duster. She looked over Tidus who lay completely motionless on the ground and saw a figure slowly approaching. Her stomach dropped at the outline of the horned figure and even more so when it unfurled its wings. But then the figure came into clear view with a wicked grin on its face and evil in its golden eyes. She knew the figure all too well.

"Ultimecia," the name left her parted lips in a whisper before Rinoa turned and threw herself in the opposite direction only to run into the rock-hard body of another warrior which stood with his arms armed folded across his furry blue chest. She stared up into his eyes and was terrified when the beast snarled at her. Over its shoulder, she saw Leblanc fighting to get out of Sephiroth's iron grip. He threw her to the ground and brought the back of his hand down forcefully against her face.

"Apprehend her, Kimahri," Ultimecia ordered.

Rinoa yelped as Kimahri reached for her arm. She jerked away and sprinted past Ultimecia whose evil grin only grew wider. Kimahri started in the direction Rinoa took off in but was halted by Ultimecia's fiendish hand.

"I'll handle this," she said as she summoned a single arrow that levitated above her open palm.

I've got to get out of here! Rinoa thought as she sprinted through the trees, surprised herself that she could string together a descent mental sentence. I have to find help so I can save Lebla-

Her mental sentence was cut short as a slicing pain appeared in her right half. In her sprint, her leg gave up on her and she crashed to the leaf-covered ground. She whimpered and moaned as her eyes traveled down her leg and found the injury, an arrow through her calf. And before she could even form the thought of attempting to pull it out, Ultimecia, Kimahri, and Sephiroth—with and unconscious Leblanc thrown carelessly over his shoulder—were approaching. In her desperation, Rinoa let out one piercing shriek before the shaft of Kimarhi's large spear was swept across her face and she was knocked out cold.