Morning came sooner than he had expected or hoped. Light poured in through the large living room windows, dancing on the floor in calm waves, no resistance. Yuna's light blue comforter had long since been kicked off onto the white carpet because of the unending summer night heat of Besaid. Tidus smiled down at Yuna who had calmly been blinking up at him for about ten minutes. She never tired of looking at him, especially in the morning.

"Has Lulu been around yet?" Tidus asked mischievously, as though daring her to say something. Yuna laughed quietly.

"Yes, she was kind enough to read the conference notes to me while I was still lying here. She barely commented on me being down here. I think she understands where we're coming from," Yuna answered, her voice still a little groggy. She closed her eyes and snuggled into Tidus's bare chest.

"I understand, but I want words with Tidus, not you," Lulu teased, appearing in the doorway with a glass of what he presumed was orange juice in her hands. Tidus laughed nervously, not knowing what to think.

"It wasn't my fault, I swear," he said defensively. He then smiled and hugged Yuna even closer to him, "Not that I mind getting in trouble for her, anyway."

"I give up on keeping you two apart," she said, apparently exasperated. Yuna giggled, opening her eyes to see the terribly frustrated look on Lulu's face.

"Good, now we don't have to waste our time trying to convince you to let us spend our nights together," Yuna said teasingly, sticking her tongue out at Lulu. And as Tidus watched them tease each other for the next few minutes, he realized more that had happened. Not only had Lulu eased out of being so serious, she had forced herself to for Yuna's sake. Because she couldn't talk to Wakka like she could talk to Lulu, and she needed someone to be happy and light and carefree for her. Someone like Tidus.

Somewhere under all that teasing surface, Lulu was still seriously concerned, although somewhere under that serious surface, there had been a silly Lulu who had wanted nothing more than this. She would have found her balance, somewhere in there, if Tidus hadn't left. So for the first time, he realized that his leaving had affected other people in a way that he never had thought it could or had ever meant it to be.

Lulu smiled at Tidus, then gave him a look, almost as if she knew what he was thinking. And the look said, clearer than words ever could, that she wanted him to find a way out of this and be able to stay with Yuna until her dying day. And Tidus tried to say, without words, that he promised to do his best. His meaning came out as him holding her a little tighter and kissing the top of her head. Lulu understood, and walked away with a good-bye and a promise to be back later.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Tidus asked nonchalantly. She was still curled at his side, her head on his shoulder, her hand lying lazily on his chest. He didn't know she was listening to the steady sound of his breathing, feeling the rising and falling of his chest under her hand. It was comforting and relaxing to know that he was living, that he was breathing.

"I want to stay right here," she said quietly, breathing in deep, but not opening her eyes. He smiled down at her, but she didn't open her eyes.

"But that's not going to get us anywhere, and we only have 4 more days," he felt her flinch, not wanting to hear him say that they didn't have forever. He was immediately sorry, but there were some times that you couldn't hide from the truth. That was one of those times. "We have to do something."

Yuna, defeated, knew that he was right. Laying in bed, however comfortable, would never get them anywhere. She sighed in her anguish and defeat, wishing that love alone could make him stay. Heaven knew that if it were enough, she'd have plenty to make him stay for eternity. "You're right."

"Of course I am! Now let's get out of bed. . . .err. . . couch," he said playfully, rolling off the couch. She immediately felt cold and empty, the warmth of his body taken away from her so quickly. She tried to brush it off, but knew that it would be a hundred times worse to have him leave again. She giggled, then, and sprawled out on the narrow couch, a limb or two hanging off the side.

Tidus immediately grabbed her rather cold foot and started tickling the bottom of it. Compulsively, she kicked his hands away as she giggled defenselessly.

"Let's not start that again," she said playfully, hanging her head off the side of the couch so she could see him.

"Then get out of bed!"

"No!" she protested teasingly, sticking her tongue out shortly.

"Don't stick that tongue out at me unless you intend to use it," he threatened, pointing a finger up at her. She stuck it out again, and he took it as an immediate opportunity to kiss her. Not long, but sweet. She giggled as he pulled away. "Now get up, and I mean it!"

Yuna rolled over so he couldn't see her, so he immediately jumped to his feet. He looked down at her for a moment, she had her back turned to him, her face buried in the couch. He then picked her up and slung her carefully over his shoulder, turning to walk out of the room.

"Tidus, you put me down right now! I mean it!" she yelled, trying to kick her feet. It was useless, as he was so much stronger than she was. She started whimpering helplessly as he headed for the front door.

"Well, you didn't want to get out of bed. It was your choice," he said patronizingly. She was amazed at the tone he was using, and she looked at the back of his head, practically glaring.

"Are you my father, or the guy I'm supposed to be in love with?" she asked, amazed. He smiled, and opened the front door, stepping out into the sunlight.

"Your choice," he laughed, and she began to struggle again, noticing that they were outside now.

"Put me down, this is embarrassing!" she half-squealed. Tidus ignored her plea and kept walking. "Where are you taking me anyway?" she asked, unable to really tell where he was headed.

"Somewhere," he commented dryly. Suddenly she noticed that they were getting closer to the water.

"Tidus. . .you're not going to. . ."

"I feel like swimming," she could hear the laughter in his voice, even though he was trying to mask it. He stepped into the warm water, walking deeper into it. She felt her toes take the plunge, and clung to his bare upper body like a parasite. He pulled her into him, and let her body slide down, so they were face to face.

"Tidus, I don't want to," she whined, and he just smiled and pecked her quickly on the lips. Then he secured one arm carefully around her waist.

"Hold your breath," he said quickly, then drew in air and went under water, her still attached to his side.

They emerged, and Yuna was breathless, dripping wet, and more than a little upset. She flailed and tried to splash the already-soaking Tidus. He laughed and let go of her, splashing back. She then realized what she was doing and let her arms drop, laughing harder than she'd laughed in a very long time. He too, stopped splashing, just to smile and watch her laugh. But her laughter subsided, and they stood there looking at each other. He smiled.

She felt like crying.

Tidus studied Yuna's face for a while, trying to read what she was thinking, but found himself unable to. In a moment she had gone from laughing, to what seemed like hopeless. And all he could do was take a few steps closer to her, and put his hands on her waist. She looked up at him, studying his eyes.

"It's okay to cry," he whispered, reading the look on her face finally. But she set her face in a determined way to shield her vulnerability from his eyes.

"No it's not. I have you, what do I have to cry about?" she asked frankly, but he knew she felt a deep kind of desperation that he also held inside. The fear of losing each other, and that's what it was all about. They just wanted to reach out their arms and cling to each other, blindly, because that's what their hearts said. She knew he wanted to find a way around this and live for her and only her. And he knew that she'd die just to be with him.

"You know what you have to cry about. Yuna, I love you, and I never want to leave you. You know that, right?" he took her face in his hands, and studied her eyes. Everything in her reflected that very thing that he had just spoken.

She looked up at him, tears ready to fall, but her promise to herself wouldn't allow her to. His hands went instinctively to her waist, the water from his hair dripping into his smiling eyes. His expression changed to concern, and he looked much like he had in Macalania, but his hands were bare and soft on her waist, his upper half naked and glistening. She couldn't help but grin.

"You're going to kiss me, aren't you?" she asked, half sarcastic, but fully in anticipation. She loved the way his kisses made her feel; warm, and content, and special. And loved.

"You know it," he replied. But in spite of his teasing tone, he leaned his head forward and she instinctively lifter her chin and tilted her head. As always, she felt reassured and wasn't thinking of anything but him. And that was the one thought that never failed to make her undeniably happy.

As naturally as the kiss began, it ended, and she looked up again into his eyes. And he didn't have to say anything to reassure her that he wanted to be near her forever. He wanted to kiss her awake every morning, and kiss her asleep every night. She could see in his eyes that their life wouldn't have to be spectacular, as long as it was a life. He had found the one thing most worth living for, and he couldn't bear the thought of not being alive to cherish it. And that was the thought that scared her.

"Hey, want to go look for a way out of my dumb mistake of a contract with what's-her-name?" Yuna asked casually, wrapping an arm around his lower back as they started walking, dripping, toward the shore.

"Don't you think we should get dressed or something first?" they continued walking back towards Yuna's house. She chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe. I don't want everyone to see your gorgeous half-naked body. That's a secret I'm willing to keep," she laughed. It became very apparent, again, at that moment just how much she'd changed. Something inside of her had clicked after her pilgrimage. She was more willing to laugh. But he hoped that that trait would last longer than just for this short week that they had together.

* * * *

An hour or so later, Tidus and Yuna were back in the temple, going through volumes of old books. The old books that so presumably belonged to Tidus' mother. While Yuna was hungrily searching for a way to keep Tidus, Tidus' mind was more preoccupied with the thought of how and why the books had found their way into his hands again. It was hard to concentrate anymore.

"Tidus, what's wrong?" her eyes were concerned as he snapped out of his half-daze. He was immediately apologetic for not being as dedicated to the search as he should have been. For that moment though, he tried to find an answer to her question.

"I just don't understand why this is all connected, or how. All I know is that it is, and it's bugging me. Someone could have us set up, you know?" he said earnestly, not taking his eyes off of her.

"Tidus, you yourself had some part in a little divine intervention. You never know what kind of forms that can take, do you?" despite her logic, he had a bad feeling about it. Something just wasn't right. The books were from Zanarkand, they should have been destroyed, and he knew it. Everything made him nostalgic.

He just smiled and shook his head, but she knew it wasn't helping. So she continued to flip through pages, looking for something she knew wouldn't be there. She felt like she was looking for shoopuf's under the bed. They both had the same premonition, and there was nothing they could do.

He looked back to the pages of the book in his hands, knowing he wouldn't find anything. She, sitting opposite him at the table, also looked hopelessly through the book in front of her. In the silence of the temple, his breath seemed to echo. It was a miracle to her. He was a miracle to her.

"Tidus?" her voice was hardly more than a whisper.

"Hmm?" he didn't look up from his book. Neither did she.

"I love you," there was a twinge of pain in the tone of her voice.

"I love you, too," he said softly. They couldn't look each other in the eyes, because both of them were ashamed of the tears beginning to grow there. Because they both knew there was no way around it, except through a miracle. And they had already received too many miracles to expect any more.

So just for then, I love you was all they had.

* * * * * *

A/n: OH MY GOSH, i am SOOOOOO sorry about the wait on that one. That was uncharacteristically long for such a short chapter. Now I need opinions. . . Should I write the next few days of fluff in their completion, or should I just get to the next part of the plot and get to the good stuff? Not that it matters anyways. . . I'll do what I want. I love you guys for being so darn patient with me. Once again, I'm sorry for the wait and all reviewers go to heaven ^^