A/N: Hey everyone! I've been revising some of my plans lately and now have a satisfactory outline for the coming chapters so hopefully I can write without running into any problems. The next few chapters (I can't say for sure yet how many)will be slightly longer, just like chapter 12. Anyways, I want to thank the fabulous people known as my reviewers. You guys are the best! I can't believe I got 200 reviews and almost seven thousand hits already! All of you deserve some virtual gold nuggets. Now, to answer some of your questions. To be completely honest with you, my inspirations come out of nowhere in particular. Sometimes when I'm thinking about how certain events should lead up to the next, the greatest ideas just pop into my head and then I just start writing and it ends up flowing perfectly. I can't tell you for sure where they come from. Many of you wonder what Calli's purpose is in this story but unfortunately, I can't answer that without ruining the story for other readers. You're just going to have to be patient and keep reading. Anyways, enough of me talking. Enjoy the chapter!
"Yunie wake up!" shouted Rikku while jumping up and down on her cousin's bed.
Yuna let out a soft groan and pulled the covers over her head but refused to get out of bed. Rikku placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head at Yuna. Oh, how am I going to get her out of bed so we can go shopping? As soon as that thought occupied her head, a conclusion had already formed. Of course! How could I have not thought of it until now! She jumped off the bed and threw open the door then dashed across the hall and knocked loudly on the door opposite her and Yuna's room. A few moments later, some shuffling could be heard, then the lock slide out of it's socket and the door opened up.
"Hey Rikku, Gippal's not up-" began Tidus but before he could finish, the Al Bhed had grabbed onto his arm and was pulling him back across the hall.
"I'm not looking for Gippal. I need you to wake Yunie up for me so I can take her shopping," explained Rikku as she approached her room.
Tidus smiled at her, "How do you know I can wake her up?"
Rikku turned and smiled at him mischievously, "Oh, I know a lot more than you realize Mr. Tidus-who-made-out-with-my-best-friend."
Tidus continued to smile at her without saying a word. She slide her key card into the computerized lock and held open the door for Tidus. Taking quick strides, he crossed the room and sat down on the edge of Yuna's bed, gently pulling the covers away to reveal her face.
"Yuna," Tidus whispered as he gently shook her shoulder.
Yuna opened one eye slowly, "Tidus? What are you doing here?" she asked sleepily.
"Rikku wants to go shopping with you before we leave Luca," replied Tidus.
Yuna pulled herself into a sitting position and glanced at the clock sitting on the night table. "You have to be kidding me," she groaned before allowing herself to fall back on her bed.
"Yunie, come on!" cried Rikku. "It's six thirty already. After you get ready it'll be seven, then we need to have breakfast, leaving us only two hours to shop!"
"Rikku, how can you be so awake after taking care of Gippal until way past midnight yesterday?" asked Yuna tiredly.
"Because," said Rikku as she grabbed a corner of Yuna's blanket, pulled it off of her and then flung it across the room, "I love shopping more than anything on Spira and you are an extremely good shopping buddy. Now march yourself into the bathroom and get washed up."
Yuna sighed in defeat and dragged herself out of bed, knowing that even if she refused to go with Rikku, her cousin wouldn't let her sleep in peace either. Slipping on a pair of flip flops, she walked into the bathroom and shut the white door behind her.
Rikku turned her swirly green eyes at Tidus and smiled, "See, what did I tell you. I knew that you could wake her up!"
Tidus grinned and took a seat on Yuna's bed. Half an hour later, Yuna emerged from the bathroom looking considerably more awake and refreshed. The three of them had a light breakfast then departed for the numerous stores in Luca. Two hours later, they returned to the Luxury Inn with both hands holding several shopping bags each. The trio packed their bags as quickly as they could then went to meet the rest of the group by the lobby.
"Took you guys long enough ya," said Wakka kiddingly as he eyed their suitcases, which had grown somewhat bigger since the beginning of their trip.
Shortly after, a limo pulled up next to the entrance and Seymour ushered everyone inside. After stuffing all their belongings into the trunk, the driver headed off for the airport.
"Here is everyone's tickets," announced Seymour as he handed out the stack of boarding passes to Wakka before walking away to meet with Calli.
Rikku grabbed two tickets for Gippal and herself and Yuna and Tidus did the same. They quickly scanned each others seat numbers to make sure they were sitting together. The fact that Seymour didn't care who sat with who came as an immense surprise, especially to Yuna and Tidus. As they were heading into the departure gates, Yuna briefly cast a side glance at Seymour. He was busy talking to Calli, who listened but said nothing back.
Yuna slid into her seat next to the window and Tidus took his seat next to her. Before long, the plane took off into the air, flying towards their next destination, Mount Gagazet. Due to the fact that it would be very difficult to have an airport built on the mountain, the closest airport was located at the gorge after the Calm Lands and before Gagazet.
"Tidus, don't you think it's weird that Seymour didn't care who sat with who on the plane today, especially you and me?" asked Yuna as she weaved her fingers with Tidus'.
Tidus squeezed her hand. "Well, he hasn't been acting like himself ever since Calli joined us. Maybe he's moved on because he decided you were too much trouble to go after," he teased with a smile on his face.
Yuna playfully swatted him on the arm with her free hand and then tried pulling her other hand away from his grasp but Tidus held onto it tightly.
"I'm kidding!" laughed Tidus.
"You'd better be," Yuna replied jokingly. "You know there are plenty of guys out there who wouldn't mind going through the trouble for me."
Tidus' expression then turned serious, "I know, but I want to be the only guy who'll ever succeed. And you know that you're worth all the trouble in the world because you mean a lot to me Yuna. I want to be by your side forever."
Yuna blushed and looked away, trying to conceal the huge smile invading her lips. Soon, an on-flight movie started playing and the stewardess' pushed their drink trolleys around. Their plane ride to Gagazet was going to take almost two hours. As usual, Rikku and Gippal were goofing around in their seats and a couple stewardess' have had to tell them to quiet down a few times. Lulu and Wakka were both watching the movie, Seymour was writing and Calli was reading a magazine. Tidus was also watching the movie with Yuna's head resting on his shoulder. She had decided to get some more rest after going shopping so early this morning.
"Yuna, Yuna..."
Yuna slowly opened her bi-coloured eyes, "Are we here already?"
Tidus smiled at her, "Yeah. Come on, I'll get our stuff."
He opened the above compartment and pulled out his and Yuna's black suitcases. The two of them walked out the ramp to find the rest of the group waiting for them.
"It's going be cold out so make sure you're dressed warmly," said Lulu as she pulled on her long, black wool jacket.
After everyone pulled on some warmer clothes and loaded their baggages into the trunk, they climbed into a limo heading towards their hotel, which was located near where the Ronso's called Fayth Scar. The car pulled up next to the Ronso Inn shortly after where a couple Ronso's came out to collect the luggages. The party stepped out of the limo and ascended a slight slope towards the hotel.
"Brr, it sure is chilly," said Rikku, wrapping her arms around herself as a gust of wind ruffled through her short blonde hair.
Not long after everyone got settled into their rooms, snowflakes began to fall lightly from the gray sky and the wind had ceased blowing. Without so much as a breeze to accompany the snow, it wasn't too cold outside despite the location. Nevertheless, there was a warm, crackling fire in each room.
Rikku plopped herself down on a chair near the fireplace and leaned slightly forward. "Who's idea was it to come here?" asked Rikku as she held out her hands to the fire, which was behind a piece of glass.
"If I remember correctly, Wakka wanted to go to the hot spring here and then Lulu said that as long as we're coming here, she wanted to get a massage. And I recall you saying you wanted to do something that you found in one of the brochures," replied Yuna as she rummaged through her bag.
Rikku crossed the room and grabbed a copy of The Gagazet Guide lying on the bedside table. She flipped through it hastily until she found what she was looking for. "I had totally forgotten about this. Yunie, I wanted to go ice climbing!"
Yuna smiled at her best friend as she finally found what she had been searching for, "Sure, it sounds like fun. But you should check with Lulu first."
"Alright!" cried Rikku excitedly. She then hurried across the hall to find Gippal and the others.
Yuna pulled on the baby-blue scarf, hat, and gloves she had just found then bent down to lace up her black boots. After throwing on her white down jacket, she locked the door behind her and went to meet up with the rest of the party. Rikku had managed to talk everyone into going ice climbing before doing anything else and she was looking extremely pleased with herself. They had all bundled up in the warmest clothes they brought along. There was no telling when the weather might turn nasty on them, especially on a mountain.
The climbing instructor, a Ronso, led the group up the mountain a little ways before stopping at the starting point of their climb. Everyone got strapped into their harnesses and put on their safety equipment before receiving instructions. Soon, they were prepared and began collecting the necessary equipment and tools provided to them. It was also then that the Ronso got a call from the hotel. There were some people climbing by themselves further up the mountain and they were facing an emergency. Due to the fact that the hotel had a shortage in expert ice climbers, the groups instructor had to leave and go rescue the other people but he would return afterwards to check up on them.
"You go ahead of me Yuna, I'll spot you from below," said Tidus, handing a set of ice picks to her.
"I'm a little scared," admitted Yuna, taking the tools from him.
Tidus gave her a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. I go ice climbing several times a year so I'm somewhat of an expert."
"How come you've never told me that?" asked Yuna, feeling calmer by his presence and reassurance.
Tidus grinned at her as he zipped up his steel blue coloured jacket. "I can't let you know everything about me in one day. If I tell you all there is to know about me, then I won't be interesting anymore and you'll get bored of me. Besides, I like having a mysterious side to me," added Tidus jokingly.
She sighed lightheartedly back at him before hammering the metal pick into the wall of ice and began pulling herself up. Rikku and Gippal were a little ahead of her, Lulu, Wakka, and Seymour were climbing at about the same pace as Tidus and Calli was the farthest behind.
"Keep going Yuna, you're doing great," called Tidus. "Just remember to tighten your harness often."
Yuna looked down below her and nodded at him. Ice climbing wasn't as difficult or as scary as she had imagined it to be, especially since Tidus was there to ensure her safety. She drove the pick into the ice again and used her boots, which had spiky add-on bottoms that the Ronso had given out to everyone, to help support her as she heaved herself upward and tightened the rope. Rikku and Gippal had slowed down by now and Yuna was gaining on them as they neared the midpoint. The atmosphere up there was a fair bit different than back down on the ground. The supply of oxygen was slightly thinner and it was also colder, not to mention that the wind was also blowing snow into their faces.
All was going well until a piercing scream echoed below them. "Aahhhh!" shrieked Calli.
Yuna looked down and gasped as she saw Calli hurling towards the ground and then landing on her side. "Calli!" shouted Yuna.
Yuna began lowering herself slowly down with the help of Tidus. Everyone else began descending towards the ground as well.
"You okay? Can you move?" asked Rikku, squatting down next to the girl. "What happened?"
"I think so. I guess I didn't place my pick far enough into the ice because when I tried to pull myself up, it gave way and the next thing I know, I'm lying on the ground," explained Calli as she began getting up with the help of Yuna and Rikku.
But as soon as she exerted pressure on her foot, she fell into Tidus' arms who caught her and steadied her on her feet.
"Ow, my ankle hurts a lot, I think I injured it when I fell," sobbed Calli, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
"She's in no shape to continue climbing, but if we all go back to the hotel, our instructor won't know what happened to us," reasoned Lulu logically.
"One of us should take her back then while the rest of us continue," said Seymour calmly.
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
"I'll take her back," volunteered Tidus. "I go ice climbing often so it's not that big of a deal if I miss this once. Besides, Rikku really wanted to go climbing and I don't want any of you to not be able to because of this."
"Then it's settled. The rest of us will continue," concluded Seymour.
"No, I'll go wi-" Yuna began but Seymour had already ushered her away.
Yuna turned to look behind her and watched as Tidus and Calli disappeared down the slope. She sighed inwardly as she began ascending the wall of ice once again. Ice climbing without Tidus just wasn't the same. She looked beside her then quickly looked away. Seymour was climbing next to her and he was trying to engage her in conversation. Yuna felt her heart sink. Seymour hadn't given up after all.
"Here's my key card," said Calli as she handed it to Tidus.
Tidus took the card and slid it through it's slot, unlocking Calli's room door and helped her inside. She took a seat on the end of her bed and slipped her arms off of Tidus'.
"I'll go get a first aid kit," said Tidus after inspecting her foot.
Calli beamed at him as he exited the room and headed down the hall towards the front desk. Shortly after, Tidus returned with a white box and knelt down next to Calli's foot. He took out a roll of bandage and began wrapping it around her sprained ankle.
"Thank you so much Tidus," said Calli as she watched him.
"Don't mention it," replied Tidus. "But I'm still a little confused how you managed to fall that far. Did you tightened your harness every so often?"
"Was I suppose to?" asked Calli. "This is the first time I've ever been ice climbing so I was a little disorganized when the instructor was explaining everything to us. I guess I should have paid more attention."
"There," said Tidus as he finished bandaging her foot.
"Thanks again Tidus," smiled Calli. She paused for a moment before continuing. "Maybe you could help me out next time."
As soon as the words left Calli's mouth, the door swung open and the rest of the party came walking into her room.
"Aren't you guys suppose to be climbing?" questioned Calli, slightly annoyed by the interruption.
"The instructor returned not long after you two left and they told him they wanted to see how you were doing with that injury so we came back," replied Seymour, annoyance written all over his face.
"I'm fine, just a little sprain," replied Calli, smiling up at him.
"Well in that case, I think we should head over to the hot spring now," suggested Rikku excitedly.
Everyone agreed except Calli and Seymour, who chose to stay behind. Everyone else headed back to their rooms to change into more suitable clothing then headed to the hot spring. The guys were the first ones to arrive and the ladies were the last ones. Yuna was sporting a deep blue bikini, Rikku had on a red string bikini, and Lulu was wearing a black one-piece. Gippal whistled at his girlfriend as she approached him, causing Rikku to reach out her hand and dunked Gippal's head into the steaming spring water. After relaxing in the hot water, they all wrapped towels around themselves and returned to the Ronso Inn to get massages.
Yuna strolled out of the bathroom with her hair wrapped in a towel and plopped down on her bed. Rikku was already fast asleep in the bed next to her's. Yuna smiled at her best friend. Rikku really exhausted herself today. After drying themselves off in their rooms, Rikku and Gippal had gone outside to make snow angels and even had a snowball fight before heading over to get massages. Yuna was happy her cousin was having so much fun but an uneasy feeling had settled itself in the pit of her stomach ever since Calli's accident and it worried her. It's probably just me seeing Calli fall like that, reasoned Yuna, deciding to ignore it. As she turned off the lights and pulled the blankets over her, the feeling seemed to fade away a tiny bit, allowing her to get at least some beauty sleep.
And that was chapter 13. I hope you all enjoyed it. I have already written the next chapter. I just need to edit it. Your reviews determine how fast I edit. So come on, give me tons of reviews. You know how much you want to read the next chapter...don't you want to know what happens? All I'm going to say is that plot twists will come soon. Anyways, till next chapter :)