Hello my readers. as you see, my tikkuness forever communtiy has staff members, and if you like to be part of this ever-growing tikku group, ask me and i'll make you a staff member. Well, besides that...can you believe it?!?! chapter 25!! we're not to far from the ending now!! enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy

Chapter 25

"No...they...they can't do this!!" Yuna complained.

"Apparently, they can." I said, despite myself. She looked at Cid, who had his arms crossed.

"We've got to do something." Yuna pleaded.

"What? That kid's got nothing to do with me." He said. Cid was right. I got Baralai in this mess.

"Then take us to Bevelle." Yuna blurted out.

"What?!" Rikku and I said in unison.

"Yuna, maybe you forgot, but we're also wanted too, ya." Wakka said. Yuna looked desperate.

"Well, what are we suppose to do?" Yuna asked.

"What can we do?" I said. Yuna looked hurt.

"Charge in like we did before?" Rikku suggested.

"Not in your life," Cid answered. "That last assault did a number on our Airship."

"Fine, Pops. I guess you're not a team player." Rikku snapped, but Cid just glared at her. Rikku looked down at her feet, and tried to hide behind me.

"We walk in. And we'll talk to Mika himself." Auron spoke. Everyone stared at him.

"Are you crazy?!" I said.

"Kimahri thinks...we clear our names." Kimahri said.

"Yes. We should explain what happened." Yuna said. I snickered. Yuna looked at me. "What?"

"Sorry. I don't think those guys will 'listen' to us if we're wanted people." I chuckled. Even after everything that has happened, Yuna still tries to do the 'right' way to fix things. Sometimes I wonder if she'll ever think along the wild side. She could never be like Rikku.

It was agreed. Cid promises to take us to Bevelle, and we'll walk right in, demanding to speak to Mika. After that discussion, we left the command center and explored the Airship on our own until it was time to leave. The Airship was still filled with surviving Al Bheds. Rikku said she had to go somewhere, so I was all by myself.

I walked up the stairs to the quiet hallway. Like before, no one was up here, and I sat down on the large window seals. The clouds blocked my view of the lands below, but I kept looking out the window. It wasn't long until I felt someone behind me. I turned around, and Yuna was standing before me, all alone. Her hands clasped in front of her.

"Hey," I said, calmly. Yuna looked down at her hands.

"I want to ask you something." She said, looking bashful.

"Okay...?" I said, slowly.

"Umm...back on Mount Gagazet..." She looked up, "What did Seymour meant...'your father will be freed?'" I gulped.

"Oh...uh...didn't Auron tell you?"

"He said to ask you." She said, automatically. I scratched the back of my head, trying to avoid eye contact. I stood up.

"My old man...Jecht...he's Sin." I said, and looked at her. Yuna didn't had her mouth opened, or showing any expression of shock.

"I thought so. Because after what Yunalesca said...I mean, Auron is still here, and my father died...and Sin is still here, so..."

"Yeah, Jecht was your father's fayth...which made him the next Sin." I looked down at my feet.

"But...he came back to see you." She said. Suddenly, my heart pounded. "He must really love you." I walked away towards the other side of the hallway.

"Oh please. My old man?" I said, sounding irritated. There was a long pause. The thought was still in my mind. Was it something I really wanted to hear? I was looking at my reflection on the window, and mumbled to Yuna. "Thanks." I watched Yuna bow from the window reflection and she walked away. I bit my lip again. I quickly turned around and yelled after her.

"Hey, we'll get Baralai. I promise." She turned around and smiled. Then she walked down the stairs.

I was walking down crowded hallways, trying to find Rikku. The people on the Airship looked a lot better than last time. More kids were running around, and some of the adults were helping out older Al Bheds. Occasionally, someone would ask my help, in Al Bhed. But thanks to Rin's Al Bhed Dictionary he gave me in Thunder Plains, I could speak a little Al Bhed. They didn't noticed until they looked into my eyes and realized they're blue and not green. I just laughed.

"Tidus!" I heard someone called me. I turned around and saw Gippal walking, and smiling, towards me.

"Gippal," I said, happily. We grasped each others hand and gave a small hug.

"Thought you guys were a goner." He said. I just shrugged.

"It was nothing. Thanks for your help by the way." I said. He copied me.

"It was nothing." We laughed, like good buddies.

"How's Seth?" I asked.

"Fine," he answered. There was a pause until he asked, "How's Rikku?"

"Ummm...fine. I mean, along the way to Zanarkand, I sort of...uh, got lost with the group. Rikku was devastated. But we're good." I smiled. He nodded.

"That's good to hear," he mumbled. To me, he didn't sound happy.

"What's up?"

"Well...earlier, I was in the command center with Cid and Rikku," he shrugged. "You should've been there. It was like they didn't noticed I was in the room. Arguing about how Rikku left without Cid knowing. Cid being worried while she was gone...realizing that Rikku likes you." He said like it was nothing. But I still blushed. Suddenly, I felt guilty.

"Gippal...uh," I looked down at my feet. "Ummm, how long have you known Rikku?" Gippal stared at me a little, and shrugged.

"I met her when she was ten. It was my birthday, I was turning eleven. And she came because her brother had to watch her. We became good friends after that."

"Oh," I said, feeling bad.

"Why you ask?" He asked, curious.

"Well...you care for her...don't you?" I asked, but I already knew the answer. Gippal raised his good eyebrow at me, and smirked.

"Well, I can't help but feel like an older brother...so, sure I care."

"Come on, you know what I mean." I looked at Gippal's eye for a while, and he looked away.

"Well...I do feel...a little jealous." I saw Gippal turn slightly red. Then, I remembered what the Fayth said to me. That I was just a dream...merely a memory. I'll soon have to say good-bye to Rikku. My heart ached at the thought, but I knew what to do.

"Listen, Gippal. If...anything happens, um, to me...once we defeat Sin, and all...I want you to watch Rikku."

"What are you talking about? You make it sound like you'll leave...are you?" The question lingered for a long time. I hoped Gippal got the message. Then, his face looked shocked when I didn't answered.

"It's not like I don't care for Rikku, I do...but I don't think I can be with her."

"Are you dying?" He asked, stupidly. I laughed.

"Are they still fighting, Rikku and Cid?" I changed the subject. It took awhile for him to respond.

"Maybe. I slipped out of there."

"I guess I should go see Rikku's old man, huh?" I scratched my head again. He didn't answer so I walked away, leaving him dumbfound. I took a deep breath and headed towards the command center. When the elevator door opened, I could already hear Rikku's and Cid's angry yells.

"-your nose out of it!"

"You will marry an Al Bhed. You will marry Gippal. And you will not be with that strange boy!"

"I don't care what you say, Pops. I can run away again if I wanted too! In fact, maybe Tidus and I should run away." Rikku yelled. It was a bad moment for me to enter when she said that. The door opened and they both went quiet, looking at me. Cid walked towards me, grabbed my shirt, and pulled my close to his face.

"What is your relation with my daughter, Zanarkand man?"

"I...uh," I mumbled, shocked. "I just..."

"Dad, let him go."

"Stay out of it, Rikku!" Cid yelled. He pushed me to a wall, and placed his fists on his hips, glaring at me.

"Look, man, I-"

"Don't 'man' me, mister!" Cid cut me off. I shut my mouth. "Now, you listen to me. You maybe Yuna's guardian-"

"I'm Yuna's guardian too, Pops. You can't separate us forever!" Rikku jumped in. When she said that, my heart throbbed painfully.

I'm sorry Rikku...

"Rikku, if there is one thing this man cares about...is his home."

"What?" I couldn't help myself.

"Shut up, boy! Everyone knows that the people of Zanarkand cares for their city more than any other. They do anything to be at their home...and I bet you're no different."

"I-"

"Do ya? Huh?! You want to go back to your hometown, don't yeah?"

"Yes, I do. But-"

"Then stay away from Rikku!"

"But I-"

"Rikku is my only daughter! I care for her because she's a wild person and needs to be watched over-"

"Pops, I'm not a baby!" Rikku spoke, but Cid continued.

"She can only date someone that I can trust!"

"You can trust me, I-"

"What really irritates me is that you-"

"Just shut up and hear me out!!"

"Go back to your home, boy. Disappear."

"No, listen to me! I won't go back, because I-"

"Why won't you?!"

"BECAUSE I LOVE HER!!" I shouted over Cid. That made him shut up. His eyes were wide, but so were Rikku's. I was panting.

"What...did...you...say?" Cid's face was red, and breath between his teeth. I took a deep breath, and walked up to his face.

"I...love...Rikku." I said, one by one. I wasn't scared, and he seemed too shocked and angry to do anything. Still glaring at him, I grabbed Rikku's hand and walked out of the command center.

"Wow, you were fantastic!" Rikku praised me. We were in a room, with a bed next to a window, all to ourselves.

"Aw, it was nothing." I shrugged, sitting next to her on the bed.

"I mean, the way you made him totally speechless," she squealed, "I loved it."

"Well...it's true." I placed my hand on her cheek and leaned forward. I whispered before I touched her lips, "I love you."

She kissed back with enough passion. My hand trailed to her hair as my other hand slid onto her thigh. Rikku was playing with my hair as I pushed her to lay down on the bed. I slip my hand pass her hip and under orange tank top, but then the door opened.

"Whoa," Someone whistled. I turned around and saw Wakka standing with the door opened.

"Wakka!!" Rikku and I both yelled. Rikku pushed me off, causing me to fall off the bed and land on my back, painfully. It was lucky we had our clothes on. Wakka laughed, not looking embarrassed at all.

"Sorry to interrupt. You must've about to get to the good stuff, ya?" Wakka was the only one laughing. "Just to let you know, we're leaving now." And he walked away, leaving the door opened. I stood up and fixed my hair, while Rikku straighten her tank top down.

"You know, out of everyone, Wakka is the only one who catches us at the wrong times." Rikku remarked.

"Yeah, why is that?" I asked. Rikku and I giggled as we walked out of the room.

We found our way to the bottom level of the Airship, and everyone else was there. Wakka smirked when he saw us, but Auron spoke before the compartment door opened.

"We'll split into two groups. You three, " he pointed at Wakka, Rikku, and me, "will make a rescue attempt."

"What?" Yuna said, but Auron continued.

"The rest of us will enter Bevelle first, then you three will follow, but stay out of site." He looked at me, "Do you remember where to enter the dungeons?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"Good. Guessing from a price of 120,000 gil, he must be in the lower high security cells." Auron said. Wakka cursed. The compartment door opened, and I saw the Airship had landed in the Calm Lands. Before Lulu, Yuna, Auron, and Kimahri got off, Yuna looked at us.

"Be careful." She pleaded. I rubbed my thumb across my cheek.

"We'll be fine. You just concentrate on dealing with Mika." I said.

"Yeah!" Rikku encouraged. Yuna nodded and walked off the ramp.

Wakka, Rikku and I waited for an hour before we thought it was best to follow. Wakka, being the experience guardian, lead us to another entrance to Bevelle. We were walking, stealthily, in Macalania Woods until Wakka told us we found the trapdoor that was close to the border walls of Bevelle.

We climbed down the stairs to the secret passageway into the city. The tunnel was dark, but Rikku provided light with her Al Bhed tools. The fiends down here were weak from lack of sunlight and food. But then we reached the end and climbed up a stable ladder. I took the lead, and lift the trapdoor, peaking out.

My eyes stung a little as the brightness came. I looked around and noticed we were in an alleyway. Making sure the coast was clear, I climbed out of the hole and the others followed. Wakka closed the sewer hole and dusted his hands.

"Alright, brudda. From here you know the way." He said. I nodded.

"It's broad daylight. How are we going to sneak in the dungeons without anyone noticing us." Rikku asked. I rubbed my chin, thinking. Then, I felt like a light bulb lit up in my head.

"A diversion. Follow me." I walked out of the alleyway, and saw two guards blocking the entrance to the dungeons. Down the path, was a crowd street with people walking. Smiling, I turned around to Wakka and Rikku.

"Stay here, and wait for my signal." I told them. They looked at me, eyebrow raised, but I left them and walked into the busy street.

I looked around, making sure that the only guards around were the ones blocking the dungeons. Being a city boy, I know there are gangs somewhere. And immediately, I found two gangs on the street. On one side of the road was a group with red bandanas, and the other side of the road was a group with blue clothing. Smirking, I saw an old lady selling sashes of different colors. I walked up to her.

"Hello, can I buy a red and a blue one, please?"

"1000 gil each." She said, wicked like.

Witch.

But I smiled and offered the money. I wrapped a blue sash around my head and walked up to the blue gang, acting like I was one of them. I sat down next to a buffed up guy, who nodded at me.

"What's new?" I asked. The muscular man sucked a tooth.

"See them," He nudged his head to the red gang.

"Yeah." I said, trying to sound bored.

"They're planning to take our checkpoint, yo." He said. I didn't know what a 'checkpoint' meant, but I acted angry. Then, a slender girl, dressed in blue shorts and blue bikini, came up next to the big guy.

"What are you gonna do, Dantro?" She said, flirting.

So his name is Dantro...

"I gotta go, man." I said, and walked away. I made sure they couldn't see me as I pulled the blue sash off and wrapped the red sash on. I also took my tiny, yellow shirt off to look different and walked towards the red gang. Before I got to them, I noticed another tough looking guy with girls around him. I walked up to him, making my face look intense.

"Sup," I said. He nodded.

"Any news, newbie?" He said. I nodded.

"Dantro, that guy over there," I pointed. "Said he can beat you right now."

"What?" He said, sounding angry.

"Yeah. I told him no way, but them he said to get you now and settle this."

"We'll see about that." He said, and just like that he marched over to the blue gang. I chuckled as all the other gang member gathered around the center of the street. I quickly took the sash off and pulled my yellow shirt back on. The guards noticed a commotion going on, and left there post.

"Pssh! You guys." I whispered loud enough for Wakka and Rikku to hear. Then saw me and together, we ran to the entrance and slid inside the dungeon.

"You amaze me, Tidus." Rikku said, once we were inside the dungeons. I smiled, huffed on my nails and wiped them on my shirt.

"It was nothing." I said, being cocky. Wakka broke the celebration.

"Come on, you two lovebirds, we gotta find that Baralai and get out of here, ya" He said.

Lovebirds?!

But he was right. It was time to be serious. We haven't run into any soldiers yet, but we didn't let our guard down. We walked stealthily, from shadows to shadows, peaking behind corners, and walking cat-like. After walking down a flight of stairs, we found the lower cells, where the cages hung over the mysterious, eerie, water below. We walked along the bridge, looking up at the cages, but no Baralai.

"Look," Rikku said, pointing at a cage. The doors were opened. My heart skipped.

"Do you think he escaped by himself?" Wakka asked. I looked closely at the lock. It looked like it was forced opened.

"Maybe. He's got a lot of tricks up his sleeve."

"Maybe we should head back." Rikku suggested.

"Maybe you should," a voice spoke.

We whirled around, and at the other end of the bridge, Baralai came running towards us. I smiled, but he didn't. He was in bad shape. His lip was bleeding and a single trail of blood ran down his forehead and along the side of his face. He still had the uniform on since the wedding ceremony, but most of his shirt was torn up. Bruises and cuts were everywhere on his arms, yet his face was still intact.

"Baralai!" I said. My voice echoed, but I didn't care.

"What happened to ya? Did you escaped by yourself?" Wakka asked as Rikku handed Baralai an Al Bhed Potion. He drank the potion down fast and nodded his head.

"I carry a few pocket knifes with me." He said. I chuckled a little. I knew he had tricks.

"Where were you?" I asked. He pointed towards where he came.

"I was eavesdropping on Yuna's trial with Mika. Was that you plan?" He asked, looking at all three of us. "Trying to reason with the Maester?"

"That was Yuna's plan. Auron's plan was for us to come get you." I said. He smirked.

"Typically Lady Yuna." He combed through his hair, looking exhausted. "You know, before the wedding started, I was next to her, right? And she kept mumbling to me whether what she was doing was right." He laughed a little.

"What happened at the trial?" Wakka asked, sounding worried.

"I came probably near the end. I couldn't hear well since they were so high up. But one minute I saw Mika, and then the next...he disappeared into pyreflies." He said. Rikku gasped.

"Mika...is an unsent?" Wakka asked, looking shocked.

"I guess so." Baralai said, also looking upset.

"Well then, come on. We don't have much time." I said. And I lead the way out of the lower dungeons.

We were running through the hallways, not caring if we were making so much noise. Eventually, guards came and blocked our way. But Rikku, who was running next to me, threw smoke bombs at them, giving us an advantage to run pass them. It wasn't long until more soldiers chased us until the hallway ahead of us was blocked also.

"This way!" Baralai yelled, and took the lead to the left. We were running down a different hallway, and Baralai pushed opened a door.

We stormed into a room with a very tall ceiling, and above the ground floor was a master chair looking down at the floor. Between the balcony and the floor, was a light green fog. Possible an even lower level, and hovering over the green fog was a leveler where Yuna was standing. Guards pointed their guns at her from the balcony above. But once we burst into the room from the side door, Yuna turned around and saw us. Yuna gasped.

"Baralai!"

"Yuna!" We all yelled.

"Fire!" Ordered the commander from above.

"Yuna! Jump!" Baralai shouted, and she jumped right into Baralai's arms, barely missing the bullets.

"Everyone run!" Auron yelled, and all eight of us ran outside. Rikku mumbled something to her wrist, and suddenly, the Airship came soaring through the sky and came right in front of us. Cid's voice was heard through the speaker.

"All aboard." And the compartment door, opened. The Airship was still hovering, so we all jumped onto the railing, and it soared us away from Bevelle. Some of the soldiers tried to fire their weapons at us, but we were out of their range.

We flew away. We were all on the floor, catching our breath. I was sitting down, wrapping my arms around Rikku, who had her head resting on my chest. I looked around and noticed a lot more hugging, except Auron and Kimahri. Wakka and Lulu held each other closely. Yuna and Baralai were sitting right next to Rikku and I. Yuna was crying, but looked happy. I watched them holding each other, and I heard Baralai whisper to Yuna's ear.

"I love you."

yeah! they rescued baralai. and OH MY GOD!!! we are so close to the end of this story!!! makes me wanna cry...nah. lol. anyways, i tried to put some more tikku flare, cuz i realized how long its been since tidus and rikku kissed. and i wanted to call the chapter 'Saving Baralai' but then i realized there was alot of "confessions" so...yeah. but still, OMG. i hope you don't hate me if i pair yuna and baralai. i mean...i think baralai is hot. (smiles) Please Review!!!