Chapter 25: Guardian's Hymn

Yuna's POV:

That night we slept in the depths of the woods. We dared not light a fire for fear of being caught, so we risked getting sick instead. As I lay on one side I ran my eyes over my guardian's sleeping form. At least he was able to get to sleep and block out the discomfort of our camp.

With a sigh I rolled over to lie on my back so that I could stare at the sky above.

Considering we were hidden so far into the woods I found that the trees blocked out most of the stars and moon and only specks of light were able to make their way through the leaves.

As I shifted my body over the harsh forest floor I wondered what Tidus was thinking when they found that 'evidence'. I frowned as a sick, gut wrenching feeling played around inside me.

I didn't know why I felt so safe with him when he did commit one of the most 'unacceptable' crimes in Spira.

How did I know that he wouldn't try to hurt me in some way if I got on his nerves a little more than usual? He'd already hurt Wakka. Rikku had told me everything. Now that I thought about it…I was a little nervous around Tidus and after the incident with Wakka, I was also a little more alert.

"Yuna?"

I gasped a little at the sudden interruption but soon calmed down once I realised that it was just him.

Should I answer or just pretend to be asleep? I sighed inwardly as I realised that I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway after tonight's incident and so decided to answer, in the hopes it would take a little of the worry off my mind.

"Yes?" I whispered, still staring upwards.

"I thought you might have been asleep." He whispered, as I heard him move around.

You would have woken me anyway after that.

I glanced to the side to see that he was now sitting up against a tree trying to get comfortable, which looked to be a rather difficult task. I then turned over onto my other side facing away from him and replied truthfully, "I can't sleep."

"Are you cold?" he asked, still doing his best to keep quiet.

I was freezing. The garment I was wearing did nothing for my arms at all. However I got the feeling that he was purposely ignoring the main problem here.

"No I'm fine." I replied, biting my lip as I thought to mention the scene at the spring.

It was so quiet again after that. Not even the sound of the woods reached this far in.

"You know…" he started off in a surprisingly soothing tone, "I remember as a kid, me and my friends used to get in trouble all the time." And yet he also spoke in a very strange tone of reminiscence.

"I'll never forget the day me and my old buddy Ci-" he paused for a moment and then continued, "Gatta and I decided that it would be fun to throw blitzballs at old man Mika's house."

At the mention of Maester Mika's name I became a little confused but decided to hear him out. Maester Mika couldn't be the only one with that name in all of Spira. Still…I had a feeling and more than often my feelings were nothing short of a small premonition. I knew when something was not right.

"Poor old guy. Ended up throwing the ball just as he walked out of his door." He continued on bringing me out of my reverie.

"What happened then?" I asked now turning to face him with interest, although I couldn't quite make his face out in the dark.

"We ran like hell." He replied with a small laugh and then went quiet again.

However I wanted to know more.

"Where were you living when that happened?" I queried with the objective to be as genuinely curious as possible.

He didn't reply straight away and I was beginning to think that I'd hit a soft spot and perhaps let on that I didn't just want to know for the sake of knowing.

"That was in Bevelle." He answered slowly after a few short moments of absolute silence. "I knew that place like the back of my hand." He finished as he slowly lifted his right hand and inspected the back of it, deep in thought as if to prove his point.

"You knew?" I enquired, wondering what had happened to make him forget.

This had been the most Tidus had spoken of his past to me since I had first met him and he was the one who willingly began the topic at hand. I was going to do my best to keep him talking for as long as I could.

"Yeah, I moved away when I was twelve to go live in Luca with my mum." He sighed, as I heard a tree rustle as he plucked a leaf from it.

My eyes had gradually adjusted to the dark now and I could now see that his expression was rather solemn. I wanted to leave him be, due to his somewhat of a gloomy state but something was nagging in the back of my mind to keep going. Something of importance was to be said soon.

"What happened to your father?" I asked out of sheer curiosity, knowing that it might have been a delicate topic.

"Eh…" he began as if he didn't really care, "He just never came home one day." sounding a little more lost and thoughtful.

It was now that I began to understand him a little more. Mine had never come home either but at least I knew what had happened to my father even if it was a little hard to accept at times. Tidus on the other hand had no idea what had happened to his and I guessed that was where some of his obvious anger was coming from. Then there was the fact that he really did know what happened and just wasn't telling me.

"What was his name?" I asked sitting up against a tree beside him, tilting my head to the side as I tried to get a better view of his face.

His head was hanging in such a depressing way that I felt bad for continuing the conversation at hand and was so close to saying that he didn't have to answer if he didn't want to.

"Jecht." He stated strangely.

At the mention of his father's name I was amazed to see that he had said it in such a way that one could not tell if he either hated or loved his father. He said it in such a way that one would think his feelings towards him were livid and yet the man still remained an idol in his son's eyes.

"Jecht." I murmured, as I pondered over the name.

I had heard that name mentioned before somewhere, now thinking of it a little more carefully.

"Yeah. Star Player of the Bevelle Blitzball team" he said in a mocking tone of admiration. "…I forget what they called themselves." He mumbled as he brought his knees up a little higher and hung his head down even more so.

Remembering back to Luca, to the day that Tidus was mistaken for the real star player of the Luca Goers I asked, "How is it that you didn't know how to play that day at Luca? Having a star player as a father should have-"

"That's where you're mistaken." He suddenly interrupted now sounding a little annoyed as he caught on to where I was headed with my question.

A little taken back by his sudden tone of irritation I held back from speaking anymore and grew a little angry with myself for prying too much.

After an awkward moment of silence he finally spoke up again.

"My father was a star player. So I wasn't." he stated in such a way that told me that the conversation was over. He also seemed to hint that he wasn't annoyed with me as much as I thought he was.

Nodding as an indication that I understood, I suddenly felt a muscle in the side of my neck strain painfully.

I would have given anything to just block everything out and get a good night sleep right then. I felt so tired and my body was aching from lack of rest. However it didn't seem that sleeping in such an uncomfortable camp would have done me any good. I'd only awake in the morning with an even more restless and weary body.

"You should get some sleep." He whispered calmly.

My eyes were far too tired to concentrate on his face anymore and I couldn't tell if he was concerned or just stating the facts of the matter.

"No." I mumbled as I rubbed sleep away from an eye. "I'm past being tired now." Stifling a yawn as I said this.

"Mmm. Come on you can lay against me." He offered as he shifted around a bit in order to get comfortable before he had to support my weight, seeming to know better.

Raising an eyebrow I watched as he gestured for me to lie across his lap.

"I won't bite Yuna." He said with a small laugh.

I was a little put off for a moment. Hearing him say that made me wonder, considering he had already done worse.

However, as reluctant as I was to get any closer to him, I soon found that I was resting against his legs; feeling my eyes start to grow rather heavy.

As I lay there, much more comfortable than I had been before, I was still finding it a little hard to find the land of dreams until suddenly I heard something rather unusual. I frowned a little as I listened to the melody Tidus had started to hum as he ran the tips of his fingers gently through my hair.

My breathing began to slow down and my eyelids began to fall as I found myself not being able to resist being babied like this. It had been so long since I had had anyone treat me like a child.

Listening to him, I found that the tune he was humming so quietly sounded so familiar and yet I just couldn't put my finger on it right at that moment. He sounded so distant and yet he sounded as though he was still here mentally. I would have given anything to have known what he was thinking right then. To see his memories would have helped me understand him so much more.

However sleep came and found me, sweeping me away and the last I remembered was the hymn of my guardian.

"…wake up sunshine." I heard someone interrupt my sleep.

"Mmm…what?" I mumbled, not interested in the slightest as to what this person had to say.

When it seemed that I might be able to fall asleep again I suddenly felt something tickle my nose.

"Don't." I grumbled, wrinkling my nose and turning my face away.

I received no reply so I gradually calmed down and began to go back to sleep.

However, it had not been even one minute before I felt something tickling the bottom of my feet.

With a giggle and a gasp at the breathtaking and annoying feeling, I bolted upright far too quickly and felt my head collide with something solid. I grimaced but as much as it hurt I found that my own pain was forgotten as I heard the cries of someone else.

"ARGH dammit!" a groan emitted through the quiet of our surroundings.

Still half asleep I tried to search for the source of the pained cries and found that it was no other than Tidus.

'Tidus what did you do?" I asked with worry as he held one hand over his nose.

I tried to get a look as I proceeded to move his hand away only to have him pull back, disallowing me to get any closer.

"Me?" his strained voice asked in bewilderment. "You're the one who sprung up like a freakin daisy."

He moved his hand away from the wounded area to inspect his palm for any signs of blood it seemed. His expression was strange though. It seemed as though he expected to find some proof of his injury lying in the palm of his hand and yet the way he shook it off with a shrug of his shoulders was like it was normal if he didn't find any such evidence anyway.

Strange indeed.

Remembering why I had woken up in the first place I countered, "Who's fault is that?" trying to withhold a laugh at the current situation now that I saw that he was recovering quickly.

As I watched his frown turn to one of thought as he continuously brought his hand back and forth to his nose, inspecting it each time, I found my gaze come to rest on something else. I smiled as I noted a gold feather in his left hand and seized it hastily as I mockingly interrogated him, "And what might this be?"

Lifting his gaze towards me, away from his hand, he spotted the feather and glanced at me sheepishly as he replied, "You wouldn't wake up."

Smiling, I was about to think of something in answer to that when I suddenly realised something. Frowning I lifted the feather and inspected it with disbelief.

A chocobo?

Seeming to sense my confusion Tidus began to explain, "I caught us a ride."

I stared up at him still a little tired and confused. He continued.

"Well seeing as you sent off our only means of transport I had to go out and find something else to get us around." He explained with a smile.

Then I saw a twinkle in his eye, which told me he had done something rather sinister to obtain this certain means of transportation.

"What did you do?" I asked with a sigh.

Raising an eyebrow he looked me over carefully and replied, "Nothing. Why do you always suspect the worst of me Yuna?"

I couldn't tell if he was being serious or simply fooling around so I kept quiet until I saw yet another menacing look in his eyes as he stood.

Standing quickly I questioned, "You did do something?"

"Nice to know I'm trusted yeah." He mumbled with a sigh although he wasn't trying to deny that he had done something wrong.

He began to make his way out through the hidden trail and back out onto the main path with me following close behind him.

"You can't honestly expect me to believe that a chocobo willingly came into Macalania on it's own do you?" I asked, pushing small branches out of my way every now and then and wincing as my hair caught up in the leaves around me.

"Very judgemental aren't you Yuna?" he replied as he pushed a branch out of the way, which wouldn't have affected me in the slightest due to my height.

Frowning in confusion I asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Not all chocobo's are the same. What if this one was curious eh? What if he didn't want to be like the rest, always hanging around in packs? How boring." he queried.

Sighing I rolled my eyes and stated his name in a tone of annoyance, in a silent plea to be serious.

When it appeared that he was not going to cooperate at that point in time I gave up and when we had finally made our way out of the hideaway I came face to face with a large golden chocobo.

Forgetting the small dispute between Tidus and me for the moment, I found myself smiling and walking up to pet the large bird affectionately. It was fairly tame I noted so no doubt Tidus had taken the creature from a trainer or an owner. It definitely wasn't wild I sighed inwardly as my right eye caught a bracelet around it's left ankle.

However considering the circumstances I didn't deem it wise to have Tidus return it. He may have done the wrong thing in order to help us but if I tried to make things right, I might have landed us in more trouble than it was worth with both the Guado and the Yevonites after us.

"Aren't you gorgeous..." I murmured after a while with a small smile as I continued to run my fingers through the bird's feathers.

"Why thank you."

Turning in surprise I was just in time to see the smirk on Tidus' lips. Blushing slightly I turned and replied, "I was talking to the chocobo."

"Sure you were." Tidus replied menacingly as he made his way around to the other side of the chocobo slowly and then turning my way, allowing me to see a quick wink in the process.

What is up with him today?

A few moments later he was securing a saddle to the chocobo's back and arranging the reins on it carefully. Once that was done he double-checked that he had set up everything correctly and then stared up and gave me a satisfied nod.

"Well than ladies first." He gestured before shoving both hands in his pockets.

Nodding hesitantly I reached up to grip onto the chocobos stronger feathers at the base of his neck in order to reach the reins but found I wasn't tall enough to do so.

"I'll give ya a hand." Tidus offered as he made his way around to me.

"Okay." I answered and waited to see how he planned to get me up there.

Coming up behind me he placed one of my arms around his neck and lifted me off my feet in one swift move, as he raised me up over the chocobos back allowing me to rest each leg on either side of his back.

"You right?" he asked, as he steadied me to prevent me from falling.

I stared down at him for a moment; just wondering how his genuinely caring ways could turn into pure violence in the blink of an eye once provoked.

Time seemed to stop right then as I stared down in wonder at that young, seemingly carefree face possibly turning into one of fear and pain once sentenced. It was then at that exact moment that I vowed to make sure nothing happened to him.

A few moments later Tidus hoisted himself over the chocobo's back and sat behind me on the saddle very close.

"Alright lets go." Tidus called out to the bird.

When nothing happened I smiled and turned to Tidus. "You know what you're doing?"

Frustration was apparent on his face as he replied, "Course I do."

Then patting the side of the chocobo in hopes it would help he called out, "Come on, move."

When it became apparent that the bird was just not going to move Tidus let out a sigh.

"He was fine before." Tidus mumbled as he jumped down off the bird.

Suddenly the chocobo perked up and seemed far more alert.

Nervous I turned to Tidus and called down to him, "I think he's getting a bit anxious. You best hop on now before…"

It was too late though. I was being carried away on the back of a squawking chocobo of which I had absolutely no control over.

"Grab the reins!" was all I heard after I had proceeded to do so.

I'm not that dense that I wouldn't have thought to do that in the first place. I frowned.

The trees of the woods went flying by and every so often I found I had to duck to avoid a low hanging branch. After a few unsuccessful attempts to grab at the reins I finally held them within my grasp. I pulled on them forcefully not particularly caring if I in fact hurt the bird in the process because at the moment I was afraid for me.

The chocobo finally came to a standstill somewhere near the border of the forest. Breathing quickly I tried to calm myself down and breathe in long deep breaths. A few minutes later I had begun to direct the bird back the other way.

"Am I the only sane one on this pilgrimage?" I wondered out loud.

"I beg to differ on the sane part." A voice replied.

Abruptly turning to the left I saw Tidus walk around the corner completely at ease.

Thinking back on how far he would have had to run I raised a brow once I saw that he was not breathless and he was not tired in any way.

"Did you run the whole way?" I enquired curiously.

Shifting nervously in one spot he nodded with a shrug, "Yeah. Used to running I guess." Seeming to try and make a joke out of it due to the current situation of having the Guado and Yevonites after him.

"Hmm." I murmured not particularly caring for his humour at the moment and finding it hard to believe him.

Silence once again ensued and I found myself wanting to know exactly what Tidus' story was.

"Anyway, lets get this show on the road eh?" he said with a smile and once again jumped onto the chocobo's back.

"Off to the Calm Lands." He instructed and this time the chocobo did as instructed.

A/N: Okay sorry that this is once again late but I've been lazy Sowwy.

I hope you like it. I thought that considering the end is near I need to kind of slow things down and open Tidus up a little more.

Sorry to those who really want some fluff but you're gonna have to wait P This is seriously the first story I've written where I have dragged out the love so far to the end. But yeah…Tidus is too pissed off to get cosy at the moment. P

As for Yuna she just wants to get closer to Tidus in order to get to know his past. You saw in this chapter that she is feeling a little more attached to him.

So as always please review and tell me what you thought.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the plot. Square-Enix owns FFX and everything associated with it.

Yunie Tidus