AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys, guess what? IT'S 2014. How the heck did that happen? Did last year go super-fast or is it just me? Can you believe it was only just over a year ago that everyone was freaking out thinking the world was going to end? That feels like a lifetime ago for me…

This story is about to reach so many milestones. It's nearly at 100 reviews, 9,000 views and 100,000 words. All of which is completely bonkers. I know it's not there yet but I want to seriously thank all you guys for all your support. You are all amazing and I wish I could give you all hugs

This is pretty much around the half-way point of the story, so if I'm acting like this now can you imagine what I'm going to be like when this story is over? Doesn't bare thinking about :-P

Some people have been asking if I'll be doing a sequel to this story based on X-2, and I am very glad to reveal that I will be. That is going to be quite a while away but I hope you all stick around for that!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Please review!

DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy X, its characters, locations and plotlines are owned by Square Enix. I do not claim to own any of these. However, I do own my original character Sakura, also known as Suki. If you wish to use her in any form of media then please ask my permission first.

Chapter 33 – The Proposal

As soon as we were all through the door Seymour closed it again. Tromell stayed in the other room. Once the door was closed Seymour walked over to a table and touched something on it. Before I could see what it was a bright light lit up the entire room, and then everything went black.

Yuna took a few cautious steps forward, and as her foot touched the ground the air around us suddenly transformed into the night sky. Bright lights flashed past us – Wakka and Rikku both holding their hands out trying to catch them – with a beautiful moon glistening near us.

I gasped, looking down. We were literally standing in thin air. We were hovering in the sky but I could feel my feet touching the ground.

"A sphere," Lulu said, noticing my confusion. "Maester Seymour had a sphere on his table."

I nodded slowly. That made a lot more sense.

"So this is a recording?" Rikku asked.

Seymour must have heard, as he nodded.

"This sphere is a reconstruction created from the thoughts of the dead who wander the Farplane," he explained.

As he was saying this we swooped down towards a huge city. Giant buildings loomed over us, bright lights shining all around. Suddenly, people appeared around us, but they walked right through us as if we weren't there.

I looked round at everyone, and my eyes fell on Tidus. His face was pale and he looked shocked. I frowned just as a huge stadium came into view. My eyes widened and I turned back to Tidus.

"Is this…Zanarkand?" I asked.

Tidus nodded, his mouth hanging open.

Seymour must have thought I was asking him as he had his back to the rest of us, standing next to Yuna.

"Correct," he said. "Zanarkand 1000 years ago."

Everyone was looking at the city in wonder. Lulu looked like she couldn't believe her eyes. She kept looking at the beautiful buildings around her like a child in a candy shop before looking over at Tidus, shaking her head slightly. I swore I saw Auron smile slightly as he glanced around him. Wakka kept blinking heavily and rubbing his eyes as if he thought he was dreaming. Tidus had snapped out of his state of shock as was happily pointing things out to Rikku ("My house is just over there! And there's where we all used to go to hang out after games!"). Yuna was still gasping at everything, Seymour standing just behind her and smiling. Even Kimahri was looking about in awe. And me, I decided in that moment that one day I wanted to live in a big city. The hustle and bustle of this place was the complete opposite of the sheltered life I lead at Home. Sure, it was sort of like a city, but Uncle Cid never really let me hang about in the busier areas. Life in a place like this just seemed so much more fun.

"The great and wondrous machina city, Zanarkand," Seymour mused. "She once lived in this metropolis."

As everyone turned to face him, I heard Auron snort lightly.

"'She' who?" Yuna asked, voicing the question at least me and Tidus – if not all of us – wanted to ask.

Seymour didn't answer her. Instead the images around us started to change until we were no longer floating. We were now standing in an ornate decorated room with a beautiful woman sitting on a bed in the middle of the room.

The woman had long silver hair and yellow eyes. She was wearing hardly anything: just a silver bra and thong with a yellow and blue beaded belt around her waist, blue wristbands, green sashes with the Yevon symbol attached to each side of her thong, silver anklets and a blue garter round her left thigh. On her head she had a blue headdress with yellow beads.

Despite her beauty she was looking down at her hands which were resting on her thighs, a sad and lonely look on her face.

Yuna seemed to recognise this woman. "Lady Yunalesca!" she said.

Seymour nodded. "She was the first person to defeat Sin and save the world from its ravages. And you have inherited her name," he smiled.

"It was my father who named me," Yuna said.

"Lord Braska was entrusting you with a great task," Seymour said. "He wanted you to face Sin as Lady Yunalesca did."

I frowned, unsure how I felt about this. I wasn't sure I liked the way Seymour was talking. Something just seemed off. It was like he was pressuring Yuna unnecessarily. She already knew what she was meant to do.

"However," Seymour continued, "Lady Yunalesca did not save the world alone. To defeat the undefeatable Sin took an unbreakable bond of love, the kind that binds two hearts for eternity."

Rikku and I both automatically looked over at Tidus. He saw us looking and turned bright red. I chuckled as Rikku elbowed me and nodded back towards Yuna and Seymour. As I turned back to look at them I could see the way Seymour was looking at her, and my automatically clenched my fists. Some people might have said it was like he had a caring look in his eye, but I could see behind that, and from Tidus reaction - which was similar to mine - he could see it too. There was a hunger in his eyes.

Suddenly there was the sound of footsteps coming from behind where Yuna and Seymour were standing. A man approached, wearing purple and gold armour with a lilac cape. When Lady Yunalesca saw him her face lit up and she stood. As the man walked towards Yuna she tensed, but the man walked right through her since he was just a projection.

The man and Lady Yunalesca embraced. I realised this must be Lord Zaon, Lady Yunalesca's husband. I frowned slightly, realising that no matter how many times Uncle Cid had told me the story of Lady Yunalesca, he had never gone into details about how she defeated Sin, or what had happened to her and Lord Zaon after she had done it. He always seemed to trail off just before that…

Seeing them hold each other, Yuna glanced up at Seymour. He was looking down at her again with that same look in his eyes. Blushing slightly, she looked away quickly before raising her head to look at Lady Yunalesca and Lord Zaon as they faded away in front of us.

Just as the entire projection was disappearing before us, Seymour turned to Yuna. As she looked up at him he bent down and whispered something in her ear. Her face changed from confused to shocked, her face flaring red again. As the room around us changed back into the actual real room we had entered a few minutes before, Yuna buried her face in her hands before looking around at all the different tables. She spotted a glass of water and hurried over to it, downing it in one. She breathed deeply before quickly walking over to us. Myself, Tidus, Rikku, Lulu and Wakka gathered round. Auron and Kimahri listened from a bit more of a distance.

"Wow," Rikku giggled. "Your face is beet red!"

I elbowed her but she ignored me.

"You okay?" Tidus asked, sounding really worried.

Yuna tried to get words out but she was just making noises. I squeezed her shoulder.

"Deep breaths Yuna," I said softly.

She nodded and took my advice, visibly calming down.

"He…he asked me to marry him," she managed to say eventually.

My immediate reaction was to glare at Seymour. He clearly saw me doing this but didn't react.

"…You serious?" Tidus said, sounding shocked and slightly upset.

"You know what Yuna must do," Auron spoke up.

"Of course," Seymour answered. "Lady Yuna…no, all summoners are charged with bringing peace to Spira. But this means more than just defeating Sin. She must ease the suffering of all Spira. She must be a leader for the people. I proposed to Lady Yuna as a Maester of Yevon."

"So you're saying she's obliged to marry you even if she doesn't love you?" I practically spat. "That she should completely forget about herself and marry you for the supposed benefit of everyone else?"

"Sakura!" Lulu said sharply, but I ignored her.

Seymour regarded me coolly. I could tell he did not like me one bit, but I could not care less. He was a slime bag as far as I was concerned.

"If you wish to see it that way," he said.

"Spira is no play house," Auron said. "A moment's diversion may amuse an audience but it changes nothing."

Seymour smirked slightly. "Even so, the actors must play their parts."

Seymour and Auron stared each other down for a few moments before Seymour looked back at Yuna.

"There's no need to answer right away," he said almost kindly as he walked towards her. "Please, think it over."

Yuna made some unintelligible noises and looked down, avoiding his gaze.

"We will do so then," Auron said with mock politeness in his voice. "We leave."

Seymour smiled slightly, knowing full well he wasn't going to have any success in protesting.

"Lady Yuna, I await your favourable reply," he said.

Yuna was still in shock from Seymour's proposal, so much so that she didn't even bow to him as she left the room. The rest of us followed her out. Auron and Tidus were the only ones still there when I heard Seymour ask Auron, "Why are you still here, Sir?"

I wanted to stay and listen but Rikku accidently pushed me out of earshot as she ran to steal more pastries from the tables of food she had been helping herself to earlier.

We had all gathered outside of Seymour's manor. Yuna was sitting down on some twisted tree roots, her face still quite red, and we were all standing around her.

"Yuna, the High Summoner's daughter," Lulu was musing. "Seymour, the leader of the Guado. Married in the name of Yevon, overcoming the barriers of race. It would give Spira something cheery to talk about for a change."

Wakka was shaking his head. "Sounds just like a passing daydream, like Auron says."

Tidus was looking agitated. "Come on, let's just get on with the pilgrimage!" he said. "I mean, marriage?"

Rikku laughed a little. "Hmm…jealous?" she winked.

Tidus blushed slightly but glared at her. "What? No way! We gotta defeat Sin. Romance can wait."

Rikku looked over at me and we both rolled our eyes at him. He groaned quietly at both of us but other than that he ignored us.

"He sure picked a fine time to lay this on us," Wakka agreed, looking over at the manor.

"Maybe it is a fine time," Yuna said quietly.

Everyone turned to look at her, all of us shocked that she would say that.

"You serious?" Tidus asked.

"If my getting married would help Spira…if it would make people happy…if I could do that for people, maybe I should do what I can," she explained. "I never imagined doing anything like this, but I won't answer till I know what's right."

"Seriously?" Tidus repeated.

Rikku crouched down next to Yuna. "You could always quit your pilgrimage and get married," she suggested.

"Are you kidding?" I exclaimed. "She can't do that!"

Yuna looked up at me, smiling slightly. "Don't worry Suki. I will go on."

She looked down again at the ground. "I'm sure Lord Seymour will understand…"

Rikku sighed but nodded. "I guess so…"

Yuna took a deep breath. "I am a summoner," she said with a lot more confidence in her voice. "I must fight and defeat Sin."

"Like Braska before you," Auron said, speaking for the first time since we'd left the manor.

Yuna nodded at what he said and stood.

"I'm going to the Farplane," she announced. "I'm going to see my father and think on this."

Lulu nodded. "Go on. We'll be right behind you."

As everyone followed Yuna towards the Farplane, I could see Tidus looked like he wanted to say something but was biting his tongue. I nudged him.

"You okay?" I asked.

I gritted his teeth. "Why is nobody asking Yuna if she loves Seymour? If she even likes him? Cause I know I don't!"

I sighed. "I know. Unfortunately, knowing Yuna, if she comes to the conclusion that marrying him is what would be best for the rest of Spira, she may actually go ahead with it."

Tidus sighed heavily. He was silent for a few moments as we followed the others before he smirked and looked over at me.

"I was impressed by your little outburst in there," he smiled.

I laughed slightly. "Yeah…something tells me I'm going to regret that later on."

Tidus and I shared a chuckled as we continued towards the Farplane.

The gate to the Farplane was a stairway ascending up to the glowing blue entrance, pyreflies dancing round it.

I swallowed nervously. I'd never been to the Farplane before. I had been told that if you thought of deceased loved ones while in there, the pyreflies react to the memories you have of them and create an image of that person.

"Question!" Tidus called as we all stood at the foot of the stairs. "What is this Farplane? When somebody dies, a summoner sends them to the Farplane right? So their souls or whatever they are, they go to the Farplane right? But…that's the Farplane we're going to, right?" he asked, pointing up to the top of the stairs. "And…Yuna's old man's there too? Do dead people live there or something?"

Tidus shuddered slightly and Wakka grinned. "You thinking those funny thoughts again, yah?"

Tidus laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

Lulu sighed, and Wakka shook his head slightly, still smiling. "You'll see once we get there."

Everyone headed up the stairs except for Auron. Tidus turned back to look at him.

"Hey! Aren't you coming?" he asked.

Auron sighed heavily. "I do not belong there," he said, sounding troubled.

Tidus chuckled. "You're scared!"

Auron shook his head. "Searching the past to find the future…this is all that is there. I need it not."

He looked up at Tidus and jerked his thumb over his shoulder towards the entrance. "You'd better be going."

Rikku walked over. "You aren't really going to see the dead," she explained to Tidus. "More like your memories of them. People think of their relatives and the pyreflies react to them. They take on the form of the dead person, an illusion, nothing else."

Tidus looked thoughtful as Rikku waved. "Well, have fun!" she said.

"What, you're not going either Rikku?" Tidus asked.

Rikku shook her head but didn't say anything. Tidus shrugged and headed up to the entrance. I started to follow him when Rikku pulled me back.

"Suki," she said with her eyes full of sadness. "Your mom and dad aren't going to be there. They were never sent."

I looked away sharply, already knowing that was true but still not wanting to hear it.

"I know," I said quietly as I looked back at her. "I'm not going to see mom and dad. I'm going for the people at Operation Mi'ihen."

Rikku frowned, dropping her hand. "Operation Mi'ihen? How did you know about that?"

"We were there," I explained. "We were all standing in the Command Centre when it happened."

As I said that I could suddenly see it, hear it, smell it all again. The screaming, then the eerie silence. The scent of the salt from the sea mixing with the smell of burning flesh and the blood of the people on the beach. Gatta dying right in front of me…

Before I knew it I was crying all over again. I had been trying so hard to block out everything that had happened, but at the mere mention of Operation Mi'ihen it all came flooding back.

Rikku now had her arms around me. She must have known what had happened that day, just not that we'd been there.

I felt someone else stroking my hair while someone else rubbed my back. I wiped my eyes and looked up to see Yuna and Tidus now also standing around me, both of them smiling sadly. I sniffed and smiled weakly.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

Yuna shook her head before she hugged me. I hugged her back and started to cry again, weeping into her shoulder. Tidus and Rikku comforted me too.

As this was going on I heard Auron, Wakka, Lulu and Kimahri talking behind us.

"Sometimes I wonder if she should even be here," Wakka sighed. "A journey like this isn't for a kid, yah?"

"Sakura is not ordinary child," Kimahri said. "She strong."

"But she is still a child," Lulu pointed out. "She can't be expected to not break down occasionally."

"She isn't breaking down," Auron said. "What she saw is something no thirteen year old should ever see. Somebody died in her arms. She was the one to close his eyes."

He paused for a moment.

"But even with all that, she's refused to give up and go home."

I heard Lulu chuckle slightly. "She is determined to see this through to the end."

"About that," Wakka said. "I have a feeling she doesn't know about…you know, it."

Lulu sighed. "I thought that too. I don't think Tidus does either with some of the things he's been saying. We'll need to tell them both soon."

After all this had been said – and I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about – Yuna, Rikku and Tidus let go of me. I was feeling a lot better, and I still wanted to go to the Farplane to see Gatta. Rikku grabbed hold of my hand, concern still on her face.

I smiled at her. "I'm okay Rikku. Honest."

She sighed but she nodded. She let go of my hand and I followed the others up to the entrance. As I passed Auron I nearly stopped to ask him what they had been talking about – what it was that I didn't know about – but I changed my mind. There would be time to talk to them about it after this.