They continued along the old Mi'ihen Highroad until they reached the wooden gate that led to Mushroom Rock Road. Gatta quickly turned away. He had some bad memories beyond there, to say the least. "What's wrong?" Tidus asked out of concern.
"You remember what happened past that gate, right? Operation Mi'ihen…where Luzzu, he…he…" The Crusader paused, breaking off into slight but noticeable sobs.
The blonde-headed youth patted him supportively on the back. "I know, I know. It's okay."
The mission had been a disaster, truly a catastrophe. It was a Crusader-Al Bhed joint operation to defeat Sin, falsely backed by Maesters Seymour and Kinoc. Those involved had been excommunicated from Yevon, except for the two maesters. They had pretended to support them so they would continue on their endeavor. The two of them willingly disposed of their lives just to prove some worthless point. Auron had said it best, about the traitors dying while the faithful lived on.
Sin had slaughtered the majority of them, including Gatta's best friend and fellow Crusader, Luzzu. Jecht had killed all of them. Tidus remembered how furious he had been that day. He had even been so rash as to swim after Sin as it left. The young guardian and the Crusader sighed loudly. "Let's just keep going," Gatta wisely suggested.
They turned off to the side onto the Djose Highroad. They followed the fairly straight path until they reached a fork in the road. The left path led to the Moonflow, and the right would take them to Djose. "No reason to head to Djose. Let's move on to the Moonflow," Gatta said.
"No, let's stop there for a little while," Barthello proposed, shocking the two of them by speaking out.
"What for?" Tidus asked curiously.
"Because Dona's here," he answered.
"Really? How do you know?" the cheerful guardian then asked.
"This is where she's from. I know she'll be here, and…I'd like to see her," he requested, almost pleadingly.
"Sure, let's go," he agreed.
It looked as if Gatta was about to protest, but he didn't and they took a detour to Djose. As they walked across the bridge, they gazed at the Lightning Mushroom Rock. Contained within was the temple where they had acquired the aeon Ixion. It would no longer perform the strange phenomenon that occurred when someone called upon the fayth in the chamber because the spiritual being no longer existed in this realm.
Barthello went ahead and into the temple. Tidus started to follow, but Gatta halted him. "Leave him be. It's obviously something he wants to deal with alone." The guardian nodded in agreement and they went into the nearby inn.
The bulky man slowly pushed open the door and stepped inside the Djose Temple. He spotted Dona standing in front of a statue, hanging her head sadly. The scantily clad woman turned around at the sound of his heavy footsteps. "What do you want, Barthello?" she asked snidely.
He awkwardly stuttered and stumbled over his words, searching for the right things to say. "L-Look, Dona…I'm…I'm sorry about…all that happened. I know I failed you," he said apologetically.
"This again?" the former summoner asked with an annoyed sigh.
"I feel really bad about letting all that happen to you, but I feel even worse that you're so angry with me because I…" Barthello paused.
"…What? Because you what?" Dona asked, urging him to answer.
"I…You're the only friend I have. I don't want to be alone like this," the large man replied sincerely.
"And you think that's enough for me to forgive you? I quit my pilgrimage because I was afraid of something else happening to me! My trusted guardian let me down! I have to live in shame now because I gave up!" she exclaimed vehemently.
The muscular powerhouse hung his head and couldn't even look at her. "I'm sorry…"
"Stop apologizing! It won't do either of us any good! Why should I forgive you?" Dona inquired.
"You're right. You have no reason to forgive me. I was a terrible guardian. It was all my fault, and I know that. But I came here because I thought we could get past this, and we could be friends again," Barthello responded hopefully.
"Then you came here for the wrong reason," she rejected. "You should get going."
He was about to continue to plead his case, but turned away in silent resignation. He left, leaving her behind to continue his trek with Tidus and Gatta. He entered the inn slowly, looking at his feet as they shuffled across the ground. "So how'd it go?" the young guardian asked anxiously. He raised up to face them, and his expression said it all. "Oh…Sorry."
"Let's get going," Gatta said and they continued on their way.
They crossed the bridge once more and went back to the split in the paths again. This time, they followed the other road that would take them to the south end of the shoopuf wharf. The sun was beginning to set, indicating that this would probably be their last stop of the day. They were all beginning to feel tired anyway, each from different causes.
Tidus had been fatigued and hurt in the blitzball tournament. He had begun to notice purplish bruises forming where the Guado had viciously attacked him. He had taken a beating, but it was worth it in the end. He had truly enjoyed playing the game again.
Gatta had reminisced about those painful memories of losing his best friend and had felt depressed all day. They had also let Dalan slip away when he had been so close to them. He could've captured him. Why did he have to be held back? Who knows what might have happened if they had been able to keep up with the diabolical terrorist?
Barthello's pride had been hurt. He was shunned by his only true friend, meaning he had none now. Maybe he could make friends with his traveling companions. The muscular guardian wasn't sure why he had decided to come along on their journey in the first place. Maybe it was so he could see Dona, but that would mean he had no reason to stay with them. He was still there, heading to the renovated ancient city of Zanarkand for reasons unknown to him.
It was none of his business, so Barthello felt no need to ask. However, he couldn't help wondering why they were on the excursion to Yevon's holy city. He had known that High Summoner Yuna and her guardians were there. Maybe that was why, but it didn't explain why the Crusader was with him as well. Maybe it was just as a traveling buddy, which was basically the purpose he served at the moment.
In the end, he decided he would continue with them, no matter what, even though he could have easily left them, and they wouldn't have protested. Perhaps he didn't wish to be alone and enjoyed their company, or maybe it was so he could see it through to the end, which he had been unable to do with Dona.
Night had fallen by the time they reached the Moonflow. It was a clear, calm, beautiful evening. The bright moon hung in the sky like a pendant, while the countless stars were scattered across the blackness like miniature jewels. However, it was not that spectacular sight that mesmerized and captivated the attention of the three adventurers as they stared out at the crystal clear waters, with moon lilies floating upon its surface.
"Whoa…" Tidus said in quiet awe.
"That's amazing," Gatta commented, mouth dropping open in astonishment, while Barthello observed the splendor and brilliance of this occurrence wordlessly.
The spectacle was simply breathtaking. The moon lilies emitted pyreflies that danced around over the water, in a random yet somehow elegant fashion. The multi-colored flashes of energy practically covered the surface of the sea, as the lilies released a seemingly endless supply. They rose up high into the air out of sight and disappeared, as the next batch of pyreflies replaced them. The luminosity of these colorful natural wonders reflected upon the surface of the waters, but it was difficult to differentiate which were real and which were the illusions due to the massive number of them.
The group sat down on the soft patch of grass next to the water and continued to behold the magnificent event. Tidus smiled in wonder, and recalled when he had visited this place for the first time. It was during the day, so there were no pyreflies floating around magically. He had said they would come back to see it after they defeated Sin, which led to a prolonged silence he hadn't understood at the time. He didn't know Yuna wasn't supposed to get the chance to come back. Now she could, and Tidus wished she was by his side so they could watch it together.
They decided to rest for the night and fell asleep next to the Moonflow.
Author's Notes: Well, what did you think? I apologize if Barthello was out of character in any way, but I felt like he would choose to express his feelings to Dona in this situation. I was pleasantly surprised by the way the whole scene at the Moonflow turned out. I didn't know I could write anything that well (not meaning to sound arrogant). Anyway, write me a review along with some constructive criticism. It'll help me improve as a writer. God bless.