"Hey, Auron. . . who is the council?" Tidus asked kind of clueless-ly. Auron smirked, walking toward him casually.

"So someone let it slip to you that there's a way back, huh? Well, do you want a straight answer?" he asked. Tidus scratched his head and wondered what Auron was getting at.

"Yeah, I guess I do," he said, unsure of whether he had answered correctly. He blinked and waited for the awkward silence to end. Auron smirked again.

"You're never going to get one."

"So I figured. . ." he smiled, trying to prod it out of Auron. His curiosity was getting the better of him, and patience wasn't helping much by taking the back seat.

"Anyway, the so-called "council" is made up of past summoners and maester's and sometimes Fayth's who are wise judges and don't make decisions based purely on emotion. You have to make a good impression on them to even get on the road back to Spira, back to your Lady Yuna. And no one's saying it's easy. But if you think it's worth it, you can try, boy. That's all you can do."

Tidus thought his words over for a second. "Do you think it would be worth it, Auron?"

Auron was fidgeting, uncharacteristically at the question. "Well. . . I wouldn't know. . ." he said quietly, trying not to let his expression betray him

"What do you mean? You have to know!" Tidus was frustrated, but then his face changed completely when he realized why Auron didn't know. "You mean, you've never been. . . in love?"

Auron didn't answer. He only responded by turning around and walking away, leaving Tidus alone with every question.

He wondered what it meant, that it wouldn't be easy. He wondered if it was worth it, but felt guilty and selfish knowing that Yuna was back in Spira, crying over him and he was wondering if some price would be too much to pay to make her happy.

The words of the little girl bounced around inside his mind. 'If you like her that much, you should be with her. You should go back.' And the more he thought about it, the more he realized that she was absolutely right.

~*~*~

Yuna dropped the book on the table beside her bed and laid back silently. It was dark outside, but there was apparently a party going on, because firelight flickered into her window. She sighed and rolled her eyes helplessly; everything was a party in Besaid. "At least no one's worrying about Sin," she said. Her voice had a pang of sarcasm in it, but was mostly hurt. Regardless of how great it was that there would be a permanent calm, she felt like it would have been better if. . .

No, all it came down to was that she wanted to keep Tidus. She wrapped her arms around one of her pillows and curled up into a little ball.

There was a knock on her doorframe and Lulu walked in. It wasn't uncommon for her to just walk in. She knew that Yuna's door was always open to her, and she knew that Yuna needed someone to talk to.

"Hey Lulu, why aren't you out partying?" Yuna asked, propping herself up on one elbow.

"Because I'd rather be talking to you than hanging out with a bunch of drunk guys who were dim-witted to begin with," Lulu smiled and sat on the bed. She stretched out her legs and leaned against a bedpost. "And how about you? Why aren't you out there?"

Yuna laughed. "Because if I was out there I'd be acting about as dumb as the drunk guys." Lulu laughed, and tilted her head to one side still looking at Yuna. "What?" she asked.

"Well, Yuna, I was just thinking. . . nothing worth talking about," Lulu smiled. Yuna gave her a look that said 'I-don't-believe-you'.

"If it's about getting over him and on with my life. . ."

"It's not that," Lulu cut her off. "It's just. . . I don't know. . . I'm thinking crazy again. Maybe I've been hanging out with Wakka too much."

"What are you thinking? You can tell me," Yuna said quietly, sitting up cross-legged. She grabbed the same pillow and held it to her chest.

"I was just thinking that he must think of you. He has to watch over you," Lulu hoped that it wouldn't bring her to tears. Lulu hated to see Yuna so stretched and worn and sad. She smiled a little and held her pillow closer to her.

"Like an angel?" she blinked back tears, and Lulu wondered if she'd said the wrong thing. "I just wish I could have kept him, you know?"

Lulu smiled and Yuna laid down again, still clinging to the pillow. The aqua color tinted the walls and the floor and her face. It seemed like being underwater, and Yuna did look like she was slowly drowning in her sadness.

"Yeah, things can only get better. . . things will be alright," Lulu whispered. There was silence for a while, and Yuna's eyes glittered as she fought back the tears that came with the territory of thinking about Tidus.

"Lulu, I'm kind of tired," she said. Lulu understood the unspoken things that were in her voice and gently whispered goodnight and smiled as she turned and walked out to go get a kick out of the drunk guys.

Yuna lay down in her bed hopelessly and let the tears run. She kind of wished that it wasn't so hard to think about him. And above anything else, she just wanted to have him back.

"Do you watch over me? I don't get it if you do . . . because I always feel so alone," she whimpered the sad words into her pillow and clenched her fists. She wasn't tired, she couldn't sleep, she couldn't go to where he was. So she beat her hands on the pillow next to her and screamed into the muffling of the pillow.

* * * *

"Do you watch over me? I don't get it if you do. . . you do . . because I always feel so alone. . . so alone. . . alone. . ." her voice echoed around in his already-burdened mind. He couldn't help himself anymore and closed his eyes and focused on his love for her. Gradually and slowly, a picture of her appeared in his mind and became clearer and clearer. She was lying on her bed, beating her fists against her pillow, then she slowed her anger and her body shook with sobs.

She laid crying for a while longer, whispering tragically beautiful things to and about Tidus, calling his name in a hushed voice. She didn't seem to be ashamed to be so in love with him, just terribly sad. He felt like his heart was being rung out like a washcloth, and there was just no escaping the pain that came. He wished as much as she did that they could be together.

It was terrible to know that he was the source of all of her pain and frustration. She didn't know what was worth hanging on to, and he wanted to be there to help her to her feet. He wanted more than anything to touch her again, to smell her hair, to hold her hand, to kiss her lips. He wanted to wipe away the tears gently, and leave love in her eyes.

He watched as she walked into the bathroom and washed her face. It was getting late, and her eyes were puffy with tears and she had purple marks under her eyes from exhaustion. She rested her hands on the edges of the sink and looked up into the mirror, water still trickling along her cheeks and down the tip of her nose.

Water: his element.

She smiled, thinking of that time so long ago back at Macalania Lake, when they shared his element. When he kissed her. When he held her so close. It wasn't just his element then, it was their element for that while.

Tidus could tell what she was thinking, and was relieved to see her smiling instead of crying at the thought of him. They hung on to that thought for just a while longer, before Yuna splashed her face with water one more time then jumped in bed and took off her socks. She turned off the light and closed her eyes and whispered his name one more time.

He looked at her, just for a while. The sight of her sleeping was enough to make him smile. The way she wasn't sad, just for a moment, when she thought of him was good for them both. He shook his head and laid back on the grass of the farplane.

'Dreams tonight,' he thought, 'actions from tomorrow until I can hold her again.'

But it was a long time before either of them could fall asleep.