Author: Katma (kawaiikatma@hotmail.com)

Summary:  Sin has been gone for two years now, and Yuna has just started to move on with her life.  But a new evil has risen from the sidelines.  Will Tidus be able to return and protect the Summoner he loves?

Rating: PG-13 (some violence and romance, but nothing graphic ;-) )

Disclaimer:  Tidus, Yuna, and other recognizable characters are not mine.  I only wish they were.  They belong to Squaresoft and many other people too numerous to name here.  I'm only borrowing the characters so that I can mess with their lives.  Power, MWAHAHA!  So… please don't sue me!!  I'm a college student (ie, NO money).

I updated!  Yay!  Ok, brace yourselves.  This is going to be a long authors note.  This chapter is almost a page longer than I normally write, which is why it took me so long.  I had planned to make it short and sweet, but I kept having ideas and it quickly grew out of hand.  I hope you guys like this one, cuz it took me almost four days to write!!!  Special thanks goes out to everyone who reviewed… you guys keep me going.  I am SO grateful to you.  Please continue to let me know what you liked, didn't like, etc, so that I can make this story better.  Next item; I'm going back to school, which means there will prolly be one more update and then nothing for a few months, because my school's firewall won't let me update.  I'm making a mailing list for all those who would like to be notified when I come home and get a chance to update, so you don't have to keep checking.  If you'd like to be on it, please let me know in a review or email me at kawaiikatma@hotmail.com.  Also, please let me know what story you'd like to be notified on, cuz I have two stories running.  Anyway, I think that's it.  Enjoy!

Kat

"…To die, to sleep:

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come…"

-Hamlet

Chapter 3:

Blitzball!

            Yuna smiled and clapped as the stands around her erupted into cheers.  The Besaid Aurochs had scored another goal, bringing the score to 5-4, in favor of the Aurochs.  Isaaru's little brother, Pacce, was jumping up and down, screaming excitedly.  Yuna couldn't help laughing at his antics.  Isaaru turned at the sound of her laughter and smiled.

            "Are you having fun?" he asked her.

            "Oh, yes," Yuna nodded.

            "I'm glad."  There was a slightly awkward pause.  "Your speech was very good, you know," he said, mentioning the annual speech Yuna had given since the defeat of Sin.

            "Thank you," Yuna murmured, a light blush coloring her cheeks.  Instinctively, she bowed to Isaaru.  He shook his head at her in return.

            "Yuna, will I ever break you of that habit?  You don't have to bow to me.  Even if you don't hold a title, you are just as important to Yevon as I am, if not more so."

            "I know," Yuna said, blushing a little more.  "It's just… I'm not used to this."

            "Yuna…"  Isaaru took her hands in his.  "Yuna, Spira looks up to you.  You defeated Sin and saved our world.  You cleaned Yevon of the hypocrisy and lies it wallowed in.  You gave Spira something to believe in again.  Don't bow to anyone."

            "Okay," Yuna answered, looking seriously into Isaaru's eyes.  Lulu saw this and smiled.  Isaaru was so good for Yuna.  He helped her believe in her own power.

            Yuna, however, could only bear Isaaru's intense look for a moment.  Embarrassed, she glanced out into the crowded stands.  A young girl walked past, and Yuna's eyes followed her.

            "That girl looks like Rikku," Yuna commented, surprised.

            "What girl?" Lulu asked, craning her neck to see where Yuna was looking.  Yuna pulled away from Isaaru to point the Al Bhed out and so missed the sudden tension that had entered his body when he heard Rikku's name.

            "It does look like Rikku," Lulu said.  "She must be here to cheer on the Psyches."

            Yuna sighed.  "I wish it was Rikku.  I miss her.  Maybe… maybe we could go visit Home someday?"

            Isaaru, who had been getting more and more rigid as the conversation drew on, cast about frantically for a distraction.  He didn't want to talk about Rikku.  He especially didn't want to go see her, and he knew that was where this conversation was going.  Lulu, who had been trying to get Yuna and he together from the beginning, would slyly suggest that Isaaru should take Yuna to Home.  It was a reasonable suggestion, for Isaaru had made many trips to Home in his attempts to bring the Al Bhed fully into Yevon and into acceptance by the people of Spira.  What Lulu didn't know was that he had made a trip to Home in over a year, and he certainly didn't intend to now.  The high priests under him were now in charge of dealing with the Al Bhed, and Isaaru preferred it that way.  Luckily for Isaaru, fate in the form of Wakka intervened.

            "Look!  Wakka's got the ball," he cried, pointing at the blitz sphere.  The women's conversations abruptly ceased.  Yuna watched, cheering Wakka on unabashedly.  Lulu retained her dignified exterior, but her chestnut eyes were sparkling in excitement.  Isaaru breathed a sigh of relief.  It appeared the conversation had been forgotten.

            The clock was ticking, counting down the end of the second half.  Wakka just managed to avoid a particularly violent tackle, and passed the ball to Jassu.  Jassu brought the ball a little closer to the goal, but was cornered by three members of the Psyches.  They tackled Jassu, but were unable to take control of the ball.  It shot across the sphere towards Wakka, who saw his chance.  With perfect timing, Wakka flipped backwards, positioning himself under the ball.  As the ball soared overhead, Wakka scissor-kicked with all of his strength.  The crowd held its collective breath as the ball arced down, sailed past the unsuspecting goalie, and hit the back of the net.

            "GOAL!!!" the announcer shouted just as the buzzer sounded.  The game was over.  The Aurochs had won the tournament, 6-4.  Applause and cheers filled the air as the victorious team huddled together.  Then they lifted Wakka on their shoulders and carried him to the locker room amidst chants of "Wakka, Wakka!"

            "We're going to hear about this for months," Lulu said dryly, but she looked pleased.

            "We should go congratulate them," Yuna suggested, eyes dancing and cheeks flushed with excitement.  Isaaru stared at her, noticing not for the first time how beautiful she was when she was happy.  It was a rare sight since Sin had been defeated.  Isaaru did not love Yuna in a romantic way, but he did admire and respect her.  He wanted to see her happy, for she was one of his closest friends.

            The pair had started working together in the early months after Sin had been defeated.  After Yuna had beaten Isaaru in the Via Purifico, he had decided to take a good, hard look at the religion he put all his faith in.  The corruption present there shocked him.  He had soon realized that everything he believed in was a lie.  Disillusioned and shaken, he had apologized humbly to Yuna when she had returned.

            "Thank you," Yuna said with a sad smile, "but it's all right.  I understand."

            "No, thank you," Isaaru had responded, bowing low.  When he straightened, it was to find Yuna's assessing gaze on him.  She seemed to be considering something.  Then her face cleared.  Abruptly, she spoke.

            "Would you… would you help me with something, Isaaru?"

            "Anything, M'Lady Summoner."

            "I want to rebuild Yevon, but I need your help to do so."

            "You want to rebuild Yevon?" Isaaru had asked in disbelief.

            "Yes.  Will you help me?"

            Isaaru had bowed low.  "Anything for you."

            Isaaru sighed at the memory.  The two years following that momentous conversation had just flown by.  They had been busy, but it was a good kind of busy.  And look at them now.  A wry grimace twisted his attractive features.  He was now Grand Maester of Yevon.  Yuna, although not technically a leader of Yevon, was the spiritual figurehead of Spira.  Her input on any issue counted for more than anyone else's.  Isaaru could see how this responsibility weighed on Yuna.  Naturally quiet, she rarely ever spoke now.  Smiles were rare, laughs even more so.  Isaaru had not been blind to the worried looks Wakka, Lulu, and Kimahri sent at Yuna when they thought she wasn't looking.  "Anything for you," he had once said to her, and he still meant it.  Marrying Yuna would ease her burden, and so marry her he would.

            Isaaru noticed suddenly the stares he was getting.  His introspection must have lasted longer than he thought.  Coloring a little, he turned to Yuna.

            "Shall we go?" he asked.

            "Yes, let's!" Yuna smiled.

            The group gathered everything up from the stands and headed for the locker rooms.  Isaaru moved closer to Yuna.  Their hands brushed, and Yuna looked up at him from under her eyelashes.  When Isaaru used the next brushing of their hands as an excuse to hold Yuna's, she let him.  He smiled at her, and she smiled back.  Lulu glanced behind her to see if they were following and almost laughed.  She was so glad for the two.  They deserved a little happiness.  Pacce, who was bouncing up and down next to Lulu, followed her gaze and looked curiously between Yuna and his older brother.  Then he looked up at Lulu, a question in his eyes.

            "Does Isaaru like Lady Yuna?"

            "Yes, he does," Lulu answered after a moment of consideration.

            "Does Lady Yuna like my brother back?"

            "Yes, she does," Lulu responded with a little less conviction, but Pacce did not notice this.

            "Are they going to get married?"

            "I don't know.  You'll have to ask them."

            "Oh," Pacce digested this.  Then he said,

            "I like Lady Yuna.  She's nice.  And pretty.  I like Rikku, too.  She used to play with me, but then she and my brother fought.  She left.  She didn't even say goodbye."

            "Rikku?" Lulu asked, startled.  She hadn't known Isaaru had spent that much time with the Al Bhed.  "What was Rikku doing at your home, Pacce?"

            "Yevon stuff.  She'd come down and play with me when Isaaru had to go to meetings and stuff."  Pacce, however, was clearly not interested in this conversation.  Lulu had found out what she wanted to know, though, and so she let Pacce continue.

            "You don't think Yuna'll leave without saying goodbye, do you?"
            "No, Pacce.  Yuna would never do that."

            "Ok."  Pacce smiled, beginning to hop around again.  They had reached the locker rooms, and Lulu raised her hand to knock on the door when it was suddenly flung open.  A very excited Wakka beamed down on a very startled Lulu.

            "Lu!" he cried, picking up her slender form and twirling her around effortlessly.  "We won, ya?"

            "Wakka, put me down!" Lulu laughed.  She pushed half-heartedly on Wakka's shoulders, making no real attempt to get away.  Wakka stopped spinning, but didn't let go of her.

            "You did well," Lulu complimented.  Wakka smoothed back a loose tendril of her hair.

            "Thanks, Lu," he said quietly.

            Pacce broke the moment with his shrill, childish voice.

            "Yeah!  You guys did great!"

            Wakka laughed, letting go of Lulu.

            "Thanks, buddy.  You wanna go in and see the rest of the boys?"

            "Yeah!"

            "Then go on in, ya?"  Pacce ran past Wakka and Lulu, just as Yuna and Isaaru walked up to the pair.

            "That was great, Wakka!" Yuna exclaimed.  Isaaru nodded his agreement.

            "Thanks," Wakka said, hugging Yuna and nodding back at Isaaru.  "Wanna come in and congratulate my boys?"

            "Is Pacce in there?" Isaaru asked.  When Lulu nodded, Isaaru smiled.  "I'd better get in there and rescue them from Pacce, then."

            Wakka and Lulu followed Isaaru in.  Yuna hesitated slightly.  She hadn't been in there in at least two years, not since the game Tidus played with the Aurochs.  Las year she had been called from the game at halftime to mediate a dispute between two masters, and so had missed the end of the game.  She really didn't want to go in there now.  There were just too many memories.  Isn't that what moving on is, though? Yuna asked herself.  Facing the memories and then getting yourself past them?  Yuna steeled her resolve.  She had yet to run away from a challenge, and she wouldn't start now.  Wakka waved her over as she entered the room.

            "I was tellin' Maester Isaaru and Lu that in celebration, I got tickets for a sphere theater movie.  I'm also takin' ya out to dinner at The Wharf."

            "Really, Wakka?" Yuna asked, her eyes wide.  The Wharf was a new, elite restaurant, one of the many that had sprung up after the defeat of Sine.  Spirans, tired of living in fear, just wanted to get out and have fun now.  A new industry, pandering to the entertainment needs of Spira, had quickly emerged and was thriving in Spira's fertile soil.

            "I even got a ticket for Kimahri, just in case, ya?"

            "You know he'll come.  He doesn't like to leave me alone."

            "Then why didn't he come to the game, huh?"
            "You know Kimahri doesn't like blitzball," Lulu answered for Yuna.

            "Hmph," Wakka snorted.  "How can he not like blitzball?"

            "I have no idea," Lulu said, rolling her eyes.  Yuna smiled at the familiar exchange.

            "We better go then.  Don't want to be late, ya?"

            The group nodded, then turned and left.  Yuna lingered once more.  She could almost feel Tidus' presence here.  It was comforting, in a way.  It was also painful, but what hadn't been painful since he'd left her?  Yuna closed her eyes, soaking up the feeling.  Then she opened them, determination obvious in her bright gaze.  Yuna glanced around one more time, then hurried out of the room to catch up with her friends.