Author's note - I'm going to skip the part about what happens to Tidus. It is unnecessary, and I was off on a tangent when I wrote the last chapter. Sorry for the interruption, folks. Let's just say that they tied him to a stake and set him on fire while dancing in circles performing an odd voodoo ritual involving scantily clad women. Anyhow, to get on with it:

Chapter 3 - Wakka's Coffee

The sunset painted the sky over the Calm Lands in vivid shades of red and orange as we walked over the broad expanse of grass. I was admiring the tranquility and desolate beauty of the place as we traveled along on our way to Bevelle. Tidus was still complaining about his headache, and all the bumps and bruises that Wakka, Rikku, and I had given him while we were drunk in the small hours this morning. We had all probably told him to stop griping at one point or another, but he just wouldn't quit complaining. But I didn't say anything until he insulted my moonshine, calling it evil.

"What? What are you talking about? It's the stuff, man, you shoulda had some!"

This elicited smirks out of the others, but it only seemed to irritate Tidus more, but I did succeed in getting him to close his mouth for a while. After that, we all walked on in relative silence, save my quiet banter with Rikku, and the sound of Auron's sake jug colliding with a clasp or rivet on his robe. There was also the noise of other groups talking amongst themselves, for there were quite a few people traveling across the Calm Lands to escape the turmoil in Bevelle. We seemed to be the only ones that were going there. Everyone else was trying to get as far from it as possible. Occasionally, another group would stop and talk with us for a minute or so, to pay their respects to Yuna, but it was not until we got nearly to the entrance to the Highbridge that any real conversation took place. A group came out, consisting of three men and two girls, and one or two of them seemed to recognize Yuna. They all just started a conversation with Yuna, and being a guardian, I looked them over, but nothing seemed to be amiss. But there was one thing that I noticed, one of the girls just walked away and sat down on a nearby rock, like she didn't want to be here, or just didn't want to talk. I just thought she looked lonely. I was just going to let her be, but a little voice inside just kept telling me to go over and talk to her. So I finally gave in, and I strolled nonchalantly over and planted my rear on the rock next to her. She didn't even seem to notice me, and she was just staring at the ground.

"The grass must be pretty interesting, eh?" I said, a little afraid that she would take it the wrong way.

She didn't say anything, or even look up, so I just sat there looking at her. She had long, straight blonde hair, and the one eye that I could see was a slate blue color. She was wearing olive-drab pants that were made out of a suede-like material, a white tank top, and a hunter green cloak with white trim and gold buttons. She had black lace-up boots, and I could see black leather gloves in her cloak pocket.

"I wish they wouldn't have made me come." she muttered.

"You don't want to...well, where are you going?" I asked.

"Kilika."

"And you don't want to go?"

She shook her head.

"If you really don't want to go with your friends, you might be able to come with us." I said.

She finally looked up at me, and said,

"Do you think that Lady Yuna would really let me?"

"Sure, I guess. I'll go ask." I said as I stood up. I walked back over to the others and tapped Yuna on the shoulder, interrupting her conversation. I felt a little rude, but I had to ask her.

"Hey Yuna, can I ask you something really quick?"

"Sure." she said as I led her off away from everyone.

"Do you think there would be provision for one more in the party?"

"I guess so, but who would it be?"

I stammered, realizing that I didn't even ask the girl her name, so I didn't have one to give to Yuna.

"That girl over there, well, her friends dragged her along, and she really doesn't want to go with them, so I kind of told her that she might be able to come with us." I blabbered.

"Yes, she can come with us, if she wants." Yuna answered.

"Thanks Yuna." I said, walking away. She rejoined the others, and I sat back down next to the girl.

"So, what's your name, anyway?" I questioned.

"Joatha."

"Welcome to our group, Joatha. That is, if you really want to come with us." I told her.

She looked up again, and this time I saw the shades of gray melting away from her eyes, and her whole face looked brighter. This had the effect of making her appear about five years younger than I had thought. And I hadn't noticed before, but she was beautiful.

"Lady Yuna really said I could?" she asked, with a lighter tone in her voice.

"Yeah, sure. But why would you want to come with us instead of going with your friends?"

"Well...they're going to Kilika. That's where I used to live...and when Sin attacked..." she hesitated. "When Sin attacked, they were killed." she blurted, and then she broke down. I saw tears streaming down her face, and she put her head in her hands. Her slender body was racked by sobs. I just put my arms around her and gave her a hug. There was no need to say anything. Sometimes silence speaks more comfort than a million words. When she had stopped crying, we got up and walked over to the rest of our company, which were wrapping up the conversations with one another.

"Well, we really must get going." Yuna said.

"Yeah, I guess we'd better be on our way, too." declared the man that was talking to Yuna. His troupe then started to walk away.

"C'mon, Joatha. We're leaving." called the other girl in the bunch.

Joatha just looked at her, and shook her head.

"I'm not going to Kilika with you."

"What are you talking about, Jo? Let's go, you're holding us up!" the girl said impatiently.

"I'm going with Lady Yuna and her guardians. So go on. You're obviously in a hurry." Joatha stated.

"Nonsense, you can't go...the other girl started. But she just turned around and they all kept walking. It was getting rather dark, so we decided Bevelle would have to wait until morning. We set up camp again, and Lulu got a fire going. I was going to make some more moonshine, but after the last experience, the others didn't think that was a good idea. So I had to settle for plain old dinner, which was some kind of roasted waterfowl from Besaid. It was quite good, even without liquor to wash it down. I was actually surprised that Wakka knew how to cook, but having been told he lived alone, understood why. The rest of night was rather uneventful, only excepted by my attempts at getting Joatha settled. In the end, we all got to sleep quickly, and woke up the next morning rested and ready to take on Bevelle. Of course, only after having some breakfast and coffee.

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Author's note: Assume that coffee exists. I don't see how they could live without it.

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While the coffee was brewing over the fire that Lulu had re-lit, we all just sat around and discussed what we were to do about the Bevelle clergy. Joatha, naturally, knew nothing about this, and perhaps it was better that way. I kept her company as the others talked about Bevelle. I just asked her questions about herself, and about her life.

"So how old are you?"

"Sixteen. What about you?" she countered.

"Seventeen." I answered.

"Hey, breakfast is ready, ya?" Wakka called out, thus disrupting our exchange of questions. We ate breakfast in near silence, which was surprising to me, as Tidus was around. Unbeknownst to us, Auron had emptied some of the contents of his jug into Tidus' coffee. I heard Auron chuckling as Tidus took a sip, and then spit it out, coughing. He then looked up to stare at me like it was my fault. I just glared at him like he was crazy. He then switched his death stare to Wakka, who had made the coffee.

"Hey, what you givin' me that look for, ya?"

"This coffee tastes like shit, Wakka!" he said.

"Hey, I think it tastes fine." Joatha pointed out.

"I didn't ask you!" Tidus said, rather nastily.

"Hey, don't talk to her like that!" I yelled.

"You wanna fight or something? And all this started with Wakka's shit-coffee!"

"Hey, hey! My coffee is the best in Besaid, ya?" Wakka said, and then he beaned Tidus in the head with his blitzball.

"What? You're gonna pay for that, you little shit!" screamed Tidus, picking up his sword.

Auron leaned his elbow on his leg and just finally cracked up. Tidus shot a withering glance over at him, and yelled,

"What's so funny, old man?"

"I put sake in your coffee. Put the sword down, and sit. Now." Auron commanded.

"Well, I think we've had our fun for today." I commented.

"Yes, we've wasted enough time already. Now let's get going." Lulu said.

So we broke camp, and walked the short distance to the Highbridge entrance. There was a big stone arch, and we moseyed on through it. It was another step in their journey climbed, but mine was just beginning.