Chapter 3: Preparations
"I wish I could go," she sobbed, unable to hold the tears back.
"Yuna." the boy gently breathed into the air.
The world seemed to shimmer around them as he moved in closer to Yuna, closing whatever barriers that stood between them. Her tears paused as she looked up at his face - mesmerized by his tender expression.
Their gaze never left one another as his arms found themselves around her shoulders, and he leaned his face towards her. Their lips locked into a deep embrace . . . and if there were still barriers existing between them, they were certainly crumbling . . .
***
Moments passed by, but he still remained seated on the floor, staring deeply into the now empty memory sphere (a/n: movie sphere in the game). The images he had just witnessed sent him further into confusion, creating more questions to wrack against the inside of his head. Was that girl that precious to him? He couldn't recall any memories of her - or caring for someone so deeply.
"What's buggin' you?" Tidus heard a cheerful voice asked him from behind.
Tidus turned around, only to find a tall man with orange hair standing by the doorframe.
"You're. . . Wakka," Tidus said, pausing between his words, to try to remember the man's name. He had spent the night before talking to each of the inhabitants in the house, trying hard to get to know them - perhaps remember them.
Wakka gave a nod before catching sight of the memory sphere on the floor.
"What's this?" the ex-blitz ball player asked, crouching down beside Tidus and activating the sphere.
Images spewed forth onto the surface of the sphere.images of their adventures together, the enemies they faced, and images of Yuna and Tidus sharing a brief moment of embrace. Wakka quickly turned the sphere off, seeing the distress in the boy's eyes.
"Still trying to remember, huh?" Wakka's voice became weak as he realized his error. "You shouldn't sweat about it. Those memories aren't yours. Their someone else's."
"But . . .he looks just like me. . ." Tidus' expression deepened, making Wakka feel even worse. He wasn't helping much in comforting the boy. He knew that for sure.
"Hey, like I said, don't worry about it!" Wakka released a nervous laugh. "That's why we'll be heading out to Guadosalam in a little while. We'll figure all this out in time, so just take it easy for now, ya?"
Tidus didn't say anything in reply and his expression did change, as well. He was too lost in his own thoughts.
***
"I had hoped that we would never have to use these ever again," Lulu stated as she pulled out their legendary weapons from a large chest found in her room. "But, if we are to travel to Guadosalam and to Zanarkand, we'll have to carry some weapons along with us. The roads are still littered with fiends."
Yuna bent down in the chest and took out her legenday weapon, Nirvana. She could still feel the power emanating from it. She gave the rod a few good spins in her hands, causing old memories to arise. Before, she had used the powerful weapon to amplify her magic and concentration to call upon the powers of the Fayth to summon forth powerful aeons. But with the Fayth now awaken from their dreams and with the death of Sin, the aeons became nothing more than forgotten things of the past. Now, the only use she would have for Nirvana would be just to cast white magic.
"Wooh!" Riku exclaimed happily, drawing Yuna from her thoughts. "It's great to have you back!"
Riku spun around, slipping her weapon, Godhand, on. She teetered slightly from the sudden shift of weight onto one side of her body, but she quickly recovered from it.
"Teeheehee!" she giggled sinisterly. "The destruction we will wreak together once more, and the great many things we will steal. Oh. I hope I'll remember how to mix potions and items together still."
Yuna shook her head at her cousin. Riku was exaggerating of course. The only destruction she truly caused in battle was her constant panicking, causing her to throwing gil at her enemies and bribing them to leave. But, when pushed to the limit and with absolutely now way of escaping, Riku's overdrive would cause devastating damage upon enemies . . . when she got her formulas for the mixing items right, of course.
Yuna's attention turned to Wakka, now smiling as he held a deadly looking blitz ball in his hands. The World Champion, back in the hands of the great Wakka. He spun the ball on his finger, careful to avoid the sharp blades protruding from the ball.
"Yuna," Lulu handed Yuna a sword wrapped in a thick plain cloth. "Give this to him."
Yuna gently peeled the cloth off from the blade, finding the Cadabolg still shining as brilliantly as it had when Tidus had first gotten it. Yuna inhaled a deep breath and headed over to the corner Tidus was standing alone at.
"Here," she offered the blade to him. "It belonged to . . . a friend. I'm sure you'll make good use of it, as he did before."
Tidus took the weapon from her, admiring the fine craftsmanship of the blade. It was surprisingly light, and well balanced. He swung it around in the air, careful not to strike the girl standing by him.
"Wow, it's sure is something!" he said in awe. "But. . . I don't really know how to fight."
For a moment, Yuna was shocked. The boy had handled the weapon with such ease, it was hard to believe he had never handled a weapon before. The likeness of his handling of the blade was so much like his. . . it hurt to watch. Yuna suppressed the pain in her chest, and forced a smile unto her face.
"It's alright," she said in a bright tone of voice, masking her true feelings. "You'll learn to fight on the way to Zanarkand. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon enough."
****
Kimahri, stood at the edge of the wharf, looking at the horizon. The sun was at its peak was mercilessly staring down at the Ronso. Kimahri ignored the discomfort the sun caused, and was pleased to see the small speck in the horizon arriving.
"They have finally decided to come," the Ronso simple said, before turned around and started to head back to the cottage.
It was only moments later that Riku ran excitedly out onto wharf, and began waving at the object that was slowly coming nearer and nearer.
"Uncle Cid!" she cried out happily out to the ship.
Yuna followed closely behind Riku, and smiled at the sight of the familiar air ship. It had been months since she had seen her uncle, and the rest of the Al Bhed family as well. Now that sin and Yu Yevon were gone for good, the people of Spira had been searching for new ways to go about their lives. The use of machina was one those new ways. The people of Spira had seemed to have forgotten their hate for machina and the Al Bhed people over night and were willing to accept their uses of technology. It's wasn't usual to see people carrying guns and getting around in flying machines nowadays. And through all this change, the Al Bhed had been very busy, traveling all around Spira, delivering new technologies-building new contraptions in cities through the world. That's one of the reasons why she hadn't been able to visit Cid for a while.
It wasn't long till the rest of the group decided to join Yuna and Riku out at the wharf. They all stood there side by side as they watched the large air ship land beside them and two people dressed in goggles and rough leather suits step out of the ship, followed by a man in his mid forties and was deprived of much hair.
"Cid!" Rika said excitedly as he bound up to the man and gave his a tight hug around his neck, and quickly jumped back as a fist followed her actions.
"Don't get so grabby," Cid grumbled, then he turned towards his niece. "Yuna," he said in acknowledgement.
"It's been a while," Yuna greeted him with a short bow.
"It has." Cid droned off as he caught site of the young boy standing a little ways behind Yuna. "Tidus? Is that really you? I thought you were- "
"No, no," Yuna cut off her uncle. "It's not quite what it looks like. He's not the Tidus you've met before."
"Excuse me?" Cid gave a confused look.
"Yeah, it's more complicated that in seems," Wakka scratched the back of his head.
"Well, you can explain to me on the way," said Cid. "We've got plenty of time before we get to Guadosalam. . . . That is where you've heading right?"
Yuna gave a nod.
"Then let's go! We've still got errands to run after we drop you guys off, and it's best if we hurry," Cid explained, and motions for Yuna and the others to follow him into the air ship.
A/N: Wow . . . I wonder how long this chapter has been in my hard drive? Well, probably since Christmas, and I just never got around to finishing it. Well, I just had to finish of where Rika was at the wharf waving to the airship and I stopped from there because I couldn't think of what else to write. Yep. So it sort of craps from there on. I think I have the plot for the story pretty well planned out ( I hope) I have it all planned out in here *points to her head*. Yep, don't be expecting an update too soon. I know I said that I have it all planned out, but I still have to think about how I'm gonna lay it all out for the next chapter and the next chapter and the next chapter . . . (I think you get the idea) :P
"I wish I could go," she sobbed, unable to hold the tears back.
"Yuna." the boy gently breathed into the air.
The world seemed to shimmer around them as he moved in closer to Yuna, closing whatever barriers that stood between them. Her tears paused as she looked up at his face - mesmerized by his tender expression.
Their gaze never left one another as his arms found themselves around her shoulders, and he leaned his face towards her. Their lips locked into a deep embrace . . . and if there were still barriers existing between them, they were certainly crumbling . . .
***
Moments passed by, but he still remained seated on the floor, staring deeply into the now empty memory sphere (a/n: movie sphere in the game). The images he had just witnessed sent him further into confusion, creating more questions to wrack against the inside of his head. Was that girl that precious to him? He couldn't recall any memories of her - or caring for someone so deeply.
"What's buggin' you?" Tidus heard a cheerful voice asked him from behind.
Tidus turned around, only to find a tall man with orange hair standing by the doorframe.
"You're. . . Wakka," Tidus said, pausing between his words, to try to remember the man's name. He had spent the night before talking to each of the inhabitants in the house, trying hard to get to know them - perhaps remember them.
Wakka gave a nod before catching sight of the memory sphere on the floor.
"What's this?" the ex-blitz ball player asked, crouching down beside Tidus and activating the sphere.
Images spewed forth onto the surface of the sphere.images of their adventures together, the enemies they faced, and images of Yuna and Tidus sharing a brief moment of embrace. Wakka quickly turned the sphere off, seeing the distress in the boy's eyes.
"Still trying to remember, huh?" Wakka's voice became weak as he realized his error. "You shouldn't sweat about it. Those memories aren't yours. Their someone else's."
"But . . .he looks just like me. . ." Tidus' expression deepened, making Wakka feel even worse. He wasn't helping much in comforting the boy. He knew that for sure.
"Hey, like I said, don't worry about it!" Wakka released a nervous laugh. "That's why we'll be heading out to Guadosalam in a little while. We'll figure all this out in time, so just take it easy for now, ya?"
Tidus didn't say anything in reply and his expression did change, as well. He was too lost in his own thoughts.
***
"I had hoped that we would never have to use these ever again," Lulu stated as she pulled out their legendary weapons from a large chest found in her room. "But, if we are to travel to Guadosalam and to Zanarkand, we'll have to carry some weapons along with us. The roads are still littered with fiends."
Yuna bent down in the chest and took out her legenday weapon, Nirvana. She could still feel the power emanating from it. She gave the rod a few good spins in her hands, causing old memories to arise. Before, she had used the powerful weapon to amplify her magic and concentration to call upon the powers of the Fayth to summon forth powerful aeons. But with the Fayth now awaken from their dreams and with the death of Sin, the aeons became nothing more than forgotten things of the past. Now, the only use she would have for Nirvana would be just to cast white magic.
"Wooh!" Riku exclaimed happily, drawing Yuna from her thoughts. "It's great to have you back!"
Riku spun around, slipping her weapon, Godhand, on. She teetered slightly from the sudden shift of weight onto one side of her body, but she quickly recovered from it.
"Teeheehee!" she giggled sinisterly. "The destruction we will wreak together once more, and the great many things we will steal. Oh. I hope I'll remember how to mix potions and items together still."
Yuna shook her head at her cousin. Riku was exaggerating of course. The only destruction she truly caused in battle was her constant panicking, causing her to throwing gil at her enemies and bribing them to leave. But, when pushed to the limit and with absolutely now way of escaping, Riku's overdrive would cause devastating damage upon enemies . . . when she got her formulas for the mixing items right, of course.
Yuna's attention turned to Wakka, now smiling as he held a deadly looking blitz ball in his hands. The World Champion, back in the hands of the great Wakka. He spun the ball on his finger, careful to avoid the sharp blades protruding from the ball.
"Yuna," Lulu handed Yuna a sword wrapped in a thick plain cloth. "Give this to him."
Yuna gently peeled the cloth off from the blade, finding the Cadabolg still shining as brilliantly as it had when Tidus had first gotten it. Yuna inhaled a deep breath and headed over to the corner Tidus was standing alone at.
"Here," she offered the blade to him. "It belonged to . . . a friend. I'm sure you'll make good use of it, as he did before."
Tidus took the weapon from her, admiring the fine craftsmanship of the blade. It was surprisingly light, and well balanced. He swung it around in the air, careful not to strike the girl standing by him.
"Wow, it's sure is something!" he said in awe. "But. . . I don't really know how to fight."
For a moment, Yuna was shocked. The boy had handled the weapon with such ease, it was hard to believe he had never handled a weapon before. The likeness of his handling of the blade was so much like his. . . it hurt to watch. Yuna suppressed the pain in her chest, and forced a smile unto her face.
"It's alright," she said in a bright tone of voice, masking her true feelings. "You'll learn to fight on the way to Zanarkand. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon enough."
****
Kimahri, stood at the edge of the wharf, looking at the horizon. The sun was at its peak was mercilessly staring down at the Ronso. Kimahri ignored the discomfort the sun caused, and was pleased to see the small speck in the horizon arriving.
"They have finally decided to come," the Ronso simple said, before turned around and started to head back to the cottage.
It was only moments later that Riku ran excitedly out onto wharf, and began waving at the object that was slowly coming nearer and nearer.
"Uncle Cid!" she cried out happily out to the ship.
Yuna followed closely behind Riku, and smiled at the sight of the familiar air ship. It had been months since she had seen her uncle, and the rest of the Al Bhed family as well. Now that sin and Yu Yevon were gone for good, the people of Spira had been searching for new ways to go about their lives. The use of machina was one those new ways. The people of Spira had seemed to have forgotten their hate for machina and the Al Bhed people over night and were willing to accept their uses of technology. It's wasn't usual to see people carrying guns and getting around in flying machines nowadays. And through all this change, the Al Bhed had been very busy, traveling all around Spira, delivering new technologies-building new contraptions in cities through the world. That's one of the reasons why she hadn't been able to visit Cid for a while.
It wasn't long till the rest of the group decided to join Yuna and Riku out at the wharf. They all stood there side by side as they watched the large air ship land beside them and two people dressed in goggles and rough leather suits step out of the ship, followed by a man in his mid forties and was deprived of much hair.
"Cid!" Rika said excitedly as he bound up to the man and gave his a tight hug around his neck, and quickly jumped back as a fist followed her actions.
"Don't get so grabby," Cid grumbled, then he turned towards his niece. "Yuna," he said in acknowledgement.
"It's been a while," Yuna greeted him with a short bow.
"It has." Cid droned off as he caught site of the young boy standing a little ways behind Yuna. "Tidus? Is that really you? I thought you were- "
"No, no," Yuna cut off her uncle. "It's not quite what it looks like. He's not the Tidus you've met before."
"Excuse me?" Cid gave a confused look.
"Yeah, it's more complicated that in seems," Wakka scratched the back of his head.
"Well, you can explain to me on the way," said Cid. "We've got plenty of time before we get to Guadosalam. . . . That is where you've heading right?"
Yuna gave a nod.
"Then let's go! We've still got errands to run after we drop you guys off, and it's best if we hurry," Cid explained, and motions for Yuna and the others to follow him into the air ship.
A/N: Wow . . . I wonder how long this chapter has been in my hard drive? Well, probably since Christmas, and I just never got around to finishing it. Well, I just had to finish of where Rika was at the wharf waving to the airship and I stopped from there because I couldn't think of what else to write. Yep. So it sort of craps from there on. I think I have the plot for the story pretty well planned out ( I hope) I have it all planned out in here *points to her head*. Yep, don't be expecting an update too soon. I know I said that I have it all planned out, but I still have to think about how I'm gonna lay it all out for the next chapter and the next chapter and the next chapter . . . (I think you get the idea) :P