Final Fantasy X: Journey
"Fiends are onboard!" Cid yelled back, catching card players Yuna and Rikku by surprise. Both leapt to their feet just as Wakka and Lulu ran in, ready for battle.
"Where?" Yuna said, nodding to her guardians to get prepped.
"On the deck and, oddly enough, in the cabin. They're crawling all over the place!" Cid said, checking the sphere monitors in front of him. He turned to the group. "Get back there and get rid of 'em before they destroy the Titan!"
"Right!" Yuna grabbed her handguns and took off after her guardians, Lulu already preparing to Doublecast and Wakka holding World Champion ready. Rikku was busily getting her items together.
"Let's go!"
* * *
"This is starting to get boring—capital 'B'!" Tida groaned, stopping in the middle of the road. Her eyes lit up. "Why don't we ask for a chocobo ride at Rin's Travel Agency!"
Chappu halted and turned to face her. "You sure? We're gaining more power fighting fiends as we walk."
"I'm sure. Besides, it's almost dark and I could use a break," Tida said, walking on by him toward the building looming in the distance.
"If you're sure," Chappu sighed, following her.
"!" Tida called, spotting the blond-haired Al Bhed merchant speaking to the chocobo handler. He looked up as his name was called—and in Al Bhed.
"?" he replied, giving Tida a quick once-over.
"Ed'c sa, Dety! E's pylg!" she cried, laughing. Rin hugged her.
"Famlusa pylg, Myto Dety. Fryd lyh E ycced oui fedr?" Rin said, stepping away and bowing.
"E haat y lrulupu. E haat du kad pylg du Sus. Luimt oui cibbmo uha?" Tida asked, her eyes turning dark, as they did when she was serious.
"Cina. Dyga frydajan oui haat; ed'c uh dra ruica." Rin said, smiling down at Tida.
"Dryhgc!" Tida said gratefully, shaking Rin's hand. She turned back to Chappu and Rin went inside the travel agency.
Chappu stared at Tida. "Since when do you know Al Bhed?"
"My aunt Rikku taught it to me. I'm part Al Bhed, too, so why shouldn't I at least know the language?" Tida said, shrugging. She put her hands behind her head.
"Well, what did you say?" Chappu asked.
"I asked him if I could get a chocobo to ride. He said yes, and that we could have whatever we wanted. It's on the house!" Tida said happily, her eyes shining.
"Good. You pick the chocobos, and I'll get some armor," Chappu said, moving to the door of the agency. Tida blocked his path.
"Uh, Chappu? The only time I've been around chocobos is when I was five and my mom wanted to show me what it was like. Plus, I'd like to make sure you at least get something in my size—and I also want to stock up on a few items. We're running low on potions," Tida said. Chappu threw up his hands.
"And just whose fault is that?!"
"Yours, you idiot! If you hadn't run after that fiend like some bat out of hell, its friend wouldn't have jumped you from behind!"
"Oh. Um, sorry?"
Thirty minutes later, Tida emerged from the travel agency, patting her belt pouch cheerfully—now that it was full, anyway. Chappu was arguing with the chocobo handler.
"I said two, not one! Two!" he yelled. The handler screeched back in Al Bhed. Tida sighed, her good mood fading at the sight.
"Rammu! Tu oui cbayg Ahkmecr?" Tida said, putting on a smile and breaking up the screaming match. "Chappu, go over there for a minute, will ya? I gotta fix this." Chappu muttered some choice words under his breath, but heeded her and disappeared around the building.
The Al Bhed woman smiled. "Forgive me. It was just he—"
"Cunno. He doesn't speak Al Bhed. But please, did he pick out two chocobos?" Tida said, flashing her winning smile brighter.
"Well, yes. These two. Rin said you could have them?"
"Oac. Could I take them now? We really have to be going," Tida said, reaching for the reins.
"Wark!" One of the chocobos thrust its head toward Tida, brushing against her shirt.
"Oh!" she giggled, rubbing its beak accordingly.
"Be careful now!" the woman called as Tida led the chocobos around to Chappu.
"I will! Thanks again!" Tida yelled back, waving as Chappu mounted the other chocobo. He reached his hand down and Tida accepted it. Chappu pulled her up enough for her to swing her leg over the first chocobo.
"Well," she said, breathing deeply, "here goes."
She nudged her chocobo with her heels, and she and Chappu rode swiftly away from Rin's Travel Agency.
* * *
"Yuna! On your left!"
Yuna whirled around, her guns blazing with fury—and ammunition. The fiend never had a chance. Yuna's eyes flashed and she turned her handguns to the next fiend. She spread her feet apart for a better stance and let the guns sing.
"Yuna's getting good, ya?" Wakka said, taking out a flyer with World Champion. Lulu Doublecasted Firaga on two white elements. "Yes, she is. Strange. We used to have to protect her, but now she doesn't need. We no longer fight as her guardians at all, but instead as her friends."
"Ya," Wakka agreed, feeling the Poison ailment go away as Rikku used an Al Bhed potion on them. Rikku danced around a sand wolf before killing it in one quick swipe of her Godhand. She shrieked with victory and took off after another.
"She'll never grow up, ya know." Wakka commented.
Yuna leapt into the air, firing her guns down on an unsuspecting fiend. The fiend was gone just in time for Yuna to hit where it had been. Yuna sprang again, showering various fiends with gunfire.
—
"Yuna where did that come fun?" Wakka asked the ex-summoner, eyeing her warily as she twirled her guns absentmindedly on her fingers.
"I don't know. I just sort of . . . did it," she said simply, shrugging. Rikku grinned.
"Come on, Yunie! If you're gonna do stuff like that, you'll need a new outfit!" she cried, grabbing her cousin by the wrist and dragging her off.
"But Rikku!"
Rikku ignored her; she decided she knew best on this subject and went on with her plan. She led—or rather, pulled—Yuna into her room on the airship and began rooting in the back of her closet.
"I know it's in here; I never threw it—Aha!" Rikku crowed triumphantly and reappeared, holding up a black bag and smiling mischievously, her green Al Bhed eyes sparkling.
"Rikku, that had better not be—" Yuna stopped. "Oh, why not?"
"Yes! Welcome to the dark side, Yunie!" Rikku yelled, punching the air with her fist, which was closed around a black object of sorts.
—
"Oh, my God," Lulu gasped out, her eyes widening. Her hands flew to her mouth. Wakka turned around in his chair—and the duo standing at the door watched his jaw drop, almost to the floor.
"We got tired of being old when we really weren't," Rikku said simply.
Rikku was wearing something quite similar to her old outfit—except that it was a yellow mini skirt and a light green top that exposed her midriff. On her feet were white slip boots that reach up to her knees. She had on a scarf of sorts around her neck, and a lose belt around her waist.
Yuna had on short black shorts—but not too short—with an open flowing white work shirt that exposed the white tube top she had on underneath. Her boots were black, extending to her mid-calf. She, too, had on a loose belt, this one fitting with a pouch. She still had her arm cloths, which was the only thing on her that reminded of them of the sweet, innocent Yuna.
"So, let's find Seymour. I want to pay him back for what he's done," Yuna said, smirking.
Wakka stared at her. Man, if Tidus or Tida ever came back, he or she was in for a big surprise.
* * *
"Yo—Tida! Pull up!" Chappu yelled, reining in.
Ahead of him, Tida sighed and pulled back lightly on the reins until the chocobo slowed down enough for her to turn him easily and trot back to Chappu.
"What?" she asked, disappointed he'd interrupted her fun.
"I think we need to stop for now. You need your rest," he said. He pointed to a clearing. "That's where we'll make camp."
"Uh, okay." Tida said, sliding down from the chocobo. Her feet hit the ground lightly, and she yawned. "I didn't realize how tired I really was."
"You've been running on nerves since that last fight. I never thought that thing would die!" Chappu said, speaking of the giant fiend that had suddenly decided to make their chocobos his next meal. It had taken a good half hour to kill the stupid thing, even with Tida summoning Valefor to their aide.
"I think I've discovered the best part about my pilgrimage now," Tida said, settling down on the ground in front of the fire she'd just created.
"What's that?"
"Do you remember that place we passed? That was the site of Operation Mi'ihen. My mother performed the sending for them. As far as I know, she's done five sendings. I'll never have to do one, thankfully," Tida said, shuddering unpleasantly at the thought.
"I wouldn't say that yet. Your being a summoner might draw you to all of your of your duties," Chappu warned. Tida sighed and lay back, resting hr head on her arms.
All was silent for a few moments, with Chappu staring into the flickering flames and Tida watching the stars twinkle. A shooting star sailed across her line of vision and she smiled . . .
"If you see a shooting star, and you wish really hard with all you can, your wish will come true . . ."
"What if I wish for Daddy, Mama? Will he come?"
"I . . . I don't know, Tida. Maybe . . ."
"I miss my mom," Tida said, catching Chappu unaware. He looked over at her, and could see tears forming in her eyes.
"I miss the way she would always tell me stories of my dad, right before bedtime. She'd tell me how wonderful he had been, and how much I looked like him. That's why I kept my hair short; I wanted to look like him. I wanted to be him, for my mom," Tida whispered, a tear sliding from the corner of her eye and splattering against the grass below.
Chappu didn't say anything. He simply listened.
"One time, I remember, she brought me to Lake Macalania. She told me what had happened to them both there, and how happy she had been. I remember she stood for a long time in the lake, holding me close to her, not talking at all. I could . . . I could almost feel him there, like he was behind my mom, holding both of us in his arms . . ." Tida's voice faded away, and she leapt up, anger flashing strongly in her eyes.
"You took him away! You took him away from me and Mama! How could you?! HOW COULD YOU?!" she shouted at the sky. Tida threw herself to the ground, beating the ground with her fists.
Chappu lunged forward, grabbing her, trying to stop her before she hurt herself—or just put a really big dent in the defenseless ground.
"How could you? Why did you?" Tida sobbed into Chappu's shoulder, crying it all out—the pain of being taken from her home, from her mother, losing her father, seeing her mother's sad face.
And then, another face swam into view. It was strange, yet somehow Tida knew who he was. She'd heard his story before, heard the bitterness in Uncle Wakka's voice as he'd told her what her mother could not.
But that didn't matter now; it could wait. Right now, she was safe in Chappu's arms and in no danger. Tida closed her, letting her last tears fall.
How her mother had done this, she would never know.
Disclaimer: All belongs to Squaresoft. Tida and Chappu belong to me.