Chapter Fifteen

When Tidus broke the surface of the water he felt as if every bone in his body had been fractured and all of his tendons were stretched well beyond normal range of motion.  Horrendous pain was shooting through his body as he was gasping for air.  His head bobbed below the water again as he was in mid-breath, causing salty seawater to go down his esophagus.  He broke water again, this time he was coughing instead of gasping.  The waves, still large in the aftermath of Levathian's attack, were tossing him all over the place.  He went under again, this time by choice.  Being a blitzer, he could hold his breath for a long time.  It would probably be more beneficial to him to work underwater to try and find his bearings.  It didn't help any that his head felt as if it was going to explode any second now.  Summoning all the strength he had, he started kicking his feet and swimming towards the shore.

"Yuna," a loud voice flowed down the beach.  "Yuna??" it screamed again.

"Tidus?"  After a brief pause Rikku screamed "Lulu?"

"Anybody?!?!" she yelled dejectedly.

Rikku had been running down the beach for fifteen minutes now, shouting names and wanting desperately to hear a reply.  Finally she had to stop running to take a breath, doubling over in the process. 

She had remained unhurt in the attack, the waves thrusting her but not snapping her in half.  Although she felt as if she had been placed in a blender with dull blades, she wasn't severely injured.  I hope everyone else was as lucky, she thought as she raised herself up and called out for Yuna once again.

As she started to run down the beach again, something caught her attention over in the surf.  At first she wasn't interested, but when it caught her eyes again, there was something familiar about it.  She walked over towards the object, re-wetting her feet in the process.  She gasped as she realized what it was.  Rikku bent down and picked up a stuffed Mog that was floating in the surf. 

"Lulu," she said, with a hint of desperation in her voice.  The Mog had come apart in the attack, with white cotton coming out of a hole in its back.  Suddenly a loud splash erupted behind Rikku and startled her, making a small inaudible noise escape her mouth.  She turned around to see Kimahri walking towards the shoreline.  His blue hair was matted and drenched to his sides as he walked.  He still had his spear in his right hand as a large wave came up from behind him and pushed him forward.

"Kimahri!" Rikku screamed, running out into the water.  "Are you ok?" she yelled wrapping her arms around the large Ronso.

"Kimahri fine," he replied.  "Kimahri still able to go on."

"Great!" Rikku replied.  "I thought I was the only one who made it out of that."

"Where's Yuna" Kimahri asked.

"I don't know.  But we have to find them all quick."

"Which way you go?" he asked.

"That way," Rikku pointed down the beachfront.

"Hmmm," Kimahri growled.  "Lets find others."  With that, the Ronso took off running down the sandy beach, with Rikku waving her arms not far behind. 

"Wait!!" she screamed, yelling and racing with Kimahri as fast as she could.  "Wait on me!!"

------

"Yuna!!" Tidus yelled as he place his hand above his brow to hide the glare of the sun.  "Yuna!!" he screamed again, hoping for a response.  He had been running as fast as he could the moment his feet touched the sand.  Although the pain in his head and body was immense, he chose to ignore it. 

"Ack," he heard from the ocean water.  Tidus spun around to see what he source of the sound.  "Yuna!!" he yelled, recognizing the slumped figure coming out of the surf.  Yuna continued to cough, trying her best to get the salt water out of her lungs.  Tidus came rushing through the waves, leaving a wake of water as his legs splashed everywhere.
"Yuna!!" he yelled again as he embraced her in the water.  "Are you ok?" he asked.

His only reply was a steady stream of coughs.  Yuna placed her hand up against her mouth as she tried to clear out her lungs with another few coughs.  "You ok?" he asked again tentatively.  She shook her head "yes" as she sniffed. 

"Yeah," she finally said as a big wave came and pushed her back into Tidus' arms.  "I'm so happy you're alive," she said in between ragged gasps.

"Shhh" Tidus said while rubbing his hand between her shoulder blades.  "I'm fine, I was just worried about you, that's all"

"What about the others?" Yuna asked. 

"I don't know," Tidus said.  "I haven't seen anybody else."
"We need to find them all," Yuna said.

"Ok, lets go then!" Tidus replied tensing his arm up like he does from time to time.  "I came from that way, so if we go down this way then maybe we could find them"

"Okay," Yuna said, taking a few steps to lead the way.

It took about twenty minutes of running down the sandy beach before they saw the others.  They saw the forms of Wakka, Auron, and Abel huddled around something on the surf.

"Hey guys!!" Tidus said, between gasping for breaths.  "Guys?!?!" he repeated when nobody acknowledged them. 

"Lulu," he heard Yuna gasp as she realized what they were huddled around.  "No!!"

They sprinted in a dead rush towards their fallen friend.

"Lu," they heard Wakka gasp as they came upon them.  "Lu?" he said again, bending over and placing his hand on her shoulder, shaking it a little.  "Please Lu.  You can't.  Please..." he said tailing off at the end, searching for words.  Tidus looked down at the form of Lulu.  He couldn't help but notice that her chest wasn't moving.

"Stand back!!" Yuna said as she bowed her head. 
A glow emitted and encased Lulu, with some shards of light bouncing down towards the sand.  Lulu gasped for air. 

"Lulu!!" Wakka screamed as he reached down and hugged his wife.  "Lulu!!" he said again.  "Are you ok ya?" he practically screamed

"We'll," she said in a raspy voice, struggling for her breath.  "I'd be doing a lot better if you wouldn't be squeezing me half to death."

"Sorry Lu," he said, backing off but still within arms distance.  "I was just worried about you, tha's all.  We all were.  We all thought you were…" Suddenly a motion in the grass behind Wakka interrupted him.  They turned around to see a man about in his forties struggling onto the beach.  He tried to speak, but in the process he stumbled onto the hot sand. 

"Oh my God!!"  Yuna exclaimed.

"The villagers!!"  Auron yelled.

-------


The flames from the torches flickered in the late dusk, sending ashes and burning embers high into the sky, only to flare up one last time and fall harmlessly to the sandy ground.  There was an aura of mixed emotions rising and falling as far as the embers from the torches.  There were many people not saying a word.  There was a lot of silence; silence that is as loud as war.  There were also many tears.

Yuna's staff felt as if it had gained ten pounds since she last held it in her soft hands.  Actually, it seemed as if it was now made of lead.  Everything seemed to be in slow motion: the people, the emotions, and the all too familiar faces looking at her.  She took a deep breath and tried to focus her mind.  With a heavy staff, and a heavy heart, she stepped out onto the crystalline water.

She began the sending.

For Tidus, the sending always brought back the same thoughts:  Strange, yet horrifying.  He was standing next to Auron about thirty meters back from the gathering of people.  He wanted to jerk his eyes away from the dance, but something held him, entranced him really.  There was something mystical that grabbed his attention.  Seven dead, a part of his mind abruptly said.  And all because we told them to go to the mountains and hide.  'Wait on until you see the airship,' he remembered Auron saying.  Damn it, we should have known better.

That thought was enough to break his gaze from the scene.  He looked to his right, where Auron was standing.

"Disheartening isn't it?" Auron said, in a manner such that he was sure that no one else would hear him.

"Yeah," Tidus agreed, not really wanting to pursue that venue of conversation.

"Or were you checking to see if I was going to disappear as well?"  Auron asked.

"No," Tidus said.  "I knew you wouldn't.  You're a dream of the Fayth now, like me."

"An alive dream of a waking Fayth," Auron said to Tidus, himself, or really no one.  "It feels strangely different to be completely alive now, instead of being an unsent."

"What's the big difference?" Tidus asked, making sure to keep his voice low.

"It feels as if I have more purpose now," Auron responded.

"Hmmm," Tidus uttered as he pondered this in silence.

"When are you leaving?" he asked after a while.

"The Rekrfeht should be here in about ten minutes," Auron replied.  "Can you handle leading this part of it?

"Of course" Tidus inadvertently snapped back.

"Just checking," Auron said with a smirk on his face.  "Hide your emotions."

"Why?" Tidus asked, feeling a bit as if his old mentor is still treating him like a child.

"In case you haven't noticed, everyone else's emotions are a little wrecked as of now.  When people are depressed or angered by the loss of their loved ones, then they will perform differently then they will normally.  Sometimes they will do irrational things.  You must not allow that to happen.  If you're going to lead this end of it, then you must be a pillar for them to look up to.  Being a leader isn't easy, you should know that by now."

As Tidus opened his mouth to reply a deep rumbling came from the sky.  The Rekrfeht appeared with its deck illuminated by the streaming external lights.  It was truly a sight to behold with all of its lights shining brightly.  It shifted in the air and started descending towards the beach.

"That's my ride," Auron said, shifting his katana on his back as he started walking towards the airship.

Tidus watched his mentor walk away on the sandy beach.  Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't really talked to his friend in over two years, or maybe it was the lingering theme of death in the air, but something compelled him to call out to his old friend. 

"Auron," he said.

The crimson clad warrior stopped and cocked his head in a semi-profile to Tidus.  The sea breeze was pulling his robe back, along with his hair, tousling it about.  "Yes?" he replied.

"You've got the signal right?" Tidus asked, knowing full well the answer.

"Yes," Auron answered, padding the right pocket of his robe.

"Then in five days?" Tidus asked.

"Yes," Auron replied again.

"Then in five days we will walk victoriously down the streets of Bevelle," Tidus said awkwardly.

A smile broke out on Auron's face.  Although his back was still facing Tidus, he knew that the old monk was probably grinning either internally or externally.

"Humph," Auron said in a semi-laugh.  He opened his mouth to give a reply, but when nothing came to his mind he just shook his head and started striding towards the Rekrfeht again.

Five days, Tidus thought to himself as he watched the crowd disperse around the beach.  A lot can happen in five days.

--------------

 Author's notes

1—There ya go.  I got this out relatively sooner than expected, and I'll tell you why.  THE DAMN SNOW!!  The only relevant things I've been able to do lately are play my guitar, eat, read fanfiction and work on this story.  Bloody winter.  I've got some serious cabin fever set it.  As far as Fallen Heroes goes:  What's going to happen in five days?  Stay tuned.

2—Squaresoft owns everything, or all of the important stuff.

3—Thanks goes out to the kids again.  Maths, I'm glad you appreciated the Abel POV.  I was really hesitant to do that because people read fanfiction because they love the characters that are already established.  But if you kids like a dose of Abel every now and then, I may just do that.  Starlight, sorry if I confused you.  In hindsight I realize when I rushed things, I didn't really go into detail that much.  They were going to Besaid.  In fact they already went there once and evacuated most of the island.  On their way back to get the rest of the residents, they ran into Luzzu and the baddies.  Hope this helps!!  Blurry, glad you liked the last chap.  The action may slip a bit for a (very) little while, just to do some character development and stuff.  But it WILL get back to the good stuff soon.  Ichabod, to help with your points:  you are very perceptive.  No, I don't quite think Yuna's going to summon again.  All, or most, or the Fayths are sleeping soundly and quite happy about it.  About the gore, yeah I kinda didn't go as far with it as I wanted to.  (I'm kind of a violent person, okay not really.  I just like some gore.)  I cut back a bit for the same reasons you mentioned.  I think I'm going to go pretty sparce about that, just so I won't scare off any readers.  Target, glad you enjoyed.  YES, get some more RV out there as soon as you can.  It's a good story with a really good start.  SG, what up?  I'm glad you liked Levathian.  I was also really disappointed when he wasn't in FFX; him and I always liked Maudin (now where's HE from?)  I was kinda hoping both would find their way into X.  X had Yojimbo??  But no Levathian?  What where they all smoking?  Anyway, if Levathian wasn't in their version of the story he as a place in this one.   Don't worry, Abel is NOT gonna scrog with Lu (married), Yuna (kinda taken), or Rikku (not a good mix).  I think Abel is gonna live the single life.   

4—Thanks to the newest kids:  Milkshake and RDW.  I appreciate the good words.  Just so you know...suspense is a good thing, by my point of view.  Sequel?  We'll see how this one turns out first.  Thanks for the support.  Everyone, you guys are the reason the wheels keep going on this ride.

5—Next chapter?  Wakka goes through some soul-searching, a full-scale war is developing, and Ichabod (hopefully) will be very pleased.  But now I have to go eat pizza and listen to some Stone Temple Pilots, if anybody really cared.