Author's Note: Square owns FFX and Damien Rice owns "Volcano."


"And what I am to you

Is not real

And what I am to you

You do not need

And what I am to you

Is not what you mean to me

You give me miles and miles of mountains

And I ask for the sea"


Damien Rice "Volcano"


Chapter Four:

When Auron approached the airship, he immediately noticed that it was different than the one he previously flew in. The airship sitting on the beach was much larger than the one Cid piloted. It was...just more, of everything. He turned his head and watched Kaeli, who was lagging behind the group. This was understandable since the walk to the airship was filled with reminiscences and questions, something Kaeli was not a part of and hence a bit of an outsider. Of course, Auron thought, she was an outsider. He couldn't understand why he invited Kaeli to go with them. The spontaneity of his invitation was a surprise not only to Yuna and Rikku but to himself as well. Whether Kaeli herself was surprise, Auron couldn't tell. In fact, there was a lot about Kaeli that he couldn't tell. She reminded him a lot of himself, self-possessed and composed. Other than that, there wasn't anything that he knew about her. The fact that Kaeli agreed to come with him on this trip was a surprise too. She didn't know anything about him or Yuna or Rikku. Yet, she agreed to go with them, destination unknown. Why? Who was she really? Where did she come from? So many questions left unanswered and Auron didn't liked it one bit. He snapped out of his thoughts when Yuna said something to him.

"I'm sorry Yuna, what was that?" Auron asked.

Yuna looked at Auron and he could see her glaze slipped past him to Kaeli, who stopped walking and stood slightly to the back of him.

"Um, I just asked how you liked my new ship. Well, what do you think? It's on loan from Cid."

Auron looked at the airship and took in the brightness, the...redness of it all.

"It's a beautiful ship Yuna."

"Yeah! I thought so when I recommended the ship to Yunie. Right Yunie?" Rikku said.

"Right!" Yuna nodded, "Come on, lets go in."

They all boarded the ship and inside was a long hallway leading to the various parts of the ship. Yuna took the lead with Rikku right behind her. Auron followed suit with Kaeli not far behine. They passed many doors and as they walked by a particular door of interest, Rikku would explain what was behind them.

"This is the mess hall and this is the sleeping quarters. And this..."

They made it through the long hallway and when they got to the bridge, Brother greeted them.

"Hey!" he said to Yuna and Rikku.

When he saw Auron, his eyes widen, "Hey!? You're...you're back!"

He got up from his seat by the many control panels and gave Auron a solid thump on the back. Auron returned in kind.

"Oooof," said Brother before taking his seat again.

"Yeah...good to have you back."

He turned his attention to Kaeli, who was still standing behind Auron. "Well, nice to meet you," Brother said, leaning back against his chair to get a better view of Kaeli.

Auron could see Brother glancing rather appreciatively at Kaeli. For reasons unknown to him, it annoyed him tremendously.

"Ahem," Auron coughed gently.

He made a quick gesture to Kaeli, "This is Kaeli."

Kaeli walked forward and extended her hand and Brother enthusiastically shook it.

When Brother refused to let go of Kaeli's hand for what seemed to Auron as a little longer than necessary in terms of hand shaking, Auron intervened. He quickly removed Kaeli's hand from Brother's clasp and as he did so, he caught sight of Yuna and Rikku, both wildly amused by the interplay. Auron dropped Kaeli's hand quickly and not looking at her at all, addressed Yuna.

"What is this sphere I have to see?" Auron asked roughly.

"Right, the sphere," Yuna said and headed to a control panel.

With a push of a few buttons, a panel opened and Yuna pulled out an odd looking sphere. The sight of Yuna operating a machina showed how much the Summoner, a former devotee of Yevonite, had changed. Not too long ago, Yuna would not have the slightest clue on how and what to do with a piece of machina. Now, well, now she had an airship of her own, one she seemed obviously at eased with. Yuna brought the sphere to Auron and activated it, Auron looked and in front of him was a scene of a young man who looked suspiciously like the son of his friend Jecht. The only problem was, the young man wasn't really Tidus. He had been with the young man since he was a child and never had he seen the scene captured in the sphere. He continued to watched the sphere in silence and he was acutely away of Kaeli moving from behind him to get a better look at the sphere. He moved aside and pulled her in front of him so she could see the sphere better. Auron had no trouble seeing over the short mysterious girl's head. The sphere continued to play on, and in it, Auron could hear the young man shout out:

"Who cares if I used the enemy's machina? It was the only way to save the Summoner! What would you have done instead?! Let me out of here! Let me see her!"

The sphere stopped. Auron looked up and watched Yuna's face. After all this time, Yuna still hadn't let go, to forget.

He looked at the odd shaping sphere, before he spoke, Yuna asked him, "Is that Tidus? Is it?"

Auron looked at the Summoner's face, eager and hopeful. Auron cleared his throat, "Yuna...I don't think that's Tidus."

He could see the Summoner's face crumpled, he quickly continued on, "But, I don't really know. There are so much I don't know. Including why I'm here in Spira," he gestured to the sphere, "Or who this young man is."

He stopped speaking. He could see Yuna holding back her tears and disappointment, that the young man in the sphere wasn't her beloved guardian. Rikku looking lost was unsure how to comfort her cousin.

It was Kaeli who spoke out, "It doesn't matter. There are many questions in this world as there are many answers."

She addressed Yuna specifically, "You wish to know who this young man is, his story, in hopes of completing your own...just seek for the answers..."

At this point, Kaeli looked at Auron and he couldn't help but feel that her comment was addressed to him as well.

"Yeah!" Rikku said, "Don't worry Yunie, we'll find the answers. We'll find out who this guy is and we'll find the answers to Tidus as well!"

Swayed by Rikku's enthusiasm as well as Kaeli's comment, Yuna smiled brightly and brushed the tears aside.
"Right! We'll find the answers...right Sir Auron?"

Auron looked the the Summoner's face and nodded.

Recharged with anew energy, Yuna spoke, "Where should we go?"

Before anyone could speak, Kaeli answered, "The Farplane."

Yuna nodded, "That's a good idea. We should go and see if Tidus is there...and see if..." she gestured to the sphere, "he is there too. What do you all think?" Rikku nodded her head, blonde braids bobbing up and down. Auron gave a gruff "Hmmmfff" and nodded.

She turned to Brother, "To Farplane!"