A/N: Once again, a big thanks for all your wonderful reviews! I'm glad that
people like the story so far. ^^ To answer any questions you may have, yes,
there is a reason why Shuyin has returned, and I plan to explain the
important reason for that in a later chapter entitled "Revelations." Until
then, I have to build up to it first. ^^
** Chapter 4 **
Yuna awoke to the feeling of a warm hand gently stroking her hair. She cracked her eyes open and focused them to see his blue eyes gazing down at her. She smiled up at him, rubbing her eyes slightly.
"Good morning," Tidus spoke softly.
"Good morning," she replied with a small smile, feeling a bit shy that he had been watching her while she slept.
"Sleep well?" he asked, while raising himself up on one arm to lean over her.
She blinked, finally awakening fully. "Mm-hm."
He simply smiled at her in response.
Yuna turned on her side so that she could face him. She studied him fondly. Looking into his face, she noticed that he had been awake for some time now, his eyes clear and fully awake. She raised a hand and found his, still ungloved but warm like always.
Tidus looked over at her and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "You were really tired last night," he simply said, and leaned back down to lie down beside her, hugging her close.
She nodded. "I guess I was.." Yuna said, trailing off. She continued to stare at him some more, but he didn't seem to notice it. Her eyes trailed from his face down to his necklace, the familiar symbol glinting in the light. It was the same symbol that she also wore on her clothing. Yuna remembered the first day she decided to wear the logo of his Blitzball team, the Zanarkand Abes. Having the piece made at a local accessory shop shortly after he had left two years ago, she boldly sewed the symbol on the front side of her shirt, as a somewhat tribute in honor of him. Remembering what the symbol had meant to her, she gazed at him lovingly.
He seemed to notice her eyes on him and looked over at her. "What?" he smiled in question.
Yuna shook her head in response. "It's nothing, just using the time to stare at you," she replied, causing him to grin at her response. She saw his form move over her, his necklace jingling at the movement.
"You know, it's rude to stare," Tidus whispered, moving down near her face, his warm breath grazing her cheek.
She froze. Her dream came flooding back to her all too suddenly. 'It feels exactly the same...'
Yuna blinked and turned her face away from Tidus, causing him to frown in confusion.
"What's wrong?" he asked her, trying to figure out what had caused her to turn away from him so suddenly.
She turned to face him then. "Sorry, I-I just remembered something.." she began, but quickly stopped when she realized her mistake. 'No, don't tell him. There's no reason to make him worry.'
Standing up and giving him a quick kiss on his cheek before pulling her boots on, she mumbled another apology. "It's really nothing," she told him, as she saw his eyes growing slightly suspicious. "I forgot to say goodbye to Rikku and Paine before they had to leave," Yuna said.
With that, she walked out of the hut, leaving him alone in the room. Tidus fell back down on the bed, one arm covering his eyes deep in thought.
"What the hell is going on?" he asked himself in frustration.
****
"Try it now, Pops!" Rikku yelled from the engine room.
"Nukan!" Cid's voice said through the intercom.
The engine roared to life, sounding more like it was originally. Rikku grinned brightly. "Another job well done," she congratulated herself proudly.
Looking up, she heard Paine's boots against the flooring, coming down the stairs to meet her.
"Looks like you fixed it," Paine said, stopping to note Rikku's soiled clothing.
Rikku jumped up and dusted herself off. "Of course!" she said.
"After Brother sped up the airship with us on top of it, I'm not surprised the engine broke," Paine said, remembering the events after the trio had left Baralai, Gippal, and Nooj at Luca. The girls had taken a joy ride on the Celsius' deck with Yuna commanding them to go faster.
Rikku laughed. "But you gotta admit, it was kinda fun," she said.
Paine shrugged. Before she could reply, the sound of someone running down the steps caused both her and Rikku to look up.
"Yunie!" Rikku exclaimed, seeing her cousin appear. Rikku studied her face. "Hey, why are you up so early?" she asked, noting Yuna's still- rumpled clothing.
"Actually, I wanted to say goodbye before you two left," Yuna answered. She paused, looking between Paine and Rikku for a moment.
"Is that all you came here for?" Paine asked, sensing more to Yuna's presence.
Yuna sighed in defeat. "Yeah, there is more," she admitted while beginning to walk towards the other two. Rikku looked at her curiously. "I um, was wondering if we could come with you on the airship. There's somewhere I want to go today," Yuna admitted, remembering that she had promised Kimahri that she would visit him again as soon as she got the chance. She also needed to speak with him.
"Where to?" Paine asked.
"To Mt. Gagazet," Yuna replied.
"I'm going with you," a male voice said.
Yuna turned to look behind her. She saw Tidus standing above the stairway, nodding to the other two girls in the room before coming down the remaining steps to meet her.
"I was just about to come get you," Yuna told him, hoping he didn't feel as if she had abandoned him earlier that morning. He smiled weakly at her. Yuna groaned inwardly to herself. He must have thought she was angry with him. With the way she just left and the way she had acted when he tried to kiss her, what other explanation was there? Still, Yuna hoped he believed her excuse as she left the hut. It wasn't a total lie anyway, as she really did mean to see Kimahri. However she had other matters to attend to in Mt. Gagazet as well.
"Alright, let's get going then!" Rikku suddenly exclaimed, putting an end to Yuna's thoughts.
***
The cold air hit Yuna's bare arms and legs as they landed at Gagazet's entrance. Her long side-skirt flapped from the chilling winds. The cold had hit her skin so quickly that it was almost painful. She shivered at the unexpected weather. 'Strange, it usually isn't this cold here.'
Yuna had been able to stand the icy weather during the Gullwings' last visits to Mt. Gagazet, yet on those days the air wasn't as cold as it was now. She walked rather stiffly, trying to hug herself and rubbing her arms up and down.
"Man, why's the weather so cold today?" Rikku whined, voicing Yuna's own thoughts.
Paine murmured something quietly to herself, but Yuna didn't catch it.
She suddenly felt a glove close around her arm gently from behind.
Tidus spoke to her. "Hey, you're cold," he gently said to her, blue eyes full of concern. Before Yuna could reply to him, he had wrapped her in his arms from behind, with her in front of him. She instantly felt warmer, yet her legs were still left exposed to the elements.
"Yuna," a gruff voice suddenly spoke. Yuna looked up to see Kimahri walking towards them, a hint of a smile on the Ronso's face.
Yuna suddenly noticed Kimahri stop in his steps, his eyes trailing to the figure that had his arms around Yuna from behind. She smiled knowingly.
"He's back," Yuna told Kimahri, smiling.
Kimahri simply nodded and walked over to him. Yuna felt his arms loosen around her and she stepped away for a moment, as Kimahri stopped in front of Tidus.
"Kimahri happy Yuna finally happy again," the Ronso simply said before turning to walk back.
Yuna smiled at the confused expression evident in Tidus' blue eyes. "I guess he's happy," she told him with a smile.
"Yunie, it's freezing!" Rikku suddenly interjected. "Why exactly did we come here again?" Rikku asked, clearly shivering due to the way she was dressed.
"You should have dressed warmer," Paine said. Rikku continued to shiver.
"I actually wanted to speak with Kimahri some more," Yuna said, noting the Ronso's fading form. "I guess he must be busy. There was something I needed to tell him," Yuna said.
"What is it?" Paine asked, shifting a bit to her other leg.
Yuna hesitated with what she intended to say. On one hand, she was not prepared to tell the others that she had come to Gagazet to speak with Kimahri on the recent occurrences about Shuyin's mysterious return. Yet another part of her wanted to just tell everyone so it wasn't a secret anymore. Perhaps they could have helped her if they knew what was going on as well. 'But -he- would find out, and I don't want him to worry about any of this.'
She knew that Shuyin had returned for a reason, yet Yuna still didn't know why. Deciding on where she would take it from here, she turned to Paine.
"There's a statue of myself that's being built on top of the summit, and I wanted to thank Kimahri and the other Ronso, even if it really wasn't necessary. It's so kind of them to do it in my honor, and I never thanked them properly," Yuna said.
Paine made no reply. Yuna thought that Paine had sensed something from her, but she chose to wait for the warrior's reply. After another moment, she spoke.
"Alright, if that's what you want," Paine said. "Do you want us to go with you?" she asked Yuna.
Rikku suddenly sneezed.
Yuna looked over at Rikku, noting the younger girl's pale skin. "Actually, that's alright. It seems like Rikku would be better if she stayed on the airship," Yuna replied, walking over to her cousin.
Rikku tried to smile, yet her teeth just continued to chatter softly. "Th-thanks Yunie. B-but are you s-sure you d-don't need our help?" she asked, teeth still chattering from the cold.
"It's ok, Rikku. Go inside and warm up. I'll be fine," Yuna assured the younger girl. She turned to Paine. "Could you go with her? She doesn't look so well," Yuna said with concern.
"No problem," Paine answered. "We'll see you later then."
Yuna watched as Paine led the freezing Rikku back towards the Celsius. "I hope Rikku will be ok. I feel bad for dragging her down here. It looks like she's caught a cold," Yuna said, turning to face Tidus. He stood beside her, with his arms crossed.
"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine," he assured her with a nod.
Yuna looked on ahead of the snowy slopes leading to the summit. She smiled at him. "Are you sure you don't mind coming with me up there?" she asked.
Tidus chuckled. "Of course not! I couldn't let you go alone now could I?" he replied with a grin.
She smiled at him. "Thanks."
He reached down to lock their fingers together. "Ok, let's go."
***
The walk to the summit was short. They had used the teleport platforms to reach the top in no time. After Yuna spoke to the sculptor at the top of the summit and the other Ronso at the top of the mountain had revealed the finished statue to her, Yuna was in awe.
The statue was beautifully made, capturing every aspect of her perfectly. Although Yuna was grateful for having them make the statue of her, she still felt a bit humble about it. Still, it truly touched her. After thanking the Ronso graciously, she and him had started down the slopes again to find Kimahri.
"Hey, is that the sound of water over there?" Tidus suddenly asked her, looking in the direction of the hot springs.
"Yeah, there's a hot spring over there," Yuna told him.
"A hot spring?" he asked in disbelief. "Wow, I would've never known," he chuckled a bit.
Yuna smiled at him. "Do you want to go see it?" she asked. Yuna already knew what his answer would be.
"Yeah! Let's go check it out," he declared, already grabbing her hand and leading them there.
***
As they approached the hot springs, Tidus let go of her hand and looked down at it. "I never would have thought Mt. Gagazet would have something like this," he said to himself.
Yuna walked next to him. "I was surprised too when I found out about it," she told him.
He turned to her, grinning slyly. "You want to join me?"
Yuna hit him playfully on the shoulder. "I didn't even bring my suit with me," she told him. He just smiled at her.
Before Yuna could catch the smile on his face, she squealed when she suddenly felt both his arms latch firmly around her and threw them both into the water. They both fell, making a big splash.
Yuna swam up to the surface. He had thrown them into the deeper depths of the hot springs, so she couldn't exactly sit down. She saw him surface as well, his hair wet and dripping. Tidus grinned at her.
"How did I know you were going to do that?" she asked him with amusement, playfully shoving him.
"You didn't, or else you wouldn't have fallen in here with me," he replied smartly, causing Yuna to laugh at his silliness.
"Well, I guess you got me then," she sighed and shut her eyes, feeling the warmth of the water surround her.
Yuna's eyes flew open as a large splash of water suddenly hit her face and hair. She pouted at him and narrowed her eyes. "You want to play, do you?" she said to him. Tidus smiled innocently at her, blue eyes filled with mischief.
Catching him off-guard, she splashed a fairly good amount of the water at him and laughed. He shook his hair out and before Yuna knew it, they had commenced into war.
After some time, Yuna felt the water become shallow, as her feet could feel the ground. Their little fight had taken them towards the shallow end of the hot spring, and they hadn't even noticed. Laughing as she shook out her hair, she sighed and sat down on the now-shallow end they had migrated towards.
She watched as he came to her, his face leaning close to hers. "I guess I won," he chuckled. Tiny droplets of water ran down his face, his blue eyes clear and mischievous.
Yuna shook her head while laughing a bit. "No, you didn't," she said, sticking her tongue out to him.
Tidus moved closer to her then, seating himself near her to place a kiss on her cheek. "That was fun," he smiled at her. Moving away, he sat back and sighed. "You know, I'm glad we have this place to ourselves."
Yuna looked at him, his body looking completely relaxed in the water. "Yeah.." she began, but was cut off when a sudden chill ran through her body. 'It got so cold all of a sudden.'
Tidus looked over at her. "Hey, are you ok? You wanna get out now?" he asked her, suddenly concerned. Moving over to her, he looked at Yuna's face. She nodded.
"Sure, we should head back to see Kimahri now," she replied, wondering why she felt cold in the hot spring. 'Strange..'
"Ok, wait here, I'll be back to get you something warm," Tidus suddenly said, standing up from the spring and walking back towards the entrance. His chains jangled as he stood up.
Yuna raised her eyebrows at him in confusion, watching his retreating form. "I wonder what he's going to get," she asked herself aloud, her voice echoing throughout the area.
Letting the warm water calm her nerves, she tried to forget the chilled feeling she experienced earlier. Yuna's face suddenly became serious when she remembered Shinra just then. She remembered the CommSphere that he had set up at the hot springs, and smiled a little to herself. Yuna recalled the embarrassment she felt while watching the people that had visited the hot spring then.
Yuna sighed. Since their defeat of Vegnagun, Shinra had left mysteriously. When Yuna and the others returned to the Celsius, Buddy and Brother had told them that Shinra had gone away but didn't know any other details. Apparently Shinra's talk about the energy he had sensed coming from the Farplane was promising, and Shinra had set off to find a way to harness that energy that was "the lifeblood of the planet," as Yuna once remembered him saying before their final battle. Shinra was a mysterious young boy, yet Yuna knew he was far more intelligent than his years revealed.
"Somehow I know I'll see him again someday," Yuna said aloud to herself, her voice echoing through the springs. Closing her eyes, she let the warmth envelope her once again, the earlier feeling of coldness disappearing. The air was deathly still, except for the sound of the water sloshing softly whenever Yuna moved her body.
Her eyes flew open. She sensed someone watching her.
"Who's there?" she said aloud, scanning the area quickly. There, she saw it. A figure stood on the ledge of the hot spring. Yuna recognized him immediately.
"Shuyin," she gasped softly, eyes widening in alarm. She came back to her senses. "Shuyin!" Yuna called to him, louder this time. She saw him begin to walk away, and she scrambled up from the water. Climbing out of the hot spring, she gasped for breath. He was gone.
Yuna stood at the spot he was standing on, and looked around frantically, feeling a bit vulnerable since she didn't bring her weapon or any dresspheres.
She suddenly felt two arms come around her from behind, holding her around the waist and catching her off guard. Her breath caught. She suddenly turned to face the person.
Piercing blue eyes met her green and blue ones, and she struggled to remain calm. "Sh-Shuyin.." Yuna managed to get out, finding herself trying to step out of his hold. He still grasped her around the waist, and he suddenly pulled her very close to him. She gasped.
With their faces nearly centimeters apart, she didn't have any other choice but to look him in the face. His eyes held no other emotion except for that empty sadness she had seen in her dream of him. He smiled weakly at her.
"You've given me another chance," he whispered to her, his breath hot against her face. His gaze was soft and his arms still locked around her waist, preventing her from pulling away from him right then.
She struggled to keep her face as calm as possible, wondering what he was going to do to her. "Wh-What do you mean?" she asked him, watching his facial expression closely.
His face grew softer, almost scaring her by that action. "You wished for my return, didn't you?" he said softly.
Yuna stared up at him, wide-eyed. The world seemed to stop around her when she heard him say those words. "No, it can't be.." she whispered, realizing her fatal error. "I-I didn't mean to.." she said, trailing off to look away from his intense stare, memories of her mistake coming back to her.
He continued to hold her to him, securing her position. He smiled. "But you did..and here I am," he spoke calmly.
She shook her head, the realization dawning on her. "No.."
Smiling sideways, he stared down at her, grip tightening a bit. "Yes. And only one of us can stay, Yuna."
** End of Chapter 4 **
A/N: I know, I know. Ending at a cliffhanger is frustrating for the reader isn't it? ^^ But don't worry, the "Revelations" Chapter is next, so everyone will finally understand what's going on. Until then, wait for the next update, and thanks again for the kind reviews. =)
** Chapter 4 **
Yuna awoke to the feeling of a warm hand gently stroking her hair. She cracked her eyes open and focused them to see his blue eyes gazing down at her. She smiled up at him, rubbing her eyes slightly.
"Good morning," Tidus spoke softly.
"Good morning," she replied with a small smile, feeling a bit shy that he had been watching her while she slept.
"Sleep well?" he asked, while raising himself up on one arm to lean over her.
She blinked, finally awakening fully. "Mm-hm."
He simply smiled at her in response.
Yuna turned on her side so that she could face him. She studied him fondly. Looking into his face, she noticed that he had been awake for some time now, his eyes clear and fully awake. She raised a hand and found his, still ungloved but warm like always.
Tidus looked over at her and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "You were really tired last night," he simply said, and leaned back down to lie down beside her, hugging her close.
She nodded. "I guess I was.." Yuna said, trailing off. She continued to stare at him some more, but he didn't seem to notice it. Her eyes trailed from his face down to his necklace, the familiar symbol glinting in the light. It was the same symbol that she also wore on her clothing. Yuna remembered the first day she decided to wear the logo of his Blitzball team, the Zanarkand Abes. Having the piece made at a local accessory shop shortly after he had left two years ago, she boldly sewed the symbol on the front side of her shirt, as a somewhat tribute in honor of him. Remembering what the symbol had meant to her, she gazed at him lovingly.
He seemed to notice her eyes on him and looked over at her. "What?" he smiled in question.
Yuna shook her head in response. "It's nothing, just using the time to stare at you," she replied, causing him to grin at her response. She saw his form move over her, his necklace jingling at the movement.
"You know, it's rude to stare," Tidus whispered, moving down near her face, his warm breath grazing her cheek.
She froze. Her dream came flooding back to her all too suddenly. 'It feels exactly the same...'
Yuna blinked and turned her face away from Tidus, causing him to frown in confusion.
"What's wrong?" he asked her, trying to figure out what had caused her to turn away from him so suddenly.
She turned to face him then. "Sorry, I-I just remembered something.." she began, but quickly stopped when she realized her mistake. 'No, don't tell him. There's no reason to make him worry.'
Standing up and giving him a quick kiss on his cheek before pulling her boots on, she mumbled another apology. "It's really nothing," she told him, as she saw his eyes growing slightly suspicious. "I forgot to say goodbye to Rikku and Paine before they had to leave," Yuna said.
With that, she walked out of the hut, leaving him alone in the room. Tidus fell back down on the bed, one arm covering his eyes deep in thought.
"What the hell is going on?" he asked himself in frustration.
****
"Try it now, Pops!" Rikku yelled from the engine room.
"Nukan!" Cid's voice said through the intercom.
The engine roared to life, sounding more like it was originally. Rikku grinned brightly. "Another job well done," she congratulated herself proudly.
Looking up, she heard Paine's boots against the flooring, coming down the stairs to meet her.
"Looks like you fixed it," Paine said, stopping to note Rikku's soiled clothing.
Rikku jumped up and dusted herself off. "Of course!" she said.
"After Brother sped up the airship with us on top of it, I'm not surprised the engine broke," Paine said, remembering the events after the trio had left Baralai, Gippal, and Nooj at Luca. The girls had taken a joy ride on the Celsius' deck with Yuna commanding them to go faster.
Rikku laughed. "But you gotta admit, it was kinda fun," she said.
Paine shrugged. Before she could reply, the sound of someone running down the steps caused both her and Rikku to look up.
"Yunie!" Rikku exclaimed, seeing her cousin appear. Rikku studied her face. "Hey, why are you up so early?" she asked, noting Yuna's still- rumpled clothing.
"Actually, I wanted to say goodbye before you two left," Yuna answered. She paused, looking between Paine and Rikku for a moment.
"Is that all you came here for?" Paine asked, sensing more to Yuna's presence.
Yuna sighed in defeat. "Yeah, there is more," she admitted while beginning to walk towards the other two. Rikku looked at her curiously. "I um, was wondering if we could come with you on the airship. There's somewhere I want to go today," Yuna admitted, remembering that she had promised Kimahri that she would visit him again as soon as she got the chance. She also needed to speak with him.
"Where to?" Paine asked.
"To Mt. Gagazet," Yuna replied.
"I'm going with you," a male voice said.
Yuna turned to look behind her. She saw Tidus standing above the stairway, nodding to the other two girls in the room before coming down the remaining steps to meet her.
"I was just about to come get you," Yuna told him, hoping he didn't feel as if she had abandoned him earlier that morning. He smiled weakly at her. Yuna groaned inwardly to herself. He must have thought she was angry with him. With the way she just left and the way she had acted when he tried to kiss her, what other explanation was there? Still, Yuna hoped he believed her excuse as she left the hut. It wasn't a total lie anyway, as she really did mean to see Kimahri. However she had other matters to attend to in Mt. Gagazet as well.
"Alright, let's get going then!" Rikku suddenly exclaimed, putting an end to Yuna's thoughts.
***
The cold air hit Yuna's bare arms and legs as they landed at Gagazet's entrance. Her long side-skirt flapped from the chilling winds. The cold had hit her skin so quickly that it was almost painful. She shivered at the unexpected weather. 'Strange, it usually isn't this cold here.'
Yuna had been able to stand the icy weather during the Gullwings' last visits to Mt. Gagazet, yet on those days the air wasn't as cold as it was now. She walked rather stiffly, trying to hug herself and rubbing her arms up and down.
"Man, why's the weather so cold today?" Rikku whined, voicing Yuna's own thoughts.
Paine murmured something quietly to herself, but Yuna didn't catch it.
She suddenly felt a glove close around her arm gently from behind.
Tidus spoke to her. "Hey, you're cold," he gently said to her, blue eyes full of concern. Before Yuna could reply to him, he had wrapped her in his arms from behind, with her in front of him. She instantly felt warmer, yet her legs were still left exposed to the elements.
"Yuna," a gruff voice suddenly spoke. Yuna looked up to see Kimahri walking towards them, a hint of a smile on the Ronso's face.
Yuna suddenly noticed Kimahri stop in his steps, his eyes trailing to the figure that had his arms around Yuna from behind. She smiled knowingly.
"He's back," Yuna told Kimahri, smiling.
Kimahri simply nodded and walked over to him. Yuna felt his arms loosen around her and she stepped away for a moment, as Kimahri stopped in front of Tidus.
"Kimahri happy Yuna finally happy again," the Ronso simply said before turning to walk back.
Yuna smiled at the confused expression evident in Tidus' blue eyes. "I guess he's happy," she told him with a smile.
"Yunie, it's freezing!" Rikku suddenly interjected. "Why exactly did we come here again?" Rikku asked, clearly shivering due to the way she was dressed.
"You should have dressed warmer," Paine said. Rikku continued to shiver.
"I actually wanted to speak with Kimahri some more," Yuna said, noting the Ronso's fading form. "I guess he must be busy. There was something I needed to tell him," Yuna said.
"What is it?" Paine asked, shifting a bit to her other leg.
Yuna hesitated with what she intended to say. On one hand, she was not prepared to tell the others that she had come to Gagazet to speak with Kimahri on the recent occurrences about Shuyin's mysterious return. Yet another part of her wanted to just tell everyone so it wasn't a secret anymore. Perhaps they could have helped her if they knew what was going on as well. 'But -he- would find out, and I don't want him to worry about any of this.'
She knew that Shuyin had returned for a reason, yet Yuna still didn't know why. Deciding on where she would take it from here, she turned to Paine.
"There's a statue of myself that's being built on top of the summit, and I wanted to thank Kimahri and the other Ronso, even if it really wasn't necessary. It's so kind of them to do it in my honor, and I never thanked them properly," Yuna said.
Paine made no reply. Yuna thought that Paine had sensed something from her, but she chose to wait for the warrior's reply. After another moment, she spoke.
"Alright, if that's what you want," Paine said. "Do you want us to go with you?" she asked Yuna.
Rikku suddenly sneezed.
Yuna looked over at Rikku, noting the younger girl's pale skin. "Actually, that's alright. It seems like Rikku would be better if she stayed on the airship," Yuna replied, walking over to her cousin.
Rikku tried to smile, yet her teeth just continued to chatter softly. "Th-thanks Yunie. B-but are you s-sure you d-don't need our help?" she asked, teeth still chattering from the cold.
"It's ok, Rikku. Go inside and warm up. I'll be fine," Yuna assured the younger girl. She turned to Paine. "Could you go with her? She doesn't look so well," Yuna said with concern.
"No problem," Paine answered. "We'll see you later then."
Yuna watched as Paine led the freezing Rikku back towards the Celsius. "I hope Rikku will be ok. I feel bad for dragging her down here. It looks like she's caught a cold," Yuna said, turning to face Tidus. He stood beside her, with his arms crossed.
"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine," he assured her with a nod.
Yuna looked on ahead of the snowy slopes leading to the summit. She smiled at him. "Are you sure you don't mind coming with me up there?" she asked.
Tidus chuckled. "Of course not! I couldn't let you go alone now could I?" he replied with a grin.
She smiled at him. "Thanks."
He reached down to lock their fingers together. "Ok, let's go."
***
The walk to the summit was short. They had used the teleport platforms to reach the top in no time. After Yuna spoke to the sculptor at the top of the summit and the other Ronso at the top of the mountain had revealed the finished statue to her, Yuna was in awe.
The statue was beautifully made, capturing every aspect of her perfectly. Although Yuna was grateful for having them make the statue of her, she still felt a bit humble about it. Still, it truly touched her. After thanking the Ronso graciously, she and him had started down the slopes again to find Kimahri.
"Hey, is that the sound of water over there?" Tidus suddenly asked her, looking in the direction of the hot springs.
"Yeah, there's a hot spring over there," Yuna told him.
"A hot spring?" he asked in disbelief. "Wow, I would've never known," he chuckled a bit.
Yuna smiled at him. "Do you want to go see it?" she asked. Yuna already knew what his answer would be.
"Yeah! Let's go check it out," he declared, already grabbing her hand and leading them there.
***
As they approached the hot springs, Tidus let go of her hand and looked down at it. "I never would have thought Mt. Gagazet would have something like this," he said to himself.
Yuna walked next to him. "I was surprised too when I found out about it," she told him.
He turned to her, grinning slyly. "You want to join me?"
Yuna hit him playfully on the shoulder. "I didn't even bring my suit with me," she told him. He just smiled at her.
Before Yuna could catch the smile on his face, she squealed when she suddenly felt both his arms latch firmly around her and threw them both into the water. They both fell, making a big splash.
Yuna swam up to the surface. He had thrown them into the deeper depths of the hot springs, so she couldn't exactly sit down. She saw him surface as well, his hair wet and dripping. Tidus grinned at her.
"How did I know you were going to do that?" she asked him with amusement, playfully shoving him.
"You didn't, or else you wouldn't have fallen in here with me," he replied smartly, causing Yuna to laugh at his silliness.
"Well, I guess you got me then," she sighed and shut her eyes, feeling the warmth of the water surround her.
Yuna's eyes flew open as a large splash of water suddenly hit her face and hair. She pouted at him and narrowed her eyes. "You want to play, do you?" she said to him. Tidus smiled innocently at her, blue eyes filled with mischief.
Catching him off-guard, she splashed a fairly good amount of the water at him and laughed. He shook his hair out and before Yuna knew it, they had commenced into war.
After some time, Yuna felt the water become shallow, as her feet could feel the ground. Their little fight had taken them towards the shallow end of the hot spring, and they hadn't even noticed. Laughing as she shook out her hair, she sighed and sat down on the now-shallow end they had migrated towards.
She watched as he came to her, his face leaning close to hers. "I guess I won," he chuckled. Tiny droplets of water ran down his face, his blue eyes clear and mischievous.
Yuna shook her head while laughing a bit. "No, you didn't," she said, sticking her tongue out to him.
Tidus moved closer to her then, seating himself near her to place a kiss on her cheek. "That was fun," he smiled at her. Moving away, he sat back and sighed. "You know, I'm glad we have this place to ourselves."
Yuna looked at him, his body looking completely relaxed in the water. "Yeah.." she began, but was cut off when a sudden chill ran through her body. 'It got so cold all of a sudden.'
Tidus looked over at her. "Hey, are you ok? You wanna get out now?" he asked her, suddenly concerned. Moving over to her, he looked at Yuna's face. She nodded.
"Sure, we should head back to see Kimahri now," she replied, wondering why she felt cold in the hot spring. 'Strange..'
"Ok, wait here, I'll be back to get you something warm," Tidus suddenly said, standing up from the spring and walking back towards the entrance. His chains jangled as he stood up.
Yuna raised her eyebrows at him in confusion, watching his retreating form. "I wonder what he's going to get," she asked herself aloud, her voice echoing throughout the area.
Letting the warm water calm her nerves, she tried to forget the chilled feeling she experienced earlier. Yuna's face suddenly became serious when she remembered Shinra just then. She remembered the CommSphere that he had set up at the hot springs, and smiled a little to herself. Yuna recalled the embarrassment she felt while watching the people that had visited the hot spring then.
Yuna sighed. Since their defeat of Vegnagun, Shinra had left mysteriously. When Yuna and the others returned to the Celsius, Buddy and Brother had told them that Shinra had gone away but didn't know any other details. Apparently Shinra's talk about the energy he had sensed coming from the Farplane was promising, and Shinra had set off to find a way to harness that energy that was "the lifeblood of the planet," as Yuna once remembered him saying before their final battle. Shinra was a mysterious young boy, yet Yuna knew he was far more intelligent than his years revealed.
"Somehow I know I'll see him again someday," Yuna said aloud to herself, her voice echoing through the springs. Closing her eyes, she let the warmth envelope her once again, the earlier feeling of coldness disappearing. The air was deathly still, except for the sound of the water sloshing softly whenever Yuna moved her body.
Her eyes flew open. She sensed someone watching her.
"Who's there?" she said aloud, scanning the area quickly. There, she saw it. A figure stood on the ledge of the hot spring. Yuna recognized him immediately.
"Shuyin," she gasped softly, eyes widening in alarm. She came back to her senses. "Shuyin!" Yuna called to him, louder this time. She saw him begin to walk away, and she scrambled up from the water. Climbing out of the hot spring, she gasped for breath. He was gone.
Yuna stood at the spot he was standing on, and looked around frantically, feeling a bit vulnerable since she didn't bring her weapon or any dresspheres.
She suddenly felt two arms come around her from behind, holding her around the waist and catching her off guard. Her breath caught. She suddenly turned to face the person.
Piercing blue eyes met her green and blue ones, and she struggled to remain calm. "Sh-Shuyin.." Yuna managed to get out, finding herself trying to step out of his hold. He still grasped her around the waist, and he suddenly pulled her very close to him. She gasped.
With their faces nearly centimeters apart, she didn't have any other choice but to look him in the face. His eyes held no other emotion except for that empty sadness she had seen in her dream of him. He smiled weakly at her.
"You've given me another chance," he whispered to her, his breath hot against her face. His gaze was soft and his arms still locked around her waist, preventing her from pulling away from him right then.
She struggled to keep her face as calm as possible, wondering what he was going to do to her. "Wh-What do you mean?" she asked him, watching his facial expression closely.
His face grew softer, almost scaring her by that action. "You wished for my return, didn't you?" he said softly.
Yuna stared up at him, wide-eyed. The world seemed to stop around her when she heard him say those words. "No, it can't be.." she whispered, realizing her fatal error. "I-I didn't mean to.." she said, trailing off to look away from his intense stare, memories of her mistake coming back to her.
He continued to hold her to him, securing her position. He smiled. "But you did..and here I am," he spoke calmly.
She shook her head, the realization dawning on her. "No.."
Smiling sideways, he stared down at her, grip tightening a bit. "Yes. And only one of us can stay, Yuna."
** End of Chapter 4 **
A/N: I know, I know. Ending at a cliffhanger is frustrating for the reader isn't it? ^^ But don't worry, the "Revelations" Chapter is next, so everyone will finally understand what's going on. Until then, wait for the next update, and thanks again for the kind reviews. =)