A noise broke into Wakka's sleep. The redhead yawned, stretched, and looked at the clock. It was five a.m. exactly.

"Wakka...?" A demure male voice asked from the hallway.

"Tidus??" [This better not be another dream...]

Wakka rolled out of bed and answered the door. There Tidus stood in only his shorts, hiding something behind his back. Wakka pinched himself. It hurt. He wasn't dreaming...

"I'm sorry to wake you so early, but I wanted to do this before we started traveling again."

"C-come on in..."

Tidus smiled and walked into Wakka's room. The guardian closed his door and turned to face the blonde.

"Happy Birthday, Wakka..." Tidus said shyly, handing the redhead the small box he'd been hiding behind his back.

Wakka felt happiness wash his nervousness away and he accepted the gift.

"You remembered..."

"Of course I did."

The box was wrapped neatly in blue paper and tied with a white bow. Wakka almost hated to ruin the wrapping by opening his present. The summoner laughed quietly as the redhead peeled the paper off carefully and opened the box.

"Hey. Cool."

"You like it?"

"Ya. It suits me."

Wakka smiled and pulled the necklace from the box. It was a small, silver, fish-shaped pendant on a leather cord. Fragments of sapphire served as the fish's eyes. The guardian smiled and handed the necklace to Tidus who put it on for him.

"Yeah. It does suit you..." Tidus murmured, toying with the charm absently.

"Thank-you, Tidus."

Without really thinking Wakka leaned in and kissed Tidus on the nose. He froze slightly when he realized what he'd done but Tidus didn't seem to mind. The blonde only smiled at him.

"I'm cold. Can I snuggle with you?"

Wakka's cheeks turned pink. "S-sure..."

Tidus giggled and jumped onto Wakka's bed. The older man set his unwrapped box aside before joining Tidus. The two snuggled up under the covers and Wakka couldn't help but notice how nicely Tidus fit against his side. It was as if his body was built to accommodate Tidus-snuggling. The summoner sighed happily and wrapped one arm around Wakka's chest.

"Mmm. You're warm, Wakka..."

Wakka blushed. "Uhm...thanks?"

Tidus laughed softly. "Sorry. That was kind of a weird comment."

"It's ok."

Wakka absently stroked the nape of Tidus' neck as the two enjoyed the other's company in comfortable silence. It wasn't long before the duo dozed off.

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

"Wakka! Quick! Get up!!" Rikku's voice ordered.

Wakka snorted slightly and he jolted awake. Tidus barely stirred.

"Mmm...?" Tidus moaned, nuzzling Wakka's chest.

Wakka swallowed hard and carefully moved Tidus off him. He stood and answered the door.

"Rikku? What's wrong?"

"Tidus is missing!!"

Wakka blushed and coughed slightly. "Uh...no he's not."

"Yes he i..." Rikku froze and pushed around Wakka. "Holy Yevon! You two fu...!"

"No!" Wakka hissed, clamping his hand over Rikku's mouth. "Nothing happened. He came in early to give me my birthday present. See?" Wakka used his free hand to show Rikku his necklace. "Then he was cold and asked if we could snuggle and I said yes. So we snuggled for about fifteen seconds then fell asleep."

"Ru luh luh..." Rikku mumbled.

"What?" Wakka took his hand away from Rikku's mouth.

"Oo la la!" The Al Bhed grinned.

The redheaded guardian rolled his eyes.

"Well I better go tell Lulu and Kimahri to stop looking for him. Kimahri's going to crush your nuts for you...you do realize that, right?"

"Not if I use Tidus as a human shield." Wakka teased.

"You'd never..."

"You're right. Just give me a heads up."

"Will do. Good luck Sir Wakka..."

Rikku skipped off to find Lulu and Kimahri. Wakka sighed and walked back over to his bed. He sat on the edge of it and studied Tidus' sleeping face. The boy had such nice, kissable-looking lips...

[Snap out of it...!] Wakka ordered to himself.

The redhead shook his head then gently touched Tidus' cheek. The blonde smiled in his sleep and nuzzled Wakka's hand like a cat.

"Wake up, Tidus. It's almost six..."

The blonde yawned and slowly opened his eyes. "Wakka? Oh...!" He sat up. "I'm sorry. Did I fall asleep on you??"

Wakka nodded. "Ya, but that's all right. I fell asleep too. Kimahri and the others thought you were missing though. Rikku went to tell them you were in here."

"HEADS UP!" Rikku shrieked.

"Shit!" Wakka cussed, hiding beside the bed.

"Wakka...? What are you...?"

Kimahri ran into the room, spear in hand. Wakka peeked over the edge of the bed. Kimahri spotted him and ran towards him.

"Shit!" Wakka cussed again.

"Kimahri!" Tidus scolded, putting himself between Wakka and Kimahri. "Honestly!"

The Ronso growled and gave Wakka a very deadly look over Tidus' shoulder. Lulu and Rikku watched intently from the doorway.

"Kimahri!" Tidus frowned.

The Ronso looked down at him.

"Stop this foolishness at once. It's Wakka's birthday and I wanted to give him his present before we had to travel. I was cold and wanted to cuddle with Wakka. He was very polite and very gentle-man like. He doesn't deserve to be treated like some kind of pervert."

Kimahri relented, sheathing his spear.

"Kimahri is sorry." The Ronso said to both Tidus and Wakka. The Ronso leaned down and kissed Tidus' forehead. "Kimahri thinks of Tidus as still a little boy sometimes."

Tidus expression softened. "I forgive you, Kimahri. But I'm not a little boy anymore."

Wakka accepted Kimahri's apology but was too shocked to say anything. [Tidus...wanted to cuddle with me...?]

"Aww! Group hug!" Rikku announced, jumping onto Kimahri's back.

Wakka and Tidus "urked" as Kimahri crushed them to him in a hug. Lulu laughed a bit and hugged Rikku's waist.

"No wonder some people think we're nuts..." Tidus said to Wakka.

Wakka smiled. "Ya. Oh well. They're malfunction. Not ours."

"Well now that we've established that we can be civil let's get a move on." Tidus ordered.

The group nodded and dispersed. Once they got all their things organized they were ready to go. Rajhel was sitting behind the front desk when Tidus and his guardians entered the lobby. Rikku almost groaned. Yuna and Varian were at the front desk, checking out.

"Well, well. Look who it is." Yuna smirked.

Varian said nothing and remained stone-faced.

"Hello Yuna." Tidus said politely.

"Hey Wakka." Yuna purred, ignoring Tidus.

Rikku snorted, "Ill-mannered bitch."

"Excuse me!?" Yuna snapped.

"You heard her." Lulu replied.

"And just *who* do you think you are!?" The female summoner demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing." The mage retorted.

"Why you little..."

Lulu, Rikku, and Yuna's three-way cat fight was interrupted by a loud scream from outside.

"The chocobos! Help!" A female voice screamed.

"Out of our way. We'll deal with this." Yuna said coolly.

Lulu and Rikku stepped aside. Yuna and Varian pushed past the group and went outside.

"We'd better go outside too. Just in case they need help." Tidus suggested.

The group nodded and followed Tidus outside.

"Whoa! Lookit the size of that thing!" Rikku exclaimed.

Tidus nodded and examined the monster known as the Chocobo Eater. It laughed and swatted Varian's whip away like it was nothing. Yuna summoned Ifrit but the creature had him reduced to pyreflies in mere minutes. Yuna and Varian backed away as the fiend rushed forward.

"Look out!" Tidus called.

But it was too late. Yuna and Varian went tumbling over the cliff behind them.

"No...!" The summoner shouted, summoning Cerberus.

The three-headed Fayth appeared and left brother shot a gigantic fireball at the Chocobo Eater. It hit the beast dead on and it fell to the ground.

"Lulu! Quick! Use Firaga on it!" Tidus ordered.

Lulu nodded and cast a powerful Firaga spell on the fiend. Stunned, the creature fell onto its back.

"Now! Help me push!!"

The group ran to the fiend and started pushing it towards the opposite cliff. It struggled to sit up but Cerberus kept hitting it with fireballs. Suddenly the fiend tipped backwards and fell off the cliff into the water. A few minutes later a cloud of pyreflies drifted up from the water and into the air. Tidus rushed to where Yuna and Varian had fallen off. Both were on their feet and didn't appear to be hurt.

"Are you ok?" Tidus called.

"Fine! Don't help us!" Yuna shouted.

The blonde sighed and nodded slightly.

"I hope she has sore toes tomorrow..." Rikku grumbled.

Tidus laughed a bit. "Come on. If she doesn't want our help we'll just continue on our way..."

The blonde summoner thanked Cerberus and dismissed the Aeon. The walk to the gates to Mushroom Rock wasn't that long and kind of boring. The biggest challenge they encountered was a pair of Dual Horns...which were no match for Cerberus in the long run. Upon arriving at the gates Tidus could barely believe his eyes. Dona and Bartello were arguing with a Crusader while their chocobos grazed near by.

"I though they'd be halfway to Guadosalam by now." Rikku said.

"Yeah. Me too. I wonder what the problem is..." Tidus wondered.

The group inched closer to eavesdrop.

"Sorry. No admittance." The Crusader said.

"You're interfering with a summoner's pilgrimage!" Dona growled.

"Sorry. No admittance." The Crusader repeated.

"What's going on?" Lulu asked.

Dona turned, "Oh. It's you. They won't let anyone pass."

"Why not?"

"They're going to defeat Sin."

Rikku snorted, "You're kidding me, right?"

"No ma'am." The Crusader interrupted. "We're working with the Al Bhed to defeat Sin. Operation Mi'ihen is currently underway so no admittance to Mushroom Rock is allowed."

"I thought Yevon didn't allow the use of machina weapons..." Lulu said.

"The Al Bhed just want to help. Maester Kinoc says their selflessness cancels out the fact that we're using weapons."

Wakka shook his head, "Maester Kinoc is a fool. It won't work."

"And just how do you plan to find Sin? Sit on your asses until it shows up?" Dona sneered.

"Using those..." The Crusader replied.

Everyone turned to see Sinspawn in the chocobo cart that Luzzu and Gatta had been guarding earlier.

"Sin always comes back for its spawn."

The Sinspawn made an odd wailing noise. Tidus shivered and Kimahri put a comforting hand on the teen's shoulder.

"This is ludicrous. It won't work. You'll need us in the end." Dona said. "Call me when that time comes. I'm going to have a nap. Come Bartello!"

Bartello and Dona jumped onto their chocobos again and rode off.

"Sorry." The Crusader apologized. "I can't let you through either."

"It's all right." Tidus replied. "Is Sir Luzzu still here?"

The Crusader nodded, "He's by the cart. You may go see him but I'm watching you..."

Tidus nodded and slowly walked to the front of the cart. Luzzu and Gatta were talking to a female crusader.

"Luzzu." Tidus said quietly.

The redhead whirled around, "Tidus...!"

"Don't go. It won't work. You'll be killed..."

"Tidus..."

"Please Luzzu...! I beg you, don't go! Don't let Gatta go either! Or anyone else for that matter! It won't work..."

"Shh..." Luzzu hugged Tidus close. "It's my duty."

"You don't have to do this Luzzu..."

"I want to..."

"You'll die!"

"I won't..." Luzzu smoothed Tidus' hair away from his face. "Tidus. Why did you become a summoner?"

"To save those that I love from Sin..." The blonde replied, sniffling.

The redheaded Crusader smiled sadly. He wiped the lone tear from Tidus' cheek.

"I want to do the same thing, Tidus. You're my friend. I want to keep Sin far away from you. Far away from Besaid. Far away from Rikku."

"This isn't right...! Yevon says that machina are forbidden! No one will ever treat you with respect ever again for working with the Al Bhed!"

"I know but I don't care. Tidus...please understand. Yevon rejected me when I wanted to become a summoner. This is the best I can do and I'm going to put my all into it."

"I can't stop you...can I?" Tidus whispered.

"No. You cannot."

"Then you better not die, Luzzu! I want to see you again!"

"You will."

"C'mon Luzzu! We're moving out!" Gatta called.

Luzzu hugged his friend and smoothed the blonde's hair once more.

"See you later, Tidus."

With that Luzzu took the chocobo's reins and started leading the cart along. The female Crusader ushered Tidus back. Rikku hugged Tidus tight. She could tell the blonde was miserable.

[I hope they know what they're doing...] Lulu thought, watching Luzzu and Gatta vanish from sight.

******************

Auron sighed and pushed his sunglasses up his nose. Despite the fact that it was a shitty grey day he still wore them. A drop of rain landed on his nose and he looked up at the grey sky.

"This won't work. You know that." Maester Kinoc said to him. "We'll just let them dream a little longer."

"You disgust me." Auron replied.

Kinoc only laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To answer some questions...

#1: No Kimahri doesn't have a thing for Tidus. He's just overly protective of him. Kind of like a father is protective of his teenage daughter but ten fold. This is because of how fragile Tidus was when Kimahri first met him. (Someone e-mailed me and suggested a Kimahri/Tidus lemon scene because of the "obvious feelings" that Kimahri had for Tidus. I was thoroughly shocked to find out that that was how this person had interpreted Kimahri's actions. Kimahri is NOT jealous. Kimahri is overly-protective. -_-;;)

#2: No there's nothing between Luzzu and Tidus. Yes, Luzzu and Tidus love each other but in a platonic way. Not in the passionate way. Luzzu hasn't had any naughty dreams about Tidus...unlike Wakka XD. R&R Please.