Rin tossed Auron's coat onto the nearest chair and sat on the bed. He smiled as the swordsman sat beside him.
"We should probably get some rest." The older guardian said.
Rin nodded. He placed a kiss on Auron's lips and pulled his shirt off. He tossed it into the chair with Auron's coat and cuddled up under the covers. Auron removed his leather shirt and climbed into bed beside Rin. The blonde smiled as he felt Auron's arms slide around his waist. He pressed back against Auron and closed his eyes, drifting into sleep.
----------------------------
A few hours later Cid landed the airship in outside Luca and the group, now rested, decided to go for supper.
"Basik!" Kimahri exclaimed.
"Little Kimahri...!"
Basik hugged his little brother tightly.
"Kimahri is sorry, brother." The Ronso whispered. "Kimahri failed to protect his people."
"Not your fault Little Kimahri..." Basik replied. "Kimahri tried his best."
Kimahri nodded slightly and nuzzled his brother's shoulder. Basik reached out and ruffled Tidus' hair with his free hand.
"Ronso will shine your statue brightest." He said with a smile.
"Thank-you...but I doubt anyone would make a statue for a 'traitor'." The summoner replied.
"Then Ronso will make! With grand horn on head!"
Tidus giggled. "That would be wonderful. Would you like to join us for supper, Basik?"
Basik gave his brother one more hug before releasing the Ronso. "Yes."
The group made their way to a restaurant and ordered supper. Cid even managed to behave when a few snoopy Yevonites stared at the group. Raylei and Rikku were talking like old friends and Aniki and Rin were having an animated conversation. Once the group finished their meal, they paid for their food, and left the restaurant. They spent the remainder of the early evening at the Stadium. Basik got them V.I.P. passes and they were allowed in the Sphere Pool. Lulu, Rin, Rikku, Auron, and Aniki made up one team. Tidus, Wakka, Basik, Kimahri, and Cid made up the other. Raylei was the ref. They played well into the night. It was passed ten when they finally ended their game. Tidus' team won 16-15. Not bothering to dry off or shower the soaking wet group bid good-bye to Basik and headed back to the airship.
"A'right. Tomorrow. Six o'clock we kick Sin's ass." Cid said.
The group nodded and parted ways. The night was both tense and sad. Tidus couldn't sleep but Wakka had managed to doze off sometime after they made love. The blonde cuddled against Wakka's side and listened to the redhead's slow breathing. Tidus rested his head on his guardian's chest. He listened to Wakka's heartbeat and smiled softly.
"I love you, Wakka..." He whispered to the dark.
*******************
Rin couldn't fall asleep either. Finally he threw the covers off and stood out of bed. Not wanting to risk running down the hall butt-naked he put his jeans on and walked down the hall to Auron's room. He sighed and looked at the clock in the hallway. It was one in the morning.
"Auron?" He asked softly.
"Come in, Rin."
The Al Bhed blushed and opened Auron's door, walking inside. The man wasn't asleep and didn't appear to have slept at all. He was sitting on the bed sharpening his katana. Rin's blush darkened. The other guardian was only wearing his black pants. The blonde watched the muscles in Auron's arms and chest flex as he sharpened his weapon. Auron looked up at him and smirked, chuckling slightly.
"What?" Rin asked.
The older man set his katana and sharpening stone aside. "Took everything off except for the choker?"
The Al Bhed blushed, touching the red leather choker around his neck. "I've had it since I was sixteen. I forget to take it off sometimes..."
"What's the ring on it for?"
Rin shrugged, "Decoration."
Auron motioned for Rin to sit beside him. The guardian nodded and sat beside the brunette. The older man smirked and hooked his middle finger through the ring on Rin's choker, pulling the blonde close.
"Auron...!"
"Yes...?"
"Don't pull too hard...the ring might come off..."
The brunette laughed and nodded. He tugged on the ring again, pressing his lips to Rin's. The Al Bhed moaned slightly and parted his lips. Of course Auron wasn't one to waste opportunity and slid his tongue into Rin's mouth. Their tongues twined together and rubbed over each other. Auron abandoned the ring, clasping the back of Rin's neck instead. Deciding to be bold the Al Bhed hitched himself into his companion's lap, straddling the older man. Auron smirked against Rin's mouth, pulling the blonde closer. Rin went to unclasp Auron's pants but the older guardian grabbed his hands.
"No..." Auron said quietly, breaking their kiss.
"No?"
"No."
Awkward silence fell over the two men.
"Feeling tired now...I think...I'll go...sleep..." Rin mumbled, standing up.
Auron sighed as his Al Bhed companion stood and left his room.
---------------------------
Tidus was still awake when the sun began to rise. He leaned over and softly kissed Wakka's lips.
"Wake up honey..."
The redhead moaned softly and yawned. "Tidus...?"
"Yes..." The teen kissed Wakka again. "It's time to get up..."
Rin watched the sun rise from his bed. His cheeks felt dry and sticky from the tears he didn't bother drying. He put his shirt and boots on, unclasped his choker, and stuffed it into his carrier. He walked out of his room just as Auron emerged from his. The swordsman started to walking over towards him but he hurried off.
"Kimahri!" He called, relieved to spot the Ronso.
"Morning Rin." Kimahri replied.
"Luuuu...wake uuuuuuup...." Rikku said in a sing-song voice.
Lulu tried not to snicker. "No. Sleeping. Go away."
"You sound like Kimahri."
The mage burst into laughter and opened her eyes. "I do not!"
"Not now but before you did." The blonde grinned. "Now come on. It's time to get up."
Lulu giggled.
"Now what?"
"My lipstick is smudged all over your lips dear Rikku."
The teen blushed and scrubbed her mouth with the back of her hand. "C'mon. Auron and Cid will blow gaskets if we don't hurry."
"Ok. Ok."
Lulu placed a kiss on Rikku's cheek before hopping out of bed.
The group collected on the bridge of the airship. Raylei already had the engines warmed up and ready to go. The airship lifted up into the sky and took off. Aniki was using the Sphere finder to locate Sin. Tidus looked from Rin to Auron. For two men who'd been caught making out in the hallway they didn't seem very friendly towards each other. Rin seemed to be looking everywhere except in Auron's direction. Cid finally broke the silence.
"Well, this is it, eh?"
Tidus nodded, "Yu Yevon's hiding somewhere inside Sin and we're gonna find him."
"Let's get this show on the rode then!"
The man walked over to a control panel and pressed a few buttons. The Hymn of the Fayth started to play.
"I hope Shelinda delivered our message." Rikku said.
"Sin!" Aniki suddenly cried.
An image of Sin had indeed popped up on the Sphere Finder.
"All right. We're going in." Tidus said.
"And how are we doing that?" Lulu asked.
"The easy way of course." Wakka grinned.
"Of course." The mage rolled her eyes.
Cid looked confused.
"If we can't go through the mouth we'll blast him a new one!" Tidus elaborated.
Cid laughed. "Now that's my kind of plan!!"
"And I know what we can use." Raylei added.
Cid nodded at her. "Right. We'll give that thing a new blowhole!!"
"Right. Let's go!!" The summoner called.
The blonde and his guardians ran from the bridge. They made their way through the ship and onto the outside deck. They could hear the Hymn of the Fayth for miles around.
"Everyone's singing!" Rikku exclaimed. "They listened to us!"
"Then let's not let them down." Auron replied.
"Tidus...?" Wakka asked.
The blonde looked over his shoulder at the redhead. "Yeah?"
"You don't need this anymore, right?" The guardian asked, holding up Tidus' audio sphere.
The blonde blushed, embarrassed. "Right."
Wakka grinned and threw the sphere overboard. Suddenly the whole airship shook and Wakka grabbed onto Tidus' arm.
"This is not good, ya?"
The group watched as a massive ball of energy formed in front of Sin.
"It's using a Gravity spell." Lulu said.
The ship shook violently again as the Gravity spell consumed Sin. The beast opened its mouth firing the spell off. Eight smaller Gravity spells shot away from Sin's body at an alarming speed. Tidus wrapped his arms around Wakka's waist and held on tight as the airship lurched. The balls of energy cut through everything: the ocean, the cliffsides, even the clouds! Leaving a weird-looking clear tunnel behind. Suddenly the airship stopped shaking and everything went silent. Rikku looked up at the distorted clouds in horrified awe. Then around at the ocean and the cliffs. Everything began to tremble and Rikku gasped.
"Whoa!!" She cried as the ocean seemed to cave in.
The ground shook and started to explode. The airship rocked violently sending everyone falling to the deck. Lulu hung onto Rikku's hand for dear life. Both Wakka and Kimahri had a hold of Tidus. The summoner groaned and lifted his head up. Sticky blood was running down the side of his face and his head stung.
"Shit. Baby...are you ok?" Wakka asked.
The blonde nodded.
"Sin's pulling us in!" Cid and Rikku shouted at the same time.
The group scrambled to their knees and looked up in time to see Sin flying alongside them.
"I saw something shine at the base of Sin's arm. I think it's a weak point!" Raylei shouted to her husband.
Cid nodded and motioned to Aniki. "Shoot the bastard down!!"
The Al Bhed nodded and flipped a switch on the panel in front of him. Cid grabbed the intercom.
"Here goes! Everyone hang onto something!!"
Two large cone-like structures lowered from the base of the airship. The weapon fired a lightning-like energy blast. The blast hit Sin's fin dead on, totally shearing it off of the beast's body. Tidus smiled despite the pain in his head.
"Got it!!" Rikku cried.
"Time to hit the other side! FIRE!" Cid ordered.
Aniki fired the gun again. His aim was flawless and Sin's right fin was blasted off too. Sin made a whale-like noise and started spiraling out of control. It's tail struck the airship sending it rearing backwards. Rin nearly slid right off the side of the ship but Lulu and Rikku grabbed him. The people of Bevelle could hardly believe their eyes when they looked up. Sin was about to make a crash landing in the sea right beside their city! The fiend moaned again, trailing blue energy as it fell from the sky. Everything trembled and the sky rumbled as Sin plowed into the shallow ocean sending water and sand everywhere.
"I don't believe my eyes..." Raylei whispered.
"Believe it, woman! Our daughter and her friends kicked Sin's ass!"
Everyone turned as Tidus and his guardians entered the bridge.
"It's going to come back." Tidus said.
"What!? You've got to be kidding me!" Cid cried.
"We have to beat the guy inside Sin." Rikku answered.
"We have only weakened Sin." Lulu added.
"Let's just end this...quickly. The Fayth said they'd help us, ya?" Wakka said.
Tidus frowned. It looked like he was concentrating on something.
"Tidus?" Auron raised an eyebrow.
"Sin is reborn when Yu Yevon merges with an aeon, isn't that right?" He asked finally.
Auron nodded.
"If I summon an aeon, Yu Yevon will join with it. But at first it'll be small...won't it?"
"Yeah...Then, we might be able to beat it without the Final Summoning!"
"I don't know. What if he jumps again?" Tidus frowned.
"Then we'll take it down again!" Wakka exclaimed.
Rin nodded. "We'll fight him until there's no place left to run."
"I don't get it." Rikku murmured. "What exactly is Yu Yevon summoning from within Sin anyway??"
"Fayth." Auron replied. "Fayth in training actually. He influences people at random to give their souls for their loved ones..."
"Like Alexia and Seymour's mother..." Tidus said softly.
"Exactly. As long as there are Fayth there are summoners. As long as there are summoners there is the Final Summoning. Which means a never-ending Sin..."
"But now that we've defeated Yunalesca..."
"Yu Yevon's influence is useless. Eventually it'll find a way around that but not if we stop him now."
Tidus nodded. His hands curled into determined fists.
"Hey! Something's happening to Sin!" Raylei exclaimed.
Everyone ran to the bridge's glass front and looked out. Large white winds sprouted from the holes where Sin's fins used to be and the entity floated up into the sky.
"Jecht is waiting for you..." Auron said.
The blonde nodded and turned to Cid. "Take us in. We'll do the rest."
Raylei took a deep breath before flying for Sin.
"It's not going to open up voluntarily." She said.
"Give it a shot, Aniki!" Cid commanded.
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"The gun is busted."
"Damnit!!"
"Leave that to us..." Tidus said.
Cid nodded and the crew returned to the outside deck. As Raylei slowly moved the airship forward the group cast all the spells they could on Sin. The monster made a deep groaning noise and opened its mouth wide. White mist bubbled out of the beast's maw but Raylei steered the ship forward fearlessly. The ship passed through Sin's mouth without a problem and suddenly they were inside Sin. Mist and pyreflies were everywhere. The group looked around in awe. A shiver ran down Tidus' spine as Seymour's sinister laugh was heard. Wakka immediately brought the summoner close to him as a huge transparent image of Seymour's face appeared in front of the airship. Raylei just sneered and punched the gas, blasting through the image. Tidus gave the fistful of Wakka's vest he had an anxious squeeze.
"We see a clearing. We're going to land." Raylei said over the intercom.
The airship shook slightly as Raylei landed the ship.
[I'm here, dad...] Tidus thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I thought the group fighting Sin's fins in the game was totally useless so I cut that fight out. Yup. R&R please ^^.