Wake up

Tidus stood at the edge of the dock, looking at the water. The sunlight sparkled on its surface like a field of diamonds. He felt very at home by the water. It was the one thing he'd always known. It was everywhere. Zanarkand… Spira… everywhere. He was born from the ocean, and spent most of his time playing in a sphere pool. Heck, he even kissed Yuna for the first time in the water. Waves lapped against the dock. Weird.

Someone whistled.

Huh?

He turned and saw her standing there.

"Yuna!" He ran up to her, but she didn't move. She looked happy, but detached, or districted. "Yuna! It's me, Tidus!"

"Oh" she said, focusing on him. A small glimpse of recognition flashed in her eyes. "Yes, of course. Welcome back."

"Yeah, where have you been!?" Rikku shouted behind him. "You just disappear into thin air! Don't you care about us?"

"Yes! Of course I do!" Yuna was silent. "I'm so sorry. I wish it could have been different. I never wanted to hurt you." She didn't respond. He reached out to touch her, but couldn't. His hand passed through her like air. Her stare became impatient, and suddenly she wasn't Yuna anymore.

"I'm sorry, we're all glad you're back. I'm a little busy right now, but we can talk later, okay?"

"Yes, she is very busy." Lulu was next to her. "She doesn't have time to deal with you right now."

"Wha- huh?" Tidus was suddenly very cold. The world became darker. "Oh no. Not another dream."

"Hey, you're the dream, remember?" Rikku tapped his shoulder. He turned, but Auron was there instead, casually leaning against nothing.

"She's right, you shouldn't be here. This isn't your story."

The waves became choppy.

"Huh? Would you stop with the story thing?! Why does it have to be a story?

The ocean bled into the sky.

Wakka spoke behind him. "Hey, you ok?" Waves crashed in response.

"Why can't we just live!? Why does it even matter? Just… just shut up!"

"Fine."

Tidus was suddenly alone again. The ocean was calm and the sky was clear. He looked behind him, but Yuna was gone too. There was nobody left but his reflection in the water. He looked down at it, wondering what side he was on.

---

Now what? Yuna thought as she went to receive her guest. There was only a handful of people that she'd be willing to talk to at the moment and the fact that most of them were either dead or imaginary decreased her chances even more. So, preparing herself for a potentially painful and tediously diplomatic experience, she made her way to the guestroom.

Why wasn't life this hard as a summoner?

Maybe because everyone knows those summoners have a task to complete. It must look like Maesters just sit around all day. That's actually not too far from the truth… Casting her eyes to the polished floor, she saw a depressed reflection.

Spira's ray of light isn't looking very cheery this afternoon. She thought.

Shrugging back her exhaustion and planting a smile on her face, Yuna vainly tired to retain her sweet and carefree image. Why do I care so much?

She was halfway to the door before a scream pierced the air, followed by the sound of talons scratching on marble. She turned just in time to see a chocobo burst into the room in a storm of yellow feathers. Several meters behind it was the coeurl, running at top speed.

The bird scrabbled its way across the room, jumped the railing of the main stairs and ran/flew up to the second story, screeching all the way. Coming to a stop at the bottom step, the coeurl quickly altered its course and charged up after it. A second later and they were gone.

Stunned, Yuna watched as the chocobo feathers settled to the floor.

"Oh my." Deep claw marks scarred the polish. Lulu's going to have a fit.

---

Kimahri cleaned the blade of his halberd with an old rag. A countless number of knives, spears, and other menacing weapons hung from the open closet before him. He knew every blade by weight, reach, and effectiveness, and could wield any of them with unmatched expertise. Although he would never admit it, Kimahri was very proud of his abilities and he spent more and more of his time polishing his arsenal. There wasn't anything else to do anyway, besides guarding Yuna of course.

He spun the spear in a wide arch, feeling its familiar weight. Out of all his weapons, the spear had to be Kimahri's favorite.

Part of him that missed the old adventure. Back when there was always a new challenge, a new threat. The summoner traveled on her quest, and the guardians protected her with all their strength. It was the perfect place for Kimahri.

Now there wasn't anything to do but help around the mansion. He found himself spending most of the time in the training room, cleaning weapons and practicing stances.

Kimahri growled at himself. Maybe being the Grand Maester's armed guard wasn't as thrilling as being a guardian, but he had to remember that it was all about Yuna's safety. That thought made him even angrier. When was it ever an issue? Her safety had always been his focus, how could he so easily forget it?

It had to be the boredom. He needed something to happen; some way to prove himself.

But you did prove yourself. Kimahri touched the tip of his horn. The weathered bone was gone now, replaced with horn made of solid gold, and carved with ronso symbols. He had received it as a gift upon becoming a royal bodyguard, and he was still adjusting to its weight. It was a great trophy and a powerful symbol of his devotion, but that didn't help now. It couldn't replace the feeling of defending Yuna. The knowledge that, despite fiends and gods, she was always safe, that was enough for him. Or should be.

He looked at the training room. By house standards, it was enormous, but it seemed so small to Kimahri.

Most of the wall targets had to be changed, he noted. Each one had a hundred small holes pierced in the center. Well, somebody was improving.

A small blade flashed from his belt. It twirled around his massive fingers as he brought it to eye level. He closed his eyes, focusing all energy into the knife. There was a thud as the blade left his outstretched hand and appeared in the center of the target.

Nodding, he turned to put the spear back in the closet, just as a loud crash shook the floor. His hands automatically fell into ready position along its haft.

A chocobo smashed in through one door and smashed out through another, chased by a black and white striped coeurl. They were the two riding animals Yuna had received earlier. He relaxed his grip. They were gone in an instant, leaving a trail of feathers and splintered wood behind them. A door swung from one hinge. He put the spear away and closed the closet. Be careful what you wish for…

---

Yuna reached the kitchen out of breath. Distant crashes and shouts came from all over the house, and Lulu was nowhere to be found. She paused to get herself together. She was standing in the doorway, if you could call it that. The kitchen and the dinning room were basically the same, with a half-wall separating them. The kitchen then opened up directly to a balcony, with a beautiful view of Bevelle.

It was actually a lovely day outside; the sky was blue and filled with long streaking clouds. From where she was standing Yuna could see a hundred white spires pointing towards the heavens. Why was she inside?

"Yumie!" Rikku said through a mouthful of sandwich.

"Rikku!" She was just a little shocked to see the young Al bhed standing in her kitchen, eating an overstuffed Zuu sandwich.

Yuna was about to say something when the frantic chocobo blew past, almost knocking her over. She grabbed the wall to steady herself as Rikku, completely surprised, stared after the bird with disbelief. The kitchen is usually the last place you'd see a live chocobo, so Rikku spent the next several moments watching as it planned its great escape off the balcony.

She turned back to help Yuna, but saw something even more startling.

"Get down!"

Yuna threw herself to the floor as the coeurl leaped, roaring, over the dividing wall. Like a reflex, Rikku grabbed a frying pan from the stove and swung it with all her strength.

'CLAAAANG!'

The big cat blinked once before collapsing in a heap.

"Down, kitty." She said, followed by a victorious 'Whoo hoo!' She flipped the frying pan into the air, caught it by the handle, and slapped the remains of her zuu sandwich in it. With that, she dropped the pan back on the stove and ran over to Yuna, who was shakily climbing to her feet. The two girls stood there for a second, looking at the snoring coeurl. Rikku whistled softly.

"You need a vacation."

---

Ugh…Tidus breathed. He was lost between sleep and consciousness, in that place where dreams seem real and reality's only a memory. It was a magical time, when you're still trying to remember why you can't move your legs, or how you're life's been recently derailed. He knew something had happened, but didn't have a clue what it was. But it had to be something pretty important to wake up with 'Ugh'. After several moments his dream returned, followed by the earlier conversation.

Hmm, let's see. Jecht is sin? Was sin. But we killed him, and then Yevon. Yuna did the sending. Auron's gone. Then there was the airship. Everybody was sad and there were those floating lights. Pyerflies. I jumped off. Jecht was there… and everything fell away. Then there's water. An ocean. I'm drowning. Figures. But then there's that ligh and… sounds, voices, talking about me. The dock… no wait, that's just another crazy dream. And now I'm here, in a stupid tent or something, waking up with a full body headache. Ugh.

Tidus opened his eyes just enough to peek at the world. It was lighter in the 'tent', and the crickets had been replaced by the sounds of people walking and talking. Oh great. Stuff was happening, and although every cell in his body resisted, it was time to get up. He grumbled at himself.

Come on, it's not so bad. All you have to do is get up. And if that doesn't kill you, you can figure out what's going on.

Gritting his teeth, he sat up. The pain in his neck was still there, but not as bad as before, and for the first time he could really see around him. Turned out it really was a tent, and actually a pretty big one as tents go. There were several other beds in the place, lined up into two rows. Nobody else was there except for Tidus, who was getting that 'slept-in-too-late' feeling. Exerting a little more strength, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stumbled onto his feet. He was a dizzy, but managed to take a few steps before he heard someone close by.

"Well crap. Looks like you win. Again." There was a curtain at one end blocking off another room. Someone else chuckled. Tidus pushed it aside. There were two guys sitting at a long table. One of them was shuffling a deck of cards.

"Oh, you're up." He said, seeing Tidus.

"Uhh yea. I guess." There didn't seem to be much to say, and Tidus tried to think.

"You don't look so good. Can I get ya anything?" The man's accent was familiar. It had the same sound as Wakka's, he thought. Tidus considered the question and realized he was very thirsty.

"Could I get some water or something?"

"Ya sure." He looked to the other guy. "Be right back, Gatta." Then he left the tent and there was only Tidus and Gatta.

"Why don't you take a seat? You look wasted…" He trailed off, looking very hard at Tidus's face.

"What?"

"Oh sorry. You just remind me of somebody." Tidus stared back at the guy. He had a dark complexion and his hair was tied back.

"Uh, you look… kinda familiar." There was another moment or two of starring before Gatta spoke.

"Tidus?" He smiled and extend his hand. Not knowing what to do, Tidus took it. "I'm Gatta. I was with the crusaders during the pilgrimage." Oh yea. Crusaders. Suddenly, Tidus realized where he was.

"This is… Besaid, right?" Gatta nodded. He was grinning now.

"It is you! Man, everybody'll be so excited to hear! I can't wait to tell the rest of the guard-" His sudden enthusiasm was making Tidus a little nervous.

"Uh Gatta, no offence or anything but, why are you so excited? I mean it's only been, like-"

"A year!" Gatta said with brimming satisfaction.

"A year?!" Tidus was suddenly thirstier. With his memories coming back, he suspected it might have been several days, maybe a week, since the battle with sin. But a whole year!?!

"Pretty crazy huh?" Gatta looked like he was ready to give Tidus a friendly punch in the arm. It felt like a friendly punch to the gut. Tidus just stood dumfounded, until the other guard walked in with a mug of water. He grabbed the mug, chugged half of it, then poured the other half over his head and flopped painfully onto a bench. The two guys were shocked.

"Thanks." He said with some relief.

"What's goin on?" The one with the cards asked. Gatta answered.

"It's Tidus! I told you it was him! We were just saying how surprised everybody's going to be when they hear he's back after a whole year! Hey, I wonder what Lady Yuna and the others'll say-"

"Uh, Gatta?" Tidus cut in. "Maybe it would be a better idea not to tell them. I mean, not until I get readjusted, okay? I don't want to make everything… complicated right away." Gatta's grin melted a little.

"I guess… Can I still tell my friends though?"

"I'd actually prefer it if we could keep this like a secret. Can you promise you won't tell anyone?" Gatta was obviously disappointed, but he agreed. Tidus got the other guy to promise too, although he wasn't sure how long they'd stay quiet.

He got up and walked to the door, which was really just a flap of fabric. It wasn't closed all the way, and some light from outside shone across the floor.

"Where are you going?"

"I think I'm gonna… take a walk. I have to sort some things out." He pulled the cloth back and stepped out into the Besaid afternoon.

-Hey I'd like to thank everbody's who still with me! Sorry this chapter's kinda uneventful, but chapter 5's up next and things are gonna get… interesting ^_^

So check back tomarrow for the next exciting episode…