Chapter Two

"Gullwings!" Buddy called, "We have a sphere location!"

"All right!" Rikku giggled, jumping in the air.

"Where is it?" Paine asked.

"We have sphere waves coming from Zanarkand Ruins," Buddy said, "Are you up to it?"

"Zanarkand Ruins? But I heard they're haunted!" Rikku cried.

"Haunted?" Yuna inquired.

"It's not haunted," said Paine, a scowl on her face, "Last year the boundaries around the Farplane broke and the souls of those who are gone traveled to Zanarkand. It's no big deal really."

"So just a lot of fiends. But..." Yuna paused. Did that mean people like her father, Auron, Jecht, and even Seymour would be there? "I think we can handle it!"

Rikku whined loudly. "Not fair!"

"Then you're going?" Buddy questioned.

"Of course!" Yuna laughed.

"Celsius, full speed ahead!" Brother yelled. The Gullwings arrived in Zanarkand Ruins in no time.

Yuna stepped off the ship, happy to see it free of tourists. Except one. Up on the hill, where Yuna and Tidus had looked upon the once great metropolis, stood a bald Al Bhed that was reconized as Cid.

Rikku gasped, biting her lower lip. "Shh. Maybe he won't see us..." she whispered.

"Whatcha all being so quiet for?" Gippal said, loudly, as he walked off the ship.

Rikku cringed. It was so like Gippal to ruin something. "Gippal!" she hissed.

Cid turned around, glaring at Rikku. He mumbled something and turned back around.

Gippal's face turned pale. Had he known Cid was here, he would've stayed on the ship.

This won't turn out good... Yuna thought.

See, Rikku and Gippal got married in spring. But they didn't tell Cid. They knew he'd be angry. But Brother found out and unintentionally told Cid. Cid was... well if you've ever stumbled upon a nest of baby Behemothes and ran into the mother... Cid was about a thousand times more angry than that.

"Hey Pops!" Rikku called.

Cid spun on his heel. "You expect me to even look at you?!"

"Like you would understand either way! I can't believe you!"

"You are the one who didn't tell me about... him," he spat.

Gippal backed away slightly. He and Cid were never too friendly. And now that he had married his daughter...

"Vnaawa!" Cid cried in Al Bhed. "Don't think you're getting off so easily."

"Leave him alone!" Rikku shouted, "You're being such an ass!"

Yuna and Paine glanced at each other. "The sphere," Paine reminded Rikku.

"Uncle Cid..." Yuna chided, "We're on a mission. There's this sphere we need to find and..."

"I have yer stupid sphere," Cid growled. He tossed the orb at Yuna. "Git the hell outta here."

Paine put her hands up in surrender, walking back onto the ship, dragging Gippal with her. "Come on. Let's get you somewhere safe..." she muttered.

Yuna began to walk backwards. "Uh... bye," she said, following her fellow sphere hunter friend.

Rikku was near tears. "Why don't you learn to let go! I'm not your little girl anymore! I'm twenty years old and capable of surviving on my own!"

Cid looked at his only daughter. Rikku was all he had left. He was the same way when his little sister married Braska. "Rikku, you'll learn when you have your own children that it's not so easy. Now git!"

Rikku stomped off, into the Celsius, buring her tears into Gippal's shoulder. "How could he be so cruel...?"

"It's okay," Gippal said, cradling his wife in his arms.

Yuna sighed. How she envied Rikku and Gippal. Their love was so pure. If only she had someone to wipe away her tears... I do. We just have to find him. "Shinra," she said, changing the subject, "can we see the sphere now?"

"Yup." Everyone gathered around the screen to watch the second sphere.

"Hey Yuna," Tidus said. He was talking to the sphere. "I don't know if you'll get this. I hope you do. I'm coming. Aeris is getting ready now. We're going to break out of the Farplane. And we'll be real." He leaned back against a tree.

The girl in the pink dress sat next to him. "Whatcha doing?" she asked.

"Saying hello to Yuna. Maybe she can get this and know I'm coming."

"Oh. Well," Aeris grinned brightly at the sphere, her emerald eyes glittering. "I can't wait to meet you Yuna. Tidus has told me a lot about you."

Tidus chuckled. "This is Aeris. She's going to help me escape."

Aeris smiled, "We'll come out at the Farplane entrance in Guadosalam."

"I thought you didn't know Spira," Tidus commented, confused.

"I don't. But it's been there for about three thousand years. It's not like I just sat here and watched lint all day."

Tidus laughed. "Well... I can't wait to see you Yuna. Summer's just started. We're leaving soon. Hope to see you there."

The sphere ended.

Yuna looked at her friends, new hope glistening in her eyes. "I think this sphere was recorded recently," she said thoughtfully, "I mean, summer has just started..."

"Right," Shinra said. "It was recorded approximately a week ago."

"Gullwings! We have a crisis!" Buddy shouted from his seat at the navigation.

Yuna rolled her eyes. "Oh now what?"

"Pyreflies are pouring from the Farplane," Buddy said, "it's a mess!"

"Well then we better go see what's going on," Paine replied. "It might be Tidus and Aeris."

"Right! Let's go!" Rikku jumped, obviously in a much better mood.

"Okay!" Yuna agreed. Hope I see you there...