A/N: Sorry for the wait. I'm fighting writer's block something terrible. But school's out for summer now (YIPPEE!!!!) and I'll have a little more time on my hands. But I'm working at the poor man's superstore (Wal-Mart) so I'm still busy.

Sry I'm too lazy to write out responses to everyone's review, so Hi ya'll, you know who you are!! Hope you like the chappy!!

Chapter Seventeen

Trip to the Farplane

Tidus sat in the temple in Besaid. He couldn't believe he had let Yuna go... again. He had promised her he would never leave her. And the others decided he should tell Rikku since he was there. Didn't they understand how much pain he was in himself? He waved to the healer as he walked into Rikku and Gippal's recovery room.

"Hiya Tidus!" Rikku greeted, cheerful as ever. She looked like she'd be up and about in another week.

"Hey Rikku," nodded Tidus, not nearly as excited, "Hey Gippal."

Gippal flashed a grin. "Hey man, how's it going? Did you," he glanced at Rikku, then grinned back at Tidus, "pop the question?"

"You're going to propose to Yunie?!" cried Rikku. She glared at her husband, "And you didn't tell me?"

"I promised not to tell," Gippal explained simply.

"So, did you?" Rikku asked.

Tidus pulled up a chair, placing his chin in his hands. "Not quite."

Rikku cocked her head to one side, a worried look overcoming the excited smile, "What's wrong?"

"Sephiroth and Seymour manipulated Yuna and Aeris again."

"What happened?" Gippal inquired.

"They killed Barret, Cid, and Tifa."

Rikku's jaw dropped, "Oh Yunie... Is she okay?! What about Aeris?"

Tidus nodded his head slowly. "Well they are gone--"

"Dead?!" Gippal interuppted.

"Not that we know of. Sephiroth... I guess he's gained control of Yuna's body. Seymour might be able to soon do the same to Aeris. Yuna, err Sephiroth, took Aeris and they disappeared. We have no way in knowing where they went," Tidus sighed. He clenched his fists at the thought of both Sephiroth and Seymour. How could they do this to them?

"Oh Yunie... Aeris..." Rikku said softly. "Be all right..." She looked at Tidus. She could tell he was having trouble with this. "Maybe you can break through to Yunie..."

"I don't even know where she is," he sighed, his forehead in the palms of his hands.

"They can't be far. If you just try to talk to her, you know, like at the Macalania spring..." Rikku suggested. Her complexion held a teasing, but soft, smirk.

The blonde blitzball player tried to ignore her comment, but felt the warmth of a pink blush in his cheeks. Keeping his head down, he replied, "But we have to find them first."

Rikku smiled to herself. She felt it was her duty to push Yuna and Tidus together, even though both were a little embarassed of it. She looked at Tidus, "I think they're heading for the Farplane."

"How do you know?" asked a curious Gippal.

Rikku closed her eyes, scrunching her nose. "I... I don't know how. I just do."

"Knock knock," said Paine from the doorway. "Thinking too hard?" she teased Rikku, pulling a chair beside her friend's bed.

"This is serious, Paine!" Rikku scowled.

"Well Yuna and Aeris were sighted at the Farplane-- what?" Paine looked at Rikku.

The hyperactive Al Bhed had an I-told-you-so smirk on her face, "See?"

"And they told me you were crazy," Gippal joked.

"You know what, Paine?" Rikku thought, looking at her friend. "It'll be a lot like the Shuyin/Lenne reunion. We'll need love to breakthrough to Yunie..."

"Sounds like a plan," Tidus agreed.

"It might work," Rikku nodded. She tried to sit up, but fell back in pain. "I wish I could help you guys."

"Don't worry. Besides, you're going to be a mother soon. You need to get better," Paine assured.

Rikku smiled, "Thanks Paine. I hope you guys find Aeris and Yunie. Bring them back safe!"

Gippal grinned, "And then pop the question."

Paine raised an eyebrow at the two men, then kept her comments to herself. "We better get going. It's still early enough to find them."

"Right," Tidus nodded. He stood up, waving goodbye to Gippal and Rikku, Paine behind him. "To the Farplane."

"It's strange..." Paine said, as they walked the road to the Celsius. "I journeyed for nearly a year with Yuna, looking for you. Now I'm travelling with you to find Yuna. There's some irony."

They boarded the Celsius, and persuaded Buddy to give them a lift to Guadosalam. Tidus was being extremely quiet. He didn't have much to say, there was too much on his mind. He just had to find Yuna.

Paine kept glancing at him. She'd only known him for a few days, and already, she considered him a close friend. The warrior thought herself silly. She had changed so much in the past few years. All thanks to Yuna and Rikku. She owed them everything. She knew she wouldn't be able to go on easily without them.

"You two going to be all right?" Buddy asked as they landed. He recieved two short nods as answers. "Good luck," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"It's not in chaos," Paine said, remembering the last trip to the Farplane, "yet..." she added. They walked up to the door, to enter the Farplane.

"Sorry Paine, can't let yah in!" the guard said.

"Why not?" Tidus asked.

"Lady Yuna requested I let nobody in."

"Let us through," Paine ordered.

"I'm sorry, I can't!"

"You're looking for hurt," Paine warned.

"Sorry."

"Please?" Tidus pleaded.

"Nope."

"I'll get LeBlanc!" she threatened.

This seemed to scare the guard into letting them through. He muttered something under his breath, but Tidus nor Paine heard it.

The duo walked up the staircase, through the invisible wall to the plane of the dead. Yuna stood with her back to them, Aeris sat beside her. Paine drew her sword, as did Tidus. They both knew they wouldn't attack Yuna or Aeris, but that didn't mean Yuna wouldn't attack them. "Come on, let's get closer," she whispered.

"You shouldn't have come," Aeris spoke.

Tidus and Paine raised their swords as everything around them began to turn black.

Aeris and Yuna stood, and turned to face them. "Now you shall pay," Yuna spoke. Her eyes, voice, face, everything was emotionless. It was the same for Aeris. They're faces grew more wan as their surroundings became dark. A strong gusty wind began to blow.

"What's going on?" worried Paine.

"You shouldn't have come," Aeris repeated.

Soon everything was dark, except a soft light that shone down on Yuna and Aeris. Yuna clutched her head, her breath staggered and short. "No..." she whispered.

Tidus threw his sword on the ground, running to her. "Yuna!"

"They've... won..." she cried quietly, "Don't you get it?"

"What are you talking about?!"

"They live..." Yuna whispered, her body becoming limp. She closed her eyes, falling into Tidus' arms.

"No! Yuna! What's going on?!" he cried.

"Aeris!" Paine tried to shake the girl awake, but like Yuna, she wouldn't. "Aeris!"

A dark cackle emitted from somewhere behind them. Tidus knew the laughter as Seymour's. Softly laying Yuna's body on the ground, he picked up his sword. "Where are you?!" he screamed.

Paine grabbed her weapon, glaring into the darkness. "Come out, you bastard," she muttered.

"You can't win now," Seymour spoke. He became visible in the misty light.

"What did you do?!" Tidus cried, lunging at the Guado.

"I don't think so," Seymour said calmly, waving his arm in the air. Suddenly Tidus stopped in mid-attack. "I can't have you attacking us now. After all, as long as you're here, you can't stop us."

"What are you talking about?" Paine demanded.

"You'll see soon." And with that, Seymour faded away into the darkness, disappearing.

A/N: Damn writer's block Umm... Sorry this chapter is short and sucks but the next chapter is going to explain a few things. I have a lot of fics that I'm working on right now and it's hard to keep up sometimes. Well I'll have the next chappy up in a few days!