By popular demand, I've decided to continue with this fan fiction. Expect more romance – or what is a feeble attempt to be romance – in the next few chapters, along with fighting. Expect a new romance, too, Shinra and Calli (How did that crazy mind of mine make this up?)! Also, I do not own Square Enix, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy X, or Final Fantasy X-2, so you can't sue me! Anyways, feedback is appreciated and I hope you enjoy!
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"That sure was a cheery reception," Yuna said as she walked into the cabin of the Celsius. Rikku was still madly blushing, and thus made no comment. Paine nodded glumly as she sat down at the bar.
"Paine, I thinksh that thish be too late for a drink," Barkeep said concernedly, looking at the darker member of the Gullwings.
"I don't care what you think," Paine murmured, head falling into two gloved hands. Barkeep sighed, and then looked at the liquor cabinet.
"Too much liquor ish not good, not good at all," Barkeep warned, waving his finger back and forth in front of Paine's face.
"Shut up, you stupid Hypello, or I'll chop off that blue finger of yours," Paine snarled. Barkeep immediately stopped his playful taunting and went to the cabinet to go make a drink.
The sky outside was dark and gloomy, with lightning streaking the sky. However, daring Buddy and Brother could care less, as they decided to go for an overnight ride. Shinra, refusing to tag along, ended up in the cabin as well, talking with Calli.
"Chocobos are so great!" Calli said, feeling rather stupid in front of Shinra. She always talked about Chocobos, mainly because they were her favorite subject and the only real thing she knew about. She watched in awe as Shinra affectionately rubbed the top feathers of the Chocobo on board, which was currently attempting to sleep. Calli giggled slightly.
"He sure seems sleepy," Shinra announced. Calli nodded. He needed to work on things to say to Calli, other than these bogus comments about their poultry pals. "How fast did you record his speed yesterday, back when we visited Clasko in the Calm Lands?"
"I think it was... 76 miles per hour, I'm pretty sure," Calli said, gazing up to the ceiling to think. She was acting so dumb in front of this genius! She was surprised that when she looked back he was still there. "Yes, that's what Clasko told me."
"Good. That's the healthy average for a moderate racing Chocobo. However, Lightwind, the fastest Chocobo in the Spira archives, went as fast as 110 miles per hour! Isn't that amazing?" Shinra said. Calli looked on in awe.
"Ooooh, Shinra has a crush," Rikku said as she walked past, causing Shinra to blush under his full-body suit. Calli's face flared red like a fireball.
"Look who's talking, little Miss Oh-Gippal-gave-me-a-kiss-and-so-I'm-going-to-blush-like-an-embarrassed-teenager!" Shinra shouted back, causing Rikku to blush madly.
"Stupid kid," she managed to mutter as she collapsed tiredly into her bed, making sure to pull on the blankets. She hated the cold, as she was used to the scorching desert sun like the rest of her Al Bhed kindred. Soon she was fast asleep, dreaming confusing dreams about Gippal who was magically transforming into Cid and yelling at her to get her act to together.
Yuna was quite tired, so she headed up to her bed in the cabin. Rikku was all ready fast asleep, and she didn't wish to wake her cousin. So she silently slipped into her bed in the middle of the three, and her eyes fluttered before closing as a few thoughts of Shuyin and Lenne faded from her mind. It was a normal side-effect of using a Dressphere.
As Yuna began to sleep, she didn't notice that Tidus was walking up the steps to find her. Rikku was all ready asleep like a baby, and Tidus had to keep from chuckling. On the next bed lay Yuna, who was fast asleep. With a sigh, Tidus slipped right next to her, not under the covers but above them. He was finally back with Yuna, no matter whether he was a dream of the fayth or not. That didn't matter to him at all anymore. Only Yuna mattered.
Paine was up quite late, even when Barkeep began to fall asleep standing up and waiting for her to get done. Shinra had fallen asleep on a pallet on the floor, and Calli had fallen asleep snuggled up with the Chocobo and a soft blanket. Mixed thoughts were running through the troubled teen's mind as she thought of the adventures she had with the Gullwings, from excavating her past to freeing Shuyin from an eternity of hatred and defeating the monstrous Vegnagun. She thought of Nooj, who was now never to be hers. She thought of Gippal, who was so obviously in love with Rikku. And finally, she thought of Baralai, the lone praetor who had always been one of her closest friends in the Crimson Squad. She thought about it all, even when Barkeep was escorted out of the bar by a nagging Darling.
Finally, when the bar lights went out and her glass was fully drained, Paine headed upstairs to go to bed. Rikku lay asleep in the first one, as sound asleep as a bear in winter. Next was Yuna, and the newcomer she had so fondly remembered. That was something she faintly knew about, a topic Yuna had rarely spoken of. Then she saw her own empty bed, slipped into it, and was immediately whisked away into dreams about digging into the depths of the Bevelle Labyrinth with, of all people, Baralai.
Finally, at about five o'clock in the morning, Brother and Buddy stopped flying the Celsius madly around Spira and rested peacefully in their cockpits, extremely exhausted from a day of flying. They had landed near the peak of Mt. Gagazet, and snow began to fall amidst the Gullwings' dreams.
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"WE'RE FALLING!" shouted Rikku as she awoke with a scream. Out the window, she could see nothing but the sky and the ground below. No, they weren't falling. But she had given a wake-up call that could've woken up all of Spira. They were obviously perched precariously on some height Buddy and Brother had selected; those reckless goons. Rikku rolled her eyes as Paine leapt out of her bed.
"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned. Rikku was no longer shouting.
"Oh, nothing," she said with a smile as she hopped out of her bed and leapt over the balcony to have some breakfast that Barkeep was all ready cooking. Calli and Shinra were all ready awake and talking eagerly with one another. As she passed by the two "kiddies", she snickered a bit. Shinra gave her a nasty glare, which would have connected if he hadn't been wearing his full-body suit.
Paine sighed, shrugged, and rolled her eyes. She too hopped off the balcony onto the floor below, sitting on a stool and waiting for a fresh breakfast of Chocobo egg omelets and fried Gagazet mushrooms. Calli refused to eat an omelet, as she was strictly a vegetarian when it came to Chocobo-based foods. Hoping to initiate a conversation, Shinra did the same which only made Rikku laugh harder, who was looking at the whole situation. Whenever she did, though, Shinra would make a crude – and cruel – imitation of her with Gippal which caused her to refrain from making fun of the two.
"That smells good, Mom," Tidus said in his sleep. Yuna crept up closer, wrapping her arms around the Blitzball player. The two oblivious lovers were still in deep sleep, all though the rest of the crew – including Buddy and Brother – were up.
"Wake up, Yunie!" Rikku shouted, shaking her cousin. She turned to Tidus. "And you too!"
"Is the game all ready over?" Tidus said as he awoke. Yuna laughed and hugged him. Rikku giggled, and then looked back to where Calli and Shinra were talking and laughed.
"What's so funny?" Yuna asked, and then looked over the balcony where Shinra and Calli were oblivious to everything else. She let out her same, playful laugh, and Tidus went to look what the whole commotion was about. He laughed too.
Shinra looked up at the
upper-deck of the cabin, and the three immediately stopped giggling. Shinra had
suspected that they were laughing at him and Calli, who was now blushing like
mad again. Shinra grinned a bit. Did she like him, then?
Suddenly, the weirdest thing happened. Calli leaned up close to his face, and attempted to kiss him on the lips if it hadn't been for his full-body suit. Shinra almost fell off his chair, but Calli said, "Take off your mask."
Shinra's heart was stricken with fear. "I... I... I can't," he explained, then hopped off the stool and ran down the hallway, into the elevator, then onto the deck to get to the spot he normally sat at researching. Calli looked away, and walked over to the Chocobo and attempted to soothe herself by rustling its head feathers.
Rikku didn't have the insensitivity to laugh, but she did giggle madly. Yuna cleared her throat and tapped Rikku on the shoulder, as Calli was glaring at her evilly. Rikku immediately stopped, and now was the time for Tidus to laugh. He laughed not about the whole ordeal with Shinra and Calli, but the way she had glared at Rikku. Rikku elbowed him in the stomach and he stopped.
"Kids," muttered Paine as Yuna, Rikku, and Tidus sat down at the bar. Barkeep smiled.
"We have for today'sh breakfasht Chocobo egg omeletsh and fried Gagazezet mushroomsh," he said, handing the newcomers for breakfast plates of steaming, delicious food. (NOTE: I didn't make a mistake with Gagazezet. It's how I figured a Hypello would say 'Gagazet'.)
Tidus ate it all like a pig, while Yuna merely pushed some back and forth and every once in a while she'd take a bite. Rikku ate just as normally as she always would, and Paine sighed at the sight of the newcomer.
"Well someone's hungry," she declared, looking straight at Tidus. He grinned with a mouthful of food. She looked back down at her own almost-finished plate, then took out a book about the history of the Crusaders and continued reading, mostly to get her mind away from the others who had so eagerly surrounded her.
Suddenly, the alarm went off. "Sphere alert!" shouted Buddy from the cockpit. YRP got up and ran down the hallway, then down the elevator, followed by a rather confused Tidus.
"What are you guys doing?" Tidus asked, and Yuna turned back to him.
"We're sphere hunters, remember?" Yuna said. "Together, Rikku, Paine, and I form YRP."
"YRP, eh?" Tidus said with a chuckle. "Where do I go, then?"
"You could help us, if you don't think your fighting skills are too shabby... And if you figure out how to use a Dressphere," she explained. "If you can fulfill those two things, I'll change the name to TYRP."
"Okay... Who will tell me about... Dresspheres?" Tidus asked confusedly. Yuna laughed.
"Talk to Shinra. He's that boy you saw earlier," Yuna said, still laughing about the ordeal with him and Calli. Tidus nodded.
"Okay then. I'll talk to him and he'll tell me about them?" he asked.
"Yes," replied Yuna. "He should be on the deck with everyone else. Now let's go!"
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"Where's the sphere?" asked an excited Rikku. She hopped down the steps and landed near Buddy. "Where's the sphere?" she called out again.
"Hold your Chocobos, Rikku," Buddy said with a laugh. "Just wait until everyone gets here."
Paine walked slowly down the steps, stopping at Shinra's chair. Shinra was intent on looking at the research screen, but his thoughts were directed elsewhere. In fact, they were directed to a young girl in the cabin with a Chocobo.
Finally, Tidus and Yuna entered the room. Tidus immediately went to Shinra. "I heard about these Dresspheres," he explained. "I want to know how to use them, and what they'll do for me."
Shinra gazed up at him, in awe that someone was actually intent on learning about his works. "A Dressphere is a sphere that infuses its user into the abilities of the one drawn from the sphere," Shinra said. "For instance, a White Mage Dressphere infuses the user with the ability to cast White Magic, but they will also appear in a white robe with a staff just like normal White Mages."
"I see," Tidus said, half understanding, half entirely confused. "How many are there?"
"Well, there is the White Mage Dressphere, Black Mage Dressphere, Warrior Dressphere, Thief Dressphere, Gunner Dressphere, Gun Mage Dressphere, Shadow Knight Dressphere, Berserker Dressphere, Samurai Dressphere, Trainer Dressphere, Mascot Dressphere, Alchemist Dressphere... and of course, two Dresspheres that won't really fit your description."
"What are they?" Tidus asked.
"The Lady Luck Dressphere and the Songstress Dressphere. Unless you want to dress up like a girl and use girly abilities, I'm going to need to somehow adapt this to a male," Shinra explained. Rikku, whose attention was now directed on the lecture Shinra was giving, began to laugh.
"Okay, I think I get it," Tidus said. Shinra grinned under his mask, then turned back to continue researching.
"The sphere is from a place you'll never guess," Buddy explained when the four finally were intent on figuring out where the sphere was.
"Let me guess... Bikanel Desert? Or maybe the Djose Temple?" Rikku asked hopefully.
"Nope, neither," Buddy said, and Rikku groaned. "Do you guys give up?"
"Yes," Rikku said painfully. "Where is the sphere?"
"It's in the Baaj Temple," Buddy said. Brother nodded.
"Baaj Temple... It's where we first met, remember?" Rikku said to Tidus. He nodded.
"Yes, I remember perfectly, especially when you lodged your fist into my stomach," Tidus said rather cheerfully. Yuna laughed.
"I said 'Cunno'!" Rikku said angrily.
"What the heck does that mean?" Tidus asked.
"'Cunno' means 'Sorry' in Al Bhed!" Rikku shouted back. Tidus and Yuna both laughed.
"Well 'Cunno' for misunderstanding you, then," Tidus said. Rikku's eyes narrowed into slits.
"Baaj Temple, here we go!" Brother shouted. "YRP in position!"
"Make that TYRP," Yuna said. Paine, Rikku, and Brother all looked at the former summoner.
"TYRP?" Paine and Brother asked in unison. "What does that stand for?"
"It's us, plus him," Yuna explained. "He's offered to help us with sphere hunting."
"Ah," Paine said, understanding. Rikku nodded happily, too.
"Hurray!" she shouted, jumping up. Brother rolled his eyes.
"Baaj Temple, here we go!" he repeated. "TYRP in position!"
Tidus grinned. He could get use to this.