Oh yawn hello readers. Last weekend really really sucked for me. We've done nothing but clean out our garage and do work and... zzz. Anyway, I'm sorry work got in the way of my self-proclaimed epic adventure, but I guess now I gotta write double-time to make it up to ya. Oh the sacrifices I make for my adoring fans. Enough daydreaming! Today's thrilling episode:

Chapter 4: And Then There were Two

"Yuuunaaaaa..." called a girl's voice next to Yuna's ear, "Wake up, sleepyhead!"

"Rikku..." Yuna groaned, rolling over and muttering irritably. But nothing would deter the Al Bhed girl from her morning mission. When she found herself being violently shaken, Yuna decided that it was an impossible battle. She pushed her cousin aside and pulled herself off the ground, soon joined by Rikku. Rikku grinned and pulled at the soft, blue material of the borrowed cloak, still wrapped around Yuna.

"So," Rikku began, "I'm dyin' to know..."

"There's nothing to know." Yuna insisted

"Then why are you wearing-"Rikku began to ask, but was cut short by her cousin.

"Rikku," Yuna said slowly and simply, as though explaining to a young child, "It was really cold. He gave me the cloak. It was the polite thing to do. That's all." Rikku pouted, a disappointed and defeated look on her face.

"Which reminds me, where has 'Prince Charming' gotten to?" Rikku said to herself as she turned to the fire to work on breakfast.

"What do you mean?" Yuna asked, puzzled.

"He left early this morning, going on about some important business he had to take care of, or something." Rikku explained with a tone of apathy, "He better not take too long or we're gonna hafta leave without him." She turned back, grumbling on in a way that Yuna was sure she had learned from Tidus. Waiting for him to return, Yuna made herself useful packing up their things and helping Rikku make their morning meal. She didn't have long to wait though; just a few moments later he strode into the campsite proudly. Trailing close behind Tidus was a large female chocobo, making high-pitched squeals, as chocobos tend to do. He gave Yuna his brightest mischievous smile, and handed her the reins.

"For me?" she asked, smiling back at him. She reached up and stroked the bird's beak making her emit soft trills in delight. Rikku, who had stood there with her arms crossed, walked up behind Tidus and gave him a punch in the shoulder.

"It took you that long to catch a little chocobo? Next time you run off, lemme know what the heck you're gonna do. I was ready to march off and pry ya out of the jaws of whatever fiend must have got ya in your search for chocobos." Rikku yelled at him, wielding a spoon and shaking it at him to emphasize the words. Tidus just waited until she was done ranting.

"Boy, you sure do know how to ruin a happy moment, Rikks." He complained. He lifted his nose to the air and breathed deeply, "But, since you seem to have food, I think I'll forgive your rudeness this time." He ran to her freshly prepared food with Yuna, while Rikku frowned at them both.

"Lighten up, Rikku!" Yuna called.

"Eat up, buddy, you're makin' the food next time!" she grumbled at Tidus.

"So, Yuna," Tidus began, turning to the princess, "What are you gonna name her?" Yuna looked at him thoughtfully, then she smiled.

"Tide. Her name is Tide." Her mismatched eyes held a sweet softness as she gazed at him. Somewhere in the distance, Rikku's groan of impatience could be heard. Tidus realized that it was named after him, and smiled back in appreciation. Rikku muttered something along the lines of "You guys are pathetic," before cleaning up after the meal and mounting her own steed. With her obvious signal to get moving, the others boarded their chocobos, and set off for the Thunder Plains.

The Thunder Plains had once been a deathtrap of thunder and lightning. If you weren't on your toes and ready, you would be likely fried to a crisp. These days it safer to cross, thanks to the Al Bhed's lightning towers that drew the dangerous electricity away from the path. Safe, but not exactly fun. With each crash of lightning and rumble of thunder, Tide screeched and squeaked in fright. The poor Macalania chocobo had never seen a storm like this, so the three travelers decided that for everyone's sake, they should rest. They stopped at the Al Bhed travel agency halfway through. While Tidus and Yuna attempted to comfort the startled bird, Rikku walked up to the woman at the counter. They chattered away in Al Bhed for a while. Then she turned back to them, a red glowing sphere in one hand and a blue glass bottle in the other.

"I got good news and bad news guys." Rikku announced. She held up the bottle first. "Good news: Yuna this is for you." She opened the bottle and poured some of the blue liquid in her hand and tossed it over Yuna. Instantly she was surrounded by a white glow. There was a healing tingle in her side and she felt the bandages begin to loosen. She lifted up her blouse and vest enough to watch the useless bandages and stitches fall to the ground and reveal smooth healed skin.

"Thanks!" Yuna said, enjoying her freedom from the painful wound.

"No prob. Now the bad news: I was just given a report from Rin to deliver ASAP to the king. Which means I'm gonna hafta ride ahead to get there quick enough."

"I'll go for you Rikku." Tidus insisted, which kind of hurt Yuna to know that he'd rather ride on ahead instead of being with her.

"Don't be ridiculous Tidus, we both know I'm the faster rider." She argued, and he nodded, realizing her logic.

They stepped outside to see Rikku off. Her hopped onto her steed's back and looked down at them to say her good-byes.

"You two behave, you hear? Take care of her, Tidus! I'll meet up with you guys in Luca." She winked at Yuna and nudged the chocobo into a full gallop. Tidus and Yuna watched her disappear down the path.

"We should stay the night," he said simply, stepping back into the agency with Yuna in tow.

Oh my god, I feel sooo lazy for not getting this in sooner, I guess, since this was kind of a filler chapter, my heart wasn't in it. But I'm pretty sure the next chapter will hold my interest more. Did ya like the whole send-Rikku-away-cause-she's-the-faster-rider thing? I kinda stole that from Lord of The Rings, but it is a bit different. So, the next chapter is going to be all about Tidus' famous family troubles, but with a twist. I added a brother, and you'll never guess who it is. Also someone asked me if Seymour was going to be in this story (I'm thinkin it was you, Saddened Soul). The answer to that is yes, he'll make his appearance soon. I think of this as more of a combo between the original and the sequel, but I put it in the FFX-2 section because it has characters from that game. Again, sorry for such a late update (I feel just awful) and stay tuned for the next exciting adventure!

Coming soon to a computer monitor near you:

Chapter 5: Family Ties