DISCLAIMER:  I do not own FFX, FFX-2, FFVIII or any of the characters and locations affiliated with it.  I do, however, own the story "Silver Wings", "Silver Wings 2: 1000 Confessions" and all references to dialogue not originated by Square-Enix.

DO NOT COPY MY STORIES!!

If anyone wants to post my stories anywhere else, please just ASK and then give me credit for writing it.  Email akksgurl@yahoo.com with any requests.

Author's Notes:  This chapter was one that I had in mind since the beginning of this story so it was relatively easy to write.  I hope everyone enjoys it!

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SILVER WINGS 3: Back Into My Arms

by akksgurl

Chapter Seven: Sudden Realizations

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"Alright!!!" Tidus heard Laguna shout from just outside of the room.  That man always was just a tad too loud. "Let's go! We'll get aboard Ragnarok!  Let's do the final briefing in there!  I always wanted to ride that thing. Plus the name sounds so cool!"

Ragnarok?  What the hell was a Ragnarok? Tidus narrowed his eyes in confusion as he slowly rose from the bed upon which he had been lying.  Shrugging to himself, he meandered out of the room and fell in step behind the group that was quickly making their way out of the presidential palace. 

For the first time he really started to pay attention to the people around him.  Each and every one of them was a dream, but who were they based upon?  Had Shuyin known any of them?  As strange as it was, Tidus was beginning to miss Shuyin.  He really wanted to talk to someone who believed what he was saying. 

From the swagger of the guy with the cowboy hat to the sullen strut of the one with the scar, each and every person Tidus was with had a distinct personality.  He smiled to himself as he tried to imagine which ones Yuna would like and which she wouldn't.  He wasn't allowing himself to entertain the possibility of Yuna being the dream anymore.  It simply wasn't true.

Tidus had forgotten how long the trip to the airship hangar was.  He was getting ready to suggest they stop for food and water when he finally saw it.  It had to have been what his uncle had called the Ragnarok.  It took up almost the entire hangar and Tidus noticed that it had a space insignia upon its side. 

"This is a spaceship!" he said, suddenly gaining the attention of those he had followed.  Judging from the looks on their faces, none of them had realized he was behind them.

Laguna nodded, "Yes, Tidus.  It is a spaceship." Running a hand through his long, black hair, Tidus' uncle stared at him, "Can we help you with something?"

Tidus shrugged, "I want to come along with you guys.  Is that cool?"

Squall Leonhart rolled his eyes, "What do you know about fighting evil?"

"I'll have you know," retorted Tidus angrily, "That I was part of the group of guardians that defeated Sin!"

"…Whatever." Replied Squall as he turned back to Laguna, "Let's just get this over with."

Tidus glared at the back of the brunette's head as he followed the rest of the group onto the ship.  He already didn't like the sullen teenager that appeared to be the leader of the operation.  He knew Yuna wouldn't like him either.  Maybe when he got back to Spira, he'd just leave Squall Leonhart out of the stories he told her.

If he got back to Spira…

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"Why don't you just talk to him?" Yuna asked her cousin, Rikku, as she, Paine, and Rikku meandered down to the pavement of main street in Zanarkand.  Yuna had quickly recovered from her suicide attempt and was in much better spirits.  In fact, when Gippal had approached her about continuing the rebuilding, she didn't even have to think about it.  She knew that would be what Tidus wanted and so it would be done.

Rikku shook her head firmly, "No, he tried to blame me for Baralai!  I won't talk to him until he apologizes."

"But you blamed him too…" Paine pointed out.

The blonde stuck her tongue out at her friend before crossing her arms over her chest violently, "That still doesn't excuse what he said to me.  He's a big meanie!"

Yuna shrugged and strolled a little ahead of her friends.  She didn't understand Rikku holding a grudge.  At least Rikku still had Gippal.  Yuna would give anything to just fight with Tidus again. 

The trio carried with them some food and drinks for the Al Bhed who were working on rebuilding the blitzball stadium that lay in ruins at the center of the once massive city.  Yuna knew that the very streets their feet were walking up also held the long forgotten footsteps of Shuyin and Lenne.  Although Yuna didn't have a living memory of her life as Lenne, she felt in familiar surroundings by just being in Zanarkand.  This place, more than any other, felt like home to her.

Yuna sighed and continued her trek across the rocky roads.  She could see the blitzball stadium far in the distance as the group passed what used to be the presidential palace.  Her eyes wandered the tallest of the ruins as she contemplated what it might have been.  She wondered if Tidus would have known.

"I want to come along with you guys.  Is that cool?"

Yuna froze in place.  Her eyes widened and she spun around in a circle, searching frantically for him.  She felt Rikku's hand on her shoulder, "Yunie, what's the matter?"

"Didn't you hear him?!" Yuna cried, searching her cousin's eyes for some sign that she hadn't imagined it, "Didn't you hear him?!"

"What do you know about fighting evil?"

Yuna let out a yelp.  She didn't recognize that voice.  Who was he talking to?  Where was he?  Paine was next to grab her wrists, "Yuna, we didn't hear anything."

"But…" Yuna stammered, "His voice is as clear as day!"

"I'll have you know that I was part of the group of guardians that defeated Sin!"

"Tidus!" Yuna shrieked, wrenching her hands away from her friends to run closer and closer to the tallest of the ruins.  The closer she got the louder his voice became until it was pounding in her ears.  He was so close.  She could almost feel him again.

"…Whatever.  Let's just get this over with."

Her foot caught upon something buried in the ruins and Yuna found herself sprawled out on the ground with her face in dirt and debris.  Spattering and wiping herself clean, she slowly rose to her feet and listened. 

Nothing…

"Yunie!" screeched Rikku as she and Paine joined her, "What has gotten into you?"

"Didn't you hear him?" Yuna asked, her voice quivering, on the verge of tears.

"We didn't hear anything." Paine said again, patting Yuna's hand gently.

Yuna cast her eyes downward and sighed.  Of course they hadn't heard anything.  Tidus wasn't there and never would be again.  Her mind – and her ears – were playing tricks on her.

Taking a deep breath, Yuna forced herself to smile, "I'm sorry.  I'm just out of it right now.  Let's keep going." And without giving her friends a chance to respond, Yuna took off toward the stadium as if trying to leave the ghosts of the past behind her.

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"Alright!  Everyone!  From here, we go straight to our final target, Ultimecia!" announced Laguna once the group had gotten aboard the Ragnarok and were settled in the cockpit, "Let's go over the plan again."

Everyone in the room listened intently with a serious expression upon their faces – except Laguna and that girl with the yellow dress who were always smiling.

"First, enter Lunatic Pandora and rescue Ellone!  Next, you fight Sorceress Adel! It'll be a surprise attack. Show no mercy.  Now, here comes the tricky part!  Adel will need to pass on her powers before being defeated. Rinoa, will you be willing to accept them?"

"Yes!" replied the brunette female that always seemed to be by Squall's side.  Her back was always facing Tidus but there was something about her….

She seemed familiar.

"Good!" Laguna said, shooting a smile at Rinoa, "Next, we wait for Sorceress Ultimecia to possess Rinoa!  This'll be hard on you, Rinoa, but will you do it?"

"...Yes." said the girl after a long pause.  Squall took a step closer to her and Tidus smiled to himself.  Maybe this Squall guy and he had more in common then he thought.  Both of them had to risk losing the women they love to stop evil.  Granted, the evil Squall was trying to stop didn't really exist, but they didn't know that.

"That's the spirit!" Laguna said, jovially, "Then, Ellone sends Rinoa and Ultimecia to the past!  Ellone brings back Rinoa!  Then, head to the future through compressed time!"

"Compressed time?" Tidus asked incredulously, "What is that?!"

Laguna narrowed his eyes at him and continued, "Ultimecia lives far in the future where none of us can technically exist."

Tidus smiled a little.  It sounded like his experience in Spira the first time.  He couldn't technically exist there, but he did. 

"There's only one way to make yourself exist in a world like that!  As friends, don't forget one another! As friends, believe in one another!  Believe in your friends' existence! And they'll also believe in yours.  To be friends, to like one another, and to love one another…You can't do these things alone. You need somebody. Right, guys?"

Everyone nodded and Laguna continued, "What place reminds you of your friends?  Imagine being in that place with all your friends.  Once time compression begins, think of that place and try to get there! That's all!  That place will welcome you. You'll be able to get there no matter what period you're in!  You need love and friendship for this mission! And the courage to believe it.  It's all about love, friendship, and courage!  I'm counting on you guys!"

Everyone except Squall and Laguna left and Tidus didn't know whether to do the same.  He hung back by the door and watched the interaction between the two men.  Squall looked a lot like Tidus' aunt, Raine. 

"Love and friendship and all that sounds corny, but everyone seems to be up

for it." Said Squall.

"You think it'll succeed?" asked Laguna.

"We'll try." Replied the stoic teenager.

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"Is it hot out here?" asked Yuna, fanning herself with her hand. 

"No," Paine replied, "In fact, it's a little chilly."

Yuna wasn't surprised by Paine's response.  It was almost November, after all.  But why was she so warm?  Ever since the trio had arrived at the reconstruction site and she had said her hellos to Gippal, she'd been warm.  Was she coming down with a fever?

"Pah!" scoffed Rikku, bringing Yuna back to her senses.  Her cousin was still in an angry fit with Gippal and hadn't even spoken to him when they had arrived.  And he hadn't to her either, "Look at him.  He's such an idiot.  Strutting around like he's Yevon's gift to women!"

"He is attractive, Rikku." Paine admitted with a shrug.

Yuna tentatively raised her eyes to gaze across the road at Gippal.  He was working hard with his fellow Al Bhed's with the heat of the sun beating down upon his naked torso – his shirt tossed to the side and forgotten.

Yuna suddenly realized the source of her warmth as she felt the heat in her cheeks rise again at the sight of Gippal's long and muscular torso.  His sweat from the sun beaded across his skin and glistened in the lowering light.  No matter how she tried, Yuna couldn't force herself to look away.  She wanted to, desperately, but her eyes seemed stuck on his flexing muscles as he continued to work the sledgehammer he held tightly.  She felt like she was cheating on Tidus and her cousin at the same time.  She felt terrible and bad and…

"Definitely attractive…" she murmured in response to Paine. 

 "Eh…he's cute all right, but I'm so over that." Said Rikku, and for some reason, Yuna was glad to hear it.

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The Ragnarok had a definite draft, but Tidus figured that everybody else was more concerned with defeating this Ultimecia person then that so he kept his mouth shut.  Each and every person aboard the ship seemed to have someone to lean on. 

Irvine and Selphie…

Zell and Quistis…

Laguna, Kiros, and Ward….

Squall and Rinoa…

Rinoa…

He hadn't been able to stop watching the beautiful girl in the blue duster since they had boarded the ship.  There was something about her.  He knew that he knew her.  But from where? 

Maybe she was a blitzball fan?  She might have been one of his lady fans that threw their panties at him after games, although she definitely didn't seem like that type.   No…he knew her from something more recent.  He'd seen those chocolate eyes before.  He'd seen her smile and the curve of her face. 

She turned slightly toward Squall and the sunlight from the window reflected off of her necklace, blinding Tidus for a moment. 

"That's a Guado, right?"

He stopped breathing for a minute.  A memory, faint as it was, began forming in the back of his mind.  That wasn't the first time her necklace had blinded him…


"Who could it be?"

"Isn't that... Maester Seymour?"

When Seymour had gotten off of the boat surrounded by his followers, it hadn't been just Mika that had caught Tidus' attention that day.  There had been a woman, following quietly behind the two men that he had noticed as well.  Her necklace had reflected the sunlight and she had caught Tidus' attention for just a moment.  Her beauty stunned him even then, but before he could ask anyone who the girl was, Mika and Seymour had regained his attentions.


"People of Spira, I thank you for your generous welcome.  Rise, Maester Seymour.  And all of you as well.  I present to you...the son of Maester Jyscal Guado, who departed for the Farplane a fortnight past.  As some of you already know, he has been officially ordained a maester of Yevon."

"I am Seymour Guado. I am honored to receive the title of maester.  In life, my father Jyscal worked to foster friendship between man and Guado.  I vow to carry on his legacy, and to fulfill my duties as maester to the best of my abilities."

Rinoa Heartilly looked at Tidus then, smiling slightly, "Are you okay?" she asked him, "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"I…I'm fine." Tidus stammered as he quickly averted his eyes.  How was this girl in the dream world?  Wasn't she in Spira?  But…if she managed to be in both then that meant…

There was a way for him to go home.