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 akksgurlyahoo.com with any requests.
Author's Notes: Yuna uses direct lyrics from Evanesence's song, "My Immortal" in this chapter. I don't own that song (although I wish I did because it's my favorite!). Tidus is in this chapter too so there will be more FF8 direct dialog so beware of spoilers.
SILVER WINGS 3: Back Into My Arms
by akksgurl
Chapter Ten: Startling Revelations
Tidus felt much like he had in Spira when he was swept up in something he didn't understand and was just going with the flow. He didn't understand how Rinoa could have been in both dream Zanarkand and Spira. He didn't understand who this Ultimecia person was or how she came from the future when dream Zanarkand had no future. He didn't even understand how dream Zanarkand came back into existence in the first place. What he did understand, though, was that there was definitely a way out of his current prison and he was just going to follow everybody else until he figured out what to do.
Sighing and stretching his legs, he noticed with distain that Squall had taken that opportunity to sit down next to him. The blue eyed leader of the gang of teenagers with whom Tidus found himself unwillingly attached looked at him, "Don't get in our way when the time comes."
Tidus sneered, "Time comes for what? For you to learn some manners?"
"In my line of work, manners are a liability." Squall replied, letting his eyes wander toward Rinoa who was standing in the far corner talking to Selphie, "So are emotions…" he whispered so low that Tidus almost didn't catch it.
Tidus felt sorry for Squall in that instant. He definitely knew where the solemn 17 year old was coming from. Tidus had felt that same fear and uncertainty when he thought Yuna was going to die. With a sigh, Tidus asked, "What would you do if something happened to her?"
Squall's eyes flashed and he growled low in his breath, "I'd kill whoever was responsible."
"I feel the same way…" Tidus whispered.
"About that Yuna person?" Squall questioned, cocking an eyebrow, "Does she really exist?"
"Yes."
Tidus smiled, "She's absolutely amazing. The most beautiful creature I've ever laid eyes on and she's got a fantastic personality to go with it."
"Do you think you'll ever see her again?" Squall asked, before clearing his throat and amending, "N…not that I believe you or anything…"
Tidus tried to hide a grin that threatened his features. Maybe this Squall guy wasn't so bad. It was pretty obvious to Tidus that he believed him. Maybe Squall could be trusted…
"Yeah," Tidus said, "I think so."
"What do you think she's doing now?"
Tidus shrugged, "I don't know…"
"You don't think…" Squall muttered, "…that she's with another guy or something?"
That thought hadn't occurred to Tidus. If Yuna thought he was dead, she might have begun to move on already. Although, she hadn't moved on while he was missing for two years. But then again, maybe after waiting for two years, this extra month felt like agony to her. Maybe she didn't want to wait for him and pine over him.
Did he really want her to be in pain?
"We're here!" Selphie chirped.
"Here we go! Let's bust in there!" Zell cried. The martial artist always showed too much enthusiasm for Tidus' liking. Although he seemed like a nice guy, his loud and obnoxious ways got on Tidus' nerves.
Squall rose from his seat and gave Tidus a half smile, "Nice talking to you."
The ever lovely Quistis muttered, "I wonder if we can get through."
"Ahh, don't worry about it." Said the cowboy, Irvine.
"Are the machine guns and main cannon ready?" Quistis questioned. Tidus noticed that compared to everyone else, Quistis was the one who always seemed 100% prepared for anything that might happen.
"Rrready!" said Selphie, "Let's just fire like crazy and make a big hole, BOOM!"
Tidus held onto his seat tightly as the Ragnarok rose, firing its machine guns rapidly. The Lunatic Pandora stood in front of them and it appeared as though they were going to crash into it. Tidus squinted his eyes in fear as the spaceship rose in the air, shooting at the shields of the Pandora. Ripples appeared in the shield surrounding the huge building until the Ragnarok plunged into the shields and was repelled backward.
"Shields!" Irvine cried.
Selphie yipped excitedly, "WHOO-HOOOO!!!"
The nose of the Ragnarok pushed through the shielding. Selphie continued to pummel the Pandora with gunfire until holes started to tear through the outside. A flash of light caught Tidus' attention as Selphie shot a laser beam into it. A hole large enough for the Ragnarok to fit into appeared and Selphie quickly flew the ship inside, landing – rather bumpily – amidst the mess.
"We sure made a huge mess." Irvine said, noting the disaster their less than quiet entrance had left.
Quistis shrugged, "Let's go."
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Yuna had fled the confines of the crew's quarters and rushed out into Zanarkand, tears streaming down her face. She felt like she was going crazy. The wind whipped her hair as she stopped on the hill that overlooked the ocean. It was the last moment she spent with Tidus before Shuyin began to mess with their lives.
"I got a theory. I think the fayth gathered up my thoughts and put 'em together to bring me back. Maybe. Something like that. Or maybe…I'm still a dream."
"Wait! So you'll disappear?"
"Cherish me, Yuna. And I'll cherish you. All right? We gotta stay together. That's what we have to do."
"Is that what the fayth told you?"
"Nah, but I like it."
She wiped a stray tear from her cheek and sighed, letting herself sit down and dangle her long legs over the side of the hill, "If you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave. Your presence still lingers here and it won't leave me alone." She whispered to no one in particular and yet to Tidus completely.
Yuna ran a finger along the symbol for the Zanarkand Abes which ran between her breasts, "Tidus…" she breathed, "you used to captivate me by your resonating life. Now I'm bound by the life you left behind. Your face haunts my once pleasant dreams. Your voice chased away all the sanity in me."
That was what was happening to her. She was going insane. She missed him so much and yet she couldn't seem to get this sudden infatuation with Gippal out of her system. Maybe it was because Gippal reminded her of Tidus in some ways. Maybe it was because she just missed a man in her life. "I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone…" she whispered, "but though you're still with me, I've been alone all along."
Yuna heard his footsteps before he had intended to make his presence known to her. Gippal approached her cautiously. He understood why she would have been embarrassed about walking in on him, but he didn't get why it was getting her so upset.
"Yuna…"
"I'm sorry for running away." Yuna whispered without turning to face her company, "I just needed to get away for a minute."
Gippal shrugged although the female in front of him hadn't turned around to see it, "That's okay." He said to her, "I just hope you aren't too embarrassed about the whole 'seeing me naked' thing. It's really not that big a deal."
Yuna turned her
head as Gippal took a step nearer and, grinning a little sheepishly, stood a
mere foot behind her. The bright sun shone on his familiar blonde locks and Yuna
felt her heart beat faster.
"Gippal…" she whispered. Impulsively
throwing her arms around his neck, Yuna hugged him close to her. She felt tears welling up behind her tightly
shut eyelids. Gippal's arms circled her, pulling her closer, and gripping her
in as if afraid she'd disappear.
"Gippal…" she repeated softly, burying her face in his neck. Her heart was
hammering as her tears spilled from her eyes and onto the shoulder of his shirt.
She didn't understand her feelings for
the man she now held close to her. She
loved Tidus with all her heart, but could not help hating him for leaving her
alone in Spira with no one to depend on.
She couldn't help but wonder if the roles were reversed, what Tidus
would do in a similar situation.
"Yuna," Gippal
mumbled, his voice sounding parched, "Are you okay? You're acting really strangely."
"It's nothing…" Yuna said, pulling away to look into his face. His bright green eye watched her closely as
if searching for a sign she was going to have a nervous breakdown in front of
him. She studied his innately masculine
face before her eyes went to the patch he always wore, "What happened to your
eye?" she asked him.
Gippal released her waist and scratched his head as if afraid to answer her question. He was afraid to a degree. He knew that Yuna wouldn't use the knowledge against him, but he didn't want to risk the other Al Bhed finding out. However, as he looked into Yuna's duel colored eyes, he replied with a bite of his lip, "My eye is fine."
His female companion looked instantly confused, "Its fine?" she repeated, dumbly, "Then…why do you…?"
"Why do I wear the patch?" he finished her question. Yuna nodded. Gippal said, "The Al Bhed like to spout a lot of shit about equality and whatnot when the Yevonites were dismissing us like we were garbage, but we do our fair share of hating too." He groaned and turned his back to her, staring out the window, "If you had grown up with the Al Bhed, you would have been ignore and horribly mistreated because you have the blood of a Yevonite in you."
"But what does that have to do with the patch you wear…?" Yuna asked, although the answer was beginning to form in the fog of her mind.
From her perch behind Gippal, she saw him lift the patch covering his eye slowly, letting it drop to the floor as if with some great effort. With the slow shuffle of feet, Gippal turned to face her with his eyes on her. One green…one brown.
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"Big sound, this way. It's probably them, ya know?"
"THEM? NO, IMPOSSIBLE."
The teens that Tidus had followed seemed to recognize the voices that were coming from just outside of their Ragnarok parking place. He followed them, wishing he had his sword with him as he noted that everyone else gripped a weapon firmly in their hands.
"Ahhhhhh! It IS Squall, ya know!?" shouted a buff black man who was wielding a giant stick which looked like a thick tree branch.
"SHOCK." Said his gray haired companion who instantly reminded Tidus of Yuna's friend Paine, "GOOD. CONVENIENT."
"That's right. Hand over Rinoa, ya know!?" demanded the black man.
"No! I'll never hand over Rinoa!" announced Squall, heroically, "And we're taking Ellone! I won't let you resurrect Adel, either!!!"
"You're greedy, ya know! Not fair, ya know!?" said the black man, frowning at his inability to convince Squall to give up. Tidus had to smile a bit in agreement with the man. Squall was being rather greedy, although Tidus couldn't say that if he was in the brunette's shoes he would have done things any differently. Tidus tended to want it all as well.
"Excuse me," Tidus whispered to Quistis who was directly in front of him, "Um…who are these guys?"
Quistis shot him a nasty look and hissed, "Raijin and Fujin. They are working for the bad guys. That's all you need to know."
"PERSUASION, USELESS. SEIZE." The Paine look-a-like ordered.
"She's right, ya know!? Let's go!"
Tidus fell behind like a frightened child as the group went after the evil duo with relish. Clanking of metal and the glistening of sweat accompanied the battle. Tidus wished he could join in, but without his sword he was useless to them.
"See, just like I said, ya know?" Raijin panted, lifting his giant stick in the air to ward off one of Squall's attacks.
His gray haired companion didn't reply as she threw a spell of Aero at Rinoa, flipping the brunette's hair all about and knocking her to the ground. Tidus had never seen so much magic being thrown around by both parties. Were they all black mages like Lulu? Tidus knew that not all Zanarkand residents had the ability to use magic. He certainly hadn't. What made these teens so different?
"Not bad, Squall!" Raijin complimented, "I see why you're Seifer's rival!"
"DECISION." Fujin said monotonously, "DESTROY. HELP, SEIFER."
As the battle raged around him, Tidus began to fear for his safe return. What if he didn't make it back to Yuna? As spells and weapons clashed around him, he began to wonder if maybe Squall was right. What if Yuna had moved on already?
"I...I lost again, ya know..."
"CALLOUS..."
Voices and the lack of fighting commotion shook Tidus out of his thoughts as he watched the duo of enemies running like frightened animals, "RETREAT. TEMPORARY."
"R-R-Right! We're not through yet, ya know!"
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Yuna stared at Gippal with her mouth agape. She found herself unable to form words as she stared at his duel-colored eyes, "H…H…how…?" she stammered.
He laughed a little to ease the discomfort of the situation, "The usual way, I suppose…"
"B...but…I thought you were…I thought you were an…Al Bhed."
Gippal shrugged and leaned down to replace the patch over his eye, "I am an Al Bhed." He replied, "At least, as much of an Al Bhed as you are."
"Does Rikku know? Or Cid?"
"No…" her blonde counterpart replied, "I would have been kicked out of Home for this. That's why I've worn this patch ever since I was a kid." He grinned a little, "Everybody thinks I poked it out with a pencil when I was two."
Yuna frowned and shuffled her feet, "Why did you let me in on your secret? I'm the one that wanted to see you hanged for Baralai's death more than anybody else."
"You won't use it against me," he said in response, "I trust you."
"So, which of your parents is the Yevonite?"
"My father." Gippal replied, "My mother told me that he was an upstanding citizen in the Yevon order."
Yuna bit her lip, "Do you know his name?"
"Lord Kaus…"
Yuna gasped and gaped at Gippal. She lifted a hand to her mouth and then lowered it again before repeating the procedure. Taking a deep swallow, she whispered, "That's Baralai's…."
"Baralai's father, I know." Gippal said with a nod.
"Then that means you and Baralai are…"
"Brothers…" Gippal said, "I know that too."
"Did Baralai know?"
Gippal shook his head, "I didn't know how to tell him. He always thought his father was perfect and I didn't want to destroy that." Gippal shrugged, "I mean, the guy knocked my mother up with me when he was still married to Baralai's mom. That would have kinda blown the whole 'perfect dad' thing out of the water."
"Yeah…" Yuna whispered. This sudden revelation was almost as shocking as finding out that Shuyin had been masquerading as Tidus both in and out of bed with her. She looked up at Gippal, "Do you wish you would have told him now? Do you wish the two of you could have been brothers?"
"…Absolutely," he replied quietly.
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AUTHOR'S NOTES: Before I get questions, I just wanted to clarify that I double checked in the FFX-2 handbook. Baralai was 20 and Gippal was 18 in the game so making the two of them brothers would definitely work. That idea actually came to me while writing this chapter J