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 with any requests.
PLEASE NOTE: "PaineOfBevelleSairysSkyeWind" is a fic stealer!! Watch out for her. She is also known as "Paine" and "Paine of Spira". She has also taken to stealing my name "akksgurl" so for future reference, I am the one and only "akksgurl" and I have never posted on any other site besides this one, so if you see my stories floating around out there and they are not directly linked back here then they have been stolen and I'd appreciate if you'd report them to the webmaster for removal. Thanks a lot in advance! I am also sure I am not the only one she is stealing from so be sure to keep an eye out for my fics as well as others on other sites.
Author's Notes: Prepare to be confused until the end of the chapter where (hopefully) everybody will understand at least part of what's going on. But don't feel bad if you don't get it. Everything will be clear by the end of the story. (Just how much longer there is, I have no idea. Lots to accomplish still…) Some minor spoilers for FF8 from disk one so if you don't want to know how Squall meets Rinoa (for the second time) than avoid the italicized writing in the second section. Also, thanks to Jamie once again for the blitzball idea. I took her idea and twisted it to work with where I wanted the story to go, but the ultimate inspiration is from Jamie. Thanks again!
SILVER WINGS 3: Back Into My Arms
by akksgurl
Chapter Twenty-Five: Otherworld
"Hi there…" came a sweet and sultry voice from next to him. Shuyin rolled toward the sound in a half asleep daze, eyes still closed and sighed. His head slid down the pillow until it gently made contact with the head next to him. He felt soft hair tickle his cheek as the warm body twisted in the sheets and snuggled up closer to him. Shuyin felt completely relaxed and at ease and felt himself drifting back off to sleep when the feeling of a hand creeping up into his boxers brought him to full awareness. Just before the hand claimed him, Shuyin squirmed up and out of the bed, grabbing his pants from the floor.
Funny…he didn't remember taking them off…
"What's wrong with you, Shuyin?"
He froze in mid-zip, his back tensing involuntarily at the sound of the voice from behind him. That wasn't Yuna's voice. He looked down at his shirtless body. His muscles were larger and more well-defined – the way he remembered them being. His hair was falling in his eyes the way it always used to. Even his baby toes were back to being the tiniest that anyone in Zanarkand had ever seen before.
Shuyin spun around and held in a gasp that threatened to fly from his lips as he stared into the brown pools that he used to get lost in. Long brown hair hung loosely over her bare shoulders as she rose to her knees and held out her arms to him, "Are you okay, baby?"
"…Lenne…" he managed to whisper.
"Yeah?" she asked, finally realizing he wasn't going to fall into her arms. She rose up and he watched her with unabashed amazement as she walked across the room without a stitch of clothes on and gathered up a small silky robe from the closet.
Her closet…
Shuyin ran a hand through his hair and gaped at where he was. He was in Lenne's house. That hadn't changed. What had changed was the girl. Where was Yuna? Why was Lenne there? Why was her house exactly how he had remembered it when he had gone to bed that night and had it be completely destroyed? What was going on?!
"You'd better get dressed. You're gonna be late for practice." Lenne reminded him with a grin and a kiss on the lips, "And Wargna would kill you if you were late again."
"Wargna…?" Shuyin repeated, feeling dazed.
Lenne laughed, "Yeah, your coach." She sighed and went into the bathroom, "I'm just gonna change and then we can go. I've gotta practice today too."
Shuyin stood dazed in his spot and didn't realize time had passed until Lenne came out of the bathroom. Her long hair pulled up into a ponytail and her body clad in gray sweatpants and a blue tank top. She came up to him with a smile on her face and reached down, zipping up his fly. He blushed, "Thanks…"
"Sure thing." She said, "I didn't want Skirpa and Bruttam to think you'd gone mad."
"They're…" he whispered, "…okay…?"
Lenne raised an eyebrow at him, "Of course they're okay. Why wouldn't they be?" she shrugged, "You're acting weird this morning. You okay?"
"…yeah…"
"Then come on. We can't be late again!"
She grabbed his hand and Shuyin followed her out the door and onto the streets of Zanarkand. The fully populated, brightly lit streets of Zanarkand…
"It was a dream…?" he whispered to himself as he followed Lenne down the block toward the blitzball arena that had seemed to magically rebuild itself over night. He felt Lenne's hand slip from his own and that pulled him out of his reverie as she began to run faster and faster. Shuyin struggled to catch up but she kept getting further and further away until panic began to set in, "Lenne! Don't leave! Slow down!!"
But Lenne didn't slow down and Shuyin watched helplessly as she disappeared into the blitzball arena. He managed to make it to the door moments later, but it was eerily quiet. It didn't seem like anybody was there as he made his way back toward the locker rooms. The only sound he heard were his feet slapping against the cement floors. Pushing the door open, Shuyin gazed into the locker rooms. Not a person in sight, not a towel on the floor, not a shower stall filled. No one was there.
"Lenne?!" he shouted, hoping his voice would reach her. Maybe she was just playing hide and seek – although, Lenne was never much into that sort of thing. When she didn't answer, Shuyin decided to press on and as he made his way down toward the blitzball sphere, he started to hear the dull roar of a crowd through the double doors just ahead of him.
"Lenne…?" he asked, stupidly, knowing full well that Lenne never sounded anything like 1000 people shouting, but he didn't know what else to say. As he reached the doors, he pushed them open and was immediately surrounded by screaming fans and the flashbulbs of the paparazzi cameras. He shielded his face from the lights and his ears from the screaming as he spotted Wargna amidst the confusion, "Where's Lenne?!" he shouted to his coach as he made it to him.
"She just went on!" Wargna shouted back, "And where the hell were you? You're late again, Bacohl!"
"Sorry coach…"
"Don't apologize to me!" the coach shouted, "Get out there and show your fans that you were worth the wait!"
"Yes coach!" Shuyin shouted, diving into the sphere pool with ease. He hadn't played blitz in a long time – or at least it seemed like it, but since things seemed to be back to normal he must have been dreaming.
Right…?
Skirpa punched him on the shoulder gently and smiled as if to say, "Where have you been?" to which Shuyin replied by shrugging and smiling back. The buzzer sounded to start the match.
Shuyin didn't even know who the match was against, but he didn't care. Blitzball was a part of his soul and he gave it everything he had with ever move he made.
The crowd roared as Shuyin caught the ball and shot it back to Bruttam who was floating in the middle of the pool waiting. Bruttam narrowly avoided a tackle from the opposing team and managed to pass the ball to Skirpa who swam in for a goal. Shuyin saw the opposition closing in on Skirpa as his friend swam frantically toward the opposing team's goal and Shuyin wasn't about to let this man tackle Skirpa. Shuyin's speed gave him advantage over the other and before he realized it, Shuyin had rammed the man from behind – forcing him out of the sphere pool and into the stands. His act had surprised Skirpa and allowed him to be tackled by another player, but the ball had floated away from that man's hands and Shuyin smirked at the crowd before swimming to retrieve the wayward ball.
As the replacement player entered the sphere pool, Shuyin caught sight of Lenne in the stands and smiled to himself. He was finally home. All these years of wondering and waiting and missing her and he was back. It had all been some sort of horrible dream. It was all…
He stopped in mid swim, his eyes catching sight of something far above the crowd. It looked like…a man? Nah…Shuyin decided, shaking his head and focusing back on the game. Nobody was allowed in the catwalks except personnel and all the personnel were enjoying the game from VIP seating.
He shook his head again and focused back on the game, instantly noting that his team had formed the swimming pattern suitable for his bicycle kick. Skirpa winked at him and then proceeded to kick the ball with major force high up into the air until it broke through the sphere pool and out into the open atmosphere. Shuyin followed behind it, breaking through the pool and performing a flip backward in the air. Normally he remained focused on the ball, never letting anything distract him, but this time something caught his eye. Just beyond the ball was a giant ball of water – larger than the sphere pool – and it was coming toward the stadium. Shuyin's mouth dropped as he felt his body begin to do the same. The ball of water shot three missile-like objects from itself and as the screaming began, Shuyin realized that he wasn't the only one who saw the creature.
As the sphere pool was hit, the mechanism shut it down prematurely and a huge wave of water from the sphere encompassed the stadium and started rushing people out of the building against their will while the huge creature shot more water missiles toward them, shattering stone statues like they were nothing. Shuyin felt himself beginning to plummet to the ground and reached out to grab whatever he could get his hands on which turned out to be the cement backing of the sphere pool. Shuyin tried not to think about his friends – about Lenne – still running for their lives and he tried to focus on getting himself to safety. Swinging his body with all his might, Shuyin reached for the cement backing with his other hand, but his gloved hand slipped and he found himself falling and falling and just before he hit the ground, everything went white.
"I was waiting for you…"
Shuyin felt like he'd been run over by a car, but managed to open his eyes. A strange man garbed in red that he'd never seen before was standing before him, lending him a hand. Shuyin accepted it and rose to his feet, finally realizing there was fleeing and panicked people all around them.
"What are you talking about?" he asked the man, but he didn't answer and Shuyin found himself with nothing to do but follow him.
"Hey wait!" he shouted, breaking into a run as the strange man continued his quick paced walk down the long main highway, "Hey, not this way!"
"Look." The strange man ordered, pointing at the ball of water that Shuyin had seen before, "We called it Sin."
"Sin…?" Shuyin whispered, his mind reeling. That was what Yuna and Tidus and the others had defeated? That huge machination was what Yunalesca's father had called to destroy Zanarkand and stop the war?!
The thing called Sin dropped several pods down onto the road before them which quickly sprouted wings and turned into a demonic sort of butterfly. Shuyin felt panic set in as the demonic monsters started closing in on him. The man next to him stood there and watched as Shuyin tried to kick and bat the creatures away with his bare hands, but it didn't help. He silently cursed the strange man. If he wasn't going to help him, then what the hell was he standing there for?!
Suddenly, the man thrust a sword out and under Shuyin's nose, "Take it." He ordered. Shuyin tentatively accepted the sword, "A gift from Jecht."
"Who…?"
"I hope you know how to use it." Stated the man, as he watched Shuyin fall under the weight of the sword. He had never used one before. He was a blitzer, not a fighter. He swore he saw the man grinning from under his serious façade as Shuyin attempted to chop off the head of one of the monsters.
"These ones don't matter." The man announced, "We cut through."
Shuyin groaned. Cut through, huh? He just wanted to find Lenne and get the hell out of here. He just wanted to know what was going on. He was so confused. What was going on?! His body seemed to take on a mind of its own as he cut through the monsters by following the elder's example. Shuyin felt his anger and annoyance rise as more and more of the monsters appeared and he kept attacking as he felt his exhaustion set in. The tall man shouted, "Don't bother going after all of them! Cut the ones that matter and run!"
As they ran along the broken streets of Zanarkand, Shuyin and his strange partner came across a giant version of the strange little butterfly monsters they had been fighting. Shuyin stopped and started shaking his head, "Oh hell no! I am not fighting that thing! You can forget it!" and Shuyin took off running, slicing through the smaller butterfly monsters in his quest to get around the larger one. He heard the strange man's footsteps behind him, but Shuyin kept running. This guy was getting him no where fast. He needed to find Lenne. He didn't have time to be messing around with this Sin thing.
"We're expected." He heard the man say suddenly and it was only then that Shuyin realized the guy moved faster than he had expected. He also realized that the guy knew what he was talking about. Hundreds upon hundreds of the pods containing those monsters started falling in front of, and behind, them until Shuyin started to feel real true panic set in. The man thought for a moment and said, "This could be bad."
"Yeah, no shit Sherlock!" shouted Shuyin, gripping the blade harder, "Any bright ideas?!"
"That!" the man said, pointing toward a large piece of machinery at the side of the road, "Knock it down."
"What?!"
"Trust me. You'll see."
Shuyin didn't know why he went along with the man's plan, but he did. With each smack of their weapons he was certain he was taking a step closer to his death. The machine crackled with energy until finally it exploded, falling into the ravine below the road and taking the bridge with it.
"GO!" he heard the man shout. Shuyin didn't need to be told twice. He took off running faster than he ever thought he could. He could hear and feel the bridge collapsing beneath his feet and took one giant leap forward, grabbing onto another bridge that was just above his head.
He saw the man appear above him and briefly wondered how he got up there, but he didn't concern himself for long when he saw the thing called Sin appear above his head. It no longer looked like a giant ball of water and more like a rather large rock.
"Hey, guy! Help me!" Shuyin shouted.
The man ignored him briefly, gazing upward into the giant hole that was sucking everything up into Sin, "You are sure." He said to the creature. After appearing to get a response, he gazed back down at Shuyin, "This is it. This is your story. It all begins here."
The man reached down and gripped Shuyin by the collar, tugging him upward with one hand toward the giant hole in Sin's body. Shuyin started screaming wildly, flailing his body as if getting away from this guy and falling hundreds of feet to his doom was preferable. A hand appeared over the strange man's shoulder and tapped harshly, "Um…excuse me, Auron."
The strange man – whose name apparently was Auron – stopped lifting Shuyin momentarily and gazed over his shoulder at the person. Shuyin couldn't see who it was. Auron's shoulder blocked his view. He tried to squirm a little to see who it was and at the same time get his feet closer to solid ground but it didn't work. As Shuyin hung their helplessly, the hand became an arm, and then a shoulder, and finally an entire person and Shuyin felt an involuntary gasp come from his lips.
"Tidus?!"
Tidus looked at Shuyin and then at Auron, "This is my story." He said, glaring at Shuyin suddenly, "Why are you trying to steal my story?!"
"Trust me!" shrieked Shuyin, "You can have it!"
Tidus looked at Auron, "You heard him. This is my story."
"Very well." Auron said, lifting Shuyin effortlessly and placing him on the building roof where Shuyin watched in shock as he grabbed Tidus by the collar and dangled him over the edge of the building.
"H…hey! What are you doing?!" Shuyin cried, grabbing Auron's arm in an attempt to pull Tidus to safety, "Let him up here! You're gonna drop him!"
"This is your story." Auron started to say, staring into Tidus' eyes, "It all begins here…"
-------------------------.
Squall was sitting quietly in the darkened corner of the guest hut in Besaid and hadn't said much since the altercation between Yuna and Cid. She supposed he was upset that Yuna was protecting a killer or something like that. Whatever it was really didn't matter much to her. This Squall was such a moody son of a bitch. Granted, her Squall was pretty moody too, but she had forgotten just how distant Squall had been with her early in their relationship. All she remembered was how they had been later – when he couldn't keep his hands off of her. This Squall, however, hadn't spoken to her since she had kissed him. It had been really stupid of her to kiss him so suddenly, but she was dying for some physical contact and had been surprised to find how he kissed exactly like the real Squall. His lips had the same soft and pliable texture that she remembered, and his tongue….
She grinned to herself. Until she found where her Squall was, she could have fun teaching this one the ways of the world. Taking a seat next to him, she spread her blue duster flat beneath her and leaned her head on his shoulder, "Whatcha thinking about?"
"Why did you kiss me…?" he asked her, staring at his feet as if they were the most interesting things on the planet.
"Didn't you like it?"
"I didn't say that."
She grinned, "So you did like it. I figured you did."
Squall sighed and lifted his head to look at her, "Rinoa…will you answer me?"
"Because I wanted to get it out of the way." She replied, throwing her hair behind her shoulders, "I just wanted us to get passed that and onto more important things." Squall raised a questioning eyebrow and moved slightly away from her on the ottoman they were sitting on, but she quickly closed the gap again and pressed her breasts against his arm, "Don't you find me attractive, Squallie?"
Squall's mouth opened and closed like a fish and it didn't take her much to realize that this Squall was as much an innocent as her Squall had been. It'd be strange for her to teach the same man twice, but it'd also be fun. His eyes slipped shut in a quiet ecstasy as she slowly trailed her hand up his inner thigh and over the bulge between. Her tongue worked his earlobe where she gently dragged her teeth over it, her hand still moving steadily where it lay.
"Is this where the guest beds are, love?"
"I think so…"
Squall jumped up and away from her wandering hand, shyly making sure his zipper was still in place as their guests walked in. She recognized them from the altercation, although their names escaped her at the moment.
"Oh, sorry loves. We didn't know anybody was in here."
Squall turned a panicked eye on them, "We weren't doing anything!" he practically shouted, them slammed a trembling hand over his mouth. She noted that this Squall was even more of a baby than the last one. Her Squall wouldn't have reacted like that.
The handsome dark-haired man nodded, but it was obvious that he didn't believe the younger man, "Uh huh…" he smiled, "Well, even if you were it's none of our business, right LeBlanc?"
"Right, Noojie."
Nooj turned and gave her a half grin, "Rinoa, right? I'm Nooj. I don't believe we've formally met." He extended a hand to her and she wasn't at all interested in making nice with these people. Yet, if she didn't, it would send up red flags so she tried her best to conceal her disgust and accepted his palm. She had expected it to be sweaty and disgusting, much like the entire population of Spira as of late, but was surprised when it wasn't. He had a strong grip and a nice, soft hand.
She'd felt that handshake before…
"YEEESSSS! SeeD is here!" Rinoa had shouted, jumping up from the bed and running toward the boy happily. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a furious hug with such force that he spun a full circle before putting her down.
"Take it easy." He admonished her.
"It's just that, I'm so happy!" she replied, "I've been sending requests to Garden forever, but nothing...I'm so glad I spoke to Cid directly!"
The boy seemed almost disappointed by that, "Oh...So you were looking for the headmaster at the party?"
The truth was, she hadn't been. She had been looking for her ex-boyfriend, "You know Seifer?"
"...Yeah."
"Well, he's the one who introduced me to Cid. Cid is such a nice man. I really didn't think SeeD would come out to help a measly little group like us. But after explaining our situation to him, Cid gave the go ahead right away! Now that you guys are here, we'll be able to carry out all kinds of plans!"
"I'm goin' back to the others." He said suddenly, as if the mere mention of Seifer had sickened him to the core and he couldn't stand to be near her anymore. It hadn't bothered her at the time. All she wanted to know was about Seifer.
"Ok, let's go!" she had announced, "Umm, Squall. Is 'he' here?...Seifer."
"......No, he's not a SeeD."
"Oh yeah, my name's...Rinoa" she said, realizing she hadn't introduced herself to him yet. She extended her hand to him and Squall tentatively accepted it, squeezing it firmly.
"Very pleased to meet you, Squall." She said, leaning in toward him and winking, "SeeD members dance quite well, don't they?"
"Approach your target inconspicuously at a dance party..." replied Squall, and Rinoa was unsure of whether he was joking, but his serious attitude led her to believe what he said was in all seriousness, "There may be missions requiring this sort of subterfuge. It's expected of SeeD to learn various skills."
And she didn't bother to hide her disappointment at the thought, "Ohhh...So it's work related. That's too bad..."
"…Squall…?" she whispered, staring into Nooj's eyes.
"What is it?"
She was shaken out of her daze by the sound of dream Squall's voice from behind her. She regretfully released Nooj's hand and said to Squall, "Have you met…Nooj?"
"I don't think so." Squall said, nodding at Nooj, "Nice to meet you."
LeBlanc grinned at him, "Nice to meet you, love. I'm LeBlanc."
Squall nodded curtly and then turned to her, "I'm gonna take a walk. I'll see you later." And she nodded back at him as he walked out of the room.
LeBlanc said, "I hope we didn't interrupt anything."
"You didn't." she replied, still watching Nooj carefully out of the corner of her eye. So that was why she couldn't find her Squall. He had been recycled back to Spira. Even in this different form he was very handsome. But who was that girl with him? Was he involved with someone else?! He couldn't possibly be. Squall had sworn to love her and only her forever. But of course, this wasn't Squall. She was dealing with Nooj. He had a whole new set of memories and a whole new set of priorities. This wasn't what she had planned at all. She had thought this was going to be easy, but it was looking more and more like it wasn't going to be at all. Now more than ever she needed Shuyin to assist her, but the damned bastard had gone running off with Yuna to Yevon only knew where and she didn't have time to hunt him down. Even with all her powers, she didn't have a tracking system built in and finding him would take time. So she needed to make him come to her.
And she knew just how to do it…
-------------------.
Even though Yevon had been all a lie, Paine still found herself drawn to the temples. She had never been a religious person no matter how you stretched it, but she had found that she thought best when surrounded by statues of those who had given their lives in the quest for the Calm. She needed that opportunity to think now. Something was seriously wrong. Shuyin was back but for no apparent reason. Yuna was helping him. Cid was on the rampage. Dream people had invaded the real world. The only thing that was normal was that Rikku and Gippal were back to pretending that they aren't madly in love with each other. It was the only bit of comfort Paine got from this whole mess.
She heard footsteps behind her and turned around. Speak of the dream people…, "Seifer, wasn't it?" she said to the tall blonde as he approached.
"Yeah, Seifer Almasy. What was your name?"
"Paine Lerif." She replied, "Just call me Paine."
Seifer nodded and walked over to the base of Lady Yunalesca's statue, "What's the deal with all these statues in here? And why is it all men except for the half finished one of Yuna and this half naked lady?"
"That's Lady Yunalesca," Paine replied, trying to hide a smirk at the 'half naked lady' comment. She wondered how the priests of Yevon would react to hearing such blasphemous comments, "She was the first person to defeat Sin and so on down the line until you get to Yuna. She defeated Sin permanently."
"Good for her." Seifer replied, "But, uh, what's Sin?"
So Paine explained it all. She told him what she knew about Sin and Yuna's pilgrimage to defeat it. She told him about Seymour and the unsent priests and how in the end Tidus sacrificed himself for the good of Spira. She related Rikku's story of how Yuna ran right through Tidus and landed face first on the ship. Yuna had never wanted to talk about it…
Then she explained about how she joined up with them and how Yuna became determined to find Tidus again after the sphere was found. She told him that the sphere contained an image of Shuyin, not Tidus, but Yuna didn't realize until they were already so deep into the situation that they had no choice but to see it through to the end and as a reward, the fayth gave Tidus back to her.
Then she recounted the tales of what had happened over the last few months, with Tidus' possession, Baralai's murder, and Tidus' journey to the dream world and back again. Seifer stood and listened as Paine went on and on until the sun was almost up and then he said, "So Tidus is some sort of copy of Shuyin?"
"A dream version. When Zanarkand was destroyed, the fayth saved it in a dream and recreated it. Tidus is dream Zanarkand's version of Shuyin."
"See…that's what I don't get." Said Seifer, scratching his head and taking a seat at the base of the stairs leading to the Cloister of Trials. Paine sat down next to him, "Why would there be any sort of merger at all if they are two separate entities? I mean…twins don't merge together!"
Paine bit her lip. She hadn't thought about that. Why would there need to be a merger? Shuyin was dead. Shuyin was defeated. Why not just send him to the Farplane and leave Tidus alone? Why did he keep coming back? And if he wasn't coming back of his own will, then why was he coming back at all?
Seifer sighed, "I want to tell you something. Maybe you can make more sense of it than I can."
"Go on."
"I went into that room up there," Seifer began, pointing toward the door to the Cloister of Trials, "and I ran into Sis…I mean, Ellone. I don't think you met her. Apparently she's one of these 'fayth' people you were talking about, but in my world she's just this girl I grew up with." He stopped and took a breath, "Anyway, she gave me all sorts of weird clues. She said there's two things going on. One of them involves somebody that will use me and that clue is 'A blind lion catches no owl.'. Than the other clue is about this lie that was told to all of you. That clue is, 'Yuna and her friends think 1 plus 1 equals 2, but in reality 2 becomes 1'." He stopped and looked at Paine's reaction, "Any ideas?"
"Two become one? A blind lion?" she smirked, "Sounds like the plot of a really bad movie to me."
Seifer laughed, "True, but do you have any idea with she might have been talking about?"
"Who did she say was lying to us?"
"Her 'fellow fayth'." Seifer replied, "Whatever that means."
Paine nodded, "Than I need to talk to our dear friend Bruttam and find out what he was lying about." She said, standing up and motioning toward the door, "I'm going to the Farplane. Wanna come?"
"What's the Farplane?"
Paine smiled, "You'll see when we get there. Come on."
---------------------------.
A hand smacked into Yuna's forehead, bringing her to a sudden awareness. She didn't remember where she was initially until the realization that she's spent the night with Shuyin dawned on her.
Shuyin…
Why was he flailing like that?
Yuna jumped up from her side and ran around the bed to Shuyin. The blitzer's hair was matted to his forehead in sweat and he was flailing his arms and legs, "My story….my story…" he kept muttering. Yuna gently placed the back of her hand against his forehead and then pulled back quickly. He was burning up and she estimated his temperature to be well above normal.
"Damn it!" she cried, rushing into the remnants of the bathroom, "Of all the times for him to get sick!" She tried the taps but it became obvious quickly that the Al Bhed hadn't gotten around to fixing the plumbing just yet.
"…MY STORY…!!!" he shouted from the other room.
Yuna groaned and ran back to him, pulling the sheets from around him and fanning him as best she could with her skirt. She needed help. She needed to get him to some help. Biting her lip, she ran into the living room and then outside in search of something. She wasn't sure what, but she'd know it if she saw it.
As she rounded the corner at the end of the lane, she saw a wheelbarrow filled with rocks sitting near one of the work sites. She rushed over to it, dumping it onto its end and spilling its contents onto the sidewalk, and then she rushed back to Shuyin and pushed the wheelbarrow into the bedroom, stopping it next to him. He was still muttering, but the flailing had stopped and that made Yuna's job easier. He was heavy, but she moved him one half at a time until she had him lying – albeit uncomfortably – in the wheelbarrow.
"Now what…?" she asked herself. She hadn't thought through that stage of her plan yet. She needed to get him some help, but how? Where would she take him? Besaid seemed to be the best answer and, although Yuna didn't like it, she realized that Besaid was her best chance of getting him help. There would be cold water and ice there. Access to doctors if necessary. Her friends didn't like that she had helped him, but she knew that they wouldn't sit back and let him die. At least, she hoped they wouldn't.
Balancing him carefully on the barrow, Yuna pushed it down the slight incline outside of the front door and down to the dock where she had her small boat waiting. As long as Shuyin didn't flail too much there wouldn't be a problem with the boat tipping over. She was sure that the S.S. Liki crew would wonder why she was carrying "Sir Tidus" in a wheelbarrow when she boarded in Luca, but she'd worry about that when the time came. Getting him to Besaid was the most important thing.
-----------------------------.
"Eat some more!" Rikku demanded, trying to force soup into Gippal's tightly closed mouth. It was a good thing Wakka and Lulu weren't around to see her trying to feed him like he was a child. They had decided to take Vidina and stay in Keepa's hut next door to give Gippal some quiet space to rest, "You need to get better!"
"And you think eating stale potato soup is going to make that happen?!" Gippal retorted, immediately regretting it as Rikku stuck a spoonful of said soup into his mouth.
"Maybe if you ate it, it would!"
"It won't make me better Rikku!"
Rikku stuck her tongue out at him, "You know what they say, 'feed a cold, and starve a fever'!"
"But I don't have a cold or a fever!" Gippal replied, crossing his arms and turning his head from her, "And I won't eat any more of it!"
She pouted, putting the spoon into the bowl, "I just wanted to help." She said, putting her hands on her hips, "What can I do to make you eat it."
"Flash me," Gippal replied, sarcastically.
"Okay." Rikku said, and to Gippal's surprise, she lifted her bra top for a fraction of a second and then replaced it, "Now you have to eat it."
Gippal's mouth hung open in surprise and Rikku used that opportunity to shovel spoonful after spoonful of the soup under his tongue. Gippal gagged, but a promise was a promise and so he ate it without further complaint until the bowl was empty.
"See, that wasn't so bad, was it…?"
Gippal smirked at her, "The only reason you got me to eat it was because you showed me your boobs. I was in shock."
"Imagine what I could have gotten you to do if I had let you touch them." She replied with a wink.
"Can I?" he asked, and Rikku wasn't sure if he was serious or not, but didn't have time to ask him when the door to Wakka's hut flung open and Yuna came rushing in pushing Shuyin in a wheelbarrow.
Gippal and Rikku stared at the sight for a moment and then looked at each other before looking back at Yuna. Gippal asked, "Um…Yuna…what is with the wheelbarrow?"
"He's sick." Yuna replied, her voice cracking. She was obviously very upset, "There was nothing for me to use to get his fever down and I could only think of getting him here. You've got to help me!"
Rikku rushed over to Shuyin and put a hand on his forehead, "Holy moly! He does have a high fever. I'll get some ice!"
"And I'll get some water," Gippal announced, rushing off into the bathroom.
Yuna wheeled Shuyin over to the bed and used all her strength to pull him up and lay him onto the mattress just in time for Rikku to arrive with a washcloth full of ice cubes. Gippal was next with water that he carefully poured over Shuyin's face and arms. Yuna took another washcloth and dabbed his damp skin with both the ice and the cool water while fielding question from her friends. What happened? Where were you all night? Where are you keeping him? Since they were helping her, she decided to be honest.
"I'm keeping him in Zanarkand."
"Zanarkand?" Gippal replied, "Isn't that a little obvious?"
"That's what I was hoping." She admitted, "I hoped it was too obvious for Cid to look into, and I guess I was right."
Rikku walked to the head of the bed and placed a hand on Shuyin's forehead again, "Well, it looks like his temperature is going down a little." She said, "So when he wakes up maybe he can tell us exactly what he's doing here."
"He doesn't know." Said Yuna, "But we do have a clue."
"Really?" asked Gippal.
"Yeah, this chant he heard just before he woke up in the Celsius." She groaned, "But I left the damn book in Zanarkand. I'll get it later."
Shuyin groaned softly and his eyes flittered open and then closed again. He slowly opened his eyes and adjusted them to the light. Yuna moved closer to him and squeezed his hand softly, "It's okay. You're okay."
"…Yuna…?"
"Yep." She replied, running her free hand through his hair, "You got sick, but Rikku and Gippal helped me and you're going to be fine."
"How did I get here?"
"I took you. I had to get you out of Zanarkand. I couldn't help you there."
The blonde squinted up his face in confusion, "How did I end up in Zanarkand? And why are you touching me?" he asked, squirming away from her and shooting her a nasty look, "I'm still angry at you, you know."
Yuna froze and she saw Rikku and Gippal do the same thing. Ocean blue eyes stared into hers, but they didn't hold the warmth they had seen there just hours before when Shuyin had teased her about sharing a bed. These eyes held an anger that threatened to consume the owner and that anger was directed solely at her. Her throat suddenly felt parched, but she ignored it. She couldn't let anything distract her from the answer to the question that was forming on her lips before she had a chance to realize it.
"…Tidus…?"
"Yes?" replied the blonde, "What do you want?"