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: Don't want to give too much away about this chapter. It's just weird, but I'm sure by now you've realized that practically all my chapters are weird.

SILVER WINGS 3: Back Into My Arms

by akksgurl

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Strange Conversation

The guests hut wasn't the most comfortable place to stay, especially with that strange Rinoa woman staring at him, but Nooj decided that any hardship was worth it for Gippal. He was glad that his friend was okay. In fact, he had been well enough to run off with Rikku a few moments earlier.

Nooj grinned to himself. Gippal would never admit how crazy he was about Rikku, but it was pretty obvious to anyone who looked at them. Then again, Nooj didn't have much room to talk. He hadn't admitted how much he cared about Paine until it was too late to change the distance between them. He had sworn he wouldn't do the same thing but he'd almost pushed LeBlanc away with his 'deathseeker' mentality. Thankfully she had been persistent and hadn't given up. Although he found the "Noojie-Woojie" thing a bit annoying, he knew that it came from a place of love so he got over it.

LeBlanc…

She had fallen asleep in his arms on one of the beds after they had stayed up all night talking about the Crimson Squad. He hadn't talked that much about his memories with his friends in a long time. She'd listened attentively and had eventually fallen asleep to the sound of his breathing when he'd become silent and pensive. He liked her when she was asleep, probably a bit more than when she was awake. When she was asleep she showed him a vulnerable side she hid with a vengeance while awake. Her vulnerability made her more attractive to him than any of the low-cut robes in Spira could have done. She thought her provocative dressing was the way to keep him interested – and it was to a degree – but he also needed to know that she loved him.

Listening to him speak of his friends without a complaint was one of the ways she unwittingly let him know.

He kissed her forehead gently, "I love you…"

Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked in the light that streamed in through the windows. She smiled sleepily at him, "I love you too, Noojie."

Lacing his fingers through hers, he squirmed into a sitting position and pulled her with him, "Sleep well?"

"Uh huh." She replied with a nod and a yawn, "I didn't mean to fall asleep in the middle of your story, though."

"You didn't." he replied, "I was finished." Her eyes connected with his and a devilish smirk formed on her features. Her fingers silently trailed down his chest, down, down….down. Nooj laughed quietly, "Bad girl…"

LeBlanc nodded, "Yep…"

He leaned in to kiss her gently, rolling her beneath him with his good arm while she continued to play beneath his belt. His lips trailed from her mouth, across her cheek and down her neck, finding the clasp that held her loosely fitting robe together with his hand and releasing it with a quick snap. He spread the fabric folds apart when an annoying ringing sound came from the table next to the bed.

"Ignore it." She ordered, unhooking his pants expertly and ensnaring his lips with her own.

Nooj felt his back tense with annoyance as the phone rang again and on the third ring he growled angrily and reached across her prone form to grab her phone that lay inside the drawer, "What?!" he shouted at the person on the other end.

"Sorry, sir." Came the voice of a fem-goon, "Could I speak with Ms. LeBlanc, please."

He sighed in frustration and handed the phone to LeBlanc, "It's one of those bimbos you employ."

"Remind me to fire them all…" she whispered with a wink as she lifted the phone to her ear, "This had better be good."

Nooj lifted his body from hers and zipped his pants up, having lost the mood entirely at the interruption. He rose from the bed and crossed into the bathroom, cupping his hands under the water and lifting some to his mouth. It wasn't like there wouldn't be other chances. LeBlanc was insatiable. And he was used to these annoying interruptions. It was practically impossible for them to have some private time at the chateau. Someone was always interrupting – mostly Ormi and Logos – but the fem-goons did it as well. Nooj was actually surprised Ormi and Logos had left them alone for the most part. They had actually listened when LeBlanc told them to stay with their airship and to not step off no matter what.

"Noojie." Came LeBlanc's voice at the doorway. He turned to see that she had straightened her robe up and looked a little upset, "We have to go back to Guadosalam now."

"What happened?" he asked her, concerned.

She shrugged, "She didn't want to say over the phone, but she insisted that we come back. She said it's important we come back."

"I wonder what happened."

"I don't know," Replied LeBlanc, "but I think we should go. You can call Gippal and let him know what's going on when we find out."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rikku had been horrified about what Gippal had told her about his interaction with Tidus and how the blitzer had physically threatened Gippal. Rikku had immediately insisted that she and Gippal go to the Celsius and tell Yuna. Something was wrong with Tidus and they needed to do something about it before he did something horrible.

It was then that they heard a shriek. Rikku's heart started pounding and she stopped in her tracks as the scream sounded again. It was someone saying 'stop' and it sounded like…, "Yuna!"

Rikku's feet seemed to grow a mind of their own as she and Gippal ran up the gangplank and into the bridge. She took the steps to the main hall two at a time and was closing the door to the elevator before Gippal reached it. He had to slide in quickly so as to avoid being shut out. Rikku was incredibly impressed that he could keep up with her. He was still recovering, but with Yuna's cure spells he was doing remarkably well.

But that didn't matter now. What mattered was the fact that another shriek from Yuna was echoing along the walls as the two blondes exited the elevator and ran headlong into Buddy and Brother who had heard the screaming too. Brother's eyes showed his sheer panic as he cried, "Where's Yuna?!"

Rikku ignored him, grabbing Gippal's wrist and hurrying into the crew's quarters followed by her brother and Buddy. The quartet made their way into the crew's quarters and up the stairs only to stop in their tracks at a loud bang that almost rattled the walls.

The screaming stopped…

Silence took over…

And Rikku couldn't believe her eyes…

Tidus had Yuna pinned against the wall by sheer physicality. His right hand was buried up to his wrist in the wall mere inches from Yuna's head. Her cousin was trembling and cowering against the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks which were now beginning to show the starts of bruising.

"Yuna…" Tidus whispered so quietly Rikku almost didn't hear him. He was visibly trembling and he reached out with his left hand to touch Yuna's hair but her cousin slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me...!" she choked out, pushing him away from her. His hand was wrenched from the hole it had created and Tidus let out a pained howl as he stumbled backward and landed on the bed.

Gippal was on him almost instantly, making quick work of tying up the hand Tidus had punched the wall with to the headboard with a bedsheet. Tidus didn't even seem to notice. He kept staring at that hand and breathing heavily through his mouth. He didn't even seem to notice Brother's enraged form approaching him with balled up fists.

"Cuh uv y pedlr!" he shouted, "Ruf tyna oui red Yuna!"

Gippal looked up at him with a stern face, "Mayja res ymuha. Oui lyh gemm res mydan."

"Yunie…" whispered Rikku as she came closer to her cousin. Yuna hadn't moved since she had shoved Tidus away from her. She stood staring at the hole in the wall and shaking. Rikku placed a hand on Yuna's shoulder and felt her tense up but then relax when she realized it was Rikku that was touching her, "Are you okay?"

"That could have been my…my face…" she stammered, still staring at the hole but alternating between that and Tidus every couple of seconds.

"Don't think like that." Scolded Rikku, gently.

"He tried to kill me…"

Rikku shook her head vehemently, "No he didn't." she said, although there was no other way to explain his actions, "He didn't…"

"He tried to kill me…"

"Yunie…stop that." Her cousin was obviously in shock and Rikku didn't know what to do except keep trying to convince her that Tidus hadn't meant to kill her. She wasn't sure how, though.

Tidus…

She had almost forgotten that he was even there. She glanced over at Gippal who was securing the knot that connected Tidus with the headboard. The blitzer hadn't stopped staring at his hand since the last time Rikku looked at him and it was at that point that she realized it had started to swell up.

Gippal noticed too. Without much experience around accident victims, Gippal didn't know what to do, so without thinking he grabbed the aforementioned hand. Tidus reddened, paled, and – if Rikku thought it was possible – turned an odd shade of green before letting out a painful squeal. Gippal dropped the hand quickly which proceeded to slam into the bed before Tidus reacted to it being let go. He let out another horrible scream on contact and Gippal turned to Rikku dumbly, "I guess it's broken…"

"Ya think?!" snapped Rikku back, sarcastically.

"I'll get ice for the swelling." Offered Buddy, turning to make his way down the stairs but Brother grabbed his shoulder roughly and pulled him back.

"Ra rind Yuna! Mad res civvan."

Buddy shook his head in blatant refusal, "Sorry, Mr. Leader, but I'm not in the habit of letting people suffer, even when they deserve it."

Rikku hugged her cousin from behind and forcibly turned Yuna away from the hole that she kept staring at. Rikku smiled half-heartedly at Gippal, "I'm gonna take her back to the village. She needs to rest."

He nodded, "I agree."

"I'm fine…" Yuna whispered, freeing herself from Rikku's grip, "And I don't appreciate being talked about like I'm not here." Yuna took a deep breath and forced herself to stand with pride although inside she was crumbling. Pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear, she said, "I left something important in Zanarkand and I was about to go there when Tidus…interrupted me." She stopped and bit her lip, the memory of his fists against her cheeks burned in her mind, "I'm going to go ahead with my plans."

"Not tonight, you're not." Stated Gippal simply, standing and joining Rikku by Yuna's side, "You're going to stay here and let Rikku force feed you potato soup for a while." He leaned in and winked at her, whispering, "Get her off my back for a while…"

Yuna smiled in spite of the circumstances and then shook her head, "I'm sorry, but I have to. It's imperative that I get this…"

"It obviously wasn't important enough for you to leave a few days ago. What's another night?" Rikku asked.

Before Yuna could respond she saw movement out of her peripheral vision. Tidus was squirming on the bed, cringing whenever his hand brushed against anything. She wanted to heal his hand, but stopped short. He didn't deserve her pity. Not after what he did to her…

"What's the matter with you…?" she heard him mutter to himself. That was a question she certainly would have liked an answer to and stepped toward him tentatively when he replied to his own question, "I don't know…"

Yuna felt Rikku's hand gripping her shoulder and backed away from him as her cousin silently suggested. Even though he was tied up, Yuna knew she shouldn't feel safe. If he was capable of hitting her, he was capable of anything. She turned to look at Brother, "Go and get Lulu. She can fry him with flare if he tries anything."

Brother grinned, "Yes, fry is ass!" he shouted, pumping his arms in the air excitedly as he bounded down the stairs to gain his quarry.

"You broke your hand…" Tidus muttered again, staring at his swelling hand questioningly. He squinted, "Did I…? Yes you did…"

Gippal elbowed Rikku gently, "What is he doing?"

"I don't know." Rikku replied, "Do I look like a mind reader? It's like he's talking to himself or something…"

And he certainly was. He was carrying on an in depth conversation with himself and Yuna wasn't sure why. It was almost as if he wasn't sure what had happened so he had to remind himself.

"Why'd you do that to Yuna?" was Tidus' next question to himself. He bit his lip until a little trail of blood wandered down his chin, "She deserved it. Don't think otherwise." He shook his head, "No, she didn't deserve it. Don't listen to that! She didn't deserve it."

"Maybe we should tie up his other arm…" Rikku suggested, "Just in case…"

Yuna stared at her, "Just in case what? Just in case he tries to hit us with his broken hand? If he does, he'll just end up in more pain than he is already."

"Are you feeling sorry for him?!" cried Rikku, indignantly.

Yuna shook her head, "No…"

"Why didn't you finish her off? It's her fault things are like this? You should have finished her off." Tidus hissed, his breathing starting to get heavy and labored. Yuna's hackles rose when he said that. He had meant to kill her. She wasn't wrong about that. She felt Rikku grip her wrist tightly and she realized her cousin knew it too. Tidus started panting, "I…I…I love her…" he said between breaths, "No you don't! She doesn't deserve it. Look what she did! It's her fault things are like this for us."

Lulu's elegant form appeared at the head of the stairs and the confusion on her face was obvious, "Is he talking to himself?" she asked, turning to face Yuna. She gasped, "What did he do to you?!" she fairly shrieked, rushing to the high summoner's side and gently brushing her cheeks.

"I'm fine, Lulu." Yuna insisted, "Really…"

"It's him we're not so sure about." Continued Rikku, pointing to Tidus who was now curling up in the fetal position and shaking violently.

"Stop talking to me. Leave me alone!" he muttered, tears starting to flow from his eyes, "You already are alone. She doesn't love you. She never did. Nobody loves you. You're nothing but a crybaby!" he wiped furiously at his face, "You're not a crybaby! Don't listen to that! Sit up and be strong!"

"Tidus…" Yuna whispered, taking a step closer.

Tidus sat up suddenly, staring at her with imploring eyes, "Help me…" he begged, reaching with his good hand for her but pulling it away just as suddenly, "Don't ask her for help!" he shouted to himself, scooting backward on the bed until he was flush against the headboard, "She's just a stupid bitch!"

Yuna felt tears forming in her eyes. Why was he being so horrible to her? What was wrong with him. She turned to look at her friends and Gippal grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him, "Leave." He ordered, pointing down the stairs, "Get out of here. Don't think about him. Don't worry about him. Just get out of here."

"I'm not leaving him until I know what is wrong."

Gippal's face got serious, "I think I know what's wrong and there's nothing you can do for him. Just get out."

"I agree, Yuna." Said Lulu with a nod, "Let's just go. Let Gippal handle him."

"No."

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!" Tidus suddenly shrieked, pulling at his hair violently with his good hand. He slammed his head against the headboard violently, cursing under his breath and shouting incoherent sentences, "Will you calm down?! We've gotta work together to get out of this." He said, taking a breath, "Just stay calm and it'll be fine. It got to me too. Just keep fighting and it'll be okay."

Yuna stepped closer, "Fight what, Tidus? What's the matter?"

"Tell her!" he shouted to himself, "She'll help us!"

"Yes, tell me. I want to help you." She said, taking another step toward him. She heard Rikku, Gippal, and Lulu tell her to back off but she didn't listen. She just needed to know that he still loved her. She needed to know this was some mistake.

"Tell her!" he screamed again but then he suddenly went silent. His breathing returned to normal and he didn't make sound.

"Tidus…?"

"Yuna, get away from him." Ordered Gippal, "Just back away."

"Not until I know he's okay!" she snapped back, stepping closer again. She reached forward to touch him, "Tidus…?"

It happened so quickly. He snapped up at her touch with a fire in her eyes that she'd seen only while he was hitting her so violently. He grabbed her wrist roughly and twisted it until she let out a squeal, then he shoved her to the floor like garbage. Gippal made a move toward him but Yuna raised her hand, "Don't get near him." She ordered, rising to her feet and staring at him with anger in her eyes, "What is the matter with you? What did I do, Tidus?!"

His lips curled up in a devilish smile, "Tidus is sleeping…"

Yuna heard Lulu and Rikku gasp and Yuna felt herself pale. She barely noticed when Gippal snuck down the stairs. She was too overcome. This couldn't be happening. Shuyin had tricked her again! How? Why? Why was this happening again?! He had been so nice to her. He'd been so caring and understanding. She'd bonded with him. She'd…she'd even…those feelings…how stupid was she?!

"No…" she whispered, "This isn't happening…not again."

The glint in the blitzer's eyes made Yuna shiver, "Oh but it is…"

A slight creak in the wooden floor was the only giveaway that Gippal had returned, but Yuna didn't even bother to look at him. Her eyes were focused entirely on the man glaring at her from the bed. There wasn't even the slightest sign of love in his eyes. But of course there wasn't. Shuyin didn't love her. He'd been lying to gain her trust.

But wait…

If he wanted to gain her trust, why would he destroy it by giving himself away so easily? That didn't make any sense. He had been so desperate to keep it a secret before that he'd killed.

Her hands were trembling as she took a step away from him. His eyes were so hateful. She barely noticed Lulu and Rikku coming to her side, each taking an arm as if to pull her away from him, but Yuna stubbornly remained in her place. She wasn't leaving until she had answers. She took a breath and forced herself to connect eyes with the vicious man in front of her who only wasn't attacking her because he was tied to the bed. She glared at him, "Why are you doing this Shuyin?" she demanded, just now noticing that Gippal had gotten the bat Barkeep always kept beneath the bar.

The blitzer grinned at her even broader, "He's asleep too…" he replied just before Gippal slammed the bat into his head, knocking him out.

AL BHED TRANSLATION

Cuh uv y pedlr! Ruf tyna oui red Yuna!: Son of a bitch! How dare you hit Yuna!"

Mayja res ymuha. Oui lyh gemm res mydan.: Leave him alone. You can kill him later.

Ra rind Yuna! Mad res civvan.: He hurt Yuna! Let him suffer.