Wow, thanks for the reviews! I was beginning to think nobody was bothering to read this thing, lol. I really love your feedback and am glad that you are enjoying my story so! As a thanks, I've decided to write another chapter earlier than I had planned. Thank you both!
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Yuna dug out the old and worn spell book and flipped to the part with the teleportation spell. She was pretty sure she could remember it, but she didn't want to take any chances. Lulu looked over her shoulder... the book looked so ancient. She wondered if they could trust the spells in it to not have any repercussions. Such powerful magic often had, she knew. She also knew there was no point in bringing up such worries to Yuna, as she would do anything to get Tidus back. All she could do was hope everything would turn out okay. Yuna took out her scepter and held it, ready to start the spell.
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Tidus looked into the sphere and saw that Yuna was beginning the spell. He didn't have a scepter, so he just stood, concentrating. He began to recite the magic words...
"Guardians of light,
that shine down upon us.
We ask for your guidance..."
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Yuna was twirling the scepter above her head and around her body in intricate patterns.
"...and for you to give us your strength.
Rulers of darkness,
that wield the unholy power.
We ask for that power now,
and for you to assist us in our task.
Powers, both light and dark,
we call upon you now.
Move the being we desire,
to the destination we seek."
Light engulfed Yuna, as it did Tidus. They could both feel the power racing through them, it was almost too much to bear. Tidus struggled to stand, but Yuna remained strong and steady.
"Bring Tidus to me," she finished. There was a flash of light, then a clap of what sounded like thunder... but so much darker. She collapsed onto the floor.
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Yuna opened her eyes to a harsh light, and quickly closed them again. Her head pounded and she felt nauseous and disoriented. Where was she? She slowly tried opening them again to find that the light was gentler now. Blurred faces hovered above her.
"She's waking up," Wakka said.
"Yunie! Are you all right?" Rikku asked.
"Quiet, Rikku," Lulu warned.
The pounding in her head started to subside and she realized where she was -- in her bed. What had happened? She tried to sit up but her head disagreed with the act.
"Easy. Don't try to sit up yet," Lulu told her.
*Not going to be a problem,* she thought.
"Rikku, go get a glass of water." Lulu directed as she gently put a warm cloth against Yuna's head. She wasn't used to being the healer, but she had little choice at the moment. Rikku ran off and came back a moment later with a glass. Lulu held it to Yuna's mouth. "Drink this, it'll help."
Yuna did as she was told and felt a little better. She tried sitting up again -- slower, this time -- and succeeded. "What happened?" Looking around, she saw that in addition to the voices she had heard, Kimahri was also nearby. A very important face was missing..
"When you finished the spell, light went everywhere... when it was gone, you were on the floor. We couldn't get you to wake up.. you had us so worried! Don't do that to us again, ya?" Wakka said.
If it had done that to her... what kind of effect did it have on Tidus? His magic wasn't anywhere near as strong as hers... maybe he was nearby, always unconscious. A strange thing to hope for, but it seemed her best shot. "Tidus?" She asked, still too weak to say more. As soon as she saw the looks on their faces, she knew it didn't work.
"He isn't here, Yunie. We don't know where he his.. but the spell was incredible! How could it give off such a show and not do anything? Did it do that the last time you tried it?" Rikku said.
Yuna started to shake her head but stopped when the headache made another strike. They got the idea, though. This was new... it had done something.
"Maybe it worked... maybe it just didn't bring him here. He's probably out there somewhere, ya?" Wakka suggested.
"But he could be anywhere.. he might not be in Spira... or even this time..." The progressively worse possibilities ran through her mind. What if she sent him another 1000 years into the future, or to some hell dimension?
"Don't worry about it now. We will take care of later.. right now you need your rest," Lulu said.
Yuna would have argued, but she didn't have the energy. Soon she was asleep.
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Tidus woke up to find himself sprawled across some sort of stone. "Where am I..?" He wondered out loud. It wasn't the Farplane, that was for sure. But it wasn't Besaid either... He slowly got up and took a look around. There were lots of bustling people. The place looked familiar.. was it? No, it couldn't be, that didn't make any sense. He looked around again to confirm his suspicions. He was definitely right. He was in Luca! He could see the stadium where blitzball games were held and the docks. In fact, it looked like there was a ship about to launch for Besaid. Taking no time to try to figure out why he had ended up in Luca instead of Besaid, he ran for the boat.
"Wait for me!" He yelled, just as they were about to pull away. He jumped on. "You're going to Besaid, right?" He asked the person at the helm.
"Yep.. with a short stop to Kilika in between."
He thought about Yuna... she must think the spell didn't work. He remembered watching her the night after he.. left. She had been crying in bed, staring at the ocean out her window. She seemed peaceful for a moment, then started crying again... what had she been thinking about? It couldn't be... no, Yuna would never do that. She would never take her own life... He wished he could check on her now, make sure she was okay. Since he couldn't, he decided to rest down below until they got to Kilika.
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Yuna awoke and saw the sun setting. She had hoped Tidus would be with her so they could see it together, but it hadn't happened. No one was to be seen... she guessed they had left to let her rest. She got up and went to go find them. As she entered the living room, she saw them sitting around talking quietly. "Hello," she said.
"Yunie! You're up!" Rikku ran over and hugged her. Yuna let out a low groan... she still hurt a bit. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'll be more careful."
"It's okay Rikku. I can just cast a curing spell." Before she had the chance, Lulu stopped her. Something she had been doing a lot lately.
"Don't. You've used more than enough magic for today. Give yourself a chance to rest."
Yuna sighed. Not that it mattered.. even Curaga couldn't take her pain away. "I don't think the spell worked. It doesn't make sense for it to have transported him to a random location. It either would have brought him here or not brought him here... which means he's still in the Farplane. It was all for nothing.."
"Don't say that. Maybe if Lulu helped too, you could do it!" Rikku suggested.
Yuna shook her head. "It's hopeless."
That was something they never thought they'd hear her say. They could see the despair written all over her face... she didn't even try to hide it. She had completely given up. "I'm going to take a walk.. I want to be alone..." Yuna left without waiting for their response.
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Tidus awoke on the ship, which was stopped at Kilika. He was shaking from the dream he had about Yuna... about her throwing herself in the ocean in the depths of her sorrow. He couldn't let that happen. He stepped onto the deck and entered the the room the captain was in. "When will we get to Besaid?" he asked.
"There's been a hold up. We might have to delay it until tomorrow," the captain said.
Tomorrow.. that was too long. What if she didn't last until then? "Can't we leave now? I really need to get to Besaid."
"Sorry, you'll have to wait," the caption replied, uncaring.
Tidus drew his sword and put it to the captain's throat. "Get this ship to Besaid. Now."
"But there is somebody very important coming. We have to wait for him. He's the--" the captain tried to explain before Tidus cut him off.
"I don't care who he is, or what he is, or what he'll be doing here. I need to get to Besaid, and you're bringing me there!" Tidus was nearly screaming. The captain, seeing he was in no position to negotiate, gestured for the helmsman to head full speed to Besaid.
"We should be there in an hour or two."
"Good." He lowered his sword but stood by to make sure his "request" was fulfilled.
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Yuna walked along the deserted beach. Nobody was in sight. She gazed at the waves.. the tide was coming in now. They were calm once again.. but she could fix that. She spotted a large rock that would be covered when the tide came in. Checking to make sure nobody was watching, she started to make her way to it.
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The ship approached the dock of Besaid. As soon as it was close enough, Tidus jumped off and started running to find Yuna. He had the most horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.. he knew something bad was about to happen, and he had to stop it.
He was headed for the village when he saw a figure standing on a rock in the waves. Unable to make out the figure because of distance and the dark, he walked towards it. He couldn't help but notice that the waves got rougher every second, as if to swallow something. And the tide was coming in fast... he was going to have to swim pretty soon. He looked up and saw who it was -- Yuna! She was doing a dance on the rock, and with every sweep of her scepter a wave came up towards her, ready to take her down. It was a wonder she had lasted this long. "Yuna!" he called, but the wind drowned him out. He dived into the water, swimming to get closer to her. "Yuna!" he tried to yell again, but a mouthful of saltwater drowned him out. Coughing and struggling to stay afloat, he yelled at her one last time. "YUNA!" But it was too late... the waves had knocked her down.
He searched the rocky waters for any sign of her, but saw nothing. *Damn this darkness!* he thought. How would he ever find her now? Just then a light fell upon him.
"Tidus!" Rikku cried from the shore. "It's you! ...But how?"
"There's no time to explain... Yuna is out here somewhere! Get out here and help with the light!"
Rikku joined him in the water with the lantern, holding it above water to keep it from going out. The waves had calmed a bit since Yuna had "fallen" in, so it wasn't too difficult. Tidus dived under the water, hoping it would help him see. He looked all around him. Where was she?! And then he saw it -- the drifting girl in an outfit of purple, pink and white. He swam towards her with all his might and wrapped his arms around her. Unfortunately he couldn't enjoy the reunion, as she was dying as the seconds ticked by.
Rikku saw him break the surface with Yuna in his arms. She shone the light in his path to help him find his way to shore. He layed her down and put his ear close to her mouth... she wasn't breathing. Tears began to fall from his eyes. "Yuna, you can't die on me. Not now. Not after all we've been through." He performed CPR on her, hoping it would revive her. 1, 2, 3 pumps on the chest... then blow in the mouth. He did this over and over.. but she wouldn't respond. Everyone was gathered around looking horribly worried. All of them were doubting she'd make it. Just as their last hopes were dwindling, she started sputtering water. He turned her on her side to help her cough up the water. She looked up at him, breathing hard.
*Was this real?" she wondered. The spell hadn't worked... he couldn't be kneeling in front of her, crying. But it seemed real.. "Tidus?" It was a question she had asked too many times in the past few days.. and she didn't know what she would do if once again the answer was no.
"It's me. It's really me," he assured her through his tears. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her oh so tight. "I'll never let you go again. I promise. Never again." He kissed her, long and passionately, and she returned it with just as much passion."
Yuna started crying too, but out of happiness. "Don't ever break that promise. I couldn't take it."
"Never. I love you Yuna."
"I love you Tidus." They kissed again and held each other for several minutes. Everybody around them smiled and Rikku even blushed. It was so good to see them together again... and Yuna happy.
But not all was well... although none of them yet knew it. From the darkest shadows something watched them... something evil, something that liked the taste of blood. And it didn't come from Spira.
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Was that the happy part you were looking for, ladyyami?:) I'll be sure to include more of it in the next one.. trust me, I've been dying to get to it too!