Disclaimer: Werd to your mother.
Notes: I may be slipping Al Bhed in every now and then more. You can translate it at ffextreme.com. Okay, I've got the last two chapters written, now all I've got to do is fill in the middle. And no, I'm not sure how long it will be in the end.
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Rikku had been ecstatic in showing off her new ring to everyone in Besaid. Yuna and Lulu had brought a blanket out to the beach and had sat down in the sun, watching the bouncy blonde move from one of the island's inhabitants to the next. It seemed as though she had to give each person an exact play-by-play of how Gippal had proposed because they laughed each time her arms went into the air and then she knelt down on one knee.
Yuna put her hands up without thought as the blitzball slammed into her palms. She glanced over at Liya who stood wide-eyed then pointed over to Vidina who blushed and made circles in the sand with his toe. Yuna gave a smirk then threw the ball back to the children and they continued their game. She sighed then and looked up at Tidus who stood near the temple with Wakka and Gippal. Her eyes lingered on him for several silent moments before they shifted to Liya once more.
"What is it?" Lulu asked.
Yuna shook her head. "It's nothing."
They had started the fire early in the evening. It burned brightly at the center of the village and everyone had gathered around with their plates and bowls of food. Everyone mingled of their own accord, talking with one neighbor, then moving onto another.
"Gippal has this oh so brilliant idea on how to quell the curiosity of Zanarkand." Rikku began. She threw him a look as she continued. "Since people are growing more anxious about explorations of the city and wanting to know more about the past, Gippal and others in the Faction came up with this."
Gippal nudged Tidus in the side.
"They want to rebuild Zanarkand." Rikku said as she looked at Yuna. "As it was a thousand years ago." Her eyes shifted to Tidus.
Tidus stared back at her in shock. "You're going to what?"
"Rebuild Zanarkand." Gippal said. "Recent explorations by the faction deep in the city, have turned up several new spheres with a lot of information for us to go on."
"Like what?" Yuna asked quickly.
"There's a lot of just people talking. I think they're inside houses. There's one of a lot of people standing in a huge tunnel that seems like it's underground and then this long machine whizzes by with people inside. The machine stops and people get in and out of it, then it disappears down the dark tunnel."
Tidus gave a faint laugh. "That's the bullet train."
Gippal nodded slightly. "I'd call it a bullet for sure. There's others too. Downtown, I think. There's one of a woman singing. A blitzball stadium and…"
"You're going to rebuild the blitz stadium?" Tidus asked.
There was silence for a moment as Gippal and Tidus locked gazes. No one said anything and Rikku glance back a forth between the two men, wondering the tone behind Tidus' question.
Tidus remembered the stadium well. Remembered the game that was well underway when Sin attack and smashed the stadium to pieces. He had set up to perform his father's shot when the monster came into view.
The beam had barely held his weight as he tried desperately to keep from falling into the explosion below. The water had washed him out of the stadium and he had run. Then Auron…
Tidus shook his head, trying to wipe the past from his mind. Would rebuilding Zanarkand surface these kinds of memories? He thought about happy times he had had in the city. Weighing the joy one hand the sorrowful in the other, he wondered which would outweigh the other.
Your love is all I see…No pain trying to linger there…Only your heart left to consume me
"Tidus?" Yuna's voice broke him from the reverie. "Are you all right?"
Where did that last bit come from?
He sighed. "Yeah. I'm fine." He smiled. "I think it's a great idea."
"Daddy." Tidus looked up at his daughter as she rubbed her right eye and yawned. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. He smiled then and stood up. He leaned over and scooped her up into his arms and quietly excused himself from the circle.
He replayed the memory of Sin's attack once more in his mind. He'd been terrified that day and angry when Zanarkand disappeared. He'd hated Auron from bringing him to Spira. Auron had told him he had another purpose to serve. He'd kicked the ground and threw a tantrum like a child.
But he followed Auron through Besaid and into the temple. He'd waited forever just standing around and it infuriated him further. What the hell was standing around supposed to accomplish? Then the door had opened and he had seen her.
Her beautiful, soft brown hair was thrown back as she tried to gain her balance. She'd almost collapsed to the hard stone floor when the tall, cat-like guardian had caught her. She had tried to push away the dizziness that had seized her body and then she turned her mismatched eyes to lock on him.
He smiled at the recollection. Then he glanced down at the tiny girl in his arms. If he hadn't been pulled away from Zanarkand, then she…
"Thank you, Auron." He whispered.
He carried her quietly into a smaller hut that actually belonged to Vidina. It was close to Wakka and Lulu's hut and not far from where Yuna and himself were set up. A smile graced his face when he found Vidina already fast asleep on his bed, sprawled out in what would, for him, have been slightly uncomfortable, half on the floor and all.
He moved to the corner of the room and set Liya on the second bed that had been set up for her. He brushed her hair from her face as he knelt down beside the small bed.
"E tuh'd fyhd du ku..." she mumbled in her sleep.
He smiled and touched her face. Then kissed her forehead and left the hut.
"…E tuh'd fyhd du fyga dra cmaaban." She murmured then sighed and rolled over. Tidus frowned at her words. No, he wasn't fluent in the language and doubted very much that he ever would be. But her words plagued him even as he moved out of the hut and nearly knocked Yuna over.
"Are you all right?" She asked.
He shook off his worry and forced a smile to his face. "Yeah."
She eyed him for a moment before she raised her hand and touched his face. "I know that you're hiding things."
"It's nothing." He assured her. Then he looked at her. "Tell me again, about Lenne and Shuyin."
Yuna had brushed her short hair until it shone and stripped down into almost nothing before she slipped beneath the covers of the bed. She pushed her way to the center where she laid her head on his bare shoulder then stretched her arm across his chest and sighed.
"Why the sudden curiosity?" She murmured.
"I just…want to know more." He replied.
"What do you want to know?" Yuna raised her head and looked up at him.
"Were they happy?"
Yuna didn't respond. She couldn't form the words in which to say. Better yet, she couldn't think of the words to form. The couple had been in love, she could only assume that they were happy, or had once been at least. Now they were gone, resting in the Farplane together.
"I think they were, and are now."
"Tell me again, how it all began." He pressed.
She stared at him in silence for a few moments before she began. "It all started when I found this sphere of you…"
Yuna.
"Pray for it!" The voice demanded.
She turned and tried to look up at the voice. The man was tall and strong of build. He carried himself well. His dark eyes were angry, even shadowed beneath him messy hair. His hand thrust the small form onto its knees upon the glass floor.
The small being wept quietly as small hands splayed out on the smooth glass.
"Pray! Make it come to life!" The man ordered. He glanced over his shoulder then back down at the child. It had pressed its head to the floor and began to whisper quickly. Its breaths were quick and drawn between words, but it never faltered.
She tried to look around and take note of her surroundings but all she saw was crumbling stone and rusted metal before it all blurred away.
The sun had filtered in through the window and fell upon her smooth face. Her blue and green eyes opened slightly then shut quickly at the bright intrusion. She stirred slightly and she could hear the body next to her draw in a deep breath as he stretched his limbs out.
A strong hand gripped her side as he rolled over behind her and drew her back into his arms. His lips grazed the back of her neck and traveled up to her ear. Her lips curled back. His hand moved slowly from her side, down passed her hip, passed her thigh, and she gasped.
Shifting, she rolled over to face him. She moved her face up and kissed him softly, then deepened the contact, using it as a distraction to roll him onto his back. Sitting above him, she leaned over and kissed his throat. His fingers threaded up into her hair and she traced her lips across his jaw and her hands slid down his chest. She paused for a moment and looked down at him.
His eyes slid half opened and he raised himself to kiss her until she pulled away. A grin took his mouth and she smiled before she leaned into his kiss. She broke away and worked her lips down his body and he closed his eyes. She continued her progress until a knock at their door forced Yuna to pause.
"Mommy." Came a faint voice.
Yuna smiled and crawled back up Tidus' body. "I know for a fact it was not my doing that brought about this constant interruption." He stated.
She gave a faint laugh and kissed him. He smiled and she rose up off of him and moved across the floor to open the hut door. She pulled the light door open and looked down at Liya.
"Auntie Rikku wants to talk to you." The girl said quietly.
Yuna glanced out of the hut and passed her daughter, locking eyes with her cousin who stood across the square. She threw her cousin a playful look before kneeling down to Liya's level. "Thank you for playing messenger for your aunt. Next time tell her she's a big girl and can talk to me herself."
Liya smiled and threw her arms about her mother's neck.
"What are you going to do today?" Yuna asked.
"We're going to go and play on the old machina ruins." The girls face lit up. "Will you come and play with us?"
"No." Came Tidus' voice from the hut. "She's playing with me right now."
Liya giggled and rolled her eyes. "Geez, don't be so selfish."
"You see this ring?" Tidus raised his left hand in the air. "This gives me selfish rights."
Liya pealed herself from her mother's embrace and slowly made her way to stand next to the bed. He had his right arm draped over his face and he sighed. "I'm allowed to be sometimes you know, she's my wife."
"She's my mother." Liya shot back.
Tidus raised his arm and glanced at the girl from the corner of his eye. "Yeah, well, she was my wife first."
"That's not what I heard." Liya mumbled.
There was silence between the pair as they stared at each other. The gaze was uninterrupted and Liya never batted a lash. Her look was intent, yet soft and innocent at the same time. Then Tidus frowned.
"Who you been talkin' to?" He asked playfully.
She smiled at him. "I have my sources."
He eyed her for a second. "How old are you?"
"You tell me, bub." She replied with a laugh.
Tidus looked over to Yuna then. "This is not my child." He replied, trying to appear serious. "What happened to my innocent baby?"
"She's got you attitude." Yuna put her hands up in defense. "So don't look to me for answers."
His eyes swept back to the set of mismatched blue and brown eyes. Then he reached a hand out and slid it around the back of the small head gently and pulled her forward. "I love you." He said as he kissed her forehead.
"E muja oui duu." She replied then slipped from the side of the bed and ran past Yuna and outside.
"I'll be out in a second Rikku." Yuna called to the blonde woman.
When she turned around she was captured by her dream and she stared down at the small, cloaked being on its hands and knees. The small face turned and she caught sight of a profile.
"Pray for it!"
"Yuna?" She shook her head and looked up into his worried blue eyes. He rose from the bed and moved to stand before her.
She turned for a moment and glanced out the door at Liya and Vidina kicking the blitzball around the square. Liya dropped the ball then and it rolled away from her feet. She stared out blankly as pyrelies slowly rose from the ground.
Rikku gasped and covered her mouth in shock. "Cfaad sudran, fryd dra…?"