Disclaimer: Final Fantasy © SquareEnix. Story © Me.
Notes: I'm having a little trouble with this section of the story. I'm trying to get the ball rolling, but I don't want to rush it. Sorry if you hate these short chapters...I'm working on it.
He'd steered them around the continent so that she didn't know where she was anymore. All she knew was that they'd been moving for days. They'd passed through the Thunder Plains a few days ago, yet they'd traveled Macalania's trail prior. She remembered a boat that ferried them across the sea at night, but she was beginning to lose herself.
They'd stopped last night. He'd told her not to make a sound.
She had obeyed, but her fear was escalating. She thought she'd heard Datto's voice, but she remembered the pass through Macalania and the old memories the Woods seemed to harbor. Her mind dismissed the thought of the Aurochs being within any reachable distance.
Her curiosity had finally gotten the better of her and she had demanded to know where she was being taken. He'd refused an answer for sometime yesterday, but she pressed the subject hoping the wear on his patience. But his only reply was that she already knew.
"Zanarkand..." Her small voice had whispered. "Pid E tuh'd fyhd du fyga dra tyng."
He had been insistent on moving out at daybreak to begin their search. Yuna had been reluctant to wake. Sleep had finally claimed her after three long nights, but he pressed to her to rise. Nerves had woken him. Something was wrong.
She had showered and he'd joined her, helping her wash herself in her grogginess. He'd kissed her and trailed his mouth down her neck.
"Pid E tuh'd fyhd du fyga dra tyng."
He was still trying to decipher the words when a knock at their door had produced Gippal and Rikku. A sigh escaped his friend as he nudged Rikku gently in the side. "We're ready whenever you are."
They'd packed their things. No words were spoken. A glance passed between them only once, then they moved out into the hall without a word. A distance was placed between the four friends, and neither dared to cross it. No one felt the urge to speak, but none knew why. None knew what it was the drove such an invisible wedge between them.
Was it the fear for Liya's life? Was it the stress and lack of sleep? Was it some sort of guilt? His dream assaulted him from inside. She was hiding something. Or she had. She had somehow betrayed him. He felt it in his gut, yet the dream was not of him.
"Tidus?" Her voice asked softly.
Don't go, Lennie
He shook his head and raised his eyes to hers to find the three of them staring at him. Each several steps ahead of him. She moved towards him without a sound stood before him, searching his eyes.
"Are you all right?" She whispered.
She bit her lip back and bent over him, wrapping her arms about his shaking body then kissed every inch of him that her lips could reach. "Shh, Shuyin." She cooed in his ear. He looked up at her and tears fell from his ocean blue eyes.
He hesitated, then slowly nodded his head. She slid her hand into his and he moved forward with him.
They'd boarded the small airship silently and it had lifted without a word spoken.
A knock on the door brought the Praetor to his sense. He stared up at the high ceiling trying to focus his eyes in the faint light. He drew in a breath then turned to stare at the woman beside him. A smile tugged at his lips as he touched her face and ran his fingers through her silvery hair.
He was jolted out of his thoughts when another knock pounded against his door. This time the woman stirred and Baralai rose to his feet. He threw the bed sheets back and rose from the bed, pulling a robe on about himself. His feet padded across the wooden floor as she made his way to the bedroom door.
It only took the sound of the knob's turn for Paine to sit up in their bed. She pulled the sheets about her as Baralai pulled the door open to find a boy panting and gasping for air.
"There's been..." The boy struggled for words and Baralai knelt before him. His warm hand seized the boy's shoulder to steady him. "In Zanarkand...a darkness has spread and everyone's..." He looked Baralai dead in the eye. "Everyone's dead."