Note: Sorry for the late update, I've been working on so many things. And I tried to make this one a bit longer. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy...not really.

"No, I'm not sorry! I haven't done anything wrong!" He tugged on the bars and shook them vigorously. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there. Only he'd woken with a start and had searched desperately for Lenne before realizing the cage that kept him imprisoned.

"I know you're listening. If she was your girl, what would you do?" He pressed himself firmly against the cage. When he'd realized he was alone in the small prison, his mind set and ran into overload, flooding his senses with what had taken place before everything went black.

"How can you blame me for trying to use your weapon? It was the only way I could save the Summoner! What would you do if you were me?" He remembered they had been running. That they had been running for so long with Bevelle soldiers at their heels. He had been so intent on saving her from the war, but in the end he had failed her.

Tears formed in his eyes and threatened to run courses down his face "Let me out! ... I want to see her..." He remembered the look she held before they had been torn apart. Tears had formed in her eyes and her beautiful hair had framed her face. He remembered the sting of the bullets as they had ripped through.

His eyes searched his body, but found no indication of bullet holes. His skin was blemish free, not even a pinkening of the skin or mild scarring. How long had he been there? Hours? Days? Where was Lenne?

Something inside quietly tried to convince him of what had happened, but he refused to believe that his beautiful Lenne was gone from him forever. That she had been stripped of the world and it would no longer bask in her glow. Then the tears finally broke free.

He fell back against the other side of the cage and buried his face in his hands. Voices spoke near him, but he didn't care to listen anymore. Without her, he was nothing.

"Don't cry." A voice whispered.

Shuyin dropped his hands and immediately fixed the child with his red rimmed, blue eyes. He stared at her without assurance of what to feel. Her brown and blue eyes stared back imploringly. The silver hoop through her left ear swayed with her slight movement as she inspected him.

The bangles about her wrists clanked lightly against the cage bottom as she set her palms flat and Shuyin straightened, glancing about to note who, if anyone, had heard the small clanking sound. But no response came from outside of the cage. She looked him over with the utmost curiosity, inspecting nearly every detail of his being.

She moved forward and Shuyin pressed his back against the bars. She bit back her lower lip and glanced downwards for a moment before looking back at him. Again, she moved forward until she sat on her knees at his side. She raised a hand hesitantly and touched his cheek, ran her fingertips across the bridge of his nose.

Her timid fingers brushed through his hair then dropped to his hands, turning them over so she could examine his palms. A smile formed of her lips when she looked back into his eyes.

"I will remember," she said quietly, "everything."

She set his hands back down and slowly moved away, gradually fading as pyreflies separated. A small hand rose before her, and she pressed her finger to her lips. "Don't worry." Then she was gone, and Shuyin was once again left to the cold and empty bitterness of the cage.

"What do you mean?" Rikku stepped forward and wiped at her eyes.

The child looked to her questioningly.

"What kind of power has no rival?" She asked. "And what do you mean we could all fade away?" Her brows knitted together. She pressed her lips into a line. "You going to tell us we're dreams too? That this isn't the real world either? Well?"

"Not exactly. Only aspects of this world." He replied. "There are aspects of this world that remain intact because the power within the city has been kept in check. The Dreamworld of Zanarkand was born here. Threads of that world are linked to this city." He paused for a long while before he spoke again. "People...are tied to this city."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Rikku asked as her temper began to flare.

"I cannot give you anything else." The boy whispered.

"What!? You had better..." She raised her fist into the air and marched forward.

"Not even I know the whole truth." He put his hands up defensively. "We, the Fayth, we're not Gods. We do not know all that there is."

"Then what do you know?" Gippal asked quietly.

The boy hesitated and he glanced down to his feet, rolling his thoughts over in his head before he spoke. He drew in a breath, but still, no response came from him. No one spoke. All eyes were set on the small frame of the child Fayth.

"All I know," he began, "is that we're running out of time."

Pyreflies emerged from his body as he slowly faded away.

"Hey!" Rikku shouted.

"Rikku!" Gippal seized her wrist and turned her about to face the bodies of the Al Bhed. Pyreflies too rose from the still forms, but soon, the bodies became transparent and slowly dissipated into the air.

"No!" Rikku shouted and rushed to her brother's side, reaching her hands out for him, only to pass right through.

"Tuh'd funno, Rikku." A voice spoke quietly to her. "Ajanodrehk femm pa veha."

"Don't leave." She squeaked.

"Sasuneac yna hela, pid dryd'c ymm drao yna." The voice said with a faint sense of laughter. "E femm caa oui ykyeh, Rikku. Pid hud dutyo."

"Can you tell us anything?" Paine asked as she looked up at the hovering image of a man who wore a long red jacket. The Farplane stretched out behind him and he turned his head down in thought.

"Word has spread through the Farplane." He replied. "Rumors we thought, of a soul escaping."

"But who?" Baralai asked.

"I do not know." The man replied.

"Who ever it is," Paine said with a sigh. "They've taken..."

"Liya." The man finished.

"How'd you...?" Paine glanced back at him with a questioning look.

"There are many things about that child that I know." He replied with a small smile. "Things many of you have yet to learn. But in time."

"Then do you know why it has taken her?" Baralai pressed.

"She is an impossibility. A replica of what was a thousand years ago." The man murmured. "That is all I can tell you."

"Thank you, Sir Auron." Baralai said as he turned to Paine.

"You two had best be on your way." Auron instructed. "Head for Zanarkand." And with that, he was gone.

She was wiping her hands off on the white cloth napkin when he seized her wrist on brought her to her feet. She shot him an angry look until she watched his movements. He glanced once to the right and waited. Her brows raised in curiosity as he stood still beside her.

He dropped a small pouch onto the table and then pulled her from the table and back out into the Calm Lands.

"What?" She asked as she struggled to keep up with his long strides. "Where are we going?" She tried to pry her wrist from his grip, but it wouldn't budge.

"It's time to go." He raised his hand out before himself without faltering in his step and tore reality apart once more until they stood in what appeared to be a dark, underground cavern, and she shook herself loose from his grip.

Liya took in her surroundings with wide eyes. Markings littered the stonewalls, writing of some sort. Her feet guided her forward and she reached out and set her fingertips against the carvings she could reach. She trailed her fingers over everything as though she could memorize it all through touch; lock it away for some later use.

"It's time for you to work now." He murmured and seized her wrist once more, dragging her forward into the dark tunnel ahead.