The Torn Heart

Disclaimer: I don't own the girls from this or any of the other chapters.

Ch. 6: Dark Destiny

The red morning sun broke through the veil of darkness that was night, as the Celsius descended through the clouds to land in the Calm Lands. After hearing Yuna was upon the deck of the Celsius alone with Cirrus, Brother had order for her to remain hidden from Cirrus, while he landed the ship so he could "rescue" her from that dastardly deviant stranger. She had smiled upon hearing those words, no matter what happens, good old Brother would always be the same.

However, Yuna did not obey the command as there was no reason nor place to hide from Cirrus, instead, she did the exact opposite by asking him, "Cirrus, why were you singing on the deck in the middle of the night?"

Cirrus looked her, as he leaned against the wall next to the broken elevator panel, a light blush on his cheeks, "I was...a little homesick, it has been so long since I've been on a airship, it reminded me of my own story," he admitted.

"And that song?" Yuna fiddled with the material of her pajamas, which were filled with a dumb looking moogle with a nightcap.

"That song was the lyrics to a piano piece I heard her play." His eyes seemed to glow with fond memories.

Once again, Yuna caught herself wondering just who Cirrus's mystery girl was, but she again stopped herself. It didn't matter. She looked at Cirrus, his attire was modest in how it revealed so little of his body, something completely against the fashion of Spira, which was to dress in clothing that revealed as much as possible. His spiky blond hair, his mesmerizing green eyes, none of it fit in with any of Spira's thoughts or philosophies. She knew she should see him as a bizarre stranger, but there was just something about him, something unexplainable that made Yuna feel so strange inside. He stirred up a feeling insider she hasn't feel since...well, since-

She stopped herself before she could finish that thought, it was wrong, she shouldn't be thinking like this. She quickly asked, "Cirrus, why is Sephiorth here if you had defeated him in your world years ago?" to purge her mind of her wrongful thoughts. It worked.

"I don't know..." the blush on his face had vanish, his tone became sober and calm, "maybe he came here through Sin as well, but one thing is for certain, he will cause more pain to this world than even Sin could've. He-"

Suddenly, Brother's voice blared about the Celsius, "Yuna, sit down and hold onto something, we are going to land soon..." there was a pause, then, more to himself than Yuna, "...what is that?!"

Without so much as a warning, a wall of iridescent brightness temporarily blinded her. When the bright flash cleared her eyes, the sight caught her completely off guard, leaving her shocked and breathless. The engines, the turbines, even the back wall of the Celsius were completely shaved off.

Shocked and appalled, Yuna could simply stare at the sky, the spot where the turbines that had kept the ship up had once stood. So focus, she didn't even notice the Celsius rapidly descending through the clouds, dropping like a lead weight. It was only when she felt her feet was drifting up from the swiftly falling Celsius did she realize what was happening.

The utter sensation of falling and weightlessness took over, and almost immediately, panic took over. She could feel the Celsius angling downward; it was going to plummet headfirst into the Calm Lands. The cold and rushing wind caught her hair and her slapped her cheeks, she squinted her eyes. The wide and lush grass of the Calm Lands was dashing towards her with incredible speed. She fell to the ground as the ship slanted downward even more.

Falling helplessly, Yuna reached out her hand hoping to grasp unto something, anything, but her cold hands felt nothing but the colder rushing wind. Her heart beat faster and faster as the ground became larger and nearer. She could almost feel her heart and lungs pushing to escape her throat. She squeezed close her eyes, she wanted to scream, but her mouth was too numb to open.

Suddenly, she felt the warm touch of a hand on her wind-chilled wrist, instinctively; she grabbed at the other person's wrist and clung on with all her might. Almost immediately, almost instantly, she felt the rushing wind slow down, her heart and lungs returning to her original spots, the fall had stopped.

She opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a huge red ship plummeting into the Calm Lands headfirst a few hundred feet below her, the ship dug into the ground a bit, the front turbine wheels snapping off to the sides.

Suddenly, she caught the site of what appeared to be a large blue fireball speeding toward the underside of the ship. Before she could even blink, the fireball hit the underside and exploded into a brilliant flash of light, forcing Yuna to quickly squeeze her eyes shut.

When she opened them again, the Celsius was no longer there, in its place stood a few pieces of blasted black metal. The formerly lush grass of the Calm Lands was now ablaze.

Then, it all came back to her, "Rikku! Paine, Brother, Buddy..." Where are they?

She looked up; she saw the shadowy outline of Cirrus against the sun holding her by her wrist, but he had something that appeared to be a wing stretching out the right side of his back. She could tell that wing was filled with mythical energies, even though it appeared to be a simple black-feathered wing. However, what attracted her attention was his intensely glowing green eyes, they were filled with incredible color as he stared at something downward. She followed his gaze, and-

Sephiorth, he stood in the air above the silvery Macalania treetops, crackling blue energy danced about him. He seemed to be chuckling. He turned his head, seeing Cirrus and Yuna, he smiled sadistically. With a nod of challenge towards Cirrus, he descended through the treetops, and out of Yuna's sight.

Cirrus must've acknowledged the challenge, as he rapidly, but still safely, begun to descend in a tight circle, his one wing balancing strangely well. Within moments they landed in a patch of still green grass in the Calm Lands, far from the fire.

Cirrus turned to Yuna, a look of grim determination on his face, but there was something strange and wild in his eyes. In a voice that was both strong and caring, he said, "Yuna, your friends Rikku and Paine are safe, don't worry. But whatever happens don't go into the forest, I'll come back...if I live." Yuna barely caught the last part, but she was sure he couldn't be serious.

But before Yuna could reply, Cirrus turned and jumped up to an implausible height, and with a light flex of his black feathery wing, he glided into the forest with incredible speed and grace.

A.N. Cirrus has a wing? Could possibly be a question one might ask, and the answer is yes. I would explain why and such, but that would have to wait until the later chapters. I'll update as soon as I can get my homework straightened out, life for me is getting tougher and tougher. Sorry for the late update to this one, the next one will come sooner. Thanks for reading.