Just a quick little note: this used to be a humor fic, but I decided to rewrite it because it just wasn't turning out the way I wanted it to. So now the title really doesn't go with the story – it went with the old version.

Chapter 1 : Determination

It was supposed to be another jolly good day in the life of Yuna and her guardians. Not wanting to face the cold of Mt. Gagazet yet, despite Kimahri's constant protests, they awoke early in the morning, hoping to enjoy the last somewhat cheerful place of Yuna's pilgrimage. Unfortunately for them, nothing ever went the way they planned. Well, what kind of a story would this be if they did? And so quickly, things took a swerve for the worse by noon.

After searching for a Coeurl to capture for the monster arena guy, Tidus encountered the chocobo trainer. Unbeknownst to him and his companions, this sadistic woman was notorious for driving hundreds of people insane with just a mere chocobo riding competition. He accepted; Tidus was never one to turn away from a challenge. Besides, he figured it would be a cinch compared to the other things he had been forced to do on the pilgrimage, including winning a blitzball game on what was possibly the worst team he had ever come across. What a nightmare that was, he thought, shuddering violently.

As the chocobo woman counted down to the start of the race, Tidus gripped the reins tighter, and out of the corner of his eye saw his companions sitting down, apparently amused. Rikku cheered, and gave him a big smile. Tidus returned it, gaining more confidence and making his already swelled head grow even larger.

"One!" the chocobo trainer shouted, and the two set off on the course. Tidus misjudged the distance and speed of quite a few birds, not to mention his aim was awful, and he ended up with an abysmal time. "Come on, you can do better than that!" the chocobo trainer taunted. "Or are you too wimpy to try again?"

Tidus's confidence level dropped quite a bit, which really wasn't a bad thing considering he had been quite the egotistical one. But he remained persistent as ever, and agreed to try again. He failed. Then tried again. Failed again. And again. Etc.

Rikku, still cheering him on after three and a half hours, was the only one who seemed to be remotely alive. Wakka lay sprawled on the grass facedown, while Auron had stuck his sword in the ground and was leaning against it, sound asleep. Lulu was cuddled up with one of her moogles, and even Yuna had given up and was resting against Kimahri's shoulder. Rikku, while trying to keep up her upbeat attitude in order to cheer on Tidus, felt an unexpected spurt of anger explode inside her. She had always wondered why Tidus liked Yuna rather than herself. After all, she was the one he met first. She was the one who saved him from the crazy cannibalistic thing back in the ruins. She was the one that prevented the rest of the Al Bhed from slicing him up and feeding him to the fishies. She was the one that kept him alive on the ship … accompanying him, feeding him, being his only friend. If she knew it would turn out this way, Tidus falling for her cousin, and vice versa, she would have savored those moments alone with him. Didn't it even occur to him that there was a reason I came back into his life? That it wasn't just a coincidence, more like a sign, that I just happened to be Yuna's cousin, bringing us together again? Then again, she thought miserably, he's probably looking at it the opposite way. But this was unacceptable to her. She could tell Tidus was trying so hard to get that Sun Sigil; he needed encouragement. Yuna couldn't even provide that for him. Sure, it had been a long time, but if she could keep going after this long, why couldn't her cousin?

After another twenty minutes passed by like an eternity, Tidus had accomplished his goal. "I'VE DONE IT! In your face you stupid chocobo lover!" He ran back to the group, and by this time everyone had been shaken out of their daze by his shouts. Rikku gave him a huge hug, as did Yuna. As they were celebrating, Kimahri felt a shadow draw over him. "Kimahri sense danger."

Everyone else looked around, alarmed, to see a familiar looking creature flying towards them from the sky …