FDB: Reviewer shmeg.

Anbu713- Thanks for the enthusiasm.

MakoAnima- Short, sweet, and to the point.

XMaster- Thanks for being the first reviewer.

FDB- If I get at least 15 reviews on my fic, I'll do a sequel. If not, I'll probably do a sequel anyways. ON WITH THE SHOW!

Chapter 7: All the sanity in me.

No idea how long I was out, but when I came to, I was staring at a ring of beady black eyes. Yep. I freaked out. I jumped to my feet, and slipped, earning myself a mouthful of sand. Yeccchh!

I turned back to the eyes, and saw a bunch of dancing cactus...es. Cactes. Cacti? Cacti, that's it. Dancing cacti. Freaky. They didn't look all that strong, just tiny. I poked one with Kimahri's stick, and it just jumped around, screaming. If they could scream.

Then, they all turned and pointed the tops of their heads at me. A bunch of needles poked out, pointing straight at me. One hit me in the leg, but it was more of an annoyance. Then, a volley of them. Needles sticking in me everywhere. Now, the pain began to manifest itself.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

(II)

I trudged through the sand, picking the last of the needles out of my ass.

"Ow…ow……..ow………..ow. Thank God, that's the last of them."

I dropped the last needle, and looked up at the sun. Damn, it's hot. This is the biggest damn desert I've ever been in. The only desert I've ever been in. And damn, it's hot! I wonder if I'm gonna see one of those cheap cartoon mirages. "Water cooler…" Off to my right, I saw a water cooler. "Watermelon stand…" I walked past a watermelon stand. "Hot babe next to an oasis…" Off in the distance, I saw Rikku standing next to an oasis, waving at me.

I blinked a couple times, before running up to her. 'Please don't be a mirage, please don't be a mirage, please don't be a mirage…' I stopped in front of her, but she just stood there, smiling at me.

"Are you a mirage?" I asked her.

"No."

"Do mirages even know they're mirages?"

"Maybe, I don't know."

"So you could be a mirage, but you don't know it, and I don't know it."

"So you could be a mirage, too."

"Nope. I'm definitely not a mirage."

"How do you know? Didn't you just say that a mirage doesn't know if they're a mirage?"

"I know I'm not a mirage because I just spent half and hour pulling cactus needles out of my ass."

"That would hurt…"

"So, if you're a mirage, I might as well enjoy it." With that, I reached over and cupped her left breast.

------------------------------------

After she was through with me, I figured out two things. One: she wasn't a mirage. Two: I don't think I'll ever have kids. She helped me to my feet, though I was still in pain, holding my crotch. We trudged on through the sand, her leading the way through most of it. She really seemed to know her way around this desert, even though there were no landmarks to go by.

We eventually came to rest near some kind of ruin, and not long afterwards, Tidus and the others came along. Minus Yuna. Rikku was her usual hyper self when they walked up.

"Oh! Hey, guys! Where's Yunie?

"She's gone." Thanks for stating the obvious, Tidus.

Now Lulu was getting all depressed. "Gone... Some guardian I am."

"Umm... There's something I wanna tell you, but promise not to say anything," Rikku said, slightly blushing.

Wakka started glaring at Rikku, so I glared at him and cracked my knuckles.

"No glaring either!" Ooh, Rikku's getting feisty! "I know where we are. We're on Bikanel Island. There's a place us Al Bhed call Home near here. Yunie's there. I'm sure of it! Other Al Bhed must've come and rescued her!"

"Rescued?" Wakka shouted. "You mean kidnapped!"

Now, I'm beginning to get mad "I suggest you shut your mouth, Wakka, before I'm forced to shut it for you" And he did shut up.

"I'll take you there if you promise...that you won't tell anyone about it. Especially not Yevonites, okay? You know they don't like us Al Bhed. Who knows what they'll do if they knew?"

Surprisingly, Wakka kept his trap shut. Guess he knows when to shut up. Anyways, we all agreed not to tell, though I would have no reason to tell any Yevonites about the Al Bhed. Especially since…no, Jamie. Don't think like that. It'll only make going home all the more painful.

So we trekked across the desert, staying behind Rikku the whole time. As we came over another dune, we saw smoke. It was coming from…something. It looked like a huge city surrounded by a sea of sand.

Rikku just stared at it. I saw a small tear run down her cheek, and then she ran. Damn, she can run, and on sand, too. We did what we could to keep up with her, but apparently she had had experience running through sand.

We reached what Rikku called the Al Bhed Home, and saw people everywhere being killed. People like those freaks with the Crawler were everywhere, along with a few Guado. What were the Guado doing here?

Rikku spoke Al Bhed to one of the dying fighters, and we learned that a war had broken out between the Al Bhed and Yevon. This is bad. A bald man ran up and checked the body of the fallen fighter. He spoke to Rikku, then to us.

"You Rikku's friends? Well, just don't stand there, come on! Let's go kick those Guado out of our Home!"

Gladly. I unsheathed Tetsusaiga, getting ready to let it taste Guado blood, but Tidus just had to ask a stupid, and unnecessary question.

"Who was that?" Okay, I'll admit I wanted to know that, myself.

"Cid. Leader of the Al Bhed... He's my dad."

So, that would make Rikku a…princess? Doesn't matter. As long as we get to Yuna. We fought through Home, taking out Guado and fiends in swarms. I was actually beginning to enjoy this. Despite the fact that Rikku's family and friends were being attacked by a bunch of prissy, big-handed freaks. Eventually, Rikku's dad showed up again, saying something to her, then she began to freak out.

"We have to get underground!"

"Why?" I asked.

"Doesn't matter, we have to go, now!"

We started running down a long corridor, but it was about to cave in. We all scrambled, trying to get past where it was crumbling. I was slowed down, seeing as how I still had a slight limp, and I couldn't get through in time. In fact, the top of the hall would have fallen on me, if Rikku had not pushed me out of the way. But in doing so, we were separated from the others.

"If you guys can hear me, keep going. You'll come to the Summoner's Sanctum soon. Yunie's there. Go, go!"

"How are we going out get there?"

"Don't worry, Jamie. I know a way around. We'll get there in time."

She took my hand and pulled me through corridor after corridor, running most of the time. We reached a portion where the lights were severely dimmed, and we were forced to walk. No idea why, but she still refused to let go of my hand.

"It's going to take a lot to put this place back together."

"…Daddy's going to level Home."

"What? Why is he going to do that?"

"He thinks that's the only way to get rid of the Guado and the fiends. You see, We Al Bhed, we...we weren't always like this. Sin destroyed the island where we all used to live. After that, we were scattered to every corner of Spira. But then, my dad brought the Al Bhed together again. We few put our minds to it and worked together, then we could make a new home. Everyone worked hard, we had our Home back again... But now... Why did things have to turn out this way?" She threw her arms around me, almost crying into my shirt. I had no choice but to return the embrace, comfort her.

"Its okay, Rikku," I said, wrapping my arms around her. "I've been torn from my home as well. I understand"

"Thanks, Jamie. Thanks a lot," she sighed, pulling back and wiping the tears from her eyes. "Now come on, we gotta get outta here."

We kept running, and eventually ran into the others. They were still trying to find their way to the Summoner's Sanctum Rikku was talking about. We eventually found our way there, and found Dona (ugh), Isarru, Maroda, and Pacce. Issaru and Dona were sending the fallen Al Bhed, and Pacce was saying something about summoners being sacrificed. Sacrificed? Sure the summoners put their lives on the line, but Sin was destroyed every time, right?

"The pilgrimages have to stop!" Rikku shouted. "If they don't, and the summoners get to Zanarkand... They might defeat Sin. Yunie could...but then she... Yunie will die, you know? You know, don't you? Summoners journey to get the Final Aeon. Yuna told you, didn't she? With the Final Aeon, she can beat Sin. But then...but then... If she calls it, the Final Aeon's going to kill her! Even if she defeats Sin, it will kill Yunie too, you know!"

What? Summoners die to defeat Sin? This is horrible! I'm supposed to protect Yuna just so she can die? That doesn't make sense! Is that kid going to send me home when Yuna is properly pushing up daisies?

Tidus got pissed. Simple as that. "Was I the only one who didn't know? Tell me why! Why were you hiding it? Why didn't I know?"

"It was...too hard to say," Lulu said.

"Lulu! How could you? How could you? Isn't she like a sister to you? I thought you were family!" Tidus kept screaming as he turned to Wakka. "Why don't you do something, Wakka?"

"Don't you think we tried to stop her?" Lulu sighed. "She follows...her heart. She knew what she was doing when she chose to become a summoner."

"And I've been telling Yuna... Let's go to Zanarkand together! Let's beat Sin! I told her all the things we could...we could... And all along, the whole time, I didn't know anything! But Yuna, she'd...just smile."

I guess…Tidus really likes Yuna. But she's going to die. Maybe he knows how I feel more than I think. He's about to lose someone close to him. I guess now I have another reason to kick that stupid kid's ass to Hell and back.

Rikku's dad ran in, yelling that we had to leave, and now. No argument there. We all ran aboard something that looked like a blimp. After Tidus got in an argument with Cid, we took off, and all of us turned to watch Home be destroyed. I have to admit, it was a sad moment. Rikku's home being destroyed.

"Hey, look," Wakka muttered in a failed attempt to cheer Rikku up. "Don't get so down. Boom! Like happy festival fireworks, ya?"

"You can cram your happy festival, you big meanie!"

I whacked Wakka as hard as I could on the back of the head. He turned around and told me he was trying to cheer her up.

"And failing, I might add…"

The same guy that attacked us back at Macalania turned and said something in Al Bhed, which translated as 'We found Yuna!' At last! We have something. A screen showed Yuna with her hair pulled back, wearing a wedding dress. But it showed Seymour as well. Didn't we kill him? Tidus wanted to charge head first into what Cid called Bevelle. I guess that was where they were.

We had plenty of time to prepare to crash the wedding, so I wandered around the airship, looking in various rooms, threatening Rin when I found him, and just being lazy. I walked up a flight of stairs, and found Rikku staring out a window.

"You okay, Rikku?"

"No… My home, everything…gone." I noticed she was crying again. I'd probably act the same way if my home had been destroyed.

"Guess I can't say that I know what you're going through. No one can understand having their home destroyed." That didn't seem to help. "Look, I've been taken from my home, but I've never had my home taken away. I may not know what you're going through, Rikku, but I'll do anything in my power to make you feel better."

I waited a few minutes to let this sink in, then she turned and hugged me. "Thanks, Jamie. It's good to have someone on your side, you know that? Wakka seriously botched up cheering me up, but you really helped."

I just smiled and broke the embrace. I was walking off, noting that it was getting dark, and I needed to find a room. I stopped when I felt Rikku's hand on my shoulder.

"Sleep with me, again?"

I agreed, and we found a room together. I pulled of my shirt and my shoes, and she pulled off her shorts. Seeing here like that again didn't bother me like it did last time. We both crawled into the bed and wished each other good night.

That night, I slept the best I'd ever slept since being dropped into Spira.

FDB: Aww, how cute. But I gotta say, Jamie is gonna wake up with a serious case of morning wood. But anyways, next chapter is gonna be a two-parter. It'll still be chapter 8, but split into two parts. And about the sequel, if i do do one (magic 8-ball say 'signs point to Yes'), it will be mixed together with another fic. Read both of Shadoobie's fics, starting with Jade Mask. Shadoobie is a good friend of mine. She said that if she makes a part three, we can mix my sequel with her sequel. So go ahead and read, get caught up on events. R&R!

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