The once-peaceful island of Bikanel had been shattered by war. Thousands of blaster bolts screamed through the air between the steadily-advancing forces of the Empire and the armored Al Bhed denizens of the island. The skies overhead were also torn with war, green laser bolts flashing between the TIE fighters of the Empire, and the LAAT/i's and dagger-shaped starfighters salvaged by the Al Bhed.

As the incoming blaster bolts reached a level of intensity that she would have to deflect them or catch them on her protective shield, Yuna took one last look back at the squad of Al Bhed she was leading, knowing very well that many of them wouldn't return alive. Then she ignited her lightsaber and, spinning the blade with every step to deflect the blaster bolts, charged into the battle.

Four LAAT/i gunships roared ahead at low altitude, exposing themselves to small-arms and antiaircraft fire, but thereby avoiding the attention of the embattled TIE fighters. All at once they lashed out with their weaponry, laser beams and blasters burning right through enemy troops, missiles detonating and tipping scout walkers.

As blue blaster bolts raced past her on all sides, Yuna dashed forward into the ranks of the Imperial stormtroopers, her lightsaber humming and sparking as she swung it around in a wide horizontal arc, decapitating the nearest stormtrooper to her. As the headless suit of armor fell to the desert sands, she moved forward and brought her lightsaber down in a hard cleave, splitting open the skull of another.

Then her Al Bhed squad was in the fray beside her, unleashing their heavy blaster bolts into the stormtroopers at point-blank range. Many of the stormtroopers were too preoccupied with the destructive capabilities of the Jedi in their midst, and failed to realize the threat of the Al Bhed until their bolts had burned holes clean through their bodies.

Yuna dispatched the last stormtrooper in their immediate vicinity with a straight thrust clean through the man's chest, then withdrew her blade and looked back to her men, to see all of them still standing. One had a blaster burn on the side of his torso armor, but otherwise they were all unharmed. Yuna quickly gestured with her free hand and recast the Protect spell that had obviously worn off on the man.

With a nod, Yuna turned and moved ahead. Behind her, she could hear the leader of her squad call out to the men, "Suja uid! Lujan Lady Yuna yht gemm yhodrehk dryd cruudc nat!"

Responding with a roar of enthusiasm, the Al Bhed fighters rushed forward, surrounding Yuna on all sides and acting as living shields for her. They fired as they ran, using their weapons' scopes and their own natural ability with firearms to tag stormtroopers who were dozens of meters away.

As they moved forward, a blindingly-bright beam of light shot across the battlefield, originating from near the Al Bhed excavation camp. The beam shot over the heads of the Al Bhed troops but drilled directly through the stormtroopers' lines, incinerating soldiers in the blink of an eye and melting huge chunks out of any vehicles it hit.

While the Al Bhed on the battlefield let out a resounding cheer, Yuna turned around to see what she had known she would see: Bahamut standing back to its feet after having braced itself on all fours for its powerful Mega Flare overdrive. She knew that Lenne and her aeons would be a decisive edge in this battle.

Suddenly, from all the way across the battlefield, one of the gargantuan Imperial walkers opened fire, two huge bolts of energy streaking through the skies directly toward Bahamut. The mighty dragon made no attempt to evade the bolts, merely stood defiantly in their path, arms crossed as always.

After what seemed like an eternity, the bolts finally reached Bahamut, exploding against the dragon's protective shield in such a bright light burst that the dragon was completely hidden from few for several moments. When it cleared, the mighty king of dragons was on a knee, one clawed hand pressed against the sand for support. The blaster bolts obviously had enough energy to burn down the dragon's shield with plenty of energy left over to inflict significant damage.

"Fire on those Imperial walkers, quickly!" she heard Lenne call out over the comlink.

"It's no use," Arren replied, hopelessly. "We've got nothing that can penetrate their thick armor. On Hoth, we could only bring down the walkers by using modified airspeeders with a harpoon and tow cable."

"You need heavy firepower, son?" Cid asked. "You just clear the hell away from that walker and we'll give you all the firepower you need!"

Yuna looked up into the sky as Airship floated down from the sky, moving steadily toward the nearest AT-AT. As she watched, the fabric-like material hanging down from the sides of the airship suddenly rippled and parted, allowing two orange cylinders to swing out and lock into position. Two iron bars extended from the cylinders, forming a pair of lance-like projections to either side of the airship, their tips glowing brightly with energy.

Almost instantly, two bright bolts of energy shot out of the projections, crossing the distance instantaneously and slamming directly into the walker's boxy cockpit. The head section of the walker exploded brilliantly, scattering pieces of durasteel in all directions. Overbalanced from the sudden shock and loss of all control, the walker tipped to the side on the uneven sands, teetering on the edge of balance as both sides watched breathlessly.

Then, in seeming slow motion, the walker listed over to its left and collapsed onto the desert sands, kicking up a huge cloud of sand that spread quickly across the battlefield.

"Ykyeh!" Cid's voice cried over the comlink channels.

The Airship came around, silver energy arcing between the projections as it cruised in toward the second walker, which desperately attempted to defend itself by firing the blaster cannons on the side of its head, which were nowhere near powerful enough to penetrate the Airship's hull. With a bright flash of light, Airship fired again, sending the second walker crashing to the surface of the desert, adding to the cloud of sand that now obscured the battlefield, casting most of the fight into darkness illuminated only by the flashes of light from the blaster fire.

---

Leading his squad of Al Bhed through the blinding swirls of dust, Tidus allowed his natural instincts and the light of the blasters to guide his actions. Quickly dashing forward, he dropped low and swung the Brotherhood around to the left, the blade deeply scoring the leg armor of a stormtrooper and knocking that man off his feet. The Al Bhed leader of Tidus' squad followed closely behind the blitzer, and burned three holes in the stormtrooper's torso armor before he hit the ground. Twitching, the stormtrooper hit the sand and didn't get up again.

Rolling up onto his feet, Tidus turned and stepped into the reach of another stormtrooper attempting to brain Tidus with his blaster carbine. Shoving the man's arm out of line, Tidus brought his right arm up and slammed his fist, still holding the sword, into the stormtrooper's jaw. The armored man dropped like an anesthetized behemoth.

Mixed blaster fire of both friends and enemies fell all around Tidus, cutting down soldiers on both sides. Tidus' Al Bhed partner took a bolt in his left arm and quickly dropped to a knee, pulling out a potion and pouring it into the wound. The healing fluid made its way into the smoking black hole in his arm, and slowly began to mend the damaged flesh.

Discarding the empty bottle, the Al Bhed accepted Tidus' outstretched hand and got to his feet with the blitzer's help. Testing out the damage to his arm, he decided that he wouldn't be able to use the DC-15 for a while, and pulled out the blaster pistol that had been among the weapons salvaged by the Al Bhed.

---

At the Al Bhed excavation camp, an Al Bhed whose armor bore the red stripes that indicated a sharpshooter turned toward Shuyin and Lenne, who were watching various monitors.

"Lady Lenne," the Al Bhed said. "All forward positions are advancing."

"Very good," Lenne replied, looking toward another screen that showed the two remaining Imperial walkers beginning to turn away from the battle in an attempt to retreat. It was apparent they wanted nothing to do with Airship. One of the walkers' entire body section was in flame, victim of the constant strafing runs by the Al Bhed aircraft who were freed up as the TIE fighters all turned their wrath on Airship.

She looked toward the Al Bhed. "Concentrate all your fire on that unharmed walker."

"Yes, ma'am." The Al Bhed turned to give out orders to the others sitting at the command console. "Move all quadrants to sector four-seven-four. Transmit the order to Delta Squad."

"Yes, sir," a fully-armored Al Bhed, even down to the helmet, answered, as he and several like him moved their hands over the consoles as though they'd been doing it for years.

Lenne watched them with a certain sense of awe. Even though she'd had a thousand years of experiences, advanced machinery was still something that was largely beyond her. She could work a blaster with ease, field-strip and reassemble one if she was supervised, and even possibly fly one of the LAAT/i's that were in their possession if given ample instruction and plenty of practice, but the way that these three controllers were coordinating the battle amazed her.

Holding her summoning staff in hand, Lenne shifted her gaze from the rows of monitors up to the battle before her. The thick cloud of sand was just starting to clear, but not nearly enough to make out the bright spots of color that were her friends in the midst of the sea of white armies and orange sand.

So far, only a few units of stormtroopers had slipped past the lines and advanced on the command center that she occupied. But those stormtroopers had stopped in their tracks when they saw Lenne and Shuyin standing at the front of the command center. Word had spread through the Empire's ranks about them, she knew. She could hardly blame them. She'd be intimidated by someone so vicious and lethal that seemed to be invincible just as much as they were.

After healing Bahamut from the counterattack by the walkers, the dragon king had stood by the command center, his mere presence keeping the Imperial stormtroopers far away. She knew she could have sent her aeons into the battle at the front of the lines, and they would have devastated the Imperial forces. But she knew as well as they did that those fighting for Spira's survival needed combat experience. And sitting back while aeons did all the fighting for you was not combat experience.

She watched, and in the distance, knew that the unharmed walker was coming under assault.

---

"Darman, Niner, kad ib drana yht pmuf dryd walker!"

"Ymnayto pmufh, Sarge," answered the Al Bhed commando named Darman, as he and Niner checked the connection of their ascension cables that were currently attached to the underside of the AT-AT they had been ordered to assault. "Lypmac calina. Ib fa ku, Niner."

Nodding, the other Al Bhed pressed a button on the small control panel attached to the ascension cable, and the two commandos rose into the air, firing their special forces DC-17m rifles down into the stormtroopers surrounding the walker. On the ground, Fi and Sarge, the other two members of the squad, were laying steady suppression fire with their own DC-17s and a portable E-web heavy blaster cannon.

Within seconds, Darman and Niner had risen up to the height of the walker's underside. As Niner continued providing suppressive fire to cover Darman's backside, the demolitions specialist withdrew a shaped charge and planted it on the waste vent of the walker. Five seconds later, the charge detonated, blowing off the vent and providing the two commandos easy access to the inside of the AT-AT.

"Fryd yna fa drnufehk eh?" Niner asked. "Concussion grenades?"

"Hu, hud bufanvim ahuikr," Darman answered. "Vimm-cewat thermal detonators."

"Vimm-cewat? Fryd dra ramm yna oui dnoehk du tu?"

"Pmuf drec drehk du kingdom come." Darman handed two palm-filling thermal detonators to the other man, then produced two of his own and armed one, throwing it inside the walker. "Tuh'd zicd ryhk drana, drnuf uha eh!"

"Fryd ypuid dra udran uha?" Niner asked as he chucked one of his detonators into the walker's gullet.

"Eh lyca fa ryja du lusa pylg. Hu desa du neta dra lypmac pylg tufh. Zisb!"

With that, Darman sliced the cable holding him up to the walker and fell the long ten or more meters to the sandy ground. He tucked into a roll on impact, successfully buffering the momentum of the fall. As he came up on a knee to see how Niner fared from the landing, a concussive shock wave slammed him back face-first to the ground.

---

Yuna watched from a distance as the second walker suddenly detonated, its armored shell splitting like the rind of a fruit as massive chunks of durasteel were hurled in all directions. She struggled to maintain her footing as the shock wave ripped through the desert. Failing to do so, she fell onto the sands, her lightsaber automatically deactivating as it fell several feet away from her.

"Freeze!" the mechanically-filtered voice of the Empire's forces shouted from close to her. She looked up to see three stormtroopers training their blasters on her head. At that range, all the Protect spells in the world wouldn't save her. "Drop the weapons."

A glance out of the corner of her eye showed the Al Bhed troops hesitating. In response, one of the stormtroopers stepped forward, pressing the barrel of the weapon against her head.

"Drop the weapons!" he repeated, more forcefully.

She caught the eye of the Al Bhed leader and nodded. He repeated the nod to his men and they slowly laid their DC-15s in the sand, then lifted their hands into the air.

Before the stormtroopers could make any move, a red-and-black spiked blitzball suddenly shot out of seemingly nowhere and smashed into the head of one of the stormtroopers, the sharp blades of the ball piercing the helmet with ease and impaling the man's face. As that stormtrooper spun away, screaming in pain, a hail of red blaster bolts caught him in the chest, lifting him bodily off the ground and casually dropping him back to it, twitching.

The next stormtrooper suddenly exploded into flames, his white armor quickly melting as the man screamed shrilly in pain. Seconds later, the man collapsed into a heap on the sands, back bowed as his flesh burned away.

As the last stormtrooper stood there shocked at the sudden attack, Yuna reached out her right hand, her lightsaber leaping out of the sand and into her palm. Wrapping her hand tightly around the weapon, she pressed her thumb to the trigger switch while swinging quickly at the stormtrooper's legs.

Her attack not only knocked him off his feet, it also severed his legs at the shin, leaving cauterized stumps in their places. As the scent of burned flesh increased tenfold, Yuna rose up to her knee, spinning the lightsaber several times around her right hand, then driving the humming blue-green blade directly into the still-living stormtrooper's chest, all the way through into the sand below.

Dropping his blaster, the man clutched futilely at the blade of energy piercing his chest, his legs twitching violently. Then, his body stiffening, he collapsed back to the sands.

Yuna stood up, pulling the lightsaber from the chest of the dead stormtrooper, and turned in the direction the attacks had come from. As she had expected, she found Lulu and Wakka standing there. Well, Lulu anyway. Wakka was standing a few feet away from Yuna, attempting to pull his blitzball off the face of the stormtrooper he had killed.

A little to the side and behind Yuna stood a pair of Imperial stormtroopers. Yuna tensed, but recognized that they weren't attacking her friends, nor were her friends attacking them. Holding the still-glowing lightsaber at her side, she walked over to Lulu, smiling happily.

"So, you've fully matured into a Jedi," the black mage said, balancing the Onion Knight doll and Vidina in her arms.

"Ya, take a look at you, eh?" Wakka agreed, walking up on Yuna's left side. "You don't look no different, but that laser sword makes you seem like a whole different person, ya?"

"I hope that isn't true," Yuna replied, a little sadly. "I don't want to be a stranger just because I can use the Force now."

"You don't have to worry about that," Lulu said. "To us, you'll always be the same Yuna that we guarded on her pilgrimage to defeat Sin."

"Ya, you're no different to us. Always gonna be that same little wide-eyed girl that Kimahri brought to Besaid twelve years ago."

Yuna's smile widened as she took a moment to remember the days she had spent as a child in Besaid. Before her pilgrimage, before Sir Jecht, before Tidus, and before the Empire. Then her eyes fell on the two stormtroopers standing silently nearby, and she pointed to them with her free hand. "Friends of yours?"

"Oh, ya!" Wakka said, turning and waving his left hand at the stormtroopers. "C'mon over, guys and meet Yuna!"

As the stormtroopers approached, Yuna noticed that they were both warily watching her right hand. Looking down, she noticed that her lightsaber was still on. "Oh!" she said, quickly thumbing the button to banish the glowing blade. "Sorry, I forgot."

"No need to apologize, Lady Yuna," TC-762 said, waving a hand. "It is an honor to meet you."

"You as well," she replied with a nod and a smile. "Please, just call me Yuna."

"As you wish," 762 answered with a nod of his helmeted head. "I'm TC-762." His motion indicated the other stormtrooper. "This is my partner, JN-495."

She frowned and tilted her head to the side. "Don't you have real names?"

The two stormtroopers exchanged a glance. It had been so long since they'd given their real names that they thought for a moment they wouldn't remember them.

"Come to think of it," Wakka said, "you guys never did tell us your names, ya?"

JN-495 spoke up. "My name is Jake Evas."

"Stev Wan," TC-762 said after a moment of thought.

Yuna's smile returned. "It's very nice to meet you both." She tilted her head to one side, looking curiously at the two. "I wonder, though, how two of the Empire's stormtroopers came to our side?"

"Eh, the Empire never really did much for me to begin with," Jake replied, shrugging his armored shoulders. "I like it here on Spira. Even if I could leave, I wouldn't want to."

"These two are heroes," Lulu said, as evenly as ever. "If it weren't for them, no one from Besaid would be left alive. They managed to smuggle us off the island before the Empire bombarded it."

Yuna's expression was a mix of admiration and happiness. Smiling widely, she bowed in the direction of the stormtroopers. "I'm very grateful to you."

"It was nothing," Stev answered, for once thankful for the fact that the helmet would hide his sudden discomfort. "The Empire has a habit of slaughtering innocent people for no reason. We didn't want that to happen to the villagers of Besaid. We'd gotten pretty attached to your down-to-Coruscant way of life."

"Down-to-Coruscant?" Wakka repeated, scratching his head in confusion.

"It means laid back, Wakka," Lulu answered for the stormtroopers, mild admonishment in her tone.

Before any conversation could continue, the Al Bhed squad leader cleared his throat and approached the group, turning toward Yuna. "Lady Yuna, the Imperial army is in full retreat."

---

Later that night, the victorious Al Bhed celebrated their first major victory against the Empire. Yuna drifted away from the victory celebrations that included a generous amount of alcohol, and found herself sitting atop a sand dune a short distance away from the excavation camp, staring up into the star-filled sky.

"Would you mind some company?"

Yuna looked back over her shoulder, smiling slightly at Lenne, who stood a few feet behind her. "No, not at all. Please, sit."

Walking over and lowering herself to the sand, Lenne folded her legs beneath her and looked up into the sky, silent for several long moments. Finally, the songstress looked over at the High Summoner. "You don't look happy."

Smiling a sad smile, Yuna glanced over at her friend. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Lenne said, shaking her head. "I know exactly how you feel. This is the first time you've fought in a major war, isn't it?"

"Yes." Yuna looked down at the ground sadly, absently picking at her fingernails. "Sin and Vegnagun were completely different."

Lenne slid over and comfortingly put an arm around the younger woman. "I know, Yuna, I know. You had to kill today, and keep on killing. Believe me, Yuna, I know what that's like."

Yuna knew what she was talking about. "How do you manage to kill the way you do and yet not be saddened?"

"It isn't that I'm not saddened. I've simply learned how to hide what I feel. I don't like the killing any more now than I did a thousand years ago. I will never enjoy killing. Neither will Shuyin, and neither will Tidus. That is what separates us from the Empire. We kill to defend our homes and our loved ones, yet we find no joy in taking lives."

Yuna's smile was watery. "Thank you, Lenne. You don't know how much that meant to me."

The songstress smiled in return and gave the younger woman a hug. "Anytime, Yuna. I'm always glad to help."

"Hey, what are you two talking about over there?" came the brash voice of Jecht. To their mutual surprise, he sounded quite sober. He was the first one they would've expected to drink himself unconscious.

"Girl talk," Lenne answered, shooting the older blitzer a fake glare. "Go away."

Raising his hands in surrender, Jecht turned and walked back toward where Auron, Tidus, Shuyin, and Braska were sitting around a fire, discussing something that was obviously amusing to them. Every now and again, their combined laughter would ring out over the camp.

Yuna smiled faintly as she watched them. Excepting Shuyin, those four men were the only family she had ever known.

"Well," Lenne said, "that girl talk excuse will only work for so long, so let's make use of it and make some girl talk."

Yuna didn't answer, simply blinking confusedly at the other woman.

Laughing softly, Lenne removed her arm from around Yuna's shoulders and looked back to the men sitting around the fire, then back up toward the stars. "Have you ever talked to Tidus about the next step in your relationship?"

"Next step?" Yuna repeated, having some idea as to what Lenne meant.

"Marriage, of course," the singer answered. "It's obvious that the two of you are meant to be together."

Yuna's cheeks immediately flushed red. "I, well, I umm… You see…"

"But you have thought about it?"

Sucking in a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, Yuna nodded quickly. "Yes."

"Then you should talk to him about it." Lenne's features broke into a grin. "If nothing else, you'll get the pleasure of seeing him sputter like an idiot when you bring up the subject."

Yuna laughed softly in reply.

"Oh, that reminds me," Lenne said as she leaned in close to Yuna, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I have this prank in mind that I want you and Tidus to help me with…"

---

"And so then, Auron and I are just standing there, trying to pretend that we don't even know him, as Jecht is running through the streets of Zanarkand desperately trying to keep himself covered and finding any sort of clothing at the same time," Braska said, his expression highly amused.

Tidus, Shuyin, Auron, and Braska shared in the laughter as Jecht returned to the group, flopping down in front of the fire and crossing his legs.

"You should've known better, old man," Tidus said, wiping at his eyes.

"Yeah, well it's not my fault that I'm such a legend that anybody would want me on their team," Jecht said stubbornly, trying to preserve some dignity. "They probably would've signed me too, if I hadn't told them what to do with themselves after those clowns pulled that stunt."

"Ah, but that's not where the story ends, Jecht," Braska said.

The blitzer muttered something that sounded like a curse and covered his face with a hand. "Geeze, you didn't tell them that part, did you?"

"I was about to," the former high summoner replied.

"So what were they talking about?" Shuyin asked, sparing Jecht further embarrassment.

"They said it was girl talk," Jecht answered, giving Shuyin a look that expressed his gratefulness. "And then told me to go away."

"That means they're talking about us," Shuyin said, nudging Tidus in the side. "Or sex. Or both. Probably both."

"Not Yuna," Tidus answered, blushing furiously. "She doesn't talk about that kind of stuff."

Laughing, Shuyin leaned back on his hands and looked up at the stars. "Ah, but Lenne loves that kind of cheesy girl talk. I remember back in Zanarkand, whenever she'd get together with some of her girlfriends, they'd talk on and on for hours about all the latest gossip and fashion and whatever. Consider yourself lucky that Yuna doesn't do the same."

Shrugging slightly, Tidus scratched the back of his head. "You'd be surprised, what with hanging around Rikku and all. But hey, I'm not complaining."

"You'd better not," Jecht said from across the fire, crossing his arms and staring sternly at his son. "You'd better be grateful for what you've got, because it can all be gone in an instant."

Tidus winced slightly. In the midst of this war where it was very much possible that either he or Yuna would die, he didn't need to be reminded of the fact that he was still very much a dream of the fayth. "Dad," he growled.

"Aw, what's the matter?" the elder blitzer said, his voice mocking. "Gonna cry again? Cry, cry, that's all that you're good for!"

"That's not true!" Tidus shouted, jumping to his feet. His outburst drew a few curious looks from nearby groups, including Yuna and Lenne. "I'm not a kid anymore, old man! There is worth to me, damn it! I'm the one Yuna's been depending on this whole time for the strength to go on!"

Jecht merely stared at his son, that mocking expression still on his face, then he burst out in laughter. "Good, boy! You have learned something since you've come back to Spira! If you'd let yourself believe what I said, I would've dragged your sorry ass all the way back to Zanarkand until you learned exactly what you just told me. Whether or not you have anything else you're good for, which you do, the most important thing that you're good for is that you are Yuna's rock."

Uncrossing his arms, the veteran blitzer waved his right hand dismissively, his expression now serious. "You're exactly right, son. Yuna depends on you for her courage and strength. As long as you're there with her, she's willing to face any situation without backing down. Yuna needs you. That's all that matters."

"And whether you have realized it yet or not," Braska said, "you also need her."

Tidus nodded at Yuna's father, sitting down again. "I know. I can't live without her. Every second I spent in the dream Zanarkand, away from her, was torture."

"You've grown up a lot, son," Jecht said quietly, his expression earnest. "You've done good in my book. I'm proud of you."

"…Thanks, Dad."

"Tidus," Lenne said, resting her hand on the blond blitzer's shoulder. "Yuna wants to talk to you."

"Thanks, Lenne," Tidus replied, jumping to his feet and waltzing over to where Yuna sat.

As he left, Lenne settled down in the spot he had vacated, leaning against Shuyin. He wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head atop hers. "Girl talk?" he asked.

Lenne smiled and stared dreamily into the fire. "Mostly. I talked her into growing up just a little more than she already is."

Auron raised an eyebrow, Braska smiled proudly, and Jecht scratched his head confusedly. "What do you mean by that?" the tanned man asked.

"You'll see. Soon."

---

Tidus flopped down onto the sand beside Yuna, smiling warmly. "Hey."

Yuna stood up as he sat down, only to move over to where he was sitting and sit down on his lap. She leaned back against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Hi," she said.

His smile increasing, Tidus slid his arms around her waist and held her tightly to him, looking over the top of her head to the vast expanses of the desert. He said nothing more, knowing that she wanted to talk to him, and so he simply waited for her.

For several long minutes after that, the couple sat in comfortable silence, both enjoying the sensation of the other's proximity and warmth in the rapidly-cooling desert. Finally, Yuna shifted slightly in his lap, turning her head to look at him with her crystal blue eye. "Lenne…was talking to me earlier."

"I know," he said softly. "I asked her to, since you two seem so close. Did she help?"

Yuna nodded, laying her head back against his chest and staring out into the desert on his left side. "I was feeling bad about all the people I killed today, and she helped me put that in perspective. I don't feel any better about having to kill, but at least she helped me realize that it was necessary."

Tidus simply nodded, letting her speak since it seemed to him that she had more to say that was difficult for her to come out with.

Blinking in sedate happiness, Yuna listened to his heart beating under her ear for a few moments. "Then she started talking to me about us. You and I. I…" She stopped, sighing slowly.

"Yuna, it's okay. Take your time."

Smiling, Yuna laid her hands over his and squeezed them gently. "She… suggested that I talk to you about what we were going to do next. Together, I mean." She paused, then shook her head, her earring clinking slightly in the silence. "I mean…"

"I know what you mean," he said, running his thumb along the waistband of her shorts. "In our relationship."

"Yes." The High Summoner took a deep breath, looking up into the night sky. "She said that I should talk to you about marriage."

"Well, let's talk."

Yuna blushed slightly, looking down at her feet. "Well, do you want to get married?"

"Of course I do," he answered, giving her waist a squeeze. "I just got done telling my old man that you are my life, Yuna. Without you, I have no reason to be here."

Yuna smiled happily at his words, her eyes closed, as she reached out and touched his presence in the Force, letting his love flow through her. Sitting there, held in his arms, she felt safe, content, and loved. She had no idea how she had managed to live without this love for seventeen years. "I love you," she said.

"I love you, too," he murmured against her hair, as he kissed the top of her head.

"I…want to marry you, too," she said shyly, leaning her head back to look into his eyes. "But we can't now. Not in the middle of this war."

He nodded, smiling gently. "I know, Yuna. After the war. I'll take you to the biggest victory celebration on Spira, then we'll get married the next day. How's that sound?"

She giggled as she lowered her eyes once more to the horizon, feeling as though the smile on her face was permanently etched in place and that her heart was floating higher than the Imperial Super Star Destroyer in orbit. "That sounds great."


A/N: The Battle of Bikanel ran shorter and with less actual fighting than I anticipated. Hm. Oh well. I like how this chapter turned out, anyway. It's got something for everyone: Starts off with hectic war and things getting boomfucked all over the place, then ends off with a nice peaceful moment of reflection for our heroes. I like this chapter the most, I think, because I tried to get back into the main characters' heads, the way I was doing all throughout the first four or five chapters.

And in other news, Happy Holidays, people! My present to you is a chapter that can please everyone. Heh. And now, on to shout-outs.

madmaz: Well of course. Heh. I was setting Vader up for his epic confrontation with Luke at the end of RotJ. This fic, as I said earlier, takes place between tESB and RotJ. And about the idea of bringing the angle of love into it, it just struck me suddenly while I was down there writing the introduction to the Battle of Bikanel and I was grumbling to myself about how much I hated the duel that I'd written.

Wolfy16: Hah. Well, when I started, I wanted to live up to the epic duels as seen in Episodes I and II, but then halfway through I just lost concentration or something. I never have been good at writing sword duels anyway. I'm a gunplayer myself.

Furitaurus: I wasn't thinking of the physics angle when I had her lightsaber floating in the water. The concept of her looking around and finding it floating a few feet away was asthetically-pleasing, so I put it in that way. Physics and other advanced sciences are not my schtick. Merry Christmas!

Morgaine of the Fairies: Hah, you just can't seem to get a break, can you? Discreetly loans you Shuyin to eliminate the nuisance on your end. Anyways, I guess I managed to pull one of those duels where greatness is measured on the ability to touch the audience rather than flashy moves. And I'm running out of ways for Lenne to kill people. /sob