Thankies again for the comments! I'm overwhelmed this thing is getting so many. *hands out more cookies* It means so much to me to know people are reading this and enjoying it.. ^_^

Just going to address a few comments that I thought I should answer… and just say a few things about this fic and where it's headed.

This fic IS going to go on, so don't worry. Your reviews have driven me to continue. ^_^ Plus I love writing this darn thing so much it's nigh impossible to quit now…

There WILL be a new character added to this story, but it will NOT BE a Mary-Sue. I don't write

Mary Sues. Tidus and Yuna belong together, durnit! This new character is only here because of my idea for a plot. (yes! I actually HAVE a plot in mind! Imagine that!)

I know there wasn't much in game stuff, but that was because I didn't feel like writing too much of,

because I was kind of worried that people would get bored of just another fic about FFX-2. I've tried to write in dress-sphere useage the best I could, but it is a little… difficult, considering that's part of the battle system in the game, not story…

This fic has sort of evolved since I started it… gone from being a Yuna/Tidus story to now, well,

basically still about that, but now it's hopefully going to have plot and adventure. So don't worry, it's not endless mush… but it's not endless hysteria either. ^_~ This fic started out as a short one, now it's going to be a long one… so we'll see how that works out…

I hope to combine the seriousness/romance of FFX, and the fun/silly/happy stuff of FFX-2… so that's

what this fic really is trying to be. I HOPE it turns out this way. Please say if you feel it's running thin on plot-ness at any time.

About the Perfect Ending – no, I haven't written it yet into here, I'm sorry. I will make a AN when I do… should be in the next chapter, I was going to put it in this chappy, but it didn't seem right.

(last comment, I swear!) Annd about the adventure I hope to add to the story… just to put away any fears this is going to be an endless happy fic… can you say – Gullwings? XD

I don't own FFX or FFX2, but I shelled out 400 dollars to buy a PS2- JUST to play FFX , and then FFX-2, so I kind of like to think I own my copy, as much as a person can own a copyrighted game.

Blah blah blah blah… blah… blah… and oh yes. Onto chapter 4!

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Chapter 4

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"Well, it's nice to see Besaid hasn't changed at least." Tidus stopped at the entrance, gazing at the city with a look of nostalgia on his face.

"I don't think Besaid will ever change." Yuna smiled, still looking at him as if he'd disappear if she didn't. Lulu and Wakka had gone on ahead with the rest of the villagers, to prepare, as they called it, the party. Huge tables were set up outside of the tents and around a large bonfire, indicating that a perhaps there would be a nice feast to follow up a nice day.

"You never know, now that they've got a ex-summoner living here, they might get more traffic." Yuna's face fell. "Er, did I say something wrong?" He asked, frowning.

"Spira's turning into a giant tourist attraction. Zanarkand is over run with people, and all the temples are just sight seeing tours." She looked to the ground with a sigh. "I know, that it's good for everyone to be happy again, but it's difficult to watch. After all years of them being sacred places, now they're just places to go for vacation. What does that make me?" She looked up at him again and tried to smile.

"You." She frowned and titled her head.

"What do you mean?"

"You're still you, Yuna. That's all that matters, right?" She considered for a moment, then smiled. He was right. She hadn't looked at it quite that way, though perhaps it was because she never had the chance to. All her life she'd been known as Braska's daughter, up until the point she became High Summoner. Then it was High Summoner Yuna. She'd never had a chance to be just plain Yuna.

"You're right." She smiled, then looked over the village where everyone was bustling around, setting tables with dishes of food.

"Mmm! I'm starving!" Tidus exclaimed as the smell of food began to drift towards them. He began to walk over towards the table but was caught by Wakka who had rushed over. Grabbing Tidus in a headlock, Wakka began to chuckle and shake his head.

"Oh no you don't, no eatin' till everyone gets it set up, ya?" Tidus made a sound of protest but Wakka didn't let go, and soon the two were wrestling while laughing. Yuna smiled as she watched, feeling happy that Wakka and everyone had accepted everything so well.

'I can hardly believe it.' She thought to herself as she looked up to the sky. 'He's really back. After everything that's happened…' Closing her eyes she smiled up to the sun, and stretched her arms up towards it.

"Yunie! Help!" Rikku shouted, disrupting Yuna's moment of peace as she grabbed her cousin by the arm and began to shake it. "You have to hide me! I think I got Paine really mad this time!" Yuna grinned in amusement, but pointed over to a nearby tent. Rikku disappeared into it before Yuna even had the chance to wish her cousin good luck. Just as the last of Rikku's scarf was gone from sight, Paine came out from another tent and looked around with a scowl.

"Where is she?" The warrior asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice, looking over to Yuna. Yuna tried to keep a straight face as she shrugged.

"Where's who?"

"Not you too, Yuna!" Paine sighed, and shook her head. "You're getting as horrible as she is."

"I'm not horrible!" Rikku exclaimed, poking her head out of the tent with a frown.

"Aha!" Paine shouted, and leapt towards the girl who uttered a squeal of fear.

The thief tried to run but Paine had grabbed her arm before she could even get out of the tent. "That's it Rikku, you're really going to get-"

"RIKKUUU!" A voice shattered the air and Yuna winced in spite of herself.

"Oohh, what is it, pick on Rikku day??" Rikku cried, putting her hands on her hips as Paine let go of her. Brother bounded up the path, looking quite furious and sputtering things that Yuna could only figure were insults in Al Bhed.

"Now what?" Rikku sighed, waving a hand at him in annoyance.

"You left us!" He sputtered, and came to a panting halt at the entrance of the village.

"Well yeah! You were being too slow!" Rikku rolled her eyes as Cid and Buddy came into view, panting even worse then Brother was.

"Oh!" Yuna exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand. With Tidus's appearance, she had completely forgotten about the other Gullwings. About this, Brother did not look to happy, but when he spotted Yuna his mood seemed to relax.

"Yuna! You are safe?" He asked, quickly walking over to her.

"Why wouldn't she be safe?" Paine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She leapt out of the ship! Into the water! There are fiends in the water!" Brother exclaimed in some annoyance, as if it were the simplest knowledge and Paine was odd for not seeing it.

"I'm fine, Brother." Yuna smiled, hearing Tidus give a yelp as Wakka succeeded in dropping him on his back.

"Of course she's fine! Quit yer darn worrying and do something useful instead!" Cid snapped, finally coming up beside Brother with a gasp for air.

At this, Rikku started shouting something in Al Bhed, waggling her finger at Brother as if he was a dog that had done something wrong. Brother only glared at her, and then looked back to Rikku, ignoring his father completely. Cid gritted his teeth and crossed his arms, glaring off at a point on the horizon instead.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Yuna?" Brother asked, bending over slightly and looking almost as if he were begging.

"No, I'm fine." She smiled some more, then turned to look over where Wakka and Tidus were. Wakka was helping him up from the ground, and laughing.

Brother looked over to where her gaze fell, then let out a sound that was a cross between a scream and a yell. "Shuyin!!" He exclaimed, then began waving his arms around madly and grabbed Rikku's arm. "How did he get back?" He shouted, then as if at a loss of what to do, stood in front of Yuna as if protecting her.

"Err, Yuna?" Tidus asked, looking just a little confused as he walked over towards them.

"Stay away you… crazy Farplane freak!" Brother yelled, and Rikku rolled her eyes.

"You idiot! He's not Shuyin!" She cried, walking over to Brother and kicking him in the shin.

"Not… Shuyin?" Brother gasped as he jumped up and down and rubbed his leg.

"No!" Rikku sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "That's Tidus. Remember? The guy we were looking for in the first place when we ran into Shuyin!"

"Hiya." Tidus cut in, though he still looked a bit confused about the whole thing. Yuna walked over to him and tried to ignore Rikku's ridiculously large grin.

"Shuyin? Farplane?" He whispered down to her, frowning in confusion.

"I'll tell you later." She whispered to him, then turned back to look at Brother who was staring at Tidus in horror.

"Ti…" Was the only word he could seem to utter, looking from Tidus, then to Yuna.

"You remember Brother, right?" Yuna asked, turning to look up at Tidus.

"Uh… He was…" Tidus frowned and crossed his arms. "Er…"

"Don't worry if you can't remember him, it's not important." Rikku snorted, walking away from her brother and towards Yuna.

"Rikku! You shouldn't be so mean!" Yuna exclaimed, surprised at her cousin.

"Oh come on Yunie, you know Brother! He's-"

At this point, a great wail broke through Rikku's words, and all eyes turned to Brother. Already miserable looking, he had bent over the ground and started crying, wailing away in Al Bhed.

For a long moment, an uncomfortable silence hung over the village. One that continued to hang even as the last of the Gullwing crew appeared and stood in surprise at the sight of Brother.

Though Shinra's face was unreadable, Calli's was not. She looked horrified but at the same time, entirely at a loss at what to do. Yuna remembered that the girl had told her once that she'd looked up to Brother, and that she'd wanted to get to know him better. Just as the girl took a step forward as if to speak to him, Cid's roar broke the echo of silence.

"Oh git up! No son of mine's going to go bawlin' like a baby! Get yer hide off the ground and get a hold of yerself!" He shouted down at Brother, glaring and looking quite cross.

"Yeah, get up already!" Rikku chimed in, but was silenced by a glare from her father.

"Don't you start too! Can't stand it, I raised you two to be-"

"You didn't raise us at all you old fart!" Rikku's shrill cry rang through the air, as she stormed over to him.

"Here we go again." Paine sighed, walking away from everyone and towards the temple.

"He was… the pilot, on the airship when we fought Sin, right?" Tidus asked quietly, looking down at Yuna who'd been at a loss for words.

"Yes, he was. He was our pilot for the Gullwings too. I've never seen him quite this upset…" Feeling uncomfortable, she walked over to where Brother was still crying.

"Brother? Are you okay?" She asked, kneeling down and trying to see his face, but it was buried in his arms.

"Voice… angel…" Another wail rose through the air and he began to cry even louder. Yuna blinked and stood back up, looking over to Cid and Rikku who were now yelling at each other in Al Bhed.

"Another lovely family scene, displayed for all the world to see." Shinra muttered as he walked past Yuna, towards where the last of the food was being set out. Buddy had been silent ever since he had appeared, but now finally seemed to decide to take action. Going over to his friend, he picked Brother up and dusted him off.

"Come on bro, you've had your moment, let it go." He said quietly, and then helped the sobbing Brother over to the tables. Calli followed quickly after, looking somewhat upset herself.

"What was that all about?" Tidus asked as Yuna walked back over to him, a frown on her face.

"I think… Well… It's a long story." She sighed, and shook her head. "I'll tell you later, when we have a moment to talk without everyone else asking questions."

"Okay." He said, then smiled at her and grabbed her hand.

"Hey Wakka, you going to let us eat now?" He shouted over to the blitzer, who was helping Lulu sit down at one of the tables.

"Yeah yeah, okay. But ya better hurry up before it's all gone! Otherwise Lu will eat your share! OW! Hey!" The last comment had resulted in a well aimed smack from Lulu, who was putting Vidina into a crib beside her seat. "I was joking, ya?" He whimpered apologetically, rubbing his head as his wife sat down at the table with a faint smile.

Yuna grinned and pulled Tidus after her as she headed towards the table and her friends.

Sitting down with Tidus in between Wakka and Paine, Yuna was surprised by the large amount of food that had been prepared. There seemed to be endless amounts stacked all around the large tables, and even more was cooking on the bonfire that sat in the middle of the party.

"Did you make enough food?" She giggled, carefully selecting a few portions onto her plate, as Tidus began to pile everything in sight onto his.

"Well, we gotta a lot of people to feed, ya! The village keeps growing." He grinned through a mouthful of food, indicating with a nod to all the Gullwings and Tidus.

"We haven't had a feast like this since you defeated Sin. We thought it was high time to have another one, seeing as you were coming home." Lulu explained calmly, seemingly unimpressed by her husband's answer.

"You didn't have to go to all this trouble just for me." Looking down at her plate, Yuna could feel her face go red. She still wasn't comfortable with so much attention, even after all this time. Especially not from Lulu and Wakka, who she saw as family, not fans.

"It wasn't any trouble. You shouldn't worry so much, Yuna."

"Well, thanks, Lulu." She smiled back at the older woman, and Lulu gave a small smile back.

Across the table, a loud argument was beginning to become louder and more intense. Cid and Rikku were still yelling insults at each other, and now it had seemed Brother had recovered enough to join in. Buddy sat staring down at his plate with a look of exasperation. The tedious argument was nothing new to him, he'd been listening to it ever since he'd met the family.

"Okay, break it up! You've had your fun. We're trying to eat over here!" Paine shouted suddenly, and the whole dinner table went silent. Paine didn't even look up at their reaction and continued to calmly chew a piece of fish. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, the conversations resumed but the argument seemed quite dead. Rikku ate quietly but Yuna could tell it was only a matter of time before her cousin started up again. Cid appeared to be sulking, and Brother was muttering something to Buddy as the two began pilling more food on their plates.

'Looks like everything's back to normal Well, as normal as things can get.' Yuna thought with a grin, taking a mouthful of food and enjoying it thoroughly. On both sides of her, Wakka and Tidus were stuffing their faces as fast as they could, almost as if they were having a race to see who could eat more helpings first. Even though Tidus hadn't been back for very long, it seemed the almost brotherly relationship between him and Wakka had started again. It brought a smile to Yuna's face, as she realized Wakka probably appreciated the company now, with his own family.

"So," Wakka started, not taking the time to swallow the large mouthful of fish he had just stuffed into his mouth, "What happened down there in the Farplane, ya?"

"Oh, you should have been there, chubby!" Rikku managed through a mouthful of food, and grinned. "We got to fight this big nasty machina! And we sure told it who was boss!" Lulu raised an eyebrow, and looked over to Yuna.

"Well, Yuna?"

"Heyy!" Rikku sniffed, looking irritated.

"Well, pretty much what Rikku said." Yuna smiled in spite of herself, and Lulu looked somewhat surprised.

"I see." She said, then smiled a little as she carefully took a mouthful of food. Knowing Lulu wasn't really satisfied with the answer, Yuna looked down at her own plate somewhat apologetic.

"Well, actually, there is more to it then that. But it's kind of a long story…"

"Hey, this is going to be a long night, ya? Get started!" Wakka encouraged, waving a fork in the air and sending food splattering onto an unsuspecting passerby.

"Yeah! I wanna to hear it too!" Tidus added, looking over to Yuna with a grin. "You promised you'd tell me." Knowing there was no more escaping it, Yuna smiled and looked up at the sky that was slowly turning red with the coming of the sunset.

'So much has happened…'

But she knew where it had all started. With the wish of wanting to see him again… with the dream that he would return somehow. Smiling even more, she looked around to her friends, then finally back to Tidus.

"Well… It all began, when I saw this sphere of you…" She started, then closed her eyes as she began to recall.

"It's amazing." Tidus shook his head, flopping back on the sand and looking up at the bright stars overhead. "You've sure been busy."

Beside him Yuna sat with her arms hugging her knees, looking out over the moon lit waves. "I guess… I try not to think about it anymore. I just try to keep looking ahead. Not back at all the things I've done…" Her voice trailed off and she looked up at the moon itself, sighing a little. "I think everyone expected me to let go completely… but you know… I just couldn't. Couldn't let go of all the memories. The anger, the tears, the smiles, and the laughter… It meant so much to me. And it still does." She added quickly, looking down at him as his eyes went from star to star.

Tidus was silent for a long moment, and inside he was trying to figure out everything that had happened. One minute he had been in the dream, the next moment, he was back here. Everything had changed so much, and yet everything looked so much the same. It was sad to think of everything that he had missed, though he was grateful he'd come back at all. However it had come to be.

"So he looked that much like me, huh?" Sitting back up, he took looked out over the water. The moon seemed to dance on the water, as the endless waves drifted softly across. There was something calming about the sight. It reminded him of times not so long ago in his mind when he and the others had traveled on the boat to Kilka and Luca. The water had been almost the same…

"Yes." Yuna whispered softly, then looked down at her knees. Tidus looked over at her and saw that her eyes were glinting in the soft light.

"Yuna?" He hesitated, seeing there was something drifting in her mind she was trying to say.

"All those feelings… Lenne's feelings, they were so strong. I felt like I… I wanted to be with Shuyin, because of those feelings. But at the same time it felt horribly wrong… I…" Her voice trailed off and she closed her eyes, trying to blink back the tears that were attempting to escape.

"Yuna, it's over. Lenne and Shuyin are gone, you saw so yourself. You don't have to feel guilty, or angry, or anything. It wasn't your fault."

Wiping away the tears from her eyes, Yuna sniffed lightly then smiled at him the best she could. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am!" He grinned, then hugged her. She smiled and before he knew it she was crying again, this time with tears streaming down her face in rivers of silver.

"Yuna?" He asked softly, half afraid he'd done something wrong.

"I'm just so happy." She mumbled from somewhere in his shoulder, hugging him tightly and still crying softly. Hugging her tightly back, he didn't say anything and listened to the soft waves lapping at the beach. Yuna's sobs slowly died down and she looked back up at him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" She started, but he cut her off by shaking his head.

"Yuna, it's alright." She smiled then leaned her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and wiping tears from her face. Wrapping an arm around her he closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the cool ocean air. It hurt to see her cry, like it always had, but this time he knew that she was happy. He didn't want to see her cry again like she did all those times before, when she had been a summoner. Those had been painful times, for all of them. Now it was all over, and he was going to make sure nothing would hurt her again. Not while he was still alive and breathing, still in Spira, with her.

"Tidus…" She whispered, dragging him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"…I love you." Hugging him even tighter, he could see the faint watery glimmer of tears in her eyes again. After everything that happened, she looked completely overwhelmed. And yet, somehow, she clung on, and was still the Yuna he knew.

He sighed, then looked up at the sparkling stars above them. For a moment they reminded him of the tears that had been glinting in her eyes. "I'm sorry I was never able to tell you, Yuna. How I felt… everything happened so fast."
"I knew." She said quietly, turning her gaze up to the stars as well.

The silence that followed would have seemed awkward to an onlooker, but Tidus felt words that were not spoken pass between them. Words that didn't need to be spoken aloud to be understood.

Holding her tighter, he hoped that whatever it was that had brought him back, had brought him back to stay.

"About-" She started again, but was cut off by a sudden, unexpected sound. The roar echoed over the woods and towards them, almost deafening despite the obvious distance of it.

"What was that?" Tidus jumped up, pulling her with him. Blinking away whatever tears were left in her eyes she looked up in the direction of the path.

"It sounded like a fiend." Pausing, she listened to a second roar shatter the stillness of the air. "Near the village!" She cried, then was running towards the path before he could stop her.

"Yuna!" He called, running after her though she seemed to be going somewhat faster then he could.

"Come on!" She stopped, turning around to face him. "We've got to go help!"

"Then let's go help!" He nodded, but then stopped in front of her as he realized an important detail. "But… I don't exactly have anything to fight with. I lost Brotherhood when I disappeared." Her eyes lit up for a moment, and she fished around in her pocket.

"What?" He asked, frowning.

"There! Hold on a minute, I'm change dress-spheres."
"Dress-spheres?" He asked, even more confused now then he had been before as she held up a strange glowing sphere.

"I'll explain later!" Even as she spoke, the air around Yuna was crackling with energy, and as he watched her clothes and guns seemed to melt and change, into something quite different.

"Armor?" He asked, blinking even more. "You're-"

Grabbing the sword that was strapped to her now armor clad back, Yuna pulled it out and held it up in between them.

"Brotherhood…" He blinked, staring at in disbelief.

"I was just borrowing it." She smiled somewhat apologetically, then handed it to him. "It's your's now, like Wakka always wanted."

He grinned and gripped the handle tightly. Though he'd never been trained with the use of swords, the sword had always seemed to suit him well. "But what are you going to…" His voice trailed off as she held up another sphere.

"How many of those things do you have?" He asked in surprise, as the armor melted away to reveal her regular clothes again. Stuffing the sphere back into her pocket with the others, she just grinned and pulled one of her guns from her belt.

"Too many. I'll show you later, come on!" Grabbing his hand she dragged him up the path and into the woods. Running together they made good time, though the darkness would have hindered Tidus had he been alone.

Yuna seemed to have the entire path memorized, and every turn came to her as no surprise. Reaching the hill above the village after a few long moments of running, they could see the bonfire down below slowly dying out. Everyone had gone to bed already and it seemed no other lights were on, except…

"A drake!" Yuna cried, pointing to the flames that flickered out of the seeming darkness in such a fashion it mimicked breathing. As they listened they could hear the sure sound of an obvious battle being fought.

"Let's go!" Running down the hill as fast as they dared for fear of tripping, they reached the village entrance just as Rikku was hurled onto the path in front of them. The young woman was bleeding from some point on her leg, and her Dark Knight's armor was bent out of shape.

"Rikku!" Yuna cried, dashing forward and pulling out a potion. Dribbling the liquid over her cousin's wound and into her mouth, she was relieved to see the girl cough and slowly rise.

"Yunie, you've got to go help Paine and Wakka! That thing is totally nuts, it's fighting like it's being driven by something!" As Tidus and Yuna headed towards the center of the village, Tidus could hear Rikku shout another warning at their backs. "And stay away from it's heads!"

'Heads?' Tidus thought with a sinking heart, as they stopped to see Wakka and Paine fighting for their lives.

"Hey, over here!" Yuna shouted as the drake tried to rip Wakka to shreds with one of it's massive claws. The creature turned suddenly to face them, and Tidus felt his blood go cold.

"This… can't be good." He muttered aloud, but Yuna was already rushing forward to join the fight, Rikku close behind her. Swallowing his apprehension, he ran after her and hoped he still remembered how to use Brotherhood.