*collapses* Here it be! This one was fun and easy to write.. and I'm hoping that it finally introduces some sort of plot! Hurray! And.. I hope that it makes sense. And everything remains in character.

Thanks again to all the commenters.. comments are what keeps me going. No comments, no drive to write any more. Soooooo pleeeeeeeeease, comment! *feels like a penniless beggar*

And um.. still haven't written the perfect ending in yet. . Soooon.. I promise. Right now it wouldn't fit in to have them waltzing off to Zanarkand.. hopefully in one of the next couple chapters though, when Yunie and Tidus actually get two seconds to themselves without having some disaster muck it up.

And yet again.. I don't own FFX, or FFX-2. *snuffle*

And to make up for all the babbling I did earlier, here we go, chappy-ness for you with 60% less babble!

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Chapter 5

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"The fun just never stops." Yuna heard Paine mutter as one of the massive heads attempted to bite her head clean off. Luckily the warrior had ducked in time and was able to quickly cut across the creature's face with her sword. The blade bounced off the heavy scales uselessly and only seemed to anger the beast more.

Snarling and growling in fury, the huge red beast swung it's tail dangerously through the air, while all three of it's heads snapped and lunged at anyone near them. Though it was a beautiful creature, it's sanity seemed to be in question. The thing lunged about at no thought for it's own safety, and appeared to be driven by some unknown force, urging it to fight on. Fiends never fought blindly, unless they were protecting their young or were hungry. Even Sin Spawn never used to attack with such randomness.

Loading her guns, Yuna had to agree with Paine's words. Everything had already been rather busy, and Yuna had been hoping it was finally going to calm down. Apparently, whatever dedicated Fate, wasn't done with them yet.

First it had been the adventure concerning Vegnagun, then coming home to Besaid only to find Tidus. Then there had been the feast, and the constant accusations from Brother that Tidus was Shuyin. When they'd finally managed to get away from the feast to have a few moments to talk alone, hysteria managed to break free again.

'Hysteria in the form of a crazed fiend. Where did it come from? There aren't any fiends like this in Besaid..' Ducking she managed to avoid being sliced in half by the huge tail as it swung around towards her. 'Is it too much to just ask for a little peace and quiet?' She thought with a sigh as she let loose a chain of rounds into the beast's back, having absolutely no visible effect other then irritating it.

Turning around the drake roared in anger and the whole ground shook. Shaking it's mighty heads in the air, and lowering it's giant horn towards her, it charged.

'Guess not.' Jumping out of the way she felt a searing pain as the horn grazed her leg. Biting her lip against a scream she fell backwards and only just managed to roll as a fist full of claws came pounding down.

"Yuna!" Wakka shouted, and scrambling up she managed to catch the potion he threw towards her. Quickly she popped it open and threw it over her wounds, then drank the remaining few drops. The bitter liquid wasn't pleasant to drink, but the pain ebbed a little. But another hit like that, could kill her if she wasn't careful.

Luring the beast away from Yuna, Paine and Rikku began to attack it's heads, in a unsuccessful attempt to do it some injury with their Dark Knight swords. Nothing seemed to work. The only thing they seemed able to do was irritate it and lure it away from the wounded.

'Maybe magic..' She thought as she grabbed one of the spheres in her pocket. 'Can't hurt to try.' Switching spheres she felt the familiar sensation of change as her Gunner's clothes melted away into those of a Gun Mage.

'Let's see how you like this!' She thought as she loaded the gun with a special bullet, then cast the spell that would inflict high damage to such fiends. Firing the gun into the beast's open back, she was disappointed to see only a small reaction. The beast screamed in pain and irritation, but it was by no chance a mortal wound. Twisting around it snarled at her and all of it's heads curled down to reveal it's jagged horns. Shaking it's head, it began to run towards her, impossibly fast.

"Look out!" Tidus shouted, just managing to grab her arm and drag her out of the way as the beast sailed by and ran into the wall that fenced Besaid in from the jungle. The stones rumbled but did not shatter, and the beast simply turned back around. It acted as if it felt no pain at all, and was driven by some strong force that would not let it back down or feel pain.

"This thing is nuts!" Tidus gasped, pulling Yuna backwards towards Rikku and Paine, as the drake began to ready itself to charge again.

"It's like it's been driven mad!" Rikku shook her head, tightening her grip on her sword. "Yunie, what are we going to do?" She asked, looking worried.

In Yuna's mind, she could find no possible idea. Nothing seemed to work, not magic, or weapons of any kind. "Have any of you tried elemental magic?" She asked, quickly taking a gulp of an ether potion.

"Not yet, but elemental attacks didn't work so.." Rikku's voice trailed off, and Yuna was already changing into the form of a Black Mage. Twirling her staff and pushing up her floppy hat, she looked over to the drake that was already starting to run towards them.

As the beast ran she shouted the words of command, and swung the staff towards the beast. A enormous lightening bolt shot down from the sky and slammed into the beast, knocking it clear off it's feet. It looked stunned, but not hurt.

"Well that worked, kinda!" Rikku chattered nervously behind her.

"But not good enough." Paine added, as the beast was already beginning to stand up and move towards them.

"Try it again!" Tidus encouraged, standing next to Yuna and holding up Brotherhood protectively. All of them together were no match for the fiend, but still he was willing to put himself in front of her and protect her. The thought gave her strength, as did the knowledge that her friends stood beside her. Just like they always had. Just like when they fought Sin.

Closing her eyes, Yuna calmed her mind. She could do it, she'd been able to do so many other things without failing. This was not any different. Her friends stood beside her.

"Blizzagra!" She shouted, snapping her eyes open and twirling the staff again. Ice began to form around the beast, trapping and freezing it's legs to the ground. It gave another earth shaking roar, and struggled against the ice as it covered the drake up to it's shoulders. Though the ice didn't seem to hurt it, it had trapped it for the time being.

"Way to go Yunie! Keep it up!" Rikku bounced, patting her cousin on the back.

Twirling her staff again expertly, Yuna closed her eyes and focused on her next spell. As the magical forces gathered and readied inside of her, she could hear the drake shattering it's prison. Just in time she opened her eyes to see the beast stumbling towards her.

"Flare!" She cried, and a blast of pure energy dropped the beast to it's knees with a howl of pain from all three heads. Still, somehow it began to struggle back up, and claw it's way towards Yuna.

"Yunie! Look out!" Rikku shouted, but Yuna knew she wasn't yet ready to cast another spell. Stumbling backwards she watched helplessly as the tail swung high in the air and readied to crush her.

"Ultima!" A familiar voice shouted, and everything around the drake went black as energy crackled around it. The beast screamed in terror and tried to back away from the growing powers but failed miserably. The bolt of magic exploded inside of it, draining the creature's life from the inside out. Shivering the beast gave a groan and collapsed lifelessly onto the ground, it's long tail twitching as it's eyes began to dull.

"Yunie?" Rikku asked timidly, looking to her cousin with a wordless question on her face.

"It wasn't me." Yuna slowly lowered her staff, and looked over to the Temple. Lulu stood there, lowering her arm as the last bits of the spell faded away.

"Lu!" Wakka shouted, and ran straight over to the woman as she fell to her knees and struggled to keep herself balanced. "Are you alright, ya?" He asked almost hysterically, helping her up and supporting all her weight with his strong arms.

"I'm fine, Wakka. I just haven't had to do that for.. quite a long time." She said softly, accepting his help. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, I had to make sure the villagers were safe in the Temple." Though she showed no emotion, Yuna could see that the black mage was upset that she hadn't been able to help more, or sooner. Yuna almost felt as if it was her who should apologize. Lulu had a family she had to take care of now, she shouldn't be fighting fiends, fiends that Yuna and the others should have been able to handle.

"That was one nasty fiend!" Tidus shook his head, frowning at the still form of the beast. "Where did it come from?"

"We don't know." Paine stepped forward, putting away her sword as she watched the body carefully. "It just appeared out of nowhere and acted as if it were fighting for it's life. Fiends don't normally attack like that."

"And I've never seen a fiend like that on Besaid, ya? Not even in the caves." Wakka added, slowly walking over with Lulu.

"It almost looks like it's.. been changed somehow." Yuna frowned, walking over to the body. "As if it's been twisted into two shapes." Kneeling a little ways away from it, she looked at the drake's heads. No life could be seen in any of the eyes, and she could not even hear the faint heartbeat. "Almost like the Aeons, when they were combined with the Machina."

"But that's no Aeon, and there's not a scrap of Machina on it." Paine crossed her arms and frowned.

"Is it dead?" Cid's voice made everyone look to the temple as the man poked his head out the entrance. Behind him, they could see the others look out behind him with curiosity and fear.

"Yeah." Tidus walked over to Yuna, then stopped suddenly. "Yuna!"

Frowning, she looked back to the beast and saw pyreflies had begun to flow from it. But instead of flying away into the air, the rainbows began to flow towards her. Stepping away involuntary, she was helpless to stop them as they twirled around her body then disappeared into her.

"Yunie!" Rikku cried, running over to her. Yuna felt suddenly dizzy, and a wave of unaccountable anger and loneliness filled her. Falling to her knees she clutched at her head, trying to drive the thoughts away. It was almost like when Shuyin's memories had entered her, but somewhere they were different. These ones were crying for help, crying endlessly out of loneliness.

'Abandoned to die, those who cannot die, destined to live an eternity of suffering, fated to be caught between. Help us. Help us. It hurts. Please..' A voice ran over her thoughts, and made her cry out in pain in it's intensity. As quickly as the words and the emotions came however, they had already begun to fade away.

Opening her eyes she hadn't realized were shut, Yuna stared down at the ground and saw the familiar rainbows as the pyreflies left her body and drifted towards the sky.

"Are you okay?" A worried voice asked, dragging her back into reality.

"What.. just happened?" She wondered aloud, the words sounding strange to her ears as if she had not spoken for a great while.

"You tell us?" Paine's voice swam through her head, and Yuna felt the last of the feelings fade away, as if they had never been there. Slowly she looked up to see the worried faces of her friends, watching her carefully.

"I.. don't know." She managed, then tried to stand up but found she was suddenly quite tired. A steady hand grabbed hers, and with a gentle squeeze pulled her the rest of the way up.

"Yuna?" Tidus asked, his eyes full of worry and question.

"I think.. it was just the pyreflies of the fiend. Just the feelings the fiend had been feeling, like when Shuyin entered us."

"Shuyin! I knew it!" Brother declared suddenly, glaring at Tidus who looked uneasy.

"I thought Shuyin was gone?"

"No, it's not him." Yuna shook her head firmly, but Brother looked determined in his assumption.

"Are you sure?" Paine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I am. It wasn't like his memories, this was more.. simple. Like the minds of the fiend. I think it just went mad, and it's pain somehow passed to me when the pyreflies went through me. I don't think they meant to enter me."

"Whew! Well, we're glad you're alright, ya? They're all gone right?" Wakka tried to look encouraging, but the worry was easy to read on his smiling features.

"Yes, they are." Yuna said quietly, blinking as her head began to ache.

"Well, I think this is enough excitement for one day. Yuna, perhaps you should go rest." Lulu walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder, her eyes looking worried but also calm. Calmer then the others, who still watched Yuna and looked worried she'd suddenly fall down again.

"You're right, Lulu." The words felt thick on her tongue, and she realized how far she'd pushed herself in the battle. Vegnagun had been enough battles to last her the rest of her life, and here she was fighting again just a few hours after the epic battle.

"I am really tired." Yawning in spite of herself, she smiled a little as everyone seemed to look more relaxed.

"Me too!" Rikku stretched, then grinned as she looked over to Tidus. "So where are we gonna make him sleep?"

"Not on the airship. He might try to take it over to destroy Spira!" Brother announced quickly, shooting another glare at Tidus. When no one replied, he began to mutter to himself and eye Tidus suspiciously.

"You can sleep with the Aurochs, ya? They've got a spare bed, for tonight. Tomorrow we'll find a better place to stick ya. It'll be just like old times, ya?" Wakka grinned, slapping Tidus on the back and almost knocking him over.

"Sounds fine." Tidus grinned back, but rubbed his back with a grimace.

"Yeah! Then tomorrow we can start practicin' for the big game, ya?" Wakka grinned even wider, and Lulu rolled her eyes.

"Wakka, you promised me you wouldn't go this year."

"Ah, well, hey Lu, he can still go, ya? Right?" He asked, looking over to Tidus again.

Grinning Tidus nodded and punched the air. "You bet!"

Smiling Yuna yawned again and tried to hide it.

"Shame on you all! Keeping poor Yuna up like this!" Brother declared, shooting everyone nasty glares. "Let her go sleep!"

"I'm fine, really!" Yuna yawned again and tried to look awake.

"Her problem is she doesn't want Tidus to go sleep in with the guys!" Rikku grinned, jabbing Tidus in the ribs with her elbow and winking at Yuna.

Yuna felt her face go quite red as she covered her mouth, and even Tidus looked somewhat embarrassed. "Rikku!" Brother gave him a poisonous look, then stormed off towards the path.

"Come on, Rikku, we're going back to the airship to sleep! Goodnight!"

"Hey, you silly! You guys are sleeping in the temple tonight!" Rikku shouted back at him, but he seemed to ignore her.

"Oh let him go, it'll be nice and quiet for a change." Shinra snorted, shaking his head as Brother disappeared up the path and into the night.

"Well, I guess you're right." Rikku sighed, turning away back to look at Yuna again.

"Yunieee! Why is your face all red?" Rikku grinned mischievously, only to have her arm grabbed by Paine.

"Alright, that's enough. Stop picking on Yuna, and go sleep already." She snapped, and gave the girl a shove towards the huts.

"Hey, I'm not a kid! I'll go to bed when I want!" Rikku glared, putting her hands on her hips.

"I think we've all had quite enough for today." Lulu declared, looking all around and making everyone go silent. "Yuna, we cleaned up your old hut and got it ready for you. You can go any time you like. Rikku, you can sleep in the hut you normally do when visiting, and Paine, well, I'm sorry we didn't have time to get a hut ready for you.."

"It's fine. I'll be happy in the temple." Paine shrugged, then without a word headed off towards it.

"And Tidus, like Wakka said.." Lulu's voice trailed off, and she raised an eyebrow at him as if he would protest. He blinked in surprise then quickly nodded.

"Yeah! I'm fine! Don't worry about me."

"Good night then." Lulu turned away and headed towards her and Wakka's hut, still looking quite tired from the battle as well.

"Ya, goodnight!" Wakka grinned, then jogged after her.

Rikku waved at them then turned around to face Yuna and Tidus. "Well, I guess I'll just leave you two lovebirds alone!" She winked, then skipped off grinning towards the huts.

"Rikku sure is.. happy." Tidus blinked, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's nice, to see everyone happy again." Yuna smiled softly, then turned to look up at him. "I'll.. see you tomorrow, right?" She asked, feeling a hesitation enter her voice as her throat tightened.

"Of course." He replied, a look of seriousness replacing the amusement in his face. She nodded, then looked up at the stars.

"I'm not going to leave again, Yuna. Not if I can help it." He whispered softly, and took her in his arms tightly.

"Thank you." She whispered back, then kissed him softly.

For a moment they stayed in the embrace, and Yuna felt so happy she never wanted it to end. It was all so real, the warmth of the embrace, just like it had been. It'd all come true, and he was back.

Unhappy to end the embrace but still happy, she let go and gave him a last smile. Turning away she headed towards her hut, all the loneliness that she'd felt for those two long years melt away.

"Good-night, Yuna." He called softly after her as she reached her hut, and she turned to wave at him with another smile. Then entering her hut, she closed the drapes behind her and collapsed on her bed with a tired sigh.

'Maybe now..' She thought, with a smile, 'I can dream again without the nightmares.'

Within moments, she felt herself drifting off into a deep sleep, a sleep no longer tormented by the whistles and the images of a friend disappearing into the golden glow of Sin's remains.

~~~~~~~~

'It hurts so much. You feel the pain too? It's always the same. Always. Never ending. Ending never. Help us. Help us. Iit is blinding. It is endless. It will not end. Dying, always dying, but never able to die. Help us..'

Yuna looked to see who the voice belonged to. A shrouded shadow stood across a great rift, looking miserable and lost. From the distance, she could not make out what the person looked like underneath the shroud, though the voice led her to believe it was a woman.

"Who are you?" She asked, frowning as she stepped closer to the edge of the rift.

'Do not come closer. You'll fall. Falling, falling, falling. Fall into the pain. Fall into death. Dying but unable to die. Do not come closer. You shall fall.'

"What do you want?" Yuna heard herself ask, but the shroud only began to fade.

'Help us.'

It disappeared silently and left only a shapeless shadow. A single pyrefly drifted around in an endless circle, wobbling and looking as if it were just about to wink out of sight.

"What's going on?"

'Yuna..'

She turned, and gasped. Though half faded, the person was easy to recognize. Even though she had never known him very well, even though he had died when she was so young.

"Father!"

'Yuna.. all is not yet right. You must help this being, before the insanity grows too far and the Farplane is infected. Yuna, you must do this, you must help it.'

"Help it..? I don't understand, what is going on? What is this being?"

'I cannot help you, for I am gone. All I can do is tell you that you must stop it.'

"Father.. is this just a dream?"

Braska was silent for a moment, then smiled slightly. 'I love you, Yuna. I am sorry I couldn't be there for you. You've made me proud, and I am happy you have found your way at last.. take care.. Yuna..' As the words ended he began to fade, and Yuna found herself running towards him.

"Father! Please don't leave! Father!" But as she reached the vision it had disappeared, and pyreflies began to scatter into the air. "No.." She cried, hanging her head.

'Help us.'

"What's going on?" She cried, shaking her head in frustration. Everything had been going so well, and now.

'Yuna!' A voice shouted in her mind, and she spun around only to see a unwelcome sight. 'You think you have all escaped. You have failed. Spira will never be safe, you will never be able to protect it.' Seymour snarled, sneering at her in distaste.

"Go away, you're not real." Glaring she backed away, wondering what in Spira was going on.

'He is, but he is nothing more then a faded memory.'

"Auron?" Yuna blinked, turning to see the warrior standing beside her. "What's going on?"
'The Fayth's dream has tied you to the Farplane's memories. Braska and I wanted to speak to you, but by doing so we had to open your mind to all the strongest memories of the Farplane.'

"Why?" Yuna blinked, watching as the image of Seymour melted away into the darkness.

'Something is calling.'

"Calling?" Yuna echoed, feeling quite helpless and confused.

'The Fayth are in danger. The fiends are the first to suffer, then it will be us. Then, the Fayth. You must stop it before it reaches the Fayth.'

"But stop what?" Yuna cried, throwing her arms out in frustration.

'The tormented spirit. She is calling out to everything that has the capacity to hear her. She is trying to reach everyone, trying to say something. We don't know any more then that, and we can do nothing to stop it. You must do this, she is part of your world. Look for clues to where to find her, the fiends must be the key.' Before she could open her mouth to speak, he had disappeared as well.

Sighing, she looked around her and saw no more visions. "Why can't things just be peaceful.." Suddenly something appeared before her, half shrouded in darkness but still visible enough to make her jump back in horror. The creature looked like no fiend she had ever seen before, twisted and deformed as if it had been badly injured. But somewhere inside of it, she could hear a human voice.

'Help us.'

A huge claw reached for her, from a hand that looked disturbingly human. The dizziness overcame her again, and she heard a scream begin to flood through her mind. A endless scream that never ended, twisting over and over again, as if in agony. As the hand reached closer the sound grew louder, until Yuna felt as if she would go mad if she did not stop it. Struggling away from the horror she held her head in her hands, crying out against the screaming in her mind. Unable to fight the scream, she blindly pushed her fingers to her lips and let loose the only sound she could think of that might help her.

~~~~~~~~

Tidus stared up at the ceiling, and tried to make himself think he wasn't in fact, deafened by the snoring of the Aurochs in the room with him. It reminded him almost of the times when he and the other blitzers of the Zanarkand Abes had been stuck in the same room when a hotel had been full. The sound he remembered almost fit the one he was hearing.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and found himself wondering if Zanarkand was still there. Still in the same endless dream, somehow living on even though the Fayth had long stopped dreaming. Maybe it was all just a memory, and he had been living that memory, somewhere. Somehow.

'It still doesn't make any sense.' He thought to himself, cringing as a snore hit a painful pitch.

How had he been able to exist in Zanarkand if it was a dream of the Fayth, and the Fayth had stopped dreaming? Maybe they hadn't? Or perhaps it was just a memory? Or perhaps somehow, it was real?

'As if anyone's ever going to answer those questions for me.' Sitting up, he looked around the darkened hut. Unlike the others, he hadn't been doing anything much that day. While the others had been fighting battles against memories and machina on the Farplane, all he remembered..

Frowning, he tried to remember what it was he had been doing. Everything to do with Zanarkand seemed to be blurred in his mind, as if he really wasn't part of it anymore. Well, up until when he'd returned, anyway. Before that, he could still remember it all, just like it had been yesterday. Before Sin had appeared.

'Right. I'd been getting ready for the big game.' He thought with a grin, then it faded. He loved Spira, and those who dwelled in it, but there was still a part of him that felt.. well, not home sick. He felt that Besaid was more his home then anything had ever been now. But still, Zanarkand held a large part of his memories. Fond memories. Shaking his head, he snorted.

'No, I can't keep going back there. I'm going to stay here, this is where I belong now. Besides, like Wakka said, there's going to be a big game here. I'll just show them all how the Zanarkand Abes would do it.' Grinning, he stretched, and his mind began to wander more on the subject. 'I wonder if Wakka would let me teach the Aurochs some new tricks.. Then we could be the best blitzers in Spira!' Knowing there was no possible way he was going to get to sleep now, Tidus sat up and quietly walked over to the door of the hut. Poking his head out he saw that all the lights of the village were out, revealing the sparkling starlit sky.

Walking out into the center of the village, he stretched again and stared up at them. The same as he remembered. It was comforting to see them again, Zanarkand was so bright it was difficult to see the stars sometimes.

'Wonder what time it is.' He thought off hand to himself, trying to spot the moon. Having no luck in finding it, he guessed it was probably early morning. Sitting down on the flagstones, he looked up the stars and sighed, letting his mind wander over all the events of the day, and the numerous stories the others had shared with him.

'I wonder why Brother is so convinced I'm Shuyin.' He thought with a frown, leaning back. 'I guess he did kind of look like me, but.. Brother seems pretty protective of Yuna. Maybe it's because they're cousins? Or maybe..'

He thought for a moment, then shook his head. 'I'll have to ask Yuna about that.'

Grinning, he closed his eyes. 'I really am back. And Yuna's still here. Though, she sure did change..' Crossing his arms over his knees, he slowly looked around the village. 'But she's happy now. Maybe that's why she seems to have changed so much, she's happier then she used to be. Sin's gone and she didn't have to die after all.'

'I wish I hadn't disappeared.' He thought after a moment of silence, looking down to the flagstones. 'I wanted to protect her, and all I did was hurt her even more.' After another moment of consideration, he shook his head. 'Nah, no point in thinking like that. I'm here now, that's all that matters. I'll stay by her and I won't ever let her go again.' Standing up, he brushed the dirt off his pants and turned back towards the hut.

'May as well just go try to sleep I guess.'

A weak whistle broke through the silence and he nearly tripped on his own feet. Spinning around he looked over to Yuna's hut. Without pausing he began to run to it as fast as he could.

~~~~~~~~

Jerking up in bed she barely managed to hold a scream in as she struggled against the creature's hands. As she struggled she realized someone was saying her name, and as quickly as it had come, the dream dropped away and she was confronted with the familiar sight of her hut.

"Yuna, Yuna, it's just a dream!" Tidus held her tightly as she stopped struggling, realizing it wasn't some horrific creature trying to lure her into the darkness. Clutching his arm she buried her face in his shoulder, shivering as the screaming slowly faded away in her mind.

"Yuna?" He asked after a few moments, stroking her hair gently as she tried to get a hold of herself.

"Something was screaming..." She managed through a strangled sob as her own words sent pain through her aching head. "Something was in pain. It was trying to reach me, trying to get me to help it. But I couldn't help it..." Her voice trailed off, and she gripped him tighter.

"It's okay, it was just a dream." His voice sounded as if he was trying to be reassuring, but wasn't too sure if what he said was true.

"No... It wasn't a dream." She said slowly, opening her eyes and pulling away far enough to look up at him. "My... my father was there. And Sir Auron, and... Seymour." Her voice failing her, she shuddered and felt Tidus hold her tighter.

"What happened?" He asked quietly, though she could tell there was a new anxious tone in his voice.

Finally able to calm herself down enough to think straight, she sat up properly and sighed, looking down at her hands. Slowly she began to relate what had happened, everything she'd seen and heard, and everything that had happened when the pyreflies from the fiend had entered her. When she was finished, she saw him frown. She knew he believed her, but she could tell by his face that he didn't have any idea what it meant either.

"So you have to find this... thing? That's making the fiends go crazy? And that it's going to damage the Farplane somehow?" He asked, sitting on the edge of her bed and watching her carefully. "Auron never did figure out how to explain things without being confusing." He added, trying to smile a little as if to cheer her up.

"Yeah." Looking away from his eyes, she felt her shoulders sag. "But... I don't know where to start looking. I didn't want to start on another adventure. I just wanted... I just..." She felt her chest heave as the familiar feeling of wanting to cry began to ebb into her. She fought against it, though it was hard when he was looking at her with those soft blue eyes. She just wanted to be held, told it'd be alright, and that she didn't have to go on another world saving quest.

"I know." He whispered softly, and reached for her. Holding her gently to his chest, he stroked her hair and remained silent. Closing her eyes Yuna tried to enjoy the embrace, but found her mind flooded with the pictures of her father and the others.

"I'll help you, Yuna. You're not alone. The others will help to, don't worry. We'll all get through this, and fix whatever it is that needs fixing. Then we'll come home, okay?" His words gently nudged her out of her thought, and she opened her eyes. His words made her feel lighter inside, as if just hearing them somehow made things better. He was right.

"But not right now. In the morning, okay? You need more sleep." He smiled, carefully pushing a strand of hair from her eyes. He hesitated for a moment, then started to stand up.

"Don't go." She said softly, holding onto his hand. He raised an eyebrow, then sat back down. "Just... please stay with me. I feel safer with you here." He nodded silently, and laid down beside her ontop of the covers, cradling her in his arms.

Closing her eyes she felt herself begin to fall asleep again, though any fear of the screaming left her. He was there, it would be alright. He was back, now they could protect each other. It would all work out, somehow. Things always seemed to.