Ummm… I realize this is very late. Urrghhh god… this chapter was hell to get started. Partly because of writer's block, partly from some depressing events in real life, and partly because lack of inspiration… I lent my friend FFX-2 and now I'm finding it hard to work on a fic about it when I can't play the game. X_X So please, forgive me if this chapter isn't very good… it didn't go well at first.

Thanks again for all the lovely comments… please keep them coming, they're the main drive of writing this thing at the moment.

As usual, I don't own FFX or FFX-2. I'm just a rabid Tidus/Yuna fan who decided to write a fic. Please don't sue me.

This is a few pages longer then normal, to make up for my lateness. I'm sorry if the last bit seems a bit rushed, I am not a sports person, and found it a wee bit difficult to write that much about it. I hope it works.

I really hope this chapter is okay. I'm almost kind of terrified to post it actually, for fear it's not that great compared to the others. . Pleeease comment… I need to know how it is. Otherwise I'm going to be too scared to start another chappy right away…

But anyhow… Here you have it… Chapter 7… after too long a wait.

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Chapter 7
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"Are we there yet?" Rikku asked impatiently, putting her hands on her hips. Brother growled something from the cockpit, but didn't turn around.

"You asked that five minutes ago." Paine grumbled, shooting the thief a poisonous look.

"But you said we'd been in Luca in time for the game!" Rikku cried, flapping her arms to her sides in annoyance as she turned to Wakka. "We're going to be late!"

"Since when are you so worried about Blitzball?" Paine asked, raising an eyebrow as Rikku bounced up and down from one foot to another.

"Since this is the big game! Because it's us against them!" Rikku snapped impatiently, indicating with an arm towards Wakka.

"Who?" Yuna blinked, looking up from her spot where she was sitting on the deck.

"Us of course! Against them!" Rikku declared, grinning broadly and waving her arm again at Wakka who looked amused.

"Who's us?" Paine asked mildly, crossing her arms. Rikku slowly let her arms fall to her sides, then rolled her eyes.

"Gee, Paine! Where have you been? The Gullwings were filling in for the Aurochs, but now since the Aurochs are going into the tournament, we get to go up against them!"

Paine paused for a moment, staring Rikku directly in the eyes. After a extended silence, she closed her eyes. "Oh no. I am not playing Blitzball again."
"Aww, Paine!" Rikku cried, her face falling as she looked over to Yuna. "Yunie! Tell her we have to!"

Yuna sighed and pulled herself up, walking over to where they stood. "You guys might be able to play, but I have to talk to Nooj and the others."

Rikku paused, looking as if she'd forgotten that important detail. "Ah!" She managed, trying to smile as though she'd known the whole time. Looking disappointed, Rikku turned towards Paine again.

"Alright! That means it's just you, me, Brother, Buddy, Shinra, Calli, Pops, and Barkeep!"

"Cid? Calli? Barkeep?" Paine echoed, staring at Rikku in disbelief. "…I'm speechless." Paine sighed, shaking her head and walking over to the bridge.

"Whaat?" Rikku frowned.

"Two kids on the team, plus a Hypello, plus the Cid family. And you're trying to drag me and Buddy into this? Rikku, not on your life."

"Aww, but it'll be fun!" Rikku cried, frowning even harder. "Come on, Paine! Pleeeeease?"

"No." Paine snapped, and turned away from Rikku, pointedly ignoring her.

"What, afraid you might lose, ya?" Cackled Wakka, grinning widely as he walked up beside them and crossed his arms. Rikku's eyes blazed and even Paine turned slightly to look at him.

"Yeah right, tubby!" Rikku sniffed, elbowing Wakka roughly.

"If that's how you see it, then I'm in." Paine said quietly, and Rikku looked ecstatic. "But only for one game." The warrior added, sighing as she watched Rikku bounce energetically around the bridge.

Yuna frowned, surprised that Paine had given in so easily. Perhaps deep down, she had a hidden nature that liked to compete and wouldn't let her stand down a challenge?

"One game is enough! That's all we need to beat those softies." Rikku bounced, grinning madly at Wakka's direction. Wakka grinned a little, looking anything but intimidated.

"So what about me?" Tidus asked, crossing his arms and looking over to them.

There was a moment of pause, then Wakka laughed. "You're with us, of course! With you on our team, we can't possibly lose, ya?"

"That's right!" Tidus grinned, and Yuna grinned with him. He still had the same energy, the same passion about Blitzball. It'd always been something she'd found fascinating about him, and she was relieved to see it hadn't disappeared in those two long years.

Rikku stopped bouncing, and slowly turned to Tidus. "Ha! You're not that good, blitzer-boy!"

"Wanna bet?" Tidus grinned, a challenge on his face.

"Darn straight!" Rikku snapped, and crossed her arms.

"Oh brother." Paine sighed.

Yuna watched as Rikku and Tidus faced each other, both looking quite happy though it was quite obvious they were going through with whatever bet they thought of. She couldn't help but smile.

'Except I won't be able to see it.' She sighed to herself, her smile fading.

"So what's the bet going to be, ya?" Wakka asked, looking from Rikku to Tidus.

"No, no betting without my approval!" Brother snapped, turning around to glare at all three of them.

"Oh shut up already!" Rikku cried, waving her hands at him in annoyance. "Leave the betting to me! I've always been lucky." She grinned, her eyes twinkling as Cid rolled his eyes.

"This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." He sighed, shaking his head.

"Nobody asked you, pops!" Rikku sniffed, turning back to Tidus. "You're not so tough! You and ole chubby over there can't possibly win this game!" She grinned, and crossed her arms. "I bet you won't even score two goals!"

"Oh yeah?" Tidus smirked, crossing his arms as well.

"Yeah!" She glared, putting her hands on her hips.

"Don't turn this into a betting match…" Paine shook her head, looking scornfully at Rikku and Tidus, both of whom ignored her.

"You're on!" He laughed, and it only seemed to encourage Rikku. She scowled, and flicked her hand at him.

"Right! If the Gullwings win, you have to-"

"NO no no, Rikku!" Brother interrupted suddenly, spinning around in his cockpit as if stuck by an idea. "None of your senseless betting! I have a better one!"

Rikku rolled her eyes. "Oh really?"

"Yes!" Brother snapped, scrambling out of chair and landing on the bridge with a thud. Walking over to the middle of the bridge, he shot a glare in Tidus's direction.

"If the Gullwings win…" He paused as if for effect, then crossed his arms, "You, Farplane Freak, will release Yuna from whatever curse, and go back to the Farplane!"

Tidus scowled darkly, and Brother seemed quite pleased with himself. Yuna felt her heart jump at the very idea of Tidus going back the Farplane, but managed to keep herself calm. Brother seemed to still believe, or wished to believe, that Tidus was Shuyin.

'Brother still doesn't understand… Why does this have to be so complicated?'

Tidus cut his arm through the air as he leaned forward to glare at Brother. "And if the Aurochs win, you'll stop calling me that, accept that I'm not Shuyin, and stop pining over Yuna!"

Paine slowly began to edge away from the two, wincing as the voices grew louder. Yuna stared blankly at the both of them, wondering why it was happening and what in Spira she could do to stop it.

'Pining…' She thought for a moment, then it struck her. She'd heard Brother talking to Buddy once about her, and his words had been… She stopped suddenly and winced. Why had she been quite so blind to it before?

Brother stared at Tidus for a moment, then shut his open mouth and glared down at the warrior. He began to chatter angrily in Al Bhed, before he seemed to realize what he was doing and stopped. Frowning, he struggled for a moment with the words, then spat them out with a lingering glare. "If you're not Shuyin, why else would you steal Yuna away? You want to take her to the Farplane and turn her into… into… another Farplane Freak!"

"Steal?" Tidus asked dangerously, his glare increasing every moment.

"Head for cover." Shinra sighed, and hunched further over his computer terminal.

Rikku opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Tidus before she had the chance.

"Why would I want to do that?!" He cried, leaning closer to Brother with growing fury. Yuna felt herself feeling almost sick. She didn't want fighting, especially not over her.

"Because…" Brother paused for a moment, as if thinking. Before anyone could move to speak however, he seemed to recover. "Because you're trying to destroy Spira, and you-"

"For the last time, I'm not Shuyin!" Tidus interrupted, flinging his arms out to his sides and looking quite irritated.

"Yes you are!" Brother declared angrily, crossing his arms again and looking stubborn.

"But-" Rikku started, only to be cut off by Tidus.

"This is crazy!" He sighed, shaking his head. "There's nothing I can do to prove it, is there?"

Brother just scowled.

Yuna sighed aloud. It wasn't ever going to stop, unless someone finally managed to get through to Brother. She could see from his face that he was about to say something else, and lead the argument even further, to a pointless spiral.

"That's it." She whispered to herself, and strode up to both of them, standing in-between them suddenly before Brother could even open his mouth.

"Brother…" She sighed, cutting off his words before he even opened his mouth. His eyes locked onto her and he seemed to hover on whatever she was going to say.

'I'm sorry.' She though unhappily, realizing there was no easy way to say any of this.

"Brother. Please… Believe me. He isn't Shuyin. Shuyin is gone. Tidus would never do anything to harm Spira or any of us. He was the one who helped save Spira from Sin."

There was a long pause, as Brother looked from Yuna, to Tidus. All three of them knew the question that he wanted to ask, the words he wanted to say, but he seemed to be afraid of saying them. He knew the answer. They all knew it.

"…I'm sorry." Brother said after another long pause, and Yuna thought she saw something glinting in his eyes, perhaps tears. "You are… right, Yuna. I was… Foolish." He looked away, avoiding Tidus's gaze, and stared at the floor.

"Brother, I…" Her voice trailed off. It was just like it had been earlier that morning, only this time it seemed to sink in more. The others who had been watching slowly edged away, all save Tidus and Brother who still stood silently.

"You… love him?" Brother managed after a long moment, still looking at the floor. He said it so quietly Yuna barely heard.

"…Yes." She nodded, just as quietly, though she knew he heard her.

Slowly, Brother turned away, and sat back down in the cockpit, staring out at the sky silently and seemingly completely calm. Yuna watched him for a moment, and tried to convince herself there was nothing she could do to make it better. Maybe things would get better now. Or maybe they'd get worse. Struggling against the emotions, she tried to keep the fact that she had a long day ahead of her in mind. She couldn't fall apart now.

"I guess… no betting?" Rikku asked quietly, looking around sheepishly.

"You bet." Paine said from somewhere in the corner, and when Yuna looked over to her she could almost see the hint of a smile on the warrior's lips. Rikku sighed and rolled her eyes, sitting down in her seat with a loud thud.

"Well that's no fun." She muttered, leaning her elbow on the side and staring off into the clouds.

"Don't worry, you'll get your dose of fun at the parties, ya?" Wakka grinned, seemingly unfazed by the entire occurrence.

"Parties!" Rikku shouted, spinning around.

"That explains why she didn't want to be late." Paine muttered, and Yuna giggled a little, in spite of the mood that hung over her.

"Yah! Yunie, we can all party, after you come back from the council and we're finished beating the pants of the Aurochs!"

"Dream on!" Tidus snapped, though he was grinning as he said it.

"We don't have any time for-" Paine started, but Yuna shook her head.

"I think that's a great idea, Rikku."

Rikku's eyes lit up and Tidus's did as well. "Whoohoo! Party time!" Rikku giggled, clapping her hands together. "I can't wait!"

"Sounds like fun." Tidus said, grinning even wider.

"You bet!" Yuna smiled, twirling around in spite of herself. Paine groaned from somewhere in the corner, and Rikku just cackled.

"Gullwings!" Brother suddenly shouted, and everyone looked over to where he sat. Any look of sadness had seemed to vanish from his face, and he'd gone back to being the usual 'Captain' Yuna had come to known. She smiled a little, as he stood up and waved his arms around as if trying to get their attention. "Prepare to land!" He shouted, pointing towards the elevator, looking as serious as ever. Paine sighed again, as if irritated with his sudden burst of energy and commands.

"Yes sir!" Yuna grinned, saluting a little and Rikku did the same beside her. She could see the start of a smile on Brother's face, before he turned around and looked back out to the window. Below, Luca was already coming into view and the airship began to slow.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Yuna cleared her throat quietly, then regarded the gathered three who were watching her with curious looks on their faces. Nearby on the table, four Comm-spheres lay, both silently humming as they transmitted the conversation back to their holders.

"So… you think this, dream of yours, is connected to the fiends going crazy?" Gippal asked after a moment, tilting his head in curiosity.

Yuna nodded quietly, and waited for the others to speak.

"It's possible…" Baralai said quietly, staring into space with a curious look on his face, as if he were trying to remember something.

"Are you sure it wasn't just a dream?" Nooj spoke finally, raising an eyebrow in question.

"I'm sure." Yuna replied quickly, and the certainty in her voice seemed to end his question. He sighed, then looked to one of the Comm-spheres.

"You said you had the same dreams?" He asked, and in the sphere, Dona's face nodded.

"Yes, but not to the extent Yuna seems to have." The woman replied, shrugging a little. "The dream was just of some… creature, screaming for help. It happened after Barthello and I slew a fiend that was attacking the village. Like the one in Besaid, it seemed mutated, and crazed."

Nooj looked away for a moment, considering.

From another sphere, Issaru cleared his throat softly. "I too, encountered such a fiend, which was trying to attack the High Bridge of Bevelle. The dream I had was… disturbing, but not nearly as vivid as Yuna's. As Dona said, it was merely this creature screaming."

"Has anyone else had these dreams?" Yuna asked, looking around the room.

"Ronso were attacked by crazed fiends, but no Ronso had such dreams after slaying them." Kimarhi's strong voice broke through the silence, and Yuna felt herself almost relieved to hear him. She missed him dearly, he had always been such a good friend and protector to her. When Sin was defeated, Kimarhi no longer had to protect her. At first, he was hesitant to go, but Yuna had told him to go help his people. It seemed he was now bound to that promise.

"And we too, the Guado, have had such encounters. But we have not had any dreams containing such a… creature." Tromell spoke from the last sphere, hesitant and still unsure of his new place as leader of the Guado.

"So it's just the summoners." Gippal crossed his arms, looking over to Yuna. "Only the summoners can hear it."

"And Yuna hears it the strongest because she defeated Sin. Because she was in contact with the aeons." Baralai spoke softly, still staring off into space.

"Are you trying to tell us something?" Nooj asked, turning to look at the white haired man.

Baralai shook his head slowly, pulling himself out of his daze. "I'm not sure. I've never heard of anything like this before. Fiends going crazy… attacking people… then setting off pyreflies that give dreams to the summoners. No." He paused, then continued. "But I have heard of something like this 'screaming' creature."

"Well? What is it? Come on Baralai, spit it out." Gippal sighed impatiently, leaning on the side of his chair.

Baralai looked to Yuna. "The only thing that has enough power to speak to the summoners in dreams, would be an Fayth."

Yuna felt herself nearly jump from her seat.

"A Fayth?" She managed, staring at him in disbelief.

"From the Farplane? But I thought they weren't strong enough to do much anymore?" Nooj frowned.

"They were strong enough to bring that… Zanarkand boy, into Spira." Baralai said slowly, but then shook his head. "But it's not them."

"What makes you so sure?" Gippal frowned, uncrossing his arms and putting them on his hips.

"Because all the Fayth in the Farplane are sane." Yuna said softly, feeling the memory of the dream well up inside of her.

"So you're saying… it's an Fayth, in Spira?" Nooj looked over to Baralai, then to Yuna.

"That's impossible!" Dona cut in. "All the Fayth disappeared with Sin!"

Baralai shook his head slowly. "Not all."

"Not all?" Issaru exclaimed, staring at him in utter shock. "What do you mean, not all? All the Fayth were connected together, they were Sent together!"

"What's going on, Baralai?" Nooj frowned, sitting down in his chair and looking over to the man.

"I'm not entirely sure." He sighed, shaking his head. "It may be… well, there were records, in Bevelle, of all the Fayth who became Aeons to serve the fight of Sin. A few records are… well… when things went wrong."

"With the ritual…" Yuna heard herself say, looking to the floor. The road to becoming a Fayth was no easy task. The person who wished to become one went through great tests of the mind, and finally, through the ritual that would bind them into the stone and into a Fayth.

There was however, many ways the ritual could go horribly wrong, and the person would die, or be trapped in stone, a useless Fayth, trapped but unable to become an Aeon.

"But all of those were accounted for, right? All of the Fayth died shortly after things went wrong. There's no way any could have survived." Nooj said quietly, still frowning.

"It's the only possible explanation." Baralai sighed. "Fayth have power over fiends, to a degree. If somehow, somewhere in Spira, a Fayth were trapped, it would have by now sensed that Sin is gone. That means, no more summoners. That means… no possible discovery, and no summoners. To be free, it has to be sent."

"She's gone mad." Everyone looked to Yuna.

"What do you mean?" Gippal asked.

"The Fayth. She's trapped somewhere, and she's gone mad because she wasn't able to leave with the others. She wants someone to help her… She wants…" Yuna sighed, and closed her eyes. "She wants to be sent, despite all the insanity. But in her struggle to reach someone, she's disturbing the Fiends."

There was a pause, then Baralai nodded. "That might be it."

"I know it is." Yuna opened her eyes again. "I heard her."

Another pause. Baralai looked from Nooj, to Gippal. "We have to find out where she is then, before she gets worse and disrupts the Farplane."

"What harm could she do?" Tromell asked, hesitantly from the Comm sphere. As the only entrance to the Farplane was in Guadosalam, Yuna understood why he would be so concerned.

"First, she could reach the pyreflies. Her screaming would drive them slowly mad, and they'd turn into fiends inside the Farplane. That'd make them more powerful then usual. Then they'd rip their way out, and back into this world. And then…" Baralai looked to the floor. "She'd reach the other Fayth. As Sir Auron said to Yuna… When she reaches the Fayth, we'll really be in trouble."

"Explain." Dona snapped, crossing her arms. "This should be perfectly clear. Stop trailing off your sentences and make it clear."

Baralai frowned, but spoke again. "It means, that if the Fayth are too, driven insane, they'll revert back to Aeons, and… Force their way back into Spira, like they were doing when Vegnagun corrupted them. They'll try to reach the Fayth, but they'll be driven insane first. Then they'll start attacking anyone and everything, trying to stop the screaming in their minds. Just like what happened to the fiends. It may even happen to you, Yuna, if it becomes any stronger."

A long silence hung in the air. Yuna knew the power of the Aeons. If the power was unguided, if it was unleashed on Spira, the destruction would be worse then even Sin. They'd become their own small versions of Sin. It was bad enough the fiends were already more powerful then ever and crazed. With the Aeons adding to their force, Spira wouldn't stand a chance. And if she went mad…

She swallowed quickly, and refused to think about it.

"We have to find her." Yuna stood up, looking to Baralai. "How?"

"We'll start by checking the records in Bevelle. Somewhere it has to say what happened to her, and where she is." He paused, then swallowed. "However…"

'Oh no…' Yuna sighed.

"There is one small problem."

'There's always a problem.'

"What is it?" She asked, aloud.

"Trema took all the sphere records down with him into the darkness of Bevelle's underground. If the record is on one of those spheres…" Baralai's voice trailed off and he looked irritated.

"They could have been destroyed." Nooj completed, with a groan. "This is wonderful."

"We'll go look, anyway." Yuna said firmly, ignoring the fear and hopelessness inside of her. "We have to find it."

The others nodded slowly in agreement. "When will you go to Bevelle?" Baralai asked, as Yuna slowly turned away from them to look out the window of the room. Beyond she could see the Blitzball dome, and if she listened hard enough she could even hear all the cheering. Inside she felt an almost overpowering urge to just simply leave and go over to watch. But she couldn't. She had her duties. She had to help Spira, and it seemed she was the only one who could do so.

'Again.'

"Lady Yuna?" Baralai asked, sounding apologetic as he could tell she was caught up in thoughts.

"We'll go to Bevelle tomorrow." Forcing herself to smile, she turned around to face the three men, and the Comm spheres.

'Remember to smile.' She thought to herself, struggling to maintain it.

"The Gullwings will take care of everything."

Nooj smiled a little, and Gippal laughed. "We keep having to depend on you, Yuna. I hope you're not going to do this for the rest of your life." The Al Bhed laughed, shaking his head. She smiled a little in earnest.

"I was ready to just enjoy some peace and quiet."

"Well, things will only get worse if this isn't solved quickly." Nooj sighed, sitting back down. "This whole mess with fiends has the people scared. Some of the Youth League are pointing figures at the New Yevonites, saying they unleashed the fiends. The New Yevonites say the same things about the Youth League. Gippal's been managing to keep his people calm, but if this continues, it's not going to stay peaceful for very long."

"So everything we worked for, is going to be ruined?" Yuna sighed, feeling quite unhappy again.

"Unless we solve this quickly. Your peace efforts did a great deal, but the threat of these fiends overpowers it. They still believe in you though, Yuna. When they hear you're going to look into this problem, they'll probably start to calm down a little." Baralai cut in before Nooj could speak, smiling a little at Yuna. "Seems you're the official 'Morale Raiser' of Spira these days."

'Why does it have to be me?' She thought silently, still forcing herself to smile.

"Yeah." She said simply, at a lack of anything else to add to it.

"Ronso Youths begin to believe the Guado unleash the fiends, like Guado did before the defeat of Sin." Kimarhi spoke suddenly, directing Yuna's attention away from the three faction leaders.

"Do they want to go to war, Kimarhi?" She asked, feeling her heart sink.

"Ronso listen to Elder, but they are unhappy." He shook his head slowly, and she could see for the first time that he looked rather tired. She couldn't let him down. She couldn't let any of them down.

"Don't worry, Kimahri. We'll fix it as soon as we can."

Kimahri seemed to smile, just a little, then nodded. "Ronso protect Highlands and Gagazat from fiends. Yuna not worry about us."

"Thanks, Kimarhi." She bowed a little, feeling the support from him already. He went silent, and Yuna turned around to Nooj once more.

"So we'll go to Bevelle. Is that all we can do?" Feeling rather helpless, she looked to Baralai and to Gippal.

"For the moment. The Al Bhed will protect as many villages as they can, while the Youth League will try to hunt down the fiends before they reach the area. The New Yevonites spreading their forces between Bevelle and Luca. Things should be alright, for the moment. The fiends are tough, but we can handle them." Nooj spoke softly, a manner of ever calm on his face.

"All you need to worry about, is finding out what and where this… Fayth, is." Baralai smiled, as if to be reassuring. Yuna didn't feel very reassured, but convinced herself it would be okay. Somehow.

"Well, that's not to hard then." She grinned, her cheeks hurting from having to force it.

"We hope so." Nooj sighed, closing his eyes. "But the Bevelle underground is still dangerous. Be careful down there."

"We will." Yuna nodded again, trying to look confident. In truth, one trip down into the depths of Bevelle had been enough. She'd promised herself she'd never go down there again unless she really had to.

'Looks like I really have to.'

"Well, I guess that's about all we can do for now." Gippal sighed, launching himself off the chair and pacing the room. "Guess we better go watch the last half of the Blitzball game, maybe, encourage the morale." He grinned at Yuna, stretching his arms out.

"Sounds good." She smiled, this time without having to force herself to.

~~~~~~~~~~

(A/N: Yay! Blitzball! Um… I'm not a sports person so this part will probably be short and lacking in minor details about gameplay, as I never really COULD get the hang of that darn game. All the player names are the ones I got from those listed in the FFX-2 Offical strategy Guide. Also. Talking underwater, yes I know. But I have no idea how those people hold their breath so darn long, managing to swim around underwater, shot balls around, cast spells, and such, without having so much as go up to the surface for a breath of air. So um… let's just say… you'll skip that fine detail?)

~~~~~~~~~~

'I missed this. They've really improved.' Tidus thought with a grin, as he shot through the water, preparing to catch a throw from Letty. The sun shone down into the water, making everything quite bright and beautifully clear. Always in Zanarkand, they had played at night and the arena had always been lit by lights. The natural lighting of the sun was a refreshing change. It felt more like home.

Catching the ball with ease, Tidus quickly surveyed his position. Close enough to make a goal. Grinning, he swam forward a few meters, then stopped and readied to make a shot. Out of the side of his eye he could see Rikku and Brother fast approaching, working as a perfect team. It seemed to be the only time they worked together and didn't squabble.

Grinning, Tidus ignored them and quickly prepared himself for the shot, calming his mind and focusing on the ball. Making the shot as smoothly as ever, he watched with a satisfied grin as it swept past Shinra and the familiar sound of the goal was heard.

'Second day back, and I'm already playing Blitzball.' He thought as he turned to face a scowling Rikku and Brother. Smirking at them, he swam towards the middle of the arena, as the goalie fetched the ball and readied to set it up again.

"Ready to quit yet?" Rikku shouted over to him, when they were all in position.

"You wish!" He yelled back with a grin, as the timer rang out and the game resumed.

This time, Paine managed to grab the ball. Surveying the area, she quickly prepared to make her shot. Tidus blinked in surprise. He'd never seen anyone try to do something like that. Usually it was impossible to make such a shot. Wakka stood in the way of her shot, but Paine didn't seem to care.

The ball was hit with such a force Tidus felt his ears ring. The ball struck Wakka square on the shoulder and kept on going. All eyes were on the ball as it shot through the water towards Keepa who looked only mildly terrified. He reached to block the shot, but failed within only a few hands of it.

Staring at Paine in shock, he heard Rikku begin to giggle and point fingers at the Aurochs.

"Hah!" She shouted, and Paine showed the start of a slight grin. Tidus smirked back, as he went back into place. So she was strong, but she wasn't that fast. He wouldn't let her get away with that move again. Signaling to Wakka, the two exchanged a small nod, then watched as the ball shot down from the top of the arena.

Wakka grabbed the ball before anyone else could, and started swimming as hard and fast as he could towards the Gullwing's goal net. Tidus followed closely behind, while the other Aurochs attempted to fend off the Gullwings. Wakka readied to make his shot, and as Calli, Cid, and Barkeep started to swarm over to him, he suddenly turned and threw the ball to Tidus.

Catching it smoothly, Tidus turned quickly and shot the ball before anyone had a chance to react. The ball soared past Shinra's head and Rikku started yelling something in Al Bhed. Grinning, he waved his hand at her, which only seemed to make her more furious.

The next ball was not as easy for either teams. Struggling against each other, every attempt at a goal was foiled by the other team. They were running low on time, until the second round started, and the Gullwings were in the lead by one point.

'We have to get it to a tie before the second round starts, otherwise we might lose.' Tidus thought as he watched the ball move around the arena. Shinra was a pretty good goalie, considering his size. They'd been lucky a few times, but the kid seemed to be trying harder now that he knew how good they really were.

'Come on Letty, get that ball over here…' Tidus thought impatiently, as he swam around the center of the arena in preparation for a shot that couldn't possibly miss. The Auroch however, was being pursued by Brother and Buddy, and it seemed clear that they weren't going to let him pass it to anyone, let alone Tidus.

'Come on…' Tidus muttered to himself, watching with increasing worry as Buddy and Brother circled in on Letty. Letty seemed to panic, and looked around for someone to pass too. Tidus waved his arm in the air, but Letty didn't seem to see him. Instead he looked over to Vilucha, who was a lot closer, but also a lot further away from the goal.

Before Buddy could grab the ball, Letty spun around and threw the ball with all his might towards Vilucha, who happened to be looking the other way to Rikku who was swimming nearby. Rikku seemed to noticed the pass coming, and was getting ready to steal away the ball before Vilucha could react.

The ball hit the woman square on the back of the head, and she went completely limp.

'Not good.' Tidus groaned, as the goalie's call echoed through the arena and the game came to a shuddering halt. 'Not good at all.'

Vilucha was removed from the game by the goalie and the medics, but it was clear she wasn't coming back any time soon. Sighing, Tidus looked around the team. The game would continue for the last few moments of the half, but Tidus knew that they'd barely be able to hold the Gullwings off, let alone score any goals, with a missing player.

~~~~~~~


Rikku was smirking as she sat down on the bench, her hair dripping water all over the locker room as she regarded Wakka and Tidus with a leer.

"Hah! I told you, you guys would lose." She grinned, wringing her hair dry as she stretched out her toes.

"The game isn't over yet!" Tidus snapped, then turned back to Wakka and the others.

"Who's our replacement?" Tidus asked, not bothering to even try to dry himself off. He knew the routine. The half period break was never very long, and there really was no point of trying to dry off when you'd just be going back into the water. He found the water somewhat refreshing besides, a nice diversion from the current events.

"We… don't have one." Wakka sighed, and Tidus's eyes widened.

"What?" He asked, unable to say anything else. Behind him Rikku peered over to them, and grinned.

'How can they not have a replacement? Every team has a replacement. I thought Yuna said these guys were getting better…' Tidus groaned inwardly, but kept his mouth shut as he heard Rikku giggle behind them.

"Going to have to forfeit, huh?" She called, but Tidus pointedly ignored her.

"We don't have one, ya?" Wakka scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Belcem agreed to help us this year, ya? But then the fiends showed up, and he had to go help fight with the Youth League. When you joined we had just enough for the team, and we were hoping we'd get lucky, ya…?" His voice trailed off and he gave a loud sigh.

"We can still play, ya? We just have to do it right." He nodded to the Aurochs gathered around him, and they seemed to brighten a little.

"Yeah! That's right, Wakka." Tidus encouraged, though his hopes of winning really weren't very high. They needed all the encouragement they could get.

"But Paine…" Botta suddenly mumbled, staring down at the floor. "She's muderin' us, ya?"

Tidus paused, and looked over to where Rikku was hovering around Paine, chattering endlessly. Paine looked disinterested, and focused on a point on the wall.

"She's not so tough." Tidus grinned, standing up. "We just have to make sure she stays away from the ball."
"Easier said then done, ya?" Letty muttered, holding his head in his hands.

"Hey! We've beaten worse odds then this, ya? Their team is just a bunch of kids, ya!" Wakka nearly shouted, standing up and waving his arms. The apparent depression in his team seemed to disturb him.

Tidus winced as Rikku's voice pierced the air.

"Who are you calling kids?!" She shouted, glaring fiercely at Wakka. Behind her Calli and Brother also glared, though Calli seemed to just be joining in for the fun of it.

"Ya, but…" Keepa started, but his voice trailed off with a sigh.

"Hey! Stop that!" Tidus called, directing the their attention back to him. "What's our goal?"

There was a pause, then they broke out in grins and shouted with him. "Victory!"

Somewhere across the room, Rikku groaned.

"Alright people, game's starting again in five minutes. Start heading out." The goalie suddenly announced, sticking his head into the locker room. Wakka nodded absently, but the goalie didn't leave.

"Something else?" Tidus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah… you guys needed a replacement, right?"

Wakka looked up, and frowned. "Ya… but we're not taking any free agents, ya? We don't want any mixing up of our team."

The goalie grinned a bit, then coughed. "Well, it's not really like that." A voice called from somewhere behind him, and he turned his head. "Alright, time to get moving. Your replacement will be out in a few minutes."

"Replacement?" Tidus wondered aloud, as they walked back towards the arena.

"It better not be one of those snarky Goers playing a joke, ya?" Letty mumbled as they walked, staring at the floor. "What with the way that guy was grinning."

"In any case, whoever it is, we're going to tell them to leave, ya?" Wakka sighed, looking around to his team. "We don't wanna mix up our family, ya?" He added with a bit of a grin, then entered the arena.

As they all gathered into the center, Tidus found himself looking around. No one besides the Aurochs, the Gullwings, and the goalie could be seen on the field.

The goalie nodded to them as they approached, and looked up the clock. Still a two minutes before the game started. He swam off out of bounds and settled down to watch the teams below him.

Tidus sighed and stretched, ignoring Rikku's obvious mockery from across the arena.

"Must have been a joke, ya?" Botta sighed miserably, leaning over in his place.

"Hey!" Rikku suddenly shouted, pointing to the side of the sphere. "Yunie! I knew it! You did come!"

"Yuna?" Wakka and Tidus said at the same time, watching in disbelief as Yuna swam out to the center of the sphere.

"Ha! Who are you replacing, Yunie? How about we kick out Barke-" Rikku started, but Yuna smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry Rikku, I'm not going on the Gullwing's team."

There was a long pause, as Rikku stared at Yuna in horror.

"You don't mean… But Yunie! You're a Gullwing!"

"They really needed a replacement, and… it is Besaid's team…" Yuna smiled, even more sheepishly, as Rikku stared at her in shock.

"You're… leaving us?" She wailed.

"No no, I'm just playing one game!" Yuna sighed, and Buddy laughed.

"Traitor!" He shouted, though with his usual good natured tone.

Rikku just continued to stare at her cousin in horror. Yuna seemed somewhat uncomfortable, but she was still smiling. Tidus could see it was one of the rare smiles. A real one.

"So… mind if I join you guys?" Yuna asked quietly, turning around to face Wakka.

Wakka grinned and quickly nodded. "Sure Yuna! All the help we can get is great, ya! And you're family, besides." Grinning, he helped her over to where Vilucha's spot and then quickly went back to his own. Turning slightly Tidus looked over to her, and he saw her grin a little as she caught his glance. Grinning back, he gave her a thumbs up as the ball began to fall to the center of the arena.

~~~~~~~

'Wow. She's not half bad.' Tidus grinned to himself, as Yuna attempted a shot. Shinra only just managed to deflect it, and she was already moving towards the ball, Wakka keeping Brother and Rikku out of her way.

Treading water, Tidus watched the ongoing event as he waited for his chance at a shot. With Yuna on their team, they'd managed to get to a tie against the Gullwings. Now it was the final few minutes of the round, and the game could fall any way. The Gullwings were fighting harder, but the Aurochs seemed to be even more motivated with Yuna on their side.

But then, she'd always been a big part of their life. She'd grown up encouraging the games, always there watching and cheering. Or so he'd heard from Wakka, two long years ago. Now that she was High Summoner, she seemed to be even more important to them. They were proud, and they didn't want to let her down.

Grinning, Tidus swam to the center of the arena, watching the ball as it bounced between players in a never ending struggle. He'd always found the hectic action of Blitzball almost calming in a way. It filled him with energy, but it made him think clearer. He'd wondered at first that having Yuna play would somehow distract him, but if anything he felt even more at ease.

He really was home. He was back in Luca, playing Blitzball. And there was Yuna. Playing on the same team, smiling broader then he'd ever seen her. She didn't have to go fight Sin, she didn't have to go marry some crazy Maester to bring peace to Spira. All the weight that he'd seen in her eyes had gone. Even the new events with the fiends didn't seem to be swaying her happiness.

As Tidus thought about it, he realized that he liked her even more then the old Yuna. She was so much happier. Free. Laughing. Smiling. Joking. Things she'd never been able to do before, things he'd always wanted to see her do.

'But even so, she's still Yuna.' He thought with a smile, as she passed the ball over to Wakka and shot a grin in Tidus's direction.

He grinned back and waved a little, as she swam after Wakka who was being closely pursued by Calli and Cid.

'I love you.' He thought quietly, as he watched her go. He'd never leave her again. He'd promised her back then, when they'd been in Macalania, after their escape from Bevelle, that he'd stay with her always. Somehow, he'd been given the opportunity to keep that promise.

Any more thought on the matter was interrupted as the action began to pick up again. There seemed to be no more chasing of the ball as the time ticked down, now the teams were striving to make the final shot.

Rikku managed to snag the ball from Wakka, and swam like mad towards the other side of the arena. Just as Tidus started after her, he saw Letty steal the ball away and pass it over to Wakka. Wakka missed it by mere inches, and it was instead grabbed by Brother.

'Oh no you don't.' Tidus thought with a grin, as he pushed himself over, swimming through the water with strong kicks. As Brother turned around to swim towards Keepa, Tidus grabbed the ball from his hands and started towards the Gullwing's goal net. He could hear Brother screech behind him, but he ignored it and swam faster.

Too late, he saw Calli sneak up. Somehow the girl managed to snatch the ball out of his hands, and was already swimming away as he realized it was gone.

'She's not as bad as Paine thought.' He thought with a groan, as Calli threw the ball with all her might towards Rikku.

This time however, Yuna was the one to catch the ball. She looked over to Tidus for a half a second, and he knew what she was planning. Swimming quickly over to the Gullwing's net as close as he dared, he turned to see where Yuna was. She was close, but not close enough to make a shot. Grinning at him, she threw the ball with all her might towards him.

For a few long seconds, it seemed like Cid was going to try and catch it in mid shot, but he over stretched and couldn't even touch it.

Catching the ball with ease, Tidus turned to Shinra. The boy was spread out as far as possible, his head fixed on the ball.

'Just try it, kid.' Tidus grinned, as he closed his eyes and concentrated.

This time, he'd do it.

Knowing there were only a few seconds left until the game ended, Tidus wasted no time in starting the shot. Throwing the ball up as high as he could, he somersaulted and watched it come towards him.

'This one's for you, dad.'

The impact of his foot on the ball echoed through the water with a satisfying slap, as the ball shot towards Shinra like a bullet.

Shinra attempted to block it to the best of his ability, but he wasn't fast enough. The buzzer went off with a shrill cry. A few fast seconds later the time ran out, and the game ended.

As Tidus turned to face the Aurochs, he saw Yuna grinning and clapping. Outside of the dome he could hear the people cheering, but it seemed further away then he could even imagine. He smiled back at her, and it seemed to make the victory even greater.