OhmyGod I'm such a slow updater. Sorry guys… One of these days I'll get the hang of updating quickly. Long wait, short chapter. I'm really sorry, this week didn't go so well for me. Again. Though the chapter is short-ish, it's somewhat fluffy.

Hope this format is alright, me and the uploading program thing haven't been getting along lately. I'll try to make it easier to read next upload if it's a problem... see what I can do at least.

In reply to comments:

YuniX-2 -

The basilisk was not my idea, it came from FFX-2 itself. When in the underground of Bevelle in FFX-2, you DO 'meet' Yunalesca as a spirit, and she turns into the basilisk described. At least, that's the impression I got when I played that part. You defeat her, but after that she turns up as a random monster, so I thought it would be fitting to stick her in this. I'm glad you like the story and my writing… it's great to hear positive remarks. As for my updating, don't worry, I'll never go more then two-three weeks without updating. hides Well… two weeks. I'm not going to stop writing this, rest assured. If I don't update for months, it'll probably mean I'm dead or my computer exploded … and I really hope either of those don't happen.

Elle -

Your comment really cheered me up out of a uber bad day… thanks for sharing. I'm so glad my story has a positive effect. Andd you're welcome.

Neon-Ronin -

Glad it was inspiring. I'm always so happy to hear that I somehow helped someone with my writing… and don't say that your writing isn't half as good, everyone writes differently! And I like your story.

Thanks again to Golden Rose3 for being my beta and fixing things up.

Thank you ALL so much for the wonderful comments, it means soooo much to me. I see writing as my only 'talent' as it were… and when I hear people enjoy reading stuff I write, gives me a bit more hope in it all and my silly life in general. Thank you, and please don't stop. :)

FFX and FFX-2 don't belong to me, though I think I've mentioned that before…

Two last quickie notes – My mailbox was stuffed with viruses the other day, so I had to delete a bunch of stuff… if I accidentally zapped a real e-mail with all of them, please resend, preferably, with 'Fanfiction' somewhere in the title so I know it's real mail. Thankies.

Second – I'll be away for the next few days, so the next chapter might take a week or more to get finished. Sorry, school thing.

Enjoy, and please comment.

'

--- Chapter 13 ---

"YUNA!"

'I'm really getting tired of hearing that.' Yuna sighed, as she pulled herself up and off the elevator. Brother was running towards her, looking horrified and alarmed at her no doubt exhausted state.

"I'm fine. But Paine's hurt…" She looked behind her, to the warrior. She was so pale, she looked almost white. The wound on her leg was oozing blood again and looked terribly infected. But even though they were out of danger, Yuna was in no shape to try and help her.

"We'll get her to the medical bay. She'll be good as new after a night's rest and a bit of patching up." Buddy attempted a smile, though he looked as though he'd been worrying as well. Now his face seemed to show relief, though because his eyes were hidden under thick goggles, it was hard to tell. He walked over to Paine, and with Rikku's help, got the pale warrior on her feet. Brother helped as well, and by the looks of it, was supporting Paine for Rikku. But Rikku refused to let go of Paine, looking as though it was her fault the warrior was wounded in the first place.

"I can walk." Paine hissed, but Rikku shook her head firmly.

"Don't be so tough! You can't walk and you know it." The Al Bhed berated, ignoring Paine's protests as she and Brother began to inch towards the chamber's exit.

Paine sighed, and underneath a growl, Yuna thought she heard a strangled 'thank you'.

"Phew." Yuna said aloud quietly, watching the four slowly leave the room, Paine looking as though she wanted to bite someone from both the pain she was in and the humiliation of being carried.

"My thoughts exactly." Tidus sighed, looking more tired then she'd ever seen him.

"I'm never going back down there again." She shuddered, not even daring to look behind her at the elevator. Twice was more then enough. If she never saw it again, it'd probably be too soon.

"Don't worry, you won't have to." He smiled encouragingly, and she attempted a smile back. "Yunalesca can stay down there with her fiends, and Trema, and whatever the heck else is down there." He added, a small glint of laughter sparking in his eyes. Or perhaps it was more relief then anything, giddy relief that they were out alive.

"Let's go." She smiled a bit more, feeling her legs wobble under her as she started to walk towards the doorway. Every moment she stayed awake, the more she felt like collapsing on the spot. She was almost worried she wouldn't make it to the Celsius.

As she walked, she felt a hand enclose on hers, pulling her gently along. She looked up at him, still smiling. No matter how tired, no matter how many battles she'd just fought, seeing him there beside her managed to cheer her up. And he seemed to look almost the same way at her.

But she knew she couldn't dwell on those thoughts yet, gently chiding herself. No matter how much she wanted to. She had to take care of this Fayth problem first, and now, she knew where to at least look. Soon it would be over, then she could relax and be happy.

Tidus seemed to notice the change of her thoughts, and his eyes looked worried.

"Yuna…" He said quietly, starting to frown. "Don't think about it right now. You deserve a break."

Yuna sighed, and looked ahead of them. They had entered the grand entrance hall of Bevelle. It was no welcome sight to her, she was glad they were leaving. No one was to be seen, not even the many priests who usually stood 'guard' over the area. How strange. She was almost starting to become concerned when ahead of them, Brother pushed open the doors to the outside.

It was night.

She blinked in surprise. They'd been down there… that long? No wonder Brother had seemed so worried… They'd been down there all day. Perhaps more.

It was with the realization of how much time had passed, that Yuna finally understood the pain in her stomach she'd been ignoring. She was hungry. Starving, at that.

"I sure hope you guys got dinner ready." She half smiled as Rikku passed Paine over to Brother and fell behind to where Yuna and Tidus were walking. Buddy grinned back at them, as they walked into the courtyard entrance to Bevelle.

"Don't worry, we've got everything out for you guys."

"Thanks, Buddy." Yuna smiled the best she could, as another yawn threatened to surface.

"I'm just going to hit the sack. I'm so tired." Rikku mumbled, her eyes half closed and looking as though she was having trouble picking up her feet to just keep moving.

"What about food?" Tidus tilted his head.

"That's what breakfast is for." The Al Bhed yawned widely, stumbling a bit as they began up the ramp of the Celsius.

"Suit yourself." Buddy shook his head with a grin, as Rikku broke off from the group and headed down towards the cabin. "You guys go on and eat, me and Brother will go take Paine to the medical bay."

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Yuna asked, feeling almost useless, though she knew it was only because she was tired and her mind was starting to go blurry.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of her." Buddy kept on grinning, while Paine shot a dangerous look at both him and Brother.

"I don't need any help…" She muttered grimly. "I can take care of myself."

"Oh stop your boasting." Buddy chuckled, starting down another hallway, him and Brother still supporting the injured warrior. "Everybody needs help sometime. Learn to be gracious about it."

Paine went silent, but Yuna could see the warrior was thankful, her eyes showed it, even if her frown didn't.

"Well, let's go eat!" Tidus said rather enthusiastically, with more energy then Yuna felt she had in her. She yawned again and blinked blearily at him.

"Maybe Rikku's right…"

"No no no!" Tidus shook his head, and Yuna inwardly wondered where he'd suddenly got the energy from, as he grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hall. "Food first, then sleep!"

"But I'm so tired…" She wasn't one to complain, but she felt like she was going to collapse.

"You'll feel better, really! Whenever I finish a Blitzball game, and I'm really tired, I eat, and I just wake up completely!"

"I don't want to wake up…" She muttered, swallowing another yawn with her hand as they entered the elevator. As she blinked the yawn away she looked over to Tidus, who was, though looking quite tired, grinning from ear to ear. "Aren't you tired?" She asked, frowning.

"Yeah, but, we did it!"

"Did it?" She blinked. She really must be tired. "Oh. The sphere. Yes… I'm happy too." Another yawn. She really did feel happy, and relieved. But he looked positively giddy. With a small smile, she realized he really hadn't changed at all.

"Oh. Wait." He stopped suddenly, grabbing her hands. "We have to get you fixed up first."
She looked down at the cuts. They'd healed over, a little, and they'd stopped bleeding. After everything that had happened, she'd forgotten all about them. Now that she was looking at them, the faint pain became more evident.

"I'll be okay."

Tidus frowned at her. She blinked and looked away. Okay, maybe she wouldn't be.

"This can't wait either. Let's go to the medical bay and go get something for it, then go eat."

Her legs wobbled at the very thought. "Okay." She said meekly, knowing there was no point in arguing at all. Not that she was upset with him for directing her around, it was just she really didn't know how much longer she could keep her eyes open.

"Come on." He smiled, with a somewhat quieter tone of voice. Together they walked back down the hall, Yuna leading the way in something of a daze, until the finally reached the medical bay. As they arrived, Brother and Buddy were leaving the doorway.

"I thought you were eating?" Buddy raised an eyebrow.

"Yuna needs help." Tidus pointed to her hands, and Brother's face went white as snow in horror.

"YUNA!"

She winced.

"What happened?!" Brother near shouted, grabbing one of Yuna's hands carefully and inspecting the cuts.

"We were sorting through sphere shards, and I… was careless." Her voice spoke on it's own accord, and Buddy frowned.

"Sphere shards?" He asked, sounding somewhat surprised and uneasy.

"Trema… destroyed all the spheres he collected." Yuna replied softly, remembering the piles and wincing at the thought.

Buddy went silent, and looked away. He was a sphere hunter too, he understood the importance those spheres had meant to Spira's past.

Brother however, did not seem to share the same concern. "We must take care of these right away!" He pushed Yuna into the medical bay, and she found herself squinting at the bright light. Tidus and Buddy followed close behind, and Paine looked up from her bunk.

"Oh, not you two again." The warrior grumbled, looking warily at Brother and Buddy, rubbing her heavily bandaged leg absently.

"Yuna is hurt! We don't care about you right now!" Brother snapped, dragging Yuna over to the table and pushing her down into a chair. She obeyed quietly, vaguely aware of Tidus sitting down beside her.

"You don't care about me? Oh I'm touched." Paine rolled her eyes and flopped back down on the bunk, staring up at the ceiling with a sour expression.

"You guys have fun, I'm heading to bed." Buddy yawned, waving a little as he headed back towards the doorway. "Brother, don't forget to pilot the ship out of Bevelle before you go to sleep. Don't want any of those Yevonites getting ideas about taking a tour."

Brother muttered something in Al Bhed absently, then plopped down a jar of strange, blue goo, and a handful of white bandages.

"I can do it." Tidus cleared his throat, and Brother scowled.

"You don't know how to do it!" Brother snapped, uncorking the jar with a resounding pop.

Yuna nearly jumped at the sound.

"Oh yeah?" Tidus glared, grabbing the jar.

"If you guys start that again, I'm going to come over there and knock you both out senseless and Yuna can do it herself." Paine growled from across the room.

A moment of silence hung in the air, and a silent battle was waged. Finally, defeated, Brother stood up abruptly and stormed out of the room.

Yuna looked after him with a sigh, then back over to the goo. "I could do it myself…"

Tidus didn't say anything, but gently took her hand and started applying the blue stuff. Despite it's appearance, the goo seemed to work quite quickly, and already the pain in her hands was beginning to ebb.

The feel of his touch on her hand however, dragged her out of her half-awake fog. She swallowed absently, looking over to where Paine lay. The warrior had rolled over to face the wall, and seemed to be sleeping quietly. For a reason she couldn't place, Yuna felt relieved. She looked back down to her hands and winced as he applied another layer. He stopped abruptly and looked up at her.

Before he said anything, she shook her had softly, then relaxed her hand again. After a moment's hesitation, their eyes looking into the others, he continued, more careful this time.

As she watched him, she couldn't help but feel her thoughts reflecting back to the past. She'd never thought she'd see him again. She had wanted to so badly, but… somewhere, inside of her, she had accepted the fact that maybe she never would.

She was so happy to be proved wrong. But even with all the happiness she felt of his return, the relief that when she looked, he was by her side, a fear lingered in her heart. Would it last? He had disappeared once… and she knew he was still what he was before. A dream. A dream of the Fayth. Did that mean he would disappear… again?
She closed her eyes tightly. She didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't ignore the thought. What if. She didn't think her heart could take it if she lost him again. Not after so far.

Yuna opened her eyes, realizing Tidus had stopped applying the medicine, and had even finished bandaging her hands with the white cloth.

He was watching her, with a worried look on his face. As she stared back at him, it was if some silent message passed between them. Somehow, he knew, what she was thinking.

Gently, he took her hand in his, and kept watching her. He wasn't smiling, the look of worry still was in his eyes, but his face also held a serious tone.

"I'm not leaving, Yuna." He said quietly, and she swallowed uncomfortably. The thoughts were so painful, alone.

He smiled a little, that energetic smirk entering his eyes. He was trying to push those thoughts out of her mind again, trying to distract her. Just like he had so many times back when… He pulled her up out of her seat carefully, and together they walked out of the medical bay.

"Now, we go eat." Tidus grinned, when they were safely in the hall and out of Panie's hearing. Without saying another word, he headed towards the elevator, still holding tight to Yuna's hand. She yawned widely in spite of her attempts to stop herself, and offered no resistance. There wasn't much point, and besides, she was really hungry. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a bite to eat before collapsing.


To say he was starving, would probably be an understatement. Hungrily, he grabbed various items and spoonfuls of what he presumed to be food, onto his plate. Yuna watched from across the table, looking somewhat amused, as she herself carefully dished up a small plate of food.

He grinned at her, sheepishly, as he put down a serving spoon and went to work on the plate of food.

'Ohh… this is great.' He thought happily, as he took a huge bite of… well, whatever it was. Yuna was carefully spooning the stuff into her mouth, a lot slower then he was, and still looking as though she was going to collapse into her plate at any moment.

"You're right, I do feel better now." She said after a few moments had passed, the silence only broken by the sounds of Tidus eating as fast as humanly possible.

"Told ya." He grinned wider, swallowing hastily as he reached for another dish of food.

"You'll choke." She smiled a little, sounding amused.

"Nah, I do this all the time after Blitzball." He shrugged absently, shoveling another spoonful of food into his mouth. Tried to ignore the memories of Zanarkand filling his mind. "This stuff is great. What is it?"

She blinked, and peered over the pile of dishes. "I'm not sure."

"Ah, doesn't matter. Tastes good." He grinned some more, and piled more on his plate. She giggled aloud.

"Aren't you stuffed yet?" She managed through a quiet giggle, staring at the pile of dishes beside him.

He didn't say anything, but kept eating. She shook her head a little, then looked away. He could tell by the look in her eyes, she was thinking again. Thinking about things neither of them wanted to say, or ask, or even think about.

But she was. She was thinking about it too much, too often. But then, could he blame her? He couldn't hide from it either. They both had to face it, not like last time. Last time they'd ignored it, and… that hadn't been a happy memory.

"Yuna…" He said quietly, putting down his fork and pushing aside the dishes.

She looked back at him, her eyes glistening in the light. "I'm sorry." She whispered, looking down to her hands in her lap. "I can't help it. You're back, but… I'm so… afraid."

He got up quietly, and before she could say anything more, was by her side, taking her hand and pulling her up. Hugging her tightly, he buried his face in her soft hair.

"I don't want to lose you again." He heard her whisper, and he felt a tear slip down her cheek. She was tired, and she was thinking about things neither of them wanted to talk about. They'd have to face it one day, but… now wasn't the time. They had a problem to solve first. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

"Yuna, you remember that promise I made, in Macalania?" He said after a moment of silence, still holding her tightly.

Slowly, she nodded. "Yes." Her voice sounded almost as if she were saying, how could she ever forget? He couldn't either.

But still, he wanted to repeat it. He had to, for her, and for himself. Maybe somehow it'd make everything better. Maybe it would…

"I'll stay with you. Not until the end. Always."

She shook a little, and hugged him tighter. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He said softly, letting her go somewhat hesitantly, and brushing a strand of hair from her eyes. She looked up at him and smiled a little, though her eyes were still sparkling with wet tears.

"Don't cry." Tidus smiled again, trying to look encouraging. She nodded slowly, and he saw the effort it took from her eyes to make herself wipe the tears away with a bandaged hand. "I'm back."

She hugged him suddenly again, as if she was suddenly quite afraid of him disappearing into thin air. He held her back just as tightly, trying to reassure her, though unable to quell the fear in himself.

They embraced in silence for a long, hanging moment. He felt at peace, even though he knew it wouldn't last, and the thoughts were still lingering.

"Can we… talk a little?" She said after a long silence, tilting her head to look up at him.

He smiled gently. "Sure."

Tidus saw her look around slowly, around the cabin's darkened state. Above them, they could hear Rikku snoring away in her bunk, and Barkeep was no doubt sleeping in his kitchen as usual. Looking a little ways into the corner, he could see the chocobo and Calli sound asleep, side by side. Why the girl insisted on sleeping next to the bird, Tidus couldn't understand, but then, Yuna had said they were important to her. She didn't want to lose it.

"Can we go up?" She said softly, looking back up at him. Granted, there really wasn't any chance of them being heard in the cabin, what with everyone asleep, and the Celsius humming away in the background. But he understood the reason. It didn't matter if the others couldn't hear them, she still wanted that privacy. Like that time in Macalania.

"Aren't you tired?" He raised an eyebrow, watching her soft features as she shook her head in reply.

"I'm feeling better now. I… want to talk. We haven't really had a chance…"

'Without being interrupted by something.' He finished in his mind, and nodded. "Roger."

She smiled at the word, and he saw memories reflected in her eyes for a moment. As he watched, Yuna turned away and headed back down the hall, towards the elevator. Quietly, he followed, throwing one last glance of his shoulder to make sure they hadn't woken anyone up.

The trip to the deck was uneventful, and fast. Yuna knew her way around the Celsius well, and it seemed even though she was tired, she was drawing energy from somewhere. Quite the contrast to how she'd appeared just a little while before. But he knew it wouldn't last, and soon she'd have to sleep.

Until then…

They sat on the deck together, staring up at the stars as the ship slowly moved through the air, no doubt on a course out of Bevelle's skies. Because it was going so slow, the wind was light, and Tidus could barely tell they were flying at all. The stars above them stayed in their place, sparkling brightly down at them beside the moon.

They spoke mostly of what had happened. That time that seemed so long ago when they'd first met, and where their journey had taken them. All the adventures they'd encountered, the people, the battles they'd fought. They avoided the conversation of the Fayth, the Aeons, and the dreams. Yuna didn't want to talk about it anymore, not yet, and frankly, he didn't want to either. They talked about the happy times, not the sad ones. Perhaps the memories were just memories, the past, perhaps like Trema had seemed to believe, the past meant nothing. But somehow, he could see that it was making Yuna happier, to remember, and to see him beside her.

It made him happier too, happier then he could ever remember being.

The lingering fear however, never did leave the air, the entire time they talked. And all the questions, of the dreams. Of the Fayth. How had this come to be?

Tidus looked over to Yuna, and took her hand. She looked over at him with a question on her face, which soon disappeared. She looked tired, more so by the minute. But happy. He never wanted to see her sad again.

"You need to go rest." He said after a moment, then stood quickly and helped her up.

"I'm okay…" She whispered, then her legs wobbled.

He grabbed her to stop her fall, and she managed to regain control of her legs. "Yeah right!" He grinned, shaking his head. She smiled a little, then blinked slowly.

"Come on. Let's get you to bed already." He picked her up before she could protest, and carried her towards the elevator.

"But I'm fine, really!" She managed, but he wouldn't hear it. She sighed as they stepped into the elevator, and she hit the button to go down. He wouldn't take no for an answer, and she knew it.

Wrapping her arms around his neck she closed her eyes, and buried her face in his shoulder. She looked so angelic, so peaceful. So happy. Gently, he carried her out of the elevator and headed towards the cabin. She looked as though she was already half-asleep, though trying to fight it.

As he walked into the cabin and up the stairs, he recalled the last time he'd carried her. That hadn't been a particularly happy memory either. She had just finished her long prayer to the Bahamut Fayth, in Bevelle, and she'd collapsed from the effort. She'd also been wearing her wedding dress…

He had to bite his tongue to keep himself from glaring at the thought of Seymour. That was in the past. He was long dead. He shouldn't be thinking about it anymore.

But it still lingered. That kiss Seymour had stolen from her, in that horrible nightmare of a 'ceremony'… Tidus tried to calm himself down, as he gently sat down on one of the bunks and laid Yuna down. That was all over. As he looked down at her face, her eyes barely open, he couldn't help but smile.

She rolled over a little, then looked back up at him. He smiled a little more, then started to stand up. One of the other bunks was free, he'd sleep there.

"Don't…" He barely heard her, she was so quiet. She caught his hand softly and her eyes said more then she could have possibly said. She was still frightened. Terrified, and tired. Not of the screams, not of the dreams, but of him not being there when she woke up.

Sitting back down, he stroked her face gently and kissed her. She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder as he lay down beside her. Wrapping an arm around her gently, but firmly, he watched her face. Within a moment she was fast asleep, breathing quietly, her face relaxed and peaceful.

For a moment, he wondered if he should leave her, what with the others around and them being in the middle of the cabin. But, he couldn't bring himself to, nor did he really want to. Holding her tighter he closed his eyes and surprisingly, fell asleep quite quickly.