Chapter 16: Hide and Seek

"Wake up young miss." Came a soft voice.

I fluttered my eyelids open and saw a blurry outline of someone sitting next to me. I squinted to make out the person and realised that it was Seraph. Now I remembered. He had taken me away from the city and taken me…

I sat up abruptly from my lying position on a bed. I looked around at my new environment. I was in a dark place, which was lit only by the fading moonlight, shining through a tiny window at the end of the bed.

"It's okay…you're safe…like I promised." He assured as he handed me a glass of water, which I shook my head at. I wasn't going to fall for anymore of these people's games.

He placed it back on a table beside my bed while I stared at him, not knowing what his plan for me was yet.

Did he really want to help? Or was he simply luring me into his trap?

"You look tired, you should get some sleep." He instructed as he rose from his seat beside me.

I looked up at him from my position on the bed, very unsure of his motives.

"Why are you helping me?" I whispered as I stared at his back, which was covered in the top half of a sentinel uniform. Usually as soon as I saw anyone with that uniform I would run, why wasn't I running now? Was it because I had in fact begun to trust this man? Or was it because I had given up?

I couldn't figure out which possibility was the right one from being so confused. My head was spinning and I knew I should have a drink, but not until I found out why he was hiding me away…helping me…when I was the supposed enemy.

"Because I believe that you're innocent." He said not turning around to face me.

I couldn't believe what he had just told me. He actually believed that I wasn't an enemy. But what had I done to make him think that way?

"Why?" was all I could breath as I began to slowly pull me bare feet over the left side of the bed, letting them touch what felt like wood below.

I stood up from the bed and waited for his answer in the shadows of the room.

"Well I…" he trailed off not finishing his sentence, as he flew his hand to his ear and moved toward what seemed to be a door to the large room, mumbling under his breath.

What was he doing? I thought; as I felt the building of trust that had been growing inside of me, rapidly crumble to the ground.

I ran to the window and attempted to crawl through it. I was halfway through, when I felt my legs being taken under one arm, while the other was pulling my stomach back into the room.

"Let me go!" I yelled at him, reaching down to grab a gun from my holster, only to find that I no longer had any weapons.

I became frantic at the thought that I had been caught and kicked my legs up and down, struggling to free myself from his grip.

"You're not…going anywhere." He said holding onto me even more tightly.

After minutes of struggling he pulled me back through the window, causing me to fall onto his firm body as we both fell to the ground. I leapt up quickly and fumbled around through the darkness for something that I could use to defend myself. My hand rested on what felt like a staff in the corner of the room.

Perfect.

I pulled it from its position leaning against the wall and held it just under his chin as he lay there on the floor pathetically.

"Now tell me your little scheme. Who were you just talking to? I know you were talking to someone so don't even bother wasting my time with lies." I demanded as I inched the staff closer to his neck threateningly.

My eyes began to adjust remarkably well to the dark and I noticed that he stared at the weapon worriedly.

He raised his hands up and said, "I wasn't talking to anyone."

"I thought I told you no lies." I yelled as I pressed the staff against his throat feeling the vibrations of his gulp run up the pole.

"Okay okay…I was just telling my men that I was heading back and…that I hadn't found you." He said looking up into my eyes through the dark.

He seemed to be telling the truth, but I wasn't sure if I should believe him, so I tried to frighten him a bit before backing off.

I pressed the staff deeper into his throat so that he couldn't breath and whispered, "You know how easily I could kill you right now don't you?"

He nodded as his face turned red, which I was somehow able to see through the shadows.

I waited until he was almost inches away from fainting and then removed the staff away slowly, bringing it to stand next to me. I watched as he gasped and coughed for air desperately. I then walked over to the table, (the staff still in my hand), beside the bed keeping my eyes on him the whole time, then picked up the glass of water and walked back to kneel at his side.

I handed him the drink and said, "It's okay…you're safe."

It felt good to be in control. I usually always was in control in the night. But that had only been for the last two years and everything was different now.

He took the drink and eyed me with curiosity and fear. He was the second sentinel tonight to fall by my hand. But I hoped that I wouldn't have too many more encounters such as this.

He wiped his mouth and gasped, "Where'd you learn to fight like that."

I stood to my full height towering over him and said, "That's my business."

I then turned towards the door to see where I was exactly. I rested the staff beside the side of the door as I looked out. I saw the tops of the trees greet me. I thought that was rather strange and looked downwards, only to see the forest floor several feet below. I gasped and stumbled back, thinking of what could have happened if I had casually walked outside the door.

I bumped into something. Spinning around to see that it was Seraph, fully recovered. He frowned and said, "Well I have to go now. I'm expected to be at my post." He explained as he brushed past me.

I stood in the same spot facing the room. I didn't know what to do. What if he brought his men back here? But I guess that was a bit stupid of him if he did that, when he could easily take me back himself right now.

I suddenly felt grateful as I realised that whatever his plans for me were, he had at least given me a chance. I turned around to say, "Thank you."

He stopped in his tracks, looked over his shoulder and said, "Don't mention it." and with that he jumped out of the doorway, causing me to run to the door in shock. I thought that he had lost his balance and fallen. But as I saw him land on both feet in the small clearing of the forest floor below and run off, my fears subsided and I wondered why I even cared.

But how had he landed without even hurting himself? And if that was the only way to leave it meant that I was stuck here. I would surely die if I tried the same technique.

Then it hit me. He had trapped me here. He had purposely brought me here.

But what did he plan to do with me, if he said that he wasn't going to turn me in? I hated to think of it.

I was heading away from the arena back through the crowd once more. Not caring if I crashed into people on the way. My business was more important.

"MOVE PEOPLE!" I yelled as I tried to squeeze past them.

They didn't seem to really take notice of me. Didn't they know who I was? Or didn't they care? Either way they were being disrespectful and I could have them seized for that.

"PEOPLE IF YOU DO NOT MOVE OUT OF MY WAY YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!" I yelled once more and began to notice a few people had moved aside, looking rather annoyed at the fact that I had stopped them from having a good time.

But if I didn't do what had to be done, they wouldn't be partying for a very long time. I needed to get to the forest. That was where the sentinels had run to on the screens. I would meet them there and insure that the girl was caught and taken back to where she belonged.

The people in the street moved out of my way gradually as I pushed my way through, constantly shouting. I came to the edge of the crowd finally, without having to stop for any fallen kids on the way this time. Once free I began to pick up my pace as I ran back the way I had come from, except this time turning left in the direction of the forest instead of my temple.

A few people looked at me curiously as they watched me run past, but I kept running anyhow.

&&&&&&&

A few minutes later I stood at the edge of the forest. I thought how strange it was that this was the place I had saved the girl from the previous morning and now I was hunting her down like an animal. I ran through the first row of trees, hoping that I would meet up with my sentinels soon and that they had already caught the girl.

Memories of the girl played around my mind on the way. She had looked at me so longingly back at the Zanatorium with those stunning bi-coloured blue and green eyes…almost as if she had really known me. Well I guess I had known her at one stage to when I was in her dream world. She had come back to haunt me once more, just to remind me of my painful past. She wanted to bring turmoil into my world, now that I was finally free of her.

But why after two years had she come back?

I couldn't really remember what she had meant to me before I had come back here. Maybe she had been an enemy in my past as well and she was trying to take advantage of the fact that I had lost my memory. Trying to pretend that she was innocent, so that I would trust her and then she could hurt me once again.

It was frustrating not being able to remember anything, but I guess it was for the best in a way. I had to get on with my new life without sorrowful memories.

After a while I came to a clearing and looked around. There was nothing but the soft breeze rolling gracefully off the leaves on the trees. I ruffled my hair back out of my face and gazed over my surroundings, wondering why it wasn't yet occupied with sentinels.

I left that thought lingering in midair as I ran off again further into the forest. As I brushed past the outstretched branches in front of me, I managed to receive several cuts on my hands and material torn from my cloak.

Damn thing always got in the way.

After what seemed like an eternity I finally heard voices up ahead. But I shouldn't seem too pleased to see them when I approached them. As sentinels, they were failing to apply themselves to the job professionally. They shouldn't have had any time for talk; they should be keeping quiet so as to not make themselves known to the girl if she was around.

I came closer to a tree and peered around it as I heard the voices come from the other side.

"That master of ours is pretty stupid if you ask me." Sneered one voice.

"You're telling me…I saw that girl with my own eyes when the master brought her back from here. Damn she was fine." He said sounding like he was frothing at the mouth.

I frowned at this little conversation and waited to hear one of them stick up for me. I was especially concerned with the way they spoke about the girl. Would her beauty, which I had in fact noticed, stop them from doing their jobs?

When I heard no more from them, I appeared from behind the tree to stop them in their tracks, arms folded and eyes as cold as the grave.

"Master…" a few gasped, startled by my sudden appearance.

I glared at them, waiting for an explanation as to why they didn't deem this mission serious enough, to actually do their jobs.

"Yes I know who I am…what I don't understand is why you're lurking about in here, when the girl has still not been found." I said seriously prompting them to give me an answer.

"Uh…we were on our way master…I can assure you." One of them replied sounding quite unconvinced of his own words.

"That's not good enough. You should have already been searching the city. I saw you having a little laugh at your friend, up at the Zanatorium grounds. If you had of been doing what you were supposed to that little incident wouldn't have happened. I mean why was he even in the forest by himself in the first place without support?" I questioned, becoming infuriated with their attitudes towards the situation.

"He went into the forest by himself willingly. He didn't listen to us when we said that we had to enter together. And how did you know about that anyway?" Another explained, his voice shaking a little, as if afraid that I would have their positions as sentinels taken from them. Which I was in actual fact considering.

"Oh I have my sources and believe me I will use them against you if I feel the need to. Now if you do not make it into the city in sufficient time, starting from now, I will know." I said looking over each face briefly, as they all nodded understandingly, and ran off around me towards the city.

What I had just said wasn't exactly true. I wouldn't know what they would do on their way to the city because Auron didn't have any cameras in the forest, and until I went back to view the screens of them entering the city, their moves would be unknown to me. But they didn't know that.

I couldn't believe that I actually had to give them a scare, for them to do what was required of them.

Who did they think they were working for?

As I walked further into the forest into another small clearing, I felt something wasn't right.

As I sat on the side of the bed thinking about my home in Bevelle, wondering if I'd ever get to see it again, a warm feeling of some sort washed over me. I turned my head to peer over my left shoulder at the door behind me. Something was luring me towards it, as I rose to my feet and walked over to it. My eyes were transfixed on the doorway as my feet dragged along the wooden floorboards carelessly. Once at the door I dropped to my knees and looked down and saw a sight that I didn't think I'd see again for a while. 'He' was standing there in 'his' long, black, gold-trimmed cloak seeming somewhat confused. I giggled a bit but was quick to cup my hand over my mouth, as if trying to trap the dangerous laugh. I held my breath, daring not move as I waited to see if 'he' had in fact heard me.

I relaxed after a few minutes and let out a slow, quiet lungful of air, feeling my pulse start to race, as if to catch up on missed heartbeats.

'He' wasn't doing anything except standing there, so I let my body fall into a lying position on my stomach, my left cheek resting dreamily on my hands, as I wished that 'he' could stay that way for a bit longer, until I had to face reality once more.

Suddenly 'he' began to look up and my eyes widened, as I scuttled back into the safety of the hideout.

As I raised my head towards the sky above, after carefully looking around for fiends, I saw something move at the top of the tree on the left of me. I guess it could have been nothing but a bird but I didn't want to assume anything.

So I decided to climb up and examine it for myself. I walked over to the bottom of the tree and tried to get a grip in a crevice somewhere. It was hard to see anything in the dark, so I fumbled my left hand, like a blind man, over the trunk of the tree. Finally my hand rested in a gap that would at least give me a boost. So I gripped onto it firmly and kicked off the ground with my right foot, which instantly shot me up a quarter of the way. I looked down for a second, just to make sure that everything was still safe.

As I lay on the floor of the hideout, I desperately hoped that 'he' hadn't seen me. What would I do if 'he' found me? I knew that 'he' would try to recapture me. But I knew that no matter how badly I wanted freedom, I couldn't fight Tidus. If 'he' came here I would have to let 'him' take me. There was no way I was going to hurt 'him' or let 'him' hurt me. But I guess if I hid somewhere…

My head suddenly turned to look around the room desperately. I needed to hide somewhere and fast. But there was nothing here except a bed and…the window.

It was my best chance and I had to at least try.

So quietly I rose to my feet, tiptoed over to the window and began to pull myself through as fast as I could. My body slipped through quite easily this time, seeing as there was no one on the other side trying to pull me back. Once I had pulled my feet through, I landed on a branch that felt sturdy enough to withstand my weight.

But what if Tidus looked through the window? What would happen then?

I had to venture further up the tree for both our sakes. So I began to step forward carefully, arms outstretched on either side to balance myself, daring not to look down.

At last I had reached what seemed to be an abandoned hideout. I saw a bed and small table on the side. I frowned as I saw that the moonlit, white sheets on the bed looked like they had been slept in recently, or at least had something laying down on them. I walked over, carefully making sure a fiend or the girl (not that there was much difference) didn't suddenly pop out from the shadows.

I reached down to touch the sheets and realised that they were warm. I brought them to my nose to smell them, for it could have simply been an animal.

However, as the scent entered my nose, I couldn't help but feel that I had smelt something like it before. It was quite mind puzzling as I tried to place it. My eyes suddenly wondered over to a window on my left. The moon was shining right through and I swear the scent of whatever was just in this room, lingered out towards the window itself.

What was I becoming? I felt like a wild animal after sniffing out his prey. I slowly waltzed over to the window and stared out. Once again there was nothing but the wind. I pushed my head out to take a closer look. I squinted through the darkness, which was only lit by the pale moonlight. I suddenly spoke.

"If you're out there, know this. When we find you, which we will, you will be taken to Mt. Demise on the full moon. That's in three nights from now. If we do not find you and you are not there at that time, your punishment will be more severe. I can assure you. Please…for your own sake…do it for yourself, either way you will die." I finished, taking one last look at the view in front of me.

Had my words been for nothing?

I couldn't help noticing that I had become a little concerned for the girl herself. I actually warned her that it was best for her to do as I said, for her own sake. Since when had I suddenly become so worried if the girl in fact made it to Mt. Demise in time? If she wanted to have her soul rest uneasily for all eternity that was her problem. Well it should be her problem. But I couldn't help but feel that maybe I was perhaps wrong about her.

No Tidus stop thinking stupid things. Get a grip. She's done this to you once before, she can do it again, but this time you won't let her.

I nodded and turned away from the window, walking back to the door. After taking one last glance over my shoulders, I jumped from the door and landed below expertly and straightened out my cloak, heading back towards the Zanatorium, not even realising that I probably had just had her within my grasp and had let her go.

I sat up high in the tree and once again dared not breath or move an inch until I knew I was safe. I let out the air trapped in my lungs and sighed a breath of relief. I reached my right hand up to hold onto a branch and rested my forehead on it with closed eyes.

"That was too close." I whispered and opened my eyes once more.

I had seen 'his' face through the window and had seen the look in 'his' eyes, when 'he' had practically told me to turn myself in for my own sake. 'He' showed what seemed to be feelings of sadness and concern for my wellbeing. Perhaps 'he' himself didn't even mean it. Maybe 'he', just like me, was just tired and wanted to go home to sleep. Sick of the whole reality that seemed like a nightmare.

For a moment, I wished that we were playing hide and seek and 'he' would come back through the window, smiling at me and whispering softly, "I found you."

But there was no point in causing myself further pain over fantasies. Lulu was right. I should stop dwelling on fantasies. It wasn't good for me.

I suddenly thought of Lulu and Wakka for the first time since arriving in Zanarkand. I missed them so much. I guess I had taken their part in my life for granted. Thinking that they would always be there, no matter what. But where were they now? It was all my fault. I had run away into a world and time that had no place for me. I had no place in Tidus's heart anymore, so if I wasn't welcome there, I wasn't welcome anywhere in Zanarkand.

"I wish I never even existed." I cried, as I buried my face into my hands, letting go of all of the feelings I had felt, for everything I cared about. I want to die by Tidus's hand. He told me that I was to be at Mt. Demise in three nights time by the full moon. Until then I would keep myself hidden away, wanting my eyes to gaze upon him one last time before I died.

But did I have the strength to do so?

A/N: Okay so there you have it…chapter 16. I'm not even halfway through the story itself yet believe it or not. A lot of Yuna Tidus stuff is coming don't worry. I am dieing to type up three chapters in particular that shouldn't be too far away. I think that they will satisfy you very well.

Enjoy!

Yunie Tidus