The group in Besaid were all standing together, talking excitedly. Lulu and Wakka were shocked at Tidus' arrival. However, the visit was cut short when the Gullwings recieved a call from Brother.
"Gullwings! To the Celcius!" He said, the static cutting his voice. Paine frowned.
"Why?"
"We are getting a distress call!" Brother replied. Buddy smiled.
"Looks like your friendly neighbourhood Gullwings are back in business!" He said, starting back toward the beach. Shinra, finishing up his repairs, started after him. Yuna grinned and followed.
"We'll be back soon to have a longer visit!" She called to Wakka and Lulu, waving. Rikku ran after Yuna, Paine following and Kairi wasn't far behind. Smiling, Lulu sighed and waved at them as they disappeared out of the village. Arriving back at the ship, Buddy took a look at the location of the distress call. He studied it in suprise.
"Vevon-Baaj?" He said quietly. Paine glanced at him.
"The temple?" She asked. Buddy nodded. Tidus frowned.
"That's the temple that you found me at, wasn't it, Rikku?"
"Ummm...I think." She replied.
"Wait a moment." Shinra called, making everyone stop. "The signal's only being sent to a few specific ships. It's got trap written all over it, and whoever pulled this one off isn't the most experienced of people."
"Who else is getting the signal?" Yuna asked.
"It's being sent to us and...Gippal's ship. It's...a signed signal! The LeBlanc Syndicate?" Shinra said, studying his computer screen. Rikku frowned.
"You think Nooj and Baralai would be with Gippal?" She asked. Yuna shrugged.
"Probably." She smiled. "Let's go take a look. We can teach our little pranksters a lesson!" She suggested, grinning. Tidus looked surprised.
"Excuse me?" He asked, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her toward him, smiling warmly. She looked at him curiously, touching her nose to his.
"What?" She asked quietly. He shrugged.
"You've changed so much." He replied, just as quiet. Yuna's smile widened, her cheeks going a little bit pink.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No, I just wish I'd been here to see it." He replied, smiling back at her. He touched his lips to hers for a moment. Paine interrupted them.
"Well, this is just lovely, but I do believe that the issue at hand is the distress call?" She said. Rikku, Kairi and Buddy tried to hide their laughter and Brother was turning red with anger. Yuna and Tidus both turned red. Still chuckling, Buddy spoke.
"So? We going?" He asked. Yuna nodded.
"Might as well." Paine agreed, smiling.
-
The Gullwings arrived, landed, and all stood looking somewhat lost next to the ruins. Paine looked around, squinting into the gathering mist.
"Doesn't look like Baralai and the others are here yet." She observed. Rikku tried to look through the fog, too. After a moment, she looked at Paine and shrugged in agreement. Kairi was studying the ruins.
"Okay, so how do we get inside?" She asked, wandering toward the water's edge. Looking down, she gasped and stumbled back. Frowning, she kicked a stone. Everyone else was watching her with surprise. Yuna finally spoke, breaking the silence.
"Kairi? What's wrong?" Kairi looked up, alarmed.
"Uhh, I saw a fish." She replied, her voice quiet. Paine and Rikku eyed her suspiciously, while Yuna leaned over to look into the water. She glanced at Kairi, about to say that there were no fish, but suddenly thought better of it. Tidus seemed confused and decided that as long as he was stuck with all girls, he would never be in the know. Kairi looked like she didn't want to talk about it. There was the sound of yelling coming from inside the temple, and right away all of them looked at the wall of solid stone that block their entrance. Without much more thought, Tidus dove into the water. Yuna spun, watching him disappear off the edge. She started to panic, the scene reminding her all too much of the last time he left her. Instantly, she ran after him, disappearing into the dark water only a moment after him. Paine followed quickly, diving carefully to make sure that she wouldn't hit either Yuna or Tidus, both of whom were still invisible in the darkness of the water. Giggling, Rikku cannon-balled in afterwards. Kairi approached the edge, afraid to look down onto her reflection again. She swallowed and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. I was just imagining things. It was my eyes playing tricks on me. Then, she chuckled in spite of herself. My eyes playing tricks on me indeed. The irony didn't escape her, as it was the appearance of her eyes in the reflection that had startled her so. Tidus and Yuna broke the surface of the water, and saw Kairi still standing on the rocky ground. Yuna smiled up at her.
"Come on!" She called, waving. Tidus kicked off gently and let himself float away from the edge on his back. Rikku and Paine broke the surface a second later.
"I know the way in! Follow me!" He called. Rikku and Paine started to swim towards him as he dove back underneath the surface. Yuna shot a last worried glance at Kairi before following. Kairi gasped. No! They can't leave without me! She thought, biting her lip. Taking a last deep breath, she ran for the edge, squeezed her eyes shut in a desperate attempt to avoid seeing her reflection, and jumped.
-
Gasping for breath, Rikku and Paine trudged out of the water, following a very calm looking Tidus.
"Hey, you guys okay?" He asked, obviously teasing them. Rikku stuck her tongue out at him.
"Well I'm soooorry Mr. I'm A Blitzball Player So I Can Hold My Breath For Longer Than You Can." She retorted. Yuna appeared from out of the depth of the water, spouted a mouthful of water out at the three standing on the rocky steps and grinned. Kairi floated to the surface a second afterwards, kicking gently as she relaxed on her back, making her way slowly to the steps. She knew that the water here was shallow enough that her reflection would be practically invisible. This was how the water was that she used to so often swim on the Destiny Islands. Shallow, and reflectionless. She'd never realized how thankful she should have been for that until now. Muffled yelling from within drew everyone's attention. Yuna frowned.
"Sounds like LeBlanc. I think she really is in trouble!" She said, holding her guns out in front of her as she approached the doorway. Tidus gripped his Brotherhood and followed. Rikku and Paine tossed their weapons into the air, as if to get the feel of them, and caught them gracefully, following Tidus and Yuna. Kairi gave her claws a quick inspection, and ran up to the others. Grabbing Tidus' sleeve, she stopped Yuna, Rikku and Paine as well. They all looked at her curiously.
"If it's a trap, they're out to catch the three of you." She said to Yuna, Rikku and Paine. She paused, waiting for them to understand before she continued. "Me and Tidus should stay here. If it really is a trap, then whoever it is would trap you, but we'll still be out here, and they won't be prepared for two more people hiding in the hallway." She explained. Rikku stared at her in wonder for a moment, the grinned.
"Wow, that's smart! Alright Gullwings! Let's go!" She spoke in an excited whisper, itching to keep going. Yuna tried to keep from laughing, beckoning Paine and Rikku to follow her into the main hall. Stepping through the doors, she chanced a quick glance back into the shadows behind the doors where Kairi and Tidus were hidden. Looking out in front of her, she gasped. LeBlanc was sitting helplessly on the cold stone floor, her hands and feet bound and her mouth gagged. Rikku squeaked and Paine stared, her face showing horror for a moment, which quickly passed and was replaced with angry surprise. There was silence, broken moments later by Paine.
"What the hell…?" Her voice was only a whisper, but it was loud enough that LeBlanc heard the noise and turned. She didn't look afraid, despite her current predicament. She did look, however, extremely angry.