Remember: They never found the 'perfect solution', nor did they try. They accepted Lady Yunalesca's request. This chapter is mainly an insight into the other main characters.

BR>.>.>.>.>EAK>.>.>.>.FI>.>.>.C>.>.>.STA>.>.>.>RTS>.>.>.NOW>.>.

The night had been catastrophic. It was cold, eeringly silent, and water dripped about every thirty seconds. It was insane, the solitude- the peace- and the disturbing quiet. And yet, isn't that what she always wanted?

The sun had begun to rise, and with it, four figures. They, so used to getting up with the sun, were shocked at the events fate had handed to them. Two of the figures were females, although they were almost completely opposite.

The younger one was smaller, with sun-streaked blond hair and colorful attire: orange halter-top and green, wavy shorts. She always carried with her a small knuckle to protect herself from fiends, and a beautiful smile to welcome people. Of course, the weapon was used to fend off certain people as well.

As if her alter ego, the other was taller, and more intelligent. Although she wore a long, flowing dress, she was probably dressed skimpier than her counterpart. Her chest was scarcely covered by the fur trimmings of her dress, and above knee length her dress split open, with only dozens of belts shielding her legs. She had long, silk, night black hair tied into a bun and four braids. She wore heavy make-up, with purple eye shadow and lipstick. She carried a doll with her, as if to go along with the stereotypical little helpless girl, but in fact carried a strong weapon.

This woman was also more mature and stern than her younger friend and companion guardian. But, youth's immaturity comes with smiles, laughs, and bliss. Something the black mage secretly wished for.

The younger guardian, Rikku, was awakening. She yawned loudly and deliberately, making sure everyone knew she was awake. She stretched her dainty arms and then plopped back on the floor, legs behind her, and began to whine, "Oh…. Where is he? I wanna go home. I'm hungry!"

Lulu, the magician, snapped at Rikku, perhaps too harshly, "Rikku! Be silent! He mourns over …death. Give him time." She sensed how she had hurt the young teenager and softened her words. "Besides, we still need time to recuperate as well." She implied not only them two, but the two men as well. They were all close friends of Yuna, and her sudden, immoral death stung them all.

Rikku nodded, though still not fully satisfied, and got up. As she began to walk she whispered just loud enough for Lulu to hear, "I'm still hungry though."

One of their accomplices was the first to wake up. Although the most feared, strong, and silent, her had a sense of calmness and serenity about him. He always has sure about his decisions, and didn't regret them. He was different not only in nature, bit his very physical nature stuck him out like a sore thumb. He was about a foot taller than each of them, and he had bulging muscles. He had pure blue fur cover his entire animal-human body. He had a broken horn on top of his cat-like face. He bore fangs and claws on both hands and feet. He was a guardian not only of the Lady Summoner Yuna, but also of the sacred Mountain Gagazet. He was a Ronso, a proud strong race of creatures that guarded Mt. Gagazet for pilgrimaging summoners and guardians. The harsh weather and mountain life had created this muscular giant, and gentle, beast.

The other man of the group was most likely the one that seemed to be picked on the most. He too was muscular and his skin was tanned from a lifetime of living on a beach island. His love was blitzball. But sudden events had scarred his ignorant and blissful state. He was orphaned when he was a toddler, and that forced him to find support, which devoted whole heartily to blitzball, friends, and to Yevon. But he had quit blitzball to become a guardian, watched his best friend murdered by his hero, and saw the true horror of his faith. His life had shattered and he was completely depressed. Even with all the efforts of Rikku, Lulu, and Kimahri, Wakka remained miserable.

Lulu walked over towards Kimahri, skipping over scattered stones and dodging outcropping ruins. She jumped, and hit a rock covered with grime, and slipped. Kimahri, with his swiftness due to his animal nature, wrapped his arm around Lulu's waist and stopped her from landing in the pool of moss, slime, and pebbles. He brought her around, and placed back on solid ground.

"Thank you, Kimahri," was all she said. She grew solemn and then questioned, "How is Wakka?" Her tone was sad, but also as if he would know how to fix it. Kimahri shook his back and forth, and lowered his eyes.

Lulu, saddened by Wakka's continuing depression, sat down on a rock and pulled out an ancient text. She began flipping the old, crusty, aged-worn-yellow pages. She found the section she was looking for and began to read silently.

Kimahri, knowing how Lulu usually wanted her space, turned and strode over towards the Al Bhed who was scavenging for food. She was skipping all over the place, looking around rocks, lifting small ruined walls, peering into the numerous puddles of infested water, looking for some food. She scampered around, and tired from her work and hunger, plus her inability to find anything, she plopped on the ground and tears began to bubble. She began to whine quietly and sniffle.

Kimahri reached Rikku, who didn't notice him approaching. He bent down and picked Rikku up, which scared her almost to death. He cradled her and rubbed her head. "Rikku need to quiet. Rikku not be sad." He stroked her hair for the last time, and set he down by Wakka, who was still sleeping. He motioned his hand and implied to her, 'Wake Wakka up. Comfort him.'

Rikku, being the mischievous and perky teenager she is, felt that she should wake Wakka up in a playful and loud manner. She thought it would be funny. Rikku first jumped next to him, splashing some of the grimy water onto his sleeping body. Next, she began to randomly poke him, from head to toes. That made Wakka begin to stir, and swat at the pesky, and rather annoying, bug he believed his waker to be. Rikku, now giggling at Wakka's rather unusual behavior, stopped for a second and began to whisper softly into his ear, "Wakka…. Wakka…. Wakka…. I am a ghost! WooooHooooWoooo." She tried to sound spooky, but failed miserably, and resembled more of a little toddler than a young teenager.

Wakka now was awake from Rikku's humor intended actions and her laughter. He, though cherishing the bliss and light mood, still pretended to be sleeping. Rikku was surprised that "tubby" was still sleeping, so she decided to try her last resort. She jumped onto Wakka's belly, which caused Wakka to gasp as the wind was knocked out of him. Rikku, though, accidentally fell off and landed in a mud puddle. Wakka, who was laughing and gasping for breath, just pointed at the clumsy Rikku. Rikku was mad, annoyed, and now pouting. Her lower lip stuck out and she moved her eyes as if she was sad. She emitted a low, soft whine, and then stopped. Wakka walked over, now able to breathe, to help his younger companion up. Unfortunately, she had other ideas.

As Wakka was walking precariously over, as not to fall into a mud puddle himself, he failed to notice the Al Bhed's grin. As he stretched his hand out to him her, Rikku flung her arms out, spraying Wakka with the muddy grime. Wakka shouted in disgust and ran over to Rikku. She, completely surprised, began to scream. "Hey, lemme go, ya big meanie!" she began to pound on his back, as he carried her. He then set her down, and as innocently as a twenty-some year old man can look, he twittled his fingers and began to tickle Rikku all over. "Ha ha, gotcha! That's payback!"

Rikku just giggled and began to tickle Wakka's tanned and buffed chest, too. Wakka and Rikku just laughed and tickled for a few minutes, savoring their brief happiness. Finally, they both stopped and awkward silenced ensued. Wakka plopped himself next to Rikku and began to think.

All the while, the big commotion of waking Wakka had grabbed Lulu's attention. She watched, amused but trying to show maturity, masked it. When Rikku jumped on Wakka and then bounced off, Lulu couldn't help but laugh, which was stifled quickly. She than watched, a little nervously, as Wakka and Rikku started their tickle fight. Lulu immediately thought How immature. But, deep down, she wished she was there, playing a tickling game with Wakka. But Lulu could never let him know, it would just contradict everything she seemed to be. But, if acting this way makes me unable to be with whom I want, is it really all that wonderful?

When the tickling died down, she decided that Rikku had had enough fun with Wakka, and now it was her turn. As Wakka was "thinking", Lulu wandered over to them. She caught Rikku's attention and motioned for them to switch places. Rikku thought it was another game, and she nodded emphatically. They then swapped, without Wakka even knowing.

Wakka, now done, began to talk to 'Rikku', "Hey, Rikku, um, I just want-" He was cut short as he realized Rikku wasn't next to him anymore. He was surprised, and blushed. "Lu, uh… sorry. Wasn't Rikku just here, though?"

Lulu laughed to herself at Wakka's confusion. She smiled, something that was rare, and nodded. She hadn't really answered his question, but Wakka figured that was the only answer he was going to get.

"So, Wakka, what were you going to say to Rikku?"

Lulu wanted to know; she wanted to know if she was caught in a petty love triangle. She wanted to know if whom she was chasing was on a chase of his own. She would never tell anyone, not till much later in her life, and she tried her hardest to keep her emotions to herself alone. She now began to question if that was so smart.

'Huh? Oh, Rikku… uh, nothing, nothing," he blurted. Wakka waved his hands back and forth to emphasize nothing. Lulu got the impression he wasn't telling the whole truth, and she imagined that it was somewhere along the lines of her nightmares: Wakka loved Rikku, not herself. Although he hadn't said it, it seemed heavily implied, and Lulu's heart sank. She remembered why she began to hide her emotions. She didn't want others to see her hurt, to see her cry. But also, Lulu thought that by suppressing them, her emotions of hurt, hatred, and jealousy but disappear. In actuality, they only made those emotions more complex and stronger.

Damn it Lulu, you've lost your chance now. All those wasted years at Besaid. Now, he's found someone else, someone younger, more beautiful, more playful. Lulu wasn't one of those people to change herself completely in order to get a certain someone's attention, but perhaps a few minor tweaks wouldn't hurt. The first thing to go would have to be her stoic nature, her suppression of feelings. She knew it wouldn't be easy. But it's worth a shot, right?

She tried to find out if Wakka really was after Rikku and not someone else, but to no avail. She learned more about the 'brother' of hers for countless years, and she opened herself up more to Wakka. Their "brotherly love" might be stronger than they thought, and as strong as they both hoped.

Rikku, who realized the swap wasn't a game, but a chance for Lulu to be 'alone' with Wakka, soon grew bored. Not much to do in a pile of rubble. And while she was thinking of what to do, a particular thought came to her. She shot her head up and counted the guardians. "One… two, three… and me, four. Four… four?" Rikku grew scared, worried, and frantic. She screamed, ruining the peaceful setting, "Hey! Hey! There are only four of us! We're missing… Tidus." This brought question to both the lovebirds' minds, too. Where was Tidus? Had he been gone the whole night?

Rikku was bouncing up and down, completely absorbed in the mystery of Tidus. Lulu, wanting to keep the calm and tranquil mood, decided she needed to step in or things would get out of hand. She stood up, and cleared her throat to get Rikku to stop whining.

"Rikku, please, settle down. He is all right. He just, wanted to say his farewell to Yuna, his love." Lulu whispered the last part to herself. She wanted to keep Yuna's secret, well secret, even though she had perished. It didn't seem right to tell everyone everything. Something told her not to, to wait for a particular opportune moment.

"Well," Rikku pointed out, "I think he's mourned enough! Let's go in there, pick him up, and fly away. This place is starting to get a little creepy." Rikku, not really caring what the other guardians thought of her plan, dashed towards the door to the Chamber of the Fayth. She tried to push it; it didn't work. She tried pulling it, and that didn't work, either.

She groaned, and tried to pull it up, and still to no progress. Rikku pouted and just stood by the mystical door and tried to 'wait it out'. "It has to open eventually right?"

Both Wakka and Lulu were completely shocked at Rikku's rash behavior. She did many things without thinking, but this was treason. Only a summoner is allowed in the chamber, only they can evoke the fayth. To have someone break Yevon's laws would be treason, and they could all be excommunicated. And, with Rikku being Al Bhed, the priests already were looking down upon Yuna. It then occurred to them that Yuna now is dead. And defying Yevon wouldn't matter. Yuna had sacrificed her own life to save countless of others. They apprehensively sat back down, not trying to stop Rikku.

Kimahri walked over towards the pouting Rikku and the door to the Chamber of the Fayth. He nodded at Rikku and crouched down. He put his large muscular feline hands underneath the door and began to heave. It took a few moments for Rikku to comprehend what Kimahri was doing, and once she did, she jumped up and went over to help them.

They continued to push upward. The door gave mush resistance, and many times they dropped the door. They would rest for a minute or two, and then try again. After about a half an hour, the door gave way, and the seal broke. Rikku, who seemed to have boundless amounts of energy, immediately ran into the chamber, calling Tidus' name. She abruptly stopped, and then screamed. Kimahri, Wakka, and Lulu all turned their heads towards the door, Wakka and Lulu looked at each other with wide eyes, and then all three of them dashed in.

"Rikku, what's wro-" Wakka was cut short, for they to saw why Rikku was screaming.

In the center of the stone floor stood a half-naked Tidus. And around him, giving him a humungous bear hug was Yuna. Tidus was glowing, too. A rainbow of pyreflies was dancing through him. Then, Tidus faded, and Yuna let out a heart-wrenching scream. She fell to her knees, sobbing and wailing like an infant. Wakka and Rikku were completely stunned, and Lulu was trying to figure out where Tidus had vanished. Only Kimahri could move. He walked slowly, and gracefully, over to the mourning summoner. He knelt down and embraced her, as a big brother does to protect a younger sister. Yuna's cries grew less loud and frequent until she was only sniffling. She looked up at Kimahri with tear stained eyes. He was hard to make out because her vision was clouded by her cries. Kimahri wiped them and smiled. He picked Yuna up and turned her so she faced her three guardians and friends. Yuna sniffled, and then started to cry again. She ran over to each of them, and hugged them all. Finally she stopped and she looked over to where Tidus used to be. Her eyes held resentment, and she longed to be with him again. But she turned, and she was greeted with smiling faces and high hopes.

This is my life. Devastation destroys, but one can't mourn for long,
Because friends are there to keep me going; to keep me strong.
This isn't the end for my story, and yours still has lots left, too.
When we meet again, I'll be able to say, "I truly do love you"