Howdy everyone out there in cyber space! It's time for the next chapter in this FFX series. I know that there is at least one person who wanted Auron to come back. I won't say your name (and I hope you're reading this) but you should know who you are. (At least I hope you know who you are. You didn't leave a real name... oh well) I want to thank you for being so persistent on having me keep Auron in the story. To tell you all the truth, I was originally going to have him be sent.

T: What! You were going to send Auron!

V: shrinks back a little Well, I was, but that was before I realized that there are so many Auron fans out there. Personally, I'm not one but that doesn't mean that I should disappoint anyone else by keeping him out.

T: Get on with the chapter already.

V: Oh right! I do not own anything from FFX or any other Final Fantasy. Now that's done. On with Chapter 11!

T: I thought you weren't going to do those legal writings anymore?

V: I lied! On with the story!

T: Hope you like it.

Chapter 11: Understanding

"Is there anything I can getcha?" The bartender asked as he wiped a dirty rag over the countertop.

"Huh... what?" Tidus wasn't paying all that much attention to the barkeeper. He was more interested in the table hidden away in the corner of the bar.

"Drinks?" The bartender persisted as he leaned farther over the counter.

"Oh, uh, no thanks."

He stood up and grabbed Wakka's arm before he had a chance to down his third drink. Wakka looked up from the bar and saw the look of surprise mixed with budding happiness on Tidus's face.

"What is it?" His head was starting to buzz from the alcohol he had consumed.

"There's someone here I'd like you to meet." Tidus answered as he pulled Wakka away from the bar. "Someone I think you'll know."

Wakka was even more confused then he had been before but he followed on anyway. Maybe this new person would be able to answer a few questions... or just create more. It was hard to tell in a place like Zanarkand.

Tidus pushed through the still growing crowds of fans that surrounded him and made his way over to the man sitting alone at one of the corner tables.

"Auron?" Tidus asked as he approached the silent man.

When the man looked up a look shock appeared on Tidus's face. "Auron! What are you doing here?"

"I was waiting for you." The man at the table stated calmly.

"What are you talking about?" Tidus paused for a moment. This conversation was really starting to sound familiar. "Why would you wait for me in a place like this?"

"Because I knew that you would come here."

Tidus was even more confused. "You couldn't of known I would come here. That's just impossible."

"It must be possible since I was sitting here; waiting for you."

"Just a lucky coincidence." Tidus mumbled to himself while slowly shaking his head back and forth but he let the matter drop. "It's great seeing you again."

He looked over to Wakka and saw that he was standing with his eyes wide and his mouth partially open.

"Trying to catch flies?" Tidus joked, although there was an overabundant amount of flies in the tavern.

Wakka blinked several times and rubbed his eyes in disbelief as he was brought back into reality. "Sir Auron?"

Auron nodded and even more questions flooded through Wakka's head, but there were too many he wanted to ask and they all came out as one long blurb. Plus, adding the fact that his speech was slurred from the drinks didn't help with people understanding him.

"Hey, hey, slow down." Tidus said as he placed a hand on Wakka's shoulder. "I've got questions too but let's wait until a little later to ask them." He looked back over to Auron. "I think Yuna will want to know that you're around."

Auron just smiled slightly. "So... you've already found her, I see."

"Guess he doesn't know everything." Tidus whispered to himself.

The three of them left the tavern as fast as they possibly could with so many blitzball fans gathering around after hearing the news that the star player of the Abes and the captain of the Aurochs were in 'The Unsent'.

They headed down the road so fast that it would have been believed that Sin itself was chasing after them. Surprisingly, Auron was the fastest of all three of them.

"Not bad old man." Tidus said when they stopped at a fork in the road. "Where to now?"

"Your call." Auron stated before leaning against a building wall for the long wait. It would take a while for Tidus to decide.

The blitzer looked down both roads. One went straight back to the blitzball stadium and the other led to several more split roads and to his home. He could either go back to the stadium and get Yuna, or go back home and surprise her when she came back.

He turned back to the other two. "This way." He said while starting down the road to his house. He knew that he wouldn't be able to resist the look on her face when she came back to an unexpected guest.

"Didn't think you would make your decision so quickly." Auron said while getting up from the wall.

"Ha ha." Tidus continued down his chosen path. "Just follow me."

He led then down several smaller streets and crossroads until he came to the docks. This was where his home was. If he hadn't been leading the way then the other two probably would have gotten lost.

"Home sweet home." Tidus announced as he entered. "Make yourselves comfortable."

He watched as Wakka walked over and slowly sat down on one of the couches. Not looking at all like he was relaxed. Auron just leaned against the wall.

"Uh... can I get you anything?" He asked, looking to both Wakka and Auron.

When the both of them shook their heads he sat down on another couch opposite Wakka. The room was quiet for several minutes before anyone said anything. Tidus knew that he had to start this conversation. He wanted some questions answered before Yuna returned. There would be too many questions asked at once when she came so he had to find out as much as possible before she came.

"So, uh... Auron, were you also in the dream?"

Auron laughed a little at the question. "It was hardly a dream."

"What?" This didn't seem to make any sense to him. "What do you mean 'hardly a dream'?"

"Just what I said." Auron said dodging the question.

"Sure seemed like a dream to me." Wakka replied.

"Did it really?"

Wakka looked down for a moment before answering. "Yeah... I mean, I guess so."

"Or did it seem like reality."

"That's the way it felt for me." Tidus answered, vividly remembering his heartbreak when he thought that he would never see any of his friends or loved ones again.

"That's because it was reality." Auron stated. When all he saw were blank stares he felt the need to elaborate.

"What!?" Wakka jumped forward in his seat.

"You mean another world?" Tidus was trying to figure it all out in his head.

"Close but not quite." Auron said calmly. "It isn't actually another world but it's probably the best way to describe it though."

Wakka suddenly remembered all of his other teammates. "How many other people had this dream?"

"It's hard to say exactly." Auron moved away from his spot and stepped in-between the two blitzball players. "Although it would be safe to assume that most, if not everyone, experienced this alternate reality."

It was mind boggling to Tidus that so many people could have gone through the same thing he had gone through. Did anyone else in this world experience anything similar to what he had gone through? Were there any other people who experienced the same love loss he had felt? It was impossible to know.

So that means everyone I met in Spira is around somewhere. Tidus thought before another question entered his mind.

"Does anyone go into this world more then once?"

Auron chuckled slightly before answering. "Everyone has. Every night in fact."

"What? That doesn't seem right. I only remember being there once."

"People go there every night." He knew that he had to explain more. "Most of the time people misconstrued these trips to this reality as dreams. Actually, those are what dreams really are."

"But then how come I don't remember ever going there before?" Tidus interrupted.

Auron ignored him and continued on. "However, these visits are blurred and usually forgotten before the person wakes up. That one time there was a flux in the boundaries between the two worlds that allowed people to pass through more easily."

"Are people passen' through physically or is it just some kinda mental thing goin' on?"

Auron shrugged his shoulders. "Nobody knows."

"Does Spira really exist?" Tidus knew that it was a stupid question as soon as he asked it.

"Course it's real, ya." Wakka jumped in. "Where you think I'm comin' from?"

Tidus's face turned red from embarrassment and could only rub the back of his neck and shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Is it anything like the other reality?" The question was directed more towards Wakka.

"What! You meanin' you've never been outside of this city?"

Tidus shook his head back and forth and noticed Wakka's slight smirk.

"A whole world out there an' you're just stayen' here, surrounded by nothin' but steel an' cement."

Tidus just sighed and waited for Wakka to actually answer the question.

"Yeah... Mostly. I mean, the places are the same but it feels different."

"Feels different?"

"Yeah..." Wakka rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to think. "It's kinda hard to explain but I guess you could say that there isn't as much magic in the air as there was in the dream."

The questioning went on for several more hours, but not much more was answered. What they did know was that everyone met in Spira truly existed. That, as far as Wakka or Auron knew, there were no summoners. The odds were high that everyone else they knew was somewhere else in Spira instead of just in Zanarkand.

"Do you know what this means?" Wakka asked, moving forward in his seat.

Both Auron and Tidus nodded as one. "It means that if we want to find everyone else we have a lot of traveling ahead of us and an even larger area to search." Tidus elaborated.

"Yeah, being if we're gonna search for em."

"How can you say something like that?" Tidus was shocked that Wakka would even suggest something like that. "Of course we're going to search for them."

Wakka just dropped his head and sighed. He suddenly looked up when he heard the sound of a key clicking in the lock on the front door.

Tidus stood up and moved over close to the door to see Yuna's expression when she saw Auron (and to catch her incase she fainted).

"I'm back." She announced as she walked through the door.

"Hey." Tidus moved in front of her to prevent her from seeing either Wakka or Auron. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired." Yuna sighed as she tried to step passed him, but Tidus quickly intercepted her and stopped her by placing a kiss on her cheek.

"But at least you back home." He whispered into her ear.

She smiled and moved forward into his waiting arms. "That doesn't mean I'll get any rest." She whispered back.

"You should know that we have company before you start thinking thoughts like that."

"Guests?" She moved farther away from him and tried to look over his shoulder, but he prevented it. "You mean Wakka?"

"The grin spread wider on Tidus's face. "One of them."

"Really? Then who's the other?"

Tidus stepped aside to reveal both Wakka and Auron standing close together.

Yuna stood wavering slightly. Only Tidus's hand on her shoulder kept her upright. Her eyes were wide in shock and her mouth hung open for a second before she realized what she was doing and stopped.

"Sir Auron?" She whispered and Auron nodded in acknowledgement.

It was too much for her at this moment. The shock, built on the weariness, took its toll on her. She wavered a little more before she started falling down to the ground.

Luckily, Tidus was quick enough and was able to catch her before she fell to the ground.

"Yuna, Yuna are you alright?" Tidus asked her as he shook her slightly.

He didn't get any response from her. She was unconscious.

V: Well... that's it for this installment. Sorry it isn't very long, but i think there's a lot of information in it. I also have to apologize for it taking so long to get on, but I was faced with a very difficult problem. I was banned from most Internet sites for a while.

T: What! Why? Have you been going to those naughty sites again?

V: I told you... I don't DO that!

T: Anymore.

V: Shut up!

Bonk!

V: That wasn't the reason!

T: rubs new bump Then why?

V: sigh If you must know it's because my families computer kept getting bad viruses after I went on... multiple times... and I was banned from going on this site or any chat rooms those were the only 2 places I've been)

T: So what changed?

V: Well... now I have a computer of my own (actually, the old one) and can get as many viruses on it without anyone else complaining!

T: Interesting...

V: Not really.... Well, all you fans out there (you'd have to be to be able to put up with my constant lateness of chapters) I'm sorry for always being late so don't kill me or any loved ones (by loved ones I meant any video-game characters). Please just bear with me for a while until I can get my act together. Good-bye.

T: See you all later... I hope.

End Transmission.