Hello everyone. Sorry I'm so bummed out at the moment but I haven't felt right ever since Tidus disappeared.

Zen: Oh, don't feel so bad. I'm sure that he'll find a way to get back here.

Veronia: -Starts crying again- How am I going to know for sure?

Z: Oh man, she's crying again.

V: Hey, shouldn't you be comforting me or something?

Z: Hmm…Naw. I don't think I will.

Bonk!

Z: Ow! –rubs bump on head- How did Tidus's ever get used to you?

V: He learned to treat me with respect quickly

Z: Fine, fine I'll try that. Why don't you start the chapter already?

V: Fine but I'll do it without enthusiasm. Well everyone, Chapter 19 is finished and ready for you. Now that Rikku is free I'm sure that she'll think of some crazy way to free the others.

Z: I guess that they'll just have to read and find out.

V: No interrupting me!

Bonk!

Chapter 19: Jail Break

"Hey, Tidus, wake up." Zen whispered as he lightly shook his friend's shoulder. "You are not going to believe this."

"Believe what?" Tidus whispered as he opened his eyes slightly. He was a little irritated after being woken up when he was exhausted.

"You have a visitor waiting for you outside." Zen answered while a slight smile made its way onto his lips.

"What visitor?" Tidus was barely able to whisper.

"Oh, he doesn't look to good." A worried voice said from beside him.

"Rikku?" Tidus whispered as he tried to sit up.

Zen placed a strong hand on Tidus's shoulder and carefully pushed him back down. "Hey, don't strain yourself. You've still got to rest a little more before you can do things on your own."

"How-how did you get in here?" Tidus turned his head slowly to prevent the pounding from returning to his temples.

"I just slipped in." Even with the unfavorable situation they were in, Rikku couldn't hide her smile.

"Slipped in?"

"She's small enough to slip through the bars." Zen explained.

"Yunie's waiting for you." Rikku said.

"Yuna." Tidus tried again to sit up.

"Be careful." Zen said again.

"Where is she? Is she alright?" Tidus frantically asked questions, not paying much attention to what Zen had said.

"She's fine." Rikku tried to reassure him. "She's right outside."

"I have to get to her." Tidus mumbled to himself as he tried to push himself up onto his feet.

"Hey! Stop!" Zen shouted as he jumped up to stand beside his friend. He hooked Tidus's right arm around his neck and helped him the rest of the way up. "Don't strain yourself too much. I'll take you too her."

Tidus just nodded to show his appreciation for the help as his friend helped him stay on his feet as they made their way over to the metal gate.

"Yuna." Tidus was so relieved to see that she wasn't at all injured that he moved away from Zen and stumbled a few steps before grabbing onto the bars of the gate in order to keep himself standing.

"What happened to you?" Yuna whispered to him with concern as she placed a hand against his cheek.

"Just exchanged a few words with Garik." Tidus joked as he brought a hand up and placed it over hers. He had been waiting for the moment when he would feel her soft skin against his own but the moment was short lived when Yuna slipped her hand away from his face.

"We've got to get you out of here." She whispered.

"How?" Zen asked, eavesdropping on the conversation.

"Same way I got Yunie out." Rikku said as she squeezed through the bars again. "Or at least a similar way."

Rikku brushed the snow off her knees after she stood back up and then took a hold of the chain that lifted the gate. After a few moments of examining the cliff side she saw a manageable way up.

"You watch for any guards while I do this, okay Yunie?" Rikku started. "They've most likely found out that we've already gotten out and it probably won't take them long to figure out where we are."

Yuna nodded her head and started scanning the area while Rikku climbed. It didn't her as long as it had before since she knew almost exactly what she was doing. When she reached the top she immediately spotted the perfect size rock just a short distance away.

She wrapped the chain tightly around and managed to shove the rock off the edge but there was one problem. This boulder wasn't as heavy as the other one had been so it just hung in the air after it fell off the cliff.

"Uh-oh. This could be a problem." She said as she looked over the edge of the cliff. She saw that the gate had lifted just barely high enough for Zen to squeeze under but it would be impossible for the other three to get by. After less then a minute a plan started forming in her mind.

"Hey Zen!" She called down to him as loudly as she dared. "Come on up here. I need your help."

Zen didn't ask any questions but just started scaling up the rocks to where Rikku was.

"What do you need me to do?" He asked while he caught his breath.

"See that boulder hanging by the chain right there?" Rikku asked as she pointed in its direction. Zen slowly nodded his head. "I want you to jump onto it."

"What?" Zen wasn't sure if he had heard her correctly. "Did you just say that you want me to jump on that rock that is hanging over forty feet above the ground?"

Rikku nodded.

"There's no way I can do that! If I miss then I could be killed in the fall. Why do you want me to do a think like that anyway?"

"Because there has to be more weight added or else the gate won't lift high enough for the others to get out." Rikku started explaining. "Since you're no longer in the cell, I figured that we could use your weight and my weight to help lift the gate enough so the others can get out."

"You're doing it to?" Zen asked and Rikku nodded again.

Zen sighed, knowing that he had no other choice. If a young girl like Rikku had the nerves to jump then he should too. He didn't want to look like a coward in front of a girl.

"Fine, I'll do it."

"You'd better hurry." Rikku said, not the kind of encouragement Zen was looking for. "It shouldn't be long before the Ronso know what happening and we've still got to get the others out of the cell."

Zen just nodded, closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and out before sprinting off towards the edge. He jumped at the last possible second and landed awkwardly on the boulder. The only reason he actually stayed on was because he made a frantic grab for the chain after he landed.

Rikku soon followed just minutes after Zen had steadied himself. She felt the rock sink down a little farther and knew that the gate had to be high enough for the others to get out. She leaned out and looked down to see that she was correct.

As she leaned farther out her foot slipped on the uneven surface of the boulder and she would have fallen if Zen hadn't grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her back up.

"Hey, be careful." He said as he helped steady her. "Wouldn't want to fall because of a careless mistake now."

Rikku smiled to show him her thanks.

"Now the big question is, How do we get down from here?" Zen asked.

The smile was instantly gone from Rikku's face. Her mind raced to try and think of a way down as her eyes looked over the area. It wouldn't be possible to jump back to the cliff. They were too low to catch the edge of the cliff so they would be slamming against the rock side. She only thought of a plan when her sights came to rest on the boulder they were standing on.

"Hold on tight." She said as she reached down and started loosening the chain from the rock. "Look out below!" She called as a warning to the people underneath.

"Oh-no your not…" Zen started but it was too late.

There was nothing more he could do then just hang onto the chain while the boulder he had once been standing on plummeted to the ground. Both Zen and Rikku held onto the chain with all the strength they could muster. If they lost their grip then they would lose their lives.

Luck was with them, as well as a lot of adrenaline, as they opened their eyes to see that they were still hanging onto the chain.

"Come on. We've gotta hurry." Rikku said as she started down as fast as she could. "If the Ronso didn't know where we were before then they do now."

Zen knew the truth in those words and just the thought of being captured by those creatures again made him move even faster. By the time the two made it down to the bottom, the others were already waiting for them. Both Wakka and Auron were keeping Tidus on his feet while Yuna stayed close behind.

"That way very reckless." Wakka said sternly to the little thief.

"There's no time to worry about that now." Auron said before his head jerked sharply to look to the side. "They're coming."

"Quick! This way!" Rikku said as she led the way into a crevasse hidden behind a large boulder. Since Rikku was the expert at hiding it was only natural for her to be the first one to find a hiding place.

The group didn't move a muscle until the Ronso troop had passed through the area on their search for the escaped prisoners.

"We should be safe here for a while." Rikku whispered after the Ronso had passed by and almost everyone had breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone except Yuna.

She was sitting beside Tidus, who had been laid out on the stone ground. She was looking over his injuries but it was difficult in the dim light. She knew that something was wrong with him that couldn't be seen. The cuts along his limbs weren't what were causing his weakness.

There wasn't much she could do about his injuries now though because she didn't have any of her medical supplies with her. The Ronso had taken them all away. She would do whatever she could do though.

She reached behind her and grabbed a handful of snow and packed it loosely into a ball. "Keep this over your left eye." She said as she placed the snow in his hand."

"Why?" He mumbled as he did what she wanted.

"It will help reduce swelling." She answered. "Tell me if anything hurts." She said as she gently pressed down at certain points on his stomach.

He didn't answer verbally but Yuna could tell that he was in pain whenever his muscles tensed.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Zen asked as he sat down beside him.

"No." Yuna answered as she shook her head back and forth. "I know that there's something wrong inside of him but there isn't anything I can do without any supplies."

"So… he can be helped if we get the supplies?"

Yuna nodded. "I had some potions in my bag but we have no idea where they put all of our things.

"Hey! Maybe Kimahri will help us." Rikku said, causing the others to cringe slightly because of how loud it was.

"She does have a point." Wakka said after a few minutes.

"How are we gonna find him though?" Zen asked as he stood back up and wandered over to Rikku.

"Just leave that up to me." Rikku said as she peeked her head out of their hiding place to see if the coast was clear. "If we're going to leave then we better do it now."

"But Tidus's condition isn't good enough for him to be moving around."

"It's alright." Tidus said as he forced himself to sit up even though doing so caused a sharp pain to run through his abdomen. "I can make it. Besides, what other option do we have?"

Yuna rushed back over to Tidus's side. "Be careful." She whispered to him as she gently placed one hand against his shoulder and the other against his stomach.

"But you can't move on your own." Zen tried to argue.

"Wakka and Auron can carry him." Rikku interrupted.

Tidus hated having to rely so much on the others but he knew that he didn't have any other choice. "Alright, let's go then already." He mumbled.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

V: -sitting around and moping- Can you please answer the door Zen.

Z: Fine. –starts grumbling under breath before opening the door- Tidus!

V: -bolts up towards the door- Tidus! Where were you! I missed you so much! –hugs Tidus close-

Z: Hey! Be careful with him! You don't want to injure him before he even gets inside do you!

V: What happened? Who kidnapped you? How did you escape? Are you alright?

T: Whoa! Slow down! First of all, I don't know who took me. Secondly, my loyal blitzball fans found me and helped me escape.

Z: And you just thought your fans were a nuisance.

Bonk!

V: Don't interrupt.

T: And finally, I was just fine until you jumped me!

V: Oops. Sorry about that.

Z: Well, at least we're all together again.

T: Any you Zen! How dare you try to take my position!

Z: You were gone! What did you expect me to do!

V: Boy, boys. You don't have to fight over me.

Z: Wait, is that what we're fighting over?

V: Yeah. What else would it be?

Z: -pauses for a moment- See you later Tidus! –Bolts out the door-

V: Hey! What does he mean by that?

T: Uh nothing. Let's just put this experience behind us, alright?

V: -smiles and hugs Tidus mare carefully- Okay!

Well, everyone out there. It looks like everything is back to normal around here.

T: At least as normal as it will ever be.

V: So long!

T: Yeah, see you all later.

End Transmission