Okay, so nit exactly a double post... there was about 30 min. in between. (I was eating dinner)

Tales of an Al Bhed Princess

Chapter 5: Remembrance

The first thing Yuna felt was the cold. She opened her eyes in shock, trying to gasp for air. What she got was water…

'What happened?' she thought as she swam the short distance to the surface. Her muscles were sore and her back stung. She was in the middle of the ocean. There were probably fiends underneath her, watching her, waiting to attack.

Her head broke through the barrier the water had created. Yuna gasped for breath. She didn't understand why she was here; let alone how she got here. All she remembered was the sky. She was so close to that sky… and her friends…

Her friends! Now she remembered. Yuna looked around frantically, turning this way and that, trying to find her friends. She didn't see anything. No one was there, and she was stuck in the middle of the ocean, probably somewhere between Kilika and Besaid.

Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. 'What did they want?' she asked herself. 'Why did they have to do this to us? The Calm was supposed to last forever this time.'

Thinking of nothing but her hatred for these intruders, and the sorrow she felt from being torn from her friends, Yuna began to swim. She had no idea where she was headed, but she knew she couldn't stay out in the sea forever.

'What was it he said to me, before he threw me off?' she pondered sadly.

"Don't you dare hurt my friends!" Yuna shouted as one of the masked culprits grabbed her from behind.

"Now, now, ma' lady," the man said all too calmly for comfort, "We didn't come here to hurt anyone…"

"Then why did you come?" she asked in disgust. She hated liars, villains, and traitors above all else. These guys were at least two of those things…

"We came looking for someone… someone very important. We want her to come with us…"

"I'll never go with you!" Yuna shouted, trying to break the man's grip.

"Who said anything about you?" the man asked, chuckling slightly. "You may be the High Summoner, but you're no Princess…"

"Spira doesn't have a princess," Yuna said firmly.

"But the Al Bhed do…" he leaned forward an whispered in her ear.

At that moment she whirled around and broke free, she pointed her guns at the man, her body surging with rage.

"You will go nowhere near my cousin," she hissed.

The man just smiled evilly and laughed.

"Foolish woman, your efforts have all been in vain."

Then he reached out and pushed her backwards. Yuna grabbed on to the edge of the ship, struggling to climb back up. That's when she saw the man lean over her and stare into her eyes. He grabbed both of her wrists and pulled her away from the ship, dangling her in the air.

"The Calm will never come," he said cruelly, before letting her go. The sound of her screaming as she fell put a twisted grin on the man's lips.

'I'm no princess…' Yuna thought to herself. 'Of course I'm not. There are no princesses anymore. None at all. Rikku can't be a princess, either. The Al Bhed don't believe in hierarchy.'

But she was the leader's daughter… 'Does that make her their princess?' Yuna stopped swimming to catch her breath. She couldn't tell how far she'd traveled. But when she looked back, the distance wasn't what her focus was on. It was on the body…

Yuna swam over as fast as she could. Was it one of her friends? Was the person still alive? She found both answers to be yes.

Tidus was floating there, unconscious, but living none the less. Yuna was so happy to see him. Every time she saw him things seemed easier. They all seemed more hopeful than before.

She reached in her pouch and pulled out a Phoenix Down. She released the magical feather into the air and watched as it landed softly on Tidus's chest. Then, slowly, it began to disappear and his eyes started to flicker open.

Yuna whistled, so he would know that she was there, and that she needed him. She smiled as he glanced sleepily at her.

"Enjoy your rest?" she asked playfully.

"Not really," Tidus replied, looking at their surroundings. "Yuna, are we in the middle of the ocean?" he asked, confused.

"Mm hm" she answered, nodding her head. 'He's so cute when he's like this…' she thought. Well, wasn't he always?

"I'm taking our new 'friends' are responsible," Tidus stated, floating peacefully on his back.

"You always were the smart one," she said, grinning. Yuna grabbed his arm and began swimming again. "Now, c'mon. We've got to find the others, as well as dry land."

Tidus nodded and swam after her, but not before adding, "Did you really have to whistle if I was right there?"

Yuna looked at him, still smiling warmly. "I wanted you to come running…"

'Damn, it's cold!'

That's what Gippal was thinking as he opened his eye for the first time in what seemed like years. His entire body hurt. He was dizzy and confused from the fall, well, jump he had just taken. But mostly, he was just pissed.

He sat up and looked at where he had landed. Rocks, snow, grey skies, more snow, more rocks, there was only one place it could be: Mt. Gagazet.

'I was kinda' hopin' to land somewhere warmer…' he thought sarcastically to himself. He had to admit, though, things could be worse. He could have died pulling a crazy stunt like that. He wasn't that concerned with himself, though. He just hoped that she would be all right…

Gippal had seen the gun being pointed at her, but he couldn't help her now. He had already fired. She would never be able to move fast enough to dodge it.

"Cred!" (naughty Gippal, swearing like that!) he whispered to himself as the bullet hit. She fell down only moments later, a look of innocence and confusion on her face.

He reached her just barely too late. She was still alive, breathing weakly as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Bmayca, vunkeja sa…" (please, forgive me) he pleaded as he did the only thing he could think of to save her. He ran and jumped off the edge of the ship…

He began to search for her, hoping she wasn't dead. Her father would have blamed him. And he had the feeling his head was worth the life of Cid's daughter…

She was lying, sprawled out, only a few feet away. Her lips were trembling and blue, her breathing was unsteady, but she was alive, and that was all that mattered.

Gippal walked over to her, shaking his head. He shouldn't have been worried. He knew she would make it.

"You always were tougher than nails, Cid's Girl," he said as he knelt down next to her.

Gippal smiled at Rikku's sleeping form. If it weren't for the bullet wound, you could've thought she was just some girl who had fallen asleep a quarter of the way up a huge mountain. He found himself smiling. He wasn't sure why. He guessed it reminded him of when they were little, when he would protect her from life's little horrors. When they were still in love…

'Geez-us, Gippal, snap out of it! What were you thinking?' he yelled at himself mentally.

"It's just the cold. It's startin' to get to me…" he told himself, shaking off his flashback moment. "It's nothing…"

Having convinced himself that he was losing his mind, not falling for the hyperactive Al Bhed girl there next to him, he decided to get moving. He picked Rikku up and tried to carry her.

"Holy crap, you're heavy!" he exclaimed as he lifted her up a second time. "Remind me to tell you to lay off the pie when you wake up…" he trailed off.

'Wow, I'm giving an incredibly tiny, unconscious girl a hard time about being fat. How low am I?'

With that, he began walking, carrying the girl who would soon be known only as "The Al Bhed Princess".

Being unconscious is the only place in the world where it's completely black. Only certain things slip through the darkness. When these things pass by, the dreams begin. Mostly dreams of the past, to try and help you remember that there are people waiting for you. Memories of the things you care about. Memories of the things that caused you're blackness.

Rikku's dreams started the second Gippal picked her up.

5-year-old Rikku was lying on a pile of sand, watching the clouds pass by as she waited for her dad to come home. Waiting with her was another Al Bhed. He was 6, and was also Rikku's best friend. He was staring at her instead of the clouds.

"Qrah tu oui drehg drao'mm kad pylg?" (When do you think they'll get back?) she asked tiredly.

"Cuuh, E ruba," he responded, "Oui ghuq E ryda qyedenk." (Soon, I hope… You know I hate waiting)

Rikku turned to the boy and smiled. Her blonde ponytail fell across the front of her face when she did.

"Oui'na y hant," she said, cutely. (You're a nerd)

The boy stuck her tongue out at her. This caused her to laugh even more.

"Gippal?" the girl asked.

"Oayr?" he asked back. (Yeah?)

"Bnuseca sa dryd qa'mm pa vneahts vunajan…" she said quietly. (Promise me that we'll be friends forever…)

"Oib, vunajan," he said, grinning. ( Yup, forever) He took her hand in his. "E bnuseca…" (I promise…)

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Rayne-Shadow Goddess