Whoo, is it just me or has it been a month XD Okay, okay, sorry, but stuff has been going on, and it's been pretty depressing, and I just haven't had the time or energy or will or whatever to write. Aaand I'm not even sure this is that good XD I tried, though. My original plan for this chapter was to have all of it be a fight scene, but since it might take me a bit to get back into writing here, I changed it a bit. New review response thing since I've been gone, too, can't wait to try that out! Assuming you all still read this, haha.

Enjoy!

In front of them stood the entrance to the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. One thing, however, caught everyone's eye—the entrance was barricaded off.

"Screw that," Aya said, preparing to blast it away.

"Don't!" Ryuen yelled. "Don't! What if there's really a reason that we're not supposed to go in there?"

"There's some mage in there that can kill us all… yeah, I'm pretty sure there's been a reason for us no to come here from the beginning," Rikku said quietly. Her goose bumps and nervousness seemed to have subsided at the sight of the barricade.

"Could your hunch have been wrong?" Yuna questioned Lulu.

Lulu eyed the barricade thoughtfully. "It's possible… it's just that, this is where her sister died, and this is where it all happened…"

Aya walked up to the barricade and placed her palm on it. She pulled it away quickly as if she had been burned by something scalding hot. "Wards," she said with a wince. "Don't wanna get caught up in those again."

"So she's there?" Paine said expectantly.

"Of course. Either that or it's worth checking out anyway. Someone who can cast a spell like that…" Aya said, voice trailing off.

"So how do we get in?" Meena asked.

"The wards can only keep us from transporting in. If we can get the barricade down, we'll be able to waltz right in," Aya said confidently. She surveyed the barricade for a moment, nodded her head in understanding, and mumbled a few words. The barricade was reduced to dust. "Wait wait, let me check for traps and stuff—" Aya said, stopping everyone from proceeding into the cavern.

After a thorough inspection, they cautiously entered the cavern. Rikku began to say something, but Aya hushed her immediately—'no talking', she mouthed. When they came to the first fork, they split into 2 groups—Lulu, Paine, Rikku, and Aya went one way, while Ryuen, Yuna, and Meena went the other way. Aya quickly instructed Ryuen to send her a message if something went wrong, and they were all on their way.

Before long, Rikku found herself wishing they had stayed together. Aya and Lulu were evidently contacting through small bits of magic—far too small for Kana to sense. They remained on the same page, while Paine and Rikku cast each other occasional glances of confusion. They searched the whole cavern, surprisingly without finding anything or anyone. Near the back, or what they assumed to be the back, they ran into the other three, who seemed unscathed. Something was definitely not right.

"Okay, break the no talking rule," Aya finally said after trying to communicate for several minutes without words. "So, what did you guys find?"

"Nothing," Yuna confessed. "It seems the same as last time we were here."

"Something had to have made the people that live in the Calm Lands close it off," Paine said flatly.

"Well, yeah," Meena agreed. "Kana probably conjured up some type of monster to scare everyone away—"

"Probably," Aya agreed. "So, where is she?"

"Maybe there was a way that we didn't go," Yuna suggested hopefully.

"Doubt it," Lulu said, shooting it down. "This isn't the biggest cavern in the world. I'm doubting we missed something… after all, you guys know your way around here pretty well."

Yuna blushed. "I was just hoping—"

"This couldn't be another illusion…" Rikku said worriedly.

"Of course not," Aya said, dismissing it immediately. "We'd notice… horrible things would be happening."

"I'll bet she used some sort of spell to hide it," Ryuen said.

"Hmm," Aya murmured. "Let's make a more careful round around this thing—make sure we cover ALL the ground. If you run into an invisible wall, let me know… let's go together, okay?"

And so they started back around the cave, making sure they walked over all the ground. At least half an hour later, when they were at one of the dead ends near the beginning of the cave…

"OUCH!" Meena shouted, rubbing her forehead furiously. "I think I found it?"

Aya giggled. She walked over to where Meena was and felt around. "Well, look at that, you did!" she said, fighting back laughter. "Or, I mean, your forehead did."

As everyone chuckled to themselves, Aya concentrated on undoing Kana's spell. "Now," she began as her movements and facial expressions became smoother and more relaxed, "the moment I finish undoing this, she'll know, so we have limited time, okay? Get in and get out is our policy here."

Everyone nodded in understanding. "I think we should rethink the splitting up," Ryuen said. "We have no reliable way of communication that won't give us away."

"True," Aya agreed. "So we stay together, then."

Suddenly, there was a faint popping noise, and the entrance to Kana's cave had finally shown itself. Lulu quickly placed her hand on the handle of the door, and began to turn it. She had been waiting for this moment for what had seemed like years… finding Wakka and taking him home. The thought of dying in the cave hadn't even crossed her mind, though it probably should have.

As the door swung open, it seemed that their brilliant plan had failed already—there stood Kana, poised to attack.

She surveyed the entire party, before her gaze finally came to rest on Ryuen and Aya, who were standing next to each other.

"Such a pretty little family," she said almost tauntingly. "Miss your dear mother, boy?" she said to Ryuen.

"Don't pretend like you don't know my name," he spat at her. "I know you do."

"My my, we talk big for someone who's powers are significantly lower than that of his younger sister," Kana said, this time in a tone that was definitely a taunt. "Ryuen, your mother's blood which flows through your veins is capable of far greater power than you'll ever even come close to exhibiting if you keep going at the rate that you're going."

Ryuen shot a quick fire spell at her in anger, which she easily deflected.

"Don't pick a fight with me, Ryuen," she said warningly. "This wasn't even about you in the first place. This was about—" her eyes fell on Lulu, "—her."

Lulu stared Kana down.

"You killed my sister," Kana said, voice almost trembling with rage. "And now, I'm going to kill you."

"I didn't kill her," Lulu said. "Her death was an accident. Both of our faults. If you don't want to believe it, that's your problem."

"You killed my sister," Kana repeated. "The only person who has ever meant anything to me on this planet. And you killed her. Now, you'll pay."

"I didn't kill your sister," Lulu repeated. "And even if I had, that is no reason to be dragging innocent people like Wakka and Tidus into this."

"Finally figured it out, have you?" Kana asked coldly. "Took you long enough. They were the only means to get to you besides your precious Gullwings, which would be nearly impossible to capture."

Paine looked increasingly angry, and partially proud at this. She clenched her fist over a garment grid—fighting this woman with a sword certainly wasn't going to work.

"Your sister died for what she believed in—she believe in killing Sin!" Lulu shouted. "Why must you look to different people for what your sister did to herself? You cannot blame anyone but her, Kana, and you know it!"

Kana chuckled a little. "Actually, I think you'll find that I can." She narrowed her eyes to stare directly at Lulu. With a snap of her fingers, she unleashed a spell that Lulu had never seen before. She quickly muttered a protect spell to the back round of an immense roar being unleashed by the spell, and the screams of her comrades.

After the roaring noise of the spell had faded, Lulu let down her protect spell, forehead wrinkled with worry. She would never forgive herself if her friends had died… Yuna, Rikku, and Paine were evidently the sources of the screams that kept repeating over and over in her head.

Aya's eyes slowly traveled toward the ground to have a good stare at the Gullwings—already fallen, before the fight had even begun. A quick check of Yuna revealed that they had simply been knocked unconscious from hitting the solid stone wall.

"Still think you can defeat me?" Kana asked menacingly. "You weren't affected by the spell that I created, which means that all of you have some magical property about you…"

"Just shove it," Aya said. "Let's finish this!" She launched an enormous Flare in Kana's direction.

"You learned nothing from our first meeting!" Kana taunted, easily deflecting it. She leaped into the air, and deadly lightning bolts shot from her hands and showered down upon them all.

Meena, it seemed, had a very weak blue shield similar to Aya's translucent red light shield. Ryuen simply bent his fire, which cost him no magic points to produce, to his will, and used it to protect himself. Lulu used protect.

Meena wound up and shot the most enormous ice daggers Lulu had ever seen at Kana. She flinched very noticeably as they bounced off of her shield—bloody gashes were left on her arms. If she was breaking down already, there was no way she'd last through all four of them. Ryuen ran a few steps forward and engulfed her in flames. Aya felt a drop of sweat drip down her temple from the heat of the fire.

All three of the rest of them unleashed a fire spell on her as well, and all prayed that this would be the end of her. As all four of them silently prayed, a huge explosion went off from the epicenter of the flames. Meena's shield was easily penetrated, and she slid backward into the wall, and fell onto the stone floor face-first.

"Meena!" Aya yelled, starting to dash over to her. It was then that she saw something that absolutely broke her heart—her brother, whom she had lost in the explosion, was bloodied and beaten, lying there unconscious on the floor. She assumed that Lulu had met the same fate—she was nowhere to be seen.

Aya couldn't help it—a tear rolled down her cheek. The others had barely lasted twenty minutes, and here she was to face the hardest opponent she had ever faced—by herself.

"KANA!" she screamed, her throat nearly tearing. "I'm going to avenge my mother RIGHT NOW!"

A soft chuckle. "You are, are you? I set this up just this way, you know… I did want to face you again."

"Show your face!" Aya demanded. "Show it now! Fight me face to face, coward!"

The smoke from the explosion had just begun to clear away. "Show my face? I suppose it's only proper to look into the face of your killer before you die."

Aya felt her heart skip a beat. She absolutely knew that this woman was one hundred percent capable of killing her, but it hadn't hit her until just then. "Come out, then!"

"I sense your fear," Kana said mockingly. "Don't want to die, little girl? Step down. You have no choice—you will help me revive my sister, or you will die."

"I won't be part of your plan!" Aya shouted.

A small wind suddenly breezed through, clearing the smoke. Aya saw Kana standing some twenty feet away from her, looking nearly unscathed from their fierce fire attack.

"Are you ready, little girl?" Kana asked, pleasure dancing behind her eyes. "Once I'm through with you, I'll kill Lulu and get my revenge… and the destroy your brother, and that will be the end of your mother's line for good… oh, how I will enjoy this…"

Aya screamed, firing an enormous lighting spell at Kana. Kana dodged, and charged at Aya. Aya wasn't afraid to fight hand to hand with Kana, and that seemed to be the way Kana preferred to start things out. A wide variety of blocked punches and kicks were exchanged between the two. Kana grabbed Aya's left wrist. Aya used her momentum to thrust the heel of her had into Kana's nose. She let out a screech, and Aya wrenched herself free. She socked Kana in the right cheek, and got in a perfect kick to her gut. She kneed Kana in the face, and then kicked her halfway across the cave.

Aya stood there, panting, and swiftly wiped her forehead of sweat. This was far from over, and she suddenly knew it, as she saw Kana pulling herself up off of the ground, wiping a trickle of blood away from the corner of her mouth.

Hmm, what'd you think? Next chapter one BIG fight scene, I hope you're ready, cuz I sure am! I promise I will TRY to get this one in faster! I mean, I have a lot less going on now, but you know... drama... it sucks. Anyway, thanks for reading, I appreciate it!

Thanks again,

Lulala