Tidus and Wakka stood waiting in anticipation for the arrival of the fighter named Auron. Unknown to them, so did the entire crowd in the arena, and Faloss in the middle of the arena. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, you all know him, you all love him, he helped defeat Sin, the world's most formidable and fearsome guardian, Auron!" yelled the Announcer at the top of his voice. The crowd stood silently as the gates opened slowly. The silence in the arena was heavy enough to crush someone as they waited for 'Auron' to come out. Suddenly, a rustle filled the arena and a man dressed in a red samurai gi, with a gigantic sword draped over his shoulder. The bottom half of his face was covered up, preventing anyone from seeing if he was smiling or not.

"It is him!" hissed Tidus.

"You can't be sure!" replied Lulu. Tidus watched Faloss in the arena. Faloss stared at Auron for a second, then his face dropped and he stumbled backwards again. 'Auron' took the sword, then took one step further towards the man, who promptly threw his weapons and ran for the closest wall and started slapping it as hard as he could. Tidus strained his ears, and could've sworn he heard a low laugh, that was as menacing as it was deep. "That sounds exactly like Auron," he said. He heard the rest of the crowd start to laugh, then Auron turned around and looked at each and every person in the arena, as if searching for something. He looked right into Tidus' eyes, and Tidus gave a jolt. "That is Auron!" He bolted forward and jumped the fence into the arena, vaguely aware of Wakka , Rikku and everyone else doing the same. Tidus pushed his way through the throng of people, and made his way right up to Auron. "Auron!"

"Hello," replied Auron in his soft, yet rough voice as a familiar smile washed across his face.

"How did you get back? How long have you been back?" asked Tidus excitedly.

"The Fayths let me back around about the same time as they let you."

"So how come you didn't try to find us?"

"I thought I'd use the time to hone my fighting skills. I haven't been in a fight for a long time. Why?"

"Why? Because we all thought you were dead." Auron simply smiled again.

Stree stood in the almost empty stands, alone but for Kam standing directly behind him. "So it's true," she said quietly.

"Yep. He's back."

"You going to fight him too?"

"If I have to," replied Stree.

"But you don't." Stree turned to look at her.

"Don't start this again."

"Why not?" she asked, her voice growing angry.

"Because it's my choice. Not yours."

"You made that choice because of me, now doesn't that mean that I have some say in it?"

"No!" yelled Stree, bringing his arms up to cover his eyes, which suddenly glowed bright red. He doubled over for a few seconds, while Kam stood there and waited. He stood back up, glared at Kam for a second, then turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?" shouted Kam angrily. Stree just ignored her and broke into a flat out run. "Hey!" She started to move after him, but was stopped by a heavy hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Auron standing behind her.

"Leave him," said Auron.

"What? Do you—?"

"I watched this one as well. He'll be fine. Just leave him."

"But..."

"He'll be fine." He took his hand off her shoulder as Kam's shoulder slumped, then Rikku came running over.

"Hey, Kam isn't it?" Kam nodded. "That was your brother who left wasn't it?" She nodded again. "Is something wrong with him?" Kam pursed her lips.

"A hell of a lot."

"What do you mean?" asked Lulu. Kam shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. He'll be alright in about an hour or so. Say, can I hang out with you guys for a while?" Rikku emphatically nodded her head.

"Sure! Hey, have you met our champion sword fighter?" she grabbed Kam's hand and dragged her over to meet Tidus, who was slowly making his way through the throng of people to talk to Auron again. "Hey, Tidus!" He turned around, Yuna hanging onto his arm. "Say hello to—"

"—Kam Kry'tal," he said, his jaw dropping. Yuna smiled.

"Tidus, are you going to introduce me or do I have to do it myself?" she asked with a small laugh. "Hi, I'm Yuna."

"The High Summoner, I'm honored," said Kam with a smile of her own. The two shook hands, then Kam turned back to Tidus. "Hi, Tidus."

"Kam..." Rikku, looked at the two of them, a confused look on her face.

"Umm, I'm guessing you two know each other."

"I was from Zanarkand, too," Kam said.

"What? Your brother too?" gasped Yuna. Kam nodded. So how do you know each other? Was you brother a blitzer as well?" Tidus blushed, and Kam shook her head. Yuna's eyes popped wide open as she realized. "So you two were, um, that way?" Kam blushed and nodded.

"So, uhh, Kam, is Stree here as well?" asked Tidus.

"He's in the tournament. That Yojimbo guy has the bye next round so you two are up against each other." Tidus paled visibly.

"Scared, huh?" asked Rikku with a mischievous grin. "Well, I can see why, you should've seen what he did to the last guy he fought. Took off his whole arm!" she yelled, cutting her own arm with her hand for emphasis. Tidus smiled.

"Well I think I've gotten a lot better, so he'll have his work cut out for him."

Rikku patted him on the arm. "You keep thinking that. See you in the morning!"