So, since it has been almost six months since I've updated this fic, I decided to actually finish the chapter. Actually, when I opened up the document, it was already done! I guess I just wanted to sit on it for a few weeks...but...YAY! FINALLY chapter 8 is up. This fic isn't going to be much longer, I'm thinking three more chapters, including the epilogue. The only thing I have left to write is chapter 9...and I have 10 and the epilogue already finished. THEN I can continue posting The Little Voice, because I do have another chapter written for it that I'm rather fond of. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I PROMISE never to make you wait this long again!


8. Blurry

"So, what do we do now?" Rikku asked, verbalizing the question that it was obvious that we were all thinking. None of us even looked at her as she said it; we were all trying to hard to think of what the answer was. Once we got back to the hospital, Yuna told her and Gippal the whole story. She conveniently left out the last thing the soldier said, so I decided to leave it out as well and bring it up with her when she and I were alone. "Okay, let's not all answer at once now."

"I know, Rikku," Yuna finally said as she sighed and stood up. She walked over to me and kissed Ari on the top of her head before speaking again. "I don't think there is anything that we can do except wait it out and see what happens."

"Wait it out?" I couldn't help but pretty much explode at her. I even felt Ariana jump in my arms from the tone in my voice. "Yuna, think logically here."

"I'm trying to!" She cried with a frustrated exhale. As she looked away from me, Ari started to whimper and she grabbed my shirt to get closer to me. I knew she was scared because Yuna and I rarely spoke to each other like that, so I rubbed her back with my hands to calm her down. When I looked back at Yuna, she was rubbing her temples with her fingers and pacing back and forth. "I just don't know! I don't know what's going on. I don't know why things are happening this way! I used to be the level headed person in this kind of a situation and I can't be that person when I can't even think straight!"

"Yunie…" Rikku said quietly to get Yuna's attention. Yuna whipped her head up toward her cousin and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I just…" She trailed off as she sat back down in the chair by Rikku's bed. "Nothing is making sense and I'm just so confused."

"Everything is making perfect sense and you don't want to admit to it." I am so glad that Gippal was the one who said that and not me. "I've tried to be nice, Yuna, but by the description you gave us, he was a Yevonite, or New Yevonite, or whatever. Yevon's up to something and you know it."

"I wonder if Baralai knows anything," I said, hoping that Yuna wouldn't explode at Gippal. Thankfully, she didn't say anything, but the only responses I received contained shrugging of shoulders. "I guess not, knowing he was fired and all."

"Maybe Nooj knows what's going on," Yuna muttered, looking down at her fingertips. I heard Gippal let out an exasperated sigh and Rikku slumped her shoulders. "You two are getting out the hospital today, right?"

Rikku nodded and looked over at Gippal. "At least that's what they told us while you two were gone. I can't wait to get the hell out of here so I hope it's soon."

"Good," Yuna continued as she resumed her pacing once again. "Okay, so in the mean time, why don't I call up Baralai and we can arrange to meet at Mushroom Rock Road?"

"The Youth League headquarters?" I asked, rubbing my forehead with my fingertips. "Again, I don't mean to be skeptical and all, but do you think that's wise, Yuna? Gippal, Nooj, and Baralai all in the same place? Hell, with you there as well, the Yevonites will strike gold when they find out where you are."

"Not if they don't find out where we are," she pointed out with a sigh. "Besides, we'll have strength in numbers. It'll be all of us and the members of the Youth League if anyone wants to cause trouble."

"All right," I said reluctantly, adjusting Ari on my hip. "Well, why don't we go call Nooj? Rikku and Gippal, you two can catch up with us when you get out."

Rikku nodded and said, "Works for me! It shouldn't be too long! I think the nurses said they would check up with us at about six and it's five thirty now. We can give you a call when we're given the okay."

"We'll keep in touch," she said, holding up her sphere cell for emphasis. "Take care."

I opened the door for Yuna and remained quiet the entire way to the elevator. What was I to say? I had a tendency to open my mouth and say the wrong things at the wrong time, so I made the right choice to stay quiet. Yuna was so on edge that she would've leaped 12 feet in the air if a leaf brushed her shoulder. It was odd to see her with that look on her face.

"Say it, Tidus," she said softly, not looking at me at all. In fact, she kept her arms crossed and her gaze on the elevator doors as they opened. She wasn't angry at me; quite the opposite really. I gave her a quizzical look and followed her into the elevator. "Please, tell me I'm being irrational and not thinking clearly."

She rested her head on my shoulder, so I put my free arm around her and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm not going to say anything."

"Just…I thought this was for the best," she began with a sigh. "For so long I've tried to stay out of trouble, ya know? It just seems like every time I try to jump into something, the problems spiral. Everything gets worse, people get hurt, people…die."

I didn't want to agree with her, but she had an excellent point. It might have been just a coincidence, but whenever she wanted to be the hero, it ended up with her getting more involved than she wanted to be. First it was during her Pilgrimage, then with Shuyin and Lenne…twice actually. Although it always worked out in the end, that also could've been a lucky coincidence.

"I thought that if I stayed out of it this time, nothing bad would happen." She puffed out cheeks as she exhaled again. "But now I feel as though my plan backfired and everything's a million times worse. I feel like, if I don't do anything, more people will die."

"Yuna," I said, resting my chin on the top of her head. "Tell me honestly; do you know what's going on?"

"I…" She stuttered and backed away from me. "Tidus, I…I don't want to make judgments, but I do think I have an idea…" Before she could finish, the elevator bell went off and the doors flew open.

"Hey, you two!"

Yuna and I both jumped at the sound of Baralai's voice, and Ari let out a cry in surprise when I almost dropped her. I whipped my head up to see he and Paine get ready to walk onto the elevator. I was so enthralled in the conversation that I wasn't paying any attention to anything else. "Baralai," I said, putting my hand over my heart. "What are you doing here?"

"It's not like I have a job to take care of or anything." He tried to make a joke, but none of us laughed. Clearing his throat, he put his hand on the door of the elevator to keep it open so Yuna and I could walk out. "We thought we would come here to check out how Gippal and Rikku are doing. We heard what happened."

"How are they?" Paine asked as we walked into the foyer of the hospital.

Yuna shrugged and sighed. "I think they're going to be fine. However, I'm a little nervous about what happened with Gippal's place. Several documents were missing."

"Documents?" Baralai asked, his forehead furrowing. "That's not good. Was Gippal able to see which ones were taken?"

"No," she replied with a shake of her head. "Tidus and I went back there to see if we could find anything, but I couldn't tell. I don't know his documents well enough and I really shouldn't. It's none of my business. However, I wish I knew what was taken."

"I'm really starting to believe that all the signs point to Yevon," I piped up, receiving a not appreciative look from my wife.

"I have to agree with you, Tidus," Baralai said as he looked at me. Yuna whipped her head at him, so he put his hand on her shoulder. "Yeah."

I bit my lower lip as my mind started to work. "Are you trying to say that you know who fired you?"

"Yeah, I do." His face turned grim and I could see him grit his teeth. "Yuna, do you remember when New Yevon first started and we had to kick out the first Praetor?"

Her face froze as she blankly blinked at him. "I…Yes. He wanted me to marry his son after the defeat of Sin."

"He's the one who overthrew me," he explained. I thought Yuna was going to pass out, so I handed Ari to Paine so I could hold up my wife. "What is it?"

"Those letters…everything…I was right." Baralai narrowed his eyes at my wife's ramblings, so she shook her head. "Father Zoram. He's the one who's doing all this!"

"I don't understand why he would want to ruin New Yevon, The Youth League, and The Machine Faction," I stated, putting my hands on Yuna's shoulders. "It just doesn't make any sense if the only thing he was interested in was taking his job back."

"The thing that doesn't make sense to me is the fact that we threw him out because he craved too much power, and now everyone is back on his side for some strange reason." Baralai said with a shrug. "But it doesn't surprise me that he wants to take over New Yevon and its allies. If he can do that, he has all of Spira in the palm of his hand. I'm sure that's his master plan."

"Well, yeah, but…" Yuna said, looking down at her feet. We all turned our attention toward her and she exhaled slowly. "He...He doesn't want to do it alone."

"What do you mean?" I asked her, my voice drawn out.

She shook her head and looked up at me. "Let's go back to Besaid. I need to get a few things."

"Wait a minute, Yuna," Paine said, shifting Ari to her other hip. "Get what?"

"What happened to wanting to go to Mushroom Rock?" I asked, confusion clear on my face when Yuna reached out her hands for Ari. "You've wanted to go to Mushroom Rock for the past year to sign that treaty anyway."

"The…" Her eyes went wide and she gasped. "The Treaty!"

"Yes?" I asked, blinking.

She threw the baby in my arms, grabbed her purse and started to go through things until she brought out a tiny piece of paper. Practically shoving it in Baralai's face, she started to shake. "Isn't this the border of the treaty that you, Baralai, and Nooj signed last year?"

Taking the paper in his hand, he investigated it. "Yeah, it is. It's ripped though." Keeping his head pointed toward it, he lifted his eyes so he could see Yuna. "Where did you find this?"

"Why did he take the treaty?" She asked, looking at me with wide eyes. "I don't understand. The treaty was missing from Gippal's wall and I found this piece of paper sticking out of a picture frame. It's clear that he took it for some reason, but I'm not sure what that reason is."

Scratching the back of his head, Baralai shrugged. "Who knows? But we've got to get to the bottom of this." He handed the paper back to Yuna as he exhaled the breath that he was holding.

"Like I said, let's go back to Besaid and see if Lulu and Wakka can take care of Ari for a few days and then we can go to Bevelle," Yuna mumbled, her hands nervously smoothing her shirt. Turning on her heel she started to walk back into the elevator. "That way we won't have to worry about the baby. You guys can stay here while I tell Gippal and Rikku what we're up to so they can catch up with us. I'm not sure how this is going to work out, so I want everyone to be there in case we need back up."

"Yuna," Paine started, arms crossed over her chest like usual. She waited until Yuna looked up and then continued with, "You're not hiding anything, are you?"

Maybe it was the fact that they were in the Gullwings with each other for a period of time, but Paine could read Yuna like a book. She nailed it right on the nose and knew it. Her gaze didn't lessen as she stared down Yuna and she waited patiently for a response. Unfortunately, the only response Paine received was Yuna pushing the button in the elevator that would take her to the floor where Rikku and Gippal were staying. "I'll be down in a few minutes with Brother," she said softly as the doors closed.

"What the hell?" Paine questioned, looking at me. "What's up with her?"

"Let her go," I told her with a lengthy sigh. "She doesn't like hospitals as it is, so she probably wants to go to Besaid in an attempt to get out of here as quickly as possible."

"That's not what I meant," she clarified. "She's up to something."

Baralai let out a chuckle and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "I think that's pretty obvious to all of us. I guess there's nothing we can do but question her about it on the way."

"Yeah, I agree. Unfortunately, I don't think she'll tell us all that much and that's what concerns me," I muttered as I eyed the two of them. After an awkward silence between the three of us, I pointed to the door. "Oh well. Let's wait outside for her." Paine and Baralai nodded, so we silently walked out of the hospital to wait for Yuna.