A/N: I know what you're thinking, why am I getting two update emails for the same chapter. Well I'll tell you why. Because I forgot to put in the thank you's and Disclaimers and all that fun stuff...

Disclaimer: In case you haven't figured it out... I don't own anything!

Finding Lost Hope

When I awoke later, I was in a poorly lighted room. I sat up and looked around, I had no idea where I was. I am getting really sick of this blacking out and waking up somewhere weird. Whatever. I yawned and stretched out my arms. "Ow!" I immediately pulled my right arm back. A sharp pain shot through my shoulder.

"Be careful. I gave you an X-potion, but I don't think it's fully kicked in yet."

I turned to my left and saw the young blond girl. Rikku, I believe her name was. I rubbed my shoulder. "Thanks."

She kept her gaze on me. She seemed to be studying my appearance. Maybe she didn't trust me, or maybe she was curious on how I survived. I think it's a combination of the two. I think she's waiting for some kind of explanation. Well, if she thinks that I am going to just spill out my life history for conversation… she has another thing coming.

"So, you're name is Brooke right?"

"Yea…"

"I'm Rikku." She twirled her hair with her left hand. "I'm really sorry about before. Heh…"

"It's alright."

She shifted uneasily in her chair. I guess she didn't know what to say, or how to ask the questions running through her head. I almost felt bad for her, almost. "So, uh, where am I?"

She smiled. I guess she was happy I was talking. "You are on the Celsius. It's an Al Bhed machina airship." She stood up, put her arms out and slowly spun around. "It's the fastest airship in all of Spira."

I looked at her intently, for some reason all this information seemed vaguely familiar. That's when I remembered. "Wait. Rikku, the Celsius is owned by the Al Bhed leading family, so would that make you…" I stopped and waited for her to finish my sentence.

"Rikku Siclari, Al Bhed princess, heiress to the throne? Yea that was me, until Zanarkand came and ruined everything. They came and attacked Home. My dad told me to get on the airship and go. I didn't want to leave him, but he ordered me to. So me and Brother took the two airships and were off," She looked down at the floor. She walked over to the window putting her hand on the windowsill looking out into the sky. "I haven't been back to Home since and I haven't heard from Brother or my father. I don't know what happened to them."

My heart went out to her. I knew what it was like to loose everything in a heartbeat. I mean it just happened to me. I stood up and slowly walked over to her. I put my hand on her shoulder. "Rikku…"

She turned to face me tears were in her eyes. She grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. My whole body tensed. Not only because someone I didn't really know was hugging me but because it caused me some pain. I eventually relaxed and hugged her back. "I'm sorry… I know exactly how you feel, I just lost everyone that meant something to me."

She pushed me back slightly, still firmly holding onto my arms. She looked up into my face. "What are you going to do now? I mean do you have family somewhere, some place to live?"

"No." I didn't even thin about that. I had no place to go. I couldn't just depend entirely upon the kindness of others. I have no family, no money. I have nothing. Even the clothes on my back were waning down to nothing. "I don't have anything – or anyone."

She jumped back from me and put her hand to her chin. She wiped away the remaining tears before she said, "Hey! I have an idea."

I looked her way. She had my attention now. I waited for her to continue.

"I'm not sure how Auron will feel," She walked to the window and then back to me, "but I don't think he'd object."

"Object to what?"

I turned my head to the left. There was standing the man who had saved my life, the man who carried me to safety. The man, who I guess, I owe my life to in a way… This time though his sunglasses were off as was his jacket. I was right he had a strong build. He was older than me. I assume maybe he was in his late twenties early thirties. He had a dark red shirt that buttons up the front on. I assumed he was this 'Auron' Rikku was talking about.

Rikku smiled and winked at me before she pulled Auron out the door. I stood there utterly confused. What just happened? I walked over to the window; there were clouds around us. Wow, I wonder who's piloting this thing. Just then Rikku came bouncing in. I turned to face her. She had on a smile that was from ear to ear. Auron slowly waked in behind her.

"Well, let me start by officially introducing you. Brooke, this is Auron. Auron, this is Brooke."

I smiled and nodded in his direction.

She continued. "Well, I asked Auron and he agreed to it. So it's entirely up to you. Since you have no place to go, nor any family… you are welcome to stay with us and be apart of out 'family'."

To say the least, I was shocked. I never expected that. A person who not to long ago was trying to kill me is now asking me to come live with her. She looked at me expectantly waiting for me to answer. I smiled and replied, "I'd love to."

Well, now at least I'm not entirely alone in this world. Rikku ran over to me and gave me a big hug. I wasn't sure exactly why she was being so nice, but now wasn't the time to question it. Auron coughed and waited for our attention. I knew what was coming. He was going to ask me about my survival and how in Yevon's name I did it.

He looked at me and walked closer to me. "Brooke, what happened on Besaid?"

I sighed. I told him everything there was to know about that day; well, almost everything. I left out the part about Tidus. I didn't want to put it into words because that meant I believed it. And if I believed it that meant it really happened. I just didn't want to believe he was gone. When I finished my story Auron hung his head.

"It is as I feared. They destroyed our only hope."

I didn't know what he was talking about; 'Only hope?' "Auron, who exactly were they looking for?"

He turned his back to me. "The one. He was supposed to bring peace to Spira and defeat Zanarkand."

I was getting annoyed. If that person they were looking for had that symbol that man told me about, then they failed because I had the symbol and he's just assuming all hope is lost.

"They said he has the symbol. A heart engulfed in flames. Now, we're doomed." He turned to look at Rikku, "If only we had gotten there earlier."

"How do you know it was a 'he'?"

He looked at me like I was crazy for thinking it would be anything other than a man. "Well, who else could it be? A girl?"

I stared at him for a few seconds. "Things aren't always as they seem."

He looked confused so I lowered the waist of my capris. I showed him "the symbol" I had since birth. Rikku gasped and Auron looked dumbfounded.

She pointed towards my birthmark. "Brookie, have you always had that?"

I pulled my capris back up and nodded. "Yea, I've had it since I was born. Family told me it was a connotation from Yevon symbolizing I was meant to do 'great things'."

Rikku looked to Auron, then at me and finally back at Auron. He mouth slightly ajar in astonishment. "Auron. She has… She's the… There is still a chance!" She jumped on him, giving him a huge hug.

Once she released him he eyed me up and down in disbelief. "But, how. How can you be the one?"

I merely shrugged. Jeez, he was acting like I applied for the job of being 'the one'.

"Alright. So be it." He turned to walk away, but turn around once more and added, "You will need training, so don't think your time here will be an easy one." With that he continued walking and left the room.

What was that supposed to mean? I looked over to Rikku who was beaming with hope. "Brooke, will you help us? Ya know, bring peace back to all of Spira."

I thought for a few minutes. I wasn't exactly ready to jump into this whole thing. "I don't know. I'm not exactly an expert fighter. I don't know what I could do…"

She quickly moved to my side. "Brooke, you're our only hope. Auron and I will help you train!"

I hesitated. I still wasn't sure what to do; I was reluctant to say that I would help. I want to just go back to my old life… with Tidus. Tidus. I clenched my fists. I could never go back to my old life. Nothings there! Not even the houses, nothing. All gone! Suddenly, I didn't care if I wasn't an expert fighter; I wanted pay back for all that had happened. I looked up at Rikku, my eyes burning with hatred. "Alright. I'll do it."

After agreeing to take down Zanarkand, Auron came over the speaker. "Rikku, come down to the bridge, now! Bring Brooke as well."

Rikku looked at me. "It sounds serious, let's go!" She grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room into an elevator. When the doors opened, Rikku ran out the door, through another door and jumped over a railing to the floor. I followed closely behind her.

Auron was standing at a large computer thing with a huge screen. He turned to Rikku. "We're getting a signal form the 'High Wind.'"

Rikku's mouth dropped. "Are you sure it's the High Wind?"

"Well, that's how they identify themselves."

She sat down and started typing in something. Suddenly, the screen began to flicker and an image of a boy with a blonde Mohawk appeared. "Rikku! Ec dryd oui?" (Is that you?)

"Oac, frana yna oui?" (Yes, where are you?)

"Kilika. Zanarkand ec rana. Drao'na dnoehk du ceaka dra ecmyht." (Kilika. Zanarkand is here. They're trying to siege the island.)

She turned to Auron. He just nodded and walked off to another computer and began to vigorously type something. I looked to Rikku, she seem very upset. I knew she was speaking Al Bhed, but I didn't really know too much of the language. "Rikku, what's wrong? Who was that? What's going on!"

She turned the chair to face me. "That was my brother. He's in Kilika and Zanarkand is attacking them too."

"Course set. We'll be there in seven minutes."

We looked to Auron. He briskly walked over to a table with a katana on it. "Wait!" Rikku called. "Auron you have to stay here."

He looked over his shoulder. "And why is that?"

"Because, we can't just land the airship. Doing that we risk Zanarkand commandeering it. So, someone had to stay and keep it up."

He turned his attention back to his sword. "Then you can be that person."

She stomped her foot on the ground and put her hands on her hips. "No! It's my brother. I should go."

"You can't go down there alone-"

"I'll go with her." They both turned and looked at me. "Listen, I can't stay here to pilot the ship, so the least I can do is go with Rikku."

He nodded. "If that is what you wish, then so be it."

"Follow me," Rikku said as she walked towards the door. She led me back to the elevator and we went down to some strange room. Rikku told me it was the engine room and that the exit platform comes out from this room.

A few minutes later, Auron came over the speaker again. "We're over the water, just out past the shore. I'm going to open the hatch, get ready to jump."

Rikku and I stood by the hatch waiting for it to open. After the hatch opened, we both dove into the warm, clear waters below. I surfaced and looked around. Rikku surfaced about 3 feet to my left. "Ready?"

She nodded and we took off for the shore. Upon reaching the beach, we were greeted with an enormous orange and yellow airship. "That's the High Wind!" Rikku exclaimed as she ran up the shore. She ran to the front of the airship. "The hatch is open, so they aren't here…"

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the forest. He head jerked up and she turned to me. "Let's go."

We ran through the forest, the branches adding more tears to my already tattered clothes. The further we proceeded into the forest the louder the screams got. When we reached a clearing we spotted two men who were fighting six Zanarkandians. I looked to Rikku. "How about we even the odds?"

"Let's do it!" We both jump out from the brush. "Hey you meanies! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

Everyone turned and looked at us. The man in overalls with a Mohawk, the one I had seen earlier on the screen, smiled. "Rikku!"

"Rao, Brother. Yna oui ymnekrd?" (Hey, Brother. Are you alright?)

"Oac." (Yes.)

"Mad'c cruf dra Zanarkandians fryd dra Ym Prat yna syta uv!" (Let's show the Zanarkandians what the Al Bhed are made of!)

The three of them seemed to suddenly bond, leaving me with the feeling that I didn't belong. I shrugged it off. This was not the time to let my mind wander.

"Enough!" The soldier shouted. He unsheathed his sword. "I'm going to kill you all and I'll start with you, blondie." He pointed to Rikku. She took a step back and walked into another soldier. I moved my gaze to the other two men; they were fighting three soldiers.

Five? I thought there were six. I spun around, daggers in hand. I was right, there was a man behind me. I looked him over. He had long auburn hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. He was wearing glasses and seemed to be leaning on a cane. He smiled smugly at me before unsheathing this freakishly long sword. He brought it up in the air and brought it down, trying to vertically cut me in half. I rolled over to the left in an attempt to dodge the attack. I missed the worst part of the attack, but still got cut across my left leg. I winced.

No sooner had I gotten back on my feet that another swipe of his sword was coming my way. I ducked the attack and stabbed him in his left leg with my dagger. He didn't even flinch and the only sounds I heard from that was the sound of metal scraping across metal. What the hell?

I looked up at his face. He laughed at me. I pulled the dagger out of his leg and jumped away from him. He raised the leg of his pants to reveal a … machina leg? Of course I get the half-machina guy trying to take my head off. After that, for a good ten minutes I was trying my best to dodge his attacks and take the minimum amount of damage possible. After dodging another attack I stood up and took a deep breath. I'm not going to be able to keep this up. I have to think of something. He has to have some kind of weakness, but before I can find it… I'm going to have to disarm him.

He took another swing at me, this time trying to chop the top half of me off. Time seemed to slow down as I leaned back, allowing the sword to completely pass over me. Then with my right leg I pushed off the ground bringing my leg up to make contact with his arm. It worked! When the kick connected, his sword went flying. He got distracted. I took advantage of this, no sooner had I gotten my foot back on the ground had I pushed my entire body off the ground and kicked him in the chest with my left foot. He stumbled back and bent over forward to catch his breath. I ran over to him again, looking to end this fight. He looked up at me once more and mutter, "Who are you?"

"Brooke Rassi." Then I gave him a swift, hard kick to the head. He toppled over onto the floor, unconscious. I wasn't sure if I had snapped him neck or not, but I didn't have time to check, the other three were in trouble. It was five on three and one of the soldiers had a gun. I took my dagger and threw it at the soldier closest to me. It sliced him across his left side causing him to fire his gun at one of the soldiers instead of one of us. The man had taken a wound to the head and collapsed to the floor.

All seven of them looked towards me with disbelief. The guard I had wounded took a step forward. He looked at me and then at the man I had killed, or at least hope to have killed. "You… Captain Nooj…but how?" He took another step towards me.

I backhand springed away from him and into my fighting stance. "It was simple… want me to show you?"

He took a step back, and then lifted his head to listen to something in the distance. I did the same. It sounded like an army of soldiers. The man laughed. "There's no escaping- you'll all die." He looked me square in the face. "And they will torture you for what you've done."

Rikku grabbed her transmitter and radioed Auron. "Auron, we need to get out of here and immediately!" She put it back on her hip. "Come on, Brooke. We got to get out of here."

I nodded and we all took off running through the forest. "You can run, but you can't hide!" the soldier called to us. We ignored it and kept running. As the voices of the soldiers become more and more distant, I let a sigh of relief escape my lips. Thank Yevon I'm used to this kind of running from training with Tidus for Blitz. Tidus. My mind wandered to him, making me unaware of the protruding root I was heading for.

With my mind of Tidus, my right foot caught the root, sending me head first towards the ground. I rolled forward and landed flat on my back. I groaned and sat up. Rikku and the other two guys had stopped running. I got up off the floor and wiped the dirt off the remainders of my clothes. I walked over to the group and we waited for the airship. Soon enough the roar of the airship was audible. Eventually, it was overhead. Since he couldn't land the ship, he let a rope ladder fall from the bottom hatch. Rikku went up first, closely followed by the two other men and finally me.

I was half way up the ladder when the airship started moving again. It shook violently and I hung on for dear life. After a few minutes of just hanging there, I finished climbing up.

When I got into the airship, Rikku was hugging the two men and she was crying. I assumed they were tears of joy. I was happy for her and at the same time I felt bitter towards her. The 'new' family I family I had found her old family and again I was alone. I found myself angry at her. She had what I lost. She had family I had nothing.

I needed to distract myself with so I looked at my capris. The left leg of my capris was hanging on a thread by the middle of my thigh. I grasped the dangling piece of cloth in my hand and ripped it off making the Capri leg in to shorts. "It's just not fair."

The three of them turned and stared at me. Rikku took a step forward and cocked her head to the left. "What's 'not fair', Brooke?"

I looked up at her. Crap, I didn't mean to say that out loud. "Uh…" I looked at the piece of cloth of what used to be my capris. "These were my favorite pants."

She giggled. "Oh, that's all." She waved me to follow her. "Come on, you need to get washed." She then looked me over. "And I'll get you some new clothes."

o0o

Thanks:

Carrie (ChakaTehMoogle ): Thats so cool, your name is what i get called all the time! people can't seem to grasp the concept that my name is Kerri lol.. but thats ok, i respond to anything now, you can go hey you jerk and Ill go what? and Don't worry about not reviewing right away as long as you review when you can I'm happy! like now.. I'm happy lol

Sakura ( labrat-seph ): lol well I am glad you like the story so far, and thank you again for proof reading this chapter. I appreciate it! Yea I like the whole reverse role thing too. I always find it interesting when the normally 'good' people are made 'bad' but usually the stories aren't as good, but I hope mine isn't one of them :crosses fingers:

KrystallTrensk :I'm glad you like it, It means alot to an authoress when people like their work and I really am happy that you like this! It's awesome! I hope you liked this chapter too!

LoserKid05: I'm glad you like it! I know alot of people aren't used to seeing Yuna as the evil bad person, but i figured i'd try something new. Believe me though, i don't hate yuna :gives thumbs up to Yuna fans who are waiting to kill me because of this:

green-eyed-blonde: Awww I feel so special, that I'm on your Fav Author's list! I don't think many people realize this, but that kinda comment just made my day. I really like it when people like my story and it means alot to me that other people like it, cause I mean sure I can write for myself, but its always a lot more nice when other people like it, so thank you!

Colleen: uR craZi i heaRt u tho.. Thanks for supportiNn my story

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NeRr: lmaoo that daYy was greaTt im glad u like my storYy crazYyy loVeee