Disclaimer: Chapter 1 (Geez, this is getting old .)

Okay, people! Chapter 8 arrives a bit earlier this time since I might get busy tomorrow celebrating a friend of mine who turned 15 today. Hurray! Hah, even so.. This chappie might have a few typos here and there and maybe a bit hard to understand.. I don't know, I understand mostly what I write.. But how you see it is another point. Although I do have a question to ask you all. Should I continue with this project of just dump it? Not many people does seem to read.. Oh well, I do get many reads.. but no reviews.. Which somewhat makes it seem pointless to write if I don't know what you people like and want. But I don't know.. A plus to stop writing is that I have school to think about as well. So I don't know.. Might be that I'll just dump this and move onto a bit more important things.. like homework.. But I do enjoy writing as hell, so I somehow see that important as well to put on the top-list. If it's something you enjoy then it is important that you do it, but why do it if no one appreciates it? Hah, man I'm such a baby today . Either way, I think it depends on how I choose, but also on what you write. Continue or discontinue! That is the question!

Either way, I thank you once again for reading and hopefully for some reviews.. I present to you Chapter 8 of Once More! - PS. Al Bhed comes into this chapter, But I've put the translation at the bottom of the page! Another question for you to decide. Translation at the end? Or right after the sentance in italics?

ENJOY!

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Chapter 8 - It Begins

The horror smell still lingered throughout the halls of Guadosalam. Everything laid in silence, in death. Blood stains splattered across every wall the eye could meet. Looking over his beautiful work of art that he had much enjoyed creating he smirked. The smell of death intertwined with the dry-up blood was a smell he hadn't been able to smell for centuries. How he had missed it all; the smell, the look, the screams and cries of agony as he killed merclessly. With a swift wave of his hand he sent the crippled bodies of the former living soldiers Laq and Aiko. He continued grinning as he remembered their faces when they retold him of his previous death that could be read all over Spira in the ancient histories of Spira. It suprised him, that unworthy people like them knew so much of the past.

It was ridiculous in fact, that men so young as they were had actually taken their time to dig through old books and read through the ancient times. Times and events long before their own time.

An amusing fact as well, but nonetheless, it mattered nothing to him if they knew of his existance before the beginning of time or his painful banishment to death.

He only thought of it to be amusing, that they recognized him so quickly for his features and expression. So easily recognized by people who had only read and seen a few pictures of him in dusty old books. He well knew about the books that they had read, he had seen them himself from where he had been in his after-life for ten centuries. He had been watching from the very moment the books were created, and while so.. he only laughed. Laughed at their ignorant thoughts of truly knowing of his powers and history. In his eyes it was a deep insult for such filthy and pathetic being as humans to write down his name on paper.

To explain to the world of him and his story which they knew nothing about! It was disgraceful to be having to see it all happening in front of him, not being able to stop it. Not even the angels of heaven would ever be worthy enough to speak of him, nevertheless tell the world about him. No, he was worth much more. The only person good enough to speak of him, was himself. The universe of Spira would once again know his name! And not from old dusty history books anymore. No, they would know his name in many other ways. And whenever they spoke or heard of his name they would shiver and cry underneath their skins.

"Ignorant fools..." he spat under his smirk as his eyes laid upon the broken and torn body of Laq. Aiko had been the smart one between them for wanting to run out of there. And Laq had been the stupid one for trying to prove his non-existance by shooting at him. If he had ever had feelings during this life he had been forced to live ever since the incidence from when he lost his soul

he would have to remember Laq's bravery for opposing him on such matter. It was foolish, to ever think he could prove anything by shooting him. Even though it hadn't done any harm to him, it had still been an insult for a human to ever raise a weapon in front of him. He had rewarded them gracefully enough for them to ever be able to pay him back. He had ended their life in outmost pleasure for their actions. Not even in death would they ever be able to repay him the beautiful gift he had given them. His eyes shot to where Aiko's body was thrown. The young mans corpse had been fully crushed and disoriented. The screams he had heard when he ripped Aiko out of his flesh and life as he had known it still echoed through his head. It was a feeling of heaven to him, a good way to be welcomed back into the world he had once been robbed of.

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"Lusa uh huf, Luc! Cinamo oui ghuf ruf du veq ed nekrd?" Gippal's pleading voice asked throughout the center of the Djose temple. He eyed his friend Luc desperetely.

They were both concerned for what destiny the Machina Experiment awaited after it had meet the power of Yuna, Rikku and Paine less than half a week ago.

When Gippal and the other Al Bhed's witnessed the Experiment that they had worked so hard on easily get shut down by Yuna and her friends they felt like having a heartattack.

Remembering that moment, Gippal remembered how he nervously pushed it away as fixable. Now he wasn't all that sure anymore as not even his best mechanic Luc was able to figure out why it refused to work. The growing headache flashed before Gippal's eyes as he tiredly settled himself next to Luc on the floor. Both eyeing with sadness the machine in front of them which they had spent so much time in creating.

"Hu, Gippal. E's yvnyet dryd E zicd tuh'd ghuf ruf du veq ed." Luc said in apology. To both Gippal and himself.

"Ed'c ugyo... Ed'c hud ouin vyimd." Gippal sighed, burying his head into his cold hands, blocking out the image of the machine and the growing headache. It was truly not such a big deal, it was only a machina. But when he thought back to the joy and hard work he and his friends had put into building it, he knew that he couldn't just sigh and tell himself that shit happens. It was somewhat of a pain, knowing that the machine they had worked so hard on was easily crushed by humans. Females nonetheless. Now he groaned inwardly, what was he thinking? Was he seriously ashamed by his and his men's work being overpowered by females?

He had always known not to mess around with womens, he knew of their inner strength that could break just about anything. He should've known better than to let a machine meet the wrath of Yuna and her friends. Seeing that they were probably the strongest trio Spira had encountered in a very long time. Now he had seriously no doubt of the power females held. He would never ever doubt the trio's strength by that either anymore. With another groan of shame and distress Gippal finally let himself look up from his hands to the machine that quietly laid before him. "E kiacc dryd E ihtanacdesydat draen cdnahkdr... E kiacc E ihtanacdesydat Rikku." he softly admitted.

Luc turned to his right side where Gippal sat and let out a small smile. He had always known Gippal would somewhat bring Rikku up whenever he could.

"E caa... tu oui drehg cra fyc uvvahtat po ed?" Luc asked, looking back at the machina with a far-off look in his eyes. For now he would not care about its fate. Now he would only talk.

"Fru?" Gippal distractingly questioned.

"Rikku."

"E tuh'd ghuf.. Syopa, syopa hud. " he truthfully stated. Back then, he didn't think that he actully cared enough to think about it as he was nervously thinking about the shutdown Machina Experiment they had built. He guessed that he was somewhat of an ass. Thinking more about a machine that had no feelings nor life in the meaning of the word, instead of thinking of the girls feelings.

"E tuh'd drehg E naymmo duug dra desa du lyna pylg drah." he said afterwards, he could only see Luc nod slightly with his eyes still fixed upon the giant metall junk in front of them.

"E tuh'd drehg cra kud ymm syt naymmo. Syopa y meddma rind uv ouin mylg uv vyedr eh ran. Pid cra'c cdnuhk. Cra tuach'd mad lnyb lusehk vnus oui kad du ran. " Luc smiled.

Gippal only hissed at this. "Frydajan." then he went back to thinking. He thought through what Luc had just said, and he hoped that his friend was right. Which he probably was, 'cause he mostly always was the one knowing more about life than Gippal. He had always been the crazy and free-spirited one. The one sending crap out of his mouth. If Rikku was as strong as Luc made har out to be, then he was also right about her nor letting his crap reach her. Gippal went to stand and he streched a bit, trying to ease the sore pain he felt as his muscles felt stiffer than ever.

Before he went to head out of the temple and take a daily walk to the Moonflow and back, he uttered: "Pid syopa oui'na nekrd..." before walking away from his friend Luc.

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The bonfire had now been extinguished since long ago as Yuna tiredly sat by herself in front of the blackened spot where the fire had earlier been burning full of life.

The late hours of the nights had approached and everyone was safely tucked underneath their blankets sleeping peacefully in warmth as their minds were off in a distant world so unlike

the real one in a deep slumber dream. Yuna's eyes closed every now and then as her mind went off into a dazed state between slumber and wake. She was the only one out there after the others had said their good-nights after she insisting that they didn't have to wait around with her for Tidus return. That had all been about an hour ago, maybe a bit more.

In her half-awake state she still remembered the conversation that had occured after Tidus departure for his walk around the village. It was all so vivid in her mind at that moment that it almost felt like she was actually reliving it all in her dreams.

"Where'd he go off to?" Paine was the first one to ask after she had settled herself down together with the others around the fire yet again.

"Said that he needed to take a walk." she responded quietly.

"Why didn't you go with him?" Rikku's voice chirped in askingly as she eyes her cousin down in confusion. Knowing full well that after that days event, letting Tidus go by himself was not a good option until they all knew what had happened to him earlier.

"He said that he would rather take this walk for some alone time to think." she heard herself lying. He hadn't said any of that. But the look she had seen in his eyes told her that much.

"I see..." Paine mumbled while stifling a yawn she felt coming. But to no avail, as Yuna saw her yawn tiredly.

"Why don't you all go to sleep or something. You all look beat. I thank you all for this joyful party, it will not be forgotten for a very long time." Yuna smiled.

"Nah, we'll wait around with you until Tidus returns, ya." Wakka offered in his own consumed tiredness.

"No, no. Please don't let me keep you all up. I'll be fine, I rather enjoy the silence for a while and some time to think for myself as well." Yuna declared shortly with a faint smile spread across her face. She was meet by all four sets of eyes belonging to the group around her that she felt she could call family. And the meeting gazes only stopped when they all heard the utterly tired yawn coming from Rikku. "Maybe she's right guys," Rikku yawned again. "it's been a long day and we all need our little own time."

"Precisely" Yuna voiced through them all.

"I don't know Yuna," Wakka started but was right cut off by Yuna's urging and tempting voice.

"Aww, come on now. You know you want to get all cozy and warm underneath a soft blanket and all."

"Okay, okay. Give it up with the tempting already." Paine groaned. "It's bad enough that I have to drag myself and probably Rikku back to the airship before getting some sleep."

Yuna giggled at Paine's response and shot a glance at Rikku who was barely maintaining in the conversation any longer as she sunk deeper and deeper into a restless and tired sleep.

"I think you're right. Might get going then before she's completely out of reach. You know how she can get." Yuna winked, only to recieve an sarcastic look that Paine shot her way.

"I heard that y-you know..." Rikku mumbled from her distant connection from the real world.

Yuna was about to answer them all with yet another statement of them all going to bed already, but Lulu seemed to speak up before her.

"Very well then, Yuna. We'll head to bed, but only because of our clear tiredness and your endless talk about wanting to wait alone."

And a little over an hour later, Yuna found herself where she sat now. Cold and lonely, all comsumed up in concern as she waited for Tidus to return. Finding it rather too boring and all to much concerned Yuna finally decided on taking a walk down the path Tidus had taken earlier and see just how long it really took to take the walk he had intended to do.

She walked down the long road going around the whole village with gentle steps and admired the real beauty of Besaid that she could only find in the depths of night. The moonlight shined above the island in purity and innocence and she found her mind drifting off to her own innocence. A subject she very much rarely thought of, seeing that her life had been so much consumed by the many years that Sin terrorized Spira through her while childhood and into her teenage years.

She had never actually had time for guys in particular. She had started off her Summoner's Journey at the age of 17 when the relationship between male and female said to be most heated. And she had continued on her adventures around Spira for 2 years after Sin's destruction in search for Tidus. The only male she had really gotten her first connection with and her first love. Probably the only male guy out there that she could ever love and trust fully.

She was innocent she guessed, she knew nothing of foreplay before consumation. She knew nothing of how the ecstasy of love really felt like. She knew none of that. She was pure and innocent when it came to her feminine sides. But other parts of herself probably wasn't so innocent anymore. She knew very much of how to fight and hurt fiends such as people when needed. Her clothing style was certainly short of innocent as well, as she found herself hanging out with Rikku and really explore her female body.

Even though she knew nothing of the depths of an relationship or the male and female bonding, she sure enough knew how to make herself feel good and show off her perfect form in the clothing she now wore instead of the Summoner's robe she had been using 2 years earlier. She looked up at the moon once more and still saw it's purity of innocence. She knew of how her purity laid like, but what she now wondered was how far Tidus had come when it came to exploring the depths of mysteries that Yuna had yet to explore.

Never had she before gotten to think of Tidus past life in his dream world of Zanarkand. Knowing fully well that Tidus only was a dream and everything from his Zanarkand had also been a dream, she then knew that whatever he had done back then hadn't been real. But it didn't keep her from wondering just how many girls Tidus had actually dated or maybe even shared a bed with.

He had after all been the star player of the Zanarkand Abes, a title not many people got to have. Therefor making him a very popular guy in his hometown, especially with womens, she dispicably thought. It bugged her somewhat, thinking of Tidus past girlfriends if he had had any. And she cursed herself for even thinking such nonsense, and for the slight jelousy feeling that she felt within her.

Whatever Tidus had done in his previous life in Zanarkand was none of her business. What was her business was what he would be doing now, in her time and in her world, with her.

But as she walked on down the path she agreed with herself to maybe sometime ask him of his time and life back in his never-sleeping Zanarkand. But for now, she would have to find him to be able to ask him. And finding him was her first priority as her feelings of concern returned and she speeded up in search for her beloved which she feared had happened something to.

Within minutes she almost found herself running along the road in search. She didn't even feel the slightest tired anymore as all she could think of was finding Tidus and make sure he was okay.

The road coninued and she started to doubt wether or not she had taken the same way as Tidus. The trees around her shook slightly as a wailed breeze of the wind passed them by with a quiet sound of silence. The bushes around both sides of the road laid lonely and quiet as the night went on all over Besaid in darkness. As she continued running in a neutral pace she thought she caught a glimpse of Tidus black and yellow torso outfit a bit ahead. Coming a bit closer she quickly speeded up full speed as she noticed that it indeed was her Tidus lying with his back against a tree behind him in total stillness.

She knew something had gone wrong and blamed herself for ever letting him go alone. She was now at his side and she stopped abruptly before throwing herself down on her knees before him and carefully taking a hold of him and eyeing him tearfully. He didn't even react to her sudden presence or actions. He laid completely still, eyes closed and chest barely moving.

She quickly went to seek for a pulse and breathed out softly in relief as she felt the very weak signal he gave away. Her relief was only for that moment as she knew he was slipping away from them.

His breath came in small shallow gasps as he laid completely limp. She tried shaking him gently at first.

"Tidus?" silently asking, hoping for his reaction which didn't come. ''Please, Tidus. Don't do this to me again." she begged. "Don't leave me."

Her heart broke when he still didn't show any movement or reaction to her voice nor her presence. It was like he didn't know that she was there, beside him, holding his arms firmly. It was as if he thought he was all alone, preparing himself for a painful departure with no one around. Swallowing the next river of tears that treathened to come out, Yuna braced herself and took a deep breath that she tried to relax herself with.

She then went to gently remove Tidus from leaning back against the tree and gently took his limp form into her embrace. Moments later she had his head propped up against her lap. Her left hand gently stroking through his sunkissed hair while her right hand rested softly on his chest, feeling the vaguely and weak motion when his chest rose and fell together with his breathing. And all she could do through it all was to watch him, his every feauture in every single angle that she could, as she feared that she wouldn't be able to see him much longer.

She wanted to get help, she wanted so desperetely to save Tidus. But who could she get at this moment of night? She had left her communication-microphone back at her hut seeing it that she wouldn't need to carry it with her during the bonefire festival. Who could she get in the middle of a road around Besaid? Who could she manage to get that was still awake? The answer came to her as one whole answer, no one...

She brought her right hand from his chest up to his cheek, there she gently stroked his ever so softly skin and smiled through her now free-falling tears. His beautiful tanned skin was now deadly pale as is existance in life grew fader. She thought back to all their moments together. Happy ones such as sad ones, the treausered them all. It was always going to be their memories together, and she still refused to let him become a memory like those moments now were.

She would always be able to look back at her journet together with him as a memory of a time when Sin raged through Spira and he had been the one to save them all, to save her. But she would never be able to look back on him being a memory of her first love. For her, he would always be more than just a memory of time.

"I love you, Tidus. I always have, and I always will." she sobbed. She continued caressing his face awaiting the dreadful hour when she would truly lose him. But as the minutes went something she never thought could ever occur again happened before her eyes. And through her tearful eyes, she looked back at the little boy she had always talked to during her time as a Summoner.

"He knows, and he loves you as well." the Fayth had said.

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Okay people! That was Chapter 8.. Review with your thoughts and answer. It mostly depends on all of you now!
If you think I'll shall discontinue than say so, but no flames! You can say it nicely, right? I tried at least.. Knowing that you want me to discontinue will sadden me enough without you having to throw in rude comments.
Well, til' next time probably.. Thank you all for reading!


Al Bhed Translation:

Lusa uh huf, Luc! Cinamo oui ghuf ruf du veq ed nekrd? - Come on now, Luc! Surely you know how to fix it right?

Hu, Gippal. E's yvnyet dryd E zicd tuh'd ghuf ruf du veq ed. - No, Gippal. I'm afraid that I just don't know how to fix it.

Ed'c ugyo... Ed'c hud ouin vyimd. - It's okay... It's not your fault.

E kiacc dryd E ihtanacdesydat draen cdnahkdr... E kiacc E ihtanacdesydat Rikku. - I guess that I underestimated their strength... I guess I underestimated Rikku.

E caa... tu oui drehg cra fyc uvvahtat po ed? - I see... do you think she was offended by it?

E tuh'd ghuf.. Syopa, syopa hud. - I don't know... Maybe, maybe not.

E tuh'd drehg E naymmo duug dra desa du lyna pylg drah. - I don't think I really took the time to care back then.

E tuh'd drehg cra kud ymm syt naymmo. Syopa y meddma rind uv ouin mylg uv vyedr eh ran. Pid cra'c cdnuhk. Cra tuach'd mad lnyb lusehk vnus oui kad du ran.

I don't think she got all mad really. Maybe a little hurt of your lack of faith in her. But she's strong. She doesn't let crap coming from you get to her.

Frydajan. - Whatever.

Pid syopa oui'na nekrd... - But maybe you're right...