AN: Hello again! How long has it been this time?

Ryu: Three weeks and six days.

DT:…… You're keeping track?

Rikku: Someone has to.

DT: Uh, never mind.

Rikku: You're not going to justify why it took you so long? That's a surprise.

DT: Well, it's basically the same things keeping me busy. School and school and school and….wait it seems school is the only thing keeping me busy. Just forget it. Time for everyone's favorite segment: Reviewer Feedback!

Blood Pixie: Yes, the plot is thickening. Which is why I'm guessing it's getting more interesting. I hope you find this chapter as great (if not better) than the last one.

Blue Rose: Updating is always good isn't it? At least I got a chance to do so before the month ended. And yeah, what Sephy did was bad. Who told him he could try to behead the main character? Oh, wait that was my doing…..Bad me, bad! Uh, well, enjoy the chapter. Oh and sorry I haven't read Twilight Memories. I'll try to get to it as soon as I can.

Neko-Yuff16: I'm glad you liked the plushie. I contemplating making it a Vincent plushie, but I ended up going with Cloud just cause I like him a little more. Now wait no more, here is the chapter!

Disclaimer: I'm saying this again just so no one sues me. I don't own Final Fantasy X-2 or Kingdom Hearts. If I did I would have made this story into an anime for my viewing pleasure. Enjoy the chapter!

Ch. 7 Feelings

Ryu sat in the bridge. He looked around lazily. Yuna was talking with Tidus over the sphere com link, while Rikku and Paine seemed to be discussing something. Brother was piloting the ship, though that didn't stop him from giving glares every now and then. Ryu began to wonder what he had done in the first place to upset him. Buddy sat in his seat. It looked like he was asleep. Ryu sighed and looked up at the ceiling. It had only been about an hour since his encounter with the white haired man. Apparently, his name was Sephiroth. Yuna was gracious enough to give him the name of his would be executioner. There was something about that man he didn't trust and it wasn't just because he tried to kill him. It was when he looked into those eye. Not only did they look at him with pure hatred, but they also held a murderous glare. Those eyes of his. They seemed to glow. No, they were glowing. Like he possessed some other worldly power. He put his hand over his wound. Whatever it was, it was obvious to him that Sephiroth was much more skilled and powerful than him and that did not rest well with him. Just thinking about that made him agitated. He got up and walked out of the bridge. The though of being weaker than someone always seemed to annoy him. Even when he was little, he hated the though and worked hard to be the best. He got into the elevator and took it up to the deck.

Rikku and Paine stared after him. They could tell something was wrong with him. He was probably shaken up after what happened with Sephiroth. Not that he showed it. Yuna got up from her seat. She walked over to them.

"So how are things on Besaid?" Rikku asked.

"Tidus says things are fine. Those creatures haven't appeared since we left."

"That's good to hear." Rikku said.

Yuna looked around the bridge. "Where's Ryu?"

"I think he went up to the deck. He's been acting weird since we left the highroad." Rikku answered.

"Do you think he'll be alright? Maybe we should go cheer him up." Yuna suggested.

"Let him be." Paine said.

Rikku and Yuna looked at her. "He's mentally bracing himself for this new challenge. From what I can tell, this is the first time someone has come so close to not just beating him, but killing him as well. He's so use to being the best that when defeat nearly caught him, it shook him up. Give him time to sort out his thoughts and feeling. You can try to cheer him up after he comes back."

"Ahh, another great diagnosis by Dr. P." Rikku said with a smile.

"I though I told you not to call me that."

Rikku and Yuna giggled. Paine smirked at Rikku. "I still have that sphere of you and your boyfriend on the deck."

That instantly stopped Rikku's giggling. "Are you blackmailing me?"

Paine shrugged. "I never said anything of the sort, but if you want to look at it that way go ahead. I just thought it would be nice to inform you."

"Big meanie" Rikku pouted. "And he's not my boyfriend! I'm engaged!"

"Since when do you care if you're engaged?" Paine asked.

"If I remember correctly, a certain someone was telling us how she didn't want to get married." Yuna added innocently.

Rikku grumbled something in Al Bhed and walked to the elevator. Sure she had told them that, but it wouldn't be right for her to do that to Gippal. He seemed to like the idea even though she didn't. Even so, was it right for her to marry him when she didn't love him? After they heard the elevator doors close, Yuna turned to Paine.

"Are we doing the right thing?"

"What? You mean placing more doubt in her mind about getting married and pushing her towards a complete stranger? Possibly."

Yuna giggled at her response. She turned back to the elevator. "I don't want her to make the same mistake I made."

"Marrying Tidus?"

"No!" Yuna said a little outraged. "I mean marrying just to please others."

"Like when you married Seymour. Right?" Paine asked.

Yuna nodded. "That's right. I did it to make people happy, even if it brought me sadness. Rikku doesn't need to go through that. She deserves to be happy with whomever she wants."

Paine nodded in understanding. Then she smirked. "Want to follow her?"

"Don't you think we've invaded her privacy enough?"

Paine got up and walked to the elevator. That seemed to answer Yuna's question and she followed along. Just to make sure nothing got out of hand. Meanwhile, Buddy slowly opened one eye. He looked in Brothers direction.

"Did you hear that?"

"Cu? Fryd'c ouin buehd? (So? What's your point?)"

"Stop being so stubborn and help out your sister. I don't know why you dislike Ryu, but he's only doing his job. Yuna and Paine just happened to make him part of their plan. It's not his fault. So, why don't you be a good older brother for once and help Rikku?"

Brother just grumbled something unintelligible and pretended to focus on his piloting. Ryu was on the deck with his eyes closed. Then he opened them and quickly drew his sword. He did a couple of swings at the air. Nothing fancy, he just wanted to see how fast he was. He sheath the katan and sighed. Compared to how fast Sephiroth was, he felt like a turtle. He was going to need to train if he ever hoped to be better. However, he didn't feel like training on the airship was going to be enough. He drew his sword again and took a couple of swings. After doing this for several more times, he decided to give it a break. He walked closer to the edge of the deck. He sat down near the edge and looked out into the clouds. Perhaps he was being to paranoid about this. Did being powerful really mean that much to him? If anything power was what got him into so many troublesome predicaments. Some worse than others. Some causing the deaths of many. He shook the thoughts from his head.

'No, I'm trying to make up for that…..but is it enough?'

He heard the elevator door open. Relief washed over him. He was thankful someone had shown up and interrupted his thoughts. He heard footsteps coming towards him.

"Hey Ryu, are you okay?"

How come it was always Rikku? It never crossed his mind until now. He turned his head enough to get a good look at her.

"What do you mean?"

Rikku held her hands behind her back. Why did she come here? When she got on to the elevator she just instinctively took it to the deck. Maybe she felt more relaxed here than anywhere else on the airship. This was where she could clear her mind of her problems. She looked at Ryu who was waiting for her to respond. She decided to deal with her problems later and help him out.

"Well, you didn't look too good when you left the bridge, so are you better now?"

"Don't worry about me." He said calmly. "I just needed to think about how to improve my swordsmanship. No bid deal."

"Oh." Was all she said. There was an uncomfortable silence that followed. Ryu stood up and looked at the Al Bhed more carefully. He could tell something had happened. She wasn't her usually energetic self. There was something bothering her, that much he could tell. However, he wasn't good at cheering people up. He turned back around and let out a sigh.

He ran a hand through his hair. 'Well, here goes nothing.'

"What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Rikku asked confused.

Ryu snorted. "Don't play dumb with me. I can tell something's bothering you."

"Uh, nothings wrong. I'm just tired. That's all." She faked a smile.

Ryu turned around to face her. "Bullshit. Look I may be doing a really bad job at cheering you up, but the least I can do is listen to your problem. It's not good to bottle things up. It only makes it worse on you, but if you don't want to tell me it's fine."

Rikku stayed silent. Ryu sighed and mentally kicked himself for even trying. "Maybe talking to your cousin will help. She seems better at this kind of stuff than me."

He looked at her for a moment. Then he walked closer to Rikku and placed his hand on her head. She looked up at him. For some reason, her heart skipped a beat.

"It doesn't suit you. Being sad I mean. Your hyperactive-ness may seem annoying, but I think even Paine would agree that she likes you better that way."

He removed his hand and walked away. Rikku watched him leave. She could feel heat building up in her cheeks. Ryu reached the elevator and noticed it was slightly open. The doors opened to reveal Paine and Yuna. Ryu looked at them suspiciously as they stepped out and let him in. He gave them one last look before he took the elevator down to the cabin. Yuna and Paine looked at Rikku from a distance. They decided not to bother her this time. Once the elevator came back up they took it down to the cabin too. Rikku remained rooted to her spot. She put her hands up to her face.

'What is wrong with me?' she thought as his words continue to play in her mind.

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Yuri and Karin looked around in surprise. The city was nothing like they had imagined. For one it looked like it was in the roots of a giant tree!

"Hey, don't you think something is wrong here?" Kai asked the group.

"Hmm, now that you mention it, there is something off." Maya replied.

Yuri looked around more closely. "There are no people around."

Kai nodded in response.

"I wonder why?" Karin asked.

"Lets look around. Stay alert." Kai said as he walked around cautiously.

The others followed his lead. Suddenly they heard something behind them. Yuri and Kai drew their Keyblades and Maya and Karin drew their staffs. They relaxed when they realized it was just three people. They wore uniforms that sort of matched. There was a women with blonde hair and a fan, a tall guy with his guns pointed at them, and a fat guy with a shield. When they didn't lower their weapons they tensed up again.

"What are you doing here? Didn't you get the message to stay indoors?"

"Sorry but we just got into town." Kai answered.

The three people lowered their weapons. The blonde looked at them. "Well, now you know. I suggest you go to the….."

She didn't get to finish since Shadows surrounded them.

"Oh no! Boss, those things are back!" the fat one said.

"Lets just go. Please boss!"

"Suck it up or I'll give you the heel!"

The two men groaned. Kai and the others looked at them with a confused expression. Well, they weren't going to waste time with them. The four of them charged at the heartless and quickly took them out. The three people looked at them in surprise. However it was not over, eight flying creatures appeared too

"Oh, great Air Soldiers! Just what we needed." Yuri groaned.

"Hey, you three, gives us a hand!" Maya said as she charged.

The blonde looked at them annoyed. "Who do you think you are? No one commands Leblanc!"

"I don't care just help!" Maya snapped back.

"Hmph, fine. Ormi, Logos, lets go!"

They nodded and joined in the fray. The flying heartless were very fast. They would go into the air so that they couldn't attack them. Then they would dive at them. Basically it was a game of hit and run for them. Maya and Karin got annoyed and used magic to hit them when they flew high into the air. Logos helped the girls out and took aim at the Air Soldiers. There were several who dove at them, but Ormi spun around and threw his shield at them. While the Air Soldiers were stunned, Kai and Yuri ran up a wall and jumped at them. With a slash of their swords, they destroyed them. When only three of the Air Soldiers were left, five Wyvern and two Defenders appeared.

'Ansem must be near. That's the only reason all these strong heartless are appearing!' Kai thought to himself. 'If that's the case, then we are in for a very long fight.'

He blocked a dive from one of the Wyvern. He looked over to the girls. Even though they were strong, they were still girls. He looked over at Yuri. He seemed to be thinking the same thing. They were going to make their way to them, but one of the Defender blocked their way. The lion like shield glowed and shot a red ball of fire at them. Kai and Yuri dodged.

"I'll distract it! Go look after Maya and Karen!"

Yuri nodded and Jumped over the Defender. It was going hit Yuri with it's shield, but Kai took the opportunity and hit it's unprotected body. The defender fell back and lost interest in Yuri.

"That's right ugly. Better pay attention to me or else you'll be destroyed."

Yuri tried his best to get to the girls, who by now were fighting the other defender. Leblanc, Ormi, and Logos had destroy the remaining Air Soldiers, but they seemed to be having trouble with the Wyvern. Suddenly something slammed into him from the side.

'Speak of the devil.' He though as he looked at his assailant. The Wyvern charged again, but this time it tried to hit him with it's clawed feet. Yuri side stepped it and dug his Keyblade into it's back. The Wyvern screamed in agony before it disappeared. Yuri smiled triumphantly, but his smile disappeared when he heard a scream. He looked in the girls direction just in time to see Karin get thrown into a wall. Maya tried desperately to hit the Defender, but another Wyvern got in her way. The Defender was now upon Karin who was slowly coming around. The lion shields eyes glowed.

"Get up Karin!" Yuri yelled desperately.

The mouth opened. "Karin!" the three teens yelled.

Karin looked at the heartless, fear washed over her. 'Someone, anyone, help me!'

She closed her eyes and waited for the blow. She heard a clank. She opened her eyes to find a boy was standing in front of her. There was a gun shot and then the boy charged at the Defender.

"Thundaga!" another voice shouted.

The lighting paralyzed two of the Wyverns. Karin saw a girl and Yuri run at the Wyverns with their swords and stabbed them. The Wyverns disappeared. Leblanc and her cronies finished off the last one. The boy that protected her was still fighting the Defender. He jumped in the air.

"Flame Blade!"

Using all his strength, he pushed the swords through the shield it had used to protect itself. He pulled his sword out and jumped back from the heartless. It dropped it's shield and disappeared.

"Karin!"

Her three friends ran to check up on her. She smiled weakly at them as they fused over her.

"Well, you guys took your sweet time." Leblanc said to the strangers.

The teens shifted their attention to three girls who walked towards Leblanc.

"Air traffic was bad." One of the girls said sarcastically.

"Hmph, I'm sure. At least these guys were here to help." Leblanc pointed to the teens.

The three girls turned to them. "Thank you for helping. I'm Yuna. These are my friends: Rikku, Paine, and Ryu."

Karin and Maya's eyes widened. "Ryu?" they questioned.

"Yeah?"

The boy who had saved Karin turned to face them. His sword resting on his shoulder. Yuri and Kai did a double take as did Karin and Maya.

"No way…." Yuri said.

'He looks like Cloud.' Kai thought.

The Gullwings and Leblanc looked at the teens with a confused expression. Before they could ask what was going on, Maya and Karin launched themselves at Ryu. Ryu dropped his sword as the girls knocked him to the ground. As Rikku watched the scene, she felt her chest tighten. Ryu looked at the girls that were now crying onto his chest. He looked at the Gullwings with a confused expression as well. He looked down at the girls again.

"I don't know if this is a dumb question, but who are you?"

The girls looked up at him. They were still crying.

"W-we're,( hiccup), your sisters!"

Ryu had an unreadable expression. "What?" was all he could say.

Rikku felt relieved to hear that, but this new twist was certainly unexpected. Yuna and Paine walked over to Ryu as did Yuri and Kai. Before anything else happened, they needed to sort this out.

AN: That's the end of this chapter. Oh and just so you know, the Air Soldiers are the bat like guys with the goggles and helmet (at least I think it's a helmet.). The Wyverns are the dragons that appear in Hallow Bastion. Hmm, I think that's it.

Rikku: I hope you can update more often. Three weeks is a long time.

DT: Well, I hope to get another chapter done during Thanksgiving break. I just have November to go and then I get out for winter break on December 2! I'll have plenty of time to update more then.

Rikku: Hooray for vacations!

DT: Hooray indeed. Okay guys you know the drill. Please Review and no flames. Later!