AN: Yay, I finally updated! Someone order a pizza and lets have a party!
Ryu: Is it really that big of a deal?
DT: (Gasp) How can you say that so calmly? Of course it is! I bet my fans are dying to know what happens next!
Rikku: You have fans?
DT: (Cries) Now you're the meanie...
Rikku: Um...Okay...
Ryu: Freak.
Rikku: Uh well thanks to 100-percent-hp-fan, Blu Rose and Faye Leingod for reviewing. It makes DT very happy to get them. Trust us.
Ryu: Now go on and read while I get DT to stop being such a baby...and a freak.
Rikku: Good luck on that last part.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X-2 or Kingdom Hearts.
Ch 16 Battle Preparations
Yuna practically, scratch that, she did jump out of the hanger once they reached Mt. Gagazet. Her little stunt nearly gave Brother and Tidus a heart attack while everyone else was too stunned for words. After Brother safely landed the airship, everyone except Aerith, Brother, Buddy and Shinra went after the former summoner. Unlike Yuna, they had no guts to jump out of a moving vehicle and they were not ashamed to admit that. It didn't take them long to catch up to Yuna, who was already talking with Kimahri. Other Ronso were gathering around the pair. The blue Ronso looked in their direction which caused Yuna to turn around too.
"Yuna explain the danger that comes." Kimahri told them.
"So what are you waiting for? Get everyone on the airship!" Rikku said urgently.
Kimahri shook his head.
"What?" Yuna asked confused.
Kimahri crossed his arms over his chest.
"It is Ronso duty to protect mountain. Ronso fight anyone who tries to destroy it."
"But Kimahri, there's a swarm of them heading this way!" Tidus said trying to persuade the Ronso elder. "There's no way you can defeat them all!"
"Ronso will not abandon home!" Garik roared. "We fight enemy with all Ronso strength!"
Kimahri nodded. "Even if we not defeat enemy, we can slow them down."
"But Kimahri!" Yuna was about to protest when Yuri stopped her. He looked at Kimahri with a grim expression.
"You're going to try to buy us time so we can properly prepare to fight them... right?"
"Ronso not run from battle like scared kitten. Instead Ronso fight and help Yuna by giving her more time."
Yuri grabbed Yuna's shoulders and made her face him. In a rare moment, for him at least, Yuri looked serious.
"Yuna I know this may be hard, but they've made their decision. We can't waste anymore time here. We need to get that army prepared, otherwise the sacrifice they're making will be for nothing!"
Yuna pulled away from Yuri and looked at Kimahri. Tears built up in her eyes.
"I will see you again...right?"
The Ronso elder nodded. "Go Yuna. Protect Spira once again."
She ran up to Kimahri and gave him a hug before pulling away and running into her husbands arms. Rikku, Paine, and Tidus looked at the gathered Ronso with sadness.
Tidus nodded to the Ronso. "Good luck. I hope this won't be our last meeting."
He then gently guided Yuna back to the Celsius.
"I guess this is good bye then. Be careful okay big guy?" Rikku said as she too prepared to leave. Kimahri nodded to her and sent her on her way.
"We won't let your efforts go to waste." Paine said as she followed Rikku.
Yuri straightened up and bowed to them.
"Thank you. I promise...I'll bring you guys back!"
He turned and began walking to the airship. Maya, Karen and Kai emulated Yuri's actions and followed him. Kimahri watched silently as they boarded the airship and took off. He turned to his fellow Ronso.
"Prepare for battle. We must delay the Heartless army as long as we can."
He was met with roars as the Ronso gathered their weapons and prepared to ambush the advancing Heartless army.
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On the airship, it was a rather solemn atmosphere. Yuna was crying into Tidus's shoulder. Rikku was looking sadly at the floor as she petted her new pet monkey, Rikki. Paine was just being herself and dealing with everything in her own way. This was the scene that greeted Yuri and the others once they got to the bridge.
"They told me what happened." Aerith said.
Yuri looked at the Spirans with a little bit of guilt. "We probably should have told you this sooner, but..."
"They can be brought back if they are turned into Heartless." Kai finished for him.
"What?" they questioned in surprise.
Maya nodded. "Yeah, to bring them back all we have to do is reseal Kingdom Hearts."
"That's right. Since Ansem has been terrorizing multiple worlds for some time, other worlds have been greatly damaged and a few have been destroyed." Karen added.
Yuri continued. "My dad said that when he sealed Kingdom Hearts, the worlds that were destroyed and the people that were turned into Heartless were restored."
"So if we look at this logically, to bring back Kimahri and the other Ronso, we just need to reseal Kingdom Hearts." Kai finished.
"So if anyone is turned to Heartless during the battle..." Rikku trailed off.
"They can be brought back and we'll only suffer a temporary loss." Paine finished.
Aerith nodded. "Yes that is the theory. Though it hasn't been done since Sora's time, but there's no reason why it shouldn't work again."
"So cheer up Yuna." Karen said with a smile.
"Yeah, I promised Kimahri I'd bring them back and I won't go back on my word." Yuri added.
Yuna wiped away her tears and smiled. "Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me."
"So did you warn them?" Kai asked Aerith.
"Yes I did. As we speak, Baralai and Nooj and assembling their armies. They just need to know where to gather them."
"Hmm... Hey do you guys have a map of Spira?" Kai asked.
"I'll bring it up for you." Shinra answered.
He got up from his seat and placed a comm sphere in the middle of the bridge. He then went back over to his computer and pushed a button. A light emitted from the sphere and a 3-D image of Spira popped up. They gathered around it and Shinra pushed a few more buttons. The sphere spun and stopped where Zanarkand was.
"This is my latest invention." Shinra said. "It's a map designed specifically for tracking the Heartless."
"How do you track them?" Maya asked.
Shinra held up a blue sphere. "As we've been flying these were being dropped. When the army passes over them, it sends me info on how fast they're moving and where they are of course." He walked over to the map and pointed to the dark spot where Zanarkand was. "The black spots are where the Heartless are. Currently they are about 15 miles from Mt Gagazet."
"Can you tell how long it'll take until they they reach the Ronso Village?" Yuri asked.
Shinra shook his head. "I need to monitor their movements a little more. Ask me again in half an hour and I'll have an answer."
He went back to his seat and to his computer. The others looked at the black spot as it slowly spread towards Mt. Gagazet. What concerned them was whether they should suggest evacuating Bevelle since it was in danger. All the Heartless had to do was cross the Calm Lands and that would take no time since there was nothing there to slow them down. First though, they needed to know how long it would take them to overrun Mt. Gagazet. With that they could estimate how long it would take them to reach the Bevelle and how long they had to position an army. So they waited anxiously for half an hour. Finally Shinra gathered the necessary data and got their attention.
"So?" Kai asked.
"Taking into account the speed they're moving, the natural obstacles the mountains will provide and the Ronso attack... they will reach the Calm Lands in about a day and a half."
"A day and a half?" Karen asked a little panicked.
"That isn't a lot of time." Tidus said worried.
Kai turned to Shinra. "About how long till they reach the Thunder Plains?
"From their current position it will be four days."
"What are we going to do?" Rikku asked.
"It's probably a good idea to stop them before they reach a big city." Yuri walked up to the map and pointed. "If we're going to fight them, I think the best battle ground we could have is the forest around Guadosalam."
"Yeah," Kai agreed. "We could set up traps ahead of time to diminish the army as much as possible."
"Then we better get moving." Yuna said. "I'll send out a message to warn anyone that's between the Calm Lands and Guadosalam to evacuate to Luca."
Yuna sent the message warning the people. After her message, some people from the Calm Lands asked if they could be picked up. Since it was on their way to Bevelle, they stopped by and picked up the people gathered at the agency. Minutes later, Cid sent word that he would help with the evacuation. He told them that Auron would also be there to help them with the battle preparation. When asked about Ryu and Cloud, Cid responded, "They already got a mode of transportation."
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Meanwhile in Zanarkand, Ansem was sitting on a black throne that had the Heartless crest imbedded on the back. He smirked as the army was now moving towards Mt. Gagazet. This time he planed to finish everyone one of those brats off. However, he was perplexed by the arrival of Aerith. If she was here then that could mean that Cloud was with her. After all, the man hadn't left his wife's side since the day they were reunited. It would be difficult to destroy this world if they were in the way, but the answer to his problem was making his way to him right now. In the sky was a white haired figure. He floated above Ansem for a few minutes, observing his surrounding. Finally he landed in front of Ansem.
"I was wondering when you would show up." Ansem said with a smirk.
"I'm here to tell you to leave Ryu and Cloud to me."
"And why should I listen to you?"
Sephiroth drew his long sword and held it a few inches away from Ansem's face.
"I can kill you right now if I so wished and I'm sure you don't want to die yet." he sheathed his sword. "The only reason I let you live is so I can travel around in search of my ultimate goal."
Ansem knew very well what Sephiroth wished to obtain. The white haired swordsman wanted to reach a state of Godhood. Yes he was almost unbeatable as he was now, but being almost unbeatable did not suit well with him. That's why Sephiroth had begun to follow Ansem from world to world in search of power. In Spira he had almost reached that goal, but Ryu had seen to it that he failed. Too bad Ryu couldn't kill Sephiroth like he wanted to. Ansem was tired of having the power obsesses swordsman following him around. It wasn't easy to work when the threat of being killed at any given moment loomed around your head.
"So you're not worried about Cloud's boy?" he asked in an attempt to drive Sephiroth's mind away from causing him harm.
Sephiroth smirked. "He couldn't even stand up to me in our last fight and if I recall, his sister had to save him. I'll be able to take him out quickly and then deal with Cloud." A sinister grin creeped onto his face. "And I might also get the chance to kill Aerith again."
Ansem resisted the urge to shiver. Nothing was scarier than Sephiroth's grin, except maybe the light of Kingdom Hearts disintegrating him.
"Well if you wish to fight them, then I suggest coming along with me. I'm sure you'll run into them on my way to destroying the world and collecting the princess."
"Let's go."
Ansem snapped his fingers and a Behemoth materialized beneath him. It lifted the throne he sat on onto it's back and began it's slow march. Sephiroth took to they sky and flew at a slow pace. His finger's twitched in anticipation at the blood he was going to spill.
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Yuna and the others made it to Bevelle in the next few hours. They've had little sleep and for some, it showed. Yuna is probably the prime example of someone who should be allowed to sleep no matter what. She is cranky and snaps about almost anything. Add in her worry for the Ronso and getting the army set up in time and you get a really bitchy ex-summoner. Aerith was forced to use a sleeping spell to keep her from hurting anyone, namely Brother. It seemed that in this cranky mood, she found his exuberant personality to be annoying. Upon disembarking, Baralai met them and told them that the evacuation was under way, however, he was worried that not everyone would get out. After all, Bevelle was a large city. Brother and Buddy offered to take as many people as they could to Luca to which Baralai agreed. Because they had picked up Clasko, he also had insisted that they take his Chocobo, so to make more room, they decided to use the Chocobo to help the army move faster to the designated area.
They were forced to wake up Yuna, but at least she was less cranky now that she had a little bit of sleep. She helped Tidus in directing the people to the airship. Being the High Summoner was very helpful in this situation because people listened whenever she spoke. Brother and Buddy took off after the airship was filled to it's capacity. Once they were gone, Yuna and Tidus went around looking for some thing else to help with until the Celsius came back for another trip.
Shinra had decided to stay behind and help Rikku modify some machina to be used as modes of transportation. They weren't sure if Brother was going to have enough time to evacuate the people and transport the army so they decided it was best to make hovers. Each hover would pull a wagon that could carry a max of 20 soldiers. It was going to be a lot of work, but the two Al Bhed's were zooming through it like there was no tomorrow.
Nooj was also keeping them updated on their situation and informed them that Gippal had provided them with transportation and that they would reach the forest in two days. That lessened their concern a little more since now they could focus their full attention on Bevelle. Still though, there was way too many people left that needed evacuation. Much to their relief, Cid arrived to help. Auron had come just like Cid said. He focused more on organizing the troops as they prepared to leave. It was a tiresome day, but soon they were ready to march to the forest by Guadosalam.
"Are you sure about this?" Yuna asked Karen and Yuri.
The two teens offered to stay until the very last people were evacuated. They nodded at the summoner.
"Don't worry about us. If things start to get dicey, I'll fly us out of here." Karen said.
"Yeah, besides, I'm sure you would have tried to stay behind if we hadn't volunteered."
"Yup that sounds like Yunie." Rikku said.
"Well... just be careful." Yuna said with worry.
"When aren't I?" Yuri asked.
Kai sighed. That was like asking if Sephiroth was insane or if the Heartless were black.
"Take care of him." Paine told Karen.
Yuri looked confused. "Isn't it suppose to be the other way around?"
"Not when your involved." Kai told him flat out.
Everyone laughed. It was nice to be able to even if it was at Yuri's expense. Aerith hugged her daughter before they set off. Karen and Yuri waved at their retreating forms before going back and keeping order among the evacuees.
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AN: And I'll stop there even though this chapter feels short to me... oh well, I'll just have to make the next one longer.
Ryu: You gave us four days to prepare for a fight against an insane amount of Heartless?
DT: Uh...yeah.
Rikku: And you said I was a meanie.
DT: Hey now you guys are the good guys remember? That means there's no way you'll loose... unless I make this one of those good-guy-doesn't-always-win story.
Rikku and Ryu:... You're evil.
DT: I know. I reveal in the fact. Well guys this story is close to being done. Can you believe it? I give it maybe three more chapters. Though I don't know for sure since I'm not sure how long I'll make the last couple chapters, but it's safe to say it's close to the end. However, until that day comes, I ask that you review. Leave a small or long comment. Heck it can even have only one word and I won't care! Just no flames. Until next time!
