"No," Yuna whispered, watching with helpless horror as Tidus' perfect blue eyes misted over and his head lolled to the side, unconscious. "No, no, no, no, NO!"
Why, why were they so isolated? Why couldn't they be near a doctor or a medical centre? Why were they out in the forest alone together?
"Don't leave, please," she choked, pressing her face down against his, letting her tears fall unchecked onto his closed eyelids. His paled skin was still warm, but his expression was so . . . so dead. So empty. It gave her chills to look at his face.
'I have to help him,' she thought with a sudden jolt. 'I have healing magic. I can save him. I have to!'
Blood everywhere. It soaked his skin beneath his shredded jerkin. That was bad enough, but it was the venom inside that worried Yuna.
Yuna then stared down at Tidus, her mind speedily going over the possible ways to do this. She was used to healing small cuts and bruises, and even a few tiny burns, but that had always been the extent of her power. Did she really have the strength to cure poison before it was too late, as well as four huge slashes? The danger was inside of the body, a place Yuna's magic had never ventured into, and what if he bled to death? There was one option she could try, but it was advanced magic, one she had only seen strong priests and priestesses try.
"Only one way to know," she murmured to herself, summoning as much courage and willpower as her nerves would allow. Something inside her began humming, a pulse of energy that heated her veins and prickled the skin on the back of her neck. She had never felt such power before.
With a deep breath, she brought one leg up and straddled Tidus over his hips, settling herself comfortably. Using vicious energy powered by desperation, she ripped open his already shredded leather jerkin and tore it off of him to completely expose his wounds. She placed both her trembling hands on either side of his tranquil face, holding his head steady.
Yuna hesitated, her heart drumming wildly in her ears, before leaning down to his face.
Her hair swung down like a curtain as she pressed her lips against his mouth, gently forcing it open with her tongue.
Oh, how soft his heartbeat was beneath her, how faint his breath was.
She commanded every magical fibre in her body to awaken. Every shred of strength she had was forced to tap into her core of power. Then she concentrated energy into her mouth. The cool energy gathered like a pool into her jaws, tingling on her tongue. Yuna blew softly into Tidus, sending all her White Magic healing powers into him. She could feel it enter him, moving down his throat and into his lungs, and then into his weakly pulsating heart. From there, it was unleashed into his body via the bloodstream, searching out the venom and destroying it instantly. The cure worked its magic everywhere, but it was taking so much out of her. She could already see it begin to heal the tissue around his wounds, sealing the skin back together and eradicating any infections that had started to grow.
The hum in her veins was almost painful.
Yuna felt the pressure pounding in her temples, blocking out every other sound. Her brain was screaming for her to stop, saying she'd done enough for him, that all would be well if she just let go. But she refused, and held onto the thread of willpower that remained, forcing her gift into him with all the strength she could muster. She could feel the magic reaching every corner of him, cleansing him. But while he was being cured, her body was recoiling. Her limbs were seizing up, and her back arched against him as if forced by some unseen might, pressing her stomach against his bloodied body. Her skin was soaked with sweat, so much that it dripped off the end of her nose, and now his blood was seeping onto her. Her hair clung to her head in damp clumps. The hammering in her body was almost unbearable, and her skull felt as though it was splitting into a million pieces.
Had an outsider been observing, they would have seen a very curious sight. They would have seen a young woman leaning over an unconscious young man, their lips together, and they would have seen every single vein in each body alight with a silvery glow, luminescent and visible even beneath the skin. They would have seen the veins in the young woman pulsating, forcing the ethereal substance of light into the man's bloodstream.
She held on.
'Come back, Tidus,' she begged. 'Come to my light. Wake up.'
And there it was, that sensation she had been searching for. Life. Awareness. Feeling. Breath. Heartbeat. Quickly she cut off her magic, but before she could pull away, Tidus sat bolt upright with her lips still against his mouth. Completely governed by impulse, his arms came up around her, holding her to him. Yuna was shocked to feel his tongue stirring in her mouth, but she did not pull away.
In an instant, he wrenched apart from her as the realization of what was going on dawned on him. He stared wildly into her eyes, gasping as if out of breath, his arms still around her shoulders. There was a fierce light in his eyes, a brightness she had never seen before as a new vigour coursed through his healed body. Her hands were pressed against his chest, and she gazed back into him, unable to move.
Then the overwhelming and utter exhaustion sank into her, falling over her like a giant blanket. Her eyelids dropped and she slumped against Tidus' broad chest, breathing a single sigh of relief. She had done her work. He was alive, and she could rest now.
She did not even hear him say her name before she drifted away into slumber.
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Yuna came awake gradually, but she chose not to open her eyes just yet. She felt far too peaceful and relaxed wherever she was, and she felt no great urge to wakeup. The sun was warm on her face, and she was nestled against something strong and comfortable. She felt as though she was rocking gently from side to side.
But then the memories started sweeping back to her, everything about the fiend, Tidus, healing him . . . was he alive? She couldn't remember. Her eyes flew open and she stiffened against whatever it was she was leaning against.
"Good to see you're awake now," a deep voice said quietly, somewhere close to her head. Yuna looked up into Tidus' smiling blue eyes. She stared up at him for a moment, wondering why she was so close to him. Her nose almost touched his when he looked down at her directly.
She was sitting sideways in front of Tidus on the horse, which, to her amazement, decided to return to them after Yuna had passed out. She had her forehead tucked against the side of Tidus' neck, and he had both arms around her to hold the reins. She noted with mild interest that she was wearing different clothes, and it took her a moment to remember that the other one had been stained with Tidus' blood. Now she was wearing a tan brown traveling dress that fitted her much better, hugging her figure. It was long-sleeved, laced up at the chest, and there was a long slit up the leg to allow freer motion while riding the horse. It gave her strangely delicious chills knowing Tidus had been the one to undress her.
"How long have I been asleep?" she yawned, not bothering to sit upright. She returned to her former position with her head against his shoulder, forehead against his neck.
"About an hour and a half," he replied. His voice vibrated soothingly against her face. "I owe you my life, Yuna. Thank you for saving me."
"I wouldn't have done anything else," she told him, closing her eyes. She was rested enough not to go back to sleep, but it felt nice just to close her eyes and enjoy the comfort.
"What did you do to me that cured me?" Tidus questioned, his voice wondrous. "I felt something powerful inside of me, but I was so close to death, I couldn't tell what it was. It felt like . . . like winter had come into my body, cooling down the heat of the poison. I felt like . . ."
"Like what?" she pressed, curious.
He hesitated again.
"It felt like . . . you were there in me. I saw you in my mind. Somehow it was like you had reached inside to heal me. I felt so strong . . . so alive. What did you do?" he asked.
"Something very dangerous and very rarely attempted," she replied calmly. "I've only seen aged priests and priestesses try it. It's called the Kiss of Life. I sent all of my magic into you, healing you from the inside. I even made sure you wouldn't have any scars on your stomach from where the fiend hit you."
She was silent for a moment, letting her words sink into him.
"I didn't think I could do it, at first. I was afraid to try in case I failed. But . . . somehow, I started to believe I could. I felt a power in me I've never felt before. And then I did it . . . but I don't know how it was possible. I've always had such weak magic, my whole life. How did I manage to summon so much?" she asked, speaking as if to no one in particular.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But I'm grateful that you could. I would have died if it hadn't been for you."
Yuna smiled then, touched at his words. She didn't tell him that if he had died, she would not have known what to do. In the short time she'd known him, she was startled to find how much she depended on him, how safe she felt in his presence. If something had happened to him, she doubted she would have had the courage to go on and continue the journey alone. Briefly she remembered the soft warmth of his lips against hers.
"Uh oh," he said suddenly, pulling the horse to a stop. Yuna opened her eyes and looked to the front of the trail. Her heart flew into her throat.
"Don't tell me that's a road block," she said nervously.
"It's a road block," Tidus said grimly, his arms tightening around her for a minute.
"Can we turn around and find another way?"
"Didn't you see the symbol on that flag up there?" Tidus pointed up to a large white flag with a red emblem, an ancient symbol from the earliest introduction of Yevonite culture. Yuna's heart sank. It was the flag of the temple.
"If we turn around now, they'll suspect something and come after us. They're checking for ID up there to let people pass . . . they're looking for us."
He swerved the horse unexpectedly into the trees at their side, and urged her forward away from the path. Then he dismounted quickly and pulled Yuna down with him. Her legs were still a bit weak, so she held on to the saddle for more support. She watched in puzzlement as Tidus began rooting through the saddlebags.
"What are you looking for?" she asked as he began searching through a second bag.
"I packed a can of animal grease for cooking," he grunted busily. "I need to find it, and I need you to gather some mud and dirt. I've got an idea."
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". . . And if I catch you asleep at your post again, I'll skin you alive, you hear me, soldier?" the grumpy Captain Druzzan of the Yevonite Warriors snarled, waving his fist threateningly under Wakka's nose. The red-haired young man, in spite of his considerable size compared to Druzzan, swallowed nervously and saluted in understanding. The captain spat at his feet contemptuously and stormed away to find more things to yell at.
Wakka sighed and turned around to face the path once again, trying vainly to ignore the heaviness of his eyelids. He had been roughly awakened at dawn of that morning and forced onto an airship with all the other Yevonite Warriors, without breakfast and without a chance to catch up on his sleep.
All Wakka knew was that he was supposed to stop anyone who came along the path and check their ID before letting them pass through, which didn't make much sense to him. It was as if the Warriors were looking for someone in particular, but who?
"Any sign of them, brother?"
Wakka perked up slightly and stood still to listen to the hushed conversation nearby. He did not turn his head, for if he did, the two priests talking would realize he could hear them and carry out their discussion somewhere else. Wakka needed to know who they were looking for once and for all.
"Not yet, I'm afraid. I'm beginning to worry that they may have found another route past us."
"Nonsense, our camp stretches out for leagues all around. It would take them at least a full day to get around us, and I imagine the Lady Yuna and her companion are in a much bigger hurry than that."
Wakka felt his blood turn cold.
"So you don't believe the rumours? You don't think she was kidnapped?"
"Of course not. I've known Lady Yuna since she was a child in the temple. I tell you, she can be surprisingly stubborn. If she had been kidnapped, she would have found a way to escape or call for help."
"True, true . . . and I suppose many people in Luca saw how she was running with that Tidus lad instead of being dragged along. I think you're right; she did leave voluntarily."
"Which begs another question: Why would she run from the ceremony? She can't possibly know about -"
"Careful, brother . . . let's not speak of this further, shall we?"
Wakka stood frozen on the spot, his heart leaping into his throat. So, the temple was searching for Lady Yuna and Tidus. Why? Why were they so intent on capturing them for a ceremony if they said themselves the only consequence would be exile and excommunication? Why not wait until next year and choose someone else? Surely Yevon would not want to force one of his children into the Farplane against her will, especially if she was so desperate to avoid it.
Wakka swallowed heavily and tried to clear his head. What would he do if Tidus and Yuna showed up at his watch post? He had promised to cover for them, hadn't he? But it would be dangerous . . . if anyone found out it was he who let them slip past, there was no telling what kind of punishment he would have in store.
"Hey, Wakka, you got some customers," a voice said tauntingly from behind. Wakka grit his teeth and ignored the jibe, keeping his attention to the path ahead, where two cloaked figures on horseback were approaching.
As they drew nearer, Wakka stood up straighter.
"Please dismount and show me your ID, sir and ma'am," he said in a clear scripted voice, trying to control his Besaidian accent. The two figures did not move right away, and Wakka's gaze lowered to the man's hands on the reins. His stomach lurched.
The skin was a dull greyish colour and had a sick glisten to it, and here and there flecks of dead skin stood up grotesquely. Wakka licked his lips and struggled to manage his gag reflex.
"If y-you are lepers, den I don't have permission to let you through-"
"Wakka, it's me!" the man whispered from beneath his cloak. That voice was familiar.
"T-Tidus?" Wakka hissed, his face blanching. "If it's you, den . . ." his eyes fell to the woman in front of him. "Lady Yuna?"
"Wakka, you have to let us through," Tidus whispered urgently, pulling back his hood to reveal his eyes. His face also appeared to be decaying. Wakka was still gaping up at him incredulously.
"But, you're skin, brudda, it's-"
"Please, Sir Wakka, let us pass," Yuna begged, keeping her voice low. She too revealed her eyes, and Wakka could see that her face was also made up like Tidus'. "We have an important task to carry out. We are only in disguise."
Wakka began to regain control of himself then. He paused for a moment to think whilst trying to calm his racing heart.
"All right," he said at last, reaching into a bag at his hip. He pulled out two red tags on strings. "Wear these around your neck, if you don't want anyone to stop and talk to you, ya? They're called 'Licenses of Silence'. We give 'em to the travelers who are under a vow of silence because of temple trainin'. You'll get by without a fuss."
Tidus reached down with his gruesome hand and took the tags from his friend, and handed one to Yuna. Wakka threw an anxious glance over his shoulder as they put them around their necks.
"I gotta ask ya something," Wakka said suddenly, turning back to face them. "Do you know what the temple is up to? I gotta feeling that they ain't tellin' the truth."
"We do know, Sir Wakka," Yuna replied sadly. "But I'm afraid now is not the time to tell you. The less you know, the safer you'll be. Someday I'm sure Tidus will tell you, when all of this is over. Until then, I thank you with all my heart for your kindness."
Wakka blushed slightly and fought to hide his embarrassed grin.
"Ah, my Lady, it's nothing. Anything for the greater good, ya?" he said with a modest shrug. "Go on now, nobody will stop you with those tags."
"Thanks, my friend," Tidus whispered as they passed by on horse. "I won't forget this."
Wakka gazed after them as they moved ahead, inwardly struggling with his inner demons. Still, he watched with a smile on his lips, knowing secretly that no matter how nervous he was about his own consequences, Yuna and Tidus were doing the right thing.
"I don't know what it is you're plannin', brudda," he murmured to himself. "But good luck, ya?"