Hey hey!

So again, wanted to thanks my reviewers with all my little heart (it truly makes my day): to answer your question fanclove2014, I don't use "-" instead of "" for any particular reason, really. It's just how I'm used to show dialogue I guess :p. And thank you so much Guest, whoever you are, because that's exactly what I was aiming for and I'm so glad it showed! I just think it gets boring if all is perfect with "sunshine and rainbows", as you put it, from the very beginning. For the mere reason that it's not realistic. People fight, disagree, and things can get a little ugly sometimes, even when the two people involved are perfect for each other. At the end of the day you just have to decide who is worth fighting with. Anyway, anyway, look at me, I'm getting all philosophical here haha.

See ya soon, hope you'll enjoy! ;)

Chapter 5 – Reconnecting with the past

Phew, that was one smooth move, Tidus congratulated himself. He was waiting for Yuna, still on the Chocobo, and couldn't quite believe he had just done that. He bet no part of hers could see him as her brother now.

Since she wasn't coming, he thought he would wait for her inside the Inn, the afternoon was coming to an end. Plus, Rin had just gotten back, and he insisted that they stayed at his Inn tonight, on the house. That was very surprising of Rin, who would usually always make them pay for anything, so Tidus thought they should really take him up on his offer. He and Rin started chatting in Al-Bhed. He really liked that guy. He was always so calm and positive about things, and super friendly, too.

After a while, Yuna pushed the door open, and joined them. She distractively said hi to Rin, and sat next to them, never looking at Tidus. He looked at her, amused but also worried. Had it been a good idea to catch her off guard and kiss her back there? Was she mad at him for that?

As they ate dinner, all three of them, Yuna slowly came back to normal again. She even glanced at Tidus, although she still seemed embarrassed, and they chatted in Al-Bhed, talking about many things and nothing.

A small, timid knock resonated against the wooden door. Tidus rolled on his bed, unsure if he had heard right. He waited, and the knock stared again. He got up, curious, and opened the door.

Yuna was in the corridor, about to walk away. When she heard the door open, she stopped and looked up at him with big, wide eyes.

- "Hey. I'm sorry. Am I waking you?" She said, so low he had to guess more than hear what she was saying.

- "No, no you're alright. What's wrong?" He asked, scratching is eyes.

- "May I come in? I can't sleep."

He was surprised by her visit, but a very good kind of surprised. He opened his door wider to let her pass. She suddenly felt so out of place, she didn't know what to do or where to stand. She was just standing there, in the middle of his room, her back turned to him. He looked at her, amused, and went back to crash on is bed, unceremoniously. He was laying against the wall, his head resting on his bended arm. She looked at him, still standing, and smiled a bit nervously. With his free hand, he gently tapped the side of her bed, gesturing her to come sit. She did, but she was on the edge of the bed, showing him her back again.

- "Come here", he said, carefully touching her back.

She tensed at the touch, but then relaxed, and finally lied next to him, over the blankets.

- "We didn't ask each other questions today", Yuna said, looking at the celling.

It was true, they hadn't, he realized. He moved his head a bit, thinking. What could he ask her? He rolled over on one side, his elbow on a pillow, his head cupped in the palm of his hand.

- "Hmm…" He began out loud.

She mirrored his gesture, and they both looked at each other, face to face. He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to figure her out.

- "How do you feel?" He asked simply.

- "Right now, or in general?"

- "Right now."

She moistened her lips as she thought about it.

- "Good. A little nervous. But mostly good", she concluded.

- "Do I make you feel nervous?" He asked, a proud smile creeping on his lips.

- "Hey that's two questions!" She hid her face in her free hand, embarrassed.

Tidus laughed, and took her hand in his, away from her face. She was slightly blushing, biting her lips.

- "You make me feel a little nervous, too", he admitted in a whisper, still smiling.

She smiled, her left hand buried in her soft brown hair, grabbing some locks of it. She looked down, her gaze fixating some spot on the sheets between them. He waited for her to speak, feeling like they had all the time in the world. He was alright just looking at her, anyway.

- "I'm really glad we are doing this, you know? We never really got the time to get to know one another. There are so many things I still don't know about you."

Tidus nodded. He suddenly got an idea.

- "Hey, tell you what. For tonight, you can ask me anything, no questions limit. Shoot, what do you want to know about me?"

- "I don't know… What do you miss the most about Zanarkand?"

- "Hhmm..." He said, looking at the celling to help him find his answer. "I'm not sure anymore."

Yuna smiled, and Tidus' hand left hers to go smoothly up and down her back.

- "Spira is a bit my world now, you know. There's nowhere I'd rather be."

- "I'm glad." She said.

He smiled at her and moved just a little closer to her face. He waited, looking deep in her beautiful two-colored eyes. She closed the distance between them and kissed his lips lightly. She breathed out, trying to calm her heart. He moved a lock of her behind her ear.

- "What is your happiest memory?" He asked, caressing her nose with his, eyes closed.

- "Hmm. That's a tough one." She replied, her voice shaking a bit from his contact and she tried to ignore it. "I think it probably was when I was quite little. My mother had just made peace with my uncle, Cid, and we were all invited, including my father, to spend the day with them, at Home. It was my first time meeting him, as well as Rikku and Brother. I remember we did this amazing banquet, and I played with Rikku. She was trying to teach me Al-Bhed, and I English. Everybody seemed to get along, and it was like we all forgot about our differences, and about Sin, for a while."

She smiled, nostalgic at the memory. He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, letting his hand fall to rest on her neck, and he brought her closer, kissing her a bit longer this time, as if to wash her nostalgia away.

- "What is yours?" She asked finally.

- "When I won my very first Blitzball match, I think. I was about 8. My mom had come to cheer for me. My old man hadn't, of course, he had "more important things to do than to go see a bunch of kids playing ball and calling it Blitzball"". He said in a big voice, impersonating Jecht. "And I felt really good and proud about it. After that, my mom took me out for ice cream, and we spent all afternoon talking and laughing."

- "You never thought of going full time to Luca to play with the Besaid Aurochs?"

- "No, actually I have, but... I don't know if I want to do just that anymore, you know? Back in Zanarkand, it was enough, but it was because I didn't know anything else. I think I'd like to do it part time, or something like that."

- "And what else would you like to do, then?"

- "Change things". He said simply, the answer coming to him instantly. "Improve them. Help in some way, or something."

She smiled, feeling proud of his answer for some reason. He really was a good man.

- "You could help me, if you want. I'm sure you'd do a great counselor. You've already given me great guidance."

Tidus scratched his nose, embarrassed. That Yuna would think he would be good enough to help people of Spira meant a lot. The idea was kind of growing on him.

- "Yeah... Yeah I think I'd like that."

- "Great, it is settled then." She concluded, nodding her head once, as if to seal it off. "You can come with me to my next meeting, it's in Mushroom road, with Nooj and Lucil."

Tidus nodded. He wasn't sure he'd be great there, but he wanted to give it a shot. She didn't talk about it a lot. What it was like, what she would do exactly. He was suddenly curious about it.

- "Do you like it, being a counselor?"

- "I mostly do. No, I mean I do, really. It's just that… Sometimes it is a lot of pressure, you know? Your advice may change what someone important had planned, and then what if it was bad advice? It's a lot of responsibilities."

She paused, thinking about it some more.

- "But I like it", she concluded. "I love feeling like I am helping people. Now that Sin is gone, we are a little lost, I guess. We are not used to all that free time to improve our world, to live freely in it. We'd been hiding and fearing him for 1000 years. Sin was a huge part of Spira. So it is a little like, "what are we now, without him?", you know?"

Tidus nodded slowly. He understood exactly what she meant. The people in Spira had to redefine themselves, and they had no model to do so.

- "But that's the best kind of lost. A kind where we can do anything."

- "Yeah, that's exactly right." She smiled.

She awoke before him. The first thing she saw as she opened her eyes was his torso. One of his arm was laying across her back, squeezing her close to him, while her head was resting on the other, buried in his neck. They were under the blankets, their legs meddling. Yuna sighted. She felt good there, in his arms, and felt like she could just stay there all day. But it felt a bit late, since they had talked almost all night long, and she couldn't even remember falling asleep. They would have to get going soon. She had told Nooj she would be meeting with him in a few days, back in Besaid, and it had been 5 days already. And yet, it felt like so much more time had passed, they had done so much. So much had happened.

She carefully moved her head back a bit, and watched him sleep. He seemed so peaceful, the ghost of a smile playing on his lips. She smiled for herself, and planted a small kiss on his cheek. It didn't wake him up.

She decided she had to move. It seemed like a really tough decision to make, but she grabbed his arm, slowly, and moved it away from her waist. Then she started, just as carefully, to move the blanket away from her body, as she moved back, until she got out of bed. She kept glancing at him, making sure she hadn't woken him up. And finally, she got out of the room. She let out a sigh of relief, and went back to her room.

Yuna felt like a little girl, all giddy and happy. She wanted to jump in her room, to scream and to run. She really, really liked him. She always had.

A few hours later, Tidus woke up, a little annoyed to see that Yuna had left. He shrugged, and rolled over on the bed. A few minutes went by, and he realized he had to get up, as they were probably late on their schedule. He groaned, sat up, scratched his head and painfully got out of bed.

Yuna was there, sitting at a table, eating her breakfast. She was chatting with Rin. As they noticed his presence, they both turned to smile at him. Tidus' first reflex was to come kiss Yuna on the head, but something in her expression stopped him. Rin was there, he thought, and she probably didn't want any public display of affection. He scratched his head, and sat across her at the table.

- "Hello Tidus, how did you sleep?" Asked Rin, in his Al-Bhed accent. They were sometimes talking in English, sometimes in Al-Bhed, it was getting confusing.

- "Good good. Not enough though", he said, and he quickly glanced at Yuna, who gave him a knowing smile, slightly blushing.

Rin pretended not to notice anything, and he got up, asking Tidus if he wanted some Al-Bhed Potion in his infusion, to give him some energy.

Since their timing wasn't perfect, Rin had offered them to drop them off at Mi'ihen's gate, right before Mushroom rock. So they packed their things and met with him outside.

- "You got a Hover! Right on Rin!" Tidus exclaimed.

Rin affectuously patted on the thing. It was quite big, and resembled some sort of airboat. The lower part consisted of a green and light yellow car body, placed on big skis to allow it to slide. On top of it rested a huge red fan, as the machina was wind-powered, with a small cabin designed for the driver.

- "How fun!" Yuna agreed.

They jumped on the back side, eager to go. Rin told them he was a great pilot.

And if by that, he had meant "a fast, reckless one", Tidus and Yuna certainly would have agreed. He was driving so fast they barely had time to look at the landscape. Tidus was looking away from Yuna, as he didn't want her to realize how scared he was. Although his knuckles, which had turned white from his tight grip on his seat, could probably tip her off somewhat. She let her hand rest on his, silently reassuring him.

The wind was blowing in their faces, hard, and they had no way to cover from it. It seemed to be drying out all the water in their eyes, burning their cheeks, and they had to blink several times a second. At some point, a little kid and his parents were crossing on the bridge, and Yuna swore Rin had been this close to knocking all three of them out. Thankfully, she had yelled "look out!" soon enough for them to budge.

The worst parts were when they had to turn. Rin wouldn't handle the curves very well, since they were driving too fast, and both thought the Hover was going to fall on the side—problem was, where they were, the side meant falling off a cliff. Yuna squeezed his hand, and they both looked at each other, worried for their lives.

Thankfully, soon enough, they made it to the gates. Rin stopped as abruptly as he had started the Hover. Tidus didn't budge, shaking a bit. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins, and he felt so happy to be alive. After a few seconds, he finally began to relax. It was over now. It was all over. Yuna looked at him, smiling. She wanted to laugh, both because of the fear spasm stuck on his face, but also because she, too, felt so relieved to be alive right now she needed to blow off some steam.

- "So", Rin began, smiling broadly at them, "how did you like the ride?"

It was all Tidus could do not to cry.

Fourth Stop: Mushroom Rock

"We, the Youth League, to better our understanding of Spira's past, vow to remain vigilant in our search for ruins of spheres. And as of today, we vow to plan Spira's future, along with our friends from New Yevon, and from the Al-Bheds. We vow to respect our differences, and to rule in harmony, as proud representatives of our beloved world's diversity."

That's how they were greeted, at the doors of the Youth League Headquarters. A bunch of soldiers, their fists on their hearts, were proudly reciting their mantra. Yuna was happy to notice that it had evolved, as the second and third sentences had been added, resulting of Nooj, Baralai and Gippel's decision to unite their forces and rule together.

The place had completely changed from what Tidus remembered. They were still using that weird elevator that was there last time he came here, but now, a gigantic yellow and purple hut proudly stood in the middle of a huge camp. A few canon huts were disposed on their left and right sides, and, as they walked closer to the big hut, Tidus noticed two solemnly placed fire torches on either sides of their path. Flags of the Youth League were plastered everywhere, as if people here could forget where they were. They formed a big circle around the headquarters hut.

A long, dark yellow carpet lied there, and a bit further, from either sides of the main entrance to the hut, two other fire torches were planted. Tidus briefly wondered if they weren't scared the fire would burn off the hut, but kept his thought to himself, scared he could hurt the feelings of the proud soldier, Yaibal, that had insisted on accompanying "Lady Yuna and her friend" personally to the doors.

- "Lady Yuna, as always, it is an honor." Lucil stated, bringing her fist to her heart, her elbow parallel to the ground.

She seemed very professional, as she always was, but when she looked at the face of Yuna's friend, her mouth opened in a big "o" and her mask of professionalism fell off. She wasn't sure what to say, and she looked at Yuna, and then back at Tidus.

- "Hiya, Lucil! It's good to see you again", Tidus started, giving her time to win back some composure.

- "As it is you", she replied, nodding, her professional skills reemerging. "I am commander Lucil, of the Youth League forces, now. She added, for Tidus' benefit. Please, this way, Nooj is waiting for you."

- "Where's Elma?" Tidus asked, as they were heading inside the hut.

- "She is off on an important mission, but she should be back shortly."

Tidus thought to himself that it was the first time he saw Lucil without her second, Elma. But apart from that, the woman hadn't changed one bit.

- "Nice to meet you. I am Nooj", a man with a long brown ponytail said as he shook Tidus' hand.

He recognized him from Yuna's sphere, but he was much more impressive in flesh and blood. The guy seemed even more damaged physically than Auron. He was wearing a red suit, with some kind of fur on his right shoulder. A huge metallic prosthesis was covering the entirety of his left leg, and he seemed to need the use of a stick to walk.

- "Same. I'm Tidus, one of Yuna's ex guardian."

They were all standing in the biggest room of the hut. Carved onto the back "wall", Tidus read the sentence "Knowledge of the past is the key to the future". A long table was disposed behind them, and the same pattern that Tidus had seen on the flags outside was printed on the tablecloth. Nooj gestured for them to sit.

- "Yuna, as always, it is a pleasure to have you here. Would you like something to drink or eat?"

- "I am fine for now, but thank you for offering. It is nice to see you, too."

They seemed pretty formal for people who had fought a big scary machina together. But then again, everyone in this place felt pretty formal-like. Tidus sat up straight on his chair, feeling the need to appear more professional in front of those people.

- "So". Nooj began, grabbing some important papers. "Have you had the chance to give more thought to our adoption policy problem? We can barely afford to have that many orphan homes, and those kids should have a family."

- "Yes, I have, actually. I studied your position, as well as Baralai's. I think you both had very valid points, and that's why you should, in my opinion, do something more in the middle. For example, what I thought was that we could select a few of the young couples looking to adopt, and try to familiarize with the kids for a short amount of time. This way, we can make sure they are right for the part, and also accelerate the process, since they would already have broken the ice with the kids."

Lucil was noisily pressing some circles on a small machina, somehow writing what Yuna was saying on the little thing. Nooj was rubbing his chin, thinking it over.

- "It could be worth a try, indeed. I would submit this idea to Baralai and we will think about organizing this. Thank you."

- "That's what I'm here for!"

Tidus didn't dare to say much, still. He couldn't understand why Baralai, and what was the name of the third one? Gippal? Why they weren't there to assist at the meeting, when they were supposed to be the three rulers of Spira.

- "On other matters, just to name a few, we still haven't found good, durable solutions to: building more schools and hospitals, we are short-handed to build them, and our budget still do not allow it. Same with shelters and Youth Leagues posts. On a better note, our "Spira's Little Helpers" project, to resolve all those issues at their core is showing promise. It has had some great results among the population. We owe it to you Yuna, thank you again."

He paused, and looked at Tidus:

- "Basically, we decided to send our trained troops all across Spira, to teach people everything they need to know in order to survive on their own: how to fight, to hunt, to make basic potions and medicine, to build themselves homes…"

- ""Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime", right?" Tidus said, looking at Yuna, impressed by her idea.

- "Exactly right. Elma is right now coordinating two of the biggest missions, at Luca and Moonflow, and looks like it's going very well for the vast majority. Still, our priority remains to improve our way of contacting between each other—Gippal is still working on that, back at the Djose temple, and we can use the video chatting devise for emergencies, but it still doesn't have the expected results. This would allow us to accelerate our decision-making spawn, and improve everything."

- "First off", Tidus started, unsure of what to say. "Shouldn't you meet all together for those kinds of things? I mean, I know you can send messages or whatever but, shouldn't you like, meet in person for now? I know it would probably take longer, but I think it would be way more efficient. Plus, if you travelled around Spira, maybe that could help you see exactly what people need, and find easier, faster solutions to smaller problems. Make a lot of small steps rather than few big ones?"

Some of his statement was invalid, since they did meet, all three of them, as frequently as they could. But Nooj quite liked his idea of travelling in Spira to discover the population's actual needs—he hadn't budge from his office since the Vegnagun affair—and thought it could be worth exploring. Yuna instantly offered that he'd join them, as they were currently travelling Spira, advising people.

Gippal and Nooj were stationed pretty close, but Baralai was located in Bevelle, within the temple. Yuna proposed that they'd meet there, all three of them.

Problem was: who would be in charge while Nooj would go? He instantly thought of Lucil, but as her second, he needed her with him at the meeting.

- "Sir, if I may", started Lucil. "I think Elma would be great for the job. She has shown her capacities in the last few months and, with the help of Yaibal, we could leave our headquarters without fear."

- "I will think about that. I will give you my answer by the end of the day, if that is alright with all of you. Thank you Lucil. Yuna. Tidus." He said, nodding in gratitude as he pronounced their names. You are free to go.

- "This place still feels so sad."

Tidus, like a tightrope walker, was walking on a little elevated piece of land, right next to Mushroom rock's beach. Yuna, her back to him, was strolling on the sand, lost in thoughts.

This was where so many Crusaders had died during the infamous Operation Mi'ihen. Tidus jumped from where he stood, catching up with Yuna. The sky was clouded, as it often was around here, and it felt charged with a powerful, devastating energy about to be unleashed. The sea was rather calm, and yet it seemed so threatening, dark and unwelcoming. Yuna, her shoes in her hand, her feet buried in the sand, was walking along the shore, followed by Tidus. Not too far ahead, he noticed something they were heading towards. As they grew closer, he realized it was a gigantic stone, with something carved in it. Yuna sat in front of it, and started to pray. Tidus read:

"Operation Mi'ihen – We remember

To Value all life.

To Honor and preserve the memory of our fallen soldiers.

To Set apart this sacred place where people heal, hope and remember."

Below was a list of names and ages Tidus preferred not to linger on. This was a memorial for the fallen. He sat next to Yuna, and closed his eyes, trying to pray. He wasn't sure what to do, so he opened one of his eyes, and tried to mimic whatever gesture Yuna was doing. It was the intention that matter anyway, right?

He remembered when he had awakened on that very spot, only to find all those people dead because of Sin. He remembered Gatta, traumatized by Luzzu's death. He remembered the treachery of Yu Yevon, yet another one, with Kinoc and Seymour allowing the operation to go on, while perfectly knowing it would fail, just so people would see how useless the machinas were and how they should respect the teachings instead. Gently staying within their control spawn.

He opened his eyes to see Yuna summoning flowers all around the stone, her staff in her hand.

Sure, they had to look towards Spira's future, but they had to be careful not to forget its past, too.

On the next day, everything was settled. Nooj and Lucil would be joining them until they reached Bevelle. Elma was left in charge. Upon hearing the news, she panicked somewhat, not feeling good enough for the job. Lucil reassured her, telling her she was almost her equal now. She had achieved countless complicated missions with success and on her own, and was perfectly capable of managing the headquarters. Plus, she would have Yaibal to assist her, and she could contact Lucil anytime, thanks to their linked watches.

- "Gippal should be in Djose", Nooj said as he grabbed his cane and started walking away, leading the others.

Fifth Stop: Djose Temple

As they entered the Djose temple, Tidus barely had the time to register some kind of yellow light coming into his field of sight, when already, someone was hugging him:

- "It's youuuuu! You really are back! That's gooood. That's so good!" Rikku shouted, hugging her friend.

She stepped away and looked at Yuna, and then back at Tidus. She hadn't changed that much, he thought, except for her hair. She had this huge ponytail with some locks of braided hair falling over a blue headband, which was wrapped around her forehead.

- "And oh! You look SO cute together!" She gasped, both her hands covering her mouth.

She was almost jumping in front of them, totally hyper. Yuna noticed she was back in her ex-outfit, with her orange top and her pair of green shorts. She remembered her complaining about how the other one was so uncomfortable, and she was always cold in it, especially as they were on missions at Mount Gagazet. This one suited her better, she thought. She looked well. Yuna hadn't seen her cousin in quite some time, she was glad that she was here now. Rikku hugged them both. Really, really tight.

- "I am so happyhyhy for you guyyyys". She said, almost sobbing.

- "Ufff", was all Yuna could manage to reply, tapping her best friend's back.

She glanced at Tidus, whom she could see a bit, across Rikku's proud blond mane. He smiled at her, amused, but also deeply touched by Rikku's reaction. She had always been like a sister to him. If you thought about it, she was like a girl version of him, in some ways.

- "It's really good to see you too, Rikku." Tidus said, gently patting her back as well.

- "What is this?" A man with spiked blond hair said mockingly from behind Rikku's back. "A family reunion?"

Rikku's outburst had resonated across all the temple, with her high pitched voice. The emotional reunion scene was hard to miss.

- "Oh. But it's you, superstar!" Gippal exclaimed, looking at Yuna. "How you been?"

- "Good", she said, as Rikku stepped away from them, still grinning.

- "And… You are?" The man asked, looking over at Tidus.

He was pretty tall, and thin. A black eyepatch covered his right eye, making him look a bit older than he really was. He was mostly dressed in blue, with long sleeves, baggy, darker pants and big red boots. Two purple and blue shoulder pads hanged over his blue-grey sweatshirt, with two yellow strips crossing over his chest, maintaining his pants in place.

- "He's Yunie's boyfriend!" Rikku proudly stated.

Tidus scratched his head, letting a little embarrassed laugh out. He didn't confirm nor deny it, and neither did Yuna. At that moment, Nooj and Lucil, who had had to stay a bit behind to finish organizing a few things, finally arrived, pushing the great doors open.

Saved by the Nooj, Tidus thought, relieved.

As Gippal explained, the Al-Bhed had temporarily taken over the Djose temple, as they waited to have the means to build themselves a new Home. It being the ex-Ixion Temple meant they had tons of electricity available, which was of great use for them to build their powerful machinas. And at the same time, they were still digging old machinas in Bikanel's desert, trying to make them work again and teaching people how to use them. That was mostly Rikku's job, now that Gippal was the chief of the Al-Bheds. They were having lunch in Gippal's apartments, as he liked to call his small, untidy room.

- "I had literally just arrived when you guys came!" Rikku said. "It's a super cool coincidence."

During the rest of the meal, they discussed their plan of travelling across Spira to find out more what the people wanted and needed, and just at what stage of their lives they were at. Nooj said they always had room for improvement, and the best way to know what they had to do was to see Spira's problems for themselves. Gippal agreed completely, but he had some "important stuffs" to resolve first, and could only go on the next morning. That would let them plenty of time to catch up, Rikku happily stated, dragging Yuna out of the table with her. She was thrilled to be going on an adventure again, she had been a little bored lately. No one had told her she could come yet, but she looked so happy they didn't dare say anything. And Yuna wanted her by her side, anyway.

- "Tell me everything Yunie. I want every little details!"

Yuna laughed and shook her head, glad to see her cousin hadn't changed. They hadn't seen each other in so long, and though they send each other messages, it wasn't the same as being with her in person. They were walking along the Djose Road, killing of some fiends from time to time, no biggie. And so Yuna began telling her everything, how things had been rough between Tidus and her back in Besaid, his sudden proposal to go on some sort of pilgrimage of rediscovery—both of Spira and of themselves—what had happened between them, their kiss, their night spend talking...

- "Everything is great between us now. We truly are reconnecting. I'm happy."

- "I am so glad, Yunie. You so deserve it."

Now they sat at the cliff, their feet hanging in the air. Rikku's palms were on the ground, behind her back, her upper-body weight resting on them. She was lazily moving her legs, one after the other, and looking at the clouded sky, over the black sea.

- "So what about you, Rikku? What has been going on with you?"

They had last seen each other at the top of the highest tower, called Yadonoki. Back then, she had so much going on, and Yuna hadn't started her job back yet. Rikku had been jealous of Yuna's peaceful rhythm, and they had fought a little. But quickly after that, they had made up, realizing they couldn't stay angry at each other for too long. They had briefly heard of Paine, too, but she felt distant, in her own things as usual. The girls knew Paine would reach out to them when she would need it, so they had agreed to let her have the space she needed.

- "Well, things finally calmed down for me, after a while. I decided to stop saying yes to everything people asked me to do. I liked it, for a while, it was nice to try all kinds of new things. But it was exhausting too, and I wanted to find "my thing", you know?"

- "And what is that?" Yuna asked, curious.

- "Well…" Rikku scratched her head. "I'm still unsure. So I'm just helping my dad out, for now. He is still really important amongst the Al-Bheds, even though he has "passed the torch" to that guy Gippal, now."

- "Right. Is something going on between you guys?" Yuna asked, teasingly poking her cousin's arm. "I remember him mentioning that you "made quite the couple" when I first met him."

Rikku was about to say something, when Yuna cut her off, a finger raised in her direction:

- "And don't even try to deny it again. I saw the way he looked at you."

Rikku's face froze for a few seconds, her mouth open, and she sighed, feeling defeated.

- "It's nothing, really… We just… Sorta-dated a while ago, for a really short among of time. It didn't mean anything."

- "Really? Then why are you blushing?" Yuna laughed, tilting her head to one side.

- "Yuniiiiie", Rikku whined, her hands covering her burning cheeks. "Can we please drop it?"

Rikku might seem outgoing and always happy at first sight, but truth was, she could sometimes be even more secretive than Paine, with her things. Even with her best friend.