Four years later, here I am with the final chapter of my story. I told you it would happen someday, I just didn't think it would take me four years to go back to it!

Enjoy!

Chapter 13 – Taking steps is easy, standing still is hard

Lucil had been stuck in an endless, soundless sleep for weeks now.

They were waiting at the Youth League, as they didn't want to go back without her. Moreover, Nooj had absolutely refused to go anywhere until they knew how to her wake up. He would go see her everyday, and Elma often found him sitting next to the bed, fast asleep. At the meetings, he wasn't focused and he would always scratch his neck. It was sore from all those nights he spent on an uncomfortable chair.

Brother, Shinra and Buddy had stuck around. They would sometimes go away for a bit, but they always came back. Tidus—and everyone, basically—suspected it was because Brother wanted to stay close to Yuna.

Thanks to Shinra and to Gippal, their watches had a new, great function: when they pressed a small button, they could turn invisible too. It was only for a short amount of time, since the watch's battery wasn't strong enough to allow more. But a few minutes being invisible could already be of great use. And it was a positive outcome of their fights with the Shadows.

The only day that didn't feel so glum was when Nooj and the rest of the team organized a ceremony to celebrate O'aka's courage. It was, after all, thanks to him that they were all still standing. Well, almost all of them.

The merchant was moved to tears, and when Nooj gave him a medal, in front of most of the troops and some civilians, he thought he wouldn't be able to take it. He had turned in front of the crowd, and smiled at his friends and teammates who had smiled back at him. Tidus had nodded, encouraging him to speak.

"Woaw." He had started, his voice shaking into the mike. "I hav' to say I truley didn' expected tha'. I've nevah been a hero. And nevah wante'd to be one, eithe'. But bein' with those guys." He gestured at Nooj, Yuna, Tidus, Paine, Gippal and Rikku, all sitting in the front raw. "It made me a bette' person. And If they concidah meyself' a hero. I guess I can believ' it too. Thank you, from the bottom of mey heart'."

But the banket seemed empty without Lucil's wise and quiet presence among them. Under Yaibal's idea, they had taken a moment to remember her, but Nooj had walked out of the room, suddenly mad and upset. Yuna knew why. They were all acting as if Lucil was already dead. Elma hadn't been a big fan of Yaibal's idea either. She wasn't ready to accept that her friend was beyond saving. Because she wasn't. They were going to figure something out. They had to.

Gippal and Rikku left early every morning to go to the beach. Yuna and Tidus didn't know how they could swim when that beach was so glum, and especially knowing what had happened here. But from what they could see, it was true: Al-Bheds could really adapt to every environment. Rikku and Gippal's cheery and happy nature made them overlook the fact that it used to be a battlefield.

"We're actually bringing it back to life, you know? I think it's how you truly honor the dead: by showing them there's still life." She had said to Yuna one morning, at breakfast. Gippal and her seemed to be a lot closer, lately, she had noticed. Rikku had even half-admitted that something had happened, but she didn't want to talk too much about it yet. "I don't wanna jinx it", so she had explained before kissing her cousin on the cheek and taking off, five big waffles in hand "for the road".

Tidus and her, on the other hand, felt like lions in cage. They didn't want to move too far away from the area, but had no clue as of what to do. Yuna was too bumped that Lucil wasn't waking up, and too sad seeing Nooj in such a bad mental state to think or do anything else than moping around herself. Just when he seemed so much happier, life had hit him again, taking away the biggest source of his happiness—or so Yuna suspected.

She moved her still half-full plate away from her and got up from the long table of the canteen, where she was now having breakfast on her own—her lazy-ass boyfriend was still sleeping.

Like every morning ever since they had come back here, she went to see the injured. Yuna would help the white mages healing them, or just talk to them if they needed company. She kept trying to find a solution for Lucil. There must have been something that she could do. Couldn't she summon the part of her soul that was missing? As much as she would have loved to, she didn't think it worked like that.

- "So... Brother is awfully close to you".

There it was. Tidus had finally said it. Yuna had sensed, from the first time he had laid eyes on her cousin, that Tidus wasn't happy with their relationship. She sighed, and looked at him expectantly.

- ... "You have a problem with Brother?"

- "I do, actually." He replied whilst crossing his arms. He had seen them talking really really close, the other day. And he trusted Yuna completely. But it was him he didn't trust. And Yuna was far too polite to tell him to back off. Tidus could gladly do it for her, if she wanted.

- "Why?"

Did she really have to ask why? It was pretty obvious. And not just to him. Everyone knew how he felt about his cousin. Yet the only one who acted as if nothing was wrong was Yuna. Well it was time to change that.

- "Oh come on, Yuna. Don't play dumb, you've seen how he acts around you!"

- "How's that?"

Tidus rolled his eyes. She really had no idea the effect she could have on men. Especially blond ones, so it would seem.

- "Well he's... He's practically drooling over you. He's obsessed with you!"

- "He's my cousin!"

- "That's my point! It's... Disturbing."

Yuna sighted again, scratching her right eye. She had barely slept, and felt worrier and worrier about her friend Lucil. They weren't that close, or at least, they still didn't know a lot about each other. Yet Yuna held her in her heart. She had always respected and admired her, but as they journeyed together she had grown used to her constant presence, like to each of her other teammates. It felt different without her. Empty.

- "You really think it's the right time to talk about stuff like that? With Lucil in a coma?"

- "Well yeah! We have more than enough time, don't you think? With you it's never the right time anyway."

- "Will you stop? I'm tried."

- "Right. Cause I'm the only one causing problems here. You've done nothing wrong."

She paused, taking offence. Oh now he was really starting to piss her off. And it wasn't hard, these days. He had picked the wrong day to be annoying.

- "And what did I do wrong, may I ask?"

- "Oh god, I don't know!" He said, talking louder now. She looked around her, afraid they were causing a scene. Nobody was looking, but it was only a matter of time. Tidus shook his head, bewildered. "Shutting me off all the fucking time, maybe? When all I do is try to help!"

- "But that's what you don't get!" She was so good with him and she loved how helpful and caring he was with her. But sometimes he was trying to save her from everything. And she didn't need it. "Maybe I don't need your help. Maybe I can take care of myself perfectly fine on my own!"

Wow, really? Tidus couldn't believe she was playing the "I'm a strong independent woman" card. Then again, he should have known she would have.

- "Oh don't you try to twist this into a "you're overprotective" kind of things. Of course I know you can take care of yourself! That's one of the things that makes me l..." He stopped, afraid of his own words. She looked at him, her eyes a little wider and he rapidly went on, almost forgetting to be mad for a minute. "That's what I l…like most about you! All I'm saying is you are hard to reach sometimes. And that's tough". He had said that last part more calmly. His anger seemed to have suddenly faded.

- "I just need my space..."

She had done it again. One simple sentence that had felt like a slap. She hadn't even need to say it shouting, this time. Just her sorry and resigned tone had sufficed. Maybe it was even worst, too.

- "Right." He looked at his feet, suddenly very eager to walk away from her. "Sorry I'm over stepping. I'll go someplace else then and give you your space. See ya later!"

- "Tidus, come on! It's not…"

She called after him once again, but he was already gone. She let a long, long sight out. Relationship were hard. Why couldn't they understand each other, sometimes?

- "Maaail! Maiiil is here!"

She looked behind her, attracted by the noise. Rick, the mailman, was running around, distributing mail to everyone. As her gaze met his, his face lit up in recognition and he walked towards her.

- "Oh lady Yuna, just who I was looking for! You have a letter!"

- "Thank you, Rick". She said as she took the white envelop from his hands. It was from Besaid.

She opened it right away; as it was the perfect distraction from thoughts she didn't want to linger on right now:

"Dear Yuna,

I hope all is well with you and Tidus (Well not right now, it wasn't, Yuna sighed as she read her friend's words). Wakka and I have been really busy lately, as always, but things are great. Idina is such a happy, curious child. I think he gets it from Wakka. He is so great with him, I must say I didn't expect him to be.

I also wanted to give you a piece of advice I didn't get the chance to give you before you left: you should try not to shut Tidus off too much. (reading that, she suddenly looked around her, expecting for Lulu to pop out of somewhere, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary there. She read on, her eyebrows furrowed). You can be so guarded that you might do that sometimes. Try to remember that it's ok to be vulnerable and to open up to The one you love. Wakka taught me that.

I must go, I have a lot of problems waiting for me to fix them. I hope to hear from you soon.

Love,

Lulu

Ps: it's Wakka here! I just wanted to say I'm sorry for being so hard on you before you left. You have fun, let loose and live your live to the fullest, you deserve it! We'll be proud of you however you want to live your life."

She smiled and put down the letter. Yuna looked in front of her, lost in thought. Lulu knew her so well. And she was so right. She had just been such a jerk to Tidus, refusing to hear him out and to see his point of view. She had pushed him away when all she really wanted to do was run in his arms and let go, forget all about her worries. Why couldn't she do that? She shouldn't push him away that much. She didn't mean to. It was just a habit she had always had. And she didn't even know before then, as no one had ever tried coming so close before.

She wanted to see him. She threw the letter on the ground and went to look for him.

Tidus had also received a letter from his best bud Wakka. He opened it and got a small, yellow, blue and black piece of paper. It was all scribble-scrabble, but it had some interesting parts, TIdus supposed. At the back of it, he found some writing:

"Idina tried painting for the frist time. With those colors, I'm sure he meant to draw you! He misses his godfather, and I miss you guys too! But we're glad you kids are having fun. Hope everything is going well!

Wakka, the best father and guardian in all Spira"

He put the drawing back and was about to put the envelop away when he noticed another small, folded piece of paper. It was from Lulu, this time:

"Hello Tidus,

I hope everything is well between Yuna and you. I have seen how bad it can get. It is a shame, you two fit well together. One piece of advice, if I may (As if she would ever refrain from being her know-it-all self, Tidus thought as he rolled his eyes) Don't forget to cut her some slack, sometimes. You know, she is very proud and guarded, you'd do well to remember that. For her to open up completely to you, it will take a lot of time. Be patient with her.

Love,

Lulu"

As much as he hated to admit it—and found Lulu's intrusion into their relationship a bit unwelcomed—she was right. He had been a jerk to Yuna. Truth be told, he was upset about Lucil and about them standing still. They weren't doing anything about it, because they had no clue of what do to. He was growing more and more frustrated each day. He liked to think of life as something full of obstacles that you had to overcome. And he also thought that you could overcome each of them if you truly put your mind and body to it. But today? As much as he tried to find a solution, he couldn't. All they could do was wait and hope for Lucil to wake up.

And when he had seen Yuna with Brother, it had been the last straw. Looking back at it now, he had probably just wanted to pick a fight with her, to let off some steam. He had done it unconsciously, of course. But he had done it nonetheless. He shouldn't have attacked her and pushed the fight so hard, when his poor girlfriend must have been exhausted from helping heal the injured and sad for Lucil as well.

He had to go find her and apologize. He wanted to see her now.

Putting the letter in his back pocket, he turned around and she was facing him. She looked flushed, like she had been running. Her blue and green eyes were locked on his. He was about to say something when she ran to him and crushed her mouth on his. Surprised, he took a few step backwards, and his arms met at her back. For someone as discrete as Yuna, she sure had been responsible for the majority of their PDA lately. But he loved it.

- "I'm sorry", she whispered against his lips, while the whistles of the guards around them were getting louder. They couldn't dream of having any privacy here. Everyone was just living on top of everyone.

He let her down gently and she stepped backwards, looking at him intensely. With the hint of a smile playing on her lips and without saying anything, she took his hand and dragged him with her, oblivious to the guards cheering. She started to run, and he did it too, following her without question. They ended up in a small nook, away from the noise and from anyone.

Tidus looked at her, unsure of what she wanted. Although he had his idea. Slowly, Yuna took a step towards him and then another, until she was close enough to feel his body heat.

- "I'm sorry too" He said, caressing her arm gently. "I didn't mean to react like that".

She shook her head in response, silently telling him that all was forgiven. She looked up at him, suddenly unsure. All her confidence in the heat of the moment before had vanished and she found herself all shy and awkward in front of the man she loved. Because of course she loved him. Looking into his dark blue eyes in that very moment, knowing all that he had been, all that he was, she was sure of it. And it was time that she'd show it.

This same cycle continued until one morning, they finally decided to be productive.

It was Gippal's idea. They were all having dinner in the common room of the hut. Tidus, Yuna, Rikku, Brother stood on one end of the table, facing Nooj—who, as always, seemed absent—O'aka, Elma, and Gippal. They had plenty of time to go to Bikanel to drop O'aka off, and a ship to do so. Plus, it had been so long since he had gone to check up on his little troops playing around in the sand, and he wanted to see how it was all going.

Right after their diner, it was decided: they would leave the next day.

Rikku, Tidus, Gippal, Yuna, Paine and O'aka met in front of the big hut early in the morning—it was their best chance to avoid hitting a sand tempest. Nooj had decided to stay, to check up on Lucil, and to take care of the rest of his responsibilities—although lately it was mostly Elma and Yaibal who made sure the job was being done, as Nooj had been pretty out of it.

Paine had insisted on coming. The rest hadn't seen her a lot lately. She was often in her room, or off exploring, fighting fiends or reflecting on life. Yuna and Rikku weren't sure. But Lucil's absence seemed to have affected her more than it had them. Yuna had always noticed how admirative Paine had been of her.

Still, they were glad that she'd decided to come with them. A bit of sun and distraction couldn't hurt them. Rikku seemed the most cheerful, as usual. But she was extra cheery today because she felt like she was going back home. The endless sand and the bright sun had been her childhood landscape and she missed it.

O'aka didn't talk during the whole ride. He had always known he would be separated from his friends someday. And he hadn't really cared, until it felt so close and real. It was always some blurry truth he knew would happen eventually, but now it was all clear and he could almost count down the hours. He felt like an old dog being left on the street right before the holidays. He couldn't bear thinking how it would feel when his family would drive off and leave him behind.

First off, he hated the sun. Growing up, he had been used to very cold temperatures, and he had sensitive skin. Secondly, he had always hated physical jobs, thus why he had decided to become a merchant. And also for the money, of course. And thirdly, he had grown used to being part of a group now. He didn't know he was lonely until he had met and travelled with them. He finally felt part of something, and he wasn't ready to let that go just yet.

Rikku came to sit next to him, obviously seeing he wasn't feeling great, although his pride commended him to put up a brave front. She randomly talked about the precautions you had to take when living in an extremely warm area, what fiends to avoid, what insects to eat in case of an emergency—which just made him freak out a little more—and how to befriend an Al-bhed—what do to, what not to do, a few polite sentences so he'd appear nice and open-minded…

"We'll be landing in a minute guys, say hi to everyone for us!"

They arrived in this huge sand area, closed off by some fence. O'aka looked around and his heart sank. It truly was all sand. Nothing else. Not even a small plant. He liked plants.

- "Nhadala! Ruf yna oui?" O'aka saw Gippal walking with big strides to his right, heading towards a blond-haired girl.

He had just learned that! It meant… it meant…

- "That's 'how are you'!" Rikku whispered to him in a wink.

O'aka gently smiled and nodded, a lump forming in his throat. He was never going to fit in there. Everyone was already looking at him funny.

Tidus, Rikku and Yuna followed Gippal, but then as her view got used to the blinding sun, Yuna abruptly stopped. She finally remembered why that girl they had met in Luca had resulted her so familiar. Just over there stood the exact copy of her, completely identical from the same hairstyle to the same clothes and shoes. Was Nhadala really Linna? Oh it was not a nice vision.
Breathing hard through her nose, she glanced at Tidus, who looked just as confused as she felt.

- "Linna? Gee, you're everywhere!" Tidus said a bit awkwardly, passing his hand through his hair.

- "Linna?" Gippal repeated, confused as well. This wasn't Linna, this was Nhadala, his employee and friend. What was Tidus saying?

All three of them looked at each other and then back at Nhadala, who had stood in silence, looking slightly amused.

- "I'm not Linna!" She finally said while shrugging. "my twin sister is, though."

Twins were not common amongst Al-Bhed, but it finally all made sense to them. Yuna relaxed, remembering she liked Nhadala, back when YuRiPa had helped out digging. She couldn't say the same for her sister thought.

While Gippal caught her up on the situation, Rikku, Yuna and Paine walked around the place, giving O'aka and TIdus a tour while saying hi to some friends they had made. Although this place had changed and evolved quite a bit since they had last visited it.

A huge tent was planted in place of a hoover, allowing people to rest and stay out of the sun's range for a bit. O'aka sensed this was going to be his favorite spot. Or his least-hated spot, anyway. They now disposed of three hoovers, all parked behind the tent, allowing for more employees to work at the same time. One of their friends had explained that they also had winded their diggings spots, going always farther and farther. They had found great things, great machinas.

Rikku seemed super excited and asked if she could be of help. Yuna and Paine shared a glance, knowing this would somehow fall upon them too. And, oddly enough, they weren't wrong.

- "So, if you don't mind, we would really need your help today. We are expecting a sand storm at the end of the day and we have so much work that needs to be done before that."

- "Why is that?" Yuna asked, while taking a bite out of the little biscuit accompanying her tea. She almost spitted it but stopped herself out of politeness. She stood up straighter, her eyes watery. It felt like she had just eaten a ball of sand.

- "Sandstorm mess up our entire work system. And we've been mapping areas for weeks now. it would be a shame to leave the job halfway done. Plus, it could help your friend getting the grasp of the job, alongside you all."

- "I'm in!" Rikku instantly said, her arm up in the air in excitement. "I love digging!"

Gippal looked at her and smiled fondly. She could be pretty cute sometimes. The way she was always the first to react when someone needed help or needed cheering up. She was so receptive and active about it, too. And it was always so kindly offered, without expecting anything in return. She just did things out of the pureness of her big heart.

- "But um… are we getting paid?" she added, scratching her cheek awkwardly. She would happily help out, but she could use the money. She had spent most of her savings on getting her sweet little daggers fixed and sharper, after over-using them back at the cave.

Gippal's smile faded a bit and he sighed. She had just ruined the moment he was having about her.

- "Come on guys, can't we keep him, though? Bonecrave is dead, he has no debt anymore!"

- "You talk about him as if he's a dog or something." Paine replied sharply. She was digging alongside her blond friend, but she didn't seem to enjoy it half as much.

- "Well he is! Kinda... Oh! Oh! He's like our mascot!" Rikku said, suddenly overjoyed. She felt she had found the best word to describe her friend. "Every team needs a mascot." She added matter-of-factly.

- "I'll take tha'..." O'aka said as he sighed, uncomplaining. To be honest, he didn't love that new title, but if it could mean he wouldn't stay here, he'd go with it. He could always borrow that Moogle suit he had seen Yuna wearing a year ago. That looked insanely uncomfortable but hey, he felt pretty desperate right about now.

Thankfully, it wasn't so warm out here anymore. It was about 6-ish, and the sun had finally come down enough so its rays wouldn't directly hit him on the head. Although spending the afternoon digging with them hadn't been as dreadful as he thought it'd be. They had played in the sand, he had made a sandcastle with Rikku, which Gippal had happily stepped into, making his blond friend really upset and angry at him. That's when a sandball battle had exploded between them. Rikku had send the first ball, and then Gippal had missed his target and the sand had landed between Yuna's breast, making both Tidus and Yuna retaliate. And then the rest had naturally and gradually joined in. it had been fun, but now he was paying it every time his teeth got in contact. He had definitely swallowed a lot of it. Thank god he didn't have Rikku's hair. He had no idea how she would get rid of all the sand.

- "I agree." Tidus pinched in. "We're a team, all of us. We've already lost Lucil—for now, I don't want to lose another member of the team."

The rest nodded. They were all quiet for a bit until a sniffing sound disturbed their solemn silence.

- "T-t-thank yee… yee guuuuuuuuuys" O'aka said, sobbing in spite of himself. Yuna looked at Tidus, telepathically sharing how moved she was by O'aka's reaction. "I'm gla-ad t-to be p-part o-of the te-eam."

- "Aww! I call for a group hug!" Rikku said loudly as she hugged her crying friend. She was quickly joined by Yuna, Tidus and Gippal. Paine stood next to her shovel, her arms crossed. She was not a hugger.

…But Rikku couldn't care less. She dragged her by her sleeve and forced her into the hug. No one could refuse a group hug.

After all that hard work, they decided to have a bonefire and relax together. Paine, Rikku and Yuna sat next to each other. An Al Bhed girl came over to them. She had short blond hair, shaved on her left side, and big green eyes.

- "Hello! It is an honor to meet you three. I have heard so much about you. My name his Kami."

She sat next to Paine and, weirdly enough, the two talked and laughed all evening long. Yuna and Rikku smiled at each other, both pleasantly surprised to see their introverted friend talk that much to a stranger.

Nooj awoke in the middle of the night. He was all sweaty and still felt disconnected from reality. It was like he had one foot in his dream, and another in the real world. But he didn't care much about it. He usually didn't remember his dreams, but tonight he did. And it had brought him what he thought he'd never find: how to get Lucil back.

He was scared that as the minutes passed and he regained full consciousness, the dream would appear unrealistic to him. After all, this was the very trick of dreams. While you were still into them, they felt so real, so plausible. But then, as reality came back to slap you in the face, you realized how weird it really had been. But it still felt like this was right. The solution had come to him in a dream, yet he knew. He knew what he had to do to get her back.

First trick was to get Lucil out of her hospital room without raising suspicion.

Once he arrived there, he was pleasantly surprised as how empty her room was. He looked at her face, peaceful, and she looked like she was only sound asleep. Gently, he grabbed her arms, and pulled, carrying her on his back.

He carried Lucil to the cave, stopping many times to catch his breath. Finally, he entered the cave with Lucil, still carrying her lifeless body. And then he called her:

- "Lucil? I know you are in there. Please, come to me."

Nothing. Only the holy, the graceful, the untouched sound of the pyreflies responded him.

But Nooj was not about to give up. He closed his eyes and thought of her. Like in the Fareplane, you had to summon the people you wanted to see. He had to call her from every cell in his body.

After a long while, eyes still closed, he felt an apparition of Lucil coming to stand before him.

But was it truly her spirit? Or was it only the pyreflies' reacting to his memory of her, recreating her for him, like in the Farplane?

He took a careful step towards it, afraid to scare it away. The apparition of Lucil said nothing, she just stood before him, looking at him as if she could see through him.

- "Lucil?"

She slowly nodded, as if accepting the name as part of her identify. He held out his hand.

- "Come back, we need you... I need you."

Nooj carefully placed Lucil's body on the ground, and watched as the pyreflies rearranged to enter the lifeless form. It was a beautiful sighting, all the pyreflies twirling around her body. Nooj was mesmerized and so full of hope for his dear companion's recovery.

When the pyreflies all disappeared, he expected her to wake up. When she didn't, he decided to wait. He carried her back to her room and rested next to her, holding her hand. When she squeezed his hand, he knew she was on her way back to him.

On the next morning, the first thing Nooj saw as he opened his eyes was Lucil's hazel gaze on him. She looked sleepy, but otherwise healthy. The entire team was so happy to see her back that they decided to throw a party. Paine invited her new friend Kami.

"Do you think that... She likes her?" Rikku asked Yuna, whispering in her ear.

- "It's possible actually. I don't see Paine ending up with a guy."

- "Me neither! You think she's gay? She would have told us, wouldn't she?"

- "Paine? Tell us something so personal about her? Have you met her?"

- "Right. Well that would be cool. I'd be happy for her"

- "Me, too"

Maybe something was beginning here. But it was non of their business. Only Paine and Kami's.

The entire team decided to travel again. After all, what would be a world tour of Spira without checking on their friend Kimahri at Mont Gagazet?

Yuna was beyond happy to see her friend and caretaker. She always regarded him as a father figure, or an older brother. She was pleased to see him ruling over the Ronsos with such wisdom and patience. He even found a significant other, Prihya, to help him in his task.

They took advantage of the visit to go relax in its now famous Hot Springs. They also went to visit Yuna's statue, with a magnificent horn on her forehead.

Finally, they reached the last spot on their world tour: the ruins of Zanarkand. Yuna knew how painful and strange it was for Tidus to see the city he grew up in so different and in ruins. She grabbed his hand and planted a kiss on his cheek.

There was something beautiful in this untouched, old ruins of a city. But maybe it was time for more.

- "You know how we said we're in need of a new capital city?" Tidus started to say, "since Bevelle is so associated with the Yevonite and Vegnagun and stuff?" He posed and turned to look at his team "Well, how about we rebuilt Zanarkand, in all its mechanical glory?"

At first, Yuna, Nooj and even Lucil were completely against the idea. After all, this was sacred grounds now. But the more they thought about it, the more it made sense.

Maybe there was something there that they had looked for all this time.

The entire team gazed at the pyreflies dancing in the orange and red sky. The sun was setting. Yuna remember last time they were there at twilight, she was about to face her death to gain the final Aeon. It felt like a lifetime ago. She glanced at Tidus, who glanced back. Just with one look, they knew they were both thinking about the same thing.

How much they had grown and change since three years ago. But one thing had stayed the same for almost all this time : how they felt for each other.

The rest of the team went on to start a bonefire, same spot as three years ago, while Yuna and Tidus sat on the hill, looking at the sun disappearing behind the sea.

This had been their story. They had been through so much together, discovered the world and each other all over again. Now they were free to live it to the fullest, side by side.

"Thank you, for bringing me on this journey with you" Yuna said, while she rested her head on his shoulder. "It was everything."

"Thank you for coming with me. It all makes sense now. Cherish me, Yuna. And I'll cherish you."

"Always"

THE END

I can officially say that this is the last chapter. I may add some stuff in the near future, but for now, this is over.

Thanks for your reviews!