A/N: Here, you see Wakka having doubts about Yevon. Hope this chapter is a good one, I wanted to make it a nice, sweet chapter. The chapter was much longer than this but I figured I'd split it up.

Chapter: A New Member of the Group

Zell and I sat beside the stairs of Besaid Temple. He was sitting behind me with his legs on either side of mine and he was holding my stomach with his crossed arms. Lulu sat on the bottom step leading up to the room that Yuna was currently praying in, and Kimahri was standing on the step above with his arms crossed. Wakka must have left the room because I did not see him anywhere. I could hear footsteps echoing toward us and I began to stand, with Zell following suit. Wakka came into view, followed by a blonde haired teen wearing unusual clothes.

"Oh great, another blonde," Zell joked. I turned my eyes to Zell as he studied the stranger.

"Why are you here? Were you insecure about us?" Lulu asked Wakka as he stopped walking.

"No, well..." Wakka started as Lulu stood and made her way to them. Wakka turned his attention to the teen, "Look, she's probably mad..."

"Is the Summoner okay?" the blonde boy asked Lulu before she stopped in her tracks.

"Who are you?" Lulu asked coldly as she eyed the teen.

"Tidus," he introduced cheerily as he extended his hand for a handshake. Lulu simply stared at Tidus' hand before he retracted it.

"She reminds me of Squall," Zell commented behind me. I turned my head to look at him, only to see a toothy grin as he met my gaze. We heard the creaking of the large doors at the top of the stairs, so I turned to find Yuna swaying on her feet. Yuna slowly walked down the steps, but at one point, she began to fall. I could see the exhaustion on her face. Kimahri quickly came to her aid to keep her from falling.

"I did it. I have become a Summoner," Yuna announced as Kimahri got in a kneeling position in front of her and held her hands in his.

"Come," I heard Lulu say. "We must go to the Summoning Platform in the village now so you can summon your Aeon."

"Should she rest first?" I asked out loud. I was worried about Yuna using any more of her energy after a full eight or more hours of isolated vigil.

"She can rest after she summons her Aeon to the residents of Besaid," Lulu smiled reassuringly. I nodded before Zell and I walked with everyone else out of the temple. Yuna made her way to the circular platform in the middle of the village. I watched as Yuna did some sort of dance in the middle of the platform and a gigantic bird came from the sky and landed beside her. Everyone watched in stunned silence as Yuna stroked the bird's neck. All of a sudden everyone who was there at the moment broke out in applause and cheers.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Yuna just summoned her first Aeon," Lulu explained.

"Hmph, I summon them all the time and nobody congratulates me," Zell commented with a hint of jealousy. I didn't know what to say to him, so I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Zell grinned at me and said, "I needed that." He turned back to Yuna and continued, "Nah, it's cool Yuna's gettin' all that attention."

"What do we do now?" I asked Lulu.

"We celebrate Yuna's accomplishment and rest for tonight before our journey begins," Lulu answered.

"Eternity?" Zell said to get my attention. "Here, I want you to have this," he handed me a golden ring with a lightning bolt on it. I looked at him with confusion before he said, "It's Quezacotl. All you have to do is put it on and you're junctioned."

"What if it doesn't fit?" I asked as I studied the ring.

"It'll change size to fit you perfectly so it won't fall off during battle," Zell answered. I slipped the ring on my index finger of my right hand and I felt a warm sensation. The metal of the band tightened up slightly and I felt a presence enter into my mind. Now I had the Quezacotl ring on my right index finger, and Seifer's promise ring on the ring finger of my right hand. "When are ya gonna get rid of that other ring? Seifer isn't datin' you anymore."

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. I don't know why I kept wearing it even though Seifer and I broke up over a year ago.

"That thing's gonna cause problems for us later on," Zell started in a nagging tone.

"I know," I interrupted a little too forcefully. "I'm sorry...it's just...nice to still have a part of Seifer with me. I know it's stupid, but I'm not ready to part with it yet." I paused and I could see Zell staring at me from the corner of my eye. I felt uncomfortable all of a sudden, so I turned toward the place we were staying for the night and began walking toward it. "I need to rest."

I heard Zell start to follow after me, but then I heard Lulu say, "Zell, I need to speak with you on a few matters."

I quickly walked into the yurt and found the cot my bags were near. I laid down and closed my eyes as I tried to keep from crying. About ten minutes later, I felt an arm around my waist as someone knelt down beside me. "Baby?" I heard Zell say from beside me. "Please look at me." I opened my eyes and saw Zell looking down at me from above since he was on his knees. "I'm sorry for what I said to you. I've never been in a relationship before so I don't know what to do. You were right, I shouldn't have said anything about Seifer's ring." Zell dropped speaking like he usually did in order to say full sentences.

"No Zell," I turned onto halfway on my stomach facing his body, which got him to sit on the back of his heels. "You were right. I shouldn't be wearing Seifer's ring while I'm with you."

"No, no baby...wear that ring for as long as you think you need to," he ran his hand through my hair as he stared into my eyes.

"Hold me?" I asked.

Zell gave a little smile before saying, "That'll be hard to do on these flimsy cots." He sat down all the way and wrapped his arm around me again. I gave Zell a peck on the mouth before he went ahead and started kissing me passionately. I ran my hand across his cheek as he continued to kiss me.

"I want you so bad Zell," I told him.

"You already have me baby," Zell replied lustfully and grinned into our kiss.

"I know, but I mean...I really want you right now," I emphasized the word 'really'.

"You mean sex," Zell stated.

"Yeah, I want to be as close as I can with you," I stared into Zell's crystal blue eyes and smiled.

"Once we are able to get a room on our own, we'll have as much sex as you want," Zell grinned as he lightly squeezed my waist.

We stared at each other with a serious expression for what must have been at least five minutes before I heard Wakka's voice near the entrance, "Hey! We're gonna have a bonfire later tonight to celebrate Yuna's summoning. Ya in?"

Zell turned away from Wakka as he looked back at me again. I shrugged with a smile so Zell looked at Wakka again and replied, "Sure man."

"Al'right!" Wakka pumped his fist before walking out of the yurt.

"Damn, I wish we have at least a normal twin sized bed here. I can at least hold you then," Zell told me.

"That would be nice," I agreed. Zell slid his legs underneath and I watched as he crossed them indian-style under the cot. He then leaned over and wrapped his arm around my midsection, nuzzled his face into my neck as he kept his head on my shoulder and held me. "What do you know about this region Zell?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, are there any towns or something that have real beds...or are they all island places like this that have cots?" I wondered out loud.

"I have no idea. I hope some places have real beds!" Zell laughed.

"I cannot wait until we get that luxury," I told him. Zell started to nuzzle my neck with his nose again. "I'm glad we're spending this time together."

"Mmhmm," Zell agreed. I held onto Zell's hand that wasn't holding my waist and he gladly squeezed it as he rested his head against me.

Zell and I were in that position for a while before we heard a male voice say, "That looks uncomfortable."

Zell raised his head and looked in the direction of the voice, "Yeah it is," he answered as he sat up a little. I turned my eyes over to the entrance and saw that the voice belonged to one of those Crusader guys who lived in Besaid.

"There are beds in the yurt across from this one," the Crusader told us.

"Really?" Zell perked up at that news.

"Yes. They are only twin-sized though."

"Aww hell, anything's better than a freakin' cot!" Zell grinned as he stood. "Come on baby, let's go claim one of those before someone else does!" I didn't even get to grab my bags because Zell already hefted them over his shoulders and power-walked out of the yurt. I smiled as I sat up on the cot and then stood. I followed Zell out of the yurt and went into the one across from the one I just exited.

I saw Tidus laying on a bed to the far right. He had his hands behind his head and he was looking up at the wall as he and Zell started talking. Zell laid down in the bed beside Tidus and continued their conversation. I laid on my stomach partially on top of Zell and he wrapped an arm around my waist. I loved the feel of Zell's warm body against mine and I breathed in his scent of Old Spice. I wondered where he got it from, because that brand was pretty rare.

"So I guess you guys are a couple?" Tidus asked while turning his head toward us.

"Yup," Zell answered with a grin.

"How long have you two been dating?" Tidus inquired.

"Um..." Zell turned his eyes to me in question.

"I'd say about four or five weeks now," I replied. "Not very long."

"When did we start datin'? I know it was before Galbadians attacked Garden. Oh yeah! It was right after the missiles came!"

"Garden?" Tidus started. "I don't get it. Why would anyone attack a garden? Do they hate flowers or something?" Zell stared at Tidus with an unusual expression. "I...uh...got too close to Sin's toxin. I'm not thinking clearly right now."

Now I was confused. I mean, I just learned about Sin not even twenty-four hours ago, and now I learn that Sin has some kind of toxin? "What does that do?" I asked.

"Sin's toxin makes you confused," Zell told me.

"Oh," I said.

"Anyway," Zell turned to talk to Tidus some more. "Garden is a military acadamy that trains people to fight the Sorceress."

"Oh, I've heard about Sorceresses before. I don't blame people for wanting to kill them," Tidus put in. "From what I've heard, they're all evil."

"Not all of them," Zell grinned at him.

"Really?"

"Yup," he looked at me and I knew he wanted to tell Tidus about me, so I nodded my approval. "There's a Sorceress here right now."

"In this village?" Tidus' eyes went wide with fear.

"In this room," Zell answered.

Tidus scanned the room before saying, "But there isn't anyone here but us..." his eyes went wide as they landed on me. "Whoa! You're a Sorceress?"

"Yeah," I gave an uncertain smile.

"I guess everyone was wrong about all Sorceresses being evil. You don't look or act evil at all!"

"Best not go around telling people that, ya?" we heard a male voice at the entrance of the yurt. I raised my head a little to see Wakka standing there. "The teachings of Yevon state that we should execute Sorceresses." He looked at me before saying, "But from what I know about you the little amount of time I've known you, you're good people. So, they...ah...never mind. You're good people and let's leave it at that."

Tidus sat up in his bed and asked, "So this Yevon thing...what is it exactly?"

"Yevon is a teaching," Wakka started explaining. "It teaches Sin came because of our evil ways of using Machina. That is why Zanarkand was destroyed a thousand years ago. Their Machina got too big and powerful...and that is when Sin showed up. To change our ways, ya? We must atone of the things we've done, and that is why the Summoners go on their pilgrimage."

"So Yevon is a religion?" I asked.

"Ya," was Wakka's simple answer. I never did get into religious study. I haven't really seen any religious stuff in the Garden's Library. I also never heard any of the students mention it before. I honestly had no idea if it would be something I'd be interested in studying. Oh well, I'd rather lie here and give my attention to Zell. The guys continued talking but I didn't pay any attention to it. I breathed in Zell's scent and I could feel my lips curve into a small smile. My hand found the area between Zell's stomach and his chest. Zell's hand gave my back a little squeeze, so I guess he was paying attention to me and the other two at the same time.