Disclaimer: You already know I don't own anything.

Thank you to Warui-Usagi, Hiya, ThePirateJilt, Nikki of Spira, Hinagy, Little Pyrefly, FinalFantasyAngel92, and Zeshin-kun for reviewing! I really appreciate the encouragement.

Well, a lot of people expressed that they were surprised and unhappy with the reunion, and that, I don't blame you for. It's only fair to say that meeting each other again was the easy part, now comes the actual meat of the story.

Even so, I was a little shocked by your reactions. When I thought of how to make them react to each other, this was the only plausible way I came up with. It's been eating away at me to know how you expected it to turn out, so, if you ever have a spare moment, please let me know in a review or message and I'd be most grateful. Thank you very much.

But, let me remind you, this story is 'Romance/Action/Adventure', and I would not rate it so if I did not mean it. So, yes, there is Romance on the way, and no, Tidus and Yuna will not be enemies.

Important: Again, content in this chapter, as well in several others, can be interpreted as 'Yuna bashing', but I assure you, that is not my intent. I like Yuna just fine as a character.

Please enjoy and please review!

Tears of a Forgotten Summoner

Chapter Nine: Bittersweet Reunion

"Now that you have that out of your system," Auron said calmly, his face and mannerisms stoic, "are you ready to cooperate?"

Tidus didn't answer at first, preferring to let the other man's temper simmer a bit as he looked curiously about at the engine room the older man had ushered him into.

"Well?"

"…You know that Yuna is useless as she is now."

"I know," Auron sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You're disappointed," the younger man observed, interested.

"Of course I am."

Tidus frowned, "How did you expect it to play out, then?"

The other man heaved another sigh, "I don't know. We've been plagued with bad luck ever since Schism emerged the first time, I was hoping that something would finally go right."

"If it did, then you wouldn't be here anymore."

"Good point," the man grumbled. "Tell me something. How did Schism come to awakening?" His tone darkened, "Was it you?"

"No," the young man said flatly.

Auron seemed to take it as truth, but didn't stop pursuing the subject. "Then what information do you have?"

Tidus frowned, "Information that will not be kept secret. All of them need to hear this."

The other man seemed shocked, but changed the subject with not a beat in between, "Answer my first question. Will you join us?"

Tidus narrowed his eyes slightly. Auron asked, made it look like he had a choice, but just like it always was in deception, he really had no choice in the matter. There was only one path to take.

… and both of them knew it.

---

Rikku was confused.

No matter how much she tried to understand the situation, nothing really made sense. First Besaid's destruction, then Auron's reappearance followed by her father's near brush with death and the small hints at their enemies existance.

Now Tidus had come back.

She closed her eyes. It was wrong, something was wrong. Why had he …? Well, it might have something to do with the fact that Yuna shot at him first.

The events were a blur in her mind, but one thing stood apart from the rest, he hadn't fought like a man that was trying to defend himself. No, Tidus, if that was who he was, had fought like an enemy.

It frightened her.

If he had really not wished to fight them, he should have just pulled the hood down and identified himself… why didn't he?

All she could remember after she was thrown to the ground was fearing for her life and then hearing Yuna call his name. Rikku remembered that she had tried to turn over at that point, but quickly stilled herself when Yuna came into her field of vision.

Propelled by their former friend's leg, Yuna was momentarily suspended in air. Then the force of it all really seemed to take effect and she twisted halfway about in the silence. Her body hit the ground a split second later, narrowly missing her neck.

Yuna was as still as death and just as quiet.

It was unnerving and Rikku would never forget that moment. She remembered hearing Auron's voice, but the words were foreign and made no sense to her. Then she felt someone pick her up, carrying her somewhere and, finally, consciousness had left her.

And now she sat aboard the stationary Celsius. She had woken up just a few minutes before, feeling sore but nothing more. Paine was beside her, but Yuna had yet to wake, her shoulder bandaged and injuries treated.

The moment they came returned to the ship, Tidus and Auron were no where to be found, leaving only more questions in their wake. It was small comfort, but it really did help to know that she wasn't the only one that felt so lost, in fact, all of their companions, former guardian or not, seemed as baffled as she was.

Vegnagun had been a fairly isolated event, and, even now, news of the near tragedy had not reached all the corners of Spira, but this seemed to be something much bigger. It had already flattened an island, and the protectors of Spira were, at this moment, helpless to stop it. Needless to say, Rikku felt like screaming.

---

Searing pain. That was really all Yuna felt, and she was grateful for it. If she concentrated on the pain, she didn't have to face the facts. She didn't have to see the face of the man she loved as he executed the finishing blow.

Yet, it was undeniably Tidus. His features were that of the man she loved, the eyes were darker, but they were the same orbs that had once looked lovingly at her … the eyes that now contained a type of loathing that made her want to cry forever.

He had attacked her. It was true, she had started the fight in a fit of rage, but it had been his choice to continue it or end it. Simply removing his hood would have made her stop, he must have known that, but yet, he chose not to. Did he want to fight her? Hurt her?

Why was he doing this? He was everything she had ever wanted, she adored him, and until just a few hours ago, she thought the feeling was mutual. She could pretend that it never happened, she could pretend that he still loved her. But it was no use, every time she tried to convince herself that it was a dream, the truth was there, staring her in the face.

Yuna wished it would stop, she wished to sleep forever. She longed to relive her old dream, the dream in which was she with Tidus.

But, at the same time, she knew her wish would not be heard, would not be granted. She could already feel the slight stirrings that mean that her body was coming to awareness. Now, she would have to face a reality in which the one who she loved had willingly tried to hurt her.

The possibility that it was all a mistake, all more misunderstanding, was still there, but she knew it wasn't true. This was reality. Harsh as it may be, it was truth.

The bi-colored orbs opened and she breathed in, feeling as if she had just awakened from a painful nightmare … and into an even more painful reality. For a few moments, she hovered on the edge of awareness, fighting to stay asleep, but a voice filtered through the haze and woke her completely.

"Yunie! Yunie! Are you alright? Are you awake?"

Yuna looked drowsily up at her cousin, mumbling something between a groan and a response, but Rikku seemed to take it.

"She's awake!" she announced, obviously overjoyed that her friend was recovering.

Almost immediately, several heads peered over at her, breathing sighs of relief. Questions flooded in, and they were such a jumble that Yuna didn't even try to understand them all. Minutes must have passed, because she heard the door to the large cabin open and then close and a loud familiar voice speak, making the girl forget her injuries and sit bolt upright.

"I see you're awake, my lady summoner," Auron greeted, but his face was stern and set in a frown. "We are all relieved."

Yuna's gaze, however, didn't stay on the grizzled guardian for long, but traveled to the person that stood by his side, uncloaked and staring shamelessly at her with a deep set scowl.

"Tidus …" she started to get up, but Paine held her back, staying herself so that she could look down on the duo.

"Why have you brought him here?" she demanded, her voice cold and her mannerisms final.

"Paine," Rikku nearly whined. "It's Tidus, I'm sure there's some kind of misunderstanding here."

Paine scoffed, "The Tidus you told me of was kind and gentle, this is not him. This is another ghost of a man who I'm starting to believe doesn't even exist!"

Yuna nearly choked on a sob. Was Paine right? Was this just another impostor? Was Tidus really just some delusion her guardians and her had shared?

The blond man sighed a bit and spoke softly, "I assure you I am Tidus."

Paine stiffened and even Rikku paused to watch him, perhaps longing for an explanation for his actions, one that Yuna wanted with every fiber of her being. It was obvious from his next words, however, than an apology was not what he had in mind.

"This is not the time or the place to discuss what has been done," the man continued. "This is the time when we must plan our next move. Apologies can wait. Schism will not."

His words made sense, of course, but that didn't leave Yuna any more satisfied, or Paine any more trusting.

"After you attacked us, we are to believe that you will help us just like that?" the silver-haired woman's eyes narrowed to the barest slits.

Tidus looked away, his eyes closed, and rubbed a temple as he spoke, "Yes. Just like that. I am bound by truce, and I do not seek to destroy or corrupt this world any more than it already is." He paused and looked up at her, "Beside the point, if memory serves, you attacked me first."

Yuna felt shamed by his words, and maybe that was what drove her to speak, "Let us hear him speak."

All heads turned to her in shock, but she did not look away. Tidus was the right, this was not the time for crying and arguing. In order to destroy Schism, they needed whatever knowledge Auron and Tidus could provide. Maybe then she could know what she had done to deserve the fiery emotion she saw in his eyes.

---

Tidus looked at the assembled faces. In addition to Auron, Yuna, and the rest of the initial guardians, there was the rude silver-haired woman, the clown from the platform, the priest, Cid, Brother, and two other Al Bhed that he had not yet learned the names of. Many of them sat at the bar, keeping their distance from him with obvious distaste.

It didn't offend him, to the contrary, he preferred it that way. Auron was the only one that really sat within a five foot radius of him and Yuna was skirting both men. Her eyes were constantly glued to him, longing in their depths, mixed with a deeply rooted confusion at his actions.

He sighed, he would set her straight soon enough. Tidus took another breath and spoke, "It might be easier if this were question and answer. I don't know where to begin."

"What is Schism?" the question was chirped before he had a chance to close his mouth, and he turned his head to Rikku, who immediately recoiled.

He nearly chuckled, if anything would inspire trust and harmony, it wouldn't be their fear of him, or the answer he would give, "I don't know."

"What do you mean?" Paine piped up.

"Just what I said," the man's eyes turned on her. "No one knows what exactly Schism is, only what it is capable of."

"And that would be…?" she pursued.

Tidus sighed a bit, this was going to take a while, "When it emerged a thousand years ago, all the people in the area were killed, disfigured, and all other manner of unpleasant things. It wasn't in corporeal form for more than just a few moments, but it successfully wiped out all of Zanarkand's residents and all those fighting in the Bevelle-Zanarkand War. Before it emerged, however, it corrupted Zanarkand to the point that precipitated the War and drove many people insane," he rubbed his forehead. "It created Sin from a summoner, defied the laws of mortality for a vain man, and brought on a war for a man who desired only power. Schism isn't something to be trifled with."

Silence greeted his words and Tidus was happy for it. He didn't want to get into details more than he had to. Trudging up memories would only serve to make them apprehensive and get him on edge.

It was a few minutes until someone spoke, and this time it was Auron, who was, Tidus noted with slight amusement, obviously a bit perturbed because of the younger man's choice to mention, even in passing, the former guardian's part in Schism's emergence.

"Yes, but the emergence last time was slow and calculated. It's happening much faster now," he leaned forward slightly. "Why?"

All ears perked up and Tidus resisted the urge to sigh again. If any time yet reached had been the most delicate, it would be now. The truth wasn't something easy to say, even now. But it had to be taken out into the open.

"Schism is held back by the attempts of the survivors to find redemption for their actions," Tidus's eyes gravitated toward Yuna. "Over a thousand years, all they managed to do was sate the beast, they did not solve the problem, but made it larger. Schism had a hard time emerging before then because Spira wasn't so twisted by the lies it is now."

"Lies?" the question came from one of the unfamiliar faces, the priest.

"Yes. In order to cover up Schism and appease it, these sinners withheld information, lied, cheated, stole, and did everything they could to tie up the loose ends Schism left in its wake. The Sending the summoners perform, for example, is not a way to guide spirits to the hereafter, it sends them straight to Schism. The Sending does not save the souls from being fiends, it makes them into fiends."

"That I find hard to believe," the priest bristled. "How could a traditional funeral rite a thousand years old be—"

"A thousand years, so if you believe what I've said before that to be true, then is it really a large stretch of the imagination to think that one of those sinners could have started the Sending tradition?"

The man shut his mouth, looking disgruntled and a little embarrassed.

"Whether you believe me or not really doesn't matter now," he sighed. "The sinners, with the final, defeat of Sin and their disappearance, have built a precarious peace. Things will never be the same because of the lies and the creation of fiends, but this world is stable. Was stable."

Yuna finally spoke up, "So, if I understand correctly, any little thing out of place would cause this peace to no longer exist?"

Tidus nodded, trying to feign indifference.

Auron didn't seem to be satisfied, "What went wrong?"

The blond man turned to the elder guardian, "Would the destruction of two innocents involved in the War qualify?"

The other man bristled, an obvious answer to the question, but he forced one word through gritted teeth, "Who?"

"Lenne and Shuyin," Tidus looked down at his hands.

Yuna's eyes bulged a bit and Paine and Rikku exchanged a look.

Auron looked away, a fist clenching, "Who did this?"

"The High Summoner."

---

Author's Notes: I'm sorry for the long update, I'll try to be faster. It's a short chapter, I know, but I should be faster with the next one. I'm so busy, but please be patient.

Please review, I really want to know how to get better, and I won't know unless you tell me.

I'll be looking forward to hearing from you

Rose Northe