Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

("Take Me With You!")

And she was right. Just as she had won her third engagement and was bending over to pick up the Grid spheres she had won, Braska and his two guardians rounded the corner. Braska smiled and waved to her, a gesture which she returned, and Jecht was shaking his head. She ignored Auron.

"'Sup, Jecht?"

He laughed and shook his head, "What in Spira are you doing collecting Grid spheres? You don't even have a Grid!"

Rayne sniffed and whipped out her Grid, walking over to the blitzer to wave it in his face. "Read it and weep, blitzer! It's legit and it's imprinted to me!"

He smiled, "Really?" He then snatched it out of her hand and flipped it over to the stat side, holding her down with one hand as he looked it over. "Haha! Just look at that strength stat! It's pathetic!"

She huffed and kicked his inner thigh, grabbing the Grid before it fell to the ground. "Whatever. My magic is probably twice what yours is!"

As Jecht limped away, clutching his thigh, Braska walked forward and held out his hand. "May I?" When she handed it to him, his eyes quickly widened as he scanned her stats. "You're right! Your magic is impressively high, even if your strength is low. Several of your other stats are a tad higher than usual, as well. And I'm convinced enough to say that you might just make a good guardian, someday."

Rayne smiled widely and accepted the tablet when he handed it back to her. "You think?!"

"What, you want to be a guardian?"

Rayne turned to regard Auron coolly, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."

"Is that something your 'brother' instilled into you?"

Noting the sarcasm in his voice, Rayne clenched her hands tightly, "What? Not able to insult me about being weak anymore, so now you're going to question whether or not I have a family?!"

"Auron, compose yourself!" Braska said in a tone slightly higher than usual. Auron just grunted and turned away. Noticing that her hands were still clenched, Braska put a hand on Rayne's shoulder and spoke quietly, "No one doubts the existence of your family, Rayne. We just… were less than convinced by the story you told us when we met you on the Highroad."

Rayne clenched her jaw and turned away, "As if you'd believe the truth."

"Try us, kid."

Turning to glare at Jecht, Rayne snapped, "What's the point if you guys are just going to continue the pilgrimage and leave me behind?! Why bother burdening you even further? I'm already in the way now, so why lay you with my sorrows?!"

"C'mon kid, stop! This is childish!"

"Maybe I still want to be a child! Did you know that I turned nineteen today? Did you know that a weapon was and will be my only birthday present? Back home, giving weapons to nineteen-year-olds for their birthday for the intention of use is considered creepy to some people. But here, it's creepy if they never receive a weapon before that! This world is so damn backwater, it makes me ill sometimes! Only children seem truly happy here, and sometimes even they're faking! If I have to lie and act like a child to be happy, then what's the problem with that?! So what if my brother wasn't in Luca; even I got to pretend like he was, and saying it made me a little happy. If I can lie the whole time I'm here to avoid the truth of what happened to me, then why not?! At least it gives me happiness!"

"Kid, I'm not from this Spira, either." Rayne froze and stared at Jecht, who sighed and continued. "I'm from Zanarkand, and not the ruins that people here say they are. I'm from a Zanarkand that existed a thousand years ago. Sin, the very thing that still plagues Spira today, was in my Zanarkand a thousand years ago and transported me here, making me leave behind my wife and kid. If that isn't unbelievable, but the truth, then I don't know what is. You think that you got a weirder story? Try me!"

Rayne walked backwards until she bumped into a tree, then clutched her stomach and bent over, looking at the ground. "I'm not from Spira, period. I'm from a planet called Earth, an entirely different world. We know about Spira there, but… well, that's about it. I was brought here by… something even I don't understand. Back home, I was considered weird because of some of my beliefs, and I was picked on a lot for it when I was younger because of it. The only real friend I had was my twin brother, Michael, and even he considered me weird, but… at least he tried to understand, which is less than my parents tried to do. When I woke up here, I was so scared, and I still am. I know some things, but it really isn't enough. I… I'll admit, I've been following you guys because I'm afraid to be alone here. When I was drunk, I remember thinking that I didn't want you guys to leave me, so I went to the S.S. Winno, knowing that you guys would be leaving for Kilika from there, and hoping I could convince you to take me with you. I guess things… worked out… though oddly. But, now, there really is not other reason to keep following you, no excuse. I've told you my reason, and I know that I can help you on the pilgrimage… somehow, and I know I can defend myself, so please, please don't leave me alone!"

Still clutching her stomach, Rayne dropped onto the ground, silently crying. Not quite the way she had imagined doing it, but it was done. Her cards were laid out on the table, now she just had to wait for them to make their move. The worst thing that they could do was laugh in her face and mock her, while the second worst thing would be to just walk away and leave her. But, seeing as she didn't read Braska as that type of person, she let her tears spill down her cheeks and waited in silence.

"So, you want to be a guardian, but not mine…"

"Not necessarily. I wouldn't say no if you asked, and I would still want to go even if you didn't… But yeah, I suppose I could enjoy being a guardian, someday…"

"Do you even know what being a guardian entails?"

"Not really, other than protect the summoner at all costs until they reach Zanarkand."

"… You say you're from another world… can you prove it?"

"What, the odd clothes, lost look in my eye, my inability to come up with a good lie as to why I was on the Highroad, and the fact that I want to stay with all of you, even if it's not as a guardian, weren't enough? Before I learned otherwise, I was convinced that using a Phoenix Down on someone made them a zombie."

A strained laugh, then, "What would you do if I said no?"

She thought about it, "Probably follow you anyways…"

A sigh, followed by a long pause.

"Rayne, I'm going to have to talk with Jecht and Auron. Will you please wait here?"

Rayne clutched her stomach tighter, all feeling leaving her hands, and nodded.

After a brief moment, she heard three pairs of shoes pad away, and she began to know what it would have felt like if they had just walked away… it actually felt better than the apprehension did.

When Braska motioned for his guardians to stop, they spent a good five minutes just staring at her. She was several feet away, though out of earshot, and she was still sitting on the ground, her braid having come out earlier and her long, and now wavy, brown tresses covered her face completely.

Auron spoke first, "There has never been someone who was on a pilgrimage to just… tag along. There are guardians and summoners; that is all. It's against Yevon's teachings to do otherwise."

Jecht scowled, "Oh, come ON Auron! The kid is stuck in a different world than the one she was born and grew up in. She's completely lost! We can't just leave her! Screw Yevon!"

"Fool! You honestly believe her?!" Auron snapped.

"Of course I do! I know, better than anyone, what she's going through, and I heard the truth in her voice. I even suspected it from the beginning!"

"You imbecilic—"

"Stop it, the both of you!" Braska interjected. "Now, while I agree that we can't just leave her, I also agree that it would be unwise to take her as a tagalong. It would be both immoral to Yevon and unsafe for her."

"So, Braska, what do you think we should do?" Asked Jecht.

Braska shook his head and looked back at her, "I'm not sure just yet… I don't want to leave her here, though…"

"So?" Auron asked.

Braska sighed and was silent, thinking. Finally, he said, "We'll take her to Besaid with us. I'll have decided by then. If it's no, we'll leave her in Luca, I have friends there. If it's something other than no, then…" Braska shook his head and walked away, leaving his guardians hanging.

What, other than no, could the answer be?

Braska had already gone ahead and told Rayne that he would have his decision by the time they reached Besaid and was currently talking to her about Bevelle and the aeons, leaving Auron and Jecht brining up the rear. Looking at his companion and friend, Jecht decided to take this opportunity to tease him.

"Hey, Auron."

"Hmm."

Jecht smiled to himself, "You remember when that guy on the ship thought that Rayne was your girlfriend?"

Auron's face darkened and he scowled, "I'd rather forget it."

"Sure. You didn't exactly object, you know."

"I was too shocked and disgusted!"

"What ticks you off so much about her, anyway?"

"She's too emotional…"

"Yeah, well, a lot of girls are like that."

"She's too dependant."

"That's probably what happens when your only friend is your twin brother. Besides, brothers have a habit of protecting their sisters, and a brother who is a twin and a best friend… well… that's like a protective brother times three."

"She's too naive."

"So what? A few weeks in the real world can change that, easy!"

"She's a burden."

"And she's working her ass of to make sure that she can change that! What else ya got?"

"…"

Jecht looked at Auron, "Nothing else?"

"Hmm."

"See? Now that you've gone over everything about her that ticks you off, she's not that bad, is she?"

"…"

Jecht sighed, "Auron, there are married spouses that could name off more things that tick them off about their significant other than you just did!"

Auron growled at the analogy, "Spouses who can name off more things than that have been together longer. They've witnessed a side of their significant other then no one else has."

"So, you saying want to hang around her longer to find more things that tick you off?"

"Jecht!"

Jecht took a step back and held out his hands in mock surrender. "I'm just saying, that is one of the foundations of building a relationship; being with the person longer!"

Auron glared at his friend and growled, "Jecht, I'm warning you."

Jecht laughed, "Alright, alright, I'll stop. But before I leave, let me leave you with a parting thought."

Auron waited, dreading what it could be, but willing to listen to get Jecht off of his back.

Jecht grinned widely, knowing his friend was going to hate him for this.

"You can't deny that feeling her soft body pressed against yours felt so good and soo right."

Jecht ran away, leaving a beet red Auron frozen in place behind him.

"JECHT!!!"

A ways ahead, Rayne and Braska heard the cry of the rampaging Auron and moved out of the way just in time for Jecht to shoot passed, laughing insanely, with Auron following him not long after, his sword drawn and charging after the blitzer full speed, his face still beet red.

Rayne glanced at Braska casually, "Was he 'Breserked'?"

Braska laughed and shook his head, "No, but that was the closest thing you'll ever see to it when he's not."

As Auron chased after Jecht with every intention of killing him, Jecht's words rang through his head.

"…not that bad…"

"…spouses…"

"…foundations for a relationship…"

"…hang around her longer…"

"…soft body…"

"…so good…"

"…soo right…"

…Rayne…

The one thing that really ticked Auron off, though, was the reason he had blushed as heavily as he did. Part of him had agreed.