A Question of Honor
Part of the Final Fantasy: Clouded Horizons Storyline

If You Win Or You Lose…

It had been a few months, but Ben had returned to his (semi)normal self. And because of that, things were finally coming around to some semblance of normal. Trabia Garden was this time in the full swing of things, an upcoming field exam on the minds of the cadet body. Missions had been quiet for the previous few days, so some overworked SeeDs found a much needed break from their normal life.

Well, almost.

"Don't you dare drop your guard, Locke! Katanas won't like it if I take your arm!"

In one of the training rooms on the second floor, Angel and Locke Cole were engaged in a battle of blades and wits. Angel, armed with the shimmering aqua blade known as Atma, and Locke with a shorter unnamed knife. Angel's blade glanced off a quick block from Locke and he leaped back to regain his footing.

"He won't like it? Forget that, I won't like it!" Locke laughed as he watched him fly back. "You're not getting scared of me, are ya old man?"

"Come at me and find out, kid," Angel chuckled, raising his blade to the ready position. Locke obliged, and soon the two were engaged in battle of the fastest variety, blades clanging together in the furious symphony of experienced combat. As they continued, however, it appeared that Angel was the more experienced, as a subtle change of tactic had Locke disarmed seconds later.

"It's that damn sword. Even before you brought it here and Freya blessed it… it's just not fair…" Locke muttered, but a smile lingered, letting Angel know that the treasure hunter was kidding.

"You're just upset you didn't catch on to my changes quick enough. But you're getting better!" Angel exclaimed, clapping Locke on the back. Heading over to a bench on the sidelines, he picked up the white towel he'd brought in with him. It wasn't that it was necessary for him to use it, because unfortunately, his unique physiology did not require him to sweat. But, others often found it unnerving to see him not sweating after such a rigorous workout.

So, all in all, Angel's small price to pay was carrying a towel.

The door slid open, and both of the combatants looked up.

"Am I interrupting?" Yuna said as she stepped into the room. Angel smiled, seeing Locke look up.

"Yuna! Of course not, we were just finishing," He stated, then pointed over to Locke. "That's my friend, Locke Cole; I don't know if you two have met."

Locke walked over to Yuna, and shook her hand firmly.

"We were in the same field exam, but I didn't have the honor," Locke answered, smiling as he met her eyes. She smiled warmly, and took her hand gently away.

"It's nice to meet you," she quietly greeted, then looked over at Angel. "Can we go someplace and talk?"

His eyes widened in alarm, but she laughed. "No, it's nothing serious; I just needed to talk to someone. Is it all right?"

Angel nodded, looking over at Locke. "Sure. I'll catch up with you later, Locke."

"Are you a fan of birds?" Angel questioned as he pulled the Angelmobile out of the parking spot in the vehicle garage at Trabia. Yuna looked over, blinking. She'd already been surprised by the sporty black two door coupe, which seemed so out of place in the midst of the other vehicles in the Garden garage. It'd appeared older than the other cars, but, despite its age, appeared to be extremely well kept.

"Birds?.. Well… I suppose. I've never really thought about it before," Yuna replied, uncomprehending why he'd ask such an abrupt question. "Why?"

Looking over to check she was buckled in, he pulled out of the garage and accelerated. The car reacted under him, the modifications to the car allowing both passengers to barely feel it (as he'd recently had an incident with someone unbuckled, and them complaining of the discomfort of the experience.) Soon, they were traveling at eighty miles per hour towards the coastline.

"Birds, at least some of them anyway have this crazy ability that I'd like to have for myself. Basically, they can stand on water."

Yuna looked over at Angel, her eyes still not understanding why this topic had started. Angel smiled, and continued.

"Katanas told me at one point that scientists in Esthar called it water effects. They'd dedicated years upon years of research on it, wanting to know why birds were able to stand, walk and land on water without suffering any ill effects… almost as if they were landing on ground. I looked up a few reports on it, and they used scientific mumbo-jumbo that I don't really care to understand."

She couldn't stand it. She finally had to ask.

"Why are you talking about this?" she quickly questioned, her eyes widened with disbelief that perhaps this man was secretly a nerd. However, his smile never left his face as he responded.

"How do you like being a bird, Lady Yuna?" he queried, the smile moving to his voice.

The sudden formality caused her to look away, and look out the window. Which in and of itself would not have caused her to jump, with the exception that she was seeing nothing but water. Whipping her head quickly around, she could barely see the vestiges of land behind her.

"Where are… where are we?!" Yuna squealed, a mixture of fear and wonder in her voice, and displayed on her face.

Angel turned his head to look back at the receding shoreline before responding. "I'd say a mile and a half from the coast of the Trabian Aristocracy, and about six out from Trabia Garden. We're traveling at someplace around 128 miles per hour, which is a quarter of the full speed of the Durandal. However, it's the perfect speed for this car to be able to perfectly ride the water in a vehicle of this size," he informed her, making minute adjustments to their direction.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She whispered, the fear from only seconds ago gone.

He chuckled, looking over at her. "Two reasons. One, when I tell people, they freak out and don't enjoy the journey. Trust me; I wouldn't do this to anyone if I thought I'd hurt them, myself, or the car. Two, the look on your face when you got over your initial fear, that sense and feeling of awe that you still have was well worth it."

She nodded, blinking in wonder. Sure, she'd flown in an airship but this was incredible.

"I'm glad you appreciate it. Hope you don't mind going on a journey with me. That's why we're coasting over the water; it just makes things easier," he explained.

"Can't you teleport like Ben?" She asked, her voice still in silent awe of the scenery coasting past her. He nodded.

"Sure, but I don't like to unless I have to. Teleporting is impersonal, quick and painless. I'd much rather enjoy the journey there. The world is always changing around you; why miss that for instantaneous travel? I wouldn't want to."

She looked over at him. "I guess I've never looked at it that way," she conceded.

They continued on in silence for a few minutes before Angel finally spoke again. "So, you wanted to talk?"

She looked out the passenger side, still amazed by what she saw. "I don't know really what I wanted to talk about. I think I just wanted a friend… I'm still uncomfortable around here, and I don't always feel like I can talk to Rikku or Paine…" she trailed off, but leading Angel to a conclusion.

"You don't have to have anything to talk about if you just want to talk, you know," he answered, a light smirk on his face. She looked over at him and smiled.

"I know that!" she replied haughtily, but the smile never left her face. His response was another laugh, and she pouted. "Not fair!" She cried, only to get another huge laugh, which was contagious enough that soon she joined in on it. When they calmed down, she finally was able to speak again.

"Where are we headed?" Yuna asked. Angel smiled.

"Our destination is the Dollet Dukedom, which is both my favorite and my least favorite place in the world. Katanas asked me to drop off some classified documents to Duke Haroldington, and I happened to be going that way. It worked out for all three of us."

"All three of us?" Yuna questioned, curiosity piquing her interest.

"Of course! Obviously, he knows everything since you needed someone to talk to and I just happened to have an hour long car-ride ahead of me," he grinned, as he made more adjustments to their heading as he spotted a fishing frigate in the distance. He didn't receive an immediate response, however, so he glanced over to her.

"So, what's going on? I'm having a good time, but it seems like something's wrong…?" he led her, trying to get a response as to why she would come to him. She didn't look over at him, only quietly stating what was on her mind.

"I told Tidus we were done," she whispered.

He looked over again, his eyes widened. "Why?"

"Because he's not the same person I fell in love with during my pilgrimage. He… I guess the only way I could explain it is… uhmm…." She trailed off, trying to explain, but not finding words. Angel nodded.

"You fought to bring him back, right? That's what Ben told me anyway." Angel asked.

She nodded vigorously, her eyes brimming with tears. "But, he came back and started to act differently. Who knows, maybe I'm different now… but he's just not who I need anymore."

Angel kept his eyes on the "road" as he spoke, carefully measuring out his words. "And you are upset that you broke up?"

"I'm more upset that it didn't faze him. He just… thanked me for telling him," she muttered disbelieving. She shook her head, shaking away the tears, before finally speaking again. "I want to see the world, like you said. I want to experience the journey. I don't want to enjoy the things of the world; I want to enjoy the world… and I don't think he understood that…"

Looking up, Angel noticed in the distance the docks that symbolized the shipping district of Dollet.

"Listen. I know a good place. We'll drop off the stuff to the Duke, and then I'll take you out to eat. I'll tell you about what I've seen, and you can tell me about what you've seen, okay?" He asked as he changed the angle to approach to come up near an angled dock. Then, he looked over to her as he came to a stop at a light. "I'll even sweeten the deal. Since Katanas said I have to deliver these directly to the Duke, I'll introduce you."

That brought a smile to her face.

"Deal."

Until next chapter…