Chapter Seven: Preparations

Tidus stood there, happy and in awe that they were having a baby. He kissed the soft skin of her neck, and smiled happily. He held her from behind, and put one hand on her stomach, the other on her neck. The storm had passed. It was as if the passing of the storm heralded the expectancy of a new member of their growing family. Tidus kissed her lips gently, and held her to him, stroking her hair softly.

"Yuna, this is our story, our family. I love you and our unborn child, and I'll do everything I can to help."

Yuna smiled, and snuggled her head into his chest, looked up into his intense blue eyes, and talked in her soft voice.

"We have eight more months. We need to prepare thoroughly, love. We need to add on a room, build baby furniture… we have a lot to do, and only eight months to do it. I'm so excited! I hope it's a girl."

Tidus smiled at her enthusiasm, and kissed her softly, passionately. He placed a loving hand to her right cheek, tenderly, as he kissed her. He too wished for a daughter, but also for a son. He was happy nonetheless, as he loved Yuna.

"Yuna, I love you more than anyone will ever know. And our child, be it a boy or a girl, no matter what, I'll love him or her as much as I love you. If you're interested, there is a way to find out just what it is. We'd have to wait until tomorrow, but we can tell. I want to know, so we can think of names."

Yuna was already excited, but the thought of determining their growing child's gender only made her more excited. She was enthralled in fact. She nodded fervently.

"How do we tell? The doctors in Spira don't have that kind of knowledge yet."

Tidus smiled, and kissed her once more. He said only one word.

"Zanarkand."

"Zanarkand? But it's just ruins now. How can they help us?"

Tidus smiled, and showed her the small new pendant the fayth of Bahamut had given to him. It was a key.

"This will open a portal to my Zanarkand for one day each year. We'll go to the hospital there and have them check. There's no chance of us getting trapped, as long as we're there and back within 24 hours. So let's get some sleep. Miliyah will want to go too, so we all should go to bed, and have the Celsius get us there early."

Yuna smiled, nodding as she went to their room, and laid in bed, Tidus following close behind. Miliyah retired to her own room, and the three of them slept peacefully until early morning, when the first rays of sunlight were just breaking through the remaining storm clouds. The three of them rose, showered and ate quickly, and they started the trip down to the beach, where the now-familiar red airship sat waiting for them, while the rest of Besaid Island slept.

Takeoff and departure went rather smoothly, with Tidus flying. Yuna and Miliyah went to the cabin to rest. It would be a long while before they reached the ruins of Baaj Temple, where the portal would open for one whole day. Touching down where he had first arrived in Spira, two years ago, Tidus took the elevator to the cabin and roused Yuna and Miliyah from their slumber. He smiled and kissed Yuna's lips, and hugged his cousin.

"We're here. I'm going to open the portal in here."

They nodded, and Tidus held the pendant high in the air, and a blue tear opened in the air, and he motioned for them to follow, holding Yuna's hand, as they stepped through the portal, and were whisked back to the dream of the fayth, Zanarkand as it was a thousand years ago. Miliyah smiled as she saw the flower district, where all the flowers in Zanarkand were grown. She ran off, yelling back over her shoulder.

"I'll meet up with you guys at the hospital later. I want to get flowers for someone special. Later guys!"

Miliyah ran off, disappearing into the seething crowds of people. Tidus and Yuna stood in the center of the city, smiling as Tidus explained the principles of Zanarkand.

"Zanarkand, as you know, was heavily dependent on machina. We used them for everything. Processing food, building houses, lighting up the Blitzball stadium, everything. But there are a few things no machina can do. Machina may be able to process food, but it cannot create it from nothing. The raw food has to come from somewhere, and since Zanarkand is situated by the sea, fish are a major part of Zanarkand's dietary concern. We had over fished, and as a result, we started to think of new food sources. Recently discovered woods held animals, which we hunted. We were careful to not over hunt them. And that is how Zanarkand was formed, and still is as you see it. Just like the shark, we never had to change, because we got it right from the very beginning. So, want to see me blitz in my old home stadium?"

Yuna listened intently to his story, and at the mention of seeing him blitzing again, she grew excited again.

"Is there a match today?"

Tidus smiled and nodded.

"Today only. Just an exhibition game, but a fun one. The Abes versus the Doogles. Funny that matchup. We were playing the day Sin attacked. We better get moving before the game starts. You're in the front row my love. Come on."

Yuna smiled and took his hand, running towards the great stadium, the one she had heard about from Jecht. It's true, she thought silently. It is all lit up at night. She smiled and took her seat as Tidus went to change into his blitz clothes, the mismatched outfit he had worn all throughout her pilgrimage and when he returned to her. She liked the new Tidus better, in regular clothes like t-shirts and shorts. But this was the man she had fallen in love with. Tidus the Blitzer, star player of the famed Zanarkand Abes. She wanted to see just how good he had become.

The game started, and Tidus took the ball, and swam towards the goal, blocked by two players. He saw his chance to show off, and started his father's legendary shot, the Jecht Shot. He kicked the ball hard into one player's chest, sending it back to him, as he punched it, knocking the other out of the way. The ball went at an incredible angle, as Tidus leapt high into the air, spinning wildly, and delivered a powerful kick to the ball, scoring a goal, as the crowd cheered. It had been ten years since that shot had been performed in Zanarkand. By halftime, the Abes were up 5-0, and the Doogles called the game, admitting defeat. Tidus met Yuna by the changing rooms, and she kissed her husband.

"You were amazing. Looks like Sir Jecht was right. You are a better blitzer than he was. I saw him play once, and he was nowhere near that good."

Tidus blushed a little at the thought of him being better than his father, but he was gradually starting to become a blitzball celebrity, in both Zanarkand and Spira. Tidus looked at the time display on the scoreboard. Seeing that four hours had already passed, he turned to Yuna.

"We should get this done, that way, we can see the beach sunset. I promised you that didn't I?"

Yuna smiled, and nodded.

"Let's go find out if our baby is going to be a boy or a girl."

Tidus and Yuna both walked towards the hospital, the biggest one they had ever seen. Miliyah was waiting for them just inside the lobby, and they walked into a room, where the nurse asked Yuna to lie down, which she did. A small needle was shown to her. Yuna was not afraid of needles like she always had been, for the simple fact that the man she loved was with her. The nurse took a small sample of her blood, and smiled.

"The doctor will be with you shortly."

Yuna turned to him and smiled.

"Why do they need a blood sample?"

Miliyah was the one to answer her question. Miliyah was a nurse here before the attack.

"Something called Rh-factor. If you're positive and the babies are negative, there could be problems."

Yuna nodded, and the doctor came in, and nodded at Tidus. It was the same doctor who had been his mother's doctor, and the woman who had delivered him.

"I'm Dr. Akiko Yamato. Tidus has told me you wish to know your babies gender, and current health. Tidus, hold her hand, as there will be a slight electric tingle, and some pressure on your abdomen."

Tidus did as instructed, and nodded, as the doctor examined the blood results and smiled. She placed three small pads on Yuna's stomach, and a slight current ran through them and Yuna smiled.

"It tickles."

Tidus smiled and kissed her cheek, as the doctor placed a strange machine on her stomach, which was slightly heavy. It showed a graph of the slight heartbeats, and the doctor looked at it in awe.

"Well, I can honestly say I am surprised. Tidus, Yuna, you are having fraternal twins. A boy and a girl. Congratulations."

Tidus and Yuna hugged for a long while at the good news.

TO BE CONTINUED…