In the early hours of the morning, the villagers were up and ready to start their day's work. Many were gathered at the temple and at the village centre after word of the previous night had spread.
The temple's armed monks guarded the doorway of Rikku's hut and a few were inside with Yuna and Lulu.
The hut was deserted. The floor was overcast with clothes, glass and hundreds of bottles. A pot of burnt dinner was overturned with its contents spilt on the floor. The dresser was left open and empty with all the clothes thrown about.
In the midst of all the chaos, Tidus lay on the bed peacefully with Rikku nestled in his arms. They were both nude and immersed in a deep sleep.
A monk stretched his gun over the sea of bottles and clothes and poked the bed. Rikku shook a little and grumbled.
"Go away." Rikku mumbled sleepishly. "It's not work hour yet."
"I'm not your slave." Tidus mumbled. "Ask Wakka, Yuna."
A wave of gasps resounded through the crowd of monks as Tidus pulled Rikku closer to himself.
The effects of the Al Bhed beer still hadn't worn off completely. They both ignored the monk and continued sleeping.
Unable to wake them up, the monk got annoyed and shot at the ceiling.
Rikku sat up. She stretched her arms and yawned. Tidus, still half asleep, had his eyes closed and reached for the warmth of Rikku's body with both arms.
"Hey! You! Get up!" The monk yelled. Tidus opened his eyes and sat up slowly. They both observed their surroundings and seemed confused and surprised, but mostly bored.
"I'm going to the waterfall for a quick shower." Rikku said, lazily. "Wanna come?"
"Maybe later. I have to get Yuna back before she starts acting like an old lady again." Tidus said as he yawned, completely unaware that Yuna was standing right there. Yuna frowned but remained quiet.
Rikku fell back onto the bed laughing madly. She too was unaware of Yuna and the monks.
A monk stepped forward and cast Esuna on them. The effects of the beer melted away.
Rikku's insane laughter turned into screams as she pulled the bed sheets over her bare chest. Tidus became aware of his own nudity and grabbed a pillow to cover himself.
"Upsetting the summoner, insulting the summoner and now cheating on the summoner? Do you know the consequences of that?" The priest asked sternly. "Death by exile!"
Yuna couldn't look at them any longer. She turned away.
"It's not my fault! It was the drinks! I couldn't control what happened after the third bottle!" Tidus yelled. "I don't even remember most of it!"
"Lies! We have witnesses that saw and heard the whole thing!" The monk said.
"Then why didn't someone try to stop us?" Rikku asked.
"They tried to separate you but," Yuna mumbled. "You just kept going on!" Yuna said as she began to cry. Lulu snuggled her in her arms.
"Get dressed. You're going for a swim." The monk said.
Tidus looked at Yuna and stretched an arm out to her. "Yuna it wasn't my- "
"Why don't you just go away and never come back?" Yuna cried as she ran out the hut.
*o*o*o*
At midday, a ship from Bevelle arrived at Port Besaid. Tidus and Rikku were forced into a cell and the ship left without a word from anyone.
The cell was a small 2x3 empty cabin within the ship with two thick iron gates. On the outside of the cell was a large room with a door to the deck. The cell was guarded by six warrior monks.
The guards told them that they were headed for Bevelle. That was the exile part. They knew it would be a long journey.
Tidus and Rikku hadn't said a word to each other the whole time. At Besaid, they dressed up in an awkward silence and walked all the way to the docks without saying a word to anyone. They sat at opposite sides of the small cell and leaned against the walls. The watchful guards left the cabin after securing the cell with a black magic spell.
Tidus stared at Rikku intently. She looked at him with an annoyed expression.
"What?" Rikku asked, turning her face away.
He lied when he said he didn't remember anything that happened. They both lied. The previous night, they both confessed to having feelings for each other. Now faced with reality, they had no idea how to move on from it.
Tidus thought about Rikku a lot more now. He wondered how he would spend his last moments alive. He desperately wanted to show Rikku how he really felt. Tidus hesitated but eventually leaned closer to Rikku. Her cheeks turned bright red as she gazed into his sky blue eyes. He pressed his lips onto hers.
"What are we doing?" Rikku asked, emotionless. A tear slid down her face.
"The same thing that got us here." Tidus said as he stroked her hair and resumed kissing.
They had lots of time to each other in the afternoon. The guards only returned in the evening.
*o*o*o*
Yuna spent the rest of her day preparing for her journey with Seymour but when night came, she lay in bed crying uncontrollably. The events of the previous night played over in her mind countless times. She had to come to terms with the fact that Tidus and Rikku were gone forever and were going to die together. That hurt her even more.
Yuna eventually got up and dressed. She took her staff and left home for the beach, trying not to think about Tidus and Rikku.
At the beach, she summoned Valefor and climbed onto it's back. It took off and soared through the night sky. She lay on Valefor's warm back and closed her eyes. The aeon could sense her misery. It glided through the air gracefully and she began to feel at peace.
"Take me back to Besaid in the morning."
*o*o*o*
"Underground Bevelle!" Rikku screamed as the guards pushed them into the tunnel of clear water.
"Via Purifico, to be correct." The guard said as he tossed their weapons in the water after them. "Have fun."
"Hey! You can't just leave us here!" Tidus yelled. The guard turned around and looked Tidus in the eyes.
"Maybe you should have thought about that before leaving Lord Braska's daughter for this Al Bhed scum!" The monk replied.
"Hey! My father is the Al Bhed leader!" Rikku raged. "He's gonna be mad when he hears about this!"
The guards walked away, snickering and giggling. Tidus and Rikku began swimming down the tunnel of cold, clear water. The water was deep but they could keep their heads above the water.
"Do you think there's a way out?" Rikku asked.
"They aren't expecting us to survive so there has to be a way out of here." Tidus said.
The tunnel seemed endless. Hungry fiends roamed around the bottom. Tidus and Rikku swam close to each other and kept their heads above the water to avoid the fiends.
As they went further along the tunnel, they could see more fiends beneath them all swimming in a circle. In the middle of the circle of fiends was a ball of elements.
They swam closer to it to get a better look at it. That's when they realised that the fiends around it were all dead. They started to feel even more cold than they already were. Then, the fiends stopped moving.
"We need to find a way out of here fast!" Tidus said, sensing the incoming danger. He looked around anxiously for a way out.
"There! Over there!" Rikku said, pointing to a drainage. "We'll have to swim over to it. It's the only way."
"I'll go first." Tidus said, readying his sword for action. They swam as fast as their bodies would let them.
Rikku had just barley made it over the ball of elements when it sprung up and knocked her unconscious.
"Rikku!" Tidus yelled. He grabbed her by the arm and dived into the darkened water as fast as he could. He turned to look at the fiend briefly. It was Dark Bahamut.
It's claws slashed violently through the water. He was just about to enter the drainage when the dark aeon began casting Ultima. Tidus was out of range but the force of the spell caused the water to rush turbulently through the drainage.
Tidus embraced Rikku with both arms as the water pushed them through the drain and into the dry and dimly lit underground Bevelle. They had made it out of the water but were still in Via Purifico.
The force of the water tossed them into the air and down on the cold tilled floor.
Tidus groaned in pain and coughed. He cleared his vision and put Rikku down gently beside him.
He called her name and tried to get a response out of her. She was still senseless. He was shivering as he carefully pushed the wet hair off her face. She had a deep cut on the side of her forehead.
Tidus frantically searched his inventory for a potion. He had nothing but his sword and the clothes on his back. He held her tight in his arms.
"Rikku wake up!" He screamed desperately. His voice echoed through the empty hallways. He couldn't hold himself from bursting into tears as he shook her lifeless body.
"Rikku please wake up! Rikku please," He cried. "Don't leave me now!"
His sorrow was replaced with fear when he heard footsteps approaching him quickly. Tidus looked around nervously as he reached for his sword. He didn't see anyone but the footsteps were getting louder as they came closer.
"Who's there?" Tidus screamed. The footsteps became quicker and he heard the sound of a gun clicking. He was agitated now.
"Stay away from me! Stay away from me!"