So sorry about the long wait! Without any further delays...
*o*o*o*
Kinah lay awake that night thinking about her life. She had been through so much in the years before she joined the Specials. Every night she thought about her sister, two years older than her, that she hadn't seen in almost a decade. Nearly everything about her sister was a mystery. Her sister being forcefully taken away when she was just a child was an even bigger mystery.
Kinah called her Hannah even though she realised at some point that it wasn't her real name. Kinah was forbidden to ask questions about Hannah.
Hannah rarely left home. She and Kinah spent their days being trained by their mother, a human woman.
One night a large group of men dressed in full Al Bhed gear cut off their home's power supply, creating total darkness, and stormed into their house looking for someone. When the group of men went into Kinah's room they checked her eyes with their torch lights. Kinah didn't understand why.
"It's not her! It's Kinah!" One of the men said.
"One of you should stay here and watch this one." The leader said. One of the men volunteered to stay.
After a while the others came back, dragging Wen and his wife into Kinah's room. They started to kick Wen and Kinah screamed and cried. She was only five years old at the time and most five year old Al Bheds only had basic defence skills. Kinah didn't know what to do so she jumped out of bed and tried to run away to get help. One of the men grabbed her and tossed her onto his shoulder while Wen was being interrogated. His wife was forced to remain quiet as they threatened her with a knife to her neck.
"I though we had a deal! I said I would tell you who she is!" Wen said as he groaned in pain.
"It's not fair!" Kinah's mother cried.
The leader removed his goggles. He wasn't Al Bhed. He was an ordinary man called Hanz that Wen had hired as a spy in the past.
"Yes, I remember the deal. I promised you her safety." Hanz said.
"Then what is the meaning of this?" Wen yelled.
"I'm taking her somewhere that no one can harm her. Not even you." Hanz said.
"Why would I hurt my own daughter?"
"You already have." Hanz said with a smirk on his face. He looked at Kinah and grinned and she cried even more.
Moments later the rest of the men brought Hannah to the doorway. She looked at her mother with tears in her eyes and frowned when she looked at Wen. Hannah tried to reach for Kinah but the men were already taking her away. She cried bitterly.
"Please help me!" Hannah cried as she left, never to be seen or heard from again. The man holding Kinah threw her onto the floor and all of the men left. They shut the door behind them.
Afterwards, Kinah had nightmares of that night. It's what kept her awake on other nights and this night was no exception.
*o*o*o*
Kinah kicked off the warm blanket, brushed away a tear and got up from her bed. She walked over to a large window and sat on the windowsill. The skies were clear that night and she could see every beautiful little star.
Kinah got up quickly when she heard a noise outside. She back-flipped over the bed, grabbed a gun from her bedside and crouched by the door. As Kinah unlocked the door with a key card she saw Tidus standing outside. She put the gun on top the dresser.
"Is something wrong?" Kinah asked.
"It's Rikku! The injury!" Tidus said quickly and ran off. Kinah took a bag of items and followed Tidus into Rikku's room.
In the room, Rikku lay on the bed dead-still. Her health was deteriorating gradually and she needed healing immediately. Kinah walked into the dark room and stood beside the bed. Tidus stood next to her.
He watched anxiously as Kinah carefully mixed the different items into one bottle. She took a sip of the mixture and almost choked.
"Are you sure about that?" Tidus asked.
"I've learnt about dark aeon ailments but I've never actually seen one before." Kinah replied.
"How sure are you about that mixture?" Tidus asked.
"It may not be right but it'll help a lot." Kinah said and added another potion to it. Tidus too a deep breath as Kinah poured half of the mixture into Rikku's mouth. He felt a little guilt for not being able to help her and still blamed himself for everything that happened.
They stood in silence, waiting for a sign that the mixture worked. Nothing seemed to happen for a long time until they noticed Rikku's thumb twitch.
"She's okay now." Kinah said, cheerfully.
"Hey! You did it!" Tidus praised her. Tidus smiled at Kinah and she looked into his eyes and smiled back. She couldn't resist the urge to blush and sprinted past him to hid it.
"Goodnight!" Kinah said as she sped into her room. Wondering why she ran off like that, Tidus shook his head and laughed. Kinah wasn't sure either. She returned to her spot in the corner of windowsill and closed her eyes as she questioned her own feelings.
Moments later, the sliding door of her room opened. Tidus walked into the moonlit room, holding her bag of items.
"You forgot this." Tidus said. He placed the bag on top of the dresser.
"Thanks." Kinah said. Tidus took a seat on the windowsill in the opposite corner to where she was. He seemed like he was about to ask her something. She desperately wished that he wouldn't ask her why she ran off.
"What's it like being a Special?" Tidus asked her. Kinah let out a small sigh of relief.
"It's... " Kinah forced a smile, "It's something special."
Tidus burst into laughter.
"What made you join?" He asked. Kinah looked out the window while thinking about what she was about to say. The only reason why she joined the Specials was to find her sister.
"There is someone I need to find." Kinah said, solemnly.
"You joined the Specials just to find someone? They must be very important to you." Tidus said. The unpleasant silence returned to the room after he said that.
Tidus leaned back and looked up at the stars. He ran his fingers through his silky blonde hair. Kinah couldn't help but notice. She blushed once again and quickly reminded herself that he was off limits.
As the night progressed, Kinah and Tidus began to talk more. She told Tidus all about the Sanubia and he told her about his encounters with all sorts of fiends. They were both getting more and more interested in each other.
The conversation really started to hit off. Kinah agreed to teach Tidus how to fly an airship and he agreed to teach her some sword fighting.
The conversation somehow turned into playful wrestling. Kinah had Tidus pinned down to the floor. As he tried to get up, their lips met by mistake.
Suddenly the door opened and created a path of light directly on them. They were both too caught up in the moment to notice someone standing at the door.
"Hey! What's going on here?"
They broke out of their trance before it went on any longer and stood up quickly. Tidus almost got a fright when he saw that it was Wen. Before one of them could even try to explain, Wen had left the room in a very angry manner. Kinah went after Wen but Tidus held her back.
"Let him go. I'll talk to him in the morning." Tidus said.
"Okay. Let's keep this little incident between us for now." Kinah said with a smile.
They said goodnight, Tidus returned to Rikku and Kinah returned to her bed.
*o*o*o*
Kinah was up early the next morning in the engine room, despite the fact that she was up so late the previous night. She was refuelling the engine for the long journey it had to do to get to Home. They had to land the airship the previous night so they were still in the Calm Lands. Tidus went to the engine room to have a chat with Kinah.
"Have you told him yet?" Kinah asked. Tidus shook his head.
"Maybe it would be better if I talked to him in private. I don't think he likes you very much." Kinah said.
"I figured." Tidus said sarcastically. "Don't worry about it. I'll do it."
Tidus left the engine room and went to the cabins. He stood a step away from Wen's door and took a moment to think about what he was going to say to him. Just then, the door opened.
"Are you deliberately trying to get on my bad side?" Wen asked, very annoyed at him.
"No, not at all! I just wanted to tell you something." Tidus said quickly. "Nothing happened between Kinah and me."
Wen frowned. He pulled out his gun and pointed it at Tidus.
"I'll talk to my daughter and ask her myself." Wen said and walked away. Tidus sighed and leaned against the wall.
He almost got a fright when he heard groaning followed by a mixture of a cough, a sneeze and a yawn all at the same time.
Tidus sprinted to Rikku's room. He couldn't even wait for the doors to open properly before bolting in.
"Hey! Why are you running? Is something wrong?"Rikku asked, startled by him. She was standing in front of the dresser.
Tidus picked her up and hugged her tight.
"You're really weird sometimes." Rikku said, sinking into the hug. Just then, Kinah came into the room.
"Morning, Captain." Kinah said. She was emotionless and intended to stay that way for the rest of the day.
"Morning, Kinah." Rikku said cheerfully. "How far are we from Home?"
"We are still in the Calm Lands." Kinah replied. "We had to land last night because the airship can't keep going the right way without its navigator. We'll take off when you're ready."
"Alright then. I'll go freshen up. We will take off in an hour." Rikku said. She kissed Tidus on the cheek and skipped to the bathroom. The door shut behind her and an awkward silence fell upon the room. Kinah maintained an emotionless look began to walk away. Tidus grabbed her arm gently.
"Let's not make this harder than it already is." Tidus said.
"Rikku doesn't know what happened to her last night. Don't tell her. We must never tell her if she doesn't remember." Kinah said coldly. "Be at the ship's central in an hour."
Kinah pulled her arm out of his grip and stormed off.
*o*o*o*
Exactly an hour later Rikku was seated at the ship's central control, fully dressed, armed with her Godhand and ready to take off.
Wen and Kinah were at their stations. Kinah was seated at the navigation controls and Wen was seated at the ship's attack and defence controls. There was only one person missing.
"Where's Tidus?" Rikku asked. No one answered her. "Kinah? Wen?"
"Maybe he took a nap." Wen said. Suddenly the elevator doors opened and Tidus came running out with his sword clenched in his said.
"Sorry I took so long to come. A fiend broke into one of the rooms." Tidus said, pulling out a big blue feather from his hair.
"What type of fiend was it?" Rikku asked.
"A flyer." Tidus said and took a seat close to the front.
"You are going to have to get used to flyers. There's so many in the desert." Rikku said. "Their element is fire."
She wasn't too worried about Tidus surviving the fiends of the Sanubia Sands. He was just as agile as her, even with his long sword. Her Godhand compared to his Brotherhood was very lightweight and sharp.
Rikku got comfy in her seat and flipped some switches on the control pad.
"We're ready for take off!" Rikku announced.
The airship rose slowly until all that they could see were the peaks of the Calm Lands' mountains. When it was high enough and in the clouds Rikku counted down from 10.
"10... How's the signal? 8... " Rikku said.
"The signal strength is at max. Maps are online." Kinah responded.
"4... 3... 2... 1... "
Its engines roared and it bolted ahead at its highest speed.
It was obvious that Rikku enjoyed every moment of flying her airship. Roaming around on foot and riding chocobos was nothing compared to the thrill of flying an airship. It brought a real smile to her face.
Wen and Kinah were fully focused at their stations. Wen seemed pleased while Kinah kept up an emotionless exterior.
"Captain," Kinah called, "There is something I would like to ask you."
"I'm listening." Rikku responded.
"I'd like to switch teams with Rain for the next two weeks." Kinah said. Rikku seemed a little uneasy.
"I don't know if Rain will agree." Rikku replied.
"I could switch teams with Rain's older sister." Wen said. "There is nothing to worry about. You'll have the other Specials with you too."
Rikku took a long moment to think before finally agreeing. It made Tidus a little suspicious of who Rain was. He decided to not ask any questions.
No one said anything for the rest of the ride.
*o*o*o*
Hours later, Tidus couldn't help it anymore. He had to find out who Rain was and wasn't going to wait till they got to Home. Tidus got up from his seat and stood near Rikku.
"Hey, Tidus. Enjoying the ride?" Rikku asked, playfully.
"It's great." Tidus said. "Anyway, who is Rain?"
Rikku seemed really uncomfortable with a slight blush on her face.
"He is second in command of the Specials and Cid's right hand man." Rikku replied to him.
"Sounds like a pretty fantastic guy." Tidus said, paying close attention to her reaction. Her smile looked fake.
Tidus asked, "When do I get to meet- "
"Let's talk about something else." Rikku said, cutting him off. "We are going to land at the central mansion. That's where I live and it's also where the Specials' base is."
"What are we going to do when we arrive?" Tidus asked.
"Find Cid and declare myself undead." Rikku said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.
"Kinah, how far are we?" Rikku asked.
"We should arrive in approximately twenty minutes." Kinah answered.
Tidus began to feel sick with nervousness. He wasn't sure how the Al Bhed would treat him or if he would ever be welcomed there. There were many places in Spira that he wasn't welcome in. He would have preferred to live in Kilika Port where there are lots of fiends to train with, it's by the sea and not many people knew him there. It was his dream to live there.
Kinah got out of her seat.
"Captain, will you be okay without me?" Kinah asked.
"I'll be okay for the rest of the way." Rikku replied.
Kinah went ahead into the elevator and Tidus went after her. Just as he got out of the elevator he saw Kinah go into her room. He went to the door, hesitated and went to Rikku's room.
Outside, it seemed to get more windy. They had finally reached the Sanubia Sands but at a bad time. A sandstorm was building up. Some regions had already experienced heat waves that day.
Rikku yelled over the intercom, "Kinah, I need you back here!"
Tidus was standing at the door of Rikku's room. He saw Kinah leave her room in a hurry with some guns and ammo. She disappeared into the elevator. Tidus was curious why Rikku sounded so frantic. He also went back upstairs.
Back at the ship's central, Kinah was frantically pressing buttons.
"What's going on?" Tidus asked.
Rikku turned for a moment, looked at him and yelled, "Sandstorm!".