Chapter 2

Djose

When Yuna realized Tidus wasn't coming back, she decided to start over. She figured that spending time with the people she had left to love in her life was a good thing, so she packed her only sack and left Besaid to join the Gullwings and become a sphere huntress. They traveled all over Spira, met some of the most fascinating people, and woke up each morning knowing that Sin was forever destroyed. There was nothing epic to fret over, save the next group of hunters who blocked the path to another undiscovered sphere.

And as much as she avoided making a huge deal of it, Yuna knew that there was only one intention and sole objective for her travels as a sphere hunter: to find the person who so closely resembled the one she had loved and lost two years ago.

Inside the bridge, Buddy leapt out of his navigation seat and stretched his arms with a sigh. He walked over to Rikku, who finally stood still after running in circles around the bridge floor. She stopped to look at Paine and Shinra in fascination as they buried their heads in the commsphere network, giggling and whispering to each other.

"What's the matter with those two?" Buddy asked, amused to see two of Spira's most sarcastic people giggling with each other. He figured that their humor would be nowhere near Rikku's comprehension level - or anyone else's for that matter.

"I don't know," Rikku replied, suspicious. "They've been acting like that since we got on the airship. That commsphere network Shinra made must be entertaining?" She didn't bother looking in Buddy's direction but continued to stare at the two who were still at it.

"Yeah, that's probably it," Buddy laughed. "There are a lot of citizens in Spira who have no idea that we can see them through the network, so I wouldn't be surprised if they caught someone being stupid."

After another minute of observation, Rikku stomped her foot down in frustration. Their voices were more muffled now than they were minutes ago. All the secrecy was getting to her. "You two better stop it!" She yelled helplessly, raising a finger in their direction, only to get more giggles and whispers as they immersed themselves in whatever it was they were looking at.

Just then, the portal gate to the bridge opened and Yuna strolled in casually. She hopped over the rail and landed soundlessly onto the space next to Buddy.

"What's up?" She asked, her eyes immediately drawn to the backs of Paine and Shinra.

"Rikku's fascinated by the comedy that Paine and Shinra have apparently found in his commsphere network," Buddy said. "Not sure what they're looking at exactly, but it's gotta be hilarious for them to be laughing that hard. They're actually giggling." He now stared in disbelief at what he was seeing.

"Looks like Rikku's gonna hurt them," Yuna laughed. She looked over at Rikku, whose stare began to look somewhat malicious now that her frustration blew over. She was walking dangerously slow toward the two who were beginning to lose their composure.

"Are you okay? Is everything alright?" Buddy asked a moment later as he turned himself around to face her. The smile that once adorned his face was now replaced with a look of genuine concern.

"Huh?" Yuna was distracted by the comical picture of Rikku attempting to butt into the giggles of Paine and Shinra. "Oh," she said, the thought of what had happened earlier finally coming back to her. "Oh, yeah," she began, "I... I'll be fine. I just needed a nap, that's all."

Buddy looked at her, making sure she was as okay as her words implied. After a moment, he turned back in the direction of Shinra and Paine.

"I'll take your word for it," he said.

Buddy was never one to push the boundaries of human composure. If someone didn't want to cry a river in front of him, he was perfectly okay with that. In fact, he preferred as little emotion as was possible in these situations.

"So," he began, "any idea where we want to go next?"

"Hm," she mused, thankful for his ability to let things go. "Are you getting any distress signals from anywhere in particular?"

"I'll check that out in a sec," he replied. "But I was thinking that we could stop by Djose Temple and check up on the faction, just in case they need any help with fiend control."

"That sounds good," she said, ready to get things moving again.

"Besides," Buddy concluded, a smirk adorning his face, "Gippal's ego is bigger than his head, so he probably wouldn't have asked for our help even though he needed it." He chuckled to himself as he made a farewell gesture to her before heading back to his navigation seat.

Yuna moved toward what was now a threesome; Rikku had apparently joined in on the joke and beckoned a hand for her cousin to come and see what was going on.

"Hey, guys?" Yuna asked, ignoring Rikku's invitation. "We're heading to Djose Temple." She pulled away from the threesome and headed toward the sphere map.

"What's going on in Djose?" Brother asked as he pulled himself out of the hole under his driver's seat and turned to face Yuna. Everyone's attention eventually fell on the former summoner as Paine, Rikku and Shinra turned around and stood quiet, waiting for the details.

"Buddy wanted to see if Gippal needed a hand with fiend control in the temple. We could use the gil." She looked at everyone nonchalantly just as Buddy got out of his seat and walked over to stand beside her.

"Yep, and it looks like we're heading there anyway," he confirmed. "I'm not getting any other distress signals so we've got some time to help out at Djose. Are we going?"

"I could use a little fiend control now that you mention it," Paine said, her face serious again, all traces of humor completely gone. Shinra nodded silently beside her.

"Why do we always have to help that idiot out?" Rikku suddenly asked, breaking the synchronization of everyone's thoughts in the room. Brother winced before responding to his sister's remark.

"Didn't you hear what Yuna just said?" He asked, his tone authoritative. "We could use the gil!"

Yuna smiled at her cousin, hoping she would heed Brother's words just this once.

"Oh, alright," the Al-Bhed girl said, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat. "Fine. Let's go to Djose."

In an instant, Brother leapt back into his driver's seat and revved up the airship's engines.

"Alright, Gullwings!" He said excitedly, "We are going to Djose."

The Celsius arrived in Djose just before sunset. After what seemed like a lifetime of hopelessly attempting to convince Gippal that they were just there to help, he finally gave in. After the temple was cleared of fiends, the Gullwings decided to stay at Djose before their next destination.

That night, an endless pile of wooden logs continued to feed a massive fire in the central grounds just outside the temple doors. There were a crew of diggers that had come back from the Eastern Expanse and huddled together in a corner. Their voices were gruff and husky as they laughed over the day's finds. Yuna sat on one of the many logs that surrounded the fireside and stared into the sputtering flames.

"Thanks for the help," a familiar voice said.

She looked over her shoulder to see Gippal seat himself comfortably beside her, all while keeping the plate of food steady in his hands. After he thanked her, he immediately began scarfing down the food in his hands. She could do nothing but stare at him, her appetite somewhat discouraged. His good looks had apparently rendered his messy habits a long stretch. And after she found out that Rikku and him "made quite the couple," she had a hard time picturing Gippal as a romantic. Then again, there would only be one other person to stuff her face just as uncontrollably as he did and that would've been Rikku. As he finished his last bite, he wiped his mouth and hands clean with a napkin and then placed the disposables on the ground beside his foot. He took a deep breath and nodded in satisfaction to himself.

"You know," he began, now looking at her, "I never thought someone like you would become a sphere hunter."

Yuna looked at him, both puzzled and somewhat irritated. He had a few problems with fitting her into the mold that everyone else in Spira had done. To them, she would always be the young, precious, naive Summoner Yuna.

"Someone like me?" She asked a moment later, trying to keep her tone light.

"Yeah," he smiled. "You're a celebrity now, aren't you? People crawl all over you. Becoming a sphere hunter and traveling all over Spira with your buddies must be a real change."

"It is," she said. She was careful with her next words. "I'm looking for something, which is why I became a sphere hunter." She diverted her gaze to one of the diggers as he threw another log into the fire and the blaze sputtered to life again.

"I'm not judging you," Gippal said. "To be honest, you're not the snobby celebrity that I thought you were. Of course, I've never met you before so I only assumed."

She look at him again and could see him grinning in the firelight. She smiled, all traces of irritation gone.

"So you two were quite the couple, huh?" She asked a moment later, eyes darting from him to Rikku, eager to change the subject. Gippal looked over at Rikku, who kept bugging Paine about telling her a secret. They took a moment to watch her in all her persistence.

"Rikku was always good for a laugh," he said reflectively, already forgetting the previous topic of conversation. "I kinda miss her."

"What happened?"

"Nothing, actually. I never got along with Brother and he kept interfering with us. After a while, we both got tired of it and decided that it was probably easier to stay friends. It's been that way ever since." He laughed. "Besides, I don't think Rikku would've stuck around for the machina faction, it's too boring for her."

Yuna smiled as she glanced over at her cousin. Rikku eventually exhausted herself and now stood quietly behind Paine. She had always been there for Yuna, through everything. The thought of her staying in one place for a long time was impossible to imagine. All her energy would have been wasted.

"I bet Brother's all over you, isn't he?" Gippal chuckled, interrupting her thoughts and steering the subject back to her again. Yuna blushed and looked at the ground in embarrassment. To begin to think of how wrong it was for her cousin to show a romantic interest in her would only lead to more humility. Fortunately, Rikku saved her from what began to become an awkward silence when she ran over to them.

"Stop bugging her," Rikku said as her eyes darted suspiciously from Yuna to Gippal. "And what were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing, Rikku." Gippal laughed hysterically as he tackled Rikku to the ground.

Yuna managed to slip away unnoticed as the two continued to wrestle each other. She walked over to Paine, who was starring at the night sky. As she stood beside her, she looked up into the black canopy dotted with glittering stars. She could see why Paine refused to see anything else tonight. The sky was mesmerizing.

The stay at Djose was a reminder of the night she spent sending all of the lost souls of Operation Mi'ihen to the Farplane. The sky that night looked just as bright. She remembered how melancholic those two days felt; the spirit of Spira was laden with so much hopelessness, just waiting for Sin's next catastrophic destruction. It was a dreadful wave of doom that kept weighing her down, insisting that she give up and lose the battle. But as sad as those memories seemed, she felt like smiling all the same. The feeling of being here in peace tonight was beyond anything she could've ask for.

She pulled the ragged thrower that conveniently hung itself over the marble rail she had been leaning against and threw it over herself and Paine. The warrior sphere huntress draped an arm over Yuna and held her close, silence enveloping them in its tranquility. And as they looked up and marveled at the many more stars that seemed to illuminate the velvet sky, the chatter of voices continued to carry on through the night.

And as Yuna looked into the sky, she saw his face smiling back at her.

Author's Note:

I'm giving a little more humanity to Yuna's life after Sin. Despite whatever threats are left in Spira, nothing now will ever be as fatal as Sin. I also wanted to establish a connection with the new characters in X-2. Awesome people like Gippal and Buddy and Paine. I love them!