Author's Note~ I must admit that I'm a little disappointed in myself. I said I would rewrite this story and it would be better, but I also homed the chapters would be longer than they were before. I believe last time I wrote these first two chapters I hadn't even reached one thousand words. This time, chapter one was only around one hundred words longer and this one was only seventy-five words longer. Sorry everyone. I promise these chapters will get longer as the story progresses. And look on the bright side: short chapters mean quicker updates :)

Chapter 2: Welcome To Besaid

When Tidus first opened his eyes, he believed himself to be dead; dead and on the other side. He believed that there was no possible way he could have survived the desert. But why did death feel like a soft cozy bed and if he was dead, why was he still breathing? He quickly sat up and tried to get his bearings.

He noticed that he was in a relatively small room. Beside his bed was a nightstand with several cups of water sitting on top. He grabbed them and downed the contents of the cups one by one. He desperately needed some water and the cups that were left for him made him feel much better. After he was properly hydrated, he once again to wonder just where he was and how he had gotten there. He looked out the only window in the room, but the view was blocked by the building beside the one he was in.

He left the room and looked down the hallway. He saw that there were doors that led to other rooms. The hallway itself was sparsely decorated and some of the "questionable" sounds coming from a few of the other rooms indicated that this was no home. He came to the conclusion that he was in a hotel. As he neared the end of the hall, by the staircase, he heard the sounds of people talking and music playing. He went down the stairs and beheld the source of the merrymaking.

It was a saloon. The place was filled with people. There were people playing cards, drinking ale and whiskey, others having conversation amongst themselves, and some were flirting with women… scantily clad women. Some wore gowns, others wore small skirts and corsets, and some were hardly wearing anything at all. It seemed that this place was not only a hotel and a saloon, but a whorehouse as well.

'That explains the noises upstairs,' he thought.

"Hey kid!" he heard someone call out to him.

He saw that it was a woman standing by the bar. She had black hair that covered most of the left side of her face and was also in a bun that had several decorated pins in it with five braided ponytails. Her eyes were reddish-brown and her lips were colored with purple lipstick. also noticed she was dressed rather indecently. She was wearing a black corset with no sleeves that revealed quite a bit of cleavage, a dress that didn't cover her front and knee high boots with heels.

"Uh, hello," he greeted lamely. "Who are you and where am I?" he asked, his gaze unintentionally drifting down towards her ample bosom.

"My name is Lulu, owner of the Mi'ihen Saloon, the finest saloon in Besaid, and my eyes," she said with a slap to his temple, "are up here."

It's not like you make it easy Tidus thought adverting his gaze. "Sorry. My name is Tidus by the way. But, wait you said Besaid?"

"Yes. You've never heard of it?"

"I've heard of it but, I've never been here."

"Where are you from?"

"Zanarkand," he answered. "I was attacked and left to die in the desert. How did I get here anyway? The last thing I remember was collapsing in the desert," he said trying to recollect the events of the day before.

"A man carried you in here. Said he found you lying on the ground half-dead and told me to take care of you until you came to," she explained.

"Who?" Tidus asked curiously.

"A man named Auron."

"Oh, well where is he?" Tidus asked, wanting to thank the man that had saved his life.

"Not sure; Auron comes and goes. He'll be back some time."

"Oh… anyway, do you know how I can get home?"

"All the way to Zanarkand?" she asked with a chuckle. "There is no way. No one can survive a journey that long through the Bikanel Desert."

"Then how am I supposed to get back home?" Tidus asked, getting panicked.

"There's a railroad being built; it comes all the way from Bevelle," she said, trying to calm him down.

"Is it going to Zanarkand?" Tidus asked growing hopeful. Lulu nodded with a small smile. "Okay, how long will it take?"

"It took the railroad ten years to get to here from Bevelle," Lulu stated, her smile faltering somewhat.

"Ten years?" Tidus shouted.

"Don't worry, that was along time ago. It shouldn't take no less than a year or so to finish."

Tidus sighed in despair. A year trapped in a strange place far away home… the though was terrible, but what options did he have.

"So what am I supposed to do until then?"

"Well, Auron asked me to take care of you, so I'll give you a room at a discount."

"Thanks," Tidus said with a grin. "How much?"

"One hundred gil a week," she answered.

At first, that didn't sound so bad, but when Tidus realized that he didn't have any money, his face fell.

"Don't worry," Lulu said, noticing his despair. "Auron already paid for your first week. That should give you plenty of time to find a job."

Tidus's face brightened up at that. That was one problem off his back for now.

"Until then," Lulu continued, "get yourself cleaned up; you're a mess."

Tidus examined himself. Indeed, he was filthy. His body and clothes were covered in stains of sweat and dirt. A bath sounded good to him right about now.

"There's a washroom upstairs. I'll have some clothes ready for you when you're finished."

"Thanks, Lulu."

With that, he headed upstairs for a much needed bath. As he made his way to the washroom, he did some thinking. He wondered if he would ever see Zanarkand again. He wondered how he would survive in place that he had never been in, who this "Auron" was, and what was he going to do for money in this place. He had been given a week to solve one of these problems and he was a little apprehensive since he had never worked a day in his life made his living by playing cards and the money his mother had left him, but really, how hard could it be?