Squall should have taken it as a warning that Tidus didn't seem to understand crossing blades before the duel. It hadn't seemed significant in of itself—and it wasn't, who cared whether he was familiar with pre-fight pretenses anyway?—but it should have warned Squall that Tidus was not experienced with dueling. And that made him very dangerous.

Tidus's sword was significantly heavier than a gunblade. And looking at him, Tidus's appeared he would possess substantial upper-body strength. Squall had initially thought dueling Tidus would be a nice change of pace. He'd rarely had the chance to duel anyone but Seifer in recent memory, and he'd been eager to face someone with steady strength, someone with a style that more closely matched his own. He couldn't have been more wrong.

Tidus battled with reckless intensity. He held his sword with one hand, never getting much power behind a strike, but making up for it with a constant barrage of quick slashes. Although Squall hated to give up ground, he felt he must, just to survive.

Had it been a fight to the death, Squall would easily have won. Tidus left himself open, vulnerable, constantly. But it wasn't a fight to the death. For that matter, they hadn't really established any rules. Squall was used to fighting Seifer, where the rules were well established. Seifer almost always broke the rules, but Squall had gotten used to that, and even learned to take it as a good thing. Seifer would violate the rules when he was frustrated. And that meant Squall was winning.

Squall ducked as Tidus swung his blade high. The high swing left Tidus's torso entirely unprotected. Squall thought about hitting him with the broadside of his sword, just to make a point. But Tidus was too unpredictable, he might make a strange move and hurt himself. Squall then considered a well-placed kick to Tidus's diaphragm, that would end the battle quickly. But since they hadn't established rules, kicking could be considered out of bounds and he wasn't going to win this fight by playing dirty. He wasn't Seifer.

Tidus wasn't Seifer either. Though he had a one-handed grip and quickness in common with Squall's former rival, there were plenty of differences as well. For one, Tidus lacked Seifer's malice. He also lacked Seifer's precision. The last time Squall had dueled Seifer, Seifer had sliced his face, right between his eyes, leaving a permanent scar. Squall had responded in kind, leaving Seifer with a mirror-image scar between his eyes. Most people assumed Squall had scarred Seifer out of revenge, retribution. They weren't wrong, certainly there was some of that. But what Squall had really been doing, what he'd really been trying to prove, was that he could be just as precise as Seifer. To draw the same line, on a moving target, breaking the skin without serious injury, it took skill not many could master. So Squall's face became a walking testament to Seifer's skill, and Seifer's face a testament to Squall's skill.

Man, Seifer and I had a messed-up relationship, even before the Sorceress showed up.

Renewing his focus on the current battle, Squall noticed a slight wavering in Tidus's most recent barrage. Tidus was finally starting to tire. Squall waited until Tidus took a downward swing. Then, instead of deflecting the blow, he took a quick step to the side and raised his blade, bringing it down full-force onto the back of Tidus's sword. Tidus's sword bit several inches into the ground. Squall prepared for an angry retaliation, but it didn't come. Instead, Tidus left his blade in the ground and leaned over, hands on his hips, panting loudly. Squall was relieved that there did seem to be an end to Tidus's supply of fervent energy.

"Wow, you're really good! That was exhausting," Tidus said between breaths.

Squall nodded, not really sure how to respond to that.

"What about me?" Tidus asked. "How'd I do?"

"Your technique is terrible. You've got speed, but you're lacking power."

"Squall!" Rinoa chastised. "Why do you have to be so mean? His technique was good enough to defeat Sin."

"Too harsh?" Squall looked at Rinoa. Tidus had asked, after all. He was just being honest.

"No, it's okay," Tidus replied. "Auron just sort of threw a sword at me when all this started, and I've been making it up since then. Now, if you're going to criticize my blitzball shot, then we may have trouble."

"I'm sure you do fine against monsters. It's just for dueling, you're a bit…wild. Not very precise," Squall amended. Rinoa couldn't take offense at that, could she?

Tidus nodded, seeming to accept the critique. "Maybe you could teach me to be better."

"Sorry, I'm not an instructor."

"You don't have to be an instructor to teach someone something. You should help him," Rinoa replied.

Squall sighed. He supposed he didn't have anything better to do. "Okay," he said turning to Tidus. "Have you tried using a two-handed grip?"

"Are you sure you're up for this, Ellone?" Quistis had pulled Ellone aside as the others were gathering on the quad in anticipation of trying to contact Squall again.

"Yes, of course."

"It's harder, isn't it? With Squall so far away, it takes more out of you. I can tell."

Ellone grimaced. She'd thought she was putting up a better front than that. "It's a bit more difficult lately," she confessed. "But if I can speak to him directly—and let him speak to me—then maybe we'll at least know what's going on."

"Okay," Quistis said. "We'll try it one more time."

"We ready?" Irvine called from across the quad. "We should get started before Zell forgets his lines again."

"I won't forget this time!"

"That's because you're not supposed to talk this time, Zell," Selphie replied as Ellone and Quistis walked over.

"Okay. I'm ready," Ellone said as she took a seat at the table. Quistis sat down beside her.

Quistis looked at Zell. "Hi, Squall. We're still here, still trying to find you. Ellone tried to connect with Zell, to send him into your recent past so we could see where you are, but it didn't work."

"Yo, what's up with that, Squall?" Zell interrupted. "I let you in my head, but you won't let me in yours? Scrooge!"

"Zell!" Selphie cut in. "Ellone said it probably wasn't Squall's fault. She just can't make the connection with him where he is."

"Anyway," Quistis continued, "Once Ellone ends the flashback, she's going to try to maintain the connection with you, so that you can talk to her. She hasn't been able to do it before now, but hopefully if you both really concentrate it will work. Tell her as much as you can, but quickly, in case she can't hold the connection.

"Well, that's it. We just wanted to give you both time to prepare, before you try to talk directly. So…good luck. We're going to see you again soon, just hang in there."

"Are you still there, Squall?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me where you are?"

"I don't know where we are. But we're okay. Rinoa's here. So is Tidus. You should find Yuna; she's in Spira. Ask Ifrit, he might be able to help—"

"I'm losing the connection. Sorry—"

Squall was passed out. Rinoa seemed to prefer to call it sleeping, but people could generally be roused from sleeping. At any rate, he was doing whatever it was he did when he communicated with his sister. He was stretched out, flat on his back. Rinoa lay beside him, her head resting on his chest.

"I like to hear his heartbeat," she said quietly. Tidus gave an awkward half-smile and looked away. He hadn't meant to stare, there just really wasn't anything else to look at.

"I'm sad for Yuna," Rinoa continued. "That she doesn't get to hear your heartbeat."

Tidus had to admit it sounded pretty nice, to be able to rest here with Yuna lying against him. But at the same time, he was glad she wasn't here. Even with Rinoa and Squall's company the place was miserable. He'd rather be alone than subject Yuna to the misery.

"But she will. Someday she'll hear it again. I know it."

Tidus nodded and did his best to smile at Rinoa. He wished he knew it.

A few moments of silence passed. Tidus thought he should try to make conversation, but they were running out of topics. Finally, Tidus asked what seemed like an obvious question, but one that he had avoided before now. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Rinoa sat up and looked down at Squall. She brushed his bangs away from his forehead. "Yes. No. Well, he probably wouldn't want to call it that. Once he did call me his girlfriend though. But he said he was joking. But I told him I was going to take it seriously. So…yes."

Tidus laughed. From having known the two of them the short time he had, that sounded about right.

"Yuna—is she your girlfriend?"

Tidus considered the question. "It was…complicated. I guess you could say she might have become my girlfriend, after the battle. If things had been different." If somehow we had both survived, Tidus added silently. That was fair, right? It couldn't have just been in his head. Yuna had said . . . right before he disappeared.

Rinoa nodded. "Maybe Squall and I will make it official, when we get home. And you and Yuna can too." Rinoa smiled brightly at the thought.

"Sure," Tidus replied. "When we get home."

More silence. Rinoa was surely thinking about a happy future with Squall. Tidus was thinking about the past. About those last few moments. About what Yuna had said to him, and what he hadn't said to her.

"Before I left, she said I love you to me." Tidus spoke quietly, staring at the backs of his hands. "I meant to say it back. I just couldn't." He looked up at Rinoa. He probably shouldn't be telling her this. But he just couldn't keep it inside anymore. "I do love her. I love her so much, just saying it could never be enough. I wish she knew."

Rinoa's smile had faded, replaced with a much more serious expression. "I bet she does know."

"How could she?"

"You're not so hard to read, Tidus. Not like him." She gestured to Squall.

"Are you talking about me?" Squall had awakened and sat up as he spoke. "While I'm unconscious?"

"Of course," Rinoa replied. "It would be rude to talk about you while you were awake."

Squall looked intently at Rinoa, presumably trying to tell if she was kidding. He turned to Tidus.

"I wasn't…I mean, we weren't…I was talking about Yuna, mostly," Tidus finished lamely.

"…Whatever."

"Whatever." Rinoa cut-in quickly, as soon as Squall began to speak. Laughing, she continued, "It's okay, Tidus. He really doesn't care." She turned to look at Squall. "Tidus asked if you were my boyfriend and I said yes."

Squall didn't respond, other than to bury his forehead in his palm.

Tidus smiled at them, then stretched out on the ground, looking up at the sky. He didn't know if it was true, but it was a nice thought, that Yuna knew how he felt about her, even if he'd never said the words.

I do love you, Yuna. I always will.