Tidus hit the ground hard. He'd intended to land in a roll, but his feet slipped out from under him and the roll ended up as more of slide that sent him crashing into Squall. Squall was crouched on the ground and groaned as Tidus collided with him.

"Sorry," Tidus muttered, attempting to gather his feet beneath him. The ground was smooth, wet rock and standing was more difficult than Tidus expected. He shouldn't have bothered. Squall grabbed his shirt and yanked him back to the ground just as he got his feet under him. A large object passed over Tidus's head as he hit the ground.

Tidus turned to see what had nearly clobbered him and was confronted with the largest fiend he'd even seen, save Sin. It had the appearance of a dragon, but one made out of rock. Its right forepaw was extended, that was what had passed over Tidus. Tidus reached for his sword, but it wasn't at his side. He looked around the area—it was nowhere to be seen.

"Do you have your gunblade?" He looked at Squall, who barely shook his head. "What do we do?" Squall's eyes looked glazed and he didn't speak. From what he'd said, Tidus assumed that Squall was the more experienced fighter, and he'd intended to follow Squall's lead if things got rough. But Squall wasn't looking like a leader right now. Was it battle nerves? That seemed unlikely. Was he freaking out about being separated from Rinoa? The reason didn't really matter—it looked like it was Tidus's turn to take the lead.

Tidus and Squall were currently in a small alcove, and it appeared the dragon was gearing up to charge them. As soon as the dragon began its charge, Tidus made a break for it, tugging on Squall's jacket to make sure he followed. Tidus's feet slipped on the smooth rock as he ran. Fortunately, the dragon seemed to have its own problems with traction and was not able to turn or stop before it slammed into the rock wall of the alcove Tidus and Squall had just left. Tidus saw a break in the rock face and pushed Squall inside as he turned to assess the situation.

They seemed to be in a large cave. There were narrow shafts of light coming from cracks in the rock ceiling, which provided enough light to see, though it was not bright. Stalagmites and loose stones littered the ground, along with a few small puddles. The dragon was still turning itself around, so Tidus ducked into the crevice behind Squall.

Almost immediately, he ran into—and nearly over—Squall, who was huddled on the ground. Very little light made it into the area and it was impossible to see how deep the crevice was. Still, Tidus was pretty sure Squall was not up against a wall, so he puzzled over why he had stopped. He tried to climb over Squall. He faintly heard the word "cliff," uttered weakly by Squall, just as he was lowering his foot on the far side of Squall and realized there was no ground there.

His heart in his throat, Tidus caught himself and turned back to peer into the main cavern. The dragon had righted itself and was headed towards them. Not good.

Something had caught Tidus's eye as he turned around in the crevice. He turned back, not quite able to place what it was. He scanned the area—there! The ceiling. It had a faint glow to it. Not bright enough to be a light source, it must have been a reflection. There was a slight movement to it, and Tidus knew of only one thing that could mean—it was a reflection off of water.

He glanced back around to see the dragon closing fast. There was nothing else to do, the dragon could reach in and grab them from where they sat at the lip of the cliff. He didn't have time to explain to Squall, so Tidus braced his feet on either side of the crack in the cave wall and pushed back as hard as he could. He knocked Squall off the edge of the cliff and then fell down after him. He saw the huge claws of the dragon's front paw pass through the space he'd been occupying moments before.

He heard Squall splash down a split-second before he hit the water himself. It belatedly occurred to him that he had no idea how deep the water would be, and he should probably have spread himself out, increased his surface area to break his fall quickly in case the water was shallow. As it was, he entered feet first, then curled into a ball as he became fully submerged. He never hit the bottom. Once his momentum was depleted he slowly stretched out, enjoying the feel of the water around him. It had been too long since he'd been able to swim.

He was floating easily several feet beneath the surface when he began to look for Squall. He saw his silhouette above him, though it was too dark to see much detail. Still, the way Squall was floating didn't seem right.

Squall does know how to swim, doesn't he?

Tidus had assumed he must—he seemed to be a well-rounded solider, and even small children could swim. But it was an assumption, and now that Tidus thought about it, he didn't remember Squall ever mentioning actually being in water.

Tidus swam to Squall as quickly as he could. As he reached him he noticed the taste of copper in his mouth—there was blood in the water. With renewed urgency he wrapped one arm around Squall's waist and swam to the surface. He found the edge of the pool and hauled Squall out of the water. To Tidus's relief, Squall immediately began coughing. He coughed up a lot of water and Tidus kicked himself for not reacting sooner.

As Squall seemed close to having cleared his lungs, and Tidus's eyes were nearly adjusted to the light, Tidus reached to pat Squall on the back. He recoiled before making contact—Squall had three massive gashes across his back. They were deep and bleeding profusely. The dragon had gotten him—that must have been what knocked him away from Rinoa, and why he'd been barely able to stand since they landed in the cave. Squall gave a final cough, then collapsed onto his chest.

Trying not to panic, Tidus dug a potion out of his pocket and poured it directly into Squall's wounds. Then he removed Squall's jacket and shirt, folded them up and tightened them against the wounds with a belt. He hoped it would be enough. He didn't have much in the way of healing skills beyond drowning resuscitation.

Squall was unconscious, but seemed to be breathing regularly. Tidus considered using a phoenix down to revive Squall, but decided it would probably be better to let Squall remain unconscious. He was going to be in a lot of pain when he woke up.

"I'll go back." Rinoa turned to Yuna. "And then you call me again. I won't let them go this time."

Rinoa, her breath uneven and her eyes frantic, lowered her head in concentration.

"Wait!" Quistis put her hands on Rinoa's shoulders. "Talk to us, Rinoa. Tell us what's going on."

Rinoa looked up at Quistis, seeming to notice her for the first time. "I don't know what happened! I just know we got separated and I need to get back to Squall." She looked to Yuna, seemingly for support.

"Please, before you go, tell us where you were," the Summoner requested.

"I think Squall will survive a few minutes without your charming presence," Irvine added.

Rinoa took a deep breath and pulled away from Quistis. "I guess I should explain." She bent her knees so she was crouching on the ground. Angelo sat beside her and she petted the dog as she spoke.

"The place was awful. It was so…empty." Those gathered sat on the ground around Rinoa as she told her story. Soon Lulu and Wakka appeared and stood a little ways back.

"…And then I landed here," Rinoa finished.

"It…it was really Tidus? You're sure? And he was real? I mean, you know, solid?" Yuna asked.

Rinoa nodded. "As real as you or me."

"I don't know," Wakka said as he and Lulu moved closer, stopping directly behind Yuna. "It still may not have been our Tidus, ya? We all saw him fade; he's in the Farplane now." Then he knelt beside Yuna and whispered, "She could be confused. In shock, ya?"

"Or telling stories," Lulu added.

Rinoa looked up at Lulu, her eyes narrowed. She stood and advanced on the taller woman. "Fine. Why don't you tell me who it was?

"Let's see…messy blond hair and the bluest eyes I've ever seen. Wears a yellow shirt with a hood that looks about three sizes too small for him, but I guess that's the style in Zanarkand. Never stops talking about Yuna and blitzball. What else?"

Yuna had gotten to her feet right after Rinoa and her face lit up more with each fact Rinoa rattled off.

"Strong, and lightning-fast with a sword. Squall called him wild, but that's just Squall.

"He doesn't get along with his dad. But who does? I sure don't get along with mine. Oh, right, Yuna does. Her father was a great Summoner. And I guess the three of us are about the only ones who even know our fathers—what did you call it Wakka? It's a 'luxury' to hate your father?"

Wakka looked to Lulu. "I didn't even know Tidus heard me say that…"

"Oh! And I almost forgot about this." Rinoa dug into her hip pocket and removed a silver, triangular pendant on a long chain. "He told me to give you this, Yuna. I didn't want to take it, because I told him we were going to stick together."

Yuna accepted the pendant and for several seconds just stared at it. Rikku, Lulu, and Wakka gathered closely around her. Rikku reached out and touched the pendant. "It's his, it has to be!" Rikku snatched the chain and put it over Yuna's head.

Yuna clutched the pendant in both hands as tears filled her eyes.