Author's Note:
Okay, I took a little while longer with this one but I've updated! ^^; I hope you enjoy, this fic is officially a year old. Woot!

012: Whistle.

Tifa was left troubled and confused in the past half hour as she fended off enemies and kept her eyes peeled for Cloud; so far, they stopped attacking, it even felt like they stopped trying. "He said he was coming to us," she told Barret, as the group took advantage of the peace to take a break and relax, feeling the breeze that traveled from the sea. But even as the fighting died down, they found no sign of Cloud or Yuna; Tifa tried his cell phone again.

It rung once, it rung twice, and continued till it reached voice mail. Again. She sighed in frustration, turning to Barret who looked just as concerned as her; Tifa muttered under her breath. "Cloud, where are you?"

Light peeled his eyelids open, causing him to struggle, groan, and cough as his throat rasped and ached; he tasted sea salt in his mouth, the sound of the ocean whispered to him and he eventually found his consciousness flooding back in his mind, fully awaking him. Cloud heaved violently as he hunched to his side, pressing a hand to the ground, feeling something hot and soft squeeze between his fingers—sand. Then it clicked. He remembered the flapping of the wind, the crashing of cool water, the gunshot, the blood… Yuna. Oh no, where's Yuna?

"Yuna…!" He rubbed sand from his blond hair, stumbling back onto his feet; he breathed in more deeply now and his throat still felt sore, calling out his friend's name didn't help out his cough. Someone lied onto the sand not far from where he was, yet they didn't budge an inch; it had to be her. Cloud jogged right up to her body, leaning down, and held her up; Yuna's hair was damp, sticking to her forehead, and she was completely unresponsive. "Yuna?!" No reply. "Shit…" His mind flashed to Priscilla; he knew what to do.

Slowly and carefully, he placed Yuna right back down, tiling her head back, hovering his ear over her mouth—nothing. He opened her mouth, and then pressed his hands to her chest, pumping them down in a steady beat. With one hand he pinched her nose closed, pressing his mouth against hers, blowing a breath of air into her; her chest rose once. He released her lips and threw his head back, inhaling deeply, then leaned back down to release it into her mouth; her chest rose a second time. Cloud went back to compressions, pumping down her chest till Yuna finally coughed, pushing out the water that clogged up her airway, inhaling sharply and heaving, and Cloud sighed in relief. He quickly examined the gunshot wound to her shoulder, realized there was no sight of the bullet, meaning it cut clean through. Cloud had no healing material with him so he had to make do with a handkerchief he found in his pocket. Listening to her groans that indicated her return, he slipped his arm under her legs, carefully grabbing her bandaged shoulder with his other and lifted her up. "It's okay, you're okay now…"

Yuna remained silent so Cloud didn't utter another word. He traveled up the sandy beach, barely making out the sound of chatter, laughter, and music; Cloud had to stop at his tracks and observe his surroundings more. Where was he? This place looked familiar. The sight of crowds in bathing suits, tossing around beach balls, swimming in the water, sunbathing, and playing among the sand confirmed everything—Costa Del Sol.

A woman under her umbrella seemed to have noticed them, she pushed her sunglasses out of the way to make sure she wasn't seeing things; others did the same. "Shit! Are you okay?"
With the attention upon him, he felt nervous being in the spotlight but he was let through nonetheless, with the way to nearest clinic pointed out. A couple of civilians insisted on helping but Cloud declined, leaving them watching as he made his way toward town.

The light caught her attention, bringing her out of her slumber, and brought back her consciousness; whistling. There was a distant whistling in her dreams that zoned in and out, but she was blanketed in complete pitch black, floating, lost, and alone. The whistle became clearer, and she shuffled in her sleep. "Tidus?" She peeled her eyelids back, finding herself in an unknown room, with the bright sunlight pouring from the window behind her; the whistle came from outside. Yuna immediately rolled on her stomach, crawling toward the window—a group of children were outside, laughing, running around… and whistling toward each other. "Not Tidus…" Figures. She pushed herself back on her back and covered her eyes with her forearm. "Wait—where am I?!" Yuna shot back up.
"I see you're finally awake." A woman wearing a white buttoned up dress with a matching white cap approached. "You were brought in a while back—how are you feeling?"
"I… I'm fine." Her head and shoulder ached a bit, and just as she reached for her shoulder, she noticed the gauze wrapped around it, slightly dirtied with what she could only assume… was her blood. "It hurts a bit."
"Here, this should help." The woman handed her a small white cup filled with water, on her other palm were two small pills. "They're for the pain, they might not be enough but it should help."
It hurt but it wasn't anything Yuna couldn't handle. This? This was nothing that her magic wouldn't be able to heal up, but for the woman's sake, she took the pills and the water anyway, thanking her; they were just for the pain after all.
"Excuse me but where am I?" Yuna asked as she handed the cup back.
"Costa Del Sol. Your friend brought you here; he's out in the hall waiting."

Yuna turned to the door which had been left open, she peered out and noticed Cloud leaning against the wall, arms crossed against his chest, and his eyes closed. She smiled. But then she remembered the dull ache to her shoulder and the reason it was there. She lifted herself from the bed, passing the woman with a slight bow, and headed out for the hall. They stood in front one another, taking a hesitating step forward, arms out, only for the two of them to quickly back down; the words were buzzing furiously in their minds.
"Are you okay?" Was all Yuna could manage to say.
"Yeah."
She smiled, it wasn't enough, there was much more for her to ask, but Cloud's eyes were to her bandage and the subject quickly switched over to that. "It's getting better now," said Yuna.
"I'm glad."
Her worry wasn't toward her shoulder, it was toward Cloud, and she only worried about him; that's when she brought up the important questions. "How did we get here? What happened?" The loud bang, the blood, the piercing pain of her shoulder—she was shot, yes, it was all coming back now but everything blanked out then, and suddenly she was somewhere else? Somewhere… peaceful.
"Costa Del Sol is right across Junon—we were washed up here."
"Junon? Is that where we were?" Of course, she remembered the sound of the waves and the smell of the ocean mixed in with machinery when she first arrived. "They attacked you too?"
"No…" The blood that spilled was hers, not his. "I tried to help you—it didn't work."
"I'm fine now," Yuna replied, her shoulder didn't even hurt that much anymore; she could heal the rest of the wound later on. "Let me worry about you."
Cloud's lips automatically curled to a small smile, he briefly caught himself resulting in his expression reverting back. But his mood did brighten a little; he remained silent, however.
"So… what do we do now?" Yuna questioned, everything backfired, and now they were stuck.
"My phone's… broken, I think it short-circuited in the water, tired using it to call Tifa—got nothing."
"So we can't call for help?"
"No." The sea breeze flew in from outside, from an open window out of sight, brushing against Yuna's cheek, flowing past Cloud's hair; they could smell and taste the salt in the air and Cloud sighed as he realized there was only one thing they could do. "We have to get back to Cosmo Canyon."
"Would they be there?" Yuna questioned.
"I don't know but I do know Red's there, it's not that far from here but… we will have to make a few detours and pit stops along the way." They'll be walking for a while.

Yuna went ahead to thank the nurse, bowing, assuring her of her health and her wound, then she followed Cloud out, who waited for under the sun. When she stepped out, she basked in the sunlight, breathing in to clear her mind. This type of atmosphere reminded her of home, though there was that hint that indicated something was different… possibly how lively this town felt compared to Besaid. The streets littered with people in bathing suits, running, splashing water at each other, and laughing. Maybe if her uncle Cid had turned Besaid into a tourist spot instead of Zanarkand Ruins it would be just like this, Yuna found herself thankful it wasn't.
"This place sure is something," she said.
"Not my kind of place, except maybe…" Cloud gestured to a group of women in bikinis, giggling and passing by, "the view."
"That's terrible!"
"Calm down, I was only joking." He could hardly contain his smirk but that didn't melt away Yuna's irritated expression.
"Well it wasn't very funny. Now come on, we're supposed to head to Cosmo Canyon."
"Alright, I'm sorry, it was a little stupid of me to say that."
They passed through the buildings and the crowd of children kicking around a ball; they placed their index finger and thumb in their mouth, blowing a whistle that signaled to each other; there's that whistle again.
"Something wrong?"
"Hm? N-no… it's nothing."

Yuna's legs ached from the amount of hiking done but according to Cloud they were almost there, wherever "there" may be. They've traveled up a steep hill, with sharp rocks and the root of trees sticking out everywhere, making it difficult for her to pass through. "Is this the way to Cosmo Canyon?"
"In a way, yeah."
"What do you mean 'in a way'."
"We're almost there…"
Yuna huffed, hopping over a cluster of rocks cluttered together on the ground; Cloud had reached the top and he offered a hand to her, hoisting her to his side. "Finally," said Yuna, sighing and she concentrated on collecting her all her energy back. It wasn't till the sight of a large metal building placed right in the middle of the mountain that she felt her breath escape from her again. This building released smoke, blowing it toward the skies, releasing a toxic, disgusting smell, mixed with that was that scent of machinery Yuna met with back at Junon, only stronger; Yuna covered her mouth. "This… this is a… I've seen these before… but where?"
"It's a reactor, they used to have a lot of them back at Midgar."
"Reactor?! Of course…" She remembered the stories about them, how they sucked the energy right out of the planet, but now here she was, up close to a reactor that still stood. "This is killing our planet."
Long, metal stairs descended from the top of hill, and Cloud had already headed down, prompting Yuna to follow along, even if the reactor's smokes, its bright lights, and overall presence left her feeling nauseous.
"Is it closed down?"
"No idea."
"I really hope it isn't being 'used' anymore."

They made it to the front of the reactor, metal doors shut tight, a large red sign hung high up top—'Shin-Ra.' From the looks of it, it started to rust. Wooden train tracks stretched out in front of them, though there was no ground beneath them, at least they felt sturdy enough. Sunshine became brighter, the scent of the reactor faded and the tracks took them back to nature where they were surrounded by rocks and canyons everywhere.
"They get weaker later on," said Cloud, who kept his attention to the front.
"Huh? What do?"
"The tracks—watch your step."
Oh no; Yuna's stomach churned. She didn't think to ask where they were exactly at but she noted the group of trees off at the distance, beyond the canyon they were on. She didn't remember seeing any trees at Cosmo Canyon… not ones that were so green at least. The sight of the trees shrunk as the height of the tracks ascended; once again Yuna found herself climbing up a steep path. Cloud's arm extended out, blocking the rest of her way. Over his shoulder, Yuna could see the large hole on the tracks. "There's a few of these around, we gotta jump through—come on." Cloud easily hopped over to the other side, nodding toward Yuna. Right, it shouldn't be too hard. She took a few steps back to give herself a running start then she hopped over the broken track landing right in front of Cloud. Right, she's done this before, she had worse jumps… she'll be fine. The path split into two ways—one leading up, one leading down, the tracks leading up seemed completely destroyed, no getting through there, not even through jumping.
"Have you been through here before?" Yuna asked, Cloud swiftly moved ahead; he knew his way around.
"A couple times—up here." Cloud jumped right past another hole on the tracks, waiting for her on the other side. Simple. Only this time as Yuna hopped over her foot slipped on the track, her body slumped over and lost balance. However, a pair of arms encased her, pulling her in, and prevented her from falling back. Yuna wondered if Cloud could feel her heart hammering against her chest.
"That… that was close… sorry."
"Told you to watch your step." But judging by the sound of his tone, he wasn't scolding her, it was soft, and his arms around her felt warm.
"Thank you," Yuna placed her hand on his chest, deciding it was alright to enjoy his warmth, but then Cloud's arms dropped from her body. "O-oh…" Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and she was left in surprise; how embarrassing. Cloud, on the other hand, seemed unfazed. It was hard to describe how she was feeling but there was a sense of disappointment there, within the embarrassment and the blush on her cheeks. It was a feeling she could only push away and ignore as she followed Cloud the rest of the way out.

The long, shaky bridge had been more trouble than the train tracks. Bombs, red fiends in the shape of a ball of fire with glowing eyes and sharp 'teeth', were scattered around, and they proved to be quite tricky to avoid. No sense in fighting them off while there was a chance they could damage the bridge, she was glad to be off it but what she saw next left her feeling… melancholic.

A large sign made of sewn cloth hung by the branches of withered trees, forming an arch—'North Corel', it said. A pile of boxes, cloths, and other junk blocked a trail of train tracks that leaded off elsewhere, beyond that had been crumpled buildings, tents, broken pavements, and debris all lying around, some of it being re-used to build stands. Tattered was one way to describe the settlement, sad was another.
"What is this place?" Yuna asked.
"North Corel, they're all survivors from the town Corel."
"Town?"
Cloud nodded. "It was destroyed by Shinra, after one of their reactors blew up, it was Barret's old town."
"Oh," Yuna frowned, as if she didn't have enough reason to feel distaste over the fallen company and its reactors.
"Just don't bring it up so casually to him, he just earned the trust of the survivors back, but…"
"But the wounds are still there."

Citizens greeted Cloud, a few of them instantly recognizing him with bright faces and gentle waves, but words were hardly exchanged. There were even a couple of children outside, playing amongst the rubble with a dog. They halted as Cloud stared at a large white, rusted sign, with the words 'Gold Saucer' plastered on it in blue font; Yuna could make out a frown on his face.
"What's wrong?"
"The only way we can get to Cosmo Canyon is through here."
"Then let's go."
"It's not that simple, we'll have to take a lot of turns and stops… there's only one way to Cosmo Canyon and I'll have to talk to someone first." Rather than give explanations Cloud proceeded on before Yuna could ask any questions.

The hum of the blue cable car Yuna rode in relaxed her, her eyelids drooping as she recalled the events of that day. The only way to this Gold Saucer place was through the ropeway, and here she sat, slowly breathing in and letting her thoughts float away. She didn't realize how tired she felt till that moment. But she had so many questions, like where they were head to, for one…
But no… she couldn't escape her exhaustion…

There was a faint tune in the air—someone's whistle toward her, they were calling to her, beckoning for her, but she was afraid to respond. Yuna would give anything to see his face again but she was afraid of who might be waiting for her beyond the darkness. Everything was black, only sound; it was that whistle and the hum of the ropeway. Her body twitched and she jolted, gasping in her wake. Her mind continued playing tricks on her. "Cloud?"
"I'm right here."
"I'm sorry, I just…"
"Is something wrong?"
"I heard his whistle again…"
"Whistle?"
Yuna paused, staring at the palms of her hands.
"No, it's nothing. Forget I mentioned…" Her voice trailed off at the distant sound of music, voices, and the popping of fireworks, and the dark sky through the window suddenly illuminated by bright lights. "Cloud, where are we?" The cable car traveled through round, bright gold structures and a railing with blue lights running around it; a sea of balloons rushed by, and Yuna found herself absolutely captivated by the sight.
"The Gold Saucer."