Tidus

"Tidus! Tidus... wake up, please..." I heard Yuna's voice calling my name. I could hear her voice echoing in my mind.

'Yuna?' I thought to myself. 'What the heck happened?' My head is pounding, and I felt a form of disassociation from my body. The last thing I remember was the pyreflies flying towards me. I felt the coldness of the spiritual energy on my face as they seemed to penetrate my skin and fester in my brain. Then there was darkness.

"Tidus, please wake up!" I heard her say again. My eyes are closed, and I seem to have no control over opening them.

'It's because you can't. I'm the only controlling your body'

'WOAH!" I began to panic. 'What the hell?' Why am I hearing voices?'

'Because I'm in your head'

'Who are you? And why are you in my head?' I demanded.

'I think you know who I am' the voice said coldly.

My mind went back to the conversation with Yuna about the possession Nooj and Baralai experienced from that guy, Shuyin. And it was his image I was looking at. It was his illusion that the pyreflies flew out from.

'...Shuyin?'

'Okay good. You were able to work that out quickly. So, you're not as stupid as you first appear. I assume your girlfriend told you much about me.'

'Yeah. And how you tried to destroy all Spira. You psychopath...'

"Tidus! Wake up" Yuna cried.

'Yuna! Please hear me'. Despite my efforts, my lips do not move. My vocal cords do not produce any sound. I want nothing more than to cry. I would do anything to scream really loud.

'Help me, Yuna. Please...'

'Please stop this. It's pathetic. You make us look weak. She's not going to be able to hear you. I won't allow it.' He responded coolly. Shuyin sighed. He did not seem to delight in this, but he seemed to grow more annoyed by the second.

'What do you want, you son of a bitch?'

'Ah, so it seems Seymour was wrong about you cursing' Shuyin retorted.

Tidus shuddered at the mention of that cursed name. 'Seymour? What the hell does he have to do with this?'

'It'll be revealed in time. But for now, I need to find the right opportunity to get rid of your girl and your friends.'

Again, I feel a shiver run through my body. 'What exactly does this asshole have planned?'

Shuyin forced Tidus' eyes to open. Looking up, he gazed into dual-colored eyes. Yuna was leaning over him in concern. Shuyin smiled up at Yuna. "Uhhh...Hi there."

Yuna

"Hi there?" I shrieked. "Don't give me that. What happened to you? Why did you faint?"

"I uhh.." My love started. "I'm not sure."

A million thoughts are running through my mind right now. Could this be related to being so close to the Farplane? Was it because he was still a dream? Will he fade away again? All I knew was that we had to leave the Farplane. I can't lose him again.

"Tidus, let's leave." I tried to hide my concern. "I think we should move on to our next location."

Our next location would be the Moonflow. We began our tour in Zanarkand and we slowly retraced our steps from the pilgrimage, but in reverse. Buddy was nice enough to fly us to Zanarkand to start our journey there. The Moonflow was an exciting stop for the two of us, knowing that Tidus had wanted to stay after dark to see the moon lilies light up with pyreflies. We weren't able to stay during my pilgrimage due to the urgency of completing the journey. But now that he is back in my life, we can actually enjoy Spira in the way it should be enjoyed. Spirans no longer had to look over their shoulders, in constant fear of Sin. This gave people time and space to actually enjoy the landscapes and wonders of Spira.

My love seemed to be staring into space. I can't quite tell if he's thinking deeply or if this is another symptom related to the fainting. But it only made me want to get out of here faster. "Come on, Tidus. Let's go."

My love got to his feet and we made our way to the exit.

Shuyin

'Now Tidus, you cannot tell Yuna about this.' I mentally say to my host.

'Oh yeah? And why is that?' The Fayth's dream version of myself questioned.

'Because I will kill her here and now if you say anything'. I hear myself telepathically saying. My gut twists as I state the threat. I really do not want to harm anyone. But Lenne's soul cannot die. She doesn't deserve to have her soul shattered in that sphere. She does not deserve to be snuffed out of existence. Tidus seems to remain quiet after I provided this warning to him. I cannot gauge what he is thinking. I notice that Yuna is watching his face, studying his reactions. I force a smile to calm any fears she has.

"I'm really worried about you." She said.

"Don't worry. I'm okay. Maybe it's a side effect of coming back from the Farplane, and with us being there, we got too close. But as long as we stay away, I'll be okay. Nothing more than that." I reassured her.

We continued to walk out of the Farplane and towards the inner parts of Guadosalam. We make our way towards the path to the Moonflow. During the walk, Yuna remains quiet. It appears she is thinking very deeply about what happened. I feel the need to reassure her again.

"Yuna, are you okay?"

Yuna gives a light smile. "Yes. Just concerned."

Honestly, I get it. I can imagine that I would be concerned too if I had seen Lenne fainting randomly like that. I can't help but notice Tidus is awfully quiet too. Much more than I expected him to be.

'And what's going on with you?' I thought.

'I don't believe you when you said you would kill Yuna.' He stated plainly. My heart (or rather, his heart) seemed to jump in his chest. Why would he think I wouldn't harm Yuna? How could he be so sure of that?

'And what makes you believe that?'

'Because I could sense your false threat earlier. You don't want to harm Yuna. You're doing this for another reason, and I want to know what it is.'

'Don't be so sure about that, Tidus. I will do what I can to...' I begin, but cut myself off before revealing too much.

'So...this has to do with Lenne then?' He questions. 'What happened to her? You managed to lose her again?'

I become instantly enraged. I growl, 'Shut up, Tidus.'

Tidus inwardly smirks at pissing me off. 'That's what you get for taking over my body, asshole.'

Again, I note that maybe Seymour doesn't know this guy as well as he thought. I'm broken from my concentration when Tidus speaks up again: 'Whatever is going on, we can help you without you having to harm anyone. Or possessing people.'

'No... you can't.' I can't help but respond in a sullen way. It's the truth. No one can help in this situation. I have no choice but to follow Seymour's demands.

'It has to do with Seymour, doesn't it?' Tidus questioned. I remain silent. I cannot say too much, in case Seymour were to find out. I cannot risk Seymour deciding to destroy Lenne's soul.

"What are you thinking about Tidus?" Yuna asked. "You've been so quiet since the Farplane."

"I'm fine. Just tired." I replied to her.

'Tell her what's going on, Shuyin. She'll help.' Tidus pleaded.

'Go to sleep, Tidus.' I try my hardest to suppress him. I was successful in doing this with Baralai, who was barely able to fight against me. Nooj was a little more difficult to control, but it was doable. Tidus, on the other hand, is causing much more trouble than they did. Likely because his mind is not in despair, filled with hatred, or any other strongly negative emotion.

'Tell her!' He seemed to scream in my mind.

'Shut up.' I reply

"TELL HER" Tidus' body screams out loud. Yuna turned to him with concern and confusion in her eyes. She scrunched her face in complete bewilderment as to why he shouted at her.

"Tidus...?"

I give a nervous laugh and explain: "Oh, I uh..." I start, "I've been fighting with myself on whether I should say..."

Yuna motioned for him to continue. Hanging on whatever word would be said next.

"Well, I love you, Yuna." I can feel Tidus becoming enraged that *I'M* the one who said this to her for the first time, and not him.

Yuna's eyes light up when I say this through Tidus' body. She seems so happy to hear him say this. Inwardly, I hear Tidus stating that I took this moment away from him. And I do feel bad about this. The only one I've ever said those words to was Lenne. I never wanted to say them to anyone else. But it was the only thing I could come up with on the spot.

'At least tell her I wanted to say it to her that night we defeated Sin. I was unable speak at the time due to fading away'

"I wanted to tell you that night we defeated Sin but could not because I had lost my voice." I explain through Tidus' voice, "During the process of fading away..."

Yuna rushes to Tidus and gives him a big hug. I feel Tidus light up from within as he (we?) held her in his arms. Then I feel my own guilt rising.

"I love you too." Yuna replies with a content sigh. Yuna's eyes light up with love as she gazes into Tidus' eyes. I feel the need to break the gaze for fear she would want to kiss. I force a smile on Tidus' face and hold out his gloved hand to indicate we should continue our path to the Moonflow. Yuna takes Tidus' hand, and we walk down the path to our destination.

'She's going to figure this out eventually.' Tidus warns

'Just shut up, Tidus'.