How does one get out of a cage, where there is no lock, and the cage is what seems to be the belly of a fiend? How does a girl, who has a Garment Grid at her disposal, and can hold her breath underwater for a period of five consecutive minutes do anything in such a situation?

That was the first thought in my mind as the situation became clear. I only had a few choices, to tell the truth. I could either give up, and die, or I could fight my way out and back to the surface. Without really thinking about the options, I groped around in my pocket for the small stone tablet that Rikku had given me several days before. I had taken the liberty to switch around some of the jewels to make it more useable for myself. Looking at it then, I followed the line from the current garment which was that of the Gunner; with my finger and tapped the jewel for the Warrior’s garment.

I didn’t even pay attention as the garments changed, as I looked wildly around inside the cage like belly for a weak spot. Anything I could hack at with the sword, now a heavy object in my hands. Anything at all, that would make the job more easy. To tell the truth, I never even knew how to use a sword properly, and when I think back on the days Auron had visited Tidus and I when we were kids, I should have taken him up on the offer.

No longer caring about how to attack this fiend with the sword, I just started to hack away and the rib like cage in my desperation. In a mindless determination I swung the sword, and hit over and over, my lungs starting to burn and scream for release. My head started to pound, yet I kept on hitting and hacking away.

Air.

I craved Air. I needed to breathe. My Five Minutes were just about up, and yet, I didn’t want to give up, even if the sword was starting to feel heavy.

My sight started to blur, and my lungs screamed for breath.

Maybe I should give up, I thought as the sword fell out of my hand. Maybe... Maybe.. I should die...

My five minutes were up.

Everything was dark. I felt weightless, floating. Alone, sore, and exhausted.

"Wake up." Said a voice. "Come on! Wake up!"

My head pounded, my vision blurred. Faces, so many faces.

"Damn it Tina, wake up! You can’t give up on us now!" The voice said again, with urgency. "Rikku! Help me out here. Get her next to a fire."

I know that voice. I thought as the faces swam before my vision. Before I knew it, I was being placed by a fire, and there was more talking.

"Come on Ti, wake up." Said a worried voice. It must have been Tidus but my mind was full of fog, and I felt so sluggish.

"Don’t want to wake Up." I said as the faces that swam before my vision faded and I went back to the darkness. The last thing I heard was.

"Let her sleep Tidus, she barely survived that attack, I’m surprised she’s even alive."

"I’m surprised she’s even alive." Echoed the statement in my mind as I started to dream again. It was a man’s Voice.

When I awoke finally I was laying down on the ground, a long metal sword by my side, in front of the fire. Sitting up I rubbed my head and looked around.

"What an Odd dream..." I whispered.

"So you’re finally awake." Said a voice to my left. Turning my head I saw Tidus sitting cross legged on the ground, a stick in his hands as he poked the fire, to keep it going. "I was worried."

"I see." I said. "I’m sorry to have worried you."

"Don’t apologize. You’d be worried about me, too if it were me in your position." He said as he looked at me. His face was taunt, and his eyes looked red, almost as if he had been crying. "I was afraid, that we lost you."

I sat in warm light of the fire. "Tidus.. You’ve changed." I said.

"I guess I did, a Lot has happened since I came to Spiral. That day, when I first came here, I felt so out of place. I just wanted to go home, and yet after time passed, I realized that I couldn’t go home. That I was here for good. So I decided to travel with Yuna and her friends, and help them defeat Sin. If I didn’t help them and somehow found my way home, you’d have never forgiven me for not helping them." He said as he tossed the stick onto the fire.

"My father had the same realization. When he found himself here." He said digging in his pocket. "I know that much, because of this." From out of pocket he pulled out a blue object with a golden trim, it was flat on the bottom. "It’s an old fashioned Movie Sphere." Tidus Said. "It has my dad in it."

I looked at the Sphere and then back at Tidus. "Here." I said handing it back. "I don’t want to look at it. At least, not yet."

Tidus smiled and nodded, taking it back and placing it back in his pocket. "I understand." He said as he looked into the flames of the fire, and we sat in silence.

There isn’t much I can say on that moment in time. We were, just silent.

I can’t even begin to fathom how long we sat in silence, but there was something about how we sat in silence. It reminded me of when Tidus and I were Kids.

The Next day after everyone had gotten rest, we were ready to decide what to do. Our initial goal was to find the wreckage of the ship that, Rikku reported was in the area.

"Okay, here’s the plan people." Rikku said as she stood and stretched after rolling a map and handing it to one of the Al Bhed, to put away in what looked like a backpack. "We’ll split up into teams. The Al Bhed and I will go scout for the other shipwreck, and Tina and the Others will explore the Ruins. I’m thinking that maybe if we do that, both groups will be successful in finding something. Of course we need some people to stay at the Camp. So the group that’ll go explore the ruins of Baaj temple, will be Tidus, Tina and Yuna. Paine, Shawna and a few of the Al Bhed will stay here."

The only person who didn’t seem to like that idea was Shawna.

"Why Can’t Yuna Stay with the Camp?" She asked her lower lip pouting.

"That’s simple." Rikku Said. "You don’t exactly have the powers of a White Mage. If Tina and the others come across any difficulty in their explorations and get hurt, she can use a heal spell. In a Nut Shell, I divided the main group due to abilities. Paine, like Yuna and I, has mastered the White Mage Dressphere. You’re specialty is Black Magic. You’d be better off here, with Paine." Rikku said.

"But I want to explore!" Shawna said, in a tone that said childish to me. "I don’t want to be stuck here, babysitting some camp fire!"

"Well I’m all for it." I muttered as I stood up, and stretched. "Someone has to stay with the camp, and you and Paine are the best suited. So just lump it with the rest and do your part."

The expression on Shawna’s face was not one of mute acceptance, she looked mad. No matter I thought, she had it coming. This was after all, no place for a childish happy Twit to be. Not even thinking about the look on her face, I looked to Yuna and Tidus. "Well, lets go explore these Ruins." I said. The others merely nodded in Silence and the three of us set off, leaving behind Shawna, who sat in front of the fire fuming in her anger.

As we walked away, in our silence, each person thinking their own respective thoughts I was surprised when Tidus broke the Silence.

"You were pretty hard on Shawna." He said as turned to look at me as he reached up to climb over a pile of Rubble, "Don’t get me wrong, Rikku’s choice and plan of action was a good one but that didn’t mean you had to be brutally cold about her dislike at staying at the Camp."

Sighing I waited for Tidus to climb over the Rubble, and then scampered up the pile of stones myself, answering after I was back on the ground. "I’m Sorry Tidus, but seriously, she wasn’t actually apart of the travel plan. She would have been better off staying in Luca. This isn’t a happy go lucky field trip she can just join without permission. I know she’s been training with that Sword of hers, and she’s mastered the Arts of the Black Mage under Lulu’s guidance, but she is by all technicality just a kid."

"She’s not that much of a Kid. She’s like us, Tina. She came here with her entire family, by a means that they don’t honestly understand. They’re stranded here, they don’t..."

"Belong here?" I asked cutting him off. "That’s my point exactly. You and I are at least from Zanarkand. Where are these people from? What city, what island, what world?" I said ticking off the questions with my fingers. "Are they even dreams?"

"What did you say?" Tidus asked turning slowly and looking at me. "What did you say about dreams?"

"Tidus..." I said failing at words. "I’m.."

"Sorry?" He said his eyes going hard with anger. "Why should you be sorry about knowing the Truth? Oh wait I know, because even if where we came from was a Final Summoning of Summoners and People after a great war with Bevelle and Zanarkand, became A wall of Fayth outside a RUIN of our home to preserve the memory of their home... We’re nothing but dreams!" Tidus threw his hands up into the air, in exasperation. "Just forget it Tina. You’re lucky you survived the Dreams ending." He said as he stalked off.

I stood there not knowing what to say.

"It’s a touchy subject with him." Yuna said as she paused next to me. "Basically, if it weren’t for me. He wouldn’t be here. It was all in the choice I made in the end."

"I don’t understand what you mean." I said as we walked side by side.

"Put it this way. If you were asked a question, like ‘Do you want to go back to Zanarkand?’ would you want to?" She asked me, trying to explain what it was like for her when asked a similar question.

"Of course I’d want to!" I said. "There’s no question about it!"

"Even if you fell in love with someone from here? Someone who you’d want to be with?" She said in a soft quiet whisper.

Yuna’s words, had a profound effect on me.

"Maybe I should apologize.." I said out loud to myself.

Yuna said nothing.