“So you say you came from Zanarkand from a Thousand and Four years ago right?” The woman named Lulu asked me as her Son picked up a braid and looked at the tiny intricate bead on it. I nodded my head and looked at her.

 “Yes Lulu, that’s right. I was in the Zanarkand Stadium when my friend disappeared. That was Four years ago. I tried to look for him, but I couldn’t find him.”

 “That sounds really interesting. Tell me what did your friend look like?” I looked down at my hands as I gripped at the charm bracelet on my wrist.

“Well he has Blonde hair, sort of messily spiked, and he wears a yellow jacket, but no shirt underneath it. His Pants are black, and he wears really nice sneakers, even if they are a little worn out..” I said. When I looked at Lulu, I noticed she was looking at Wakka, who had nodded and got up and left the Hut in a hurry. It was then that something in my mind clicked. “Lulu, do you think he came here?”

 

Lulu smiled a bit and put her son down on the floor and stood up. “He could have, I mean  after all, we did find a Man in the shallow waters just off this Island around the same time your friend went missing.. He was a great Blitz Ball Player. Speaking of which here he is.” I turned my head and stood up.

 

There standing in the door way, wearing the very outfit he was wearing when he had went missing four years ago, was my friend. His hair was a tad bit longer, he was tanned, and his lips held a smile as he talked to Wakka as he paused in the doorway to the hut.

 

“Really Wakka, I don’t see why I have to be here. I have to help the Besaid Aurochs train for the Finals...”

“Oh, just get in yah. I think we have someone here you might want to meet yah.” Wakka had said as he pushed him into the Hut. My friend stumbled, and when he looked up the first person he saw was me. The look on his face was of utter surprise.

 

I stood there in silence as an overwhelming joy overcame me, and my mouth twitched in a smile that I didn’t want to show. I didn’t want him knowing just how much I had missed him. So in Silence I stood, arms hanging limply at my sides.

“H-Hey Tina.” He said rubbing the back of his head, looking once at Wakka with a scowl. “What’s brings you here?”

 

“Hi Dork.” I said as I looked at him with a smirk on my face. “I don’t know, what brings me here, but hey,” I said shrugging and breezing past him. “You can always ask the Big Giant Fish Fin that Attacked Zanarkand Four years after you went missing.” I was about to walk out of the hut, when my Friend grabbed my wrist.

“Hold on a sec, Sin attacked Zanarkand?” He asked me, his eyes burning in anger. I shrugged him off. “Yeah, Sin’s  a Weapon of the Yevon Fayth, because they don’t like how we city dwellers live.” I said as I yanked my wrist out of his grip. “Look Tidus, I’m really tired all of a sudden. I need to sleep.” I then walked, half ran towards the lodge, nodded once at the guy wearing a yellow muscle shirt and ran towards the beds. I sat down on the bed, and looked at my hands.

 

Things got dizzy and I collapsed on the bed, watching the room spin. I don’t know why but I remembered something about the day Tidus had disappeared. It was a brief moment in time, when everything had stopped moving. All but me, and a little girl stood before me. She had said, something. I was amazed I didn’t remember it before. But now I could remember it clearly.

 

“Don’t be afraid. Your time will come. Wait for it.” Then everyone was moving again, and that was when I couldn’t find Tidus anywhere. He was just, missing.

“Where are you!” I sat up screaming in the bed, only to find the face of Yuna staring at me concerned, as her hands lightly held my shoulders.

The room was still spinning, and things were blurry.

 

“Tidus! Go get the New Yevon Priests! She’s come in contact with Toxin.” Yuna said as her face swam before my eyes, stretching, going thin, and then going round like a bubble.

 

“Ah, Yuna... How can that be? We defeated Sin four years ago.” I heard a warbled voice of Tidus echo in my head. Yuna shook her head. “Yes that’s true, but she most certainly came in contact with Toxin. She did after all come from a time where Sin was still around. It must be an after effect or something.”

“Sure, Yuna.” Tidus said as the room swam even more around my head. “Come on Shawna. We better do as she says.” Yuna had her face turned away from mine at the moment it happened. I remember screaming and then everything went black...

 

When I came to, I had found myself standing at the shoreline of Besaid. A breathless Yuna, Lulu, and Tidus standing not far from me. I was looking at the sun setting into the horizon and for some reason I had tears streaming down my face. I turned as the last of my tears fell from my eyes, and looked at the other three.

 

“Tina...” Tidus said as he looked at me with a look of concern on his face. “A-are you okay?” He stepped towards me then, his hand held out to me palm upwards. “We were very worried about you. You were affected by Sin’s Toxin somehow, and then you wandered down here and stood there for two hours looking at the sun setting.” I looked At Tidus and then at the two solitary wet spots in the sand where my tears had fallen like raindrops.

 

 “I don’t Know Tidus.. I don’t know. I don’t even remember coming here to the shoreline.”  It was then that I noticed her. The girl standing behind Tidus, looking a little curious, and if I might add, a little concerned. I had never seen her before. She looked to be at least five feet six inches, She had a nice hourglass figure, but was a little on the chubby side. Her hair was a long, wave of golden hues falling to the middle of her back. Her eyes were an intelligent brown, and she wore over her blue jeans and white T-shirt a long white leather trench coat. Who she was, I didn’t know. All I did know for certain was that she was standing really close to Tidus. So I assumed she was his girlfriend.

        

 Taking that into account I scrubbed my arms across my face and swallowed. “Look dork,” I said reverting back to the name I called him when we were only 16 years old. “I’m okay. Forget what I said about not remembering anything.” I then plastered on my face a fake smile, that I knew Tidus would see for what it was, and breezed past him and nodded at the girl. I didn’t even look at Yuna or Lulu. I just wanted to be as far away from them as possible. I didn’t understand it myself, but I wanted to get away. So I ran.

 

 I ran right up to a cliff, and then just stood there looking at the rippling waves of the waters below. I lifted one foot and balanced on the other. I stood there, breathing in one solitary deep breath, and flopped backwards back into the ankle length grass behind me. “Stupid, Stupid.” I said to myself, “You’re just pathetic Tina. You find him and then learn that he has a girlfriend. Looks like you lose again Tina.” I said sighing and looking up at the clouds drifting lazily across the sky.

 

 As I lay there watching the clouds, and thinking to myself, a shadow loomed over my head.

 “What’s wrong yah?” Said the voice of the tall Wakka, as he looked down at me holding a Blitz Ball. “I was on my way to the shoreline to get some practice in when I saw you come running’ up to this here cliff yah.” I looked up at Wakka and then raised my eyebrow.

 “Do you end every sentence with the word ‘Yah.’ ?” I asked him as I sat up and looked at my hands which were for some reason were still gripping in fists. Wakka sat down next to me cross-legged and looked out over the cliff.

 “Yah, I always end or start with it. It’s something I picked up when I was a child. It’s from years of living here on Besaid Island.” He said as he placed the Blitz Ball between us. “So what’s on your mind yah?” Wakka asked me.
 “It’s not that important Wakka.” I said as I eyed the Blitz Ball. “Say, Wakka how good are you at Blitz Ball?” I asked.

 

 “He’s not very good, but he did manage to beat the Albhed Phycs four years ago Tina. Of course it wasn’t exactly the most graceful of wins.” Said a voice that sent my heart racing a mile a minute. It was Tidus.

 “Hey! Just how many people saw that?” Wakka asked getting up, and scratching the back of his head.

 “Oh, I don’t know, a whole stadium full and whoever was watching it on the Sphere.” Tidus said as I stood up and edged towards the pathway leading back to town. For some reason Tidus just seemed to put me on edge. Why, I couldn’t say, it was just that, something in me was afraid of him.

 

 Once in Town, I decided to check out the temple. It was a lovely domed building, and I could here the most beautiful voices singing words I recalled from my childhood, lulled into a calm I entered the building.

 

 Inside Two Priests were standing guard at a door at the top of the steps, and they were talking about some strange things that were going on inside the Chamber of the Fayth whatever that was. I stood there standing in front of one Statue and looked at the face. It was handsome, and it looked vaguely familiar. He wore long robes, and looked to be like a very important man. So while I eavesdropped on what the two priests were saying I looked into the mans face. After a while one of them who was old, and bent forward, slowly yet skillfully walked down the stairs to greet me.

 

 He wore what looked to be an outfit of pure white and green. His eyes were kind, and yet they seemed ancient. His face was weathered and wrinkled and his beard, was white and long.

 

 “That, my dear, is the High Summoner Braska. The Lady Yuna’s father.” Said the old man. As he placed a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at him and his eyes seemed to twinkle. “Oh.. My. You look..” He started to say, and then shook his head. “No. No, only.. you look different somehow.”

 I looked at the Man, and then smiled. “My name is Tina, nice to meet you.” I said. The man smiled.

 “Myself, I am but an old scholar that wanders the lands of Spira collecting knowledge and helping those that need it. Good day.” He said as he walked away. I watched him as he walked out of the temple and I could of sworn that he was surrounded in small balls of light. After a second he was gone.
 
 “Weird.” I said as I turned to look at the other guard. But he was gone as well. And the music I heard when I had entered wasn’t there either. It was eerily quiet, save the footfalls of someone walking towards me.  

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End Chapter Two
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