Our morning started early enough, Yuna, Tidus, Lulu, and myself gathered on the beach of Besaid and waited on the dock for the Celcius Airship. Lulu was off talking with Yuna, so that left Tidus with me.

 

In retrospect, I still had a very uneasy feeling around these people. Yet, deep down inside me, I knew that I really was with people I could trust. So with these surfacing thoughts in the back of my mind I sat with Tidus on the dock while we waited. The sun had just started to rise on the horizon and I was awestruck by it’s beauty.

 

“Check it out.” Tidus said as he too watched the sun rise, as it turned the clouds a pale pink color, with hues of purple, red and orange.
 “It’s pretty, almost peaceful.” I said as I sat with my legs dangling off the dock. “Never got to see a sunrise like that before. Zanarkand was always kind of dark, and the lights from the buildings always blinded out the stars at night.”
Tidus nodded his head in agreement, “That’s true Tina, but don’t you miss it there? Watching Blitzball?”
 “Oh don’t be silly. After you left, I decided to try out for the team. I got your spot.” Tidus whipped his head to the side and looked at me with his eyes wide, and his mouth hanging open. After a moment he shook his head and spoke.
 “Well, you must be pretty good to get my spot.” He said. I laughed then, knowing that what I had to tell him next would shock him even more.
 “Oh yeah, I’m good. You see, unlike you, I paid attention to your fathers lessons. That’s only because the old  woman I lived with, paid for my Blitz Lessons. I even learned the Jecht Shot, and that’s what got me into that spot.”

The look on his face was priceless. “You learned the Jecht Shot?! My fathers trade marked Move? No way! It took me Ten years to learn that!” He said, looking completely flabbergasted at my news. I laughed then, for the first time since I arrived in Spira. It was the first laugh I laughed, that was genuine. It was then that the Red, gaudy, flying airship Celcius landed in the water next to the dock.

 

Rikku greeted us in the engine room, with a wide smile on her face. She gave Yuna a hug, as the others, while I stood off to the side. I watched them greet each other with four years of friendship, they laughed they talked, and I watched. It was like I was outside of a house looking into a window and watching old friends have a reunion. I felt out of place.

 

After the initial greetings were done things turned to the serious side, as a tall black man with light blond hair, a muscle top, and long baggy pants entered the Engine room. Yuna greeted him with a smile and he led all of us onto the Bridge.

 

The Bridge of the airship was a small affair with three seats at the front, the middle, being the pilots seat, was  piloted by a man wearing pants held up by a pair of suspenders, his skin was tanned and had purple tattoos that looked like flames.  The black man took the seat to the left of him and started to type at a flashing blue screen. To the Right, Rikku took a similar seat. The only other seat was to the Right near the stairs, where a young boy wearing a complete outfit and built in gas mask of sorts, sat typing on the keyboard.

 

Having a lack of a seat I decided to take the only place available, a seat on the steps. Yuna took position at the top of the steps, while Tidus sat next to me. Lulu, sat on the other set of steps at Yuna’s Feet. We all sat in silence not knowing what to really say, so my mind began to wander.

 

I was thinking about a particular funny moment when Tidus was Twelve and was caught skinny dipping when a loud blaring noise, and red flashing lights interrupted my thoughts.
 “What’s going on?” I asked Yuna, as she jumped over the guard rail and ran up behind the man sitting in the seat to the left of the Pilot. A woman wearing a black leather outfit, and Rikku followed suit while he talked to them in what I learned was the Al Bhed language.

“Syzun tadaldeuh uh cusa naymmo faent cdivv. Ed caasc dryd Fiends yna yddylgehk baubma haynpo Guadosalam.” Rikku looked from the Guy and then looked to Yuna then to us.

 

“Translation. Not Good. Fiends are attacking people just outside of Guadosalam.” Yuna nodded her head and in turn and looked to the Pilot.

 

“Brother! Drop us off at the Moonflow, we’ll make our way from there to where the fiends are!” The Man nodded and the Airship took on more speed, while Rikku, Yuna, Lulu, Tidus, the girl in the black leather, followed by myself ran to the engine room and prepared ourselves for the sudden drop off.

 

I can’t say much really about the experience. When we got to the path across the Moonflow to where the fiends were attacking the people, I was in for a shock. There were wolves, and an assortment of creatures. People were running around everywhere. Tidus and the girl in the leather were hacking and slashing with swords, Yuna had guns and they were going off with loud bangs. Rikku was trying to get people to safety, while Lulu was casting magic left and right. At least that’s what I thought it was. Myself, what was I doing?

 

I wasn’t doing much, the fiends seemed to be leaving me alone. So I stood there watching, and that’s when I heard it. The cry of a child, a child screaming for her mother. I don’t know what happened, but something in my mind snapped. With a yell I ran making a b-line for the little girl with brown hair, brown eyes, wearing a yellow dress. She was surrounded by what looked to be three or four Wolves.

 

I don’t know how I happened to get over the wolves and into the circle, covering the girl with my own body, but the others say I jumped over them and somersaulted in mid air to reach the girl. I don’t remember it, in fact my mind was elsewhere. I guess, I was in a trance, because as the girl cried for her mother, in my minds eye I saw myself crying for my own mother. It was like watching two scenes overlapped. A young mother standing outside a circle of fiends like the wolves that surrounded myself and the little girl. The little girl me, was screaming for her mother, while an older woman wearing a light green top, and white shorts tried to comfort me as the wolves attacked at her back. Just like the wolves were doing to me, as I tried to protect the young girl.

 

Then came the slash of white metal, and the blood. The girl on my back in my memory rolled off of me dead, and there standing before me was a young man. Muscular arms, a kind face, asking if I was okay. As the memory progressed, I saw overlapped that face of my memory the face of Tidus as I rolled off the girl. There was a bright flash and I knew no more.

 

When I awoke, I found myself in a large four poster bed. I turned my head to the left and there sitting in a chair was the little girl gripping tightly to a mans hand. His hair was pulled back into a long ponytail that looped once and trailed off into what looked a solitary wrapped braid. His bangs covered the right side of his face. In one hand he held a cane, and he wore an outfit of red, and black boots.

 

“So, you’re awake.” He said as he looked at the little girl and smiled. “My daughter here insisted she bring you here so that you could have your wounds tended. You took the attacks from the fiends pretty badly. You’re back will have scars from now on once the wounds heal.”

 

I nodded my head and looked away.  “Well, at least she’s alright.” I said as I tried to place the face of the memory I had. Yet I couldn’t do it. It was as if there was a wall blocking out the name to that face. The man nodded his head and then pulled up a chair and sat down in it.
 “The Lady Yuna tells me, that you’re name is Tina. My name is Nooj. I’m the leader of the Youth League, this is my home. My wife and I were worried you were going to die.” He said as he nodded at the doorway.
 “Takes more then a few wolves to kill me I guess.” I said. As I sat up and found myself growing dizzy and lay back down.

“That’s just the thing.” Said a new voice of a woman who walked in. “The others reportedly say that as you were protecting our daughter that there was a bright flash and the Fiends perished.” She said, as I looked at her. She had short blonde hair pulled into a French twist of sorts with a comb I guess, and wore the most gaudiest pink, purple and white outfit showing off her cleavage where a tattoo of a heart resided. What she said surprised me, but not much, for some reason I felt there was a connection to the flash she said the others saw, and the memory I had. “In any case, my Noojie Woodgie and I would like to let you stay here till your wounds are healed. Think of it as our thanks for saving our daughter.” I nodded my head, trying very hard to keep from laughing at the way she had said ‘Noojie Woodgie.’ If I had laughed, my ribs would have hurt. The Little girl then came up to the bed and gave me a small battered bear.

 

“My name’s Karla, and this is Theodore. Edward. Bear. He’ll help you get better Tina.” She said with a smile as she tucked the bear into the bed next to me. “He liked to be called Ted. E. Bear.” She whispered into my ear with a bigger smile. “He’ll take good care of you.” With that she stepped away from the bed and waved as she walked out of the room with Nooj and his wife. I Looked at the bear when I was alone.

 

“Well Ted. I know I’m in good paws.” IO said as my eyes closed and was drifting off to sleep. Little did I know, that Yuna and Tidus were standing at the door. The last words I heard were before I went to sleep were the two speaking.

 

“She’ll be okay. She’s made of strong stuff. She would have made a great guardian." Tidus said.
 “You’re probably right, but something about that flash of light reminds me of the old Summons for the Aeons...”  

What are Aeons? That was my thought as I drifted off to sleep. As I slept, I dreamed...

 

“Are you serious? Do you really want to do that to your own daughter?” Said a voice of a young male. A male with long arms, and blue hair and extremely odd looking hands. “You’re unsent it’s true High Summoner, but to take your own flesh and blood and hide her away from her birthright at such a young age...” He trailed off as he looked down at me.
 
 “It’s the only way. She must be protected from the Cycle that will never end. The Cycle of death. I will ride the dreams of the Fayth inside the new  Sin, my husband, and leave her in the dream world. There she can grow up, and live her life as she’s supposed to.”
 “But Lady... That will most likely turn her into a dream as well.”
 “Silence! I see this as the only way to protect her. It’s the only thing that can be done. To protect her, my daughter, my own blood. It is best that way. I would rather her live in a dream, then die.”
 “As you wish, High Summoner. I will prepare the potion.” He said bowing and turning to go out a door to prepare this potion. The woman in my dream then bent down and looked at me, and tried to touch my face but her hand went right through my face.
 “Mama, I don’t want to live in a dream.” I said in a small meek voice of that of a young child. “I want to stay here with my friends, and the Guado. I want to stay here with you.” Tears were streaming down my face and my childish hands were scrubbing away at them. The beautiful lady only smiled and then she looked away as the servant came back and handed me a drink. I was thirsty, and didn’t think much of the drink and gulped it down. Then I grew sleepy, and the room spun, and I fell forward towards the young woman, my mother, but she didn’t catch me. I went right through her as things went black.

 

A few days later when my wounds were Marginally healed, Yuna took me into the Farplane. She told me to think of my memories, and I thought about my dream and the peculiar man. As if by magic, small balls of light formed the image of the man and Yuna gasped.

 

“That’s Mayester Jyscles great, great grandfather!”

 

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End.
Chapter Five.
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