Rikku watched the tree root she stood on ooze more dark red slime for a moment. The vines above dripped. Something slight caught her attention. A small noise on the edge of her hearing. "Do you hear that?" Yuffie asked. "Like a little voice?" Rikku tilted her head this way and that. Again it tickled past her ears. A tiny little giggle. Then a sigh. Then another little laugh. A child's laugh. "It's the little girl!" Yuffie exclaimed. Rikku squinted, "How can you tell?" She looked out into the sea of tangled mess. It stretched on forever. "I saw her!" Yuffie grabbed at Rikku's arm. Rikku turned to see Yuffie point at more tangled vines. "I don't see anything." "She waved and ran that way. I think she's calling us over." Yuffie tugged on Rikku's arm and pulled her forwards. Rikku stopped. There was something else, something heavy in her head. It weighed down until she felt it heavy in her chest. "Come on!" Yuffie pulled at Rikku's arm. They edged along the vine until it crossed another. They clambered and climbed, ducked and weaved, slipping on the surfaces and tangling up with the scrappy branches. "It's like climbing a never-ending tree down here." Yuffie said. She turned and looked into Rikku's eyes as though searching for something. "What?" Yuffie turned away, "Uhh... Hey, the tree roots get thicker down here." "How much further down do you think there is?" Rikku squinted at the gaps in the tangle. The mess appeared to be never ending. She caught a glimpse of a tiny light, it flashed on and off just once, down below in the dark. "Hey look!" Yuffie called out. Rikku stood up, Yuffie pointed up through a gap above them. Another tiny light, this time falling like a feather. It drifted past the girls and floated down. Something laughed a long way off. The little voice echoed through the vines and branches. "We better keep moving. I think it came from that direction." Yuffie crawled under another thick branch and slid down onto a thicker vine below. Rikku followed. "Hey Yuffie? Why is she laughing?" Rikku asked. She wiped her hands across a vine to rid them of the slime that was oozing from most of the others. "I don't know. I keep thinking of running around in long yellow grass. I think from when I was a kid. Every time I hear it... I remember that one time. There was a tree too... but I don't remember where it was." "I think I can see it. The same thing. There's a tree with a hollow in it. Like it was burned out." Rikku stopped, Yuffie turned to her. "Yeh! I ran toward it didn't I?" "I did... and I saw something, felt something, like a ghost, or a spirit. Then someone called me and I had to leave." "Yes." Rikku whispered, "Yuffie? It doesn't feel like my memory." "No. Not mine. What's going on?" Yuffie whispered back. She looked up at Rikku, then pointed above her, "Hey!" Rikku looked up. More tiny little sparks of light were drifting, like snow, down through the branches. One fell past Yuffie's face, she held her hand out, the little spark fell through it and drifted down. Yuffie gasped. "Did it hurt?" "No... I felt nothing." Yuffie peered up at the branches and vines above. A few more little sparks were drifting down from far above. Something pink caught her eye. It was a foot, perched on one of the branches above. "Hey! The girl!" A little head poked under a branch, the little girl grinned at the two girls below. Her skin was lighter, shimmering with light, though her whole body was translucent, ghostly. "Hey Kid! Where are we supposed to b..." Yuffie paused. The air thickened. The little girl floated down, as graceful as the sparks of light around her. She landed on a branch in front of Yuffie and smiled. Sparks of light shone in her eyes. The shimmering light of her skin rippled. She blinked in slow motion and pointed up past Rikku's head. The two girls turned and saw the Ghost behind them. She was paler than before and seemed less transparent than before, as real as either of them. She lifted her sword into the air. Yuffie pushed Rikku aside and made a grab for the sword. Her hands clasped around the Ghost's, they slipped off as the Ghost backed up with a sudden gasp. "She's real! She's real here Rikku!" Rikku froze. She tried to move. Her body was numb. "Rikku?" Yuffie turned for a second, the Ghost held the sword up and just as Yuffie turned, the Ghost lashed out at Rikku. Yuffie leapt forwards and grabbed at the sword again, stopping it in her hands. She cried out in pain, the blade sliced through her skin as the Ghost lunged forward. Rikku stared, helpless. Unable to move. Her mind was black. No light, no thought. Just the image of Yuffie holding tight the blade that was now inches from her throat. Blood oozed out from between Yuffie's fingers and trailed down her arm. The Ghost's eyes opened a little wider and she pulled the sword back in a swift tug. Yuffie cried out again as it ripped it's way out of her hands. She held her hands shut in a fist, blood dripped down her arm, tears down her cheeks. Yuffie stood in front of Rikku. "Rikku? What's wrong? Why aren't you moving?" Yuffie sobbed. Rikku felt her muscles jolt a little as she tried to talk. Something cold wrapped itself around her chest. The Ghost clutched at her own chest and coughed again. She glared up at Yuffie as she sank to her knees. The sword toppled out of her hands. "What ... that's it?" Yuffie mumbled. The stinging pain in her hands throbbed up her arm. The Ghost gasped for air for a moment. She sank further onto the oozing branch, looked up again at Yuffie. Rikku watched the Ghost's eyes stare up at her. They were horrified, fearful, begging. "I guess... this is it... I guess this is really it... really really it..." the Ghost mumbled, tears dripped down onto the branch. She choked and gasped for air, fighting against the sickness. "This is all your fault! You can't just suddenly change your mind now!" Yuffie yelled. Rikku watched the blood rain from Yuffie's closed fist down onto the branch below. She jolted again. Her mind was frozen as much as her body. The little girl ran to the Ghost. She stood over it and leaned down to touch its head, running her hand down over its pale face. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I wanted..." The Ghost coughed again and curled up. The little girl curled up in front of her, touched her nose against the Ghost's nose. "I don't want to grow up to be sad." The little girl whispered. "You don't have a choice lil spark. That's why I wanted to ... stop it from ever happening. So you wouldn't have to grow up sad. Not grow up at all." The Ghost whispered, reached out and ran her hand through the glowing curls of her little self. "How come? How come I can't grow up?" "Lil spark. Some things just aren't supposed to be." "How come?" "I can't say. I just can't. I'm sorry. We shouldn't have been born at all. We were born broken." "How?" "Nothing you would understand lil one. I tried to find the answer... but there wasn't one. I tried to find a reason, no reason. I tried to find a cure... no cure. Lil spark, you were never meant to be." The little girl reached out and laid her hand on the Ghost's cheek. Yuffie stood by Rikku, watching the scene unfold. Rikku, frozen, icy cold pain around her chest, watched, a growing feeling of sadness had started to gnaw at her. It relaxed her mind a little and allowed her mind to sink from the fight. It found a tiny warm place in the cold, 'She did that for me.' The thought lit up in her mind. 'No! Any friend would! You have no right to think that way!' The second thought threw Rikku back into the sudden shocking pain of the cold weight across her body. She stumbled forward as the grip on her muscles broke. "Yuffie!" Rikku startled Yuffie as she grabbed for her hands, "You're hurt!" Yuffie pulled her hands free, "Its nothin, stop fussin." "It's not nothing!" Rikku felt hot tears trace a line down her cheeks. 'I love her even if she doesn't love me, I can't help it.' The small warmth of the thought was shattered as her thoughts snapped back 'You're broken! You shouldn't exist!' "But!" Rikku tried to argue with the feeling as it welled up. "But what?" Yuffie asked. Rikku paused, she felt it light up from the dark, from the little piece of warmth that had never died, "...what about the others... they exist... they were happy... so..." Rikku whispered, the memory flared up in her mind, hot and intense. She took a breath. "I could...be..." "...others?" the little girl looked back at Rikku. The Ghost's eyes drifted up to Rikku's face for a brief moment before they closed. "Nothing. It's nothing! I was just talking to myself. Um... what do we do now?" Rikku pointed at the Ghost's limp form. The little girl shook the Ghost's shoulders a little, "Don't go now! Don't give up!" Sparks fell from the little girl's body. She turned to Rikku and Yuffie. Her eyes full of fear. She held her hand up, a snowstorm of tiny sparks drifted down. They seemed to drain the light from her body, which faded as the lights drifted out. "That's where they were coming from." Rikku mumbled. "Woah! Is that supposed to be happening?" Yuffie yelled out. Rikku considered the girl for a moment; she was absorbed in watching the lights fall from her hands. "I don't know. I mean, who were they anyway?" "Not her, THAT!" Yuffie yelled, pointing up. Rikku looked up, the vines and branches above were falling apart in great lumps, drifting down onto each other. A silent collapse, gentle and slow. "What do we do?!" Rikku yelled at the fading little girl. The little girl was staring down through the vines below, as the last of her light fell from the now barely visible outline of her body. "Well we can't go up, I suppose we should go down." Yuffie guessed. She looked back to the Ghost. The little girl was gone. "Is she dead?" Yuffie asked, nodding at the Ghost. "I reckon. Look at her." Rikku walked to the body and pressed her hand on a wrist. She squealed, "Oh! She's alive! Now what?! ... Yuffie? I don't know what to do!" Rikku cried. She looked up again; the tangle above was falling apart in larger and larger chunks. The pieces falling closer and closer to where they stood. "We have to go down, no choice now." "We can't leave her here can we?" "Well we can't carry her! This was all her fault!" Yuffie yelled, she still had her hands clenched shut. Not game to take a peek at the wounds. "I will, I can't leave her here. I'll carry her and... your hands. Here..." Rikku glanced upwards as she pulled her t-shirt over her head and tore it into two large chunks. Yuffie backed up. She winced at the thought of seeing what her hands looked like. "Come on Yuffie we don't have long!" Rikku grabbed at one hand and pulled Yuffie's fingers apart just long enough to shove the wad of cloth between them, tying it in a large unruly knot over the back of Yuffie's hand. "Can you still feel you fingers?" Rikku asked as she bound up Yuffie's other hand. She squeezed one of Yuffie's fingers and dug her own nail into it. Yuffie's eyes watered, she shook her head, "Can't feel it." "You'll be okay! Someone will fix it. Come on, let's climb down." Rikku tried to smile, but it just caused more tears. Rikku bent and heaved the limp Ghost over one shoulder by an arm and struggled to her feet. The vine she stood on sagged. ********************** With the weight of the Ghost woman across her shoulders and the vines sagging under her feet, Rikku struggled to negotiate her way through the thickets. Yuffie walked ahead, her hands clenched around the bandages that now dripped, soaked with blood. As they clambered downwards they noticed that the vines were thicker and less tangled. The ones above sagged and collapsed down on each other, sometimes falling in slow motion across their path. "Hey Rikku, there's something down there... I think we're near the... what is that?" Yuffie spoke just above a whisper. Rikku caught her up to see why. The vines and tangled mess entwined and joined into thicker and thicker branches that all spiralled down to the one place. From where she stood, she couldn't see what lay in the center of the mass. The vines that branched off it radiated out in all directions. "Its like a plant, all these branches come from the one place." Rikku mumbled. Yuffie continued to climb down, as the going was less tangled it became somewhat easier. "Don't even know what we're supposed to do once we get down here." Yuffie said. "I know, I'm trying to figure it out myself. Maybe whatever it is... it will tell us?" "Last time I did something like this it turned out okay... kinda...oh yeh, if it asks for black materia lets kick it's arse!" Yuffie forced out a little laugh. The joke went over Rikku's head. *********************** Closer to the middle the branches were less sick. They glowed with feint light. Rikku and Yuffie could just make out a gentle rhythmic tremor, something like a pulse under their feet. Rikku had long since lost her sense of time. She wasn't sure if it had been five minutes or a day they had walked. She found herself taking deeper and deeper breaths just to get air until she was almost gasping for it. "Yuffie? I can hardly breathe down here! It's horrible!" "Me too. We're nearly there though." "Hey Rikku, do you think she's dead?" Yuffie pointed to the Ghost with her fist. Rikku stopped walking and took another deep breath. She lowered the Ghost off her shoulders and lost the grip. The Ghost landed with a thud on the huge branch they stood on. It was as wide as a road. Rikku noticed that she had only just realised how large everything was down here. There were hundreds of them, twisting down and joining onto each other. She held the Ghost's wrists for a moment. "It's not so good, but she's alive. She's not breathing much. And there's not much air here..." Rikku wondered if she should try to rouse the Ghost, she wriggled the Ghost's shoulders. "Are you going to wake it up?" Yuffie stepped forward, ready to fight. "She'll die if she doesn't start breathing properly. Hey Lady!" Rikku shook the Ghost's shoulders. "Lady! Ha!" Yuffie gave the Ghost a kick. "Come on! WAKE UP!!" Rikku yelled. The Ghost remained unconscious. Rikku sighed. "Come on, we better keep going." Yuffie said. She looked back up at where they had climbed from; the dying vines were still falling down. Through them she could make out yet more vines. Through those still more. Their destination was a distant clump where all the vines joined. It was a shrouded foggy place. *********************** As they walked on Rikku realised more and more how huge a place it was. The vine they travelled on was as wide as a river. There were countless others all winding their way to the one place, some joining each other, some not. As they had reached the edge of where the fog was, they had found it a little easier to breathe. It was warmer too. The place, however, was alien. Rikku was thankful to have something else to concentrate on, other than her worries. Yuffie stopped and turned back to Rikku, "Woah, Rikku... what does it look like to you?" Rikku peered through the foggy glow to where the vines joined. She could just make out the outline of something, where the vines curved sideways, upwards and down again... then became invisible, or stopped altogether. There was something glowing in the middle of it all, just a great lump as far as Rikku could see. Yuffie blinked at the landscape before her; so vast the horizon didn't even seem to exist. Vines or branches, she couldn't tell which - like rivers and mountains, the sky filled with the network of vines above them. The one they were on, just like the others, faded into nothing as it got closer to the glowing light at the centre. "I don't know how we'll cross that gap Rikku, from here... it must be ... so huge." Yuffie turned back to Rikku. Rikku nodded. She lowered the Ghost to the ground and caught her breath. Her back and shoulders ached. She felt the Ghost's pulse again. "She's barely alive at all." "We'll cross it when we get there, somehow. Lets go. Rikku? I can carry her, you just heave her onto my shoulders or something." Rikku shook her head, "It's okay. I can manage." She looked up at Yuffie's face, the pain she suffered from her wounds was visible in her eyes. "Yuffie? ... I'm so sorry you had to be hurt, because of me..." Rikku felt the tears trace hot lines down her face. "Hey, it's okay. I'll be fine! Don't worry about it! I've suffered worse!" Yuffie forced a smile through the pain. "I know you're in pain!" Rikku heaved the Ghost onto her shoulders again, ignoring the ache in her own back. "Stings like a bitch!" Yuffie grinned and shrugged, "I'm not gunna let that stop me!" "Yuffie... I'm glad you're here." Rikku felt her knees sag when she saw a genuine smile emerge from Yuffie's pained expression. She felt the warmth inside her glowing ever more brightly, a light she could feel flowing through her body, easing the ache. "Rikku when all this is over..." Yuffie stopped; she tried to think of what people did on dates. She tried to remember anything romantic. 'Never done anything romantic.' "What?" "It's okay. Umm... Hey Rikku?" Yuffie stopped herself from asking that question again. 'If she doesn't love me then she doesn't love me.' "What?" "Umm... Rikku?" Yuffie felt it emerge with an energy of it's own, "When I said I loved you before..." Rikku felt herself freeze, she braced herself for disappointment. "I meant it. I really meant it." Yuffie stopped walking and stared at her feet. "I really do love you." Rikku felt the cold emerge. The light inside flickered. She heard Yuffie take a deep breath. "Rikku? You probably don't love me though... right? It's okay ... maybe we can go on a date or something... Rikku?" Rikku lowered the Ghost to the ground and sank as the weight of the battle inside her head pulled her down to her knees. She found herself yelling out her thoughts inside her own mind to just be heard. "A date? That would be nice! I mean, we hardly know each other right?" Rikku yelled above the noise. "I feel kinda like I do know you." Yuffie knelt next to Rikku and put her arm on Rikku's shoulder, "Are you okay?" "Yuffie... I don't know what's what anymore! I'm going crazy! You don't want to love someone like me! You..." Rikku looked up at Yuffie's eyes. The noise in her head paused for a moment. 'I feel like I know her too.' "I will! I do! I'll look after you till you're better then! Okay?" Yuffie put her other arm on Rikku's shoulder and stared into her eyes. Rikku felt the damp of the bandages leak through her singlet. "I need to look after you first." Rikku took Yuffie's hands in hers and tightened the knots a little. She watched her tears drip down on the cloth and make little clear circles. Just seeing the blood made her feel sick with worry. She wanted to pick Yuffie up and carry her instead of the Ghost, to wipe the dirt from her eyes and carry her, the way Yuffie had when they'd escaped from the cave. She wanted, with a passion so intense it physically ached in her chest, to hold Yuffie tight in her arms and never let go. "Hey Rikku..." Yuffie whispered, "When all this is over, we'll be together right?" Rikku felt the wall there, the cold that sapped the good from her soul, she felt it argue and she felt the way it jumped in with excuses and doubts. 'Where is this coming from? Is it really me? I wish I could just... be happy like this.' Rikku sighed, "Sure... sure we will." "Why don't you believe me?" Yuffie could see Rikku's doubt. She could almost feel it in her own heart. Cold. "I want to. I don't know. Too good to be true." Yuffie's smile emerged brighter, "Really? Hey! You're not so bad yourself y'know!" "But... something keeps telling me ... I shouldn't exist. I'm broken. I mean... it's not right isn't it. Not ... natural." Rikku mumbled. "You're as bad as that Ghost! You're ... hey... not natural?" Yuffie said, glaring at the Ghost. "Well it's not supposed to be two gi" "Hey It's Awake!" Yuffie interrupted. The Ghost had its eyes open, staring past the girls at nothing as it lay still on the ground. Yuffie spoke, "Hey Rikku... if you shouldn't exist then I shouldn't either. And what about those other girls?" Rikku stared at the Ghost's blank expression. Something had lodged in her own mind. "She was saying that too." Rikku opened her mouth to ask the Ghost a question just as the Ghost closed her eyes again. "I think she's dying Rikku." Yuffie said quietly. "But why all this? Why is ...all this happening?" Rikku grabbed the Ghost's hand and held it tight. She realised the hand she held had gone cold. "I nearly ... I should have realised earlier! Maybe... if ... I mean... Don't die! I think I know what's wrong!" Rikku cried, she shook the Ghost's shoulders. They were as cold as her hands. "This isn't right, she was okay just... I mean... Okay! Cpr!" Rikku tilted the Ghost's head and prepared for mouth to mouth. She took a breath. The Ghost's body faded. Rikku could see her own hand behind its head. She cried out the breath she'd taken. "No! I could have saved her!" The weight in her arms dissipated until she was holding nothing more than a faded outline of the person she had carried so far. "She was destined to die." A voice from behind made Rikku jump. Yuffie stared up at the woman who had appeared. Her mouth open. "Why? Who..." Rikku looked up at the woman, it was the Ghost. Rikku felt her strength leave in one shocked gasp. This Ghost was healthier than the last, though her pale skin and pained expression showed she was sick too. Instead of the black robes her other self had worn she had ragged purple and silver dress, though it was old and faded. She smiled at Rikku, bent down and gathered the faded but still faintly visible shadow of herself into her arms. "Hey... what happens now?" The new Ghost stood up and walked away from the girls without a word. As she walked into the fog and disappeared from sight, something else caught their attention. The mass at the centre of everything was moving. It was so far away and yet still enormous. One giant eye, as big as a mountain, slowly opened. "Oh!" Rikku yelled. "SHIT!" Yuffie yelled louder. The eye, glowing with a pulsating white light, scanned the landscape and then fixed on the two girls. They stood, frozen, as it considered them for a moment. The fog started to clear and Rikku could just begin to make out the creature's head. "Is that... wh.. what is that?" Rikku reached for Yuffie's hand. Yuffie was staring up. Rikku looked up and saw that the vines were still dying off, now ever faster, cascading downwards onto each other. Through the gaps left behind Rikku could see the vastness of where they were. She was shocked by it. So much bigger than the tiny part they had trekked through. The little area that they had fallen from was just one of thousands that glittered like galaxies across the boundless sky. Rikku looked back at Yuffie, her horrified expression was worse than the dying landscape around them. The entire structure that emanated from the creature in the middle started to dissolve in a way unlike before. Rather than just falling and collapsing, it was sinking back toward the middle, rushing past Rikku and Yuffie in a silent dust storm. The land on which they stood pulsated with faint light that surged from the outer regions back toward the middle. It moved as the creature moved, it struggled to lift it's head and then sank back down. "What do we do now?" Rikku yelled. The landscape behind them was rapidly falling apart. "Run!" Yuffie grabbed Rikku's hand and winced from the pain, she ran, pulling Rikku behind her, toward the creature. Rikku tried to keep up, stumbling over her own feet as they dodged the mess that flew past them. Yuffie stopped and Rikku crashed into her back. Neither spoke. They could make out the creature from the dimming fog. Immeasurably huge. "What is that?" Yuffie glared at it. The thing, like a giant half woman, half dragon, was changing shape in front of their eyes. The dragon was winning the battle for form. The vines that held up the worlds grew from the wings on it's back. The creature struggled to its feet and sagged again. "It looks sick or something." "It can't die! It just can't!" Rikku could taste acid in her throat as the worry sent her stomach into knots. The giant's eye fixed on the girls one last time before the light that glowed from within vanished. It groaned as it closed the eye. A groan so loud it threw Rikku and Yuffie to their knees. Rikku cried out, her own voice lost in the overwhelming noise. Yuffie opened her eyes and saw the dragon's head sink; its whole body was curled up. The light it had glowed with before was gone. Then the ground shook. "Rikku!" Yuffie grabbed Rikku's hand as the ground they stood on gave out, falling into fragments that rushed away from beneath their feet. The dragon was sinking down below them; all the links were falling down onto its lifeless body. Yuffie felt herself float, clinging to Rikku's arm without a thought to the pain. "Why is everything falling apart?" Rikku cried, "Did we fail?" Yuffie couldn't tell if they were falling or not, as the last of the land rushed past them, or if they were floating. She could see far below, the shape of the dragon shrink as it curled up further. The light faded to black. She held Rikku's hand tight and pulled Rikku close. Rikku wrapped her arms around her. "Don't let me go!" Yuffie cried out. "I wont!" Black so dark there was nothing but the flickering afterimages in their minds. With no rush of air they felt as though suspended in nothing, a nothing that sapped the warmth from their bodies. "It's all gone! Everything!" Rikku cried. Yuffie felt a hot tear land on her neck. "We're still here Rikku, so don't give up!" Yuffie searched the black for a sign, anything that might lead to an exit. She could barely tell what was just her own mind's images. Rikku spoke, "Is that a light there? Below us?" Yuffie could only judge what was below by looking at her feet. She felt as though it could also be up. A small spark flickered on and off for a moment. "I think I see it too." 'There is hope...' Rikku sighed with relief. The light intensified. "Hey it's getting bigger!" Yuffie called out. The light vanished again. Rikku felt what was left of the air rush downwards and then stop. The pressure soared for a second and her ears throbbed just as the light flashed out in a searing white blast that caused both girls to bury their heads on each other's shoulders. Hot wind whipped at them from below. Rikku blinked back the afterimages and tried to focus on the source of the light. She groaned and buried her head back in Yuffie's shoulder. "Don't look." Rikku felt Yuffie's body jolt. She could tell Yuffie had seen what was below them. The image had burned itself on her mind, the glowing, burning mass that was expanding below them. Already she could feel the warmth against her feet. "Rikku?" Yuffie called out. She looked again at the fire below, growing out like an explosion in slow motion, a white hot fiery mass that engulfed the fallen pieces of land that still sank toward it. She looked back up at the black infinite sky. Her stomach knotted into an acidic ball. "Rikku... what happened? This can't be the end!" Yuffie coughed, what little air remained was heating up and the burning hot winds were painful to breathe. Rikku opened her eyes and placed her forehead on Yuffie's. Yuffie was already crying, "I don't want to die! I want to just be happy with you! I just want you! I don't want to die Rikku! Why is this happening?" "I don't know! I guess we failed..." Rikku tried only to stare into Yuffie's frightened eyes but even so could see the fire emerging from below, the heat stinging her skin. Yuffie was shaking, tears falling from her eyes down onto their intermingled bodies, curled up hugging each other as close as they could get. Rikku pulled Yuffie closer still. Yuffie glanced down and then gazed into Rikku's eyes, "Just tell me you love me! I just want to hear you say it, even if you don't. I just want to hear you say it. I don't want to die without hearing you say you love me!" Rikku felt a rush of lightness emerge from within herself, "Yuffie I do love you," Rikku cried, the feelings overwhelming and now obvious to her, "I'm just scared. That's all. I was just scared. I was stupid. I'm sorry... I was just scared... scared of... who I was... Scared of loosing you." "I love you too. We'll be together after... wont we? Somehow..." Yuffie curled up more; the fire below was intensifying and almost painful. "We'll be together forever now." Rikku sighed. Her mind was suddenly cool; it felt like a breeze was blowing through her body. Something was missing. The doubt gone. 'How could I have been so ...' "Yuffie? I believe you! I really do! We could have been really happy, you know?! I really believe it! I do!" Rikku cried, she rested her head on Yuffie's shoulder and let the sorrow out in long wailing sobs. Everything she would miss, it hurt worse than the heat of the fire. She rested her head on Yuffie's shoulder and held Yuffie tight. "Rikku?... Rikku?... RIKKU!" Yuffie called out, "LOOK!" Rikku opened her eyes and saw the fire had gone. Now it was just light. The heat that had stung at her skin was just warmth. Her shaking body clung to Yuffie regardless. She stared out at the glowing mass as it pulsated and rippled. Yuffie stared down past her feet at the light below, it shone a thousand colours at once and grew inwards and out, breathing with it's own life. Then she saw it emerge from the light, taking her breath away, the giant's eye, glowing white, opening. A thousand colours streamed past Rikku and Yuffie as the giant dragon stretched its wings. The light streamed out from them in giant ribbons of colour, rainbows of light that grew out like the branches of a tree, rebuilding the broken links. The sky sparkled with the colours everywhere around them. The pulsating light was so overwhelming it became a physical sensation, sending their own heartbeats into a frenzied thumping. The phoenix-like dragon, ablaze with colour, soured up toward the girls, dragging new life behind it. Immense as a country, glowing with a light that penetrated deep into Rikku's body and filled her with an intense joy. As the giant's head passed them, it winked. The body, immeasurably huge, floated past. The vines and branches were pulsating into life all around her, as far as she could see there was rippling light. It was hard to tell where the phoenix stopped and the branches started. Just as the branches reached her own feet, Rikku felt a sudden heavy weight and her mind sank from the joy. Yuffie cried out, her voice seemed distant and indistinct. Rikku took a breath, fighting for air. Something across her face, she fought to pull it away, lungs aching from the lack of oxygen. Suddenly she was slipping into unconsciousness. Land under her, soft and warm, she fought against the dark that seemed to pull her away from Yuffie's desperately clawing grasp. 'I cant lose her now! Why now? NO!' She heard Yuffie cry out and then her voice was gone. Something was folding in around her, choking her. She tried to pull it away, her arms weak, numb. Fighting to open her eyes, she found herself squinting from the light. Fighting for air, Rikku felt her muscles weaken; she fought harder and concentrated on what fleeting grasps of consciousness remained. White noise and a mass of colour surged into her mind. A sudden gasp of fresh air, like breathing life itself, before it all just vanished. ************************ Rikku felt the sun on her cheek before noticing anything else. There was sun shining down on her face. She took a breath. It felt real. The sand she became aware of under her arm was intense, down to the tiny sensations of the grains. She could feel the tiniest breeze ruffle her hair and her mind, clear and awake, while the memory of everything before... felt so distant now. The memory of a dream. "No....... no no no please no..." Rikku sat up and blinked until the fuzzy view before her made some sense. Sharp and clear. 'Can't be just a dream... please...' The sand she had been lying on was a familiar colour. She blinked at the landscape through the tears and knew where she was even without reading the Al Bhed sign in front of her. Rikku closed her eyes and curled up on the sand. She felt the pain start in her stomach, ready to rip her apart from the inside. She wondered, just as she let out a long sobbing cry, how long it would take to kill her. A scream from the distance caused Rikku's next wail to catch in her throat. It dissipated into a thousand sparks of light. She felt herself float for a moment. The next scream, however, caught in her stomach and hurt. Rikku jumped up to her feet and ran toward the sound and called out, "YUFFIE! IT'S OKAY!" *************************** Yuffie staggered forward just a few steps. The blurred outline of her home town wobbled as she fell. She took a handful of the red dust beneath her and threw it, wanting it to destroy the world that had taken her from Rikku. Another painful cry boiled up inside her, forcing itself and all of her air from her body. No words, just pain. **************************** Rikku ran toward the edge of the desert and saw an unfamiliar sight, where there would normally be the edge of an ocean, was scrubland. She dismissed her curiosity and ran on, ignoring the branches that clawed red marks across her legs. The ground here was red. She leapt over branches and ran faster, the joy and fear carried soured inside until she felt as though she was flying. Yuffie was curled up in a small clearing at the edge of a red desert. Red cliffs in the distance hugged a small town. Rikku ignored it and landed almost on Yuffie, grabbing her with a violent hug and cried out. "YUFFIE!" The rest came out as just desperate sobbing. Yuffie was shaking and wailed in long exhausting cries. She coughed and choked on her breaths, then noticed who it was holding her tight. Rikku felt Yuffie's body go limp. ***************************** Hours had drifted past, Yuffie was still shaking. Rikku held her tight and rocked back and forward. She noticed that Yuffie's hands had healed. She didn't care how. This was everything. "Are we dead Rikku?" Yuffie whispered. "I don't care. We're together now." Rikku smiled down at Yuffie. "Rikku?" "Yes?" "I don't feel dead." Yuffie smiled. "Me either." Rikku smiled, it felt like the sun was shining from her heart, the joy from not having to force a smile. "Rikku?" Yuffie took a breath and struggled to sit up a little. "Hmm?" "I love you." Rikku felt like light itself, as though she could just float. There was nothing but the truth shining in her mind. She held Yuffie tight, "I know. I love you too!"
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