A different kind of ending.

To Macalania

As Guadosalam grew distant, rumbling in the skies was becoming more and more frequent until at last, they reached the thunder plains.

Rikku seemed to shrink into herself, wimpering out an "oh no, we're here..." As soon as she had finished her words, a bright flash of lightning struck a nearby tower. She sunk to the ground in fear.

"How are we supposed to cross that?" Tidus asked, glancing to Yuna and Seymour, who were watching Rikku. Tidus still wanted to run Seymor through, but his duty to Yuna kept him from doing so.

Lulu pointed to the towers around the plains. "See those lightning rod towers? The lightning is attracted to them... Hopefully." She stated, sounding not to sure towards the end.

"Let's stay not too close but not too far from the rods, ya?" Wakka nodded. Everone agreed, except for Rikku, who remained silent.

As the group started heading out, Tidus returned to her, gripping her arm. "Come on, scaredy cat. Let's get through this together." Fear still reigned in her eyes, but there was a hint of a spark that flashed through as she was pulled to her feet.

"O-okay..." she said, clinging to his arm for dear life. As she held it close to her, she placed her head on his shoulder.

"If we get attacked, you'll have to let go." Tidus stated, but part of him didn't want her to let go.

The group had travelled for most of the day, which landed them halfway through the planes. They had fought plenty of battles, had to use plenty of their healing items and a couple phoenix downs to revive Rikku and lulu. Despite this though, Seymor had kept them alive for the most part.

As they finished climbing a hill, a bolt of lightning struck a nearby tower.

"That one was close, ya?" Wakka laughed.

"Quit kidding around." Lulu huffed.

"Yes, ma'am." Wakka hung his head.

As the group was about to press on, Rikku stopped, shaking.

"Eh heh heh heh"

The group turned to face her and Wakka spoke first.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" He asked immediately.

"Heh heh heh heh." Rikku was spaced out, seemingly not even there.

"Heh heh heh... You're giving me the creeps."

A flash of lightning struck the tower again and she shrunk to the ground again. They stared on as she got on all fours, startling the group. Another bolt of lightning and she started scurrying around towards Tidus. As she got close, she latched herself to his leg and stared up at him.

"I wanna go home!" She whimpered. "I hate lightning, I hate thunder! Let's go rest over there, please!" Rikku pointed to the inn not much further down the path.

Auron sighed. "This storm never stops. Best to cross quickly."

Rikku stared at him, pleading, "I know, but just for a little while?"

Everyone turned to Yuna, who looked to Seymore, then Tidus. Tidus inhaled, sighed, then nodded. "Alright, we probably should rest up anyway." He said. He barely finished before Rikku jumped in joy, throwing her arms around him.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you." She smiled as she gladly dashed off to the inn.

Once the group was inside, she waved them down. "Hey, hope you don't mind that I have used some of our gil to pay for rooms for everyone." She smiled as they approached.

"Well... Perhaps you should have left one out." Auron grumbled. "I don't really like resting as much as you guys." He looked to Tidus.

"O-oh, that's okay. I had to get sharable bedrooms, so I was going to stay with Khimari and you with Tidus. Obviously Seymour and Yuna together. That leaves Wakka and Lulu." She looked to them and Lulu kept her emotionless expression as usual.

"H-hey! Is that sir Auron!?" The innkeeper asked loudly.

Tidus glaned over and saw the sigh building already. "N-no, he is just cosplaying. He just admires auron and likes to look like him, but he isn't." Tidus spoke and the man seemed disappointed.

"My bad then." He returned to whatever he was doing.

"Thank you." Auron whispered, then walked down the hall, the rest of the group following.

Tidus hadn't noticed Rikku watching him as he checked the sphere in the corner. He was looking at something the others probably couldn't see.

After a few moments, Rikku made her way down the hall, Tidus following after a minute. He went into his room with Auron, the two talking about Jecht. However, Auron said there wasn't much to speak of- at least not anymore.

By the time Tidus had fallen asleep, Auron had left the room and Inn altogether. As he slept, he didn't hear the door creak open then shut again. The figure sat next to him on the bed, smiling. Then it reached for him.

"Tidus." Rikku shook his arm and he opened his eyes. "I just wanted to say thank you. For deciding to come here."

"Oh, yeah. I just want to make sure we are all happy." Tidus blinked sleepily.

"Well... I'm just happy to bee near you." Rikku responded.

"What do you mean?" He asked. As he asked, she laid in his bed, pressing him back and herself against him. She felt her face warm at her bold move. She hadn't even thought! What if he rejected her? What if-

Tidus put an arm over her and her mind went blank. She had taken a chance and it hadn't backfired, not like her usual gambles. She sunk further into his warmth, a wide smile on her face as they cuddled in silence.

"Well, I am happy to be around you too." Tidus responded. Had she felt this way the whole time or was this simply something to get his mind off of Yuna? While his feelings for her were the same, he was still silently struggling with the Yuna situation. He still hated Seymour with everything he had, but needed to pretend otherwise.

The two fell asleep rather quickly as they held hands. Dreams of what was to come haunted Tidus. The fights they would endure and now he had to protect more than one person were both what he dreamt of. But nothing bothered him more than the fact that they would need to fight sin. Or more correctly, his own father.