Bittersweet

Whispers of Disquiet

Stepping out of the ethereal chamber, guided by the towering blue beast, the kimono-clad girl tottered down the steps, clearly struggling to maintain her balance after spending an entire day praying. Eventually she made it down and was able to greet the crowd that had assembled.

"You had us worried!" The sour-faced belt lady suddenly beamed with a smile as she pulled the sweaty kimono into a hug, ruffling her hair. Wakka was also grinning, puffing out his chest in pride.

"You sure took your sweet time eh? The rescue party jumped before we could stop them!" At this, the summoner managed to pull herself away from the hug, glancing at Rikku and Tidus.

"Rikku! How on earth did you end up here?"

"It's all this jerk's fault! He heard you'd been locked up in here for a day and couldn't stop himself! He had to come running in and be the hero!"

The summoner had a small giggle to herself, facing Tidus, who immediately felt a wild blush fly over his face. His heart was pounding in his throat, this girl was beautiful! He'd never had trouble talking to girls before but he felt like he was seconds away from becoming a nervous puddle on the floor.

"Hello. I don't think I've properly introduced myself yet. I am the summoner Yuna, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Her greeting was polite, her demeanor adorable. Tidus could only stand there, his words forming in slow motion.

"Uhh... Hi! I'm... sorry about bursting in here... I guess we weren't supposed to go crazy like that..." He hung his head, before suddenly remembering something important.

"Oh! I need to thank you! I heard you healed me before you went into the temple!" He bowed his head awkwardly. Taken aback by his reaction, Yuna suddenly seemed embarrassed.

"Oh no no... It was nothing, really..." She trailed off, flushed from a mix of exhaustion and the unexpected situation. An awkward silence hung in the air, lasting for a painful few seconds.

"Oh my god, she's not five minutes out of the chamber and you're already giving her a hard time! Give the girl some space!" Rikku pinched Tidus by the ear and dragged him to the side.

"Ow ow ow! I've only got two ears, don't rip one off!"

Yuna watched the spectacle with a smile. It appeared she gained more than just the blessing of the fayth today.

The group made their way outside of the temple. A crowd had formed, either from the commotion Tidus and Rikku had caused earlier or somehow word had got around that the summoner had completed her ritual. Either way, he noted that it wasn't a huge crowd, not like the ones he had experienced in Zanarkand. Though judging from the size of the village, this may be almost everyone who lived in Besaid.

"I know you probably wanna go straight to your bed Yuna, but there's one last thing to do ya?" Wakka cleared a way in front of her, with the crowd seemingly expecting something to happen. Wandering back towards Tidus, Wakka let out a cheeky grin.

"Watch this, gonna be epic!"

Yuna stood on her own, a staff at the ready. The crowd had retreated a fair distance away, making Tidus think something huge was about to happen. He could feel an electric excitement in the air, almost like waiting for the start of a Blitzball game.

"Go on Yuna, show us what you've become!" Lulu called from a distance. Yuna turned around with a nervous smile.

"Ok."

What happened next was nothing short of awe-inspiring. Yuna stretched her body with the staff elongated. A circle appeared around her feet, magical energy shooting from it into the sky. The few clouds floating around parted ways, and a gigantic winged creature came soaring towards them. It's torso was adorned with red feathers, it's wings somewhere between orange and brown, making Tidus think of a dragon he'd seen in a book somewhere. In fact, the whole creature reminded him of a dragon, albeit one that seemed gentler than most.