The silence seemed to echo forever, echoing within the chasm between us, that seemed to be getting wider every instant.

He came towards me, soft, silent, the darkness surrounding us so I couldn't make out his face. I stood still, I felt as if I was frozen to the spot by some unknown force. He embraced me, he was warm and I felt happy and carefree for a brisk moment, all my troubles seemed to fly away. But then, he let me go, and I was returned to the cruel and icy world with a bump.

"I…can't." He murmured, not even daring to look me in the eyes. "I wish I could love you Yuna, but if I did leaving you would be so much worse than it is now." The words seemed to buzz forever in my head, I had to listen to them again and again to process the information properly. Was the Tidus I had loved so much really saying these words to me? It was difficult to think properly, yet I stumbled across a sentence:

"Why? I knew I was going to die, yet I still loved you with all my heart. It may be hard to part, I know, but still we should make the most of these moments that we have to be together, as they are rapidly disappearing."

He just shook his head, and turned away. "I'm sorry, Yuna. Forgive me." He whispered, barely audible above the pouring rain, as he disappeared into the blackness. I was just left there, alone. I felt so hollow and my emotions were such a wreck they seemed impossible to salvage. Why was Tidus doing this? I just couldn't understand why he couldn't love me, I knew it would hurt to part, but we should make the most of what scarce time we had left, soak it up like they were the last moments in time.

I just squatted there a while, my hair was sticking in wet clumps to my face and my clothes were all cold and sodden. I gazed out over the landscape, wondering how just a few hours ago Tidus, Rikku, Paine and I were sitting, almost in a carefree way, and how it had now deteriorated into this chaos.

I felt a warm had on my shoulder; my head swivelled around to see who it was. It was Rikku, looking sombre and unusually gloomy as she looked down on me. She forced a smile, but I could see it was fake, a smile of pity to the girl who's love had just left her. "It's cold out here", she said, "Come on the ship, we're leaving now." I didn't answer, I didn't even tell my body to do anything, it was just in Autopilot, doing as it was told and walking silently towards the Celsius. My limbs were numb, my heart was shattered and what was left of my happiness had disappeared long ago.

I sat on my bed in the ship, not one person had said a word to me since I had re-entered. I wasn't surprised; Rikku and Paine were probably angry at me for hiding from them, for not telling them Tidus was going to disappear. I just sat there for hours, my eyes glazed over, wondering over what had happened and what was going to happen.

I didn't want to move, but I felt I should; something told me I had to explain to everyone why I hadn't told them. I rose silently, and as I entered everyone just stared at me, their icy glares freezing my heart.

"I'm sorry…I should have told you." I murmured, then, finding a scrap of courage from somewhere deep within my heart, I continued, "It was just…I thought that if I kept it a secret, kept it at the back of my head, I could convince myself that it wasn't really happening, that Tidus was still here to stay." Silence still dominated the area, so I looked up, held my head high; " I have no regrets. I never wanted to hurt you, all I wanted to do was to make Tidus's…last days…be his best ones."

I didn't see what else to say. What more did I need to tell them? I simply stood there in the doorway, watching their expressions change, emotions of anger, sympathy and pity all crossing their faces.

Finally, Rikku broke the silence. "I'm not angry, Yunie." She walked over and she put her hand on my shoulder, "I was just confused. I wanted to know why you didn't tell us." She looked me in the eyes and I knew she was telling the truth, no lies or fake smiles.

"It's not fair," I whispered, tears welling up inside my weary eyes, "Why does he have to leave? After all we did for the fayth, why can't they just let us be together?" My eyes were stinging, but I wasn't going to cry. My pain was beyond tears, my heart was shattered beyond grief.

"Life doesn't work that way, Yunie," Rikku looked at me, her face grave and unusually sombre, "You just have to deal with what you've been given." I looked out of the glass and saw the cloudy sky, and drizzle still falling from the heavens.

"Where's Tidus?" I asked, I thought he was probably somewhere on the airship thinking.

"Tidus? I thought he was with you, I was surprised when you walked in alone." Paine chipped in, finally talking after sitting silently for what seemed like forever.

Nobody spoke, nobody knew where he was at all. "Maybe he's still at the Moonflow?" Rikku said. We manoeuvred slowly through the sky, scanning. I felt sick, my stomach tied itself in knots. Where could he have gone? It was so dark and wet, and he was alone…what if he'd left me for good? The thought of never seeing him again was too familiar and it burned with renewed pain. "There he is!" Brother cried, and I ran to the glass, looking down. Sure enough, there was Tidus, sitting with his hands around his knees.

As the door of the Celsius opened to let him in, I ran down the slope, jumping out onto the soft mud with a thud. I walked slowly to him, possible scenarios buzzing through my head. What if he ran away? What if he ignored me? I couldn't bear it.

"Tidus…please. Listen to me." I looked at him as his head picked up my words and he faced me.

"I said it earlier, but I love you. More than anything. Yes, you have to leave, and I know that. But even if you reject me, you'll still disappear in a week. But if you make the most of your time, then it won't hurt so much leaving, knowing that at least you did what you wanted."

"But…won't it hurt more knowing that I can't be with you forever?" Tidus inquired, his face softening.

"No, because when I was a summoned I thought my time was limited, I thought my time with you wouldn't be long. But I knew that when I would have died, I would have been happy because I did what I wanted to do most in my life- and that was to love you."