Disclaimer: Look at this! It's called…FANFICTION!!

Warning: This is a time-warping chapter so if you no likey…this is NOT FOR YOU! Now, on with the show.

A\N: Sorry it took so long. House renovations make getting to the comp alittle difficult. Well, here's to my fans…or one…HERE YOU GO!

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The Fayth stopped singing and Tidus felt the ground underneath him start to shake with a violent fury. Seymour grabbed the blond's shirt just as steam blasted out from under them. Yuna and Rikku were knocked onto their rears as others were stumbling and struggling to stay standing.

"SEYMOUR!" Tidus shouted for his mate and he could barely hear himself as the cracking ice and steel under them all broke with loud cracks and screams. As Sin started to rise, the world started to get dark and all the group knew was that they were about to die.

And the world went black..

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Tranar felt water dripping on his face and heard someone calling his name. If Jackal was the culprit…

The brunette summoner opened his eyes and cursed as some water got into his eyes. Rikku smiled and hugged him as he sat up to rub the liquid out. Tranar, smiling like an idiot, hugged her back, happy that she was okay. Both were like that for about a minute before a flash ended that mood real quick.

"This is a pretty picture. Can't wait to show Chaon and Anima," said Tidus as he walked up to them.Seymour nodded at his seat at the water's edge. Tranar decided they needed to hear the foul version of "stupid idiots."

"I know, we love you, too. But you need to drink something or this heat will drain you dry like a vamp. No offense," said Seymour as he filled his second canteen. The blond Blitzer shook his head and tossed the Guado two more before sitting next to his friend.

"The Guardians are looking for any traces of the others and so far, Artica found three shiny pebbles and a fire gem.. Nothing or no one has been heard from." The brunette sighed and the four stayed at the oasis until Jackal ran up, panting severely.

"We need to go. Yvenon's men are heading this way and they aren't happy." Seymour cursed and finished filling the two canteens as the other three got the stuff up and into bags in record time.

"Chaon and the others are making fiends to distract and slow our pursuers. But it will work only so long. Hurry, this way." The group ran off behind the jackal, hoping that maybe he knew where he was going.

They traveled along winding valleys of sand and the sun blared its heated gaze over scorching sand and wind. They tried to conserve the water the best they could, but the heat dried the canteens out as they took small sips from them.

"This is not going to last us long," said Seymour as he shook the last drop from the second canteen in two hours. The others nodded, but kept trudging on in hopes of meeting someone. Their Guardians were still not back yet and Jackal was taking a long time to figure out which way to go.

"You know, Balthier, this is the last time I let you talk me into going into a cursed temple for the 'Mirage Treasure.' It doesn't even SOUND real." The voice sounded like it came from a 16-18 year old streetwise boy. The person that came into view, though, looked like the voice and more.

The person that joined him muttered about the sand getting into his new…shoes?… and stopped when both groups looked at each other. The six were quiet until two Guardians walked up with Anima, Artica, and Chaon.

"Um…okay…I'm Tidus. This is Tranar, Rikku, and Seymour. Chaon is my Guardian, Tranar's is Jackal here, Rikku's is Artica the fox, and Anima needs my mate. You are?" The blond teen nodded and shook hands during the introductions and was the first to speak on his side.

"I'm Vaan and he's Balthier. I'm the Keeper to Typhoon and he's got Ultima Weapon." Balthier sighed as he tried getting more sand out of his "shoes," only to put in more. Rikku watched Balthier strain to clean his rich and expensive clothes as the hot wind blew more sand and dust onto them. Before long, Rikku was laughing at the man and the others were looking at her strangely.

She apologized after she caught her breath, and the six decided to join up to find a place with cool water. The Guardians were trying to provide shade for their Keepers, but the wind made the effort a bit futile.

"Hey… Hey! I know where we are! This is Bikanel Island, home to the Al Bhed! Follow me!" And Rikku was off, running in the heat and, much to Rikku's chagrin, into Kimarhi, Lulu, Wakka, Auron, and…no Yuna? Whoa, wait.

"Where's Yuna?" asked Tranar as the group looked at them.

"Lulu said that Diablos saw Yvenon's men take her into their massive airship. But that would be a violation of the teachings for Maesters to use the cursed things," said Wakka, looking pale under the tan and ready to vomit. His life was literally in shambles since the incident at Macalania.

"Who are you two?" asked Auron as he scrutinized Balthier and Vaan. Introductions were made and a revelation was exposed.. Vaan and Balthier were from either a different time or planet.

Tidus opted for planet.

"Well, since this is only going to be worse from here on out, let's go and find Home. Cid and Nhadala might know where we can get to Bevelle," said Rikku as she started tugging Tranar behind her. The others really had no choice, so they followed the girl through the hot sand dunes and blistering winds.

It took them half a day to find the giant monolith of metal called Home.

"You Al Bhed call your home city Home? Is that supposed to be symbolic or did someone give it a long semi-unpronounceable name?" asked Vaan as they walked up a high sand dune. Rikku shrugged and ran into Tidus and Auron.

"Hey! What's the big…. NO!" Rikku crested the hill to behold a horrible sight.

Home was under attack.

"We have to help!" The Al Bhed girl didn't give them the chance to say anything, darting forward with the speed of a Chocobo. The others nodded and all flew into action. The Guardians were put into action, healing and protecting the Al Bhed when a fiend would get too bold or get over-souled.

The amount of fiends attacking didn't lessen with each attack dealt. Seymour had long since put his crossbow away, having ran out of bolts to fire, instead using one of Tidus' spare swords to keep up with the attacking fiends. He healed those within healing range with a Curaja, but soon, he ran out of mana to work the spell, relying on potions and Mega-potions to help.

Tidus faired fine since he was used to fighting for long periods of time. Auron made it a mandatory thing. And this was the PERFECT time to vent some unneeded stress.

However, the others didn't fair as well. Auron was in front, taking the brunt of most attacks as Lulu kept casting spell after spell, vulnerable to attack if the older man wasn't there to be her shield.

Wakka muttered about how insane the Maesters became as he threw his ball at flying fiends. His aim was good, but his arm was starting to tire from all the throwing.

Kimarhi's spear looked like it was about to break any minute, but he would protect the young group of kids that were cornered.

Vaan and Balthier took turns slashing, hacking, healing, and generally being good sports about it.

Tranar and Rikku helped people get inside the Inner Sanctum, Tranar with the Aeon Ixion, and Rikku with her friendly fox.

The Guardians were the buffer for the cannon fire and magical attacks from the Yevon Warrior Monks. They didn't like it, but they bore the pain. Until Chaon snapped. And Tidus would FOREVER enjoy the spectacle. She used her power to grow into her MASSIVE zombie dragon form and roared, the sound alone making most scream in pain as their eardrums ruptured. And with the Blood Guardian taking the initiative, the others took up the bellow as they shown the Yevonites their true form.

With the fiends temporarily stunned, the others took it as "Retreat Time." And retreat they did, Kimahri's kids included.

"Wow, I didn't know Chaon could get that big," said Vaan as he ran by Tidus, making the blond Blitzer smile in pride at his Guardian.

They all went into the monster of a building, toward an Al Bhed man with a bald head and some tattoo on one side of it. He ordered people in his language and these people did as they were asked. So, Tidus put two and two together and assumed he was the head honcho.

"Well? Hurry up and git on the damn airship! This place is gonna go sky high!" There was no need to tell them twice. They all followed the leader into the giant airship and into the cockpit.

"Can this thing find Yuna?" demanded Auron as the man continued barking orders. The guy looked at Auron in defiance and was about to say something rude when Rikku ran up and started talking to him in their weird tongue. Tidus, however, was smart and looked the language up, understanding most of what was being said. And he was thankful for her explaining the situation to him.

"Hey, we need to get out of here first before we can even think about getting Yuna." Tranar had conveniently put the tense mood away and the guy snorted in agreement. He barked more orders before the Guardians reappeared, invisible, by their respective Keepers.

The ship seemed familiar to Tidus until it hit him like a rock. This was the Falaran Model that was supposed to have great speed and some attack capabilities. It was made to combat the Bevellian invasion and their mega-machines. And Tidus also realized that he misjudged the model itself almost COMPLETELY.

"This… this is the Falaran Model! Tran! This is the last ship made in the Gathwright Airship Factory! This isn't the Celsius at all!" Tranar looked around and both were hit with a deep need to visit their old home.

Rikku walked up to Tranar as the male summoner looked at everything in sad detail.

"Can we get home? Can we even go back, after all this?" Tranar looked at Tidus with a deep sadness in his eyes. Tidus could only shrug in uncertainty. They may never see their home in one piece. They may never want to leave what they had here. And maybe, it was for the best…

"Come on. Cheer up, we still have to get Yunie before we can help these two goofballs!" Rikku, the ray of sunshine of this group, brightened Tranar's eyes greatly with her smile. Vaan smiled big as Balthier looked indignant at the comment.

"I am not going to grace that with a remark. Say, how fast can this thing go? We need to leave before the avians attack us." The man nodded and the ship lurched up and out of the docking area. The people in the cockpit were jostled some, but they were relatively okay and standing.

As the ship started forward, the beasts flocked around the vessel to block its escape.

More weird orders and the ship actually went quite a distance before it stopped… and Tidus didn't expect the missiles to shoot out in a volley and blow up Home. Nor did he expect the place to go up in a mushroom cloud.

"Um… we need to go… really fast… very much. NOW!" screamed Rikku and the ship punched it. Most that weren't seated were pushed to the back of the cockpit and the explosive power of the place chased them mercilessly. It even caught them for a few heart-stopping moments, but they were soon gone and up into the sky.

"I'm Cid. I can tell that one of you is a summoner. I don't want to hear that Yevonite propaganda about Sin being gone ONE of these days. He hasn't left yet after so many died to defeat him." And trust Wakka to open his mouth. Especially about his precious Yevon bullcrap.

"He will be if we stick to the teachings and forsake all machina!"

And everyone sighed.

"If that was the case, then why does Sin attack places that don't use machina? Like Kilika and Besaid? They don't use it and yet he attacks them. Surely the teachings would tell you the reason for THAT." Wakka went quiet and the others settled themselves to talk to the bald guy.

"As you may not know, I'm Cid of the Al Bhed. I ran the operations of Home until we just had to blow it up. Now we are all going on a rescue mission to git Yuna back. As for you--" He pointed to Tranar, who had a blank face on. "--I don't know what you are going to do, but I don't wanna see you kill yourself over something like Sin." Tranar stood up and met Cid's heated gaze with a cool stare.

"Truth be told, I want nothing to do with the Final Aeon. The only reason I even HAVE the Aeons is because they like me a lot. And I don't know why. But I want to find out everything about the Machina Wars, how Zanarkand fell, and even why Yevon didn't sue for peace. And you know what? I don't care if the others here are shocked that I don't want to be a high summoner. I'm a Keeper and I have friends who will help me." Both were in a staring contest until Cid started to laugh.

"Now that is some spunk, kid. We'll find Yunie and then decide on what to do next." They all nodded and settled down, Tidus and Seymour looked at Tranar as he and Rikku sat across from them.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine in the end," said Jackal as he sat next to his Keeper. Vaan and Balthier were in a corner, speaking about something or other and Tidus suspected that maybe the two were more than they let on.

Chaon talked to Ultima, Anima, Artica, and Typhoon. Mostly the conversation was about the recent events at Macalania and in the desert, but the conversation did hit on something that the Blood Guardian would remember later.

"Hey, Rikku. Take these guys to some rooms. They look like they're about to fall asleep standin'!" laughed Cid as Seymour tripped and Tito caught him. She nodded and got up, bouncingly leading them to rooms to rest and relax before the next fight came.

And the next fight was kind of a doozy.

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Okay, first off, I would like to apologize for taking so long. I also would like to apologize for it being a short chapter. I HATE this chapter. Be happy I was able to give it to you AT ALL! Well, all frustrations aside, here you go, and TRY to enjoy it?