AN "Blah"- Normal speech
'Blah'- Thoughts

Final Fantasy X
Body Heat

The frozen wasteland of Macalina stretched out before them, an hour had passed since party had departed the agency as well as their encounter with the Al-bhed. Riding on the snowmobile that they'd 'borrowed' from the Al-bhed, with Tidus and Lulu bringing up the rear. They passed through a snowy gorge, icy wind blowing in their faces.

The trip had been conducted in silence till Lulu broke it. "I hope you're not too mad at Wakka?" She called above the howling of the wind.

Tidus didn't say anything at first, he was furious at the things the red haired man had said. That was one of the things he hated about Spira and Yevon, their racist attitude to anyone who had a different opinion to theirs but somehow he thought he could hear a note of pleading in the black mages voice so for her sake he decided to let the subject drop, for now

"Hey, not at all." He replied, 'But don't think Wakka's not going to be introduced to the business end of my fist when I have the chance.'

"Thank you." She seemed to buy it, at least partially anyway.

"Say, what do you think of Rikku?" Tidus asked after another long pause.

"Me?" She seemed slightly taken aback by this surprised that he'd ask her such a thing. "She's...fun to be with."

The phrase sounded strange coming from her and almost made him laugh. "That all?" he replied.

"Well, I can tell she's not a bad person." She said back, Tidus just nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. You know what the problem is? She's just another Al Bhed to Wakka." Once more he felt the rage bubbling up inside of him and it took some effort on his part to force it back down again. "Wakka's head is as hard as a rock. I bet it's because of Yevon. Or, you know, something like that." He said more to himself then his female companion

"Well, there's more to it than that" Lulu relied, "Wakka doesn't like the Al Bhed because of his brother Chappu."

"Oh...he used a machina weapon, right?" Tidus said, thinking back to Wakka's reaction to all machina used during Operation Mi'ihen and what Lulu had told him before the operation began.

"And got killed by Sin. Killed by my old man," he added under his breath. "I hate you, Jecht."

"What?" Lulu asked, she heard him say something but hadn't caught it.

"Oh, nothing!" Tidus said quickly, hoping Lulu hadn't caught what he'd said. Suddenly a thought occurred to him, it was doubtful that Lulu would know but he asked anyway, "Hey...Can someone, like a human, become Sin, ever?"

He could feel Lulu start with surprise. "I can't say that I know," She replied, "But why?"

Tidus shrugged uncomfortably. "Just a thought." He replied.

"Sin is the punishment for, and the incarnation of, crimes we have committed." She said.

"So, no one really knows what it is?" Tidus said.

Lulu paused, regarding him with a questioning look. 'He asks some very strange questions.' "There's no need to know, so no one asks. You run or you fight. That is really all you can do. There's no sense brooding over it."

"What, that's all?" Tidus asked in disbelief, shouldn't these people be even a little bit curious to what their tormentor was, "I mean, you don't even wonder?"

Lulu's voice carried a smile. "You really do come from a world where there is no Sin, like you say." She said, sounding amused.

'Used to be.' Tidus thought to himself as they slid along the frozen ground.

The journey carried on uneventfully for a little while longer when something they didn't expect happened, the ground beneath them began to shake violently. Although he couldn't be certain or if it was just his imagination Tidus could have sworn he heard Lulu scream out in terror, what he did know was that he definitely felt her tighten her grip around him.

And then the ice beneath them cracked open, the revealing the chasm that had been frozen over. "What the..." Tidus began but before he could finish the ground beneath then split open as the sled slid down it to the valley below.

Tidus wrestled with the sled's controls as he tried to force it to turn, he figured if he couldn't bring the vehicle to a stop since they were now on an almost vertical slope but if he could turn it sideways and turn it on its side then maybe it might slow them down enough so they wouldn't be too seriously hurt when they hit the bottom. As he did this he felt Lulu's grip on his waist tighten further and push her head into his shoulder.

Tidus then closed his eyes and brace for impact, when he guessed they no more then ten or so meters before they hit the bottom he grabbed Lulu and when they were five meters from the ground Tidus summoning up all the force he could muster leapt from the doomed vehicle still clutching the black mage using his body to brace the impact as they hit the ground then rolled on top of her to shield her from the explosion.

He was sure that a flying piece of debris hit him at some point because the world around him began to grow dark, vaguely he registered Rikku yelling that they'd go on to the temple to get help before blacking out completely.

When Tidus regained consciousness the first thing he registered was that his head was resting against something soft and then he realized he was still lying on top of Lulu.

'Well this is an interesting position to be in.' Getting up he began checking her over to make sure she wasn't hurt, she wasn't as far as he could tell but she was still unconscious. As he did so the light began to grow dimmer, the air around him growing colder as it did so. 'I better find some shelter. I might be about to lose Yuna to that freak Seymour, I will not loose Lulu as well by letting her freeze to death.'

He then lifted Lulu on to his back and set off as he did the wind grew stronger blowing the snow into his face and kept getting stronger till visibility was virtually zero, he didn't know how long he walked for a minute, 10, an hour but finally he came across a cave but that his feeling that things were looking up quickly died when he heard a growling coming from within.

Letting out a groan Lulu opened her eyes, as she did so she was met by a throbbing pain in her head and was quick to close them again. Taking a deep breath she opened them again and doing her best to ignore her arching head she found herself leaned up against a solid stone wall, to one side of the small cavern was a small pile of carcasses that belonged to wolf like Fiends and a few feet away from her was a small fire burning away.

She also noticed she was totally alone no sign of Tidus or any of the others, just then the sound of a few rocks rolling hitting something and heavy breathing was heard. Silently chanting under her breath, the pale skinned mage began gathering energy in her hand as she charged up a powerful spell, narrowing her eyes she waited until the outline of her captor was almost visible and launched the Thunder spell at her target.

Nearby Tidus edged his way through the narrow gap in the rock to get back to his companion. 'I hope she's ok.' he thought to himself as he squeezed through the passage, doing so was very tedious to get through because A) it was quiet narrow B) it was on a slight slope pointing down and C) it was dark.

After securing the cave and was sure that Lulu was safe he'd gone about blocking up the entrance with a wall built from snow to keep the storm and any predators out, the only sources of light were a small hole in the wall of snow and the fire in the cave where Lulu was.

Just as he emerged from the shadows ducking under a small overhang to enter the cavern he was met by Thunder spell, slamming into his head throwing him backwards and hitting the back of his head on the stone overhang.

By the time Tidus came into view it was too late Lulu's spell slammed into his head forcing him backwards catching his head on a rock and fell over, Lulu ran over to Tidus's fallen form and doing her best half carried half dragged him towards the fire

'Oh Yevon please be alright.' She begged she'd packed enough energy into that spell to kill a good sized fiend 'Please I specialize in black magic and killing spells Yuna is the white mage I can't do any of that stuff, I can't heal you. Please you can't die on me, everybody always dies on me.' Her fears however were thankfully in vain as a groan passed his lips and she let out a sigh of relief and laid him down against the wall and after a few minutes his eyes slowly and grudgingly opened

"Ow!" he groaned.

"Are you alright." Lu asked, concern in her voice.

"Yeah I'm fine." He replied as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head, he then began looking around the cave, a panicked look appearing on his face, "Oh god."

"What?" Lulu asked Tidus, the blond haired man looked as if he was about to have a panic attack, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," He said, "It's just this place is more...cramped then I first realized."

Lulu however wasn't completely convinced as Tidus had brought his knees into his crest and began breathing very erratically. "Are you sure your alright."

"Yeah, I…I'm good." He assured her, "It's not like you could help me anyway."

"Oh really." Lulu said in her best 'mom' voice.

"Yeah." Tidus said, wanting her to drop the subject.

"Please, we maybe stuck in here for a while." Lulu said, her tone softening a little, "So if there's a problem you should tell me."

Tidus looked at her, and for an instant he could have sworn that the black mage sounded like his mother. "Alright, I'm Claustrophobic ok." He said.

"Claustrophobic?" Lulu asked.

"Yeah, Claustrophobia means I don't like being in enclosed places, especially if I feel like I cant get out." He told her, Lu stared at him wide eyed Tidus let out a small laugh, "Don't worry it isn't anything you can catch, its pretty much just a psychological thing."

"I'm aware of what Claustrophobia is. I just never thought that you of all people would suffer from it." Lulu told him, "So, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get to Claustrophobic?"

Tidus took a few deep breathes, the scars of what had happened still ran quite deep and was still quite difficult to talk about. Back in Zanarkand everyone he'd told this story to thought he was making it up, but something told him Lulu would understand. So taking another deep breath he told his story

"I was four at the time. Jecht had placed a rather large bet on a Blitz game and the team he backed lost by a good amount, not surprisingly he got drunk afterwards. By the time he got home he was pretty slammed and pissed off and not wanting to be on the receiving end I had the bright idea to hide in a trunk till he calmed down, despite this he still somehow found me. He yelled at me for a while before locking the trunk then then went off. That trunk really small, I had to really scrunch myself up to fit that thing, it was hot and dark with only a small slit in the top as a source of light and air. I remember screaming and yelling, begging for someone to let me out but no one came."

Tidus paused for a moment, as talked memories about the incident flashed before his eyes. His heart was racing and a cold clammy sweat was forming on his body, he was gripping his legs so hard that under his gloves his knuckles were white. All the while Lulu sat there patiently, seeing the distressed look on his face she drew herself closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. This seemed to work as Tidus calmed himself and continued.

"At some point I must have passed out cos next thing I known I'm waking up in bed, my mom in a chair next to me asleep." He told her, "When she woke up she told me I must have been locked in that box over four hours, she came home to find Jecht passed out and couldn't find the key and had to open it up with with a chisel."

"If you passed out how did she find you?" Lu asked

Tidus shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno," He replied, "Maybe the bastard said something whilst he was passed out or maybe she heard me crying, all I do know is she got me out."

Lulu stared at him as different emotions conflicted within he wanting to crossover to her companion but unsure whether to slap him or comfort him, as a child she'd been weaned on the stories of Sir Jecht and taught to reverie him but she was also a human being and the idea of anyone no matter who doing such a thing to a child sickened her now she could see why he hated his father any man who'd do such a thing to his child deserved no praise or honour and slightly prayed that he was burning in a hell that she could not herself begin to imagine.

Tidus then began chuckling. "Listen to me, talking about my problems when you live in a world where you can die at any moment." He said mirthlessly, "Man I'm pathetic."

"Its not pathetic. You may maybe not be facing death but your condition is very real and should not be laughed at." Lulu said, her mom tone returning, " Are you sure there is nothing I can do to help?"

Tidus thought for a moment. "Maybe if you keep me talking, something to take my mind off it I'll be fine." He suggested.

"How?" Lulu asked.

"I dunno," He replied, he then racked his brain and said the first thing that came to mind. "Tell me a story."

"Tell you a story!" Lulu exclaimed, "How old are you?"

"Please." Tidus said, pleading slightly.

"Like what?" Lulu said, unsure of what to say.

"I dunno. Tell me..." He paused as he tried to think of a topic and blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "Yell me how you lost your virginity?"

"My What?" she replied, wide eyed

"Please, just tell me truthfully." He said a note of pleading in his voice

Lulu regarded him for a moment before she began speaking. "Not much tell to be honest. I was 20, Chappu had joined the Crusaders three months before and he was returning from Killika after completing his training. Wakka and the Aurochs threw him this party." She told him, "It was also the first time I tried alcohol and let's just say we didn't mix together very well." Lulu let out a small laugh whilst Tidus smiled amused. "Anyway to cut it short I woke up the next morning naked with Chappu on top of me drooling on chest."

"Very romantic." Tidus scoffed.

"Hey. We didn't have the temples consent so the people of the village didn't speak to me for a few weeks, even Yuna seemed slightly disappointed with me, they all saw me as a lady of ill consent but after a while they seemed to forget about it. Although to this day some of the ladies of the village give me funny looks." She turned to him, "So what about you, since we're sharing, how did you lose yours."

Tidus closed his eyes as he relived the memory. "Her name was Lenne, she was nineteen." He said, a grin forming on his face. "The ninth hole of district B municipal golf course. Par 4, dogleg to the left, in the bunker behind the green."

"Golf course?" Lulu asked, clearly unfamiliar with what he was talking about.

"Yeah, golf it's a game. You try knock a small ball with a club in to a hole at the other end of the course in as few strokes as possible. A golf course is where you play." Tidus explained.

"You say this golf is a sport and you had intercourse in a place they play it," Lulu said, shock in her voice, "How did you have the nerve?"

"It wasn't in the middle of a major tournament or anything, it was midnight." Tidus told her, he then closed his eyes again. "She was absolutely gorgeous, she took all her clothes off and stood there completely naked. I was so excited I nearly dropped my bag with all my homework in it."

Lulu stared at his wondering if she'd heard him correctly. "Homework!" She exclaimed, "How old were you?"

"Twelve." He replied.

"Twelve! Twelve years old!" Lulu said, her head swimming by this revelation, "You lost your virginity at twelve on a golf course?"

"Yes." Tidus said matter-of-factly.

"Were the two of you in a relationship?" Lulu asked.

"Are you kidding," Tidus replied, "I was twelve, she was nineteen. Of course we weren't."

There was along silence but Lulu still seemed shocked by this "Twelve." She exclaimed.

"Yeah it was my birthday too, that was definitely one of the more interesting birthday presents I've ever got." Tidus said wistfully.

"The only thing I lost when I was twelve was my shoes." Lulu said, "An older boy threw them in the sea and the priest and nuns at the temple yelled at me for losing them, Wakka and Chappu searched and searched but never found them, I cried for weeks."

"I'm surprised that Wakka or Chappu didn't offer to kick this guy's ass." Tidus replied with a shrug, "I would have."

"Wakka was always a good little boy who didn't want to get in trouble with the temple and Chappu who was a trouble maker, he was caught trying to steal from one of the local fishermen and as punishment was forced to scrub the temple floor every day for a month leaving him little time to anything else." Lulu told him before going back to processing what Tidus had told her, "But at twelve on a golf course."

"There are stranger places," Tidus offered, "According to a friend of mine when he was fifteen him and this girl he was seeing at the time broke into the high school stadium at 1 in the morning and had sex in the blitz sphere. Allegedly."

"A blitz sphere?" Lulu said, not sounding convinced, "And you believe him?"

"Not for a second." Tidus scoffed, "According to him sex in water is meant to be quiet an interesting thing."

"How?" Lu asked, not realising how eager she'd sounded till after she'd asked her question.

"Well if his story is true, which is highly doubtful," Tidus said, emphasizing the last part, "It's the closest one can come to doing it in zero gravity."

"You don't sound convinced." Lulu said, an eyebrow cocked.

"It doesn't sound too romantic plus when you think about it, it sounds pretty awkward." Tidus replied offhandedly, "All that splashing around, you gotta keep coming up for air. Sounds like way too much work."

Lulu let out a small laugh "I guess so." She said, still laughing. 'Why am I laughing at this, this is hardly a proper subject for polite conversation.' She looked back over at him. "I should know that your attitude towards sex disturbs me a great deal."

"Then why you laughing?" Tidus asked, a grin on his face.

"That's not the point it, your whole manner and behaviour disregard the temples and its teachings why when we were in Luca you wouldn't bow before the Measters till Wakka made you." Lulu said, trying to compose herself, "What you told me and your attitude towards sex is clear that you have no respect for Yevon or the holy teachings."

"Ok first, its true I don't believe in Yevon, however unlike all of its seemingly brain dead supporters, I don't force my beliefs or views on other people. Second I agree with Rikku, just because you follow Yevon doesn't mean you should blindly agree with everything it tells you without thinking." Tidus said to her in a defiant tone, "And on your comment about my view of sex, you are correct. I don't agree with Yevon, far as I'm concerned it's none of the temples fucking business. If people want to screw they should be allowed to and in privet without some old geezers from the temple sticking their noses in."

There was silence after that Tidus leaned back against the cave wall closing his eyes trying his best to find something to concentrate on something other then the size of his surroundings when his mind wandered to his female companion.

"Interesting. I suppose I could add you to my list. I wish you good luck, little boy. You're going to need it." Tidus smiled at the memory, that was Lulu's reply what he'd told her that she was more his type than Yuna was back in Guadosalam, though he felt that the little boy comment was a little unfair. He knew he'd be lying if he didn't find the black mage attractive, back in Zanarkand he'd always been attracted to girls with some mystery to them, the idea that she had a secret to kept him on his toes kept the relationship interesting. He then almost laughed out loud.

'Man listen to me, I seriously need to get laid but according to Lulu to have sex you need the blessing of the temple and they only grant it to married couples who want a blessing of conception or some shit like that, what kind of dumbass idea is that? People want to screw they should be allowed to and in privet with out some old geezers from the temple sticking their noses in.' He then looked over at his companion who still seemed to be in still mulling over the revelation that he'd lost his virginity at twelve on a golf course

'Twelve.' Lulu wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to get over this information being raised by the temple she'd been taught that sex was an act practised only by a loving husband and wife who had the temples blessing when they wished to conceive a child and sitting in the same vicinity was a guy who had under aged sex but also attitude towards it was absolutely alien to her but somehow she could see some of his points he made some of what he said makes sense to her the idea of the temples not having so much control over the people's personal lives but knew that she'd never tell anyone she somewhat agreed with him.

Tidus gave Lulu another glance before reaching into the bag with their supplies in it and pulled out a rather expensive and fancy looking clear glass bottle with a pale orange liquid inside. Removing the stopper he brought the container to his lips before taking a generous swig, as soon as he'd finished he broke out in a coughing fit.

"Oh yeah…that'll put lead in your pencil." He said in a low throaty voice, he then offered the bottle, the black mage noticing the symbol of the Guado branded to the bottle

"What is this?" she asked.

"Booze." He replied matter-of-factly.

"I can see that." She said, "Where did you get it"

"I stole it when we back in Guadosalam," Tidus shrugged, "That poser Seymour had enough to float the temple in Besaid, so I grabbed a few. He's so rich I doubt he'll miss them."

"You stole from a Measter!" Lulu exclaimed.

"Yeah." Tidus said matter-of-factly.

"Do you know the penalty for stealing from a Measter?" Lulu said, her tone disapproving.

"No, but I'm sure you'll tell me." Said Tidus as before taking another swing.

"It involves a trip to Via Purifico." Lulu informed him, "Just so you know, that's considered worse then death."

Tidus shrugged his shoulders. "Only if you tell them about it? You going to drink some or what?"

"No I learned my lesson about alcohol at Chappu's party." Lulu said stubbornly.

"It's to stop you from freezing to death." Tidus told her, "Come on, it'll put hair on your chest."

Taking the glass container again, Lulu sniffed its contents and began coughing. "ARGH!" She spluttered, "Judging by the smell it'll probably also put hair on your lips. No thanks."

"Your loose." Tidus said as he took the bottle back, after taking another swig before inching over to the fire and., with his thumb covering most of the rim, poured a little on to the fire which made it flare a little, settling back down against the wall he looked at his companion

"Y'know something, this reminds me of the first time I got drunk." He said his words slightly slurred, "When I was 13 I went on a school trip to Bevelle, me and a couple of friends managed to get our hands on a couple bottles of cheap red wine which we drank before going on a tour of the white tower. I was alright until we got to the top but when we got there I couldn't hold it in any more, can you imagine the cities most famous landmark and there's me head over the side throwing up over the side of the rail. Later I heard a story that some pavement artist sold it to some rich tourist, telling him that it was one of a kind art piece."

Once again Lulu found herself laughing at the blond haired teens words, though the rational part of her brain yelled at her that she shouldn't. Then again they'd already covered sex, it seemed that any subject was fair game for tonight. It was then her stomach growled.

"You hungry?" Tidus asked, he then rose up and scooped up several of the skulls that lay around the cave and arranged them in two piles around the fire before spearing one of the carcasses on his sword before placed them on top of the piles and sat back waiting for it to cook.

Another silence feel over the cave, although this was a far more comfortable one, as Tidus focused on the food whist Lulu remained sat against the wall, enjoying the warmth of the fire as well as the smell of cooking meat. As the silence continued on Lulu found her mind begin to wonder, eventually drifting back to the massacre that was Operation Mi'ihen when something occurred to her, she usually tried not to dwell on such things but now with precious little else to focus on, she wasn't sure if Tidus would tell her but it was worth a try.

"Tidus" she spoke up.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"My mind was wondering and got thinking about Operation Mi'ihen." She said, "I remember that you seemed pretty cut up about Gatta's death for a while. I don't mean to pry but I'm curious why you took it so hard. You barely even knew him that well?"

Tidus turned back to the meat. "It just brought back a really painful memory that's all," He replied, "I never really talked to anyone about it."

"Do you want to talk about it now?"

"I guess it would be good to get it off my chest, have someone else hear about it." he brought the bottle to his lips again and took a generous swig this was going to take a lot of courage.

"When I was six my family took a trip to an island a couple of hours off the coast of the mainland, I remember it well because it was the last thing we ever did as a family. We went with this family friend, I'd known him all my life used to call him uncle Johnny. We'd been there a week and a half before we got news that a tidal wave might be about to hit the island my mom freaked and Jecht booked us tickets on the first available transport outta there but uncle Johnny said he was going to stay, you see he was a storm chaser, a guy that studied natural disasters, said he wanted to experience the storm. Well we left leaving him behind the next morning when we got home we learned that just a couple of hours after we left a massive tidal wave hit the island killed everything people, animals, plants everything. It's just I talking to him just before we left he said it might not happen so why worry about it then I find out he's dead. I haven't thought about it in years I kinda buried the most painful pieces of it the whole thing with Gatta just brought the whole thing back full force."

Tears began welling up in his eyes as the painful memory came back. "I'm sorry, I don't wanna go to pieces on you. I buried the more painful aspects of it and talking about it brought the full impact of it back opening up the wound."

She then crossed over to him and sat next to him. "I'm sorry," she said she was then slightly taken aback when he put his head on her shoulder.

She had always saw Tidus as a person who had been untouched by death but know she saw that he was no different from the rest of Spira. A lot of what she saw about him was a front that he put on for the world to mask his pain realising he used humour and his care free attitude as a way of covering up pain, misery and darker feeling that within him from others,

Tidus lifted the bottle of alcohol to his lips again and took another swig before offering to Lu again this time she didn't object. By the time the meat was done the bottle of booze was finished and they'd made quite a dent in the second between drinking it, using it as fuel for the fire and pouring a little on the meat it was fiend so they were pretty sure it wouldn't taste all that pleasant.

Eating the meal was conducted in silence as well as consuming the rest of the bottle. Lu felt woozy after she'd finished, the mixture of the food and the alcohol made her sleepy and nodded off, however her sleep wasn't a peaceful one as her memories of her dead love Chappu crept into her dreams as did all the sorrow and grief when she learnt of his death

'Chappu why aren't you here? Why are dead? Why did you have to die? Why do the people I care about always die?' her eyes then grudgingly opened still feeling groggy the alcohol still kicking about in her system, the fire was beginning to die down giving the small cave an orange glow.

Looking to the right she saw the sleeping form of her companion, she crossed over to him and in that instant she forgot who he was as her lips met his and kissed him passionately pretended that the man before her was her dead lover Chappu.

Tidus's eyes then opened and was shocked to find Lulu kissing him moaning the name Chappu into his mouth, he put his hands onto her face and managed to force her off "Lu what the hell's got into you?"

Lulu seemed to snap out of whatever had possessed her and instantly the full wait of her actions dawned on her tears poured from her eyes

"Oh Yevon, Tidus I'm..." she got up and curled in the corner in the opposite side of the cave her body shaking as she sobbed.

Normally Lulu was good at her emotions locked up not wanting to burden others with her problems especially now this was Yuna's pilgrimage, her story Yuna was the summoner she was the guardian a person who a summoner could entrust with their lives and if needs be to sacrifice their lives to insure Yuna's safety and so all her worries and troubles were insignificant all that mattered was Yuna and the pilgrimage.

It was however a very hollow comfort when one actually thought about it and very, after losing her parents at such a young age Lulu had sworn she'd never let anyone see her cry and she'd kept it. No matter what she'd never cried and when she did she made sure no one was there to witness it.

She never showed any kind of emotion which drove many of the other children away all except Wakka, who lets face it isn't the sharpest tool in the box, and Chappu, it took time but he managed to break through the wall she'd built around her heart he was the only one to comfort her in her moments of weakness and share her times of joy.

'Oh Yevon how I've missed you. Chappu you brought me out of the darkness, out of my own shadow where I hid all of my emotions, all my wants and desires but now your dead and now I'm back in that dark, empty corner, because you died and left me all alone.

She was focusing so hard on her grief she almost didn't notice a pair of arms wrap around her

"Shh, its ok Lu, its ok, just let it all out." Tidus whispered as he embraced her.

Now Tidus wouldn't say he was an expert when it came to comforting women or an expert when it came to the fairer sex but he knew he couldn't just sit by the fire and do nothing but also in a strange way he found Lulu's tears reassuring, ever since his arrival in Spira everything that surrounding him had been fake the laughter, the smiles even the Blitzball was a farce the only thing that was genuine was Sin and the destruction and death that it wrought. 'Rikku's right, unless something changes this world is destined to drown in its own despair.'

The two of them staid in the same position for a sometime before Lulu finally gathered up the courage to look at him

"Tidus I'm..." he pressed a finger to her lips.

"Shh. Don't talk." he then led her back over towards the fire where they sat down Lu still pressed against his body his arms wrapped around her

"Lu I know I'm not Chappu and I can never take his place and I would never try to."

Lulu then rested her head against his chest. "I miss him." She admitted.

"Yeah, losing someone you love leaves a hole in your soul that's difficult to fill." he replied Lulu stared at him her eyes wide where did that piece of insightful knowledge come from, he had surprised her yet again as another side of him was revealed to her a side that he hadn't even shown Yuna whilst Tidus had seen her true self which she'd shown to no one except Chappu.

"I was eight years old when my mom died. She was never the same after Ject died she just gave up on life willing herself to death, it was like watching a flower wither and die." He said his voice shaking slightly and it took all his strength not to break down on the black mage whom he held tightly in his strong arms "Lu, I never knew Chappu but I'm pretty sure he really loved you, that's why he joined the Crusaders he was willing to fight and die for the person he loved."

Lu looked at Tidus his eyes seemed to glow with warmth and compassion as her favourite memory of her own mother came back to her

"I was five when my parents were killed but I do remember one thing, when I was very small after my mother used to tuck in at night she'd tell me a story," she said as as rested her head against his chest finding a security that she hadn't felt in a long time in the blond man's embrace"I can't remember what it was about but after she was finished she would kiss me on the forehead before giving me a hug and I would always fall asleep in her arms."

The two of them were silent for a long time and as the fire finally died they felt sleep overwhelming them once more

"Tidus," Lu said in a low whisper "Thank you."

Tidus smiled then leaned forward and kissed her on her forehead and with the black mage still in his arms they finally surrendered to sleep as the final embers burned themselves out.

Next morning Yuna and the remaining Guardian's were searching the canyon for any sign of Tidus and Lulu, provided the two of them survived the storm, as well as also trying to avoid the guards from the temple. Early that morning, several hours after Auron and the others arrived at Macalania Temple, they discovered a Sphere in Yuna's items bag with a message that had been recorded from Jyscal Guado telling them that Seymour had murdered him. Learning this they confronted him before engaging him in a fierce battle and though they were victorious despite the absence of their black mage as well a the blond haired swordsmen.

It had been close, Seymour summoning his Aeon Anima at one point, but Yuna's newest Aeon Shiva managed to weaken it allowing for Ifrit finished it off. Auron severed Seymour's head from his body ending the fight, unfortunately Tromell and a group of Guado guards arrived before Yuna could perform a sending and she and her Guardian's were forced to run for their lives.

Back in the present, Auron spotted what looked to be a small hole in the canyon wall. Investigating further he discovered it wasn't solid rock but instead appeared to be made of snow, after punching the faux wall a few times it collapsed revealing a fair sized opening and the legendary warrior made his way inside.

Deep in the cave Tidus and Lulu were still slept, the two had not moved from the spot they had fallen asleep in. Then came a noise, it was faint but still enough to make one of blond haired Blitzball player's eyes to slowly crack open. Listening carefully he heard the sound of someone approaching, carefully he lay Lulu on the ground and reached over for his sword.

Auron made his way along the narrow passage till he reached a small cave though the light from outside barely made it down here Auron could still make out the remains of the fire and Lulu's form lying on the ground next to it, suddenly someone leapt from the shadows swinging a sword at him he went for his sword and Auron only just managed to block it with his own but because of caught off guard slightly the force of the impact sent him crashing to the ground.

Tidus stared at the man who was now lying on the ground. "Auron?" he exclaimed.

"Oh its you." the raven haired man said as he got off the ground and dusted himself off, "I'll be waiting outside." He had just stooping down to get under the overhang when he paused and glanced back at Tidus. "If you tell anyone about this I'll make sure you'll regret it." he said before leaving

Tidus shook his head and let out a small chuckle before heading over to Lulu. "Lulu...Lulu, time to wake up." He said as he gently massaged her shoulder, she let out a small moan and her eye gradually opened.

"Hey." she said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Hey." he replied, "Time to go, storms passed and Auron's waiting out side." he offered her his hand and after a quick stretch she excepted it and helped her to her feet he then led her to the opening.

"Ok getting through this can be a little difficult so take your time." and still holding her hand he stooped under the overhang if he had looked at his companion he would have seen a small blush on her face due to the touch of the blonds hand.

Getting through the narrow passage tough going Lulu couldn't imagine how Tidus managed to get himself and her through it when he discovered it but somehow they managed to squeeze through though not without receiving a few scratches, outside they found Auron waiting for them and together they set off to find Yuna and the others but little did Lulu know that in years to comeshe would look back at that night and even after she'd married Wakka and had their child but she never found that same feeling of security and safety that she had found being in the arms of the last man of Zanarkand.

AN. Well that was my little one shot Body Heat, how was it review and tell me. Well first thing I should probably do is apologize if anyone was upset by any of the content I know, it isn't exactly polite to talk about sex and being drunk.

Second is I know I will get some flames cos Tidus interacting with Lulu instead of Yuna or Rikku, I don't see why people are so apposed to these two and I felt the whole Tidus/Chappu thing is an intresting angle that to my knowlage hasn't been approached before (tell me if I'm wrong).

Lastly I'm not intending this to be a TiLu fic but I won't stop anyone who wants to read it like that.

Square Enix owns the whole damn Final Fantasy universe and I own squat (Rich bastards.)