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1
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2 Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters from FFX-2. I’m merely borrowing them.
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3
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4 Author’s notes: The story takes place right after Yuna falls down the hole in Djose temple. Since
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5 in the game you get to see events for Yuna’s events, this takes place with the rest of the
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6 Gullwing members. Special thanks to Heather-sama (Amazoness Duo) and Forever3330 for inspiring
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7 me to write this fic. ^-^ Any comments/suggestions/flames/ e-mails saying how much my writing
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8 sucks can be sent to ximengwang@hotmail.com. Enjoy ^.^
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9
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10 I'll Always Be Your Guardian
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11
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12 Phoenix
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13
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14 Rikku paced up and down the bridge, glancing over at Shinra every few seconds. It had been hours
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15 since Yuna had fallen down into the hole at Djose Temple. As time slowly ticked by, the usually
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16 cheerful thief frowned with worry.
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17
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18 “RUF SILR MUHKAN IHDEM ED’C TUHA? <How much longer until it’s done?>” Rikku leaned over the
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19 shoulder of the boy genius, trying to see if the kid had made any progress.
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20
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21 “RUMT UH… psshhh… E’S YMSUCD TUHA, <Hold on… psshhh… I’m almost done >” Shinra didn’t even look
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22 up at the currently overemotional blonde girl. He turned the bluish sphere-like object in his
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23 hand before turning his chair over. “There! It should be able to get us a picture.”
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24
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25 “So we’ll be able to see Yunie with this?” Rikku bent over at the waist to get a closer look at
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26 the commsphere. It didn’t look like there was anything special about the object other than the
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27 fact that Shinra had been working on it for the past few hours.
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28
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29 “Yes. That is if she’s still down in that hole.” The Al Behd boy stated as he wiped his forehead
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30 with a suit-covered hand. The boy was about to set the sphere down gently when a loud screeching
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31 voice nearly made him drop the invention.
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32
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33 “Yuna has to be there! Gullwings! Full speed to Djose Temple!” Brother finally rose from his
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34 laying position in the middle of the deck. He quickly turned around to face Buddy when he
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35 realized they haven’t even started to move. “GO! GO! GO!”
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36
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37 Buddy imput their destination into the Celsius’ computer before rubbing his ears. Sometimes he
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38 wondered if Yuna, Rikku, and Paine had the easier job. Sure, he just sat in the Celsius while
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39 the girls were out risking their lives but then he also had to deal with Brother. Come to think
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40 of it, why was Brother part of the team anyways? The tattooed Al Behd didn’t seem to do anything
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41 except complain about Yuna taking too long on her missions.
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42
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43 “Are we almost there?” Rikku looked at the sphere in the middle of the ship. The Celsius was
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44 probably the fastest machina in all of Spira but the flight seemed to take so much longer than
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45 usual. The young blond went back to pacing around the deck, realizing there really wasn’t
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46 anything she could do about it.
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47
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48
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49 The Celsius landed at Djose temple minutes later although the young thief had jumped off before
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50 Buddy even got the chance to ‘park’ the ship. “Ohhh… Come on! Yunie needs our help! Let’s hurry
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51 and throw the commsphere into the hole!” As she spoke, the Al Behd’s arms waved about,
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52 illustrating her words.
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53
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54 “I’m going to have a word with the Machina Faction. You guys go on ahead.” Paine’s words were
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55 barely audible as she ran off into the tent. The rest of the Gullwing nodded then ran towards
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56 the doors of the thunder cloud-like temple. They were used to this kind of behavior from the
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57 more mysterious member of the team. Besides, Paine always showed up if something happens so
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58 there really wasn’t much to worry about
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59
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60
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61 The team of sphere hunters gathered around the large hole in the temple as Rikku impatiently
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62 looked over the shoulder of the much smaller boy-genius. She watched him throw the commsphere
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63 into the hole with the fascination of a cat. Slowly, she stepped closer to the hole, peering
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64 into it’s unending depths. “Yunie… please be alright!” She thought to herself as she
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65 half-expected to hear a thud of some kind once the sphere hit the bottom.
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66
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67 “Let’s see now…” Shinra mumbled to himself as he clicked a few keys on a computer-like box. He
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68 watched the screen intently as he tried to get some kind of signal from the sphere.
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69
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70 “So where is Yuna? I-WANT-YUNA!” Brother’s impatience got the better of him once again as he
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71 yelled loud enough to even awaken the faiths.
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72
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73 “So where’s the picture?” Buddy asked, his arms crossed across his chest. He raised an eyebrow
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74 as static started to slowly appear on the screen. It was progress at any rate. Some signal is
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75 better than none, right?
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76
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77 “Is it working now?” Rikku asked, moving her hands in front of her chest like a cat scratching
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78 on a door. The depression and feeling of hopelessness she had felt all day slowly started to
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79 fade away as more static appeared on the screen. If Shinra’s invention works then maybe they’ll
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80 be able to talk with Yuna! That is if Yuna were down there and well. Rikku shook her head to
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81 clear her mind of those thoughts. Be optimistic! She told herself as she leaned closer to the
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82 monitor.
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83
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84 The screen slowly started to get less staticy as the picture cleared except for the fact that
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85 all they could see was darkness. There didn’t seem to be any light coming from the dark abyss.
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86 Just when they were about to give up hope, a small pyrofly flew across the screen.
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87
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88 “YUNA! I WANT TO SEE YUNA! SHOW ME YUNA!!!” Brother once again started yelling. Now that it was
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89 clear they could receive images from the sphere, he was more desperate than ever to see the girl
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90 of his dreams, even if he wasn’t the man of hers.
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91
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92 “LYMS TUFH! <calm down!>” Rikku snapped, at the idiotic ‘leader’. She had been fed up with his
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93 whining ever since Yuna had fallen down the hole. It was bad enough that Yuna was gone but being
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94 worried while hearing Brother’s high-pitched voice was not a combination Rikku wanted to try
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95 ever again.
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96
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97 After making sure the older Al Behd had calmed down, Rikku went back to staring at the small
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98 monitor on Shinra’s invention. “Please Yunie… please show up!” She mumbled to herself in a whiny
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99 tone of voice. She had been waiting for the boy genius to finish his sphere every since the kid
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100 had suggested it but now she didn’t really know if finishing it was really a good thing. Before
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101 she had at least been able to hope that Yuna was still alive but now… now she really didn’t know
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102 anymore.
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103
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104 A few more pyroflies flew across the screen then it was back to pitch black-darkness. Slowly, a
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105 small clicking sound rang through the speakers. Rikku nearly pounced when her sensitive their
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106 ears caught on to the sound. They sounded like footsteps! But who’s? Yuna’s boots usually didn’t
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107 make the kinds of sounds that were being played by the speakers. The young blond leaned in closer
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108 to the screen, almost to the point of pressing her nose against the cold glass. There seemed to
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109 be a shadow-like movement from the far horizon. Even in bluish pictures transmitted by the
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110 commsphere, Rikku could still pick out the small movement.
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111
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112 “Is it… Yunie?” she asked softly, her hopes rising higher than they ever had before. Maybe Yuna
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113 was alive and well?
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114
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115 “Let’s try to zoom in,” Shinra quickly pressed a few buttons on his invention as the screen
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116 slowly started to make the shadow bigger and bigger. At the maximum magnification, the body was
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117 still covered in shadows but it was definitely humanoid.
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118
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119 The shadow slowly moved closer, taking it sweet time as if it’s sole purpose was to taunt those
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120 who were watching it. Just as its body started to clear up, a haze of pyroflies flew across the
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121 screen, knocking into the commsphere. The echoes of the deceased played across the speakers of
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122 Shinra’s machine as the pyroflies kept on flying past until the screen returned to static and
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123 the sound faded.
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124
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125 “What happened? What happened?” Rikku asked frantically as she towered over the young boy.
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126
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127 “The pyroflies must of have hit the commsphere. The receiver and microchip might of have gotten
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128 damaged.” The young boy explained as he turned off his invention. He looked around at the rest
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129 of the Gullwing crew. Brother had gone back to his fetal position while Buddy stayed calm and
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130 collected as always. Rikku on the other hand seemed to look more worried than the young boy has
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131 ever seen her in the two years they had been together.
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132
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133 “Is there any way to fix it? That could of have been Yunie down there!” The blonde Al Behd looked
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134 almost on the verge of tears. Her last hope of contacting Yuna had just been shattered. All she
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135 had ever wanted was to protect her dear cousin but now, like last time, she had failed.
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136
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137 Shinra looked at Rikku for a moment before shrugging, “I’m just a kid…” His voice was barely
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138 above a whisper as he grabbed his machine and headed towards the exit of the fayth chamber.
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139 Buddy wasn’t far behind the child prodigy as he half carried, half dragged Brother with him.
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140
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141 Rikku watched her other team mates leave one by one. Are they going to give up that easily? Are
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142 they just going to leave Yuna down in that whole while she may still be alive, the odds were
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143 slim but still possible. Yuna had done so much for Spira by risking her life to fight Sin but
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144 now even those closest to her were leaving! The young Al Behd girl slumped to her knees as she
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145 stared down into the bottomless abyss… but could anything survive if it fell down from there?
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146 “If anyone can, then Yunie can! She may not be a Summoner anymore but I’ll always be her
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147 Guardian!” The young girl slowly got back to her feet. She blinked her eyes a few times, making
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148 the small tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes slowly run down her cheek before
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149 landing on the temple floor. Taking a deep breath, the blonde girl took a few steps backwards
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150 before staring back at the large hole. “I’m coming Yunie. I’ll be the one to save you this time!”
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151 Without further delay, the young thief started running towards the hole at full speed. For those
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152 few seconds, only the one she loved occupied her mind. She would gladly die for the brunette if
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153 she had to but if she couldn’t save the one she loves then at least she could die right alongside
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154 with her. And so the former Guardian ran. She was inches away from the hole when a voice rang
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155 through her ears, making her heart melt with happiness.
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156
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157 “Yuna here, reporting for duty.”
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158
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159 Those simple words stopped the thief from her mission. Yuna was alive! She was alive and well!
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160 Tears of joy threatened to spill from the Al Behd’s eyes as she turned around and ran back to
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161 the Celsius. Except this time, she was running to get closer to her love in this life instead of
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162 joining her in the farplain.
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163 |
