Disclaimer: I don't anything to do with Final Fantasy X-2, be it characters, places or concepts. However, I claim credit for characters of my own creations and non-canon material. Enjoy!

(Chapter 08; Back In Luca)

“So,” Shinra span around in his chair to look at the Gullwings, or rather, the sphere they had found. “You found the sphere in Besaid?”

“Yup!” Yuna grinned as she presented the sphere to the young Al Bhed, who immediately began analysing it.

“It was junk,” Paine grumbled, staring at the orb in the Al Bhed’s hands.

“But, we can use it as a dressphere.” Shinra objected, pressing a few buttons on his console, prepping the dressphere for use. After such a tray opened up, revealing three copies of the sphere. “I give you: the White Mage dressphere.”

“I don’t think I’ll try mine just yet,” Nilus grinned sheepishly as he placed his sphere into his grid. “I’ve caused way too many explosions from dresspheres recently.”

“Thank heavens,” Shinra whispered, though his voice was still amplified by his mask, resulting in Nilus hearing his comment and flicking him on the back of his head.

“So, where to now?” Buddy asked as the Gullwings observed the new dressphere.

“Luca?” Yuna suggested, holding her hands behind her back.

“Roger!” Brother saluted as Buddy set course for the large city.

---

The day was beautiful, and as Yuna, Nilus, Rikku, and Paine made their way lazily into the city limits – of course until a mob of fans clambered around them.

“Lady Yuna, your concert was incredible!” one man said, as he and a throng of others approached the Summoner, respectively, but still overflowing with admiration and devotion.

“Thank you,” Yuna spoke politely as a younger child pushed her way through and held up a small poster. The Summoner glanced down at it in surprise, noting the child’s large, wonder-filled eyes.

“Would you sign this, please?” She asked, her voice trembling slightly in all her nervousness.

Yuna knelt down before the girl and brushed hair out of her face, taking the poster with a smile. “I’d be glad to!” the girl immediately brightened as the Summoner continued to speak with her as if they were both the greatest of friends.

“All right!” Rikku proclaimed excitedly. “Single file, now! No pushing! The Gullwings, at your service!”

Paine sighed impatiently, causing Nilus to turn towards her in surprise. When the Al Bhed’s gaze set upon her, he noticed the sphere hunter was frowning. “Would you please tell me why we’re dawdling? We’re supposed to be looking for spheres in Zanarkand, remember?”

“Of course I do!” Nilus assured her, glancing back at Yuna and Rikku. The Summoner was on her feet again, holding the younger girl’s hand as she spoke with other people. She seemed so happy, and everyone was enthusiastic.

Rikku was bouncing around with excitement, happy for all these people to be here, and happy for all of the attention to be near her. “The concert was a big hit,” Nilus continued, “the fans will want to see her.”

“We don’t have the time to have fans,” Paine grumbled. “I get that Yuna’s a star, but she wasn’t even the Yuna who performed in that concert.”

“So?” Nilus shrugged. “This is the real Yuna we’re talking about here. Yuna could never tell anyone she wasn’t the one performing. Yuna’s just too nice to do that”

“Nice?” Paine sounded sceptical. “That isn’t nice. It’s timid.”

“Nah, if she was timid she would have shrunk away from the fans.” Nilus reasoned. “Besides, I did explain to you: Zanarkand holds a few memories she doesn’t want to face yet.”

“I understand what you’re saying,” she stated coldly. “I really do. But Yuna’s not the only person looking for spheres.”

“Don’t worry,” Nilus said, “we’ll get there. Just give Yuna some time, let her be ready to face it.”

Yuna turned walked away from the crowd after bidding them farewells. Once she was upon the bridge linking to centre and dome, she stared out over the water. It was hard imagining that, just a few days before; she had been here for a completely different reason with a completely different mindset.

She had wanted to get her garment grid back. Someone had stolen it, how, she had no idea, but she knew she wanted it back. Thanks to Rikku’s eavesdropping and Buddy’s Intel, they had narrowed down the thief’s location to Luca.

But when they had arrived, it hadn’t taken them long at all to discover just what Leblanc had decided to do with Yuna’s sphere.

---

“Looks like your imposter’s really popular,” Rikku had noted, eavesdropping on several excited tourists who were there to see a concert. A concert in which the High Summoner, Lady Yuna, would be performing! She turned round towards Paine, Nilus and…a giant moogle.

Actually, it was just a large costume. A costume of an adorable white creature with a red nose and small purple wings. Inside, Yuna was sweating profusely, for it had been a warm day.

Paine had smirked. Nilus had outright laughed. Of course, they all knew that with Yuna’s grid, as an imposter, Leblanc would be difficult to discredit, and so it would probably be best for her to remain out of sight until they got back the grid. Brother had suggested she dress in disguise, and since he was captain, his suggestion had become an order. And even if it was somewhat practical, not even Paine could deny its hilarity. “I doubt anyone would believe ours is the real Yuna.”

“Not dressed like that!” Rikku agreed with a teasing laugh.

They could all picture Yuna’s frustrated expression under her giant mask. “I didn’t ask to wear this!”

But they also knew she was enjoying it. After all, it was almost like a game, and since two years ago, running around dressed like a moogle would never have even been an option, Yuna had to admit, at least to herself, that it was good fun.

“Think of it this way,” Nilus grinned as he looked towards her, “we could always introduce this new you to Lulu and let her use you as a weapon!”

Yuna smiled at the strange yet funny thought, as did Rikku. There was, however, just one part about it that Yuna could have done without. “Whew. It’s hot…”

Paine glanced sideways at Rikku. “Shall we finish this before Yuna passes out?”

Rikku nodded, practically hopping up and down in anticipation. “We’ll be back in two shakes, so be a good moogle, you hear?” She turned and sprinted towards the stadium with Paine on her heels, the two of them leaving Yuna far behind.

“If you’re that hot,” Nilus turned to her, an evil grin spread across his face, “I know something that could cool you down.” Before Yuna could say anything, Nilus placed his hands under her mask, and a blast of blizzard magic shot through the costume, causing the Summoner to scream as the cold surprised her warm skin.

Before Yuna could say anything Nilus had sprinted away, leaving the woman walking along in what was now a partially defrosting moogle suit.

The plan had been to sneak into the imposter’s concert and recover the Garment Grid. Their cover would have been blown if Yuna had gone, so the Summoner had left it up to Paine, Nilus and Rikku.

Of course, in the past, Yuna had been part of unconventional operations that had not included sneaking around, and she would have enjoyed charging into the concert headfirst after Leblanc as much as, if not more than, any other plan they could have come up with. She had argued that point with Brother for awhile, but in the end… orders were orders.

---

Presently, the others had walked up behind Yuna, and the Rikku hopped up onto the bridge’s banister. Sitting there, she looked down at Yuna curiously.

“So when we were last here,” she said conversationally. “And we all took off, what did you do to pass the time?”

Yuna felt her face flush slightly and she shook her head. “Top secret!” She grinned, tapping the side of her nose. Naturally, that made Rikku even more curious, and she complained. But Yuna wouldn’t be persuaded to reveal anything.

Ironically, she was even more reminded of her prior activities when a little girl on the bridge behind her ran after her mother in distress. “Mummy! Mummy, my balloon!”

Turning, so that she once again faced the city instead of the sea, Yuna watched as a round balloon lifted up higher into the sky. She thought back.

---

“You!”

Yuna, who was wandering aimlessly as she waited for everyone to be in place, was startled as a vendor looked disapprovingly at her.

“Get over here!”

“Huh?” curious and eager for any distraction, Yuna found herself obeying his command.

“You’re here to promote the concert, right?” he demanded, turning back to what he was vending. Balloons. A lot of balloons. Balloons of all colours. Yuna balked as she saw them, she could only wonder what he wanted her to do.

“No,” she nevertheless shook her head. “There must be some mistake.”

He ignored her and, bluntly handed her a dozen of them. “Thanks, and, um, don’t screw up.” With that, he headed off in another direction before she could reply. So she was stuck with the job, simply because their conversation ended before it had even begun. Or maybe… maybe there really was a part of her that still just couldn’t say “No.”

So that was how she distracted herself and remained occupied while Rikku and Paine did their job. And before long, she had heard Rikku’s words through her own transmission.

“Y, R, N, P, in position. It’s showtime, girls.”

---

“That place was packed with people dancing!” Rikku exclaimed joyfully, having forgotten Yuna’s hushed mouth and now eagerly reminisced on their unseemly activities.

Yuna smiled. “You think Leblanc was enjoying herself?”

“Until she got hurt.” Paine shrugged, forgetting herself. Paine was surprised at how sometimes with her present company, everything else could seem trivial.

“Regardless, it was fun for us,” Nilus grinned, looking at his three companions, two of them remembering the atmosphere in the concert that day.

Yuna sighed, as her memories continued to play out in her mind.

---

Does she look like me much? Yuna wondered that as she approached the stadium, still in her moogle costume. But before she could get any closer, a guard had stepped in her path.

“Hold it! The concert’s sold out. You can’t go in.”

“I can’t?” Yuna frowned, thinking about the irony. She wasn’t being allowed into her own concert!

“Definitely not,” the guard stated. “Go on, get out of here.”

“Hey, we’ve got some gatecrashers!” Another guard appeared behind the first, sweating slightly – which Yuna could sympathize with – and looking utterly frustrated.

“Must be those sphere hunters,” the first guard grumbled. Suddenly they ripped off their guards uniforms, revealing underneath that they were wearing full green body suits with full facial masked helmets.

Worried, Yuna followed as stealthily as possible in a large moogle costume. She headed towards the stadium until she caught sight of herself running from it. Quickly she dashed into the side streets, avoiding the chase.

Before long, she found a secluded corner to hide in while she removed the moogle costume. From there, she had clearly heard someone approaching. As it turned out, there were many people approaching. First, Leblanc, Logos, and Ormi. Then, Rikku, Nilus and Paine.

By the time Yuna had completely shed her disguise and had readied her guns, he allies looked like they needed backup.

“Here comes the real Yuna,” the Summoner said, and started forward, firing her weapons.

---

Rikku’s pride, apparently, had most definitely been hurt. “I was just about to finish ‘em off, but then you showed up and stole all the fun!”

Nilus shook his head. “Course you were Rikku,” he grinned as she threw a pout his way.

Yuna smiled, glancing apologetically at her cousin. “I guess I was so glad to get out of that thing that I went a little nuts.”

“That explains the dancing,” Paine observed, even though they all knew that it didn’t explain anything, whatsoever.

“Dancing Yuna?” Brother’s voice immediately sounded over Rikku’s receiver. She stared down at it in disgust. “Where? I am there!”

“Listening close enough?” Rikku demanded, hopping off the banister and turning to face out to the water. “I should throw this stupid thing into the ocean!”

Yuna smiled as the Celsius flew over Luca, shadowing it briefly in its large, imposing shadow.

Meanwhile, Nilus glanced at Paine, and finally conceded to her. “We’ve been here for awhile now. We should go.”

“All right,” Yuna agreed, and together, the four of them headed away from the bridge and the stadium, making their way back towards the circular city plaza.

But as they were heading through it, for once unhindered by the multitude, a sense of déjà vu swept through Yuna, and she stopped short – though not sudden enough to catch Paine and Rikku’s immediate attention, but sudden enough to catch Nilus’. He looked back, and understood instantly, choosing to carry on walking, giving Yuna her space.

She reflected back, two years ago, when Spira was caught in its spiral and he was still here.

---

He was standing there. Right there before her. He put some fingers into his mouth and blew. And Yuna watched him in pure wonder.

“Hey, use that if we get separated. Then, I’ll come running, okay?” He had said.

‘So, this is my life now,’ Yuna reflected, ‘we travel from place to place, and the days just seem to fly by. But sometimes I find myself stopping...I’m listening for your whistle.’

---

“Yuna?”

She looked up and saw her friends looking back at her in concern. She smiled. “I’m coming!”

Yuna sped after them, and as a quartet they left Luca, on Rikku’s orders to avoid Brother as long as possible, to annoy him for eavesdropping on them all.