Tidus has always loved Yuna, ever since they were kids. But she hasn’t been the same since she came back, after being missing for a year. She’s sad all the time now, and she doesn’t offer him any kind of explanation. One day, he brings it up.

Yuna knows this has been a long time coming. She doesn’t respond to his question, and instead she just closes her eyes. That’s when the memories start.

Yuna had just become a Summoner. She was happy. Everything was perfect... until THEY showed up.

Sephiroth and Genesis, recruiting for their army. A young Summoner would make the perfect addition. Powerful, yet easily influenced.

As soon as Yuna saw them, she ran. Soon, as she realized that fate was not on her side this time, she tripped, fell to the ground, and was captured.

Somehow, she is able to stop the memories there, and Yuna brings herself back to the present. The cold, lonely present. Tidus, her best friend, has always tried to be there for her, but right now she could not possibly feel more alone. The memories start again.

A boy had come to rescue her. She imagined him having to fight his way to her, and immediately considered him to be a hero. The boy, Zack, took Yuna’s hand and they ran away together. Instead of taking her home, he cared for her and they spent every moment together. Yuna couldn’t have been happier with this arrangement.

One day, however, Zack got a call. When Yuna asked him about it, he explained that it had been from Sephiroth. Yuna didn’t understand, so he explained to her how he had been able to rescue her and why they had not been followed.

As it turned out, Zack was a part of their army, called SOLDIER. He had heard that they were keeping an uncooperative young Summoner captive, and offered his assistance. In exchange for letting him take her away, he had agreed to observe her for an extended period of time.

At first, Yuna couldn’t believe it. In time, though, she began to care less and less, happy that Zack had told her the truth. And happy that he was still with her.

Zack, on the other hand, felt horrible about what he ha agreed to do. After all, he would eventually have to give her back.

Somehow, Yuna is able to stop the memories a second time. Before they get too painful. Tidus tries to comfort her again, and she realizes something. She needs to talk about it, and he wants to listen. So she tells him. Everything from when she became a Summoner to when Zack explained their escape.

And then she tells him more, about the last time she saw Zack. He’d told her not to worry, that he was going to go break the deal. He’d slipped a ring on her finger and promised he’d be back soon. Yuna had believed him.

After speaking to Sephiroth, Zack left the SOLDIER base. On his way back to Yuna, however, he was stopped by a rather large group of soldiers. He should have suspected that this would happen. As the battle began, Zack realized that it could only end badly.

His last thoughts were of Yuna.

Yuna herself was getting tired of waiting, and beginning to worry. In her imagination, Zack the hero was fighting his way home to her. This dream was interrupted when she received a letter addressed to ‘Lady Yunalesca Fair’. Her smile quickly faded as she turned over the note.

Zack was dead. Sephiroth and Genesis were expecting her.

Yuna then realized that this must have been their plan all along. She didn’t need ‘observing’, they only wanted to build her up and tear her down, in hopes that breaking her spirit would make her more cooperative. Refusing to give in, she performed the sending for Zack, because it was the only thing she could think of to do. The news wasn’t quite real enough yet for her to mourn him.

She remembered the last time she’d seen him. He’d promised he’d be back, but... She closed her fist tightly around the ring, not willing to let go.

Yuna then ends her story, but it’s taken a lot out of her. Tidus catches her as she begins to fall. Yuna smiles because she realizes that she may finally begin to heal now. When she is able to take off her ring and set it down, she knows she’s already started,