1 – Forgotten Memories
The darkness embraced him, his curled up figure dimly illuminated by the glowing pyreflies that spiraled around him. Each held a memory that had left him—everything had left him in that endless nothingness. Silently he floated in a void between zero and infinity, seeing her face against the back of his eyelids, the image of her burned there like a permanent scar. Slowly, the pyreflies would swirl toward him then dart away teasingly, mocking his cold solitude. For reasons he could not even remember, he was alone; teetering at the brink of death with only the thinnest of lifelines to hold him back. The one memory the agonizing eternity could not drive away. Her last words:
"I love you."
He only just remembered the sweet tones of her voice, touching her soft skin, her unique eyes filled with sorrow and pain. She was on the other side of the thick fog circling his mind. She had the answers he needed to remember who he was. But he, being in the deep emptiness of death, could not summon her here. He didn't want to draw her into his own despair.
He was… alone.
Faintly, almost like the distant echo of a whisper, he heard a sound that made him lift his head. The dancing pyreflies hummed maddeningly, swirling faster, as if trying to coax him back into the blissful oblivion of death. He had never accepted it; he had fought it, and the price had been his memories. But one of them—one of the darting specks of light—was slowing, easing toward him. The small light it gave off coated his cheek in a warm glow. His eyes closed and let his head fall back, feeling the memory stir slowly within him. The noise came again; a tiny whispered sound piercing the darkness, The lone pyrefly gently touched him, melting away and merging with his memories:
"If we ever get separated, just… do this." He whistled shrilly, the sound stabbing clearly through the early morning. "Okay?"
"Okay," she smiled, nodding in agreement.
They had practiced; she could finally do it. Then… that sound was…
The whistle sliced though the matter around him, ringing in his ears as if he were standing right next to her. His eyes flew open, his body uncoiled, stretching, and feeling rushed back into his limbs. His head rolled back and he stared upward. Another pyrefly sparked across his vision—another memory:
"When this is over, I… I'll disappear. I know it's selfish, but this is my story!"
"Yuna, I have to go. I'm sorry I couldn't show you Zanarkand."
Yuna!
Her face, her beautiful eyes, flared into clear focus. He had the memory of her: the summoner on a pilgrimage to defeat that which was unbeatable—Sin. They had beaten it together, and instead of her life being sacrificed to the Final Aeon, it had been his. Because he…
"Yuna!"
He kicked, his arms pulling him eagerly forward. The pyreflies swirled wildly in the wake of his powerful ascent, many of them spiraling upward after him. Each touched a different part of his body, feeding his mind new memories as each kick toward the light above him, toward life, got stronger. Their tormented journey punctured with laughter and covered up by false hope, until…
"I love you."
"YUNA!!!"
2 – Living in a Memory
Never forget them…
Yuna slowly closed her eyes against the red glare of the sun. Zanarkand was coated in the dying hues of sunset, no longer glowing surreally with a blanket of swirling, lost memories. Only one memory remained here.
"This is my story."
She listened hard, trying to hear the forgotten echo of his voice against the mountain.
"I'll find a way, I promise."
"Tidus…" she whispered, touching the necklace sitting heavily against her chest. The diamond sparkled and the faintest wisp of a pyrefly lifted slowly from its shinning depths. The necklace, given to her by her Al-Bhed mother, had been crafted to preserve one memory. One she wished to keep always. Pressing her fingers to the glowing stone, she stood atop the rise he had once climbed and looked down at the remains of a once-great city… and remembered.
"I always thought… that this would be easier somehow."
"I didn't know what would happen to you, Yuna… I hope it didn't make you sad. Forgive me."
"I wasn't sad. I was happy."
"Let's go to Zanarkand! Not here, but the one I'm from!"
"Then we could see Blitzball. Your Zanarkand Abes would play?"
"Let's go to the sea… before the sunrise."
"I'd like to see it someday."
"Well, you can, Yuna."
"I can't go!"
She sobbed hard, feeling his eyes slide over her gently, like a soft caress. The tears continued to roll down her cheeks, hot from embarrassment because he was seeing her like this—at her weakest. She was blinded by pain and rage and helplessness, shivering uncontrollably, wishing she could stop, but she knew she couldn't. His hand slowly came to her shoulder, gripping it softly, the other lifting from the water and falling to her other shoulder.
"Yuna…"
Ashamed, she turned her eyes up to his, choking back her small breathless sobs. Their eyes met in a sudden blazing connection; she watched his crystal blue orbs sparkle with a mixture of the pyreflies dancing around them and the reflection of the low-hanging crescent moon in the water. He looked as if he were fighting with himself, trying to stop himself from crossing some invisible line either he or she had unconsciously drawn. He moved closer, dropping his lips down to hers and kissing her tenderly. Dazed, she stood rigid in his arms, feeling all the pent up emotions within her roar to life, burning away the barrier that had kept them in check for so long. Her eyes slid closed, her arms slowly coming around his waist as her wrapped an arm tightly around her shoulders, pulling her tighter against him. She felt herself falling to one side but was too caught up in a torrent of racing emotions to care. Her mind raced feverishly, thinking of what was happening, wondering if it really was happening. His weight plunged them into the cool depths of the water and they fell slowly into the depths, gently carried by a swirling current of pyreflies. Their bodies swirled in the water as well, bringing her over him, their hands interlocking as the kiss intensified, growing deeper in passion as they floated farther into the peaceful depths. Time stopped as they spun again slowly, pulling away and looking into each others eyes as their hands clasped gently, their bodies floating away from one another but their faces still close. She couldn't tear her eyes away form him—if she did, the dream would end and she didn't want it to. She wanted to stay here forever with him. They still twirled lightly as she smiled up at him and he smiled back, pulling her gently through the water and back into his arms. She let her hands fall to his shoulders as he reached up with his fingers and stroked her cheek tenderly with the back of his hand. She closed her eyes, tilting her head into his palm as one of her own hands reached up to touch his face gently. His eyes slid halfway closed, still looking at her as she caressed the tanned flesh sweetly. His eyes looked so sad, but… so at peace. She felt her eyes closing as well, her arms lifting and sliding around his neck as she lowered her mouth to his. His arms came around her, pressing against her upper back softly, tilting his face up to meet hers and they resumed the beautiful kiss. Endlessly they spun, cradled by the pyreflies, caressed by the water, holding the kiss as she slipped into a blissful eternity, becoming lost in his arms.
"I'll continue. I must."
"I'll go with you."
"Stay with me… until the end… Please?"
"Not until the end. Always."
"Always."
His crystal blue eyes shimmered. She wanted to touch him again, to see if it had been more than just a dream. His eyes assured her that it had been real.
3 – Memory Recall
He broke the top water, gasping and filling his lungs with cold night air. Slowly he sank back beneath the glassy surface, his eyes closing as he savored every sensation—the water caressing his body; the burning sensation in his legs from swimming to long and too far; the air gathered into his lungs and pushing into his body, trying to escape so he could gather another breath. Tidus rose into the night, opening his eyes and looking around, taking in his surroundings and trying to remember where this was. Above him rose a slight incline and to his right, the base of a grand mountain. To his left and far out behind him were the deserted ruins of a large city. Weapons were strewn—no, placed—across the barren land; declarations of others who had come here in passing… or marking the end of their journey. Yuna…
Lifting himself from the water, Tidus shook himself off and walked over to the small hill on his left. He reached out and slipped his fingers around the wrapped handle of the blue water-like blade. The Brotherhood. He had protected Yuna with this sword, used it to defeat the creatures that threatened her life. His eyes skimmed over the blue and gold Rod of Wisdom, and a wave of longing hit him. He had to see her. But he needed to know where he was first, and try to work out some way to find her. Spira was enormous—he remembered that much. Looking around again, he spotted a small rise off to one side and overlooking the small lake he had come out of. Climbing to the top, he looked out over the ruined city.
"This is my story."
Zanarkand. It was Zanarkand—the end of Yuna's journey as a summoner, where she defeated Sin. And this is where he had made his choice.
Something small and bright glittered across his vision, bringing him back to the present. Another memory, not his, but pertaining to him.
"A memory of… me?" he whispered, reaching up and touching the fading pyrefly.
The kiss had been wonderful, and in all truth, surprising. He had wanted to taste her lips for so long, to feel them against his own, to ward off the loneliness of being lost all of the time. He had found out her secret—the one nobody had the strength to tell him. He didn't want her to die, and suddenly, a life without her seemed impossible to live. He had held her close, watched her cry as his own sorrow boiled up inside of him. He wanted her to live so he could stay with her and have her beside him, always. He had to think of a way to save her, but first he had to tell her how he felt.
Her beautiful eyes, one blue and one green, stared up into his face, reflecting one question: why? And for once he had no answer. He searched his mind feverishly for one, at least to bring her some comfort. She looked so scared, tired, and alone.
'If we have to be tired and scared, let's not do it alone…'
He kissed her slowly, ready for the slap or scream of revulsion when it came. He knew he wasn't supposed to be doing this, but right now, he ceased to care. He wanted to have her to himself for whatever small time either of them had left.
After a moment that seemed like forever, her arms came around him, clinging to him softly as her eyes slid closed. Her tongue slipped against his and now she was returning the kiss, her arms tightening around him. He became filled with this emotion; this overwhelming need for her. They fell sideways into the water, spiraling with the pyreflies, dancing beneath the reflection of the crescent moon on the water. When they pulled away she smiled, and it was one he had never seen her give before—a truly happy smile. Her fingers found his cheek and made his entire body ache with longing when she touched him tenderly. Time was lost and reality had been forgotten.
Tidus shivered with the remnant feelings of longing, opening his eyes slowly. How could he have forgotten that? The one instant in which everything was… beautiful.
With a weak sigh, he slung the water-forged steel blade over his armored shoulder, looking up at the steep face of the mountain before him. He saw a path faintly winding its way up the side and disappearing over a slight overhang. He placed one foot on the start (end, he corrected himself) of the path and then the other, starting up slowly, carefully. His eyes scaled up the side again, something stirring faintly at the back of his mind.
"Kihmari… the Ronso…" he could almost recall it. Something was there, at the edge of his thoughts, just out of reach. "Mount Gagazet." He nodded and hurried up the trail.
4 – Dreaming of a Memory
"I'm sorry, Yuna, but I have to go."
No, she thought wildly. No… not now. You can't leave me now!
"I'm sorry I couldn't show you Zanarkand."
Tidus! No, don't! You can't—!
But he was. He moved away from her, shrunk away, rubbing his hands against his sides unconsciously, as if trying to rub off the fading tones of his tanned arms and gloved hands. He moved toward the middle of the deck, where they had battled Sin's armor just hours ago. Hours? The time had stretched out like days. He stood in the center of the brightly-painted Al-Bhed symbol and let his head tilt up to the dark sky, Sin towering before him like an obscene beacon, summoning him to his death. She let her eyes feast on his smooth, perfect face, the handsome and boyish features illuminated in a sickly orange-gold light. A stray glint of light sparkled on his cheek and with dismay she realized he was crying.
"Yuna!"
She wasn't aware of who had called to her. She didn't even realize her feet were carrying her toward him, stumbling forward with a choked gasp as she lunged for him. She saw him turn, his cobalt eyes landing on her and looking immensely sad and hopeful, his arms reaching out toward her. Her fingers touched him and then she hit the metal deck with a cold, hard thud. She didn't want to know—she refused to acknowledge—what happened. Why she was down here and he still stood there, arms half-outstretched as if meaning to catch her and hold her tight to him? Why why why why?! She ached to feel him, but now she couldn't look back. If she did, she would lose her will at the sight of him fading away, leaving her alone. She slowly picked herself up and stared up at the ugly, deformed face of Sin, and could not see Jecht in there. Why is this happening…?
She pulled in a slow breath, wanting to say something; finally meaning to tell him what she couldn't that night… that perfect night. What she had felt since she had first laid eyes on him; the truth. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes momentarily, then opened them and looked up at the starless sky.
"I love you."
"TIDUS!!!" she shrieked, bolting upright. The chocobo reared and "queh"-ed angrily, and Wakka leaned out of the window of the carriage and shook his fist at the driver sitting up front.
"Hey! Control your chocobo, buddy!" She heard a murmured apology and Wakka pulled himself back inside. "Boneheaded drivers."
"Rikku did suggest using the snow machine earlier," Lulu told him calmly from beside her, already stroking her thin fingers soothingly through Yuna's tumble of sweaty hair.
"Machina… bah!" he huffed, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. He looked at Yuna with his large, soft eyes. "Had yourself a scare there, ya?"
"Yes, I'm sorry," she bowed her head. Lulu slipped her fingers beneath her chin and tilted Yuna's face back up gently.
"No need to apologize for a bad dream," she assured. Yuna relaxed slightly and gave a small nod. Good, she thought to herself, they didn't hear what it was I—
"So, ah, dreaming about… you know, him, again?" Wakka asked. Yuna felt her face go incredibly hot and she tensed abruptly.
"W-why do you ask?" she stammered softly.
"You've been having dreams like it ever since… you know…"
"Ever since Tidus disappeared," Lulu finished what Wakka could not.
"But I…" Yuna tried, knowing it was hopeless.
"It's alright," the older woman assured.
"Where are we?" Yuna abruptly tried changing the subject. Her guardians politely let it drop.
"We just left Mount Gagazet and entering the Calm Lands now," Wakka informed, looking out the window again. Lulu kept her eyes out the opposite window, and Yuna had the feeling they wanted to leave her to her memories. Grateful to her friends, she closed her eyes and saw him again, felt him beside her. They laughed together loudly. Louder than normal—proving to the world they weren't afraid. Laughing, practically shouting. And that's when he had taught her…
"Excuse me," she gently touched Wakka's shoulder. He slid over obediently, giving her an odd glance then turning it to Lulu, who she could almost see giving a shrug in her mind's eye. Their eyes watched her, but she didn't care; she had been thinking about Tidus teaching her to whistle when ever they became separated. But when she had seen him lift his fingers to his mouth in her memories, a shrill echo fell down the valley and chased the chocobo-drawn carriage into the start of the Calm Lands. She leaned out the window, looking back at the receding mountain; she could see the peak of it. The wind carried only the faintest of sounds down to her. A whistle… was it really?
She placed her thumb and forefinger in between her lips, leaning far out the window and blowing a whistle shrilly from between her pinched fingers. The chocobo "wark"-ed in agitation, quickening its pace and she watched the tip of the mountain fall back in dismay. She leaned even further out of the window, listening for the sound but it was gone. Had it been there in the first place…?
Yuna dropped dejectedly back inside the carriage, sighing weakly and closing her eyes against the stares of her concerned friends. Wakka and Lulu exchanged glances, their eyebrows raised, but said nothing.
She was very thankful for that.
5 - Following a Memory
He exited the cave, wiping the dark purple blood of the King Behemoth off one cheek. His arms ached from wielding his sword for the past few hours. After several wrong and almost-fatal turns, Tidus had found his way to the peak of Mount Gagazet. The walls that had once glowed ether-real in the grand summoning of the memory of Zanarkand now lay stone dead. The bodies of the ghosts that had once summoned him lay twisted and frozen in their eternal sleep, but still he could feel their call-he could feel them reaching out to grab him and tear him to shreds; tear him out of existence. Their moans from long ago pierced his ears, crying at him to return back the way he had come, leave this world, trapped in the eternal spiral of death.
"Yuna stopped it," he gasped, shaking his head and descending shakily into the valley. "Yuna stopped that spiral; it doesn't exist anymore." And still they told him that it did exist. It lay dormant inside the hearts of the people, both in fear and in truth. Everything, no matter how smart, or strong, or wealthy, passed into the next world. The Farplane awaited everyone, young and old. Shaking his head vehemently, Tidus scurried past the fallen rocks and petrified wall-scapes, past the creepy glowing pool that had once carried his memory. He was no longer a memory, he was real. But even so, the pool gave an un-natural hum as he ran past.
Tidus emerged onto the snow-covered Gagazet trail. A chilled wind struck him, making him shiver briskly, goose bumps rising on his arms. He quickly rubbed his gloved hands against his upper arms, stomping his boots against the loosely-packed snow and looking around quickly. He noticed the shallow markings of someone's footsteps faintly outlined in the snow drifts and knelt to inspect them, ignoring the cold he had been feeling all of two seconds before. Three sets. One slightly covered by the other two-someone had been walking slightly ahead. Someone important? Judging by the size of the prints, one had been male, the other two presumably female. Yuna…?
Far down below, there was an echoed scream. Then an unfamiliar bird cry. Queh? He looked through the swirling winds and snow, seeing a carriage drawn by a large yellow shape (too far down to distinguish; the bird?). He watched it go, an odd feeling stirring inside his chest. He suddenly realized that if Yuna had been here just minutes ago, she would most likely be on that carriage. The feeling in his chest exploded outward in a whooping cry, Tidus jumping high into the air and thrusting his arm up victoriously. He landed on his feet and broke into a clumsy run, bringing his fingers into his mouth.
He whistled. "YUNA!! YUNA I'M BACK!! HEY!!" He whistled again. "TURN BACK!! IT'S ME, TIDUS!! HEEEEEEY!!!" Another shrill whistle. "YUNA!!!"
And then there was an answering sound. He barely heard it because of the distance and the howling wind, but he heard it. He was absolutely sure, it had been-
"YUNA!! YUNAAAAAA!!!" he whistled again and again. The cart rounded the path and was gone. Unfazed, Tidus gripped the handle of the Brotherhood tightly in his right hand, keeping his left up to his lips. He gave one last long, shrill whistle, then bulldozed down the path after the footprints-after Yuna.
"Father…" Yuna looked up into the stone face of High Summoner Lord Braska, "I know you said I should make my own path. But for the first time in my life, I don't know which way to turn." Her clasped hands dropped from beneath her chin and released each other, her arms falling helplessly at her sides. "He will always be a part of me, forever. But… should I continue to hope one day he'll reappear, or should I move on?"
Tidus stumbled out of his run, falling forward onto his hands and knees, eyes wide and chest heaving. But not only because he was running. It was happening again-the shortness of breath, the feeling that the only thing left for you was death. Vision narrowing into a tiny hallway lined on all sides by darkness. He had this feeling once before-when he left her. His hands had already started to fade in the whiteness of the snow. He lifted his head with an effort, his strong muscles quivering and fading into nothing more than a soft illusion.
"Yuna…" he gasped. "Yuna, don't give up on me.. please…"
The face stared back impassively, but Yuna still took comfort in it. She bowed her head, her soft voice echoing in the crumbling walls of the Remien Temple. "I don't want to lose hope. Not again. I will wait for him." Her face tilted up to that of her father's.
Slowly, shakily, he got to his feet. One of his hands was clutched reflexively against his chest, feeling the rapid thrumming of his heart beneath trembling fingers. Color flushed back into his face; his knees cried out in protest as the sharp, ice cold rocks he knelt on cut into his skin. Blood stained the soft white blanket around him-the sweet pain of life returned to him as he returned to Spira's reality.
"Yuna…" he sobbed weakly, stumbling wearily to his feet. "Yuna, I'll get there.. wait for me."
"This is real. This emotion I hold for him; it is as real as the love you and Mother held for one another. I love him, father, so how can he just be a dream?" She thought of his brilliant blond hair, thick and fine, kicking out in the sunlight as he laughed. She laughed as well, not realizing she had actually done so aloud, and the estranged noise slammed against the walls of the temple. She shook her head, closing her eyes and seeing his own cobalt blue orbs, his smile filling her with warmth and emotion and happiness. "Tidus…"
He looked down the half-dirt, half-rock path leading down the side of the mountain and into the valley which led to the Calm Lands. Tilting his face up to the sun, he let out a weak sigh, closing his eyes and seeing her there, outlined by the brilliant sun overhead. She smiled, and Tidus felt his own lips curl into a smile of his own. He let his eyes fall open slowly. "Yuna…"
6 – Dismissing Memories
"Yoo-hoo!"
"Hey, look! It's Rikku!" Wakka sat up quickly. Lulu looked up from her hands, her eyes staring off into the distance for a moment. Then she lifted one hand in a greeting, glancing over the blond haired girl's shoulder.
"Isn't that Kihmari with her?"
"It is!" Wakka leapt to his feet and ran to their friends. "Hey guys!"
"Hiya!" Rikku hopped on the tips of her toes excitedly, waving one arm energetically over her head. Kihmari nodded, his arms crossing stiffly over his broad chest as they met and came to a stop.
"What are you doing way out here? This is way out of the way from Home, ya?" Wakka smiled at his younger friend.
"I was on the Salvage Ship," she turned and nodded at the Ronso behind her, "and Kihmari came and got me. He said we needed to come find you guys."
"What is it, Kihmari?" Lulu stood and joined the three standing out in the sun. The large half-breed creature unfolded his arms and pulled something out of the small pouch on his belt. Lulu held out her hand as Kihmari extended his own and dropped a small silver object onto her palm. She shifted it out of the glare of the sun, then gasped softly.
"What?" Wakka leaned down with Rikku as they both studied the object reflecting in her outstretched hand. Then he blinked and shook his head, rearing back in surprise. "No way, ya… If this is here, then that means…"
"That means he's here too," Rikku finished. Lulu shook her head abruptly and dropped the small earring into the dirt.
"No, that's impossible," she stated softly. "We saw him disappear."
"But Lulu! Where did that come from?" Wakka demanded. "He's the only one who wore that symbol!"
"It doesn't matter. It probably fell off before he…jumped."
"Then how come Kihmari found it now, ya?"
"Yeah, why now? Certainly Kihmari would have found something like this a while ago if it was there to find!" Rikku jabbed a thumb back at the Ronso, who had been standing there silently since he arrived.
"A gust of wind hid it in a snow drift, then uncovered it again for Kihmari to find," Lulu dismissed it, turning back to the shelter.
"Listen to you!" Wakka tried to grab her arm, but then Kihmari moved. He took three steps and towered into the black mage's path. She stopped and lifted her eyes to his scarred face. He looked down at her, not threateningly but carefully, as if trying to pick the right thing to tell her from her confused and pale face. His fanged mouth fumbled clumsily over his words, but he managed to grunt a single thing:
"Blood."
Yuna saw the figures that had joined Wakka and Lulu, and broke into an eager run. At the sound of her cries they all turned to her, Rikku quickly bending and scooping something up from the ground and holding both hands behind her.
"Yunie!" she hopped on the tips of her toes.
"Rikku! Kihmari!" she laughed, stopping before them and panting softly. Kihmari reached out gently and flipped Yuna's hair up over her eyes. She smiled up at him happily, her hand tucking her hair back behind her ears self-consciously.
"Kihmari see Yuna. Kihmari happy," he grunted in his animalistic voice. Yuna beamed up at him like a little girl, unafraid of something so much larger than herself; she took one of his clawed hands in both of hers and squeezed it gently.
"I'm happy to see you too. What's this surprise visit about? How come we didn't meet on Gagazet?"
"He was with me," Rikku picked up. "We both wanted to see you again, and Kihmari mentioned that you had traveled to Zanarkand again. Why?"
"Just to see how it's changed," Yuna shrugged, her unique eyes growing distant. Lulu, again, started heading for the shelter.
"Perhaps we should talk more in the shade before one of us drops from a heat stroke."
Wakka nodded and they all followed Lulu into the shade. Rikku abruptly stopped and held Yuna back by the arm.
"Yunie…"
"What is it?" she turned to the younger girl. Rikku looked around uneasily, then turned Yuna's hand palm up and dropped something small and shiny into it. Then her slightly shaking fingers enclosed her own around the object and pushed the fist up to Yuna's chest. Rikku placed both of her own hands momentarily against Yuna's.
"Go, Yuna. Back to the place your heart desires. Go back to the place where everything was right—go back to him."
With her quick words, Rikku darted off after the others, not looking back at her cousin. Yuna blinked then opened the hand slowly, gazing down and feeling her eyes widen. She whirled back to call after Rikku, but saw the girl was gesturing at the others wildly, pointing in the direction of the Chamber of Stolen Fayth. She was giving her a chance to go on alone. Yuna clenched the earring tight in her fingers, turning to the exit of the Calm Lands and taking off in a full run.
Tidus! I'll wait for you! I promise I'll wait for you! TIDUS!!!
"TIDUS!!!" she echoed her racing thoughts, turning onto the dirt road that many summoners before her had traveled. Only now, she was going back. She was returning to a memory.
7 – Fighting a Memory
He reached the entrance to the Temple of the Stolen Fayth. Distant howls echoed up from the dark as he found himself descending into the chilled cave entrance. His knuckles were white against the black handle of his Brotherhood. The Chamber of the Stolen Fayth—where Lulu had lost her first summoner. They had successfully navigated the labyrinth and came out at the end, only to pay for the services of a renegade Aeon: Yojimbo—the mercenary. Tidus recalled this all as his footsteps echoed dimly in the blackness inside the temple. All around him were the sounds of claws scratching, low, hissed breathing, and growls. So many growls from the unseen. His eyes darted around quickly, looking for whatever was making the noises. Jagged rocks threw shadows onto the cave walls, making them appear to be lunging monsters to the nervous eye. He stopped in the center of the main chamber, dropped the tip of his sword to the sand, and closed his eyes, tilting his head back. He pulled in a slow, deep breath, then exhaled loudly. He did it again, willing himself to be calm, forcing himself to picture her beautiful face; it had glowed surreally in the light of the cave, not once giving away to the terror he knew she must have felt underneath. She was brave. Now it was his turn to be.
"In here! In here!" Rikku motioned, stopping in front of the entrance.
"This is a rather strange place for Yuna to come to alone," Lulu sounded skeptical.
"I saw her! She took the Nirvana and ran down here! I saw her!"
"But why would Yuna come alone? She knows how dangerous it is, ya?" Wakka crossed his arms, his tanned, round face looking doubtful. Rikku saw the disinterest lurking in their eyes and thought desperately. Then she looked down and froze. They all followed her gaze, then their eyes simultaneously traced the path of the footsteps into the dark cave entrance. Wordlessly, they marched into the cave, Rikku the last to go.
Talk about irony. We're going to give a scare to whatever poor guy wandered his way down here…
Yuna kept her eyes to the street. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. People noticed her, even with the change of clothes and hairstyle. She had stopped just out of the Calm Lands, where their carriage had been parked, waiting for them so they could continue their long journey back to Luca. She had opened her trunk, changed quietly out of her summoner's robes, then pulled her lengthening hair back into a ponytail and was off again. Her crowd clothes, Wakka liked to call them, so when she was among the people, she wouldn't pick up a crowd, and it worked for the most part. People still looked at her strangely—especially at the rod clasped into the belt strapped across her chest. Still, she moved quickly and with purpose, refusing to lift her eyes to the huge temple in the center of the city.
Bevelle, home of the Grand Maester and of the Cloister of Trials for the mighty Aeon, Bahamut.
There was so much to remember here. Her confrontation with Maester Mica. The trial. The test to obtain the mighty Dragon King. And the wedding….
Tidus heard their voices first. His eyes opened and he lowered them to the end of the entrance tunnel, looking to see who it was that was coming. Then he heard the footsteps. Three people, at least…no, four. His sword came up as a reflex, just as the first figure entered the chamber. Three other shadows joined it, and they clustered together, seeming to look around. One of them suddenly gasped, another was pointing at him, and then someone was shouting something. He couldn't decipher it because there was suddenly a large ball of red-hot flames searing toward his face.
"What I wanna know," Wakka pulled a spider's web off of his face in disgust, "is why she came down here all on her lonesome?"
"Maybe she came to pray?" Rikku mumbled lamely.
"To what fayth?" Lulu shook her head, reaching the main chamber and looking as if for a sign pointing in the direction Yuna had gone. But Rikku didn't have to worry about that, because there was Tidus standing in the middle of the chamber.
"WHA—?!" Wakka threw his hands to his head disbelievingly. Kihmari and Rikku looked at one another, and the Ronso nodded solemnly. The young Al-Bhed nodded back, slipping her hand into the small pouch on her belt.
"A fiend! Get back!" Lulu took a few bold steps forward and flung out her hand.
"No!" Rikku cried, lunging forward to try and stop her. The Flare spell ripped out of the older woman's fingers, screeching through the thick air toward a startled-looking young man. Rikku darted off to one side, keeping her eyes on Lulu, her hand coming out of her belt and lifting into the air.
He lifted the sword and lined his hands against it, praying the block would work. The Flare attack struck the water-crafted metal, and he could hear the blade sizzling. Then it cancelled out the magic spell.
"How did he do that?" Lulu demanded, turning to Wakka. The man looked half-confused, half-overjoyed. Tidus knew he probably wore a similar look.
"Guys, it's me!" he dropped the blade of the Brotherhood. "It's me, Tidus!"
Mistake. Lulu waved her hand again and a large hot tendril of lightning gathered above his head, and in a split second it drove down, piercing every muscle in his body. Tidus stumbled back crying out in pain and surprise, his vision blinded white by the attack, his entire body humming with the current of power that had forked into his body. He uttered some sort of curse, he was unaware that his mouth even moved. Blinking several times, he still couldn't get the white light to leave his eyes, and now someone was tugging on his arm.
"Tidus!" His memory flashed again: it was Rikku, his Al-Bhed friend. "Come on, you have to move before the Flash Bomb dies!"
Dies. "R-Rikku?"
"Yes! Yuna's waiting for you! She's at the place she always wanted to return. You'll find her there; go!"
"Wanted to return…?" he was still feeling the after-affects of the Thundaga spell. He lifted one hand to his face and shook his head slowly, as if trying to wake up from a bad dream.
"The place where everything was right, for once. Run!"
He wasn't quite sure what she had meant, but he already saw the bright light fading from the temple walls. Al-Bhed Flash Bomb… he remembered, and stumbled past the kneeling Lulu and staggering Wakka. Tidus passed Kihmari, the Ronso, a little into the tunnel, and the horned creature gave him a serious glare.
"Find Yuna. She waits."
Tidus stumbled out of the cave and into the night. Night? It had been that long…?
"Yuna, where are you?"
8 – Unwanted Memories
His hands were so cold. Sharp and cold, no tenderness in those fingers. They clamped around her thin wrist like an iron vice, dragging her up the red-carpeted marble and to the altar. A furious wind picked up in the wake of the huge metal propellers of the airship, tossing about hats and flowers, her veil lifting off her head and drifting away like a spirit being sent to the Farplane. The ground trembled as anchors of steel bit into the concrete, holding the airship in place as figures began to slide down the thick wire cables that connected it to the platform. He was in the lead, his blond hair flowing like a sheet of sun-glazed honey, his eyes fixed on her, even as he launched himself from the steel cable he had been on and flipped over another, as skillful and nimble as the best professional Blitzball player. That was the instant she realized that she loved him.
Tidus…
Even if it hadn't been their wedding (as Tidus had secretly dreamed many times afterward) she was still beautiful. Her hair done up in an elegant knot, the shorter strands framing the sides of her face. He longed to brush them away from her exquisite eyes; his fingers ached to stroke her blushing cheek. The dress caressed her body like an elegant lover—the way he wished to caress her. The soft folds accented the slant of her waist and curve of her hips, clinging against her as he wished to. But when he saw her walking up the red carpet slowly, deliberately, he hated everything she wore and how she looked. She was to become the wife of some crazy, murdering half-man, and he was also, not to forget, dead to top it off.
He had held her there, trapped on top of the altar with him by a hundred glaring eyes. She had to do it, it was now or ne—
"Outta my way! YUNA!!"
She turned, her heart leaping into her throat. She wanted to call back to him, but Seymore's glare was piercing into her, freezing her in place. She knew this was magic, and she felt powerless against his skill. Still, her eyes watched him fight his way, enemy by enemy, to the base of the steps with all of her friends. They were stopped all of a sudden by Maester Kinoc and dozens of other armed soldiers. She stared into his eyes to look for the hint of defeat, to know it was hopeless. There was no trace of it.
"Let her go now, Seymore!"
She looked placid; calm and serene, as if there was nothing wrong with this whole picture. He wanted her to come running down the steps, red-cheeked and breathless, and they would escape this nightmare together. She did nothing but stand unmoving at the Guado's side. A disturbing thought ripped through Tidus: Had the ceremony been performed already?!
Then she moved; like a white panther, she stalked around before him, her rod out in both hands. Her eyes raged with thousands of untold emotions, glaring at the other man hatefully—he had never seen such a look on Yuna's delicate features before, but there is was, burning like fire. He spoke to her, words Tidus couldn't hear from his distance, and his ice blue eyes skipped over her shoulder and ensnared Tidus' gaze.
Yuna stood her ground, unbelieving. The rod still held between them like a shield. Seymore smiled cruelly and his eyes moved down the steps to look at the other. Her heart stopped dead and she shook her head slowly.
"You wouldn't…"
She heard the click of at least a hundred guns and her nerve wavered.
"Choose, Lady Yuna. Me… or your friends."
"Don't listen to him Yuna!" she heard him scream, and her eyes squeezed shut tightly.
"Yuna! Send him now!" Another gruff voice ordered from the steps below. She shook her head, the rod slipping from her fingers and clattering loudly onto the marble steps.
He watched her rod tumble down the steps, landing with a hollow clink at his feet. Something deep in his chest rebelled at the final descent of her rod, and he pushed through the rows of gunners, his eyes fixed on Seymore's. Another three guns pressed their hot barrels against his neck and Tidus reared his head back, his eyes falling on Yuna. She looked defeated, completely devoid of the life he cherished in her. Seymore, as if their broken eye contact had triggered something, turned back to Yuna and grabbed her arms with his clawed hands. Her eyes turned up to his face, searching the emotionless features for some kind of sign that this wasn't really happening. Tidus watched, his eyes narrowing as the distance between their faces closed, feeling his muscles tighten and his upper lip curl back in a feral snarl.
Yuna's lips touched his and the first thing she thought was: cold. His tongue slid intrusively past her resisting lips, filling her entire mouth with the coldness of death and finality. Her back arched stiffly, and if she had been a cat, she was certain that every single inch of her fur would be bristling on its end. She felt her hands tighten into fists at her sides. Her thoughts raced desperately as the kiss stretched on, the noise of the world left behind in the mad rushing that was filling her mind, her eyes, her emotions.
They pulled away after an agonizing moment locked in eternity. Tidus knew his anger was prominent on his face; he felt it rolling off of his entire body in waves. His fists clenched exactly as hers did, the rushing sound she had experienced shooting through all of him as well. The hatred for Seymore intensified until it was a glowing ball of white-hot need to kill him. Kill him and set Yuna free—the beautiful white angel that this insane pilgrimage had caged. And then he saw her move. She backed away from Maester Seymore slowly, carefully, stepping back to the edge of the pulpit; Seymore had been addressing them, although Tidus had been unaware of it—he hadn't seen her move.
"Seymore!" she shouted with all of her mustered courage. They all turned to her, although the one who's attention she truly wanted had been staring at her the entire time. She took another deliberate step back to the edge, feeling the void behind her, the wind reaching up from the city and skimming sharply up her back, making her sway slightly. Her eyes locked with his cobalt blue orbs, and he stared back in concern. She felt her feelings for him stir behind the wall she had always contained them with. How she wanted to tear down that wall… but she wasn't allowed.
"Think about what you're doing," someone off to one side talked to her in a smooth voice. The voice of a liar—Seymore. He was close. She had to move now.
Her arm came to her lips, and in a defiant motion, wiped her mouth. Then she turned her eyes back to his.
"I'll meet you in the temple."
"No! We're going together!" he cried, but his voice sounded small and pleading. She lifted her chin proudly, then gave a soft smile.
"Don't worry about me. I have wings."
He watched. She slowly closed her beautiful eyes—one bright blue, the other a crystal green. Then she teetered on her heels, and fell over the side. Tidus shoved past the guards and threw himself onto the edge.
"YUNAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
She had her eyes closed; he could see her lips moving rapidly, her arms crossed over her chest, her hands resting on opposite shoulders. A ring of light encircled her, swirling rapidly, glowing harshly, shining outward to the sky above where something shrieked dimly. He tore his eyes away from her, plunging helplessly to the earth, and saw a figure plummet from the clouds. It rushed past her in a swirl of light and air, then Valefore opened his huge leathery wings and caught Yuna from below. She landed gently, and lay there as a sleeping child, cradled safely by the non-elemental Aeon. After a moment, she turned her eyes up to him and then she was lost behind a bank of shadows. Tidus felt the others next to him, and stood up, turning back to Seymore and his guards.
"Kill them."
Guns instantly came up, clicking almost in unison as they locked onto their party. Rikku, faster than any, quickly leapt forward and hurled a small black ball onto the ground. The air around them filled with brilliant white light and someone was grabbing his hand, pulling him forward.
"What was that?!"
"An Al-Bhed Flash Bomb!"
"Wait!" They were leaving her behind. He turned back halfway down the steps, and another, stronger, hand was gripping his arm.
"Yuna said to meet her, and that's what we're doing!" It was Auron. Still, Tidus resisted as they regrouped at the bottom of the steps.
"Yuna! YUNA!!"
9 - Searching for a Memory
Yuna's eyes skimmed over the towering branches and twisting paths leading deep into the crystalline forest of Macalania. Around her, a thousand different sounds of the night bounced back and forth between shadows. Something off to her right rustled the underbrush by the path. Overhead on her left, bright eyes glittered hungrily. On the almost-invisible path before her, something growled. Yuna unclipped the Nirvana from its catch on her back and started forward, her fingers clenched tightly around her weapon. Out from the brush leapt an Iguion. From the treetops descended a Xiphos. A little ahead on the path, a Chimera stalked into view. Surrounded, outnumbered, Yuna turned around to escape on a different route. Both a Wasp and a Blue Element lowered themselves to block her escape. Yuna backed slowly into the center of a vicious ring, her palms slick against the blue metal of her weapon. She closed her eyes momentarily.
I won't give up. I have to meet him!
All five creatures lunged at her. She crouched, pulled back her rod, and swung it hard at the two directly in front of her.
He thought hard as he walked. To the place where everything once made sense. As far as he could recall, no place in Spira had ever made sense to the blond Blitzer. He was a ghost from a thousand years in the past; he didn't know the lay of the land, how far it was to anywhere from his current location, or what the hell Rikku had been talking about.
She's at the place she always wanted to return.
Home? For her, wasn't that… Besaid Island? He had to go all the way back there? He didn't quite remember what was from here to there, but he knew it was incredibly far-especially on foot.
"Yuna…" he whispered, dropping to his knees. It was late at night and the road had been abandoned for hours already. It was hopeless-he was lost. "I don't know where to go." His hands fell to the dirt as well, his tangle of sweat-soaked hair falling down across his vision, the salty beads slipping into his eyes and making him close them to slits against the sting. He had been walking, running, from Gagazet, into the Calm Lands, through Bevelle (he remembered the name of the city because of a very unpleasant memory), and now to…wherever he was. He didn't even know. The path was slowly being consumed by thick tree roots, the path widening to allow at least three people to walk side by side into the upcoming forest. He could see the tops of the crystal-tinted trees peaking from a valley stretched out below him. Dimly, he felt recognition stir in him. He knew this place-it was important to him. Further back in the thicket of trees, Tidus saw the faint swirl of pyreflies rising out from between the thick canopy. His thoughts spiraled just as quickly; twisting upward into a central point, then firing upward to a pinpoint of light. The brightness stayed for a moment, then faded slowly.
Distantly, something screamed in pain. Tidus' mind raced faster, his thoughts swirling madly through his head as he got to one knee, then stumbled slowly to his feet. He had been here before. But why? What was the feeling nagging at him? How did he know this place?
Another flare of light, this time orange-red, sliced through the night air and painted the sky just above the trees. Tidus was unaware his feet had started to propel him forward. He ran hard, his eyes fixed on that dying spot of light. He wanted to be there-someone had caused it. And if his thoughts were somewhat accurate, then it was most likely…
"Yuna!" he gasped. The memory slammed back into him: the lake, the cold night, the kiss-oh the kiss! "Yuna, I'll be right there! Hang on!"
She whirled on the Iguion and Murussu as they lunged, lethal intent twisting on their features. Her rod shot up again, issuing another Ultima spell from its golden tip. They fell away from her, howling unearthly as their bodies phased into a hundred swirling pyreflies and ascended into the night. She breathed roughly, her hair coming loose from its tie as she whirled to the last fiend. The Chimera lunged forward, her death reflected in each of its small, beady eyes. One claw was raised in attack position, ready to slice her into halves. Yuna stood ready for the attack, rearing back and drawing the rod up into the air.
"Holy!"
Tidus stopped, his eyes darting to each individual road, confused. Which way?!
A light shot up into the sky from the trees off to one side, the forest lighting up like day. He recoiled from it, turning quickly to see the body of a huge animal caught in the pillar of light and roaring as it was flung upward, then watched it explode in a shower of sparkles and pyreflies. Tidus dropped his arm as the light faded, straightening.
"Yuna."
He ran toward the trees it had issued from.
She panted, wiping thick blue blood from her cheek with two fingers, then straightening and looking around. The forest around her was dead silent. Smirking slightly, Yuna tossed her slightly damp hair and strode off into the woods, rod in hand. She cut down the paths, knowing exactly which ones to take, turning where she was supposed to, her heart thumping faster and faster as she came closer.
It's right around here…
The Iguion squealed in pain and died before him, the pyreflies emitting from its body swirling into the night sky slowly. Tidus dropped the tip of his sword to the dirt, his arm coming up to wipe the sweat from his brow. He sighed dejectedly.
"I'll never be able to find her in this pla-" He knelt. His gloved fingers touched the ground, tracing the soft inner curve of a woman's footprint. She had been limping at first, or was carrying something heavy, then straightened up as she progressed into the trees. His eyes followed the trail of faded prints, and he was unaware of when he got up and started to follow them with his own feet. But suddenly he was running, harder and faster than he ever had before; he was flying. His heart screamed in his chest, both overjoyed and a little uncertain. He was finally going to be able to see her.
She looked around, blinking her eyes rapidly as tears threatened to overtake her. Slowly, her rod lowered to the ground as she took a few shaky steps into the cool water. It curled around her flesh, thick and gentle, just as she remembered. Her eyes rose to the majestic tree before her, studying every knot and splinter and branch that had been there for almost a year now. Almost a year…
"Tidus, where are you?" she whispered softly.
He froze, almost afraid to take the next few steps into the clearing. She was here, just beyond these trees, waiting. He swallowed hard, his ears straining to hear the soft notes of her voice. Yuna was singing.
"Yuna…" he murmured, letting his sword fall to the dirt like a forgotten memory. Only she mattered, and nothing else. Everything was irrelevant-his harsh, panting breaths, the sweat making his shirt cling to his back and rolling into his eyes, the weariness that had been threatening to overtake him since Bevelle. "Oh, Yuna…"
10 - Memory
"Never thought that I would wind up by myself…" she looked up from her study of the grand tree to the crescent moon overhead. Just like back then… "But here I am, finding myself so lost. Everyday is a way for me to turn back…"
"All of the things I see," Yuna… "They're different from what I had imagined they would be." Keep singing. I want to hear you. "Everything is different; It's real emotion, and I'll never give it up." I want to listen to you forever. "I don't ever want to lose; I've come this far. And in my heart I can hear you say…that I am not alone." No, you're not alone. I'm here now, Yuna.
"Never got to look back; I'm already here," she called up softly at the deep blue sky, "because you gave me faith. I'm on my own now." She shook her head slowly at these words, a small smile curving one corner of her mouth. "If anything happens unexpectedly, I know you are there to come and save me."
"What do I do now?" Come to me. "What can I do now?" Let me take your pains away. "For all the truth that you have made me see," his feet took the first few shaky steps forward as her voice soared, "all I can do now is believe in what I feel."
Yuna felt the first tears slipping and let them fall, happy to be able to have the feelings she could now that her story was complete. "I'll be forever blessed, for you to stand by me. You used to tell me so many things and that's why I am here-" Happy to have him there with her. "-you gave me strength and now I know, that I am not alone."
"You're always here with me, so deep in my heart." One hand reached out to touch her, unbelieving still. "And I am near; beside you where you need me, since I'm finally strong." Tidus was almost half-sure that his fingers would pass through her like before. An agonizing pain engulfed his chest-what if she couldn't see him, or feel him? "Just close your eyes and you'll see me here… Because you are not alone." She turned to face him.
"I know you," Yuna whispered.
"Yes," Tidus nodded softly.
"We knew each other here."
"We created a memory here."
Her hand went to the pendant around her slender neck. "Yes."
His outstretched hand hovered over her shoulder, as if wanting to touch her, but not believing she was truly there. Yuna brought her hand up to his, their fingers entwining slowly in the moonlight. The glowing surface of the water reflected in their eyes and in their tears.
"Yuna…"
"Tidus…"
He threw his arms around her. She instantly flung her arms about his waist, and they pulled each other close, the water smoothly engulfing their bodies like before. Her head lay against his chest, his hand stroking through the brown locks tenderly. Her hands placed themselves firmly on his shoulder blades, clinging to him tightly. Their eyes were closed.
"I remembered your face… and your words."
She blushed against him: "I'm sorry I took so long to find you."
He shook his head-she could feel every single movement against her own body.
"I missed you."
"I missed you too, Tidus. I missed you so much."
"Yuna," he pulled away abruptly, holding her away at arms length. She looked into his eyes, puzzled. "I wanted to tell you this for a very long time, but at the same time, I didn't want to hurt you."
"Tidus…" she was listening intently, watching his eyes, his lips, waiting.
"I love you, Yuna."
Their lips met in a kiss so passionate, the beautiful scene all around them was put to shame by the flames of their love. Everything was magnified a thousand times over-the cold chill of the depths they stood in; the hum of the night creatures all around; the glare of the moon on the water; their hands on each other, rushing hungrily across flesh and cloth, feeling each other there, finally, after so long. As his tongue slipped gently between her willing lips, as she let out the smallest sound of supplication and his arms tightened around her, plunging into the warmth of her mouth, all the doubt and fear evaporated in the heat of the moment. He was real. He was there. He would always be there, just as he had promised.
Tidus was no longer a memory.
The darkness embraced him, his curled up figure dimly illuminated by the glowing pyreflies that spiraled around him. Each held a memory that had left him—everything had left him in that endless nothingness. Silently he floated in a void between zero and infinity, seeing her face against the back of his eyelids, the image of her burned there like a permanent scar. Slowly, the pyreflies would swirl toward him then dart away teasingly, mocking his cold solitude. For reasons he could not even remember, he was alone; teetering at the brink of death with only the thinnest of lifelines to hold him back. The one memory the agonizing eternity could not drive away. Her last words:
"I love you."
He only just remembered the sweet tones of her voice, touching her soft skin, her unique eyes filled with sorrow and pain. She was on the other side of the thick fog circling his mind. She had the answers he needed to remember who he was. But he, being in the deep emptiness of death, could not summon her here. He didn't want to draw her into his own despair.
He was… alone.
Faintly, almost like the distant echo of a whisper, he heard a sound that made him lift his head. The dancing pyreflies hummed maddeningly, swirling faster, as if trying to coax him back into the blissful oblivion of death. He had never accepted it; he had fought it, and the price had been his memories. But one of them—one of the darting specks of light—was slowing, easing toward him. The small light it gave off coated his cheek in a warm glow. His eyes closed and let his head fall back, feeling the memory stir slowly within him. The noise came again; a tiny whispered sound piercing the darkness, The lone pyrefly gently touched him, melting away and merging with his memories:
"If we ever get separated, just… do this." He whistled shrilly, the sound stabbing clearly through the early morning. "Okay?"
"Okay," she smiled, nodding in agreement.
They had practiced; she could finally do it. Then… that sound was…
The whistle sliced though the matter around him, ringing in his ears as if he were standing right next to her. His eyes flew open, his body uncoiled, stretching, and feeling rushed back into his limbs. His head rolled back and he stared upward. Another pyrefly sparked across his vision—another memory:
"When this is over, I… I'll disappear. I know it's selfish, but this is my story!"
"Yuna, I have to go. I'm sorry I couldn't show you Zanarkand."
Yuna!
Her face, her beautiful eyes, flared into clear focus. He had the memory of her: the summoner on a pilgrimage to defeat that which was unbeatable—Sin. They had beaten it together, and instead of her life being sacrificed to the Final Aeon, it had been his. Because he…
"Yuna!"
He kicked, his arms pulling him eagerly forward. The pyreflies swirled wildly in the wake of his powerful ascent, many of them spiraling upward after him. Each touched a different part of his body, feeding his mind new memories as each kick toward the light above him, toward life, got stronger. Their tormented journey punctured with laughter and covered up by false hope, until…
"I love you."
"YUNA!!!"
2 – Living in a Memory
Never forget them…
Yuna slowly closed her eyes against the red glare of the sun. Zanarkand was coated in the dying hues of sunset, no longer glowing surreally with a blanket of swirling, lost memories. Only one memory remained here.
"This is my story."
She listened hard, trying to hear the forgotten echo of his voice against the mountain.
"I'll find a way, I promise."
"Tidus…" she whispered, touching the necklace sitting heavily against her chest. The diamond sparkled and the faintest wisp of a pyrefly lifted slowly from its shinning depths. The necklace, given to her by her Al-Bhed mother, had been crafted to preserve one memory. One she wished to keep always. Pressing her fingers to the glowing stone, she stood atop the rise he had once climbed and looked down at the remains of a once-great city… and remembered.
"I always thought… that this would be easier somehow."
"I didn't know what would happen to you, Yuna… I hope it didn't make you sad. Forgive me."
"I wasn't sad. I was happy."
"Let's go to Zanarkand! Not here, but the one I'm from!"
"Then we could see Blitzball. Your Zanarkand Abes would play?"
"Let's go to the sea… before the sunrise."
"I'd like to see it someday."
"Well, you can, Yuna."
"I can't go!"
She sobbed hard, feeling his eyes slide over her gently, like a soft caress. The tears continued to roll down her cheeks, hot from embarrassment because he was seeing her like this—at her weakest. She was blinded by pain and rage and helplessness, shivering uncontrollably, wishing she could stop, but she knew she couldn't. His hand slowly came to her shoulder, gripping it softly, the other lifting from the water and falling to her other shoulder.
"Yuna…"
Ashamed, she turned her eyes up to his, choking back her small breathless sobs. Their eyes met in a sudden blazing connection; she watched his crystal blue orbs sparkle with a mixture of the pyreflies dancing around them and the reflection of the low-hanging crescent moon in the water. He looked as if he were fighting with himself, trying to stop himself from crossing some invisible line either he or she had unconsciously drawn. He moved closer, dropping his lips down to hers and kissing her tenderly. Dazed, she stood rigid in his arms, feeling all the pent up emotions within her roar to life, burning away the barrier that had kept them in check for so long. Her eyes slid closed, her arms slowly coming around his waist as her wrapped an arm tightly around her shoulders, pulling her tighter against him. She felt herself falling to one side but was too caught up in a torrent of racing emotions to care. Her mind raced feverishly, thinking of what was happening, wondering if it really was happening. His weight plunged them into the cool depths of the water and they fell slowly into the depths, gently carried by a swirling current of pyreflies. Their bodies swirled in the water as well, bringing her over him, their hands interlocking as the kiss intensified, growing deeper in passion as they floated farther into the peaceful depths. Time stopped as they spun again slowly, pulling away and looking into each others eyes as their hands clasped gently, their bodies floating away from one another but their faces still close. She couldn't tear her eyes away form him—if she did, the dream would end and she didn't want it to. She wanted to stay here forever with him. They still twirled lightly as she smiled up at him and he smiled back, pulling her gently through the water and back into his arms. She let her hands fall to his shoulders as he reached up with his fingers and stroked her cheek tenderly with the back of his hand. She closed her eyes, tilting her head into his palm as one of her own hands reached up to touch his face gently. His eyes slid halfway closed, still looking at her as she caressed the tanned flesh sweetly. His eyes looked so sad, but… so at peace. She felt her eyes closing as well, her arms lifting and sliding around his neck as she lowered her mouth to his. His arms came around her, pressing against her upper back softly, tilting his face up to meet hers and they resumed the beautiful kiss. Endlessly they spun, cradled by the pyreflies, caressed by the water, holding the kiss as she slipped into a blissful eternity, becoming lost in his arms.
"I'll continue. I must."
"I'll go with you."
"Stay with me… until the end… Please?"
"Not until the end. Always."
"Always."
His crystal blue eyes shimmered. She wanted to touch him again, to see if it had been more than just a dream. His eyes assured her that it had been real.
3 – Memory Recall
He broke the top water, gasping and filling his lungs with cold night air. Slowly he sank back beneath the glassy surface, his eyes closing as he savored every sensation—the water caressing his body; the burning sensation in his legs from swimming to long and too far; the air gathered into his lungs and pushing into his body, trying to escape so he could gather another breath. Tidus rose into the night, opening his eyes and looking around, taking in his surroundings and trying to remember where this was. Above him rose a slight incline and to his right, the base of a grand mountain. To his left and far out behind him were the deserted ruins of a large city. Weapons were strewn—no, placed—across the barren land; declarations of others who had come here in passing… or marking the end of their journey. Yuna…
Lifting himself from the water, Tidus shook himself off and walked over to the small hill on his left. He reached out and slipped his fingers around the wrapped handle of the blue water-like blade. The Brotherhood. He had protected Yuna with this sword, used it to defeat the creatures that threatened her life. His eyes skimmed over the blue and gold Rod of Wisdom, and a wave of longing hit him. He had to see her. But he needed to know where he was first, and try to work out some way to find her. Spira was enormous—he remembered that much. Looking around again, he spotted a small rise off to one side and overlooking the small lake he had come out of. Climbing to the top, he looked out over the ruined city.
"This is my story."
Zanarkand. It was Zanarkand—the end of Yuna's journey as a summoner, where she defeated Sin. And this is where he had made his choice.
Something small and bright glittered across his vision, bringing him back to the present. Another memory, not his, but pertaining to him.
"A memory of… me?" he whispered, reaching up and touching the fading pyrefly.
The kiss had been wonderful, and in all truth, surprising. He had wanted to taste her lips for so long, to feel them against his own, to ward off the loneliness of being lost all of the time. He had found out her secret—the one nobody had the strength to tell him. He didn't want her to die, and suddenly, a life without her seemed impossible to live. He had held her close, watched her cry as his own sorrow boiled up inside of him. He wanted her to live so he could stay with her and have her beside him, always. He had to think of a way to save her, but first he had to tell her how he felt.
Her beautiful eyes, one blue and one green, stared up into his face, reflecting one question: why? And for once he had no answer. He searched his mind feverishly for one, at least to bring her some comfort. She looked so scared, tired, and alone.
'If we have to be tired and scared, let's not do it alone…'
He kissed her slowly, ready for the slap or scream of revulsion when it came. He knew he wasn't supposed to be doing this, but right now, he ceased to care. He wanted to have her to himself for whatever small time either of them had left.
After a moment that seemed like forever, her arms came around him, clinging to him softly as her eyes slid closed. Her tongue slipped against his and now she was returning the kiss, her arms tightening around him. He became filled with this emotion; this overwhelming need for her. They fell sideways into the water, spiraling with the pyreflies, dancing beneath the reflection of the crescent moon on the water. When they pulled away she smiled, and it was one he had never seen her give before—a truly happy smile. Her fingers found his cheek and made his entire body ache with longing when she touched him tenderly. Time was lost and reality had been forgotten.
Tidus shivered with the remnant feelings of longing, opening his eyes slowly. How could he have forgotten that? The one instant in which everything was… beautiful.
With a weak sigh, he slung the water-forged steel blade over his armored shoulder, looking up at the steep face of the mountain before him. He saw a path faintly winding its way up the side and disappearing over a slight overhang. He placed one foot on the start (end, he corrected himself) of the path and then the other, starting up slowly, carefully. His eyes scaled up the side again, something stirring faintly at the back of his mind.
"Kihmari… the Ronso…" he could almost recall it. Something was there, at the edge of his thoughts, just out of reach. "Mount Gagazet." He nodded and hurried up the trail.
4 – Dreaming of a Memory
"I'm sorry, Yuna, but I have to go."
No, she thought wildly. No… not now. You can't leave me now!
"I'm sorry I couldn't show you Zanarkand."
Tidus! No, don't! You can't—!
But he was. He moved away from her, shrunk away, rubbing his hands against his sides unconsciously, as if trying to rub off the fading tones of his tanned arms and gloved hands. He moved toward the middle of the deck, where they had battled Sin's armor just hours ago. Hours? The time had stretched out like days. He stood in the center of the brightly-painted Al-Bhed symbol and let his head tilt up to the dark sky, Sin towering before him like an obscene beacon, summoning him to his death. She let her eyes feast on his smooth, perfect face, the handsome and boyish features illuminated in a sickly orange-gold light. A stray glint of light sparkled on his cheek and with dismay she realized he was crying.
"Yuna!"
She wasn't aware of who had called to her. She didn't even realize her feet were carrying her toward him, stumbling forward with a choked gasp as she lunged for him. She saw him turn, his cobalt eyes landing on her and looking immensely sad and hopeful, his arms reaching out toward her. Her fingers touched him and then she hit the metal deck with a cold, hard thud. She didn't want to know—she refused to acknowledge—what happened. Why she was down here and he still stood there, arms half-outstretched as if meaning to catch her and hold her tight to him? Why why why why?! She ached to feel him, but now she couldn't look back. If she did, she would lose her will at the sight of him fading away, leaving her alone. She slowly picked herself up and stared up at the ugly, deformed face of Sin, and could not see Jecht in there. Why is this happening…?
She pulled in a slow breath, wanting to say something; finally meaning to tell him what she couldn't that night… that perfect night. What she had felt since she had first laid eyes on him; the truth. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes momentarily, then opened them and looked up at the starless sky.
"I love you."
"TIDUS!!!" she shrieked, bolting upright. The chocobo reared and "queh"-ed angrily, and Wakka leaned out of the window of the carriage and shook his fist at the driver sitting up front.
"Hey! Control your chocobo, buddy!" She heard a murmured apology and Wakka pulled himself back inside. "Boneheaded drivers."
"Rikku did suggest using the snow machine earlier," Lulu told him calmly from beside her, already stroking her thin fingers soothingly through Yuna's tumble of sweaty hair.
"Machina… bah!" he huffed, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. He looked at Yuna with his large, soft eyes. "Had yourself a scare there, ya?"
"Yes, I'm sorry," she bowed her head. Lulu slipped her fingers beneath her chin and tilted Yuna's face back up gently.
"No need to apologize for a bad dream," she assured. Yuna relaxed slightly and gave a small nod. Good, she thought to herself, they didn't hear what it was I—
"So, ah, dreaming about… you know, him, again?" Wakka asked. Yuna felt her face go incredibly hot and she tensed abruptly.
"W-why do you ask?" she stammered softly.
"You've been having dreams like it ever since… you know…"
"Ever since Tidus disappeared," Lulu finished what Wakka could not.
"But I…" Yuna tried, knowing it was hopeless.
"It's alright," the older woman assured.
"Where are we?" Yuna abruptly tried changing the subject. Her guardians politely let it drop.
"We just left Mount Gagazet and entering the Calm Lands now," Wakka informed, looking out the window again. Lulu kept her eyes out the opposite window, and Yuna had the feeling they wanted to leave her to her memories. Grateful to her friends, she closed her eyes and saw him again, felt him beside her. They laughed together loudly. Louder than normal—proving to the world they weren't afraid. Laughing, practically shouting. And that's when he had taught her…
"Excuse me," she gently touched Wakka's shoulder. He slid over obediently, giving her an odd glance then turning it to Lulu, who she could almost see giving a shrug in her mind's eye. Their eyes watched her, but she didn't care; she had been thinking about Tidus teaching her to whistle when ever they became separated. But when she had seen him lift his fingers to his mouth in her memories, a shrill echo fell down the valley and chased the chocobo-drawn carriage into the start of the Calm Lands. She leaned out the window, looking back at the receding mountain; she could see the peak of it. The wind carried only the faintest of sounds down to her. A whistle… was it really?
She placed her thumb and forefinger in between her lips, leaning far out the window and blowing a whistle shrilly from between her pinched fingers. The chocobo "wark"-ed in agitation, quickening its pace and she watched the tip of the mountain fall back in dismay. She leaned even further out of the window, listening for the sound but it was gone. Had it been there in the first place…?
Yuna dropped dejectedly back inside the carriage, sighing weakly and closing her eyes against the stares of her concerned friends. Wakka and Lulu exchanged glances, their eyebrows raised, but said nothing.
She was very thankful for that.
5 - Following a Memory
He exited the cave, wiping the dark purple blood of the King Behemoth off one cheek. His arms ached from wielding his sword for the past few hours. After several wrong and almost-fatal turns, Tidus had found his way to the peak of Mount Gagazet. The walls that had once glowed ether-real in the grand summoning of the memory of Zanarkand now lay stone dead. The bodies of the ghosts that had once summoned him lay twisted and frozen in their eternal sleep, but still he could feel their call-he could feel them reaching out to grab him and tear him to shreds; tear him out of existence. Their moans from long ago pierced his ears, crying at him to return back the way he had come, leave this world, trapped in the eternal spiral of death.
"Yuna stopped it," he gasped, shaking his head and descending shakily into the valley. "Yuna stopped that spiral; it doesn't exist anymore." And still they told him that it did exist. It lay dormant inside the hearts of the people, both in fear and in truth. Everything, no matter how smart, or strong, or wealthy, passed into the next world. The Farplane awaited everyone, young and old. Shaking his head vehemently, Tidus scurried past the fallen rocks and petrified wall-scapes, past the creepy glowing pool that had once carried his memory. He was no longer a memory, he was real. But even so, the pool gave an un-natural hum as he ran past.
Tidus emerged onto the snow-covered Gagazet trail. A chilled wind struck him, making him shiver briskly, goose bumps rising on his arms. He quickly rubbed his gloved hands against his upper arms, stomping his boots against the loosely-packed snow and looking around quickly. He noticed the shallow markings of someone's footsteps faintly outlined in the snow drifts and knelt to inspect them, ignoring the cold he had been feeling all of two seconds before. Three sets. One slightly covered by the other two-someone had been walking slightly ahead. Someone important? Judging by the size of the prints, one had been male, the other two presumably female. Yuna…?
Far down below, there was an echoed scream. Then an unfamiliar bird cry. Queh? He looked through the swirling winds and snow, seeing a carriage drawn by a large yellow shape (too far down to distinguish; the bird?). He watched it go, an odd feeling stirring inside his chest. He suddenly realized that if Yuna had been here just minutes ago, she would most likely be on that carriage. The feeling in his chest exploded outward in a whooping cry, Tidus jumping high into the air and thrusting his arm up victoriously. He landed on his feet and broke into a clumsy run, bringing his fingers into his mouth.
He whistled. "YUNA!! YUNA I'M BACK!! HEY!!" He whistled again. "TURN BACK!! IT'S ME, TIDUS!! HEEEEEEY!!!" Another shrill whistle. "YUNA!!!"
And then there was an answering sound. He barely heard it because of the distance and the howling wind, but he heard it. He was absolutely sure, it had been-
"YUNA!! YUNAAAAAA!!!" he whistled again and again. The cart rounded the path and was gone. Unfazed, Tidus gripped the handle of the Brotherhood tightly in his right hand, keeping his left up to his lips. He gave one last long, shrill whistle, then bulldozed down the path after the footprints-after Yuna.
"Father…" Yuna looked up into the stone face of High Summoner Lord Braska, "I know you said I should make my own path. But for the first time in my life, I don't know which way to turn." Her clasped hands dropped from beneath her chin and released each other, her arms falling helplessly at her sides. "He will always be a part of me, forever. But… should I continue to hope one day he'll reappear, or should I move on?"
Tidus stumbled out of his run, falling forward onto his hands and knees, eyes wide and chest heaving. But not only because he was running. It was happening again-the shortness of breath, the feeling that the only thing left for you was death. Vision narrowing into a tiny hallway lined on all sides by darkness. He had this feeling once before-when he left her. His hands had already started to fade in the whiteness of the snow. He lifted his head with an effort, his strong muscles quivering and fading into nothing more than a soft illusion.
"Yuna…" he gasped. "Yuna, don't give up on me.. please…"
The face stared back impassively, but Yuna still took comfort in it. She bowed her head, her soft voice echoing in the crumbling walls of the Remien Temple. "I don't want to lose hope. Not again. I will wait for him." Her face tilted up to that of her father's.
Slowly, shakily, he got to his feet. One of his hands was clutched reflexively against his chest, feeling the rapid thrumming of his heart beneath trembling fingers. Color flushed back into his face; his knees cried out in protest as the sharp, ice cold rocks he knelt on cut into his skin. Blood stained the soft white blanket around him-the sweet pain of life returned to him as he returned to Spira's reality.
"Yuna…" he sobbed weakly, stumbling wearily to his feet. "Yuna, I'll get there.. wait for me."
"This is real. This emotion I hold for him; it is as real as the love you and Mother held for one another. I love him, father, so how can he just be a dream?" She thought of his brilliant blond hair, thick and fine, kicking out in the sunlight as he laughed. She laughed as well, not realizing she had actually done so aloud, and the estranged noise slammed against the walls of the temple. She shook her head, closing her eyes and seeing his own cobalt blue orbs, his smile filling her with warmth and emotion and happiness. "Tidus…"
He looked down the half-dirt, half-rock path leading down the side of the mountain and into the valley which led to the Calm Lands. Tilting his face up to the sun, he let out a weak sigh, closing his eyes and seeing her there, outlined by the brilliant sun overhead. She smiled, and Tidus felt his own lips curl into a smile of his own. He let his eyes fall open slowly. "Yuna…"
6 – Dismissing Memories
"Yoo-hoo!"
"Hey, look! It's Rikku!" Wakka sat up quickly. Lulu looked up from her hands, her eyes staring off into the distance for a moment. Then she lifted one hand in a greeting, glancing over the blond haired girl's shoulder.
"Isn't that Kihmari with her?"
"It is!" Wakka leapt to his feet and ran to their friends. "Hey guys!"
"Hiya!" Rikku hopped on the tips of her toes excitedly, waving one arm energetically over her head. Kihmari nodded, his arms crossing stiffly over his broad chest as they met and came to a stop.
"What are you doing way out here? This is way out of the way from Home, ya?" Wakka smiled at his younger friend.
"I was on the Salvage Ship," she turned and nodded at the Ronso behind her, "and Kihmari came and got me. He said we needed to come find you guys."
"What is it, Kihmari?" Lulu stood and joined the three standing out in the sun. The large half-breed creature unfolded his arms and pulled something out of the small pouch on his belt. Lulu held out her hand as Kihmari extended his own and dropped a small silver object onto her palm. She shifted it out of the glare of the sun, then gasped softly.
"What?" Wakka leaned down with Rikku as they both studied the object reflecting in her outstretched hand. Then he blinked and shook his head, rearing back in surprise. "No way, ya… If this is here, then that means…"
"That means he's here too," Rikku finished. Lulu shook her head abruptly and dropped the small earring into the dirt.
"No, that's impossible," she stated softly. "We saw him disappear."
"But Lulu! Where did that come from?" Wakka demanded. "He's the only one who wore that symbol!"
"It doesn't matter. It probably fell off before he…jumped."
"Then how come Kihmari found it now, ya?"
"Yeah, why now? Certainly Kihmari would have found something like this a while ago if it was there to find!" Rikku jabbed a thumb back at the Ronso, who had been standing there silently since he arrived.
"A gust of wind hid it in a snow drift, then uncovered it again for Kihmari to find," Lulu dismissed it, turning back to the shelter.
"Listen to you!" Wakka tried to grab her arm, but then Kihmari moved. He took three steps and towered into the black mage's path. She stopped and lifted her eyes to his scarred face. He looked down at her, not threateningly but carefully, as if trying to pick the right thing to tell her from her confused and pale face. His fanged mouth fumbled clumsily over his words, but he managed to grunt a single thing:
"Blood."
Yuna saw the figures that had joined Wakka and Lulu, and broke into an eager run. At the sound of her cries they all turned to her, Rikku quickly bending and scooping something up from the ground and holding both hands behind her.
"Yunie!" she hopped on the tips of her toes.
"Rikku! Kihmari!" she laughed, stopping before them and panting softly. Kihmari reached out gently and flipped Yuna's hair up over her eyes. She smiled up at him happily, her hand tucking her hair back behind her ears self-consciously.
"Kihmari see Yuna. Kihmari happy," he grunted in his animalistic voice. Yuna beamed up at him like a little girl, unafraid of something so much larger than herself; she took one of his clawed hands in both of hers and squeezed it gently.
"I'm happy to see you too. What's this surprise visit about? How come we didn't meet on Gagazet?"
"He was with me," Rikku picked up. "We both wanted to see you again, and Kihmari mentioned that you had traveled to Zanarkand again. Why?"
"Just to see how it's changed," Yuna shrugged, her unique eyes growing distant. Lulu, again, started heading for the shelter.
"Perhaps we should talk more in the shade before one of us drops from a heat stroke."
Wakka nodded and they all followed Lulu into the shade. Rikku abruptly stopped and held Yuna back by the arm.
"Yunie…"
"What is it?" she turned to the younger girl. Rikku looked around uneasily, then turned Yuna's hand palm up and dropped something small and shiny into it. Then her slightly shaking fingers enclosed her own around the object and pushed the fist up to Yuna's chest. Rikku placed both of her own hands momentarily against Yuna's.
"Go, Yuna. Back to the place your heart desires. Go back to the place where everything was right—go back to him."
With her quick words, Rikku darted off after the others, not looking back at her cousin. Yuna blinked then opened the hand slowly, gazing down and feeling her eyes widen. She whirled back to call after Rikku, but saw the girl was gesturing at the others wildly, pointing in the direction of the Chamber of Stolen Fayth. She was giving her a chance to go on alone. Yuna clenched the earring tight in her fingers, turning to the exit of the Calm Lands and taking off in a full run.
Tidus! I'll wait for you! I promise I'll wait for you! TIDUS!!!
"TIDUS!!!" she echoed her racing thoughts, turning onto the dirt road that many summoners before her had traveled. Only now, she was going back. She was returning to a memory.
7 – Fighting a Memory
He reached the entrance to the Temple of the Stolen Fayth. Distant howls echoed up from the dark as he found himself descending into the chilled cave entrance. His knuckles were white against the black handle of his Brotherhood. The Chamber of the Stolen Fayth—where Lulu had lost her first summoner. They had successfully navigated the labyrinth and came out at the end, only to pay for the services of a renegade Aeon: Yojimbo—the mercenary. Tidus recalled this all as his footsteps echoed dimly in the blackness inside the temple. All around him were the sounds of claws scratching, low, hissed breathing, and growls. So many growls from the unseen. His eyes darted around quickly, looking for whatever was making the noises. Jagged rocks threw shadows onto the cave walls, making them appear to be lunging monsters to the nervous eye. He stopped in the center of the main chamber, dropped the tip of his sword to the sand, and closed his eyes, tilting his head back. He pulled in a slow, deep breath, then exhaled loudly. He did it again, willing himself to be calm, forcing himself to picture her beautiful face; it had glowed surreally in the light of the cave, not once giving away to the terror he knew she must have felt underneath. She was brave. Now it was his turn to be.
"In here! In here!" Rikku motioned, stopping in front of the entrance.
"This is a rather strange place for Yuna to come to alone," Lulu sounded skeptical.
"I saw her! She took the Nirvana and ran down here! I saw her!"
"But why would Yuna come alone? She knows how dangerous it is, ya?" Wakka crossed his arms, his tanned, round face looking doubtful. Rikku saw the disinterest lurking in their eyes and thought desperately. Then she looked down and froze. They all followed her gaze, then their eyes simultaneously traced the path of the footsteps into the dark cave entrance. Wordlessly, they marched into the cave, Rikku the last to go.
Talk about irony. We're going to give a scare to whatever poor guy wandered his way down here…
Yuna kept her eyes to the street. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. People noticed her, even with the change of clothes and hairstyle. She had stopped just out of the Calm Lands, where their carriage had been parked, waiting for them so they could continue their long journey back to Luca. She had opened her trunk, changed quietly out of her summoner's robes, then pulled her lengthening hair back into a ponytail and was off again. Her crowd clothes, Wakka liked to call them, so when she was among the people, she wouldn't pick up a crowd, and it worked for the most part. People still looked at her strangely—especially at the rod clasped into the belt strapped across her chest. Still, she moved quickly and with purpose, refusing to lift her eyes to the huge temple in the center of the city.
Bevelle, home of the Grand Maester and of the Cloister of Trials for the mighty Aeon, Bahamut.
There was so much to remember here. Her confrontation with Maester Mica. The trial. The test to obtain the mighty Dragon King. And the wedding….
Tidus heard their voices first. His eyes opened and he lowered them to the end of the entrance tunnel, looking to see who it was that was coming. Then he heard the footsteps. Three people, at least…no, four. His sword came up as a reflex, just as the first figure entered the chamber. Three other shadows joined it, and they clustered together, seeming to look around. One of them suddenly gasped, another was pointing at him, and then someone was shouting something. He couldn't decipher it because there was suddenly a large ball of red-hot flames searing toward his face.
"What I wanna know," Wakka pulled a spider's web off of his face in disgust, "is why she came down here all on her lonesome?"
"Maybe she came to pray?" Rikku mumbled lamely.
"To what fayth?" Lulu shook her head, reaching the main chamber and looking as if for a sign pointing in the direction Yuna had gone. But Rikku didn't have to worry about that, because there was Tidus standing in the middle of the chamber.
"WHA—?!" Wakka threw his hands to his head disbelievingly. Kihmari and Rikku looked at one another, and the Ronso nodded solemnly. The young Al-Bhed nodded back, slipping her hand into the small pouch on her belt.
"A fiend! Get back!" Lulu took a few bold steps forward and flung out her hand.
"No!" Rikku cried, lunging forward to try and stop her. The Flare spell ripped out of the older woman's fingers, screeching through the thick air toward a startled-looking young man. Rikku darted off to one side, keeping her eyes on Lulu, her hand coming out of her belt and lifting into the air.
He lifted the sword and lined his hands against it, praying the block would work. The Flare attack struck the water-crafted metal, and he could hear the blade sizzling. Then it cancelled out the magic spell.
"How did he do that?" Lulu demanded, turning to Wakka. The man looked half-confused, half-overjoyed. Tidus knew he probably wore a similar look.
"Guys, it's me!" he dropped the blade of the Brotherhood. "It's me, Tidus!"
Mistake. Lulu waved her hand again and a large hot tendril of lightning gathered above his head, and in a split second it drove down, piercing every muscle in his body. Tidus stumbled back crying out in pain and surprise, his vision blinded white by the attack, his entire body humming with the current of power that had forked into his body. He uttered some sort of curse, he was unaware that his mouth even moved. Blinking several times, he still couldn't get the white light to leave his eyes, and now someone was tugging on his arm.
"Tidus!" His memory flashed again: it was Rikku, his Al-Bhed friend. "Come on, you have to move before the Flash Bomb dies!"
Dies. "R-Rikku?"
"Yes! Yuna's waiting for you! She's at the place she always wanted to return. You'll find her there; go!"
"Wanted to return…?" he was still feeling the after-affects of the Thundaga spell. He lifted one hand to his face and shook his head slowly, as if trying to wake up from a bad dream.
"The place where everything was right, for once. Run!"
He wasn't quite sure what she had meant, but he already saw the bright light fading from the temple walls. Al-Bhed Flash Bomb… he remembered, and stumbled past the kneeling Lulu and staggering Wakka. Tidus passed Kihmari, the Ronso, a little into the tunnel, and the horned creature gave him a serious glare.
"Find Yuna. She waits."
Tidus stumbled out of the cave and into the night. Night? It had been that long…?
"Yuna, where are you?"
8 – Unwanted Memories
His hands were so cold. Sharp and cold, no tenderness in those fingers. They clamped around her thin wrist like an iron vice, dragging her up the red-carpeted marble and to the altar. A furious wind picked up in the wake of the huge metal propellers of the airship, tossing about hats and flowers, her veil lifting off her head and drifting away like a spirit being sent to the Farplane. The ground trembled as anchors of steel bit into the concrete, holding the airship in place as figures began to slide down the thick wire cables that connected it to the platform. He was in the lead, his blond hair flowing like a sheet of sun-glazed honey, his eyes fixed on her, even as he launched himself from the steel cable he had been on and flipped over another, as skillful and nimble as the best professional Blitzball player. That was the instant she realized that she loved him.
Tidus…
Even if it hadn't been their wedding (as Tidus had secretly dreamed many times afterward) she was still beautiful. Her hair done up in an elegant knot, the shorter strands framing the sides of her face. He longed to brush them away from her exquisite eyes; his fingers ached to stroke her blushing cheek. The dress caressed her body like an elegant lover—the way he wished to caress her. The soft folds accented the slant of her waist and curve of her hips, clinging against her as he wished to. But when he saw her walking up the red carpet slowly, deliberately, he hated everything she wore and how she looked. She was to become the wife of some crazy, murdering half-man, and he was also, not to forget, dead to top it off.
He had held her there, trapped on top of the altar with him by a hundred glaring eyes. She had to do it, it was now or ne—
"Outta my way! YUNA!!"
She turned, her heart leaping into her throat. She wanted to call back to him, but Seymore's glare was piercing into her, freezing her in place. She knew this was magic, and she felt powerless against his skill. Still, her eyes watched him fight his way, enemy by enemy, to the base of the steps with all of her friends. They were stopped all of a sudden by Maester Kinoc and dozens of other armed soldiers. She stared into his eyes to look for the hint of defeat, to know it was hopeless. There was no trace of it.
"Let her go now, Seymore!"
She looked placid; calm and serene, as if there was nothing wrong with this whole picture. He wanted her to come running down the steps, red-cheeked and breathless, and they would escape this nightmare together. She did nothing but stand unmoving at the Guado's side. A disturbing thought ripped through Tidus: Had the ceremony been performed already?!
Then she moved; like a white panther, she stalked around before him, her rod out in both hands. Her eyes raged with thousands of untold emotions, glaring at the other man hatefully—he had never seen such a look on Yuna's delicate features before, but there is was, burning like fire. He spoke to her, words Tidus couldn't hear from his distance, and his ice blue eyes skipped over her shoulder and ensnared Tidus' gaze.
Yuna stood her ground, unbelieving. The rod still held between them like a shield. Seymore smiled cruelly and his eyes moved down the steps to look at the other. Her heart stopped dead and she shook her head slowly.
"You wouldn't…"
She heard the click of at least a hundred guns and her nerve wavered.
"Choose, Lady Yuna. Me… or your friends."
"Don't listen to him Yuna!" she heard him scream, and her eyes squeezed shut tightly.
"Yuna! Send him now!" Another gruff voice ordered from the steps below. She shook her head, the rod slipping from her fingers and clattering loudly onto the marble steps.
He watched her rod tumble down the steps, landing with a hollow clink at his feet. Something deep in his chest rebelled at the final descent of her rod, and he pushed through the rows of gunners, his eyes fixed on Seymore's. Another three guns pressed their hot barrels against his neck and Tidus reared his head back, his eyes falling on Yuna. She looked defeated, completely devoid of the life he cherished in her. Seymore, as if their broken eye contact had triggered something, turned back to Yuna and grabbed her arms with his clawed hands. Her eyes turned up to his face, searching the emotionless features for some kind of sign that this wasn't really happening. Tidus watched, his eyes narrowing as the distance between their faces closed, feeling his muscles tighten and his upper lip curl back in a feral snarl.
Yuna's lips touched his and the first thing she thought was: cold. His tongue slid intrusively past her resisting lips, filling her entire mouth with the coldness of death and finality. Her back arched stiffly, and if she had been a cat, she was certain that every single inch of her fur would be bristling on its end. She felt her hands tighten into fists at her sides. Her thoughts raced desperately as the kiss stretched on, the noise of the world left behind in the mad rushing that was filling her mind, her eyes, her emotions.
They pulled away after an agonizing moment locked in eternity. Tidus knew his anger was prominent on his face; he felt it rolling off of his entire body in waves. His fists clenched exactly as hers did, the rushing sound she had experienced shooting through all of him as well. The hatred for Seymore intensified until it was a glowing ball of white-hot need to kill him. Kill him and set Yuna free—the beautiful white angel that this insane pilgrimage had caged. And then he saw her move. She backed away from Maester Seymore slowly, carefully, stepping back to the edge of the pulpit; Seymore had been addressing them, although Tidus had been unaware of it—he hadn't seen her move.
"Seymore!" she shouted with all of her mustered courage. They all turned to her, although the one who's attention she truly wanted had been staring at her the entire time. She took another deliberate step back to the edge, feeling the void behind her, the wind reaching up from the city and skimming sharply up her back, making her sway slightly. Her eyes locked with his cobalt blue orbs, and he stared back in concern. She felt her feelings for him stir behind the wall she had always contained them with. How she wanted to tear down that wall… but she wasn't allowed.
"Think about what you're doing," someone off to one side talked to her in a smooth voice. The voice of a liar—Seymore. He was close. She had to move now.
Her arm came to her lips, and in a defiant motion, wiped her mouth. Then she turned her eyes back to his.
"I'll meet you in the temple."
"No! We're going together!" he cried, but his voice sounded small and pleading. She lifted her chin proudly, then gave a soft smile.
"Don't worry about me. I have wings."
He watched. She slowly closed her beautiful eyes—one bright blue, the other a crystal green. Then she teetered on her heels, and fell over the side. Tidus shoved past the guards and threw himself onto the edge.
"YUNAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
She had her eyes closed; he could see her lips moving rapidly, her arms crossed over her chest, her hands resting on opposite shoulders. A ring of light encircled her, swirling rapidly, glowing harshly, shining outward to the sky above where something shrieked dimly. He tore his eyes away from her, plunging helplessly to the earth, and saw a figure plummet from the clouds. It rushed past her in a swirl of light and air, then Valefore opened his huge leathery wings and caught Yuna from below. She landed gently, and lay there as a sleeping child, cradled safely by the non-elemental Aeon. After a moment, she turned her eyes up to him and then she was lost behind a bank of shadows. Tidus felt the others next to him, and stood up, turning back to Seymore and his guards.
"Kill them."
Guns instantly came up, clicking almost in unison as they locked onto their party. Rikku, faster than any, quickly leapt forward and hurled a small black ball onto the ground. The air around them filled with brilliant white light and someone was grabbing his hand, pulling him forward.
"What was that?!"
"An Al-Bhed Flash Bomb!"
"Wait!" They were leaving her behind. He turned back halfway down the steps, and another, stronger, hand was gripping his arm.
"Yuna said to meet her, and that's what we're doing!" It was Auron. Still, Tidus resisted as they regrouped at the bottom of the steps.
"Yuna! YUNA!!"
9 - Searching for a Memory
Yuna's eyes skimmed over the towering branches and twisting paths leading deep into the crystalline forest of Macalania. Around her, a thousand different sounds of the night bounced back and forth between shadows. Something off to her right rustled the underbrush by the path. Overhead on her left, bright eyes glittered hungrily. On the almost-invisible path before her, something growled. Yuna unclipped the Nirvana from its catch on her back and started forward, her fingers clenched tightly around her weapon. Out from the brush leapt an Iguion. From the treetops descended a Xiphos. A little ahead on the path, a Chimera stalked into view. Surrounded, outnumbered, Yuna turned around to escape on a different route. Both a Wasp and a Blue Element lowered themselves to block her escape. Yuna backed slowly into the center of a vicious ring, her palms slick against the blue metal of her weapon. She closed her eyes momentarily.
I won't give up. I have to meet him!
All five creatures lunged at her. She crouched, pulled back her rod, and swung it hard at the two directly in front of her.
He thought hard as he walked. To the place where everything once made sense. As far as he could recall, no place in Spira had ever made sense to the blond Blitzer. He was a ghost from a thousand years in the past; he didn't know the lay of the land, how far it was to anywhere from his current location, or what the hell Rikku had been talking about.
She's at the place she always wanted to return.
Home? For her, wasn't that… Besaid Island? He had to go all the way back there? He didn't quite remember what was from here to there, but he knew it was incredibly far-especially on foot.
"Yuna…" he whispered, dropping to his knees. It was late at night and the road had been abandoned for hours already. It was hopeless-he was lost. "I don't know where to go." His hands fell to the dirt as well, his tangle of sweat-soaked hair falling down across his vision, the salty beads slipping into his eyes and making him close them to slits against the sting. He had been walking, running, from Gagazet, into the Calm Lands, through Bevelle (he remembered the name of the city because of a very unpleasant memory), and now to…wherever he was. He didn't even know. The path was slowly being consumed by thick tree roots, the path widening to allow at least three people to walk side by side into the upcoming forest. He could see the tops of the crystal-tinted trees peaking from a valley stretched out below him. Dimly, he felt recognition stir in him. He knew this place-it was important to him. Further back in the thicket of trees, Tidus saw the faint swirl of pyreflies rising out from between the thick canopy. His thoughts spiraled just as quickly; twisting upward into a central point, then firing upward to a pinpoint of light. The brightness stayed for a moment, then faded slowly.
Distantly, something screamed in pain. Tidus' mind raced faster, his thoughts swirling madly through his head as he got to one knee, then stumbled slowly to his feet. He had been here before. But why? What was the feeling nagging at him? How did he know this place?
Another flare of light, this time orange-red, sliced through the night air and painted the sky just above the trees. Tidus was unaware his feet had started to propel him forward. He ran hard, his eyes fixed on that dying spot of light. He wanted to be there-someone had caused it. And if his thoughts were somewhat accurate, then it was most likely…
"Yuna!" he gasped. The memory slammed back into him: the lake, the cold night, the kiss-oh the kiss! "Yuna, I'll be right there! Hang on!"
She whirled on the Iguion and Murussu as they lunged, lethal intent twisting on their features. Her rod shot up again, issuing another Ultima spell from its golden tip. They fell away from her, howling unearthly as their bodies phased into a hundred swirling pyreflies and ascended into the night. She breathed roughly, her hair coming loose from its tie as she whirled to the last fiend. The Chimera lunged forward, her death reflected in each of its small, beady eyes. One claw was raised in attack position, ready to slice her into halves. Yuna stood ready for the attack, rearing back and drawing the rod up into the air.
"Holy!"
Tidus stopped, his eyes darting to each individual road, confused. Which way?!
A light shot up into the sky from the trees off to one side, the forest lighting up like day. He recoiled from it, turning quickly to see the body of a huge animal caught in the pillar of light and roaring as it was flung upward, then watched it explode in a shower of sparkles and pyreflies. Tidus dropped his arm as the light faded, straightening.
"Yuna."
He ran toward the trees it had issued from.
She panted, wiping thick blue blood from her cheek with two fingers, then straightening and looking around. The forest around her was dead silent. Smirking slightly, Yuna tossed her slightly damp hair and strode off into the woods, rod in hand. She cut down the paths, knowing exactly which ones to take, turning where she was supposed to, her heart thumping faster and faster as she came closer.
It's right around here…
The Iguion squealed in pain and died before him, the pyreflies emitting from its body swirling into the night sky slowly. Tidus dropped the tip of his sword to the dirt, his arm coming up to wipe the sweat from his brow. He sighed dejectedly.
"I'll never be able to find her in this pla-" He knelt. His gloved fingers touched the ground, tracing the soft inner curve of a woman's footprint. She had been limping at first, or was carrying something heavy, then straightened up as she progressed into the trees. His eyes followed the trail of faded prints, and he was unaware of when he got up and started to follow them with his own feet. But suddenly he was running, harder and faster than he ever had before; he was flying. His heart screamed in his chest, both overjoyed and a little uncertain. He was finally going to be able to see her.
She looked around, blinking her eyes rapidly as tears threatened to overtake her. Slowly, her rod lowered to the ground as she took a few shaky steps into the cool water. It curled around her flesh, thick and gentle, just as she remembered. Her eyes rose to the majestic tree before her, studying every knot and splinter and branch that had been there for almost a year now. Almost a year…
"Tidus, where are you?" she whispered softly.
He froze, almost afraid to take the next few steps into the clearing. She was here, just beyond these trees, waiting. He swallowed hard, his ears straining to hear the soft notes of her voice. Yuna was singing.
"Yuna…" he murmured, letting his sword fall to the dirt like a forgotten memory. Only she mattered, and nothing else. Everything was irrelevant-his harsh, panting breaths, the sweat making his shirt cling to his back and rolling into his eyes, the weariness that had been threatening to overtake him since Bevelle. "Oh, Yuna…"
10 - Memory
"Never thought that I would wind up by myself…" she looked up from her study of the grand tree to the crescent moon overhead. Just like back then… "But here I am, finding myself so lost. Everyday is a way for me to turn back…"
"All of the things I see," Yuna… "They're different from what I had imagined they would be." Keep singing. I want to hear you. "Everything is different; It's real emotion, and I'll never give it up." I want to listen to you forever. "I don't ever want to lose; I've come this far. And in my heart I can hear you say…that I am not alone." No, you're not alone. I'm here now, Yuna.
"Never got to look back; I'm already here," she called up softly at the deep blue sky, "because you gave me faith. I'm on my own now." She shook her head slowly at these words, a small smile curving one corner of her mouth. "If anything happens unexpectedly, I know you are there to come and save me."
"What do I do now?" Come to me. "What can I do now?" Let me take your pains away. "For all the truth that you have made me see," his feet took the first few shaky steps forward as her voice soared, "all I can do now is believe in what I feel."
Yuna felt the first tears slipping and let them fall, happy to be able to have the feelings she could now that her story was complete. "I'll be forever blessed, for you to stand by me. You used to tell me so many things and that's why I am here-" Happy to have him there with her. "-you gave me strength and now I know, that I am not alone."
"You're always here with me, so deep in my heart." One hand reached out to touch her, unbelieving still. "And I am near; beside you where you need me, since I'm finally strong." Tidus was almost half-sure that his fingers would pass through her like before. An agonizing pain engulfed his chest-what if she couldn't see him, or feel him? "Just close your eyes and you'll see me here… Because you are not alone." She turned to face him.
"I know you," Yuna whispered.
"Yes," Tidus nodded softly.
"We knew each other here."
"We created a memory here."
Her hand went to the pendant around her slender neck. "Yes."
His outstretched hand hovered over her shoulder, as if wanting to touch her, but not believing she was truly there. Yuna brought her hand up to his, their fingers entwining slowly in the moonlight. The glowing surface of the water reflected in their eyes and in their tears.
"Yuna…"
"Tidus…"
He threw his arms around her. She instantly flung her arms about his waist, and they pulled each other close, the water smoothly engulfing their bodies like before. Her head lay against his chest, his hand stroking through the brown locks tenderly. Her hands placed themselves firmly on his shoulder blades, clinging to him tightly. Their eyes were closed.
"I remembered your face… and your words."
She blushed against him: "I'm sorry I took so long to find you."
He shook his head-she could feel every single movement against her own body.
"I missed you."
"I missed you too, Tidus. I missed you so much."
"Yuna," he pulled away abruptly, holding her away at arms length. She looked into his eyes, puzzled. "I wanted to tell you this for a very long time, but at the same time, I didn't want to hurt you."
"Tidus…" she was listening intently, watching his eyes, his lips, waiting.
"I love you, Yuna."
Their lips met in a kiss so passionate, the beautiful scene all around them was put to shame by the flames of their love. Everything was magnified a thousand times over-the cold chill of the depths they stood in; the hum of the night creatures all around; the glare of the moon on the water; their hands on each other, rushing hungrily across flesh and cloth, feeling each other there, finally, after so long. As his tongue slipped gently between her willing lips, as she let out the smallest sound of supplication and his arms tightened around her, plunging into the warmth of her mouth, all the doubt and fear evaporated in the heat of the moment. He was real. He was there. He would always be there, just as he had promised.
Tidus was no longer a memory.