A/N: I've rewritten some of the chapters with the correct dialouge from the game. I hope you all enjoy.
.:Crystal Dreams:.
-To Zanarkand-
Yuna stared into fire. "Why does it have to end like this?" she wanted to know. The ruins of the lost machina city Zanarkand seemed as gloomy as her fate. Tears burned in her eyes but she wouldn't let them fall. She had to be strong. Her concentration was broken by the touch of her guardian, Tidus. Yuna looked at his hand on her shoulder, then up at him. She knew he would fight for her life, but in the end, nothing would save her. She was doomed like her father.
She watched him as he looked at the ruins of the metropolis he once lived in. Silently, she walked to the cliffside, gazing at the distant hills. "Thank you," she said quietly.
"For what?" he asked.
"For giving me everything I wanted in my journey. Laughter, joy, happiness, and..." she paused. Maybe it was a little too soon to say it. She didn't want to let the feeling go away.
Tidus smiled softly. "It's okay," he said.
Yuna nodded once, looking away as a tear traced its way down her cheek.
"Yunie," her cousin said, standing beside her. "You don't have to do this," she whispered. Rikku had to try, at least one more time. She couldn't let her best friend and relative die.
"Rikku, I have to. I have no choice. I don't want you to die because of Sin." Yuna felt her face beginning to turn red.
"But there has to be a way! We just need time!"
"That's enough Rikku," said the stern voice of Lulu. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were flushed but she obviously was trying to hide her tears. She whispered something to Rikku and led her away, looking back at her "little sister" for a moment.
Yuna looked down. "I wish I didn't have to do this," she confided to Tidus.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder as she began to sob silently. "Shh," he whispered, "we'll find a way."
The young summoner wrapped her arms around him, crying into his shoulder. "I hope so..." The summoner and blitzball player stood together, holding each other until the sun finally set. Yuna broke from his embrace, "I just need to be alone for a bit." She walked backwards up the hill until he was no longer in her sight. Sitting down, she reached in the pocket of her dress for a sphere. But it was gone!
Yuna's guess was that she dropped it. But she had another one. She'd just have to record a new one. Maybe it was for the best. She had a lot more things to say now. Turning it on, she focused onto the magnificent sunset.
"Hello everybody," she began. "If you're watching this, Sin is dead. But I am too. And I want to thank everyone again. You all gave me so much laughter, joy, happiness, and... love--"
Back at the camp, Rikku and Tidus traded ideas. "What if Yunie summons the final aeon, then runs away! I mean, I don't think the aeon chases her!" Rikku suggested.
"Maybe. Or she could protect herself with white magic," Tidus guessed.
"It's not going to work," said Auron. The oldest guardian walked over to the energetic two. "Nothing you do will work."
"Didn't you want to save Braska when you were his guardian?" Rikku asked, "He was your best friend, wasn't he? And you'd rather've died than him, wouldn't you've?"
Auron shook his head. "You can't do anything about the past. It's pointless to dwell on it. Same goes with the inevitable. Yuna chose this path. She knew the consequences but she wanted to free Spira of Sin."
"But Sin will just be reborn!" Tidus argued.
"Maybe. Or maybe this time it won't. You don't know if you try."
"You were the same, weren't yah Auron?" Rikku asked, determined to know.
"I was foolish, yes."
"Not foolish," Rikku said, "What you do now is foolish."
Auron glared at the young Al Bhed. He walked away, for once without words to say.
"The nerve of that guy sometimes," Rikku muttered.
Tidus sat back. "He's saved our butts more than once Rikku. Especially mine."
"Yeah well, I'm not so sure he's out to save Yuna."
The two gave up on ideas for the moment. They needed time to straighten their thoughts. Tidus thought about everything that had happened. This was his story. The Fayth wanted him to defeat Sin once and for all. But he didn't know if that was even possible. He'd find a way. Someday. The blitzer knew that he had to save Yuna. The only question was: How?
Yuna walked back down to the camp, making sure the sphere was still in her pocket. Everyone looked at her, fearful of her future. "Let's go," she said quietly.