Typical Disclaimer-ness: I don't own FFX, anything familiar ain't mine, etc. etc.
Details: A little ficlet, set after defeating Yunalesca at Zanarkand. Spoilers up to exiting the Zanarkand Dome. I know this is probably redundant, but my Muse wouldn't stop bothering me, and as it was after 12 a.m., I was inclined to do everything to appease said Muse so I could sleep.
Summary: What made Auron reveal his secret leading to the collective gasps as Tidus enters?
Battle weary, Yuna and her guardians descended the stairs. Tidus remained behind, searching through the devastation for the Sun Crest.
The boy is very much like his father, no matter how many times he denies it, Auron thought with a silent snort. Always looking for trinkets, for something shiny and new to wow the crowd. Although, if the myths are true, then those 'trinkets' will lead to power that may help defeat Sin–and Jecht–once and for all.
Even in his musings, Auron held an awareness of his environs that stumped his party. His sixth sense informed him that the party had halted, and he should do the same if he were to maintain any dignity. Running into Wakka would hardly be an act of a "Legendary Guardian," after all.
Yuna had led the way for her guardians, but stopped before exiting. She turned stiffly, asking, "Sir Auron? If I may ask a question of you?"
Auron knew the real meaning behind her query. Will you answer if I ask? He tilted his head, signaling her to inquire.
Something within whispered hunches.
"What happened after Lady Yunalesca struck you?"
The voice inside laughed with satisfaction. His secret, his crux, his Achilles heel, threatened to spill in tsunamis.
Yuna's question won everyone's attention. They gazed at him in degrees of interest, from Rikku's bouncing (although rightly enfeebled in light of recent events) enthusiasm to Lulu's single upraised brow. Kimahri remained aloof, though his lack of surprise might have been due to the fact that he alone was privy to Auron's past rather than absent curiosity.
Auron felt like retreating into his collar. He felt like brushing it off and heading out of the Yevon-forsaken Dome. He felt like lying down and succumbing to an everlasting rest.
"I stayed by Lord Braska's side to the end, until he had defeated Sin with the Final Aeon--Jecht. When the Aeon had disappeared, and Braska died, I flew into a fit. I grieved deeply fortheir losses. More than that, I wanted vengeance.
"My sense left me at that point. I made my way past the mountains, past Zanarkand, past all the memories you saw before. I confronted Yunalesca, as you saw. I attacked her. I was weak, I was blind. . . I was foolish. I never stood a chance, not back then and most certainly not alone. She barely needed a swipe to be rid of me."
Wakka made a noise, as though to interrupt. Lulu and Rikku jammed their elbows into his sides to quiet him, and the blitzer did so, after a disgruntled whine.
"Weak, bleeding, dying, I made my way down Gagazet. I don't remember most of the journey; I suspect my legs kept walking even as I was unconscious. The body soon fails the mind, however, and just before I reached Bevelle my mind lost power. I collapsed, so close to my goal and yet. . . nowhere near completing it. I was a realistic man, even inches from death. I knew there was no hope of me honoring my promise to Lord Braska myself."
Auron spared Kimahri a glance. As one, everyone turned to the Ronso as well. Kimahri bowed his head.
"Kimahri came upon me. No one else was close by, I had no one else to trust. I told Kimahri about you, Yuna, and Lord Braska's wishes for you to live in Besaid. I asked him to take you there, and he swore he would. Thank you for that, Kimahri."
Kimahri bowed his head lower. Unknown to the rest, the Ronso wished he had done more for the man, to enable him to honor the promise by his own hands. Yet, he was also grateful. Without his promise to Auron, Kimahri did not know what would have become of himself if he had not taken Yuna to Besaid and stayed by her side.
"Kimahri left me then, after he promised me. There was nothing more he could have done to help me. So, there I died."
Very little reaction came from this revelation. Their grim countenances spoke their grief for the guardian's end.
"Obviously, I didn't leave for the Farplane. I had promised Jecht to protect Tidus. I refused to leave before that promise was fulfilled. With no one left to fulfill that promise for me, I became an unsent. In that way, I went to Zanarkand, watched over Tidus, and came back with him when he arrived in Spira.
"That is my story. The end, as it is, to my story."
Silence. Yuna's head was ducked, and she fought tears. The man's life had been nothing but hardship but she had thought that, with their presences, it had eased the burden of being a surviving guardian. In reality, because of their presences–hers and Tidus' specifically–he had suffered further.
"Quit with the long face, Lady Yuna," Auron scolded gently. "If I truly hated the unsent life, I would have become a fiend long ago. I'm okay with living this way a little longer, as long as I can protect you and Tidus to the end."
"'A little longer'?" Rikku intruded, trembling. "Whatta you mean? Aren't you gonna stay with Tidus and Yunie?"
"Until they no longer need me, Rikku, which is soon," Auron replied. "I've lived ten years as unsent, and staying in the world of the living does try at one's soul after so long, Seymour notwithstanding. Constantly battling fiends that leave for the Farplane doesn't help in that regard."
"But, but then what?" Wakka stuttered. "What happens after the pilgrimage is over?"
Auron tried to look at Yuna, but even his confidence failed in that instance. "Lady Yuna must send me."
Everyone gasped.
"Hey, I found it!" Tidus bounded into the room, holding the shimmering Sun Crest in one hand. His face fell as he saw everyone's shocked looks, and he knew it wasn't because of his discovery.
Silently, everyone filed out. Soon, only he and Auron remained.
Auron sighed. Well, this shouldn't be hard. Right. About as easy as permanently killing Seymour.
"We must talk."