A/N: Hello everyone. This is the product of playing Final Fantasy X over again during boredom on a long car trip. Uh huh. I think the setting will be pretty obvious. And also, I couldn't remember the name of the boat… so just know it's that boat to Kilika. All right?
Anyway, enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X in any way, shape, or form.
.:That Boy:.
"I only have as many guardians as there are people I can trust. I trust them all with my life! To have so many guardians is a joy, and an honor! Even more so than being my father's daughter."
- Yuna
The only guardian she wanted was the one she would never be allowed to have.
Tidus was Sir Jecht's son, and therefore headstrong, brave, and rash like he was. Yuna's father, deceased high summoner Braska, cherished Jecht as his guardian for many, many years. What had become of the man was unknown to Yuna and Tidus, and she was pretty sure he definitely didn't want to find out.
And when Yuna first talked this interesting fellow on the boat to Kilika, she knew exactly that day that there was no mistaking it: he was the son of Sir Jecht. Simple as that.
So it was only natural for Yuna to want Tidus as her guardian, of course. At least it was easier for Lulu, Wakka, and Kimahri to believe. Even though they may have not wholly agreed with her decision, it was still the easiest explanation that they could accept.
At least, that's what she told Lulu, anyway.
"Lulu, could I talk to you? Just for a moment. It won't be long," she had asked while they had a free period of time after docking in the Kilika port. Yuna needed to tell her before she continued any farther on her pilgrimage.
Lulu headed over to her, head bent down, and said, "What? What is it, Yuna?"
Yuna gulped and shook her head a little, brown bangs swinging back and forth. It was tough enough asking someone to be a guardian, let alone convincing the single person who wanted to get rid of them as quickly as possible. To have a guardian, you needed to trust them with your life, make sure they would willingly throw themselves in front of Sin, or any other danger, to keep you alive.
Would Yuna trust Tidus to do that?
Yuna said, in the bravest and most unwavering voice she could muster, "I want Tidus as my guardian."
Lulu hissed a little, stepping back, her long black braids swaying as she moved away from Yuna like Sin's toxins infected her. "Why would you possibly want that boy as your guardian, Yuna?"
With the first thing she could think of, Yuna said hastily, "He's the son of Sir Jecht. My father's guardian. Tidus would do well as my guardian for that simple reason."
"And if he is incapable? If you trust your valuable life in this boy who would rather play blitzball than save your life?" Lulu turned in the opposite direction, her back to Yuna, arms crossed over her chest.
"It won't really matter in the end, once Sin is defeated," Yuna said quietly, reminding herself of the Final Summoning, the sacrifice that it would cause her. But, just as she always did, she picked her head up and added, "But I will handle that. I'm sure he will make a good guardian. Let me ask him. It's his decision as much as it is mine."
All Yuna received as confirmation was a low hiss from the towering Black Mage next to her.
Of course, Lulu was completely opposed to the idea, as would Kimahri. They were both childhood friends, dedicating most of their lives to protecting her from potential dangers – as well as Wakka. It didn't help much either that Tidus had made the worst impression possible by entering the temple at Besaid the day that Yuna become a summoner.
Yet, for some strange and undecipherable reason, Yuna couldn't think of anyone else she wanted as a guardian. Tidus claimed to be from Zanarkand, a land Sin destroyed one thousand years ago. And he still lived, transported into the future by Yevon's punishment itself. Tidus was interesting, to say the least – a new story to unlock and learn about.
He claimed to play blitzball for the Zanarkand Abes. He hated his old man. He thought it was rough being the son of a famous father, and not an honor like Yuna believed.
And, for that, she was curious.
Curious about this different boy. He made her laugh and explore in a way that Yuna loved. Tidus was simply a mystery unsolved, cheerful and happy on the outside, but dark and secretive on the inside.
Yuna knew Lulu would never agree to have Tidus as her guardian. She was completely adverse to it, convinced Wakka was just trying to find a replacement for Chappu. But her opinion didn't really matter – shouldn't matter – because it was Yuna's decision in the first place. Her choice.
Tidus had a way of making Yuna laugh. Whether he was just talking on the bow of the ship or crying out at sinspawn in a heated battle. He was strong and had proved that through the enemies they had encountered.
She didn't believe all of the excuses he made about 'too close to Sin's toxin'. It was definitely Wakka's fault for planting that one in his head. But, undoubtedly, Tidus was from the past, whether or not Wakka thought it was a stupid joke, Lulu thought he was an incompetent kid, and Kimahri thought he should be left on an island somewhere.
Tidus was interesting – there was no other way to put it.
So Yuna had to know his answer to her eager question
"Why did you just ask him that?" Lulu had hissed when they had dropped back behind the others as they headed for the Kilika temple, right after Yuna had gone ahead and asked Tidus to be her guardian.
"I… I needed to know," Yuna said. "I had to know what he would say, what he would do."
"Well, are you happy now, Yuna? You know. But now he's puzzled as to why." Lulu tossed her black bangs out of her eyes and refused to see Yuna's side. Lulu wasn't insensitive – oh, quite the opposite. She just didn't let her emotions show, maintaining a composed and rational analysis of each situation.
And she was right. How would Tidus benefit? How could he help Yuna, with just a simple sword Wakka's brother Chappu had and a lot of headstrong courage?
A lot, Yuna knew.
"I can't tell him why," she said quietly, and Lulu's eyes softened a little around the edges. "He… hates Sir Jecht. His father." His old man, Yuna thought, smiling a little at the funny expression Tidus had used.
"I know, I've heard," Lulu said. Wakka gossiped like an old guardian would, always spreading around the word about other people.
"So you see why I can't tell him. You see why I blindly had to ask him." Yuna stopped in her tracks, turning to face the Black Mage with an innocent expression on her face.
An expression that always had Lulu breaking down her walls and feeling sympathetic. "I suppose that's excusable," she said in a voice that Yuna recognized – one that she didn't want to go further in the conversation. But Yuna had to push it farther.
"Please, Lulu, just give it some time," Yuna said, looking up at her guardian. "Please. He will prove he's worthy. I know he will. It's in his blood, with Sir Jecht as my father's guardian. Just let him be my guardian, even if just for a little while."
Yuna didn't plead and beg much, so Lulu had to know that she was serious. Lulu turned toward her, looking through heavily lashed lids that were guarding her true emotion. "Fine. But don't be disappointed if he chooses he'd rather go back to Zanarkand in the end."
Yuna's eyes, one blue and one green, brightened at this. "You do believe him! You do!"
"It's the only explanation," was the only thing Lulu said on the topic.
And Yuna had another explanation for wanting Tidus as her guardian too. Because Yuna couldn't tell Lulu, or any of her present guardians, why she really wanted Tidus around as she journeyed to the Zanarkand ruins to summon the final aeon.
The real reason was the way she loved being around him.
Sure, eventually she would learn to trust Tidus with her life, and he would earn his position as guardian. But for now, all she wanted to do was to keep Tidus close. Because she knew Wakka would prefer to leave him with a friend in Luca, Lulu would love to abandon him on a ship in the middle of the ocean, and Kimahri would rather pierce his heart than keep him closer than he was already.
But Yuna didn't want any of those things happening. Because he was fun. He was fresh. He was new. He brought something to Yuna's pilgrimage as a summoner that she had never dreamed of. And with more training and control, Yuna knew Tidus would become a great guardian, possibly even better than the ones she already had.
The only solution she had to save him was to keep him as her guardian, not knowing whether she was risking her life or not. Because Lulu and Wakka and Kimahri would grow to accept it, eventually. And that was all Yuna needed.
Sin and peace for Spira always came first, but Tidus would make Yuna's journey worthwhile.
A/N: Please leave a review to let me know what you thought! (Or wish me luck on beating Seymour Flux?) :D