Long Enough
By: Wolfemann
Warnings: PG-13, Angst, DeathFic
Summary: Auron remembers the good times before receiving Yuna's Sending.
Disclaimer: All story elements from FFX belong to the fine folks at Squaresoft. I'm not claiming credit for them, not making money off of them, and hopefully not being sued for playing in Square's sandbox.
~~~===~~~
I look around me, at the people I've been traveling with for the past weeks, the people I've come to call friends, and I can't help but smile a little. I know this is the last time I'll be seeing them for a long, long time - I wish I could say ever, but I know that's not possible. Yuna's performing the sending, and I know that it's the end for me - the pyreflies are already forming. But I can do it, now - I can afford to move on. She stops in the middle of her dance, looking at me as she realizes what she's doing.
"Don't stop," I tell her, shaking my head.
"But -"
"It's all right," I tell her, as I start walking towards the edge, looking at them all as I move along.
Wakka. For all the times I could have killed him since I met him, I have to admit that he's got a good heart. The Yevonites taught him too well, and he swallowed the propaganda all along. But, then, so did I - before Braska and Jecht died. It hurt to see his reaction to the Al Bhed, until Home was destroyed. So much hate, in somebody who had so much potential. Somewhere along the line, though, he started to see the truth - started to see that maybe the teachings of Yevon weren't the only way to look at the world.
He had me beat there - I don't think I ever really accepted Braska marrying an Al Bhed, until I had it shoved down my throat that everything I'd fought for was a hoax.
Kimahri - how could I ever explain just how I feel about him? He's everything *I* ever wanted to be. Loyal, loving, and far, far wiser than any would expect. He'd have fought to be Yuna's Final Aeon if we hadn't destroyed Yunalesca. I remember him telling me, that he thought doing so might leave him with enough control that she would live through it. He loves her like a daughter, has for almost ten years now. I think it's been a comfort to him, in his exile from Mount Gagazet. He has taught me much in the short time I've known him - before and after returning to the Aeon's remembered Zanarkand. I think the most important part, is that he taught me to trust.
Is that why you two did it? Why you both asked me to watch your children, in entirely different worlds? I had a feeling that Yuna would be fine, even without Kimahri's protection - but I couldn't ignore your last request, Braska. Yes, I see you there - at the edge of life and death, waiting for me with Jecht. You're both looking good, for the shape you were in when it finally ended. Damn, it's good to see you both again.
Lulu - she reminds me so much of myself, before all this happened. Back when I was alive. Maybe.maybe if things had gone differently, I could have kept her from turning into me. At least she won't have to go through what the last ten years have done to my body and soul - she still has Yuna, and most of her friends. She'll have to get by in a changing world, yes, but she's as adaptable as Kimahri and Rikku are, if she has to be. It's good that she's still here - Wakka's going to need somebody to help him through the chaos of Sin's final destruction, and the end of Yevon's rule over Spira.
Then there's Rikku. I can't help but chuckle as I remember the trouble we had getting across the Thunder Plains with her, or any of the other times she made me want to strangle her by the roadside. As annoying as she was, though, she was more useful than I'd really expected. She'll be a godsend to any place she decides to settle down in, after this. If she ever does settle down - I think she has a terminal case of wanderlust, when all is said and done. I know she inspired enough lust of another sort, in Tidus and Wakka both, even though neither of them acted on it. Tidus' face when she was stripping out of her wetsuit - priceless, even if he thought I didn't notice. All of that seems like it happened so long ago - but she's changed a lot, since then. We all have.
Especially Tidus.
I watched him grow up, in a world I didn't belong in. I watched his hatred for Jecht fester over the years, the bad blending with the good to the point where he didn't even know which was which any more. For all that you loved him, Jecht, you hurt him. There were days when I wondered if I could forgive you for what had happened to him, and his mother, but I knew you hadn't really intended to do any harm. You just treated him like your father had treated you - another cycle of destruction. But I think he'll break that cycle, too, if I've seen the way he looks at Yuna right.
Assuming he has the chance to - but if anybody could survive being ripped out of the reality they belong to, it's him - he's already faced things that would kill lesser men a thousand times.
And yes, Jecht - he is a man now. Don't look at me like that, you know it's true. He knows he's going to die, going to leave Yuna behind - but he's willing to go. He knew that destroying you - destroying Sin - would probably mean that he would simply cease to exist, without even getting the chance to say good bye. But he was willing to do it anyways, to throw everything away for the good of the very people who tried to kill him just a few days ago. Maybe he did break down a few times in the process - I can't blame him for that. Everything he knew, everything he cared about, ripped away from him. Then, just as he was getting used to this world - he finds out that he's been encouraging the woman he loves to march to her own destruction.
He did was we couldn't, Jecht - found a way to save her. And did what the three of us couldn't do together - found a way to truly defeat Sin, and Yu Yevon.
Then there's Yuna. She doesn't want to finish the Sending, I know it. I can see it in her eyes. So many in this world have proved to be Unsent - I'm like Seymour, or Maester Mika. But she can't look at me that way - not at somebody she trusted with her life. I'm thankful for that trust, Braska - the chance to have served another as I served you. But it's over now - you and Jecht are free from Sin, and from Yu Yevon, and it's time for us to go to the Farplane together.
I've been waiting ten years for this day, without even realizing it.
"It's been long enough," I explain, walking past Tidus and Yuna, towards where the two of you are waiting at the edge of the ship.
"This is your world now," I finish, just before giving myself over to the Sending, and letting the pyreflies carry my body away.
It's time for us to go home..
Warnings: PG-13, Angst, DeathFic
Summary: Auron remembers the good times before receiving Yuna's Sending.
Disclaimer: All story elements from FFX belong to the fine folks at Squaresoft. I'm not claiming credit for them, not making money off of them, and hopefully not being sued for playing in Square's sandbox.
~~~===~~~
I look around me, at the people I've been traveling with for the past weeks, the people I've come to call friends, and I can't help but smile a little. I know this is the last time I'll be seeing them for a long, long time - I wish I could say ever, but I know that's not possible. Yuna's performing the sending, and I know that it's the end for me - the pyreflies are already forming. But I can do it, now - I can afford to move on. She stops in the middle of her dance, looking at me as she realizes what she's doing.
"Don't stop," I tell her, shaking my head.
"But -"
"It's all right," I tell her, as I start walking towards the edge, looking at them all as I move along.
Wakka. For all the times I could have killed him since I met him, I have to admit that he's got a good heart. The Yevonites taught him too well, and he swallowed the propaganda all along. But, then, so did I - before Braska and Jecht died. It hurt to see his reaction to the Al Bhed, until Home was destroyed. So much hate, in somebody who had so much potential. Somewhere along the line, though, he started to see the truth - started to see that maybe the teachings of Yevon weren't the only way to look at the world.
He had me beat there - I don't think I ever really accepted Braska marrying an Al Bhed, until I had it shoved down my throat that everything I'd fought for was a hoax.
Kimahri - how could I ever explain just how I feel about him? He's everything *I* ever wanted to be. Loyal, loving, and far, far wiser than any would expect. He'd have fought to be Yuna's Final Aeon if we hadn't destroyed Yunalesca. I remember him telling me, that he thought doing so might leave him with enough control that she would live through it. He loves her like a daughter, has for almost ten years now. I think it's been a comfort to him, in his exile from Mount Gagazet. He has taught me much in the short time I've known him - before and after returning to the Aeon's remembered Zanarkand. I think the most important part, is that he taught me to trust.
Is that why you two did it? Why you both asked me to watch your children, in entirely different worlds? I had a feeling that Yuna would be fine, even without Kimahri's protection - but I couldn't ignore your last request, Braska. Yes, I see you there - at the edge of life and death, waiting for me with Jecht. You're both looking good, for the shape you were in when it finally ended. Damn, it's good to see you both again.
Lulu - she reminds me so much of myself, before all this happened. Back when I was alive. Maybe.maybe if things had gone differently, I could have kept her from turning into me. At least she won't have to go through what the last ten years have done to my body and soul - she still has Yuna, and most of her friends. She'll have to get by in a changing world, yes, but she's as adaptable as Kimahri and Rikku are, if she has to be. It's good that she's still here - Wakka's going to need somebody to help him through the chaos of Sin's final destruction, and the end of Yevon's rule over Spira.
Then there's Rikku. I can't help but chuckle as I remember the trouble we had getting across the Thunder Plains with her, or any of the other times she made me want to strangle her by the roadside. As annoying as she was, though, she was more useful than I'd really expected. She'll be a godsend to any place she decides to settle down in, after this. If she ever does settle down - I think she has a terminal case of wanderlust, when all is said and done. I know she inspired enough lust of another sort, in Tidus and Wakka both, even though neither of them acted on it. Tidus' face when she was stripping out of her wetsuit - priceless, even if he thought I didn't notice. All of that seems like it happened so long ago - but she's changed a lot, since then. We all have.
Especially Tidus.
I watched him grow up, in a world I didn't belong in. I watched his hatred for Jecht fester over the years, the bad blending with the good to the point where he didn't even know which was which any more. For all that you loved him, Jecht, you hurt him. There were days when I wondered if I could forgive you for what had happened to him, and his mother, but I knew you hadn't really intended to do any harm. You just treated him like your father had treated you - another cycle of destruction. But I think he'll break that cycle, too, if I've seen the way he looks at Yuna right.
Assuming he has the chance to - but if anybody could survive being ripped out of the reality they belong to, it's him - he's already faced things that would kill lesser men a thousand times.
And yes, Jecht - he is a man now. Don't look at me like that, you know it's true. He knows he's going to die, going to leave Yuna behind - but he's willing to go. He knew that destroying you - destroying Sin - would probably mean that he would simply cease to exist, without even getting the chance to say good bye. But he was willing to do it anyways, to throw everything away for the good of the very people who tried to kill him just a few days ago. Maybe he did break down a few times in the process - I can't blame him for that. Everything he knew, everything he cared about, ripped away from him. Then, just as he was getting used to this world - he finds out that he's been encouraging the woman he loves to march to her own destruction.
He did was we couldn't, Jecht - found a way to save her. And did what the three of us couldn't do together - found a way to truly defeat Sin, and Yu Yevon.
Then there's Yuna. She doesn't want to finish the Sending, I know it. I can see it in her eyes. So many in this world have proved to be Unsent - I'm like Seymour, or Maester Mika. But she can't look at me that way - not at somebody she trusted with her life. I'm thankful for that trust, Braska - the chance to have served another as I served you. But it's over now - you and Jecht are free from Sin, and from Yu Yevon, and it's time for us to go to the Farplane together.
I've been waiting ten years for this day, without even realizing it.
"It's been long enough," I explain, walking past Tidus and Yuna, towards where the two of you are waiting at the edge of the ship.
"This is your world now," I finish, just before giving myself over to the Sending, and letting the pyreflies carry my body away.
It's time for us to go home..