______________________Serenity Uprising

When one has something to cling on to; something holding himself back, he will not fade. He will struggle and persevere--he will hold tightly to that one memory; that one thing he holds dearly to himself.

Tidus breathed. The cool air filled his lungs and washed away the piercing swords that seemed to dig into his chest. He was back--back? How? His foggy vision began to clear, and he found himself in a shading of blue. A ray of light from the moon shown through the trees.

"Macalania." He whispered.

The night was peaceful, the air was calm. There was no trace of violence or tension. He swam towards shore, one question on his mind. How? He distinctly remembered bidding farewell to Yuna. He remembered the pain. Not only his pain, but hers as well. He remembered jumping from the airship, giving his father a high-five for their accomplishments. But to him, all he had accomplished was lost.

He had found a women he had loved. No—he had found his soulmate. Funny, he thought, his soulmate was in a different world. It was a dream. The irony was, he was the dream. Frustration took him over. He had learned to fight. Hell, he was the best god damned guardian ever to live. And for what!? To defeat sin and die. His skills had barely been put to good use. But was he dead? He found himself to be very much alive.

Perhaps it was a dream.

His whole world seemed to be a dream. But how could it be? He could feel the water soaking into his sneakers, and the cool breeze relaxing his sore muscles. Feel ; see; touch;. Senses of the living. This was not a dream. It was a second chance. A chance to find Yuna, a chance to fix what had dreadfully gone wrong. Yet the question still lingered…how?

"Thought you had gotten away from me, kid?"

"wha--? Dad?" Tidus looked up. Surely enough, his old man whom he had once detested stood over him, a bulky hand resting on his confused son's shoulder.

"Don't look so surprised," Jecht sat down. Great, now another piece of the puzzle had been sucked up and blown over to god only knows where.

"How…am I…are you…" Tidus was so confused. How was this possible?! It wasn't! The fayth had stopped dreaming. He had disappeared. They were GONE.

"Auron, Braska, and myself—well no, the fayth helped out a little. Just a little."

Tidus looked at him questioningly. "Helped in what? Bringing me here?"

Jecht nodded. "Together, we formed a new fayth. A fayth that will never stop dreaming, unless of course you want it to."

"What? You mean…I'm alive?"

"More alive than you've ever been, kid, without the worry of disappearing during a tournament." A satisfied and proud smile spread on Jecht's face. He had finally done something for his boy. Something that mattered; Something worthy of respect.

Tidus was shocked. It was too good to be true. He could be with Yuna forever. He could catch up on times lost.

"The problem is…" Jecht said. Tidus' heart sank. There was a downfall. A catch. Something to make his seemingly perfect new life…suck.

"The problem is, I'm stuck with you." Jecht added with a laugh. Tidus breathed a sigh of relief. That wouldn't be so bad. Jecht seemed to have changed, being in spira. Talk about change. Tidus himself had gone from a pre-pubescent fool to a first class summoner guardian.

"So you're life got…re-kindled too?" Tidus asked, folding his arms.

"Yeah, you could say that. I wasn't there to show you how to be a man. Perhaps that's what I was…clinging to." Jecht's bold voice suddenly seemed…anxious.

"...I've made it on my own. If I'm not a man, I'm close enough." Tidus replied. He almost immediately regretted the words. He didn't mean it in a negative way; but he knew Jecht would interpret it so.

"Hmph. Then I'm here for no reason?"

"I didn't mean it like that." Tidus replied, a little more harshly than he would have liked.

"Well then, all that is settled. What the hell are you waiting for?" Jecht stood up.

"I need to think. I need to process all this…its just not making sense!" Tidus shook his head. This was too much to deal with all at once.

"It doesn't need to make sense, Tidus! JUST DON'T THINK. You're here, that's what matters! So get going!"

It was hard for him. All this was happening so fast; Fading, swimming for seamless hours, winding up in Macalania, Jecht coming to spill the beans. Where was Auron? And Braska, for that matter? They had helped Jecht form the new fayth and bring Tidus back—so it was most probable that they were still alive.

"What happened to Auron? Braska?" Tidus asked. He too stood up. After this question was answered, he was ready to make a life.

"I told you, they formed the fayth. One of us had to come back to you, Tidus, I figured it was better me than Auron or Braska. Auron was too much of a hostile guy, and Braska you had never met."

"Don't be stupid. Of course you came. You're my father." Tidus said. Damn. He was still talking in that bitter tone, that hatred filled voice. It needed to stop..but little things like that, the excuses bothered him. Excuses; it seemed that was all Jecht was made of. He excused himself when he had to fight Tidus in SIN, he excused himself when he came here. Why couldn't he just speak the truth? It was all anyone wanted of him. The excuses, the lies, and the unexplained accidents. That's what caused the bitterness.

Jecht laughed. It had been so long since he had been this happy. He knew that Tidus felt the same way, even if he was confused about his existence. It would all play out in due time. But still… something was missing from Tidus, it seemed. He wasn't as excited at all as Jecht had imagined. He suspected it was because Yuna and co. were not with him to celebrate this unsuspected glory.

"D—erm. Is there any way…I mean…Auron?"

Auron. Jecht knew that when he told Auron to watch after Tidus, he was giving up his son. Auron would be Tidus' new father in every way that counted. Auron would replace Jecht. Another lie.. "I'm here to teach you how to be a man." It was an excuse..more or less, a fake excuse.

"There's only one way Auron can be contacted. Well…he'll contact you. Since he's you're dreamer, he can communicate with you through sleep. Just think hard, before you go to bed, and Auron will probably come running…the glug." Jecht chuckled.

"…Alright. Do we have any idea where Yuna is?"

"Nope. I dunno…not any more than you do." Jecht shrugged. "Her speech or whatever was in Luca. My guess is that she is still there."

"…Makes sense. How do we get there?"

"Hmm. Cross the thunder planes, pass guado salam, ride that dinosaur—"

This caused Tidus to nearly pitch a fit laughing. He remembered Auron's story about how Jecht thought the Shoopuff was a fiend, and attacked it.

"It's a shoopuff. Not a dinosaur."

"Well whatever the hell it is, we ride it and keep going south 'till we get to Kilika. We'll take a boat to Luca."

"Sounds good. And how long will this take?

"My guess would be 'bout a week."

"A week!? I don't have a week. I was thinking a few hours."

That's impossible!

The airship.

"No, it's not. You know where the closest save point is?"

"…what exactly are you plotting?"

Tidus was full of surprises. This, Jecht knew. It drove him crazy. Crazy, because it reminded him too much of himself.

A-N: yeah. Booooring. But it was necessary so you know the plot and such, next chapter will be the journey to Luca, and the chapter after will be…oh wait…that's a spoiler, ne?