A/N: I had gotten a review from Gining saying that it needed a happy ending. Well, here it is. I revamped this whole thing. The second chapter has the alternate ending. But I ask that you read through the original first. I made quite a few changes and added some stuff. Hopefully you like it!
But if you just can't stand a sad ending, go ahead and read the second chapter.
Tell me how I did and if there are ANY ERRORS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
Four years after the events of FFX. I wrote this after watching the perfect ending to FFX-2. It made me so mad that Yuna got Tidus back and Rikku was left with no one. I then had to realize that Aurikku didn't actually exist. Square Enix never had them as a couple. Yeah, I felt stupid for getting so worked up about lol. So I decided to write this. Auron comes back and they have a touching reunion, but will it last?
You'd think I would have been happy without Sin and Vegnagun to fret about. But I...I was lonely. After Sin was defeated, I had kept myself busy with sphere hunting and messing with Brother. It was great while it lasted. But once Tidus had come back, Yuna had dropped the Gullwings to spend every waking moment with him, not that I blamed her. Then it was Paine's turn to leave. It wasn't long before she had found herself as a personal bodyguard for Baralai, seeing as Noooj had Leblanc, and Gippal just flat out refused saying that playing in a sandbox didn't require protection. Sure I could have stayed on board and flown all around Spira, but, after a while, the thrill of being free to go anywhere I wanted lost its appeal. I'd even caught myself wishing there was some meanie bad guy for us to fight.
Man, I miss those days.
It seemed so simple then. There was a huge evil and we had to fix it. We focused all we had on that goal...but what did we have to strive for after we won the battle?
The days were getting longer and my heartache seemed to be getting worse. More and more I found myself dwelling on the past, on what could have been. I cherished those memories more than anything.
"Memories are nice, but that's all they are."
That was the saying, at least. I used to be a firm believer in forgetting and not slowing down...but...the memories of him were all I had left.
Some of my favorites involved me trying to steal his amazingly cool sunglasses. One night when the whole party was asleep, I had tried to pilfer those very glasses off of his face. He had woken up and caught my hand before I even had a chance to lay a finger on them.
I chuckled at the memory. I had always sworn I'd get those darn things.
Too bad I never got the chance.
My chest constricted and I gasped for air. The pain of losing him was still with me, like it always would be.
I wanted to move on, really, I did. But how could I just forget him? He was the kind to leave quite an impression.
But it hurt so much when the truth finally came out, when the pyreflies seeped out of his skin. He wouldn't even look me in the eye. He just...let go.
"He could of at least dropped a few hints, ya know!?" I screamed one late night after talking to Yuna. "He didn't just have to walk away saying over his shoulder, 'Oh, by the way, I'm already dead. I'm living as an unsent.'"
I mean really...he could have said something.
But he didn't. So here I was with a stupid heartache that was determined to never go away.
However, things weren't all bad...
Sitting on the beach, alone, had become a relaxing pastime for me. I would stroll along the watery lengths until I found the perfect spot. The spot would change from day to day. The waves would come in and wash away the comfy sand of the day before and replace with something new. I liked that my spot always changed. It gave me something to look forward to each day. Once I found my spot, I would quietly take my seat and prepare myself for the show.
Every night, right when the top of the sun sank to the ocean depths, the fayth would dance. Masses of pyreflies would come flying over the water, seemingly out of nowhere. They would twist and twirl around each other, as if showing their affection. Then they would all come together into one gigantic swirling throng. Slowly, they would start to sway, back and forth. Bit by bit, a figure would form. It would be blurry at first. So blurry that you couldn't make out what it was. At that moment you would intake a quick breath, scared at what was on the water, just yards from you. But then you would smile. It was, of course, the fayth. The gender and ages of the fayth you saw varied. One night you might see a little girl dancing as if she were a ballerina, and, other nights, you might witness an elderly man doing his jerky little jig. But there was one thing that always remained the same.
They always disappeared.
They would start to fade right as the sun made its first appearance. They would become transparent images that faded more and more with the rising sun. It broke my heart to see their mournful expressions. Without fail, I would cry. It was so sad to watch the happy fayth stop dancing and just fade away. What made it even more heartbreaking was the fact that I had never seen the same fayth twice. Out of the four years I had been out here, I cried every night.
It wasn't fair. They were so happy when they danced. One night there was a beautiful woman dancing what I could only guess was a waltz. She had no partner, but she spun and spun until her features were only a blur. Abruptly, she stopped her magnificent dance with a lone tear running down her cheek. And then she was gone.
Her face had been in many of my dreams since. The dream always ending with her falling away into nothing.
Since then, I had said a prayer, to whom, I may never know, that the dancing fayth would survive the sun's cruel gaze. But my prayers had never been answered.
The fayth always disappeared.
But tonight was different. As I lay there, hoping and praying that I would see a familiar face of a fayth, I nearly dropped in a dead faint. There standing out in the midst of the hundreds of pyreflies was Auron. Auron had come back. My vision started to blur. I realized I was crying, and shamelessly wiped the tears away. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It couldn't possibly be my Auron, could it? There wasn't any possible way that he could possibly be here. It wasn't possible, right? But it had to be. He was standing right there. Just yards from me. After four excruciatingly long years, he had finally come back.
My body wasn't as slow to react as my mind was. I jumped up and ran out into the oncoming waves. It didn't matter that this was a new dress. It didn't matter that it cost me nearly three whole paychecks. Nothing really mattered at that moment. All I cared about was him. I wanted to hold him and never let him go.
After splashing my way through waist deep water, I made it to him. He was standing on the water, pyreflies floating in and out of him. He had that same old red coat with those same old sunglasses. My eyesight was blurring again.
Stupid tears.
I lifted my hands, wanting to touch him and make sure that he was real, but he held up a hand as if to stop me. I looked up into his eye and he shook his head. What was going on? Why couldn't I hold him? Did he no longer love me?
Pyreflies were still flying around, in and out of the man in red. But there were less of them now. More and more were being absorbed into his skin. I didn't understand what was going on, but I didn't care. He was here. He was within my reach. But I couldn't touch him...at least not yet.
After what seemed like years, all of the pyreflies had been absorbed. He slowly started to sink into the gentle waves.
"You're dress is ruined," said that all too familiar voice.
I couldn't help it. I burst into a fit of tears. And I couldn't stop. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself into his warm body. He drew his all too real arms around my frail form and squeezed me tight. I felt a light kiss on my head. And then it began to rain.
But it wasn't really the rain. Auron was crying. I stiffened. How could Auron, the toughest, most gruff man in all of Spira, be crying? He began to whisper into my ear. He said, "I love you." Hearing those three simple words made me cry even harder. How long was he going to be here? Would he fade come dawn? I didn't think I could handle losing him again. I lifted my head and stared into his good eye.
"How long?" I asked. He knew what I meant.
"I don't know," he sighed. "Let's make the best of the here and now."
Then I remembered.
The fayth always disappeared.
A look of worry must have crossed my face. He picked me up, and I have to say that I was impressed. We were in waist deep water and the waves had gotten stronger. Yet he swept me off my feet. He carried me to the beach and set me down on my spot. The sand was nice and soft, and, at that particular moment far, far away.
Auron laid down beside me and pulled me close. We e laid there without saying a word. We didn't have to say anything. There was no awkward silence. Then I whispered, "You know what? I missed you." I was rewarded with a soft kiss. I can't believe that I had forgotten what it felt like to be loved. I knew right then that I had truly, with all of my heart, missed him.
I looked over to the love of my life and saw that there were still tears on his face. He caught me looking and smiled, "I missed you, too."
That was all I needed to hear. The last few years had been torture on my heart. All it took to heal me were a few simple words. I hugged him closer. He had missed me, and I him. I had thought that, maybe, after all this time apart, that he didn't truly love me anymore. No other time have I ever been so happy to be proven wrong.
I glanced up at the sky. The stars were shining so bright and the moon seemed so close, I felt like I could reach out and touch it. Sneaking glances his way, I secretly enjoyed breathing in his aroma. It was the same musky scent that had plagued my dreams for the past four years. My dreams hadn't given it justice.
"What are you thinking?" He asked as he stroked my hair. It was such a simple question, yet it was nearly impossible for me to answer.
"Um, I was actually thinking along the lines of how perfect of a night this is." It was true enough. I couldn't very well tell him that I was infatuated with the smell of him and the way his touch sent goosebumps up and down my spine.
He chuckled. I knew he didn't believe me for one second, but he let it slide. "How are the others?"
I swept into a play by play of what he had missed in the past four years. How the Youth League and New Yevon had formed and made war. How Yuna, Paine, and I defeated Vegnagun and the shadow, Shuyin. Then I got to the part where Tidus came back. This made Auron smile. He was glad to know that his best friend's son had made it okay. I finished my story with the fact that I was helping the Besaid temple update itself. They had needed a mechanic and Wakka had recommended me. I had been working there for the past year or so.
Auron was pleased that I had made a way for myself. When I told him that I had finally gotten over my fear of lightning, he didn't believe me. He just laughed.
"I did so get over my fear! Ask Yunie, you big meanie!" I growled halfheartedly.
All I got was more laughter. His laugh was music to my ears. We began to talk. We spoke of the stars, Yuna's and Tidus' upcoming wedding, and we even talked about blitzball, of all things! But there was one topic we silently agreed to avoid. We were not to talk about the coming dawn. I don't think I could have handled it.
After exhausting all conversation, Auron stood up and pulled me to my feet. He grabbed my hand and twirled me into his warm body.
"Dance with me," he breathed.
And so we danced. Right there on the beach. There was no audible music, but that didn't matter to us. We danced all the same. I flitted around like all the fayth I'd seen dance. It was exhilarating. Then we heard it.
It was soft at first, but grew louder and louder with each step we took. It was the fayth, and they were singing. I could see them all lined up along the water's edge jumping and leaping with their song. Auron spun me round and round, faster and faster. I twisted here and there, finally coming to a stop inches from his face. The first rays of dawn flashed in his eyes. The fayth had stopped singing.
A lone pyrefly escaped from his chest and flew straight through me. My face dropped and despair soon overtook any joy I had had upon seeing him. He looked down at me with his good eye and tried to smile.
"Time's up," he mumbled. I gripped him tighter resulting in a flurry of pyreflies. He leaned down and pulled my face closer his. Our lips met in a soft, gentle kiss. I never thought that I would ever get a second chance to be with him. Now that he was here, in my arms, I couldn't let him go. But I had to. I had no choice. All I could do was hope. Hope that one day he would be back for good.
"Will I ever see you again?" I choked out. I wasn't sure that I wanted to know the answer.
He pulled away without answering me and began to walk into the lapping waves. The dancing fayth had long since faded and only pyreflies remained. The old ache in my chest returned, forcing the air out of my lungs.
Auron walked steadily into the chilly water, not even slowing down. Pyreflies were now filing out of his body, making it hard to see him. The reality of what was happening hit me hard. He was really leaving. Never to return.
As he walked, he slowly began to rise out of the water. He didn't stop, didn't even flinch. No, he continued with his purposeful stride. At last, he got to the spot where he had first appeared. He turned back to me and met my eyes. There was a single tear rolling down his face. Then he was gone, exploding into a throng of ghostly pyreflies. He had vanished right in front of me.
Again.
A mass of pyreflies swirled around where he had been, then slowly began to disperse till there was but one left. This one came to me and swirled around my entire body. At that point, I didn't care. I fell to my knees and wept. My love was gone. The fayth had toyed with my heart. I wanted nothing more than to just scream at the injustice.
The pyrefly, which had moved to float listlessly around my head, abruptly stopped its circuit and landed in my lap. There was a flash of light and then it was gone. In its place was a pair of sunglasses. His sunglasses. I had always said that I would get them one way or another. I just never thought I would get them like this. I clutched the sunglasses as if they might blow away with the wind. These glasses were all I had left. This was all the fayth would allow me to have.
But as I sat there, I realized that the fayth had been kind to me, not unjust. They had given me a chance to be with the one I loved one last time. They had let me say goodbye. For that, I was thankful. Sighing, I put my new found sunglasses down and leaned back onto the soft comforting sand.
While sitting on that beach, alone yet again, I swear I heard someone whisper, "Dance with me."