Prelude
DISCLAIMER: I do not own or claim any of the characters, locales, or events of FFX, as they are all owned by Square Enix. However, I do own my original character Taijiro (Tie-She-Row), also known as Jiro (She-Row.)
Prologue
Taijiro, Yuna, Tidus, Wakka, Lulu, Kimhari, Auron, and Rikku walk toward the ruins of Zanarkand. Tidus looks at the ruins of his homeland and grits his teeth. Taijiro walks past Tidus and sits on the edge of the ground with his feet in the water. The rest of the group find a mound of dirt and sticks their weapon close together, finding now not the time for fighting. It was the calm before the storm they are going to encounter.
Taijiro looks toward Zanarkand and thinks to himself. "Following Sin's death this time, can I finally find peace and be sent to the farplane and rest after so long." Taijiro thinks to himself looking at all the pyreflies that flutter about in the air. "Hey Taijiro, you going to join us?" Tidus calls over to Taijiro. Taijiro gets up and sees the dirt mound with the rest of the group's weapons. He feels too uneasy and restless to follow suit. "Jiro, what's taking you so long?" Yuna calls over worriedly. "On my way Yuna." Taijiro says as he sticks his katana in the dirt mound as well and heads over. He sees a fire that Lulu's magic has started. "Jiro, you can sit between Kimhari and Rikku." Tidus says pointing to the spot he mentions.
Taijiro heads over to the spot. He knows that he and Rikku don't yet see completely eye to eye, but Rikku is willing to let him sit next to her on a log. The group talks about trivial matters, enjoying themselves for what time they can. Eventually, Tidus stood up. He sets his hand down on Yuna's shoulder. Yuna tilts her head slightly and closes her eyes. Taijiro wonders what they could've went through to allow them to be so close despite Lulu's dissent toward the subject. After roughly two minutes with his hand on Yuna's shoulder, Tidus takes his hand of her shoulder. Yuna's face drastically changed and this change was obvious. She was no longer happy, in fact she was sad if not depressed. Taijiro couldn't blame her though, who actually would blame her. Being so close to defeating Sin brings so many thoughts to the summoner and the guardians' heads. That wasn't the only thing. This was a sad place just to be near. The air around here was the same air that countless summoners and guardians have felt when they came here. Sadness, worry, regret, anxiety and countless other emotions always run through their minds.
Tidus heads up to a tall mound behind Wakka and Auron. Taijiro looks up at Tidus. Tidus is looking at Zanarkand. Taijiro starts to get up but Rikku places her hand on his shoulder. "He wants to be left alone right now." Rikku says calmly but with melancholy. Taijiro nods his head and sits back down. Taijiro wonders why Tidus would want to be alone. No one else has gotten up, so Taijiro believes that they must know why, and as Rikku was the first person to speak up about him getting up, she must know the feeling more than the others.
Taijiro looks around and examines the faces of the others. Yuna's was the first one he sees. She was sad. She knew that we would always worry about her if she is sad, and she hated that, but yet she couldn't blame us for feeling that way.
Auron was keeping his gaze on the flames, his face remained as calm as it always had been. Taijiro knows from his time watching Auron before they both became Yuna's guardians that he was never one to show much emotion.
Wakka, kept his shaking stare on the ground, looking either like he was about to yell or about to cry. Taijiro felt like he should try to calm him down, but refrains in case he says something that Wakka might take offense to.
Lulu was staring at the flames, sitting on a rock. She looked just as upset as Wakka, but Taijiro wonders how she can look so steady while Wakka looks like he's about to erupt at any moment.
Rikku looked like she could burst into tears at any time. Taijiro wants to help but as the two of them started off on the wrong foot when it came to meetings, it would probably make her angry.
Kimahri…Taijiro knows from talking to Ronsos before it's a miracle to get them to show any emotions, but as another guardian Taijiro believes that he's probably feeling the same as everyone else, but probably has Spira's best poker face about it.
Taijiro, then wonders how he himself feels about all that happened. He wonders if he should be joyful that this time Sin is hopefully gone for good, sad that he won't be able to see the group anymore, or some other feeling that he can't explain. At times, he would feel angry at the world for doing this. Other times, he would be even sadder than Rikku. He shakes his head and gets up and heads away from the group. "Where are you going?" Auron asks still sitting down and staring at the fire. "I need some time to gather my thoughts." Taijiro says heading over to the path that leads to Zanarkand.
Taijiro turns his sight toward Tidus. Tidus is still staring out at Zanarkand, his fist clenched together. He seems to be mad. Taijiro thinks back to looking at everyone's faces. Everyone's probably mad. Taijiro wonders if he can do anything to help his friends before he leaves.
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