That night, we left the city of Bevelle. We walked through the city to the temple, then started down the path leading to its front doors toward Macalania Woods, the streets around us completely bare.

"Well, lookie here!" Jecht said, grabbing something out of the pack.

"Hey!" I scolded.

"What is this thing?" he asked, shaking it around a little.

"Careful with that!" I snapped.

Braska just laughed. "It's called a spherecam. We use them to record videos, memories, which are stored in spheres that we can play back."

"Sweet," he said, looking at it. "This the on button?" He ran ahead of us and pushed the button, walking backwards with the camera focused on us.

I sighed. "What are you taking?"

"Well, you said it was gonna be a long trip," he replied, checking behind him to make sure he would not trip over an unseen obstacle. "We'll be seeing a lot of neat things, right? So I thought I'd record it all in this. To show to my wife and kid, you know."

"This is no pleasure cruise!" I snapped.

"Hey, Braska," he continued, focusing the camera on him and paying me little attention. "Ain't this supposed to be a grand occasion? Where're the cheering fans, the crying women?"

Braska stopped walking, as did Jecht and I. "This is it," he explained. "Too many goodbyes—people think twice about leaving."

"Hmm… if you say so," Jecht shrugged. "Well, it better be a lot more colorful when we come back. A parade for Braska, vanquisher of Sin!"

Braska chuckled. "We should go. Day will break soon."

Jecht finally shut off the spherecam, and we continued into Macalania Woods, passing all the way through it to emerge on the side leading to the snowy Macalania Temple.

"Weather's a lot nicer than when I was here last," I noted as we looked around, the sunlight now quite strong and making the snow sparkle.

"I imagine it is," Braska nodded. "Was the last time you were here—?"

"Yes," I confirmed.

"Ah," Braska nodded.

We went on to Macalania Temple, where Braska obtained the aeon. We did not talk very much, until Jecht broke the silence on the way back to the woods.

"Hey, Braska, you wanna film this?" Jecht asked, handing the spherecam to Braska. "You know, so you can get Auron and me in the same shot?"

"Sure," Braska chuckled. Jecht ran over to the Travel Agency's sign, sporting "Lake Macalania" in fancy script.

"Come on, Auron, don't be a buzz kill," he called, beckoning to me to come stand under the sign with him. I rolled my eyes and walked briskly to him, facing Braska and the spherecam.

"All right, ready?" Braska asked. He turned the camera on and focused it on us. "Auron, could you stand closer to him?"

I sighed deeply, finally stepping closer to Jecht, my back to the camera.

What a trivial waste of time, I thought.

"Good," Braska called again. "That should do it."

Jecht chuckled. "What's the matter? Afraid I might bite?"

"Jecht…" I muttered.

"Braska!" Jecht yelled. "You should take one, too. It'd make a great gift for little Yuna!"

"I suppose," Braska said from behind me.

"Lord Braska," I said, turning around. "We shouldn't be wasting our time like this!"

"What's the hurry, man?" Jecht asked, casually walking away.

"Let me tell you what the hurry is!" I said, storming after him.

"Auron!" Braska called. I heard him turn off the spherecam, and was then unafraid to unleash my full wrath on Jecht.

"You want to know so badly what the hurry is? Fine," I began, my voice seeming to increase in volume with every word. "You talked of your wife and child. You are not the only one who had those luxuries, you know! Braska, you know he has a daughter, Yuna, at home. Well, the entire reason he became a summoner is because his wife—Yuna's mother—died when Sin attacked the ferry she was riding."

"Auron, cool down," Jecht said, his voice a little more serious. "I didn't—"

"And you know why I'm his guardian, why I want so much to hurry?" I continued. "I used to have a wife and child, too. My daughter died when Sin attacked the Travel Agency we were staying at. Do you know how old she was? Ten days!" I yelled. "Barely. Ten days old, and robbed of her life! After that, my wife and I resolved to defeat Sin, but her health declined, and she…" my voice softened a little. "She died, on Gagazet. She told me to defeat Sin, for her, for our daughter, that she knew I could… and I'll be damned if I let her down now."

"Auron, I had no idea," Jecht said. "Look, I'm sorry."

I contemplated saying something, but I could not find the words to express my feelings, so I just walked away.

"You must forgive him," Braska said. "He can get a tad… touchy when it comes to what he lost."

"Understandable," Jecht said. "You better go talk to him, Braska."

"I think I should," Braska agreed. I heard his footsteps in the snow as he walked up behind me and put his hand on my back. "Are you all right, Auron?"

"I just wish he'd have a little more respect for the sacrifices we've made, the torture we've gone through, the reason we're out here at all," I said, my tone still tainted with anger. "Because the way he's acting right now, I might end up taking a swing at him before the day is done."

"Auron," Braska said. "He is truly sorry, I know he is. Now, can we just get on with the pilgrimage?"

I nodded. "I'm sorry too. I shall try to control my temper in the future."

"Good."

We entered the woods again, but this time, I stopped to look into the place where Alex and I had spent our first night together, beneath that tree. A number of vines and plant life once again blocked the entrance, and I had to pull out my sword to hack it all away.

Jecht turned back to look at me. "Hm? Somethin' here?"

"Yes," I grunted, taking one final swing at it and clearing the rest of it away.

"Well, lemme see this th—" Jecht began.

Braska put a hand on his shoulder. "No," he said, shaking his head. "We should let Auron have a moment alone."

I looked at Braska, attempting to communicate a "thank you," which he seemed to understand, before I walked back into our little seclusion of the woods.

The memories all came flooding back to me as I looked around the grove, and I again ran my fingers over Alex's necklace. As if the water could sense I was there, a faint image of Alex and me, kissing each other and shedding our overcoats on that first night illuminated in front of me. I felt tears once again sting my eyes, but I blinked them back.

"I wish you were here…" I whispered as the image became her, alone. She was looking at me and smiling, her chocolate eyes as alive as ever. "I miss you so much."

I touched the sphere, which, after all these years, was still stored in a pocket in the lining of my cloak. "I love you, Alex."

"Hey," Jecht said, walking into the circular seclusion behind me. "This was your wife?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"She's pretty cute."

"Watch it," I warned, even though my tone was not as sharp as before. "That's my wife you're talking about." I looked her over again and felt a smile overcome my lips. "But I know."

"Auron," Jecht said. I looked over to him and saw he was holding the spherecam. "You think I could borrow this place for a sec? I just… I gotta do a thing."

"Sure," I shrugged. I looked back at Alex, and blew her a kiss.

"Bye," I said softly as I walked out of the grove. I lingered by the entrance, just to see what exactly it was that Jecht had to do.

He turned the spherecam on and sat down, facing it.

"Hey," he began. "If you're sitting there, watching this, it means you're stuck in Spira, like me. You might not know when you'll get back home, but you better not be crying! Although I guess I'd understand. But you know what? There's a time when you have to stop crying and move on. You'll be fine. Remember, you're my son. And… well, uh… never mind, I'm no good at these things." He turned off the spherecam and picked it up. He then turned around and looked at the tree, a strangely thoughtful expression on his face, before raising the spherecam again and turning it on.

"Anyways," he continued softly. "I believe in you. Be good…" It seemed as if a tear slipped down his cheek. "Goodbye." He turned off the spherecam once more, shook his head, wiped off his face, and exited the grove.

"Just wanted to… to send my son a message," he said. "Just in case, you know?"

"Mm," I nodded. "Understandable."

"Well," Jecht went on, his tone a little more casual. "Let's get a move on then!"

"Mm," Braska nodded. "To the Gandof Thunder Plains."

When we left the woods, Jecht stared at the lightning rod towers, and the bolts of lightning that were missing them completely.

"Whoa whoa whoa," he said, stopping. "You mean we gotta get across this thing?"

"Yes," I nodded.

"Without anything to protect us other than those shoddy lightning towers?"

"All the more reason to cross quickly," Braska said. "We do not want to get struck by lightning."

"Eh, it's just a bunch of electricity," Jecht said. "I'm a star blitzer! I'm tough!" He flexed his muscles as if to prove his point. Braska and I exchanged looks bemused looks. "I can take a little electricity. Let's go."

Jecht began to march confidently into the Thunder Plains, and Braska and I, after sharing a quiet chuckle, followed.

When we reached the second lightning tower, Jecht once again pulled out the spherecam, tossing it this time to me.

"Hey, Auron!" he said. "Why don't you take it this time? I want Braska in some of these shots."

I sighed as Braska and Jecht posed by the tower. I moved the camera around, looking up at the sky and the towers.

"Hey!" Jecht called. "Hold it steady!"

"Why am I doing this?" I asked, recording them for a moment before turning it off.

"Hey, what're you doing?" Jecht asked as Braska wandered away slightly, seemingly lost in thought. "Keep recording!"

"As you wish," I said, walking toward Braska and focusing the camera on him, Jecht barely in the shot. "What do you see there, my lord?"

"Oh," he said. "I was just… thinking."

"This is important! No foolin' around!" Jecht called. I rolled my eyes and panned slightly left, cutting him out of the shot completely. "You're gonna spoil it!" he continued.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, there was a flash of light as lightning struck, close by.

"Whoa!" Jecht yelled. I turned the camera back on him, seeing him standing lying on the ground, a little dazed. Braska and I walked over to him, and I made sure to film every second of Jecht's vulnerability.

"Are you all right?" Braska asked as Jecht sat up.

"Now there's a scene for posterity!" I said, smiling.

"Yeah, yeah," Jecht said quietly, his embarrassment showing through his tone.

Braska and I laughed as I switched off the spherecam.

"So, you can handle a little electricity, can you?" I laughed.

"You shut up," he grumbled, standing up and shaking himself off. "Let's just get across these stupid plains, okay?"

"Okay," Braska said, attempting to stifle his laughter.

We did not get very far before we were ambushed by fiends called Larvae. They hit us each with lightning spells.

"What the heck are those things?" Jecht asked.

"Those are fiends," Braska explained. "They inhabit Spira. You better get used to them."

"How are we supposed to get rid of 'em?"

"We fight!" I replied, drawing my sword and tossing Braska his summoning staff.

"Hey, what about me?" Jecht whined.

"I brought something," Braska said. "Auron, check the pack."

I found a sword—red with white binding that looped back a little at the end—and tossed it to Jecht.

"I hope you know how to use it," I muttered.

"Well, let's take this baby for a test spin, then!" Jecht exclaimed, taking a swing at one of the Larvae. He hit it, but not strong enough to kill it. "Hey, what the heck?"

"Let me help you," Braska said, casting Watera on it to finish it off.

"Thanks, but I coulda handled it," Jecht said, shrugging.

The remaining Larva struck him with an even more powerful lightning spell.

"Why you little… I oughta… Auron, kill that thing, darn it!"

I laughed as I easily defeated the fiend.

"You've got a bit of a problem with lightning, don't you, Jecht?" I asked as we walked on through the Thunder Plains.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled.

We followed the Plains all the way back to Guadosalam, where we restocked our item supply and stopped to rest for the night.

"Ah," I sighed. "Sharing a room. This seems so familiar."

"What," Jecht said. "You been on a trip like this before?"

"Yes," I nodded. "It was how I met my wife."

"Huh," Jecht grunted. "So the hot chick from Macarena Woods or whatever it was—"

"Macalania Woods," I corrected. "My wife in Macalania Woods."

"Sorry. Well, she was a summoner?"

"She was," I nodded.

"You were talkin' to her, not just to yourself?"

"You spoke to her?" Braska inquired.

"Well, not really," I said. "It was just her image, saved there by the waters."

"Ah," Braska said, nodding. "I was curious…"

"It is fine," I assured him. "It just made me all the more eager to defeat Sin."

"Hey, so," Jecht began. "What's this 'Sin' thingy, anyway? You both mentioned it a bunch of times, but I still don't know what it is."

I looked at him, both my voice and expression softer. "You really do come from a world without Sin, don't you?"

"Yeah," Jecht replied. "No Sin or anything. Nope, nothin' but blitzball, lights, and fun!"

"A world… without Sin…" I said thoughtfully. "How I envy you, Jecht. To not know the pain and suffering Sin brings…" I touched the necklace. "I envy you."

"So, I guess Sin must be pretty bad, huh?" Jecht said soberly.

"Indeed," Braska replied. "Sin is the reason that summoners like me, like Auron's wife, exist. We make it our duty to bring peace to Spira… if only for a time."

"What's that mean?" Jecht asked.

We filled him in on everything there was to tell about Sin, and by the time he was fairly certain he understood, it was very late.

"We should get some sleep," I said.

"Auron is right," Braska nodded. "Tomorrow, we cross the Moonflow, and then it's on to the Mi'ihen Highroad and Djosé Temple."

"The Mi'ihen Highroad…" I muttered.

"You say somethin' Auron?" Jecht asked.

"No," I replied. "Just get to sleep."