Chapter 4: Epilogue: Father-Son Reunion and the Future Decision
'The Fayth must've done this. He seems so happy with her. I haven't seen my old man in years after..The Pilgrimage against Sin. Its been so long. She must've connected to my dad in a way that mimicked that with my mom. I don't know why I came back to Zanarkand to see him, I think it was Yuna's urging that did the trick. Both me and him do not see eye to eye, so its easy for us to pick fights...But...Would he be the same along side her? Just a word of advice: He's not the only deity from Zanarkand...I am as well, but a hybrid of Aeon and Sin. See what I mean?...'-Tidus
The storm blew away from the ruins over the morning approaching, leading to a brand new day. Already dressed and awoken, Akita and Jecht ventured out to scavange for things needed to survive, and to forage for food and water. She had a hard time trying to catch any fish, but thanks to the technique Jecht uses through her observation by grabing the unsuspecting fish by hand. She waits, til a medium sized fish swam up, not noticing her. She waits; then quickly grabs it, instantly feeling the typical slimey feeling with all fish.
"Alright! Don't let go of it!" cheered Jecht. Akita didn't let go, because if she did; she will starve. After the fish was brought out of the water, she whacks the fish's head with a rock that was the size of a normal fist. This completely kills it before it flopped back into the water with a tale to tell. For the first time, she caught her first foraged food. With enough fish to survive a couple weeks and water; they return to the cavern. Jecht walks in first, but when he enters; he senses that there's someone here already.
"Jecht?" asked Akita. "Someone's here...Probably got here while we were out..." said Jecht. After Akita sets down the load of fish, she goes to investigate. As she approaches her book bag; she spots a blonde haired man reading her notes and research with interest. He wore a yellow, open jacket with patches of white near the left short sleeve and a white hood, while the second side had a type of gauntlet attached to the jacket with a blue shoulder guard. He also wore a padded glove on his left hand.
A type of straps, almost like overalls in dark blackish gray, held his jacket in place from front to back, fastened with a belt around his waist that had a type of carrier-bag attached in the back. His pants were also the same color. On the left pant leg was a red, yellow outlined 'T' based design. His shoes were yellow and black, along with black laces. Even the centerpiece of his silver-made necklace had the same 'T' based design.
"Sir...What are you doing here?" asked Akita. The blonde looks towards her, then said, "Interesting...It seems your very interested on my home of Zanarkand. Have you learned anything yet? Do you need help?"
"Your from here, too?" Akita responded. Jecht, already setted down the fish, walked towards the area in curiosity. As soon as he approaches the scene, he immediately recognized the blonde. "Kid?" asked Jecht.
"Hi, dad...How long has it been? Years?" the blonde answered in a question. Akita was puzzled, til it all clicked: This was Jecht's son, Tidus. "Too long...I thought you never wanted to come here to visit me," said Jecht.
"Yuna talked me into it. She believed we should try to settle something from the past. I was not willing to come here, but she told me I had to if I wanted to find peace from my troubles," answered Tidus. "It rained last night...You were crying, were you?" questiond Jecht. Tidus knew where this was going.
"Dad...We're not doing this again," growled Tidus. "I thought you wanted to be like me...You know crying isn't allowed," said Jecht.
"Stop it...Please...Everyone cries, even you. Even the great Jecht cries. Why can't we just...Stop fighting and got along like father and son? Can't we?" said Tidus. Jecht remained silent. If he wants to settle a few things with Tidus, now was the time to. Akita takes a step, but stops. She knew this was between father and son, so she stayed out of it. After the two talked for a couple hours, it seemed their troubled past was put to rest. Tidus then turns to Akita, then said, "You think my dad was the only deity of this ruin? I may not look like it, but I'm one as well in human guise. Yuna knows this as well."
"Which one? Other than Sin.." asked Akita. "...Bahamugena..." answered Tidus.
"Wait...That would mean that your emotions are linked to the weather, you can resurrect the dead, regenerate, immortality, and also able to come back from death, stronger than previously," said Akita in shock, "You basically govern all the Farplane and the world of the living, and your a hybrid of Aeon and Sin."
"That's true. I prefer to be human. I have a life to attend to and I don't want these inhuman traits to interfere," said Tidus. "A life? What did I miss?" asked Jecht.
"I'm married now. You missed the wedding because I knew you would never show up," answered Tidus. "Married? Ha, ha ha ha! Oh, kid!..Ha ha haha...I bet your wife is Yuna. You two are so attached, it'd kill the both of you if you two seperated, or one of you dies," chuckled Jecht. Tidus nodded in response, meaning 'Yes'. Akita was happy for Tidus as well. After an hour of chatting, Tidus reveals to Akita that even on Besaid Island with Yuna, he already knew what both her and Jecht did that night during the storm. She immediately blushed.
"I'm glad...That my dad has found happiness again. I'm also glad he's sober now; during the time I was young, he always was a heavy drinker. It seems the Fayth played a role into this. I bet our differences must've played a role in his sadness. The Fayth predicted that you would come here, like a blessing in disguise," said Tidus. A smile appears on his face; then his next sentence changed the whole topic completely.
"You must now decide. You know one of the soldiers is still alive; spared by my old man; more will come and they will look for you. Now is the time to decide: Should you go back to where you belong, or should you stay here in Zanarkand with him? It is your choice. Once the decision is made; you cannot change it," Tidus said. Akita thought for awhile. Before that night, she tried so hard to escape Zanarkand like an escaped convict. Over time, she soon realizes why, after hearing her sing the hymn, Jecht believed the Fayth wanted to help erase his lonliness of the years at the ruins, believing they sent her because of that.
Learning more about Jecht in the process drew the two closer by some means and she immediately felt the pain in his heart as he professed his reason of sadness to her, sadness of a despute between Tidus and him. It was the first time Jecht ever opened up to anyone for so many years. That night changed everything that Akita wanted: to get off of Zanarkand, it changed everything in her. It would tear his heart out if she left; she was the one that brought Jecht's happiness back, it was her that saved him from the brink of despair. Her decision was final. She was staying no matter what.
"I...I have decided..." said Akita with tears flowing from her emerald green eyes. Tidus turns to her, then asked, "What have you decided?"
"I..Have decided...To stay here. I'm not going back. I have felt his pain over the course of being here. There was a reason I came here. If it was by coincidence or the Fayth orchestrated it; I know in my heart that I would rather stay here so Jecht can finally be in peace," Akita said to Tidus. Her answer touched the young blitzer's heart. Through empathic capabilities, he knew this is the answer from the heart. She then hugs Tidus, as if he became her son a moment ago after her decision. Jecht joins in, recreating a family again.
A few minutes pass and Akita wondered if Gruda was still on Zanarkand. She had to give a messege to him to stop his search for her and to go back alone; including her reason of staying. By instinct, Jecht grabs a pencil from her book bag and a piece of paper that was out from a note book with nothing on it. "Here...You should write it..." he said. Akita began to write her messege on the piece of paper. After she was finished, a new problem surfaced: How are they going to find Gruda with a messenger. Tidus was at a lost for an all knowing deity, but when he spots something like a fire-fly float in front of him, he knew that an unsent was present.
"Oh, my god...That's a Pyre-Fly...An unsent must be nearby," awed Akita. As Tidus sensed around, a familiar unsent with a companion was present outside the cave. A smirk emerges on Tidus's face. 'Perfect timing!' he thought. Tidus looks outside to spot two people walking pass the cave. One of the two, with Pyre-Flies around him, looked almost identical to Tidus himself, but his outfit was differen with mostly black and red, with traces of yellow and blue. His eyes were closed, as if sensing were he was going by levitation.
The second was in a type of opened robe with a kind of bow in the center to hold it closed in the middle. He was walking with the unsent armed with a staff with a bird-like design at the top of it. The man had blue hair with two sides of his hair that sorta spiked up and dropped down. One of the bands of his blue hair spiked up, but draped down in front of his forehead. A type of beaded necklace was around his neck, with the center danglind down his torso. A type of design was shown on his chest, but no one knew what the design meant. Tidus rushes out of the cavern and called to them.
"Shuyin! Seymour!" Tidus called out. The unsent, Shuyin, stops and immediately his eyes snap open, changing his look from calm to angry in an instant. His companion, Seymour, looks towards Tidus and waves, "Hi, Tidus!" Shuyin turned to face Tidus.
"What do you want? I have better things to do!" shouted Shuyin. "What? Levitating while sleeping is better than this task? I need you guys to do something for someone," said Tidus, approaching the two. He explains the situation and the pair understood. With the task in hand, they were off. Gruda staggered out of the ruins in utter faliure. He vowed to protect Akita, but while he was out, he failed that vow. He had to get off of Zanarkand, presuming she is already dead.
'Damn it...That guy must've killed her...How could I have failed? I need to leave Zanarkand-' his thought was cut off by a Pyre-Fly floating by. He was puzzled, but remembered what Akita said through her notes, when you see Pyre-Flies, that indicates an unsent, a wondering spirit that hasn't crossed over into the afterlife, is near. He then sees three more Pyre-Flies fly by him. By instinct; Gruda turns around to see a levitating blonde haired man, appearing to be asleep. Shuyin's eyes open, indicating an angry look to the soldier.
"What are you? Who are you?" panicked Gruda. "I am the one that almost destroyed Spira with Vegnagun...A lost soul of a soldier caught in a war of machina a thousand years past...I am Shuyin," answered Shuyin, "Despair and hatred are all I have become...Only when I slumber, I am at peace..."
"I used to been Yevon's Maester, but I was killed and also became an unsent. I am only half human, half Guado. I am Seymour, with a heart of darkness...Back then..." said Seymour, approaching the scene, "Are you the one named 'Gruda'?"
"Yes..How do you know my name?" asked Gruda. "Someone you vowed to protect told us. It reminds me of my own...I wonder where Lenne is right now," said Shuyin. "We have a messege for you...Its very important," said Seymour, handing the paper to Gruda. He opens the folded paper and recognized the handwriting: It was Akita's.
"Our job is done...Now if you excuse us, we'll...Go wonder off..." said Seymour. Shuyin returns to his slumber and floats along side the former Maester. Gruda reads the letter and immediately knew what had transpired while he was unconscience.
'So...That guy saved her...I guess she wants to stay here for good...I understand clearly now. Akita...' he thought, "Hey! Seymour!" The Maester stops, then turns around to return to Gruda.
"What is it?" he asked. "I need you to give her a messege, here it is," Gruda tells Seymour the messege, hoping the Maester's memory is good. Seymour returns to the cave and gives Akita Gruda's messege. She was glad he got it. Seymour's task was complete and left the cave to join Shuyin in their wonderings.
"I must return to Besaid Island. Yuna's probably worried about me..." said Tidus. "How did you get here?" asked Akita.
"By water...According to the Yevon texts, Bahamugena is a pure water-element, able to manifest through water, mist, or by other means. I melded myself to become water, that's how I got here so quickly..." explained Tidus.
"You better head back...I bet she's waiting for you," said Akita. She then gives him a quick hug and said, "Be careful..." Tidus nods in agreement and left the cavern. He walks towards the water and begins to become submerged inch by inch as he walked deeper into the water til he completely vanished into the tides. Back at the island of Besaid, a woman in a one piece white dress sat on the shores,as if waiting for something. Her brown hair flowed through the seaside wind, which was tied back in a type of red fabric, making it appear longer past her waist. She sat in silence, til she saw bubbles from below the water's surface.
After the bubbles were present, Tidus began to surface, as if he was the whole time walking on the ocean floor. He made it to the shores of Besaid, shaking the water off to dry. The woman gets up and rushes to him, embracing Tidus.
"Yuna...I'll get ya wet...I'm back.." said Tidus. Yuna continued to hug him, "So...How's Jecht? Same as always?" "Same old, same old...When I arrived, I sensed he found and saved a woman that was in the ruins. The Fayth probably orchestrated this to help him find peace...He's not alone anymore," answered Tidus. Yuna was glad.
"I had a feeling he would find someone special...No matter if it was coincidence, or by destiny-" Yuna's sentence was cut off by a Pyre-Fly. An unsent was near. "Is it Shuyin?" asked Yuna in fear, knowing who Shuyin is. Tidus turned to look and answered, "No...Its Lenne...She's wandering the shores of Besaid." After a few minutes of wondering, Lenne spots Shuyin heading towards her asleep in peace.
"Shuyin...You came back. How was your wonderings of Zanarkand?" said Lenne. Awoken, Shuyin didn't show an angry look like previously, he was still in peace. "Same as always...I was wondering where you was at, Lenne," answered Shuyin. They each embraced infront of the ocean view. A few years pass and everything changed. Akita adapted to the ruins and lived along side the former athlete on the path of survival. Whatever the reason that brought the two together, of pure opposites; fate, coincidence, by the Fayth, encounter, or something else, it truely was meant to be. Even to a brutal blitzer that hides the real self underneath the rough exterior, love can find the peace he desperately wanted to seek from this nightmare of solitude.
No one knows for sure, but to some others; this kind of love was deemed...Forsaken.