Chapter Four
The Dawn of the 3rd day of Besaid's barraz stole in quietly, along with Yuna, into the house she lived & occasionally shared with Tidus. She had lived the last two days in utter pleasure at the port city of Luca, a guest of another summoner at the temple. She cared not if Tidus had been with everyone in Besaid, or no one. It was the barraz, the time to experience freedom of the soul; to give & receive pleasure. She smiled at Tidus sleeping soundly on the back deck, arm thrown over his eyes. He appeared none the worse for wear, though a pile of wilted garlands told her he had been showered with attention last night & she gently smiled at the memory of the attentions she had been showered with in Luca. He wore a new necklace & so did she, which prompted her to ensure she found a safe place to keep it, a jewel of memory stored in its glittering facets. Today was the blessing of the island day, a long trek under the sun, & somewhat primitive by Luca standards, with its residents freely falling to the ground in sacred congress as they felt necessary. She softly laughed at the memory of old Dara describing the event when she was a novice, swearing that day caused the spillage of more men's seed than a week of an entire squad of SeeD's on leave in a Capitol brothel.
Tidus had left his father's chain maille necklace hanging on the door of Christina's small lodge on the temple grounds before he had laid down to rest in the dregs of the evening before; foolishly romantic, he wanted the memory of being with him to be strong & not fade in the strong sun of Besaid. He just had to have her to himself, and be damned to anyone, even Yuna. He could handle it.
He decided he would make a formal offer to her. Of course, it must be secret for now, as formal Earth-Spirean treaties need to be drawn up first to recognize humans as legal entities in the Spirean governmental system. But…other offers could be made, & frequently were; everyone turned a blind eye to them.
Yuna & Tidus were both awakened later by a din in the streets; people were crying, screaming the father Yevon's name over & over; at first both thought they had overslept & were missing the blessing of the island. They ran for the door, tying sashes, grabbing formal tunics; once outside & jogging down the road to the temple, they discovered through the crazed, chanting locals that the temple had come back to life; it was now supposed that the father Yevon would reappear. Pushing past the crowds gathering at the doors, they enter the temple & are astounded:
The main altar chamber was a sight of a symphony of color, light & movement; lights blinked & machinery whirred, like a computer getting ready to reboot itself. At the main altar, several people had made their way in, despite temple guards; they were all praying, groaning & shouting at the display; some had even become possessed in frenzy of sacred congress.
Madness, Tidus thought. What happened? When did this happen? Why NOW? He reaches forward, & grabs a praying acolyte he recognizes & starts to question him. The acolyte, a student of the smooth Excelion, but now without his usual composure, nearly squeaks with excitement: "It began in the Oceanus chamber! The…the altar just sank, right into the floor yesterday & rose again today- the walls moved, & revealed screens. The library started to light up. Then the altar here started to move. Something is happening!"
"Is anyone logging the activity? Where is the librarian? Get some memory spheres started! Yuna? Do you need anyone? We need to find the head summoner, where is he?"
Yuna turns to Tidus, & he sees she is deeply excited; she gazes in awe at the main altar, now illuminated in a deep red light. Trembling, she gasps softly, exclaiming "It's true, he IS coming..oh Tidus…" Her eyes took on that faraway glitter all summoners get, when a ritual starts. Slowly, she walks towards the main altar, delicate lips moving in a silent prayer. She pauses when a block of light below her feet lights up & holograms of delicate flowers drift up, winking in & out around her; it was like a sheer veil of light had wrapped around her, heightening her dainty beauty. Yuna looks back & beckons him, eyes now gently pleading.
Tidus never saw her look more beautiful & his heart softens momentarily, at her entranced happiness at being so close to the divine presence she has prayed to all her life. And as always, bowing to Yuna's holy need as her beloved guardian & friend, he steps forward to join her in the veil of light before the altar.
He gently tried to get her attention, but she was again lost in a world of her own, eyes fixed on the altar as she recites her summoning phrases; they feel the push of power between them enter the room; gaining momentum, it hums & changes pitch to a near shriek of sound, far different than the gentle hum of power as in the past. A burst of energy rises from the floor, overwhelming the pretty flower-holos with a hard blue-white light, then divides & subdivides into spears of light surrounding the block in floor they are standing on.
He tears his eyes away from Yuna's lovely tranced face & looks about to see if there are any other summoners in a trance like her.
A glimmer of white catches his eye & he sees his lover of the previous night, eyes wide, face white as the sheer veil she had worn from last night's exquisite love-play. Helpless, Tidus looks at Christina while Yuna buries her head in his shoulder, awed at being so close.
The flow of emotions on Christina's face was so strong he could almost sense her shock at this ultimate betrayal; he thought sadly of his unspoken heart-offer, now left unsaid, now dead. He mentally sighed at the thought of Yuna, the words 'sacred duty' were just an excuse to his mind now, with a dry-as-dust taste. But he had set his feet on this path with Yuna as guardian so long ago; he was selfish, trying to bring Christina along. Bitterly he thought: Yevon, here is my sacrifice of flesh & blood.
The altar started to slowly shift, changing its shape slightly from a simple rectangle to a more concave shape, Coming closer to the block he & Yuna stood upon. Tidus decided it was time to step away & let the head summoner step in, but as he stepped back, he was oddly repelled back into the block. The spear-wall of light would not let him loose; it had become an impenetrable haze of energy. He began to kick & punch at it, then throwing himself at it, he was pushed back again & again. Panting, tears rise to his eyes & his blood crashes against his skull in the realization they are trapped. And with a dreadful certainty, he knew imprisonment somehow meant death. Very gently, he takes Yuna by the shoulders, looks deeply into her eyes, & Yuna's awed terror at being trapped subsides; they gaze at each other & faintly smile, unspoken words of warmth in their eyes as they realize they are together, guardian & summoner; friends & first loves. They will not die with strangers.
Christina's heart at observing Tidus & Yuna trapped in the square, a breath away from death, was filled with a pain beyond belief. She knew now what it truly meant to be human, & not Spirean; she'd been pretending that she was Spirean all along & now, the naked truth was revealed; she was the alien. She should turn away, before the scene of Tidus & Yuna joined forever in death burnt itself into her heart forever.
I don't want you to end like this, Tidus, she thought; I'd die for you right now.
Tidus looks over one last time at Christina beyond Yuna's shoulder; his eyes were the clearest, tenderest blue as he saw his father's chain maille on christina's neck; then his sun bronzed hand rose & touched the wall of light-spears. Christina's hand rose & gently placed itself on the opposite side, & there they stood, a bizarre triangle of summoner, guardian & human.
A sparkle lit somewhere in the millimeters of space between their outstretched hands & crackling, it rapidly gained strength & size until it changed from white to blue & then with a sudden snap, the impermeable wall latches onto the sparkle, giving it life until the glittering trails of bio-energy move along the invisible power traces & are sucked into the block of light in the floor Tidus & Yuna stood on.
With a sickening wrench, the temple shudders & groans, as the massive machinery below the ground & in the walls begins to move; the energy created by Tidus & Christina gave the final charge, enabling the operating system to reboot itself. Now awake, the powerful mind of the system seeks its primary liaison point; it finds Tidus & Yuna at the key point & begins to assimilate the two Spireans into itself, as it has always done.
Yuna welcomed the holy spirit of the temple, & she begins to be absorbed by the energy now blazing from the block of the floor; she is holding onto Tidus, & it begins to assimilate him also. Tidus lets go of her hands, then struggles at first with all of the strength of youth; he didn't want to be a part of a god. Everyone witnessing saw Tidus struggling against being assimilated; they began to shout & cry. Christina, now sickened, remembers how he struggled in the water of Earth, when the moray eel had caught his foot. I brought him home only to die like a rat in a cage.
Dully she gazes at the altar, now joined by a throne-like chair rising from another block in the floor behind the altar, a view-screen lowering from the ceiling & a dully gleaming statue against the wall.
In a flash of intuition, she sees this isn't right, the altar has only one chair, one screen, one statue, not …two. The temple can only assimilate one, not two.
Now desperate to free him, she runs to the hazy power grid & throws things at it in utter frustration; the organic things bounce off, but a metal goblet sank in slowly, dancing energy charges around it, but not through it.
She gets the idea she can break the energy grid, If she tries hard enough, & be damned to her life. A wild idea enters her head: Ok, Christy girl…think! To stop Tidus from being sucked into the inner space of the machine, I need something metal; & maybe, just maybe, being human, it might not block me. I'm human, not Spirean! The Aeons didn't stop me! Metal, I need metal, dammit!
Her hand brushes her neck & the fingers touch cool metal. She takes Tidus' chain maille necklace off her neck, then taking aim with a blaze of her will in her aqua eyes, she throws it with all her strength at Tidus in the bubble. It swings out in its glittering arc, seeking, slows slightly sinking through energy haze like heavy water & mindlessly binds to him; she pulls with all her might; Tidus is pulled away from Yuna, but the wall still blocks his escape; gathering her courage, Christina runs full tilt at the wall & jumps; the energy wall liquidly oozes down the chain maille, surrounding her; she feels like the very skin is burning off her, but she barrels through the exquisite singing pain, pulls Tidus against her & she falls backward dragging him free in a tumble on the ground.
The wall snaps, & still holding Yuna in its grasp, it implodes into the floor of the temple; then the temple is stunningly alive.
Screens flicker & images of the machine's persona start to flow into them; holograms dance on the walls, the floor, & in the air, of strange, yet familiar images of Aeons. Yuna's image flickers like a ghost through the displays, but the form of Yuna is nowhere to be seen anymore. The machine begins to speak & the summoners respond, kneeling.
Yuna's image, splashed across the main screen behind the altar, almost real, but not quite, appears; her voice softly morphing into a thousand shards of cascading sounds, she tells the summoners she is now part of what she always wanted; she is with Yevon, the father; that he requires a liaison to do his tasks at every temple; she was chosen as his for Besaid. After a delicate pause, singing cut crystal chimes scaling in her voice, Yuna informs them that Yevon knows two were present; but with the temple machina, there can be only one. One liaison.
Tidus is devastated; his Yuna is gone. He throws himself at the altar, screaming for her to come back.
In turn devastated, the summoners turn to the head summoner. He is shaken, but after 76 years on Spirea, he brings forward his untapped well of strength & wisdom to them; he leads them in prayer, then quietly states: "Be grateful you are witness to such events as these!" He begins to firmly rap out commands to tend to the other people in the temple, check the rest of the summoners in other chambers, tend memory spheres & then begins a root cause analysis to assess the near disaster of losing a summoner & nearly a guardian to the needs of Yevon. It is he who predicts: "Tidus will see in time what a blessing it was to have been brought back to Besaid; let us tend to the human & to the temple. Someone find old Dara, & quickly."
A form lies so quietly on the floor, next to Tidus weeping wildly, head on the altar. The head summoner gently kneels by Christina, appalled at the damage done to her. He grimly nods at the group & two summoners detach themselves; they quietly knock Tidus out, bringing a welcome silence the chamber & carefully carry him out.
As Dara steps forward, having been recording events in the Oceanus chamber, she also nods grimly at Christina's burned skin & says to the head summoner: " I know not how to heal humans, but let us try what we know; she somehow thrived on Spirea after a period of induction; perhaps her body is capable of healing itself. However, I think we should move her from here, & try our own healing arts. If all else fails, we can offer her the cup & leave her in the hands of Yevon." But I doubt that is your fate, young human, she thought as the summoners rose to do her bidding.
Dara simply knew that Christina coming here was no accident; she had analyzed & measured theory in her mind to the 3rd level of root cause & the outcomes of the theories were all the same. Christina would live. She took strength in that, but could not help reciting a short prayer to Yevon when she had Christina's body laid in the healing arts room. It was burned, as one would have a sunburn in some places, but charred where the skin was not protected by clothing; it did not begin to heal & knit over but seemed to deepen as time progressed & her breathing was shallow; her heartbeat began to change its steady beat into arrhythmia.
The summoners were at least able to kill the pain in Christina's body, but the anguish of heart weighed heavily on her; her last memory was that of Tidus, running away from her, throwing himself at the altar & screaming for Yuna. Dazed from the pain killers, she spoke in the quiet of the room through cracked lips: "I've done the wrong thing; I've interfered, & this is my punishment. He was supposed to die with his beloved Yuna; oh, I was selfish, so selfish, Dara…but how could I help myself? My heart was lost to him the minute I rescued him from the ocean. It was like he was thrown in my path." Exhausted, she slips away into blackness, murmuring: " I am glad…so glad…I am not dying with strangers…."
Gently, carefully, Dara had Christina moved to the worship chamber of Oceanus; she couldn't quite logic out why she had to do it, but it seemed a locus of the activity between Tidus & Christina; if nothing else, she thought it a fitting place to leave Spirea for Christina; she was a water-creature & perhaps some memory of the tenderness the two lovers shared would have been left there in the comforting walls. Once there, Dara began to pray, prayer beads calmly clicking& rattling as she let her mind drift, while chanting the readings of Yevon. As her mind drifted, a question bubbled up on her lips in the golden well of silence: "Yevon, show me how to heal her; she is worthy opponent of life. "
The low altar raises, and a clicking of another machine, muffled by the wall behind oceanus grows louder in the quiet of the temple chamber. A thin thread of light rises from the altar & starts to traverse the wretchedly burnt body of the human; then a static hum fills the air & the altar lowers itself below ground, taking Christina with it, then somehow, the floor blocks move into a new pattern over the the place where the altar was. It was like assimilation, but unlike. Dara & her novice simply waited in the chamber all night; the novice only left to bring in cups of hot tea in the cool of the night. The floor moved again shortly after dawn, & the altar rises with Christina. Her skin is fresh as morning dew; with awe in her dark eyes, Dara sees a great healing had been wrought by the temple.
A quiet man's voice, underlaid with a hint of amusement whispers in the chamber: " This species is not of Spirea, how came you by a human, mistress Dara of Besaid?" A pause & small burst of soft static precedes the next statement: " I have fulfilled your request; the human's damages are corrected; you will find them tenacious of life; Allow her to sleep until the healing cycle is complete."
The voice of Yevon, further amused, waits until she reaches the chamber door before saying: 'Send this Tidus to me after she wakes."
Tidus wearily shut the door to the Oceanus chamber; after awakening, but still enraged at being alive, he moodily strode forward, & stops dead at the sight of Christina sleeping on the altar, laid out as if she had died.
Suddenly his heart cracks & breaks, remembering how she pulled him out, the golden skin charring in the intense energy of the power-wall; now she is lost, another victim of his selfish desire to live, to love, to be someone other than a guardian. He kneels in front of Oceanus, humbled to the core. He prayed to Yevon after years of silence: "Help me Yevon, help me! Yuna, my Yuna, she is in you now! I don't want to live, she was my summoner & I was her guardian…please, please let me be with her… I left her, tell her I wanted to stay with her…I have done so much wrong to this human – I brought her here, I led the way as a lover, because I wanted her near; I was selfish, so selfish… " the words eventually slowed to a murmur of sounds as he lay there on the temple floor, too emotionally drained to even move.
The temple machine screens quietly began to flicker & with a buzz of static, it sends signals to a long forgotten piece of machinery with a lens like an eye & it shoots forth light….then wavering, the image of Yuna moves across the floor until it is before Tidus. He scrambles to his feet & overjoyed for a moment, wildly reaches to embrace her, then falls to the floor, arms empty. Bitterly, he remembers another time when Yuna reached for him & he, a dying dream, could not hold her, letting her fall to the ground in grief.
"Tidus, darling Tidus," she quietly says, her voice more controlled, more human, but now underlaid with a cool mechanical tone that bespoke of her psyche receding from the world of Spirea as she knew it. "Tidus, you must not die, I tell you that you must live. You have a whole life to live, & you must not spend it waiting for me- I am different now- We will meet again, on the farplane. It's so different than what we thought. Don't be afraid, just live. Live for me. I command you as my guardian, Tidus – you must guard the temple, for I am the temple liaison now & the temple needs its guardian like it needs a liaison."
"The father Yevon wants to speak to you now…please, listen."
The temple machines crackled static again & the screens took on a dream-like pattern, multiple colors phasing through the old pixels in complex patterns; holograms take a vague manlike shape, but the face never congeals into one face; it keeps constantly morphing, different features blending into odd combinations, but all somehow beautiful. Then the quiet male voice, now authoritative with a hint of light amusement begins to echo again in the chamber:
"Tidus, accept what has happened. Yuna is my bride; she has joined with me. She will now be my liaison in all things at this locus-temple. All she says to you is true, but cannot you understand that love is a thing for the many, not the one? Your kind is not meant to love just one, as I love all my children, & as I love you, Tidus – my beloved sun-child of Zanarkand, brave, selfless, & with a heart that is open as the sky of Spirea itself. I give you a riddle to solve for yourself, & in it lies your key to your life: If someone is willing to lay down their life for his life, a Spirean should consider himself blessed to have such a bond. You were willing to die for Yuna & that is the greatest symbol of a true soul-love bond; simply go forth in the world & look for the same – it exists, I promise you- And ask yourself: who has been willing to die for you, guardian Tidus?"
Two tracks of tears dry on Tidus' cheeks as he kneels in front of the altar; old Dara find him there when she arrives for the dawn devotional. Wisely, she simply kneels by him until he is ready to speak. A flood of memories wash over Tidus as he mentally relives everything that has happened to him since he met Yuna; when he is finished, he quietly sighs & turns to Dara, who has been joined by the summoners & novices, all quietly kneeling, supporting him with prayer, as he decides his path as temple protocol states.
"Dara-san, can you plan a joining?"
Inwardly, she exults & cackles to herself: So, young man, you didn't drown in the sea of love...
She politely replies with the ritual felicitations: "Tidus-san, may your joining be as Shuyin & Lenne! – But whom must I pursue on your behalf?" Now coyly feigning ignorance of his choice, as protocol dictates.
" Lady Christina of Earth" he barely whispers, then he is caught up in emotion, suddenly trembling with an unnamed up-swelling of some deep feeling at the memory of her delightedly grinning at him on the ocean, aqua eyes glinting with amusement under torchlight as she drinks the black; holding on for dear life at the end of a chain maille…
A murmur of appreciative laughter circles the summoners as they see his emotional reaction at announcing the name; the mood is much lighter, as the formalized protocol made it easier to work through such an emotionally laden subject.
Then slowly, they work through the formalized protocol of negotiating the joining, once the human asleep on the altar awakes; finally Tidus, now exhausted, is carefully walked to a hot spring to soak away his weariness & heal his battered psyche.
Christina awakes near sunset, when the cool breezes stir the chamber; Dara's novice hastens forward & shyly takes Christina's hands, helping her to sit upright. A brazier is nearby, & a cup of tea is brought forward; then Christina is also walked with care to the hot spring to soak away her ordeal.
In the evening, the novice helps her dress & she makes her way to the temple dining room to eat & listen to the events she missed after she had pulled Tidus out of the energy-wall. Everyone has something to say, & the discussion turns lively, as the summoners begin a new discourse of the theory of Spirean vs. human matter; therefore Tidus was able to enter the dining room seat himself & eat without any undue drama. He is taken under Excelion's wing & slowly the summoners absorb him into their discourses; but underneath it all, they are subtly amused, anticipating the next step in the joining protocol. Christina had not been told yet of Tidus' offer, & the novices fairly giggled over the secret, making Christina wonder: What is up? Like I am going to throw myself at Tidus' feet, begging for his love after seeing him sacrifice himself for his Yuna? Then sadly she remembers her proud words: Human hearts don't work that way.
Her heart wickedly disputes: Oh? You're a liar. Go to him. I dare you.
Seeing Christina's eyes upon him, Tidus trembles, & nervously looks elsewhere, because he has no idea how to start anything with this creature from Earth at this point. Excelion, secretly tickled that Tidus is finally sensible about the state of his heart, gives him a nudge & quietly says: "Why not at least thank the woman for her efforts?" Sighing, he leans on his elbow, hand in chin, gazes adoringly at Christina, says with mock fascination: "By Yevon, I would be dead with desire if those jewels of eyes looked at ME like that!"
Excelions' dark eyes peep out from the corner from under his ruff of black lashes & Tidus sees he is amused by it all; suddenly, Tidus is also amused. He grins at Excelion & rises from his chair; he quietly walks to the door as Christina made her way away from the table surrounded by a knot of people; he steps forward & quietly bows with Spirean protocol then speaks: "Lady Christina, I owe you my life twice over now. Once on Earth, & now here, on Spirea. Spirean words or actions cannot express my gratitude; so I approach as a friend from Earth." Boldy, he steps forward & gently embraces her, then steps back, blushing furiously, which did nothing more than enchant the novices with his male beauty ( "Oh! I'll never look at a dark haired man again, Leida!") & make Christina blush also. Replying just as formally, she states: " Tidus, I will always be your friend, should you wish it. Accept my grief at the pain of losing your heart's desire, Lady Yuna."
You have a beautiful mouth – & you are such a liar to use it so! Her heart wickedly cackles like Old Dara's voice at her bland formal words.
He bows again and as she sweeps by, a kymara blossom in her hair trailing scent, he furiously thinks: Friend? Friend!? How can we be just friends after all this? We've known each other & too closely, lady. We'll see how long your friendship lasts when I come to you with all my heart.
Excelion & Dara look at each other across the room, each amused & delighted at the upcoming protocols in the next hours & silently toast each other.
In the soft candlelight of her room, Christina nearly chokes on her tea that the novice so carefully poured with exquisite finesse into twelve cups without spilling a drop. Dara calmly awaits her answer to Tidus' formal offer, serenely smiling as Tidus' envoy in the protocol of the joining ritual. Excelion is also there, taking the place of an elder advisor that Christina, as any partner-elect should have, to ensure a fair & balanced offer is made, or she is not forced to accept anything against her will.
"Oh? Join with a man who wanted to kill himself after he couldn't be with the love of his life? What will we do? Have a nice 3 way affair in the temple every night with Yuna?" is Christina's sarcastic reaction. Dara again secretly laughs, knowing Christina adores Tidus, & it is just pride speaking. "You can tell that…that…Zanarkand Zero-brain I'll not live as a second best pick!"
Delighted at some proper resistance to being joined, as protocol dictates the partner-elect should feign reluctance & allow themselves to be convinced with a gentle parrying argument, starting with a listing of attributes of the offered partner. Allowing her interior smile to reach her face, Dara replies: "There are no different kinds of love here, Lady – and, Tidus–san never asked to join with anyone before – not even Yuna, so you are not the second- you are the first!"
In turn, Christina startled at this truth, melts inside & struggles to maintain her composure. Her eyes met Dara's & with a sudden glint of humor at the old woman's clever sally, they smile & nearly giggle in the room, with ten more pairs of eyes are on them as they negotiate the offer for the next half hour, until a third cup of tea is poured; then Christina concedes in mock humility:
"Mistress Dara, I bow to your superior wisdom in the matter; tell Tidus-san…I accept."
As they ritually do the half bow & peculiar hand clasp, Christina remembers to ask: "What's next?"
"We get thee ready for a joining, lady!" Dara finally cackles. The next evening, the worship chamber of Oceanus is crowded with visitors, along with summoners & novices, all agog at the rumor that Tidus & the human are doing the joining ritual. Tidus & Christina were already there, quietly kneeling in front of the low altar. Each appeared calm, their serene faces gazing at Oceanus, but each hid a storm of emotions welling up: Thoughts of the instruction they received in the golden afternoon, the ministrations of friendly hands & hearts, running over the words they hoped they could say without their voices shaking, the garments they wore, would they drop quickly enough without tangling…
The head summoner, sleek & groomed with Excelion at his side holding the tray of the elements, stepped in & blessed the couple with water, earth & fire, then quietly asked each of them if the joining was of their free consent. Upon their agreement, they stepped back, Excelion with a quick grin & a wink, mouthing, 'You lucky bastard' to Tidus. The head summoner quietly finished his part of the ritual with: "The altar is yours; approach, & give of yourself to the gods in sacredness."
Tidus, his gilded head inclined slightly to meet Christina's aqua eyes, started with the traditional " You are mine, & I..I am yours…give of yourself to me , here & now." Christina, trembling, awaited his hands, now gently removing the simple saree draped material she favored with its thousands of clear crystal beads sparkling like beads of water on a water goddess' skin from her golden body; now, a true jewel of Yevon was revealed in her human form, burnished by Spirean sun, & honed by surf.
Heart beating wildly, thinking: Holy hell! I'm standing without a stitch of clothing on in front of a packed room!, Christina repeats the words, & untied Tidus' pareo ( his first) with a calmness she did not feel in the least. The women sucked in their breaths & irises suddenly dilate at the sight of a matching jewel of Yevon in male form; his shaggy head a halo of spirean sun-gold, youthful shoulders filling out with muscle, tapering to an incredibly slim waist; hips to make a woman faint with pleasure at the sight of bronze tanned skin stretched like a drum over the bones of the pelvic girdle.
Christina caught the flash of fear in his eyes & she touched his face to direct his gaze to her; she was afraid too, but she gathered herself to give him courage; barely above a sigh, she whispered, "Remember our night here? This should be an old routine, yes?"
Tidus let go of the silent scream of fear inside that had been building, & realized he could relax, she could lead, he was not forced to be the hero-guardian. His heart takes on a gleam of brightness in the dark of the room & he whispers next to her ear, "It can't be any worse than being claimed by your chain maille, Earth girl!' He then picks her up in the florid clasp the joining ritual dictates & together, they proceed with the event until the room is blanked out; no one else exists but the two of them; with steady courage, she meets him move for move, her eyes keeping his engaged to concentrate on the task at hand until their Sacred duty is done; then they quietly part only to dress, & shyly leave the temple, to the praises of Yevon traditionally called out by the witnesses at a proper joining.
Finally alone, after making their way down the streets, seemingly stopped every three steps with well wishes & toasts, they walk quietly, hand in hand until they reach the shore of the ocean. "Want to surf?" Christina asks – Tidus replies: "At night? What if there's a sea creature that wants to eat me?"
"I'll protect you."
Tidus dives in the rolling surf, & wickedly bemused, decides not to convince her of her madness. After all, he now has something he's always needed: a guardian. Two lovers, one from a planet a 1,000 universes away, one from a universe a 1,000 years in the past, play in the surf of Spirea.
And somehow, the world of Spirea becomes bearable for two beings, both alien to it.