Well, it's the final chapter! Hope you've enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! =)

Chapter 11

What an adventure Rikku and her friends have endured over the past few days. They all fought countless fiends, and the same evil master four times, all leading them to this point where they will finally be able to defeat Sin, and bring permanent peace to Spira. The final battle was looming, and Rikku and the group ran through another part of Sin. Rikku wondered how in the world a maze of metal could be inside of the monster. Nonetheless, she and her friends ran through it, and avoided walls falling down on them.

"Whoa!" she hollered when they came up to a tall machina building. "What is that?"

"The entrance to where we need to go," Auron said.

"I'm disgusted at how much machina is inside of Sin, when it hated machina to begin with," Wakka said. "It just doesn't make sense."

"Yevon was all a lie, so that's how it makes sense," Rikku said, and Wakka folded his arms and pouted.

"Shh, everyone," Lulu said and Tidus pressed some buttons and a door opened. They all went inside it, revealing a dark endless sky with a single arena in it, and metal buildings in the background. Below was an image of the past city of Zanarkand. Someone stood in the center of the glowing blue circle in the arena.

"That's…" Rikku began.

"Yes," Tidus said. "That's my old man. We found him."

The group walked up closer, but stopped as Tidus and Auron walked up closer to Jeckt.

"You're late, Auron," he said.

"I know."

Jeckt switched his gaze to Tidus. "Hey. You got taller, but you're still skin and bones. You eating right, boy?"

Tidus nodded as he faced his father for the first time in ten years. Rikku noticed Tidus's hands shaking as they balled into fists. She couldn't imagine what he was feeling after not seeing his father for so long.

"You're still bigger, though," Tidus refuted.

"Well, I am Sin, you know."

"That's not funny."

"Hm, maybe. Well, let's end this."

Father and son stared at each other, and Rikku noticed tears gather in Tidus's eyes. "Yeah," he muttered, and took in another large breath. "Dad…There something I need to say."

"What?"

"I hate you."

Jeckt chuckled sadly, and Rikku had to gulp down the emotion that was rising in her throat. She knew Tidus disliked his father, but she didn't know that he hated him.

"Yeah, I know," Jeckt said. "Well, you need to do what you came here to do."

"Yeah. We're ready."

"But another thing," Jeckt added. "You see, I can't hear the hymn all that well anymore, so I will soon become Sin completely. I'm glad that you're here now to stop that. But be warned—when it starts, I won't be myself anymore… I won't be able to hold myself back. I'm sorry."

"Enough!" Tidus shouted. "Let's just end this!"

"You're right."

Jeckt turned around and the final show-down with Sin began. Jeckt started glowing, and the arena started to shake. Jeckt fell off of the ledge and emerged as a massive monster.

"Oh, boy!" Wakka exclaimed. "Here we go, everyone!"

"Bring it!" Rikku shouted.

The group started fighting Tidus's father's monster form, and eventually, after a rough and strenuous battle that left every one of them bent over in exhaustion, Jeckt suddenly fell and transformed into human form. Tidus bolted to his father before he could fall to the floor of the arena. Rikku hands flew to her mouth as Tidus held his father in his arms.

"You're crying," Jeckt said weakly. "You always cry."

A sob billowed out of Tidus. "I… I hate you, dad."

Jeckt rose a hand up to his son's face. "Now, now, enough of that."

"Right." Tidus nodded and stood up, leaving his father laying on the blue arena floor. "We have a job to do."

"Yes. Good. You are my son, after all."

"Yeah," Tidus choked out and wiped his tears away. "You know, for the first time… I'm glad that you're my father."

"Yeah, I hope."

"Sir Jeckt," Yuna said, walking towards him. "I should send you."

"No, Yuna, there's no time. Call the aeons!"

Jeckt collapsed and his body disappeared into several glowing orbs. The surroundings changed, and the group found themselves on what looked like a massive floating sword. Yuna called all the aeons, and the group fought every one of them, one by one. Then… all became quiet.

"What now?" Rikku asked, and looked around at her friends. Her gaze lingered on Auron.

"We fight Yu Yevon," he said.

"Seriously? I thought he was the ultimate doer of all of the Yevon stuff, like Sin."

"Right."

"But…"

"Guys," Tidus said, and took a large breath before confessing, "this is the last time we fight together, okay?"

"What?" Rikku and Wakka exclaimed at the same time. "What do you mean by that, huh?" Wakka asked.

"I mean, that after we beat Yu Yevon, I'll disappear."

Everyone gasped, aside from Auron. They all started speaking at once, and Tidus demanded that they stop.

"Guys, I'm not really here. I'm a dream of the fayth. They dreamed me here, so when all this is over and Sin and Yevon are destroyed, I'll leave." He pulled out his sword, ready to fight. "I'm saying goodbye!"

The surface they were on started to rumble, and a dark orb appeared in front of them. A creature that resembled a beetle emerged, and the group started fighting it. Rikku thought it rather strange that Yu Yevon, the ultimate power, took the form of an insect. But it didn't matter. She knew that when Yu Yevon was defeated, all this would be over.

She looked over at Auron as he held out his sword, and Tidus returned from attacking Yu Yevon. Tidus said that he would disappear when this was all over. Did that mean that Auron, too, would…

"Rikku! Attack!" Auron shouted, and she brought her head back into the battle. She struck and her friends made several attacks until Yu Yevon gleamed with a bright light and was suddenly… gone.

A still silence came over the group as they were now back at the blue arena with the image of Zanarkand surrounding them.

"I must send off the aeons to the Farplane," Yuna said. "It is the final step, then Sin will be destroyed."

"Do what you need to do," Lulu told her, and Yuna began dancing.

Rikku watched as her best friend and cousin danced, allowing Sin to finally be defeated one and for all. Allowing Spira to finally have peace forever, never worrying about Sin again… to be truly happy and not filled with sorrow.

"Auron!" Wakka suddenly gasped.

Rikku immediately turned around, as did everyone else, and Yuna paused her dancing. Rikku saw in horror little lights float out of Auron's body. She knew what that meant. She shook her head, not wanting to believe that it was true. "No…"

"What's going on?" Wakka asked in shock. "Auron, why…?"

"He's an unsent," Lulu explained. "He needs to leave."

Rikku's chest constricted to a painful degree, and hot tears escaped her eyes and drifted down her cheek. The others looked at her with sympathetic looks as she frantically shook her head.

"You knew that this would happen eventually," Auron told her.

"No, you can't…"

"I was not meant to stay here. With the final sending of the aeons and Sin, I would leave as well."

"But… you said you wanted me to be happy. You knew that this would happen! Why didn't you just say that?!"

"For the very reason why I made you promise."

"But how can I be happy if you're not here?!"

His body started to become transparent, and, in a frantic act of desperation, Rikku lunged at him.

"NO!"

She fell right through him to the floor and everyone gasped. She whimpered as she stood up and faced him. She could see right through him.

"Please, no…" she sobbed, and Auron brought a hand up to her cheek.

"You promised me, Rikku, now keep that promise. Alright?" Hot tears dripped from her face and he chuckled. "I suppose you were right in thinking I thought you were a crybaby."

More glowing lights floated out of him and she attempted to touch his face, but her hand went right though it.

"I love you…"

Those final words to him would be the last that he would ever hear. More floating lights escaped from him and he vanished.