Chapter 29: Morning Glow, Mark 2 (Song: youtube - watch?v=WBejRS6jwWg)

FLASHBACK START

Dylan loved marching band so much. This was her absolute favorite part.

She loved waking up super early in the morning for a competition. Strange, yes, because she was definitely not a morning person. But this was different.

She was up at four this particular morning. It had just stopped raining. The sun wasn't even up yet. Neither were her parents. But she rose early to watch the sunrise. They were always even more spectacular after a rainstorm.

Dylan sat on the window seat in her bedroom for a long time, gazing out at the brilliant night sky. There were so many stars. It had become a clear night.

And then, it slowly began. A pinkish-purple light began to push its way above all the houses on her street. The light turned more orange, and then, the sun appeared, awake, ready.

So Dylan was, too.

Here, awake...ready.

FLASHBACK END

The party had appeared back in the Blitzball stadium inside of Sin after their epic battle. It was over, and now the end was beginning to take shape.

The first thing Yuna had to do was send Auron. She hated it so much. But he had said so, and she had known so, so she danced about, just like always. Her last sending. Forever.

She suddenly turned to see Auron fading into pyreflies. Everyone stared at him, their eyes sad.

"Don't stop," he said in a tired, raspy voice.

"But I..." Yuna started. How could she even think to send him? Her most faithful, protective guardian? The most wise of them all? The most legendary?

"It's all right." Auron ignored her and began to walk forward, looking at all the young people surrounding him. He hit Kimahri on the chest, as if to say, "She's yours to protect now." And he kept walking until he reached Tidus. He stood by the young man and said, "It's been long enough."

Auron then walked past Yuna, and he drew his katana, placing it on his shoulder.

"This is your world now," he told them all before fading away completely. Everyone was quiet. That great, powerful warrior...their wise leader...their friend...was now gone forever.

And this was only the beginning.

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I watched in awed silence as each of Yuna's aeons appeared. I also noticed the others, like Anima and Yojimbo, appear as well. They floated awkwardly in the sky around us.

So Yuna began to dance.

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People watched in horror as Sin's body floated in the sky, then suddenly it exploded, sending out an orange shockwave over the sky as it exploded. But everywhere and everything was lit up in glory.

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As Yuna danced with her staff, each of the aeons faded away into pyreflies, hundreds of thousands of them. The sky was dark, and starry...so it must've been night when this all happened. Yuna kept her eyes closed the whole time. I wanted to, too, but I knew this might be the most amazing sight yet, so I forced myself to stay calm and watch.

When the leftover of Sin were sent, they also exploded into pyreflies, and you could hear the souls of the dead crying out in joy as they flew away to eternal slumber.

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In Mount Gagazet, the fayth attached to the cave wall began to disappear, one by one. They were replaced with stone, becoming an eternal part of the rock itself. The large water tower slowly descended until all that was left was just a giant ball of water. But even then, the water droplet broke into tiny pieces, like bubbles, each with a face of someone on them. Someone who was a dream.

Tidus was one of them.

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Everyone else around me was distracted by all the beautiful lights in the sky, the pyreflies and the stars. But I could only watch him, and I tensed up all over as I saw him look down. He was fading.

Yuna noticed, too, and she quickly shook her head, her lips pursed.

"Yuna, I have to go," Tidus said, putting his hands on his hips. Yuna shook her head once more. "I'm sorry I couldn't show you Zanarkand."

We all watched in horror as Tidus slowly looked at us all, then began to walk away.

"Don't go!" I wanted to shout. But my throat had already closed up. It took all of my strength not to break down and cry.

Tidus paused for a moment, then quickly said, "Goodbye!" He began to run off.

"Hey!" Wakka shouted, reaching out to his friend. Rikku began to trot after him.

"We're gonna see you again...?" she cried, unsure of her own words.

But Tidus kept walking, and he didn't turn back. With every step, my heart was breaking.

And then Yuna sprinted forward after him. She had the courage to do something I desperately wanted to try...but I knew I couldn't mess things up any more than I already had. I could only watch him disappear.

"Yuna!" Kimahri called to her, but she didn't stop. If I had been her, I wouldn't have stopped, either.

When she reached Tidus, she ran right through him, and she fell helplessly onto the deck of the airship. Everyone gasped as she lied there. Tidus just stood there, back to her, staring at the tip of his shoes.

Pyreflies began to float around him, as if to say, "come home." He lifted his hands to look at them. He was fading. There was nothing any of us could do.

Finally Yuna pushed herself up, her back to us.

"I love you," she said quietly. I knew that if we could've seen her face, she would've been smiling.

}{}{}{

Tidus quickly turned over his shoulder to look at Yuna, unsure of what to do next.

Somewhere in his heart, he loved her as she loved him, and it was totally and one hundred percent mutual.

But there was this other dominating part of his heart, and it did not belong to Yuna.

No...it belonged to the girl who was standing in front of him, lips pursed, eyes wet with tears. Her hair blew around her face wildly, but she didn't tamper with it. She just stared at him.

Dylan.

She was the one he loved most.

Tidus felt so incredibly bad for doing this to them. If only he had thought things through a little more before breaking everyone's heart.

So he walked forward to Yuna, and slowly he put his hand as close to her shoulder as he could without simply passing through her. He held her there like that for a few moments. He could tell that Yuna was shaking all over.

He simply couldn't drag this out anymore.

Taking a deep breath, Tidus walked forward, through Yuna, and toward the edge of the airship. He paused for a moment, remembering all the times he had spent here in Spira. The friends he had made, the battles fought and won.

Suddenly a promise popped into his head.

"I can't let you go. I'll find a way to get you back. I swear it, if it's the last thing I ever do."

Tidus smiled. They would find a way.

He turned around and grinned. Yuna grinned back weakly, thinking he was looking at her. But in reality, Tidus was looking at Dylan. Dylan realized it; she inhaled sharply, her eyes widening. She hesitated to take a step forward, but Tidus shook his head a little. She stopped, smiling a little. She understood, so he turned back around.

He backed up a little, then ran as fast as he could, then jumped.

He jumped off the side of the airship and into the clouds below him.

It wasn't like falling had been before. It was just downward floating now. His life in this world was officially over.

Braska was there to greet him, along with Auron. People he belonged with.

And finally, his father, who held out his hand.

Tidus greeted it eagerly with a hi-five.

He was home.

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I didn't know how much longer I would be able to hold off on crying. I was shaking all over; even my teeth were chattering.

"Dylan..." Lulu murmured, putting a hand on my shoulder. She then gasped. I didn't understand why.

"You too?" Wakka shouted, staring at me.

"Wh-what do you mean?" I asked them, a tear rolling down my cheek at last. Yuna turned to look at me.

"You're going, too," she said, her eyes sad.

I immediately looked down at my hands. They looked normal. I felt normal. I didn't think I was an unsent.

But maybe I was. Maybe I just had never realized it before, like Tidus. Maybe that was what he was trying to tell me just then...

But I knew I just wasn't. It couldn't be that easy for me. Hell no.

I was just fading to go home, back to Earth. I let out a sob and ran out in front of my friends to address them all at once. To rip the band-aid off.

"Guys!" I cried, tears rolling down my cheeks as I staggered backward. "Thank you! I love you all so much..."

Rikku gasped.

"No! You're not leaving!" she screamed.

"I'm sorry!" I said, turning around and running forward some more. I then stopped, and I turned to Yuna.

"Dylan..." she murmured, her mouth hanging open in slight disbelief.

"I... Thank you so much, Yuna," I said, bowing to her. I never would've thought in my wildest dreams that she and I could've been such good friends. But I didn't know how long that would last.

If she found out about what had happened between Tidus and me, there would be no friendship at all.

"I'm so sorry!" I cried out to her. She shook her head, confused.

I didn't bother elaborating. I knew I couldn't stay any longer. But how was I supposed to go?

Slowly, I turned to look where Tidus had jumped off the ship. Maybe...

At a full sprint, I raced to the edge of the ship and flung myself off of it.

At first, I was pretty sure I was just going to fall to my death, because nothing happened as I plummeted through the orange clouds.

Suddenly a figure appeared before me, waiting for my fall.

It was him.

Tidus stretched out his hand, smiling at me, hope in his eyes.

I desperately reached out to him with both hands, hoping he would catch me and make this horrible dream end.

I felt my hands grab his tightly.