Chapter 28: Breaking Ground

A few days after the discovery of Spira's bridge, the focus of her leaders shifted back to the library project. They all agreed with Baralai that they should continue to keep the information regarding Spira's true nature out of public circulation for now, but they also agreed with Nooj that no single body of power should be allowed to hoard the spheres. They knew that publicly releasing those particular spheres would attract more people like Meimo and Kyudou, so they would have to be better prepared when that time came. Right now, releasing common era spheres to unify people and help them continue healing from the damage done by Sin was more important, and repairs to the ship could be done discreetly underground. The future of the Zanarkand library project had taken on more significance than any of them initially imagined.

After discovering the center of the ship's AI and completing his task of figuring out which parts could be shut down safely for repairs, Gippal received a message from Tidus asking if he would join him and Shinra in drawing up blueprints for Kimahri since his machines were going to be helping with the work. They needed to know what their salvaged technology was capable of reproducing from high-tech ruins. As Tidus explained what he remembered about most of Zanarkand's structures, Gippal and Shinra took notes and drew up designs. Cid, Buddy, and Brother hovered nearby, adding their opinions and insights.

They were finalizing the last stage of their plans, when Yuna came onto the bridge, brimming with excitement, and waited for them to look up from their work so that she had their full attention before speaking. "Guess what? We're adding a new addition to our family!"

Gippal dropped his measuring device. Brother gasped and slapped both hands over his bald head.

Tidus's jaw dropped. "What? How?"

"Lot o' good that talk did you!" Cid smacked Tidus on the back of the head.

"But we didn't!" Tidus started to argue back but realized whatever came out of his mouth next might be denying one thing and admitting another.

Yuna laughed at their reactions. "Come see." Taking Tidus by the hand, she led him out of the airship. Everyone else followed. Besaid villagers had already gathered on the beach, crowding with excitement around something he couldn't see. Then, they parted to let Yuna and Tidus through, revealing a small, white dragon in the center. It still wore a golden chain around its neck, but the pendant was missing.

The dragon looked up at Yuna with big, blue eyes and blinked in curiosity at the new people she brought back with her. It stood only as high as her waist, but when she patted its head as if it were a big cat, a loud purr came from deep within its serpentine throat.

Gippal snorted and clapped Tidus on the back. "Congratulations, Dad. He's got your eyes."

"She," Yuna corrected. "This is Arantisu - the baby of that unsent woman who told us about her collection of spheres in the Farplane." She was careful to avoid details since they were on a public beach with the rest of the village. "I had barely summoned her when Meimo petrified her and sent her away again. And we've been so busy, I haven't had a chance to go back and see if she was all right, until now. Arantisu is not an aeon of Yevon's Fayth since she was transformed by her own mother, but that's also why she's probably the only aeon left. She doesn't seem to want to be sent to her final rest, though. Technically, she's very old, but her soul is very young. So, it's as if her life is just beginning." Yuna smiled at Tidus. "She has a lot in common with you in that sense. Maybe that's why her mother's spirit chose to let you in on her secret - so you could protect her and what she guarded."

"I can't protect anyone in the Farplane," Tidus disagreed. "I can't even go down there, much less summon aeons. I'd make a lousy aeon guardian."

"Her mother didn't know that. All she knew was that you came from a plane of magic, so you would understand what it means to be summoned into someone else's service. And you were honest and courageous to speak with her the way that you did. But since you can't summon her, I guess we'll just have to work together looking after her." Yuna grinned and glanced at her friends and the villagers on the beach.

Tidus drew near to whisper. "Where's the key?"

"Baralai had an idea about how to seal the collection a little longer," she answered, again being somewhat brief and vague, so as not to be overheard. "Maybe someday we can make good use of that travel log, but right now, we still have a lot to learn about our origins before attempting to find them."

Gippal hooked an arm over Tidus's shoulders. "Hm, white dragon, white hair ... Your baby looks a lot like Baralai. I'd be worried if I were you."

Their friends and the gathered crowd laughed a little.

Tidus took the joke in stride and approached the baby dragon with uncertainty. Bending forward, hands-on-knees, he examined her more closely. The dragon stretched her long neck toward him and sniffed. "She's cute. I like her." Extending an open hand for her to sniff, he scratched under her chin. "Is she going to stay this size, or will she get bigger? She's not very intimidating, you know. It's probably not very practical to summon her for a fight. Although, it might make the fiends drop dead from laughter if we do."

Yuna giggled at that last remark. "Bahamut's aeon was full-grown despite his being a child when he was entombed. An aeon's form reflects the true nature of its human soul. But Arantisu was half-guado, so I guess we'll have to wait and see if that makes her different."

"Isn't she cute?" Rikku moved closer to pet Arantisu. "Can we keep her on the ship and teach her tricks?"

"Rikku, she is a dragon—not a dog!" Brother protested. "She might fry something with one sneeze!"

Buddy chuckled. "You mean if she can cough up anything more than smoke?"

"Oh, stop picking on her. She can't help that she's small." Yuna moved back, away from the circle. "Okay, the other reason I pulled everyone out here is this!" She produced an empty memory sphere. "We're sphere hunters, yet we haven't been making any of our own spheres. Everyone say 'Hi!'" she insisted as she activated and held it up to pan the large gathering.

"Hi, Yuna!" Everyone shouted and waved at the sphere.

Laughing, Yuna zoomed in on Tidus and Arantisu. "Don't forget—"

"I have to play the song for a recording. I know, I know. I haven't forgotten." Tidus rolled his eyes but then gave her a playful wink.

"Here. Let me take that so you can get in there." Paine offered, taking the sphere from Yuna and stepping back to get a wider scope.

"That's right. Let a professional do it," Gippal quipped.

Paine turned the sphere toward him.

"Hey, you should do that again, Dr. P. Record for the Gullwings the way you used to record for us."

She smirked, seeming to like that idea. "Maybe, I will."

Gippal leaned in and made a face.

She pushed him away with a light laugh and turned the sphere back toward Yuna and Tidus. "Okay, do something sweet, you two. This is for the record."

"Why can't I just make a face like he did?" Tidus sat down in the sand and crossed his ankles, draping his elbows over his knees.

"Because he's an idiot."

Gippal chuckled as Yuna dropped into place on the sand beside Tidus and waved at Paine.

"Something sweet, huh? That's easy enough." Tidus leaned across Yuna as if to kiss her but then grinned with mischief and grabbed her ribs, tickling her instead.

Yuna yelped, laughed, and twisted to escape.

"What are you doing? That's not sweet!" Rikku fussed behind them and tried to help Yuna break free. "You were supposed to kiss her!"

"Rikku, mind your own business." Cid tried to pull his daughter away from them.

"She never minded her own business before. Why would she start now?" Brother tried to help him.

Rikku squawked and held tighter to Yuna. Then she latched onto Buddy to avoid being pulled away. Buddy tried to pry himself free from Rikku's grasp. At their feet, Arantisu gave a strange little growl and licked the side of Tidus's face with her long, forked tongue.

"Uwaaa!" Tidus hopped up from the sand and fell back a few steps with a shudder of disgust.

Freed from his grasp, Yuna jumped up to help Rikku.

"Water. Water can break up fights." Shinra ran to the engine room, returned with a couple of buckets, and sloshed them all over Rikku, Yuna, Brother, Tidus, and Gippal. It disrupted the argument but backfired when all of them decided to chase him instead. The little dragon didn't know what was going on, but she loped behind everyone else at an easy trot, curious and excited to join the fun.

))((

Paine sighed but continued recording the mayhem. "So much for being professional with this bunch." Shaking her head, she laughed to herself and followed to get a close-up of everyone dunking Shinra in the ocean.

))((

The following day, Gippal and Tidus set out to take their finished plans to Kimahri. "It's freakin' cold up here!" the engineer complained, having gone from a warm, sunny beach to a cold, snowy mountain. "It's a wonder the ronso haven't frozen off body parts. I'm ready to go back to Bevelle and work in the warmth of the Farplane. What was I thinking when I volunteered to help with this project?"

Tidus laughed at Gippal's complaints but trudged onward through the snow. "I'd take Gagazet any day over the Farplane."

"Yeah, I guess that would be logical for you. Hey, what's it like? On the other side, I mean."

Tidus tried to recall his two years in the Farplane, but it had been a strange state of awareness without really existing, so there wasn't much to say about it. "Lonely."

Not expecting that kind of answer, Gippal seemed to change his mind about asking further questions.

As they rounded the corner into the magical cavern of the sacred mountain and climbed the steps, Kimahri came down from the teleporter to meet them. "Tidus. Gippal. Kimahri glad to see you again."

Tidus sighed with a misty breath. "Well, here they are." He passed the plans and a sphere to the ronso. "This contains footage of the original Zanarkand library." Activating the sphere, he pointed to one building among many on the horizon. "Is that clear enough?"

"Clear enough for study. Tromell connected a model image of other spheres and one from Seymour. We can add this and compare." Kimahri touched a claw to the sphere, pausing it to examine the structure Tidus indicated. The sphere was so tiny in his big, strong hands that he handled it like a fragile egg.

"I've brought the machina you can use for the job," Gippal added. "Some of my people from the Machine Faction are down at the ruins with it, whenever you're ready."

"The Gullwings will be at the ruins off and on while you're working because we're looking for spheres under the original library," Tidus added. "We won't get in your way. And we won't be there all the time. I've got the rest of the blitz season to focus on, too. But if you need anything else, just let us know."

"Alright, then. Let's go do this thing!" Gippal clapped his hands.

With a nod, Kimahri led them back to where his ronso workers gathered. Together, they descended the sacred mountain toward the ruins, where the ronso met with the Machine Faction, who would teach them how to use their machina after going over the plans together.

))((

The following day, all of the council members and parties involved in the project were called together at the construction site to do a small ground-breaking ceremony. Tidus was unanimously voted as the one who should dig the first hole. After doing so, he turned the shovel over to Kimahri.

"I'm so excited!" Yuna gave both of them hugs when he was done. "I can't wait to see this thing come together."

"Ah, well, you're going to have to wait a little longer," Gippal told her with a wry grin.

"Tidus asked Kimahri to keep Yuna out." The ronso folded his arms and twitched his tail—his characteristic way of letting her know he wasn't going to budge on the decision.

Yuna blinked in surprise and faced Tidus with a hurt tone of accusation. "What?"

"It's going to be a surprise," he quickly explained. "You'll get to see the outside while they're working on it, but you won't be able to see the inside until it's done."

"But it was my suggestion to build it. You didn't even want to come to meetings."

"That was because he knew to be very afraid of us." Nooj's comment brought chuckles from the group as he gave Tidus a sly glance.

"You will like the surprise, Lady Yuna." Tromell smiled and tried to put her at ease. "It's a very good surprise."

Yuna's eyes narrowed with suspicion, but Tidus offered only a grin in return. She turned to the Gullwings crew behind her. "Do you know anything about this?"

"Nope." Rikku shook her head.

"Not a clue. But he's up to something all right." Paine agreed with Yuna's doubts.

Everyone else shook their heads in denial of any inside knowledge.

Baralai stepped forward and presented Yuna with a small box. "Before I forget..." He lowered his voice before continuing. "I've placed some magical wards on Arantisu's pendant. There are two charms in this box with it—the only two charms that will safely unlock the wards. That way, she can wear the key without fear of anyone else being able to use it. Wear one; hide the other in a safe place."

"Thank you, Baralai." She accepted the gift and opened the box to see the items, then laughed at the shape of the silver charms. Withdrawing one, she showed it to Tidus.

Tidus laughed as he accepted the charm. "Zanarkand Abes."

Baralai chuckled with them. "That symbol will never slip past me again."

"Psst!" Yuna leaned toward Baralai and whispered. "Do you know why he won't let me see the inside of the library being built?"

"Psst! Yes! But it's a secret," the praetor answered in a rather loud variation of his hushed tone.

Everyone but Yuna laughed.

"Oh, never mind." Frowning with a small pout, she turned her back to them but then gave Tidus a curious smile.

))((

Luca stadium was as crowded as ever when Tidus arrived with the Gullwings to play his third game of the season. Approaching the stadium with caution, he rounded the corner and was surprised to see the typical throng of autograph seekers outside the locker rooms. Sunsa and her recorder were among them. For the first time in his life, he was nervous about playing a game. "What do I tell them?" he asked with uncertainty.

"The truth," Yuna answered, slipping her hand into his, reminding him he was not alone in this.

Wakka and Lulu showed up from the other side of the stadium, and Wakka spotted his star player from across the venue. After gesturing for Lulu to keep Vidina and herself at a safe distance this time, just in case, he crossed the floor to meet Tidus and the Gullwings crew standing behind him. "If anyone can win back our fan base and cheer on our players, it's you." He set his hands on Tidus's shoulders. "Ready, brudda?"

Tidus answered with a hesitant nod, released Yuna's hand, and allowed Wakka to lead him toward the crowd and the reporter.

The crowd quieted as they drew near.

The rest of the Aurochs team had been waiting at the stairs but came forward as they drew near. These signs of acceptance raised Tidus's hopes, but the presence of one of the game's officials, here to supervise, and new guards to keep the crowd from getting out of hand again dented his spirit more than his fear of getting hurt again. When had blitzball become such a major security operation?

"Tidus." Sunsa greeted him warmly. "I'd like to apologize for any role I might have played in what happened at your last game. Would you like another chance to set the record straight?"

His face was plastered across all of the live broadcast screens that lined the stadium and docks. Closing his eyes, he drew a breath, then stepped forward again to face the reporter, the official, his teammates, and the fans. "I am not unsent." His voice echoed through the streets of Luca as if more than one of him was speaking. It reminded him that Shuyin was still a part of him… still with him. Shuyin would not have been afraid to speak up and say what was on his mind, not even in the face of getting mobbed again. So, he continued. "Two years ago, Sin drew me out of an illusionary world of magic created by the Fayth and dropped me into this one to help Yuna and her other guardians end his own madness. If you want to blame someone for bringing me here, blame the Fayth and Sin. But during my time here, I fell in love with this place… and its people." His eyes met Yuna's. "I never died to this world before I was sent away, so the Fayth allowed me to come back."

Tidus continued to make eye contact with as many faces as he could—to know each face that would absolve him, or condemn him. "If you feel I shouldn't be here playing this game anymore because I'm different, because I came from a different place and time, say the word and I'll walk away. But please don't send me away from Spira again. Please." Stepping back, he bowed in apology for having caused them concern and silently awaited the public's verdict. Even if the officials approved, the game wouldn't be the same without the support of the fans.

Two small feet broke through the crowd and ran to him, causing gasps and murmurs. Small hands cupped his chin and lifted his face to look at her. "Will you score a goal if I cheer for you?"

Tidus smiled, remembering her. "You bet, Rukiina-with-two-i's."

A muffled chuckle went up from the crowd.

Wakka clapped his hands; that was all the verdict he needed. "You heard the little lady! We got a game to play!" The Aurochs and game official enthusiastically joined his applause. Then, to Tidus's amazement, the crowd of blitzball fans began to applaud and bow in apology to him.

Sunsa drew the microphone back to herself. "Well, folks, you saw it live here in Luca. I believe the Aurochs are ready to play! Am I right?" She turned the microphone back to him.

"Thank you," he said, giving her an unexpected hug that imbalanced her and brought color to her cheeks. Then, he faced his team and threw a fist into the air. "Let's blitz!"

As cheers went up in the crowd, he crouched and high-fived the little girl that had bravely come forward. Tula ran to him and held up his hand too. Tidus obliged by slapping and clasping it, only to find himself surrounded by dozens more hands wanting to wish him good luck and get his autograph.

The Aurochs versus the ronso turned out to be a close match, but for the Aurochs, the end brought another exhilarating victory.

))((

Tidus held his hands over Yuna's eyes as he led her to a small clearing on a hill just behind and below the front row of huts in front of the Besaid temple. He had told her he had a surprise, so she played along with his little game. "I'm going to trip on a tree root or something if you don't let me see where I'm going."

"No problem. I'll catch you if you fall—after I laugh at you, of course."

She giggled, holding onto the wrists of her guide. "What if I make you fall, too?"

"Then, I guess whoever else is watching will do the laughing." Finally, he came to a stop. "Ready?"

"Okay."

He pulled his hands away. "Tidaa!"

Yuna stared at the sand, grass, and trees looking for the promised surprise. But when only the sand, grass, and trees were visible, she shifted her gaze to him, speechless with doubt.

"You can guess all those sphere clues, but you can't see what's not right in front of you? That broken hut that has been here since, like, forever is gone."

Yuna looked again. "Oh, you're right!" The remains of a damaged hut had been sitting on this spot in ruins since Sin's last attack on Besaid. The owner had abandoned it rather than rebuilding again. Now, all that remained was the little patch of cleared shade. But new foundation posts had been set in the ground, and a stack of building supplies sat along the side.

When she still didn't seem to understand, Tidus sighed with impatience at her inability to solve his puzzle. "Wakka's going to help me build a hut!"

Yuna's happiness faded. "A hut? You're... leaving the Gullwings?"

Not the reaction he expected, but taking her hands, he slid toe-to-toe in front of her. "When Gippal and I took the plans to Kimahri, he suggested that I become one of the guardians at the ruins, but I told him Besaid was my home now. And earlier, when I thanked Wakka for letting me use his hut to watch my spheres, he suggested this spot for when I was ready to build a place of my own. At the time, I didn't want to move because I like living on the airship with everyone. But after the last game, I got to thinking, and, well, ...I haven't had a home since leaving Zanarkand two years ago. Having my own place might help me feel like I belong here, even if I only use it between sphere hunting runs."

Yuna's smile slowly returned. "Then… you're not leaving the Gullwings?"

"Nope," he answered with a grin.

Stepping around him to walk the perimeter of the clearing, she tried to envision how it might look when it's done. As that vision broadened, so did her smile. "I like it."

"I hoped you would." Approaching from behind, he folded his arms over her shoulders and drew her back a step into his chest. "Because I want to share it with you."

More surprised by this than the news of the hut itself, Yuna turned around to face him.

"Always is a long time to share a bathroom with Paine and Rikku ...and Brother and Buddy and Cid and Shinra and whoever else we take on board. I didn't promise I'd stay with them that long."

Tears burned Yuna's eyes as she hugged his neck.

Tidus heard her sniffle and began to worry. "Did I say something wrong?"

Shaking her head, she drew back to look into his eyes and laughed a little at his confusion. "No. You said it... just right."

One hand gently drew her head forward to his. "Always," he repeated his promise again.