Chapter 39: Calm After the Storm
Nooj arrived in Luca, alone, before Shuyin released control of him and subsided into the back corners of his mind. Only then did the events immediately following Operation Mi'ihen come crashing down on him. Why had he killed his friends? Why? The shock of what happened to him in the cave must have made him lose his mind. Guilt and shame settled on his shoulders enough to drive him into the sports bar and order a large drink after his long, cumbersome journey.
Shuyin had never been to Luca. He had no idea how much the city had or had not changed over the past thousand years. So, in silence, he observed and listened … and learned.
When Nooj finished his drink, he sighed and set the glass heavily on the bar. With the Crimson Squad's demise and the act of killing his friends, he was torn between thoughts of ending his life now or going home to Kilika to try to recover from his trauma. His family and friends were helping to rebuild the island after Sin destroyed it recently, but what good would that do? Sin would only come back, and they would all die anyway. Depressed, he left his payment near the glass and headed out to find a room an inn.
After laying low for a couple of long, empty days, Nooj eventually set out for Luca's docks to take a ship home, but Shuyin turned him around, back to the high road, and straight for the chocobo attendant. Nooj had no idea why he needed to go to Bevelle, but he felt it was urgent all the same. And with his limp, the chocobo was a more welcome means of transportation than walking.
Nooj rode back in the direction he came from until he drew near to Rin's Travel Agency to stop for the night. The bodies of his friends were gone. Had he inquired, he would have learned that that the Al Bhed owner of the agency heard the gunfire and brought the wounded victims inside, where he revived and healed them using magical potions from his store's stock. Had he asked, Rin could have told him that Gippal and Baralai were still in sharp disagreement over the Crimson Squad's ill-fated missions and Operation Mi'ihen, so they went their separate ways. But being a fugitive, Shuyin decided Nooj should pass on any conversations concerning his friends. Further up the road, he found a place to sleep under the open sky, instead.
A couple of days later, Nooj was back on Mushroom Rock Road. It was a risk traveling so close to where he was supposed to have been executed, but it was the shortest route to Bevelle. Stealing a cloak left on one of the Crusader's supply crates along the roadside, he drew it over his head and most of his face and body to remain hidden as he rode past the canyon. Disguised, he went slowly, eavesdropping on the Yevon-forsaken Crusaders that remained at the command center to clean up the mess. The survivors were lamenting their failure due to disobeying the temple's teachings, just as the temple warned. Kinoc was nowhere in sight, but he clearly didn't want anyone else to find out what had happened in that cavern. The Den of Woe was heavily guarded while a new lock was fitted into the door.
Gippal was right; the whole Crimson Squad operation seemed to be nothing more than a means to draw out and exterminate those willing to turn their back on the temple's teachings. In fact, the reason Operation Mi'ihen was officially condemned but personally tolerated despite that was probably because it was an easy way to exterminate non-believers among all of Kinoc's warrior ranks. There was no doubt about it now in Nooj's mind, the Temple of Yevon was corrupt from the inside out. If he survived long enough to see the next Calm, he made up his mind to do something about it, even if it meant tearing down the temples with his bare hands to expose their treachery.
Shuyin silently agreed and congratulated himself for picking a host with such a keen intellect and taste for revenge.
While passing through Guadosalam, however, Nooj was surprised to spot Baralai, alive-and-well, coming out of the home of Maester Seymour. What was he doing here? Baralai had wanted to return to the maesters for help, even after being targeted by Kinoc's guards. So his presence here now looked very suspicious. Had Baralai been part of the scam? And if Baralai had been part of it, what about Gippal? What about Paine? Remaining hidden, Nooj watched Baralai leave the tree-city through the tunnel leading to Bevelle. With a heightened mistrust of the temple and his former friend, Nooj stayed in Guadosalam longer than he anticipated to avoid running into Baralai on his journey north.
))((
On the outskirts of Bevelle, during the night, when he was sure Nooj was sleeping, Shuyin's spirit left his host's body and flew to the docks. Lenne ...
Diving into the depths of their watery grave, he drew pyreflies into his ghostly form and swam through the area. Of course, any bodies left from the Machina War were long gone after a thousand years. Only fish and fiends remained. "Lenne!" he called after surfacing. "It's me! Shuyin! I've come back for you! Please, tell me if you're here!"
When the sea offered no answers, he searched the lower levels of Bevelle's dungeons. He even returned to Vegnagun's storage chamber, to the place they were killed. Finally, with no luck or leads, Shuyin dispersed the pyreflies and flew back to Nooj's camp just before dawn. The morose warrior was still sleeping, so the unsent spirit nestled back into the recesses of his host's mind and tried hard not to relive the nightmare that had been his only companion for the past millennium.
After leaving Bevelle, Shuyin headed through Macalania Woods and across the Calm Lands. That evening, as he reached the base of the mountains, he saw an airship flying toward the plains from Bevelle. He could tell Nooj was surprised to see an ancient airship in flight, but it was being followed by something even more extraordinary - Sin. The airship launched a missile attack on the gigantic aeon, and the aeon fired back with strong magic. Shuyin ran behind some rocks to stay clear of the battle. But in the end, it didn't seem like much of a fight at all. Sin swallowed the ship whole, then hovered motionless and alone in the sky, as if daring anyone else to challenge it.
Nooj's body was exhausted from the long journey and needed to rest for the evening before climbing the mountain, but with Sin hovering so close over the Calm Lands, Shuyin was wary of any further action it might take. Most of the night, Sin did absolutely nothing, so Shuyin used the time to learn more about it from Nooj's mind. He was appalled by what he discovered. The temple sacrifices summoners and their guardians to destroy Sin and bring the Calm.
This fact left the same bad taste in his mouth as finding out the Bevelle temple sacrificed Zanarkand to the Founders. He also remembered Yevon's intent to sacrifice Lenne and transform her into a Fayth—a transformation that eventually took the lives of Bahamut, Kaila, and all of Zanarkand's refugees. But even after losing all those lives in the Machina War, the temple's solution for peace was to sacrifice more lives to Yevon's desire for revenge? If they truly wanted to destroy Sin, why didn't the maesters just use Vegnagun against it? Operation Mi'ihen might have succeeded if the Crusaders had been allowed to use that mega-machina. But Shuyin already knew the answer to his own question. Why kill Sin when it could be used to control people who fear it?
Shuyin slammed Nooj's machina hand into the rock he was hiding behind, chipping off fragments of stone. "Still traitor to your own people," he growled up at the monster floating above the Calm Lands. "In a thousand years, nothing has changed!" he dared to shout at the sky. Distraught that the modern world had learned nothing from the past, Shuyin thrust his back against the rock and ran his hands over his head, burying his face in his arms over his knees. Though he was free from his walls in the Den of Woe, he began to feel as if they were closing in on him once more.
The night passed without incident despite the ominous threat hovering in the sky. Shuyin allowed Nooj to sleep while he kept his silent vigil. But in the early morning darkness, a sudden explosion from within Sin's shell lit the aeon like a paper lantern. The airship shot out of the aeon's body. And Sin fell from the sky with an explosion that rippled across the Calm Lands and beyond—a ripple that burned brighter than the light of day.
The explosion abruptly awakened Nooj. Shuyin wasn't sure what happened, so he fed into his host's active thoughts. A summoner had managed to defeat Sin and bring the Calm.
Pyreflies were drawn toward Sin from all directions, like shooting stars. Yunalesca's aeons that Shuyin remembered seeing in the Machina War hovered near the airship in peaceful stasis until their bodies burst apart like fireworks on a summer night, vanishing from sight. Countless pyreflies of seemingly infinite numbers sprayed in one final ripple across the heavens. And then, Sin was gone, leaving only a thick cloud to blanket the sky before sunrise.
Neither Nooj nor Shuyin knew that ripple started in a dream or that it would change all of Spira ... forever.
))((
Kaila had been standing on the summit of Mt. Gagazet among the other Zanarkand Fayth when the bonds of Yevon's summoning spell fell away. They had been anxiously watching Sin and waiting to hear back from the Fayth summoned as aeons when everyone felt the magic fade and looked to each other in shock. For the first time in a thousand years, something had changed.
As the first ripple of pyreflies burst across the sky in a blinding flash, Kaila flew to the Fayth Scar on the mountainside. The stone node sealing the bodies of the Zanarkand refugees had faded. The life bound to the stone melted away. Closing her eyes, she tried to enter the dream, but Dream Zanarkand was gone. The stream of summoning magic shriveled into a globe and peeled back to release all the memories used to conjure it.
"Bahamut … he did it." On the verge of tears, Kaila looked back toward the mountaintop, where the other Fayth shouted for joy and flew toward the airship so a summoner could dance to send them at last. "We're free."
As she quietly followed, Kaila was sad to be leaving Spira but relieved to know people would no longer suffer from Yevon's ancient curse. Most of all, she was proud of Tidus. In his short existence, the illusion had grown, changed, dreamed, lived, and loved like a real person. He had done the impossible by defeating Sin and Yu Yevon without the Final Aeon. But he had done it his own way, making his own choices, and inspiring Yuna to do the same. Flying to him on the airship deck, Kaila had just enough time to give Tidus a ghostly hug before her pyreflies released her to the Farplane.
))((
On the deck of the airship, Yuna twirled her summoning staff and danced her somber dance. She was sad but relieved to be sending countless souls to rest. It had been an exhausting and emotional journey. After Tidus struck the killing blow to Sir Jecht, he held his dying father in his arms and cried without shame over his shameful deed. Yuna reminded him that Sir Jecht was now free. It had been difficult to say goodbye to Sir Auron when his pyreflies began to disperse at Jecht's sending. But he was ready to rest, too, now that his promises had been fulfilled. And she had barely been able to see through her tears as she fought each of her aeons after Yevon possessed them. But she saw the wisdom in Bahamut's suggestion to call on them in the final battle against him.
Tidus fulfilled part of his destiny when he refused to be part of the cycle. He fulfilled the other half when his sword cleaved Yevon's blackened, no-longer-human heart, banishing the hate-poisoned spirit from the world of the living once and for all. And he had told his friends the truth about himself between those battles, so they would know what happened if he disappeared. But nothing could have prepared Yuna for the moment Tidus started to fade. Stopping her spirit dance, Yuna stared at the magical colors that played across his translucent hands, then stubbornly shook her head. (1)
"I ..." Tidus tried to sound upbeat for her, despite his own sadness, "… have to return."
Yuna shook her head again, unwilling to accept this.
Her refusal only drew a more apologetic look from Tidus since he was helpless to prevent his own dismissal amid the Fayth's sending. "Wasn't able to lead you into Zanarkand. I'm sorry." Short and sweet should make it easier to say goodbye. So, as he started to leave, he took one last look at his new friends. "See ya, okay?"
Wakka grunted in protest and reached to stop him but realized the futility of the gesture.
"We're gonna see you again, right?" Rikku called out. "Right?"
As Tidus headed toward the airship's bow, Yuna ran after him, desperate to hold onto him, to keep him from fading.
"Yuna!" Kimahri called out.
Tidus turned and reached out as soon as he heard her footsteps following, but instead of being able to hold onto each other, Yuna fell right through him.
Everyone gasped.
But it was the soft sobs of Tidus's disbelief mixed with the last of his real tears as he watched several pyreflies rise around her—his pyreflies—that Yuna heard above all else. Her own magic had banished him from the world he helped save. In refusing to sacrifice him for the Final Aeon, she sacrificed him anyway for the Eternal Calm. His life had been forfeit from the moment he left the dream, regardless of whether he became the Final Aeon or not, regardless of whether they won or lost. The price he had to pay seemed so unfair, so … cruel. And yet, he stayed to see it through.
Yuna made herself stand, but she was afraid that she would start crying if she turned to face him again. She didn't want her selfish desire for him to stay to make him feel worse about having to go. Spira was free because of him. She was alive because of him. What could she possibly say or offer in return for everything he had done for them. She wanted to say so much, but all he could take with him was their gratitude. "Thank you." (2)
She didn't see Tidus turn in sad surprise, but she felt his ghost-like arms fold over her shoulders for one last embrace. Closing her eyes, she tried to shut out everything but his nearness until he released her. Then, feeling his warmth pass through her, Yuna caught her breath to stop her tears. She tried to remain strong, for his sake, as he walked, then ran to the edge of the ship's bow, but her heart broke as she watched him jump into the clouds above the sunrise. Crumbling within, Yuna turned and ran back into the airship.
In the cabin, Yuna made her way to the room Tidus had shared with Wakka. Climbing onto the top bunk where he used to sleep, she curled into the unmade covers, breathed in his scent, and finally gave herself permission to cry. She had successfully brought the Calm to Spira once more, and what she hoped would be the Eternal Calm this time, now that Yu Yevon was defeated, too. She should have been happy, but it hurt that Tidus wasn't here to share it. All that remained of him now was her memories and the knowledge of what he did for them.
After a few minutes, Rikku knocked on the doorsill, quietly approached the bunk, and dried her cousin's tears with a tissue. "Maybe we'll see him again someday, you know?" Rikku sniffled and wiped at her own tears with the back of her hand. "If we all try hard to dream about him when we go to sleep tonight ... maybe he'll be back tomorrow."
"He wasn't our dream." Sniffling, Yuna accepted and pressed the tissue to her red eyes. "He belonged to the Fayth, and they are gone now."
Rikku nodded in sad understanding and took Yuna's hand in hers to comfort her.
"Rikku, thank you, but ..."
"It's okay. Take your time. We're here if you need us." The Al Bhed girl smoothed the grieving summoner's hair out of her face, then excused herself from the room as quietly as she came.
Yuna stared at the wall for a long moment. He would be holding her if he were here. She might even be lucky enough to receive another kiss. Everyone would be laughing and cheering. And all of Spira would have lots of parties to celebrate the Calm - the real Calm. But he was not real. And yet, he had been so realistic. How could he not be real? His absence felt like a deep wound, one that crushed her soul and stole her breath.
Curling her knees to her chest, she let her tears continue to fall; but as she slipped a hand under his pillow, her fingers touched something hard and cold. Curious, she sat up and lifted the pillow to find a memory sphere. She thought at first it was hers but remembered he had thrown that overboard. Subconsciously holding her breath, she touched the activation button.
"Yuna, um, ... hi." Tidus scratched his head as if not sure what to say. "You're right. I am a bad liar. But if you're watching this, then … I'm probably ... gone. I found out I'm ... part of the Fayth's dream, so I'm not, um …" He paused to sniffle and wipe one eye. "They said all of the dream would end … including me." He tried to smile through his sadness. "Anyway, ... I had fun! I enjoyed it. Having a little bit of time here is better than not having any time at all, right? I'm going to miss Spira, but I'll remember it ... and you … always." With a heavy sigh, his composure slumped, and he dropped his head into his hands. "Who am I kidding? I can't do this." Hearing a knock on his door, Tidus quickly shoved both spheres under his pillow.
Yuna smiled and wiped a tear from her cheek. Clutching the sphere to her heart, she lay back down on his pillow and closed her eyes. Maybe Rikku was right. Maybe if she dreamed about him tonight, he'd come back tomorrow. And if that didn't work, perhaps she could call him back with a whistle. And if that didn't work, she'd just have to think of something else. She would leave no stone unturned, searching for a way to bring him back.
))((
After the pyrefly magic that held his physical body together was dispersed by Yuna's sending, Tidus's unique, reinvented soul flew to the mists of the Farplane. Lord Braska, Auron, and his father were waiting to congratulate him. He gave his dad a high-five, and then behind him, his mother gave him a hug. As Bahamut came forward, he gave the boy a high-five, too. But turning around, he faced Kaila. She also had been part of this plan? Now, he understood her test. Kaila gave him a hug, and then all the familiar faces vanished. Or maybe he was the one that vanished. He wasn't sure.
))((
Shuyin reclaimed control of Nooj and continued north to Zanarkand. But as he passed by the wall of the Fayth, he stopped to examine it. Shadowed outlines of bodies remained carved in stone, but the magical tomb was gray and empty. Shuyin wanted to cry out for Bahamut or Kaila to see if they would appear, but he dare not. It might leave Nooj asking too many questions about the voice within. Right now, his host believed his own mental trauma caused him to hear whispers and lose control. Shuyin wanted it to stay that way.
The unsent spirit roamed every inch of Zanarkand that was still above the surface of the water. Lenne was nowhere to be found. Discouraged, Shuyin sat down on the edge of the shore and tried to rethink his strategy. Just when he was ready to give up hope, he remembered his dad telling him that if he got lost while camping, he should stay in one place, and eventually, someone would find him. Maybe if he stayed in one place and waited long enough, Lenne would come looking for him. He didn't want to wait, though; he hated this world and all its problems. His thoughts darkened toward Vegnagun once more.
Nooj was thinking about Vegnagun, too, still trying to figure out what he saw. Shuyin wondered if he should tell him what he knew about the colossus or let him figure it out on his own. Then, he realized if he played his cards right while waiting for Lenne, he might be able to use Nooj's insecurities to his advantage and accomplish his other goal as well. Nooj's mistrust of Yevon was the perfect tool for manipulating him into ending all fighting on Spira once and for all. "Go to Djose," Shuyin seeded a suggestion into the fertile soil of Nooj's confused and embittered mind.
Nooj frowned at the whispering voice. "No." He felt stupid talking to himself, but he felt even more ridiculous about not knowing why he walked all this distance to Zanarkand. "Maester Kinoc is in Djose. He betrayed us. I can't go back there."
"But that's exactly why you must go. The temple and its teachings are corrupt. Maester Kinoc conveniently destroyed an elite fighting force without explanation to anyone. He knows about this weapon you saw and the girl who died because of it, or he wouldn't have tried to kill you for describing it," Shuyin confirmed Nooj's suspicions. "The Church of Yevon probably knows much more about the past, but they don't want to tell the people of Spira. Keeping the people of Spira ignorant is one way to control them—like sheep led to slaughter. If you spread the word that the Fayth have left, people will demand that the maesters explain why the teachings are flawed. The only way to find out the truth about Kinoc's betrayal is to expose the temples' secrets. Find a connection, follow it, expose it. Tear down the temple walls, and let Spira learn the truth behind the lies. Your truth is hidden in Djose, behind Kinoc."
"Expose the truth behind the lies," Nooj muttered to himself, slowly accepting the wisdom of his own inner voice.
))((
On his return from Zanarkand's ruins, Nooj stopped in Bevelle. Shocking news traveled through the streets. Maesters Mika, Seymour, and Kinoc had all vanished without a trace. "Unsent" was the buzzword that traveled along with those rumors. Not only had tales of the Calm traveled ahead of him, but also, the High Summoner survived the battle and was going to be giving a speech in Luca soon, hailed with much fanfare. Spira was in for some sweeping changes now that it was bereft of its traditional leadership.
With Maester Kinoc gone, Nooj realized his appointment in Djose was pointless. So, he continued on his way home, but he did not give up his desire to turn Yevon upside down. In fact, these rumors would work in his best interest. Unsent maesters? What kind of conspiracy was the temple trying to pull this time? Nooj decided to speak with Baralai when he stopped in Guadosalam. Maybe he could get some information from him, now that Maester Seymour was gone.
"Bad idea," Shuyin whispered. "Remember, Baralai could have been part of the Crimson Squad trap. Baralai should be avoided—him and any remaining maesters. You want to talk to someone close enough to know their secrets but distant enough to sell them out for the right price."
Nooj knocked on the door of the former maester's manor.
It was answered by two Yevonite guards he remembered seeing, though their uniforms were different now. "Maester Seymour isn't here anymore, and all of the guado have fled Guadosalam," one of them droned. Apparently, he had repeated this news more times than he cared to other visitors. "This manor has been claimed by the Leblanc Syndicate. What do you want?"
"Leblanc Syndicate?" Nooj was puzzled. That changeover had happened fast. Then again, he had traveled slow. "You ... no longer work for Yevon?"
"No way, no how!" the short, round one answered. "We got a new boss since those Yevonites were all dead guys."
"Is there a man named Baralai staying here?" Nooj asked.
"Nope. He left for Bevelle when the guado left."
Nooj frowned. "Would you two gentlemen mind gleaning some information on the current state of affairs within Yevon for me? I'm willing to pay a reasonable fee."
"You have to ask our new boss," the tall, thin one told him. "Or better yet, perhaps she could get the job done for you. She has the largest syndicate in all of Spira, and her operatives are everywhere."
Crime syndicate … Nooj understood now. He wanted no part in illegal activities. However, a spy might be useful. So would a network willing to spread damaging news about the temple. "May I speak to your boss?"
"Right this way, sir. Right this way!" The rotund guard showed him inside to the dining hall where a shapely blond woman in a low-cut, pink dress was whacking her fan over the heads of her movers. "Someone to see you, Boss!"
Leblanc turned around and froze in place. Her eyes roamed the tall, muscular young man with his long, light brown hair. And despite his half-machina body, she smiled. "What can I do for you, love?"
Shuyin would have rolled his eyes, but that would have spoiled her impression of Nooj. He decided Nooj was completely on his own with this woman.
"I need help getting information on the Church of Yevon. Or rather, from them. I have reason to believe they're hiding more secrets than unsent maesters from the people of Spira. And I intend to do something about it."
"Hm. Sounds risky, but interesting." She grinned and folded her fan as she came close—very close—to his side. "Do tell me more."
))((
(Two years later ...)
Seagulls flew lazily over the bay of Besaid as Rikku, Yuna, and Wakka stood on the deck of an Al Bhed salvage ship that Rikku and her brother used to hunt for buried machina. Rikku poked Wakka in the belly several times, teasing him about gaining weight since his retirement from blitzball, and she asked how Lulu was getting along in her pregnancy since they were married and expecting soon. Yuna smiled and lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the bright sun in the sky as her eyes followed the gliding circles of the birds overhead. Life seemed more peaceful and simple now that the Calm was here. And yet … it didn't.
With Yevon gone, new factions were vying for leadership, and everyone seemed to want the High Summoner to lend her presence to their agendas. It was very worrisome. Though Spira was free from Sin, and the teachings of Yevon no longer ruled the land, the Calm didn't feel as calm as Yuna hoped.
"Is Kimahri still at Mount Gagazet?" Wakka asked of Rikku.
"Yep, yep! He's teaching the Ronso orphans lots of things. He's a pretty good teacher. Anyway, I brought you something from Kimahri today." Rikku dug into her pocket and pulled out the gift item. "He said he found it up in the mountain."
"A sphere?" Not the sort of present Yuna was expecting, but she was intrigued.
"Looks kinda strange, huh?" Wakka commented.
"Yuna, watch carefully, okay?" Rikku turned the sphere on and held it for her cousin to see.
Static rolled across the lens, and chains clanked and rattled in the background. But between the noise, Tidus appeared to be trapped inside a cage.
Yuna's eyes widened in disbelief and confusion.
He was angry and complaining about trying to save a summoner. It made absolutely no sense that he would be in jail, speaking about her like that. But Yuna blushed and smiled at the way that he called her his girl. He had never actually used those terms before he disappeared, but if only there had been more time before ...
Wakka and Rikku were as puzzled about the strange sphere as Yuna was, but after a short argument, Rikku talked her into going on a treasure hunt to hopefully find some answers.
))((
An ancient memory sphere bobbed on the ocean's undulating surface before a hand reached to grasp it. "Hm ..." Yuna turned the sphere over in her sandy, wet hands and pressed the activation button.
A sad young woman sat confined in a cage until a sound drew her attention.
A garbled sound was broken by static. "... I'll get you out of there. I promise."
The young woman looked around as white lines zig-zagged across the lens.
"... I'm here. I'm coming for you, okay? Just hang on," an unseen male voice insisted.
"Where are you?" The young woman stood and frantically looked around some more.
"Is there a sphere camera ... there? ... -ing you on a monitor."
She lifted her chin and looked across the ceiling. Static warped the screen, nearly clearing any image for a second before she spoke again. "... anything stupid! If they catch both of us ..." She was cut off by another white-streaked black-out.
Yuna tapped a finger against her cheek and frowned. The sound and image were severely distorted.
"Is it worth anything?" Paine asked. She had joined Rikku and her brother's sphere hunting group just before Yuna did, in hopes of finding her lost recordings and answers concerning what happened to her friends in the Crimson Squad. As Paine came to Yuna's side to see their catch, the former summoner touched the play button again.
Yuna looked to her cousin as Rikku joined them. "Doesn't he sound a little like ..."
"Hmmm ..." Rikku skeptically tilted her chin.
"Someone you know?" Paine asked.
"I'm ... not sure," Yuna answered, troubled. Maybe she just missed him so much that she was beginning to think every unclear guy in a sphere might be Tidus.
"It can't be him," Rikku decided. "What would he be doing talking to another girl like that?"
"Maybe she's his girlfriend." Paine met immediate, unhappy expressions from both Yuna and Rikku. "Or ... sister," she altered her suggestion to appease them.
"Well, that outfit she's wearing is kinda cute. Maybe you could use it as a dress sphere," Rikku suggested.
"Did you find anything?" Shinra, the Al Bhed whiz kid from their sphere hunting team, came to them and held out his hands to receive the orb.
Yuna watched it a third time, trying hard to hear the male voice despite the damage due to unknown years of exposure to the elements. "Can you change it into a dress sphere without damaging the content?" she asked of the small boy, who happened to be an engineering genius.
"We can erase it to use as a dress sphere or keep it as it is, but you can't have it both ways."
))((
"No! Don't erase it!" Lenne's awareness within the sphere perked up. She had been drifting in the ocean for so long that her soul felt sluggish and lost to its own existence. Now that she was in the company of someone other than fish and fiends, she had been listening. "It's all I have left of him! Please, don't erase it!" That's what Lenne would have told Yuna if she could have summoned enough pyreflies to appear before her and speak. But the only pyreflies available were the few that kept this small, damaged memory alive within the glass orb.
))((
Yuna hated to destroy the sphere without knowing, but she had no clues about who owned the other recorded voice. "Dress sphere." She gave her decision a firm nod and handed the sphere to Shinra, though she almost immediately wanted it back.
"Let's go make the preparations." The Al Bhed boy cupped the sphere carefully in his hands and hurried back to the Gullwings' airship. Yuna, Rikku, and Paine followed him to his work station. "I recommend a very light task for this one—mostly magic," he suggested. "How about something like a bard? You know, those people that can sing spells and command magic with just their voices?"
"A spell-singer?" Yuna gave a light laugh. "Well, I ... guess so. I've always loved music, but I never sang in front of other people before."
))((
Song magic? Lenne couldn't believe her luck to have been found by someone who loved music. Traveling with this young woman could be an exciting diversion after floating around in the ocean for so long. Maybe this young woman needed her help in finding the courage to get over her stage fright. Perhaps by traveling with her, she could find out what happened to Shuyin. Lenne replayed the memory of him promising to free her. Listening to his voice would never be a substitute for finding him, so she decided she could be at peace with whatever this young woman did with her sphere.
))((
When Shinra finished copying the image of the singer's attire and transforming the memory sphere into a dress sphere, he fitted the shrunken glass ball into Yuna's new garment grid. "Try it on." He handed it back to her.
Yuna accepted the newly adjusted gold plate and touched the marble containing the new songstress outfit. As the magical garment wove itself around her, she was overwhelmed with sadness. But when it settled after a few seconds, she walked to the mirror to view herself in the light brown knee-high boots; short, black skirt; and purple, ruffled blouse.
"Hey, that looks great on you!" Rikku stood behind her cousin. "You know, you could use a new haircut to go with that new style."
"Haircut?" Yuna snatched the long braid that reached down to her calves and pulled it protectively over her shoulder. Everyone laughed at her panic. Then, Yuna laughed, too. Of course, Rikku couldn't have meant something that drastic. Yuna looked at her reflection in the mirror once more. She loved her new dress, but she wondered if she had made the right decision to destroy the memory within the sphere.
Later that day, Yuna kept thinking of the voice she heard in the converted dress sphere. Hesitantly, she walked to her dresser and pulled open her bottom drawer. Tucked among her sleepwear was a small chest of keepsakes. She had left Besaid rather abruptly without anyone but Wakka knowing, but this was one thing she couldn't leave without. Opening the chest, she withdrew the small, blue memory sphere found under Tidus's pillow. She had lost count of the number of times she viewed it, but now she wanted to view it again, just to hear his voice.
When it finished playing, Yuna put away her most treasured sphere and left the cabin for the bridge. While Shinra's seat was unoccupied, she sat down and punched up the sphere that Kimahri gave them, to view it on-screen for comparison. That voice ... Yuna folded her arms on the console and rested her cheek on them. Listening to his voice was no substitute for finding him if he really was—somehow—still somewhere on Spira. But it made her more determined to keep looking.
))((
Lenne watched Yuna's first sphere with her and was amazed at the similarities between the voice and face in that sphere and her own memories of Shuyin. He had the same body language, the same facial expressions, and yet somehow, it didn't quite seem like him. Who was this person?
The second sphere, however ...
Shuyin! She immediately recognized the young man rattling the bars of the prison cage in Bevelle's underground. If Yuna was hunting for clues about what happened to Shuyin, Lenne intended to stick with her every step of the way.
))((
Author's Notes:
(1) There is heavy use of official game dialog throughout this story. I make no claim to it. I reference it only to connect my plot with game events. Most of the game dialog I use comes from the English game since I'm writing in English. But here, I referenced Japanese game dialog because I like its flow and meaning better. This is my translation, so that is why it is different from the English game or what someone else might have translated from the Japanese game.
(2) In the English version of the game, Yuna's last words to Tidus are, "I love you." But the Japanese version says, "Arigatou/Thank you." I prefer the Japanese because of the nuances in her gratitude, compared to a confession of love. He already knows she loves him, based on her actions and sphere farewell/confession. But acknowledging his unselfish sacrifice above her own selfish feelings says so much more about how deeply she loves, respects, and understands him. Because they both know she can never repay the price he paid to save her and all of Spira.
