The Right Choice

Circulation came back to his limbs, and he suffered a bit of intense discomfort as it happened. A heart was beating in his chest again, air was exiting and entering his lungs at a fast rate, and emotions were scattered throughout his brain. All the psychedelic colors around him and the feeling of being pulled by a strong, magnetic-like force gave Tidus the idea that he might've been going insane. He could hear things. People were talking in unintelligible conversations and events flashed before his eyes. When the winds transported him, he held a strong desire to reunite with his friends and save Spira. He wanted to hold Yuna in his arms again. He wanted to end this horrible fate of his father. Where did all of his wishes bring him? He wasn't sure, but when his feet made contact with the hard surface again, Tidus listened intently to the ambience of a dark and deserted cave. He looked from where he just came. Pyreflies sang around a large gaping hole in the ground. He ran his fingertips along his forearms, his chest, and his hair. Ironically, all of his human senses felt so alien after spending all the time before gradually having them taken away.

Are we real? He asked himself. Are we… human?

He didn't realize it at first, but nobody was around to answer his questions.

"Auron?" he called. He heard his voice bounce off the walls of the cave. Tidus walked forward, hoping that he wasn't the only one that made it back from the afterlife.

He couldn't fight the wave of monsters that approached him. He could only flee, something Auron often made comments about when Tidus was faced with a difficult situation. It could've been either about losing a blitzball game, or about his relationship with Jecht, or about the fact that his own father was Spira's suffering. It had been years since Tidus thought about the life lessons Auron showed him and how much he wanted to ignore them. On this day as he walked upon the precious surface of Spira once again, he dug through his brain to try and remember.

I can't even save Spira, or Yuna, without a weapon, or a clue. I don't know where to go from here, I don't know where I'm at. Hell, I don't even know what I am anymore…

Tidus could see more of his way as he exited the cave, though he could no longer guide himself through the thick Farplane mist. He turned his head in different directions, careful not to expose himself by calling out Auron's name. He recognized the flat ground underneath his feet. He had visited this area on various occasions with Yuna and her Gullwing friends. That's when he came back to the overwhelming sense of guilt plaguing his heart.

Yuna… I get it now. As always, I don't understand until it's almost too late… Wherever you are, I'll find you and I'll put an end to this. For good this time. Even if that means…

His thoughts were halted when he heard the sound of rustling in the patch of grass ahead of him. He reduced his steps to tiptoeing and carefully made his way forward. He thought he heard someone else's steps making their way towards him.

"Hey, it's you," the person said. Tidus recognized the voice and he walked to where he could hear it and Gaia's figure appeared clearly in view.

"Hey," Tidus said, scratching the back of his head.

"Where'd you come from?" she enquired.

"That… is a long story."

Gaia shifted uncomfortably on her feet, her arms hugging her body as if she was feeling cold. "I… heard there was a cave. A cave where someone stole a fayth and hid it there, but now it's just a giant hole? A hole to the Farplane?"

Tidus turned his head backwards. "Oh, that was that cave. What about it?"

"I was just wondering if you could point me in that direction."

"Why?"

She averted her gaze. "I… wanna go back to where I belong."

"What? Why?" After spending some time in the afterlife, with delusional souls speaking amongst themselves and terrible enemies he'd encountered before, Tidus couldn't think of any reason why people would want to be there.

Gaia sighed. "Let's just say I've had a revelation. One that tells me I'm not particularly wanted anymore."

"But… I think you've been helping us a lot since the beginning…"

"There's someone that…" her voice trailed off for a second. "I want to protect."

"But you could protect lots of people if you stay and fight with us."

She glared at him. "Don't you get it? We aren't supposed to be here. Bad things happen the longer we stick around. Bad things for us, and for them."

It took a minute for her words to penetrate and Tidus furrowed his brow as he tried to make sense of it all. Then it hit him. Transforming into a fiend when one still had a mild hint of self-control must have been painful, both emotionally and physically. He remembered what the fayth was telling him about the hybrid fiends. The pyreflies – her pyreflies – were a punishment not completely intended for her.

"Besides…" she added. "Do you even know who was responsible for all of this?"

"That sender, I know, but that doesn't mean-"

She swiftly turned around. "It does!"

Tidus gaped at her.

"Sorry…" she said, ashamed of herself. "But… that man is my father. I was just an accessory to him. He started this entire horrific event just because he pretended to feel guilty about it. How exactly am I supposed to redeem that? How can I help fix this when my existence harbors all of it?"

"Hey, if I told you what my old man was responsible for," Tidus began. "Then you'd probably think I might've lost it. But when I found out about it, I had those feelings, too. For a second. And guess what? All of this happened because of me, too. But I sure as hell am not gonna sit by and watch this world fall apart. I think you should remember that, too. If you wanna protect people, the best thing you can do is stay here, and fight off these monsters." Tidus took a couple of steps forward, adding one last comment. "And stop holding grudges. If you're still not gonna forget about whoever doing whatever, at least spare yourself from being angry all the time about it."

Gaia was about to begin the argument all over again, with questions about how Tidus would understand any aspect of what she had been through. But then she thought more about what he was saying. If his father had done something equally despicable, and Tidus was able to walk without being at war with his emotions because of it, then perhaps the same could be said of her.

"I gotta go find the others," Tidus said. "If your mind's made up about what you wanna do, then that's fine, but just… think about what I told you."

He walked off without any other word, and Gaia was frozen as she listened to the low growling of heinous creatures behind her.

And now Tidus was in front of his closest friends – practically family – and they stared in shock at him. Of course, Rikku was the one to break the ice and ran up to envelope him in a tight hug.

"You had us all worried!" she yelled into his ear. He returned the hug and felt the warmth in his body return while the others maintained their position. She pulled herself back and studied him. "Where've you been?"

"I was… beyond," Tidus said. "And I learned a lot from that place. So much so that I think I know how we can fix this."

"Great!" Rikku said. "Now if only I can get this stupid CommSphere piece of technology to work!"

Wakka came up in front of him. "Wait… you mean you actually went…?"

He didn't have to finish his sentence for Tidus to nod. "You can absorb a lot of knowledge from the other side, you know?"

Wakka put his hands on his hips and studied him. Tidus's body was completely free of all the burns, bruises, and scars and his skin and eyes regained their color. He looked healthy, and very much human and there was only one way Wakka could completely confirm that fact. He smacked the boy's forehead with his palm and Tidus stumbled backwards a bit. "Ow, why'd you do that?"

A grin spread across the redhead's face. "Sorry, just had to be sure."

The next one to question him was Lulu and she took a couple of steps forward to regard him. "You said there were things you learned. Would you enlighten us?"

Tidus scratched the back of his head, not knowing where to start. "You might wanna sit down for this…"

And so he laid out the entire story before them about the summoner that allowed his hatred to consume him, about the hidden piece of technology deep underneath St. Bevelle, about the unfortunate fate of the beckoned spirits, and the reason the break between the Farplane and Spira occurred. He didn't sound as if he was putting all of the responsibility on himself. Rather, he just stated the facts as they were. He was resurrected, and Spira experienced a period of unsents wandering the corporeal plane. That's all there was to it. As he explained, the others that knew Yuna best felt a pang of regret building in their hearts. Regret that they didn't put an end to this chain of events as it started. They knew something was off about Tidus's existence the minute he set foot on Besaid, though they didn't mention it. Honestly, they felt a series of conflicted emotions on which act was worse: putting an end to Tidus and Yuna's happiness to prevent this escapade, or making it seem as though nothing was peculiar about it. Of course, nobody could've predicted that Yuna's simple gesture of beckoning Tidus back was the harbinger of it all. They assumed the fayth harbored god-like powers, and could bend reality if they so wanted and Tidus just happened to become a result of it.

"So… how are we gonna save her?" Wakka asked.

"The fayth told me she just needs to see me," Tidus said, uncertain of himself. "Like, actually see my face, and then she will be free."

"Just like that?" Rikku asked. "How do we even know that's gonna work?"

"Well… how do I explain this… uh… well when that thing was possessing that old crazy man," Tidus said. "He sort of… got distracted when Gaia shot one in him. Like he didn't wanna kill her. Or maybe he was just, I don't know, a little conflicted."

Lulu turned her head towards the older man, sulking in the corner. He hadn't said more than a few words to them.

"Two minds colliding?" she said. "One person's emotions overpowering the other?"

"But… I guess it has to be the person they love," Tidus said.

Lulu looked thoughtful. "Or… the person they brought here."

Tidus kept his eyes on the floor. "I… know about that, too."

Rikku took her eyes off her work station and looked at him. They all did. Tidus didn't want to think of what he was, or what he had become now. Something else was more important that he had to ask about.

"If the fayth knew about all of this… then why?" When nobody gave an answer, he sighed heavily. "Why didn't somebody somewhere warn Yuna about this?"

"Maybe… they felt guilty." Lulu said.

"Who, the fayth?" Tidus asked. "Guilty about what?"

He didn't need to ask. The image of Yuna's completely heartbroken face after he disappeared answered it for him. Tidus was about to say that it had been time for him to go. That he'd already had his story, and Yuna should've moved on from that, but he knew he was being completely hypocritical if he said that. Earlier, he mentioned the complete opposite. That if someone had the chance to be with the ones they loved and lost, then why wouldn't they? And to think that Tidus was there, in Spira after being in limbo for two years, because Yuna wanted to not only see him, but bring him into everyone else's lives, too. He held a special place in all of their hearts, even if he didn't realize it. Tidus's story had become something else than the heroic figure that sacrificed his entire existence for Spira's safety. He was an omen, as most unsent, or restless spirits were. Not only that, but his presence was more of an inconvenience to Yuna, than anything else. She felt the need to keep things from him. She couldn't even have a normal conversation without tensing up knowing that everything was only alright on the surface. All signs were pointing to the fact that he couldn't stay like this, despite his strong desire to do so. But as he rubbed his thumbs across his fingertips, and felt something different about himself.

"Maybe…" he said, aloud, but was interrupted by the loud static coming from the CommSphere.

"Got it!" Rikku exclaimed. The voices on the CommSphere were cutting in and out, and they could hear multiple ones talking over each other.

"No… this isn't right…" a voice said.

"Hey!" Rikku said. "Can you guys hear me?"

"…Rikku?"

"Yeah! Listen, we don't have a lotta time, we're over here in the Calm Lands! We need you to get over here and pick us up! Yuna's…!"

"Rikku? Speak up! I can… hear…"

"Hey! Hellooo? I said we're at the Calm Lands!"

"Ri… you say you were… Lands?"

"Yeah!"

"How'd you get there?"

"Doesn't matter, we need your help, quick! So get over here and help us out!"

"Alright, already! We'll make our way over to… wait…"

It was silent for a second with only the sound of the static. Then there was shouting and a loud, booming roar before the CommSphere went offline again. Rikku sat back on her knees and felt her stomach tighten.

"What… what was that?" she asked.

Lulu thought for a second. "That bird… where was it going?"

She looked over at Tidus. "What bird?" he said.

"I saw this huge bird, probably as big as Sin, fly across the sky," Clasko said. "I don't know where it was going, but it looked like it was headed for the mountain."

"Mount Gagazet?" Rikku said. "But… Kimahri and… the other Ronso. We should warn them."

"Wait… I don't understand," Tidus said. "A giant bird flying to Mt. Gagazet? Why would it go there? What does a 'Sin bird' have against the Ronso?"

"Nothing." A low voice said.

Tidus jumped and turned around when he heard the voice. "You! Where…? How…?"

Everyone turned to the shadowy figure that became clearer in the light of the burning candles. Chuami felt her heart race and sweat run down her forehead. Auron looked as he had during Yuna's pilgrimage. With his red cloak, his sunglasses hiding his expressions, his sword slung over his shoulder. Tidus often wondered if he had any emotions at all because he always remained as calm and stoic as usual no matter what situation occurred. But he knew that if Auron did have any sort of feeling, it was loyalty. Loyalty towards his close friend, and to Tidus. That, Tidus assumed, is why he was here. Tidus glanced over at Chuami, who averted her eyes to the floor. He couldn't imagine everything that was going through her mind.

"A-Auron!" Rikku said, leaping to her feet. "Where did you…?"

The warrior monk didn't answer her question as he believed it was irrelevant. "This flying monstrosity isn't what it seems."

"What, is it actually another Sin?" Tidus asked.

"Almost," Auron continued. "The only difference is that he isn't in control."

"What do you mean?" Rikku asked.

Auron adjusted his collar. "The summoner you were told about. He's using her powers." He slung his sword and planted it on the ground. It was then that his and Chuami's eyes met for a split second. He was taken by how much hers reminded him of someone else. However, he didn't want to be distracted at the moment. "He created an armor made of souls. Souls and hatred. His target doesn't reside in Gagazet."

"So… he's flying around… in Zanarkand?" Rikku asked. "But why…?"

Tidus thought back to his dream about the break in between the two Zanarkands. He saw people on either side of the border, both living and nonliving. Onryo threatened to continue the Beckoning, and if this armor he created was out of unsent souls, he could create an even bigger and more terrifying army out of those spirits crossing the barrier.

"He wanted to fight Sin…" Tidus mumbled out loud. "He wanted revenge for losing his guardian. The only person he wanted to save."

"So… that's what he's been doing this whole time?" Chuami asked. "Gathering up this power to fight Sin?"

Auron nodded. "Jecht has been keeping it occupied." He said to Tidus.

"He… really is still…" Tidus begun. "So… this break in between worlds. When that fayth told me about it, I thought it was just a metaphor…"

"Nothing is metaphorical if it comes from the fayth," Auron said. "Yuna is at the heart of his creation. She is at the root of this armor. It's another form of summoning."

Tidus felt his fist clench, feeling the tension in his forearm as he angrily stared at the ground. He was exasperated, not only at this monster that'd brought this misery, but at himself for not realizing where his place actually was. If he wasn't caught up in believing this mirage that was his true existence, then perhaps he could've prevented this chain of events from spiraling out of control. Now, Yuna's power was being used to its full potential, and if this kind of summoning was even more intense than the Final Summoning, Tidus didn't want to think about what it was currently doing to her. He stood up, turned his head to the others. They all had different expressions, from major concern to being pensive, and then there was Chuami, who now had a part in this with her legendary guardian parent rising from the dead to help.

"Let's go get her," he said, turning towards the entrance. The others exchanged looks. "We're gonna tear that thing apart, every single piece of it, and make it suffer. We'll make that asshole pay for everything. We're gonna make him regret ever screwing with our world."

Venom leaked from his voice and his eyes were dark. His fists were clenched. Rikku stood up and made her way over to him and rested her hands on his shoulders. "Slow down there, tiger."

"Yeah, we should probably think this through first, ya?" Wakka said. "This thing's stronger and probably way bigger than Sin."

"It's most likely going to be more resilient." Lulu said to him.

"We should get to the ship first," Rikku told him as she felt his shoulders relax. "Then we should send out a signal to everyone about taking cover. We gotta come up with a plan to beat it."

Tidus crossed his arms bitterly. "What's the big deal? We didn't have that much of a hard time fighting Sin."

"Dude, where were you when we were wracking our brains trying to figure out Sin's weakness?" Wakka said.

"We didn't just attack it straight on," Lulu said. "We had to acquire knowledge, create a plan, and then attack one portion of Sin before our final battle."

"We're not gonna help Yuna out if we just attack it without thinking straight." Rikku told him.

"Alright, I get the idea." Tidus said.

Auron slung his sword over his shoulder. "Then it's settled. Let's go."

Everyone except Clasko was heading out of the cave, and Rikku hung back to bid farewell to the breeder. "You should think about going back to Bevelle and maybe start your own business there."

Clasko sighed. "I do miss the company, but… I don't know… I might have to think about it."

"Lucil and Elma miss you too," Rikku said. "They told us that everyone's so sharp and legitimately good at their job, that they've missed having someone around to slack off and mess up!"

"Thanks…" Clasko said.

"Oh… w-what I mean is… they miss seeing you," Rikku said. "And they want you around."

"I don't want to go back to being ordered around…"

"Then… be your own boss! You're doing a good job of it here."

Clasko looked as though he was considering it. "I guess… I'll think about it."

"Great! Thanks again for your help!" Rikku said, turning towards the exit. "And stay outta trouble!"

Tidus was still fuming, but he was keeping it inside as to not fall back into his old habits of childish outbursts. He was interrupted from his thoughts when a petite figure appeared in front of him.

"I believe this belongs to you," Chuami said, holding out the gleaming blue blade. Tidus looked at it and didn't realize how naked he felt without it until he held it in his hands again.

"Wait, but you need a weapon, too, right?" he asked her.

"Nah, I'm just the person that observes and reports."

Tidus put Brotherhood away. "Doesn't the kid of the legendary grumpy old Auron need a victorious weapon?"

Chuami crossed her arms. "I wish I would stop hearing that… it's really not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal? It's not that big of a deal to be the kid of a legend that killed Sin and saved Spira twice in a row?"

Chuami turned around and followed the crowd and Tidus walked beside her. He could see that both she and the red-cloaked guardian had this trait of avoiding certain questions in common. He noticed their nonverbal interaction and was irritated at Auron for being the silent stiff he was.

"He's not so bad, once you get to know him," Tidus said. "He's probably feeling as weird about this as you are. I mean, I don't think he came back just because he wanted to fight Sin again. "

Chuami gave him a funny look. "You sound like you had a talk with him. About me."

Tidus scratched the back of his head. "W-well… I did mention you when I ended up in that place."

She stopped him again and looked at him with shining eyes. She went from her typical intolerant expression to that of a young girl wanting to know about someone she idolized. Tidus sighed.

She was abandoned. And when he had a chance to see her again, he didn't take it.

Chuami's face was flustered as she was embarrassed by what she was about to ask. "What… did he say about me?"

Tidus became nervous. "Oh! Uh… w-well… he said that… he's proud of you. And who you've become."

He had a dead giveaway when he wasn't telling half the truth. He bit his lip and his eyes were wide and his legs were shaking slightly. Chuami's eyes lowered and she shook her head.

"Okay, I know that was a lie." she said. Tidus wished Auron would quit the prideful stoic man attitude and speak with the daughter he left behind all these years already. He could see from the way she interacted with him that she wasn't what she made herself to be. She wasn't scathing, or condescending. At least not intentionally. It made Tidus feel even worse for her thinking that she only acted that way because she was trying to mimic the guardian. Or at least trying to create a version of what she believed he'd be like, as she'd never met him. He wondered what it was like to be in the shadow of a parent that accomplished many things and only receiving the acknowledgment of being that person's child. Then he remembered he didn't have to wonder. He'd already lived it before.

"But hey…" Chuami finally said, cutting him off from his muse. "Thanks for trying, anyways."