IMPORTANT NOTE: Major spoilers for those who have not met up with YUNALESCA. And these are Square's characters, I don't own them. Enjoy
This story begins after Tidus has been informed by Yunalesca of what they have to do to obtain the Final Aeon. Remember there are story spoilers for those who haven't gotten to this point yet.
++UPDATED ON FEBRUARY 25, 2002++
I edited some stuff in the first chapter, that I didn't like. I also added a couple little things. Not much, but just enough to keep the flow of the story going in places I didn't think were going as well as the rest. Thanx for reading.
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FINAL FANTASY X: DEFINING MOMENTS
by Sartori
------------------------------------
CHAPTER 1 - THE BEGINNING
The inevitable had finally come to pass. Tidus stood in the dark, cavernous atrium with only a foreboding chill from the stolid walls to keep him company. Yunalesca had left the room only moments before, along with everyone else. Her ominous words were all that she had left behind. Her apprehensive syllables lingered throughout the musty air as if they were one with its decaying antiquity. They spoke to Tidus and told him of things that he would never hope to think of again. Yuna must choose the next Sin, and solidify her own memorial in the process. One of them, her closest friends, had to join her quest for martyrdom.
Even among these hallowed halls, Tidus knew what would come to pass. There was no other way to defeat Sin. It was futile. The corrupt and hideous influence Sin had caused was too great for the rest of Spira to bear. Yuna was going to follow in her father's footsteps. To bring the Calm to Spira only for a short time. That was just enough to lift the spirits of everyone, and it was her sole destiny to become Spira's temporary savior. Tidus hoped that she would make the right decision. Even though his own feelings tainted his views of Yuna's crusade.
Nevertheless, her path lay before her. With the ever-watchful eye of Sin blocking her from her true passion. Maybe she could leave this task for someone else to complete. Maybe the only thing that would convince her to stray was a certain something she had never possessed or tasted before now. Maybe she had discovered something worth living for. The only thing it could possibly be evaded Tidus like no other quandary he had ever been exposed to before. The empty love and adoration he had been subjected to in Zanarkand was infected with the curse of his popularity. An all-star blitzball player was usually better suited to short flings to satisfy bouts of angst and longing. Commitment was a word he had never used much. But, he had never experienced someone like Yuna. She faced all that the world had to offer with a happy face and a rare innocence that Tidus could never have found in a city like Zanarkand. His fame was nonexistent in this place and made him feel as if true love could bloom in the wake of Sin's genocide.
Tidus slowly lumbered up the steps to confront Yunalesca and to see what Yuna's choice would be. He pushed on the doors with a strength he had never seemed to possess before. The thoughts and feelings spiraling through his conscious mind were too hard to face. Focusing his strength on the simple insignificance of opening a door was all he could do to remain sane. His composure faltered when the door finally swung open on its hinges and knocked with a giant metallic thud against the outside wall.
Everyone was there. Rikku, Kimahri, Auron, Lulu, Wakka, and Yunalesca were all standing around the platform under a sea of darkness. All that could be seen among the cold, dark sky were vague spots of stars that burned with an ever-increasing vigor. And yes, Yuna also stood upon this melancholy stage. He expected her life to be extinguished from the world any
second now. It pained him to see her standing there as if nothing was wrong. Everything was wrong, couldn't she see that? His attention lingered as he studied her watchfully, as if he was to discern her thoughts by the flow of her dress in the wind and her darkened yet still elegant silhouette.
Her silken hair waved in the breeze as she leaned upon her staff and looked nervously at the stones littered among the broken platform. She seemed to be leaning on her staff so hard, that Tidus began to wonder whether she was strong enough to even obtain the Final Aeon. Then his thoughts wavered to the task ahead. His depression grew as he walked over to Yuna while motioning for the rest of his loyal friends to disband and leave himself and Yuna to talk, alone.
Yuna looked up into Tidus' dour face and smiled weakly. She opened her mouth to speak, but Tidus spoke first. "It's okay, I know what you're going to say."
In a curious tone she murmured, "You do?"
Tidus looked off into the dark skies and started to run his fingers through his hair. "You're going to say how it's your duty to defeat Sin. And how the people of Spira will never forgive you if you ran away from this."
Yuna laughed softly and said, "No that's not what I would have said. Not yet anyways."
Surprised, Tidus looked at her exquisite face and longingly wondered whether this was the end of their journey and their beginning, as lovers. She fidgeted with her staff, looking decidedly nervous for what she was about to say.
"I was going to say that....you.....are so beautiful." She smiled as she said this and looked straight into Tidus' eyes, stars reflecting off of them from the night sky. Tidus looked back at her and began to feel as if no one else existed. He looked at his hands. His gloves gripped tightly to his tanned skin and felt as if they were just a mindless constriction that he needed to be rid of. Slowly he pulled the gloves from his hands and looked back into Yuna's waiting glance, her eyes a wonderment of shimmering jade and a hypnotic azure hue. The gloves hit the ground with a leathery thud as Tidus rid himself of their strangling proximity. He reached up to touch her face, but Yuna's hand gently caught his. She brought her hand up to her cheek to let him touch the side of her face. She closed her eyes and thought of what it would be like if she could be here, forever in this moment. Yuna already knew what she was going to ask him, even now, but it hurt to even think of saying it. Just one last encounter would be enough....until the next time.
Tidus caressed her lustrous skin as a small tear fell from her eye and found its way onto her lips. Growing bolder, Tidus leaned in and let his hand slip from her face to her shoulder as he put his lips to hers. Tidus could taste the salty tear upon her moistened lips and was blissfully oblivious to her pain. It was better not to know during a time like this. He had to remember everything about this moment because an eternity should never be able to make him forget. The downy feel of her hair as it lightly touched his right cheek. His hand upon her bare shoulder and the texture of her skin. The guileless wind beating away at them. Subtle details that would forever be impressed upon Tidus' memory.
Yuna played her slender fingers through the strands of his hair as their lips professed their undying love for one another. As their tender embrace grew ever stronger, it eventually had to founder, there wasn't time for love amongst the stars and a waiting company that grew more impatient by the second. They released each other from their amorous tryst. Yuna's quavering lips attempted to form the words she had so often thought of since that night in the woods of Macalania.
"I love you."
Tidus smiled as if he knew it all along, but was too scared to ask. Even though they had openly expressed their emotions with one another before, with a simple kiss. The words she had spoken seemed to ring in his mind with such clarity, that it forced him to ask the question he had been asking himself for the past hour.
"So, what are you going to do now. Do you want to be with me or Sin?" He said this matter-of-factly which seemed to catch Yuna off guard, if only for an instant.
"You know the answer to that, but I do need to defeat Sin. I know that it will only be for a very short time, but The Calm must come to Spira. Not only for the people, but for the good of Spira itself."
"There's got to be another way. Honestly, can't we figure something out?" He urged her. "We could, use all of the Aeons you have. Or gather all of the summoners together and fight it. Or....or..."
"It's hopeless. You have to understand. It's my fate....as a summoner." Her eyes were downcast as she said this with Tidus looking on, downtrodden and helpless.
All the energy Tidus had previously contained in his body seemed to leave him with this trite realization. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I should just face it. I'm not a child anymore. But, I don't want to leave you, Yuna."
"You won't have to. Because...I want you...to be my Final Aeon."
Tidus looked at her with a face that charted the territories of a map of woe. Her question shocked him but was both a relief and a blessing in one fell swoop. There really was no other way to defeat Sin. And if this is the only way he can truly be with Yuna, in an afterlife among the Farplane, so be it. There's always a hope, however small and insignificant, that Sin will end its cycle of death and sadness.
She watched him closely in anticipation of his response to her proposal. Finally, after what seemed like ages of hollow silence Tidus began to speak.
"You know that, I will become Sin. My dad is Sin. And he was your father's guardian. So you know how this will end....don't you?
"I'm not so sure of that, but we can always hope," she exclaimed with a hint of desperation in her voice. "Can't we?"
Words failed him at the moment. Suddenly, a feeling he could not aptly describe washed over him. The feeling overtook him and its arrival was a frightening portent. It consumed his will and every fiber of his being. Warmth spread throughout his limbs as he remembered what he had been doing only moments before. The Kiss. Yuna's Skin. The Cool Night Breeze. His lips formed the words hastily, but adequately, "I'll do it."
His words rang out in his subconscious with the strength of a religious litany. He never knew how much he would regret it. He was too intoxicated with this unexplainable feeling. His entire life felt as if it had been extinguished and brought back again. And the taint of this intoxication was enough to make him forget any regrets. His memory was wiped clean of the mutiny his body had so quickly performed and would never remember its coming. Until it was too late.
-----------------------
END OF CHAPTER 1
-----------------------
This story begins after Tidus has been informed by Yunalesca of what they have to do to obtain the Final Aeon. Remember there are story spoilers for those who haven't gotten to this point yet.
++UPDATED ON FEBRUARY 25, 2002++
I edited some stuff in the first chapter, that I didn't like. I also added a couple little things. Not much, but just enough to keep the flow of the story going in places I didn't think were going as well as the rest. Thanx for reading.
------------------------------------
FINAL FANTASY X: DEFINING MOMENTS
by Sartori
------------------------------------
CHAPTER 1 - THE BEGINNING
The inevitable had finally come to pass. Tidus stood in the dark, cavernous atrium with only a foreboding chill from the stolid walls to keep him company. Yunalesca had left the room only moments before, along with everyone else. Her ominous words were all that she had left behind. Her apprehensive syllables lingered throughout the musty air as if they were one with its decaying antiquity. They spoke to Tidus and told him of things that he would never hope to think of again. Yuna must choose the next Sin, and solidify her own memorial in the process. One of them, her closest friends, had to join her quest for martyrdom.
Even among these hallowed halls, Tidus knew what would come to pass. There was no other way to defeat Sin. It was futile. The corrupt and hideous influence Sin had caused was too great for the rest of Spira to bear. Yuna was going to follow in her father's footsteps. To bring the Calm to Spira only for a short time. That was just enough to lift the spirits of everyone, and it was her sole destiny to become Spira's temporary savior. Tidus hoped that she would make the right decision. Even though his own feelings tainted his views of Yuna's crusade.
Nevertheless, her path lay before her. With the ever-watchful eye of Sin blocking her from her true passion. Maybe she could leave this task for someone else to complete. Maybe the only thing that would convince her to stray was a certain something she had never possessed or tasted before now. Maybe she had discovered something worth living for. The only thing it could possibly be evaded Tidus like no other quandary he had ever been exposed to before. The empty love and adoration he had been subjected to in Zanarkand was infected with the curse of his popularity. An all-star blitzball player was usually better suited to short flings to satisfy bouts of angst and longing. Commitment was a word he had never used much. But, he had never experienced someone like Yuna. She faced all that the world had to offer with a happy face and a rare innocence that Tidus could never have found in a city like Zanarkand. His fame was nonexistent in this place and made him feel as if true love could bloom in the wake of Sin's genocide.
Tidus slowly lumbered up the steps to confront Yunalesca and to see what Yuna's choice would be. He pushed on the doors with a strength he had never seemed to possess before. The thoughts and feelings spiraling through his conscious mind were too hard to face. Focusing his strength on the simple insignificance of opening a door was all he could do to remain sane. His composure faltered when the door finally swung open on its hinges and knocked with a giant metallic thud against the outside wall.
Everyone was there. Rikku, Kimahri, Auron, Lulu, Wakka, and Yunalesca were all standing around the platform under a sea of darkness. All that could be seen among the cold, dark sky were vague spots of stars that burned with an ever-increasing vigor. And yes, Yuna also stood upon this melancholy stage. He expected her life to be extinguished from the world any
second now. It pained him to see her standing there as if nothing was wrong. Everything was wrong, couldn't she see that? His attention lingered as he studied her watchfully, as if he was to discern her thoughts by the flow of her dress in the wind and her darkened yet still elegant silhouette.
Her silken hair waved in the breeze as she leaned upon her staff and looked nervously at the stones littered among the broken platform. She seemed to be leaning on her staff so hard, that Tidus began to wonder whether she was strong enough to even obtain the Final Aeon. Then his thoughts wavered to the task ahead. His depression grew as he walked over to Yuna while motioning for the rest of his loyal friends to disband and leave himself and Yuna to talk, alone.
Yuna looked up into Tidus' dour face and smiled weakly. She opened her mouth to speak, but Tidus spoke first. "It's okay, I know what you're going to say."
In a curious tone she murmured, "You do?"
Tidus looked off into the dark skies and started to run his fingers through his hair. "You're going to say how it's your duty to defeat Sin. And how the people of Spira will never forgive you if you ran away from this."
Yuna laughed softly and said, "No that's not what I would have said. Not yet anyways."
Surprised, Tidus looked at her exquisite face and longingly wondered whether this was the end of their journey and their beginning, as lovers. She fidgeted with her staff, looking decidedly nervous for what she was about to say.
"I was going to say that....you.....are so beautiful." She smiled as she said this and looked straight into Tidus' eyes, stars reflecting off of them from the night sky. Tidus looked back at her and began to feel as if no one else existed. He looked at his hands. His gloves gripped tightly to his tanned skin and felt as if they were just a mindless constriction that he needed to be rid of. Slowly he pulled the gloves from his hands and looked back into Yuna's waiting glance, her eyes a wonderment of shimmering jade and a hypnotic azure hue. The gloves hit the ground with a leathery thud as Tidus rid himself of their strangling proximity. He reached up to touch her face, but Yuna's hand gently caught his. She brought her hand up to her cheek to let him touch the side of her face. She closed her eyes and thought of what it would be like if she could be here, forever in this moment. Yuna already knew what she was going to ask him, even now, but it hurt to even think of saying it. Just one last encounter would be enough....until the next time.
Tidus caressed her lustrous skin as a small tear fell from her eye and found its way onto her lips. Growing bolder, Tidus leaned in and let his hand slip from her face to her shoulder as he put his lips to hers. Tidus could taste the salty tear upon her moistened lips and was blissfully oblivious to her pain. It was better not to know during a time like this. He had to remember everything about this moment because an eternity should never be able to make him forget. The downy feel of her hair as it lightly touched his right cheek. His hand upon her bare shoulder and the texture of her skin. The guileless wind beating away at them. Subtle details that would forever be impressed upon Tidus' memory.
Yuna played her slender fingers through the strands of his hair as their lips professed their undying love for one another. As their tender embrace grew ever stronger, it eventually had to founder, there wasn't time for love amongst the stars and a waiting company that grew more impatient by the second. They released each other from their amorous tryst. Yuna's quavering lips attempted to form the words she had so often thought of since that night in the woods of Macalania.
"I love you."
Tidus smiled as if he knew it all along, but was too scared to ask. Even though they had openly expressed their emotions with one another before, with a simple kiss. The words she had spoken seemed to ring in his mind with such clarity, that it forced him to ask the question he had been asking himself for the past hour.
"So, what are you going to do now. Do you want to be with me or Sin?" He said this matter-of-factly which seemed to catch Yuna off guard, if only for an instant.
"You know the answer to that, but I do need to defeat Sin. I know that it will only be for a very short time, but The Calm must come to Spira. Not only for the people, but for the good of Spira itself."
"There's got to be another way. Honestly, can't we figure something out?" He urged her. "We could, use all of the Aeons you have. Or gather all of the summoners together and fight it. Or....or..."
"It's hopeless. You have to understand. It's my fate....as a summoner." Her eyes were downcast as she said this with Tidus looking on, downtrodden and helpless.
All the energy Tidus had previously contained in his body seemed to leave him with this trite realization. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I should just face it. I'm not a child anymore. But, I don't want to leave you, Yuna."
"You won't have to. Because...I want you...to be my Final Aeon."
Tidus looked at her with a face that charted the territories of a map of woe. Her question shocked him but was both a relief and a blessing in one fell swoop. There really was no other way to defeat Sin. And if this is the only way he can truly be with Yuna, in an afterlife among the Farplane, so be it. There's always a hope, however small and insignificant, that Sin will end its cycle of death and sadness.
She watched him closely in anticipation of his response to her proposal. Finally, after what seemed like ages of hollow silence Tidus began to speak.
"You know that, I will become Sin. My dad is Sin. And he was your father's guardian. So you know how this will end....don't you?
"I'm not so sure of that, but we can always hope," she exclaimed with a hint of desperation in her voice. "Can't we?"
Words failed him at the moment. Suddenly, a feeling he could not aptly describe washed over him. The feeling overtook him and its arrival was a frightening portent. It consumed his will and every fiber of his being. Warmth spread throughout his limbs as he remembered what he had been doing only moments before. The Kiss. Yuna's Skin. The Cool Night Breeze. His lips formed the words hastily, but adequately, "I'll do it."
His words rang out in his subconscious with the strength of a religious litany. He never knew how much he would regret it. He was too intoxicated with this unexplainable feeling. His entire life felt as if it had been extinguished and brought back again. And the taint of this intoxication was enough to make him forget any regrets. His memory was wiped clean of the mutiny his body had so quickly performed and would never remember its coming. Until it was too late.
-----------------------
END OF CHAPTER 1
-----------------------
