Chapter Eight

The Otherworld


The sound of a minor commotion next door awakened Tida and Auron late in the night as the steamer plied through the waves between Besaid and Luca. The guardian swung his legs from the bed as Tida groped for the lantern, which had been turned down, but not extinguished. She glanced at Auron in the pale orange light and blushed as he reached for his robe and glasses. Without them, he seemed more man than myth.

The muted sound of voices stopped him from throwing the robe on and Tida from leaving her bunk.

"Aurie!" they heard Pacce shout, which was followed by the sound of thumping, banging, and an oddly throaty giggle that could only have belonged to Aurie herself.

Auron relaxed, seeming to debate his course of action. Tida looked uncomfortably mortified on her friend's behalf.

"I hope no one else can hear that." he commented with a soft sound of displeasure.

"You aren't going to do something?" she asked, mildly surprised.

He looked at the unfortunately thin wall that separated the two cabins and told her, "No, I suppose not." Auron, removing his glasses and returning them to a small shelf with his robe, added, "She seems mature enough to make her own decisions. And he sounds willing ... for tonight at least. Besides, if people took it upon themselves to meddle in these ... matters, you would not be here."

"You knew ... about mother ... and Tidus?"

"Not exactly, but certainly Kimahri did ... and he allowed it. I respect that decision."

Tida looked at him uncertainly as he sat on the edge of his bunk, hands resting lightly on his thighs, clad as always in those gray, nondescript pants. His expression was difficult to read, but he was looking at her. Tida did not shrink beneath the scrutiny. Auron did not blink as he looked at her.

A particularly loud, masculine groan from next door interrupted their solemn reverie. Tida blushed and looked away at last.

"Tell me about him, about Tidus."

"You can question him for yourself."

"I ... I don't think I can."

"It is a difficult thing." Auron agreed. "But worth it."

"What if he doesn't ... What if I'm not ... I mean ..." she tried to say.

"He does. You are. Do not be concerned." Auron reassured her, knowing quite well the questions that she was asking both him and herself:

"What if he doesn't want me for a daughter? What if I'm not good enough?"

Auron knew Tidus well enough to say with some assurance that he would try to be a better father than Jecht had been to him as a child. Although the two were reconciled, Tidus still understood and understood well what a disapproving, uncaring parent could do to someone Tida's age or younger. He would do his utmost to see that the same mistake didn't happen twice. Whether he would succeed or not was as much up to Tida as was to him.

Tida smiled a little and nodded, much relieved.

"Now turn that lamp down. We must be well rested for the journey ahead of us. I do not think it will be easy." he said.

Tida complied with his wishes, but lay awake in the darkness for several minutes before she had enough courage to ask him another question.

"Sir Auron?"

"What?"

"I overheard Uncle Wakka say that you died on your first pilgrimage."

"Yes?"

"So it's true? You were dead when you journeyed with my mother?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

She could hear him shifting uncomfortably in his narrow bunk, perhaps deciding whether or not to answer her question. Tida could almost feel his smoldering bronze eye upon her in the darkness. She shivered.

"I went into battle alone ... against a foe too great for any one man to challenge. I was bested."

"Oh." said Tida quietly.

"Maybe you can learn this lesson with less pain and regret: do not rush hastily and alone into combat. Find those upon whom you can depend and keep them by your side." he told her.

"I don't understand." she whispered, peering into the darkness where the legendary guardian lay.

"Lady Yunalesca ... I rashly attempted to challenge her ... to exact vengeance for the death of Lord Braska. It was not yet time."

Tida shivered again, momentarily visualizing the image of the guardian in his younger days as he charged the first summoner who had defeated Sin and began the spiral of death. Was this bravery? Was this foolhardiness? Was this grief? It was a tough call. Then she blinked and the image was gone, vanishing into the darkness that surrounded them.

"You did avenge him in the end." she said.

Auron chuckled aloud and replied, "We all did - Yuna, Tidus, all of us."

"Good night." she said after a moment.

"Yes, good night." he said, perplexed by the abrupt end to her inquiry, but closing his eyes nonetheless.


The next morning just as the sun was beginning to turn the horizon a golden yellow, Tidus walked onto the deck of the Otherworld, yawning and stretching and ready to face another day in Spira. His eyes rested upon Aurie and Pacce, both standing near the bow of the steamer and looking out over the water. She had a blanket draped across her shoulders against the early morning chill, and his arm rested comfortably around her waist.

"Wow. All it took was one night on the road." said Tidus, shaking his head in amazement.

"Indeed." chuckled Auron, who was lingering the shadows nearby.

"Don't do that! You want me to have a heart attack or something?"

"We are only an hour or so from Luca. We have a great need of haste. Tell the others to pack their gear and assemble on deck."

"What? I'm the errand boy now? I was a guardian too, you know." said Tidus, tossing his head.

"It's been one thousand and thirty-four years since you were born and you still haven't grown up."

"Fine, fine. I'll go." said Tidus.

Aurie glanced over her shoulder as Tidus returned to the cabins. She smiled at Auron and nodded toward Pacce with an impish smile, almost as though she were asking him what he thought. She finally had what she always wanted.

Auron nodded solemnly and made his way towards the stern. It was strange. He was happy for her, though the little bit of warrior monk that remained in him disapproved.

"They are a handsome couple, but she will cloud his judgment or he will cloud hers before the end, I shouldn't wonder." he mused.

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