Chapter Eighteen

It all comes together


They had expected to encounter resistance at the entrance to the city of Guadosalam, but there was no guard at the path that connected the city to the plains beyond. Auron and Tidus with Jecht not far behind had taken the lead and cautiously led them into Guadosalam, which had not grown so much as Luca or even Besaid. Tidus could hear the sound of many voices coming from the direction of the great manor of the Guado lords. For an instant he wanted nothing more than to run in the direction of those voices. Then he glanced at Auron, who shook his head and nodded toward one of the upward curving pathways, which would give them a vista of the city square before the manor entrance.

They led the way stealthily, indicating to the four youngest members of their party to keep quiet and to have their weapons ready. The view was one for which none of them were prepared.

On one side stood a crowd of heavily armed Guado, perhaps fifteen or more of them, and on the other stood Yuna, Wakka and Rikku, and Lulu. Yuna, thirty-four years old and still unsurpassingly beautiful, was just standing there with her Nirvana summoning rod clutched tightly in her hands, staring at something. At first Tidus thought that it was one of the Guado, perhaps even Nav himself, but then the crowd shifted, affording him a better view of a figure at their center, a man in chains with a formidable Guado warrior on either side.

"It's ... It's Braska!" Tidus stammered.

The expression on Yuna's face captured it all: the seven-year-old girl who had lost her father, the teenager who had defeated Sin forever, and the grown woman who had led her people into a new age. And they were all astonished and a little terrified to see Lord Braska there, alive and a captive of the Guado.

"We got to do something!" said Jecht quietly, nudging Auron.

"Right." he agreed. "At least one or more of us must distract the enemy while others get word to Yuna that she has help. The rest need to be prepared to cover their escape ... with Braska."

"I'll do the distractin' part." said Jecht, testing the edge of his sword.

"It will be dangerous." Auron warned him, glancing at Tidus.

"You don't think I can handle some Guado? I'll even have surprise on my side." said Jecht, never one to back down.

"Send me with him, Sir Auron. He'll need someone to watch his back." said Pacce, swallowing hard as he finally found some courage.

"Count me in too!" said Tidus.

"Fine. Tiron and Aurie will inform Yuna of our plans, leaving Tida and me to cover the retreat." agreed Auron, though reluctantly.

"Now that's what I call a plan!" laughed Jecht, clapping Auron on the back.


The spokesman for the Guado had just finished giving Yuna the terms and conditions laid down by Lord Nav. She was struggling to find something to say. Usually both a shrewd and fair negotiator, the sight of her father was more than her steely nerves could take. She wanted to ask them what he was doing there. She wanted to tell them that they had no right to hold a Yevonite hostage. She wanted even more just to accede to their demands and see him set free. But worst of all, the leering Guado could see it all in her varicolored eyes as clearly as though every thought were written there.

Of course, she didn't have a chance to say or do any of that as three figures catapulted themselves from one of the high, arching pathways nearby and straight into the center of the mob of Guado.

"Mom! Aunt Yuna!" called Tiron to the lady summoner and the black mage at her side as both Aurie and he ran up from the other direction.

They turned without hesitation, all of them, hearing the last voices, or perhaps almost the last voices, that they expected to hear in Guadosalam.

"We've got get Lord Braska and get out of here!" said Aurie breathlessly.

Wakka surveyed the situation and nodded once as he said, "Right! Let's do it!"

"Stay with Yuna." Rikku told Tiron and Aurie as the three guardians prepared to plunge into battle.

"But mom ...!" Aurie began to object.

"Protect her." said Wakka fiercely, leaving no room for any additional objections.

Lady Yuna brushed her hair from her eyes as she looked at the two teenagers. The single dignifying streak of gray glimmered like burnished silver in the pale light of Guadosalam.

"Did I just see ... Sir Tidus ... Sir Jecht ... and Pacce?" she questioned them slowly. The day had already been too much for her. What was a couple more surprises?

"Yeah ... and I guess you saw your father too, ya?" answered Aurie.

"Yes." Yuna nodded.

"Long story." said Tiron with a nonchalant shrug.


The battle was fine, a piece of cake, until the Guado began calling fiends to assist them, just as they had in the old days. Jecht, Pacce, and Tidus were holding their own, but desperately wishing that they had Lulu, Wakka, and Auron with them, not to mention Yuna and her curative magic. Then Tidus heard a familiar voice call out to him over the din of the battle.

"Hey, brudda, is this for real?"

"Wakka?" he yelled back.

Tidus glimpsed a flash of gray-streaked red hair as the guardians of Yuna joined the fight. Sometimes wishes come true. Tidus grinned and continued hacking at his foe, glad to have the additional support. The former blitzer obviously still had it as he hurled his weapon at the nearest fiend. Wakka grinned and gave Tidus a thumbs-up as the fiend exploded into pyreflies with a very satisfying sound.

"You couldn't stay away for long ... hmmm?" questioned a soft, amused voice, struggling to be heard over the surrounding noise.

"Lulu!" Tidus laughed aloud as a nearby Guado was hit with a potent Firaga spell. It was none other than his favorite black mage. The gleam in her brilliant red eyes suggested that it had been a long time since she lit a Guado on fire, which, as always, had a particular appeal to any mage.

"Don't forget me!" laughed a voice that was still energetic and familiar after all the intervening years since he had heard it last.

"Rikku!" shouted Tidus, waving to her with his sword as she cut her way through the weaker fiends with grenades and other items. Rikku looked a little taller and maybe not so skinny, but she still wore the latest in Al-Bhed fashions, though mostly in the colors of pink and green. And true to the advice given by Kimahri Ronso beneath Lake Macalania, she was still Rikku.

Jecht and Pacce, who was being severely put through his paces, both just grinned as Tidus's friends cut their way through both fiend and Guado to join them in forming a protective circle around Lord Braska, who seemed rather dazed. The High Summoner had hardly moved since the battle began. He simply stood there with his wide eyes upon Jecht, and he seemed to be remembering something, or rather, he was remembering everything ... at last.


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A/N: Thanks for the reviews, bunny and sulou!