Chapter Twenty-Four

The price of love is never too high


That night was spent in celebration as those of them who had been alive the week before welcomed the return of those they had lost so many long years ago. It was a party to remember and lasted long into the night. Few could recall when they had better cause for celebrating.

But it seemed to Tidus as though there was still something to be done, that some heavy burden was still upon his shoulders. He watched Auron and his daughter. They were inseparable, almost as much so as Pacce and Aurie had become, at least when Wakka wasn't looking. Tidus finally realized that Tida did not see a father in Auron, far from it. She liked him very much or possibly even loved him, though she hid it well. He was not even certain that Auron himself saw the way she looked at him. Even as they danced together, and how Tida had managed to perform the feat of persuading Auron to dance was beyond comprehension, she remained just as reserved as the elder guardian while they swayed to the music provided by the strange Al-Bhed contraption in the corner.

Tidus sighed quietly, wistfully as he looked at Yuna, who continued to keep her distance. If only he could be dancing with her ... Love was never simple, never easy. When life, death, and all the ages of the world seemed to separate them, Tidus had never doubted that someday they would be together again and happy, but as she stood there across the room, speaking to Lulu in hushed tones or laughing quietly with her father, doubt did touch his heart. Was it really supposed it be this way?

And so, in midst of the merrymaking, sometime long after midnight but well before the coming dawn, Tidus slipped out of the hall where the joyous homecoming was being held and made his way through the dark and deserted streets of Bevelle to visit the temple once more.


The temple was very dim and shadowy inside, lit only a pair of lanterns burning near the door of the chamber of the Fayth, far to the rear of the structure. An elderly priest was dozing at the door, keeping the night watch over one of the sacred spaces of Yevon. Tidus held his breath as he tiptoed past the guard and entered the room. The noise of the door alone should have awakened the priest, but perhaps that night his sleep was a charmed one.

Tidus was left in a pitch black chamber as the door closed with a grinding noise. He stumbled forward, closer to the lifeless statue, and looked around. The room felt empty. It was like the tomb of someone long forgotten.

"Bahamut? Um, boy in the purple robe?" Tidus called out in a loud whisper, looking upward toward the dome of the temple, though his eyes could not pierce the darkness. "I'm sorry I don't know your name, but I really need to talk to you. I need a favor." he said, hoping the Fayth could hear him.

"You did not have to come here. I am always with you, in spirit at least." said the voice a small and serious boy.

"Really?"

"Of course. We all are." the boy Fayth replied.

Tidus had the sense of a presence in the inky blackness around him. Or more accurately, the feeling of many powerful and benevolent presences that he could only identify as the Fayth. It was a warm, wholesome feeling that filled the chamber completely.

"I know you don't owe me anything. I mean, I have so much already ..."

The boy chuckled and said, "Ask us, Tidus, and we will hear your request."

"I love Yuna." he prefaced.

"This we all know, and we honor your love of the lady summoner."

"But ... she no longer loves me."

"This we don't believe." There was kindly humor and patience in the voice that spoke, and Tidus was grateful for those confidently spoken words.

"You see ... Time sort of left me behind. She grew ... and changed ... and I ... haven't." he explained awkwardly.

"You changed more than you will ever know."

"Thanks, but I want to change in other ways. I want to know if you could make me older, old enough for Yuna and me to be ... together, like before." he asked hesitantly.

"Hmmm ... This is serious request. You wish to give up years of your life ... to be with the one you love."

"Can you do it?"

"It is within our power."

"Would you?" asked Tidus. Then he had another thought, one that made him smile despite the seriousness of the situation. "Wait, could I maybe give those years away? To make someone else younger, I mean."

"To whom would you give these years?"

"Auron."

"Ah ... I see."

"Is it possible to do all of this?"

"It is." replied the Fayth in a low voice. "But we would not so alter the life of anyone living without his consent."

Suddenly Tidus realized that he could hear someone outside the chamber, someone who refused to sneak inside like a thief, someone talking with the guard in firm, but hushed tones. His heart began to pound as he recognized the voice as Auron's.

The door slowly opened and light seemed to pour into the darkness of the chamber, falling upon the form of the Fayth with whom Tidus had been speaking. Tidus turned and saw the legendary guardian standing in the open door.

"I have come." he said, speaking to the Fayth.

"Then you agree to what was proposed?" asked the boy.

"Wait a minute!" interrupted Tidus, turning again to the Fayth. "You knew?"

"I know many things, son of Jecht." the Fayth acknowledged. "Are you in agreement with these proceedings?" he questioned Auron, who had chosen to stand at Tidus's side before the Fayth.

Auron looked at Tidus uncomfortably, having the uncanny feeling that Tidus knew that his daughter was much of the reason he was there, and answered simply, "Yes."

The door closed behind them, enveloping them in darkness, as the Fayth intoned, "So be it."


Morning light was shining in through the dome when Tidus opened his eyes and sat up, momentarily wondering why he had chosen to sleep in such an uncomfortable place. Then he remembered where he was, the Chamber of the Fayth in the temple of Yevon in Bevelle, and what had happened, or what he had asked the Fayth that he thought of as Bahamut to make happen. He instantly looked at his hands. He wasn't sure if they looked any older or not. He wanted to ask someone. Then he remembered Auron.

The guardian was lying next to him on the cold stone of the temple. Tidus grinned as he looked at sleeping Auron. The gray hair was gone, returned to a healthy and youthful mahogany brown. The muscles of his uncovered, bare arm seemed leaner. And most telling of all, the hard-bitten look upon his face had softened. Tidus took a second look at his face and realized, much to his amazement, that the scar was gone as well.

Tidus nudged him, and Auron sat up and stretched, stopping mid motion as he realized that he actually felt so much younger than before. A smile twitched across Auron's lips as he flexed his arms experimentally and beheld the changes. The his head snapped back and he began looking around at everything, whipping off his glasses as he did so.

"I can see!" he said with some incredulity.

"Hey, it's not like you were blind or anything." said Tidus, chuckling with amusement at 'young' Auron's antics.

Auron turned toward Tidus and the happy look on his face diminished. For a moment Tidus thought there were tears in his eyes.

"You gave up so much." said Auron quietly.

"Really? Did I? I gave up years that I would have spent alone, an outsider in my own family, in exchange for years that I can spend with the woman I love. Did I give up, did I lose anything, Auron?"

"Maybe not." the somber young man admitted.

"You did this ... for Tida, didn't you?"

"I ... You knew that ..."

"She loves you." Tidus finished for him, smiling at the confused look on Auron's face. "Yeah, kind of obvious, at least to me." he shrugged. "Although ... I wasn't sure how you felt ... until now."

"Strange. I wasn't sure about her." said Auron.

"Yeah, well, Pacce learned a hard lesson from Wakka ... Don't let me catch you making the same mistake." Tidus threatened.

"She is eighteen." Auron pointed out. "She is a grown woman."

"Whoa! Not by the standards of ancient Zanarkand, where her father happened to grow up, in case you forget."

"In Spira ... where she grew up ... coming of age has been seventeen for a long time." Auron argued.

"Don't make me come over there!" Tidus warned.

"And don't make me laugh, old man." Auron joked in reply.

"You know, I don't care what my father says, I kind of like the sound of that." laughed Tidus, standing and stretching.

Auron clambered to his feet and they looked at each other for a moment before both burst out laughing.

"I can't wait to see their faces." said Auron.

"Me too."

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A/N: Thank you for reviewing, Firefly, Trixie27, sulou, Bunny, Lynx, and double-thanks to klepto-maniac0!
Klepto-maniac0 has posed the question, "Interesting--they're all alive. But why? Surely unsent people would be just as able to do things that living people are able to do...perhaps more". Recall from the game that the unsent were seen as enemies (and eventually became fiends or fiend-like). To be unsent was seen as a violation of traditional Yevonite mores, which probably would not have changed that drastically in only eighteen years. Those who were unsent didn't exactly broadcast that fact (Auron and Maester Mika, for instance). So ... if the guys had remained as simple unsents, they would have been shunned or even hated by Yevonite society and may have grown fiend-like themselves (Seymour and the first summoner Lulu guarded). It might have made for an interesting plot twist, but it wasn't the direction I wanted to go with this story.
Firefly (whose high praise truly made me blush - thanks!) asked a related question: "Everyone found out how corrupt Yevon was in the game, right? But, in this story, Yevon is the main religion. I understand that the teachings have been altered drastically, but still . . ." Well ... it's really hard to replace an established fictional religion, especially since it wasn't all bad, even if it was corrupt. Yevon appeared to have functioned, if not always well, for about a thousand years. And I think that if Yevon was done away with at the end of the game, the result would have been social upheaval and war (think about the Protestant-Catholic wars in Europe hundreds of years ago). This may have presented a more interesting backdrop for the story, but I didn't think of it.