Author's Note: Heyo everyone! I got back from good ole' New York about a week ago. My observations about the city? Big… and smelly. Call me a country boy, but I was happy to return to good old Texas, regardless of the boredom that I'm experiencing right now. I'll keep these notes short and leave the longer note until the end of the chapter.

This chapter is from Jecht's POV… Betcha weren't expecting that, were you?

Chapter IV: The Real Farplane Blues

I'll admit that I was in a pretty bad mood that night. Hell, I was in a downright crappy mood, actually. Giving news like that to my son was the hardest thing I've ever had to do as a father.

As a father… shit, who am I trying to fool? I was never a father to that boy. Sure, I've tried to reconcile for my pathetic behavior as of late, but it'll never make up for the way I acted when he was young.

So I found myself walking along the war beaten trail, acting upon Tidus' advice to go to Zanarkand quickly. For a reason I can't understand, I didn't want to bring my friends. Maybe it was mistrust, or maybe I felt like it had nothing to do with them. My objective was to find the lady that *I* care for, and it was none of my friend's damn business.

It was incredible how light security was in the Farplane that night. Normally, I would've had to sneak around carefully, like a damn spy or something. I didn't particularly like that, just like I didn't like living in damned houses buried deep underground to avoid Kaemon's constant bombardment of spells. But that night, Akeno's army really did a number on Kaemon's forces, and the path to Zanarkand was free and clear.

As much as I wanted to get the thoughts out of my mind, I just couldn't keep that boy's words out of my mind. His determination didn't surprise me… of course he doesn't want to freakin' leave his wife! Just like I didn't want to leave… well, that doesn't matter anymore.

Nearing Zanarkand, I felt something I hadn't felt since I became Sin. What the hell was…? I don't know.

Fear?

Yeah, that's what it was. I felt fear… it was as plain and downright obvious as night and day. So many people, drowning in their own damn fear… my wife was one of them. That made me more adamant about getting her out of that hell hole.

Upon reaching the gates of Zanarkand, I could smell the stink of the city. Enough to bring a shoopuf to its knees, the smell of garbage permeated the air, and I had to breathe through my mouth to keep from feeling nauseous. Anya was in that place… it makes me damn furious every time I think about it.

The fun began when I made my way over the gates and into the city. It was quite guarded in Zanarkand, unlike the rest of the Farplane.

Guarded by what?

I didn't know what the hell they were, but I realized that it wasn't the smell of garbage that permeated the air. It was more like the smell of rotting flesh. Were they undead? I thought I was undead, but this… this took the freakin' cake.

These things were the stuff of childhood nightmares times fifty. Their eyes, if you could call them that, were deep and hollow but gave off freaky red glow at the pit of their eye sockets. They were walking skeletons, with rotten and damn nasty flesh hanging loosely on their brittle yellow bones. Their frames were stained bright red, and their teeth were bloody too. Let's just say that they made a Great Malboro look about as cute as a little moogle.

Now, I'm not easily scared… I've been through and seen a lot in my day, but I did the first thing that came to mind… I ran.

The ensuing fight for life in Zanarkand was all but a blur to me. Eventually, I was surrounded by them. Naturally, I tried my handy dandy banish sword, but it had absolutely no effect on them. It wasn't until later that I understood what these things really were.

With my emerald blade useless against those things, and death (or whatever it was) quickly approaching, I turned to an act of desperation. Pulling out my trusty steel blade, I started swinging… to my surprise, limbs started falling off.

It was working! Those creatures were certainly ugly, but they were damn stupid. Cold steel brought about a quick death for them. I quickly dispatched them all and made a mad dash for the only place I thought to look. I followed the screaming... the *thousands* of wailing screams.

Upon reaching the destination, the sight that greeted my eyes made me want to hurl in disgust and anger. So much injustice...

It looked like a factory of sorts, with a large smelter starting the long assembly line. The end product looked to be countless vials of ominous green liquid, maybe a spell of some sort. But I only had one objective… find my wife.

The people guarding the makeshift factory were human. At least they looked human, so I struck with my banish weapon. It worked… never has sending someone straight to hell felt so gratifying. For once, I didn't have to try and justify a reason for doing it. I knew these guys deserved it.

I ran around the complex, screaming for my wife like a madman, striking down enemies as they crossed my path. Eventually, as damn silly luck would have it, I found her. That doesn't mean that I recognized her.

She was so skinny… so pale. The glow in her face that I knew and loved was completely gone and bruises covered her small face and body. Anger consumed me… I wanted to tear the place apart.

There wasn't any time for it though, and I forced my fury to subside. I was there to save my wife, not to seek revenge.

I didn't have time for a happy reunion. I picked her up and fled from the revolting city with haste. She weakly held onto me as I hacked my way through more undead creatures and made my way out of the city.

Strangely enough, they didn't follow me… I think they were too damn stupid to chase after me, but I didn't stop running… I wouldn't stop until I could get her to safety.

I remember *vividly* what happened when I got home that evening, after crawling through the vast underground highway that led to our subterranean home.

As I burst through front door, I yelled wildly at my friends to give me a hand with Anya. Half shocked at what they were seeing, and half shocked at my insane behavior, they sat there… they just sat there.

I focused on my wife again… I didn't have time to mess with those jokers. I ran quickly to the bathroom… she badly needed a bath, and she needed her wounds taken care of immediately. My friends quickly followed suit after intelligent thought returned to them.

"Get Akeno," I told Braska bitterly. "We need to talk to him now!"

Braska opened his mouth to protest but quickly left the house to search for him. Auron looked at Anya carefully and glanced back at me.

"We need to get these clothes off… they're not helping her at all."

I nodded in reply. They smelled about as bad as Zanarkand did. I took her garments off, and my wife moaned slightly in pain. I had to keep myself from gasping at what I saw. Her entire body was *covered* with cuts and bruises. The anger and hatred once again welled up inside of me, but I focused my attention back to the matter at hand.

Auron left the room for a minute and came back with a trash bag to throw her clothes in. I drew water for a hot bath and slowly put her in.

I've never seen her so damn helpless as I did that night… it made me feel helpless.

I was always the man with the answers… the one to turn to. Strong Jecht. Courageous Jecht. I felt none of that when I saw my wife's battered body that night. For once, I had no answers, no sarcastic remarks… I wasn't strong or courageous that night.

I saw the gashes caused from the whip running up and down her back. I saw the bruises on her face and body from the beatings she had to endure. I saw the cuts caused by the dagger all over her body. My wife… thrown around like a damn rag doll. No, I wasn't strong or courageous when I looked at her that night… I was weak and angry and scared.

I was simply Jecht, Anya's wife… and I swore to myself as she sat weakly in that bathtub that I would protect her.

After washing the grime off of her body, there was the matter of her numerous wounds. Auron helped me clean and dress her cuts and scrapes and gashes, as I put ice to her large bruises. She was unconscious, and once we were done bandaging her injuries, we thought it best to put her to bed.

I tucked her in that night in my bed and kissed her on the forehead before I left the room. It was all I could do.

When I walked back into the living room, Braska was sitting on the couch with Akeno and Yumiko's irritating jabbering filling the room. I thought it would be best to tell them what the hell I saw that evening. If Akeno was a traitor, I would make him fess up then and there.

I went into a long description of what I'd been through that night. I explained the condition of the people of Zanarkand, the undead creatures that guarded the perimeter, and the way I retrieved my wife. The bastard simply sat there and nodded knowingly.

That was the last fucking straw.

I charged him ruthlessly. Ramming him forcefully into the wall, I punched him hard in the gut and lifted him up by the collar, pinning him to the wall.

"You knew about this all along you little prick," I spat angrily at him, squeezing his neck tightly. He reached weakly for his neck, and I tightened my grasp. Yumiko squealed in fear as she saw her comrade being choked to death.

"Jecht… what will this accomplish?" Auron asked rationally.

I'll admit that I wanted to kill him that night… I probably would have, if Auron hadn't have stopped me. It wasn't until about a week later that I realized I was taking out all of my pent up anger and aggression from that night on Akeno. Sure, he deserved some of it, but killing him wouldn't have solved anything.

I snapped out of my angry stupor and let Akeno drop to the ground. The resounding "thunk" of Akeno's body hitting the floor gave me a little bit of satisfaction.

Akeno looked up at me, hungrily taking in air. "The… man," he said shakily as he coughed. "The man… the warrior of dreams that liberates Spira shall ward off evil from the Farplane." We all looked at him in astonishment.

"So it is written," Yumiko added.

"Tidus," Braska said softly. Akeno nodded as he slowly stood up.

"I am truly sorry that I did not inform you all sooner," he said slowly.

It always pissed me off how he always tried to talk so dignified. I wanted him to cut to the chase. He realized the angry stare I was giving him and cleared his throat.

He said something about the creatures I saw being undead creatures… like I didn't know that to begin with.

"These creatures come from what we have been calling hell. This place is not hell though… it is merely another dimension of death, much like the Farplane. It has been dubbed by our colleagues as the Netherworld."

All of his babble was giving me a headache… I wanted some straight answers. Yumiko came to save the day.

"What sets the Netherworld apart from the Farplane is the entity that runs the place… he's pure evil. His evil makes Kaemon's brutality seem insignificant. Unfortunately, they struck up a deal."

"Struck up a deal?" I asked.

"Throughout the war, we've been concentrating on banishing our enemies. The ruler of the Netherworld is beginning to send them back as undead soldiers. These soldiers are not intelligent, but they are very numerous."

"Who is this ruler of the… Netherworld?" I heard Braska ask.

"We have no idea," Akeno said. "We intend to find that out when Sir Tidus returns."

"Our advantage," Yumiko said, "Is that the inhabitants of the Netherworld are experiencing what is called the second death. Once these undead soldiers are slain, they are truly, completely, utterly nonexistent. It would explain why Sir Jecht was able to kill them."

It was all starting to make sense, in one hell of a freaky sort of way. I'd heard enough for the evening.

"I'm gonna go to bed." I ignored their replies and remarks and walked into my bedroom, falling asleep as I watched the steady breathing of my sleeping wife.

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It's been around two weeks since all of that crap went down. The undead soldiers have overrun the Farplane, and Akeno is convinced that they will enter Spira when their dominance in the Farplane is assured.

So, we sit here like a bunch of helpless idiots waiting for the return of my "savior" son. If he can save the universe, more power to him, but I have a hard time believing he's the one and only solution to this mess.

My wife is doing pretty good. The "glow" has returned to her face, and she's gained most her weight back. She's been eating more than a Shoopuf that just woke up from hibernation, but I can't blame her. Most of her bruises have healed up, and her cuts are mostly gone.

I asked her where she went after she died so long ago… she didn't want to talk about it. Maybe time will heal the horrible ordeal she had to go through, but who knows?

She woke up this morning in my arms, and I'll admit that it felt pretty nice to do that again.

"Hey," I said softly, watching her rouse in my grasp.

"Hey," she proclaimed tiredly, as she gave me a sleepy smile.

"Want anything to eat?"

"You know I do."

"Heh… yeah."

"Jecht?" she asked slowly, her curious eyes looking into mine.

I could see the fear in her eyes and hear the uncertainty in her voice.

"Do you think he'll come?" I looked at her carefully. How was a guy supposed to answer something like that anyway?

"I don't know… if he doesn't, he's a damn fool." Anya slapped my arm playfully, silently scolding me for making fun of our son.

"I hope he knows that we need him."

"I think he does… C'mon, I know you want some breakfast."

"Okay… Jecht?" she asked weakly once again.

"What now?" I proclaimed playfully, pretending to be frustrated at her persistent questions.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Damn… those words came so easily from my mouth; I almost couldn't believe it was me. Sure, she knew that I loved her when I was with her and Tidus in Zanarkand. I just never said it out loud. It was like a mutual agreement between us.

Now, *everything* has changed.

I kissed her playfully as I prodded her to the kitchen. We both knew that if we didn't get help soon, there would be nothing left. So, we cherished every minute we had together.

"If all of us… If I'm gonna die, what a way to go…" I thought, as I stared silently at Anya.

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Author's Notes: Another poignant one, indeed. BUT! I hope you liked the little blip of Jecht and Anya fluffiness toward the end.

Well, what can I say about New York? Me and my wife had a ton of fun, but there certainly wasn't enough time to do everything we wanted. It was a very busy vacation. New York was neat, but my absolute favorite part of the vacation was going to Niagara in Canada. It was so beautiful there, and we got to eat at the 700 ft. tall Skylon tower that gave a perfect view of Niagara from afar… beautiful ^_^

Hmm, well, I guess I don't have much more to say. Next chapter will be set in Spira. I know that all of this is extremely depressing. Right now, it's the only way I can think to write this. It'll most certainly get happier though, I promise… (as soon as the evil is gone, that is)

Oh yeah! I'd like to apologize for the language in this chapter. Believe me, it wasn't like I wanted to put a ton of swear words in this. But I would think that a ticked off Jecht would be a foul mouthed Jecht, so I wrote the chapter accordingly.

I'd like to thank Th' Lady Shadow once again for helping me out on the first 1/3 of this chapter. She's been a lot of help for me on this story, as I'm just a simple minded fluff writer at heart. :D Thanks Shaddeh!

BTW, the title of this chapter is wholeheartedly derived from the name of the last episode of Cowboy Bebop: "The Real Folk Blues." Anyone who has not seen that anime has *got* to check it out. I'm a total Bebop freak.

Well, until next chapter… I want mucho reviews! Mucho mucho!

Fire Rules