Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy X or any of its characters! Heck, if I did, um... FFX-2 would be here already DAMMIT! *breathes* Ok... I'm calm. Really!
As always, character thoughts are in "italics." Koko ni kureba, kimi ni aeru kamo shirenai....
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"It's really happening isn't it?" Yuna asked no one in particular, staring at her reflection in the mirror.
Lulu passed a comb through Yuna's hair, arranging it just so. "Believe me, you'll be fine," she said with an almost-smile, speaking from experience.
Yuna looked at her through the mirror, feeling unsure of herself. "I don't know, it feels like I'm in a *dream* or something..."
Rikku was below her, checking the hem on her slim fitting wedding gown. "Yunie, don't you go jinxing yourself alright?"
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Final Fantasy X: Beginnings
Chapter Thirteen: Wedding Spells
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Wakka stood outside, knocking on the door. He had a well-fit black tux on, and his flaming orange hair was still held up by the familiar blue bandana. "It's almost time, ya?!"
Lulu answered back. "We'll be there in a minute, Wakka." She adjusted the thin straps that held her satin purple dress up. A few stray feathers from the back part obstructed her view when she turned around to check on her braids.
"Hehe, ok Lu. See ya then." She blushed a bit at his reply, and could hear Wakka chuckle as he walked away.
"He still gets to you, huh?" Rikku teased. She had on a dress that matched Lulu's. As she slipped on the long gloves, she noticed that it made the outfit look very similar to Yuna's, though in a different color, a shorter train, and crisscrossing straps across the shoulders. She made extra checks on her own upswept hair.
Lulu blushed a little more at the comment, and saying nothing, started busying herself even more.
Yuna, sitting in one of the chairs, giggled at Lulu's reaction.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Lulu allowed herself to laugh a little. "I guess you could say that."
*************
Tidus was standing at the end of the red carpet, fiddling a bit with his bowtie. Looking up, he could see the towers of the Bevelle Temple. Looking back towards the audience, he could see the rows of Bevelle warrior monks that had come to protect them. Kimahri came up from behind him, also dressed for the occasion with a tux made to match Tidus' and Wakka's. "Why Bevelle?" his voice came out in a distinctive low growl. "Yuna... has bad memories here."
Tidus spoke without looking up at the blue guardian. "I know... that's exactly why I wanted it to be here. To make this a place of good memories also, you know?" He smiled a bit as he spoke.
Kimahri wasn't seeing the logic, and scowled. It was something Tidus got used to on the pilgrimage. Seeing this, Tidus spoke up. "Don't worry, she agreed too. She was born here after all..."
Tidus stopped himself from saying any more. "Now that I think about it, I really don't know too much about her past, and how things came about but after today, we'll have a thousand opportunities to find out about each other, won't we?"
Wakka walked up to the both of them. "Ok, I told the girls to get ready," he said with a toothy grin. He punched Tidus softly on the arm. "You're a lucky man, brudda." His ears perked up suddenly since the music had just started playing. "It's time, ya?" He winked before walking away and standing behind Tidus.
Tidus gulped. He looked over the audience, trying to calm himself down. "You brought this on yourself remember?" He chuckled to himself, releasing some tension. "But wow... it seems like all of Spira came to see us..." He looked through the crowd and saw a few familiar faces, feeling nostalgic. The feeling lasted for only a little bit as he saw Yuna appear at the other end of the red carpet, followed by Lulu and Rikku behind her.
He was staring, and he knew it. She was beautiful, a vision in white, yet something else caught his attention. The way her hair was swept up just so, and the way her dress trailed behind her in feathers; it was the exact same way she had looked when she was forced to marry Seymour. Tidus had dreamed of this day once, when Yuna would come down the aisle the same way just for him, though he never expected it to actually come true...
Yuna had already reached the bottom of the steps in the time Tidus had these thoughts running through his head, smiling a knowing smile, telling him that she knew what he was thinking. Looking down at her dress, and back up to meet her eyes, he could only utter one word, in a whisper.
"Why?"
Yuna looked up to him from under her transparent veil. She whispered back, "Like you said, I don't want to have any bad memories of this place, of the past... I don't want any regrets."
Tidus smiled warmly at her. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
A priest from the old Temple at Besaid stood above them, and beckoned the two to walk up the stairs together. Tidus took Yuna's hand in his own, and once at the top, they faced each other. Their eyes were so focused on each other, they wouldn't have noticed anything else going on at the moment, and ... that's exactly what happened.
A few gasps from the audience were subtle clues to something amiss, but it was already too late when the couple noticed what was going on. Yuna heard a faint click from just above her right ear, and seeing Tidus' horrified face, she could guess what it was.
"You... you're here to kill me?" her voice came out strong and determined, yet trembling as well. Her eyes shifted right to catch a glimpse of her attacker. "A Bevelle warrior monk?" A few other armed warrior monks stood behind him, effectively freezing Tidus and the others in place.
"Hmph. How perceptive of you, Lady Yuna." She could sense him smirking. She heard another latch shift on what she had identified to be a flamethrower. She closed her eyes tight, expecting the worst.
Suddenly, she heard the other monks' guns clicking after a commotion. She opened her eyes quickly, and turned to see the threatening monk having trouble breathing, mostly because Tidus had him in a fierce headlock. Using him as a shield, the other monks couldn't shoot at him without harming their leader.
Tidus' voice came out, dripping with rage. "Don't even think of hurting Yuna. Not today, not ever." He tightened his hold on the man, ready to kill him if necessary. "Now, who are you? And why kill Yuna? Is the Eternal Calm not enough for you?!"
Yuna felt something at hearing his words. "Tidus..."
The monk wriggled in Tidus' grasp. He laughed. "Well, if you want to know so badly, I'll tell you." He laughed. "Though it will do you no good in the Farplane..."
Tidus jerked the monk for his comment. "We're waiting."
"Sure you are." He laughed some more, and his body started glowing a blackish hue, the hum of the power got louder and more electric. The crackles prompted the guests to back away from the altar. Tidus kept him hold on the man however, even if it was apparent he was in pain. "Nnngh... what... is this?" Tidus clenched his teeth. The pain was almost becoming too great.
Yuna ran towards him. "Tidus, let go!" she was pleading. From down below, she could see Wakka, Lulu, Kimahri and Rikku trying to help them, but blocked off by some invisible force. Their mouths moved, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. The other warrior monks had run away with the guests by this time, they must have not expected this. Yuna narrowed her eyes in thought. "He must be a sorcerer of great power like... Seymour?"
She suddenly had an idea, and extended both of her arms outward. "SHELL!" Green light emanated from her hands, and Tidus was instantly thrown back from the monk, due to the force of the newly formed magical shield.
Tidus felt disoriented, wondering why he had tumbled over backwards down the red carpeted steps. He rubbed his head. Looking up, he not only saw Yuna casting a new barrier over herself, but also a dark spider-like blob trying to free itself from Rikku's pouch on just the other side of the dark glowing magical wall he had landed against. Rikku was obviously freaking out, and Lulu quickly detached the parts of the blob that had attached itself to her. Unable to shoot it down with spells, it eventually floated up and crossed the barrier, coming to the side of the deviant warrior monk.
Yuna stood her ground. Fortunately, her wedding dress offered some degree of free movement, if she should need it. She noticed the Yevon blob at the same time Tidus had. "That Dark Matter... it must have gotten activated by all this energy..."
The monk wobbled, holding his throat and recovering his breath. Clutching his flamethrower, he swiftly pointed it at Yuna. "Lady Yuna... your shield will do you no good you know..." He smirked as the Yevon blob floated into the flamethrower, melding with it, and gaining its power. He held on to its latch. "Goodbye."
Bright orange flames leapt out with a tremendous force from the gun, giving Yuna little room to avoid the onslaught. She could feel the heat already, watching as one of the barriers she had put around herself slowly gave way. "Is this how it's really going to end? ...On my wedding day?"
Since the monk's magical energy was focused on attacking Yuna however, this freed up the barrier that had held her other guardians back. From behind, Lulu quickly cast Blizzaga to momentarily freeze his gun, even though the flames were already starting to get through a moment later, it gave all of them an opportunity to do something.
Lulu still had her arms extended, trying to prolong the spell's effect. She turned to the others. "Hurry!"
Rikku quickly ran up to the weakened Tidus and had him drink one of her patented Al Bhed potions. Tidus gasped for air, feeling its curative properties. "Thanks Rikku, looks like I owe you again, huh?" Rikku smiled. "Mhmm... but who says I was counting?"
In the meanwhile, Yuna had already erected another barrier over herself, and Wakka and Kimahri had latched on to the monk in the same way Tidus had done earlier. Wakka attempted to pry the flamethrower away, with little success. Momentarily, Tidus joined once more in trying to restrain him, while Lulu and Rikku tried to keep the flamethrower frozen with a barrage of Blizzard spells.
Tidus was once again at the monk's throat. "You think you can defeat me?" The monk laughed, even if the situation his was in was utterly ridiculous, with three guardians restraining him, and the other two rendering his weapon ineffective. Once again, he summoned up magic power within himself, throwing everyone but Tidus backward. The monk didn't expect this, and tried lunging at Yuna, to no avail.
"W-what? Why didn't you...?"
This was a surprise to Tidus as well, though he didn't have much time to marvel at it. "Is it because of Yuna's shell, or... does coming back from the Farplane have other benefits I don't know I about?" The monk still attempted to get Tidus off of his back.
"Nnngh. Don't you ever... give up???" He struggled to bring his flamethrower back up into position.
Tidus was effective at keeping him down, he looked at Yuna, who appeared to be in deep thought and in distress. "Yuna! Get out of here!" He shouted, worried for her safety.
Yuna wouldn't budge. "How did we defeat Yevon last time....? There must be something we did... wait!" Her posture straightened up suddenly, and she extended her arms, with her hands reaching out. She looked ahead of her. "HO--*"
Tidus cried out in pain because the warrior monk had elbowed him. "I-I can't hurt Tidus when I cast it though... what do I do?" She searched her mind for the answer. Recently, she had been training to cast spells without her rod and only with her hands, but what about spells that needed pinpoint accuracy?
"Pinpoint accuracy? Like shooting with guns...?"
She extended her arms once more, yet this time she extended only the index finger on her right hand. She put her left hand under it to keep it from shaking. "I.. can do this." Her trigger finger started to glow with a soft white light.
The monk looked up when he noticed Yuna's position, and also noticed that Tidus had loosed his grip since he seemed confused as well. Taking this opportunity, he raised his flamethrower once more, and pulled the trigger...
At the same time, Yuna shouted, "HOLY!!!!" And let the energy go, piercing through the magical flames and through the part of the soldier's torso that Tidus wasn't holding. The monk crumpled in Tidus' grasp, and the spell left him breathing shallowly on the red carpet of the altar. A few feathers and the fingertips of her gloves had been slightly burnt, but the recoil from her spell had pushed her far enough away to avoid the brunt of the attack.
Tidus kneeled down to check that the guy wasn't about to get back up. The monk was still conscious, however, though it didn't seem he could stand, much less pose a threat. Tidus let out the breath he was holding in, and said tiredly, "You have got a lot of explaining to do."
"Errrrrrk..." was all he could say at the moment. Yuna's Holy had taken away much of his power.
Tidus stood up, and dusted off his tux, only to be promptly hugged by Yuna, who had come running from where she had cast the spell. "Yuna? You ok?" He lifted her face up and put a hand on her cheek.
She put her hand over his. "I think so... I was about to ask you the same question..."
The other guardians came up to them, just now recovering from the dark magic blast. Releasing Tidus from her arms, Yuna walked over to them. "Thank you, everyone."
Wakka put a hand on her shoulder. "No problem, ya? Now what do you say about getting this wedding started up again?"
Tidus lifted an eyebrow. "Are you serious?" About three-fourths of their guests had gone home already by airship, a barely conscious assassin was at their feet, and the priest seemed to be hiding somewhere, waiting for the commotion to die down.
"I don't see why not Yunie... you've prepared so much for this day y'know?" Rikku said, a hint of worry in her voice.
Lulu spoke up as well. "It's up to you two to figure out if you want to go ahead with this today, though I think... Rikku's right."
Yuna nodded, and looked back at Tidus, smiling as she walked towards him. "I don't want any regrets..." she stopped at where he was and took his hands in hers.
Tidus grinned down at her, clasping down on her gloved hands gently. "So we can make this a good memory, right?"
Yuna nodded, and looked around her for the whereabouts of the priest. Much to her amusement, Kimahri came back over to the group, holding the priest up only by the collar of his cloak. He them set him down in front of Tidus and Yuna.
"Lady Yuna! That was amazing!" The priest couldn't contain his excitement.
"Thank you." she smiled. "But we have a favor to ask of you."
Tidus chimed in. "Could you get us married by any chance?"
The priest looked down at the defeated warrior monk, around at the charred surroundings and the non-existent guests, and the battle-worn state of the bride and groom. This had to be one of the most bizarre weddings he had ever conducted, and his expression showed his feeling about it to the rest of the group.
Tidus reassured him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know, I know, I was thinking the same thing."
************
After they had moved the would-be assassin off of the steps and bound him to a chair using some of Rikku's machina handcuffs and a rope infused with Silence, the ceremony was ready to be started off again.
The priest pulled out a small book from within his robes, and cleared his throat before beginning. He recited old lines from the weddings formerly held under the church of Yevon, with appropriate modifications.
Tidus looked across at Yuna, even though he heard and understood all the words coming out of the priest's mouth, he was fixated on her, her eyes holding him in place. He smiled at her, then his face took on a strange expression, since he wondering why someone was nudging him all of a sudden...
It was Wakka. "Pssst. Brudda! Take the ring already, ya?"
Tidus quickly snapped back to reality, turning red of the embarrassment. He took the ring from Wakka, and turned back to Yuna, taking her left hand in his.
"Whenever you need me, I'll be there, all you have to do is whistle, you know that." Yuna nodded in response. "And, Yuna, I want to love you for the rest of my life... I don't know of any other way I'd be happier than being with you. I'll stay with you... always." Averting his gaze from her eyes, he slipped the slim gold band around her ring finger. He smiled warmly, he could tell she was getting as emotional as he was.
Yuna then got a similar nudge from Lulu to take the ring she was to give Tidus. She took Tidus' left hand in her own. "You taught me what it was to truly smile," she smiled at this point, eliciting the same response from Tidus. "...meeting you, it seemed like it was my destiny.... and now that we're here, we can finally dream of the future together. So with the love I have for you, let's make those dreams a reality..." With that, she gently slipped on the thicker gold band around his finger.
Tidus brought his hands up to meet hers, and Yuna intertwined her fingers with his once he did.
The priest spoke up. "You may now kiss the bride." He smiled. This was always his favorite part.
The couple's hands came apart slowly, and Tidus gently lifted Yuna's veil, finally seeing her face clearly. He looked into her eyes lovingly before wrapping his arms around Yuna's slim waist, and once their lips met, he kissed her softly and tenderly. Yuna did the same in return, the underlying passion apparent, with her hands pressed against his chest. Once the kiss was ended, the pair finally noticed the cheering and applause that the rest of the group had been giving them for quite some time. Well, mostly Rikku and Wakka, but that was beside the point.
"Congratulations Lady Yuna; Sir Tidus." The priest bowed to them, performing the prayer formerly associated with Yevon. Now, it was more of a "goodwill" gesture than anything.
"Thank *you* for performing the service, kind sir," Yuna smiled back at him, unable to contain her happiness. Still in his embrace, she looked up at Tidus. "Strange how we ended up with a small wedding like we wanted, isn't it?"
He laughed. "I guess you could say that."
Wakka rolled his eyes, and said jokingly, "Well, I dunno, maybe Spira would be at least *interested* in their Grand Maestress getting married, ya?"
It was Yuna's turn to laugh. "I know Wakka, just kidding! ...Maybe." She smirked at him, making Wakka raise an eyebrow.
Tidus released Yuna from his embrace, and extended his hand to her. He bowed eloquently. "Ok, Lady Yuna, shall we depart?" he said with his distinctive grin.
Yuna blushed a bit before answering, that grin did wonders in turning her into jelly. She laughed at his antics. "Silly..." she put her hand in his, and they both started walking down the stairs, the other guardians in tow.
The whole crew was about to pack up and head back to Besaid for the wedding reception, though Rikku pointed out quite bluntly, "What about him?" She pointed to the monk that had bound up to a chair earlier.
"Uuungh." Was all the monk could reply.
"Wow, your Holy must be some powerful stuff..." Tidus said, seeing the monk in such a state. He slipped off the helmet to catch a better glimpse of his face. "I don't recognize him, but his presence seems familiar..."
Yuna walked up to him. "Well, I want to find out why he was after me in the first place, so that I know something like this won't happen again."
Lulu peeked over Yuna's shoulder. "It looks like he won't be able to tell you anything in the shape he's in, though."
Yuna nodded. "He must have been consumed by so much dark energy for Holy to affect him this much, so I want to find out the reason for that also..." She looked pensive for a moment. "I'll consider curing him later so he can talk."
Rikku was confused. "Later? Does that mean... he's coming back with us?"
Tidus nodded. "Yeah. Seems like it." He looked at Yuna. "Right?"
"Mhmm... I'm not going to let someone like him ruin a day like this, so we'll deal with him after everything is done for the day." She added sarcastically, "Besides, it'll give him time to recover."
"Yunie!" Rikku teased. "I didn't know you had it in you!"
Yuna gave a knowing smile. "Kimahri, if you could please...?" She motioned to the chair the monk was in.
Kimahri came over, and easily hoisted the monk up on his shoulder.
Wakka started walking towards the airship, ahead of everyone else. "I never expected Yuna's wedding to end up like *this*..." he said, rubbing his temples.
Lulu came up beside him. "Believe me, no one did."
Wakka smiled, seeing her. "Now aren't you glad I convinced you to leave Chappu at Besaid with the old lady?"
Lulu nodded. "Well, you have to be right... sometimes." Her lips formed a smirk, waiting for his reaction. "3...2...1..."
"WHAT WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, LU?!"
With that, everyone got on Cid's airship, and off to Besaid for their homecoming.
***************
Once at Besaid, everyone in the group filed off of the airship, well, everyone except the Bevelle warrior monk no one had found out the name of. He was left on the airship in one of it's detainment rooms at Cid's and Rikku's suggestion, so that he wouldn't cause any more trouble for the day; a decision everyone was happy with.
Upon coming at the village entrance, they were greeted to quite a sight. Many of their guests had come back to celebrate with them, and all the village people were there too. As it was an outside reception, the whole town was decorated festively, and food was literally everywhere. Preparations for the bonfire later that night were already being prepared.
Tidus was amazed. "Wow... look at all this..." He walked up to a random person. "Hey, thanks for doing this, it's great!"
The person turned around. "Sir Tidus!" It was Shelinda. She seemed surprised to see him there. "For some reason, the Bevelle monks told us to evacuate... what happened?" She looked him up and down, noticing a bit of wear and tear on his tux.
Yuna had caught up to him, and appeared in an even worse state that he did in her charred-looking wedding dress.
Shelinda was taken aback even more. "Lady Yuna! What on earth happened to you???"
They smiled in unison, and laughed nervously. Tidus spoke up. "We'll tell everyone what went on a little later... but everything's ok, really!"
Yuna added, "Besides, this is our special day, so... why don't we get this thing started?"
Shelinda seemed to accept their reasoning. "Ok, I'll tell the old woman that you two are here safe and sound." She dropped what she was doing, and walked back towards one of the huts.
Tidus looked at Yuna. "You think we should change? I mean, to avoid anything weird?"
"Nah, besides, I think you look quite charming all battle-worn," she answered in reply.
Tidus blushed, just a bit, and grinned. "Okay, if you say so..." Just noticing something, he motioned to her with his hands. "Um... your dress?"
Yuna looked down. "Eh?" One of the sides of her strapless dress had edged down dangerously low. Embarrassed, she pulled it back up to cover herself. Now it was her turn to blush. She looked up into his eyes and smiled. "Thanks."
Now by this point, Rikku had come up to the two of them to tell them that everything was ready for them. She tapped both of them playfully. "Ok luuuuv birds, when you're done with the lovey-dovey stuff, come on over to the steps in front of the temple, ok?"
Both of them snapped back to reality, noticeable now that they actually noticed that Rikku was there.
Yuna laughed. "Sorry about that Rikku, it's just you know..."
Rikku laughed with her cousin. "Yeah, I know..."
Tidus was confused by all this girl talk. "I hope I know....?"
On the way to the temple, this made both girls laugh even more, leaving Tidus is a more confused state than he had been in before.
***************
The reception was a beautiful one, with lots of festivities, running into old faces, and lots and lots of food. With it being outdoors, it reminded Yuna of other parties held in this place, like for when she had become a summoner, and more recently, upon Tidus' return. Life has thrown her many twists and turns... she was glad everything had turned out for the best, eventually.
Tidus walked up to her from behind, and seeing her staring up at the stars, asked, "Whatcha thinking about?"
She leaned back into him. "Things..."
Tidus wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm. He looked upward as well. "Yeah, a lot has happened, hasn't it? And now, something like this happens... it's wonderful, isn't it?"
"Wonderful... " she smiled. "It describes this perfectly."
They stood there quietly for a moment or two, before Tidus broke the silence.
"Well, what would you say..." he said jokingly, "...if I said it's time to eat some *wonderful* cake, huh?"
Yuna turned around and looked him square in the eye. "You do know that you just totally ruined that moment, right?" She said, a half-smile accenting the end of her sentence.
"But it's *cake*, Yuna! You even said it yourself that you were looking forward to it!"
She playfully punched him, then hooked her arm through his. "Ok, ok, let's go eat some cake...."
Tidus looked at Yuna as they walked back towards the big bonfire. He had stopped her train of thoughts only because he thought that maybe she was still frazzled from the day's events, though seeing her in this state quelled his fears. Perhaps he should stop thinking about it too, that is, why someone would attempt to kill Yuna on her wedding day, or why someone would want to kill Yuna at all. There were definite ties to the assassination at Luca, but...
"Tidus, we're going to feed each other cake... right?" Yuna said, smiling up at him.
He blinked his eyes to get back into focus. "Haha, yeah, Yuna, just be sure you don't miss!"
"Hey! Same for you too!" She tugged on him harder as she started walking faster to where everyone was.
Tidus let himself be pulled along by her, he had to admit, a slice of that cake was starting to sound really good.
"I'll just enjoy today... the answers will come later."
*************
Alone on the airship, the monk sat in the dark, still bound in Rikku's silence-infused ropes. He hung his head and sighed. Wedding cake from the wedding he almost sabotaged was starting to sound really good right now. Well, better than the sound of his rumbling stomach anyway.
***********
Author's Notes:
So what if I missed this fic's one year anniversary by *counts* ...five days? It's close enough. :-) So that means... HAPPY (belated) B-DAY fic! You're not even done yet and it's been a year! Whoo. Yes, yes, this time I'm definitely not saying that it's the end, so don't worry about that. It might have a delay on it, since school's starting up again, and MCATs are coming up too, so hang in there for the next one guys!
Much thanks to Christian (Super-Slayer 13) for beta-ing this chapter! SUPER thanks for fixing my grammar icks, man. ;-) He also helped me out with the title for this thing! It's actually pretty hard to find one that fits sometimes, you know? plug Be sure to check out his Lulu fics!/plug
I used Yuna's dress from FFX just because I didn't want to spend a whole paragraph describing it, just for you to get the wrong idea. ;-) It was a pretty design too, so it would be a shame if the dress was never used again... at least that's what I think. And Tidus in black? Whoo. Is it hot in here?
The Japanese line from the top was from one of Yuna's lines in FFX-2. "If I come here, I might be able to meet you." Well, it's a more or less literal translation, but you get the idea.
The only element I'm taking from FFX-2 is the fact that Yuna learns to use guns. So don't worry, no speculation, no introduction of new characters from the game, and... yeah. You get the picture. This *is* the FFX section after all.
Ok, as always, if you made it this far, leave me a review and tell me what you think! I take all comments, whether they be good, bad, or nitpicky. So do it, ya???
