Fantasy Thunder Chapter Twenty: Upsilon
[Part I]
By Blue Dragon
The power to enwrap one in a never-ending fantasy . . .
Tidus looked left, and then right to make sure that no one was watching him as he bounced the blitzball he had carried with him. He was outside of Esthar Garden near one of the large purple steel pillars that ran the height of the structure.
When he was sure that no one was around he bounced the ball once, and then slammed it with his foot into the pillar. When it came back at him he smashed it with his fist, and then when it flew high into the air he jumped a good ten feet and spun at five revolutions a second, slowing down and stopping with a kick that sent the ball into the sky.
Tidus smiled to himself and laughed aloud. Even though he had done the move a million times after mastering it at Luca, he had still been proud of himself.
"If only my old man could see me now . . . my old man CAN see me now . . . "
Tidus didn't notice that Jecht had snuck up behind him and had watched him perform the amazing shot, until he started trembling in surprise and chattering his teeth. Tidus was surprised to find that he had been a few feet behind him, and even in the middle of his shot he didn't notice him.
"Old man!? Don't sneak up on people like that!"
"I-I thought you sucked at blitzball!" he stuttered with surprise.
"Haven't you heard? I'm the star player of the Besaid Aurochs!"
"What are you talking about? I thought you played for the Abes!"
"The Zanarkand . . . oh yeah. I've gotten used to the idea that Zanarkand . . . was . . . damn! I still can't ever go home . . . "
Jecht crossed his arms as a look of sympathy came to his face.
"I didn't mean to bring up painful memories."
"Since when do you care about my feelings?"
"Screw that. How'd you get so good at blitzball? The last time I saw you as a kid, you sucked. Come to think of it, that shot just now was the first time I've ever seen your foot come in CONTACT with a blitzball. Come to think of it . . . you performed my Sublimely Magnificent Jecht Shot Mark III just now."
" . . . "
"And all that time I would put you down about how bad you were . . . and you're a star player? I really missed a lot. Some father I am, huh?"
"It's . . . not your fault. You were taken to Spira against your own will."
"Why do you call it Spira, anyway?"
"What?"
"I mean, isn't Zanarkand IN Spira?"
"I never really thought of . . . wait a minute, that's off the subject. Did you come looking for me, or did you just happen to be in the area, old man?"
"Both. I'm no good at this, so I'll try to give it to you in a subtle way . . . Auron showed you that sphere in Macalania, right?"
"So?"
"Everything in it was true."
" . . . Every word of it?"
"I wasn't joking when I said it, even though you must have thought so."
"I knew you were serious" Tidus lied.
"You know, screw that. I love you."
"I'd pretty warm and fuzzy if that didn't sound so weird."
Jecht turned to leave.
"I just wanted you to know. Even though I said all those things when you were young . . . I was always proud of you. So proud that I didn't want your greatness to get to your head . . . kinda."
" . . . "
"I'll be going now . . . "
Jecht began to leave.
"Dad?" Tidus asked before Jecht walked off.
"Yeah?"
He stepped up and gave him a tentative hug.
"I don't hate you."
"I know."
They stood there for a few awkward moments, and then went their opposite ways.
Tidus went back inside and used the elevators to get to the dormitory floors. After sneaking past a few lone hallway walkers, he went to room 332 on the girls' side, Yuna's room. He knew it was forbidden, but he had never been big on following the rules since he went into the Cloister of Trials at Besaid temple and the chamber of the fayth in Bevelle.
He knocked on the door and whispered who it was. The door opened almost immediately. Yuna smiled when she saw who it was.
"I'm glad to see you. I never get tired of seeing you!"
"Same here" he said with a smile as he walked in, swiftly closing the door behind him.
The two sat down next to each other on Yuna's bed by the window.
"I talked with my old man . . . I don't think I really hated him anymore. Or at least all that much."
"He loved you, even as Sin you know."
"What?"
"When I was with you, I ran into Sin many more times then when I wasn't."
"How many times had you met Sin when I wasn't around?" Tidus dared to ask.
"Never."
"Oh! I'm really sorry abo-"
"No! I didn't mean it like that. I don't blame you for any bad encounters with Sin. But you, in your small time in Spira, had run into Sin more than almost every other Spiran had in a lifetime. And it was probably because Sin was Sir Jecht."
"Oh . . . I never thought about it like that."
"Everyone was right about you!" Yuna said, sounding excited.
"What do you mean everyone?"
"They liked to talk to me about you behind your back a lot."
"What!"
"No one seemed to like you but Wakka during my pilgrimage. When you were sleeping they would always murmur about you. I can tell you what they said, I'm sure they wouldn't mind."
"Please do, not that them minding would have stopped my inquiry."
"Who first?"
"What did Lulu say?"
"Oh . . . her opinion of you changed drastically. When she first saw you she told me she was seriously considering 'knocking your block off'"
" . . . "
"She said you had no business pretending you were from Zanarkand. When we went to the Kilika forest she commented that you were good with the sword, but all you could get were lizards and dogs. She also said you wouldn't listen."
"Was I really that bad?"
"Don't take it too personally, Tidus, she really doesn't like young men your age in general. She says they're too rowdy."
"Oh . . . "
Yuna put a hand to her chin.
"When you fought that Sinspawn in front of Kilika temple, what was it?"
"Sinspawn Geneaux?"
"Yes! She decided then you might be a worthy guardian. Later in Luca she saw you play and was thoroughly impressed, and even said you were as good as Chappu. When Auron took you with him her trust for you increased 'a few points' like she told me, and even more that time where you took out that fiend before it could knock her down."
"When?"
"On the Mi'hen Highroad, a little before Rin's Travel Agency?"
"Oh."
"Lulu told me that she underestimated you. She was impressed with you at Djose."
"How come?"
"It was the first time you didn't break a rule."
" . . . "
"She didn't tell me this until recently, but in Guadosalam she slowly began to believe you about your origin. She believed you completely after watching the Jecht sphere. All the time she thought you were being cruel, she felt a small bit of sympathy when you found out about what happened to summoners."
"About that, I'm sorry again."
"There is no need to be sorry, you didn't know, and you made me think of happy things."
"Every time I think about all that I'd say with the 'lets go get sin' and the 'after we defeat sin' stuff, I feel so stupid. Especially about the fact that I didn't notice everyone's silence . . . Its been killing me."
"You promised me you would save me, did you not?"
" . . . "
"In the process you brought us an eternal calm. Ironic, in the end it was only you that was gone, not me."
"Yeah. What else did Lulu say about me?"
"She said that she thought you were an excellent guardian after seeing that you were willing to risk your life, just to say you were sorry. You managed to lead the charge into my rescue, and when I was sad, you brought a smile back to my face. You made my tears evaporate. Everyone noticed that I had the happiest days of my life when I was around you. She saw the pained looks on your face each time you attacked the Final Aeon- your father at the time. She found herself surprised and worried when you mentioned you were going to be gone . . . she told me that she hadn't realized it, but she had grown fond of the way you would shed light on us, add humor, make us laugh every now and then, and make me smile. 'The things you said had a boyish wisdom' she told me. When you disappeared, she said that even though she had only known you for a few weeks, she felt as if you had been there forever, and thought about what would have happened if you hadn't come floating from the sea."
"Wow. Here I thought everyone hated me."
"Wakka said that he was pretty doubtful about your claims of origin. But, he knew you were good when he saw you perform that shot that sent their blitzball into the sky . . . Tidus, I hear that you're the hardest kicker of a blitzball in Spira. How do you do it?"
" . . . I'm getting rusty. I used to always pretend the ball was my father's face."
"Oh. Anyway, Wakka would tell me you were a little arrogant, you always thought you could take on any kind of fiend. He was impressed with how you handled Lord Ochu. You won the Aurochs the blitzball tournament and beat the Goers four to zero!"
"Yeah, they had it comin'!" Tidus smiled when he remembered the looks on Abus, Graav, Bickson, Doram, and Balgerda's faces when they lost.
"Wakka said he saw them Graav crying in a stadium seat."
"You're kidding. That jerk, crying?"
"It is hard to believe. Wakka couldn't believe it when you saved us when the Chocobo Eater was about to knock us off that cliff. He would wonder aloud about it for days. It was the last straw for him when you started asking about the shoopuf and Moonflow. He then believed you must be from Zanarkand. He was glad to see that he had someone to help him underwater, and when you rescued me from the Extractor. He slowly became good friends with you through the rest of the pilgrimage. When you finally left us from the deck of the airship over Bevelle, he was a broken man. None of the Aurochs wanted to play blitzball, and the arena back in Luca frankly wasn't the same. You already know how Rikku and Auron felt about you, of course. Now Kimahri, he actually liked you."
"What!? You're kidding!"
"Kimahri knows me better than I know myself. He was able to see that I was at ease around you, and you were one of the people that had that effect and could stay around me."
"You know, all through that pilgrimage, Auron wanted me to stay near you, Yuna."
"Really? I'm sure he knew that a summoner shouldn't make any romantic relations at the time . . . why?"
"I think he expected you to get the 'Final Aeon' like everyone else. He wanted you to choose me to become the fayth for the Final Aeon. He planned on leaving me in Zanarkand, anyway. Maybe . . . that was the reason."
"No" Yuna shook her head vigorously.
"Sir Auron told you that he wanted you to get a shot at life, no matter how cruel or unfair, you still deserved a chance at it. That was why he took you to Spira, not because he needed you to become the 'Final Aeon'."
Tidus smiled.
"You've always made me happy again when I wasn't sure of myself, Yuna, even though it seemed I was always doing that for you. I don't know if I could have made it if you and everyone else hadn't been with me when I saw Zanarkand . . . I had seen it just days ago as good as new and there it was, wrecked before my eyes."
"I wish you could have shown me Zanarkand. The REAL one."
"Maybe I can . . . "
"What do you mean?"
"How about that Oren guy?"
"He is capable of time-travel?" Yuna asked doubtfully.
"I dunno, but I've seen him do some pretty amazing stuff. Who knows what he's capable of? We should ask him!"
"If he could travel through time, wouldn't he have just used it to solve his problems? And wherever he came from would be in chaos if everyone could use such power, and from what I've seen, he claims not to be much different than an ordinary Zatach."
"Oh . . . " Tidus' spirits fell.
"Don't be sad. If you could find a way to come a thousand years into the future, maybe you could find a way a thousand years into the past. Even if Sin is gone."
"I hope so."
The speaker at the top of Yuna's room came alive as someone made an announcement on the intercom.
"People of garden, we are holding a formal garden festival in the quad in twenty minutes. Everyone make your best effort to attend, and be prepared to get your groove on! The dress code is . . . uh, nothing in particular, but try to look sharp."
"Was that Reeve? What is he doing up there?" Yuna let go of Tidus' hand.
"Forget that! All I have to wear are the clothes on my back!" Tidus exclaimed, suddenly panicked.
"And, all kinds of garments are for sale and rent in the fifth floor classrooms if you don't already have any. Be sure to pay them a visit!" Reeve continued as if answering Tidus.
***
Kuja and Yuffie both were exhausted after hours of fighting in the training center, only to raise a measly eight thousand gil.
"I thought we would've had at least eighty thousand gil by now!" she whined, rubbing her arm that had been nicked by a grat.
"Patience is a virtue."
"Easy for you to say. All you have to do is fly of somewhere and you don't even get scratched."
" . . . I don't fly because I'm lucky, but because I'm powerful."
" . . . I could beat you into the ground any day with my supreme skills." Yuffie told him confidently.
"Please."
The conversation ended as the ground shook.
"A big one, lets get it!" Yuffie yelled as she ran through the brush and trees, her strength suddenly renewed.
Kuja hovered over, and was delighted to find three large T-Rexaurs all gathered around something.
"Look! That guy got to it first!" Yuffie said angrily pointing to a figure in the middle of the three beasts.
" . . . Its Oren."
Oren had both of his hands tucked into his sleeves, pressing both empty ends together.
The first T-Rexaur leaned its head up and slammed it down, teeth bared.
"I've never seen him up close." Yuffie commented.
When the head of the first beast was close enough Oren jumped in a way that his feet were facing the angle of the approaching T-Rexaur and with a might leap he used its head as means of jumping high into the air, knocking the creature out cold in the process.
The other one decided that that was its cue and it turned around and swung its powerful tail around. It was fast, but no so fast that Oren couldn't seemingly step over it and propel himself up to eye level with the monster. He then kicked it in the nose, seeming ridiculously small compared to it, and sent it flying through the forest as well as making a trail of busted trees.
The last and smartest of the T-Rexaurs decided that it was unharmed and wanted to stay that way, and turned to retreat. Oren let him.
"Why'd you let him go!?" Kuja yelled from the sidelines.
"I'm not interested in a monster that will run." Oren said after a few seconds when he passed by the two of them.
"But why?" Kuja asked again.
"Because they apparently aren't interested in me."
Kuja watched him with interest and was about to follow Yuffie who was pursuing the monster, when the intercom high at the top of the artificial jungle came on, and in Reeve's voice said:
"People of garden, we are holding a formal garden festival in the quad in twenty minutes. Everyone make your best effort to attend, and be prepared to get your groove on! The dress code is . . . uh, nothing in particular, but try to look sharp."
"And, all kinds of garments are for sale and rent in the fifth floor classrooms if you don't already have any. Be sure to pay them a visit!"
***
Seifer was surprised at how flustered Jessica seemed when she shook her head and started to walk out of the cafeteria storage. Seifer almost didn't follow her, but she came back and grabbed his hand.
"Follow me."
"What?"
She didn't respond as she dragged him through the cafeteria, around a rounded corner, and in through the fluorescent purple doors to the balcony, where night was falling and the first few stars were appearing.
Seifer wondered if that was why he was there and looked around the night sky.
"Is this something you wanted to show me? The sky is—"
"That's not it." She said immediately.
"You're to only one I trust enough to say this. Seifer, as you already know, we now have the coordinates to get Pyros before he gets us. But you have to understand that we don't have the advantage anymore . . . Oren will probably say something sooner or later, but a lot of us probably won't make it back with our lives. At least one of us probably isn't going to come back . . . I want to fight but I don't want to die. I'm willing to sacrifice my life for this cause, but that doesn't mean I want to."
"That doesn't make a lot of sense . . . "
"I guess I'm trying to say, I would use my own body to bring us closer to victory, even if it meant death, but I just don't want to have to . . . it's hard to explain. I was young when my planet combusted, you know. There are a lot of things I haven't done, and that can be good and bad. This is probably the last day that we'll have to be serene. I just wanted you to know that . . . never mind."
Seifer was surprised to hear this.
"Why are you telling all this to me?"
"Seifer, when I'm around you there's just this air of invincibility you exude that makes me feel as if I have someone to rely on. When I'm with you I feel like I can take on the world." She said, looking him in the eye.
Seifer chuckled.
"Heh, I've heard that before."
"Hmm?"
"Nothing, don't worry about it. I'm flattered that you feel that way. After hearing you say this, I just have one question . . . "
"Go ahead"
"I'm glad that you feel so close to me and think I'm pleasant to be around, you know most students find me rude, hotheaded, arrogant, bossy, basically a problematic, first of all."
"I've never seen you display any of that."
"Months away from garden and all these rotten kids'll do that that, you know. But my question. . . how did you grow your hair so long? I mean, every time I see it I swear it starts to pile up on the ground."
She laughed.
"Is that all? Seifer, on a junky D-class ship for five years you have a lot of better things to do than cut your hair! Especially when you have twenty-three angry Zatach and their leader chasing you in a brand-new S-class ship. Come to think of it . . . now it seems like a miracle we got that far!"
"Don't say it like that. We can probably beat 'em into the ground now anyway. With more than a fourth of those guys gone and you guys on our side, how can we lose?"
Jessica smiled.
"Thanks, Seifer. You really do make me feel as if I could take on the world. Every time I talk to you, I feel encouraged about the days to come. It really means a lot to me."
"No sweat."
Seifer leaned a bit on the balcony overlooking the sea near the coast of Galbadia.
The serene moment was interrupted with Reeve's voice crackling over the intercom:
"People of garden, we are holding a formal garden festival in the quad in twenty minutes. Everyone make your best effort to attend, and be prepared to get your groove on! The dress code is . . . uh, nothing in particular, but try to look sharp."
"And, all kinds of garments are for sale and rent in the fifth floor classrooms if you don't already have any. Be sure to pay them a visit!"
***
Tidus was rushing to the fifth floor through the dorm room hallways when he head-on collided with Seymour who happened to be turning the corner.
"Watch it you riffraff!" Seymour grunted stepping back up and trying to mend his monstrous split ends.
"Outta my way! I'm going to buy clothes."
"I can see why. I never could understand those things you wear. Where in Spira did you get them?"
"Where in Spira? I bought them from the GAP in Zanarkand."
"Those ruins? Surely you jest."
"The city was still a city when I bought em . . . "
"You mean to tell me you're over one thousand years old?"
"Sin dragged me a thousand years into the future; your time?"
" . . . I can't believe I had someone so interesting and useful right in front of me and tried to kill him. If I had known I would have been too busy asking you questions than wreaking havoc."
" . . . You're not serious. Like you would've believed me."
"It has happened before, you know. Several guado, and many humans have been carried through time the same way you claim."
"Whoa! Like who?"
"I could just tell you, Tidus, but I would rather watch you writhe in curiosity!" Seymour burst into maniacal laughter and as he tried to walk, was tripped by Tidus and fell on his face. It was Tidus' turn to laugh as he ran off.
***
Red paced around the carpet of the library, and waited for Andrea to come from the storage room where she seemed to be spending a lot of her time, lately. When she came out Red was surprised to find her blushing bright red and stumbling around.
"Are you alright?"
"You can talk?! Oh . . . I'm sorry. Can I help you?" she asked.
"Out of curiosity, do you have any secret admirers, lately?"
" . . . Yes-I mean no."
"Zell tells me he likes you."
She dropped her stack of books behind the counter.
"I don't think I heard you properly."
Red balanced his two front legs on the corner of the counter.
"He claims to like you and wants to see you sometime."
"Really?" she asked dreamily.
"W-when!?" she quickly snapped.
The intercom clicked on.
"People of garden, we are holding a formal garden festival in the quad in twenty minutes. Everyone make your best effort to attend, and be prepared to get your groove on! The dress code is . . . uh, nothing in particular, but try to look sharp."
"And, all kinds of garments are for sale and rent in the fifth floor classrooms if you don't already have any. Be sure to pay them a visit!"
***
Selphie looked on in awe as almost immediately after the announcement the quad started to fill up with tired students eager to release the tension of the last few days. She thought about how to get the band together, and flipped a switch in the circuit breaker. The lights went off and a disco ball started to display bright colors, as well as rotate them around. Selphie didn't notice Oren who was sitting on a steel beam a good forty feet above the crowds. Thoughts of the next day filled his mind.
Enjoy yourselves, everyone. Tomorrow we go for Pyros before he comes for us. This might be your last chance to be "carefree" . . .
_______________________________________________________________________
AN: This chapter is divided into two parts to keep both parts a particular length. I'll get part II of this (chapter 20) in A.S.A.P. The last event before the final battles ensue . . . I wish that this fic would never come to an end but . . .
[Part I]
By Blue Dragon
The power to enwrap one in a never-ending fantasy . . .
Tidus looked left, and then right to make sure that no one was watching him as he bounced the blitzball he had carried with him. He was outside of Esthar Garden near one of the large purple steel pillars that ran the height of the structure.
When he was sure that no one was around he bounced the ball once, and then slammed it with his foot into the pillar. When it came back at him he smashed it with his fist, and then when it flew high into the air he jumped a good ten feet and spun at five revolutions a second, slowing down and stopping with a kick that sent the ball into the sky.
Tidus smiled to himself and laughed aloud. Even though he had done the move a million times after mastering it at Luca, he had still been proud of himself.
"If only my old man could see me now . . . my old man CAN see me now . . . "
Tidus didn't notice that Jecht had snuck up behind him and had watched him perform the amazing shot, until he started trembling in surprise and chattering his teeth. Tidus was surprised to find that he had been a few feet behind him, and even in the middle of his shot he didn't notice him.
"Old man!? Don't sneak up on people like that!"
"I-I thought you sucked at blitzball!" he stuttered with surprise.
"Haven't you heard? I'm the star player of the Besaid Aurochs!"
"What are you talking about? I thought you played for the Abes!"
"The Zanarkand . . . oh yeah. I've gotten used to the idea that Zanarkand . . . was . . . damn! I still can't ever go home . . . "
Jecht crossed his arms as a look of sympathy came to his face.
"I didn't mean to bring up painful memories."
"Since when do you care about my feelings?"
"Screw that. How'd you get so good at blitzball? The last time I saw you as a kid, you sucked. Come to think of it, that shot just now was the first time I've ever seen your foot come in CONTACT with a blitzball. Come to think of it . . . you performed my Sublimely Magnificent Jecht Shot Mark III just now."
" . . . "
"And all that time I would put you down about how bad you were . . . and you're a star player? I really missed a lot. Some father I am, huh?"
"It's . . . not your fault. You were taken to Spira against your own will."
"Why do you call it Spira, anyway?"
"What?"
"I mean, isn't Zanarkand IN Spira?"
"I never really thought of . . . wait a minute, that's off the subject. Did you come looking for me, or did you just happen to be in the area, old man?"
"Both. I'm no good at this, so I'll try to give it to you in a subtle way . . . Auron showed you that sphere in Macalania, right?"
"So?"
"Everything in it was true."
" . . . Every word of it?"
"I wasn't joking when I said it, even though you must have thought so."
"I knew you were serious" Tidus lied.
"You know, screw that. I love you."
"I'd pretty warm and fuzzy if that didn't sound so weird."
Jecht turned to leave.
"I just wanted you to know. Even though I said all those things when you were young . . . I was always proud of you. So proud that I didn't want your greatness to get to your head . . . kinda."
" . . . "
"I'll be going now . . . "
Jecht began to leave.
"Dad?" Tidus asked before Jecht walked off.
"Yeah?"
He stepped up and gave him a tentative hug.
"I don't hate you."
"I know."
They stood there for a few awkward moments, and then went their opposite ways.
Tidus went back inside and used the elevators to get to the dormitory floors. After sneaking past a few lone hallway walkers, he went to room 332 on the girls' side, Yuna's room. He knew it was forbidden, but he had never been big on following the rules since he went into the Cloister of Trials at Besaid temple and the chamber of the fayth in Bevelle.
He knocked on the door and whispered who it was. The door opened almost immediately. Yuna smiled when she saw who it was.
"I'm glad to see you. I never get tired of seeing you!"
"Same here" he said with a smile as he walked in, swiftly closing the door behind him.
The two sat down next to each other on Yuna's bed by the window.
"I talked with my old man . . . I don't think I really hated him anymore. Or at least all that much."
"He loved you, even as Sin you know."
"What?"
"When I was with you, I ran into Sin many more times then when I wasn't."
"How many times had you met Sin when I wasn't around?" Tidus dared to ask.
"Never."
"Oh! I'm really sorry abo-"
"No! I didn't mean it like that. I don't blame you for any bad encounters with Sin. But you, in your small time in Spira, had run into Sin more than almost every other Spiran had in a lifetime. And it was probably because Sin was Sir Jecht."
"Oh . . . I never thought about it like that."
"Everyone was right about you!" Yuna said, sounding excited.
"What do you mean everyone?"
"They liked to talk to me about you behind your back a lot."
"What!"
"No one seemed to like you but Wakka during my pilgrimage. When you were sleeping they would always murmur about you. I can tell you what they said, I'm sure they wouldn't mind."
"Please do, not that them minding would have stopped my inquiry."
"Who first?"
"What did Lulu say?"
"Oh . . . her opinion of you changed drastically. When she first saw you she told me she was seriously considering 'knocking your block off'"
" . . . "
"She said you had no business pretending you were from Zanarkand. When we went to the Kilika forest she commented that you were good with the sword, but all you could get were lizards and dogs. She also said you wouldn't listen."
"Was I really that bad?"
"Don't take it too personally, Tidus, she really doesn't like young men your age in general. She says they're too rowdy."
"Oh . . . "
Yuna put a hand to her chin.
"When you fought that Sinspawn in front of Kilika temple, what was it?"
"Sinspawn Geneaux?"
"Yes! She decided then you might be a worthy guardian. Later in Luca she saw you play and was thoroughly impressed, and even said you were as good as Chappu. When Auron took you with him her trust for you increased 'a few points' like she told me, and even more that time where you took out that fiend before it could knock her down."
"When?"
"On the Mi'hen Highroad, a little before Rin's Travel Agency?"
"Oh."
"Lulu told me that she underestimated you. She was impressed with you at Djose."
"How come?"
"It was the first time you didn't break a rule."
" . . . "
"She didn't tell me this until recently, but in Guadosalam she slowly began to believe you about your origin. She believed you completely after watching the Jecht sphere. All the time she thought you were being cruel, she felt a small bit of sympathy when you found out about what happened to summoners."
"About that, I'm sorry again."
"There is no need to be sorry, you didn't know, and you made me think of happy things."
"Every time I think about all that I'd say with the 'lets go get sin' and the 'after we defeat sin' stuff, I feel so stupid. Especially about the fact that I didn't notice everyone's silence . . . Its been killing me."
"You promised me you would save me, did you not?"
" . . . "
"In the process you brought us an eternal calm. Ironic, in the end it was only you that was gone, not me."
"Yeah. What else did Lulu say about me?"
"She said that she thought you were an excellent guardian after seeing that you were willing to risk your life, just to say you were sorry. You managed to lead the charge into my rescue, and when I was sad, you brought a smile back to my face. You made my tears evaporate. Everyone noticed that I had the happiest days of my life when I was around you. She saw the pained looks on your face each time you attacked the Final Aeon- your father at the time. She found herself surprised and worried when you mentioned you were going to be gone . . . she told me that she hadn't realized it, but she had grown fond of the way you would shed light on us, add humor, make us laugh every now and then, and make me smile. 'The things you said had a boyish wisdom' she told me. When you disappeared, she said that even though she had only known you for a few weeks, she felt as if you had been there forever, and thought about what would have happened if you hadn't come floating from the sea."
"Wow. Here I thought everyone hated me."
"Wakka said that he was pretty doubtful about your claims of origin. But, he knew you were good when he saw you perform that shot that sent their blitzball into the sky . . . Tidus, I hear that you're the hardest kicker of a blitzball in Spira. How do you do it?"
" . . . I'm getting rusty. I used to always pretend the ball was my father's face."
"Oh. Anyway, Wakka would tell me you were a little arrogant, you always thought you could take on any kind of fiend. He was impressed with how you handled Lord Ochu. You won the Aurochs the blitzball tournament and beat the Goers four to zero!"
"Yeah, they had it comin'!" Tidus smiled when he remembered the looks on Abus, Graav, Bickson, Doram, and Balgerda's faces when they lost.
"Wakka said he saw them Graav crying in a stadium seat."
"You're kidding. That jerk, crying?"
"It is hard to believe. Wakka couldn't believe it when you saved us when the Chocobo Eater was about to knock us off that cliff. He would wonder aloud about it for days. It was the last straw for him when you started asking about the shoopuf and Moonflow. He then believed you must be from Zanarkand. He was glad to see that he had someone to help him underwater, and when you rescued me from the Extractor. He slowly became good friends with you through the rest of the pilgrimage. When you finally left us from the deck of the airship over Bevelle, he was a broken man. None of the Aurochs wanted to play blitzball, and the arena back in Luca frankly wasn't the same. You already know how Rikku and Auron felt about you, of course. Now Kimahri, he actually liked you."
"What!? You're kidding!"
"Kimahri knows me better than I know myself. He was able to see that I was at ease around you, and you were one of the people that had that effect and could stay around me."
"You know, all through that pilgrimage, Auron wanted me to stay near you, Yuna."
"Really? I'm sure he knew that a summoner shouldn't make any romantic relations at the time . . . why?"
"I think he expected you to get the 'Final Aeon' like everyone else. He wanted you to choose me to become the fayth for the Final Aeon. He planned on leaving me in Zanarkand, anyway. Maybe . . . that was the reason."
"No" Yuna shook her head vigorously.
"Sir Auron told you that he wanted you to get a shot at life, no matter how cruel or unfair, you still deserved a chance at it. That was why he took you to Spira, not because he needed you to become the 'Final Aeon'."
Tidus smiled.
"You've always made me happy again when I wasn't sure of myself, Yuna, even though it seemed I was always doing that for you. I don't know if I could have made it if you and everyone else hadn't been with me when I saw Zanarkand . . . I had seen it just days ago as good as new and there it was, wrecked before my eyes."
"I wish you could have shown me Zanarkand. The REAL one."
"Maybe I can . . . "
"What do you mean?"
"How about that Oren guy?"
"He is capable of time-travel?" Yuna asked doubtfully.
"I dunno, but I've seen him do some pretty amazing stuff. Who knows what he's capable of? We should ask him!"
"If he could travel through time, wouldn't he have just used it to solve his problems? And wherever he came from would be in chaos if everyone could use such power, and from what I've seen, he claims not to be much different than an ordinary Zatach."
"Oh . . . " Tidus' spirits fell.
"Don't be sad. If you could find a way to come a thousand years into the future, maybe you could find a way a thousand years into the past. Even if Sin is gone."
"I hope so."
The speaker at the top of Yuna's room came alive as someone made an announcement on the intercom.
"People of garden, we are holding a formal garden festival in the quad in twenty minutes. Everyone make your best effort to attend, and be prepared to get your groove on! The dress code is . . . uh, nothing in particular, but try to look sharp."
"Was that Reeve? What is he doing up there?" Yuna let go of Tidus' hand.
"Forget that! All I have to wear are the clothes on my back!" Tidus exclaimed, suddenly panicked.
"And, all kinds of garments are for sale and rent in the fifth floor classrooms if you don't already have any. Be sure to pay them a visit!" Reeve continued as if answering Tidus.
***
Kuja and Yuffie both were exhausted after hours of fighting in the training center, only to raise a measly eight thousand gil.
"I thought we would've had at least eighty thousand gil by now!" she whined, rubbing her arm that had been nicked by a grat.
"Patience is a virtue."
"Easy for you to say. All you have to do is fly of somewhere and you don't even get scratched."
" . . . I don't fly because I'm lucky, but because I'm powerful."
" . . . I could beat you into the ground any day with my supreme skills." Yuffie told him confidently.
"Please."
The conversation ended as the ground shook.
"A big one, lets get it!" Yuffie yelled as she ran through the brush and trees, her strength suddenly renewed.
Kuja hovered over, and was delighted to find three large T-Rexaurs all gathered around something.
"Look! That guy got to it first!" Yuffie said angrily pointing to a figure in the middle of the three beasts.
" . . . Its Oren."
Oren had both of his hands tucked into his sleeves, pressing both empty ends together.
The first T-Rexaur leaned its head up and slammed it down, teeth bared.
"I've never seen him up close." Yuffie commented.
When the head of the first beast was close enough Oren jumped in a way that his feet were facing the angle of the approaching T-Rexaur and with a might leap he used its head as means of jumping high into the air, knocking the creature out cold in the process.
The other one decided that that was its cue and it turned around and swung its powerful tail around. It was fast, but no so fast that Oren couldn't seemingly step over it and propel himself up to eye level with the monster. He then kicked it in the nose, seeming ridiculously small compared to it, and sent it flying through the forest as well as making a trail of busted trees.
The last and smartest of the T-Rexaurs decided that it was unharmed and wanted to stay that way, and turned to retreat. Oren let him.
"Why'd you let him go!?" Kuja yelled from the sidelines.
"I'm not interested in a monster that will run." Oren said after a few seconds when he passed by the two of them.
"But why?" Kuja asked again.
"Because they apparently aren't interested in me."
Kuja watched him with interest and was about to follow Yuffie who was pursuing the monster, when the intercom high at the top of the artificial jungle came on, and in Reeve's voice said:
"People of garden, we are holding a formal garden festival in the quad in twenty minutes. Everyone make your best effort to attend, and be prepared to get your groove on! The dress code is . . . uh, nothing in particular, but try to look sharp."
"And, all kinds of garments are for sale and rent in the fifth floor classrooms if you don't already have any. Be sure to pay them a visit!"
***
Seifer was surprised at how flustered Jessica seemed when she shook her head and started to walk out of the cafeteria storage. Seifer almost didn't follow her, but she came back and grabbed his hand.
"Follow me."
"What?"
She didn't respond as she dragged him through the cafeteria, around a rounded corner, and in through the fluorescent purple doors to the balcony, where night was falling and the first few stars were appearing.
Seifer wondered if that was why he was there and looked around the night sky.
"Is this something you wanted to show me? The sky is—"
"That's not it." She said immediately.
"You're to only one I trust enough to say this. Seifer, as you already know, we now have the coordinates to get Pyros before he gets us. But you have to understand that we don't have the advantage anymore . . . Oren will probably say something sooner or later, but a lot of us probably won't make it back with our lives. At least one of us probably isn't going to come back . . . I want to fight but I don't want to die. I'm willing to sacrifice my life for this cause, but that doesn't mean I want to."
"That doesn't make a lot of sense . . . "
"I guess I'm trying to say, I would use my own body to bring us closer to victory, even if it meant death, but I just don't want to have to . . . it's hard to explain. I was young when my planet combusted, you know. There are a lot of things I haven't done, and that can be good and bad. This is probably the last day that we'll have to be serene. I just wanted you to know that . . . never mind."
Seifer was surprised to hear this.
"Why are you telling all this to me?"
"Seifer, when I'm around you there's just this air of invincibility you exude that makes me feel as if I have someone to rely on. When I'm with you I feel like I can take on the world." She said, looking him in the eye.
Seifer chuckled.
"Heh, I've heard that before."
"Hmm?"
"Nothing, don't worry about it. I'm flattered that you feel that way. After hearing you say this, I just have one question . . . "
"Go ahead"
"I'm glad that you feel so close to me and think I'm pleasant to be around, you know most students find me rude, hotheaded, arrogant, bossy, basically a problematic, first of all."
"I've never seen you display any of that."
"Months away from garden and all these rotten kids'll do that that, you know. But my question. . . how did you grow your hair so long? I mean, every time I see it I swear it starts to pile up on the ground."
She laughed.
"Is that all? Seifer, on a junky D-class ship for five years you have a lot of better things to do than cut your hair! Especially when you have twenty-three angry Zatach and their leader chasing you in a brand-new S-class ship. Come to think of it . . . now it seems like a miracle we got that far!"
"Don't say it like that. We can probably beat 'em into the ground now anyway. With more than a fourth of those guys gone and you guys on our side, how can we lose?"
Jessica smiled.
"Thanks, Seifer. You really do make me feel as if I could take on the world. Every time I talk to you, I feel encouraged about the days to come. It really means a lot to me."
"No sweat."
Seifer leaned a bit on the balcony overlooking the sea near the coast of Galbadia.
The serene moment was interrupted with Reeve's voice crackling over the intercom:
"People of garden, we are holding a formal garden festival in the quad in twenty minutes. Everyone make your best effort to attend, and be prepared to get your groove on! The dress code is . . . uh, nothing in particular, but try to look sharp."
"And, all kinds of garments are for sale and rent in the fifth floor classrooms if you don't already have any. Be sure to pay them a visit!"
***
Tidus was rushing to the fifth floor through the dorm room hallways when he head-on collided with Seymour who happened to be turning the corner.
"Watch it you riffraff!" Seymour grunted stepping back up and trying to mend his monstrous split ends.
"Outta my way! I'm going to buy clothes."
"I can see why. I never could understand those things you wear. Where in Spira did you get them?"
"Where in Spira? I bought them from the GAP in Zanarkand."
"Those ruins? Surely you jest."
"The city was still a city when I bought em . . . "
"You mean to tell me you're over one thousand years old?"
"Sin dragged me a thousand years into the future; your time?"
" . . . I can't believe I had someone so interesting and useful right in front of me and tried to kill him. If I had known I would have been too busy asking you questions than wreaking havoc."
" . . . You're not serious. Like you would've believed me."
"It has happened before, you know. Several guado, and many humans have been carried through time the same way you claim."
"Whoa! Like who?"
"I could just tell you, Tidus, but I would rather watch you writhe in curiosity!" Seymour burst into maniacal laughter and as he tried to walk, was tripped by Tidus and fell on his face. It was Tidus' turn to laugh as he ran off.
***
Red paced around the carpet of the library, and waited for Andrea to come from the storage room where she seemed to be spending a lot of her time, lately. When she came out Red was surprised to find her blushing bright red and stumbling around.
"Are you alright?"
"You can talk?! Oh . . . I'm sorry. Can I help you?" she asked.
"Out of curiosity, do you have any secret admirers, lately?"
" . . . Yes-I mean no."
"Zell tells me he likes you."
She dropped her stack of books behind the counter.
"I don't think I heard you properly."
Red balanced his two front legs on the corner of the counter.
"He claims to like you and wants to see you sometime."
"Really?" she asked dreamily.
"W-when!?" she quickly snapped.
The intercom clicked on.
"People of garden, we are holding a formal garden festival in the quad in twenty minutes. Everyone make your best effort to attend, and be prepared to get your groove on! The dress code is . . . uh, nothing in particular, but try to look sharp."
"And, all kinds of garments are for sale and rent in the fifth floor classrooms if you don't already have any. Be sure to pay them a visit!"
***
Selphie looked on in awe as almost immediately after the announcement the quad started to fill up with tired students eager to release the tension of the last few days. She thought about how to get the band together, and flipped a switch in the circuit breaker. The lights went off and a disco ball started to display bright colors, as well as rotate them around. Selphie didn't notice Oren who was sitting on a steel beam a good forty feet above the crowds. Thoughts of the next day filled his mind.
Enjoy yourselves, everyone. Tomorrow we go for Pyros before he comes for us. This might be your last chance to be "carefree" . . .
_______________________________________________________________________
AN: This chapter is divided into two parts to keep both parts a particular length. I'll get part II of this (chapter 20) in A.S.A.P. The last event before the final battles ensue . . . I wish that this fic would never come to an end but . . .