Tidus opened his eyes and grinned. All around him there was ocean, and he knew at once where he was. Pushing off from the ocean floor he swam, he headed for the sparkling surface about thirty feet above him. His head broke the surface and he looked around, still awed at what he saw. It was another world; a few spirits of the faith where drifting around, talking and laughing. Tidus knew there where more, but the Farplane was so vast that those few where all he could make out.
-splash-
-splash-
-splash-
Braska, Jecht, and Auron broke the surface next to him. He didn't understand how Braska had left the Farplane at the end, but he supposed that he was caught in Limbo until his Aeon was killed.
Braska smiled at him and climbed out of the water changing into pyreflies and started to drift off, and Auron followed him. Tidus began to swim to shore when a hand caught him and dunked him back underwater for a second. Tidus surfaced again, gasping, and shot a glare at his father, who was chuckling.
What did you do that for? Tidus barked, his voice cracking as it had done so often in the past.
I have a question to ask you, Tidus. His father swam up next to him where he was treading water.
Tidus nodded; it was like deja vu, and he realized Wakka had done almost the exact same thing when they had swum across the lagoon.
Do you feel the same way towards Lady Yuna?
You mean- Well it's complicated.
I know. Jecht sat down on the shore and regarded his son for a moment. On the first night you were here, in Spira, you had a dream about me. Jecht paused as if trying to figure out how to phrase what he would say next. Well, it wasn't a dream, well, not exactly. I came into your head. I was so happy to see you safely in Spira.
But you were Sin! Tidus exclaimed, taken aback that his father would enter his head.
I know, so I couldn't come to you in person. Do you remember what that dream was about?
Tidus nodded. The dialogue didn't make sense, but basically Yuna wanted me to come with her to Zanarkand, my Zanarkand. Tidus blushed slightly at this, And then Rikku came on and scolded me; she said that I promised to go to Luca with her. They wanted me to choose who to go with, but then you came in and started taunting me. He shot an accusing glance at his father.
I had to jump in and stop you from choosing which girl you would ride with to Luca Jecht explained quickly, because I was afraid you would pick Yuna and have your heart broken. He muttered something, under his breath.
It broke my heart to hear you scream. I hate you like that.
Well, I guess your efforts where in vain, I fell for Yuna anyway. Tidus changed the subject. He could tell his father was trying to make up for all the teasing and tormenting he had put him through, but Tidus still wasn't ready to talk things out.
I know you flirted with her at first - who wouldn't? But In Macalania and when you defeated me, was it really love you where feeling, or sympathy, even pity? Think about that boy, and Jecht pushed off the ground, his body erupting into pyreflies.
Tidus stared after him, thinking to himself.
Of course I love Yuna! He thought to himself. How could Jecht think that it was anything else! Well, he had felt bad about her sacrificing herself for the greater good. He had felt guilty after he promised to take her to Zanarkand and all sorts of other places after defeating Sin, and he had wanted to find some way to make it up to her-No! He loved her! That was final.
Tidus turned and followed his father - in a huff since his father had planted the seeds of doubt in his mind, and he knew it would be killing him inside for quite a long time.
Where are we going? Tidus called to his father.
To find your mother! I haven't seen her in ten years.
Tidus slowed down and landed on the ground; he had no wish to be present at the happy little reunion. Instead he settled on his back on the grass and stared up at the sky. To his surprise, hundreds of feet up, he could see the room where people would visit the Farplane.
Wakka, Yuna, Lulu, Rikku, Kimahri, he said to himself. What are you doing now?
*****
Rikku had been pacing back and forth in her room at Guadosalam for over an hour.
To go into the Farplane or not to go into the Farplane, that was the question.
So far she hadn't been able to convince herself to go in. This was only the second time she had been there; she had waited outside with Auron the first time.
Auron was a strange person, and although she trusted him with her life, she couldn't understand why he acted the way he did. How could someone be so gloomy 24/7/365. That's why she had taken an immediate liking to Tidus. Most of the Al Bhed where gothic looking, her brother included, but Tidus's bubbly nature and sweet disposition had made her curious enough about him to save him from the fiend that attacked him when they'd first met.
She sighed. He was the first non-Al Bhed to treat her like a human, and that gesture meant a lot to her. She sighed; he had charmed her enough so that she made him part of the team and even promised to take him to Luca.
If I don't go I'll never forgive myself she said. I told my father and brother that I wanted to do a bit of soul searching, and damn it, I'm going to go see Tidus one more time. She rushed out of the inn and up into the Farplane entrance.
The guard shot her an accusing look, but she just brushed past him.
Come on, Rikku, girl, don't loose your nerve. She chided herself as her step slowed. All too soon she reached the gate to the Farplane, and she stopped completely.
One . . . two . . . three!! she said, like a child jumping off a diving board, and she shut her eyes and jumped through the door, stumbled, and fell onto her knees on the other side.
For a few seconds all she could do was pant and wait until her heart returned to a normal rate. Then, tentatively, she opened one eye; two people stood looking curiously at her but busily turned back to the Farplane when she met their eyes.
Rikku hurriedly stood up, brushed off her knees, hurried to one side, and stared at the vast land of the dead.
A few Pyreflies floated curiously past her, but she couldn't see any people. She wondered if her mother was here, and to her astonishment her mother appeared in front of her.
The Al Bhed had said that the Farplane was explainable, but now, Rikku wasn't so sure.
Hello mom, its me, Rikku! I guess I look a lot different now, she told the woman smiling back at her from the nothingness.
Then Rikku found herself telling the image everything - about the trip, about her family, about fighting Yevon, even about her crush on Tidus, and how unfair it was that he only wanted Yuna, and how it was wrong of her to feel jealous of her cousin. As she talked, her mother's expression turned from a warm smile to a sympathetic grimace. She could almost feel her mother nodding, and she felt sad that she couldn't embrace the lady staring out at her.
Well Mom, I'm so happy to see you, but I also want to see Tidus; maybe we can get together tomorrow? Rikku grinned at the end to try to lighten the mood. She knew that her mother's intangible shoulders couldn't carry all her problems, and that it was wrong to make her feel responsible simply because she was her mother.
