Return of Light
"I can't believe you did that! I've been trying to get inside Tidus's head for years but it seems only you and he are able to do that sort of thing! That or my transmission or whatever gets stuck in that gigantic ego of his." Jecht scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, nearly glowering at his granddaughter.
"Grandpa! Come on! I had to light a fire under Chappu! The Shadow would have eventually gotten him if I hadn't!" Tida cried, flinging her hands in the air. "Light forbid I save Chappu from the Shadow!"
"Be easy, Tida," Braska soothed, shooting Jecht a warning look. "He's only jealous."
"I am not jealous!" Jecht shouted.
Blink.
"Well, maybe just a little," Jecht said gruffly, slouching slightly but his arms were still crossed firmly over his chest. Braska sighed. "It's been like this for so long, I almost know what he's thinking."
"Scary," Tida murmured.
"Hey!" Jecht said heatedly. He opened his mouth again to say more but Yunalesca cut him off with a sharp glare. Jecht only scowled even more but he did close his mouth, opting for sending small glares at Tida at separate intervals.
"Anyway," Braska said, frowning at Jecht's six-year-old behavior, "it will take some doing, but we may be able to spring you out of here. Right now, I think it best you call your aeon."
"My aeon? But… I don't have an aeon," Tida said, confused. She stared at Braska, bewildered, and waiting for an answer to her query.
"Your Final Aeon, Tida. The Aeon of Light; your aeon," Braska explained calmly, tilting his head slightly and giving Tida a pointed look.
"The Aeon of Light is my aeon?" Tida said incredulously.
"Yes. How do you think Auron became your Aeon of Light? You chose him to be it. You wanted someone you trusted to be that particular fayth. Auron was it, the perfect answer. Something deep within you told you—and without letting you know it—that Jecht and I were totally out of the question, what with Jecht having been my own Final Aeon and then Sin, and I myself was too closely related in summoner linking to you for the procedure to succeed. The Light gave you the extraordinary power needed to change Auron into the fayth, and then into the Aeon of Light. Yunalesca became the channeler for that change.
"When you met her in the Zanarkand Temple, you didn't know she was in actuality the fayth of Zanarkand. The fayth are a… a small part of the Light—I really don't understand it well enough to explain it all very well—and she was given special powers at that time to help you complete the process for finishing the Aeon of Light. Auron, of course, readily accepted and became a fayth through that.
"You already know that she used to change a guardian into a fayth for the Final Summoning years ago. Part of those powers were used in the process to turn Auron from being—well, dead—into a fayth for an aeon. Your father, Tidus (I will never understand why Yuna married that idiot of Jecht's stupid blood.), completed the trials ensuring the first part for the beginning of the creation of the Aeon of Light. That also made you the carrier for the aeon; Tidus's blood flows in your veins. His bloodshed during the trial was what accepted you as the summoner. Only you could ever summon the Aeon of Light because, in beads of power so fine and so immensely complex, you are linked and that link can never be severed, not by anyone or by any force. Not even through death. You still have the ability to summon the Aeon of Light. Even if you couldn't summon any other aeon, you could still call the Aeon of Light."
Tida stared, gaping at her grandfather, her jaw dropped. "Are you speaking Sprian?"
"Tida, please let my bloodlines show through just this once. Please!"
"Sorry. So, let me get this straight. I somehow chose Auron to be the aeon and somehow I gave my power to Yunalesca through the Light to change him into a fayth? And it and I are linked, forever?" Tida said slowly, looking quizzically at Braska.
"Yes, that's correct. You're quite powerful, Tida, when it really counts. When others are in grave danger, something inside you bursts forth and you are able to seize Light with both hands and bring it down to crush any foe," Braska said, sounding and looking proud as he could be. He smiled at his granddaughter.
"Well, how do I get out of here? I have to help them defeat the Shadow. If it wins…" Tida let the sentence hang but shook her head, changing her chain of aloud thought. "We can't let it win."
"I know," Yunalesca agreed, sighing.
Jecht rolled his eyes. "Damn, ya'll are a happy crew, aren't ya? Look, kid," Jecht slung an arm over Tida's shoulders, "it ain't an easy thing to do. Braska and me, we're content with being here to watch over our—our loved ones." Jecht fumbled a little but quickly recovered.
"You gotta fight your way to the surface. Ask the fayth for help. They'll want you back, I'm sure. They have that kinda power. That's how your dad got back—sorta—but then, he wasn't completely dead, so that must've helped."
"Jecht?" Yunalesca inquired.
"Yeah?"
"Shut up." Yunalesca took Tida by the arm and pulled her around, placing both hands on her shoulders, looking directly into Tida's colored eyes.
"Listen, Tida. Braska and I are going to help you. Jecht will do what he can since he was once a fayth. But we are going to get you back. The Shadow cannot win." Yunalesca's voice was firm and Tida nodded.
"Then let's get started."
* * *
"Chappu is seriously starting to scare me, Rikku."
Rikku glanced up from studying her map to look at the distressed Black Mage who was staring blankly down at her, with just a hint of fear in her eyes.
Rikku laughed. "Chappu is fine, Zeo! Relax! He's not insane or anything. He probably got a kick up the ass from Tida in his dream."
Zeoron was forced to sit down as her knees gave way. "Tida in his dreams?" she whispered, shocked. Her eyes widened but then she shook her head. "No way."
"Yes way. How do you think Tida remembered who she was? Tidus entered her dreams and gave her a little push in the right direction. That's really all it took to get her started," Rikku enlightened, patting Zeoron on the shoulder.
Zeoron gave a little laugh, grinning. "Well, that would explain all the cheerfulness. But I'd say his male ego got a big boost in that dream."
Rikku shook her head. "Nah. Tida wouldn't go that far, even if she is dead."
Both giggled and then roared with laughter as the thought struck them both amusingly. Their laughed suddenly started to die down and they looked at each other quickly, silent.
"Would she?"
* * *
"We've got a problem."
Yuna looked at Tidus sharply, her colored eyes narrowing. "What?"
Her husband winced, his own cerulean eyes flickering. He walked to the table and sat down across from Yuna, sighing and running a hand through his blond hair.
"I just took a nap and Tida gave me a nice little message."
Yuna practically flew over the table. She seized Tidus by the collar of his shirt, her eyes wide. "What?" she croaked. "What did you say?"
Tidus gripped his wife's wrists in his hands and she released her hold on him but remained in her half-standing state. Tidus exhaled, his blond tresses bouncing slightly.
"Tida just visited me. Like I used to visit her. She has that ability, too. She told me that you've got to sort of go on a pilgrimage again. She… she said it would help to beat the Shadow. I didn't really understand, but… well, there ya go," Tidus said, shrugging and giving Yuna a blank look implying that he understood not one word of it, but was simply relaying the message as told.
"Oh, my…" Yuna dropped back into her seat, her eyes becoming slightly unfocused as she stared at seemingly nothing, lost deep in her own swirling thoughts.
Abruptly, she moved from the table and began pacing the length of the room, hands clasped behind her back and frowning, staring in concentration at the floor. She blew out several breaths of frustration, results of searching for an answer obviously not coming to her.
At last, she threw up her hands. "Well, I guess we've just got to do it. Get word to the others that you and I are on our way. If we're going to do a pilgrimage, than by Light, we're gonna do it right!"
Tidus nodded and leapt up to find a messenger to send to Besaid to the others. He disappeared down the hallway and Yuna sighed, facing the window.
"It looks like things are still yet growing more and more complicated. But… why would Tida want me to go on a second pilgrimage? What's the reason?"
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