Chapter Twelve
The Only Promise

When the world around you starts a moving, moving
And you should wonder if I still love you, love you
If you feel a darkness coming
Rising inside
I'll make a light to guide you back home
--Reba McEntire and Justin Timberlake, "The Only Promise that Remains"

The battle with Sin was long and arduous. Seeing Tidus crumble before his father made everyone wish for a better way. Nobody heard the words spoken between Jecht and his son – everyone kept a respectful distance so as not to impose.

The next part of the battle was much more difficult for everyone. The destruction of the aeons. Rikku could see her cousin's resolve faltering with every aeon they sent to eternal rest.

The group fought Yuna's first aeon, Valefor, last. When it was done, Yuna cried, but only a little. The battle was not won yet. Yu Yevon still had to be destroyed. Everyone prepared for a long and hard battle, but Yu Yevon was surprisingly weak. A few hits with Tidus' sword and one final slice with Auron's massive blade, and the terror that had created Sin was gone.

Auron felt something happening to him – it didn't feel like being born again, though – it felt like he was dying again. Pyreflies began swirling around him. Just when he was about to panic, he heard Braska's voice again.

"Dear friend," Braska said. "All is not lost – you have won. But you must return to the Farplane one last time before you can live on Spira again. Your unsent soul must be traded in for your living soul. The keeper of souls is an odd being, so we do not know how long it will take . . . Tell Rikku not to be scared, but tell her nothing more. You will return to her, I promise you. I just cannot tell you when." And then Braska was gone.

"Rikku!" Auron called hoarsely with the last amount of strength he had remaining in him. Rikku looked at him, her eyes full of fear and sadness. "Come," he told her.

She walked to his side, and he pulled her into an embrace. "No, no, no, no, no," she whispered over and over again against his neck. "Please, this can't be it." But the dancing pyreflies told her all she needed to know.

"I told you not to cry for me any more, Rikku," Auron whispered to her, brushing her tears away with his thumb. He softly brushed his fingertips over her eyelids, her lips, and hoped that whatever his business on the Farplane was wouldn't keep him from her for too long.

"I'm sorry," she whispered back to him, resting her smooth cheek in the palm of his rough hand. "I tried to be strong."

"To hell with strong," he told her, as he had told her in Macalania, after he had revealed to her the truth of his being. "You are brave, Rikku. Promise me something – no matter what happens from here on out, don't be afraid. I'll be with you every step of the way. I promise you."

Rikku nodded. "I won't be afraid. I'm not afraid. I love you."

"I love you . . ." Auron's final words were barely more than a whisper, for his form evaporated into the night sky.

After the last of the pyreflies dissipated, Rikku collapsed onto the ground in a wailing, sobbing heap. Yuna and Lulu both knelt down beside the girl and simply held her. Nothing anyone could have said would have made a difference anyway.

They were back on the airship, and now, it was Yuna's turn to feel unbearable pain. The man she loved was fading before their very eyes. He stood near but not at the edge of the deck, and Yuna ran for him. She tried to throw her arms around him, but his body was no longer corporeal. She landed with a hard thud on the deck and then she just lie there for what seemed like hours.

It appeared to the others that their summoner had given up. Rikku was openly sobbing at the unfairness of it all. She and her cousin had both found unimaginable love, and it was being torn from them – harshly, cruelly.

Finally, Yuna stood up. She stared out, over the horizon, and somehow came to an inner peace. "I love you," she breathed. With the very last bit of energy he had, Tidus managed to materialize his arms long enough to embrace Yuna from behind. Then, he was gone.

Yuna stood and stared for a while, and then she turned around. Rikku stood behind her, still crying. The two girls held each other and collapsed in heap on the airship deck.

They all knew there would be celebrating that night, but no one really felt like joining in the festivities. Yes, Sin had been defeated, and yes, it was wonderful for Spira. But their party had suffered great losses. After several minutes of unabashed bawling, Yuna stood up, and helped her cousin to stand as well. "I want to go home," Yuna said in her soft voice.

Lulu walked to the younger girls. "We all want to go home," she told her gently. "And it is time."

A week later, Rikku stood at the docks in Luca, waiting for the ship carrying Yuna, Lulu, and Wakka to arrive. Kimahri stood beside the young Al Bhed. Having finally made his peace with the other Ronso, Kimahri had returned home, to Mt. Gagazet. But he had come to Luca to see Yuna again.

Rikku had spent the last week in the airship with her father and brother. She had grown weary of their constant bickering, and was hoping that maybe Yuna would allow her to stay with her in Besaid for a while – after this was over. "It's not fair, Kimahri," Rikku told the blue-furred guardian. "We all defeated Sin together, and yet, two of us aren't here any more!"

Kimahri put a giant furry paw on Rikku's shoulder. "Kimahri know. But Kimahri not think Rikku should worry."

Rikku glared at Kimahri's cryptic-ness. Why couldn't he just be straightforward?

Like Auron . . .

Quickly, she shook herself out of her reverie. That was a train of thought that she didn't need to be boarding at this time. The ship arrived just a few minutes later, and Rikku was among the first to greet the passengers who were unloading. Of course, Yuna, Lulu, and Wakka were among the last to unload.

"Rikku!" Yuna cried when she saw her cousin. The girls embraced. "How have you been?"

Rikku shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I mean, as good as can be expected, considering . . ."

Yuna nodded. "I understand." Then she looked back at Lulu and Wakka. "I guess we should go check in at the Inn and then – do this." Yuna did not look entirely thrilled at the prospect of speaking to all of Spira that afternoon.

She looked up and saw Kimahri standing before her, and her face lit up considerably. "Kimahri! You came!" She threw herself against her most loyal guardian.

"Kimahri not miss," he told her.

Yuna smiled at him. "I'm glad to see you."

xoxoxox

Lulu found Yuna at the edge of a pier, only minutes before she was supposed to speak. Yuna was whistling. When she heard footsteps behind her, she didn't turn around. "He said he'd always come when I whistled."

Lulu put a hand on Yuna's shoulder. "Yuna. It's time." Yuna looked at the black mage who was so like a sister to her and nodded.

She gave a speech to the whole of Spira that afternoon that was both celebratory and melancholy. Nobody in Spira knew of the pain and suffering that this particular summoner party had endured. All they knew was that Sin was gone!

"Everyone...everyone has lost something precious. Everyone here has lost homes, dreams, and friends. Everybody . . . Now, Sin is finally dead. Now Spira is ours again. Working together, we can make new homes for ourselves, and new dreams. Although I know the journey will be hard, we have lots of time. Together, we will rebuild Spira. The road is ahead of us, so let's start out today." She looked back at her friends sadly. Wakka nodded at her, and Rikku sucked in a breath to keep her nerves steady.

Don't cry, Rikku, don't cry! she told herself over and over again.

"Just one more thing," Yuna said to the screaming crowd. "The people and the friends that we have lost, or the dreams that have faded . . ." Rikku sniffled as she saw a pyrefly fly by Yuna's face. "Never forget them."

Two Months Later, Isle of Besaid

Rikku had gone to Besaid to live with Yuna for a while. So far, the days had been lazy and long, but it didn't matter. No matter where Rikku went, no matter how far away she ran, she couldn't forget. He haunted her dreams. She kept seeing the image of him as he became a swirling mass of pyreflies, and she would wake up sobbing. He had told her not to be afraid, and she had tried. But without him, she felt nothing. No joy, no light, no happiness got through to her at all. The only thing she felt was bleak despair – a lifetime of loneliness.

And poor Yuna. Trying so hard to make Rikku smile – when truthfully, she knew exactly how she felt. Some days, Yuna wished that she was not expected to be a "light for all of Spira." Some days, she just wanted to dive into the sea and never return.

Yuna, Lulu, and Wakka sat around the breakfast table one morning, waiting for Rikku so they could eat. Wakka was concerned. "She's been in there a long time, ya?" he asked, motioning toward the bathroom. Rikku had gone in there a good twenty minutes before. "You think she's sick?"

As if to answer his question, Rikku came out of the bathroom, a little wobbly, and a lot paler than she had been. "I don't – I don't feel so well."

Lulu immediately went into mothering mode. She felt Rikku's forehead. "You don't have a fever. Here, sit down."

"Oh, no," Rikku moaned, and she turned and ran back into the bathroom. They heard her wretch.

Wakka pushed his plate away. "Okay, well, I'm not hungry any more." Yuna looked at him sternly, and then back toward her cousin.

Rikku came back out, a little sheepishly, this time. "Sorry," she said.

"Did you eat something funny?" Wakka asked her.

Rikku shook her head. "I don't think so – just the dinner you made us last night. And no one else is sick, so I don't think that's it."

Lulu smiled sympathetically. "It could just be the weather. You're used to year-round blazing temperatures. Besaid's a little balmier."

Rikku nodded, and picked up a piece of dry toast. "I'm sure that you are right, Lulu. It'll pass in a day or two." Lulu nodded, and motioned for Yuna and Wakka to help her clean things up.

When Rikku was left alone, she set her toast down, and put her head in her hands. Why did this happen to her now? Was she really expected to handle this on her own?

Yuna looked in at her cousin, who was now crying into her hands. Lulu stopped her from disrupting the young Al Bhed. "But she's crying!" Yuna was very worried. Rikku had seemed out of sorts for months now. But now she was physically ill? Sitting at the breakfast table, crying? "Will she be okay?"

Lulu smiled a knowing smile. "She'll be fine. This type of thing usually only lasts for the first two or three months."

Yuna looked puzzled for a second, and then the light dawned on her face. "Oh, Lulu, you mean . . ."

Lulu nodded. "Shh. We mustn't say anything until she feels like talking to us." Yuna nodded, and cast one more glance back at her cousin. She hoped that Rikku would be okay. And that she would know that no matter what had happened to Auron, she wouldn't be alone at all.