Sorry for the long wait, everyone! And I mean it! To make up for it, this chapter and the next are longer than normal--quite a bit longer, LOL. That's part of what took so long. The other part is that I wrote most of the next chapter (coming as soon as I finish the epilogue!) longhand, and not on the computer, so it took longer and ended up longer. For some reason, I tend to be long winded when I write with a pen rather than a keyboard. Eh, who knows. Anyway, enjoy this next to last chapter, and I'm sorry if its a little funky during the whole ending. I'm not good at writing endings. = Maybe because it makes me sad to end a story? Eh. Look at me go on and on in this! Peh! Anyway, enjoy and forgive the longwinded authoress. ;; And review, maybe please? Don't make me beg...;; --Jedi Ari

Oh, one more thing...I don't know if I mentioned it, but I have a blog/livejournal now! Yay! Watch me whine about anime, manga, video games, and my uninteresting life at ;;

"What th' heck is dat thing?!" Hunter asked, starting to stumble backwards.

"The final boss, silly," Arashi said from the floor. Atrah shushed her.

"You shouldn't talk right now…"

"Unfortunately, I have to do more than talk," Arashi said, struggling to stand up. Atrah reluctantly helped her do so as the others gathered around.

"So now we have big, black, and ugly here to deal with," Niet said, summing up the situation quite simply. She gulped and looked at Arashi. "So, now what?"

Yueh bit her lip as she looked at the deformed version of Sin that stood before them. It was just as tall as before, but looked much more menacing with its gigantic claws and teeth. She was sure that with one swipe they could all be sliced in half.

Good question…

Arashi closed her eyes and said softly, "We pull out all the stops."

Gage raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

Opening her gray-blue eyes, and looking quite a bit more awake and healthy, she looked at the group with an evil grin.

"We get to kick some butt!"

"Awright!" Hunter began to jump around. "Time to rip Sin t'bits, ya?"

"Is it really that simple?" Lulu asked from behind Arashi. The group from earth turned to face the group from the original Spira. She looked at the blond warily. "We are dealing with a god."

"C'mon, people! Where's your confidence, huh? We can do it!" Tidus cheered. He gave Yuna a quick hug and glanced back at everyone. "We did it once before, didn't we?"

"And look what happened then," Auron pointed out.

"But—that was my fault," Yueh spoke up, pushing through the group to face Auron. The guardian didn't seem as intimidating now, for some reason. She looked him straight in the eye. "And I plan on fixing it."

"Me too, ya?" Hunter said, stepping up. He put an arm around Yueh's shoulders and nodded firmly. "We're gonna get rid o' dis guy, once and for all!" Very quietly, he added in Yueh's ear, "Besides, I gotta do it t' get rid o' dis stupid accent, ya?" Yueh stifled a giggle.

Auron seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding once. "Then it is agreed. We fight Sin…together."

"Right-o!" Rikku said. She jumped in front of Auron and grinned at Yueh and Hunter. "We'll kick his butt!"

"Let's save the victory dances for later, shall we?" Lulu suggested. She looked over her shoulder at the dark form of Sin and Yu Yevon, which was now seeming to remember its former strength. "We haven't even started."

"Well, dat's encouragin', ya?" Wakka said, raising an eyebrow at Lulu.

"Wakka—"

"Fight now, talk later," Mattian said, pushing through the black mage and the blitzer and pulling out his sword. "I've been waiting for this all week!"

Niet rolled her eyes and muttered, "What a dork…" She pulled out her rapier and looked at Arashi. "But, either way, I'm ready!"

Yueh grabbed out her flute. "Me too."

The others all began to pull out their weapons, making Arashi look at Atrah and Tidus and ask, "Do you guys have swords? Or did Sin eat them up?"

"Well—"

There was a loud "shing" from a corner of the room far removed from Sin, along with a flash of bright blue light. All turned and looked to see two large, bright blue treasure chests now sitting amongst a pile of rubble.

Arashi smiled. "Gotta love those timed events. Go get your weapons, guys!"

Atrah and Tidus ran to get their swords while the others prepared themselves for battle—Sin included. Flames began to grow upon its front claws, and murmurs of a not-so-pleasant kind started to fill the chamber. Yueh took a deep breath and glanced around the chamber—which suddenly made her remember Mariana and her husband.

I think…its time to put differences aside. "Mariana! Genki! Would you—could you help us out?" Yueh shouted from across the room. Mariana stepped forward, with Genki following closely behind her.

The former-psychiatrist smiled, kindly for once. "Gladly. Anything to get rid of that…atrocity." As if to add to that statement, Sin roared deafeningly.

Yueh smiled as well. "Right."

"Swords at the ready!" Atrah shouted, holding up his newly acquired blade. It was a long sword with a hand-and-a-half hilt and two large feathers dangling off of it. Tidus had his usual blade— Brotherhood.

"Ready?" Arashi asked, giving a final look at the group.

"Ready!" everyone shouted, Mattian loudest of all.

"Attack!"

The group charged with everything they had. Yueh, Lulu, and Mariana were casting like crazy, throwing down their highest spells left and right. Most of the guys were slashing at Sin's feet, occasionally managing a magic-powered jump to take a swing at Sin's ever-moving claws. Wakka and Hunter were going straight for the head, aiming their blitzballs at Sin's eyes. Yuna and Arashi were the only two doing seemingly nothing—both were using their white magic to protect the other fighters.

Atrah gave Sin's ankles another slice, only to have his sword bounce off and himself fly backwards into the rest of the group, sending about half of the melee-ers tumbling to the ground. His brown eyes looked wildly to Arashi, who was one of the ones still standing.

"It's not doing any good! His skin is just getting stronger!" he yelled out.

Arashi nodded, and Yueh said, "Stop firing magic! It's going to bounce—"

As soon as the word escaped Yueh's lips, one of Mariana's last spells, a fire elemental, rebounded from Sin's chest and was headed straight for Yueh's head. She stood there, stunned.

"Yueh! Get out of the way!" Niet shouted.

She couldn't move. It felt like her feet were cemented in place.

"Yueh!" Hunter screamed.

The ball of flame was only a few inches from her face when a blur of blue flew past her, engulfing the spell in a burst of white steam. The ball rebounded off of the floor and returned back to its owner: Hunter, who let out a sigh of relief.

"Just in time, ya?" Hunter said, running over to pull her out of the way of the other spells that were flying back at them. "Now let's get movin'!" The rest of the fighters followed suit, getting as far away from the raging Sin as possible.

"Nothing's working! He's just getting stronger with every blow!" Auron shouted over the noise. Sin was letting out ear-shattering cries that were louder than ever. "This isn't going to work!"

"Then we'll try a different approach!" Yueh said.

"Like what? We've tried all that we can do!" Lulu said.

"Not everything," Arashi stated firmly. Everyone turned to look at her.

"You have another plan?" Mattian asked disbelievingly.

"Of course she does!" Niet said, glaring at him. "She always does!"

"Wanna explain?" Hunter asked.

"We double up—summoner with summoner, black mage with black mage, and so on. It'll utilize our full power if we synchronize our moves with our doubles." The blond glanced at Mariana and Genki with a sad look. "Unfortunately, you guys can't help on this one."

Mariana nodded. "It is all right. We'll stand back and provide a guard if need be."

Yueh blinked, looking at the ex-psychiatrist. She accepts it, just like that? It seems too…too…simple.

Arashi looked back at the rest of the group. "Team up with your double, and channel your energy. We'll attack all at once." She managed a snort of a laugh. "I feel like a quarterback."

"A quarter-what?" Rikku asked with a blank look.

"Ah, never mind. Everyone got what to do?"

"We got it, Arashi!" Wakka shouted for the groups. The rest just nodded, making Arashi smile. The blond summoner gave Yueh a look that said, "Everything's gonna be okay."

Yueh grinned in return and stepped up next to Lulu, giving a slight bow to the elder black mage. "Its…awesome to be fighting alongside you."

Lulu offered a rare smile and a kind look. "The same with you, Yueh. Now, shall we get to work?"

Yueh gave a short nod, her face turning red with the compliment. "Right."

The two summoners stood in front of the pairs, both with determined looks on their faces.

"Everybody! Get close!" Yuna shouted out, gripping her summoning rod tightly in both hands.

"Let's rip him a new one! Send him into oblivion!" Arashi screamed out, pumping a fist in the air.

Yueh smirked. There's no difference in personalities of the summoners, is there? She followed Arashi's gesture. "Yeah! Kick his butt!"

"Make him into roadkill!" Niet put in, stabbing her rapier into the air.

"Let's do it! Everyone, attack!"

The summoners led the charge on Sin/Yevon, calling all the former Aeons to distract the monster, even if he would devour them shortly. Ixion, Valefore, and Bahamut flew in the air, circling around his head, with Shiva, Ifrit, Anima and the Magus Sisters running around and in between his feet, attacking at his toes. Yuna and Arashi casted protect on themselves and began to float up into the air as they kept the Aeons alive and on track.

"Melee-ers! Go!" Yuna and Arashi shouted out with one voice. The swordsmen (and women) charged forward, their blades imbued with the magic floating around them from the summoners. The pairs were like synchronized swimmers in their movements, somehow timing them exactly to coordinate with the other. Auron and Mattian were the slowest, but most powerful, throwing hard strokes straight at Sin's legs.

The towering Kimahri and Gage were jumping from the walls of the chambers, doing criss-crosses to slash at Sin's chest, making deep marks with their halberd and sword. Tidus and Atrah followed closely to them, working on keeping Sin's fearsome claws away from the others and concentrated on them. The two just laughed when there was a close call—some would call it being cocky, but the group just saw it as confidence.

Rikku and Niet were having a ball, poking at a place that most would rather ignore—Sin's rear end. The creature roared with every prick, making the girls laugh even harder as they dodged his tail.

"Mages! Blitzers! Go for it!" came the summoners' voices. The four nodded and began their distance attacks, aimed at Sin/Yevon's head, namely his eyes. Yueh threw down her hands with her strongest Ultima, Lulu following her lead. Their black spells hit its head at the same time, making it roar.

"NOW!" Wakka shouted, throwing his black magic-ed blitzball at Sin's open mouth. Hunter did the same, throwing it with all his strength. The blitzballs went straight down its throat, stopping its cry mid-breath.

"Everyone, hit it now!" Arashi and Yuna screamed out. All the swords went blade-deep into Sin's hide, the magic blinded it, and the final hit with Arashi's belt-whip and Yuna's summoning rod to its chest blew a hole in the creature big enough to drive a large chocobos-drawn wagon through. The hole burst with dark flames, and the shockwave from it sent all the fighters flying backwards into the opposite side of the chamber.

"What is that?!" Gage shouted over the noise.

"A rift in the space-time continuum?" Niet suggested, prompting a loud scoff from Mattian. The brunette glared at him. "Well, what is it then?"

"A hole into the very essence of Sin!" Arashi yelled, pushing herself off of the wall.

Tidus cocked his head to one side and glanced at the group from earth. "How does she always know what stuff is?" They all shrugged in turn.

Yueh stepped up next to Arashi, trying to look at the shifting hole through her constantly moving hair. "If that's a hole into Sin's essence…is that how we finish him off?"

Arashi began to reply, but was cut off by a shout from across the chamber. All heads turned to see Mariana standing to the left of the rift, holding hands with Genki as she looked at the other summoners and guardians.

"I thank you for getting me this far! I know now my mistakes, and what I must do to correct them!" She looked down, the torrents of wind getting ever stronger and louder. "I…I am sorry for the trouble I have caused you. I will kill Sin from the inside, and make it and Yu Yevon cease to exist! All I ask of you is to forgive me…" Mariana looked up, tears in her eyes. "…and remember me. Farewell!"

"Mariana! No!" Yueh screamed.

Mariana gave a sad smile before she and her husband leapt into the hole, leaving small black flames behind them as they disappeared. The hole remained intact, but began to shrink. Yueh ran forward, pushing past the wind.

"Yueh! Its not worth it!" Niet shouted out.

"Don't go!" Rikku chimed in.

Yueh stopped just before the chasm to turn around and look at everyone. Her allies, her comrades…her friends.

"I'm sorry…I have to." She turned back to jump in, only to have someone grab her wrist. She looked back to see Hunter right next to her, his face serious.

"Then I'm coming with."

There was a quick silence between the two before Yueh gave a small understanding smile and nodded. The two jumped through the hole together, disappearing like Mariana and Genki before them. The rest of the guardians and summoners ran to try and follow, but the rift disappeared just as they reached it.

The room was eerily silent as all eyes stared where the massive gateway had just been. Rikku was the first to speak.

"Now what?"

Arashi, always with the answers, dusted off a place on the floor before sitting.

"It's simple: we wait."

"Wait? Are you nuts?!" Mattian shouted, stepping up to Arashi. "They could be dying right now, and you tell us to just wait?!"

"Back off, Mattian," Atrah growled, positioning himself between the two. Mattian didn't step down. Instead, he started yelling at Atrah to diffuse his anger.

"She could be letting two of our friends die by not doing anything! The creepy chick and her husband, too!"

"Look—"

"Ranting and raving will not help the situation," Auron said calmly. His voice quieted the other two, although Atrah still looked furious. "Think for a moment: has Lady Arashi ever led you wrong?"

"No," Mattian said, resigning himself to sit down. From behind him, Niet grinned, glad Mattian was proved wrong once again. This going unnoticed to him, he added, "But it just doesn't feel right."

"Perhaps Arashi would like to explain?" Lulu suggested, looking at the blond summoner. "I'm sure Mattian isn't the only one curious as to your course of action."

Arashi took a deep breath. After releasing it, she said, "Bring me Yueh's bag and I'll show you."

"Didn't we leave everything at our camp?" Gage asked, blinking. Arashi shook her head.

"I made sure to take Yueh's bag—it has all of our potions and such in it. And the item I'd like. So, if someone wouldn't mind getting it…"

His fury against Mattian fading, Atrah nodded. "Sure, where is it?"

"Over by the entrance wall." Arashi pointed. As Atrah went to retrieve it, she said, "I hope the windstorm from Sin didn't scatter everything."

"I didn't see anything flying around," Gage said, sitting down next to Mattian and facing Arashi. "So that's a good sign."

Arashi smiled. "You'd hope." As everyone began to sit down near Arashi, Atrah returned with the now-ragged backpack and set it on her lap. She began to dig through it and Atrah sat down on her right.

"What is it you're looking for?" Niet asked, trying to peer into the dark bag from Arashi's other side. "I don't have a clue—"

"You never do," Mattian scoffed, rolling his eyes. Niet glared at him, and Arashi let out a triumphant "Ah-ha!" before a fistfight broke out. All eyes turned upon her.

"Well?" Mattian asked, again impatient.

"The first item that we ever got—beside our charms and weapons, that is," Arashi said. She pulled a worn, rolled up piece of paper from the pouch. Niet gasped with recognition.

"Our map!" she exclaimed. She took it from Arashi's grasp, looking at it gleefully. "It feels like forever since I've seen this thing!"

"No wonder you got lost so often!" Mattian said, laughing. He received another glare from Niet for this comment.

Wakka scratched his head. "What's a map hafta do wit' Yueh and Hunter and Sin, ya?"

"You Spirans wouldn't completely get it," Arashi said apologetically. "But, Niet, you remember what the map looked like at first, right?"

"Yeah, it had most of the U.S. on it, and a little blinky arrow where we were," she said, finally looking back at Arashi.

"And after we went to Zanarkand the first time?"

"A little bit of west-coastline," Niet said, frowning. "When our families disappeared." There was a small silence.

"And what does it look like now?" Arashi prompted.

"Still the west-coastline," Niet said dejectedly. Gage leaned in and peered at the map.

"Yeah, California to Oregon. What's the point?"

Arashi snorted and yoinked the map back from Niet. "Watch the right side of the big 'island' of California closely."

Niet leaned in and squinted at the map. All of the group from earth (with the exception of Arashi) gasped.

"It's growing!" Niet put a finger down on the right side of what would be the state of California, which was rapidly expanding to once again include the other western states. "The land—it's coming back!"

"Which is precisely why I'm not worried," Arashi explained. She bit her lip, then admitted, "Well, at least, not very worried. All the people who disappeared or were killed by Sin while it was here on earth are returning, along with the land that vanished."

Niet continued to watch the map while Gage asked, "But how did you know that they were returning without looking at the map?"

"It has to do with being a white mage, I suppose," Arashi said, shrugging. She looked at Yuna for some sort of confirmation. "You can feel the life of others. It's part of being a healer. And when life comes or goes in large quantities…"

"You feel that pain within your own heart," Yuna finished. Her multi-colored eyes stared at the ground. "When all those people died at Operation Mi'ihen, I didn't have to see it to know it had happened. I could feel it inside of me." Tidus put an arm around her and gave her a small hug. Looking up at Tidus, she added, "Sendings do much the same thing."

Lulu nodded slowly. "Most mages of any kind can feel it. Magic of any sort is linked to life or death."

"So Yueh may be able to feel it as well?" Niet asked.

"Perhaps," Lulu said, "but not as much as a white mage would."

"That's all great, but what does that have to do with leaving Yueh and Hunter all alone in the giant dark portal that just disappeared?" Mattian asked.

"They just entered the essence of what remains of Sin," Arashi said slowly. "Once they get rid of it, the portal will probably spit them out. They don't belong there."

"Or so you hope," Auron inferred from Arashi's tone. She nodded.

"Either way, there is nothing we can do but wait for their return. We know that our world will return, and Sin will be gone from it for good, but as for them…"

Mattian's face turned grim. "…we just have to wait."