The Fayth's Promise
With Arms Wide Open
Tidus ran through the darkness. "Hello? Is anyone there?" he yelled.
Tidus!" a voice, he reconized as the Fayth's, called.
The blitzball player spun to see a soft light emulating from the silouette of the child who had begun his adventure... "What happened...? I was asleep for so long..."
"Ten years have passed since you gave your life to save Spira."
Tidus' jaw dropped. "Ten years?!"
"We weren't strong enough to bring you back til now. We promised Yuna."
"When?"
"Two years after she defeated Sin. She saved Spira, again. But now you two have grown ten years without each other. I don't know..."
The same thought lingered in Tidus' mind. They'd both be twenty seven years old now. Yuna had to of moved on by now. After all, there were plenty of young men who'd be just as perfect for her. "Maybe she's moved on..." he thought solemnly. A tear trickled down his cheek.
"You can return to Besaid," the Fayth spoke his tidings.
well i just heard
the news today
it seems my life
is gonna change
Tidus' body trembled. Whether it was because he was nervous or because he was overjoyed, he couldn't tell. All he knew is he'd be able to see Yuna again. To touch the skin he had so longed to touch, to hold her in his arms and never ever let go.
i close my eyes
begin to pray
then tears of joy
stream down my face
"Will Yuna be there?"
The Fayth nodded.
Tidus smiled, crying happy tears. He closed his eyes and opened them again. He was in the water. "What happened...?" he wondered. "Was that a dream?" He stretched his body, swimming to the top.
with arms wide open
under the sunlight
welcome to this place
i'll show you everything
with arms wide open
Tidus gasped for air, filling his lungs with the pure air of Besaid island. Birds called, children laughed. There seemed to be some sort of picnic on the beach. He swam to a side beach, just to see who was all there.
He reconized Lulu, who wasn't nearly as stern looking as she had been when he last saw her. She was watching Wakka, now quite a bit chubbier, passing a ball to a boy with red hair. In Lulu's lap sat a toddler with long black hair much like her mothers. "Looks like Wakka's been busy..." he laughed to himself.
Tidus saw a pretty blonde, cradling an infant. A blonde Al Bhed with a patch over one eye walked over to her. He made out the name "Rikku" and gasped. This didn't look like the childish girl who had saved him when he first came to Spira.
"Hey Yunie!" Rikku called.
well i don't know
if i'm ready
to be the man
i have to be
Tidus strained his eyes to see the person who was walking towards Rikku. A long haired brunette laughed. He knew that laugh. But instead of the smile that he would have expected to play across his face, his heart dropped.
Yuna was carrying a small child on her hip. With brown hair, just like hers.
"She forgot about me... she found someone else..."
Tidus nearly started crying. A platinum haired man jogged to Yuna and kissed her on the cheek. "I can't believe it..." but he knew he did. Ten years was a long time.
He sat down, the sun drying out his hair. He would go over there. He just hoped he wouldn't cause too much of a ruckus. "I hope you still remember me..." he thought.
Tidus walked in the water, walking to the beach. Obviously the picnic was wearing down. The sun was setting, children were whiny and cried. He watched Yuna carefully.
Yuna bounced the child on her hip. "Come on Lily," she cooed. "Mommy has a suprise for you back in the village."
"Yuna!" the platinum haired man called. "Are you going to drop Lily off?"
"Yeah. I'll be back in a few minutes, okay Baralai? Calli says she managed to catch a C-H-O-C-O-B-O for the kids to play on while we go out tonight," Yuna said, smiling.
"Calli...?" Tidus wondered. He tried to reach into those memories but he couldn't remember why he reconized the name. He decided to follow Yuna. When she would be on the way back, he could talk to her. Alone.
if i had just one wish
only one demand
i hope he's not like me
i hope he understands
The small girl cooed and giggled as Yuna told her stories about chocobos. "I wanna see a chocobo!" Lily laughed.
"Well maybe you will someday," Yuna smiled, a mischievious look in her eyes.
Tidus didn't go inside the village. He waited until Yuna was gone far enough so she wouldn't see him then sat down on a rock by an old shrine. "She's great with kids." He looked up as he heard two voices. He knew them as Lulu and Rikku.
He scrambled to hide behind a large boulder until they left. Then came Yuna.
She stopped at the shrine, almost unconsciously. "Ten years... and his image still haunts my memories."
"Can they... not be memories anymore?" Tidus asked, still behind the rock.
"Who's there?!" Yuna yelled, pulling out a small dagger. He sapphire-emerald eyes burned with emotion. Her trademark earring swayed back and forth.
"You might not believe me," Tidus said, standing up.
The dagger dropped from Yuna's hand, her eyes wide, and her breathing stopped. "I-it..." she stuttered. "Is it... you?"
Tidus nodded. "I'm sorry."
Yuna ran to him, throwing out her arms in an embrace. She squeezed him tightly. "I knew... someday you'd come back."
Tears crawled down his cheek. He pulled away from her embrace, his hands resting on her shoulders. He took one hand and gently ran it across her face. Crystal tears dripped from her eyes. "Yuna..."
"I knew you'd come back," she repeated.
"But... Baralai," he said.
She cocked her head to one side, "What about him?"
"And Lily?"
"What about them?" she wondered.
"They are your family."
Yuna began to laugh. "You think they are my family? Like my husband and child?" she giggled uncontrollably.
"I don't get it..." "But that guy kissed you and you were always carrying the kid around and you said 'Mommy has a surprise' to her!"
"What have you been stalking me or something?" Yuna demanded. "Baralai is a friend. He kissed me on the cheek because I had gotten hit there by one of Vidina's flying blitzballs. He was just playing around. And Lily isn't my kid. Lily is Calli's daughter."
"Calli. The little girl on the Mi'hen Highroad... She had brown hair too.." Tidus felt stupid now. But he was with Yuna. "Oh. Sorry."
Yuna shook her head, her eyes pooled with tears. "It's okay," she smiled. "I have you back. I'll be okay."
Tidus smiled softly. How silly could he have been to think Yuna would have forgotten him.
"Tidus..." she whispered. Even though she had gotten taller, she still had to raise her calves to reach his face.
Tidus was actually slightly suprised when Yuna kissed him. But he quickly recovered, slipping his arms around her waist and kissing her back.
When the pulled apart, they both smiled. He remembered the first time they had kissed... ten years ago.
"YUNA!" yelled a young woman. A woman with silverish-black hair marched up to her friend.
"Oh... Hi Paine," Yuna said, blushing like crazy.
"What are you doing?!" she demanded.
"This is..."
Tidus blushed too. And he didn't even know this Paine. "One of Yuna's new friends."
"This is Tidus," Yuna said.
Paine smiled, "See!" she said, punching Yuna in the arm. "I told you he'd come back. Just like Shuyin and Lenne."
Tidus looked at the friend of Yuna's totally confused. "What...?"
"Ten years is a looooooong time," Yuna laughed.
"Ten years without you was like hundreds of years with..." he paused thinking of a word, "like hundreds of years with Seymour."
He gasped, wagging a finger teasingly. "Kissing other guys when you are widowed. What kind of person are you?" he chuckled.
Yuna's jaw dropped. "WHY YOU!!"
Tidus began to run away from Yuna, she chased him and tackled him to the ground. "Hey!" he cried.
Yuna kissed him again. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too," Tidus said. They went back to the beach. The adults were having a party to celebrate exactly ten years of Yuna's Eternal Calm.
with arms wide open
under the sunlight
welcome to this place
i'll show you everything
with arms wide open
And he knew he would always be accepted, with arms wide open.
A/N: I love this song and I couldn't help but write a songfic for it. Of course, I could never EVER make Yuna fall in love with someone else and leave Tidus to drown in his sorrow. It'd be too heartbreaking, even for me.
So do you guys like it? I also added Higher, a songfic from Yuna's POV.