Please Note: I do not own Square Enix or Final Fantasy X-2. All characters are copyrighted to Square Enix.
Also, do not read this if you do not have any background on the plots in Final Fantasy X and X-2, or if you do not want the games spoiled for you.
Another thing: Thanks go out to all of you who have been reading my fanfic, and to oezi for helping me with the Al Bhed language.
(Sorry this chapter is late... very late. I've been really busy lately...hehe. Anyway, enjoy the last chapter of my fanfic, and thanks for reading it. Later!)
"What the hell is going on? I feel so weak, but it seems that I have finally regained control of my body. What released me from Shuyin's spell, I wonder..." Tidus thought to himself as he slowly reopened his eyes to see two lovers embracing one another.
"Well, the daydreamer finally decided to wake up, eh?" Shuyin smirked as he released himself from Lenne's grasp.
"Shuyin! If you were still alive, I would kill you right now! How could you have possibly done this to my friends and me? I tried to stop you while I was possessed, but you just wouldn't listen to me! Don't you get it? Our relationship is over, Shuyin!" Tidus yelled as he ran over to Shuyin, and grabbed Shuyin by his throat.
"No! I thought to myself that if I destroyed your new life, you would come back to me, but apparently nothing is ever good enough for you! You are such a selfish, spoiled-rotten brat, Tidus!" Shuyin roared as he spat right in Tidus's face. Tidus then flinched, and threw Shuyin onto the ground. He then lounged after Shuyin, but right before his body reached Shuyin's, Lenne jumped in front of him, and caught Tidus in her arms.
"Knock it off, Tidus! We don't have time for you two to be fighting like this! Yuna's soul is shortly going to be devoured by her new fiend body, and if that happens, then she can no longer be controlled. You are the only one who can save her Tidus, so we can't risk you dying on us now!" Lenne proclaimed as she turned Tidus's body around. He then saw the transformed Yuna, raging around the dome like a wild beast, and a small teardrop then flowed down his inflamed cheek.
"Alright, Lenne. I'll stop, but only in order to save Yuna. Once I'm done with that, however, I'll take care of you, Shuyin!" Tidus pouted as he stood up. Lenne slightly laughed at their immature actions, while Shuyin sat up, smiled back at Tidus, and quickly fell deep into his own little dream world. Tidus then began to walk away, but right before his whole body exited the protective barrier, he turned back around, and faced Lenne. "Um, how exactly am I supposed to save Yuna, Lenne?"
"Well, I thought that you knew everything, Tidus. Just kidding! Anyway, in order to return Yuna to her normal state, you must proclaimed your love for her, and if it is in fact, a true and complete love, Yuna's soul will be exorcized from the fiend's body, and she will be fine. However, if that love is false and tainted, her soul will forever remain in that fiend body, and you will mostly likely never see the real Yuna again. It's just a risk that you must be willing to take if you wish to save her soul, and that is the only thing you can do." Lenne instructed.
"But how exactly do I prove my love for her? Do I have to write a poem or something mushy like that?" Tidus asked as if he was as clueless as a newborn baby.
"Well, it's whatever you think would work on her. I'm not in love with Yuna, so there is no right or wrong answer in this matter, but I can give you some advice. Whatever you choose to do or say, Tidus, it must come from deep within your heart, or nothing will happen. At any rate, you must hurry, however, because my magic is quickly running out. If that happens, then I can no longer hold up this barrier, and since Shuyin is too weak from possessing you all of that time to fight, we would be totally defenseless against Yuna's attacks. It's basically left all up to you, Tidus! You must save Yuna!" Lenne exclaimed as her face glowed up with hope and trust for her old friend. Tidus then gently nodded back at her, with both confidence and fear bursting through his eyes. She then kissed Tidus on the cheek, handed him Shuyin's sword, and pushed him out of the barrier, back into the battle zone. The fiend, once known as Yuna, noticed the familiar blond-haired fellow walking towards her, and began to charge towards him like an enraged ram. She then arrived in front of Tidus, and right before her mighty claws reached his chest, he blocked her with his sword, and threw her back onto the ground.
"Yuna, you must stop this assault! I know that you probably want to rip my heart out or something along those lines right now, but you have to hear me out! After I was brought back to live on the Farplane, I met up with my ex-boyfriend, Shuyin, and my old classmate, Lenne. Later on, I told both of them that I had fallen in love with a beautiful summoner, and that I was brought back to life by her kindness and devotion towards me. This statement infuriated Shuyin, for he was secretly planning to rekindle our burned-out relationship. That same night, Shuyin confronted me, and when I refused to become his lover once again, he decided to possess my body, and thus began Shuyin's plan of totally destroying my life by becoming me. I tried many times to push his soul out of my body, but his ghostly powers were too much for me, and that is why I was unable to stop him from performing his dastardly deeds. I'm so sorry, Yuna, for any pain that Shuyin might have caused upon you, and I hope that you can forgive me. Please, don't go on like this!" Tidus cried out in vain as Yuna then dusted herself off, and leaned uncomfortably close to Tidus's chest. She then placed her claws on top of his head, and gently stocked his hair.
"Well, this is rather shocking. I'm not sure that I can believe your story, but I know that you are not the kind of person who would make up a lie this absurd. You're not that clever. In any case, if your confession is indeed true, then I no longer have any desire to kill you." Yuna smirked as she slowly let go of Tidus's hair, and walked away.
"Well, since everything is settled now, how about we all go for a bite to eat? That should settle both our nerves and our stomachs!" Tidus chuckled nervously as he wiped the sweat from his face off with his black shirt. "Hey, that was rather easy, but why isn't she turning back? Did I do something wrong?" Tidus thought to himself as he suddenly acquired an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Crash! A few seconds later, Tidus jumped 100 feet into the air, and once he landed back down to Spira, he noticed Yuna pounding her sharp talons away at the magical barrier. Lenne laid frozen with fear next to Shuyin, who was still sleeping from before. Tidus then dropped Shuyin's sword, jolted over to the barrier, and began to try to pull Yuna away using his own hands. Yuna then swiftly turned around, and slashed him across his left cheek. Blood then dripped down Tidus's face like a leaky faucet, but the attack did not seem to faze him, for he was still able to fight. Eventually, he was able to grab Yuna by the waist, and he then carried her away from the barrier. Yuna then tried to escape from Tidus's grasp by repeatedly scratching him across his arms, but Tidus withstood the attacks, and sat Yuna down upon a pile of rubble. "What in the world do you think you are doing, Yuna? I thought that we were all clear about this?" Tidus yelled as he stood before the enraged fiend.
"We were all clear about what, Tidus?! I told you that I wasn't going to kill you, but I never said that I was going to let Shuyin go without getting the proper punishment that he deserves, now did I? He messed up both of our lives, so don't you think that karma should come into play now? Shuyin took both Rikku and Paine's lives, so it only seems fair that he should die now, so why did you stop me? Are you trying to protect him or something? Do you love Shuyin more than me now?" Yuna roared as she stood in front of Tidus, with her talons pointing straight at his heart.
"No! That's not the case, Yuna! First of all, both Shuyin and Lenne are already dead, so you cannot murder them, no matter how hard you'd try, and secondly..." Tidus paused as he fixed his gaze upon the ceiling of the dome. "What am I going to do? I still love Shuyin, but at the same time, I feel the same way for Yuna. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but this whole fiasco has to stop now! Well, there is only one option. I have to do what Lenne told me earlier, which is to act in accordance to how my heart truly feels. I have to save Yuna, so I will do whatever is necessary, even if that makes my soul weep. Here goes nothing, and everything..." Tidus then took a deep breath, and stared back upon Yuna's frustrated face. "The truth is that...I no longer love that creep! How could I, after everything he put me through? Shuyin is a no-good, dirty, rotten, two-timer, and the only one that I truly care for is you, Yuna!" Tidus proclaimed as he grabbed Yuna closely towards himself, and kissed her, even knowing that she was a fiend. "I'm sorry, Shuyin, but this is what I had to do. I hope that you understand, my friend."
A few seconds later, a bright, yellow light began to shine through Yuna's body as Tidus backed away from her. Her hair began to shrink back to normal, the wings slowly began to dissolve, her talons became regular nails again, and the fur that once covered Yuna's entire body shredded away into the wind as the de-transformation began. Eventually, the fiend that once terrorized them all turned back into the simple person known as Yuna, and fell into Tidus's arms. Just then, Lenne emerged from within the barrier, along with a reawakened Shuyin, and the two of them both ran over to Tidus. "You did it, Tidus! I knew that you could! Now, hand Yuna over to me. She's in pretty bad shape, but I still have enough magic left in me to heal her." Lenne cheered as Tidus placed Yuna within her arms. Shuyin then walked over to Tidus, and patted him on the shoulder.
"So, do you think that you made the right choice, Tidus?" Shuyin questioned as he took a cloth out from his pocket, and wiped the blood off of Tidus's face.
"Yes, I did, but it wasn't an easy decision. I hope that you are not too angry at me, Shuyin, for what I have done, but I just couldn't let Yuna's soul be swept away by that fiend." Tidus pouted as he glared down upon his feet. Shuyin then placed his hand underneath Tidus's chin, and lifted up his head. Tidus's clear-water eyes stared deeply into Shuyin's face as he smiled.
"You know what, Tidus? I think that you've finally grown up. Originally, you were the shyest little boy that I had ever met, but now look at yourself. You helped to save Spira, and gained a pretty gal to boot, which the old Tidus would have never accomplished in his lifetime. You have changed so much over the last 1000 years, and I'm very proud of you. You made the right decision, Tidus, so do not have any regrets about it, okay? And besides, how could I be angry with a face as cute as yours." Shuyin comforted Tidus as he rapped his arms tightly around Tidus's waist. "I'm so sorry, Tidus." Shuyin then kissed Tidus gently on the lips as they both cried tears of sorrow and joy.
"I wish that I had the power to freeze this moment in time, Shuyin. That way, we could be together forever." Tidus expressed as he hugged Shuyin back.
"Yes, I desire that ability as well, but we are not meant to be together, Tidus. Lenne and I will be leaving here shortly, and we will be unable to return." Shuyin replied as he slowly released Tidus, and walked over next to Lenne.
"Well, that shouldn't be too much of a problem! I can always visit you in the Farplane, right?" Tidus asked nervously.
"We're not going back to the Farplane, Tidus. Lenne and I decided earlier that we would sacrifice our souls for your two friends, Rikku and Paine, so that they would come back to life. It's the least we can do for you and Yuna after everything that happened. This way, you will be able to go on with your life as normal, while we can rest in peace knowing that you are happy once again." Shuyin avowed.
"You don't understand! I have already forgiven both of you, so you guys don't have to go through this! Besides, if both of you leave now, you won't be making me happy. Instead, you'll just be upsetting me, and I will be unable to go on in life! I need both of you in my life!" Tidus screamed out in vain.
"No, you do not need us around, Tidus. In fact, it seems that your life has gotten much better since we passed away. I know that you will miss us being around, but you must accept the fact that we are dead, and we do not belong in your world anymore. Also, you have made some great friends here in Spira, and I think that they will take good care of you from now on. Goodbye, Tidus, and may the rest of your life be filled with happiness and love." Lenne smiled as her body quickly began to sparkle different shades of blue and green. She then released Yuna from within her grasp, and placed her back down upon the dome's floor. Afterwards, Shuyin quickly whispered something into Tidus's ear, and then he, too, began to glisten various shades of blue and green.
"No! I don't want either one of you to disappear! I'm sick of people fading away from me, and I am not going to let you two obtain that same fate!" Tidus cried out, but both Lenne and Shuyin ignored him. Soon enough, both of their bodies began to float in mid air, and they eventually stopped over the ledge that both Rikku and Paine fell over. Multi-colored pyreflies then engulfed both of their bodies, and their true forms could no longer be seen. The pyreflies that emerged from Shuyin's and Lenne's bodies then slowly floated down the gorge, and disappeared from view.
A few seconds later, the pyreflies came soaring back up from the gorge, holding both Rikku and Paine's bodies. The pyreflies then safely landed their bodies upon the dome's floor, and dispersed back into the sky above. Yuna then got up off of the ground, and along with Tidus, walked over to Rikku and Paine, who were both slowly waking up. Yuna then toured off a piece of cloth from her tattered skirt, and bandaged up Paine's wounds, while Tidus gently sipped some water into Rikku's mouth. An eerie silence then covered the mouths of these four victims as they glanced at each other, not sure of who or what to believe in anymore. After everyone was able to stand up and walk again, the group departed from the dome, and began to walk back to the entrance of Zanarkand. "Hey, Yuna. Before we leave, do you think I can walk up that cliff? I want to see the sunset, and you know how pretty is it here." Tidus asked as he gently picked up Yuna's hand, and kissed it.
"Sure, but just be quick, okay? Paine and Rikku are still really weak, and we have to get them home, so don't stand up there all night." Yuna requested as Tidus nodded and then ran up the tiny cliff. The sky was light pink in color as the stars and moon began to light up the sky.
"Well Shuyin, what an adventure you put us through this time, eh? I never would have expected you to go that far in order to regain my love, but I wouldn't have expected any less from you, either. I just wish that things would have worked out for us, but maybe it is better off this way. It upsets me that we will probably never see each other again, but true love never fades away, my friend, at least that's what I was told..." Tidus thought to himself as he took one final look at the sky, and ran back over to his friends...