Tides of Time
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X or X-2 or any of the story and characters surrounding it.
"If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failures is not the falling down, but the staying down"
-Mary Pickford
Chapter 3: After the FallSecond chances are rarely given. If you do something wrong it cannot be undone and people are not as forgiving as they prefer to think they are. When wronged it is an automatic response to hate that which has wronged you. It is hard to forgive and even harder to forget. Then there is loss and death. Even more rarely do second chances coincide with this duo. Especially death, as death is final. With death there are no second chances.
Although, the phrase is often uttered that one gets a second chance at happiness.
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Yuna's ears perked at the sound of the whistle. It was sharp and clear in the silence of the way too early morning. Her heart pounded as the possibilities of what it might be raced through her mind. Perhaps it was her imagination. Perhaps it was someone else who couldn't sleep taking a stroll. Perhaps it was a cruel, cruel joke someone was playing on her. Or perhaps it was really him.
She stood up quickly, wiping the sand from her robe as she started up the path back to the main village. Her quick footfalls left imprints in the sand that would soon disappear as the wind covered it up. She had to find out what it was whether or not she would like the result. Could it even be possible for him to be back? She had been so sure that it wasn't. She had resigned herself to moving on with her life, but now that may not be the case.
Coming into the main area of Besaid she looked around. Trying to find anything, almost hoping to see one of the peaceful residents out and about. There was no one. She let out a sigh of relief and of disappointment. She was unsure of which she wanted to discover.
Straightening her robe and brushing her hair behind her shoulders Yuna made her way back to her living quarters. It would be best to forget about the whistle. More than likely it was her imagination, concocted from the strange dream and her inane wishing that he come back. It was a silly wish. He hadn't even been real to start out. A dream of the Fayth as they called him. And now dreams were all she had of him.
Yuna had resolved to go back to sleep when it happened again. There was no mistaking it this time. The sharp sound cut through the air like a dagger in her chest. It was coming from the direction of the temple. She hesitated a moment then dropped her robe quickly pulling on different clothes. A pair of denim shorts with a long hanging, ruffled side and a white tank top with the Zanarkand symbol in the middle. They were the first articles of clothing she grabbed. She quickly pulled on her boots and headed in the direction of the temple. No use running around at night barefoot in her robe.
The Besaid Temple had been sealed up a few months after the lies of Yevon had been revealed. Most of the others had as well. The betrayed people did not want the place of worship open any longer, yet to one quite wanted them torn down. It was a reminder of their past mistakes. So the entrances were sealed and off limits to the public Of course Yuna could bypass the seal. It was a simple matter of switching the glyphs on the door around to complete the puzzle. And unlike other places Besaid didn't have guards around the temple to ensure there weren't any intruders.
The Glyph puzzle was easy enough as it was. Yuna could quickly switch the components around completing the image. The image was a word, another reminder to everyone. It read 'SIN'. Having completed the puzzle Yuna stepped back and pulled the dull colored sphere from the wall. The temple door slid open and she stepped inside. As she did the whistle sounded again, louder and closer.
The Besaid Temple was simple in itself. It wasn't particularly large and the Cloister of Trials didn't require much thought to work your way through. Yuna loved that fact. When she was much younger she would sneak through the Cloister and sit outside of Valefor's chamber when she was upset. Even back before she was a full-fledged summoner, the Aeon provided her comfort. She missed Valefor terribly as well as the other summons
The whistle had stopped now. She knew where to go Valefor's chamber. She was now fairly sure that it wasn't Tidus himself. He would have come to find her by this point. It was his call though, the very one he had taught her. So it must have had something to do with him, right? It didn't matter. All that she was concerned with was finding out why she was hearing his call.
She mad her way to the inner chamber of the temple glancing every which direction curiously, trying to find a hint of something, anything. Nothing jumped out at her though. It was the same old temple it had always been. Letting out a sigh she turned to go. It was disappointing. Even if Tidus wouldn't have been there himself it had to have been something about him. Maybe a way she could see him again. That was her wishful thinking though.
"You heard it, didn't you?"
The familiar voice made her spin around. Standing there was the child Fayth of Bahamut. As usual his face was hidden behind the royal purple hood. Her heartbeat quickened. This was it, whatever was going on would be explained now. Bahamut was good at that. Even if he had the form of a child he had the wisdom of an old sage.
"…Yes." She responded hesitantly
It suddenly occurred to her to wonder why he was there. The Aeons had been dispersed; there was no longer any need for them. Their souls could be at peace. So why was the child standing in front of her in the temple? A panic seized her. What if something had gone wrong? What if Sin hadn't been defeated? What if they just made Sin even stronger? They had gone against precedence, they had changed things. That's how Sin had been born, hadn't it?
"Lay your worries to rest Lady Summoner. Sin is dead, and will not return."
She breathed an audible sigh of relief. Yuna didn't have to ask how the Aeon knew what she was thinking. They were always perceptive to her thoughts and feelings. And she was glad to hear that Sin was gone for good. That was her worst fear; that all they wend through, all they sacrificed had been for nothing.
"Then why…" she began.
He stopped her by holding up a tanned skin hand, "In fact Lady Summoner, I can give you the option of Sin never existing."
"You could… … what?" Was that even possible? It would be wonderful is Sin never existed. No one would have had to die, including her father and Sir Auron. Spira would not have fallen into chaos, there wouldn't be such a large gap between the Al-Bhed and everyone else. It would be perfect, if it were possible. How could he give her that option?
A small smile touched his lips, "There is a catch of course, " there was a small hint of amusement in his voice"You would be sent to the time of Zanarkand and Bevelle, the time that is only a dream now. Before war broke out, before the lies of Yevon. And you would stop it before it ever happened."
Yuna's mind worked overtime processing everything. The possibilities were numerous. If she could stop Sin from ever being born… But would that mean that everything in her life would never have happened. Time travel was an unheard of theory. Anyone who studied it was ostracized even by the Al-Bhed. No one wanted to mess with time. But to completely stop Sin, it would be worth it. Yuna couldn't only think of herself. If she could pull this off then it would save so many. Wasn't that worth it? Just one more act of self-sacrifice for the better of everyone else.
Then another possibility, one that filled her with hope and made those stomach butterflies flutter. She would be sent to the time that was 'a dream'. That meant one thing in her head now. Tidus. She would get to see him again, be with him again. She could hear his voice and look into those blue as blue eyes, and feel that unrefutable grin of joy and boundless energy.
That was it. She was resolved now. She would get another chance to be with Tidus, and stop Spira's greatest tragedy from coming to pass.
"What do I have to do."
End Chapter Three
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Noacat: Thanks really. I always love getting reviews from you. And I was fairly sure the quote was from Cinderella, but not 100. XD I'll have to get that story out of you.
ClandestineSchemer: -Blushes.—You think so? Thanks very much. I'm glad you like it. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter too. Your email motivated me to get to working on it again.
Okay. Well there it was. I hope you all liked it. I'm not exactly very happy with it. I had a lot of trouble with this one. Guess that's why this is a challenge. And I suppose that it doesn't help that I do almost all my writing at school. –Shrug— Oh, and the next chapter really will be a while in coming. I have to go get my fact straight and all. –Frowny-
