Sending
One night, after nearly a month of training and exploration, we gathered for dinner on board Cid's ship. It had been a somewhat lazy day, and our talk was light and casual. I ate sparingly, contenting myself mostly with vegetables, a bit of fish, and my usual sake as I listened to the others chat about all the sights we had seen. The conversation slowed as we finished eating, and eventually silence fell.
After several minutes of quiet, Yuna put down her glass and stood. "I am ready," she said.
I turned to her. "Ready to face Sin?"
She bowed her head, a solemn nod. "I have put this off for long enough. It's time."
"Well then." Lulu leaned forward. "Shall we call in Cid and plan our strategy?"
"I'll get him," said Rikku as she jumped to her feet. She returned with her father a few minutes later.
"The final showdown with Sin," he said as he entered the room, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Let's get this show on the road." He took the empty chair next to Tidus, and we began to plot.
The next morning, I readied myself for battle and then headed for my customary spot outside the bridge, the place I usually stood when the ship was in motion. To my surprise, I found Tidus standing there instead, holding up the wall with his back.
"Nervous?" I asked as I stood next to him.
"A little," he admitted.
"I understand," I said. "Still, it's best that we finish this. Jecht was never a patient man."
Tidus chuckled, then turned to me, his eyes serious, and I saw his question as he began to verbalize it. "So, when this is done…" I had admitted to him that I was unsent. He was the only member of the party I'd told. As far as I knew, none of the others save Kimahri had any inkling of the truth.
I nodded. "When this is over, I will leave. I have played at life long enough." He nodded in response, then locked his eyes on the metal deck of the airship. The two of us stood together quietly for a time while I considered this boy and his progress. He had withdrawn somewhat, become more serious, ever since the battle with Yunalesca, and I wondered why. Was he merely accepting the fact that he was going to have to kill his father? Or was something darker at work? The silence grew heavier, and eventually I decided to break it. "Something on your mind?"
He shook his head, but I found myself unconvinced. As he shifted nervously, I became certain that he was hiding something, something important.
"If it is anything that could affect this battle, I have to know," I said. "Are you having second thoughts about facing Jecht?"
"No," he said. "That's what he wants, y'know? And it's the only way to save Spira. No, it's not my old man." He looked at me again and, to my great surprise, I saw fear written on his face. "It's me." And he proceeded to explain what the fayth had told him, the reason for the mysterious summoning on the top of Mt. Gagazet and the true nature of the Zanarkand that had been our home.
"A summoning," I murmured. "Zanarkand and all its inhabitants, a dream of the fayth."
He nodded. "When we defeat Yu Yevon, he won't be able to summon anymore. So then..." I saw his throat bobbing as he swallowed his next words.
I grasped his shoulder, a spike of guilt piercing my soul. "Tidus. I swear to you that I did not know these things. I had no idea that destroying Sin would mean--"
He placed his hand over mine as he interrupted. "It's all right, Auron. I've accepted it. Ending the cycle is more important than anything. I know that it's worth more than Jecht's life, or yours, or mine." He sighed softly. "But… I'm still a little afraid. Will I go with you to the Farplane? Or will I just fade away, like I never existed in the first place?"
I dredged up my knowledge of the teachings and spent several minutes poring over them, searching for anything that might answer the boy's question. In the end, I had to shake my head. "I don't know," I said. "This is outside my experience. If the fayth couldn't tell you, I doubt that anyone else will know."
"I figured." His shoulders slumped a little.
"Whatever happens, I will be there," I told him. "Our stories will end together."
A hint of a smile traveled over his features. "Thanks." He dropped his hand and stepped away, my own hand falling from his shoulder to my side. "Well, I'd better go get ready." He walked onto the bridge, and as the door slid shut behind him, I began to clear my mind in preparation for the final battle ahead of us.
"You're late, Auron," said the figure on the end of the platform as he looked out over an empty blitzball stadium, arms crossed over his chest.
Using magic and the guns on the airship, we had punched a hole through Sin's defenses, then flown the ship into the depths of Sin. Battling past fiends and Seymour, whom we had defeated and Yuna had finally sent, we had made our way here, to the silent Zanarkand nightscape that I had visited twice before.
"I know," I said. "I'm sorry."
"'S okay." Jecht turned around to face us, dropping his arms. "Hey."
"Hi," said Tidus.
Jecht looked his son up and down. "Hah!" He grinned. "You got tall, but you're all bones. You eatin' right, boy?" Tidus said nothing, staring off into the distance over his father's shoulder. Rikku and Yuna both watched Tidus, looks of concern on their faces. "You've really grown," Jecht continued.
"Yeah, but you're still bigger," Tidus replied.
"Well, I am Sin, y'know." Jecht chuckled.
The attempted joke fell flat as Tidus glared back at him. "That's not funny," he said.
Jecht laughed again, but I knew the laugh for one of bravado, likely covering up a riot of emotions -- happiness at seeing his son again, sorrow over the circumstances, anticipation of his upcoming death. "Well, then… I mean… y'know…" He sighed. "Let's end this.
Tidus nodded, then looked at his father. "Dad?"
"Yeah?"
Even at a distance, I could see that the boy was only barely holding back the tears. "I hate you." The words so clearly conveyed the opposite of their stated meaning that I wondered how Jecht could bear it.
"I know, I know." Jecht looked away, then back at all of us. "But you'll do what you have to do."
"Yeah." Tidus managed a small nod.
"I can't hear the Hymn so well anymore," Jecht continued, softer and more seriously than I had ever heard him speak. "Pretty soon, I'm gonna be Sin, completely. When the change comes, I'm not gonna be myself anymore. I won't be able to hold back. I'm sorry."
Tidus shook his head. "That's enough," he said in a choked voice. "Let's just get this over with, okay?"
"You're right." Jecht took one last look at Tidus, and I could see the pain written in his face. "Well… let's go!" And he went back to the edge of the platform, hurtling himself over it and into the empty arena.
Tidus let out an incoherent cry and ran after Jecht before any of us could stop him. But he was too late -- Jecht disappeared over the ledge just as Tidus reached him. Then a shower of pyreflies rose up from below as the darkened city blazed with a sudden light. A huge fist appeared from the depths and slammed into the ground at Tidus's feet, followed by the rest of Jecht, but a Jecht changed, made enormous and grotesque: Braska's Final Aeon. I flashed back to Braska's last battle, to the morning I had watched this creature take down Sin with his awesome power, and wondered how we would ever defeat him.
Tidus pulled out his sword and stood his ground at the ledge. "I promise to make this quick," he shouted up at the monstrous creature. "Hit me with all you've got, Dad!"
He did, and we hit him in return. It was by far the longest and most difficult battle we had ever faced. I struck at him with my sword, and Wakka and Kimahri got in their blows as well, but the mages and the aeons did most of the work, slamming him repeatedly with spells. And Tidus played a part as well, shouting at his father, distracting his attention, sometimes even seeming to get through to him. But in the end, Sin fully seized control of Jecht, and Yuna and Bahamut finished him together with a mighty punch and a blast of magic.
The aeon exploded, casting off thousands and thousands of pyreflies, leaving Jecht's human form behind. Like Yunalesca, he slumped and collapsed on the pavement. Almost without thinking, I lunged forward, meaning to comfort my old friend, but Tidus beat me there, gathering Jecht in his arms as he fell. Yuna quickly came to their side, and the three of them began to speak, too quietly for me to hear until a hoarse shout rose from Jecht: "There's no time!" He lifted a weak arm, pointing above us to a dark shape flitting overhead, a creature that had risen from his aeon form just before it self-destructed. Suddenly, I remembered -- this same figure had appeared before, when Jecht and Braska had defeated Sin the first time, plunging into Jecht's aeon form before he disappeared into the sea. This being could only be Yu Yevon.
"Yuna," I heard Jecht groan as his breath failed. "You know what to do."
She grasped her staff and nodded, then began to summon for the last time.
The reception had been going on for about an hour when the acolytes of New Yevon who served as attendants this night began gathering the guests together, ushering them into the center of the hall. Liss joined the group, her mother at her left side and Paine to her right, facing the portrait of the Lady Yuna's guardians, which was still draped with cloth. The said guardians took their places in front of the picture, their summoner with them, waiting. Then Yuna herself stepped forward to the podium and silence fell over the crowd as she stood there, torchlight flickering over her sober face.
"First, I want to thank each of you for coming tonight," she said in her soft, clear voice. "It means so much to me to see all of you here. Thank you, all of you, who have worked to respect Spira's past while leading her into the future of the Eternal Calm. Thanks to the Defense Force for protecting us, and to New Yevon for safeguarding our history, and to the Ruling Council for bringing all of Spira's people together. But especially, I want to thank my guardians." She nodded to them, first to Tidus and Kimahri, who stood on her right, and then to Lulu, Wakka, and Rikku on her left. "We are all here to honor you and the sacrifices you made to help me defeat Sin and bring us this glorious peace."
She took a deep breath and looked around the room, her chin raised. "But our gathering is not complete, and can never be complete. One person is missing, lost to us forever."
Without a look or a word, Liss put an arm around Arelle's shoulder. She leaned into Liss, and mother and daughter nestled together, sharing the old grief as Yuna continued.
"Before we unveil this beautiful portrait that Mellie has created for us and share our spast adventures and future hopes, I want to remember my absent guardian, he who served my father before me and who gave his life in defense of Spira, who taught us not to accept the answers presented to us and who inspired us to search for a better way than the Final Summoning. It is no exaggeration to say that we would not be here without him. And yet now he is not here with us, not here to enjoy the Calm he helped create. So please, I ask you all to join me in a moment of silence for Sir Auron." She bowed her head as she reached for Tidus's hand. Tidus himself looked down and away, unable to hide the sadness in his face. Next to him, Kimahri crossed his arms and looked into the distance. The other three guardians assumed postures of grief and respect as well: Rikku stepping closer to Wakka, who laid an arm around her while placing his other hand on Lulu's shoulder, the black mage casting her eyes to the ceiling, then closing them.
Liss felt a strong, slim hand slip into her own, and she turned to see Paine, who bowed her own head as she squeezed Liss's fingers tightly. Arelle did not move, looking instead at the sheet hanging behind Yuna, her eyes burning as though she could see through it to the figures depicted beneath. Finally, Liss dropped her gaze to the floor, and her mind went blank.
Not a soul moved, or even breathed, the hush filling the room, the crackling of the torches the only sound to be heard. As the quiet deepened, for a moment Liss imagined she could feel a presence behind her, something comforting and solid and strong. But she did not dare turn around, and then Yuna looked up and smiled, breaking the silence and the spell it had woven as the crowd began to shift and murmur again.
"And now," Yuna said, her tone brightening, "I present to you the guardians of the Last Pilgrimage, the warriors who brought us the Eternal Calm."
Stepping back toward the painting, she took hold of the cloth and tugged it down, revealing the likenesses of six people, the five who stood before the painting and one other, a tall man dressed in black, a red coat swirling about his legs, his face hiding behind dark glasses and a high collar, a sword gleaming in his right hand and tipped back over his shoulder. He looked very much like the man Liss remembered meeting in her mother's garden so many years ago. Take care of your mother. The last words he had ever said to her reverberating in her ears, she glanced over to Arelle.
"Mother?" she asked softly. "Are you all right?"
Arelle looked up at Liss, her face clear. "Yes, my dear. I am fine."
And they stood there together, not moving as the other guests milled and swelled around them, with eyes only for the picture of the man in red.
My last battle was ended. We had defeated Sin, once and for all, and Spira could breathe easy, the thousand year reign of terror at its end. I could hardly believe it, and yet I also knew it was true, knew it to my core. We stood on the platform overlooking Jecht's Zanarkand, and Yuna danced. She danced for Jecht, she danced for Yu Yevon, she danced for the fayth and the people of Zanarkand, and, though she didn't know it yet, she danced for me.
The Farplane tugged at me as it had in Guadosalam, but this time I felt no threat in its call. Instead, it sent a polite request, an invitation that carried a promise of warmth and peace and rest. And I felt myself succumbing, relaxing my grip on physical existence, finally finishing the dying that had begun so long ago in the Calm Lands.
Yuna made a turn as she continued her sending, and then stopped short with a gasp. Everyone turned around and looked straight at me. I glanced down to see pyreflies rising from my body, which was turning translucent. The eyes turned in my direction reflected the reactions I had expected -- resignation from Tidus, understanding from Kimahri, shock from the others.
"Don't stop," I said quietly.
"But I…" Yuna did not move; she looked completely bewildered.
"It's all right." I mustered enough energy to make my form solid one last time, glanced up at Kimahri --"Remember your promise," I thought, and he acknowledged me with the barest nod -- and thumped him on the chest with a grunt, then walked through the rest of the group. I took a final look at the faces of my companions, who had come to mean far more to me than I had ever expected them to. I realized then that I was going to miss them, all of them, even the hard-headed, strong-hearted Wakka. But my quest was finished at last. Time to go home.
I stopped briefly in front of Tidus, my surrogate son, and nodded to him. "It's been long enough," I said. He cocked his head to the side and lowered his eyes, but not before I could see gratitude and affection burning there. I laid a hand on his shoulder as I moved on, although I didn't know if enough substance remained for him to feel my touch. He showed no signs of fading away; I wondered if the fayth had been wrong about his reality. I would probably learn the truth of that before long.
My last stop was the edge of the platform. I drew my sword and lowered it over my shoulder, then looked straight at Yuna, who still seemed lost. "This is your world now," I told her. I could see her swallow and nod, and then she resumed her dance. I turned away from her and gazed out over the city. My second home was gone. My first home was saved. And I finally allowed myself to think of the women I was leaving behind, to picture Relle's face along with that of the daughter I had only recently discovered. Sin's defeat was as much for them as it was for anyone. "Live," I whispered to them as their images floated through my mind. "Live, and be safe. For me."
My connection to this world was fading fast, the cohesion of my body disintegrating. I closed my eye, tipped my head back, and let the sword slip from my hands. Everything dissolved and all that remained was peace.