AN: I have a little SURPRISE for you at the end of the chapter . Hope you like it!
"I can't go to your party and be with you on that day, because of what I am!" Tidus pointed out sadly, glancing down only a brief second before looking up again, happier and more animated, "but I can still give you a present." He added with a bright smile.
"How?" Rikku inquired curiously and doubtfully as well.
"You will see!" Tidus winked at her as he concentrated, still smiling as sweetly and gently as before.
The little ghost floated lightly behind Rikku. Tidus smiled lightly and pretended to hold his breath, blowing outside and forcing pressure into his shape. The boy inflated like a balloon, and shape shifted in the most incredible ways. Standing on the small room, glancing at the woman with sparkling blue eyes, was a large, transparent eagle. Glowing with a blissful mist, an inner light sparkled brightly within his ethereal soul, the eagle raised his pale head and threw a sharp shrill to the room. Rikku tensed and curled in a ball, covering her ears from the painful sound.
"Ride!" said the eagle happily, smiling at the girl with gentle eyes.
"Where to?" Rikku was very curious, excited, but also a little hesitant, not thinking that something so ethereal could sustain her body.
"You will see when we get there, ride, don't be afraid!" the boy said again, more gently, so lovingly.
Rikku approached rather timidly, and placed her hand on the eagle's folded wings, and the powerful chest. The blue eyes of the spirit sparkled gently, and the corners of his beak curved into a gentle smile. The girl's spiralled eyes glowed dreamily, her hands enjoyed the tingling feeling on her palms, upon connecting with the mystical feathers. She nodded confidently and climbed upon his back, settling herself comfortably on the unstable, ethereal creature. The eagle screeched again, expanding his wings vast, and wide into the room. With a leap, the animal leapt through the window, the open wings, and the large body going through the walls, while the fleshy body on his back curled in a ball to pass through the small, framed gap.
The eagle soared through the skies calmly, the wind hitting Rikku's face, caressing her with fresh hands, the moon hugging her in an icy, yet delicate embrace. Tidus flew, forests racing bellow his strong chest and stomach, lagoons reflecting the starry sky, and a woman flying magically. Woodlands and oceans, lakes and mountains, were left behind, and the ghost flew over a mystical forest, one ripped out from a fairy tale. The trees sparkled with brightness, glitters stolen from their glassy leaves, the trunks decorated with humid moss, the colour of emerald, and the pireflies swaying gently below the ceiling of crystalline branches. This was the most magnificent vision Rikku had ever seen, and her mouth opened in a gap, a surprised, wondered gasp escaped her rosy lips, and her eyes sparkled with the beauty of the vision. She had heard about this place, but never imagined it would be real; Macalania.
The youth knew the path well enough to allow his mind to wander by itself. Hence normally his thoughts were organized, or slightly, and related to his not life, this time his mind was not going to obey his desires. Flashes of images stormed like lightning in his mind. Lights, bright lights behind him, before him, and over him, racing at impossible speeds. No, the lights were not moving, he was racing at an impossible speed, leaving all that behind, appearing and vanishing before eyes could see, a pained roar of suffering engines rumbling in his ears, accompanied by the terrible howl of the wind. Lights spiralling before his eyes, flying, him elevating to the skies, his eyes dizzy from the circling movement. Falling, the lights were gone and darkness was resting a veil upon him.
The eagle staggered in his flight like a horse with a wounded ankle. Tidus felt the residual memory of a pain, a terrible pain that affected his chest, shattered to pieces, torn ribs puncturing his lungs and heart like knives and needles, and blood falling down the corner of his lips. The terrible pain, which made him cry, and the realization of his stupidity. His eyes, staring at the stormy grey figure before him, the glowing eyes focused on him, staring meanly at him through the pure, bluish white light. The ghost felt his spiritual body collapsed for a few seconds. Rikku gripped the feathers tightly, feeling stunned and frightened for a brief moment. It was just an instant, for immediately, Tidus regained control, steered his wings, and began the descent.
Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
"Tidus this is just beautiful!" exclaimed Rikku glancing at the vision before her.
Stars were sparkling, dancing like faeries, beings with the colours of the rainbow merged into a crystalline, ethereal figure that swayed and danced around them tranquilly, calmly. The lake bubbled and bloomed with the reflection of the sky, and the colourful lights diving below its watery surface. The night was fresh and clear, and the glassy trees twinkled and chimed like tiny bells when their leaves collided delicately, swayed by the wind's playful hand.
"I came here many times, while I travelled searching for a friend!" Tidus admitted shamefully, staring at the lake with a gentle smile. "It's… peaceful, and it gave me the tranquillity I needed to think." He finished with a shrug.
"What were you like when you were alive?" Rikku asked, glancing at him curiously.
"I was… I was… I…" Tidus' words rippled nervously, "I can't remember." He admitted shamefully, lowering his head.
"You don't remember anything?" Rikku was now fully interested.
"No…" Tidus sighed looking away from her.
"You can't remember your friends? Or your favourite things?" the Al Bhed insisted, staring at him and attempting to catch a glance of his face.
"Hmmm…" Tidus shook his head, his expression turning sadder by the second, and his eyes narrowing, turning glossy.
"You don't remember your father? Or your mother?" Rikku's voice was low, calm and almost resigned and sad.
"Is that… bad?" question Tidus, glancing at the girl, his eyes glossy and teary.
"No…" sighed the girl staring at him with compassion, and care, "but it's sad."
Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
Back at the room, Rikku was laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling with a sad expression in her eyes. Tidus was floating next to her, staring at the same ceiling with the interest of someone reading an encyclopaedia.
"You know? Sometimes I have a feeling that my friends are forgetting me." Rikku commented calmly, shrugging at her comment and never tearing her eyes away from the ceiling.
"Why is that?" Tidus inquired interested, looking at the girl an descending his flight.
"The letters, the messages, the calls… they have become more spaced, shorter and they take weeks to come, when there were just hours of separation from one another before." Rikku commented calmly.
Tidus said nothing and listened intently.
"But I am forgetting them too, I can't barely remember their voices, or their favourite phrases, just the little things!" Rikku sighed shaking her head. "I just guess distance does matter. I wished they could be here for my birthday." Rikku shrugged, smiling lightly, and turned around.
The girl's eyelids closed. Tidus flew closed to her and placed his lips next to her ear. His blue eyes sparkled and they looked down at her.
"Rikku, if I was alive… could I go to the party?" he inquired in a silent voice.
"Uhum…" was the silent mumble of the sleepy girl, whose mind was droning and evading reality.
"Rikku…" Tidus' voice lowered a tone, and his lips approached her ear even more.
"Hum?" mumbled Rikku sleepily.
"Can I keep you?" Tidus inquired in a whisper, and that phrase sank deep in Rikku's mind, for the little things make the person.
"Uhum…" answered the girl, still awake, yet falling into slumber.
Tidus then placed a gentle kiss in her cheek, and his lips curled into a smile as he observed the sleeping form of the girl. Rikku shivered lightly, and gasped at the ghost's contact with her skin, unknowingly however to the origin of her cold.
"Tidus, close the window… it's cold!" she pleaded wrapping the blankets around herself even tighter.
Tidus sighed and floated up, staring at her. He liked her, a lot, and his heart was shattering into a million pieces. Tidus was aware that he could never get her, and he was also aware that he could never return to life, for death had no remedy. Hence he was there, hopelessly in love and unable to tell her just how much she meant to him.
Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
Yuna was having her breakfast at her faculty's cafeteria. She was taking a coffee and a toast. Next to her, on the same table, was a very old copy of a newspaper, about a few months old, that someone must have left there. It was the Zanarkand Daily, a newspaper that wasn't even sold there, in Besaid. The Yevonie was entertained, going through the pages and reading news that were well known and vanished. She did find some interesting articles, relating Zanarkand, which were very interesting. Suddenly, her hand froze while rising the cup to her lips, her bicoloured eyes widened, and her face read a silent gasp of shock.
"Holy Yevon…" she hissed silently, beginning to read the article.
To Be Continued…
AN: Next chapter will have some important revelations, some surprises here and there, and some possibilities. Just so you know, Zanarkand is not a ruined city, but a prosperous metropolis. Well, keep reading and hope you like it. Sorry for the delay, the faculty has taken most of my time, but I will try to update as fast as I can.
THEATRICAL TRAILER:
Rikku appears in scene, the Macalanian woodlands behind her. She is attacked by a white Vihur, the fiend leaps towards her. Rikku moves her staff and a lightning strikes the fiend. The monster collapses to the ground.
'When someone you love…'
The fiend stands up, shakes his head and opens his eyelids. His eyes are a bright blue colour.
'returns in the body of a fiend…'
"It's you!" Rikku gasps.
'Will you find the way…'
The Vihur leaps forward to attack a pack of fangs, there is a flash of white light and when it fades Tidus is standing there.
'To return him to humanity?'
"Don't worry, we will find the way to make it permanent" Rikku hugs the white Vihur.
Next scene TIdus (the Vihur) and Rikku are standing at the hall of an enormous tower.
"Welcome to the tower of Mirage, I'm Laethos!" a young stranger vows, sparkling silver hair and bright blue eyes.
Change Scene.
"I'm going to learn Shapeshifting!" Rikku exclaims excitedly.
Change Scene.
"Hello Tidus!" a voice says behind the fiend. The Vihur turns around startled.
"There is a way to return you to humanity, but you might also loose your life!" Laethos tells the fiend.
Change Scene.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Tidus snarls angrily at Laethos, who has become a Vihur like him.
"I find it amusing" the other answers.
"What do you find amusing?" the boy inquires more calmly.
"How the heart reacts." He answers.
First shot of Tidus head, rather amazed, as if he has just discovered something. We see Rikku, in her room, studying, the reptile observing her.
'Now it's a race…'
"I must go to Zanarkand and find Soletha." Tidus explains a snake.
We see Rikku and Laethos dancing, then leaning in to kiss.
'To win…'
"I can't give her anything, not even love… he can give her a lot of things." Tidus voice saying, as we see the Vihur running away from the tower.
'Her heart.'
"I'm having this weird dreams…" Tidus comments.
A scene flashes in where we see a pregnant girl, with a lovely smile, pale hair and beautiful features.
"What kind of dreams?" Kimahri questions.
"Dreams of Zanarkand, of my life at Zanarkand, it's just that's not really my life!" Tidus' voice explains as we see a scene about a meeting of a lot of people. A boy is fighting with another one.
"Lya!" a voice calls as a man runs across the ruins of a city.
"It's the only way to save Spira!" a dark man with black robes comments. The group of people he is talking at nod.
Change Scene.
"I must find him!" Rikku yells at Laethos, the man stares at her understanding, but looking very hurt.
Change Scene.
Tidus, as human, is running towards an enormous dragon, which is snarling viciously. The scene fades abruptly and letters in foggy white appear against a black background.
HUMAN SPIRIT
"Do you understand it now?" a voice asks, while we see Tidus' Vihur face gasping surprised at something he has seen.
Now Playing!