Author's note: This marks my SECOND posted fanfic! Whoo-hoo! is happy I know I've been really harking on the FFX, but that's just because I've been writing these since…um…2003? Something like that. So more of them are finished than some of my others. This also means, however, that these were written when I was about thirteen. They're not all that great, but I just have this crazy need to get them posted. Once I've got all of these out of my system, I'll probably start on the other ones I've got. Those are better, since I was older. But you probably don't care, do you? I didn't think so. Mostly, just…um…thanks for reading my stuff! I guess I'm technically an authoress now! is even happier
Disclaimer: I forgot to add this to my last fanfic, You Lead, I'll Follow. So this applies to both of them. I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own anything except my original characters, who would be Arianna, Lyra, and Darkstar. Oh, and Lyra's boyfriend, who shows up for all of ten seconds. I own them. But other than that, I own nothing. Seriously.
Chapter One: He's Still Gone
Yuna stared off into the distance, lost in her thoughts. I wish Tidus were here. I miss him so much. It's only been a year since he left, but it feels like a century. Ever since Wakka and Lulu got married, it's only gotten worse. I wish I could just find him again.
She was shaken from her trance by a bright voice saying behind her, "Don't look so serious, Yunie."
She turned to see her cousin, Rikku, standing behind her, grinning happily like usual. Yuna smiled a little. "Sorry. It's just been a long week," she explained.
Rikku's smile faded and she sat down next to Yuna. "You miss him, don't you?" she asked quietly.
Yuna nodded. After a moment of silence, Rikku looked back up at her, determined. "He'll come back. I'll make him," she said firmly.
Yuna laughed at the slim girl's stubbornness. Rikku broke into her traditional grin again and stood up, brushing the sand off her shorts. "Besides, he promised, didn't he?" she said, walking back toward the village.
Yuna nodded and stared out to sea once again. She watched the waves smash upon the shore, a few even breaking over her bare feet, darkening the hem of her sapphire blue skirt. Sunlight shot down through the green water, rays of light green among the darker shadows. She watched as a pair of shiny grey dolphins burst through the surface, tiny drops of water spraying everywhere like sunlit diamonds. They leapt through the waves together, chirping and splashing everywhere. Yuna smiled sadly. An aching shudder went through her soul as she remembered Tidus's bright grin, the way he always acted like he knew everything, when in reality he rarely did. She thought about their last moments together, just before he disappeared into the gold clouds below the airship.
She'd been so happy, yet there was sadness fringing her thoughts. Sin was finally gone, but Sir Auron, her faithful guardian, had gone to the Farplane, leaving them one short of their usual seven. She was dancing to send the aeons, to send Auron, to send Sin. Suddenly she saw that Tidus, the man she'd come to love, was glowing a strange, shimmery blue. He looked at her, horror filling his usually cheerful eyes. "No," she whispered, shaking her head.
He blinked and his eyes softened. "Yuna, I have to go," he told her gently. She shook her head again, not allowing herself to believe it. "I'm sorry I couldn't show you Zanarkand," he continued. He glanced around at the others, then met her eyes. "Good-bye." And he took off toward the edge of the airship.
She couldn't stand still any longer. "No!" she cried, running after him. He turned and opened his arms to catch her. But instead of being wrapped in his warm, safe arms, she fell through him, landing hard on the cold, uncaring metal. She laid there, stricken, watching pyreflies drift upwards.
After a moment she stood, and stared out into the golden Sin-cloud. "I love you," she whispered, the first time she'd ever uttered those words to him. She heard him turn, then he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and buried his face in her hair.
But she felt nothing. She couldn't feel his warmth anymore, didn't even feel his breath on her hair. For a long moment they stood there, while she tried to accept it and fight back tears. Then he let go, and walked through her to the edge of the airship again. She watched as he leapt over the edge, and disappeared into the clouds.
She kept a calm, cheerful façade, but inside her heart was breaking. As she watched him disappear, she told herself that she'd find him, no matter what.
A rough sob that tore through her body involuntarily snapped her back to the present. She wiped her eyes and stood up. She took a deep breath and turned to walk back to the village. She stared into the forest one last time, as if willing Tidus to walk out the shadows, grinning brightly and saying something like, "I'm back! Did ya miss me?"
Yuna smiled at little at the thought and continued back to the village. A crowd had gathered in front of the temple.
Rikku was grinning even more fiercely than usual. "Yunie!" she called as she spotted the slender brunette. She ran to her cousin, shouting, "It's for you! They want you, Yunie!"
Yuna raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Me?" she wondered aloud as Rikku grabbed her elbow.
"Duh, silly. You defeated Sin! And for good this time. They think you're the best thing to happen since blitzball!" Rikku explained, giggling. She shoved Yuna up on the platform in front of the temple stairs.
"Rikku!" Yuna hissed.
Her blond cousin just smiled encouragingly and mouthed, "Say something!"
Yuna turned to the expectant crowd. Familiar faces were upturned to her, faces tan and lined with hard work and long hours in the sun. Their eyes held a cautious light and trust for Yuna, making her feel like a travelling summoner again.
"I suppose you've all come to hear me say something about the defeat of Sin, the enemy that has terrorized us for a millennia. But what is more important, I think, is the loved ones we lost in Sin's rampage, the ones who were brutally murdered in our fight against it. Those people, they must be remembered. The dreams. The faces. The laughs." She paused for a moment to regain control of herself, determined not to cry in front of the crowd. They were silent, staring at her with expressions of understanding and pain. She drew in a deep, shuddering lungful of tangy sea air. "The souls we have lost, the dreams we have dreamed: never forget them. For to forget our memories is to lose the most important part of ourselves." She finished with a slight bow and walked off the platform, biting back tears.
Rikku gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand. Yuna nodded her thanks at her and followed Lulu and Wakka back home.
She fell asleep almost instantly, falling into a deep, dark, dreamless blackness. It was almost noon the next day before she awoke to see Lulu and Rikku attempting to sew something. She blinked as the bright midday sun poured in through the doorway.
Rikku noticed Yuna first. "You're awake!" she exclaimed. Yuna nodded and smiled.
Lulu raised one eyebrow. "Another few hours and I would have sworn you'd gotten drunk last night," she said. Yuna laughed and walked outside.
Wakka was arguing with a dark-haired boy she'd seen around a few times. "I don't care!" Wakka shouted.
"I just want to see her, Wakka! Just give me five minutes!" the boy pleaded.
"No!" Wakka was obviously pretty worked up about whatever it was they were arguing about.
Yuna walked up to them. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"He was lookin' for you, Yuna! He wanted to wake you up!" Wakka accused, as if wanting to talk was the worst crime in the world.
"It's okay, Wakka. I'll talk to him," she assured him. The boy was looking at her with an odd expression. Wakka looked at the both of them and stormed off. Yuna turned to the boy, expecting the same kind of congratulatory conversation she'd been through for the past year. The last thing she expected was for him for suddenly take her in a rough embrace. She was too startled to say anything, but just stood there, shocked.
After a moment, he let her go. "You're probably so confused," he laughed, sounding as if he was choking back tears.
She tilted her head to one side and narrowed her eyes at him. "Do I know you?" she asked.
He bit his lip, then grinned. "It's me," he said, sounding excited.
She just stared at him. "And that means…" She let her sentence drift off, waiting for him to finish it.
He took her hands in his and looked her in the eyes. "It's me. Tidus."