The chocobo eater was a great team building exercise, though Yuna's new Aeon did a lot of the leg work.
What was the name again? Ifeert? Oh well, Hot Dog it would be to Tidus.
Zanarkand was really missing out on those Chocobos though. They were fun to ride, and pretty easy to handle...though they were a little smelly.
Of course, Tidus tried to imagine riding one around back home, among the motorcycles and the cars...and thought that maybe the chocobos were fine here in Spira.
The birds allowed for much quicker travel of the High Road, and they made it to the crusaders blockade before lunch.
"A blockade?" Wakka wondered aloud. "But how else are we supposed to get to Djose?"
"I'm sorry folks," one of the nearby crusaders explained. "The road will be closed off during our operation. We're very sorry for the inconvenience."
"We have to get through," argued Lulu. "This is Summoner Yuna, and you are hindering her pilgrimage."
"I'm sorry. Summoner or not, I have strict orders not to let anyone pass."
It was then that Wakka made the startling discovery. "Hey, there's Al Bhed here."
"The Al Bhed and the Crusaders are teaming up?" Asked Yuna.
Wakka frowned. "What kind of operation needs the Al Bhed a part of it?"
"I find myself asking the same question." A wispy voice interrupted.
The party turned to see Maester Seymour joining the fray. He seemed none too bothered by the presence of those so-called heathens.
He almost looked excited.
"Lady Yuna? Is there something the matter?"
Tidus felt an uncomfortable crawling sensation in his veins. This blue haired clown really made his skin crawl. Jealousy, the others might say. But no, he could read those sleazy bedroom eyes from a mile away.
How old was this dude anyway? Should he be allowed to look at Yuna like that?
Why did he care? He wondered. He was a guardian now, so obviously he was watching out for her.
And a pending marriage proposal, his subconscious reminded him politely. He had managed to forget about that all morning.
"We need to get through to continue my pilgrimage," Yuna said simply.
Tidus really admired that she didn't try any persuasion at that moment. No beating her enchanting mismatched eyes, or pitching her voice up like so many girls had done to him.
She didn't even say please.
"I'll take care of it." Seymour smiled.
Tidus mimed a gagging motion at Kimahri, but the joke was wasted on the stoic ronso.
Miraculously, Seymour did take care of it. They were waved on almost immediately, much to the chagrin of Dona, who was asked to stay back.
They were prompted forward, down the Mushroom Rock trail, to the beach and the command post, where everything was going down.
The Mi'ihen Highroad was lush with greens. A perfect day with ideal blue skies, with happy chocobos fluttering around.
But the closer they got to the operation, the grayer the sky, the drier the ground, and the more fierce the fiends.
Yuna shivered slightly as they entered a valley.
"You okay, Yuna?" Tidus asked.
"Oh, yes. Just got a chill up my spine." She came a little closer to him and admitted. "I don't know why, but I got a sense of dread all of a sudden."
"What's the operation all about, anyway?"
"I'm not sure. But I suppose we'll find out more when we reach the command post."
They found out plenty when they crested the hill and found a half a dozen machina canons all lined up and pointed out to sea.
The horror on his teammates faces proved that whatever was going on was likely very heretical.
"What are all these Machina doing here?" Asked Wakka.
A crusader answered. "We Crusaders and Al Bhed share the same dream. To be rid of Sin forever! And if we can take the burden away from the summoners, we're going to try!"
It was a noble cause, Tidus thought. He had seen the devastation that Sin was capable of. Were these little canons good enough?"
They were explained the situation. A huge canon sat on the cliff side, easily big enough to wipe out a city if they weren't careful. And there was an army on the beach, ready to fight and distract with swords.
He hoped this would all work, maybe then Yuna could stop her journey.
Maybe Sin would come to shore and he would go home, and then he wouldn't have to come up with an answer for Yuna's marriage proposal.
He felt like maybe all these things were unlikely, and that only the worst was to come.
The army was still preparing, and there was no sign of Sin, though the bait was set and waiting.
Tidus spotted a familiar merchant standing back, behind the cliff wall.
"O'aka, right?"
"Ah, so my name is catching on, eh?"
"Well...maybe. We rode in the boat over from Kilika, remember?"
"Oh yes. I never forget a face! You lent me a pretty penny, and for that, I'm grateful. Are you after anything? I have a special rate because of the operation."
"Do you...have any rings?"
"Rings? Ah yes, all sorts of magic wards. And they're pretty too!"
Tidus had been given an allowance for such an occasion.
O'aka displayed his tray of jewelry, with about a dozen different choices on it. Golds and silvers, with all sorts of jewels.
"What about this one?" He pointed to a silver and blue one, with a very intricate design.
"Excellent choice! A real heavy hitter! Stone, water, fire, and lightning proof, and it's blessed!"
"How much?"
"For you my friend, only 9999!"
Tidus opened and closed his mouth in shock. "Uhhh..."
"What are you doing?" Auron asked, coming up behind him.
He yelped in surprise, and then tried to school his expression into something that didn't look like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Uhh...just looking at rings."
"For Yuna?"
O'aka's eyes widened. "For Lady Summoner Yuna? My my, how interesting!"
"Mind your own business!" Tidus scolded with a blush.
"So you decided to say yes?" Auron asked.
"Not...completely. I'm still thinking things through...I just want to be prepared. You know? I thought, maybe having it would help me think."
"A wise decision." Auron took out a sack of Gil and handed it to O'aka, then took the ring, and a thicker, plainer band. "You get one too."
"Oh. Right." For now, Tidus just pocketed them, and decided to concentrate on the mission.
A mission that was doomed to fail, according to Maester Seymour and Kinoc.
"Let them keep dreaming." They said. It was almost an admission to a genocide.
Everybody here, crusaders, Al Bhed, and a few Yevonites, they were all fighting for peace. For calm.
And yet, these 'Holy Men' had laughed behind their backs.
Tidus had nothing against the temples. Faith and prayer were vital in keeping hope in such a dismal world. But these Maesters smelled heavily of nepotism and flagrant thirst for power.
In Zanarkand, such men would find places of power. In government, in business, on boards and councils. But of the religions back home, he thought of them as pious and self sacrificing.
Not whatever these two men were.
How many others were like this? How many others were willing to sacrifice people?
Why wasn't anyone speaking up?
They shouldn't have come. They should have stayed at the blockade, or gone back to stay another night at the Travel Agency.
But no. Now Tidus was in the water, rapidly chasing down his old man. The beach was littered with bodies and shrapnel of destroyed Machina. The operation had failed catastrophically, and yet, all he could do was swim on, chasing.
He wouldn't let this opportunity pass him by.
But Sin was gone. Just as Jecht had vanished from his life, so had the beast once again. Giving no answers, leaving more questions, and leaving oblivion it's wake.
How long had he been passed out for? Minutes? Hours? He wasn't sure. The wet sand pressed against his back as he washed ashore. All his chasing and he was back.
"There you are! You good, brudda?" Wakka hurried to him and pulled him to his feet.
"Yeah. Just...I just fell."
And he had. He had been up top fighting that Sinspawn before he fell below. So it wasn't a complete lie. He just didn't want to explain to Wakka that he had tried to chase down the biggest menace on Spira because of a childhood grudge.
"Where's Yuna?" He asked instead.
"Talking to Maester Seymour." He pointed up towards the ridge. Yuna stood there, head bowed as Maester Seymour stood too close, speaking to her.
"I gotta go."
"I don't know man, seems like a private conversation."
"Like I care!" Tidus staggered to his feet and hurried over to her. He stood below the ridge, just out of sight, but not out of earshot.
"…so you mustn't cry." Seymour preached. "You must be a beacon of light to Spira, you must be strong for these survivors."
"I know," Yuna said, in a tender voice. "But some of these people were my friends, and I want to grieve their loss."
"Yuna, being a summoner means removing your emotions from those around you. You can care, but not too much. You know that, right?"
Tidus wanted to grab that cretin by the robes and push him into the sea. Maybe Sin would come back and swallow him. Was that too much to ask?
"I understand. Thank you, Maester Seymour."
The man patted her head, like she was a dog, and moved on.
Yuna stood there for a moment, just staring at the ground.
"Yuna?" Tidus spoke behind her.
She turned, and saw him just below her on the ridge. She nodded with resolve and sat down on the edge. "Will you help me down?"
He held his arms up for her, and she took hold of his shoulders. She slid down, to stand with him, keeping her eyes locked with his. "Thank you."
"Anytime. You okay?"
She just nodded. Then added, "I have a sending to do."
So he let her go, and watched as she began her dance.
A dance devoid of joy, of fun, of merriment. It was still graceful, and haunting, but the tightness in her face contrasted with the fluid movement in her body.
Sobs and wailing filled the air, as survivors of the massacre witnessed their friends and family rise as Pyreflies into the air.
If it was up to him, she'd stop dancing. So she could stop hiding her sorrows.
Her strength did amaze him, though. He watched as she danced up and down that beach, long after the sun had set. She wouldn't allow one soul to not be sent. They already suffered, they didn't need to remain as fiends.
Long after Seymour and Kinoc left, long after the other guardians set up camp, Tidus still followed Yuna down the beach. All the way to the other end, before she collapsed in exhaustion.
"Yuna?" He asked softly.
"I just need a moment," she breathed.
She sprawled out on the sand, and Tidus wondered if she cared about it getting in her hair.
She looked exhausted. Her lips pulled into a tight line, and her eyes were shut hard.
"Why did this have to happen?" She asked aloud, mostly hypothetical, but loud enough for him to hear.
"Because people were sick of Sin. And death was a better alternative to sitting and twiddling their thumbs."
She sighed. "My mind knows that, but my heart..."
He sat in the sand beside her, just a hands length away. "You know, it's okay to cry."
She shook her head.
"Even I let out a few tears back there, and most of these people were complete strangers. You knew some of them."
"I have to be strong. Summoners are a pillar of strength to the people of Spira."
"So I heard," he shrugged. "But that doesn't mean you can't ever cry."
"I don't want to." She protested. "I want my journey to be full of laughter, and you've been so good about helping with that. Don't tell me to cry."
"Fine. I'm not going to make you cry. Just...sometimes, being happy isn't possible. Then it's the best to just be less sad."
Yuna turned to look at him, but didn't say anything.
"Maybe I don't know anything about Yevon, or hardly anything about life. But I think grief is when you love too much, and you can't give it. I think if I saw a summoner cry from loss, I would feel better. My future, my world, is in the hands of someone who loves."
Yuna hummed softly, garnering his attention. She had streaks on her cheeks, but he politely chose not to mention it. "What happened here was a tragedy, but for a moment, everyone was United and working together, and I thought it was really beautiful. So maybe it was bad...but not all bad."
"Feel better?"
"Yeah...not happy, but less sad." She sat up, dusting the sand from her clothes. She admired the stars above and the crashing of waves before pushing to stand. "We should get back soon, before they worry."
"We will," Tidus assured. "But I want to ask you something first."
"Alright?"
With resolve he hadn't felt in a while, he took the ring out of his pocket, and got down on one knee. "You know, it might feel like weird timing, but I want to help."
"Tidus?"
He held the ring up to her. "Yuna, will you marry me?"
She just stared at him for a long time.
"I know you asked me, but back home, it's kind of tradition for the guy to ask. Hope you don't mind?"
"So...you're accepting my proposal?"
"Only if you accept mine."
She laughed, a genuine smile breaking out on her face. "Alright. I accept!"
He smiled too, and pushed to his feet. Then he held out for her hand and slipped the ring on for her.
"I never thought I'd propose to a girl I wasn't dating." He joked.
"Already getting cold feet?"
He shook his head, before gathering her into a hug.
Yuna was startled for only a moment, before snuggling into his arms.
"Whatever you need, you come to me, okay?" He asked. "If you need to laugh, or cry, or a hug. I'm your man."
Yuna smiled into the embrace. "Yes, you are my man."
