Awakening
By DarkHybridChild
Rating: T/PG-13
Pairs: Alot, but main will be Tidus/Rikku. If you really wanna know all the pairs so far, look this up on Ao3 for all the ship tags.
Warnings: Uh, het, shoujo-ai, shounen-ai, swearing, typical ff style violence, magic, time shenanigans.

Notes: Oh my god, this Tidus is so snarky, he's a lil shit and I love it. But he's also responsible and mature when he has to be. But hah, I enjoyed writing this chapter out. Hope you all enjoy it, too!

Although Tidus found it hard to concentrate on the Blitzball game at hand, he almost felt obligated to make a score this time around. One last farewell, he supposed. The cheering crowd did nothing to hype him as it normally did, but still he pushed. Barely slipping away from a horrible tackle, he spun with all hig might and kicked the ball. It rushed through the water so fast, the goalie was barely able to even move in reaction to try and block it before it soared past and into the net.

Making a slight victory lap around the outer perimeter of the sphere, it was then Tidus' eyes scanned the horizon and saw Sin's appearance and approach. He grit his teeth. 'Dad... This time, I... I'm going to be the one that frees you.' It was barely a heartbeat later Sin began its attack and Tidus was quick to make his escape from the Blitzsphere once the panic started.

This time around, the panic and chaos didn't really phase him. He was quick to exit the stadium and find Auron.

"Auron!" He yelled.

The other slowly looked out towards the carnage that was happening. "It's begun."

"Tell me something I don't know." Tidus murmured under his breath, shaking his head at the man, making a face. "Then hurry up, old man." Was all he said before he took off, heading forward towards the Sin spawn.

This took Auron by surprise but he was quick to catch up to the other with his long strides. Tidus ran up to the first blockade of sinspawn and waved his hand, Doublecasting two consecutive Fire spells at a few of the cluster, turning them into naught but pyreflies.

"A little help would be nice, Auron!" He snapped annoyedly when the man strode up.

The other snorted quietly, whule he was surprised at the boy's use of magic, he was used to the other's impatience. After another moment, he produced a sword and held it out to the other. "Here. A present from Jecht." He murmured.

The other stared at it for a moment before taking it from his hand and gave it a swing. "Heh, about damned time he gave me sometbing besides his back to stare at." He stated before he turned towards the remaining sinspawn, his comment once again throwing Auron in for a loop briefly. "C'mon, let's get this over with."

"Hm." Auron grunted before he pulled his own sword out and together thw two quickly cut through the wave of sinspawn before running in deeper.

It did not take them long to reach the large Sinscale and Tidus was already annoyed. "Ugh, you're really annoying with these things, you know? Always running, hiding behind excuses... I'm sick of it!" He yelled aloud, startling Auron, but before the man had a chance to really react or say anything further, Tidus twirled his sword, held his hand out and with a strong burst of magic a bright white bolt of energy struck the Sincscale and practically obliterated it.

"Where did you learn that?" Auron asked after a moment, not showing as much of the surprise as he felt on the inside.

"What, Holy? Dunno. Kinda feels like I've always known it, just never had to use it." Tidus responded with a bluff, shrugging before turning. "Enough about that, didn't you say we had to hurry?" He questioned a bit mockingly.

That had the other glancing up towards Sin. "Yeah, I did." He responded before pointing to the highest point of a now ruined building that had collapsed onto another. "There." And began to jog towards that point, with Tidus quick to follow behind.

Honestly, the boy was thanking his own memories as he was able to quickly leap and dart from spot to spot, keeping up with Auron til they reached the top. "Now what?" He asked, though he already knew the answer.

The building was beginning to float, being drawn up into the air. Auron grabbed him and Tidus made a disgruntled sound at it. "This is your story. It all starts here." Auron murmured.

Tidus stared back at him, before barking out a laugh as he grabbed Auron's wrist and wrested himself free from his grap, floating upwards towards Sin. "Yeah, whatever. My story's already been written. I'm just changing some of the plot." He answered. And before Auron could respond, the light engulfed them both.

Tidus felt himself growing drowsy and let his eyes fall closed. It felt like only a moment that he felt his consciousness floating, and he looked around.

His father, Jecht, was in the distance.

Floating through the air as if it were nothing, Tidus landed near him, a frown on his face.

"What, are you gonna cry?" Jecht teased as he turned towards him.

"Not anymore. I'm done crying for small reasons." Tidus answered back, eyes narrowing. "The one who should be crying is you."

Taken off guard, the man was silent for a long oment before he started to laugh. "You know something, kid... You might be right."

Eyes widening with surprise from the man's admission, before he could say anything more, he was once more engulfed by blurry light.

His eyes snapped open and he jolted up, heaving in a deep breath into his lungs as he found himself once again floating outside the ruins of the Baaj Tenple.

"Hm..." Tidus hummed, swimming up over to one of the bigger ruins before pulling himself up onto the stone and shook off the excess water on himself before looking around.

"I wonder..." He murmured aloud, his brows furrowed with his thoughtful expression.

"Guess there's only one way to find out." He murmured before nodding and dove back into the water, swimming up to the main part of the temple. When Geosgaeno decided to try and make him its next meal, the Ace was ready. 'I don't have time to play!' He thought with a frown before he reached into his item pocket and withdrew the only Elixir he had and, with his speed and accuracy from being a Blitzball player, kicked the bottle into the monster and it shattered, the contents of liquid forming a cloud around the monster. It thrashed and writhed in pain from the healing poultice before it gave up its hold on existence and dispersed into pyreflies.

He slowly swam over to one of the temple entryways and oit took a bit of effort but he pushed and pried the passage doors open enough to slip in.

He looked around, filled with familiarity. This was Anima's sealed chamber.

He inspected the glyphs and writings, checking around to see if the Seals were raised or not.

There was a few and he frowned. After a long moment, he approached the sealed door, placing his hand on it and concentrated. "Bahamut, can you feel her?" He asked aloud.

There was a stirring within his mind as he felt his connection to the Aeon open. "Yes." Bahamut answered quietly.

"Would you see if she's willing to listen to me and lower the wards?"

"I shall try. Please wait."

Then it went silent.

He could feel a tingle of energy washing through the area and suddenly the seemingly eternally lit pyre-torches flames turned blue. He closed his eyes and waited.

After a long pause, he began to hear the sound of a soft voice singing. Singing the Hymn and he found himself humming along quietly with it.

After another moment, thre was the sound of something shattering, though Tidus knew it was no physical thing that had. Opening his eyes, the seal on the door was broken and it slowly rose up to permit him entry.

He slowly entered and bowed his head in quiet respect to the Aeon inside before walking to the middle and knelt down to his knees.

Another wave of energy spread across his body as he felt the presence of the Aeon.

"Who are you, Summoner? I have not had a visitor since my son..." The Aeon asked.

"My name is Tidus, ma'am," He answered quietly. "I came seeking your assistance. My tale will be a little hard to hear, but please, I assure you what I say is truth and I will stake my life on it."

The Aeon was silent for several moments. before her voice seemed to echo through the room. "Share with me your story, and we shall see, Summoner."

So Tidus took a deep breath, closed his eyes once more and recanted his tale. All of it, from the beginning, leading up to now.

"...I see. I believe I understand your intentions. You seek my Aid because you truly wish to free Spira from its cycle and stop my son while sparing one you care about from the fate of being High Summoner." The Fayth murmured, letting out a long, thoughtful hum.

"Yeah, and I mean that. Look, I wont lie: Your son always got on my nerves, but I could understand where his thoughts came from, and why. But that kind of hoplessness... It doesn't help anyone. People are meant to live, not just die. Yes, death is part of the cycle but to think an eternal Death is the answer is just... No way. I refuse to ever believe that. There will always be pain and suffering, that's just what happens with living. But look around. People still carry love, and hope in them, too. They cling to it because facing the emptiness of despair is worse. I'm going to change that. I want your help because you, as a mother, would understand."

"..." The Aeon floated above their seal, looking up towards the ceiling, singing a few lines of the Hymn for a moment.

"Understand, I do." They finally answered quietly. "Very well, Tidus. You may call on my Aeon. If you truly mean to bring Peace and Hope back to the world... Then I will place my trust and belief in you. I will assist your journey with all that I am able. Please, stand and accept my Soul."

Tidus stood up, nodding and held his arms up, palms out in a receiving gesture. "Let's do this...Anima."

When the Ace spoke the Aeon's name, their sigil glowed and the figure vanished, pyreflies swarming around them before entering them and Tidus held back a shiver as he felt the power and spirit of Anima entwine with him.

Taking a deep breath to steady themselves, Tidus really was coming to understand how much of a toll it would take a normal Summoner to form a union and pact with an Aeon. He may have been uninitiated physically, but his memories and experiences allowed him to steel himself as best as he could to it. Training would still be required, since unfortunately his body was basically reset but this would do for now.

He slowly turned and exited the temple room before leaving back out through the submerged ruin doors and swam to the other side, entering in. He retraced his old steps to find the tinder to create a fire before easing himself down to sit and wait. His eyes would glance to the shadows, waiting. That fiend would be coming.

When it did, he was once again ready.

Standing, he slowly drew his sword. "Round two, it seems." He said before taking an agile leap at the fiend and slashing it.

It roared with pain before retaliating with it blades on its arms.

After a few nimble strikes and dodges, Tidus had to take a step back and cast a Cure spell on himself. As he did, the wall behind him began to shudder and in another moment, exploded.

Figures ran through and Tidus hid a small smile as the main one walked up beside him, rubbing at their wrist before cracking their knuckles.

"Thanks for the backup," He said before he turned back to the fiend and slashed at it again, this time the girl joined his assault by lobbing a grenade at the creature.

It didn't take long for the feind to fall, disappearing in a swirl of pyreflies.

He slowly turned towards the other. "Thanks agai-" He began to say, but he was forcefully shoves to the floor by one of the other figures knocking his legs.

"Ow, damn." He cursed quietly.

The figures were speaking in Al-Bhed, though this time Tidus could understand what they were saying. They thought he was a fiend. He waved his hands about before saying loudly back in Al-Bhed. "I'm not a fiend!"

That got them all to pause. The girl approached him, looking down at him. "Who are you, then?" She asked, in common tongue.

"I'm a Summoner, and a Blitzer. Though this Temple has fallen and been abandoned, I came here to train. The fiends in the water are good targets." He answered.

"Summoner?" He heard one of the Al-Bhed say to themselves.

The girl looked at him strangely, though it was a bit hard to tell through her goggles. "Well, you can't stay here, it's not safe, even if you are a Summoner."

Tidus smiled. "You looking for something here? I hear you guys excavate all sorts of stuff from ruins and the like."

"Uh... Yeah, we got a lead on where a big treasure is. It's not far from here. But...doesn't our presence bother you? I thought all Yevon people hated us blaspheming and desecrating your "sacred" temples." She asked.

"Well, I'm not the most conventional Summoner," Tidus responded with a laugh. "I don't fully believe in all of the Temple's teachings, but I can't really voice against it, you know? The whole reason I'm a Summoner is because of my disbelief, actually."

"Wait, how... How does that work out? Nevermind, that can be answered later. For now... Sorry." She answered. Though Tidus wasn't surprised, he was still a bit disappointed when he felt the pain of her fist hit him before he found himself blacking out.

When he awoke, it was on the Al-Bhed ship.