Chapter 41: Farplane

Yuna had not planned on jumping into the dark hole where Ixion's Fayth should have been. That kind of abyssal depth seemed to hold all the secrets in the world—secrets she wasn't meant to know. Then, an unexpected blast after the battle with the resurrected aeon threw her off-balance. And as she fell into the pyrefly-infested oblivion, she thought she heard Paine and Rikku call out to her, but she couldn't answer. It was so dark, but then ... so bright. Opening her eyes, she saw that she wasn't falling as much as floating. And her fear of whatever was at the bottom faded into feelings of comfort and peace. Had she … died?

As she fell, she thought she heard a voice—his voice. She thought she answered. But when she looked around anxious to find him, he was nowhere to be seen. And when she opened her eyes, she was lying on a soft bed of flowers. Had she dreamed it? How was she wearing her singer sphere without having activated it? Slowly, she sat up, then stood to look around in wonder at the mystical place she suddenly found herself in. A gentle breeze touched her as pyreflies burst from her shimmering dress sphere and swirled around her in excitement. But she barely had time to question what was happening when she noticed a figure in the mist. Yuna's heart skipped a beat, and she held her breath as he approached, but she was afraid to get her hopes up before she was sure.

))((

Lenne watched the entire battle with Ixion, hoping Yuna would activate her dress sphere. Familiarity wouldn't help with this Fayth like it had with Bahamut, but she understood Yuna's confusion and sorrow in wondering what had corrupted multiple aeons. Afraid to stray beyond her singer sphere because of such corruption, Lenne's soul remained quiet while Yuna fought back. However, when Yuna fell into the hole, Lenne feared for the other summoner's life and reached beyond her dress sphere to summon a slow spell from the thick cloud of magical pyreflies surrounding them.

Yuna was unconscious, so Lenne overrode the sphere grid to her singer sphere and continued to gently lower the other summoner down into the bottom of the pit. The pit's base was not made of machina like the top, but she had never been further down into the colony ship than Bevelle's dungeons, so she didn't know what to expect at these depths. Lenne was surprised to land in a magical meadow, bordered by misty waterfalls and carpeted by moonflowers, overlooking a valley of more of the same. Pyreflies floated lazily above the flowers where Yuna's body came to rest, and Lenne fought an overwhelming urge to release the human and the dress sphere to sleep. Was this … the Farplane?

Lenne heard a voice—his voice. She thought she answered. But when she looked around anxious to find him, he was nowhere to be seen. Was he really here somewhere? A gentle breeze passed through her, and her dress shimmered with more pyreflies as she, again, debated leaving the safety of her sphere. But she barely had time to question what was happening when she noticed a figure in the mist. Lenne's heart skipped a beat, and she held her breath as he approached, but she was afraid to let go of Yuna until she was sure.

))((

In Baralai's body, Shuyin had full access to all of the temple. But he used his new identity for one purpose only—finding Vegnagun. When he finally located it hiding in the Heart of the Farplane, the machina was still unreasonably skittish and paranoid about Nooj seeking to destroy it. Baralai would have been better at talking some sense into it, but because he had revealed himself to Baralai before his possession, he dare not let the praetor act on his own now. His iron will held control over Baralai's mind, compared to his occasional interferences with Nooj. So Shuyin had to win Vegnagun's trust on his own merits before he could get close to it again. This would be his third time trying to approach the thing.

But as he passed through the Farplane's Abyss toward the vortex into the Heart, he spotted an unconscious woman lying among the flowers and stopped behind the mist before he could be seen. "High Summoner Yuna?" What was she doing down here? His teeth clenched in anger, and he nearly marched forward to rid himself of her once and for all since she appeared to be alone. But he stopped when he noticed what she was wearing. Lenne's dress? A small cluster of pyreflies hovered near her. Had Lenne found refuge in Yuna the same way he found shelter in Baralai?

Shuyin's breath and heartbeat quickened. Hope surged within him, but he didn't want to be disappointed and sent if he was wrong. Calming himself, he reached into the summoner's mind with his magic. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes." Though Yuna was still lying unconscious among the flowers, the subconscious part of the mind was always open to dreams.

"Ah, you can hear me." Shuyin was pleased that his attempt to contact her without waking her worked.

"I can't see you. Where are you?" she asked. It wasn't a complaint. It was a plea.

Was it because Yuna was searching for someone who looked like him? Or was it because Lenne was searching for him? That dress … Shuyin decided Lenne had to be with her somehow and felt it was worth the risk to reveal his presence. But since Yuna was present, he remained cautious. He had to do this in a way that would allow him to stay safe within Baralai's body but let Lenne see his true form. "Right here," he assured her as Baralai approached her unconscious body and crouched at her side. Lifting her gently into his arms, Shuyin cast another spell—one that projected a dream image of this place and an illusion of his own appearance into her subconscious.

In Yuna's dream, as she stood to look for him, he took note of the burst of pyreflies that came from that dress. He had waited so patiently for Lenne. He couldn't believe he may have finally found her. Shuyin left the mists and crossed the bed of flowers toward her. Stopping a short distance apart, he allowed himself to smile. "We've finally met, haven't we?" His brows came together with a hint of worry, afraid this encounter wasn't real. (1)

Yuna looked uncertain as well. "Is it ... really you?"

He could tell she was teetering on the edge of hope like himself. "It's me. Shuyin," he confirmed. "I've always been waiting for you … Lenne."

Hope crashed. Confused and insulted, Yuna promptly turned her back to him. "I'm not Lenne."

Shuyin's brows rose with uncertainty again. Maybe Lenne wasn't answering because she was angry. "Ne, Lenne ... Even though we disappeared together, as a couple, I woke alone. Alone, I searched for you." He strode toward her with a slow, steady pace. "But in wandering, I've realized ... Spira, the cycle ... it hasn't changed." His eyes shifted toward the world above. "Same as ever, they die quarreling over insignificant things. After more than a thousand years, they don't trust. They're still hateful. Therefore, they punished each other—did a cleansing. Also, this good-for-nothing Spira didn't take you seriously—me, either. With Vegnagun, I'll get rid of all that and make it disappear." He clenched his fists but kept his anger in check. "Then, once more, as a couple, we can fade." Standing directly behind her now, he stopped. "Lend me your strength ... Lenne." He smiled with hope once more and touched her shoulder.

What a disaster! Yuna's thoughts seeped into the dream as if she was transparent.

Shuyin struggled to control his emotions. He didn't care what Yuna thought. Determined to reach Lenne, he surprised Yuna by turning her around and pulling her into his arms against his chest. Yuna couldn't bring herself to return the gesture, but as soon as he embraced her, Shuyin could feel the pyreflies burst from her dress again. He could feel Lenne's presence trying to reach out to him.

Unable to distinguish Lenne's feelings from her own, Yuna was now even more confused. What's come over me?

Holding Lenne for the first time in a thousand years, Shuyin was ashamed for her to see the depths of despair he had fallen into during his isolation but hopeful he would be forgiven for his failures. After a moment, he pulled away and looked into her eyes, hoping to see someone familiar, but it was still only Yuna, mirroring his desire to see someone else.

Hey … whose feelings are these? She let him draw her back into his arms. Lenne? That name again … Feeling oddly comforted by his presence, Yuna closed her eyes and let her forehead rest against his cheek.

With a sigh, Shuyin closed his eyes and tried to enjoy the moment while it lasted, but he wondered why Lenne refused to let go of Yuna to be with him. The despair that infected him for centuries still gnawed at what was left of his soul. Maybe Lenne had not come to see him. Perhaps she had come with Yuna to stop him, just like everyone else. Maybe the one hope that kept him going for a thousand years had been for nothing. Shuyin was devastated, but he refused to let it show.

Someone shouted for Yuna to open her eyes.

Shuyin reluctantly released her and allowed his illusion to revert back to Baralai's form. Yuna dropped to her knees, limp and groggy as Lenne's dress sphere deactivated back to the gunner outfit. Shuyin felt numb, cold as he gazed down at the summoner then walked away from her.

Nooj and Gippal tried to wake the summoner from her dream.

"The end is not far now," Shuyin told them, his own voice layered over Baralai's. Then, he summoned a portal through the dream and the Farplane and left them to return to Vegnagun once more.

))((

When Yuna woke, Gippal's and Nooj's spheres for Paine were beside her. They had followed Shuyin through the vortex, so now she was alone. And the beautiful Farplane meadow from her dream was once more a cold, dark, and barren pit. Yuna was at a loss for understanding what happened. How had Tidus turned into Shuyin? Why had Shuyin turned into Baralai? What were Gippal and Nooj doing down here? And who the heck was Lenne? Frustrated, angry, and scared, Yuna ran aimlessly across the dark plane. And when seeking a way out failed, she broke down and yelled at the top of her lungs for help. She didn't notice the handful of pyreflies that hovered near lighting her path, refusing to leave her side.

))((

Lord Braska's rest had been disturbed the moment his daughter entered the Farplane. Oh, how she had grown since he last saw her! He observed the whole ordeal without interfering, but none of the three humans that paused to help had actually helped her. Now she was trapped alone in the Farplane with no easy way out.

He noticed the pyreflies hovering near, even if she did not. So, the high summoner decided to help his daughter in a way that he hoped would also cheer her a little. And he summoned those pyreflies into a slightly more cohesive, ghost-like form. "Lead her away from this place," he instructed his creation. "The chambers of the Fayth are quite dangerous right now with the dark aeons lying in wait, but I know that you will keep her safe, and … she needs you."

The barely-there spirit didn't need to be told twice. Heading in the direction that he wanted her to go, the loose collection of memories released one for her—a whistle.

Surprised, Yuna lifted her chin and stood. There was no mistaking that sound. "Where are you?"

The thin ghost whistled again, waited to be seen, then led the way toward the safest exit.

"Wait!" Yuna ran after him.

Her father smiled. "Go in peace, my dear. Today is not your time to join us."

))((

When Yuna reached the top of the stairway of pyreflies, she woke to find herself in the chamber that once housed Vegnagun. When the crew of the Gullwings was finally able to contact her via com sphere, she was teleported back to the airship. They had all been worried, of course. Yuna did her best to explain the strange experience, though she was still unsure whether parts of it were real.

Pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place now, though. Shinra informed her that Lenne was the name of the girl in the dress sphere. Since Shuyin thought Yuna was Lenne, they suspected it was because of the dress sphere. And though she was terribly disappointed, Yuna now realized the young man she had been hunting in those ancient spheres was Shuyin, not Tidus.

Later, when she went looking for Paine to pass along the memory spheres Gippal and Nooj had given her, Rikku stopped her in the hall. "Yunie! Yunie!"

"Yeah?"

"You met Shuyin, right? Was he anything like you-know-who?" Rikku asked with a grin.

Yuna did feel much like talking about it beyond what she'd already told them. She didn't want to linger on how comforting it felt to be near him or how confusing it was to look into his eyes but see someone else. She missed Tidus so much, she had been willing to pretend Shuyin was him for just a few minutes. And she didn't want to admit how much it hurt when he said he'd always been waiting for her but then called her by another name. Always … That had been Tidus's promise. How could Shuyin be so much like him, yet be nothing like him at all? Yuna shook her head to answer the younger girl's question about whether Shuyin was anything like Tidus. "Not really. Just his face." Stepping into the lift, Yuna closed the doors and touched the button for the top deck.

))((

Secluded and sulking in her dress sphere, Lenne's spirit had listened to the Gullwings theorize about the connection between her dress sphere and Shuyin, but her thoughts were far away. She wondered if she did the right thing, not letting go of Yuna. She could have talked to him. But letting go would have locked Lenne into the Farplane, and she couldn't help him if she was trapped there.

She had been so happy to see Shuyin again—to hear his voice, see his smile, and be close once more. But it hurt so much to see what he had become. All those unsent years had poisoned his heart with bitterness. Now all he wanted was revenge, just like any other fiend.

She wished she could have told him why she didn't want to fade. She did want to be with him again, but not like this. This disillusioned soul wasn't her Shuyin. His compassion and hope had been replaced by despair and magic strong enough to conjure dreams and possess minds. It was hard to admit, but Shuyin was dangerous now. Someone had to stop him. And she feared for the Gullwings if that task fell to them. She needed to stay close. If Yuna knew the whole story, maybe she could protect Spira from Vegnagun while also protecting Shuyin from himself.

Lenne chose Yuna's concert in the Thunder Plains to try to communicate with her again. Since Yuna activated Lenne's dress sphere for the show, Lenne decided to give her another song. As she sang with Yuna, the dress sphere reacted with the com spheres on the airship and the electricity in the sky, revealing Lenne's memories of her final moments with Shuyin to everyone in attendance. Yuna was heartbroken for them by the time the song ended, but now she understood her earlier nightmare. And after the concert, an old man named Maechen, whom Lenne remembered meeting at one of her own shows, stopped by the airship to share a few more details of their tragic story against the backdrop of the Machina War. Then, realizing he, too, was unsent, he voluntarily departed for the Farplane.

"I think I can kinda understand how he felt, trying so hard to save someone," Rikku admitted after Maechen left. "Two years ago, I was the same, trying to find some way ... some way to save you," she told Yuna.

"That was enough, knowing that you were on my side. I'll always be grateful to you."

"Maybe Lenne felt the same way," Paine suggested. "The man she loved … he struggled to save her. He fought till his very last breath for her. I think that Lenne's final words might have been happy ones: 'I love you.'"

"Yes," Yuna agreed. "There is a connection. But wait. Everything is all wrong. He never heard. The one person she wanted to tell ... He never heard her words."

Inside her dress sphere, Lenne sighed with relief. The Gullwings finally understood. Now, they just had to figure out what to do about it.

))((

"Well?" Brother asked as he followed Rikku, Paine, and Yuna into the cabin.

"Well?" Paine repeated, unenthusiastic about answering his interrogation.

"What did you find in the Den of Woe?" he persisted.

"Mish Yoona. Mish Rikkoo, Mish Paine ..." The blue, frog-like hypello behind the bar greeted them from behind the counter. "Yoo look too tired. Would yoo like shomething to eat?"

"Ice cream, please." Rikku sat down at the counter. "Lots of it."

"Uh-oh." Buddy sat down next to her. "It was an ice cream experience, huh?"

"And how." Rikku groaned in exhaustion, dropping her forehead on the counter.

"Chocolate has mood-enhancing chemicals in it," Shinra told Barkeep as he climbed on the stool next to Buddy. "I think they need some chocolate."

Yuna gave the boy a wan smile for his thinly disguised ploy to get his favorite flavor. "Chocolate's fine," she told the hypello as she sat down with her crewmates for a rare break in their hectic travels. As she waited for her ice cream to be served, Yuna looked to Paine, who sat in silent contemplation of a napkin.

"So, what happened?" Brother asked again, sounding like he was going to pop an artery.

Paine didn't look like she was in the mood to talk, so Yuna explained it to the rest of the crew for her. "The sphere collection unlocked the door, just as we suspected. The cavern was completely empty, though. There was no Vegnagun, and someone had cleaned up the bodies to hide the evidence of what happened there. The only thing left was a lot of pyreflies and Shuyin's memories. We saw … everything."

"Shuyin's memories of his attempt to control Vegnagun possessed Nooj, Gippal, and Baralai," Paine spoke, trying to sound objective, despite how hard it had been to witness. "The despair was so heavy they tried to kill each other. That's what happened to the whole Crimson Squad. That's why Kinoc tried to execute survivors. They saw a machina they weren't supposed to see."

"How do you know they weren't trying to kill Shuyin?" Buddy asked.

"Because those memories tried to possess us, too, making us fight each other."

The hypello returned with some large bowls of ice cream and spoons, then set his chin in his frog-fingered hand to listen to their conversation.

Brother leaned on the counter and lowered his voice to Yuna. "Did you get to beat up Rikku?"

Rikku's mouth was already too full of ice cream to say anything back, but she frowned at her sibling, reached for one of his suspenders, and snapped it against his back, making him yelp.

"Wait a minute," Buddy interrupted. "What was Shuyin doing in a remote cave? I thought you said he was in the Farplane."

Yuna dug halfheartedly at her ice cream before scooping a bite and then sucking it off of her spoon. "I think it was just his feelings and memories well-preserved in the pyreflies, like what we experienced in Zanarkand, only more intense. He said the pyreflies made him live those memories repeatedly, and he thought I was Lenne again, but his responses were rather … shallow. You know? He didn't interact like a real person. He was pure fiend. The Shuyin in the Farplane felt much more sincere."

"Do you think maybe that's where he was buried?"

Yuna shook her head. "Perhaps in the sense that his spirit was locked away in the cavern for so long. But according to the spheres and their memories, Shuyin died in Bevelle. I can't imagine why they would bury him so far away, under such high security, and in a different place from Lenne. I mean, she's here with us—with me, in my dress sphere. I think they're buried closer to Bevelle, but somehow they got separated. I don't think Shuyin was locked in that cavern until after he was unsent. The lock on that door isn't something you'd find on an ordinary tomb, and he's no ordinary spirit. But he must have been in there for a very long time to leave such tangible memories in the pyreflies. I can't imagine what he endured."

Buddy wanted to make sure he understood. "So, the Shuyin in the den was just an illusion, while the real one is going for Vegnagun?"

"If that had been the real Shuyin in the cavern, he wouldn't have been released until we opened the door." Paine poked at her ice cream, not eating it. "The real Shuyin must have escaped two years ago by possessing Nooj during the Crimson Squad trial. That would explain why Nooj shot us. Shuyin made him do it."

"But earlier when we were under Bevelle, a strange burst of pyreflies whooshed from Nooj into Baralai," Rikku spoke over her mouthful. "That would explain why Yunie saw Baralai as Shuyin in the Farplane!" The small thief winced and squeezed her head between her palms. "Ugh. Brain freeze."

"We talked about this outside of the cavern, but we think Shuyin has possessed Baralai to gain easier access to Vegnagun," Paine explained to the rest of the crew. "We have to stop him."

Yuna ate some more of her ice cream, but Paine's tone troubled her. "What about Baralai?"

The warrior woman looked at the summoner, torn. "If you can think of a way to destroy Shuyin without harming Baralai, I'm all ears."

Yuna made a drinking gesture to Barkeep, requesting water, then put her palms together with a small bow of thanks when he went to get it. "Well, um …"

Rikku scooped the last serving of ice cream from her bowl. "You know, Shuyin sounds kinda romantically demented. If he thinks you're Lenne, maybe you could lure him out of Baralai by pretending to be her."

Paine cut the thief a side glance. "'Romantically demented?'" Unable to enjoy her ice cream, she pushed her bowl toward Shinra, who had been staring at her uneaten portion. The whiz kid eagerly removed his face mask and goggles to devour the offer.

Yuna wasn't sure what she thought of Rikku's plan. "Well, he did hug me in the Farplane," she admitted. "But you should have seen the look in his eyes. It would be cruel to trick him like that, don't you think?"

"After everything he's done?" Paine couldn't believe Yuna was defending him. "I can sympathize with Lenne, but I can't ever forgive Shuyin. He used us. He tried to kill us. He killed all those people during the training exercises, too. And now he's threatening to obliterate all of Spira. In spite of how he looks, he's not your boyfriend, Yuna. He's a fiend—a powerful, dangerous, ancient, unsent fiend." Upset, Paine stood and walked away.

Hearing the bathroom door shut, Yuna understood her friend's anger, but she wasn't sure seeking revenge against Shuyin was the solution. Shuyin had lasted a thousand years feeding on revenge in people like Nooj and Baralai. At this rate, he could just as easily take Paine next. Perhaps Yuna's feelings for Tidus were muddling her thoughts, but she knew Lenne had shown her those visions in hopes that they could find a way to save Shuyin, not destroy him.

"Yunie, do you think there's still a chance Shuyin is connected to Tidus in some way?"

With a defeated sigh, Yuna quieted and cut semi-circles with her spoon in the melting mound of chocolate left in her bowl. "I don't think so, Rikku. If there is a connection, I certainly don't get it."

"But they're both from the same place and time. And they look so much alike. Maybe they're distant relatives, or even brothers," Rikku suggested.

"Tidus never mentioned having a brother."

"Well, maybe Tidus just didn't like him. I don't like my brother, so I wouldn't mention him to anyone if I didn't have to."

Brother's brows furrowed, and a snarl came from his throat. "Tidus is a nothing. You should not be concerned about Tidus. He is gone. Shuyin is putting Spira in danger."

Rikku sat up straight and smacked the back of her brother's head. "Don't you talk like that about him around Yunie!"

"Rikku, it's okay. Brother's right." Sad, but trying to be reasonable, Yuna pushed her half-empty bowl away and took a drink from Barkeep's offered glass of water to wash away the sweetness of the dessert. "Tidus came from the Fayth's dream. He will never be found in any spheres we dig up in the real world because he wasn't real. We should just help Nooj and Gippal free Baralai."

Setting down the glass, Yuna went upstairs and lay down on her bed to rest for a few minutes before trying to find the Farplane again. If she could talk to Shuyin, instead of fighting him, what would she say? If she were in Lenne's place, what would she say? Yuna pulled out her dress sphere grid and stared at it. "I know you must miss him terribly. I know how that feels. We will do what we can to bring him home to you. I promise."

Thinking of the thin assembly of pyreflies that led her out of the Farplane, Yuna regretted not being able to speak to that ghost the way she had been able to speak with Shuyin. Maybe when all of this was over, she should try looking for Tidus there. Setting her dress sphere on her bed, she knelt at her dresser and pulled open the bottom drawer. She started to reach for the sphere within the keepsake chest. Then, she changed her mind and slowly closed the drawer. She could not be thinking of Tidus while confronting Shuyin, or she would never be able to send him. Or maybe it was just time that she stopped living in the past. Standing, Yuna picked up her grid again and went back downstairs.

))((

Inside the Heart of the Farplane, Shuyin scanned the machina and circuitry workings in the dome, walls, and pathways of the colony ship. He had to give Spira reluctant credit for continuing to stay afloat in space after all this time, but his admiration of the ship's age wasn't enough to make up for her inhabitants' multitudes of sins. And now, Yuna had poisoned Lenne against him. There was only one thing left to do—end existence itself.

As he approached the top of the multi-level platform in the center of the Heart, Shuyin lifted his gaze to the intelligent weapon perched above him. He had been talking to it often, winning its confidence over little by little, and though it usually flew away when he came this close, this time, it remained. Pausing before its large, skull-like head, Shuyin ran an appreciative hand over one of the long tusks. The machina did not pull back from his touch. It was willing to trust him as Baralai now.

Shuyin approached the locked doors of the gun barrel entrance once more and touched the panel near the doors. To his surprise, they opened. Pleased with finally making progress on this endeavor, he ducked under the gun barrel to climb the ladder to the control center on top of the construction's head. He had visited this control panel only twice, but because he had been forced to relive dying in front of the weapon thousands of times, he felt as if he knew it by heart. Running a hand gently over the keyboard, he smiled as it automatically lit at his touch. The weapon seemed to be able to read his mind once more. Pulling out the chair, Shuyin seated himself. "It's good to see you've finally calmed down."

"Calm. No hostility detected. Defense mode on stand down," the almost human, yet somewhat tin-quality voice spoke from the control panel.

"That's right because I'm not here to hurt you, Vegnagun. I need your help. See, I get it now. Peaceful people just want to live in peace … on a little island with beach-front homes and pet monkeys. That's all Lenne and I wanted." He smiled at the sad memory. "But sometimes, even peaceful people have to choose between killing or being killed if there is to be peace."

"Praetor Baralai?"

Shuyin blinked at the unexpected address but continued the charade. "Yes?"

"Accessing archived files. Directive Prisoner Lenne was marked for protection but terminated. Please indicate whether this is the same directive, or you would like to start a new one."

Shuyin paused, stunned. It remembered! The machina remembered Lenne from all those years ago? Maybe he was going about this all wrong, disguising himself as Nooj and Baralai. Closing his eyes, he summoned pyreflies into an apparition resembling his true form over Baralai's body—thin, so that Baralai could still be seen underneath, just in case. "Prisoner Lenne doesn't want to be protected anymore, Vegnagun. She's with High Summoner Yuna now, who is trying to stop me from bringing the only true Calm Spira will ever know." He could hear and see the computer's cameras twitching and scanning him.

"Operator identification updated. Prisoner Shuyin confirmed but was also terminated. Is there an error?"

Shuyin snorted at the machina's assessment of his execution. "A big error, Vegnagun. Lenne and I never should have been terminated. We never even should have been in that war."

"You continue to function outside of biological termination?"

Spirits were obviously not part of the war machina's programming, yet its AI seemed to be seeking reason. "Depends on what you mean by function," Shuyin honestly answered. "I'm cold now, empty, endless."

"Cold. Regulation of temperature is functionally operational. To increase or decrease and state numerical value."

He smiled at the machina's inability to translate subtlety of meaning. "Cold as in unplugged. Sort of like what the temple did to you. We were both locked away for a thousand years, forgotten. How did that make you feel? Did you like that?"

The machina was searching data for these words like and feel. "I do not have sensory nerves. I have sensors that detect targeted objects, motion, light, and hazards."

"Didn't being locked away and unplugged make you angry?"

"No present hostility detected."

"No, I mean … What did you think about or do all that time?"

"Nothing. All systems off-line with defense mode on stand by for immediate hazards." Vegnagun paused, processing. "I was forgotten. Empty."

Shuyin felt better knowing something understood him, even if it was a machine. With a sigh, he shook his head and continued. "Reinstate my former program, please. But this time, the target is the Heart of the Farplane. You're going to fire your cannon into those lights overhead." He looked up at the shimmering waves of magical color that danced across the Farplane's canopy.

"Warning: destroying the Farplane will destroy the ship. Destroying the ship will destroy Vegnagun."

Shuyin knew that if the machina felt it was in danger, he could have just jeopardized the entire plan. "No. When everything disappears, Vegnagun will have peace. No one will ever unplug Vegnagun again." Then, Shuyin leaned forward to the camera focused on him, and his eyes narrowed. "High Summoner Yuna is probably on her way. She's the one who wants to destroy you. She and her friends will stop at nothing to prevent us from bringing peace to Spira."

There was a moment of silence while the machina analyzed this information. Then, the command screens lit up. "Former program reinstated. Farplane target locked. Commencing initial engagement of cannon. Please confirm by copying the code sequence in music notation format."

Shuyin sighed with relief and placed his hands—Baralai's hands—over the keyboard. Then, he began to play.

))((

Yuna returned to the treacherous, winding paths of the outer Farplane beneath the Fayth's tombs, but this time Rikku and Paine accompanied her. As they fought their way past more tainted aeons and fiends heading toward the Abyss, Yuna realized this must have been the same path that she blindly ran through following the whistling spirit. And she marveled at how it managed to avoid running her into any broken pathways or incredibly strong fiends along the way. If that really had been Tidus, then he could still be here, still watching over her. Maybe she could learn to be happy with that.

After making it through the musically secured gates going up a steep, circuited pathway, the Gullwings found Gippal sitting to the side of a stone-melded node that led further up. He was heavily injured and admitted to being careless in an earlier confrontation. LeBlanc and her two henchmen, who had been waiting in the Farplane for Nooj, came behind them. The Gullwings continued, scaling the Melody Rocks until they arrived at another circuited path that led into a fortified, split sphere. Inside the sphere, above many suspended, petrified platforms, Vegnagun could be seen. The machina spotted her and trembled.

Nooj was already standing at the platform's base in front of Vegnagun when the Gullwings caught up. He had been trying to figure out a way to spare Baralai. His plan? He was going to shoot Baralai, only wounding him, not killing him. Then Nooj, whose body was already rigged with explosives, would allow Shuyin to possess him once more and trip the trigger.

Yuna frowned. "I don't like your plan. It sucks."

Everyone turned to face her as if that was the harshest language she had ever used in her life.

She realized it probably was, but then she tried to explain why she couldn't accept this. It was no different from what they had done to battle Sin. She had lost her aeons. She had lost Tidus. All for the sake of those magic words: we had no choice. She refused to repeat that regret. "I don't want friends to die … or fade away. I don't want battles where we have to lose in order to win." This was hard to say, but she remembered how Tidus kept telling her to believe in him when facing her own sacrifice. Now she knew what to do. "Nooj, I know that what you say is what you mean to do. Give me your resolve. Believe in Yuna."

"So you have a plan?" he asked, waiting for someone to suggest something better.

As Gippal, LeBlanc, and her goons joined them, Yuna reminded everyone that Vegnagun was just a machine. If they all worked together, they could disassemble it. The machina's terrible blue eyes glowed brightly as it trembled again.

"What about Shuyin?" Nooj asked.

"Plan B!" Yuna was resolved.

"Oh?"

"Love," she answered with a smile.

Gippal mumbled something skeptical in his native Al Bhed tongue, and Nooj shook his head with a mumble of his own.

"It'll work," she told them. "I've come this far to bring Lenne's feelings to Shuyin. I'm not stopping now." She was about to explain to Rikku how her plan would not trick him, but honestly tell him how Lenne felt being without him. But the ground began to shake and rumble as Vegnagun disengaged from its perch, roared in warning, and began powering its main cannon. They couldn't see Shuyin up at the top, but they could hear the command notes he was giving. Yuna hoped they weren't too late.

))((

Author's Note:

I have chosen to use Japanese game dialog, rather than English, in the scene between Yuna and Shuyin, so that is why it will look different from what most readers are used to. As always, I don't claim any credits for actual game dialog, but I should note this is my own loose translation, and translations can vary when trying to make them sound more presentable than literal.

This game scene really bugged me when I originally wrote about it. The scenery changes in the same place without explanation. Yuna is in and out of being awake more than once. Her costume changes by itself. Lenne never shows herself as anything more than pyreflies and never says anything to him, yet Shuyin never questions Yuna's presence. And I couldn't understand how Shuyin could be so laid back about finding someone he's been missing for a thousand years. I'm sure there are other possible answers, but I chose to try to make sense of it with Shuyin's ability to manipulate people's minds and using his pov as the primary angle on that scene. Hopefully, I didn't lose or confuse anyone there.

In the Japanese version, one phrase unlocked a possible answer for Shuyin's emotions for me—zutto means always or perpetually. This is the same word Tidus frequently used to encourage Yuna. So, to me, "Zutto matteita yo Len," feels very different from "I've waited so long, Lenne." I could imagine Yuna catching zutto and bursting with joy, only to come crashing down to hear it followed by another girl's name. It also gives Shuyin an excuse for emotional restraint. If he's waited a long time, and his wait is over, he should be excited now. But if he was always or perpetually waiting, he may be cautious about getting his hopes up. Matteita is also past progressive tense; it means was waiting (past action continues into the present), not waited (past action that is over). So, I used Japanese dialog (which is closer to "I always was/am still/have been waiting,") with Shuyin's thoughts to explain why he didn't rush into her arms and lift her off of her feet with a bear hug now that he's finally found her. Just my interpretation. Your mileage may vary. ^_^