The Djose shore stood at the ready, the dark blue waves licking at the yellow sand under a clouded sky. It felt to Rikku as if the whole world were holding its breath, waiting for this last hope to work, waiting for the death to stop. For the first time in history, the Yevonites and the Al Bhed were working together. Against the enemy of this world.
Against Sin.
Rikku stood on a cliff nearly a mile from where the chosen warriors, aboard chocobos and on foot, stood in waiting as the command center above them released the Sinspawn. She saw it striking at someone, but she couldn't tell whom. Either way, before long, its head lolled back, and the deep breath began.
All of the brown Djose cliffs fell silent. Rikku hugged her small body, still bitterly regretting that she had taken the summoner assignment and not the Mi'ihen position. But her father probably would have shut that down, anyway. Too dangerous- heavy death tolls were guaranteed on her people. Still, as she looked down at the tower on the far side of the bay, she couldn't help feeling a little left out.
As she watched, she saw the people that had defeated the Sinspawn draw close to the edge of the cliff. She thought she just recognized one, but couldn't put a name on him. The others looked familiar too, but her attention was drawn to where they were looking.
Out in the water, there was a black shadow. A huge black shadow, drawing nearer.
The Crusaders on the shore panicked in the heat of their fervor and rushed the water, where the small but dangerous Sinscales surfaced, digging their sharp claws into ready and warm flesh. She could just barely make out the sounds of pain and fervor coming from the shore where Crusaders and Al Bhed alike slashed at the enemy.
Cannon fire resounded from the cliff tops as the Al Bhed launched their forbidden machina at the bane of Spira's existence. It looked like a child tossing pebbles at wall- no reaction came from the beast. Its mouth opened in a roar, and suddenly, a bright light came from its body. No, its mouth.
Terror struck Rikku for her brethren, and even for the Crusaders. And for the summoner's party on the cliff. "Watch out!" She screamed at no one, but her voice was lost in the now strongly blowing wind. "Run! Don't let it fire!"
But, of course, they didn't hear.
A beam of pure energy, crackling in the open air, rushed eagerly at the beach. Dimly, as she squinted in the white sphere, she watched in horror as the silhouettes of the brave fighters simply… vaporized.
Her knees gave out, and she collapsed. But her eyes wouldn't shut, and her breath wouldn't come as she saw the tower of machina that her kinsman had built collapse in on itself, taking their hope with them.
Her will gave way, and blackness swallowed her.
Something cold brushed her cheek. Odd, because it's summer… The surface beneath her cheek was shifting and moving, like something breathing. She clenched her hands in an attempt to sit up, but then the pain set in. She cried out, but no one was near.
Looking up, she saw that she was on the beach- or, what was left of it. Ugly brown scars marred the surface of the sand and cliffs, extending like the wreckage of claws all the way to the sea. Veins of ocean water pulsed up and down into them quietly, as if respectfully trying to fill the destruction that Sin had wrought upon its shore.
Her eyes drifted down to herself. She was lying on her stomach, her shoulders, stomach, and arms bruised but undamaged. However, there was a heavy section of Crusader cannon lying atop her legs, crushing them into the unforgiving, rocky Djose sand. She felt like passing out again from the pain, but she knew no one was coming for her. Ciku probably thought she was dead. Keyakku might, but after awhile, he would give up. She groaned in pain and tried to pull her legs out. No good- it was too heavy.
Bodies lay strewn in various attitudes of death across the beach- Al Bhed and Crusader alike. She felt like crying, but she knew it would be childish. Everyone had told them this would happen.
"But for the chance to beat Sin," she mumbled to herself, laying her face in the sand. "To save Yunie… and the other summoners…"
It was worth it, wasn't it? Even if they just hurt it?
The eyes of the dead around her made her wonder.
She saw a young man lying spread-eagle on the beach near the water, his blonde hair spattered with blood- probably his own. He looked like Tidus, the man from Zanarkand, but it couldn't have been. He was dead on the bottom of the ocean somewhere. And yet… a feeling made her wonder. She heard shouting from the top of the cliff, but she couldn't see from where she was.
The sound of the ocean striking the beach led her into a sort of bittersweet peace. If she died now, she wouldn't have to worry about kidnapping summoners or rescuing Yunie from her pilgrimage. But she would miss Keyakku and Ciku. She would miss watching the stars move on the beach of Bikanel. She would never see Auron again.
It didn't seem to matter that much right now. She laid her face in the sand, trying to keep her mind off of the pain. She thought suddenly of the day that Cid had taken her to Besaid with him, when they went to meet Yuna. It had been bright and sunny, as it always was in the south. She had been eight- a year older than her cousin. She remembered Yuna, in a bright yellow sundress, running up to meet them, two boys with red hair and a girl with black trailing behind. Wakka, Chappu, and Lulu, she remembered- Yuna's friends from the island.
She and Yuna had had fun while her father had talked to the temple priests for hours. They went swimming, walked on the beach, and even snuck aboard a ship before it sailed. She missed Yuna- she had only seen her from afar, spying, since then. Ever since Yuna had decided to become a summoner, Cid had been angry, looking for ways to get her to change her mind. She never understood why Yuna wanted to die so much for people she didn't even know.
And now… her own people lay dead on a beach far from home, having fought and died with people they had never spoken to. She thought she understood why, but now that it was over, it seemed pointless.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps in the sand near her. Heavy, male footsteps. Afraid that it might be a Yevonite seeking a little revenge on the Al Bhed, she cast around for something to use as a weapon, but there was nothing within reach. She grabbed a handful of sand, ready to throw it into any assailant's face. But when he drew near, he spoke, and she dropped it immediately.
"Rikku," said Auron, standing above her. "What are you doing here?"
She didn't answer, and her angle made it impossible for her to look at his face, so she just touched his boot and said, "Help me. Please."
He grunted in affirmation, and moved toward the piece of machinery. "This will hurt," he said flatly, placing one warm hand on her leg and the other on the cannon. She nodded, grasping at the sand for something to take out the pain on.
Scalding, stabbing pain fired from her legs into her brain as he rolled the object off and the capillaries began to fill with blood again. She cried out in pain, trying to bite down on her lip. Her eyes quivered, even shut, and she help back tears of anguish. But suddenly, with a final shove, the offending weight was gone from her leg, and she relaxed into the sand with a sigh. "Thank you," she breathed, barely audible. She hadn't realized how painful it was until it was gone.
"You're welcome." His hand remained on the back of her leg, resting above her knee. If she had been in less pain, she would have felt a rush of excitement. "What are you doing here?" He asked in a less coarse tone, aware of her suffering.
"I… I wanted to be part of it," she admitted, raising her head out of the sand to look at him for the first time. He looked much the same as the last time she'd seen him, but his hair was ruffled and blood dirtied his face. He was one in that summoner party. It occurred to her that the reason she'd recognized him on the cliff was because of the way he had been standing- it was distinct.
"They failed." He was abrupt. "The heretics have died, while the faithful live on. Convenient to Yevon."
"But they were just trying to do what the summoners are doing with aeons. To defeat Sin," she said, trying to sit up. Auron slid his hand off of her leg and onto the sand. He was kneeling, but she could see from the way that he held his leg that he was hurt. And the look in his eyes told her that he wasn't as objective as his voice sounded. There was a look of wounded hope and sympathy in them. "Why shouldn't they be allowed to try?"
Auron didn't reply. He simply looked at her. She felt somehow that he was invading her thoughts. Confused, she looked away and asked, "Why are you here?"
"Fulfilling two promises." He looked down at the sand.
"Two now?" She looked at him again. "Can't you just tell me what you're really doing?"
"I'm protecting two people." He looked at her again, his hand resting on his knee. "Yuna and Tidus."
"Yunie?" Her head spun, and she put her hands on the sand to brace herself. "And the man from Zanarkand?"
"You've met him, then." He chuckled. "I thought you might have. He seems to be pretty charismatic."
"Yeah, we rescued him from Baaj," she said shortly, her focus on the first person. "You're guarding Yuna? On her pilgrimage?"
"Yes. As a promise to Braska."
"Right." She said, her eyes drifting back up to his, then off toward the ocean. You saw what happened?"
"Sin." His answer was everything and nothing in one word. Sin, the destroyer of cities and taker of lives. Sin, the one thing that everyone hated and yet no one could truly destroy. Sin, the center of history and misery.
"Those people…" She tried to stand, but the pain in her legs wouldn't let her, and she sank back down into the sand. "What happened to them?"
"They're dead. Their bodies may not be recognizable, but they're all here somewhere."
"Is Yuna… okay?"
"Yes. She's performing a sending on the far side of the beach. I came here to look for Tidus."
"I hope you find him," she said. Now that she knew Auron was guarding Yuna, she felt even worse about what she had to do to protect her. To steal her from the most mysteriously interesting man she'd ever met- that was an insult if she'd ever suffered one.
She tried to stand again, to go and find Ciku before he left her here with all these dead people. But her wounds were too painful, and when she tried again, she collapsed into the wet sand. A sigh of frustration escaped her lips. She'd always been able to do everything herself, and now she couldn't even stand.
Suddenly, she was off the ground. Auron's strong arms braced under her knees and back, holding her up. She didn't know where he was taking her, but it didn't even matter. Now that she was moving, she saw that the destruction was greater than she had imagined. She saw faces that, only hours before, had been alive with energy and gusto, ready to fight Sin and reclaim Spira. They hadn't stood a chance.
"I'll take you to a healer," he said. "Not Yuna. A temple acolyte."
"Thank you," she said, her heartbeat slow. Time seemed to stop around her as the ocean licked at land, the body of water more alive than the people nearby. The sky was still black, as if it could not shed its tears for a people who didn't understand what they'd done to deserve this retribution. She leaned her head into Auron's chest, feeling his strong heartbeat and calming spirit, letting her pain wear itself out on her heart.
The tears came when she saw the body of a young boy lying beside his father, his machina gun underneath him, unused. She pressed her face into Auron's chest and wept, her arms wrapped around his waist for support and comfort. The pain in her legs almost matched the pain in her heart.
Above her, invisible through her tears, Auron bowed his head into Rikku's blonde head and wept too, for the foolishness of a people who only meant well.