An Ocean's Moon
A Final Fantasy X Fanfic by CosmicStar
Author's Note: I'm back! Thank the Fayth. This is Chapter 4 of my FFX fanfic. If you're just now joining me (and I don't know WHY you would start on Chapter 4, go back to Chapter 1!), please note that this is an A/U fanfic with a Wakka/Tidus pairing. Open homosexuality will follow this disclaimer, so if you don't like that kind of stuff, please turn around now. This fanfic has explicit language and will eventually contain some sexual material. All official characters are Copyright Square Enix.
CHAPTER 4: Wakka & The Fayth
"Thanks a lot Lu. I just really think I should go clear my head somehow." Wakka stalled, but to his surprise Lulu didn't make an effort to continue their discussion. Instead she told him that it would be a good idea for him to off and think on his own.
"I'll take care of Tidus for a little while. You go do what you need in order to get all this out of your system. We'll be waiting when you get back."
A smile graced the black mage's face, and her demeanor had softened infinitesimally. She reached out and hugged her best friend tightly, before sweeping up the side of her skirts and prodding herself over to Wakka's quaint hut. She paused only at the entrance way to wave to the redhead before she disappeared inside.
Wakka blinked a few times in confusion and shook his head. Lulu was very open and accepting about this whole situation. He was honestly shocked by it. The black mage was normally very stern and cross about situations she didn't especially 'get'. But for some odd reason, she welcomed the change with open arms. Perhaps Chappu had told her all those years ago, when Wakka first realized why he was different. Perhaps.
He began to wander down the pathway towards Besaid's local temple. He wasn't a summoner, but he believed he deserved a damn good reason as to why he was falling in love with another guy. And while he honestly didn't care for a reason, because loving Tidus meant the world to him. Deep down, the gripping fear of the wrath that Sin would incur was devastating.
The teachings had told him all along that this was something to be feared and disgusted by, but now with something blossoming in his heart that he couldn't describe, how could he continue to believe?
He reached the front entrance to the main chamber of the temple and pushed through the large beaded curtains that held the symbols of Yevon and Sin on them. The main chamber was empty of people. Not too unusual, considering it was nearing dusk and most everyone would be sitting at home, eating their supper and tucking their children into bed.
He started up the stone steps towards the Cloister of Trials, when a voice called out to him.
"You've come here awfully late." It said.
Wakka turned around on the spot he was standing and looked down to the worn stone floor of the main chamber. A small, hooded figure was standing on the symbol of the fayth below. Pyreflies danced around him, as if he had materialized out of thin air. Wakka recognized what the figure was immediately.
"You're a fayth!" he cried out in disbelief. "But, I thought the fayth weren't able to leave their respective cloisters!"
The small figure nodded and floated across the floor slowly, towards the thunderstruck Wakka, whom had now sat down on the steps and was shaking his head. It drifted up the stairs to him and seemed to solidify.
"Technically, we're not allowed to leave the cloisters as we are to be bound by the rules of Yevon and Sin. But, due to the unsettling nature of the events unfolding in Besaid, I was granted immunity from that rule for a short period of time. Now tell me, why have you come seeking the knowledge of the Fayth?" This was all said very calmly, yet it had some curiosity and force behind it.
"Ah…I don't really know what I came here for originally, ya?" Wakka tried to form a more intelligible answer than this, but was denied more words.
"You obviously have questions about something," the fayth replied "or you would not have come seeking us. I doubt you would have gone into the Chamber, considering you don't purposefully break Yevon law."
The fayth proceeded to sit next to Wakka and look up at him, almost as if he were trying to read into Wakka's thoughts.
"I just…I'm not sure if what I'm feeling is something I should be, you know? Like, everything that's going on inside my heart is just a mess of confusion and hurt from losing my brother. I know what the teachings say about this. Besaid will be doomed to suffer under Sin again if this doesn't stop."
"So you doubt the feelings you have for your lover, because of the fact that Yevon's teachings tell you otherwise? You know that isn't the real answer to what's going on; you're using it as an excuse to keep from embracing the fact that you are unique to this island. In fact, you could say you are unique to a lot of Spirians. Love is the one emotion that Yevon or Sin can never meddle with, it's not something that either can contain or control. Love is its own unyielding and unbending force. It won't conform to what someone says it is. That is why it is so powerful. In the end, love is what defeats Sin. Not power. Not the Final Summon."
There was absolute silence for a few seconds as Wakka's mind reeled from what the Fayth had just told him. In the end, love is what defeats Sin. He looked down at the fayth, and saw for a fleeting moment, the everlasting spirit that became the fayth. A person, just like him, who loved Spira so much that he gave his life to be a savior for all peoples after him.
"Is this what Yevon really wants? For us to love and not fight?"
"Well, yes and no. Yevon doesn't want any of that. Yevon wants to you follow its orders and listen to its teachings. It wants to divide and manipulate you for its own personal gain. We, the fayth, want you to love and not hate. Yevon wants Sin to wreak havoc on those who do not listen to what it says. Yevon is corrupt with hatred and fear. Yevon, in short, is Sin."
Again, more silence followed this even further development.
"But – Yevon tells us what's right and wrong in the world! It tells us…" Wakka trailed off now, because he caught what the fayth was hinting at. The words that he started to say 'It tells us to follow the teachings for the good of Spira' stopped in his throat because he suddenly understood that Yevon wanted everyone to follow the teachings because of Sin. If Yevon controlled Sin, it essentially made all of Spira its puppets. "You knew all along that Yevon has been behind this? But why didn't you tell anyone? Why hasn't Sin been stopped?"
The fayth sighed audibly.
"We tried once and we failed at that. High Summoner Braska, Sir Auron and Jecht, were all supposed to rid Spira of the evil of Sin once and for all, but Sir Auron died during battle with Lady Yunalesca and Jecht couldn't bear it. So he unwillingly became the Final Summon for Braska. In the end, nothing worked out and we were forced to start all over again. And we pulled Jecht's son into Spira from Zanarkand. However, we didn't calculate that one of Lady Yuna's guardians would end up falling in love with Tidus. And now, we're at a loss of what to do with this situation. Because now the love between you two is growing strong, and we refuse to break that bond because of the greatness it has sprouted amongst Spira…"
Wakka's eyebrow instantly shot up from this last sentence. He realized something else was coming. A catch of some sort.
"But…?" the redhead began.
"But," the fayth continued "the main problem here is that with the two of you having fallen in love, your separation anxiety will become proportionately larger. Not that it wouldn't have been painful in the first place."
"Separation anxiety," Wakka blurted out "What do you mean 'separation anxiety'! How can Tidus and I suffer that? Are you saying I'm going to lose him now?"
"Well, it's hard to explain."
"Try me."
The fayth sighed again and simply stated: "Tidus is a dream. He doesn't exist."
"Oh, you've seriously got to be kidding me with this one. How can you mean that 'he's a dream?' He's right in front of me. I can touch and feel him. He exists."
"He exists in this world only because the fayth allow him to exist. Just like Jecht. In reality, the Zanarkand he knew is just a recreation of what existed one thousand years ago. It is a dream that was built and engineered by us, the fayth of Spira."
"Why create a dream out of an entire city of thousands and thousands of people if that dream can never be shared save for two people?"
Wakka was getting furious with the explanation he was being dealt. Tidus couldn't be a dream. It wasn't possible. He felt so real, his hair, his lips…everything. It was real! It had to be!
"That pool of people was what we need to use in order to destroy Yevon forever and bring Eternal Calm to Spira. We don't want to risk the lives of the Spirians in order to destroy Yevon. It's too much. So we came up with the plan to dream the old Zanarkand and use its people to fight Sin off, until someone could finally destroy it forever. When that happens, we can rest and the dream will be ended. No more sufferings."
"So, these dream people are essentially being used by you just so that you can finally get a good night's sleep? That's just wrong. That goes against all we Spirians try and stand for. If that's how you operate, you're no better off than Yevon then!"
Wakka picked himself up off the steps and marched back outside in a furious manner, refusing to even look back at that fayth. Nothing would keep him from Tidus now.
He paused only for a second at the door to call out – "I will find a way to keep you from taking him away from me, and you better understand that."
And with that he was gone into the tropical night air, tears streaming off his face.
The fayth just smiled to himself. So he does really love Tidus. Perhaps he'll be able to pull the boy into Spira permanently. And very suddenly, the temple was empty once more.
To Be Continued.