Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Akagi Sphere ❯ Chapter 4: 1000 words ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 4: 1000 words



“Where am I?!” Shuyin clinched his head tightly with both hands, dropping to his knees with weakness. He looked around franticly, hoping that something had changed, but just as before he found nothing but darkness. “Lenne! Lenne?! LENNE!!!” After all of this, all he went through, after he waited so long. He was so close! She was right there in front of him, He could feel her, he held her, she held him. Despite everything that he did to prove otherwise, he needed that, he needed that touch, he needed that feel, he needed Lenne.

*~
I know that your hiding things
Using gentle words to shelter me
*~

He screamed in frustration, pounding his fist against the ground. “Damnit!!” He had lost all since of time, being like this was like being in sensory deprivation. He couldn’t hear anything, at times he couldn’t even hear his own voice when he knew he was talking, he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face and he felt nothing. He could have been wondering around for hours... He had long since lost hope, and what ever force was driving him to keep going had just dissipated/

Finally after what could have been hours, days, weeks even, Shuyin gave up, knowing that everything he was doing was pointless. He fell weakly to the ground and laid his head in his arms, just laying there silently. He didn’t feel anything anymore, or maybe he was feeling a little of everything, either way it was hell. “No!! Let me out of here!” Shuyin clinched his eyes shut, tears forming “Let me out! Let me out!” He pounded his fist against the ground, shouting out to no one but himself. “Let me out!!...Let me out...let me out...someone...”

At least back on Spira he could inhabit a body, be with an actual person and walk among actual people. But here...

*~
Your words were like a dream
But dreams could never fool me
Not that easily
*~

“?..“ He head a small rustling behind him, causing Shuyin to open his eyes and quickly turn his head back toward the source, this time his senses seem to flare up after what seemed like an eternity of being dormant. A soft sent of flowers surrounded him, but it was strongest right under him, his strong enough to make him feel like his nose was pressed against it.... “!?” His eyes widened at the sight he saw, more tears coming though this time from his vision

There was a figure, someone surrounded in a golden light that made it impossible to make out any features... “What….?” Shuyin lifted himself on to his hands and knees and turned around abruptly. It stepped back a little, “Who are you?” Shuyin seemed to find himself again, rising to his feet. There was someone...he wasn’t alone, there was someone here, there was someone else here! He didn’t care who it was, he just didn’t want to be alone in this place.

*~
I acted so distant then
Didn't say goodbye before you left
*~

The figure slowly came toward him again, obviously a little skeptical. That’s when Shuyin started to notice things, it looked a little like him, even though it had no defining features the out like looked strangely similar.

With a few more steeps the figure stood face to face with him, Shuyin looked over it for a minute, trying to figure out what was happening...no he wasn’t, he didn’t care what was happening, as long as it kept happening. The golden hand slowly reached out a hand, touching his shoulder. “What?”

*~
But I was listening
*~

He felt a rush in his body, suddenly the darkness around him came to life, sweeping away like dust in a breeze at a dizzying pace. Endless fields of flowers, Crystal clear waters, blue skies... “The Farplane?” He was there for real this time, he was on the other side.

“…” The figure in front of him also revealed it self, it was like looking in to a mirror. “This… can’t be happening….” Shuyin could see the shock on his copy’s face, this person was just as surprised as he was.

*~
You fight your battles far from me
Far too easily
*~

“Who are you?” Shuyin asked.

The other continued to stare in disbelief, completely speechless. “Uh...Tidus…What about you.”

“Shuyin.” Shuyin turned away, looking at him from the corner of his eyes, obviously suspicious. This type of action was more of a reflex for him, he didn’t really care what this person’s name was or what he looked like, this guy saved him from that place...

Tidus extended his hand to Shuyin, who looked at him for a second, then finally gave in, shaking it. He turned away again to look at his surroundings, they seemed even realer now that he was on this side of it. “I just got here too.” Tidus said, picking up on his surprise and taking it as such. Shuyin looked back at him and Tidus shook his head as if he had just remembered something contradicting what he had just said. “Well, about a week ago actually.”

*~
"Save your tears cause I'll come back"
*~

“I was in the strange place, with the aeons.” Tidus said, almost as if he didn’t believe what he had been through after living it for a few years “And my father… But I ended up here, and the aeons were gone. I know I must sound strange but...” Aeons. Shuyin had used them, bringing them back and controlling them along with 100s of fiends and sending them in to the temples of Spira. Tidus was apparently connected, but it didn’t matter now...

*~
I could hear that you whispered as you walked through that door
*~

“Are you an Aeon?”

Tidus almost laughed at the question. “No way, can’t you tell?”

Shuyin turned way from him again, shifting away to other things. “I didn’t mean to laugh, but it was kinda funny though.” Tidus apologized, but Shuyin didn’t seem to care. “You know, I came here from Zanarkand.”

That seemed to get his attention. “Did you say Zanarkand?”

*~
You steal my soul
To hide the pain, when I turn back the pages
*~

Tidus nodded. “Yeah, I was taken by Sin, I ended up Spira...” This was starting to sound familiar to Shuyin. “So, how did you...you know.” Tidus asked as subtle as he could, but Shuyin got the implications

“I died a thousand years ago.” “

What! A 1000 years!?” Tidus exclaimed with surprise “…So you were an unsent?”

“You could say that.” Shuyin found it strange this guy could get so exited over small details, what did it mater, he was dead now.

*~
Shouting might have been the answer
What if I cried my eyes out and begged you not to part
*~

Speaking of small details...“Have you... heard of someone named, Lenne?” Shuyin looked at the ground when he asked, maybe embarrassed to ask, maybe solemn about asking.

“No, why?”

Shuyin looked at him, then became silent, that’s when it finally hit him that he may never see her again. “Nothing.”

Tidus could hear the disappointment in his tone, figuring that he must have really cared about this Lenne person “Nothing? Oh… is she your girlfriend?” Tidus asked playfully.

And this wasn‘t a matter Shuyin was at all playful on. “Mind your own business.” He coldly replied, shooting a glare at Tidus.

Tidus rubbed his head with a confused shrug “Come on, don’t be like that.”

*~
But now I'm not afraid to say what's in my heart
*~

Despite Shuyin’s best efforts, he couldn’t get rid of Tidus, who was compelled to apologize for brushing on such a sensitive subject and not at all willing to let one of the first people he met in the Farplane be permanently disliking of him. Truthfully, Shuyin didn’t really want to be alone, that much was made painfully clear to him after a 1000 years painfully existing in Spira and an unknown amount of time in an unknown place before reaching the Farplane.

Anybody at all would have been welcome, it was just something about Tidus... Something that shook him up inside, it was new, and his first reaction was to push it away, even if he didn’t want to. Finally he gave up trying to do so altogether, it hadn‘t really taken long for him do so.

Tidus fell back into a sitting position down on the soft flowers composing the ground, laying back carelessly enough to send in uprising of flower petals into the wind. “So what’s new in Spira?”

*~
Cause a thousand words
*~

This was something that Shuyin didn’t want to think about. “The same thing that happened 1000 years ago...” A rush of anger started to surge through him when he spoke about it “They’re still bickering over the trivial matters.”

“You mean like... The Machina war?”

“Yeah, exactly like it.” The very matter of it sent more anger rushing through his blood, Tidus could see the change in him. “I can’t stand Spira, I waited for it to change….”

“What’s with you?” Tidus stared up at the sky, wondering...“Why do you hate Spira?”

*~
Call out through the ages
They'll fly to you
*~

Shuyin explained to him what happened when the Machina war started. How Lenne was a talented singer and a summoner and how they called all summoners to the front line even though they were hopelessly out numbered. How he infiltrated Bevelle tried to use Veganagun to save Lenne, and Lenne tried to stop him. And every detail of how he tried to escape the Bevelle underground with her and they both ended up being killed. Shuyin harbored a particular dislike of Bevelle.

*~
Even though I can't see
I know they are reaching you, suspended on silver wings
*~

“Bevelle? Had a weapon under the city?”

“Yeah, they did.”

Tidus was amazed at the whole story, but from what he had seen the weapon under Bevelle didn’t surprise him. “What happened after that? How did you end up here?”

Shuyin, surprisingly unhesitantly, explained what happened through out the last 2 weeks. How he use the praetor of New Yevon, the revival of the aeons. And how he was finally stopped...

*~
Oh a thousand words
A thousand embraces
*~

Tidus sprang to his feet with evident anger, shouting “Did you say her name was Yuna!?”

Shuyin didn’t quite see the cause for anger just yet. “Yeah, and Rikku and Paine. So what?”

Tidus growled angrily at these words. “Yuna… the summoner that defeated Sin?”

“Yes, the same.”

Tidus reached down and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him off the ground and into the air about a foot above the earth with surprising strength. Shuyin’s eyes widened with surprise being caught off guard, being pulled forward until he was only about 3 inches from his face. “Howisshe doing?Whathappenedtoher?Whereisshe?!!” Tidus asked in a frenzy of questions that startled Shuyin.

Shuyin grabbed at Tidus‘s wrist, attempting to pry him off/ “Slow down…Let go of me.”

“I loved her! I have to know! What. Happened. To. Her?!”

*~
Will cradel you
Making all of your weary days seem far away
*~

This explained why she went along with the first time, she though he was Tidus.

“YOU!!! YOU!!” Tidus shifted his hands upward so that he was holding him by his neck with both hands, cutting off his air. “YOU HURT HER!!”

Shuyin was shocked again, at first his mind didn’t register what was happening to him until his lungs started to burn for air and his neck started to hurt... He finally pressed his hands against Tidus’s chest and started to push him away, only able to loosen the grip that constricted him.

*~
They'll hold you forever
*~

“Stop--” He was able to force out, but the grip around him only tightened. Shuyin pushed him back harder, most sharply this time, taking most of the pressure off of his throat. The first thing that came to mind was... “I’m sorry…I...she--” a moment ago he wouldn’t have said a word to Tidus, they would have ended up fighting. But it was something in his mind that related to what Tidus was feeling, no, everything in his mind related to what Tidus was feeling. He knew if someone hurt Lenne he would do the same thing, which made him hesitate to do so.

*~
Oh a thousand words (a thousand words)
Have never been spoken (ohh yeah)
*~

“I want Lenne back…I wanted Lenne back…” Finally being dropped by accident, Shuyin fell on to Tidus, who let go all together before both of them were sent to tumbling to the ground. “It was 1000 years, I waited! Do you have any idea how long that is!” Shuyin shouted. “I was so close. She made me think she was Lenne, she played with me. I didn’t mean to hurt her…” Shuyin’s arms wrapped tightly around Tidus, pulling himself closer and out of the range of any possible attack. All of what happened to him in those last moments had been a blur, he was so weak and tired that he couldn’t see strait, even after he figured out it wasn’t really Lenne and fought with Yuna he still was half conscious and barely able to tell which way was up.

He couldn’t take it anymore, too much had happened to go back to the way he was before. He couldn’t take this anger any more, this sadness, this loneliness...He was sick of this! He was sick of feeling that way, and just when he’d died and let his guard down, let himself actually open up to some one...he just wanted things to be like the way they were before.

*~
They'll fly to you
They'll carry you home, (carry you home)
*~

Tidus stepped back silently, realizing what he was doing... His mind started to debate with itself, his anger and empathy were conflicting and empathy was starting to win. After a minute of silence he didn’t seem to be mad anymore, Shuyin explained what happened in such detail that he felt as if he was there. And Yuna did win, and Shuyin only wanted Lenne back.... He couldn’t be mad, it was like being mad with himself. He could tell Shuyin didn’t want to fight him, even though the one that sent Spira in to madness, controlled the aeons and Veganagun was full capable of giving Tidus a tough one.

And Shuyin seemed so depressed about this...was he...crying?...

*~
And into my arms
*~

“Sorry…” Shuyin was quiet and unmoving, holding tightly to Tidus who didn’t seem to being trying to pull away “I really didn’t want to…I was just so...Damn, I wish you could understand what I was going through.”

Tidus could see he was telling the truth, it wasn’t too hard, it was just as easy as telling if he himself was lying. Tidus pack back away from Shuyin, turning his back and walking away.

Shuyin silently watched him make his way to the edge of the island of flowers they both resided on, watching him stop and put his hands behind his head... “Well?” Tidus glanced over his shoulder, “You wanna come with me or not?” Tidus’s question was unexpected and once again caught Shuyin off guard, everything seemed to do that today.

‘What the hell is going on?’ Regardless of his generally lost sense, Shuyin nodded and went after him. He didn’t want to be alone, and there was no way in hell he was going to be alone again, not if he could help it. ‘Tidus...’

“Look at this place…“ Tidus stared outward into the wide expanses of the Farplane, a smile appearing on his face and a forlorn look on his face. “It’s huge, it seems endless. I wonder if it really is? Every time I look around I wanna go in a different direction and see what’s that way…” Tidus looked downward over the edge, there were a few more island like this one below leading to a clear blue ocean of water that looked more shallow that it actually was, Tidus knew from experience.

“So, have you heard of her?” Shuyin asked, staring at Tidus’s back.

Now that Tidus thought about it again... “Who Lenne? Yeah, she was singer, a good one to I think.”

“Tidus eh? Hn… I think I remember you too…you were a Blitzball player. I remember hearing about you disappearing before the Machina war started, everyone thought you were me. It started to get annoying.”

Tidus laughed, Shuyin barely smiled, sure it was amusing now but then... He never thought he would actually look back at the past and smile, before it only brought back bad memories, even the higher amount of good ones seemed bad.

Which raised an interesting question. “Do you blitz?” Tidus asked.

“Not really.” Despite all the attention he got from looking like Tidus, he was horrible at Blitzball. Really horrible.

“Come on then I’ll teach you.” Tidus offered “ I have a sure fire way to get you blitzing in no time, five steps. ” Tidus said with a proud grin grabbing Shuyin by the hand and pulling him towards the water.

Shuyin was so surprised he nearly fell ’Damnit, what’s with this guy?’ “Hey! Wait!”

“Don’t worry!” Tidus said, coming to the edge of the floating patch of land. “I’m the best.” Tidus gave a few last words before he jumped, pulling Shuyin over with him. From above the water seemed only about a few inches deep, a foot at the most.

Shuyin drew in a quick breath and closed his eyes as they entered the ocean to reveal waters much deeper then Shuyin had expected. The waters were so clear you could see through it with, it didn’t move so much you could mistake it for air, except for the wetness, that was always a dead give away that you were in some type of liquid. ’It’s...so clear...I’ve never seen water like this.’ Shuyin swam to the surface where Tidus was waiting for him, who now had a blue ball in his hands. “Where did that come from?”

“My father gave it to me, I left it here.”

Tidus flashed a cocky smirk before he dove under water with a firm grip on the ball and a light splash, Shuyin didn‘t have time to question, he felt a sharp tug on his leg that pulled him down below the surface. “Whoa!--!” He found Tidus there, the same look on his face only this time hinted with more amusing looks. Shuyin shot him a look ’What the hell!’

Tidus only laughed in amusement and threw the ball at him, ‘!‘ Shuyin just barely caught it before it slammed into his chest.

*~
Suspended on silver wings (on silver wings!)
*~

! - ! - !

“Finally that’s over!” Gippal stretched his arms out, rubbing the sore muscles of his biceps and left leg. One by one, they all left the depths of the Farplane, Yuna, along with Rikku and Paine were the first. Nooj went to catch up afterwords, needing to talk with Paine. Before he left he made sure that Gippal and Baralai would be alright leaving last, this place was kinda creepy when you were by yourself.

Gippal had to check over Veganagun, it only seemed right since he had the most knowledge of Machina and he was going to make sure there was no way it would ever remotely work again. Baralai, although still weak from what happened, stayed behind with Gippal since there may still have been fiends around and Gippal was still injured.

*~
And a thousand words (ohh)
*~

Actually they preferred being alone, the fiends actually left after Shuyin was defeated, so there was nothing to worry about.

“There is no doubt in my mind that this thing is dead. We really did a number on it, I don’t think it can be repaired. Not that I’d want to.” Gippal stepped back from the mammoth machine, he left the core open since it didn’t really matter anymore.

“Well that’s good. “ Baralai looked at the complex machine with a sigh of relief, he could now say that Bevelle was completely free of these types of weapons, he’d double check himself when he got back .

“So tell me, did you like it?” Gippal came from behind and wrapped his arms Baralai’s neck from behind.

“What?” Baralai grabbed Gippal’s arms and tried to pry them off but Gippal had a strong grip, so instead he tried to slip out. “Let go of me.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. So did you like it?” Gippal gave him a soft, teasing kiss on his jaw line.

“I was a little pre-occupied.”

“Your not answering my question.”

Baralai sighed, dropping his hands to his side. “Yes.” He said in defeat, there was no way he could lie to Gippal when he was this close to him. He had a lot of different nervous habits that happened all at once when he lied, might as well tell the truth.

*~
Call out through the ages (call through the ages!)
*~

“Alright, now that we got that cleared up we can go.” Gippal let go, walking past Baralai towards the exit.

Baralai stood there for a moment, a small look of confusion forming over his features. “Hey wait! Is that the reason you had me stay down here with you?”

Gippal didn‘t stop walking, he just threw an agreeable nod. “Uh huh.”

Baralai sighed again and ran to catch up with him “I don’t suppose you’re the subtle type.”

“You know I’m not.”

They reached the end of the Farplane abyss, the whirling portal closed behind them as they exited. There was a small decent between the gate way and the land mass it sat above, one easily ascended by the two of them.

“Aw Damnit!” Gippal yelled suddenly upon his landing.

“What?”

Gippal dropped his head and pointed to the save point nestled in the field of flowers just ahead of them. The floating blue orb was cracked and no longer floating but instead down ground a short distance away from it’s stance... The Celsius was waiting on the other side, but they had no way of getting to the ship now that the save point was destroyed.

*~
They'll cradel you (ohh yeah)
*~

Baralai lifted his hand to his forehead with frustration, he didn’t have the strength for this “How did this happen?”

Gippal looked around for any sign of what could have caused this, there was nothing to be found. “Well it seems were gonna be taking the long way back.” he sighed, looking towards the twisting paths that lead to the temples of Spira. But there were so many paths to take, all of them seemed to blend together in a confusing spiral. Many paths leading to one point.

“We came here from the hole in Bevelle, all we have to do is remember which way we came.” Gippal sounded sure of his words.

Baralai shook his head “You make it sound easy, and what if we choose the wrong one, We don’t know where we could end up.”

“Wow, how very optimistic. Look don’t worry about it so much, as long as we end up somewhere in Spira, we’ll be fine.” Gippal reassured him, randomly picking a path with his finger. “How about that one?” He asked, pointing to the one to the left of the one before of them.

Why not? Baralai couldn‘t pick one any better then he could. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

! - ! - !

“See, it’s easy.” Tidus sat down on the edge of an island closest to the ocean, shaking the water from his hair and tossing the blitz ball behind him.

Shuyin collapsed on the ground next to him, laying with his face buried in the flowers, he didn’t want to move... Tidus looked back at him, “Hey Shu?...Why did you come with me?” It had only been an hour or so and Tidus had already given him a nickname.

Shuyin, who didn’t seem to mind the name, didn’t answer for a moment, bathing in a very awkward silence. It seemed like a longer time then had actually passed by the time he answered, his head still laying face down in the flowers. “I don’t know, I just didn’t want you to be mad at me.”

“Sorry….*Quietly* Shu? If I hadn’t have did what I did, would you have still followed me?”

“….Yeah, probably, Why?”

Tidus shrugged, though he knew Shuyin couldn‘t see that action. “I don’t know, you seemed kinda annoyed.”

“I was.” Shuyin planted his hands into the ground and rolled over on to his back, his eyes drifting to the sky, “But it wasn’t for the reason your thinking.”

“Huh?”

“Despite what you may think I do enjoy your company.” He honestly did, he had instantly dropped his guard when he saw Tidus. Maybe because they were already pushed to their limits and he had nothing left but himself.

*~
Make all of the loneliest your lonely days (lonely days
*~

“Really?”

“…Can I ask you a question?” Shuyin inquired.

“Sure.”

“Why aren’t you still mad?”

“Well…I don’t know, I guess I couldn’t stay mad at you….” Tidus looked down at him. “Why didn‘t you fight back?”

“Didn’t want to.” Shuyin told him plainly.

“Why, I mean I just attacked you and you didn’t even try to defend yourself.”

“I didn’t want to fight you, you were the one who found me. I thought I was going crazy until you appeared, and you made me forget about everything, even Lenne.” Shuyin had no problem being open and direct about what he thought and felt.

Finally Shuyin lifted himself off the ground, moving next to Tidus. “Wow.” Tidus rubbed his head glancing over at Shuyin.

“Tell me, do you like me?” Shuyin asked casually.

“Uh, well. I don’t know.”

“I haven’t felt this way since the first time I met Lenne. I have to know.”

“Oh, Like you like that. I don’t know, what would you do if I said no?”

“I’d say I can’t make you like me.”

“And what would you do if I said yes?”

Shuyin moved over Tidus, pressing his lips to Tidus’s boldly, who opened welcomely. “Hm…”
Tidus pulled back after a moment. “I say yes.”

Keeping his promise, Shuyin pulled Tidus back in to another kiss, wrapping his arms around him this ime.

*~
They'll hold you forever.
*~

_____________

A 1000 words sung by none other than Yuna and Lenne in FF X-2.

It took me a while but I finally finished this chapter, I decided to do the Yaoi in the next chapter, this one was running kinda long.


Sdi~

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