Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Golden Silence ❯ A Hard Faced Truth ( Chapter 12 )

Golden Silence

Lady Mars

Chapter XII: A Hard Faced Truth

Disclaimer: I don't own FFX or Gold Dust Woman.

* * *

Jecht sat on the steps of the temple, head buried in his hands. One the one hand he was glad to be back and to have his son back in one piece, but on the other, he was afraid that his son would slip through his fingers again. It was hard for him to understand why it was all happening like this; it was hard for him to understand why anyone would want to do this to him.

"It could be worse you know." Jecht looked up to see the looming form of Auron standing in front of him.

"It could?" he hissed bitterly. "How could it be worse?"

"You could have dragged his dead carcass out of the water," Auron said in his normal deadpan tone. Jecht sighed.

"You're right," he muttered. "The boy COULD have been dead."

"And by all means he should have," Auron responded. Jecht glared at the monk. "Don't give me that look, he should have died. He was under too long, even for a blitzer, and he was under too much stress. He shouldn't have lasted as long as he did. It doesn't make any sense how…"

"SHUT UP!" Jecht roared. "I'VE HAD JUST ABOUT ENOUGH OF YOUR NEGATIVITY FOR ONE LIFETIME! CAN'T YOU JUST ONCE LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THINGS? CAN'T YOU BE HAPPY THAT HE"S STILL ALIVE INSTEAD OF SIX FEET UNDERGROUND?" The stoic man didn't say anything. "Just as I thought." Jecht stormed past Auron and out of the small village.

"Don't worry about him." Auron turned to see Lulu walking up to him. "He's been like this the last couple of days."

"I can't blame him," Auron mumbled. "It's putting quite a strain on all of us."

"That it is," she replied stopping next to him. "But do you really think he should have died out there?" Auron sighed.

"By all logical methods he should have, but…" he stopped for a moment. "But I'm glad he didn't. I'm hoping those two will finally make up their differences and be happy for once."

"They weren't exactly on good terms when this started, I take it," Lulu said.

"Not in the least," Auron replied with a snort. "When they left, Tidus wanted nothing to do with Jecht, let alone get stuck on Spira with him being the only one he could trust. It wasn't pretty."

"I can imagine." The pair stood in silence for a few moments. "Any idea on when he's going to wake up?" Auron thought for a moment.

"I wish I knew," he replied quietly. "I really wish I knew."

* * *

Jecht settled in the sands near the small pool, burying his head in his hands once again. The stress was really taking a toll on him. He hadn't slept well in the last few days and if anyone else gave him their 'sympathies' he was going to loose all control. The stress coupled with the emotional pain was pushing the Blitzer to the edge. He had never been an advocate of weakness, but he had never felt this weak in his entire life. The first few tears slid down the planes of his face without impediment. The rest followed the leaders as the man slowly gave into his emotions. All the pain, all the anguish, everything he had felt sine reuniting with Tidus in the Farplane came flowing down in one clean sweep. It was hard for him to understand why this all came to a head at that moment, but the only thing he could be sure of was that the feeling hurt, it hurt like no physical wound he had ever received. His soul hurt and the one who could fix the wound was dancing on the fringes of death.

* * *

Rikku sat on the edge of the dock, her toes dancing with the edge of the cool water. She thought back to the many hours she had spent on the same dock, doing the same thing, only to have Tidus attack her from underneath and startle her. Despite all of the problems he had, the man had a keen way of popping up and making everything better for her. And now, now he wasn't there to help.

"Hey, you ok?" Rikku chuckled at the drawl of Wakka.

"I don't know Wakka," she replied quietly. "It's kinda hard to explain." She skirted her feet against the water again.

"I know," he replied. "It is kinda hard to accept life without him."

"Yeah," she mumbled. "You think he'll be ok?"

"I think so," he replied. "He's been through some hard shit, so I think he'll be fine."

"I sure hope so Wakka, I sure hope so." She turned her gaze from the red head and back out to the open ocean. It seemed that the whole world had calmed without his presence and all they could do was wait for him to come back.

* * *

He slowly cracked his eye open, testing the intensity of the light. The hut was bathed in a dim light cast from the setting sun. He let his eyes slip shut with a small sigh; it felt like he had been brought back from the dead to be left to die again. He snorted at the though; it was irony at it's purest.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." He slowly opened his eyes again and stared up at the familiar brown ones belonging to his father. "Thought you would never come out of it." Tidus snorted.

"I'm not THAT weak dad," he mumbled.

"You aren't?" Jecht questioned.

"No," Tidus replied gruffly, sitting up. "I am not as weak as you take me as."

"You think I take you as weak after all of THAT?" Tidus thought for a moment, not really sure of what to make of it. Before he could respond, Jecht carried on. "You scarified life and limb to protect that girl, destroyed Yu Yevon, eliminated sin and summoners of the rest of eternity, came back to find the love of your life married to someone else and an island full of fiends determined to kill her, and on top of that had to deal with a mad man; I couldn't have handled the pressure. You handled it with grace, flair, and you never lost sight of what it all truly meant to you; that takes real strength." Tidus stared blankly at his father.

"You really mean that?" he stammered.

"Would I tell you if I didn't?" Jecht questioned. Tidus smiled lightly.

"No, you wouldn't." Jecht smiled at his son.

"Good; now you need to rest." He pushed the boy back down onto the bed. "And don't argue; you'll need it for when the masses come." Tidus chuckled lightly.

"All right, all right." The youth shifted to get more comfortable. Jecht slowly walked out of the hut, smiling at his sleeping son. 'It's good to have him back.'

* * *

Tidus stretched; relishing in the warmth of the noon day sun. Being cooped up with injuries was driving the young Blitzer to madness, but now that he could get out into the fresh air, all was good again. That was until he heard the argument.

"DAMNED IF I KNOW!" Jecht's voice rattled through the calm village air. "If I knew, I'd be more than glad to tell you, but I don't." Tidus slowly walked to the group, wondering what was going on.

"It's hard for even us to understand," Auron added. "Mostly because a lot of major details were left out of our end of the story."

"Like what?" Izzaru asked.

"Like everything," Tidus replied stepping up on the temple steps where Auron and Jecht stood. "They weren't told for safety reasons."

"Safety reasons?" Jecht questioned.

"More like the fact that it was too long to explain," Tidus replied.

"Well then are you going to explain it to us?" Izzaru shot back. Tidus sighed.

"I shouldn't be the one who does this," he replied sullenly.

"Then who should?" Tidus gazed over his shoulder at the temple.

"There is only one who can."

* * *

Tidus watched as the group arranged themselves around the chamber. He was kneeling in front of the massive carving that was once the Valefor faith. The group silenced as the youth turned his attention back to the stone.

"I hope this works," he mumbled. He took a deep breath and started the incantation, getting louder as he went along. "Rock on gold dust woman, take your silver spoon and dig your grave." The stone took on a black mist. "Heartless challenge; pick your path and I'll pray." Jecht stood, staring at his son, confused. He had heard this song before, but he couldn't place where. "Wake up in the morning, see your sunrise- loves- to go down. Lousy lovers- pick their prey, but they never cry out loud, cry out. Did she make you cry, make you break down, shatter your illusions of love? Is it over now- do you know how to pick up the pieces and go home?" The answer hit Jecht like a ton of bricks, but he wouldn't admit it; this couldn't be right. "Rock on- ancient woman, follow those who pale in your shadow. Rulers make bad lovers; you better put your kingdom up for sale. Did she make you cry, make you break down, shatter your illusions of love? Is it over now- do you know how pick up the pieces and go home?" From the black mist emerged a beautiful, but rather angry brunette. Tidus stood and looked at the woman.

"I know DAMN WELL that you came to me TWO DAYS AGO for power," the woman hissed. "I know the only way for you to need power is if you went around casting the spell bloody left and right, which I know you haven't because that would kill you and you're not dead so, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?"

"Eva?" Jecht questioned. The woman spun the see the band of on lookers. She spun back around to Tidus.

"Am I seeing things?" she asked, slightly calmer.

"No," Tidus replied.

"I missed all the fun then, didn't I?" she asked.

"Yes," Tidus replied.

"And the peanut gallery wants an explanation, I assume." Tidus nodded. Eva sighed. "Figures." She turned back to the band of on lookers. "I guess you all need to be filled in."

"That would be nice," Izzaru snapped.

"Watch it buster, blondie can still torch you." Izzaru snorted.

"He wouldn't," he hissed.

"Don't tempt me," Tidus mumbled.

"ANYWAY…" Eva started again. "I guess this starts with him." She pointed at Tidus. "If he hadn't wanted to save little princess, this wouldn't have happened."

"What?" Wakka questioned. Eva sighed; this was going to be fun.

"They way it was supposed to go was Tidus was to become Yuna's final summoning. After being defeated, he was to become the Fayth in the rebuilt city of Zanarkand, but we can't do anything the easy way, heaven forbid. He was to become the aeon of water, the cute little dragon man you all saw earlier, but that didn't happen. Because Yu Yevon was destroyed, our plans were destroyed with it. He was to be used as an agent of the summoner to defeat that thing that Seymour became."

"Thing, Seymour?" Izzaru asked.

"The big blue ugly thing attacking the island. Somehow he got out and was stealing souls and turning them into fiends to kill Yuna for destroying his plans. Disgruntled little shit… So we had to find a way to stop him; hence sending the three of you back."

"And the dragon…?" Auron asked.

"That was a Fayth thing, not my doing. They decided to give him their power to beat the bastard, he just took the initiative. So that's about where we are now. Anything else you want to know?"

"Yeah," Jecht added. "Why are we back to normal?" Eva shrugged.

"Got me. I can't tell you, but…"

"I can." Braska appeared next to her. "This was Tidus' doing. He wanted to give you two a second chance to live, mostly because the first time around wasn't as pleasant as it could have been." Auron and Jecht exchanged glances, looked at Tidus confused, and turned back to Braska.

"So… we're alive again?" Jecht asked. Braska nodded. "Wow…"

"It's unbelievable," Auron mumbled.

"Isn't it though?" Braska replied.

"Yeah," Eva muttered. "You only get this one last shot, so fuck it up."

"What makes you think I will?" Jecht growled back.

"Where should I begin?" Braska turned away from the arguing pair to face Tidus. The youth looked up at him, hopefully.

"I'm sorry," the summoner replied, downtrodden. "There's nothing I can do." Tidus sighed dejectedly.

"It's ok; I kinda had a feeling this would happen. How long do I have?"

"Three days."

"Three days?" Jecht questioned. "What is this about three days?" Braska sighed; this wasn't going to be easy.

"In exchange for your lives, Tidus has to return to the Farplane. He doesn't have enough energy to sustain his own life and we can replenish it, so he has to return." The group stood in a stunned silence; after all they had been through, they were truly loosing him despite their best efforts.

"You… you can't do this," Jecht stammered. "You can't take him from us like this; not after all of that."

"I'm sorry Jecht; if I could change things, I would, but I can't." Tidus hung his head, trying to hide his shame.

"You kept this from us…why?" Wakka asked.

"It wasn't his choice," Braska said. "It didn't need to be known. He wasn't even supposed to come back; the Fayth thought he should have one last goodbye." Tidus swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to ignore the gazes that bored into him. Braska turned back to the teen. "Three days, no more." Tidus nodded. "Be ready when I come." He nodded again. "Good. Eva, we need to get back." The woman sighed and disappeared without a word. "Be prepared." And with that, Braska was gone too. The group stood silently, none of them knowing really what to say. All they could do was stand there and watch as Tidus tried to hold back his tears. 'Three days and he's gone,' Auron thought. 'Three days till our world collapses and no way to tell him everything I need to…'

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