Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Long Way Home ❯ Journey's End ( Chapter 15 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

[A/N: This chapter will be a little different. First Person perspective will not always be used herein. Just a way to provide a bit of closure, in my humble opinion. I don’t own them, I just borrow them, you know the drill. I wrote this faster than my other chapters; hopefully the quality is not lessened. Enjoy.]

The Long Way Home

Journey’s End

I have watched them for some time now.

Their journey has been a long one, and in some ways, it is only just beginning.

I have seen them on the Pilgrimage, watched them even when they didn’t know I was there. Mused over their inner doubts. Smiled as they fought alongside one another and with their friends. Grew sad when they felt pain, happy when they found love… but inwardly aware that more pain might come later.

I have felt their spirits during their separation, and been touched by the longing in their hearts, the real need to see one another again. And now I see them together again. I can hear their laughter, and I know the many joys they have discovered from one end of the land to the other. Old friends have been reclaimed, and new friends have been made. And as time goes by, I know the old wounds will eventually heal over completely. They will likely not forget the time they were apart, but that is as it should be. It has brought them closer still.

They have passed the test. A cruel test, to be sure… but one that was necessary. He asked me something just before the fall of Sin, in the cloister of Bevelle… “I’m not merely a dream, am I?”

I had no answer for him then. Should I have told him he was merely a dream, and destroyed his hope, or told him the opposite and caused him further confusion later on… I did not know. So I remained silent.

Now he speculates that he may still be a dream… or possibly something else. Perhaps our final gift to her.

The truth is, he is more than just a dream… as was his father.

The Farplane… it is more than the realm of the dead. It is the source of all life in this world, be it animal, plant, or human. Everything is connected to it in one way or another. New life takes its energy, spirit- its very soul- from the Farplane. When that life dies, the energy returns to the world and rejoins the Farplane, bringing with it memories and knowledge learned in life. That knowledge can be tapped by those with the proper gift and training, and depending on its manipulation may be used for good or ill… thus, magic itself is dependent on the Farplane. But humans can only do so much, because while they live they are detached, to a point, from its energies. It is only through transcending the barrier between the living and the dead that true power is realized… this is the power that awakens when one gives their life to become a Fayth. A power I realized long, long ago when I gave my sickly mortal shell to protect this world I love so much. It is intense, overwhelming- and at the same time frightening. It is not a power to be abused, or used lightly.

There are those that refuse to return to the Farplane. Those who die violently and refuse to accept their death are the most common. Others die with much blood on their hands or wrath in their minds, polluting their spirits, and linger between the realms, unable to merge their energies with the cosmic stream beneath Spira. Most become mindless fiends, vicious brutes lashing out at life, only able to rest at peace when they are destroyed by the living. A few become the Unsent, their consciousness sustained by sheer force of will, passion or anger. They refuse to re-merge with the Farplane- often for the sake of some personal goal or vendetta. Seymour was one. Shuyin, another. Worse yet, their state of unlife brought them dangerously close to the power that no living being should tamper with… and the results were very nearly cataclysmic.

It would have been the end of Spira as we know it, if it hadn’t been for something unexpected.

The Dream of the Fayth… it was intended as our refuge, a reminder of the life we had foregone composed of our combined memories. As long as we had such a refuge, drawn from the heart of the Farplane, the risk of Yu Yevon claiming our astral forms was greatly reduced. It was our comfort zone, a place of peace we could retreat to in times of need, replenishing ourselves to better serve our Summoners. We drew energy from the spirits that had once lived in the Zanarkand of old; their memories merged with ours and breathed life into the dream, preventing our refuge from stagnating- but only to a point. We refrained from adding certain memories, for fear they would trigger strife within the dream. We imagined a populace of peace and harmony, and our minds created one. In essence, we created a blank slate population in our fictional world, rewriting Zanarkand the way we felt it should have been. To a point, it worked- then our dream began to multiply, drawing more energy from the Farplane… energy which might have rightly been reborn in Spira as living beings. The dream began to take a life of its own. At first, there was no noticeable effect; our utopia remained stable. But then…

Few, if any, know of the cyclical nature of the Farplane… how one man’s spirit with its own memories may be reborn in a new body, with no knowledge or memories of its previous incarnation. It is an uncommon happening, to be sure, but it does occur. Most spirits are content to remain with their memories, ignoring the chance to be reborn. But some take the chance, and some of them were making their way into the dream Zanarkand rather than the real world.

Then one spirit emerged in the dream world with some of his memories and all of his personality intact. That was Jecht.

Another emerged later in the dream, in similar form. His real-life son, Tidus.

Both had lived in the true Zanarkand at the time of the Machina War, and had lived and died under different circumstances than they remember. The early days of the war claimed both their lives, and neither seemed to fight it. The father had abandoned his family, thinking there was nothing more to do with life. The son died in Bevelle’s first missile barrage, thinking there was nothing worth living for. Now both had re-emerged in the dream, nearly identical to the life they had once lived… except the dream had no Summoners, no Bevelle, no outside Spira. Few, if any, of the people they once knew. And no idea that they had lived and perished once before.

None of the other Fayth had seen a rebirth of identity of this magnitude before, let alone two in succession. Such rebirths only ever happened once every hundred years or so, and never in a dream world. Such rebirths give those who died another chance to live and find true peace. We began to ponder the significance of this occurrence… the possibility that they deserved a second chance at life. But a life within our dream would only be half a life, sustained and dictated by the population we had created. It was that moment when we realized the folly of our perfect dream; it was our haven, but for those within it was a gilded cage. We had simply never anticipated this. Nor did we anticipate how their past rivalry would ignite strife within the dream, destabilizing it bit by bit… Quarrels began to erupt. Rifts within the dreamscape, weaknesses.

Without the dream as a peaceful retreat, our minds would become dulled and exposed. We felt we had no choice but to remove one of them… but it was not our place nor right to kill a soul desiring a second chance. Yet neither did we have the power to grant them the full life they desired; one of them, perhaps, but not both, and even then the strain on our astral forms would threaten to destroy us.

In the end, the choice was made for us when Jecht moved beyond the barrier of our dream world. His own determination to get away for a while led him to a wavering rift caused by the very strife he and his son shared… and his essence touched our own, enabling us to expel him from the dream into a new form, a form sustained by us. It was the best we could do to regain a modicum of peace within our dream and retain our power; we thought that would end the strife. It didn’t. We had no idea of the consequences of our acts, once again. Jecht did accomplish much in the chance we offered him, but by following Braska blindly he condemned himself to a far worse fate than ever anticipated- he became a slave to the Unsent we had fought and hid from for so long.

More years passed. The real world continued its cycle of death as Jecht was reborn as the new Sin, while the dream world remained unaware of it all. The fighting raged on. The other Fayth began to grow tired of the war with Yu Yevon, tired of dreaming to escape.

Then we became aware of the Unsent Guardian passing back and forth to the dream world… acting as caretaker to Jecht’s son, now full grown. He, too, was eager for something beyond the dream life he had lived, but he didn’t know of it- a far cry from who he had been when he had first lived. It was then we decided to gamble. There was little chance we could amend for the fate that had claimed Jecht, but perhaps there was one spirit we could give a second chance to. This time, there was a chance we could grant full life, not a sustained existence dependent on us. A true reincarnation.

But for that to happen, our ties to the material world needed to be severed- meaning not only would Yu Yevon have to be destroyed, we, and our Aeons, would have to be Sent. Only by rejoining the Farplane completely would we be capable of harnessing the necessary power… and as such, we would cease to dream. Not only that, we needed to know if this spirit was deserving of life- a gift we could not give lightly. If he was given the chance, could he see beyond the end of his nose and see the real needs of the world? Would he be willing to make the sacrifice necessary, one in which it would seem he would cease to be? And would he want to return to Spira, once he learned the truth of the dream world that was his home?

Yes… in a way, we used him. We showed him the truth beyond the rabbit hole, hoping that his connection to our previous failure with Jecht would provide a salvation for the world as a whole. We did not tell him everything; if he had known what we were trying to do he might have acted differently and all would have been lost. We needed to know the real him, to see if this second chance would find something worth living for.

Our doubts were for naught.

Tidus found something to live for… and more importantly, found someone to live for.

Some wanted to grant the gift right away, but others felt it unwise… they felt his connections to Spira were tenuous at best, a fleeting memory amongst those who had met him. A few thought his efforts had been inconsequential, that the Summoner Yuna was the true hero of this world. They did not see the bond forged between the two that had made their success possible, such was their lack of sight. They wanted more proof, they said. They wanted to see the impact he had made. And without their participation, we would not be able to give him the chance.

A long time passed before the others were satisfied. Many further trials and dangers encroached upon us, threatening the stability of the Farplane and consequently the rest of the world. Once again we came under the threat of a poisoned Unsent, worse than Seymour Guado and nearly as bad as Yu Yevon. An incarnation of Shuyin’s pain and suffering, devoid of any other memory besides his own death.

Once again our existence was preserved because of Yuna. The others could not argue now, not after seeing her devotion to him firsthand.

Her bond with him was the final proof the others wanted. Yet I refused to guarantee he would return to her, not because I wanted her to doubt, but because this was something we could only do under these circumstances. If I had promised her that he would return, people might begin to think all those who have been Sent might be able to come back… and while we are strong in the depths of the Farplane, we are not that strong.

All is in balance now. The Farplane remains stable. Jecht has returned, his second turn at life complete. Shuyin has fallen back to his rest, a rest that should have begun when he and his beloved died in the final days of the years-long Machina War… he had forgotten so much in the past thousand years, and by forgetting drove himself to darkness. He forgot his days in Zanarkand, befriending a brooding Blitz player two years his senior. He forgot joining his idol’s minor league team, the Bombers, hoping to emulate him and play alongside him on the Abes one day.

He forgot about cutting his hair to resemble his hero, or days spent memorizing his stance, his moves…

Yes, Shuyin forgot all of that… except for Lenne, and their pain.

Tidus remembers none of this… nothing of Lenne, or of Shuyin, or the war that claimed him so many years ago. And he does not need to remember. All that lies in a past life, a life similar yet different to the dream world. One where he died without hope or happiness.

His life is now his own. It is our gift to him… and to Yuna.


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The moon was rising high over Djose, and most of the workers had made their way inside. The Celsius remained parked in an inlet just outside the temple, its engines deactivated for the night. Her crew had turned in early, not waiting for the others to return. Outside, all was quiet except for the soft lapping of river water against the shoals.

Inside the temple, three friends sat around a table, chatting and laughing.

“You shoulda seen the look on his face when he found all his tools painted purple with pink polka dots!!!” Rikku giggled, taking a swig of her drink. “Do y’know it took an hour for that paint to dry?”

“So you WERE the one!” Gippal snorted, slapping the table and nearly spilling his own drink. “I thought that had your mark all over it, Cid’s girl!”

“I have a name, you know… or would you prefer I call you Gipp the Dip?”

“Watch it…”

“I don’t know, I think that name suits you quite nicely, Gipp the Dip,” Paine chimed in with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. Rikku snickered.

“See, even Paine agrees with me!”

“I can’t win…” Gippal groaned, throwing his hands up in surrender.

“That’s the idea, sweetie.”

“Oh, so now I’m your sweetie, am I?” Gippal asked, swinging around to meet Rikku’s grinning face. “Then I guess that means you’ll forgive me if I do this.” Without another word, he stood up, grasped her around the waist, hoisted her up in the air and started tickling her ribs. Rikku yelped and tried to squirm out of his arms, to no avail, and it was mere seconds before her shouts turned to helpless giggles. Paine shook her head and began laughing herself as Gippal’s tickle torture continued.

“Ok… okay, enough! Enough! I give up! Uncle!!!” she gasped as Gippal let her back down. She gave him a light punch on the arm as her breathing returned to normal. “Oui pek sayhea,” she muttered with a smirk.

“Exactly what I’ve always thought, Rikku. A big meanie, that’s what he is,” Paine quipped.

“Knock it off, Dr. P,” Gippal chuckled. “You know what they say about little boys who never grow up… they love to torment the ones they like.”

“We’d figured as much,” said Paine. “Why else would we have given the two of you that time alone?”

“You could’ve just said something instead of everyone ditching us at once,” said Rikku, folding her arms and sticking her tongue out.

“And miss the expression on your faces?” Paine took another sip of her drink. “Blame Yuna for the disappearing act we pulled; it was her idea.” The others blinked, then started laughing again.

“I think you’ve been hanging out together too much, Rikku; you’re starting to corrupt the High Summoner!!!”

“Gippal!!” Rikku whined, batting his elbow. “C’mon, I can’t be that bad.”

“Speaking of Yuna, where is she anyway?” Paine glanced back towards the main hall of the temple, deserted at that moment.

“Oh… Yunie and ‘you-know-who’ decided to take a quick run up to the Moonflow,” Rikku replied. “I wonder if he’s planning to give her the surprise…”

“What surprise?” the others asked, simultaneously. Rikku’s eyes went wide. Her cheeks went red and she suddenly didn’t know what to do with her fingers.

“Um, nothing! Nothing at all…”

“Spill it. What’s going on?”

“Paine, nothing’s going on! Nothing to be concerned about, nothing extra-special happening, not in the least…”

“Methinks she doth protest too much, Dr. P,” said Gippal, rubbing his chin. Rikku groaned.

“Look, I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone about anything, otherwise I was gonna get a Blitzball bounced off my head sixty-six times, so can we just drop it?” she sighed. “You’ll find out anyways soon enough.”

Paine rolled her eyes as she got up. “Alright, if it’s that important, you don’t have to tell us. I can respect that. Now I don’t know about you two, but I’m in dire need of some shut-eye. We’ve got a long day in Luca coming up tomorrow.” Turning on her heel, she sauntered out of the room towards the sleeping quarters the Faction was providing.

“Yeah… guess we’ve only got one or two more stops before we head back to Besaid,” Rikku muttered, looking down at her hands. “Guess this doesn’t make for much of a reunion, does it?”

Gippal smiled. “It’s enough for now… and we’ll see each other again soon, won’t we? You know you can come here whenever you want.”

“I’ll have to hit Brother with some sleep gas first,” she replied. “But… yeah, I’ll definitely be back. Got a lot of catching up to do with a certain extrovert gearhead.”

“I wonder who that could be… can’t be anybody here,” Gippal said with a smile as he stood up. “Hey… oui ghuf E's lnywo ypuid oui, nekrd?”

Rikku looked up at him. For a moment neither said a word.

“Oayr... yht E's lnywo ypuid oui, duu…” she answered with a soft smile as she leaned forward and he caught her in a gentle hug.

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[Translations: Gippal: you know I’m crazy about you, right?

Rikku: Yeah… and I’m crazy about you, too…]

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Two figures stood by the edge of the Moonflow, their faces illuminated by the light of the moon and the myriad rainbow colors of the pyreflies. There was not another person around, and no sound except the soft chirping of crickets in the woods. The surface of the water was like glass, undisturbed and smooth. Pyreflies skated across the river, suddenly dancing upwards and encircling one another as if they were dancing, then dropping into the water below, casting multi-hued shadows across the rocks and plants along the riverbed. A light breeze played through the trees, and the pyreflies changed direction again, roiling and swirling in the air. It was a wondrous sight, one that made the young lovers gasp in awe.

“I always wanted to come back here at night,” said Yuna, her arm around Tidus’ waist. “I just never had the time… or the right company.”

Tidus nodded, his own arm around her back. “You were right… it is magnificent.” He paused, then smirked. “And you say this Tobli guy was putting on a show right here by the bank?” Yuna nodded, smiling at the memory. “I wish I’d seen it.”

“There wasn’t much to it, really,” she said lightly. “Some music on the back of a Shoopuf, lots of colored lights… he even got the three of us involved.”

Several pyreflies danced before their eyes before disappearing into a nearby tree.

“Do you remember that day… we were crossing the Moonflow, and Wakka didn’t know Rikku was Al Bhed? He was rambling on how much they were to blame…”

Tidus nodded. “Yeah, and Auron had told me about your connection to them, too… I couldn’t understand why Wakka was saying those things. And I knew if he kept it up, it’d get ugly…”

“And you got his mind off the subject,” Yuna continued, smiling.

“I didn’t want it to get worse…” he replied, turning to face her. “I didn’t want what he was saying to hurt you.”

She nodded. “I think… I think that was the moment I realized I loved you… but I was scared to say anything, because…”

“I know,” Tidus whispered, drawing her into a gentle embrace. “I know.” She rested her head on his shoulder as he stroked her hair with his right hand.

For a moment, neither one said anything.

“Yuna…”

“Yes?”

He pulled away slightly, lifting her face up so he could look into her eyes. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about for a while now,” he said as he put his hands in his pockets. “A long time ago, I made a promise that if you needed me, just whistle…”

“And you’d come running,” she finished, nodding slightly.

“I heard your whistle, even while I was… away,” he said, looking down at his feet. “It hurt that I couldn‘t whistle back. I wanted to be there for you… always, the way I told you at Macalania.” A single tear fell down the right side of his face. “I thought about us all the time while I was gone. I didn’t know when I’d see you again, but when I did, I wanted to give you something.”

Yuna shook her head, a small smile on her face. “You don’t have to give me anything; just having you back is all I need.”

Tidus removed his right hand from his pocket, clasping something between his fingers. “I had this made before we left Bevelle; it’s something I created in my mind’s eye over time.” He opened his hand, revealing the engraved silver ring on his palm. The central gem refracted millions of rainbow colors in the light of the pyreflies, and the sapphire and emerald twinkled merrily on either side of it. The band itself seemed to be in motion, rippling waves on one side merging with delicate flowers on the other. Yuna’s eyes went wide, one hand cupped over her mouth.

“Tidus… it’s so… oh, my…”

“I wanted to give you this as a token of my love…” He paused, almost afraid to continue. Yuna glanced up, her fingers trembling. Gently, he took her left hand in his. “And I wanted to ask if you wouldn’t mind… staying together with me, always…” He trailed off as he slid the ring onto her hand, then looked up. The smile on her face was still there, accompanied by a tear of her own.

“You know…” she began, then stopped. Another tear fell down her face.

“What is it?” Tidus asked, a worried look in his eyes.

“While you were gone… there were many others who asked me the same thing,” she continued, her voice cracking slightly. “So many, most of whom I had never met before. Some were rude, others were excruciatingly polite… I turned every one of them down. I didn’t want to listen to their proposals…” She glanced up and gazed into his eyes.

“Because yours was the only one I wanted to hear.”

She flung her arms around his neck, pulling him close, and he responded in kind. The worry in his eyes vanished as he lifted her up and twirled her around in his arms, their laughter filling the air around them. The rainbow lights cascaded upwards in spiraling clouds, giving the Moonflow the appearance of a grand fireworks display. Gently he lowered her to the ground and they kissed, wiping each other’s tears away.

Tidus smiled. “Shall I take that as a yes?” he asked facetiously, to which Yuna grinned and kissed him again, more passionately than she ever had before.

“What do you think, silly?” she purred as she reluctantly released the kiss, resting her head on his shoulder once more.

“I think I’m right where I’ve needed to be all this time.” He caressed the back of her head, resting his cheek against hers. “I promise… I won’t leave you again. Ever.”

Yuna closed her eyes and smiled peacefully. “Thank you.”

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Yes, they have passed the test. In all likelihood, we will not meet again. My place is with the Farplane now, theirs is with the world above.

He may still ponder about his origins, or he may not. It matters little. What matters is the journey he has made. A long and arduous one, filled with much grief and suffering… but oftentimes, the longest journey reaps the greatest rewards.

He has found his way home.

The End