The Promise of a Dream

By Malistryx

The Highbridge slowly disappeared from sight as the airship took to the skies once more. Summoner and guardians watched from the windows on the upper deck, seeing the city of Bevelle fade into nothing. Memories of this visit to Bevelle won’t soon be forgotten, for now they knew what they had to do to defeat the evil that ravaged the planet. They had watched the Order of Yevon fall right before their eyes in a matter of days, and if this was possible, they knew they could make their outrageous plans come true.

Yuna continued to watch out the window as the airship slowly gained speed. Her guardians started talking behind her, talking of plans, but she couldn’t hear them because she was lost in her own world. She could feel the eyes of another on her, but she did not turn to meet them. Right now, she had no heart to meet them.

“Yuna.”

She turned to look at the one that called her name. It was Auron.

“Yuna, we need to figure out how to get inside Sin,” he explained. “We’re going to head down to the bridge to talk to Cid to see what he has to say about it.”

“I’ll be down later,” she said, looking at each of her friends. “I’m trying to think through a few things myself. If I come across something, I’ll let you know.”

“A-and I’ll stay with her,” Tidus piped up, “you know, just to keep her company. You won’t need me for planning right now.”

Auron gave a slight nod to Yuna and a glance at Tidus and then headed toward the stairs. As each person walked by, they looked at Yuna, some with concern and others with confusion.

Kimahri stopped before her. “Yuna feel okay?” he asked.

She smiled, placing her hand on his arm. “I’m fine Kimahri. I just have to do a little bit of thinking.” With her reassurance, he followed the others to the stairs.

When they had all disappeared down below, Yuna turned back toward the window, watching the clouds fly by. She knew Tidus was back there, but she didn’t acknowledge his presence right away. She also knew why he stayed behind with her. The talk with the fayth in Bevelle was too fresh in her mind to let it drop back to the recesses of her thoughts. The truth was that she was not trying to think of plans on her battle against the foe of this reality, but she was trying to think of plans on how to win the battle within her own self, with all the feelings inside her.

Tidus walked over to Yuna and stood just behind her left shoulder. He looked out the window, but his focus was not there. He knew something was wrong with Yuna, and he had a slight notion of what it was. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut short.

“Thank you for staying behind with me,” Yuna said, not looking at him.

“… You’re welcome,” Tidus replied awkwardly, confused.

There was silence.

He took a deep breath. “Yuna, what’s up? I know something’s wrong.”

“How could you tell?” she answered coolly.

Tidus was taken aback. “Why are you so angry with me?”

“You know why!” she cried, glaring at him.

With Yuna’s loud outburst, they both looked around at the few Al Bhed crewmen that were standing on the deck. The Al Bhed had been staring at them curiously, but they quickly looked away when they noticed the two were watching them. Tidus turned back toward Yuna who had continued to stare out the window.

“Yuna,” Tidus began, “I think I know why you’re angry.” He paused, waiting for her to say something. Hearing nothing, he continued. “What the fayth said… what the fayth said was nothing to be concerned about. He was talking about—“

“What was he talking about?” she asked, cutting him off again. “There’s something that you won’t tell me.” Sadness was evident in her voice. “When you left and said nothing, I knew then whatever the fayth said to you was something important… Tidus, you can tell me anything.”

He hesitated. Should he risk telling her the truth? He concealed it well at Mount Gagazet after his contact with the fayth. But, it had been different when he first found out. He was too shocked to tell anyone the truth because the realization had not hit him right then. There was also something inside him telling him that he could not ruin this pilgrimage… for Yuna’s sake. He could not add one more thing to the minds of his friends. He knew then that his friendships would have been at stake.

Tidus placed a comforting hand on Yuna’s shoulder. He felt her tense. “Like I said, there’s nothing to worry about,” he whispered. “The fayth was just telling me about what would happen to their dreams and what would happen to them.”

She faced him. “What are their dreams? What is all this talk about dreams?”

He sighed as he looked at her. “Like he said, they will disappear once Sin is defeated. Their dream was to defeat Sin and, once their dream comes true, they will no longer be needed on Spira.”

“Yes I know, but what about you? Are you involved in one of these dreams?”

Tidus’ heart began pounding rapidly in his chest. No shock registered on his face, though. Think, Tidus think! “W-we’re all apart of this dream. Spira is under the control of Yu Yevon. When that dream ends, we’ll all wake up to better lives.”

Tidus saw her relax, but he could see her searching his eyes, trying to see if he was telling the truth. He stared back, but it was almost too hard to keep her gaze without revealing that he was lying… partially. He took his hand away from her shoulder and slipped both of them into hers. Squeezing them in assurance, he was hoping that she would understand, that they would not have to talk about it any longer. It was becoming painful to think about it, to think about what would happen if…

Yuna watched his eyes, watched them search hers, and then he looked out the window in distress. It hurt her inside to see him the way he was. She felt his hands take hers, felt their warmth and comfort. I know he’s lying, she thought. I can see it in his eyes. I see all the thoughts churning, all the ways he could get out of this even though he was the one that stayed back with me. But, there’s something else there, something that’s preventing him from going any further.

Yuna came closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head gently on his shoulder. She felt his body tense in surprise, then she felt one of his arms go around her waist and the other on the back of her head, holding her close.

“Tidus,” she murmured. “If anything were to happen to you, I don’t know what I’d do.” A lone tear trickled down her cheek.

“I don’t know what I’d do either if I lost you,” he replied quietly.

He pulled her up from her resting place on his shoulder. He kept a firm grip on her arms and looked into her eyes again, his gaze confident and comforting.

“Hey, don’t make that face,” he whispered, wiping away the tear. “We’re going to defeat Sin, okay? We’re going to stop Yu Yevon, and Spira will be safe! And when it’s all over…”

“We’ll be together, right?” Yuna asked.

Tidus’ choked on his words; he could not hide his hesitation. He brought her close, for all his reserve and confidence had disappeared. He knew if he looked into those eyes much longer, he would not be able to hide the truth from her anymore.

“…We’ll be together.”


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