Disclaimer: Not mine, etc...

Author's Notes: Uh yeah, sorry for the random tangent to Zanarkand. But it was necessary for Yuna to get the last destruction sphere from the cloister of trials. And yeah, I know in the game you go to Baaj Temple first and then go back to get the destruction sphere, but I'm making that not necessary here xD And, this is probably the last chapter I am SO sorry for the delay, I got stuck on the whole... well, I don't want to spoil it. I'll explain at the end!

Further
by: butterflie
sequel to Break
chapter five: bloodlust

"'Baaj' Temple? Are you sure?" Yuna asked, sounding uncertain.

"Yes, milady Summoner. He was standing right next to me when he said it. I heard it clearly."

She frowned slightly and turned to the others behind her, directing her question more towards Auron than anyone else, thinking that if anyone knew, he would. "Have any of you heard of this place?"

Most of them simply shook their heads, but Rikku spoke up tentatively. "I might know the place... I'd have to check with Pops to be sure, though."

"Okay." She turned back to the man they'd been speaking to, making the sign of prayer as she bowed to him. "Thank you very much."

He returned the prayer. "My pleasure to help, Lady." He started to walk off, but Auron's words stopped him once more.

"Did you happen to notice a teenage boy with Maester Seymour?" His words were sharp and short, and did not come out sounding pleasant in the least.

Still, the man answered, not sounding at all taken back. "Actually, now that you mention it, I did notice a blond-haired boy hanging around the temple for a few days. It's quite possible he was with Maester Seymour."

Auron didn't bother to thank him, just turned and left the temple, so it was left to Yuna to give the man a hasty thanks and another bow before heading after Auron. After a moment's hesitation, the others followed.

"Baaj Temple?" Yuna repeated, once they were outside. She looked at her cousin, hoping Rikku could tell them where and what it was.

Rikku shook her head slowly. "I don't actually know for sure... but I think it might be the place where we originally found Tidus."

--x--

Tidus blinked. "I've been here before..."

Seymour glanced at him, attention barely on the teen. "Have you?" he asked mildly before turning his attention back to other things.

Tidus continued to look around him in surprise. Yes, he'd definitely been here before. How could he forget the place? It was the first thing he'd seen upon waking in Spira: the endless ocean, nothing but water for miles around, and the random ruins of a temple long since destroyed. If he concentrated hard enough, he could almost feel the fear and panic that had choked him the first time he'd been here, when he'd came to and realized he was completely and utterly alone. He could still recall the certainty that he was going to die in this place, as well.

Perhaps that hadn't been so wrong. Maybe Seymour had brought him out here to kill him. Surely no one would ever find him here if that was what the maester had planned. He swallowed, the thought bringing a rush of fear that was becoming all too familiar these days. He wasn't ready to die, least of all in this place. He'd wanted to live, and fight Sin with Yuna, and find a way to save her. It was stupid perhaps, but... he'd just wanted the whole stupid pilgrimage to be over with, and to be able to live somewhere with Auron, and the others all nearby... He'd given up on Zanarkand; he knew he'd never be able to go back. But Spira wasn't so bad... as long as he had Auron and blitzball, he didn't mind being stuck here. But if Seymour killed him here, he'd never get to have that dream come true.

Seymour continued to walk along the ruins, not seeming to be bothered by the little pools of water everywhere in the least. Tidus followed him at a short distance, hesitant. He wanted to ask what they were doing here, what Seymour was planning, but he was afraid. Not just of the answer, but of what Seymour might do if the question came out wrong.

Seymour gave a backwards glance at him, and seemed to read the expression on his face aptly. "There is a fayth," he said calmly as he reached the ruin's edge. He stood looking down into the water.

"A fayth?" Tidus asked, coming up hesitantly next to him, wondering why Seymour even wanted him to come along, why Seymour hadn't just left him back on that Al Bhed ship he'd more or less taken over.

Seymour nodded absently, still staring down into the water, almost contemplating, reminiscing. He had such a solemn, serious look on his face that it sent a small shiver down Tidus' spine. Seymour looking like this creeped him out. And what was he talking about, a fayth? Was he saying there was a fayth here, under this water somewhere, amongst the ruins?

"Baaj Temple..." came the somewhat non sequitur reply.

"Um..." He didn't know what to say, what he was expected to say. Seymour had been acting so strangely since conveying his belief that Tidus belonged to him; it was seriously starting to unhinge the blond. He almost thought he preferred Seymour's sleeping with him to this... this... this whatever it was. This madness. Yes, that was a good word to describe it.

Madness.

--x--

The door slid open. Everyone jerked their heads up, looking hopefully at Rikku as she entered the airship's cabin and walked up the stairs. She'd gone to the bridge to ask Cid for any news of the temple Seymour had apparently fled to. Rikku shook her head at them.

"He doesn't know," she said dejectedly. "He's never heard of Baaj temple."

"But you think you know, ya?"

Another shake of her head. "I'm not so sure anymore... But even if it is the place, neither Pops nor I remember how to get there. It was a long time ago, and we were just out salvaging whatever we came across. But Pops said wherever we needed to go, he'd fly us, as long as we provide him the proper coordinates. All we have to do is say the word!" She tried to give them all a smile, wanting to remain cheerful and keep their spirits up, but it was harder with every minute that passed, and them still without Tidus.

There was silence for a few moments as the group tried to figure out just where they could go. Seymour had thrown them for a loop. Spira was a big place, and he was hiding somewhere hardly none of them, not even Auron, had ever heard of, and certainly had no clue how to get to.

"Perhaps we should head to Zanarkand," Yuna said softly. She blushed a bit as everyone looked at her. "It's not that I don't want to go after Tidus. But we may learn more about Baaj Temple if we head there and continue onwards."

"Fine," Auron said after a moment's pause. "We head to Zanarkand. But we must not waste any time."

A few hours later, using Cid's airship, they restocked supplies in the Calm Lands and then flew to Mt. Gagazet to make the long trip through the paths and caverns to reach their destination. Another few hours, and at last they came upon the ruins of Zanarkand. They stood staring at the ruins of the once great city, acknowledging it for the truly desolate place it was.

"Looks like the Farplane," Wakka remarked.

"Close enough," Auron agreed. He glanced over the others, noting that the girls and Wakka looked exhausted, and that even the normally stoic Kimahri was slipping a little. They were all battle-weary from their trek back through the mountains, and he knew they wanted nothing more than to stop and rest for the night.

But time was of the essence, however. They couldn't afford to make a stop now. Not when they were so close. Not when Tidus' life was on the line. They had to press on, to keep moving forward, no matter how hard they found it.

"Let's go," he said as he started across the broken roads, his tone of voice leaving no room for arguments. They followed without a word, and it took them another hour to travel across the ruins and reach the temple area of Zanarkand where the cloister of trials was located.

With all of them working together, it didn't take very long to figure out the puzzle of the first room by matching the floor patterns with the tile patterns on the screen. That opened the door to the next room while simultaneously sliding out six pedestals, each with the mark of past temples protecting them. The puzzles got a little complicated after that. They were exhausted and worried and impatient, and they messed up more than once, accidentally stepping on tiles or getting the patterns mixed up, and they only succeeded in becoming more frustrated with each other.

But at last they got through it. They made sure to get the destruction sphere and hidden item as well, and after a headache-inducing battle with the Spectral Keeper, the pathway to the lower chamber was open for their access. Since they were not here for the Final Aeon just yet, they all rode down together. They went through the doorway and passed through one chamber into the next, where a pyreflie apparition was just making its way downstairs.

"Lady Yunalesca," Yuna said.

--x--

Sometime later found Seymour and Tidus standing in the antechamber of the once great temple; Tidus was shifting on his feet uncomfortably as he looked around. He knew now what Seymour had meant by "there's a fayth." There was a fayth here in the next room, he could feel it. It was a strange feeling, he'd never really been able to sense an aeon's presence before, or the fayth that commanded it. But he could feel this one.

He continued to look around the antechamber uneasily, trying to take it in. At the far end of the chamber was a huge glowing seal blocking a doorway. It was vaguely eye-shaped, and it gave Tidus the creeps. The left and right walls held six strange-looking statues, three to a side, facing opposite each other. They were unlike anything he'd seen in the other temples around Spira. They seemed to be representing some kind of creature, and they had stern faces and bodies. There were spheres set in front of each statue, spheres the same colour as the spheres in the other temples. One was a colour he hadn't seen before. Perhaps from Zanarkand?

Seymour moved from statue to statue slowly. Each time he stepped directly in front of one of the spheres it lit up, and a hologram of the temple's symbol appeared behind the guardian statue. The holograms also glowed, and the spheres along with them. Tidus assumed it to be some kind of seal, most likely required to break the seal guarding the Chamber of the Fayth. It left him feeling very uneasy. What kind of aeon could be way down here in a ruined temple hidden under the water, out in the nowhere land of Spira? How powerful must it be for him to sense the fayth's presence, when he'd never previously been able to?

How did Seymour even know it was here? Yuna had never mentioned it. He doubted she'd ever even heard of it before.

He watched nervously as Seymour approached the last statue. He almost wanted to say something, to stop Seymour from activating the last statue and breaking the seal to the other chamber. But he held his tongue, sensing that Seymour would be very angry if he interrupted him. Angry Seymour was scary. Angry Seymour was painful. He didn't want an angry Seymour if he could help it.

Then Seymour stepped in front of the last guardian statue, and the sphere lit up, and the hologram behind it. The large seal at the end of the room briefly glowed brighter before shattering into a million tiny pieces that faded away into nothing. The door to the Chamber of the Fayth was now revealed and accessible. Tidus swallowed, and waited to see what Seymour was going to do next.

"Come," Seymour spoke. His tone of voice was absent, as if he wasn't really thinking about what he was saying. He went into the other chamber, not even bothering to glance behind him to see if Tidus was following.

For a brief moment, Tidus thought about running. Just turning around and getting out of this temple and as far away from Seymour as he could. But where would he go? They'd had to come here by commandeering an Al Bhed ship that'd been docked in Luca, and the trip had taken quite a few days. And never mind all the time it took to travel from Macalania Temple to Luca. There was simply nowhere for him to escape to. For the time being, as much as it grated, Seymour was right. Tidus belonged to him.

With that depressing thought, and knowing he had no real choice, Tidus followed Seymour into the Chamber of the Fayth. Seymour was kneeling on his knees in front of the aeon, praying. The fayth hovered just above. Tidus slowly approached, coming up next to Seymour and looking down at the aeon. When he saw who it was, he gasped.

No wonder he'd been able to sense this aeon. It was extremely powerful. Tidus was sort of surprised he hadn't recognized it. It was the aeon Seymour had used at the blitz tournament in Luca! It felt like it had been so long ago, though it had really only been a few months ago.

"Anima..." Seymour murmured.

"Huh?" Tidus didn't understand.

"My mother."

--x--

"This place is creepy," Rikku whispered, clinging to Yuna's arm. "You really think Tidus is here?"

"We'll find out," Auron said shortly. They stood in front of the closed door to the antechamber, silent and listening for any sign that Tidus and Seymour were beyond. They heard nothing.

"We going in or what, ya?" Wakka finally demanded, impatient.

Yuna took a breath, and nodded. "Yes."

They were all prepared for battle, or as well prepared as they could be. Auron had learned from their last battle with Seymour, and he made sure they came prepared with as much holy water as they could carry. They also had plenty of other supplies, but not so much that it would hinder them in battle. His only regret was they weren't well-rested. They were still worn-out and battle-weary from their time spent in Zanarkand, but that just couldn't be helped.

Wakka reached out his hand, and slowly pushed the door open.

The antechamber was empty. They stepped inside, looking around at the statues, at the glowing temple spheres and the holograms of the temple symbols, and at the open door at the far end of the room. The open door through which Seymour and Tidus were coming.

Auron was once again relieved at seeing Tidus. He didn't any look any worse than he had in Guadosalam, and he still appeared to be calm and in control of his emotions. Auron had worried he was going to be in even worse of an emotional and perhaps physical shape.

"Oh my," Seymour remarked mildly. "We seem to have some unexpected visitors."

Kimahri growled, assuming a battle stance, spear out and at the ready. The rest quickly followed suit, crouching into defensive postures and readying their weapons. Yuna quietly murmured the words of a spell, and a protective barrier formed in front of each of them. Tough, intricately-woven gossamer threads of magic, they would take the brunt of Seymour's physical attacks for a short while. She also prepared another spell for everyone, murmuring "Auto-Life" to the group. It had the same restorative properties as the downy feathers of a Phoenix, and would quickly revive them should they happen to get knocked out by Seymour, or found themselves unable to go on. A good precaution, but one they all hoped was unnecessary.

Seymour, however, merely laughed at their preparations, and roughly pushed Tidus behind him. "My, this all seems so familiar... though I do believe your number has multiplied." He shook his head. "Pity. You have followed me all the way here, but it is such a waste. I just cannot allow you to take what is rightfully mine."

"He's not yours," Auron growled.

"Yeah!" Rikku chimed in. "Tidus belongs to himself! So let him go!"

"Oh, but you see... I cannot. We had a deal."

"A deal?" She looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Behind Seymour, Tidus' eyes widened. He had to do something. He didn't want Seymour answering that. Bad enough Yuna and Kimahri had found out his awful secret. He couldn't bear it if the rest of them did as well, assuming they didn't already know.

Shoving with all his might, he pushed Seymour away from him. The sudden motion was enough to knock Seymour off-balance and send him falling towards the others. At the same time, Auron ran towards the unsent Maester with his sword Blurry Moon, and swung heavily. Seymour managed to twist away from the blade at the last moment, but then Kimahri was right there, his lance outstretched and stabbing hard into Seymour's side. Seymour let out a furious yell and quickly began to prepare a Zombie spell which he unleashed on the Ronso. Then he immediately began to prepare a curative spell, but before he could finish it Rikku was right there with holy water to remove the spell.

He snarled at her, wondering just how much holy water they had, and if it'd be worthwhile to send a barrage of undead spells flying their way, inflicting them one right after another until they no longer had any holy water to cure them. The murmuring of another spell caught his ear just then, and he looked up right in time to see their black mage mouth the final words of Bio, a spell he had always been rather susceptible to. He swallowed, feeling the spell hit him, feeling the sudden poison course through his bloodstream, spreading fast, sapping away at his defenses. He had no kind of antidote in which to cure it. He hadn't expected their little group to find him at Baaj Temple. It was a forgotten place in Spira these days, not that many had ever heard of it in the first place. Certainly no summoners other than himself had ever ventured here.

He fumbled about in his mind, trying to remember the words to a not yet used spell, one he'd studied while back at Macalania Temple a week or two ago. If he remembered right, it'd cure the venom that cursed woman had infected him with. He could feel weapons striking at him, hitting him, drawing blood, and it made it that much harder to concentrate on the spell he was slowly and carefully weaving in his mind. The poison was working on him, making his thoughts and movements sluggish. He was finding it harder to dodge the swing of Auron's sword, the jabs of the Ronso's lance. Surely this couldn't be the end. Not this easily.

--x--

After pushing Seymour away from him, Tidus had carefully crept around the other side of the room, towards Yuna, all the while trying not to catch Seymour's attention. He didn't think he would. With five people steadily attacking him, Seymour had his hands full just trying to stay alive. Wakka was especially relentless with that spiked blitzball of his, and Auron was swinging like there was no tomorrow.

He couldn't believe all these people were fighting for him. His throat tightened, and he had to furiously blink away sudden tears that threatened to spill. They barely knew him, and yet they were fighting as if he were truly one of them, as if he belonged. They cared about him and what happened to him. The thought was comforting. It made it easier for him to approach Yuna, despite the fact that she knew his horrible, shameful secret.

Yuna and Rikku were standing a little ways off to the side of the others, apparently the designated healers of the battle. Rikku was offering her special Al Bhed potions and other remedies to the group when needed, and Yuna was renewing the protective barriers as necessary. Seymour had apparently finally managed to spit out the spell that would get rid of the poison in his body, and he was now attacking them back for all he was worth, tossing fireballs and lightning strikes at them as fast as he could prepare them in his head. Yuna was beginning to prepare a spell for a reflective barrier, but Tidus could see she was reluctant to use it. It would reflect Seymour's spells, but it would also reflect her own curative spells should she need to use them.

Tidus slipped up beside her. "Cast it on Seymour first," he whispered to her.

She started, not expecting to see him there. Her hand flew to her mouth in surprise. He offered her a cocky grin, and repeated what he'd said. "Why on Seymour?" she whispered back.

"If you cast it on Seymour first, and then on the others, you can bounce your curative spells off of him onto Auron and Kimahri and them. Lulu can also reflect her magic off of our group and onto Seymour. It'll work until Seymour starts catching on."

She smiled at him, and then began to do as he'd suggested. "Thanks," she said. They stood there together and watched as Rikku went up to join in the battle, and discreetly spread the word around about the reflective barrier set up, and how to use it to their advantage, at least until Seymour realized what they were doing.

"There's a fayth," he said suddenly a little while later. "An aeon, in here... Anima, the one Seymour called upon in Luca, it's his mother, it's very powerful--" he was aware that he was suddenly babbling, but he couldn't seem to stop.

"I know," Yuna said softly, cutting him off.

He blinked at her. "You do?"

"I can sense it..." She paused, frowning slightly. "I knew it was here the moment we walked into the temple. I knew right away."

"You should--"

A cry from Rikku interrupted whatever Tidus was going to say. They looked over to see her get struck by a particularly strong lightning spell, one that rendered her arm immobile. Kimahri moved in front of her, pushing her back towards where Yuna was standing, thrusting his lance at Seymour. Seymour caught it in his hands before it could stab him, and shoved backwards. Kimahri stumbled and almost fell into Wakka, but recovered quickly, calling upon a powerful wind to heal the party, and give them just a bit more energy to keep fighting. It was enough for Rikku, who stepped back up despite her numbed arm. She quickly dug in her pouch for a couple of grenades to toss at Seymour, and hopefully stun him for a bit.

At the same time, Lulu unleashed a fury of energy-draining spells on Seymour, so that the man could only stand there and wince and try not to fall down flat on his face. When at last she relented and stepped back, she was exhausted and breathing hard from the exertion and sheer strength it took to keep such a powerful spell going over and over.

Auron had also seemed to slow down a bit in his attacking frenzy, chest heaving and sweat dripping. He was covered in tiny burns from the various fire and ice spells Seymour had hit him with. The reflective barriers Yuna had set up had long since worn off. Rikku was supplying her potions as fast as she possibly could, but they were little help at this stage of the battle.

"They're worn out," Tidus remarked as Yuna prepared another curative spell and directed it towards the group.

"Yes," she agreed, her attention focused on renewing the protective barriers around everyone. She strengthened them as much as she could, tightening the delicate threads of magic as much as possible. Then she began setting up a magical barrier, a separate set of threads that would form a shell around the guardians and filter out the worst of the magical elements Seymour threw at them. It would still hit them of course, but it would be a lot less painful and wearying.

"I want to fight, to help them."

"The Lionheart is on the airship."

Tidus clenched his fists helplessly, watching as Seymour slowly wore their party down. At the rate they were going, Seymour would win and kill them all. And Tidus would be trapped in hell forever. "We need to do something," he said, and then realized that Yuna was no longer standing next to him. Gaping, he whirled around, and saw that she was slipping into the Chamber of the Fayth, which he'd completely forgotten all about, though he wasn't sure how. The presence of Anima was still as strong as ever. He guessed he'd just gotten used to it.

--x--

She stepped into the chamber slowly, her eyes on the fayth hovering above the trapped aeon. It was the woman they had seen in Zanarkand Dome. Seymour's mother. As she had said to her young son, she'd made herself a fayth so that he could use her.

"You are Maester Seymour's mother," she said softly.

"So you know. Yet still you seek my aid?" The fayth asked. She paused a moment. "My son... Do you not hate him?"

Yuna did not answer. She did not want to lie, yet she could not stand there and admit that she did, that she hated Maester Seymour, for what he had done to Spira and to Tidus.

"It is all right," the fayth said, shaking her head. "He is the one who sowed the seeds of hatred. He is to blame." She looked away, towards a pyreflie-induced vision of young Seymour standing there, his back to his mother and his hands rubbing at his eyes as he sobbed soundlessly. "But I am fault for letting him become what he was." She paused yet again, briefly, before speaking once more. Remembering. "He was always alone--half Guado, half man. I wanted to give him the strength to live by himself. And so I became a fayth. But... because I let him taste power, he began to thirst for more. He was not satisfied with my aeon. He wanted more. More power."

Another brief silence. This time Yuna broke it. "And he found Sin," she stated quietly.

"Yes." She waited. "Come, summoner. I will bestow you with my power: The Dark Aeon, Anima. Destroy Sin, and my son's obsession with it." She disappeared, scattering into pyreflies, her voice floating out over the empty air. "Though it is small recompense for what I did to him."

--x--

Auron knew they couldn't hold out much longer. It had been a valiant effort, but even with the six of them Seymour was still slowly getting the best of them. Lulu had tried to poison him a few more times, but it did no good, for he'd just remove it every time. Now she was getting worn out. She barely had the strength to cast her spells anymore. And Wakka had long since lost the strength to lift his arm and hurl his blitzball in the maester's direction. Rikku, too, had given up on fighting, and now was spending all her energy on keeping them going with her potions. He and Kimahri were the only ones left with the strength to continue fighting, and even they were getting exhausted. Yuna had long since disappeared, and Auron hoped she was doing something that would save them all.

A blast of ice shards hit him just then, and he grunted, going down on one knee. Rikku darted in to patch him up as best as she could, helping him get back on his feet. "Where's Yuna?" she whispered to him.

Auron only shrugged, and just barely managed to dodge another ice shard from Seymour. "Don't know," he managed to say.

"I hope she comes back soon," she said, before bouncing over to help Wakka, who was slowly struggling to get back up.

A bit later, she did come back, looking strangely serene despite their desperate situation. She walked towards them calmly, stopping when she was standing directly in front of Seymour. Slowly Auron, Kimahri, and Wakka put down their weapons and stood by, waiting to see what she'd do.

Seymour opened his mouth, prepared to fling a water spell at her, but before he could she spread her arms wide and then raised one hand up towards the ceiling, saying, "Come, Anima."

Anima came. A dark rip in the fabric of reality opened up through the ceiling of the temple, and a single metal chain shot out of it, slamming down through another fiery rip in the ground, and slowly pulled the Aeon up. Four other chains holding the powerful Aeon in also rose up simultaneously, and attached themselves to the guardian statues in the temple, and Anima shot up into place, letting out a sorrowful roar as she rose.

Before Seymour had a chance to banish her, she let out another roar, and channeled all her pain into a mass of energy which she then repeatedly slammed into Seymour. The force of the continuous attack was enough to send him reeling, and he fell heavily to the ground, completely knocked out cold before he ever had a chance to react.

But there was no time for celebration. "Yuna, quick," Auron said. She nodded, and began the sending. The others watched solemnly as she gracefully danced, and finally sent Seymour to his rightful place in the Farplane.

--x--

It was over. At last. They glanced around at one other warily, as if they didn't quite dare believe it. They were exhausted and near collapse and safe, and only moments ago they were desperately fighting for their lives and doing their best to get rid of Seymour once and for all.

"It's... really over?" Rikku asked, voicing everyone's thought out loud.

"Yeah... let's get out of here, ya?"

Wakka got no argument with that statement, and they made their way out of Baaj Temple as fast as they could, all hoping they would never have reason to come back.

Tidus sighed, and shifted over on his side, trying to get comfortable on the airship's lousy bed. He couldn't sleep. He'd already slept away one whole day, and he'd spent too much time in Seymour's captivity just sleeping in an attempt to escape reality. There was really nothing else to do right now, though, other than sleep. The other guardians and Yuna were all still asleep. While he'd been traveling in relative comfort with Seymour (when Seymour wasn't getting his rocks off on exerting his power and control over him, anyway), the others had been busy busting their asses backtracking across Spira, looking for him and for clues to his whereabouts. They'd gotten precious little sleep, and the battle with Seymour sapped what little bit of strength they'd had left.

He shifted back over on his other side. Then onto his back a few minutes later, pillowing his hands up under his head.

He felt guilty. He wasn't sure why. Perhaps because the others hadn't given up on him, when he'd given up on them. Somewhere on the way over to Baaj Temple, he'd given up hope of the others ever finding him. He hadn't expected them to bother saving him, not even Auron. He didn't know why he'd felt that, but thinking of it now was shameful.

Thinking of everything was shameful. Everything that happened, everything Seymour did, everyone who knew... It hurt. Why did it have to happen, and to him? What had Seymour really wanted with him? Why had Seymour insisted that he belonged to him? There was so much he didn't understand.

If only he hadn't agreed to meet with Seymour alone, at the very beginning of this whole horrible nightmare, back in the prison cage of Bevelle... He turned over once more.

Auron was standing there. He sat up in surprise, and looked at him. He hadn't expected to see Auron awake for at least another day. They stared at each in other in silence for awhile, until at last Tidus began to squirm uncomfortably, not sure why Auron was just standing there, or what he was thinking.

"Uh... come in?" he finally said, his voice a bit hoarse from not speaking in awhile. Auron did so, closing the door behind them so they'd have some privacy. He leaned against it, regarding Tidus somberly with his one eye. His dark glasses were absent, having been crushed at some point during the battle with Seymour.

"It's not your fault," he spoke at last.

"What?" Tidus managed to squeak out, still trying to figure out just what the hell was going on.

"Everything that happened."

"Oh..." He looked down at the blanket, and began absently tracing little patterns in it with his finger. "Does everyone know?" he asked after a bit.

"No."

At that, Tidus looked back up, surprised. He'd have expected Auron or Yuna to tell the others at some point.

"It's not my place to say," Auron explained patiently.

"I don't ever want to say..." he mumbled, fully expecting Auron to tell him that he'd have to say sometime.

But Auron merely said, "You don't have to." He paused. "It's not their business."

"I can't stop thinking about it all," Tidus whispered. He closed his eyes. "I just want it all to go away. I just want for it to not have happened."

"Don't wish to change things in the past. Just move ahead, towards the future. It's easier that way," Auron said, his voice strangely gentle. Tidus had the thought that perhaps he was speaking from painfully learned experience.

He swallowed. "Auron--" He reached out a hand, not even sure what he was reaching for, or what he wanted out of Auron, or if Auron even had anything to give, but he stretched his hand further anyways.

And perhaps Auron understood where Tidus didn't. He straightened up, stepping towards Tidus and grasping the boy's hand. He lowered it slowly, and firmly but gently pressed against Tidus, indicating for him to move over. Tidus did so, and Auron climbed in next to him.

"Auron--" Tidus tried again, but Auron shook his head, smothering his words beneath a kiss. Comforting. Offering. Absolving. Giving Tidus what he wanted, and then some.

And Tidus, still not knowing exactly what it was he was asking for, accepted it nonetheless.

finis

2006 butterflie June 22, 2006 Thursday 5:55AM

Author's Notes: Yay, I'm finally finished! And no one can accuse of me skimping on this chapter, because I replayed the game from the Calm Lands all the way to Baaj Temple just to get the info I needed for this fic. Anyways, what I got stuck on was the whole thing with Baaj and Yuna summoning Anima. I wanted her to be able to summon Anima and KO Seymour so she could send him, but because Seymour kidnapped Tidus at Gagazet, they hadn't yet gone to Zanarkand. And of course you must go to Zanarkand to get the destruction sphere&item to activate the last statue in Baaj Temple. And for awhile, I felt it'd be cheap if I sent Yuna-tachi to Zanarkand without Tidus, because it'd be screwing up a great portion of the game's timeline. But then I realized they could always go back to Zanarkand after they'd rescued Tidus, so that's why I sent them anyways. And, just in case you didn't get it, Tidus was looking for comfort and absolution from Auron at the end there :P Poor thing will still be screwed up forever, though. Just another spiral in Spira's endless spiral of hate and lies. And Pam, I stuck in the Blurry Moon reference just for you ;) Also, did anyone recognize Kimahri's and Lulu's overdrives in there? xD