Operation Mi'ihen
They get through.
Because of Seymour--and he hates it, okay, fine, but the guy's slime--they get through.
We're bringing Sinspawn from all over Spira here, the Crusader said. Sinspawn inevitably draw Sin, right? We're going to lure it into a trap!
Thing is.
Thing is, Sin is Jecht.
And if there's one thing Tidus thinks about his old man, it's that he's probably not going to fall for a trap all that easily.
He always was good at faking out guards in a blitz game.
The Crusaders in Operation Mi'ihen have all been excommunicated. My own family won't even speak to me now. We have to beat Sin today. Otherwise, there's nowhere for us to go.
Tidus knows the feeling.
Wakka asks the question Tidus realizes they must all be thinking.
(He isn't. But it's not his world. So he guesses that makes sense.)
"'Scuse me, uh, Maester Seymour? Why is your Lordship... presently...present here...sir? I mean. Isn't this operation against the teachings of Yevon? Aren't you gonna stop them?"
There's something deliberately--Tidus doesn't know what the word he wants is.
Thoughtful, when Seymour's already thought it all out, he thinks. "It's true... I should. However...Both the Crusaders and the Al Bhed truly wish peace for Spira. This Operation Mi'ihen was born from that wish they share. Although it may be sacrilege to Yevon, their intentions are pure. And I, Seymour Guado--the person, not the maester of Yevon... As a denizen of Spira, I wish them well in their endeavor."
...Dammit. Tidus kind of wishes he'd said something else.
Wakka doesn't seem convinced. "But, using machina... That's bad, isn't it?"
"Pretend you didn't see them."
Auron's the only one who doesn't react at all to that one.
"Beg your pardon, but that's not something a maester should say!"
Seymour almost seems amused by Wakka, at this point. "Then pretend I didn't say it."
From the first time I laid eyes on him, I never did like Seymour...But you know, some of the things he said that day...
They made a lot of sense to me.
Things happen in a whirl.
I remembered Auron telling me. Sin is my old man. Sin is Jecht.
There's Sin.
And then there's light and charging and feathers and weapons no one knows the names of, and then
there's more light
and there's Sin.
He wakes up on the beach again. Surrounded by bodies. Surrounded by the dead who weren't a moment ago.
But not him.
All he can do is scream, as his father swims away, "Don't you dare run away from me!"
But no one's listening.
Jecht never did listen.
So Tidus dives into the water.
He'll make him.
I have no idea what I was thinking when I ran after Sin that day. But before I knew what I was doing, there I was chasing him down like a thief at market. Maybe I was angry, maybe I wanted to go home. I kept thinking of Zanarkand, and my old man.
Thinking of when I was a kid.
He's seven. It's not that long before Jecht will take his boat out and not come back.
His voice is short when he spots his son.
"What?"
His own voice is sulky, almost. "They say you don't practice anymore, that you're gonna retire."
His father's laughing at that and snorting. Laughing at him. Tidus hates him a little more. "Let them talk. I'm still the best."
It's vicious when he says, "They say you're no good 'cause you drink all the time."
"I can quit drinkin' whenever I want!"
That's what he tells Mom, too. Tidus wishes it were true. And Tidus isn't a genius, but he isn't dumb, so he challenges Jecht. Sometimes a challenge is enough. "Then do it now."
He hopes. He hopes it's enough. He really wants him to.
"What did you say?"
"You just said you can!" It's not enough and he knows it.
There's half a laugh. "Heh. Tomorrow, maybe."
Not enough. "Why not today?"
Jecht's leering. "Why do today what you can leave for tomorrow?"
It's not fair. It's not fair. Everything would be better, even Mom said it--and he's turning and running away from his dad.
"There he goes again...crying!"
I thought I sensed my old man there. Somewhere...
Or maybe it was just Sin's toxin playing tricks on my mind.
How many died today? People die, and Yuna dances. When will she stop dancing? When will it stop? Yuna won't stop dancing--not until Sin is gone.
Those were my thoughts then...I think.
He's on the shore again. He doesn't remember swimming back, but he sits up.
Yuna's sending.
"I see you're still here."
"Huh?" Just that, a little dully, as he turns to see Auron.
The man's just watching him. "Many stories ended here today...But yours goes on, I see."
He's too tired for Auron's games. "What?"
Sin had come and gone, but I remained here.
Auron doesn't address him again til he's finished with Kinoc and it's just them.
"Sin is Jecht."
Tidus doesn't want to hear it. He admits anyway, "Yeah, for a while there, I thought I could feel him. But that doesn't mean I believe you."
Auron's voice is no different. It's not any less a statement of a true fact. "Sin is Jecht. He came here for you."
He can't breathe, almost. "So he killed all those people just for a chance to see me?"
That's not fair. That's not fair. That's not
(I hate you, Dad)
fair at all.
"That's what Sin does. He wanted to show that to you. Do you know why?"
Now he's defensive. Auron never says anything straight out. Defensive and angry. "How am I supposed to know?!"
For a minute, he thinks Auron might be sympathetic.
Maybe he is, and that's why he answers so simply. (Tidus would prefer a riddle.) "So you would kill him. As long as he is Sin, Jecht will keep killing. He wants you to stop him."
No. No way. "You gotta be kidding. How do you know all of this, anyway?"
Auron just laughs (his father is laughing at him, Tidus thinks without meaning to) and walks away.
"I'm not done talking to you! Don't you run away!" It's angry and half yelled.
And Auron is still calm.
"You're the one running."
Luzzu told Wakka earlier he convinced Chappu to enlist.
Wakka had a hell of a right hook.
Tidus didn't think, even, when he encouraged Gatta, Luzzu's brother, to fight on the front lines that day. He thought it was helping.
Now, he wishes he'd thought. Now, with Luzzu screaming and damning everything to a hell Tidus thinks they might be living, his gut are tearing him up as Wakka calms the other man.
Wakka knows what it's like to be cursing like that.
(Brotherhood feels very heavy, suddenly, at Tidus' side.)
Tidus thinks he probably owes Luzzu a shot at his jaw.
He doesn't say a word.
Because of Seymour--and he hates it, okay, fine, but the guy's slime--they get through.
We're bringing Sinspawn from all over Spira here, the Crusader said. Sinspawn inevitably draw Sin, right? We're going to lure it into a trap!
Thing is.
Thing is, Sin is Jecht.
And if there's one thing Tidus thinks about his old man, it's that he's probably not going to fall for a trap all that easily.
He always was good at faking out guards in a blitz game.
The Crusaders in Operation Mi'ihen have all been excommunicated. My own family won't even speak to me now. We have to beat Sin today. Otherwise, there's nowhere for us to go.
Tidus knows the feeling.
Wakka asks the question Tidus realizes they must all be thinking.
(He isn't. But it's not his world. So he guesses that makes sense.)
"'Scuse me, uh, Maester Seymour? Why is your Lordship... presently...present here...sir? I mean. Isn't this operation against the teachings of Yevon? Aren't you gonna stop them?"
There's something deliberately--Tidus doesn't know what the word he wants is.
Thoughtful, when Seymour's already thought it all out, he thinks. "It's true... I should. However...Both the Crusaders and the Al Bhed truly wish peace for Spira. This Operation Mi'ihen was born from that wish they share. Although it may be sacrilege to Yevon, their intentions are pure. And I, Seymour Guado--the person, not the maester of Yevon... As a denizen of Spira, I wish them well in their endeavor."
...Dammit. Tidus kind of wishes he'd said something else.
Wakka doesn't seem convinced. "But, using machina... That's bad, isn't it?"
"Pretend you didn't see them."
Auron's the only one who doesn't react at all to that one.
"Beg your pardon, but that's not something a maester should say!"
Seymour almost seems amused by Wakka, at this point. "Then pretend I didn't say it."
From the first time I laid eyes on him, I never did like Seymour...But you know, some of the things he said that day...
They made a lot of sense to me.
Things happen in a whirl.
I remembered Auron telling me. Sin is my old man. Sin is Jecht.
There's Sin.
And then there's light and charging and feathers and weapons no one knows the names of, and then
there's more light
and there's Sin.
He wakes up on the beach again. Surrounded by bodies. Surrounded by the dead who weren't a moment ago.
But not him.
All he can do is scream, as his father swims away, "Don't you dare run away from me!"
But no one's listening.
Jecht never did listen.
So Tidus dives into the water.
He'll make him.
I have no idea what I was thinking when I ran after Sin that day. But before I knew what I was doing, there I was chasing him down like a thief at market. Maybe I was angry, maybe I wanted to go home. I kept thinking of Zanarkand, and my old man.
Thinking of when I was a kid.
He's seven. It's not that long before Jecht will take his boat out and not come back.
His voice is short when he spots his son.
"What?"
His own voice is sulky, almost. "They say you don't practice anymore, that you're gonna retire."
His father's laughing at that and snorting. Laughing at him. Tidus hates him a little more. "Let them talk. I'm still the best."
It's vicious when he says, "They say you're no good 'cause you drink all the time."
"I can quit drinkin' whenever I want!"
That's what he tells Mom, too. Tidus wishes it were true. And Tidus isn't a genius, but he isn't dumb, so he challenges Jecht. Sometimes a challenge is enough. "Then do it now."
He hopes. He hopes it's enough. He really wants him to.
"What did you say?"
"You just said you can!" It's not enough and he knows it.
There's half a laugh. "Heh. Tomorrow, maybe."
Not enough. "Why not today?"
Jecht's leering. "Why do today what you can leave for tomorrow?"
It's not fair. It's not fair. Everything would be better, even Mom said it--and he's turning and running away from his dad.
"There he goes again...crying!"
I thought I sensed my old man there. Somewhere...
Or maybe it was just Sin's toxin playing tricks on my mind.
How many died today? People die, and Yuna dances. When will she stop dancing? When will it stop? Yuna won't stop dancing--not until Sin is gone.
Those were my thoughts then...I think.
He's on the shore again. He doesn't remember swimming back, but he sits up.
Yuna's sending.
"I see you're still here."
"Huh?" Just that, a little dully, as he turns to see Auron.
The man's just watching him. "Many stories ended here today...But yours goes on, I see."
He's too tired for Auron's games. "What?"
Sin had come and gone, but I remained here.
Auron doesn't address him again til he's finished with Kinoc and it's just them.
"Sin is Jecht."
Tidus doesn't want to hear it. He admits anyway, "Yeah, for a while there, I thought I could feel him. But that doesn't mean I believe you."
Auron's voice is no different. It's not any less a statement of a true fact. "Sin is Jecht. He came here for you."
He can't breathe, almost. "So he killed all those people just for a chance to see me?"
That's not fair. That's not fair. That's not
(I hate you, Dad)
fair at all.
"That's what Sin does. He wanted to show that to you. Do you know why?"
Now he's defensive. Auron never says anything straight out. Defensive and angry. "How am I supposed to know?!"
For a minute, he thinks Auron might be sympathetic.
Maybe he is, and that's why he answers so simply. (Tidus would prefer a riddle.) "So you would kill him. As long as he is Sin, Jecht will keep killing. He wants you to stop him."
No. No way. "You gotta be kidding. How do you know all of this, anyway?"
Auron just laughs (his father is laughing at him, Tidus thinks without meaning to) and walks away.
"I'm not done talking to you! Don't you run away!" It's angry and half yelled.
And Auron is still calm.
"You're the one running."
Luzzu told Wakka earlier he convinced Chappu to enlist.
Wakka had a hell of a right hook.
Tidus didn't think, even, when he encouraged Gatta, Luzzu's brother, to fight on the front lines that day. He thought it was helping.
Now, he wishes he'd thought. Now, with Luzzu screaming and damning everything to a hell Tidus thinks they might be living, his gut are tearing him up as Wakka calms the other man.
Wakka knows what it's like to be cursing like that.
(Brotherhood feels very heavy, suddenly, at Tidus' side.)
Tidus thinks he probably owes Luzzu a shot at his jaw.
He doesn't say a word.