FIC: Crooked Wings -- FFX-- Chapter 7 -- T

[batsutousai]

Title: Crooked Wings
Author: Batsutousai
Beta: Shara Lunison
Rating: T
Pairings: Tidus/Seymour
Warnings: AU, major canon-fuckery
Summary: On that fateful day when Yunalesca faced Sin, only part of her died, and the part that stayed alive finds itself in Spira a thousand years later.

Disclaim Her: OOC AHOY. XD

A/N: I've have a couple of people who were like, 'Why are you calling the main species humans? Aren't the Al Bhed human too? Why not call them humes?' So I've gone through and fixed that in previous chapters. Thought I'd let you all know.

-0-
Throw Your World Away (For Love)
-0-

"I get that he's an ass, but did you have to drop all of us through the lake?" Gina complained when Tidus finally found her. They'd fallen into some sort of ruins that had been under the lake.

"I'll aim better next time," Tidus replied drily, sitting next to his summoner on some rubble. "Where are we?"

"Under the lake."

"Gina." Tidus shot her a knowing look.

Gina rolled her eyes and leaned back on the rubble, glancing up at the bottom of the temple. "Macalania City, I think. Or, well–" her eyes flickered over the ruined buildings "–what's left of it."

"Any movement from up there?" Seymour asked as he walked over to them, Rikku at his side.

"Your minions are working on a rope," Gina offered the maester with a touch of sarcasm. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be out of here in another hour or so."

Rikku dropped wearily onto the rubble next to Tidus, rubbing at her shoulder. "Hi," she offered.

Tidus frowned and gently pulled her hand away from her shoulder to look at it. "You okay?" he asked, not finding anything wrong.

"She landed poorly on some broken machina," Seymour offered.

"Your jerk healed me," Rikku added, taking her shoulder back to rub at it some more.

"He's not my anything," Tidus hissed, scowling.

Rikku shot him a cheerful smile in response.

Tidus rolled his eyes and pulled her hand away from her shoulder again. "Rubbing it's not going to help. Here..."

Gina smiled at her guardians, then glanced over at the maester hovering just out of reach. The man was watching Tidus with a blank expression, but the summoner thought she saw a hint of sorrow in his eyes. Seymour was a jerk, sure, but she was beginning to suspect that he genuinely cared for Tidus in his own, twisted way.

"You said you wanted to talk," Tidus commented once he'd ensured that Rikku's shoulder was back to normal and not 'achy', or whatever Rikku wanted to complain about, "so talk. You have our full, undivided attention."

"At least until the guado get us out of here," Rikku added, flexing her shoulder with a smile.

Seymour glanced over at Gina and blinked in surprise to find her studying him thoughtfully. "You're High Summoner Yunalesca," he told her, wanting to get that thoughtful look off her face; he didn't like people looking too closely at him.

Gina cocked her head to one side, still thoughtful. "I prefer Gina," she replied. Behind her, she sensed Tidus and Rikku both tensing, so she held out a hand, trying to calm them. "As far as Spira is concerned, Yunalesca died attempting to defeat Sin."

Seymour narrowed his eyes. "She did die," he snapped. "Yunalesca's unsent haunts Zanarkand. Which then begs the question: What are you?"

"What?" Gina whispered, shocked.

Tidus was immediately at her side, scowling at Seymour. "Impossible."

Seymour raised an eyebrow at him. "Who do you think assisted my mother and I in making her a fayth?"

Gina touched Tidus' arm. "I'm a teenager," she said quietly.

Tidus frowned. "You think Sin–"

"Why not? It's not like we actually know anything about it."

"Well, yeah, but a thousand years?"

Gina swallowed and shook her head. "Maybe I'm not real."

Tidus blinked, then sighed. "Dammit."

"No!" Rikku shouted, jumping to her feet. "No, you can't–"

"Rikku," Tidus murmured, stepping towards his fellow guardian even as Gina rubbed tiredly at her eyes.

"You can't both–" Rikku waved her arms around, furious. "No!"

"Rikku," Tidus said again, not flinching when her claw caught his cheek, "stop."

Rikku shot him a helpless look, then burst into tears.

Tidus caught her in a hug, finally safe from flailing arms, and closed his eyes. "I know, sis. I know."

"It's not fair," Rikku whispered against his necklace. "Not fair."

Tidus glanced over at Gina, helpless, and she shook her head. "Rikku, we don't even know for sure. Please don't be upset?"

Seymour looked between the three friends, not sure he liked what he had heard, assuming he'd even understood everything right. There had been gaps that he'd not been able to follow – how could she not be real, and how could they have even reached that conclusion? – but what he'd caught wasn't a pretty picture. "What exactly–?"

Tidus glared at Seymour over Rikku's head. "Keep your fucking nose out, Seymour. Gina is your precious Yunalesca, and that's all that ever mattered to you, the rest of this is just gravy. Why don't you go see if your minions are ready to get us out of here yet."

Seymour shook his head. "That's not–"

"Shut up, both of you!" Gina ordered, turned towards the temple. "Listen."

Rikku looked up from Tidus' arms and joined the others in looking towards the temple. "The hymn..." she realised. She remembered being calmed by the hymn when she'd woken up to find her shoulder a bloody mess, but it was gone now. "Why did it stop?"

The ground shook and they all looked around in surprise. Seymour was the one who spotted it, pointing upwards and saying, "Sin," even as the creature turned towards them.

Gina didn't really think about it, she just reached out and grabbed Seymour's arm. She knew Sin wasn't going to hurt Tidus or herself – and, considering she'd survived their last trip by Sin, Rikku would probably be okay too – but Seymour had no such promise of safety, especially not with how off-and-on ticked off Tidus and she were with the man. But, disgusted with him or not, Gina saw no reason to let her father kill the man.

"What–?" Seymour turned to ask, but he was cut off as everything went dark around them.

-0-

"Gina."

Gina opened her eyes and groaned at the bright light in her face, which immediately backed up. "Papa?" she replied, recognising the voice.

A little globe of light moved up and down in a pseudo nod. "Yes."

Gina stared at the globe for a moment, then whispered, "Oh, Papa, what's happened to you?"

"Time," Yu Yevon allowed, floating a bit closer. "I'm sorry."

Gina reached out to touch the globe, but the only sense she had that it was even there was a slight warmth. "I'm sorry, too."

Yu bobbed a bit. "I don't know what you are," he commented. "The moment my magic took control of Zaon, I knew something was wrong. I tried to intervene, but my creation was working against me; still, I cannot hope to control it." The globe turned, as if looking away. "I just wanted you to be safe, and then, you were with me, in Sin, sleeping. You never..." He sighed. "You never woke up, just remained here, with me. When Jecht got his son, something about your similarities freed both of you to Spira at the same time. One minute, both you and that boy were here, with us, and the next, you were gone."

Gina nodded and hugged herself. "Okay. And you don't know if I'm a dream, or..."

"I don't. I know I wanted you safe, but I don't know how you came to be in Sin. Or how your unsent haunts Zanarkand. It might be connected, I don't know."

Gina glanced away from her father, into the darkness. "I'm...glad," she decided. "Glad that I'm here, now, travelling again." She looked back at her father. "I want to free you, Papa."

"I know." Yu settled closer to what might have been the ground, if the space they were in had any definition. "I am...grateful," he decided, "that it would be you to do so. It's been a long thousand years."

"I know. I won't stop until I find a way. None of us will." She paused a moment, then asked, "Papa, where are the others? Tidus and Rikku? Seymour?"

"They're here. Jecht and I agreed that you all needed some time away from the pilgrimage. You have troubles to work out. All of you."

"Where are you taking us, then?"

"Bikanel." Yu floated back up to eye-level. "Rikku could use some time at home, and Tidus and Seymour need to work things out."

Gina laughed. "Yes, they do. Tidus can't seem to decide if he hates or likes Seymour, and hells know what's going on in Seymour's head."

"Very little good," Yu informed her seriously. "I would prefer to just see him dead – he's been a threat for a long time – but Jecht wants to see his son happy, and Seymour's mother seems to think Tidus might just be able to keep Seymour in check."

Gina frowned. "His mom?"

"Anima, a fayth. Her crystal is in Baaj Temple, by the way, where you woke. I can...communicate with the fayth, through Jecht or whoever is acting as my armour. They keep us updated about what's happening in the world. They're how I know when a summoner is waiting to face me."

"Oh." Gina shook her head. "Seymour's a threat?"

"He had a very lonely upbringing, and it twisted him a lot. He seems to be of the opinion that the way to save Spira is to kill everyone."

"What?" Gina hurried to her feet and stared around at the darkness. "That creep!"

Yu chuckled. "Calm down, Gina. Anima seems to think he's changing. It was her death that set him on his course; she believes him having someone he truly cares about will help him see the error of his ways."

"And if not? If he decides the best way to 'save' Tidus is to kill him?"

"I don't think your Tidus will let him get away with that, no matter how much more powerful Seymour might be," Yu pointed out. "And, if he does try something, he won't survive Jecht."

"I'm sure Tidus would appreciate that," Gina commented drily, shaking her head.

Yu chuckled again. "Yes, well, Jecht is set on making up for being a horrible father when Tidus was a kid, but he may be a bit late. No one appreciates suddenly finding themselves with a father at seventeen."

"Tidus won't be nice about telling him where to stick his fatherly urges, either," Gina agreed with a laugh. "Oh, I'd love to see that argument."

Yu darted forward and brushed against her cheek. "I've missed you, little Gina."

Gina smiled a bit sadly. "I've missed you too, Papa."

"We're to Bikanel." Yu sighed. "Yunalesca, my sweet Gina..."

"I love you, Papa," Gina whispered.

"I love you too," Yu replied. "Be safe."

Then the light faded away.

-0-

Tidus woke with the sense that he was floating. It took him a moment to realise he was floating face down, then he was pulling up and falling over on to his behind in the small oasis. He blinked around at the stretch of sand in all directions, then sighed. "Damn you, old man," he complained before getting to his feet. He vaguely remembered images from his childhood and the sense that Jecht had been there, wanting to hug him or say something to him, but Tidus had just kept pushing him away.

Sighing, he picked a direction and started out, hoping Rikku and Gina were okay. He was a little grumpy that he'd been left alone, especially since he'd been holding Rikku when Sin had grabbed them, but that was just like Jecht. Or maybe it had been Gina's dad.

He hadn't been walking for long when a large bird – a Zu – swooped down on him and left a series of painful gashes on his arm. He quickly pulled out his sword, but the bird was too high for him to reach.

"That Holy spell would be good right about now," he grumbled as he shot a Cure at his shoulder.

The Zu came at him again, flying with the sun so Tidus couldn't hope to see it and dodge. It landed another couple gashes over the ones that were still healing, as well as a scrape of its beak along Tidus' scalp. Tidus managed to hit one of the Zu's talons, cutting off the sharp part.

"Shit, shit, shit," Tidus hissed, deciding the wisest course would be to run for it and hope he could either find some sort of shelter, or a predator of the Zu, if such a thing existed.

The Zu let out an angry screech and dove after him, claws extended. It collided with his back and Tidus couldn't help the scream that ripped from his throat at the pain. He was certain he was a goner, but then the fiend on his back exploded into pyreflies, leaving Tidus to gasp in the sand, too much in pain to even consider casting a Cure.

The wash of a Cure spell numbed his back after a few minutes and Tidus closed his eyes in relief.

It took him a moment to remember that neither Gina nor Rikku knew how to cast a Cure spell, and then he was struggling to sit up and glare at Seymour, who was snooping through Tidus' items pack. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Do any of you carry normal potions?" Seymour complained.

Tidus reached for his pack, which Seymour handed over with a scowl. "Gina does," he muttered, pulling out an Al Bhed potion and chugging it. They were superior to normal potions, but there was a trick to opening them that Rikku had taught him. Gina had never figured the trick out, so she'd taken to keeping all the normal potions while Rikku hoarded Al Bhed potions. Tidus had his Cure spells, but he kept a few Al Bhed potions handy, just in case.

"Where are your items, anyway?" Tidus wondered as his wounds knitted back together.

"I don't carry items," Seymour replied, standing and trying to shake sand out of his robes.

"You wouldn't," Tidus muttered, then stood himself. "I don't suppose the great Maester Seymour knows where in the blazes Sin dumped us?"

Seymour frowned at him, receiving a raised eyebrow in response, then said, "Bikanel Island. The Al Bhed's Home should be–" he glanced up at the sun, then turned roughly towards the south-east "–over there somewhere."

Tidus grunted and started walking towards the direction Seymour had pointed. "How long have you known where they were located?" he asked when Seymour fell in next to him.

The half-guado scowled down at the sand, which was working its way back into his clothing, which wasn't meant for travelling like this. "Since they moved here seventeen years ago. I frequented this whole string of islands as a kid." He glanced up at what looked like a rough shelter. "Would you be willing to stop for a bit?"

Tidus glanced over at him, a snarky comment on the tip of his tongue, but then he saw how tired Seymour looked. The man had saved him from that fiend, he supposed. "Yeah, okay."

They stopped at the shelter and Seymour shuffled under it to pull off his robes. "May I borrow your sword?" he requested of Tidus, who had stayed outside.

Tidus blinked in confusion and poked his head inside. "Why would you..." His question died on his lips when he realised Seymour was naked. "Uh..."

Seymour snorted at him. "Don't turn into a blushing virgin on me now, Tidus."

"You're an ass," Tidus declared, pulling his head back outside. "Why do you need my sword? And, for that matter, why are you naked?"

"My robes are cumbersome. I intend to cut off the unnecessary fabric," Seymour explained, shaking his head at the teen, half amused, half exasperated.

"Oh." Tidus passed his sword back without looking, then pulled out his items pack and shifted through it until he found a couple of the items Rikku said he could mix together to create an ice attack. He didn't much care to be caught out like that again, and Rikku had assured him it worked on fiends who were at a slight distance.

When Seymour had finished, he gave Tidus back his sword and they were off again, walking with a tense silence that neither dared to break for quite some time.

Finally, Tidus asked, "You know a Cure spell–"

"I know the lowest level Cure spell," Seymour cut in. "I practise black magic, like Lady Gina. I usually travel with an entourage, and they're the ones who carry items or cast white magic."

"But white magic is so useful!"

"Unless you need to attack something that flies," Seymour pointed out drily.

Tidus waved a hand at him. "Yeah, whatever. So I still need to learn Holy. But what happens if you get separated from your entourage? You're supposed to just die?"

Seymour snorted. "That's why I learned the Cure spell. And I taught Shiva some of the higher-level white magic, just in case I get into a tight spot."

Tidus blinked. "Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting you started out as a summoner."

Seymour shook his head, amused.

All further conversation was put on hold when they were set upon by a Sand Worm. Tidus started off by tossing one of his ice mixes, since it was already in his hand, then stepped back and pulled out his sword while Seymour shot off a Waterga.

It took them some time to finish the fiend, and by the time they had killed it and looted the gil and items it had left in the wake of pyreflies, they were both exhausted.

"Damn," Tidus grunted, considering the horizon in hopes of spotting another shelter. "Hey, look!" He pointed towards a lump of some sort.

"As good as anything," Seymour decided and they started off across the sand towards the lump.

The lump did, in fact, turn out to be another small shelter.

"I can take first watch," Tidus decided, looking into the shelter a bit distrustfully.

"Do you have any idea how cold it gets at night out here?" Seymour asked somewhat rhetorically. "Once the sun goes down, the fiends will be in for the night, and I refuse to freeze in my sleep. Get in here."

Tidus scowled. "And wake to find your hands down my pants or something?"

Seymour closed his eyes. "Yevon, give me patience," he whispered before looking back at the teen. "If you weren't so dead-set on hating me, this wouldn't even be a problem."

"You're an ass!" Tidus snapped.

"Yes! Fine! I was wrong to confront your summoner about her being High Summoner Yunalesca in front of everyone! Are you happy?"

"No!" Tidus shouted back. "Because I know you're perfectly willing to do it again!"

"So what? At least I'm not keeping secrets about myself!" Seymour snapped, crawling out of the shelter so he could properly face the teen.

"I'm not keeping secrets from my friends," Tidus spat.

"What am I, then? The one-night stand you'd been dreaming about for almost a week?" Seymour grabbed Tidus' suspenders. "I'm not going to let you just shove me off to the side because of one mistake, Tidus."

"Mistake?" Tidus sputtered. "You call that a mistake?"

"Yes, I do," Seymour agreed before pulling the boy closer and crushing their lips together. He was tired of this argument.

Tidus made a few half-hearted efforts to push the maester away, but gave up quickly enough to tangle his hands in the long blue hair. Seymour took that as his cue to slide his hands down from Tidus' suspenders to his ass, which he pulled closer.

Tidus pulled his mouth away to whisper, "You're still an ass."

"Shut up," Seymour replied, leaning his head down to attack Tidus' neck.

Tidus groaned. "Oh, fuck it. Shelter."

Seymour saw nothing wrong with that suggestion, so they parted to climb under the overturned machina, then started in on each other again, losing clothing left and right.

-0-

"I hate you," Tidus grumbled into Seymour's chest the next morning. He knew the older man was awake because his hand was running through Tidus' hair.

Seymour snorted. "Of course you do."

Tidus gave himself a moment to breathe in the scent of his lover before rolling away and into a sitting position. "We should head out. I'm worried about Gina and Rikku."

"Rikku grew up in this desert," Seymour commented, but obediently moved to dress.

"I'm worried about Gina, then," Tidus decided. "Oh, yuck. I think I've got sand in my ass."

Seymour snorted and looked away from Tidus' glare to keep from full-out laughing.

Ten minutes later, they were on their way, snacking on some rations Tidus had with him.

They spent a few hours fighting off fiends, then stopped for a break on Seymour's suggestion to wait out the heat of the day.

"Hands to yourself," Tidus ordered as he laid down. The shelter they'd found that time was a bit larger, so they weren't cramped together. Seymour had also, thoughtfully, cast an ice spell on the machina before they'd slipped under it, so it remained pleasantly cool, in spite of the heat outside.

Seymour shook his head and rested back against the cool metal. "Back at the beach, you mentioned something about Lady Gina not intending to create the Final Summoning," he commented idly.

"Oh, so you eavesdrop on private conversations, too?" Tidus snapped.

Seymour sighed. "You were standing less than five feet from me. It was hard not to hear you three."

Tidus huffed. "Whatever. Yeah, the Final Summoning can't defeat Sin."

"The Final Summoning was never intended to fully defeat–"

"That's not how Gina tells it," Tidus interrupted, "and since she was the first High Summoner, I think what she says goes."

Seymour considered the teen for a moment, then asked, "Then why don't you tell me what really happened."

Tidus glanced over at him. "What do you know?" he challenged.

Seymour sighed and closed his eyes, resting fully against the metal. "I know the Final Summoning is created by sacrificing a guardian. I know that the Final Summoning, when used against Sin, will become Sin and destroy the summoner."

"Essentially correct," Tidus allowed. "But the Final Summoning doesn't become Sin itself, but the armour that protects Yu Yevon, who is summoning a mass of fayth."

Seymour frowned. "The ones on Mt Gagazet?"

Tidus shrugged. "I don't, actually, know where the fayth are, but Mt Gagazet seems the most plausible, sure."

Seymour was silent for a moment, considering Tidus' words. Finally, he asked, "Yu Yevon, as in the father of our religion?"

"Your religion," Tidus corrected him. "And, yes, that Yevon. He's Gina's dad."

"...I'm beginning to understand why Sin didn't just kill all of us under the lake," Seymour commented.

"It's not the first time Gina, Rikku, and I have travelled by Sin," Tidus agreed, shrugging. "Although, why you survived..." He shot the maester a glare.

Seymour sighed, torn between irritation and amusement at Tidus' continued hostilities. On one hand, he wasn't used to someone acting so rude to him since his father had called him back from exile; on the other hand, Tidus' disgust was a nice change from the usual scraping and bowing he had to suffer.

Tidus closed his eyes again, trying to remind himself where he'd been in his story. "Oh, right. So, Yevon creates this armour, made of the spirits of the dead, which is supposed to protect him from anything and everything while he's summoning. Except, something went wrong, and the armour just started attacking everything, whether it was a threat or not.

"Gina – Yunalesca, whatever – journeyed with Zaon to find a way to destroy Sin and free both Yevon and Spira from his terror, but their last resort, the Final Summoning, didn't work. Sure, it freed everyone for a little bit, but it wasn't the final solution they'd been looking for."

Seymour shrugged. "Maybe there isn't a final solution."

Tidus looked over at him, frowning. "I believe there is. So does Gina and, I think, Jecht."

"But, wouldn't it be better to just see everyone dead?" Seymour mused. "Put the entire world out of its misery."

"I think we've had this discussion before," Tidus murmured, recalling their discussion on the beach among the dead. He sat up and looked over at Seymour. "Seymour, why do you think everything would be better if everyone was dead?"

Seymour stared at him, expression torn between crazed and lost. "If you're dead, you don't have to suffer," he replied.

Tidus brought his knees up and rested his chin on them, considering the other man. "Your mother is dead," he offered, ignoring as Seymour flinched, "is she free from suffering?"

"Yes," Seymour insisted.

Tidus raised an eyebrow at him, having heard stories from Wakka about Seymour's unusual aeon, which he'd called at the blitzball tournament. "Jecht is dead, but he's not at peace. Yu Yevon is dead, but he's not at peace. Your Yunalesca, up in Zanarkand, she's dead, but it doesn't sound to me like she's at peace."

Seymour turned away, confusion etched on his face.

Tidus leaned forward, sensing victory. "Seymour, you live next to the only pathway between Spira and the Farplane; tell me all those souls are at peace."

Seymour shook his head. "Without the living, the dead will have no one to worry about!" he said somewhat triumphantly.

Tidus shrugged. "Nor will they have anyone to be happy for. They'll simply sit around all day, watching the planet die. And what of the fayth? I can't imagine it would be much fun to be stuck in a crystal all day, neither of Spira, nor of the Farplane." He dropped his head to one side on his knees. "You would leave your mother alone?"

Seymour looked horrified at the thought. He was up and out of the shelter before Tidus even realised he was moving.

Tidus scrambled to his feet and hurried to the entrance of the shelter in time to see Seymour summon the most horrifyingly painful aeon Tidus had ever seen, and the teen had to wonder how Seymour could ever think his mother happy. "Seymour," he called, not quite willing to run out into the hot sun.

Seymour ignored him to beseech Anima, "Mother, please, are you happy?"

Anima blinked her single eye at him, then shook her head.

Seymour looked devastated. "But why? Why aren't you happy?"

Anima looked towards Tidus, who blinked at her in confusion.

Seymour followed his aeon's gaze, then looked back up at her. "What? Tidus? What about him? Do I need to..." He trailed off, turning to look at Tidus again, gripping his staff.

Tidus immediately went on alert at the look in Seymour's eyes, though he didn't quite grab for his sword. "Seymour, if you try anything, I swear to the fayth I'll cut off your happy bits. Clear?"

Anima seemed almost amused by that proclamation.

"Look, see, your mom's on my side," Tidus added when Seymour didn't seem deterred by his threat.

That seemed to do the trick, for Seymour looked back at his aeon and asked, "So, Tidus is okay?"

Anima nodded and Seymour relaxed. Anima looked again to Tidus, hopeful.

Tidus shook his head. "I'm not sure I know what you want of me, ma'am," he admitted.

Anima seemed almost to sigh, then her single eye closed.

"Mother?" Seymour asked, confused.

There was a sudden ringing in Tidus' ears and he grunted, clapping his hands over them. It didn't seem to help, but then a woman's voice echoed, 'I'm sorry, Tidus. I don't mean to harm you, but as I'm not directly a member of the fayth who are dreaming you, this is the best I can do.'

Tidus swallowed. It would make a twisted sort of sense that the fayth could communicate with him because he was a dream. 'You're Seymour's mom, then?'

'Yes. It is as you said, the dead aren't happy when the living aren't happy, and my son is not happy, no matter what he may say to the contrary.'

'That should be fun to explain to him,' Tidus grumbled.

'Tidus, he is happiest when he is with you. I know he drives you mad, but–'

'You want me to stay with him?' Tidus guessed. 'And what about when we defeat Sin? You want me to leave him, like you did? He won't even have an aeon of me to hold on to. What's to say he won't go completely mad?' His recent conversation with the maester had shown him – without a doubt – that Seymour was more than a bit crazy.

Anima was quiet for a long moment, then she allowed, 'If he is not checked, Yu Yevon will kill him before he can make it back to Bevelle. He believes he's too dangerous.'

Tidus felt sick to his stomach. 'I see.' So, it was up to Tidus to either save Seymour and potentially leave him even more insane than he was before he arrived, or see him die sometime in the coming days. 'I don't know how much good I can do.'

'All that I ask is that you try.'

'Okay.'

'And, Tidus?'

'Yes?'

'My son is twisted, but I believe he truly cares for you, in his own way.'

Tidus thought back to Seymour coming to his rescue against that Zu, in spite of his apparent belief that everyone in Spira would be better off dead. 'I know.'

Anima's presence left, and without her there to distract him, he realised just how much pain he was in. Bloody fayth, he complained before he let himself fall into the blissful darkness reaching for him.

-0-

Seymour had been quite confused when Tidus and Anima had both become very quiet, almost like they were sharing a conversation that he couldn't be a part in. He was a bit irritated at that, right until he recognised the pain that was lining Tidus' face the longer the silence went on.

Already worried, he was easily in reach when Tidus' eyes fluttered briefly and he fainted. He caught the teen around the waist before he could fully crumple to the ground, then turned to give Anima a dirty look. "What did you do to him?" he demanded of her.

Anima smiled as much as she was ever able to even as she shook her head.

Seymour looked down at the teen in his arms, calmed by the way Tidus' face had smoothed out in his sleep. "He'll be okay?" he asked his mother.

Anima nodded, then motioned for him to return to the shelter before turning around and watching the desert for any possible danger.

Seymour trusted Anima to keep them safe, so he carried Tidus back into the shelter. He pulled his outer robe off for Tidus to sleep on, then realised it was actually quite cold in the shelter without the heavy robe. He only debated a minute before slipping in behind Tidus and wrapping an arm around the teen's waist to pull him closer. "You'll have to tell me what Mother had to say that was so important when you wake up," he informed his sleeping lover. There was, of course, no response and Seymour laid his head down to get some rest himself.

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A/N: So... This whole chapter sort of wrote itself. Sorry if people are OOC, but I don't care enough to go back through and fix everything.

Alternately, I'd intended Seymour and Tidus to have reached Home by the end of this chapter. Clearly, I fail. That, or I rock. Not sure which.

~Bats ^.^x

Chapters:
1 - Otherworld ||| 2 - Neither Friend Nor Foe ||| 3 - Sometimes Good-Bye is a Second Chance
4 - Heaven Sent a Hurricane ||| 5 - My Secrets Become Your Truth ||| 6 - Every Clap of Thunder
7 - Throw Your World Away (For Love) ||| 8 - Poisonous Drugs of Hate ||| 9 - Wisdom, Justice, & Love
10 - Turning on a Dime ||| 11 - Kings and Queens of Promise ||| 12 - Stepped Into a Cruel World
13 - ???
Incomplete

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