Final Fantasy X - Tidus x Reader - Can Aeons Learn to Love?

Edit: Thanks for the feature!

THIS STILL COUNTS RIGHT?! IT'S STILL MAY 1ST WHERE I AM PLEASE TELL ME THIS IS STILL VALID FOR THIS EVENT

I'll it, I kind of rushed through this one to make it on time for the event deadline, but I don't think I did too bad ^^;

Definitely did *not* tear up at some parts writing this, I swear

Either way, I had fun writing this, so I hope you'll like it!

As always, any comments/criticism are appreciated!

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Final Fantasy X

Tidus x Reader

Can Aeons Learn to Love?

Small grains of sand buried themselves between your toes as you walked on the small beach outlining Besaid Island. Children’s laughter could be heard just a couple of meters ahead from you. You tilted your head in curiosity, noticing how they were all gathered around in a circle, a boy with short brown hair poking at something with a stick, the other children chortling with each prod. You came closer, looking over their shoulders and seeing them tormenting a small fish like creature. Granted, it was only natural that they would be interested in finding out about the aquatic being before them; you hadn’t seen anything like it before.

“Hey.” You quietly scolded the children, lightly pushing them aside and bending down to scoop it up. Its head was in the shape of a drop of water, disembodied from the rest of its form which was that of a seahorse. It had a pair of wings just like a butterfly’s skeleton, strings of small bubbles forming the bones. Its small tummy heaved deeply in and out, likely from the lack of water that it needed to stay alive. “Oh, you poor thing…” You lightly petted its head, and despite it looking like it was on the verge of drawing its last breaths, it reacted, pushing itself against the pad of your index finger, welcoming your touch. Continuing to pat it, you began to walk into the water in front of you, bending down once more once the sea water reached your ankles and letting the creature slide past your fingers and into the water. You watched with a small smile as you saw it bob its head up from the water, looking at you with its sparkly blue eyes. With a giggle, you gave it a small wave, turning away once you saw it dip below the waves and didn’t come back up.

With your hands on your hips, you told off the children, your tone becoming serious compared to how you had addressed them last time, saying how they shouldn’t bully small animals that way and that you were very disappointed in them for doing so. They looked at each other collectively before all lowering their heads, mumbling about how sorry they were. You leaned down and kissed each one of them on the head, ruffling their hair and apologizing for shouting. You then patted on kid on the shoulder, shooing them away to go play. The smiles returned to their faces and they rushed off back into the village, yelling suggestions over the games they should play, tag, hide-and-seek and football among many others. Once they were gone, you sat down on the sand with a sigh, drawing your knees into your chest and staring out into the sun that was beginning to tuck itself underneath the sea.

Your eyes glazed over, the rays of the sun illuminating your unshed tears. You tipped your head into your legs, releasing your sobs. No matter how many times you came here, no matter how times you had convinced yourself you had moved on, no matter how many tears you spilled, you would never let it go. You *couldn’t* let it go. You felt that would be a betrayal to his memory and everything he had done. What was worse, you forced yourself to smile in front of the other villagers, assuring them that you were alright, yet they all knew better, knew how much you were grieving and nobody questioned it. They whispered amongst themselves, the mothers wanting to treat you as their own child and help you move on in any way they could, the fathers nodding along and offering their children the chance to try to comfort you and hopefully make you forget about what you had lost, but the village elders put a stop to their plotting, the oldest saying how ‘you can’t treat a broken heart’.

It had been two, almost three years after the tragic incident that made you lose your beloved. You’d never forget how far the ocean had drawn itself in. The screech you had let out when you saw the large tidal wave approaching the village, threating to swallow everything its wake and leave nothing. You ed how you were the first person he had rushed to save rather than the young summoner he was initially on a journey with, grabbing you by your waist and knocking the air out of your lungs before tossing you upwards onto a high rock where he knew you would be safer. You got ahold of your bearings quickly, screaming his name when the wave of water finally reached the island and swept him away. But that was only half of it. In the split second before the wave reached him, you saw him smile, mouthing the words ‘I love you’; the next time you blinked, he wasn’t there anymore. Everyone knew how for the next couple of days you never returned to your home, remaining at the exact spot where you had last seen him with the hope that he would miraculously return despite all odds, that he would hold you in his arms again and dry your tears.

That never came to . The cruel depths of the sea showed no signs of him being alive, nor did it even turn up a body. Every time you came to this beach, that dreaded scenario would replay over and over again in your head, the darkest voices from within you feeding you lies to only further your inner torment.

It’s all your fault.

You should have died.

He would have been happier with Yuna.

Nobody here actually cares about you.

Your life is worthle-

The tornado of poisonous thoughts stopped when you felt something rubbing against your cheek. You sniffed, looking up to see the small creature that you had set free back into the ocean. Wiping at your tears, you asked what it was doing here. You saw how it cocked its head to the side, almost as if asking what you were crying over. You questioned the little being if this was the case, but it only stared back at you with blank eyes. You began to recall to it your experience as it sat on top of your knee, your tears starting to flow again. Every time tears began to fall down your face, it floated up to your cheeks, nuzzling its head into them to absorb them into its own body. Before you knew it, night had fallen on the island and you laughed at the realization that you had spent all this time talking to a creature that probably had no idea what you were talking about. In the middle of your idle chatter and through the most strenuous game of charades you had ever played, you found out his name was Kelpie.

For the next few days, you had begun the foundation of a friendship with him, not failing to notice how he kept growing in size the more time you spent together. Your conversations ranged from average talks like how your day had gone by to more thought-provoking ones like what the meaning of life was, especially considering how time was limited in this world with the existence of the gargantuan destroyer known as Sin. Of course, you never received a direct reply from Kelpie, but from being together with him you had picked up on which body language meant what. You were most familiar with his way of comforting you; touching your cheeks, because even though you had finally found a friend within Kelpie, your tears never ceased to keep falling, endlessly reciting the toxic thoughts within your head. On some days, you could cry more than others, and Keplie’s size would either grow a little or grow a lot by the time you met him the next day, yet somehow you never made the connection between the two. As time continued to flow onwards, he had gotten to be three times the size of yourself, giving you the option to hug him, which you did often and regularly, especially when you fell into another depressive episode.

The sun had begun to set into the horizon when you arrived at the beach, Kelpie already waiting for you above the waters which was out of the ordinary for him, but you figured he was excited to meet you that day and didn’t question it. You *had* grown closer to one another, even more than before. You waved to him with a wide smile, opening your mouth to start your usual chat about your day, but someone else spoke first.

“(Y/N).” A deep voice boomed inside your head, your bones quivering from the shock. You instinctively clasped at your chest, then looked up at your watery companion.

“Kelpie…?”

“I’m truly sorry for the pain that I caused you.” You let an awkward laugh.

“Wh-What pain? You didn’t do anything.”

“Allow me to explain myself.” With widened eyes, you only nodded. He took that as your signal that you were listening and continued. “Do you know why I always absorbed your tears whenever you cried?”

“To comfort me?” He paused.

“While that is part of the reason, it was so that I may learn more about the human species. I am an Aeon.”

“A-An Aeon?!”

“Correct. Like you, I had drawn myself away from my contemporaries, unwilling to listen to their talk about how kind and genuine the human race was, when all I had been shown was their mercilessness towards other life that they deemed lesser than their own. They never put an end to their attempts to catch me and use my powers against others for their own selfish reasons, no matter what underwater creature I had taken the form of. At one point…I had had enough and retaliated in a way that…I shouldn’t have. I let my anger and hate get the better of me, and as a result, you and countless others suffered. It was because of me that…your beloved is now gone.” You froze with a shaking inward breath, feeling a stray tear roll along the slopes of your cheeks. “I…understand if you no longer wish to be my friend. But I would like to leave you with the fact that because of our friendship, I have learned that there is a good side to humanity. A side that is vulnerable, caring of others and selfless, a race who sometimes struggles to put their purest of feelings into words.”

Your face was in your hands, your shoulders shaking from how loudly you were wailing. Kelpie could only look at you with a sorrowful expression, moving so that he was now facing the water. “Also, I’d like to do one final thing for you.” Even through your crying, he knew you were listening. “With the memories I’ve collected from your tears, I am aware of how much Tidus meant to you. And so, I would like to recreate something that I think he would say to you in this moment.” Raising your head, your hands squeezed by your lips when you saw Kelpie’s body morphing and changing right before your eyes, taking the form of your deceased lover. He outstretched his arms to you, beckoning you to come forward. Your sob got stuck in your throat, only feeling your body crashing into his when you ran forward. The small giggles that the Tidus recreation let out were just the same like you had ed them; Kelpie even managed to mimic his voice. The recreated Tidus pulled back from you slightly, brushing the back of his hand against your cheeks just like the real Tidus did whenever you were sad.

“(Y/N).” He leaned forward to kiss your forehead. “Please, don’t cry over me. I know how much you miss me. I do too. A lot, in fact. I’m sure that Yuna, Wakka, Rikku, Auron, and Kimarhi also miss me. The difference is that I know that they’ve moved ed their grief, as painful as it was for all of them. But you’re the only one that hasn’t.”

“Of course I haven’t!” You exclaimed. “I never will!”

“But that’s exactly what I want from you.”

“Huh?”

“I want you to move on. I know that you’re afraid to because you don’t want to forget me and all of the things we’ve been through together. I don’t want you to be sad forever because of me. That’s no way to live at all.” His wording was so specific and tailored to fit Tidus’ exact personality, the only reminder that you weren’t talking to the real Tidus was how he was made out of water.

“But how can I be happy without you?! If you’re not here…my life doesn’t have meaning anymore.”

“Then why not try to find one? It’s much better than drowning in self-pity, isn’t it?” You gave no response, only leaning your head against his chest, just blankly taking in the feeling of him running his fingers through your hair. “(Y/N), I love you. I know that it will be hard to move on, but I want you to be happy, more than anything else in the world. I’m glad that I got to meet you, (Y/N). Please, live your life to the fullest. And when we meet again in the next life, tell me all about your adventures. Then, we’ll go on another one, just me and you.”

“Tidus, I-” Your body lurched forward, the Tidus recreation no longer standing before you. Kelpie, returned to his original form, didn’t look at you as he spoke, his colorless eyes reflecting the ocean’s orange color.

“As I stated before, I understand if you no longer wish to be friends, especially after keeping this from you for so long. Regardless, I shall return to my home beneath the sea and seal myself away so that I may never hurt innocent people like you again, emotionally or otherwise. He turned to you, bowing his head. “Thank you, (Y/N). I am grateful for all that you have taught me.” He started going into the water, his movements like that of a sea-horses, his butterfly wings flapping once in a while.

“Wait!” You cried after him. Still not turning to you, he responded.

“Yes?”

“I…”

> Forgive him.

> Don’t forgive him.

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*This art doesn't belong to me! It belongs to Nevamyne Bloodvixen