Episode i: Part IV

[Warning: This chapter contains spoilers for the game.]



“Hey, uh... excuse me? Do you guys have enough pilots?” Sazh asked the soldier. The moment Hope asked if there was anything he could do to help, it occurred to Sazh that there must be something he could do as well.
“With how many people we have to evacuate, the more pilots the better.”
Sazh looked towards Cocoon. Even with one full third of Cocoon being lost, he wondered how many trips it would take to evacuate the entire population of Cocoon.
“Well, that’s true, but...”
“Alright then. As long as you stay in the cockpit, you won’t have to worry about anyone seeing your face.”
Airships weren’t just being used to fly straight from Cocoon to Gran Pulse. Inside Cocoon there were avalanches, buildings being toppled over, and people inside them that needed to be rescued. For that you needed the smaller ships that could reach them. As well as pilots to drive them.
“Actually... the truth is that we need more people than we have right now.”
“At least PSICOM has stopped all that fighting. I guess some good as come of all this.”
Below the crystal pillar, the blue uniformed soldiers worked together with PSICOM. Hauling much needed supplies, doing whatever they could to help. They were all working towards making sure the citizens of Cocoon were safe. Yet one more miracle, Sazh thought.
“So where’s your license?”
“No, if he can fly then we’ll take anyone.”
Officially, he was only allowed to pilot civilian craft, but in an emergency like this one no one would be so bone headed as to say it was against regulations for him to fly a military ship.
“Of course... Also, I have my child with me. I’d be grateful if you could give me a ship with a lot of room in the cockpit.”
Sazh wasn’t about to let anyone else take care of Dajh right now. Once everything was back to normal he would work, and let Dajh go to daycare. But right now things were different. Right now he didn’t want to let go of him for a moment.
It had been the start of everything, that day at Euride. For just a moment, he had taken his eyes of Dajh. He had grown careless, he had felt that his son was old enough that he didn’t have to worry about him all the time. What a disaster. That was one road he had no plans on traveling again.
“So Dajh...” He said, lifting the boy to the ground, and kneeling beside him. “Your father’s job is a pilot. What is your job?”
“Um... eat lots of food, play a lot, nap, get in trouble, get yelled at, say I’m sorry...”
Every morning before they left they had this same conversation. Then, when they arrived at the daycare, he would say ‘Look, here’s your work place,’ and he would take him inside.
“That’s true. But today it will be a bit different.”
“Different?”
“Today your job is to watch your father’s job. You will sit beside your father and be a good boy. Can you do that for me?”
Dajh’s face grew bright and cheerful. He had never seen his father piloting from that close up.
“You can’t stand up, or run around when we’re up there. Understand? It’s a job where you have to be still. That means you too.” Then he looked at the baby chocobo. “And you. No flying around, got it?” The baby chocobo chirped its agreement.
He took a moment to hug Dajh again. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to hug him so easily. Children grew up so fast. It wouldn’t even be ten years before Dajh was the same age as Hope. Every moment of that time was precious.
Then, once Dajh is an adult, he will tell Vanille and Fang ‘See, he’s become a fine young man. All that stuff that happened in the past, it’s nothing. Who cares that he became a l’Cie when he was just a kid?’ The day will come when they’ll all be able to laugh about everything that has happened. No matter how far away in the future that might be.
“Alright, shall we go?” Sazh looked up at the crystal tower, and saw it shining in the sunlight. The place where two of his friends slept. ‘We’ll meet again one day’, he whispered, and followed the soldier as he lead him away.