.-°-..-°-. Last Night .-°-..-°-.

Chapter 1

Flying to Zanarkand

Well, the clock says it's time to close now
I guess I'd better go now, I know I have to go now
I really want to stay here all night
All night
All night

(The Doors)

"And, finally, that's Zanarkand" Rikku said, her voice pretentiously solemn, waving one hand graciously to emphasise the breathtaking view in front of them, still not leaving the Celsius' controls with the other.

And, actually, on the horizon, Zanarkand ruins were standing out.

So, there they were.

God, what a long day.

And this was their last stop.

"It's gorgeous!" Tidus shouted with his usual enthusiasm, jumping beside her in the pilot seat "Rikku, higher!"

The sky of Zanarkand near Mt. Gagazet was always so sick full of stars, thick at the point it didn't even seem night. It was neither blue, nor black. Grey, probably, or maybe even green...? There was something in it which possessed you completely, both body and mind, but this night...

This night even the sky wasn't enough to cheer Rikku up. Her eyes were delighted, but her mind remained completely untouched by it, though the airship was really flying high, and the stars seemed to be inches-away from them.

"Ehy Rikku!" Tidus began tapping on her shoulder "Let me drive the Celsius. You promised you would let me when we were in Luca! You just have to."

Rikku rolled her eyes laughing
"I never said something like that... " she lied.

Tidus jumped up, grinning significantly.
"You liar! You're trying to fool me, aren't you...?" he began to pull some locks of her hair.

"Aaaaw. Ok, ok..." she gave in, while Tidus was shaking her shoulder "But only because you're so annoying - and childish."

"Great!"

"... and because this, if God blesses me, will make you shut up... So, are you ready..? GO!" Rikku suddenly removed both her hands from the controls, jumping easily away from the pilot seat.

"Whoa!" Tidus tried to catch the controls somehow, already worried about the terrible air-pocket the Celsius had to face immediately after Rikku had left her seat. "What the heck are you trying to do, kill us both? Rikku...? Help! Come back here! Ehy I need your assistance!"

She just laughed. Surely Tidus was funny.

"And why's that? You're doing a great job! Keep it up!"

"Rikku...! What.."

"I'm sure you can make it to Zanarkand! Good luck! I will help you with the landing, eventually..."

"You're kiddin' me, right..? Where are you going?"

"I've to check the engine room, ya know... "

"Rik...

Too late. The airtight door closed behind Rikku's shoulders, as she was leaving the bridge, and Tidus voice disappeared completely.

In that moment, all turned different.

Immediately a heavy distress dropped on her, finding her quite unprepared.

When she could see him, this never happened...
When she could speak with him, laugh with him, she felt she was alive...

But when she was alone, this feeling totally overwhelmed her.

There had been only a single thought in her mind, all this hell long day. Or was it a short day..?

She and Tidus had been traveling all around Spira.

They had swum in the sea of Besaid, met the Hypellos at the Moonflow, played Blitzball in the Luca stadium. They had travelled with the shoopof, with the hoover bikes, and of course with chocobos. They had visited LeBlanc, Ormi and Logos, Oaka XIII, Maechan - who took the chance and told them the longest story ever. And, finally, just a few hours ago, they had been thrown out a famous local in Bevelle for drinking too much and becoming a little too noisy.

She, and Tidus.

Thinking about this day, she couldn't but smile, no matter how sad the situation was.

She walked through the corridor, trying to stay between the two green-neon stripes on the metallic pavement, wanting to concentrate only on the echo of her steps.

All this was sick.

But now she couldn't hope against hope anymore.
She couldn't keep up believing this was just one day like any other day.
Even the conversations, the jokes between her and Tidus... They just didn't look the same.

She had given out all of herself in this day, to make every minute funny. And thank God it had been perfect. In that moment, she had actually forgotten whether it had been her or Tidus planning that day. They had always had such a symbiotic relationship.

The lift brought her to the deck. As soon as the bulkhead opened, a violent gust of wind invested her.

She loved this sensation so much.
She just didn't care about the cold wind messing her hair under her headband, or making her lips go paler.
Her eyes were lost in the sea of the star.

It was late night.
Turning to midnight, to be precise.

This was...this was like her last night.

She had always been the obstinate type, always hoping that tomorrow could be better. Should be better. But now, she was being spoiled from this option too.

No tomorrow anymore.

She leaned on the gullwing, symbol of the Celsius, not to lose her balance.

Tomorrow.

How many times had she come here, screaming as if she was mad, until her voice refused to come out anymore? Unheard screams, which dissolved into the infinity of the sky.
How many times had she punched hard that metallic-deck until her knuckles were bleeding?

Since that day. Or maybe, since long before.
And, of course, it all was so sick useless. Always.

Always, every mission she took on with Brother or whomever, strolling around Spira with the airship, she had liked to come over here, on the deck - no matter if it was raining or snowing - having a certain fun just caressing the idea of jumping down. Soaring into the void. And making absurd hypothesis.

And what would my friends do, if I die?
Would they be sad..?
What would Yuna do? Would she send me..?

And...what about him..? Would he be sad..?

Telling the truth, she had actually asked him, one time.

It was nothing more than a stupid conversation they were having. It couldn't have been more useless. At least, until she said it, with such an ironic and light tone that made it sound even more scary.

"Hey. And what would you do, if I died..?" she pulled his shirt lightly, still smiling.

Tidus face changed suddenly. She herself barely wanted to provoke such a reaction. She rather thought he was going to burst into laughter.

But it didn't happen, and she was already surprised because of this. All the joy and the stupidity of the conversation had just flown away.

Tidus put his hand behind her neck, as if to be sure Rikku was still there.

"I would die with you." was his answer.

Then, he burst out into laughter. Just then. To send the tension away, most likely. Leaving her completely astonished.

She remembered this as if it was yesterday. Because she couldn't forget, although now both the hypothesis seemed ridiculously far, the way Tidus had said what he had said, making her feel like it was pure truth.

That if she had died, he would have died with her.

But all, all of these illusions, all of these fabulas, they had turned into poison for her own blood, hurting harder and harder every day.

This night more than ever.

Because tomorrow...

Tomorrow all of her illusion would be exterminated by the reality.

Tomorrow Tidus will marry Yuna.

AN

Please! If you read this, let me hear you! I need to know there are still Tikku fans out there...! By the way, excuse me for the terrible English..

09.2015
I really don't want to take this story down, I'm such a nostalgic. But I took a look at it and I was horrified by the formatting and the typos, so I'm re-uploading it again with minor editing, merely to make it readable, after seeing that someone is still clicking on it. The content will be left unotouched even if some parts of it make me cring. Also I'm leaving my old ANs, that too for nostalgia's sake. To the new readers, the story is 5 ch long and complete, I will try to do the editing regularly, so do not expect hiatus or an unfinished story :)

Swamp-Eyes