"Are you sure you'll be warm enough?"
Tidus thumped his fist against his chest, necklace clinking against his gauntlet. "Hey, I'm always sure!"
---
A very long, cold, and sleepless two hours later, Tidus found himself standing in front of the door to Yuna's room. Did he care that he was laying the last shreds of dignity he had on the line? Hell no. It was colder than he thought it would be, and he knew that she had two beds in her room. Since she would only be sleeping in one of them, it made complete sense that he would ask for one of the blankets off the spare. Neglecting, of course, his machismo chest thumping only a few hours earlier. He reached up and rapped his knuckles against the doorframe, mentally rehearsing what he would say so that he wouldn't sound too much like he was looking forward to seeing what Yuna wore to sleep in. Which I kinda am. What he wasn't looking forward to was the inevitable "I told you so".
She opened the door, light brown hair hanging into her face, long cotton shirt keeping her decently covered. Tidus tried hard not to look disappointed. "Tidus?" Yuna blinked hard, clearing the sleep from her bloodshot green-and-brown eyes. "What are you doing up?"
Oops. Did I forget to ask her? "Hey, uh, Yuna? I was, uh, wondering if, uh, I could borrow one of your blankets? You know, if you don't, uh, need it or anything." Did that sound stupid?
"Yeah," she muttered, apparently still halfway asleep. "I'll get you one." She walked, or rather shuffled, back into her room.
Do I go inside? Would that be okay? He shrugged the invisible men off his shoulders and followed after her, the blue pile carpet a welcome relief to his bare feet. That tile in the hallway was pretty cold. The thrown back covers and slight depressions on a bed in the far corner nudged Tidus' mind and urged him to hurry up so Yuna could get back to sleep.
"Here," she mumbled, extending a thick, folded, dark-blue bundle to him.
"Uh, thanks, Yuna. I'll, uh, see you tomorrow?"
She nodded, messy hair falling back into her face. "Yeah."
Damn, but she was beautiful. Even with all her makeup washed off, her eyes puffy with sleep, her cotton nightshirt wrinkled, and her hair knotted, Yuna still managed to be the most attractive girl Tidus had ever seen. Okay, that's a lie. She's the most attractive girl I've ever met. No, that's still a lie. Okay… She's… Uh… I guess Yuna's just… Yuna. Yeah, that's definitely it.
If that could possibly make any sense.
"Are you… Okay?"
Oops. Was he staring? Did she notice he was staring? Was he still staring? "Uh, yeah. I, uh, was just leaving."
Yuna tilted her head to the side. "Then why are you still standing in the middle of the room?"
Oops, again. Why wasn't he leaving? She obviously needed sleep, so why was he still standing there? "Uh, sorry. I'll, uh, see you tomorrow."
"Tidus," she said, a smile curling the corners of her small mouth upward toward her cheeks.
"Uh, yeah?"
"You're cute when you're half asleep."
Huh? Huh? "Huh?"
She winked at him, pushing him gently toward the door and back onto the cold tile. Yuna leaned forward and her soft, warm lips pressed briefly against Tidus's. Her hair smelled like the little pink bar of floral soap that came free with the rooms.
Whoa. Whoa. "Uh…"
"I'll see you tomorrow," she giggled as her cheeks turned a dark pink. Yuna closed the door, the soft click of the latch sliding back into place and the almost silent squeaks of bedsprings letting Tidus know that, yes, he could leave now. Yeah. The ability to think straight would help that.
Did Yuna just… I mean… She just… We… I… The…
Tidus turned to leave, but the absence of a square, dark blue, fuzzy bundle in his hands froze him to the tile. I left the blanket, didn't I, he realized. Maybe, he thought, smiling, I'll just have to go back in and get it. He reached for the doorknob
From inside the room, he could hear Yuna's muffled giggles.
---
"I'll cheer and cheer, until I can't cheer anymore!"
Tidus nodded, water droplets running off his bleached hair and sending small ripples through the water surrounding them. White petals fell in irregular intervals off the branches of the large tree above them, fluttering down to the pool below, occasionally landing on one of the two lovers. Yuna reached up to remove one from her dripping wet hair.
"When we beat Sin—"
She began to cry, and her small body shook.
"Yuna…" Tidus waded closer and placed his arms around her. Yuna buried her head in his shoulder, mumbling something that Tidus couldn't understand. He held her in front of him and argued briefly with himself about his next action. He pulled Yuna close and pressed his lips to hers.
Yuna didn't pull away.
She closed her eyes.
They fell into the water, fingers interlaced. Tidus ran a hand down her back, pressed her tighter against him. She smiled up at him, and he forgot all about Sin, about Jecht, about the Fayth.
He had her, and for the moment, she was all that Tidus needed.
---
"This… This isn't your Zanarkand, is it."
Tidus shook his head, blinked hard. "No… My Zanarkand was destroyed."
Yuna stepped closer, intertwining her fingers with his. She rested her head on his shoulder, her scent both comforting and saddening at the same time. "You don't really believe that, do you." The ruins of Zanarkand lay just over the next hill, dull gray and blue stone monoliths reaching for the golden sky, the hooks at their precipices extending to snare the thin clouds passing high overhead.
"Gone," Tidus muttered. "An entire city, just… Destroyed."
"Not everything," she whispered, gripping his hand tightly. "You're here."
Rocks in the orange sand crunched underneath Tidus's boots as he turned to face her. His lips brushed her forehead. "Yeah," he breathed, "I am. And that's a promise."
---
The artificial breeze did little to calm or comfort the six figures standing on the exposed walkway. It whistled between them, plucking at their clothes and hair as if to beckon them each to their respective and far-off ends. Tidus knew it would happen, of course. He'd been given more than ample warning. He stepped forward. "I'm… I'm sorry I couldn't show you Zanarkand." The pyreflies began to emanate from his body, his essence drifting into the chill air. "Zanarkand," Tidus repeated, hefting his hooked sword over his shoulder. "I guess… that's where I'm going now."
Five of the six gasped. Tidus averted his eyes; he would not look at the sorrow he caused.
Yuna's voice came out as a sob. "Tidus, I…"
It's your fault, the voice in his head reprimanded him. You allowed her to become close to you. You allowed her to love you.
No.
You knew, and yet you let her cling to you. Those tears are your fault.
He blinked hard to clear the forming tears in his own eyes. "Yuna," he said, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" She asked, hurt springing into her voice.
"This is my fault," Tidus continued, huskily. "I should have told you before. I couldn't."
Tidus felt a stab of guilt as Yuna passed through him and crumpled to the deck. He couldn't keep the tears back anymore. The drops faded away as they fell, disappearing before they splashed to the deck. He ran to her side. He could never hold her again. He could never kiss her again. Couldn't say a word. Pain worse than when he confronted Jecht, worse than when he lost his mother, worse than when he realized Yuna would die, jammed a spike through Tidus' heart. The dream had to end, the voice said again. And it did.
No.
NO!
Yuna stood, staring at the ground. The breeze tugged at her clothes and at her shoulder-length brown hair. Her words came out as a whisper. "I love you."
Tidus felt as though he'd been slapped.
She loved him.
He wrapped his arms around her, though he knew that she couldn't feel it. The pyreflies continued to drift away, carrying more of him away. Tidus released his ethereal embrace and watched as his trailing fingers passed through Yuna's shoulders.
He'd missed his last chance.
He would never be able to say it.
Tidus' feet glided across the floor as he stepped to the edge of the airship and looked down into the golden abyss. As he let himself fall through the nothingness, through the specters of his past floating by, through fading memories of what once was and visions of what could have been, Yuna's sobs echoed in his nonexistent ears.
His own remained inaudible.