A/N: All right, new chapter! I feel the creative juices flowing in my brain. It's really nice even if it sounds disgusting. Obviously, this chapter is going to have a couple additional chapters to it. I'd feel sad if I just left it at this.


How to Eat a Paopu Fruit

Spring Fling Dates


Rikku excitedly snatched the flier from the wall. She squealed as she read it out loud, "The spring fling dance is next Saturday!" Yuna covered her ears as Rikku began to cheer and jump around in the hallway. She couldn't contain her excitement. This year she was going to be Terra's date. There was no doubt about it. Every other year some girl had always asked Terra first and since he didn't care, he always said yes. This year she was going to be that girl he carelessly went to the dance with, wait that didn't come out right.

Yuna smirked. "Gonna ask my brother, eh?" Yuna chuckled as she uncovered her ears. She placed a hand on Rikku's shoulder. "I have to warn you, though you probably already know this. Girls always ask Terra within the first day. You better find him," Yuna warned, "Report back to me after you ask him."

Rikku gave Yuna a playful salute. She turned to walk away, but then she turned back. "Is Tidus back yet?" she suddenly asked.

The brunette sighed and shook her head. "I got a letter from him this morning. Turns out he's going to be gone another week," she replied with a slight frown.

"It's okay, Yunie. He'll be okay. And besides, he'll probably be back before the dance so you can totally ask him!" she exclaimed excitedly, "Maybe we could double date! Ooh, that'd be so exciting!" Rikku continued chattering on about what an exciting evening they could have as Yuna looked past her. She spotted Terra and Aqua talking by the lockers.

"Rikku," she cautiously stated as she pointed their direction. Rikku turned around and watched the scene in horror.

Terra nodded and gave Aqua a slight smile. Aqua continued speaking; she looked as though she was making some kind of bargain with Terra. He nodded again and tapped his chin. They both laughed and Aqua waved goodbye. She walked away. "Ah!" Rikku shrieked. She hurried over to Terra and pushed him against the lockers.

"What the!" Terra exclaimed before he pushed her off of him, "What is the matter with you?"

"What were you talking with Aqua about?" Rikku desperately asked. Her eyes were so big they practically took over her forehead as she stared at him with a level of desperation not known to man before now. There were practically tears in her eyes.

Terra fixed his clothes. "She was just asking about the dance," Terra explained nonchalantly, "We decided to go together." The words felt like a knife to the heart for Rikku. She fell to the ground and began to whimper in defeat.

Yuna frowned at her brother. "How could you, Terra?" she said distastefully, "You know Ven probably wanted to ask Aqua to the dance. He's going to be crushed when he finds out about this."

Terra shrugged. "I wasn't thinking. She practically begged me…she only asked to get Zack Fair off of her case. We're just going to go to the dance and have a nice time. It means nothing," he explained, "I figured I could do her a favor. Besides, if she went with Ven it wouldn't have worked."

She sighed. "Fine, still. He's not going to take it well," she muttered.

"Who's not gonna take what well?" Ven asked.

Yuna jumped and stumbled away from Ven who was standing behind her. She put her hand on her heart as she breathed deeply. "Geez, Ven! Warn someone next time!" she exclaimed. Ven tilted his head in confusion. "Anyway…might as well just get this over with. Ven, Terra and Aqua are going to the spring fling together. You can join Rikku on the floor now, but I'm going to head to class," she explained quickly before she fled the scene.

Ven frowned. "I was going to ask her," he murmured morosely. He sunk to the floor and held his head in his hands. "I was going to ask her," he continued to repeat as he began to sink into his depression.

Terra looked at the two. Rikku was curled into a ball with tears in her eyes and Ven practically had a storm cloud over his head. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh…this is too much for me. I'll see you guys around," he muttered awkwardly before he walked away.


Eventually the school day ended. Ven closed the door to his locker and nearly screamed at the sight of Rikku behind it. "W-Wha?" he exclaimed as he stumbled backward.

Rikku smiled and waved to him. "I have a proposition for you. What do you say we go to the dance together? We can make Aqua and Terra UBER jealous!" Rikku exclaimed with a strange excitement. It wasn't her usual upbeat perkiness. No, this time she was out for revenge. "What do you say?" Rikku urged with a playful grin.

"I-I don't know…how is that going to make Aqua and Terra jealous?" Ven asked with a small frown. He knew Aqua liked Terra so she probably wouldn't even notice him with Rikku.

"Well, I'm going to make Terra jealous by dancing with you. He may not like me…but I know for a fact he liked dancing with me. As for Aqua, you wrote her that sweet, romantic poem for Valentine's Day. Maybe something like that could work for you?" Rikku suggested as the evil wheels turned in her head.

Ven shrugged. He knew he had nothing to lose. Besides, if he didn't go with Rikku he was sure no one else was going to want to ask him. "Well, all right. We can give this a shot," Ven agreed.

Rikku squealed, "I can't wait!" She cleared her throat and stuck out her hand. "Shake it and the deal is sealed," she politely ordered. Ven took her hand and gave it a good shake. Rikku grinned excitedly. "Now, you have to ask me out in front of them, okay? Make it look real!" she said with a gleam in her eyes. She quickly grabbed Ven's arm and began to drag him down the hallway.

She spotted Aqua and Terra casually talking. She shoved Ven in front of her and forced him down on one knee. "Ven!" she exclaimed with fake surprise.

Ven cleared his throat and looked at Rikku. Luckily, he'd taken a theatre class his freshman year. He was prepared for this. He saw Aqua and Terra looking at them out the corner of his eye. "I know you really like Terra, but I thought maybe you might want to go to the dance with me. I'm no Terra, but I'm fun and interesting. I'll make sure you have the time of your life. So, would you please consider it?" Ven asked with a pleading look.

'Wow he's good,' Rikku thought as she stared down into his blue eyes. She smiled. "Well…I guess we could give it a try," she agreed. Ven stood up and smiled at her.

"Let me walk you home," he suggested politely.

How Rikku wished Terra would say those words to her. "Okay," she chirped as they began to walk down the hall.

"That was weird," Aqua commented as she watched them disappear around the corner. She raised an eyebrow. She couldn't help but think something was off.

Terra shrugged. "I don't really care. I mean, they can go together if they want," he replied with crossed arms.

Aqua forced a smile. "You sure you wouldn't rather go with Rikku? I saw the way you danced at the party and –."

Terra cut her off. "I don't like Rikku like that. She's a nice girl, but she's not my type. Besides, you asked me first. I'd never run out on you like that," he answered sincerely, "We've been friends for years. I owe it to you to be loyal."

"You owe it to me?" Aqua questioned, "You don't owe me anything. It was just a favor…that was all."

He smirked at her. "Chill, Aqua. I was just joking. Come on, let me walk you home. We can talk more about this dance. I know how you girls like to color coordinate," he laughed as he put his arm around her shoulder. Aqua hid her blush.


"Bye!" Yuna called as she walked out of the gym where her dance class was held after school. She rolled her shoulders and then slung her gym bag over her shoulder. She sighed contently as she walked down the empty halls. She could see that the sun was beginning to set outside of the windows. This was the way she liked it. She stretched her arms and headed toward her locker. She pulled out her backpack and put it on her back.

"Time to go home," she thought out loud as she headed toward the doors. She pushed through them and looked in front of her. She was surprised to see someone standing off in the distance. She could hardly make out their appearance; the sun made their whole body look like a shadow.

Out of curiosity, she walked further toward the figure and smiled widely when she realized who it was. "Tidus!" she cried excitedly. She dropped her gym bag on the ground and ran to him. She landed perfectly in his arms. She felt like kissing him and hugging him, but instead she quickly removed herself and nervously played with her hair. "I-uh…I thought you weren't coming back for another week," she quickly said.

Tidus smiled at her. "Turns out, I played a little trick on you," he chuckled, "I wanted to surprise you by showing up for your lunch hour but the gummi ship was delayed. So, here I am. Oh, and I got these for you." Tidus pulled out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. They were Yuna's favorite, purple irises.

She gratefully took the bouquet from him and smiled. "They're beautiful," she awed as she stared at her gift. Yuna wished she had something to give him in return, but she had nothing but a gym bag of sweaty clothing and a backpack full of unfinished homework. She walked back to where she dropped her gym bag and slung it back on her shoulder.

"Can I walk you home?" Tidus offered.

"Sure," Yuna replied hiding her joy. She couldn't believe this. She was so excited and happy all at the same time. She almost felt like jumping for joy like Rikku. "So, how was your trip?" she asked him as she tried to hide her smile.

"Ah, same old, same old," Tidus replied, "We won, of course." He grinned. "Want me to hold one of those bags?" he offered. Yuna happily handed him her gym bag. She always had to struggle walking home from dance club with the two bags; it was nice to have someone to hold one.

"I'm glad you came back victorious," she replied happily, "So, will you have to leave any time soon?" Tidus shook his head. This made Yuna happy. Perhaps she could take him to the spring fling after all. She stole a glance at him. The only problem was she didn't know how to ask him without sounding like a goofy, teenage girl.

Tidus sighed as the farm came into view. "So, have any plans for the weekend?" Tidus asked, "I believe you owe me a date."

Yuna blushed. "Yeah…that was the agreement," she replied shyly, "How does this Saturday sound?"

"Sounds great," Tidus replied with another one of his beautiful smiles. Yuna felt weak at the knees just from the sight of it. "Your parents are okay with this, right?" Tidus suddenly asked.

Yuna froze. She hadn't even asked her parents if she was allowed to go on a date with an older man. Even though they'd known Tidus for years, they had never been keen on letting her date boys older than her. She just knew Tidus was not going to be an exception. "Of course!" Yuna lied, "They're totally fine with it!"

Tidus grinned. "Well, all right. I'm kind of surprised to be honest," he admitted, "Guess your folks are full of surprises." They approached the front door of the Strife home. Yuna was almost sad to see it. "Well, I'll see you Saturday, Yuna," he began. She nodded; she didn't know why but she felt incredibly nervous. The look in Tidus's eyes made her feel uneasy, but in a good way.

"Tidus, why are you looking at me that way?" Yuna nervously asked. He put a hand on her shoulder and she felt herself freeze. He smiled and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"See ya," he said with a wave before he began to walk away. Yuna nearly fainted at the spot.