June 5th, 2009. I told you it wouldn't take me long to finish this chapter. :D I had most of it finished and I wrote up the last part of it today because I WANTED this one up. I love writing in his POV, it's so much different than Yuna's and much easier for some reason (which is why his chapters are always so much longer). His chapters are rather entertaining to me. Lol. :D Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

X

There were many times in my life when I questioned my sanity, but this was definitely one where I surpassed that and just had to ask myself what the hell I was doing. It took me about two seconds after my mom told me how Yuna and her parents had stopped over before I ran out the door and hopped into my car.

…then I had to run back inside to ask my mom where they were staying so I actually knew where I was going.

It was near midnight and there I was; driving to the condo that Yuna was staying at. I hadn't seen her in five years, and even though they were coming over for dinner the following day, I just couldn't wait. I had to see her that very night or else I was going to go crazy and not be able to sleep at all.

Being sleep deprived and having bags underneath my eyes was not the first impression I wanted her to have after all this time. No, I had to look fairly decent, and I kind of did at the moment. I had to calm down my hair with the palms of my hand and a little gel that I actually had in my car, but I still looked somewhat presentable. I didn't want her family to think that I had turned into a complete slob after they moved away, nor did I want to look as though I was going to a formal dinner. I needed some kind of happy medium and I kind of achieved that.

I put my car into park at the address that my mom had given me… and then I had to stop and ask myself, again, what the hell I was doing? She was going to think that I had completely lost my mind to go see her at midnight when I knew she probably had a curfew. My mother had tried to give me one (even though I did obey the 'courtesy hours') so I was sure that Yuna's mom would do the same thing. The women were practically twins, especially when it came to their discipline and family rules, so I wouldn't have expected anything less.

However, I certainly wasn't going to just go knock at the door without knowing that her parents were up or giving her some kind of fair warning, so I reached into my pocket to grab my phone. I was lucky that I usually kept it in my front pocket or else I would've forgotten it in my mad rush to get over here. That would've been embarrassing… coming all the way here without any way of giving her a heads up that I was insane enough to show up so late.

The phone rang a few times before she answered with, "Tidus?"

She sounded surprised. Goal achieved! She also didn't sound like she was asleep either, so I considered that another win. I turned off my car and took the keys out of the ignition as I said, "so, I hear that you are back in Zanarkand…"

With a chuckle, she said, "oh yeah? How did you hear this?"

"A little bird told me." A smile appeared on my face as I congratulated myself on the cute pun. Okay, maybe it was a little lame, but… oh well.

My eyes darted over to one side of the house when the lights turned on. That must have been her bedroom, so I had the right house. "Ah yes, it seems that one might've escaped from being held captive for five years in a different city. It only makes sense that he would return to his former owner and tattle on said captor."

As I opened my car door, I laughed softly so she couldn't hear my car making any kind of noise. I needed to be stealthy on this one. "I looked for Carter for weeks before I just gave up and thought that I lost him. To be honest, if it wasn't for your note, I really would've thought that my mom found him somewhere in some closet buried under a bunch of stuff while she was on a mad cleaning spree for three days. Now that I know that you took him, everything just kind of fell into place."

"You're not angry that I stole him, are you?"

"No, not at all." I wasn't, truly. I just wish I could've been home when she returned him. "You're basically the only one I would trust with Carter, so no worries."

"I'll take that as a compliment." My lips turned into a small smile and I slowly made my way over to her bedroom window. I needed to be positive that it was her room. "I made sure that he was taken care of and always had a front row seat on my bed. He was never thrown in a closet or anything!"

"You took better care of him than I would've, I'm sure." I winced as I stepped on a small stick. Oooh. I hope she didn't hear it snap. "I know it's kind of late, I'm sorry for calling, but I just wanted to say 'hi' and I'm sorry that I wasn't home when you came over for a bit."

"I figured you were watching the blitz game. Bevelle was playing, after all." I suppose some things hadn't changed. She still knew me entirely too well for my own good and knew I would never miss a Bevelle game. "And it's not that late, my parents are still awake. I bet my mom just got a little excited once she started to open up all the boxes and stuff."

"Oh, really?" I had made it to her window and I tried to look in without her noticing me and thinking that I was some creeper or stalker. I didn't want her to scream, but at least I wouldn't have to worry about waking her parents up since they were still awake. "She's probably just excited to be back here again."

Crouching down, I went under the window sill and slowly peered in. It was Yuna, all right. I was looking at her back, but there was no mistake that my best friend was standing less than ten feet away from me and I bit my lower lip as I smiled. "You should've seen her and your mom when they saw each other earlier. It almost brought tears to my eyes, actually..."

I ducked once again when I saw that she was starting to turn back around (was she pacing?), and turned so I could rest the back of my head against the brick under the window. "I really wish I would've known that you were going to stop over," I said quietly, looking up so I could see the bottom of the window sill. "I probably would've rearranged the blitz party to be over my place instead of over at Wakka's."

She paused for a second, and I couldn't tell if it was because of disbelief or of shock. It wasn't a lie, I really would've tried my best to nonchalantly rearrange the entire night so she could've been there. Or something along those lines. "Really? I wouldn't have wanted to impose..."

"No, it would've been fine." I sounded confident with that response… so that was a plus. It would've been an awkward situation to try to work around the plans without seeming too desperate to see her again with all my friends. I guess it didn't matter in the long run as long as I was able to see her. Besides, she had been friends with them all too when she lived here.

"Ha, well... At least we will be able to see each other tomorrow. I hear your mom is going to be making us dinner, if you didn't know already."

I scoffed and started to make my way to the front door. Enough small talk. It wasn't that warm outside at night and the side of the house was rather chilly. "Oh, my mom already let me know and you can guarantee that she has a huge meal planned for you all. All your favorite dishes to go with your favorite desserts and stuff. You know my mom almost as well as I do."

"True." If she wouldn't have agreed, I would've argued with her.

"So, ah," I trailed off and found myself at her front door. Why was this so awkward?

I didn't know what else to say without bluntly saying that there wasn't much separating the two of us anymore, so I just kind of tapped my foot and lifted my hand to touch the doorbell. I didn't ring it, but I just let my finger rest upon it so I would gain the courage to do this. Okay, maybe it wasn't awkward… maybe I was just nervous.

She sensed my hesitation, so she let out a, "hmm?"

Crap. I felt cornered and I needed to do something. "It's a nice night outside." Nice, Tidus. Very nice and very lame.

"Yes, it is. It's warmer here than Bevelle."

Okay, Tidus, do it! "Mmhmm~" I moved my hand from the doorbell to the door and actually knocked a few times.

"No way..."

I was so happy that she heard the knock. I didn't think it was loud enough for even dogs to hear.

"Yes way," I said, knocking a little bit louder this time. "You wanna let me in or do you want me to…" I heard a click, so I looked at my phone and said out loud, "she definitely just hung up on me. Thanks, Yuna…"

The door opened and I jumped and nearly dropped my phone. It was Yuna's mom and she definitely let out the highest pitched squeal I had ever heard in my life. At least I felt welcomed! "Tidus!"

"Hi, Mo—" I wasn't able to finish the word before she grabbed me into a hug, trapping both of my arms awkwardly in the air. Swaying with me back and forth, I had to laugh. The woman hadn't changed a bit. Seeing Yuna's dad a few feet away, I tried to wave, but it didn't work out so well with the way my arms were, so he bridged the gap and shook my hand.

I always did love Yuna's parents. Even though Yuna's mom was so much like my own mother, her father was amazing. Maybe I was just used to my own amazing father that made me want to have a dad like Yuna's… he was so successful and hardworking. Hell, he was doing something with his life instead of sitting on the couch and drinking the afternoons away before practice at night… then more drinking.

My thought was interrupted as I looked over to my left to see Yuna standing there, staring at me. Where was her phone? It was then when I wished I had the ability to read minds for the look on her face didn't give anything away. She was standing there in complete… shock? Surprise? Disappointment? Maybe my hair needed to be fixed a little more? I sure hope her mom couldn't feel my heart pounding out of my chest the second I saw her. Talking would make it seem a little less obvious, right?

"You know, mom," I said, nearly letting out a sigh of relief when I was released. Not only could I keep my racing heart to myself, but I could breathe again. I was only able to look at Yuna's mom for a second before my attention went back to Yuna. Wow… she… did change quite a bit. Enough staring… "You might want to teach your daughter some manners. I don't know what they teach over in Bevelle, but I do believe it is rather rude to hang up on your best friend after speaking for only a few minutes."

Her mom turned away from me to look at her daughter. "That's not nice, Yuna..." She seemed to have a sense of joking in her tone, which was good. I think that Yuna was just so surprised and that was why she did hang up with me. Or that was what I was trying to convince myself because what if she didn't want to see me and here I was standing like an idiot in the foyer? There was going to be a bout of awkwardness soon if that was the case.

"I didn't mean to hang up on him, I was just so... surprised." She took a few steps closer, like she was approaching a wild animal or something. Surprised was good… being frightened was not. I started to lose my nerve once she stopped walking.

Therefore, I looked to her mom and said, "I know it's kind of late, but do you mind if I steal her for a little bit? I promise to have her back soon."

She turned to Yuna and gave her a gentle smile, probably to calm her down a little. "I'm sure that Braska and I are going to be up rather late getting settled in. I originally wanted to wait to unpack tomorrow, but now that everything is here and I'm looking around the place, I want to do a lot of it now. So... I really don't mind."

This was when I wanted Yuna to say something, not just continue to stand there with her eyes wide. I had thought of a lot of scenarios in my head on the way over… this wasn't one of them. I waved at her for a second as a greeting of sorts, as well as a way of telling her that she could walk closer and I wasn't going to bite her. I only did that once when we were four. "Of course, only if Yuna is willing to be stolen."

Finally, she broke out of whatever trance she was in and nodded her head. A good response. This was good. "Oh yes, definitely."

"All right, let's go then." I pointed out the still open door to where my car was sitting in the driveway.

She looked at her mom as she walked out the door and said softly, "Thanks, mom."

I waved back to her mom before she shut the door and I walked next to Yuna and opened the car door for her. She looked impressed and thanked me before sitting down. Of course I was going to open the car door for her; she was one of my closest friends. It was something I still didn't do for Lenne, but I didn't want her getting the wrong idea. She wasn't my girlfriend and never would be worthy of the girlfriend status. Opening the door for Yuna was different though. At least I tried to convince myself of that.

I cleared my throat as I got into the car, then sat back in my seat and tilted my head over to her. She had a smile on her face as she looked at me, and I was happy that it was dark outside because I think I was blushing. How embarrassing. "Hi."

Okay, she blushed too. We were even. "Hi." She looked down at her hands that were in her lap and I started up my car. "This is a surprise."

"Yep, that was the purpose," I stated, pulling my car out of the driveway and onto the street. I had hardly gotten over the fact that I was driving to her house, so processing that she was in my car next to me was still going to need some time. By the time it would hit me, I would have her home already. I did tell her parents that I wouldn't keep her out late, but I wanted at least an hour with her. There was so much to catch up on and I know that we wouldn't be able to cover it all in an hour, but it would be a good start. "I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" She asked, turning her head up to look at me again.

I shrugged. "For getting you out of bed." In her shorts and tee shirt, it looked as though she was going to sleep in them. Not to mention that her light was off when I first got there, so she must've been sleeping. Or attempting to sleep. Being in a new bed in a new place was never easy and I know how hard it was for her to get a good night's sleep when she moved to Bevelle. I wonder if her parents ever knew that we had stayed up so late so many nights just so we both would be able to sleep…

"Oh, don't worry about it," she stated, pulling her shorts down a little bit. "I wasn't really sleeping. I had just finished showering after helping my parents unpack the moving truck so I had a while to go before I actually allowed myself to sleep."

There was a moment of silence. Oh how I hated silences, but I just didn't know what to say.

Thankfully, she continued. "So, ah, where are we going?"

"No clue," I responded, taking a right hand turn onto the main drag. "There's a lot to do on a Saturday night in Zanarkand, but unfortunately, we're too young to do most of them and I promised that I wouldn't keep you out too late." I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter with my right hand and dangled my left out of the window. "Just… when I saw that you had stopped over and I wasn't there? I needed to make it up to you."

"Your mom told me call you after she did," she stated, putting her hair up in a ponytail with the hair thing around her wrist. I glanced over at her in question. Why didn't she call me then!? "I just figured you didn't want me to interrupt your blitz game."

Why was this a concept that she understood, but Lenne could not? I chuckled and shook my head. "It's different when it's you, Yuna. You knew I was waiting for you to arrive in Zanarkand, so you could've called me the second you breeched the city borders and it wouldn't have mattered what I was doing."

…that seemed really desperate and almost pathetic, but she did smile over it.

"Oh," she replied softly, the corners of her lips turning up into a smile as she looked back down at her hands in her lap again. Her hair was up or else she would've tucked her hair behind her ears like she did when she was nervous, I was sure of it.

The best part about Zanarkand was that you were never far away from any beach, no matter where you were in the city, so I figured that would be the safest place to talk and allow her to have a taste of the city that she used to call home once again. Pulling into a parking lot, I looked at her and asked, "a late night walk on the beach, okay?"

She nodded. "This is something we always talked about doing but we were too young to do so."

"How could I forget that?" I asked, not allowing her to figure out that I almost did forget that. "We really were good kids, you know. We could've climbed out of our windows and snuck out after our parents sent us to bed at 9:30."

"How?" She giggled as we both got out of the car. "Our rooms were both on the second floor and there weren't any trees to climb down or anything. Sneaking out would've meant that we broke all of our limbs in the process."

I shrugged and we started to make our way toward the beach. "Nah. At least out of my room, you can grab the gutters, climb down the roof, and jump down. It hurts your feet when you land, but it's completely possible. I've, ah, done that once or twice." She gave me a rather disappointed look and I swear I saw her mother scolding me in said look. "What?"

"Not sure why that surprised me, that's all," she replied, turning her head forward again to look at the shore.

"I said 'once or twice,' not a million times." I wasn't sure why I felt the need to explain myself, but at least I smiled while I did it. "Sneaking out usually involved playing a late night game of blitz, so it didn't mean I was going to the club or getting completely wasted or anything. Not much has changed since you went to Bevelle."

I expected some kind of a reply, but instead she just nodded and sat on one of the picnic benches by the water. I never really thought about it before, but I wasn't sure how those benches weren't pushed into the water. It sounded like something I would do.

Sitting next to her, I waited to see if she would say anything. She didn't. It just seemed as though she was absorbing the scenery and the salt in the air; something she most definitely didn't have in Bevelle. There was water, but not like this. Nothing was like Zanarkand and I was very proud to call it my hometown.

"So," I started, leaning forward to rest my elbows against my legs. "What's it like to be back?"

Letting out a slow breathy laugh, she opened her mouth, and then shut it again. She slowly turned her head to me and said, "It feels unreal. I feel like I just… left everything behind when my parents told me we were moving to Bevelle and now? I feel like I left everything from Bevelle to come here."

It was an odd answer and something didn't make sense. "I understand the first part, but you're going to… go back to Bevelle, aren't you?" Part of me didn't want her to say that she was. I felt selfish.

"Well, yeah." She responded too quickly for my taste and I think my face fell a little. "But I feel a little guilty."

Wait, what? "How so?"

She exhaled through her nose and leaned back against the table. "I've been back in Zanarkand only a few hours and at first the only thing I could think about was how badly I wanted to go back. Kind of like how when I went to Bevelle, Zanarkand was the only thing I thought of every minute of every day. You know this because we used to talk about it all the time."

I could tell there was more to that, so I helped her out, "but…?"

"But now?" She trailed off, taking off her sandals and digging her feet in the sand. This intrigued me quite a bit and for some reason I felt a sense of winning. I don't know what I was winning, but it was the same feeling I get when I know that there is only thirty seconds left in blitz and we're up by two points. "Being here on the beach where it's about 80 degrees at midnight, listening to the waves, being with you again? I don't want to go back so badly anymore and I feel guilty for those thoughts."

Before I could stop my thoughts from coming out, I said out loud, "maybe it's because Zanarkand is your true home."

I bit the inside of my lip the second I heard the words come out. Not what I wanted to say. Or rather, it's what I wanted to say, but my brain didn't filter the sentence and it came out anyway.

However, instead of disagreeing with me and walking away like I thought she was going to, she continued to look at the waves, smiled, and in almost a whisper, she said, "maybe you're right."

I most definitely did not expect that answer. I chuckled softly and said, "heh, maybe I am."