Chapter 9
Reunion
Tyri adjusted Arias's tie just right and smoothed down a stray strand of his black hair. It was a big night for them; they were going to see Carson and Arsith about a 'special surprise' at the Sakura Diner. Carson had told them to dress nicely, and had told them to bring friends if they wanted, but Vivi had insisted that Tyri and Arias should go on their own since it was a special night with their family. Tyri reluctantly agreed, but only if Vivi would help her prepare.
Now, Tyri was desperately trying to brush down the pesky stray hair on her brother's head. "Gosh Arias! For a 9 year old, you have some really annoying hair!" she growled, furiously attempting to smooth down Arias's hair.
"Here Tyri, let me help. You need to get dressed and ready to go as well," Vivi said, smiling at her friend.
Tyri sighed and looked at her grass and dirt stained outfit with distaste. "You're right I guess. After training with Pell outside Erumalu, I'm filthy!"
"It's okay sis! At least you get to hang out with Mr. Pell again!" Arias claimed happily as Vivi successfully brushed down his hair. "I'm glad you two are back together!"
"Arias, we're not exactly dating or anything," Tyri said, color rising to her dirt stained face.
"Not yet," Vivi said slyly, grinning at Tyri. "Don't act like Arias and I don't already know you two have already cleared first base! All we have to do is get you two alone in a room and-"
"Second base, Third base, and Home Run!" Arias cheered.
"NO! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Tyri shrieked, her face red and hot with utter embarrassment. "Why are we even talking about this in front of a little kid?!"
"Tyri, I've seen the exact same things you've seen on Carnassier's ship, and they were pretty nasty," Arias said, a sympathetic expression on his face. "I'm just as mature as you and Vivi are!"
"Whatever," Tyri groaned as she picked out an outfit from the closet and going into the shower.
Tyri had told Vivi and Arias about what had happened a few days ago with Pell, and now they brought it up whenever they could. Now the twosome watched as Tyri closed the door to the bathroom and waited until the sound of water pattering against the bathtub floor was heard, then burst out laughing.
"Did you see the look on her face?" Arias giggled as he high-fived Vivi.
"Yes of course!" Vivi replied, trying to control the laughter building up inside her. "And you'll never believe what's going to happen in a few hours!"
"What?"
"Pell's going to properly ask Tyri out on a date!"
"Really? Wow! They're gonna be great together!"
"I know they will be, and who knows? Maybe Sakura Kingdom and Alabasta can unite as one kingdom if they ever get married!"
"That would be so cool!"
"What's so cool?"
Tyri lightly pushed the door open and slipped through. She was wearing a black, short, slouchy sweaterdress with a miniature black belt around the middle of her stomach. On her feet were black, almond toed, wedge boots.
She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger nervously. "Well?"
"We were just talking about… how cool it is that you guys found your brother in Alabasta, Tyri," Vivi lied, grinning at Arias, and then tried to change the subject. "You look nice!"
Tyri raised her eyebrows, unimpressed by Vivi's statement. "You certainly are the worst at telling lies my friend," she chuckled, taking Arias's hand. "We're heading out, so be careful, okay?"
"Aren't I always Tyri?"
"From what I've seen, yes. I'll see you later."
"Bye. Tell me how it goes!"
Tyri nodded and walked out the door, Arias flashed a happy glance at Vivi, who gave him thumbs up with one hand, and revealed a mini transponder snail in the other, mouthing the words 'you know who' to him.
"What took you guys so long? We've been waiting for ages!" Carson demanded, flicking Tyri lightly in the ear, then giving both his siblings a warm hug.
"Sorry, I had a bit of trouble picking out an outfit and taking care of Arias," Tyri replied, hugging her older brother back. "Hope we're not too late for your oh so special surprise."
Carson chuckled and covered Tyri's eyes and began to lead her to the lounge. "Follow me, my sassy sibling."
Tyri walked uneasily toward the scent of the lounge, Arias close behind, until the smell of coffee and leather chairs filled her nose. Four other strangely familiar scents were in the room, and when Carson uncovered her eyes, she let out an excited cry of happiness.
Four familiar people were standing there, smiling and obviously happy to see Tyri. A tall man that had terrible scars on half of his face and spiky steel gray hair stood there, his arms open wide to Tyri.
"Arsith! You brought… them!" Tyri squeaked, throwing herself into Arsith's arms. "You're the best Arsith!"
Arsith cleared his throat, evidently embarrassed. "Thank you, Tyri… It wasn't too difficult to find them."
"I don't care! This is great!" Tyri purred, changing her attention to the other three people. "Ixoran, Lori, and… Wayne… You're all here!"
Standing before Tyri were a girl and two young men, all about Tyri's age. The girl was shorter than Tyri, with gold hair with red streaks, a cream white face, and unusual red eyes. One of the young men was a little taller than Tyri, with shaggy red hair, a pale white face, and light green eyes. They both smiled at Tyri, and warmly embraced her.
"Tyri! It's so great to see you again! We all thought you were dead!" said the girl.
Tyri purred warmly. "Lori, I'm fine! You should have known I would be!"
"We couldn't help it, mate! You just suddenly disappeared, and no one had any idea where you were!" the young man with the red hair said.
"Ixoran, you know you weren't worried at all!" Lori said grinning dotingly at the man.
Ixoran chuckled lightly and both he and Lori gave Tyri a tag-team noogie, laughing as they did. "I guess you're right only one guy was really worried about her!" Ixoran said teasingly, and he pushed Tyri playfully into the arms of the other young man standing next to Arsith.
The man had a light brown face, black hair hanging in his face, and sharp blue eyes. He smiled at Tyri, color slowly rising to his cheeks. "I'm sorry I never found you, and I'm sorry I ever let you out of my sight," he whispered gently, pulling Tyri up against him.
Tyri blushed and tried to pull herself away. "I'm fine Wayne, there wasn't any reason to be worried," she murmured.
As Tyri nearly freed herself from Wayne's warm arms, he pulled her closer, and buried his face in her hair, and Tyri's face burned with embarrassment. Wayne ran his hands down Tyri's waist, and she yelped as he nipped her ear. "Wayne… don't," Tyri whimpered.
Tyri was relieved as she felt herself being pulled away by the comforting arms of both Arias and Carson. "You two can't do this now," Carson said indignantly, scowling at Wayne. "Tyri came to catch up with everyone and to talk, not to make out with you."
Wayne glowered at Carson, and he stuck out his tongue. "Whatever," he snorted, and flopped down on a comfy looking couch.
Tyri took a seat next to him, and she was joined by Arias, who snuggled against her, Ixoran, and Lori. Arsith and Carson took seats across from them, and they began to talk.
"So… How have you guys been? How did you guys get here?" Tyri asked, leaning against the couch easily.
"We've been fine Tyri!" Lori replied, grinning at her friend. "Hasn't anyone told you that Ixoran, Wayne, and I have been on tour for a couple of weeks now and our band has become really famous? This is our last stop, and we go home!"
"Well I've been on a pirate ship for a couple of years. Five to be precise… I don't think pirates would have allowed me to go see any of your concerts," Tyri joked.
"I almost forgot about that, sorry…" Lori said sheepishly, twisting a strand of her hair around her finger. "But we are famous now, and guess what? Arsith is now the head of security! Isn't that great?"
"Really Arsith? That's amazing!" Tyri exclaimed, but then her eyes widened in confusion and fear. "Wait… then what happened to daddy? Is he… gone?"
"No, of course not!" Ixoran said nudging Tyri playfully. "He's very much alive, and he's now the- OOF!"
Lori had elbowed Ixoran sharply in the stomach, and Wayne shot him an angered look. Ixoran rubbed his stomach tenderly, chuckling. "Yep, you're dad's been doing fine, the same as always. Helping Arsith with security, keeping order in the kingdom… the works you know?"
"Oh," Tyri said, tilting her head a bit, looking slightly confused. "So you and daddy are sharing a position, Arsith?"
"That… That's right," Arsith said after pausing for a brief moment. "Your father has been worried sick about you AND Arias. We need to get you both home."
Carson and Wayne nodded in unison, and everyone in the room stared at Tyri. She swung her legs in the chair nervously, and adjusted the collar on her dress. "Well… Gosh guys, I don't know what to say… I mean, you all grown so much… and I have too don't get me wrong but… maybe, this isn't the best time…"
"What?" Wayne asked, his voice hinting anger and fear. "But… Why not?"
"It's not you guys, it's just-"
Before Tyri could finish her sentence, one of the employees of the Sakura Diner entered the lounge. "Mr. Arsith? Mr. Carson? There's someone here that wants to speak to Tyri, he said it was sort of important," the employee said.
"Oh? Tyri, do you want to go check and see?" Carson asked, raising his dark eyebrows.
'He? That might be…' Tyri thought, but shook the thought away. How could he know she was here? Why would he come here in the first place?
"Nah, whoever it is, I think they can wait a bit," Tyri purred, waving her hand in a shooing motion at the employee.
"Yes ma'am," the employee said, bowing and leaving the room.
"Huh, same old Tyri, thinking anyone and everyone should wait for her," Ixoran teased, sticking his tongue out at Tyri.
"Hmph! Same old Ixoran, teasing every lady he sees, only pissing them off instead of attracting them," Tyri said evenly, winking at her friend.
"Hey! It works for some of them, it worked on you once and you know it!"
"Oh come on! That was years ago, we were like, what? 11 or 12 years old? That wasn't even legit dating!"
Tyri and Ixoran's bickering erupted into a quarrel between the two, and they "playfully" punched each other and tried to thwart the other's statement with theirs. Lori rolled her eyes and chuckled, while Carson shook his head in dismay and amusement. Finally, Arsith loudly cleared his throat.
"Er-hem! Weren't we discussing something, Tyri?" Arsith asked, his bad eye crinkling with amusement and impatience.
"Discuss what?" Tyri said, her eyes darting from side to side. "We weren't discussing anything, right Arias?"
"Uh, no?" Arias said, slightly unsure if his answer was the right one.
"Yes we were!" Wayne snorted, looking at Arias and Tyri, obviously amused and bored. "You still haven't told us why you don't want to go back to Sakura Kingdom! Why don't you? Why don't you want to go back to your family? Your friends? Me?"
Tyri's face became a hot red, and her throat became dry. Should she tell them about HIM? What they'd been through? She didn't know what to do.
"I- I uh…" Tyri stuttered. "I um… uh…"
"You WHAT?" Carson and Wayne demanded at the same time.
Tyri sighed, took a deep breath, and as she opened her mouth to speak, to tell them the truth, to tell them about what happened, the door opened again. This time, it wasn't the employee. In the doorway stood Pell. His hat was off once more, and his hair hung perfectly over his eyes. He wore a white tailored shirt under a white blazer, chinos covered his legs, and on his feet were brown desert boots. A bouquet of lotus flowers was in his hands. Tyri stared at him in shock and delight for a split second, and allowed herself to stand up.
"P-Pell…" She croaked.
"Hey," Pell said gently. "I, well, didn't know you were so busy… uh… Do you want me to wait outside for a bit?"
"Uh, yeah sure. Arias? Could you go outside with Mr. Pell for a minute?"
Arias nodded, and he followed Pell out of the room. The minute the door shut, Wayne let out a snarl of anger and shock.
"Who the HELL is that?!" Wayne bellowed, standing up, his face red with intense fury. "Tyri, you'd better start talking!"
Tyri sighed in dismay. "That's Pell," she answered, looking away from Wayne and his angered expression.
"Pell the Falcon? THE Pell the Falcon? Warrior of Alubarna, Hero of Alabasta? Pell the Falcon?!" Arsith asked, his eyes narrowed.
"Um… well… yes, that's what I wanted to tell you. A couple months ago, I met him on the pirate ship. He helped me overthrow the pirates and escape! He's a really good friend of mine…"
"Well OBVIOUSLY he thinks of you as more than a friend, Tyri," Lori said, looking at her friend knowingly, and a thought hit her. "You're… You're in love with him aren't you?! You're dating Pell the Falcon!"
"No no, guys, it's not what you think! He hasn't even asked me out on a date yet!" Tyri protested, her cheeks red with embarrassment.
"I don't know Tyri, it seems like you two are a bit close," Ixoran said suspiciously, taping his foot on the ground. "I mean, did you SEE the bouquet the mate had? Lotus flowers may be pretty, but they're mighty rare mate. An' with them being rare, they've got t'be almost as expensive as silver!"
"God, Ixoran, stop with your lecture about plants already! Nobody cares! As for Pell, he's a FRIEND. He saved my life more than once, and I'm grateful for that!" Tyri snapped. "As for coming home, I'll come home when I see fit! I can make my own choices too you know! I'm not a kitten anymore!"
"Neither are we…" Lori said sadly, staring at Tyri with her crimson eyes.
"Look, Tyri. I understand you don't want to come home yet, but… can we have dinner with you in a couple days? Here? We'd at least like to catch up a little more before we leave…" Arsith asked, obviously disappointed.
"Sure… I'll bring some friends okay? For now, I have to go. It was nice seeing all of you." With a purr, Tyri hugged each of her friends warmly, affectionately punched her sibling and mentor in their arms, and left the lounge.
Pell was waiting patiently with Arias in a booth when Tyri came out of the lounge. She looked kind of angry, but her look brightened when she saw her brother and Pell. Pell had a worried expression on his face, as if he sensed something bad had happened in the lounge. However, he pushed the thought away; he had other plans on his mind. He got up and made his way over to Tyri, Arias close behind.
"You alright?" Pell asked carefully.
Tyri smiled and nudged him playfully. "Of course I am" Tyri replied. "Just a little *yawn* tired…"
"Want me to fly you home?"
"That'd be nice…"
Pell touched down easily in front of Tyri's house. Arias had already fallen asleep on the ride over, and Tyri had nearly dozed off, but she was awake now. She climbed off Pell's back with Arias in her arms, and carried him inside the house, where she tucked him in gently and kissed him goodnight. Pell waited in the doorway, admiring Tyri's soft motherly behavior with her brother. As she turned around, she noticed him staring.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her green eyes creasing with slight worry.
"Oh, nothing, just watching how good you are with Arias…" Pell replied, brushing hair out of his eyes.
"Ah, thanks… he can be a handful, sometimes I wish I had a day off from caring for him… seems like I've been taking care of him since he was born…"
"A day off?"
"Yeah, it'd be nice… Why?"
"Well, Tyri… It's been awhile, and we've become really good friends… and I had been wondering if you'd like to go out? On a date? With… me?"
Tyri's cheeks burned violently as she stared at Pell in wonder. He really did it. He'd asked her out on a date. Finally, she cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah, sounds banging!" she replied, attempting to keep a casual guard up. "What time, when, and where do we meet up?"
"I thought I'd like to take you… well to that restaurant you were at earlier today… is that alright with you?"
"Oh… um… yeah… that'd be great… dinner sounds… great!"
"Al-Alright, I'll see you in a couple of days… I'll pick you up a maybe 6?"
"6 is good… 6 is really nice…"
Tyri blushed shyly at Pell, and he shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Uh, okay then! I'll see you then…"
"Sure… yeah…"
Pell smiled, kissed Tyri's cheek lightly, and walked out the door, closing it behind. Looking around before he flew off, he noticed something strange. A reddish-green cactus-like plant was sprouting from the ground. To his surprise, Pell had never noticed it, but to him it was just a plant. Who cares? All Pell could think about now is how he was going to make sure Tyri had the perfect night.
As Pell disappeared from sight, the plant began to mutate and morph, until Ixoran stood there, watching Pell's Falcon form as it was becoming no more than a dot in the sky.
"So our hunch WAS true…" he murmured. "Tyri is courting a sand-lander… Boss won't be too happy about this…"
As quickly as he'd morphed, Ixoran morphed back into a plant and disappeared beneath the ground.
THIS STORY'S NOT DEAD WOOHOO! No but seriously, this story's still alive, I have a LOT planned, and I refuse to abandon it!