Alright folks, here it is. The final chapter of "Combined Yards". (Eh, I just had a Tidus moment, you know, in the game, when he's all, "the last chapter in my story"...Sorry, that was random...) Anyway, I want to thank you all immensely, and I wish I could draw this story out through the month of August too, but with Japan and all...And I start college in early September, and I'm playing tennis...So yeah, I just thought that ending it now would be the wisest thing I could do. Again, thank you all for your lovely reviews! (At one point, I even got addicted to checking my reviews...Heh...) Here is the final chapter (and longest chapter!), enjoy!

Chapter 25: Adjustments

Yuna stared across her yard and into the completely empty yard that merged into hers. It wasn't exactly empty by any means. The pool sat there, ready to be used, as did an expensive speaker system.

The inside of the house was the exact same as its outside. There were furnishings and expensive toys everywhere, showing all signs that someone lived in the house. But nobody did live there. Not anymore.

Rikku and Gippal hadn't asked her about what had happened, and she hadn't told them. It was almost as if it was mutual that it was over, to all parties involved, and all without an explanation.

Yuna didn't want to talk about it with anybody. She didn't want to let the world know that Tidus had turned her into what she liked to call a love-sick moron. But she was one. She could sit there for hours, noticing how the world seemed less bright, less colorful. The books in front of her no longer seemed to be interesting. She couldn't even bring herself to go to the humane society.

She couldn't bring herself to do anything.

Her phone began to ring, and Yuna grabbed it, knowing it was Rikku. The last person she wanted to talk to was Rikku, Miss I'm-so-happily-in-love. But Yuna answered it anyway.

"Hey," Yuna said, her tone flat and annoyed.

"Yunie, you only have three weeks until you start school, and all you've been doing is bumming around!" Rikku's high-pitched voice stated loudly in Yuna's ear, "So I decided tonight would be a great day for a girl's day out!"

Yuna sighed loudly and said, "Where's Gippal?"

"Visiting Tidus."

"Oh, so Tidus has time to visit with Gippal, but not with me," Yuna found herself voicing loudly, despite the fact that she hadn't wanted to discuss her relationship status with Rikku.

"Um…What exactly did Tidus tell you?" Rikku asked, her voice suddenly soft.

"He said that he wouldn't really have time for a relationship in Zanarkand."

To Yuna's surprise, Rikku laughed and said, "Oh Yevon is Tidus a wimp."

"Why are you laughing?" Yuna cried, standing up and dropping her book to the ground. Yuna paced over to the edge of her balcony, looking into Tidus' yard. She was amazed at how much she wanted to talk about this. How much she wanted to talk about Tidus.

"Tidus told Gippal that he and you decided to break up mutually because you both thought that you should have the chance to see other guys, since Tidus was your first boyfriend. And in two years or so, if you're both still in love, you'd get back together."

"Why would he tell Gippal that?" Yuna asked, her voice soft, "That's not at all what he told me."

"So what do you think the real reason is?" Rikku asked, "By the way, I'm pulling into your driveway."

"I don't know what the real reason is," Yuna said, walking into her house and down her stairs, leaving her book lying on the ground where she'd dropped it, "But he ticks me off."

Rikku laughed again and said, "I don't understand him either. So what, did he not tell you until the party? We warned him to tell you sooner."

"Wait, you knew?" Yuna cried.

"Yeah. I'm hanging up, Yunie."

Yuna and Rikku both clicked their phones shut just as Yuna let Rikku into her house, her arms crossed.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Yuna asked, "Maybe if I'd had more time, I could have worked something out with Tidus!"

"Tidus made it seem like he wanted to tell you, and that he was going to tell you soon," Rikku said, "So what exactly happened the night of the party?"

"Tidus told me that he wouldn't have time for me, and that he didn't think it'd be fair for me to wait for him," Yuna said, rolling her eyes, "But apparently that was a lie."

"I wouldn't say lie exactly…" Rikku said, "I mean, it's true. He's going to be all the way in Zanarkand, and you're going to be all the way in Luca. When are you planning on seeing each other?"

"We could have met halfway, or we could have taken turns to drive to see each other, or I could have just gone to see him…" Yuna mumbled all of this, and Rikku figured Yuna had been thinking about it a lot.

"That's a long ways to drive," Rikku sighed, "And Tidus did have a point. Maybe you do need to see some other guys. And if you're both still in love with each other two years later, then maybe you'll both know that you're really in love."

"I don't care if I ever date anybody else," Yuna said, her eyes on the ground, "But apparently Tidus must."

"Gippal said he's been doing nothing but playing blitzball," Rikku said, shrugging.

"When did you talk to him?"

"Ten minutes ago or so…"

Yuna grabbed her keys. "I'm going to go talk to him."

"Yunie, Zanarkand's a good four hours away!"

"So!" Yuna said, grabbing her handbag, "Are you coming or staying?"

Rikku sighed loudly and said, "Fine, but Gippal is not going to be happy to see either of us."

"And neither is Tidus," Yuna said between her teeth.

-

"Yunie, I think this was a bad idea," Rikku said, sliding down in her chair, as the city of Zanarkand loomed in the distance.

Yuna swallowed and said, "Me too."

"Let's turn around!" Rikku said, looking happy at the thought.

Yuna shook her head and said, "Rikku, we've come this far. We just have to keep going and hope for the best."

Rikku slid back in her seat and said, "I guess you're right."

"Everything will be fine," Yuna said, although she was trying to convince herself more than she was Rikku, "Besides, what do you have to worry about?"

"About halfway here," Rikku said, appearing sheepish, "I remembered that I promised Gippal that I wouldn't tell you he was here."

Yuna laughed and said, "Well, I guess that is a problem. Call him right now and ask him where he is."

"I can't do that, Yunie!" Rikku cried.

"Rikku, how else do you expect us to find them?" Yuna asked as she slowed down her car, for there was quite a large amount of traffic to get into the city.

"I don't know!" Rikku cried, "I've never even been here before! Have you?"

"A long time ago," Yuna said, sighing, "You're right, maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

At that moment, the sappy love-song ring tone of Rikku's song suddenly floated into the air, causing Rikku to momentarily forget her problems.

"Hey Gippal!" she chirped. Her broad smile that had appeared at the sound of her ringtone immediately disappeared though, for she sighed and said, "Gippal, what would you do if I told you that Yuna and I were stuck in traffic at this very second, about to enter Zanarkand?"

"You're not serious…" Rikku's phone was very loud, so Yuna could hear every word Gippal said.

"Well, Yunie wanted to talk to Tidus, and—"

"Rikku, didn't I tell you not to tell her?" Gippal's exasperated voice was heard.

"I know, but…" Rikku said, apparently having yet to notice that Yuna was listening in on the conversation, "I felt bad for her. Tidus was such a jerk Gippal!"

"I'm sure Tidus had a very good reason," Gippal said, and Yuna noticed that his tone sounded almost defenseful.

"I'm sure he didn't!" came Rikku's angry reply, "So anyway, where are you two?"

"At a strip bar."

"You'd better not be!" Rikku said loudly, and Yuna noticed her face was turning red.

"Relax, of course I'm not. Tidus went to one last night."

Yuna looked at her steering wheel. At least Tidus had been enjoying himself.

"So you're saying you wanted to go to one and Tidus wouldn't let you?" Rikku cried, her face growing redder. Yuna rolled her eyes. She wished her cousin would forget about Gippal and get to the point.

"Hell yeah," Gippal said, making Rikku even angrier, "You can't come to Zanarkand and not go to one. Everybody knows that."

"When I get there, Gippal," Rikku said, "I am dragging you straight home. Zanarkand is such a horrible place!"

"Rikku," Yuna interrupted, "Can you please just find out where he is? Save your squabbles for later."

"Yunie wants to know where you are," Rikku said, ignoring her cousin's last statement.

"Tidus' new place," Gippal said, "It's across from the blitz arena in the A-East district. Ohalland Avenue, or something like that. I'll meet you outside."

By this time, Yuna had managed to navigate through most of the traffic, glad that she had been the one to drive, for if Rikku were driving, Yuna knew she would have pulled over to talk with Gippal.

Yuna was feeling rushed suddenly. She didn't know why, but she felt that she had to see Tidus. After all, a strip bar? Was he serious? Yuna attempted to calm herself down. This was Tidus, after all, not some innocent guy like Baralai. But hadn't she changed him at all?

Yuna shook her head. It was normal for a guy to go to a strip bar. Wasn't it?

"I can't believe him," Rikku said, hanging her phone up, "Did you hear what he said, Yunie?"

Yuna nodded.

"Tidus is an absolute horrid influence on him," Rikku said, "No offense, Yunie."

"It's not that big of a deal," Yuna said, as she began to drive into the city, "So how do I get there?"

"Gippal said you take a right here, and then a left," Rikku said, "Another left, and you should be in the right area at least. He said we'd have to drive for a good mile or two, and then we'd come across the place. He should be standing outside."

"Okay," Yuna said, turning right as directed. Her stomach was beginning to flip. It had only been a week since she'd last seen Tidus, but it was beginning to seem like a long time ago. She wondered how he was adjusting. She assumed he was adjusting far too well.

She sighed a loud, audible sigh. He was adjusting just fine. He was adjusting just fine without her.

-

"Why, why, why?" Tidus cried, tapping his head onto his table, "Why didn't you give them the wrong directions or something?"

"Don't be a dumbass, Tidus," Gippal said, leaning in the doorway, "Do you think I'm crazy that Rikku's showing up? There goes all the plans we made. And besides, don't kid yourself. You want to see Yuna."

Tidus lifted his head off of the table slowly, and said, "Of course I want to see her. But it's not what I had planned. She was supposed to forget about me."

"She's not just going to forget about you," Gippal said, shaking his head, "She's obviously in love with you."

"I'm such an idiot," Tidus mumbled, "Doesn't she realize that there's no way we can make this work?"

"Well, you could have at least talked with her, instead of just leaving her like that," Gippal said, "Tidus, you are an idiot. You think you understand women, just because you know how to lull them into bed. But when it comes to relationships, you're an absolute idiot. Do you love Yuna?"

Tidus was reluctant to answer, but he finally mumbed, "Yes."

"Do you really love Yuna?" Gippal asked, acting as if he hadn't heard Tidus' response to his last question.

"Yes."

"Then why are you just saying goodbye to her like that? What are you planning on doing, Tidus? Hooking up with another girl like Dona? Is that your plan?"

"…Kind of."

"That's what I figured. And what about Yuna? You expect that she'll hook up with some guy like Baralai and be happy? And that you'll just disappear from her mind and she'll never think about you again?"

"Well yeah…"

"Bud, that's not how it happens," Gippal said, rolling his eyes, "If I just left Rikku right now, she'd follow me everywhere like a lost puppy. Yuna simply isn't the type to do that, but yet she's coming to Zanarkand to see you. She must be crazy about you."

"You don't think she deserves a guy like me," Tidus said.

"You're just acting like an idiot," Gippal said, "This isn't how it was supposed to work, right? You weren't supposed to fall in love with some girl. Things aren't going according to plan, and that scares you, am I right?"

"Gip, she was going to sleep with me!" Tidus cried, "Miss I'm-never-having-sex really was going to! That scares me!"

"Scares you?" Gippal cried, "Why?"

"Because she's Yuna!" Tidus cried, hitting his head on the table again, "She's not supposed to want to do it! Especially not with a guy like me!"

"Tidus, you are being a girl," Gippal snorted, "Girls like Yuna can want to do that sort of thing too, you know."

Tidus looked up at his friend, and he said, "You did it with Rikku, didn't you?"

"I'm not telling you," Gippal said, crossing his arms.

"Was it when we were in Besaid? Because I bet Yuna that you would."

"Yevon, only you would bet on something like that," Gippal said, rolling his eyes, "Anyway, I told them I'd stand outside and wait for them."

Tidus hit his head on the table again. "What am I supposed to say to her?" he moaned.

Gippal shrugged and said, "I have my own problems, Ti. Rikku's ticked at me."

With that, Gippal turned and walked out the door, leaving Tidus sitting there, with his head still on the table.

-

"There's Gippal," Rikku said, for sure enough, there stood Gippal, pointing to a place in front of him, as if telling them to park there.

"Tidus lives there?" Yuna questioned, looking at the huge apartment building in front of her.

"He must," Rikku said, but she sounded distracted. She rushed out of the car before Yuna had even set it in park, and marched over to Gippal, not looking happy at all.

Yuna slowly walked out of her car, and she started toward the bickering couple. A flash caught her eye though, and she saw Tidus exit the door to the building, his arms crossed across his chest, and his eyes on her.

Her heart began to speed. She hadn't wanted it to be like this, but she couldn't help it. Suddenly, she felt as if she hadn't seen him in years, despite the fact that it had only been a week. A lump appeared in her throat, egged on by the beating of her heart. The last thing she wanted to do was cry.

Well, she thought that was the last thing she wanted to do. She shocked herself by not crying, but instead by taking off, running at full speed, toward Tidus.

He seemed shocked too, for as she ran to him, wrapping her arms around him quickly, she pushed him backwards, and he would have fallen over if he hadn't hit the door.

It was then that Yuna began to cry.

Gippal and Rikku stared at Yuna, and their arguing ended immediately. They looked at each other and smiled, and then started down the street, deciding to leave Tidus and Yuna alone.

It wasn't long before Tidus' arms also found their way around Yuna, and he held the sobbing girl tightly in his arms, before saying, "Wanna see my new place?"

His words took her aback, so she pulled out of his grasp, and wiped her tears away as forcefully as she could. All she could do was nod.

He took her hand silently into his own, and led her into the building, and to the elevator. It was a nice building, the perfect mixture of chic and comfort. The floor was of white marble and the walls were painted in a glossy black. There was so much light from the almost entirely windowed wall though, that it didn't appear dark at all.

The elevator was similar to the entrance, in that it was black and white, while the buttons were red.

Tidus slid a card-key into the designated slot and hit the button for the tenth floor, and the two stood there, staring straight ahead, as the elevator doors slowly closed.

As soon as they were fully shut, Tidus turned to Yuna, and Yuna couldn't help but turn back to him. It wasn't long before Tidus' arms were wrapped around her, and hers his, and their lips pressed tightly together.

Yuna hadn't exactly meant to show up and make out with Tidus in the elevator, but she couldn't help herself. She felt like an alcoholic who had just been offered a bottle of wine after a week away from it. She was relapsing, and it felt wonderful.

The elevator dinged, announcing that they'd reached their designated floor, and Yuna pulled back, afraid that someone would be standing out there, shocked to see them kissing.

"Relax," Tidus said, although he too pulled away from her and took her hand again, "I own the whole floor."

"You do?" Yuna asked as he pulled her out of the elevator.

"Of course," Tidus said, and he unlocked a door with the number ten on it.

He led her in, and walked into the rather new-looking kitchen, and threw his keys and card-key onto the counter, "This is the place."

"It's huge!" Yuna said, walking in, her eyes wide, "And really…nice. It definitely has my dorm room beat."

"Yeah," Tidus said, stifling a laugh, "Zanarkand really pulled all strings to have me go to their school."

"Do you have a roommate?" Yuna asked.

"Nah," Tidus said, shaking his head.

"Isn't that kind of lonely?" Yuna asked, looking at the spacious living room that she was standing in.

"Nah," came Tidus' reply again, although Yuna noticed he was staring at the ground.

"I…I guess you're probably wondering why I'm here," Yuna said then, suddenly feeling awkward. She wasn't his girlfriend anymore. What had she been thinking?

"I have a pretty good idea as to why you're here," Tidus said, and he sighed, "It's my fault, Yuna. I should have told you earlier, and we should have discussed it more. It's just, I didn't want to hold you back. I didn't want me to be your only one, you know."

"So you wanted me to cheat on you?" Yuna asked, looking confused.

"No, I wanted us to break up, so that you could be with other guys," Tidus said, shrugging, "I guess I didn't think it was fair that I hogged you all to myself, and barely had to time to see you."

"But couldn't we have just tried to see how things went?" Yuna asked, not liking the fact that she was using past tense, as if it could never happen.

"I don't know," came Tidus' response, "I tried to think of another solution, but I couldn't. Soon, it was time for me to leave, and I hadn't thought of anything. So I went with this one."

"Well, I hate to be stubborn, but I think it's stupid," Yuna said, crossing her arms.

"So you'd be okay with the fact that we won't get to see each other at all?" Tidus asked, looking shocked.

"If you are," Yuna said, "then I'm fine with it. And besides, I'm sure there's more times we can see each other then you think. We'd just have to make adjustments."

"Not that I'm jumping to conclusions or anything," Tidus said, suddenly appearing sheepish, "But what if you married me? Me, your only boyfriend?"

"If that's how things happened," Yuna said, taking a deep breath, "Then yes, I'd be fine with that. I think you're making a bigger deal out of this than you need to."

"You think?" Tidus asked, a small smile creeping onto his lips, "I guess I thought it would be easier to be away from you if we weren't together."

"Well, it's not going to be easy," Yuna said, sitting down on the couch, "But I think we'll survive."

Tidus followed Yuna and sat on the couch next to her, and said, "So if you were married to a professional blitzer…how exactly would that fit into your life schedule?"
"Wonderfully," Yuna said, and she prodded him with her elbow, "You'll make good enough money, right?"

Tidus laughed and said, "Yevon, you don't even want to know…"

"My father would be upset," Yuna admitted, "But it's alright."

"Well, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Tidus asked her.

"A literary agent," Yuna said, "I want to choose which books get published, and which ones don't, and represent authors."

Tidus nodded slowly, and said, "I'm sure Zanarkand would be a perfect place for one of them."

Yuna smiled and nodded as well, saying, "Yes, I'm sure it would be."

She couldn't help but wrap her arms around Tidus', and lean her head on his shoulder. It was hard to think that she'd have to spend a lot of time away from him, but she figured it would be worth it, despite what Tidus seemed to believe. She voiced this out loud.

"Tidus," she said thoughtfully, "I can wait, you know. If you can. Or even if you can't…"

"I can definitely wait," Tidus said, leaning his head on top of hers, "As long as you don't think it's selfish of me to keep you to myself."

"It's selfish of me," Yuna said, closing her eyes, "I'm the one who won't let you go, remember?"

"Right, you chased me all the way here," Tidus said, "You sure you're not one of those psycho girlfriends who's going to kill me any second now?"

Yuna laughed and said, "Maybe…"

"Well, no need to do that," Tidus said, laughing as well, "I'm yours. No reason to kill me."

"Alright, I won't," Yuna said, pecking him on the cheek.

A few seconds of silence fell over the two then, before Tidus said, "Well, I'm totally free tonight. I'll just cancel my plans with Gippal, and I'm all yours."

Yuna giggled and said, "What, you don't want to go to the strip bar?"

Tidus rolled his eyes and said, "No. I don't care if Zanarkand's famous for them."

"Well, maybe I wanted to go to one," Yuna said, smiling a sly smile.

"What, you want to see naked girls?"

"Aren't there ones with naked guys?" Yuna asked, looking shocked.

Tidus laughed and said, "Yeah, but I'm not going to one of those! Besides, aren't your eyes a little too innocent for that?"

Yuna shrugged and said, "You don't know what I've been up to this past week…"

"Don't be perverted," Tidus said, laughing, but then his voice dropped and he said, "Wait, you haven't, have you?"

Yuna laughed and said, "Don't be so gullible! I spent my time eating a lot of ice cream and chocolate."

"Don't talk about ice cream!" Tidus moaned, "Yevon could I go for some of that damn chocolate cake ice cream!"

Yuna laughed, but her laughing was quickly drowned out by a sudden knocking on the door.

Tidus jumped up, and there stood Gippal and Rikku, with pleased smiles on their faces.

"Gip!" Tidus said, "Look, I'm going to have to cancel our plans, that alright with you?"

Gippal laughed and said, "Fine with me. Rikku and I have some new plans anyway. I guess we'll see you later?"

"Yeah," Tidus said, shutting the door on them, "See you around."

As soon as the door was shut, Tidus ran back to Yuna, and flung himself onto the couch, knocking her down. The two kissed for quite some time, before they finally just laid there in each other's arms.

They both knew that there were going to be some very long months ahead of them, but nothing seemed to matter. It didn't matter that they wouldn't be able to see each other very often. It didn't matter that they would be miles upon miles away from each other. The would wait.

Yuna snuggled up to Tidus, a faint smile on her face. She could already feel the lighter breeze of the late summer afternoon blowing in from an open window. Somewhere deep inside of her, she had always felt that this romance would die with the summer. But as she saw it now, it would last for summer after summer.

"How long do you think Rikku and Gippal will be together?" Yuna found herself murmering.

"Forever," Tidus said.

"And us?" Yuna asked, looking up at him.

Tidus appeared thoughtful, and he said, "Well, Gippal didn't think we'd make it a week, so I'd say maybe until we're twenty?"

"Just twenty?" Yuna cried.

Tidus laughed and kissed the top of her head, saying, "Right now, I'd like to say forever."

"You're the one that was talking about marriage," Yuna said sleepily.

"And you're the one who told me a long time ago that you didn't want to get married," Tidus reminded her.

"Things change," Yuna said.

Tidus laughed, and he said, "Yeah they do. Look at me, I'm whipped!"

Yuna simply laughed and looked at him. He looked at her as well, and before she knew it, her lips were on his once more.

She felt another cool breeze, signaling that summer indeed did want to end. She smiled into the kiss.

There would always be other summers. This she was sure of now.