Project ID: Bottles of Summer
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X, or Final Fantasy X-2.
Commercials: HEADCANON; have it your way.
Author Talk: Yikes, I'm nearly done! I guess everyone can figure out what the next chapter's going to be, huh? Now that I'm so close to the end, I want to write a sequel, or something, to keep going with my original plotline. I guess I'll think about it.
Prompt Used: Ever – #16
"Hello, little worm!" Rikku cooed. The baby burped at her.
"It would seem you share a common language," Lulu observed.
"My son is not a worm, ya," Wakka muttered. Rikku was too busy trying to touch the tip of her nose with her tongue to pay him any mind.
The baby chirped, and Rikku amused herself for another minute before dumping him on Wakka. The baby promptly burst into tears. Dismayed, Wakka patted it awkwardly until Lulu scooped their son away from him, clucking.
"So Yunie told you, right?"
"About why you rode a powder puff across the ocean and only visited for a day? Yes, she told us. She's very hurt, you know."
"Yeah, well, I'll talk to her later," Rikku mumbled, and looked ashamedly towards her shoes. "And don't call my ship a powder puff. Do you have a ship? Uh, no. Besides, yours would be ugly whereas mine was both free and accessorized by which I mean I stole it from my arch-nemesis and that just makes it like fifty times better."
"It's not a ship."
The baby squealed. Rikku black-listed it.
"It's a boat, and it's a metaphor."
"Ya, no."
"Is so," Rikku crossed her arms, "It's a metaphor because it clearly ties into me saying my goodbyes and...and, yeah. The next child you have should be named after me."
"Oh," Lulu said coldly, "There will be no more children." She looked at Wakka evilly.
"Really? Bummer. I kinda think having a super big family would be ultra funtastic and--"
"Have you ever had a baby?" Lulu interrupted. Rikku had opened her mouth to tell Lulu that she was way too skinny to have had a kid, but stopped at Lulu's murderous expression.
"I'll just be going now." Rikku said, meekly, and showed herself out.
She found Tidus on the beach, cradling a Blitzball and watching the ocean, expression almost peaceful. She kicked sand on him. "Hey, I'm having an adventure, in case you missed that earlier. Oh, and you don't get to come. Sucker. Except, you know, if you and Yunie want to come, you totally can. Except maybe not because, um, my ship is kind of small and your collective fatness would result in us drowning. Well, not us. But Yuna, yeah. I think she's allergic to the ocean. Which is why she lives on an island, duh."
"Like I want to go on your lame adventure," Tidus smirked at her. Rikku huffed.
"Oh, screw you, mine will be better than yours!"
"I came back from the dead!"
"Oh, you never existed in the first place!"
"Or did I?" Tidus spun the Blitzball on a long index finger and grinned smugly, "What's your plot twist?"
"Sin came because of my direct ancestors."
"Well, jeez, Rikku. You can't just give it all away with the prologue."
"Oh," Rikku reflected, and then threw her arms around Tidus, "Okay, well, I'll find some way to compensate. Bye, Tidus. Love you. I'd threaten you, but you've already sort of broken Yunie's heart so, uh, not much point."
"Oh, thanks." Tidus shook her off, grinned until it became awkward, and then strode down the beach, rubbing at the back of his neck. Rikku took a breath, and headed to the pier. Yuna was sitting in Le Blanc's boat, staring moodily at the water.
"Are you mad at me?"
"No," Yuna said too quickly, and frowned. She shook her head, picking at the paint job. Rikku watched her cousin scatter pink flecks into the ocean water. "No," Yuna said again, "I'm not, it's just...you always leave people behind, Rikku. You know that?"
Rikku shrugged uncomfortably, "I'll come back, promise. Don't be sad, Yunie."
Yuna's head whipped around, and her eyes flashed, "Well, you better," she said, cheeks coloring, "Because--because I'm going to need you to there when I get married, alright?"
Rikku's mouth fell open. And then she screamed.
"What?!" Yuna gasped, scrambling back onto the dock and rushing to her cousin's side. Rikku punched her arm, still trilling.
"You! Yunie, you're getting married! I--Oh my gosh!" Rikku gasped, and clapped her hands to either side of her face, "Oh my gosh! I love you! You won't start without me, will you? Because I have to be there. Like, seriously. I will cry if you don't invite me. I will make you fruitcakes every year and send them to you and oh my gosh what're you going to wear and when is it and and and have you picked out baby names or are you just going to name them all after me because, have I mentioned, Rikku is a great name and--"
Yuna clapped a hand over Rikku's mouth, mismatched eyes panicked. The two girls stared at each other for a moment before they both started hoping up and down. The pier shook. Rikku leaned forwards and kissed Yuna between her eyes, clasping her cousin's hands tightly.
"Well, jeez," Rikku gasped, "Yunie, your news is so much cooler than mine. I mean, planet in danger. Whatever. It's only been going on for a thousand years."
"No, um," Yuna squeezed Rikku's hands, "It's. You know. You'll be there, right?"
"Well, duh!"
"Okay," Yuna nodded, paused, and then said firmly, "Come back and visit me a lot, Rikku. Please."
"I promise," Rikku said, as serious as she ever was. It felt like her chest was exploding with happiness and love and--and fear, as well, because it was strange to think of a fight without Yuna. But promises meant something. Promises meant you had to live forever to see them through.
So Rikku kissed Yuna again and got into Leblanc's boat and hummed away, looking straight into the sun for as long as she could stand.
She found him at the oasis.
