(6,615 words) Well, here it is, after three and a half years, this is finally finished. This was my second story on this site, and certainly my longest. It's been a part of my life for almost all my high school life, but finally we part tonight. I went through hell and back with this story, fighting against writers block and lack of ambition, taking months to write one tiny chapter, but finally, it has reached its end.
To those who have been with the story from the start (if you exist) thanks for sticking with it even with my irregular updates. For that one person who reviewed, thank you really. For a story as unpopular as this, it was amazing to hear anything from anyone who wasn't my friend and my sister who feel required to review.
To those who've never made any kind of comment, I hope that maybe I might hear something from you finally after all this time. It's been something that's always bothered me that I just never know, I don't know if you guys like it, or if you hate it, or I you're just reading because its something to read, I'm admittedly clueless.
I'm still thankful to what little readers I have, just knowing this hasn't been a completely fruitless ordeal is wonderful in itself. Hope you enjoy.
Organisation REI chapter 50: Life
"Come on darling, we have to hurry home to get ready!" Lenne cupped her mouth as she called out to a little girl running ecstatically over to her. The girl giggled and ran right past her, instead heading for Acacia, who'd been standing by Lenne's side, and hugged her legs tightly, still giggling.
"Eh? Oh you traitor!" Lenne jokingly accused as she detangled the child from the girl's legs, picking her up as well. She wrapped her arms around her as the girl wrapped her tiny arms around her neck to hold on.
"Aunty smells like strawberries!" They laughed.
"She does does she?"
"Yeah, mamma don't." She giggled, digging her head into the crook of her mother's neck, a smile all across her face.
Acacia laughed off the strange look she got from Lenne questioning what was up with the strawberries. She strolled up to the mother and daughter and patted the little girl's head. "Come on Apple Blossom, stop being mean to mamma."
"But aunty smells like strawberries…" She pouted, the two older girls laughed, still not knowing where this accusation was coming from. Acacia didn't smell like strawberries, and could have no way to smell like them.
Lenne let Apple Blossom down and held her hand, "Oh forget it; we have to get going remember? Come on, we'll go home and get ready.
"But I wanna go on the swings more."
"But if you go on the swings more you won't get to see aunty Yuna and aunty Rikku and everybody else. So what do you want to do, go on the swings again?"
"No swings, no swings. Wanna see more aunties, wanna see more aunties!" The girl cheered and hopped up and down, her cerulean eyes shining and her long brunette hair flaying everywhere. Her mother smiled down on her and they got on their way.
"So when is everybody else getting here?" Rikku asked as she dropped down from the stairs, skipping at least the last three.
"Ahh, about four-ish. Why?" Yuna answered from her place in the kitchen, making last minute preparations.
"Just wondering. I'm bored is all." Rikku chuckled. "Worth the wait, I guess. Haven't seen them in heaps long."
"Well that's what you get for going to a university so far away." Yuna sighed as she walked into the room, dressed in a short blue dress, with her hair held back with a blue rose pin and wore numerous yellow bangles on her wrists.
"But it had courses I was interested in. Zanarkand's a large place, you'd expect them to have a better university, but they really don't. And it's so difficult going from Bevelle to here. "
"You should just be glad you got in, that place is so iffy with foreigners." Yuna laughed as she sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, waiting for the time for the others to arrive.
"Yeah I guess. I just want to be closer to you guys. It sucks not being able to see you all the time like I used to." She explained as she sat down on the couch next to her friend. Fixing up her gold singlet top as she did so. She wasn't quite as dressed up as Yuna, since she only had the singlet top and a pair of grey jeans patterned with pink and white flowers.
She'd gone through a bigger change than Yuna since leaving high school, notably was that she'd grown her hair substantially longer, and that she'd started attending a university. Yuna's grades were never good enough, even with assistance. That wasn't to say she was an idiot, just academically she was only ordinary, and had a horrible problem with crashing and burning in tests if it wasn't English. She'd gotten a simple job at a café. It wasn't much but for what it was it paid well.
"Why four?" Rikku asked, her boredom remained even with the added stimulus of the TV.
"Why turn up at nine when you knew the basic time anyway?" Yuna answered her question with a question.
"Because I wanted to see you."
The brunette smiled at that. "That's very nice and all, but you knew that me, Lulu and Wakka would just be doing last minute preparations."
"Yeah but…" She tried to rebut the comment but had spoken before she'd thought of what to say, and didn't have anything to say about it. She sighed instead and inquired. "Where are they anyway?"
"Acquiring last minute supplies."
"Vidina's with them I suppose."
"Yeah, so he'd stay out of my way while I was preparing. He's a curious bugger."
"So is Blossom." Rikku chipped in.
"At least Vidina doesn't cling to you while you're doing something."
"I have no idea what Lenne is teaching that kid, she doesn't seem to have any remote understanding that people need space." The Al bhed laughed. "It's insane sometimes. How do they all deal with it? She is still living with her father and his wife right?"
"Yeah." Yuna nodded. "He says she can stay with him as long as need be. He really does want to make up for the time lost, I guess being there for his granddaughter is a part of that too. It's good though, because she's gotten so used to them, whenever I see her with them it's like she was with them all along. You wouldn't know that she's only been seeing her brother for a few years, or that his mother isn't her mother either."
"Good for her I guess. That mother of hers was no good. She wasn't Shuyin's sure, but she still wasn't someone who should've had a kid. I mean I'm glad that Lenne exists and I got to meet her, but I regret that she had to grow up with someone like that. I feel like she's missed out something important. Like she never had a proper childhood." Rikku smiled grimly. "Getting pregnant at seventeen doesn't go well with anything either no matter what the situation."
"Hm, but she's good now, Blossom's just the sweetest little thing ever." Yuna chuckled.
"I haven't seen her in heaps long too, I wonder if she's grown."
"I wonder if she's going to attempt to climb up your hair."
"Wait what?" Rikku was taken aback, laughing.
"Oh nothing, nothing at all." Yuna laughed with her as she they joked around, waiting for the others to come.
Soon after that Lulu, Wakka and Vidina returned, the little boy clinging to his mother's side. In the mean time before the others arrived Rikku spent her time playing games with the boy as the others fixed everything up to prepare.
Everything was well and good shortly before three, and it was shortly before four when the door bell rung. Rikku was the closest so she went to answer it herself, but Yuna followed after her to greet the ones at the door.
Upon opening the door, they didn't even have time to see who it was before Apple Blossom had dashed inside and had clung to Rikku, giggling like a maniac.
"Ack, don't do that! You'll give me a heart attack!" The blonde girl flinched.
Yuna sighed and moved past her friend and the child to greet Lenne, whose expression was wholly apologetic, and Acacia, who was standing a few steps behind the brunette. They were dressed nicely like Yuna, and much unlike Rikku in her casual attire. Acacia was dressed in a simple and cute rosy summer dress, whereas Lenne's was somewhat questionable. It was bright pink and edged in black, with a tight fitting, sleeveless, and high collared top with a skirt that poofed with the help of an equally pink petticoat. Around the middle was a thick brown belt with a green buckle, and on her feet was a pair of thigh hair brown boots. She'd started dressing oddly a while back, it'd taken her friends by surprise, but now they didn't bat an eye to it. They took it as her being happy and cheery again, and it made them happy in turn.
"I'm sorry, I told her not to jump on people, I guess it was too much to expect she'd listen." Lenne grinned and laughed a little as she headed inside with Acacia a step behind her.
"Ah it's fine." Yuna excused her. "I was telling her before that she'd probably try to climb her hair-"
"I can climb her hair!?" Apple Blossom squealed in delight as she made the attempt to grab the ends of her hair to perform the task.
Hastily Lenne was over at their side in less than a second, removing the little girl from the strands of Rikku's hair as the Al Bhed screamed for her to stop pulling. "Ah, no you can't do that, it hurts and it's rude."
"Aww." Her daughter pouted as she lifted her up and held in her arms to stop further tries.
Rikku fixed up her hair and gave a reprimanding look to the little girl. "Ouch, I really didn't expect her to do that."
Lenne half-heartedly smiled as she let Apple Blossom down, telling her, "Run along Apple, you can go play with Vidina, I'm sure he'd enjoy your company."
"'Kay!" The little girl cheered and ran off to go find him, the collar or her adorable little sailor dress flaying as much as her hair, the same colour as her mother's.
Lenne sighed and again apologised in place of her daughter, but again Yuna reasoned with her and told her it was okay. With the kid out of the way for a while longer the four girls took seats on the couch and though the TV was on, they paid little heed to it; instead they went deep into a conversation.
A lot of questions were sent in Rikku's direction, about how her life was like in Bevelle, and in university, as she was the only one who attended one. Yuna had gone straight into the work force, and Lenne didn't even have a job. Her scores were too low to bother trying to enter university as she'd barely attended school during the latter months of her pregnancy and even after Apple Blossom was born. Acacia was still in school as well; this did bring a few questions to her direction, where they found she was doing substantially better than they, Rikku excluded. Her new environment had done amazing for her, her mood had been so uplifted she was able to concentrate on many things, school being one of them. Her grades were about the top of class, just off. This was something she'd never been able to do when she'd still lived with her mother. She'd been too oppressed to care for anything other than avoiding making the woman upset.
This went on for a while until just before four thirty the doorbell rang once again. This time Yuna alone went to greet the newcomers, as Lenne and Rikku were deep into a peculiar subject, one of which Yuna had stopped listening when they started leaning forwards and staring at each other with rather bizarre and strange expressions. She knew Acacia had done the same.
She opened the door and greeted with a smile Gippal and Paine. Gippal said hello back and smiled brightly, Paine however had already noticed the strange conversation happening in the corner of her sight, and her gaze quickly was stolen by it, her expression quizzical. When Gippal noticed too Yuna shrugged her shoulders and informed them she was clueless as to what the conversation was about, she'd heard something about ballet dancing zombies one second and kittens the next, and had decided that her friends were just being strange, and as such there wasn't very much use in questioning them. At being told this the couple shrugged it off and headed inside as Yuna shut the door behind them. They were more on the casual side like Rikku, but still not as bad as her. She expected as much from a boy anyhow.
He just wore a simple top, black jacket and jeans. Whereas Paine was dressed up in a messy grey button up top almost as long as her black shorts, with a leather jacket on top.
Just as Yuna started to chat with them Rikku bounded off the couch and screamed something at Gippal, which they didn't understand a word of, as it was said in Al Bhed, and incredibly fast at that. For the first second Gippal's expression was as quizzical as theirs, which gave Yuna the impression that this was a follow up of her conversation with Lenne, which included the same content. However when she walked over to them, her tone returned to normal as did her volume. Gippal seemed to calm down at this and spoke back to her at every comment she made. Though they became increasingly quiet until they were nought more than whispers, the suspiciousness of which was aided by Rikku's suspicious mannerisms.
Both Yuna and Paine for obvious reasons stared at them oddly.
"You catching any of this?" Yuna whispered to the other woman.
"I'm not a genius at the language, don't suppose you are either." She sighed. "I'm not going to catch any when they're speaking so quietly.
There was a short pause.
"So what do you think they're talking about?" The brunette asked, curious if her idea was better.
"Plotting our demise." Paine stated flatly.
"Oh, so the usual." Yuna laughed. It'd become the code word for whenever the two did this, given no one else spoke Al Bhed fluently enough to have any idea whatsoever what they were going on about. She didn't doubt that it was just a normal conversation, a catch up of sorts. Rikku just always acted suspicious, and Gippal had a bad habit of joining in for the heck of it.
After another hour and a half of chatting and catching up the group sat down to dinner. Lulu had set up another table so there was sufficient room which Yuna had fixed up so that it didn't look dreadful. It was an old fold up table that'd been gathering dust in the garage. It was still in good condition so they'd seen no problem in making use of it. Yuna had sat next to Rikku who was having another nonsensical argument with Lenne, one which they were so caught up in that Acacia was stuck with the job of making sure Apple Blossom actually ate her food, instead of her mother. Currently alongside Lulu she was stuck stopping the girl and Vidina from playing with their food. Both children seemed adamant of making the largest castle they could.
Wakka, Paine and Gippal were the only people actually eating their food. Yuna was stuck staring at the idiots to her side.
After dinner, they ate a desert which consisted of multiple cheese cakes, given the size of the group. Again the two children were more interested in playing around instead of eating, but this time round instead of making castles Apple Blossom simply smashed Vidina in the face with her slice, spreading it everywhere. This time Lenne didn't leave Acacia to deal with it but dealt with the matter herself as Lulu cleaned up her son's face with a napkin. She reprimanded the girl some and told her that she wasn't allowed another slice so she'd be taught the lesson not to be mean like that again. She sobbed to try and get the condition revoked but to no avail, though they all knew that she snuck some later that night out of spare slices in the fridge.
When desert was finished off most of them retired to the lounge room, and watched TV amidst talking amongst each other. Tonight was a night to catch up, a night they hadn't had in a while.
Paine and Gippal were next to each other snuggled on the couch, while Yuna sat on the other end. Lenne and Acacia had both hopped onto a small couch chair intended for one, their legs sprawled other each other's, with Rikku sitting on the ground in front of Yuna. Both Apple Blossom and Vidina were sitting on the ground a short length from the TV, their full attention on it. Wakka took up the last remaining seat. Lulu was yet to join them as she was cleaning up the kitchen and dining room. She'd been offered help but said she was fine to do it herself.
As the night wore on, the group split up into those watching TV and those caught in their own conversations. At one point Paine and Gippal begun to talk solely to each other in hushed whispers. No one paid them much mind, it wasn't too odd of an action for a couple to make, the only strange part about it was when Rikku caught Gippal using a handful of Al Bhed words, sticking to words which Paine knew well. She noticed as well that they were words of comfort, uttered quietly also, so no one else would pick up on it. When she started to wonder why she saw that Paine seemed somewhat uncomfortable with their hidden topic, and as the blonde girl could not think of a single reason for someone like Paine to be reacting in such a way, she responded the only way she could figure out how. By screeching out crap in Al Bhed with an accusing finger. Her scream caused those surrounding to jump in surprise, including the two which she was pointing at, and dragged the attention of the two kids away from the TV.
Yuna eyed her oddly, she'd heard Rikku scream in an odd manner a million times, and a million times was enough to memorise the words she tended to use, even if they weren't in a language she understood. She wondered though, what had set her off the call the couple 'suspicious'. They weren't doing anything off; she could see them pretty clearly.
Paine and Gippal eyed Rikku just as oddly as everyone else before Gippal lost it and laughed his head off, head in hand. "What? Because that's a normal reaction…" He sighed and shook it off.
"What's with you guys, sending hidden messages or something?" She of course referred to his use of Al Bhed when he'd spoke.
Again he sighed and shook his head. "No nothing like that, just discussing something."
She narrowed her eyes, suspicious still. "Really now…?" She drawled. "What about?"
Gippal gave her an odd grin before turning to Paine, for a while they whispered amongst each other. The others weren't entirely sure why but soon found out it was because they were deciding whether to reveal it or not. All they knew was that as more time passed, much to their confusion and surprise, Paine got redder and redder, a sight which none of them had seen before.
"Should we really say it?" She uncharacteristically flushed.
"Come on, they'll learn sooner or later, why not say it early on instead? When's the next time we'll have an opportunity like this anyway?" He persuaded.
Seeming to be won over, Paine looked at the others, who by this point were staring at the couple intently. At this she frowned, obvious not helping with her confidence in the matter.
"I'm pregnant." She stated in a gentle yet forced voice.
The reaction was immediate. Yuna and Rikku both gasped, with Rikku learning forward, and Lenne had learnt forward so rapidly that she'd knocked Acacia off the couch, who made a resounding thump when she hit the floor. She'd even drawn Lulu into the room, where she hovered behind the couch where a shocked Wakka was sitting. Even the two little kids were staring, though out of curiosity of why everyone was acting so different suddenly.
"What?" Lenne was the first to speak.
Paine sighed and hid her face with her hand, uncomfortable that all attention was on her. Gippal however let out a laugh to break the tension that was building.
"We're having a baby."
At this Vidina and Apple Blossom picked up on what was being spoken about and both children crawled over with bright faces.
"A baby!" Apple Blossom squealed.
"Where are they?" Vidina giggled excitedly, happy at the prospect of a new friend.
"In there." Rikku pointed to Paine's stomach.
Both the kids shared a unified "Eh?"
"Her stomach…?" The little boy questioned.
Whatever else could be said was interrupted when the girl next to him burst into the question, "Did you eat it?"
Paine's expression along with a number of others was stuck agape, and for a moment so was Gippal. Until he lost his shit and burst into a fit of laughter he could not get out of even when it became hard to breathe and he'd started crying. "Hah, yes, yes she ate it." He joked.
But the kids did not hear his sarcasm, and both their faces reflected absolute horror, right before they screamed and ran out of the room and up the stairs.
Paine watched them run away before turning back to her partner and punching him in the shoulder. "Oi, they're going to think I'm a cannibal now!"
"Oh come on, they set themselves up for that one." He chuckled but regained his composer afterwards.
Everyone else wasn't sure how to react to the joke, and the children's reactions. Lulu and Lenne seemed torn in checking to see if their children were alright, and continuing listen to the current conversation, interested in hearing more details. A moment of silence fell upon until it was snapped by Yuna's words,
"So how far are you in?"
"Just a few weeks, it won't even be noticeable for a while yet. I've started getting the symptoms however." She grimaced recalling the memories. "I can't stand having to think that I have to go through this for nine whole months."
"Oh it's alright." Lenne cut in, "Labour itself is a hell of a lot worse. It's just as horrific as everyone says it is."
At her words Paine's face turned pale, but Lenne was quickly reprimanded by Lulu, who'd been heading for the stairs after making the decision in the end to find the kids. "Ignore her. It will hurt but it's not going to last forever, and it's completely rewarding. Because after that you'll have your own precious child of your very own."
The younger woman seemed comforted at that. Though the others valued her as being very strong, the idea of being a mother did scare her, and this she did not hide from them, they could read it plainly on her face. Only Gippal and Yuna of course knew the full reason why. Even with REI having been gone for years now, it had effected Paine heavily, it wasn't likely she would fully recover, she'd seen horrible things happen a million times over. And she'd seen the final result of bad parenting a million times over too. She'd never be as bad as the people in her past sure, but it was undeniable she was afraid that in some way, shape or form, she was scared she'd fail. She was terrified of making one wrong step.
"So what do you want to name them?" Rikku piped up, curious.
"Ah, we haven't thought that far yet." Gippal replied, a slight grin on his features. "We've only just found out ourselves."
"Are you scared? You're both still very young you know?" Wakka asked the question that had been on everyone's mind, but had not dared to speak. They had all assumed however that if he did not say it, Lulu would have. Being the oldest, their view point would be different to the others, and the obvious youth of the couple would be that much more worrying to them.
Both Gippal and Paine pulled a face at his words, Paine opting to look away from the gazes on them.
"Apprehensive, I guess. It's a scary thing, becoming a parent, at any time. Even scarier when we're still young." Gippal admitted.
But Paine however took a more honest answer and stated with little hesitation. "I'm absolutely terrified." Both Gippal and Yuna gave her a sympathetic look, knowing why that fear was so abundant in her, but the others soon followed suit.
"Growing up a lot of the people I knew were older than me, but I knew a lot of their children too, because we were all around the same age. Those people should never have been parents, their influences destroyed their children, and all of them became horrible people in the end. I know I'll never be like those people, and I know Gippal won't either, but I'm scared that in some way I'm going to do something all wrong, and my kid's going to end up just like those others I once knew. It's not even a rational thought, but it won't go away." Her tone had become upset by the end, and the emotion shone on her face, further meriting the sympathetic looks from her friends.
By this point Lulu had returned from upstairs after making sure Vidina and Apple Blossom were fine, and had entered the room early enough to hear Paine's small little speech.
She gave the couple a little smile and again hovered behind Wakka's chair. "Life's difficult, especially when you have to look after someone else, and even more so when that someone else completely depends on you, and completely trusts in you. I can't call myself or Wakka perfect, but I know what we're doing isn't wrong. I'm confident in that we are giving our son the best life we can give him. I know I don't know as much about you as some people, but from everything I've seen of you, you're a good person, and I've known Gippal since he was a little kid, so I know he'll do right. It's alright to be scared, but I'm sure no matter what happens in the future, you guys will give your child the best opportunities you can give them. I'm sure you'll be wonderful parents."
Surprised at the older woman's confidence in her, though she could easily confess that they weren't very close to her, a small happiness welled up in Paine. She gave Lulu a tiny smile. "Thanks."
They continued to talk for some time after that until the guests finally decided to leave. Lenne and Acacia left first so that they could get Acacia to bed at a time not too much past her bed time, while Rikku decided not to leave at all. She crashed on the couch for the night and told them that she'd catch a train the following morning back to Bevelle. It was far easier that way, and they'd all assumed she'd do that anyway.
Gippal and Paine were the last to leave, Yuna was at the door saying goodbye. Lulu had gone up stairs to put Vidina to sleep, but as he was overexcited, it became such an ordeal Wakka needed to give assistance. Those who remained downstairs, and awake, as Rikku had dropped like a rock, chatted for a while before they left.
"I was wondering something." Paine half mused to herself, half asked as a proper question.
"Hmm, what's that?" Yuna inquired.
"Did you not invite Tidus, or did he just never come?"
Yuna sighed. "We're the ones on good terms with him; he's still iffy with the others. He's just not social in the end. I told him about it, but didn't bother to invite him. I can still see him later anyway, it's no big deal."
"Ah, thought as much. I reckon he's improved though, all my conversations with him used to be arguments, now I can actually maintain normal human speech with him."
"Soo," Yuna drawled with curiosity tinting her voice. "Does he know about the baby, or are we the first to know?"
Paine frowned at being asked the question. "I was at his house a few days ago, and threw up a number of times. Needless to say, he made a very accurate guess. He wouldn't have believed me if I'd said no anyhow."
"Ooh, you weren't kidding when you said you already had the symptoms. Well, it'll all turn out well eventually."
"Obviously, well, we should probably get going, I'm scared it'll happen again and I'd rather it not be at your house."
"Good idea, I'll see you guys later I guess. And good luck." She added on as the two started to walk off, over to Gippal's car to drive back home.
Yuna shut the door and returned to the lounge room to check if Rikku was as fast asleep as she appeared. In her head, she wished the couple as much good luck as they could get, they needed it, and god they deserved it.
When morning came Rikku did as she'd said and left early that morning on a train to Bevelle, Yuna had driven her to the station to make her travel easier, as she'd need to take a bus otherwise. A car was the quicker option in this situation.
Afterwards she'd gone shopping as food was low at home thanks to the party. She returned home around noon and with Lulu's help put it all in its proper place in the cupboard. She noted how bored Vidina was now that he had no one to play with. The kid was good friends with Apple Blossom, and always got incredibly excited when they got to play together, she was the same. Yuna had changed the TV channel to his favourite as an attempt to cheer him up, she was glad with her results.
Later in the day she left the house again on a venture that was of her own choosing and not for the sake of someone else like the last two. She arrived at the apartment building a little before two, and was quickly through the doors and up the stairs to her target. She found the door unlocked, as it was every now and then. Inwardly she sighed, he really was dreadful at remembering to lock it, it didn't seem like something she would do.
Moving past the thought she entered and found him napping on the largest couch in the lounge room. Creeping forward, and leaned over the back, right by his head and giggled.
"Tired already, or just being lazy?"
Slowly rousing as a response, Tidus gradually opened his eyes, to find a cheery set and blue and green eyes. "Both." He answered as he yawned and stretched out.
"Thought as much." She grinned and she moved around and sat down next to him as he shifted his position so that he was sitting instead of laying. "Haven't had a break for a while have you? I'd expect you'd be dead by the end of it."
"I'm not dead, just tired." He rubbed sleep from his eyes, implying he'd been asleep for quite a time before she'd entered.
"I know, I didn't mean literally." She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Everyone came over last night. Rikku and Lenne are still doing well. Apple Blossom's entering Kindergarten next month. She's excited for that. At least now she'll have someone to talk to besides Vidina."
"She's still calling her Apple isn't she?" Tidus asked, referring to Lenne who had a habit of shortening her daughter's name using the odder way.
"Mostly, everyone fears she'll pick it up. Blossom's a nicer name than Apple after all."
"Why did she call a human being that anyway?"
"Well, it's Lenne keep in mind. I think it's something to do with the flower language, I know she's well versed in it. Acacia's a flower I'm pretty sure too, so it'd make sense." Yuna explained before pausing for a moment before she piped up with a question.
"So Paine told me that she was here a few days ago-"
"And she puked everywhere." Tidus interrupted her. "I know she's pregnant, if that's what you're confirming."
Yuna didn't know whether to laugh or slap him for interrupting. "And you didn't even know whether I knew or not, imagine if that was how I found out. She'd be pretty pissed with you. But yeah, they told us last night. Sounds like its early days, but I'm really happy for the two of them." She smiled brightly as she thought about it.
Tidus gave the slightest nod of his head. "After all that shit she went through she deserves it. I would never have guessed I could even think this way years back, but I'm actually glad it's with Gippal. When she was at her darkest point he was what brought her back. Without him, I doubt she'd even be alive today."
"She has a chance to live a proper life, with a family. She lost that as a kid, and now she's got a chance again. It's wonderful, even if she's scared like nothing else." Yuna went on. "I know she'll do good. She knows what not to do certainly."
Tidus agreed with her at that, they'd seen dreadful things in their life, and both were determined not to walk that path, not anymore. Since REI had been destroyed, they'd been lost for a while, not knowing what to do. Paine had had a number of jobs, small little things. She had trouble finding something normal she was good at, but she didn't want to pursue a strange occupation as a career, so she had little choice but to keep on trying. Gippal had attended university; something which she'd had little mind for, but was luckier than Rikku and had actually found a course he liked at their local university. They knew that if anything did go wrong, since his parents were rich, they'd throw their money at them to support them. But neither wanted to take that route, no matter how much easier it was. Paine had settled into a normal life fairly quickly, especially when her and Gippal started living together.
Tidus hadn't been so sure of what to do. Yuna was still there for him, but she couldn't be as much support as Gippal could be for Paine. He'd gone through a number of jobs, trying to find the right one. Eventually he'd made a decision, one he'd thought of about the time REI had ended, but had chickened out of it as he felt like he had no right. About a year ago, he'd made the choice to become a police officer. He'd gone through everything that was required of him as a prerequisite, and had been in the force for a few months now. A lot of keeping his position was hiding the exact details of his past hidden, but he was sure he'd be fine. The remaining REI members was an amount that was near to none, he'd watched them for a while, and it didn't seem wrong to believe that they had chosen to leave the past behind them as he'd first believed they would. No one was going to rat him out.
He was tired from the work, but he wasn't going to stop anytime soon. Even with the similarities between them, he regarded them as the opposite of REI. Even though they were flawed too, they weren't contradictive of themselves like REI was. They weren't some psychotic illegal force chasing after other psychotic illegal forces, and claiming themselves to be utterly righteous. They dealt with criminals and law breakers how they were meant to be dealt with, and were a group who Tidus, growing up with REI had always admired. Knowing he was now a part of them, was a strange feeling, but a nice one.
"Are you doing well?" Yuna asked.
"Sure, I don't see myself getting much better than this."
She sighed. "You sound kinda pessimistic." At this he ruffled her hair so that it was a mess, at which she jumped and attempted to get away, but she moved backwards when she should have moved right, and only made it worse. He stopped so that she could fix her hair back up, she scowled at him, but he grinned back.
"I don't think I'm being pessimistic. I never said I was doing badly did I?"
"Well no…"
"I'm happy as I am right now. My life's steady, there's no one in my way to upset it. I'm doing something I've always dreamed of and I've got plenty of people by my side. I'm content I guess, calm."
She smiled when he did. His short temper wasn't as bad as it used to be, he rarely snapped at all. He still was scared like Paine, but he was living and enjoying life.
"Do you think a group like REI will appear again?"
"Always. Whenever there is a hero there has to be an enemy right? Whenever there's something that exists in this world, there will always be someone who opposes it. Whether it's logical or smart, or whether or not they even care or if it even makes any sense. That's how humans are, it's instinct to cause conflict and war, they can't live without it. As long as law exists, there will be people who'll break it. As long as the police exist, there will always be someone out there like Jecht, unhappy with their results, being filled with their grand deluded dreams. There will always be a REI, even long after they're gone. All I can do is continue with my life, taking one small step at a time, and hope I'll get somewhere, and hope so will everyone else."
"So what will you do?" She inquired, with a slight tilt of her head.
"I'll live."
"And that's your answer?" She smiled, as she leant over and kissed him on the lips.
Smiling back he answered. "As long as the world still spins, I'll continue to strive for a future, for me, and for everyone else."
And finally it is finished.
It'll be strange to leave this behind, but that's just life in the end. I started this account with two Final Fantasy X stories, and now after over three years, they are both finished. I feel like I'm moving on to a different stage, silly I know, but it's just become so accustomed to me to sit down and write this.
I hope I'll receive some reviews that aren't simply from my friend or sister, after all this time of absolutely nothing, I'd like to hear what you guys think, what you thought of the story, and of the characters. You'll make my year.
Sayonara,
~Serah Villiers Valentine
