Chapter Eight
I love Besaid nights, Tidus thought absently to himself.
There was only a fingernail moon tonight so a canopy of stars lighted the sky. He couldn't help but gaze upwards in awe at the sheer magnitude of what he was seeing. In the not-so-far distance he heard the sound of the waves crashing. Suddenly a tingling sensation etched across the back of Tidus' mind. Water, slip of moon, canopy of stars. Something was bubbling right below the surface: a memory wanting to come through. Tidus closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. Water, fingernail moon, canopy of stars…Yuna?
"Ahem," he heard behind him, shaking him out of his trance-like state. He tried to grasp at the memory one last time, as if waving a small net at a butterfly. But he came up empty-handed, as he always does.
"You all right?" she asked, obviously concerned.
"Yeah," Tidus replied. "Just waiting on you. I almost fell asleep."
He turned to face his supposed girlfriend. She was wearing one of her purplish skirts with a sleeveless white shirt with purple stars, similar to the design on her trademark dresses. Her face was steady, as she was trying to gauge what Tidus was saying was the truth. Finally she broke into a wide grin. "You're not trying to mess with me are you?"
"No, I would never tease a senator," he said. "I'd be much too frightened."
"Ex-senator you mean," she corrected him.
"Sorry," he said, but his tone really didn't convey it.
"I apologize for being late. I was with Lulu and I lost track of time."
"How is she?" Tidus asked.
"She's better. After all, she did go through thirty three hours of labor."
"Yeah," Tidus said. "I'm surprised she hasn't slept most of the past three days. Hey, can I ask something?"
"Sure, anything you want," she replied gazing at him in the moonlight.
"Why did you ask me out here tonight?"
Yuna hesitated before saying "Nothing. I just wanted to take a walk and wanted you to join me."
Tidus had a suspicious feeling that there was something more to it than that. "Ok," he said, trying to play off his thoughts. "Let's walk." With that they headed towards the beach.
After a while of petty chitchat Tidus asked something that had interested him for the past three days.
"Why did they name him Chappu?" he said, rather abruptly.
Yuna sighed. "Chappu was Wakka's brother, and Lulu's first love."
"What??" Tidus exclaimed, obviously surprised that somebody would end up marrying the brother of their first love. It just didn't seem normal. "Is that true?"
"Yes," Yuna replied rather sharply.
"Hmmm, no wonder I haven't heard of him" Tidus said, thinking out loud rather than talking. "He must still have hard feelings for Wakka, right?"
"No," Yuna said in the same manner as her previous response. "He," she hesitated. "He's dead."
"Oh," Tidus said. "Sorry."
"No, its all right." She said, still looking down towards her blue dress. "Just don't make that mistake around them."
"So much I don't know," Tidus said absently.
They walked a bit in silence letting that last thought sink in. It was a while before Yuna spoke up. "Hey, there's the dock." She said as she pointed to her left. "Let's go out to the edge."
Tidus sat down next to her as she leaned next to him and put her hand on his leg. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you." Yuna said after a few minutes of silence. Tidus' stomach started to knot up, not expecting what she was about to say. "It's about Luzzu." A wave of relief passed over him. For a moment he thought it was something serious.
"Yes?" he said
"Why did you act the way you did around him?"
"I don't know," he replied.
He hesitated before continuing. "I just didn't get a good feel from him. Something inside of me told me 'Don't trust this guy.' I know it's weird, and I don't know why I feel that way. It doesn't even feel like a part of me that said it. I don't know," He finally said abruptly.
"Hmmm," Yuna said pondering this. "That is rather strange. He was apart of the pilgrimage, if only a minor part. We kept running into him, and then, the battle of Mi'ihen."
Yuna paused, allowing the sadness to sweep over her momentarily. That battle, with all the lives lost, brought so many bad feelings for Yuna even now. That was the battle that Gatta had died in. Although she and Gatta were not extremely close, it was still a tough loss. She couldn't even imagine what that had felt like to Luzzu, taking the boy in like his own son. Mi'ihen was definitely one of the darker moments of her journey.
Tidus turned to look at her as her face turned grim. He realized then how beautiful she really was. The partial moonlight was shimmering off of the water below, lighting her features. She looks different now, he thought to himself. When I first arrived here, she looked worn, mature, and more serious than she does now. Now she looks vibrant and full of life. She almost looks younger, if that's even possible. He paused his thoughts just to gaze at her. She looks beautiful. Yuna finally snapped out of her momentary reminiscing to see Tidus staring at her.
"What?" she asked.
"What??,' she asked again playfully nudging him in the ribs.
Without warning Tidus leaned over and kissed her. At first Yuna was surprised, so much so that she didn't close her eyes for a few seconds. Then she gave in and enjoyed the moment. Within seconds they had escalated a bit, with Yuna's hand running up to his shoulders, then behind him, all the way to the small of his back. Somewhere in the depths of her mind a thought kicked in and she pulled back, but only a few inches. His face was still inches away from hers. She could feel his breath in ragged gasps running down her shoulders, mingling with her hair.
"Someone could be watching," she said hesitantly.
"Then we'll have to go somewhere else," he answered.
Somewhere, Yuna found the strength to stand up. Her legs felt like warm butter and her balance seemed significantly off. Looking down on Tidus in this light, she couldn't help but think of the night at Macalania Lake. She put her hand out. Tidus grabbed it as she helped him up.
"Follow me," she said leading him back off of the pier towards the village.
A few hours later…
They were breathing at the same time. The rise and fall of their chest were synonymous with each other. She was locked in his arms right beside him, breathing heavily, recovering. They stayed this way for a few minutes just enjoying each other's embrace, warmth, and the feel of each other's skin on their own. Outside the color of the sky was changing as the stars were disappearing one by one. Their clothes were strewn all over the room. Tidus didn't know what time it was, but he couldn't sleep now if he wanted to.
His movement startled her. "Sorry," Tidus said as he moved. "I have to go to the little boys room."
"Hurry back," she said, her voice still flustered and strained. As he got up from the bed and started to walk towards the hall she couldn't keep her gaze off of him. Yuna couldn't believe what had just happened. As soon as Tidus left the room she giggled to herself. It had seemed as if the past few hours were a dream and that she was about to wake up. As she stretched out on the bed, she couldn't help but think how her life has taken a dramatic turn. How finally, after all these years, she's happy again. She heard water running down the hall. Her man had returned to her, and it was more wonderful than anything she had ever imagined.
Suddenly she had a startling thought as she raised up off of the bed. "Tidus," she yelled. Her only reply was the continuously running water. "The vanity," she shouted. "It hangs over the sink a bit. Watch your head."
"What?" she heard him call. Almost simultaneously she heard a loud thunk followed by Tidus yelling "Oww!!"
She giggled again. I suppose I better go and check on him, she thought. She wrapped the blanket around her body as she walked slowly and painfully down the hall.
"Are you alright?" she said between giggles as she stepped into the dim bathroom. She saw Tidus standing there, staring directly into the mirror.
"Do you see that?" he asked, still looking at the mirror.
"Yeah," she replied, turning her gaze to the mirror as well. "And it's the most handsome man I've ever seen. What do you see?" she said still laughing.
"A city" he said, suddenly serious. "A huge city."
Suddenly he jumped back looking all around the room. The images he saw in the mirror were now swirling about him now. Buildings, people, faces. Except now when he saw them, they had significance. He could tell who these people were and what his relationship to them was. He blinked his eyes as more images came. His coach, a blitzball game, Auron, and his father.
"Are you all-right? Tidus?" Yuna said, worry all over her voice.
""I'm…I'm," he started. "I'm remembering things."
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"So then I remember Auron," Tidus said, his voice echoing in the early morning. "He was wishing me good luck. He said 'concentrate on the opponent. Figure out his weakness, then exploit it.' I remember going to the game…"
Yuna was sitting on the edge of the bathtub listening very intently for the past hour. The only thing she could think about is that his hit on the head caused him to regain his memories. It made sense to her, but still something didn't seem right. That's why she asked him to tell her everything he remembered before Rikku found him in the jungle next to Besaid.
"I remember making my way through the crowd," he continued. "Being in the locker room, and the opening whistle. We were all tied up," he said. "I went up for the game winning shot, and then….Sin. Sin appeared. It appeared and started tearing up the place. I remember falling. I remember Auron. He was there. He gave me a sword that he said my old man gave to me. I remember running through the streets, fighting these weird creatures. I remember a building toppling over, almost killing us. I remember being sucked up into Sin. I remember thinking that I was going to die. And then I remember thinking of my dad, I don't know why. And then I remember waking up in the Crusaders' hut. And staring into the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. That's it." He said climactically. "That's the last thing that I remember."
Yuna just stood there in stunned silence. Many different thoughts raced through her mind, but she couldn't sort through any of them. "This isn't right," she said aloud. After a few more seconds she said "What about Sin, our battle with Sin? Spira, Lulu, Seymore? Anything?"
"No," Tidus said aloud. "Nothing. I don't know. Why shouldn't I remember this?"
He waited for an answer from Yuna, but he didn't get one.
"Macalania Lake?" she said, with a hint of hope in her voice.
"No," he replied dejectedly.
After a minute of silence he got up. "I'm going to put some clothes on, and go to the hut."
"You're going to leave me here?" Inadvertently she pulled her blanket around her tighter. "I think we need to talk about this."
"Not right now," he replied. "I need to think." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."
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Tidus stepped out in the street. The sky was a flood of colors toward the east as the sun was just below the surface. But Tidus didn't care. He almost hesitated, remembering that he forgot his necklace on Yuna's nightstand. After a brief hesitation he decided he would come back for it tomorrow, today, he reminded himself. He walked down the deserted street towards his hut lost in thought. Of all this time trying to remember, he finally can. However it seems more of a curse then a blessing. It had ruined a perfect night. He was so lost in thought that he almost didn't notice the movement on the right side of the street, next to a small alley. At first Tidus didn't really pay any attention, but then curiosity got the better of him. He quickened his pace and looked down the alleyway. He saw another blur of movement go around a hut. Go, a part of his mind beckoned him. Tidus broke out into a run. As he turned the corner back towards Yuna's hut he saw a man looking at him straight in the face. Then the man turned around and disappeared into the forest. Tidus slowed to a halt. He knew he couldn't catch the man through the dense jungle. That guy, he thought. He kinda looked like Mangus. He was holding on to something next to his chest, protecting it in some way. He closed his eyes to remember what Mangus looked like. The stern, balding man that was traveling with Luzzu. He called him a First Liutenant, even though he looked more like a mercenary. No, Tidus thought. That was most definitely Mangus.
Puzzled, he took one last glance into the forest and turned away. In his chase he had actually backtracked past Yuna's hut. As he walked by it he noticed that the lights were still on. Maybe I'll stop by and get my necklace after all.
He knocked on door, but there was no response. He knocked again. Oh well, he thought, taking a step away from the door. But then he heard something inside. It sounded like Yuna's voice. Who would she be talking to? He knocked again.
"Who is it?"
"Tidus," he said. "I forgot my necklace."
The door swung open slowly revealing a very tattered-looking Yuna.. She had an Al Bhed instant voice sphere in one hand and a tissue in the other. One look and Tidus could tell that she was crying. Suddenly his stomach sank. "What's wrong?" he asked.
She sniffed before answering.
"It's Lulu. She's on the sphere." She hesitated again. "Chappu…"
Tidus put his arm on her shoulder. "Calm down," he said. "What is it?"
"Chappu's gone!" she blurted out. "Someone took him. And Lulu, she's…." Yuna trailed off. "I'm going over there. She's hysterical."
Tidus only nodded his head, thinking that she had every right to be. But in the back of his mind he couldn't help but think. Actually, again, it didn't really sound like his voice in his head, but more like his father's, actually, a mix of both. And it said: "Mangus," over and over.
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Author's notes:
1—Umm, yeah. Tidus and Yuna finally…well. Is that so much of a surprise? I tried to edit around "it" so that my story is still PG-style.
2—All names, characters, places, and events referred to are copyrighted by Squaresoft.
3—A couple of references here. First, the obvious Star Wars: Episode Two reference (i.e. I'd never mess with a senator…) The second is a bit subtler, but it's there so I had better mention it. Preacher, the graphic novels. When Tidus hits his head and remembers, that's inspired by volume one. Preacher is a very awesome mature-only series that isn't for the feint of heart, but still is very awesome.
4—Will Tidus ever gain his other memories? Is Mangus behind the abduction? Why? Find out in the next not-so-trilling installment of Fallen Heroes.
5—Thanks for the good reviews Frack, Oracle, and Summoner-Yuna-Uk. You guys are the reason for me to keep these things going.
