Auron was sitting on a bed in the hotel room both he and Tidus were staying in. Rikku's face as she opened the door only to find Auron standing there . . . . actually it was Tidus in his body . . . but still.
"C'mon Auron. Why don't we go out and get a drink or something? Let's get over girls for now and just hang out. I mean, we're in Luca! Let's do something!" Tidus flipped the stations on the TV in the room only to find nothing on. He turned it off and flopped back on the bed. "Actually, new idea. Let's take a nap and wait until tonight to go out. Maybe we can get together with Rikku and Yuna, if Ryo will let us with Rikku."
"I've gotta go take a walk." Auron muttered under his breath and left the room, despite Tidus' protests.
There was still so much of the city Auron had yet to see. But none of that mattered to him right now. All he desired, if anything was a drink of sake. That was when he stumbled upon the bar wedged between the blitzball stadium and some other shop. He walked inside and immediately sat in a chair along the bar.
The bartender walked over to him and smiled. "Is there anything you'd like to drink, sir?" he asked pleasantly.
"Sake." Was all he said.
The bartender's smile fell to a frown. "I'm sorry. I'm going to have to ask for ID. You kind of look underage, kid."
Auron was quite fed up, yet he kept his calm. "Look, I've been having a really rough day. I'd explain it to you, but you'd call someone to put me in the nuthouse. I'll pay you however much you want. Just give me some sake."
The bartender immediately took up the offer when he heard about how much gil he could make. "Yes sir. Sake, coming right up! That'll be 500 gil." He sneered, milking him for all he was worth.
Sighing, he gave up the gil he had and slammed it on the counter. The bartender came back with the sake and slid the gil into his hands, his eyes glowing greedily.
"Maybe a few drinks and I'll head back to the hotel afterwards."
~*~*~
Tidus awoke from his nap, the covers pulled up to his chin. The room was dark because the sun had set not to long ago. When Tidus opened his eyes, he saw no sign of his mentor. Groaning, he slipped from his cozy cocoon and stumbled to turn on a nearby light. He noticed a note placed beside the nightstand. Still half-asleep, he picked it up and read it.
Auron~
Please come meet me by the blitzball stadium tonight at seven. I'll be waiting there.
~Rikku
P.S. I got your room number from Rin.
Tidus looked at the clock next to the lamp and moaned. It was 7:10. Hurriedly, he left a note to the real Auron explaining everything and left. He made his way to the large blitzball stadium which towered over all buildings and arrived at the meeting spot within fifteen minutes since he left the hotel room. Rikku sat on a nearby bench looking preoccupied. Tidus began to worry. What was bugging her?
He sat on the bench next to her and looked out into the crowd of people. "Hey. Sorry I'm late."
"Auron, you're not supposed to be back from the Farplane. Everything was going fine without you here." She spoke harshly.
"Rikku, what's the ma-." A gleam from a ring on Rikku's left ring finger caught his eye. Everything was slowly coming together.
"Auron. Please, just leave. I fell out of love with you when you never came back."
"Rikku, tell me what's wrong!" he demanded.
A single tear cascaded from her eye as she turned to face Tidus directly. "Auron . . . I'm engaged. Ryo proposed to me last night."
Tidus felt his stomach drop. Ryo proposed to Rikku. He continued to listen to Rikku talk. "I didn't know you'd come back to me. I had to move on. I'm . . . I'm sorry."
Tidus couldn't even speak. How would Auron react? "When's the wedding?"
"In two months. Ryo wants to get married as soon as possible."
"Two months . . ." he stood up from the bench. "I've gotta go." He excused himself, leaving Rikku to ponder everything by herself.
Tidus had to hurry and tell Auron. They not only had to worry about becoming fiends, but now Rikku had an upcoming wedding with Ryo! Willing away the pain that so desperately wanted to consume his chest and legs; he ran into the hotel and eagerly pressed the up button, hoping Auron was back in the room.
He reached into a pocket of his coat and pulled out the key to the room. Thrusting it open, he smiled to himself when he saw Auron sprawled across the bed. He closed the door and shook Auron in an attempt to wake him.
"Auron! Auron, I know you can hear me! This is important, it's about Rikku!"
Auron stirred and opened his eyes halfway. "What? I'm extremely drunk and I want to go to sleep. Leave me alone."
"Rikku's getting married to Ryo!" he bellowed. Auron froze, his eyes opening suddenly. Tidus continued. "She told me he proposed to her last night. She was really sorry and she . . . she doesn't love you anymore."
Auron sat up and grasped Tidus around the collar. "You liar. She still loves me; I can see it in her eyes. She's miserable with Ryo, I know it. You're both lying."
"Auron, let go of me. I'm just telling you what she told me. She told me the wedding was in two months. Auron, we have two months, if not less. Now, let go of me!"
The older man obliged and released his grip on his coat collar. Tidus tumbled backwards on the bed and hit his head on the edge of the nightstand. Auron, however, was still in a stupor. When Tidus recovered, he sat back up on the edge of the bed and glared at his mentor. "Auron, you've gotta tell her. If you don't, she'll marry Ryo and you'll never get to have her again. I know she still loves you. It's like you say. Her face portrays happiness and all that good stuff that comes with a relationship. But her eyes hold a different story. And she'll never be satisfied until you tell her."
"It's not that easy. You see, I can't just go up to her and tell her I love her. Even if I was back in my own body, I couldn't say it. I don't know how to express that sort of emotion."
"Shut up, Auron! I'm getting sick of you moping around about how you can't tell her you love her! You can't even tell her that you're you in my body! I don't get you sometimes. You want to lose her, fine. But when we're back in the Farplane, don't whine to us about how you regret not telling her." Tidus reprimanded. He walked to the door and opened it. "I'm going to tell Yuna about everything. Maybe she can help us out." Tidus slammed the door behind him.
Auron sat, staring at the door for several minutes, thinking of Tidus' words.
You want to lose her, fine. But when we're back in the Farplane, don't whine to us about how you regret not telling her.
"For an eighteen year old, you're not as dumb as I thought you to be."
~*~*~
Yuna opened the door to find Auron towering above her. She couldn't even speak for he had dragged her out into the hallway and closed the door softly. "We need to talk."
"Sir Auron . . . how'd you get back? From the Farplane, I mean." Yuna asked, a hint of fear in her voice.
"Look, that's not important. But what I'm about to tell you must be kept secret from Rikku until the time comes. You must promise me that what I'm going to say will stay between me, you, and the real Auron."
" 'The real Auron?' Wait . . . what's going on? What happened to Auron? Who are you?!" she began to get frantic.
"Yuna, listen to me! Auron's fine. Well, if you don't want to consider heartbreak as something of being ok. Now, promise me you won't tell anyone. We don't really want to be considered crazy. And this is really hard telling you for some reason unknown to us."
"What?!"
"I'm Tidus. I'm the real Tidus, stuck in Auron's body." He confessed. Yuna halted, her mind registering what just came out of his mouth.
"That's not right. I mean, Tidus has been here for a while now. You're Sir Auron . . . aren't you? I'm sorry, I'm just . . . confused. I don't get what's going on . . . ."
"Auron jumped from the cliff in the Farplane and landed in the ocean off the island of Besaid in my body. When I did the same thing in an attempt to get my body back, I just landed here in Auron's body. You've gotta believe me."
"I do believe you . . . it's just . . . overwhelming. . . I mean, you're back." She whispered, he multi-colored eyes searching Tidus' own. "I missed you, Tidus."
All thoughts of telling her everything washed away, replaced with dreams of being with her once more. The girl he fell in love with over her pilgrimage. "I . . . missed you, too. You can't imagine how much pain I felt having to leave you."
Yuna took a step forward. "This isn't a joke, right?"
Tidus took a step forward as well. He reached his arm out and pulled her into an embrace, stroking her short, brown hair and looking down at her. "Now, why would I lie about coming back?"
Something nagged at him to tell her about their time limit on Spira, but he just brushed it away.
She needs to find out sometime, but I just can't tell her now. Why interrupt her happiness?
Tidus hugged her tighter and smiled. "I also wanted to say I love you. I didn't get to say it last time, before I had to leave."
Snuggled into his chest, he could barely make out what she was saying, but he still caught it quite clear. "It's alright. You being here makes up for it all."
~*~*~
Author's note: I'm sorry for the OOC-ness. ^_^ And I'm sorry if it was a bit rushed. Well, now Yuna knows, but will she be able to help persuade Rikku to leave Ryo? Heh, only time will tell!
Oh, I have a few story ideas! I might write them when I finish this. Here they are!
A Walk to Remember- Final Fantasy X style: Yuna, a high school student destined to become a summoner. Tidus, a teen who lives a bit on the wild side. What happens when the two come together during a school project?
When I'm Gone: It's the year 2003 and Squall Leonheart is in the U.S. Military. When he is sent off to war, he must leave his wife and daughter. The one thing that he promises to them is he'll come home safely. Sometimes promises are broken.
Eyes On Me: Rinoa Heartilly is the most popular and rich girl in school dating the most popular guy, Seifer Almasy. Squall Leonheart is known as the freak of the school simply because he prefers to be alone. A chance meeting could change all that.
Yeah, I know. Two of the ideas are Final Fantasy 8. But I love the ideas. Especially the Walk to Remember one.
I gotta go. Read and Review and you'll soon get your next chapter!
LOVE AND PEACE!
