Misplaced
By: Rikkoshaye
Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own any of the characters in Final Fantasy X, or anything Final Fantasy related. Do not sue me, unless you want a moldy cookie and a few pennies.
Updated August 8th, 2007
- - - - -
- ATV On-Road Fury -
"Hmmm, it looks as if it has stopped raining…" I muttered softly to myself, looking down at the damp ground as I fiddled with the garage door. I had almost forgotten that it had been raining earlier in the day. Positively storming, in fact. "I didn't expect it to let up already, but I guess that works well for our shopping…"
"What's that?" Tidus inquired, pointing ahead of me. I continued punching in the last of the digits on my garage door opener and then entered the code, making sure the door closed completely. Turning around I followed Tidus's hand, mildly surprised that he didn't know what something was.
"That's a 4-wheeler." I said casually, eyebrow arching. "What, don't you have those in Zanarkand?"
In the few minutes that we had been out of the house, I had already learned that Zanarkand had cars, boats, snow mobiles, and oddly enough, rock polishers. Tidus had commented on all of them as we walked through the garage, Rikku in tow. So, I had naturally assumed that Zanarkand had 4-wheelers as well.
Although, being that the city was built on water, you wouldn't necessarily need 4-wheelers. But, you wouldn't need snowmobiles either, and they apparently had those on sale at all times of the year.
"No, I've never seen anything like that before. What does it do?"
"Well," I said, rounding the corner and wheeling a bike out from the side of the garage, "you basically ride it for fun. It's an all terrain vehicle that can go almost anywhere, or so they say." Setting the kickstand of the bike down on the ground I turned the front wheel, making sure it wouldn't roll away on me. "I've honestly never tried it on much more then dirt hills and fields."
I proceeded to wheel out another bike, watching as Rikku prodded the ATV a little. She seemed fascinated by it, her green eyes wide as she looked over the engine and wheels. Then again it was a machine, and since she seemed to have a soft spot for such things her actions didn't surprise me much.
Unfortunately, it didn't take her long to turn it on.
"Hey, watch it!" I said, dropping the last bike and jogging up to them. "This thing cost like 10,000 bucks!" I haste fully turned off the machine, leading them both over to the bikes, the last of them laying at an odd angle on the ground.
"Ah man, we have to bike?"Tidus said, face downcast. I gave him an annoyed look and picked up the fallen bike, wiping off the seat and hopping on.
"What'd you expect, we'd ride the 4-wheeler up there or something?" I said, laughing to myself for a moment. That is, until I realized what I had just said. Biting my tongue I watched as both Tidus's and Rikku's eyes lit up, instantly wishing I knew when to shut my mouth.
"Yeah, lets go!" I turned to face Rikku, who's fist was pumped in the air and leg was pulled up close to her body. 'Classic Rikku stance' I thought dully, looking at her. I sighed, distressed, as I silently cursed my big fat mouth.
"You guys, we can't." I said, taking the direct approach. Rikku's face fell, arm dropping and leg falling back to the ground.
"Why not?" Turning from Rikku's droopy face I looked at Tidus, whose eyebrow was arched in a questioning way. Staring at him blankly I scrambled to come up for an answer, and luckily my brain clicked to a pretty good one.
"Well, first off, I'm not old enough." I said simply, not wishing to elaborate. Hopefully he would take my word for it and give up without fighting. Hopefully.
"It says here you have to be 16 to drive. I'm 17." I winced, hoping he wouldn't have seen that.
"Well, it's also illegal in about three different ways..." I sputtered, looking downward. I was running out of arguments and Tidus knew it. Hearing his feet shift I looked upward once again, just to see him leap onto the machine and grab the handles, Rikku following suit. Wrapping her arms around him she laughed happily, almost like she was on some sort of sugar high.
'Machine high is more like it…'
"Come on! Haven't you ever done anything adventurous?" Tidus smiled, realizing he had me in a corner. I mumbled a little, no good comeback coming to mind. I was too young to drive but Tidus was not, the 4-wheeler was full of gas, it was considerably faster…
"And it'll be fun!" Rikku said gleefully, leaning forward and starting the machine once again. I mumbled some more, listening to the engine putt quietly in the background.
'It would be funner, and faster, easier to carry the groceries home...' I thought to myself, looking over at their two eager faces. 'And how can I let those two down?' Sighing I gave in, throwing up my arms.
"Okay, okay, we'll ride the 4-wheeler up to the store. But on one condition." I held up an index finger to prove my point. Rikku nodded, a huge smile on her face, while Tidus's fidgeted eagerly, rocking back and forth on the machine.
"What's that?" Rikku asked, smiling. I returned the smile, smirking a little along with it.
"I get to drive."
- -
AHHHHH! AAAAHHHHHHHHHH! GET ME OFF THIS THIIINNNNGGGG!"
Being on a public highway while not in a car isn't smart. And bowling down that highway on a 4-wheeler with 3 passengers, no helmets, and at a speed that was well over 60mph wasn't exactly the smartest thing either. In fact, it was down right stupid. Oh, and having a someone spaz while your driving didn't help much, either.
"RIKKU!" I yelled, wind carrying my voice back towards her. "SHUT TIDUS UP! NOW!"
By now the man had been reduced to something that resembled human jell-o, his hands turning from soft and humanly to beastly and painful, each digging deep into my ribs. His voice had turned from whimpering to moaning to screaming, and now it was degrading into a high pitched, ear-drum cracking, highly annoying screech. Even with Rikku's help, his scream continued, only stopping every minute or so for large intake of breath. And his hands continued to dig into me, causing my breath to shorten.
"Oh God, please let this ride be over soon!" I moaned, feeling Tidus's hands squeeze my spleen with almost inhuman strength.
And then I heard the siren.
"Pull over right now! You are in direct violation of-"
"AHHHHH! I WANT OFF! NOW!" The second part of the police's loudspeaker was drowned out by Tidus, who was wailing in painfully loud decibels. Resisting the urge to clap my hands over my ears I felt my stomach drop in dread.
'Leave it to me to do something so stupid…' I thought with panic as I slowed and pulled over, the cop following suit behind me.
"What are we stopping for?" Rikku asked, poking her head around Tidus's saggy frame. He had stopped wailing, finally, but was now whimpering pitifully. His hands seemed to be permanently stuck digging under my ribs, causing me to make a painfully fixed face as I yanked them down and then out of their position.
"We had to stop. The cop..." I said, jerking my head toward the squad car. Gnashing my teeth shut I turned away from Rikku, still cursing myself silently. 'Mom is gunna kill me…'
"Cop?"
I heard the car door shut behind us and the heavy footsteps of the man that was coming out of it. Turning my head as the man walked up I readied myself for his questions. As he trotted up beside me I looked up and noticed his face, which was currently in a faint smirk.
"How old are you, miss?" The cop gave me an unmistakable sneer as he asked this, tapping his ticket pad with a pen. He was young, I saw, maybe in his twenties, and was big boned with broad shoulders.
"Wow, what an ego…" I murmured, looking away. Tidus had still seemed to not have recovered, and gave a half-hearted whimper in response. Looking at him I noticed his hands were still stuck in a claw-like form.
"What did you say?" The cop inquired, voice rising with annoyance. I turned back to the man, trying to look innocent and a little clueless.
I don't think it worked very well.
"I said 15. I'm 15." He laughed at me a little, his nose crinkling. My anger started to rise with this, and I began to get an idea of just how large this man's ego was. I had a distinct visual of myself jumping on him and ripping his eyeballs out, which caused me to smile back at the smirking man. But I held my urges in check, not wanting to get in anymore trouble.
"You do know that you have to be 16 to drive a ATV." The cop said, scribbling on his notepad. I nodded.
"Yessir."
"And you do know that it is illegal to carry passengers, drive on a public road, and not wear the proper equipment." The cop peeked down at me, moving his notepad to get a good look at my face. I nodded again, looking downward.
"Yess-"
"Hey now, you wait one minute!" The cop and I turned to Rikku, who's face looked a little red and eyes were narrowed. Hands on her hips she had let go of Tidus, and I noted dully that he was currently sliding down the 4-wheeler seat. "Who are you to be ordering us around, anyway?" My eyes widened at her inquiry.
"Rikku-" I warned frantically, but the cop cut me off.
"I am a member of law enforcement. It's my job."
"Job? Hah! I've never heard of a 'cop' in my life!" I saw the cop's face redden, and his eyes begin to boggle.
"Now, listen miss, if you don't stop this nonsense right now, I might have to take you down to the station!" Looking at the cop I knew that was exactly what he would do, too. I could tell he was just itching to bring some 'delinquent kids' down to the station so he could brag to all of his friends. My eyes widened as Rikku opened her mouth to speak.
"Now you look here, mister, I-" I held up a hand, cutting Rikku off. The thoughts of metal bars and probation ran through my mind and I swallowed, knowing that I had to wrap this up and I had to do it soon.
"Um, officer, what she means to say, is, well..." Both Rikku and the cop looked at me, obvious looks of anger blanketing their faces. "Well, you see..." I stepped off the 4-wheeler and pulled him to the side, watching as Tidus slumped down on the seat, his body halfway oozing down the side. It looked like he had passed out from the strain.
"You see, my friend there, she was recently in an accident that caused her to have a rather severe case of amnesia. She thinks she's from a world called Spira, to tell you the truth!" I forced a fake laugh, hoping the cop would join in. He didn't.
"Spira, huh? I never knew that remembering fake information was ever a part of amnesia." I swallowed, knowing I had made a rather large mistake.
"Uh, well, uh you see, she used to play a lot of video games, and, uh, one of them had a world in it called Spira. And, well, that's what she remembered." I finished lamely, attempting another laugh and shrugging my shoulders. The cop peered down at me, not amused. I looked downward, face turning red.
My brain decided to remind me at that moment how very wrong lying to a cop was, but I pushed the thoughts away and focused on the current situation. 'I'm too deep to swim my way out of this one, so I might as well go with it.' I thought lamely, swallowing.
After a lengthy pause I heard the cop 'humph' and I sneaked a look back up at him. The smirk was gone from his face, replaced by another look.
"What's your friend's name?" The cop seemed to be looking at Rikku oddly, like he was trying to remember her from somewhere. I cocked an eyebrow, surprised at the sudden question. After pondering for a moment if I should tell him the truth or not I decided that it didn't really matter anymore.
"Rikku... Why?" The cop's confused look seemed to get worse, and his gaze shifted to Tidus.
"And his name?" I didn't know where this was going, but I decided to play along. Maybe I'd get lucky.
"Tidus."
"Uh huh." The cop scratched his chin, rubbing his fingers over the stubble that had begun to grow there. "And you say they think they're from Spira?" I nodded.
"Yeah. Funny, isn't it?"
The police officer nodded. Eyebrows furrowing the cop then turned away from me, walking slowly back to his car, deep in thought. Following him timidly I watched as he opened his door and threw the notepad inside, turning back to face me.
"Yeah... funny..." He mumbled something that I couldn't quite decipher before climbing fully into his car and closing the door. Starting the engine he slowly pulled up to my side, rolling down the window.
"You know, I think I'm going to let you guys off with a warning. Just... don't do it again..." Eyebrows arching I stared at him with disbelief as he rolled the window back up, giving me one last nod before pulling away. I saw his face wrinkle again in confusion as he drove past me and over the hill, disappearing in the distance. Confused myself I climbed back onto the 4-wheeler, propping Tidus back up and motioning Rikku back to her seat.
"What was that all about? What's a cop? And what was he driving!?" Rikku asked, reasonably annoyed. Putting a hand out I stopped Rikku from asking anymore questions, sighing as I realized I had to somehow keep her oblivious to the situation. But, an idea suddenly came to mind.
"Rikku, do you remember before, when you guys first showed up in my house?" Rikku nodded, the confused look still plastered on her face. "Well, do you remember what I said?"
"Yeah, you said that we 'weren't in Spira anymore.'" Nose crinkling Rikku looked at me funny, obviously confused. "What did you mean by that anyway?"
'I hope this idea works…'
"Well, you see, I meant exactly what I said. You aren't in Spira anymore." Eyes widening Rikku looked around franticly, mouth hanging open.
"What? Not in Spira? Well then where are we? Why are we here!?" I could tell Rikku was reaching mild hysteria so I stopped her again, continuing with my plan. Looking at me with a worried face she bit her lip, waiting for my response.
"Well, I'm not really sure why you're here… but, I do have my theories." I swallowed, diving in. "You see, right now you are on a continent that branches off from Spira, called America." Rikku stared at me, saying nothing. "Anyway, this America is a secret place, a place only the most important officials of Spira know about. And, as you can see, it has lots of machina…" It bugged me a little to know I was lying right to her face, but I had no other choice. There had to be some explanation why this world was so different from the one she knew.
"But I thought machina were forbidden here…" Looking downward I saw that Tidus had dragged his way back to consciousness and was now staring at me with clouded eyes. I nodded at his statement, rounding out my cover story mentally so that it seemed more believable.
"Your right. Which is exactly why America was kept secret from the population of Spira." Looking back over to Rikku I saw her eyebrow furrowed in thought as she contemplated my statement.
"But why would they want to do that?" I shook my head at this, looking away. I knew I had to be careful now, because I couldn't let either Tidus or Rikku know that the maesters of Spira were backstabbing and hypocritical. But, perhaps I could create some suspicion.
"I'm not sure. But maybe they want to keep the people of Spira oblivious, and without modern machines… That is only my personal opinion, of course." Looking back again I saw both Tidus and Rikku thinking about this, but saying nothing. And so I continued.
"Anyway, after one of my machinas blew up and knocked me out, you guys somehow showed up in my house while I was unconscious." A sudden idea came to mind. "Hey, do you guys remember how you came to America?"
Rikku put a hand on her hip and a finger on her lips as she thought about my question. "Yeah. We were walking through the Thunder Plains and suddenly there was this big burst of lightning, which knocked everyone out…"
"Yeah, and when we came to we were at your house." Tidus added, sitting up. He seemed to be mostly over his fainting stage, but his hands were still slightly claw-like in appearance. I 'hmmed' at this and thought about what they were saying, adding it into my story.
"Well, from what I can figure, you must have been transported here, somehow."
"But how?" Rikku inquired, tilting her head. I shrugged. "I'm not sure. Someone must have done it, though. Maybe you'll never figure it out." Tidus nodded at this, seemingly believing everything I was saying.
"So how do we get back?" Tidus asked, shifting slightly. I sighed at this, knowing that the question was coming. So, I answered truthfully.
"I don't know. Spira and America must be kept apart, and it's impossible to get from one to the other by normal modes of transportation. I honestly don't know how you guys are going to get back to your own world, much less your pilgrimage." Tidus and Rikku looked at each other with equally wrinkled faces, Rikku's suddenly lighting up with an idea.
"Well, then, we'll just have to figure it out ourselves then!" she said, pumping a fist into the air. I smiled at this and nodded, agreeing with her. But then, suddenly, Rikku's face drooped a little and her eyes plunged back into their pits of confusion. "But Sara… when we showed up in your house, how did you know who we were?"
'Oh. Shit.'
"Uh… well…" Mind racing I ran a hand through my hair, stuttering as I tried to cover up the hole Rikku had found in my cover story. But, luckily, a shaky idea surfaced in my brain quickly and I jumped on it, hoping they would believe it.
"Well, America has to deal with Sin just like you guys do. But… but we can't fight it, because machinas seem useless against it. And since Zanarkand is on Spira, there is no way America can have anyone go on pilgrimages. So, when pilgrimages start on Spira, we are updated about it here." Tidus narrowed his eyes at this but didn't protest, so I hoped it was just an after effect of deep thinking.
"Ahh, I see." Rikku said, nodding.
Biting my lip I looked at the two of them, hoping that they bought into my story. It was pretty far fetched, and frankly if I was in their position I would be pretty skeptical. Then again, if they really did come from the world of Spira, things like this would probably be possible and probable. Probably.
"Anyway, " I said, continuing, "A cop is a person who enforces the laws set down in America. And, driving on a road with a 4-wheeler is against the law here. If we don't get this whole trip over with soon, he could come back again and get us into even more trouble." Rikku nodded at this and Tidus just continued staring at me, brow furrowed. I could tell he didn't believe much of what I was saying, but Rikku did. That was better then nothing.
"Well, then, we better get going huh?" Rikku said, latching her arms around Tidus and hunkering down into the 4-wheeler seat. I nodded at this, agreeing. Silently I was happy the whole talk was over, and now I would just have to wait and see if everyone bought into it. The chance was small, but I had to hope for the best.
Starting up the 4-wheeler up once again I shifted the machine into drive, pulling back out into the road and starting down the asphalt.
"Oh, Tidus?" I said suddenly, making sure his hands were as far away from my ribcage as possible.
"What?" He said, voice already a little squeaky.
"Don't scream so loud this time, okay?"
- -
"So... what do you guys want?" I turned to look at the two of them, motioning at all the food that the grocery store had to offer. Rikku's mouth literally dropped open, and I saw the green tint from Tidus's face fade away as it was replaced by a look of pure happiness.
"Food! So.. much..." Tidus's voice trailed off as he just stared, eyes beginning to water. I could almost see him go into 'reminiscing mode,' thoughts of Zanarand likely drifting through his brain.
"Guess he missed Zanarkand a lot, huh?" I said, turning to Rikku. But she didn't seem to hear me, her own face full of awe. I watched, brows rising, as her eyes seemed to take in everything around her, tracing over all the boxes and cans that were stacked high in the shelves.
"How... much... food..." She sputtered, mouth dropping open again as she made another sweep with her eyes. I smiled at this response, arms crossed. Who knew someone could get so mesmerized by food? Figuring I should probably get this whole trip over with I shook my head, dropping my arms. "Hey, guys, snap out of it! This is just the first isle!"
Tidus shook his head slightly, eyes lighting up. "I haven't seen this much food in one place since-"
"Zanarkand?" I finished, looking at him with a slight smirk on my face. He looked vaguely surprised. "Just a guess..." Looking over at Rikku I noticed her eyes had begun to cloud with happiness. "Food must be a big thing for you guys, huh?" I remarked, watching her.
"Well, yeah!" Tidus remarked, hand thrown out to his side. "When all you have to eat day in and day out is potatoes…" he trailed off, leaving me to fill in the blanks.
"Hey, numb-nuts, move out of the way!" Turning around I saw that we had blocked up the whole entrance, and a line of people had begun to gather. Some of them looked a little heated, like the man that had spoken. Grabbing the now drooling Rikku I pulled her out of the way, ushering Tidus to follow. Smiling a little I tried to ignore the dirty looks I was sent.
Looking over at Rikku I now noticed that her eyes were still incredibly cloudy, and her body was starting to waver a little. I figured I better wake her up before she fell on the floor and hurt herself. "Hey, Rikku, come on!" I gave her a little shake, watching as she slowly pulled out of her trance. She looked at me, not bothering to wipe the now dripping drool from her face. Sadly enough, it was dripping right onto my hand.
"Rikku!"
"Oh, sorry..." She shook her head, her eyes beginning to focus again.
"Hey what's this..." I turned toward the loud voice, which, unfortunately, belonged to Tidus. Seeming perplexed by a large show of stacked oranges, he pulled one out to examine it. Sadly enough, it was on the bottom row.
"Tidus, no!" I yelled, running toward the produce section and dragging Rikku along with me.
…Unfortunately, I was too late.
"Wow..." Rikku said, slowing her own jog as the oranges came tumbling down. Staring as they all rolled down, bouncing off the other boxes, carts and people, I closed my eyes, not wanting to look. But it didn't matter, because I didn't have to.
"Clean up on isle two... Clean up in isle two…"
Opening my eyes a crack my mouth dropped open, watching as the last of the oranges rolled across the ground. Tidus, who seemed to have been knocked over in the avalanche of fruit, was now sputtering as the broken oranges spewed sticky juice down his body. Rikku was the first to run forward, looking generally concerned.
"Hey, are you okay?" She offered him a hand, which he took. Looking around frantically, I was just waiting for the grocery store staff to come and start yelling at us, and I knew I didn't have much time until they found us at the scene of the crime.
"Um, guys? Lets just get our shopping done, before someone gets pissed..." I glanced at the astonished costumers, who were seeming to get more and more annoyed at our presence. Laughing a little I put a hand on the small of Tidus's back, pushing him forward. "Now..."
- -
Back at the house...
Auron, who had taken made himself comfortable on the couch, looked up as Kimahri walked past him, punching buttons feverishly on the remote control. Lulu had taken refuge at the kitchen table, staring into space and rubbing her moogle doll absentmindedly. Wakka had begun to snore at the breakfast island, a bit of snot protruding out of his nose. And Yuna amused herself by walking through the library, picking out odd books and looking them over.
"Arrrr..." Kimahri let out a cat-like growl, tail flicking back and forth with anger. Auron watched him as he continued to punch at the buttons, seemingly amused.
"Let me see that." Auron said, eyeing the remote. Kimahri threw down the piece of equipment in annoyance, looking away and stomping over to the other side of the couch.
"Kimahri's hands too big. Not working." Auron looked over the TV remote, brow furrowing slightly. Finding the red power button at the top he pushed it, but nothing happened. He frowned, looking up at the square appliance in front of him. He knew what the remote did, unlike the others. But why wasn't it working? Auron then noticed something glinting to his left and chuckled, realizing it was another remote wedged into the couch cushions. Pulling it out he noticed another power button, and promptly pushed it.
The TV turned on. And someone had left the sound on a little too loud.
"Wha... WHAT IN YEVON'S NAME IS THAT, YA?" Wakka snorted loudly, pulling the loose snot back into his nose. Forgetting that he was on a chair he tried to walk forward, but just ended up smashing his shin onto the wooden island. Howling he then shifted his balance backwards, causing the chair to lean just a little too far...
CRASH
Lulu, who had covered her ears from the loud noise, gave Wakka a disgusted stare.
"Auron! Turn that contraption down!" She yelled, a little louder then intended. Finally finding the volume button, Auron pushed it, face relaxing as the sound receded. Kimahri growled at the TV, legs twitching. Yuna had ran in from the library, hand on her mouth.
"Sir Auron... what is that?" She asked, eyes wide. Auron looked over at her, setting the controller down.
"A television." Yuna looked at him, seemingly confused.
"A... tele... vision?" Wakka, who had seemed to recover from his injury, stood slowly.
"More forbidden machina, that's what it is!" Hobbling over to the living room Wakka gave Auron a piercing gaze, hand on his shin. "What is this place anyway, Sir Auron?"
Auron shrugged, taking a drink from his jug. "If I didn't know better, I'd say Zanarkand."
Lulu walked forward from the kitchen, moogle clutched rather tightly in her hands. "Didn't know better?"
Auron turned an eye on her, fingering his jug absentmindedly, but he said nothing. Sighing Yuna sat down on the couch, looking at the pictures flash across the TV screen.
"It looks almost like a blitz screen, ya?" Wakka said, sitting down clumsily on the floor. Lulu and Kimahri stayed standing behind the couch, all becoming rather mesmerized by the pictures on the screen.
"Lets see what's on..."
- - - - -
What will I find everyone watching when I come back to my house? Will I manage to keep my two shopping partners from destroying the store? How will I be able to keep Tidus from crushing me on the 4-wheeler ride home? We shall see...
Rikkoshaye