DISCLAIMER: I do not own any locations, characters, or names associated with Final Fantasy X or Final Fantasy X-2. I do, however, own this story J
Author's Notes: Okay…for those of you worried that Shuyin's going to end up with Allyn…don't. Shuyin and Lenne make up in this chapter. I just needed Shuyin's completely stupid move in the last chapter in order to cause Allyn's major move in the subsequent chapters.
Below is chapter 9. Leave a review and let me know what you think J
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SILVER WINGS
by akksgurl
Chapter Nine: Confessions of the Heart
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Shuyin's mind and body woke at the same time and for a moment he didn't recognize his surroundings but it all came flooding back to him. Flashes of skin and sweat; of moans and screams. The touch of her hand on his chest brought him to the sickening reality of what he'd done.
Sitting up quickly and squirming away from her, Shuyin rose naked from the bed and searched frantically for his clothes. Lifting herself on one arm, Allyn asked, "Leaving so soon?"
"Yes." Shuyin replied quietly as he located his boxers and slipped them up and over his legs followed shortly thereafter by his jeans.
His eyes scanned the room for his shirt but it was no where near the rest of his clothes and as he spun in his search he saw it dangling from Allyn's outstretched finger. The young woman smirked from her position on the bed, "Looking for this?" She rose slowly, letting the sheet drag from her body as she approached him with her hips swaying. He accepted the shirt she gave him and slipped it over his head as she lay back onto the bed and said, "We just had the best sex we've ever had and you're just going to leave? Don't you want an encore?" Allyn ran her tongue over her lips seductively and winked at Shuyin who blushed and turned away.
The blitzer couldn't believe what he'd done. The shock of it hadn't seemed to settle into his brain yet. It was almost as if he'd flashed back three years. What was he going to do? Taking a deep breath, Shuyin reached for the bedroom doorknob as he said, "Don't read too much into this, Allyn."
"Too late…"
Shuyin silently cursed his stupidity before turning to her, "This was a mistake. It won't be happening again."
"This wasn't a mistake, Shu." Allyn replied, "This was fate."
"You've never believed it fate before, Allyn. Why start now?" questioned the blonde.
Allyn lifted herself from the bed and reached for her sheer, silk robe that hung over the headboard. After securing it around herself, the young woman walked past Shuyin and out into her living room where she plopped on the sofa and smiled at him from across the way, "You came here because you wanted to be here. It wasn't because anybody forced you to be here. It wasn't because you felt obligated." She smiled triumphantly, "It was because you wanted to be here and you wanted me. You'll want me again. It's only a matter of time."
Shuyin groaned and went for the front door as he said, "I came here because I was a little drunk and was having trouble with Lenne. That's the only reason."
"You said you two split up…" Allyn stated as she stood and faced him, "I'd say that's a little more than trouble."
Shuyin didn't want to face her. He could only remember little bits of what he'd said to her. His head was still fuzzy but he did remember telling her the truth about what happened with Lenne.
Shuyin frowned at the door he faced and whispered, "Lenne and I are going to be fine."
Allyn smiled and blew him a kiss as he walked out the door, "Whatever you say, lover."
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"Will you call me as soon as you hear from him, Skirpa? Thanks. Bye." Zaon hung up the phone and sighed. Since his wife had spent the night at Lenne's trying to calm the songstress down, Zaon had taken it upon himself to figure out where Shuyin went but everytime he called the blitzer's house there was no answer. His cell phone had been turned off too and none of his friends had seen him. There was a sinking feeling in Zaon's gut that told him he knew exactly where Shuyin had been all night, but he kept pushing it away.
It was too horrible to think about.
A knock at the door caused Zaon to bolt over and pull the door open. The sight of Shuyin standing there caused a mixed reaction in his friend. Shuyin was alive and appeared to be in one piece which was wonderful, but he was also wearing the same clothes he'd worn the day before…
"Where the hell were you?!" Zaon cried as he pulled Shuyin into the house and shoved him onto the sofa. Shuyin seemed slightly out of it as he focused on his shoes and ignored his friend's question. Zaon sat on the recliner across from him, "What happened to you?"
Shuyin's shaking shoulders alarmed Zaon and it wasn't until he saw tears forming puddles on the hardwood floor that he realized his friend was crying. Moving from the recliner to a seat next to Shuyin, he put an arm around his best friend's shoulders as Shuyin whispered, "I am such an idiot…"
Zaon frowned, "Why didn't you answer your phone last night?" he asked although he already had an idea what the answer would be. He just had to hear it from Shuyin himself.
"I wasn't home…" was his friend's reply and Zaon sighed. Shuyin rubbed at his wet eyes and looked up, "I slept with Allyn."
"I thought so." Zaon confessed. Rising from his seat to pace about the room, Zaon tried to figure out what to say or do. Taking a breath, he knelt in front of Shuyin and smiled, "You didn't do anything wrong, you know." He said.
Shuyin looked at him incredulously and had the situation not been so bad, Zaon would have laughed, "How in Spira can you say that?"
"Well," came the blue haired man's response, "you and Lenne split up, right? So you were free to sleep with your entire fan club if you wanted to." Zaon shrugged, "Granted, maybe sleeping with Allyn wasn't the smartest move you could have made but it's not like you cheated on Lenne."
Shuyin sighed, burying his face in his hands, "Well maybe I didn't but she's not going to see it like that. She's just going to hate me."
"Honestly Shuyin, there's no reason you even have to tell her about this." Zaon raised a hand at Shuyin's shocked and questioning stare and said, "Hear me out! You and Lenne split yesterday afternoon meaning that last night you were a single man. Lenne doesn't know about every single girl you've slept with while you were single, does she?"
"No…but…"
"No buts! You slept with Allyn before and Lenne knows this, so just pretend that last night didn't happen last night, but instead happened three years ago. Whose going to know the difference?"
Shuyin thought on this for several minutes while playing all the different scenarios in his mind. Running a hand through his blonde hair he said sarcastically, "That will be wonderful, Zaon. Instead of me telling her the truth, I'll just wait until Allyn spills it during breakfast. Brilliant!"
"Oh yeah," Zaon said with a little laugh, "I hadn't thought about that."
"Obviously."
Zaon shot Shuyin a look and said, "Don't give me attitude or I could just feed you to Yunalesca."
"I deserve it." Shuyin sighed.
Zaon looked at his friend who was wallowing in self pity and sighed. He couldn't get over how many times one person could get himself into such weird and completely avoidable situations. Shaking his head, Zaon said, "No you don't. You may deserve a lot of things, but Yunalesca's wrath is definitely not one of them." He reached for his friend's hand and pulled him to a standing position, "C'mere. You're going to take a shower and then you're going to go to Lenne's house and make up with her."
Shuyin slowly followed his friend back toward the bathroom and watched as his friend gathered towels and handed them to him. As Shuyin walked into the bathroom, he said, "Jury's reached a verdict, Zaon…"
Zaon smiled, "I know you love her. Now just go and tell her that."
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Shuyin stared at the door as Zaon knocked and then opened, dragging Shuyin unwillingly inside. Lenne was sitting in her pajamas on the sofa with Yunalesca nursing a cup of coffee next to her. At her husband's nod, Yunalesca jumped to her feet and left with Zaon leaving Lenne and Shuyin alone.
The uncomfortable silence between them was something Shuyin didn't think he'd ever get used to and hoped that he'd never have to. Lenne rose from her seat and walked a little closer to him, "Hi there." She whispered, her voice sounded hoarse and he noted the stain of freshly spilled tears on her cheeks.
"Hi." He replied, reaching out despite himself and taking her hand. She didn't pull away and the two stood staring into each other's eyes for several minutes. Just when he was starting to relax, though, Lenne pulled her hand away and backed off toward the sofa again. Lenne said nothing and seemed terribly uncomfortable. Shuyin hated knowing that she was unhappy and that he'd done it to her. He hoped to make things better, but he knew they were going to get worse first.
"What are you doing here?" Lenne asked as she busied herself cleaning the dishes from breakfast from her coffee table.
"I wanted to apologize." Shuyin replied, "I'm so sorry for what happened yesterday."
Lenne gave him a weak smile, "Yuna told me that the girl was your cousin. I totally overreacted." She sighed, "I didn't think I'd ever see you again." Shuyin's mouth opened and closed like a fish. He was relatively sure that after he told her about Allyn, she'd never want to see him again. The blitzer was about to confess when Lenne rushed into his arms and buried her face in his chest, "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too." Replied Shuyin as he returned her hug. The two stood holding each other for what felt like an eternity before Shuyin decided it was best to get it out in the open before he lost his nerve. Holding her away from him by the shoulders he said, "I have to tell you something."
"Whatever it is, I don't care." Lenne replied, trying to restart the hug he had ended.
Shuyin shook his head, "You need to know this." Shuyin took a deep breath and tried to figure out the best way to break the news to her before deciding that it would be best to just say it, "After our breakup, I went to Irvine's Tavern. It's where I go sometimes to just cool off after a rough day. Normally I go home right after, but last night…" he paused and looked into her brown eyes. They were so trusting and he was about to shatter that trust completely with his next words, "I slept with Allyn."
She was silent. It was almost as if the words hadn't completely sunk in. Lenne turned away from him and started for the kitchen, "Did you want something to eat?" she asked. Her walking was a little stiff and her voice seemed detached.
"Lenne."
She turned quickly at the sound of his voice and watched as he took a few tentative steps toward her. She didn't move and, after a few minutes, he didn't either. They stood staring at each other, both not knowing what to say, when Shuyin whispered, "You're mad at me....huh?"
Lenne's eyes fell to the floor. They'd never really had an argument before – especially not about something like this. She'd wondered and been jealous but when Yunalesca had told her that the girl he'd been 'flirting' with was actually his cousin, she'd calmed down. She knew she'd overreacted and just hoped that he'd forgive her. Now after his confession, she didn't know what to say.
Her lack of an answer caused him to say, "I suppose that is a yes." He took a step closer to her, "I can try to explain if you'll listen to me."
Her anger rushed into her and reached the boiling point quickly, "No!" she screamed suddenly, throwing a nearby coffee cup at his head and narrowly missing contact, "I won't listen to you!" she began walking closer to him, and Shuyin took a step back. She glared at him, "How could you?!" she bit out. Her fist connected with his chest forcing the air from his lungs as she continued to beat him with her tiny hands. She wasn't hurting him physically, but his heart was breaking knowing that it was his fault that she was this upset. Tears were streaming down her beautiful face as she continued her assault, "Why wasn't I enough?" she asked finally, her fists falling dejectedly at her sides.
"I was stupid, Lennie…so stupid." He pulled back, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Lenne, look at me." She did and he saw her red-rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks. "I came here to fix things and make this right. I know what I did was really stupid and if you don't forgive me, I'll understand but I really hope you do." His words became chocked in the sobs that were forming in his throat as he grabbed her hand and whispered, "I love you…."
Shuyin didn't know if she was going to believe him, but she hadn't let go of his hand which was a good sign. He wasn't sure, but he was hoping that despite her anger and uncertainty, she felt like he did. Time seemed to stand still as he waited for Lenne's reaction. The songstress stared into his blue eyes that were pleading with her to forgive him; to believe him. His hand was trembling but hadn't let go of hers and she saw in his eyes the raw emotion that made him come here and tell her the truth when he could have easily kept his mouth shut.
He loved her…
She tightened her grip on his hand and touched his face with her free hand, "I believe you," she whispered.
He wrapped his arms around her waist tightly and she pulled him tight against her with her arms. Shuyin buried his face into her neck, and Lenne ran her fingers softly up and down his back, "I'm so sorry Lennie," he whispered into her neck. "I never wanted to make you cry…"
"It's okay," she whispered, running her fingers through his damp blonde hair. "It was my fault to begin with."
"I don't deserve you…" murmured Shuyin as he calmed down and released his hold on her briefly to wipe the tears from his cheeks.
He pulled back to look into her eyes. Tentatively, as if afraid she'd be angry, Shuyin leaned down and gently touched his lips to hers. She moaned low in her throat as the kiss deepened and he began backing her toward the couch behind them. With a thud, the two landed with Shuyin on top of her, "I'm not crushing you am I?" he asked. She shook her head. She loved the pressure of his body on her.
They stayed curled against each other for several minutes before Shuyin kissed her forehead gently and whispered, "I should get going. I'm already late for practice."
Tightening her grasp on him, Lenne shook her head, "Stay…forget practice and stay."
Shuyin grinned, "Practice shouldn't be long today. I'll come back after and we can go for a picnic in Macalania like you wanted to the other day." He smiled at her, "What do you say?"
"That sounds wonderful." Lenne replied as she kissed his cheek.
Turning his head to brush his lips against hers, Shuyin whispered, "I'm going to do everything I can to make this up to you. I promise."
