Summary: Tidus x Rikku. Yuna x Auron. An alternate take on the story that is Final Fantasy X.
Spoilers: Final Fantasy X
Disclaimer: Square Enix rocks my world. Hopefully, they won't find this or they will...do bad things to me. I'm only playing!
Author's Note: Chronologically, this actually takes place after Scene 03. More Tikku for all you Tikku fans!
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This is My Story by danakate
First Posted: 2004-03-29
Scene 05 – Rikku and Tidus Scheme
Tidus remained antsy for the rest of the day and wished the sun would set sooner. He sat by the little porthole in his room and watched as it became darker and darker outside.
And then he paced. Because he could still hear many voices above and knew Rikku wouldn't be able to get him until things had settled down.
Minutes passed. Then an hour. Eventually, the noise level outside and above Tidus faded away to nothing. And still he waited.
*knock kno-*
Tidus yanked open the door before Rikku could finish knocking.
"Ready?" she asked, grinning up at him.
"Yes!"
"Maybe we should wait a little longer…" she teased. She managed not to giggle at the crestfallen look on Tidus's face. "I'm just kidding, let's go!"
Rikku led the way, resisting the urge to pull Tidus along by the hand. Together, they snuck through the corridors of the ship without being seen.
Tidus nearly whooped aloud the moment he felt fresh air on his cheeks. Instead, he waved his arms in a big arc and stretched up on his tip-toes as if he had been confined in a short space.
Rikku giggled. "Glad to be out, huh?"
"You bet," Tidus replied, grinning back at her.
They walked to the railing and leaned on it like they had when Tidus had first been brought aboard. Tidus watched Rikku out of the corner of his eye. She seemed different…distracted.
Tidus slid down the railing closer to her. Rikku didn't notice. Tidus raised an eyebrow. He inched closer. Still nothing.
"Rikku," he called.
"Hmm?" she answered, turning…right into Tidus's smiling face.
"Whoa!" Rikku yelped, stepping back quickly…but she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and caught her foot on an uneven edge of plating.
Rikku started to pinwheel and shut her eyes, awaiting the impact of the hard, metal of the deck. Which never came. Because she was suddenly wrapped up and warm in Tidus's arms.
"Oops!" he said, apologetically. "You okay?" Tidus asked, one arm supporting Rikku, the other wrapped around the railing so they wouldn't fall.
"Yeah, thanks," Rikku said, blushing slightly. She was glad it was dark so he couldn't see her.
"You seem a little distracted," Tidus began. "Everything all right?"
He was still holding her. And she was still leaning back, looking up at him. And she couldn't take her eyes off his…those blue orbs seemed to glow in the dim light of the moon. Rikku's eyes traced the lines on Tidus's face, taking in every detail.
"Rikku?" Tidus prompted.
"Hmm? Oh…yeah, there's a lot going on," she said, straightening up and leaning on the railing again. She didn't have time to be thinking of anything other than their upcoming mission. It had been, after all, her idea.
"Wanna talk about it?" Tidus asked, turning serious.
"Um, ok," Rikku replied. It couldn't hurt to ask him his opinion, after all.
"You remember Sin, right?" Rikku asked.
"Of course," Tidus replied. He leaned his back against the railing and crossed his arms as he listened to Rikku's story.
"Do you remember Summoners?"
"Uh…not…really…" Tidus answered. In fact, he didn't know anything about them at all, but knew Rikku thought his memory was affected by Sin's toxin.
"Oh, um…" Rikku thought, finger to her lip. "Well, basically, Summoners travel to each of Yevon's temples and pray. After they pray, they gain the power of Aeons, which are like spirits. Summoners and their Aeons…they're the only ones that can defeat Sin."
Tidus nodded.
"The thing is, no Summoner has ever survived a battle against Sin," Rikku continued.
"Not even when they defeated it?" Tidus asked, eyes wide.
"Especially," Rikku answered, a stricken look on her face. "What's worse is that even if Sin is defeated, it just comes back some years later."
"So, then, why bother?" He didn't understand why anyone would want to take on such a futile task.
"The Calm…the time when Sin is not around…it's like the ultimate goal for Spira," Rikku explained. She sighed and looked out across the dark waters. "Not just anyone can be a Summoner and those with the talent…"
"It's their purpose in life," Tidus finished.
"Something like that."
"Doesn't sound like such a great thing to me," Tidus remarked with a frown.
"I know. Me, either."
"So, what does this have to do with-?" Tidus gestured around them.
"My cousin, Yuna…her father was the last one to defeat Sin about 10 years ago," Rikku said. Her head drooped and she stared into the black waters of the sea. "She's following in his footsteps," she finished quietly.
"No way…"
"Pops tried to stop her, but Yunie's stubborn," she said, a hard note to her voice. "She's determined to do this…for the good of Spira. But…I don't want Yunie to die. I don't want anyone to die. There's gotta be a way to get rid of Sin for good."
Tidus put a hand on Rikku's shoulder and she looked at him with a soft smile, grateful for his support.
"So, what are you gonna do?"
"Well, when I told you I promised to take you to Luca, I had to convince Pops that we had to go to Luca," Rikku admitted. "So, we found out that Yunie's in Kilika right now. After that, she has to go to Luca to get to the Mi'ihen Highroad and then to other temples."
"Uh…ok…" Tidus tried to keep up.
"Don't worry, if you don't remember those places, I'll show you on the map later," Rikku assured. "Anyway, I told Pops we could probably grab Yunie in Luca…during the big blitzball tournament."
"Blitzball tournament?" Tidus asked, interested.
"Yeah, the yearly blitzball tournament," Rikku supplied. "You remember that, don't you?"
"Sure do!" Tidus smiled, finally able to understand something of the conversation.
"So, we'll grab Yunie and keep her safe," Rikku said. "Until we can figure out what to do about Sin. That's the hard part."
Rikku's shoulders slumped as she thought about the prospect of dealing with Sin. "It was easy to convince Pops to do this for the sake of saving Yunie…but I'm more concerned about Sin," she trailed.
"Hey," Tidus said. He moved behind Rikku and turned her around, resting both hands on her shoulders. "It's a start, right?"
"Yeah, I guess," Rikku replied, a small frown on her face.
"Tell you what," Tidus said, coming to a conclusion. "I'll help."
"What?" Rikku looked sharply at Tidus.
"I wanna help," Tidus repeated, smiling.
"Oh, no, no, no," Rikku said, shaking her head. "I can't ask you to do that."
"Um, you're not," he winked at her. "I really want to help, Rikku. It doesn't seem right for these Summoners to keep sacrificing their lives…like you said, there's gotta be a way."
"I…" Rikku started, prepared to protest again. But Tidus had such an earnest look on his face that Rikku knew she'd have a hard time dissuading him. Part of her was glad because it meant that she could be with him for a little while longer.
"Oh…thank you," Rikku gave in and, on impulse, hugged Tidus close to her.
Tidus froze for a moment, unprepared for Rikku's sudden show of affection, but he recovered quickly and lightly wrapped his arms around her small frame.
"No problem," he said. In a bold move, he kissed the top of her head. He held his breath a moment but Rikku just snuggled closer and Tidus allowed himself to hold her a little tighter.
For a long while, they just held each other, neither speaking nor moving. The gentle sway of the ship seemed to match their mood and Rikku thought she could stay that way forever. But there were things to do and plans to be made.
Rikku looked up…and was immediately caught in a kiss. Tidus's lips were warm and soft, gentle against hers. He pulled away slowly, planting a kiss on her nose before looking down at her, a small smile on his lips.
"That was nice," she grinned at him. Rikku snaked her arms up and around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. It couldn't hurt to stay that way just a little longer.
"Rikku!" a voice called.
Rikku eeped and Tidus dove for cover in the form of a few crates that were, conveniently, on the deck.
"Yeah, Pops?" she called out, trying not to look at where Tidus had fled.
"Where did the new parts go? Weren't you the one that put them in the cargo bay?" Rikku's father yelled.
"No, Pops," Rikku answered, rolling her eyes. "Brother did that. He's probably in the mess!"
"Oh, ok…"
She watched her father's form walk away in the darkness and waited a moment longer before crawling over a crate. She peered down at Tidus who was, at that moment, looking up at her.
"All clear?" he asked.
"All clear!" she answered with a grin.
"Good," Tidus replied before grabbing Rikku's arm and pulling her down to his hiding place.
"Hey!" she cried out at the unexpected fall.
"I just want to hold you a little more," Tidus reasoned, pulling her into his lap and holding her close.
"Ya big softie," Rikku teased.
Tidus contemplated. "Uh…don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Your secret is safe with me," she giggled before snuggling up to him.
"So, when we get to Luca, what are we gonna do?" Tidus asked.
Rikku smiled to herself, thrilled at the feel of his voice under her ear. "Well," she said. "Yunie's been in Besaid for the last 10 years, and we found out that one of her Guardians is the head of Besaid's blitzball team. Rumor is this'll be his last game."
"Are they any good?"
"Nah," Rikku answered. "I don't think they've won a single game."
"Ouch," Tidus said.
"Even if they win, he's gonna quit to be a full time Guardian, so I figured we'll take Yuna and then ask him to make sure they lose to get her back," Rikku said. "It's kinda mean, but…"
"Wait a minute, I thought you wanted to keep Yuna safe?" Tidus asked.
"I do."
"But…if they win, you'll give her back?"
Rikku was quiet. "Um, no. We're gonna keep her no matter what. But, really…I want to take them all…it's just that…Pops doesn't quite know that…yet."
Tidus stared at Rikku until she looked at him. He pursed his lips and thought about what she
said. "So, you want to save everyone,
and then, maybe, we'll all figure out how to beat Sin without…dying?"
Rikku nodded, glad Tidus understood.
"Ok, but…why not just…take them all before they even play?"
"What do you mean?" Rikku inquired.
"I can't decide if it's worse to have your last game be one that you know you have to lose or just not to play at all," Tidus answered.
Rikku nodded, again. "I went back and forth on that idea…but in the end, this was what I decided. Besides," she continued. "I want to see if I can talk to Yunie before we grab the rest of her group…if I can convince her that what we're doing is for everyone's good, I'm sure she'll help us convince the others."
"This Yuna sounds like quite a woman," Tidus remarked at the conviction in Rikku's voice.
"I've actually never met her," Rikku admitted. "I mean, she's my cousin and all, but I've only seen pictures of her. See, her Mom and Dad…they weren't supposed to get married."
"Really?"
"Pops was so mad when they ran off…he refused to talk to them for so long!" Rikku explained. "But it wasn't until Yunie was born that Pops made up with Yuna's Mom…his sister."
"So, she brought your family back together," Tidus said.
"Well, sort of," Rikku hedged. "Um…see…after Yunie was born, her Mom told Pops and Pops wanted to meet them. But her Mom felt that Yunie was too little so she decided to go by herself to meet Pops and reconcile."
"What happened?" Tidus could tell that something big had happened by the way Rikku was acting.
"Sin attacked the ship Yunie's Mom was on…everyone died," she finished in a whisper.
"Oh." Tidus couldn't think of anything else to say.
"That was the reason Yunie's Dad, High Summoner Braska, decided to follow the Summoner's Pilgrimage to defeat Sin."
"And now she's all alone," Tidus finished.
Rikku nodded, unconsciously burrowing deeper into Tidus's arms.
"Yunie's parents…their union was frowned upon, almost forbidden, but they didn't care because they loved each other. And now Yunie's on the Summoner's Pilgrimage, too," Rikku said. "It doesn't seem right."
"You're right, it doesn't," Tidus agreed.
"And, part of me wonders…is Yuna doing this so she can be with her parents?" Rikku thought aloud.
The question hung in the air between them but neither was in the mood to answer, even hypothetically.
"We'll figure something out, Rikku," Tidus said. "We'll save Yuna and her Guardians. We'll save all the Summoners and we'll defeat Sin. We have to."
"Yes, we do," Rikku concurred.
They remained together on the deck of the Al Bhed ship until the first rays of sunlight began to peek over the horizon. They didn't talk much, preferring to lose themselves in their own thoughts, yet aware the other was there for them. Eventually, Rikku fell asleep, comfortably cocooned in Tidus's arms, not caring that in a few short hours, they were bound to be discovered by the crew.
She'd deal with that later.
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TBC