Yay! I won my first tennis match of the season! Oops, I forgot that you guys probably don't care too much about my tennis, as long as I get my next chapter out, right? Well, here it is! I typed it really fast so that I could update on time, so sorry that it's so short! It's definitely not the best either, but at least it's something, right? And since I don't have any tennis all weekend, I should have a better update soon! Okay, here it is! Hope you enjoy! Oh, one more thing. If you haven't read the first story in this...Er, series, or whatever it is, read it! It's called "Journey to Remembrance", and a lot of things that have to do with that story may just come into play. (I'm not too sure about that, but so far, it seems that way!) Whoa, and did any of that just make sense? Oops, I'm a rambler, what can I say! Anyway, ENJOY!
Chapter 9: Consequences
"Yuna, are you okay?" Yuna's eyes slowly opened as she looked into Tidus blue ones.
"Huh?" she asked, sitting up. Rain was pouring onto her face, and she looked at Tidus again, "The fiend!" She tried to stand up, but Tidus just pushed her back down. It was also then that Yuna realized it was dark out.
"The fiend's gone," Tidus said, and Yuna noticed that he wasn't in good shape at all.
"Oh no, Tidus...Are you okay?" Yuna asked, suddenly feeling guilty. If only she had missed that blow...
"Yeah, I'm fine," Tidus said, but Yuna noticed he didn't seem too happy about it.
"You look terrible," Yuna said.
"Well, you should see yourself," Tidus said, and he sounded quite sad, "I'm afraid you have a pretty nice black eye."
"Really?" Yuna asked, feeling her face.
"At least it's not like a broken nose or anything," Tidus said, "But...Well, I wouldn't be surprised if my arm is broken..."
"What? Oh Tidus..." Yuna said slowly, "What about your Blitzball game?"
"It's probably just sprained," Tidus said then, "I can't move it. As for the game...Well...We'll just have to see about that, I guess."
Chattering, Yuna pulled herself closer to Tidus.
"How long was I blacked out? And what happened to the fiend?"
"You've been blacked out for some time," Tidus said, "It's already dark. As for the fiend, let's just say it kind of disappeared."
"What? Just into thin air?" Yuna asked.
"Yeah. After it and I had a little fight," Tidus said, holding his arm.
"This is all my fault..." Yuna trailed, "If I would have just called for a ride..."
"Don't blame yourself," Tidus said, "If everything had just gone to plan."
"We wouldn't have needed a plan if I had just called for a ride!" Yuna said, and buried her head into Tidus' shoulder, "Now look at us! Nothing but messes, and now you won't be able to be in your Blitzball game, and..."
"And that doesn't matter to me right now," Tidus just said, "Right now, it's late, it's dark, and the only time we can see anything is when the lightning flashes."
"Guadosalam isn't far from here," Yuna said, trying to look around, "Actually...Where exactly is "here"?"
"Have no idea," Tidus said, shrugging, "I dragged myself and you over underneath a lightning tower, and we've been here since."
"It is quite dark," Yuna said, wrapping her arms around her shaking body. She was so wet and muddy, and cold...
Tidus put his left arm around Yuna, all while still babying his right arm.
"Nothin' we can do now but sleep..."
Yuna nodded, and curling up to Tidus for warmth, felt her tired body quickly fall asleep.
Tidus opened his eyes at the exact same time as Yuna the next day, and instead of seeing the bright sun like in Besaid, they were greeted by the ever continuing sound of thunder.
Yuna sat up, staring over the endless plains, not saying much.
"Do I have bags under my eyes?" she finally asked, "It's so hard sleeping with all that lightning and thunder!"
"No worries," Tidus said, smiling, "With that black eye, you can't see the bags."
"Oh, thanks, that makes me feel better," Yuna said, leaning against the pole of the lightning tower, "How bad is it?"
"Nothing a little makeup probably couldn't fix," Tidus said, "So, let's get out of here now, what do you say?"
"Okay. If we're where I think we are, we aren't too far from Guadosalam. Then, we'll quickly visit the farplane and then I'll find a way to call for a ride. How does that sound?"
"Sounds fine," Tidus said, standing up, thinking about what the Aurochs were doing without him. By now, they were probably on their way to Luca, where they would spend the next few days preparing themselves for the tournament. Tidus tried looking on the bright side: At least he was with Yuna, and not his nosy teammates.
"Alright, let's go," Yuna said, standing up quickly, "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we'll be out of here!"
"Right!" Tidus said, forcing a smile and taking her hand, "Let's go!"
The two ran off, barely avoiding lightning at times, but definitely avoiding fiends. After the day before's events, they weren't looking forward to a battle at all.
"Look!" Yuna finally shouted, after the two were beginning to grow weary from all of the running and dodging, "There's Guadosalam up ahead!"
"'Bout time!" Tidus just said, and started off faster. At the moment, he just wanted to get out of this rain, get the whole farplane deal over with, maybe take a nice long warm shower, and then play Blitz...and then..."
"Finally! We're there!" Yuna's voice erupted Tidus' plans for the future, and he slowed down, noticing that they had finally reached the entrance to Guadosalam.
"Never did I ever plan to return here," Tidus said under his breath, although he knew Yuna could still here him.
"It's not one of my favorite places either," Yuna admitted slowly, as they walked into the entrance of the Guado's home, "So let's just go to the farplane and then leave, okay?"
"That sounds really good to me," Tidus just said, as he then led the way to the farplane, "What are we going to do when we get to the farplane, anyway?"
"I'm not really sure...Just think of the Fayth, and if he appears, then I guess that means he's still dead...I dunno..."
"You really think this is going to help?" Tidus asked, and the two were now walking up the stairs to the actual entrance of the farplane.
"Maybe," Yuna said, shrugging, "Let's just hope it does."
"Yeah, 'cause we sure went through a lot to get here."
Yuna entered the farplane then with ease, while Tidus was a little slower at entering. After he successfully slowly entered, he ran up to Yuna who already had basically called the Fayth to them.
The young boy floated a ways from them, looking the same as he always looked, and Tidus stared at this illusion, as if expecting it to do something.
"Hmm," Yuna said, looking thoughtful, "It looks the same as anything else. This only makes me even more confused..."
"Yeah, me too," Tidus said, although he didn't feel any more confused. As far as he could tell, he couldn't be more confused.
"Baffling, isn't it?" Tidus asked, adding a fake little accent to his voice, "Whatever shall we do about it?"
"I like the serious Tidus better," Yuna just said, shaking her head.
"Hey! I'm trying to be serious!" Tidus said, as he turned around to leave, "Wanna go?"
"Oh, right, your game..." Yuna said slowly, "I kind of forgot."
"Not only that, but look at us! We're total messes! And man am I hungry! When was the last time I ate?"
"Is this the first time you thought of food? I'm impressed!" Yuna said, giggling, "Because it's been over a day since we last ate! Uhm, you know, I know a really good place we can eat at...If we don't call for a ride..."
"We'll just say we hate each other or something," Tidus said quickly.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Yuna said slowly, as they were now heading back down the stairs, "It's just that...I...I don't really want to go back. Not yet."
"Huh? Why not?" Tidus asked, wondering what Yuna's problem was.
"I don't want things to go back to how they have been the past few days," Yuna said, and then sighed, "I want to be with you."
"But Yuna, we have to go back sooner or later!" Tidus said, and was about to say something else, when Yuna interrupted him.
"Let's make it later then!" she said, smiling broadly, and then putting on a pouting face, "Please! The Aurochs can go without you for just one more day! Besides, you already said you weren't going to carry that team any longer! Oh please, please, pretty, pretty please! Just one more day! And maybe today will go to plan?"
"Right, I don't need to get back yet," Tidus said, smiling and taking her hand, "What do you have in mind for today?"
"First, we need to get cleaned up," Yuna said, "So we'll go across the Moonflow, and then stop at the travel agency in Djose. Then, we'll have to kind of sneak through Mushroom Rock Road, because I really don't want Nooj or anybody to see me, and then to Mi'ihen, and finally to Luca!"
"Do you make these plans up as you go?" Tidus asked shaking his head.
"Oops, which reminds me," Yuna said softly, "How's your arm?"
"Huh?" until now, Tidus had completely forgotten the pain in his arm, which hung limply at his side, "Oh, well, I still can't move it too much, but I've learned to ignore the pain!"
"Good!" Yuna said, "Well, I mean, bad, but..."
"But it's good that I've learned to ignore the pain," Tidus finished for her.
"Exactly!" Yuna finished, "Now come on, let's go!"
The two ran out to be greeted by sunlight, something Tidus was rather glad to see. It was warm, and it would finally dry them off.
"It feels so great to feel the sun," Yuna said, spinning around, as if saying Tidus' very thoughts.
"Sure is!" Tidus said, feeling much less drowsy than he had a few moments ago. It was amazing how just the sun could do that.
"Okay, so, about the Fayth issue," Yuna said softly, "Should we just ignore it for now?"
"Never ignore," Tidus said, "Just...Forget!"
"Okay, forget about it then," Yuna said, nodding her head.
"For now," Tidus said, deciding that it would be a little hard to completely forget the subject.
The two walked down the path leading to the Moonflow somewhat swiftly, and soon enough the giant shoopuf came into view.
"Alright!" Tidus said, "That thing beats airship travel any day! But I don't get it. Why don't they just use like a little boat or something to transfer people across?"
"Shoopufs used to be nearly extinct," Yuna explained, "There seemed to be no need for them. Until they were used to cross the Moonflow. I guess it's just their purpose in life.
"All Aboardsh?" the Hypello in charge could be heard from so far away.
"Hey! Wait for us!" Tidus cried, grabbing Yuna's arm and dragging her up to the boarding area.
Still dragging Yuna, Tidus jumped into the boarding machine, and watched in excitement as it raised them up.
"Your machina here may be a little old fashioned," Tidus said, as they both took a seat on the shoopuf, "But it definitely beats Machina in Zanarkand!"
"I'm glad you feel that way!" Yuna said, looking behind her back at where they had come from. The Hypello's "All Aboardsh?" could be heard once more, and at that, they were off.
Yuna stood up and sat down next to Tidus, resting her head on his shoulder.
"You are like caked in mud," she said, laughing.
"And you're not?" Tidus just said, "I can't wait to get cleaned off..."
"For a guy, you sure are worried about your cleanliness," Yuna said, shaking her head.
"Hey, I have to look good, don't I?" Tidus just asked, smiling.
"Yeah, that's always important," Yuna said, looking up at Tidus without moving her head, "I wonder if anybody's worried about us?"
"I suppose they might be," Tidus said, "But they don't have anything to worry about. Nothing's gonna happen to either of us."
Just then, at the end of Tidus words, the shoopuf suddenly stood on it's back legs, causing Tidus to topple over the side, with Yuna falling down after him, heading toward the water.
"You can say nothing's going to happen to you, but that'll just be a lie. It's only a matter of time before Yuna meets her end."
A/N: Again, sorry that it's kind of a short chapter. Oh, and if you haven't figured it out yet, for the most part, the italicized words are the Fayth's voice! Anyway, hope you enjoyed! (You can always let me know in this nice little invention known as a Review! Oh, which reminds me, thank you all of you who have reviewed! Your reviews mean the world to me! Thank you so much!)