I'm nice and warm from being outside and it's a sunny day and I have my music and there's no dad around for three weeks because he went to England which means I can probably work nonstop if I need to. Downside? I'm lazy. But I am getting started on this, and for once I actually know where I'm going! Woohoo! No more blindfolded running-in-circles for me! On with the show!
Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim the use of any familiar characters used in this story. They are sole property of Square and I merely borrowed them for my own use which has nothing to do with my own personal gain. All tips, payments, and donations you reviewers wish to give me will have to be paid under the table.
Chapter 16
Just Yuna
"It feels strange," Yuna admitted, sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest, rocking gently back and forth. She was sitting on the couch in her living room, watching Rikku and Tidus have a mad battle over which movie they were going to watch.
"Whatcha mean, Yunie?" Rikku took a moment from her fight with Tidus to talk with her cousin. Lulu came in from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn on one arm and a slightly burned Moogle under the other.
"I think she means that she feels a little odd, because she's lived for years with a constant fear and it was such a major part of her life, and now that fear is gone and she is unsure of how to handle it," the mage suggested. She looked at Yuna, placing the popcorn on the table. "Am I right?"
"Yea, that's exactly it. I just don't know what to do with myself!" She smiled a little to herself. "I'm just not used to it, is all. I'm just so used being afraid every time I step out of the house or go to school, and out of habit I'm still a little frightened, but I have nothing to worry about." She paused. "It's kind of like walking around for years with a huge weight tied around my neck and it took a lot of effort to hold my head up, only now I can hold it up without struggling."
Tidus was sitting back on his heels and looking at her with a look of admiration in his eyes. Yuna put her legs down so that she could look at him without her knees obstructing her view. Then she smiled, and jerked her head slightly towards the space next to her, wanting him to come and sit with her.
"Does this mean I've won?" Rikku asked. "Cuz you know what movie I'm gonna pick to watch if you give up now. It means we watch The Wizard of Oz instead of Spiderman. You're okay with that?" She baited, waving the DVD in front of her.
Tidus sighed slowly and turned to look at Yuna, who put her hand over his mouth.
"Before you say anything, keep this in mind: she lives with me."
"My condolences," he said quietly.
"What?" Rikku turned right around after putting the movie in. "What're you saying about me, huh? What? What's going on?" When neither answered her, she turned to Lulu, who was cleaning the burned fur on her Moogle. "Lulu, what'd they say to me?"
"Je ne sais pas," she said, carefully wiping the burned parts with a paper towel. "I wasn't listening." She propped her Moogle up in her lap. "There, that's better. Now no more going for the stove while I'm popping popcorn, all right? It's dangerous."
They started the movie, and before Dorothy sang "Over the Rainbow," there was a disturbance. A little pair of paws came out from underneath the couch and snagged Rikku in the back of her ankle. She yipped and lifted her feet up.
"Rikku, shush," Yuna whispered.
"What was that?" She asked, looking down.
"What was what?" Her cousin asked back.
"Something got my ankle." She shrugged and went back to watching the movie but then it happened again. This time she dragged it out when it got stuck on her shoe. "Ah-hah! I've got you, you little monster!"
"Hey, leave Spice alone!" Yuna snapped, snatching her cat away from her cousins' foot and cradling her like a baby.
"Leave the cat alone?" Rikku rubbed her ankle. "She was the one who attacked me! Not the other way around!"
Lulu grew tired of listening to them argue. "All right, that's it. Everyone, stand up," she commanded. Knowing better than to argue, everyone did as they were told, Yuna holding onto her cat. "Okay, Rikku, trade places with me, so you're sitting on that end of the couch, and Tidus switch places with Yuna, and Yuna you hold onto that cat. There," she said. "Now you're on opposite sides of the sofa and there's nothing to fight about. Everyone just shut up and watch the movie."
There was a long pause before Tidus got up the nerve to say, "You know, Lulu, for all it's worth, you'd make a really good parent of multiple children someday."
Lulu glared menacingly at him. "What are you implying?" She asked in a venomous tone.
"Whatcha mean?" Tidus asked, confused.
"You're suggesting that I'll end up popping out children with Wakka, aren't you?" She hissed, getting defensive out of her own paranoia.
"No, I didn't mean it, I swear!" He was beginning to slide further back from Lulu and squashing Yuna against the arm of the sofa. "Sorry, Yuna, but this is turning into a matter of life-and-death for me," he said as an excuse as he continued to try and put as much space as possible between him and the irate Black Mage.
"Lulu, why doncha leave him alone?" Rikku asked. She'd paused the movie as the house was falling from Kansas to Oz. "He didn't mean anything by it, just that you handle people so well you'd make a good mother—don't hit me!" She yelped as she covered her head and cowered, perched on the arm of the sofa.
"Lulu, you were the one who brought Wakka up. No one mentioned him, just you," Yuna said calmly. She seemed braver than everyone else because she had Tidus sitting between her and possibly death by Thundaga spell. "Now hush and watch the movie before someone comes and drops a house on you."
Tidus and Rikku waited for something to explode. But to their surprise, Lulu merely smiled and nodded before playing the movie again.
Rikku spoke next. "If someone did drop a house on her, I doubt anyone would want her shoes."
Lulu pinched her leg.
Yuna stretched and yawned. Lulu had left hours ago, and Rikku had gotten bored and gone out, so she and Tidus had had the house to themselves for the last three hours. Even Brother had made himself scarce and had not bothered them. He spotted her and Tidus cuddling earlier and ran off like a little girl having a tantrum but they hadn't seen him any more that night.
She yawned again and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "It's ten-thirty," she observed. "I think I should probably take you home." Usually she would have been scared to be out this late, but surprisingly felt very good to be able to just do things as she pleased and not have to worry about being spotted.
"You're gonna take me home?" He asked, looking down at her. "I'm not totally helpless, you know."
"Yea, but you're forgetting something."
"What?"
"I drove you here. That means either I drive you back or you can walk."
"All right, I get it."
As they made their way to the front door, Yuna remembered something.
"Oh, I just remembered. I have something for you, since I know you're probably tired of borrowing my helmet all the time when you get a ride with me." She reached into a box underneath the table in her front hall and pulled out a shiny blue helmet with a black tinted visor.
"Hey, thanks!" He smiled. "All we need now are matching leather jackets and we could be Hells Angels!"
Yuna sighed heavily, putting her right hand against her face and trying not to laugh. "Yea, the last of the Easy Riders." She rolled her eyes. "Come on, lets just go before it gets too late for me to drive." She looked outside and noticed that it was raining. Actually—it was pouring. "And too wet for me to drive. We'll be okay. It's not like I've never driven in the rain before. I just hope you don't mind getting wet."
"Naw, not at all. But we should probably go before Brother sees us getting ready to leave and tries to stop me from abducting you."
"Good idea."
"Hope you don't mind a good soakdown in the rain," she said as they mounted her bike.
"Not normally but Auron might actually get upset if I drip all over the carpet."
And off they went in the pouring rain. The ride was fairly quick but a little dangerous—the wheels kept slipping on the roads and they went through puddles, getting their legs and feet completely wet. By the time they made it to Tidus' house, it was beginning to thunder. Instead of parking her bike in the driveway like she normally did, Tidus had her leave it under the front porch so that it wouldn't get totally soaking wet. Once inside, they were greeted with towels and an unusually amused Auron.
"Hi, Auron," Tidus said, drying his hair. They were still dripping on the tile in the front hall. "Sorry I'm late."
"That's quite all right. Apparently it's raining just as hard out there as it sounds like it is in here," he said. From inside, it sounded as if stones were hitting the windows from the size and force of the raindrops. "Yuna, you aren't planning on driving back home any time soon, are you?"
"I—I was planning on it, or everyone's going to get worried about me," she said. Thunder boomed outside and lightning flashed in the windows. "Or not…"
"My sentiments exactly. I would feel better if you spent the night here, until the storm lets up," Auron said. "Why don't you call home while Tidus and I set up the spare room for you?"
"Thank you," she said. "I'm still dripping wet though."
"It doesn't matter."
Yuna nodded and found a phone as Auron and Tidus went upstairs to make up the spare bed.
After only one ring, someone picked up the phone at her house.
"Yuna, where are you?" Brothers' familiar and obnoxious voice pierced her eardrums. "What happen? I know who take you away from me, it were that blonde boy jocularity and he want—"
Someone else on his end of the line picked up a phone.
"Yunie! It's you! Thank goodness—Brother saw you leaving with Tidus and he's been all over the place crying about it!" Rikku said. "Brother hang up the damned phone!"
"I must rescue Yuna! I need to see her—if something happen to her I must not go living!"
"Hang up and I'll give you something of hers," Rikku drawled. At this the phone immediately clicked and she and Yuna were the only two on the line.
"He annoys me," Yuna said. "Anyway, I have to tell you—I'm spending the night here because it's getting too dangerous to drive home. I'll be back in the morning, okay?"
"Is this because you're alone?" Rikku asked.
"What? No! Nothing like that! It's started thundering and lightning over here and Auron said he'd feel better if I didn't drive home until the storm stopped and it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon."
"Uh-huh…" Rikku murmured. In the background, Yuna heard a male voice speaking in Al Bhed. Her cousin yelled back, "It's Yuna, I'll be there in a minute."
"Who's there, Rikku?"
"It's Gippal. He met me in the park and I offered to let him stay the night."
"And Cid's okay with this?"
"Yep!"
Yuna stared at the phone with an amazed look on her face much like she would be staring at Rikku if she were there. "You mean he doesn't know, right?"
"No, I told him. He was fine with it."
"Well, you go ahead and have fun. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"
"Sure thing Yunie," Rikku said. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"
Yuna hung up, then buried her face in her hands, laughing. Brother had completely gone back to his old tendencies. At least she wouldn't have to see him tonight. She looked down at her wet clothes. The bottoms of her jeans almost completely up her shins were soaked, and her shirt was wet, as well, and even though she had had a helmet on, her hair had also gotten pretty wet. Her socks were dry thanks to her knee-high boots, but everything else was hopelessly wet. And she didn't have anything to change into come morning…
"You needn't worry about your clothes," Auron said. He'd come up behind her. "I can clean them tonight and they'll be dry by the time you head home tomorrow."
"Thank you," she said, smiling shyly. Auron was a nicer guy than he appeared to be.
"And as for sleeping gear… will a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt work for you? I'm afraid with two men in a house there's little else to wear."
"That's all right. It's what I normally wear anyway."
Yuna donned the garments, black shorts and a gray sweatshirt with "ZANARKAND" written across the top, from Auron and quickly put them on in the bathroom over her mostly dry underwear. Then she carried her wet clothes in a bundle out of the bathroom only to see Tidus walking down the stairs in his boxers and a t-shirt, clutching his own wet clothes. Yuna swallowed almost audibly. He looked good like that. She pretended not to notice when he took a sidelong glance at her legs. Except for that once in Macalania, he had never actually seen her bare legs before.
"Hey, Yuna," he said with a smile. "Auron set you up with some PJ's I guess?" She nodded, pulling the sleeves of the sweatshirt up—they were a bit too long. Then he opened a door that lead down a flight of steps: the basement.
"Whatcha doin'?" She asked, glancing down.
"You'll see," he said to her. He stuck his head a little through the door and yelled down, "Hey, Auron! Splat test!"
"I'm listening," Aurons' voice came up from the basement.
"What's a 'splat test'?" Yuna asked, frowning from confusion.
"Throw your clothes down, see what kind of a sound it makes. I usually do it coming back from Blitz practice or a game."
"What's the point?" She asked.
"I dunno. It's fun," he said with a shrug. He balled up his shirt and tossed it down. It landed at the bottom of the stairs with a "whap" against the wall and floor.
"Nice one," Auron yelled up.
Next came his boxers, then his shorts, each making a loud splat at the bottom of the stairs. Each time, Auron made a comment about the sound and she found herself laughing at it.
"This is what we did before we got cable," Tidus commented. This just made Yuna laugh more. "You have a try—your clothes are soaked anyway."
"Okay," she said, still laughing. Her shirt came first, making a small "spak!" against the wall. Then she balled her jeans and threw them down, and they landed with a grand "whap!" on the floor below.
"Whoever threw that I think has the best one yet," Auron said. "Whose was that, anyway?"
"It was Yuna's!" Tidus yelled down.
"So this is what you do when the cable goes out?" She asked.
"Yea. It's kinda like a wet t-shirt contest, only better."
Not too much later, they nearly fell asleep on the couch while talking, and Auron suggested that they go to bed.
"Nuh-uh, Auron, you gotta go to bed first," Tidus mumbled, rubbing his eyes and squinting to try and see clearly again.
"What?" Yuna asked, looked at him with a confused expression on her face.
"I can't go to bed before he does… that's embarrassing! You realize he usually goes to bed at nine?"
"Well you'll be up until well after midnight," Auron said. "I've got things to do and I'll be up for hours."
Yuna glanced at Tidus and sighed. "I don't know what you want, but I'm rather tired. I'm going to bed," she told him, getting up.
This made him get up. "I'll be a gentleman and walk you to your room, then."
Hours passed, but Yuna couldn't grab sleep. She tossed in the bed, finally sitting up and looked at her watch. Two AM and she had probably gotten around an hour and a half of sleep the entire time. She sighed.
"It's no use," she mumbled. "I'm not used to having a bed to myself. I miss Ursa and Spice." She knew Tidus was asleep in the next room and was tempted to try and bunk with him for the night, but she would feel bad about waking him up. She put her feet over the edge of the bed and rubbed her face tiredly. She knew there was no hope for her to fall asleep alone like this…
Eventually, fatigue got to her and she tiptoed down the hall, noticing that the door to Tidus' room was still open slightly. She carefully pushed it open, wincing when it creaked a little, but no one inside stirred at all. She held her breath and walked closer to the bed where Tidus lay sleeping under a blanket and four cats.
"Tidus?" She whispered. No reply. She got closer and tried again, a little louder. Still no reply. She tried a third time, closer, hovering right over him, and a little bit louder. "Tidus."
She nearly leaped right out of her skin when he turned over to face her, mumbling in his sleep.
"I don't wanna get off the shoopuf..."
When he was facing her, he opened his eyes and squinted, trying to figure out who was in there with him.
"You're either Yuna or that girl who used to live across the street from me in Zanarkand," he declared. "Which one are you?"
"It's just me," Yuna said.
"Yuna?" He pushed himself up on one arm. "What's up? What time is it?"
She looked down at her feet and shamefully admitted, "Two in the morning. I—I couldn't sleep."
"Bad dreams?" He asked, pulling a cat out from inside of his t-shirt.
"No. I'm… I'm lonely," she said. "I'm not used to sleeping alone."
"You've always got that station-wagon sized dog and a kitten that can take up a good three-quarters of a sofa, right?"
She just nodded to this.
Addressing the cats sleeping in his bed, Tidus began shuffling them with his legs and feet. "Okay boys, move over, we got company."
"Are you sure you don't mind?" She asked shyly. She was grateful that he was doing this for her but she didn't want to be a burden.
"Are you kidding?" He asked, moving himself over to make room for her. "I wanted to have this sleeping arrangement anyway except that Auron said no." Before she got a chance to answer to that, he quickly said, "But you're not leaving—no smashing my hopes!"
"Thank you," Yuna said, smiling as she settled next to him. She was a little surprised when he gently put a hand on her hip and got closer to her.
"Better?" He asked.
"Much," she replied sleepily. "And you aren't panting all over my face like Ursa does."
Just to spite her, Tidus started panting just inches from her face.
"Cut that out," she murmured, folding her hands over her head. He complied.
"Night, Yuna."
With that, they both drifted off to sleep.
Morning came, and Tidus made his way downstairs first, leaving Yuna to sleep a little while longer. By the time she got up, it was nine-thirty and at first she didn't remember where she was or how she'd gotten there, but then she remembered—she'd asked to stay with Tidus in his room when she got lonely. Now the room was empty. Tidus and the cats had all gone downstairs, but at least her clothes were at the foot of the bed. She never liked going downstairs in her PJs, especially at someone else's house.
Once dressed, she headed downstairs and saw Tidus sitting at the kitchen table, still in his boxers and t-shirt. He'd made something out of a fork and a spoon and a butter knife and was firing grapes into the air and catching them in his mouth. All four cats were sitting around him and waiting anxiously for him to drop one.
"Morning," Yuna said quietly. Tidus turned quicky and dropped a grape on the floor. One of the cats picked it up.
"Morning, Yuna," he said. He beckoned her over with one hand. "Come on over and have a seat."
"What are you doing?" She asked, watching as he placed a grape in the bowl of the spoon, and then pounded his fist on the handle, shooting it into the air and catching it in his mouth.
"Having breakfast in a totally unorthodox manner," he replied. He did it again, and caught it in his mouth. Yuna watched him, taking a stem of grapes and tossing them into the air and catching them in her mouth.
"How are you doing that?" She asked. "Doesn't it ever go somewhere else? Like fall in the wrong direction?"
"Naw," he said, setting another catapult up. "Here, sit here, I'll show you." He got up, letting her seat herself in front of it. "All ya have to do is hit the handle and the grape flies up and then just catch it in your mouth like it you threw it."
"Okay…" she said. When she hit the spoon handle, she tilted her head back to catch it, but it missed her mouth completely and went right down the front of her shirt. "It didn't work," she said without cracking a smile.
With an equally bored expression, Tidus offered, "I can go get it for you and you can try again."
"No thanks," she said, fishing into her shirt for herself to find the missing grape. She tried a second time, only to have to reach up and catch the grape with her hand.
"No luck, huh?" He asked.
"Nope. I squashed the grape," she said. Then she opened her hand, revealing grape guts and a little juice. "Maybe you should just do this, and I'll stick with eating in a more civilized way." With that, she ate the smashed grape off of her hand. When she noticed him looking at her, she smiled. "Manners are overrated."
Eventually, Yuna mentioned that she would have to go home. Tidus nodded, and offered to go with her, but she refused. She knew Brother would be irate when she walked in, and Tidus being present would only provoke a fight.
Instead, she went home alone, intent on a shower and some new clothes. She unlocked the front door and quietly walked inside. It didn't look like anyone was up and she sighed her relief. Maybe if she was quiet about it, she could shower, get dressed, eat, and leave before Brother got up. She put her keys down and went into the kitchen. To her horror, Brother was asleep with his head on his arms at the table. He'd stayed up all night waiting for her.
"Oh, shit…" she growled. Now what? She quietly tried sneaking around him to get to the basement so that she could pick up her clean clothes, but she bumped into a chair and knocked it over.
"Yuna? Ec dryd oui?" ["Yuna, is that you?"]
Yuna winced. Busted.
"Yes, Brother, it's me."
He immediately sprang from his seat, knocking the chair back and lurching forward to hug her. She jumped back and moved out of the way so that he couldn't.
"Brother, chill out! Calm down, look, I'm back in once piece, safe and sound, you can stop harassing me now!"
"What happen to you? What does he do?" Brother seemed almost completely out of reality. He lived under the delusion that Tidus wanted Yuna for her body and no more, and her staying at his house for the night had just about shoved him over the edge of reality into his own realm of inasnity.
"Nothing happened!" She yelled, dodging him a second time. "Look, it was raining last night and it was too dangerous for me to drive back home in the rain and the thunder and the lightning so I stayed the night! Nothing happened!"
"Where did you sleep? On a couch?"
"No, I bunked with TIdus when I got lonely—" immediately, she covered her mouth. She wished passionately and more than anything else in the world at that moment that she could either rewind time and stop herself from saying that, or else she could simply vanish into thin air. Too late—she noticed Brothers eyes get as wide as turkey platters.
"You… sleeping with the blonde boy?" He stuttered. "What does he do to you? Did he take you? No! Don't tell me!" He pulled on his boots from the back door and grabbed his car keys. "I go to get him myself—no one will take Yuna from me! Nobody! He will pay for this!"
Realizing the immediate danger that Tidus would be in if she let Brother get out the door, she ran and locked the door, putting the key down the front of her shirt.
"Nothing happened, I swear it! You have my word!" She begged. Brother was stronger than most people chose to believe, and there were times that Yuna truly believed that he did not know his own strength.
"Yuna is too nice to him. He does not love you like I do. He took your revenge from you!" He made a move for the door again.
Yuna bit her lower lip. Leave it to Brother to totally screw up a common phrase.
"Brother, please, I'm not asking anymore, I'm begging—please don't hurt him! He hasn't done anything! Nothing happened! Just leave him alone!"
He was on his way to the door with his own key even with Yuna hanging onto his waist and trying to pull him back. It was no good—he was too big for her to hold back by force, and words were definitely not working. Especially because he didn't understand some of them.
"E'mm gemm res!" ["I'll kill him!"]
"Brother, stop it!" She yelled. When he turned around to look at her, she brought her right hand back and punched him dead in the face. He fell over, howling in pain.
"What's all the noise down here?" Cid grumbled, coming downstairs in his clothes from the previous day. He'd slept in his clothes again. He saw Brother standing there clutching his eye, and Yuna clutching her fist and put the pieces together.
"I know it's cliché, but I swear I didn't mean to do it," Yuna said quietly. "He was saying stuff like he was gonna hurt Tidus because I spent the night, and then I just…" she trailed off. Cid didn't look angry, but with her stoic Al Bhed uncle, it was really impossible to tell.
"You did this?" He asked, shocked. She nodded shamefully. Then, to her surprise, Cid began to laugh. "It's about time someone hit him! Way to go, Yuna-girl!" He howled with laughter, draping himself over the banister so he would not tumbled down the stairs.
"You mean you aren't mad?"
"Hell no!" He yelled. "I'm surprised it took this long for you to do it!" He got his wind back and straightened himself upright. "Okay, boy, I'll take you into the kitchen and get some ice for that eye. What'd I tell you about Yuna? I told you she was gonna go berserk one day and deck ya one! Yuna, you go upstairs and shower and change clothes. Boy, you stay down here and don't bother her anymore or she's gonna give you a two for the price of one shiner!"
Yuna stumbled back up the stairs, and realized what had happened. She'd punched her cousin. And no one was angry at her. Unfortunately, her hand was throbbing and further inspection showed that it was bruised pretty badly. She couldn't imagine the black eye that Brother was going to have in a few minutes.
Quickly, she showered and changed clothes, sitting on the edge of her bed and nursing her hand. Someone appeared at her door.
"Hey, Yunie," Rikku said. She was still in her PJ's.
"Hey, Rikku. What's up?"
"I heard my dad talking about you downstairs with Brother."
Yuna looked down at her feet, a little embarrassed.
"Whatcha lookin' embarrassed about?" Rikku asked, picking her way through the mess in her room to sit next to her on the bed. "I was sure you'd do it before now. I'm glad you did it though. He's been on about you for ever."
Yuna smiled. She was glad no one was mad at her. She didn't regret what she'd done, either. It felt damned good. "So where's Gippal? Didn't you say he was spending the night?"
"Yea he's—"
Before she got the chance to answer, Gippal came strolling past her bedroom door in his underwear.
"Hey, Yuna," he said. "Decked Brother one, didn't you?" She nodded. "I'm glad. I'd've done it myself except my mother taught me that it's not nice to hit girls," he told her with a wink.
Rikku left shortly after, and Yuna wandered down to the backyard, sitting in the hammock as she watched Ursa chase squirrels. Her hand had stopped throbbing but it still hurt to bend her fingers. Brother was in worse shape. His eye was bloodshot and the bruise around it was a nice blue-purple color.
As she dozed off in the late-morning sun, a thought crossed her mind:
Maybe she wasn't as helpless as she'd always thought.
Okay, another chapter done! The "two-chapter-and-epilogue" won, and it kinda works better anyway. I chose this title because Yuna finally gets to be herself after all the years she's been afraid of Seymour. Now he's not there to make her life miserable and she can do things that she wants to do. I planned on putting something else in with this chapter but it didn't work, so the next chapter will have it, which is just as good because it fits in perfectly with what I was gonna do to Yuna. You'll know when you see it. Please be nice to me and review!
Also—what do you people think about a sequel? Lemmie know. I'm playing with the idea but I'm not sure. The sequel would deal mainly with Tidus and Yuna and college life. Lucky for me I have a source. DEPLORA.