DISCLAIMER: I do not own FFX, FFX-2, FFVIII or any of the characters and locations affiliated with it. I do, however, own the story "Silver Wings", "Silver Wings 2: 1000 Confessions" and all references to dialogue not originated by Square-Enix.
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PLEASE NOTE: "PaineOfBevelleSairysSkyeWind" is a fic stealer!! Watch out for her. She is also known as "Paine" and "Paine of Spira" I am sure I am not the only one she is stealing from so be sure to keep an eye out for my fics as well as others on other sites. She has been known to post on , , and .
Author's Notes: Yuna will probably seem a little out of character in this chapter (you'll know the part I'm talking about when you get there), but considering everything she's gone through, I think it shouldn't be much of a surprise.
SILVER WINGS 3: Back Into My Arms
by akksgurl
Chapter Twenty-Two: I Remember You
They had carted him off faster than Yuna had a chance to blink. They hadn't even followed the simply rule of non-violence toward prisoners. They'd beaten Shuyin to within an inch of consciousness before dragging him by the ankles out into the streets of Besaid to await a prison transport.
They being Cid and Brother…
She and the others stood back and watched it unfold before them. Squall had shown the briefest hint of pity when he had thought the blonde before him was Tidus, but now that emotion was replaced by indifference as he played with the blade of his weapon. The rest seemed completely confused – Selphie asking if Shuyin was Tidus' twin brother.
"Sorta…" Yuna had responded with a whisper as she watched them beat him repeatedly. She didn't have the heart to stop them, even though it was Tidus' body they were abusing. She was numb. She didn't know what to feel. She knew she should be furious with Shuyin. Gippal was still laying behind her fighting for his life with Rikku gently massaging his forehead and whispering things to him in Al Bhed. It was Shuyin's fault that things were like this. She kept telling herself that, but for some reason she couldn't completely believe it.
Something just didn't ring true…
And now Yuna found herself standing outside the entrance to Luca's small holding cell – the closest thing to a prison near Besaid - unsure of whether she wanted to go in or not. Maybe she'd go and visit him later, when he was moved to a prison in Bevelle or Home after his trial. Maybe she'd wait and give him a few days to get used to his new surroundings. Maybe she'd just never visit him and try to move on with her life.
Or maybe she'd just take a deep breath and go in there…
There was no one around besides the guards that watched her every move as Yuna made her way toward the small holding cells that were located in the basement of the Luca blitzball stadium. If it hadn't been for Shuyin, she'd never have known these things were there.
What was she doing this for?
"I'm here to see the prisoner." Yuna said to a guard standing watch just outside of Shuyin's cell block.
The guard nodded, "At once High Summoner." He replied as he reached behind him and lifted the key to Shuyin's block and opened the door. The guard valiantly motioned with his hand for her to pass in front of him while he held the door and Yuna smiled demurely at him.
"Thank you very much, mister…" she began, letting her sentence trail off so that the guard would reply with his name.
"Vengo, my lady, Maurice Vengo."
Yuna turned in the doorway to face the man fully and put on her most flirtatious smile. Having never done this before, she wasn't sure if it was working until Maurice straightened to his full height. Yuna instantly noticed that he was even more unattractive while trying to look attractive than he had been before. Stifling a groan of disgust, Yuna said with a smile, "You're such a gentleman, Mr. Vengo. I really do appreciate it."
"Anything for you, Lady Yuna." The man replied with a smile of his own – exposing his missing teeth and orange gums. Yuna felt herself shudder, but Vengo didn't seem to notice.
What was she doing this for?!
"Would it be all right if I have some time alone with him?" she asked sweetly, batting her eyes up at the man who towered over her by at least a foot, "I think he'd be more open to listening to me if we didn't have an audience."
Vengo frowned, "That's against the rules, ma'am."
"But…couldn't you bend them just for me?" she asked a little more sweetly, "It'd be our little secret…"
Yuna hadn't had much practice at flirting in her almost 20 years on Spira, but she could tell that whatever it was she was doing was working. Vengo visibly softened to her pleas, "Well…as long as my superiors don't find out then I don't see the harm in it." He grinned at her and motioned with his hand again, "I'll even keep the door unlocked for you in case you need some help." The man continued, following her down the corridor and to another doorway that he opened with the same key on the chain.
"He can't escape the cage, can he?" Yuna asked, feigning nervousness. In reality, she wasn't scared of Shuyin at all. Although he was a cold-blooded killer, she knew he'd never hurt her.
"Absolutely not, m'lady." Replied the guard, obviously taking great pleasure in soothing the concerns of the woman at his side. He jangled the key on the chain in front of her, "This key unlocks and locks everything that leads to him – including his cell. He can't get out without this."
"Interesting…" Yuna replied as the guard unlocked the final door leading to Shuyin's cell. He swung the door open for her to enter. It was a tiny room with a bench and a window on one side and his cell lining the other wall. The entire room was no bigger than the broom closet aboard the Celsius.
"When you're ready to leave, just knock m'lady. I'll be waiting over here."
Yuna nodded and watched as the guard shut the door. She heard the click of the door and turned to find blue eyes staring at her from a darkened corner of the prison cell. She connected her eyes with his and watched as he cautiously crept forward until she could see him in the light of the prison window, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to talk to you."
He sighed and sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of her, "No," he replied, "you're here to try and get me to confess to something I didn't do."
"But you did do it, Shuyin." Insisted Yuna, "Nobody else would have!"
"No I didn't!" he cried, rising to his feet and gripping the bars before him, "I swear to you, I didn't do it!"
Yuna rolled her eyes and turned her back to him, groaning in frustration, "I don't know why I even bothered! I don't know why I'm here! Uncle Cid would freak out if he knew I was here."
"They don't know you're here?"
"No," she replied, "I told them I just needed some air." She shrugged and turned toward him, crossing her arms over her chest, "I don't know what made me come here. I should have known you'd never admit what you've done."
"I didn't do it…" he replied with a forceful whisper.
"And I don't believe you…" she whispered back.
They stood staring at each other for a while as the sun settled in behind the buildings of Luca. Yuna watched the face she knew so well and tried to read what Shuyin was thinking, but she kept getting distracted by his deep blue eyes that seemed to be memorizing every inch of her features.
Finally, he spoke in a whisper, "Do you remember me…?"
Yuna rolled her eyes, "Of course I remember you. You took over Tidus' body, killed Baralai, pretended to be Tidus so you could sleep with me, tried to kill LeBlanc, and now made an attempt on Rikku and Gippal's lives. Do you honestly think I'd forget you?"
"That's not what I'm talking about…" Shuyin replied, sticking his face between two of the bars and staring at her more closely, "Do you remember the way I was…? The way we were…?"
Yuna lowered her eyes from his gaze and shuffled nervously on the cement floor, "Yes…" she whispered.
"You do?"
Her head shot up and she glared at him, "Yes, I do!" she shrieked, "Ever since the last time you put that damned ring on my finger I've had her memories flooding my brain! Do you realize how disconcerting it is to hear voices?!"
"Yes, I do…" Shuyin said, in all sincerity.
Yuna scoffed, "Pitfalls of possessing innocent people…"
"I've never possessed him, Yuna."
"Forget it." She said with a wave of her hand, "I don't know why I even came here."
Yuna turned and took a step toward the door to knock when Shuyin asked, "Why didn't you mention the voices…the memories…before?"
Yuna placed her forehead gently against the door and sighed, "I'm supposed to be tough. I'm the High Summoner. I've always put on a brave façade and I saw no reason to break it." She turned her head to look at him, "I didn't want to disappoint anyone."
"You could never disappoint anyone. You never disappointed me…"
She glared at him, "Who cares whether I disappointed you or not?! Its your fault that this is happening to me anyway!"
"I didn't mean to hurt you, Yuna." Shuyin replied, "I never meant to."
"But that's just it!" Yuna shrieked, feeling tears starting to form in her eyes, "When you try not to hurt me, you do the exact opposite!" Ripping the wrist guards from her arms, Yuna thrust her wrists in front of his eyes, "Look what I did to myself! Look what I did when I thought Tidus was dead! Look what I did when all I could hear was your voice in my head!"
Yuna knew without looking that Shuyin was examining her wrists. The scars were there and would always be, although the reddening had lessened dramatically. But they would be constant reminders of how her weakness had shown through once. She'd never let it happen again. She felt his finger trace the line of one scar slowly before withdrawing, "I'm sorry…"
"You should be." She spat.
His eyes flashed for a second and he spat back, "You know, maybe you should start taking responsibility for your own stupidity for a second instead of blaming your problems on everybody else."
"You're one to talk!" she shouted back, "Why don't you admit what you did?!"
"Because I didn't do it!" he groaned and let his head slam against the bar in front of it, "What do I have to do to make you believe me?"
"Tell the truth…"
He lifted his eyes and stared into hers, "You said you remember me…"
"What about it?"
"Then you remember the time we fought over my supposed flirting with my cousin."
Yuna frowned. She did remember that…
Saying their goodbyes to Yunalesca and Zaon, the duo started to walk down the park street and was no more than two yards from their friends when a voice echoed and Shuyin turned his head, "Shu!!" Lenne felt Shuyin release his grip on her and face the girl. She appeared to be about 16 and was very pretty. She had blond hair that hung to her shoulders and bright green eyes. She held out a blitzball to Shuyin, "Could you sign this?"
"Sure thing." Shuyin said smiling, "Who am I making this out to, cutie?"
The girl laughed and smacked Shuyin playfully, "Sidney."
Shuyin laughed and looked at the girl as if making sure before shrugging, "Okay, Sidney it is."
Lenne felt her fury mounting as Shuyin signed the ball and gave it back to the girl who promptly kissed him on the cheek and ran back across the park to a girl who didn't look much older than 10. Shuyin turned to her with a smile and said, "That was…"
"What the hell was that?!" Lenne shrieked. For a moment she didn't even sound like herself and Shuyin took a step away from her as if frightened of her sudden angry display.
Yunalesca and Zaon were there in a second and Lenne felt Yunalesca's arm on her shoulder, "Lennie…that was…" she began.
Lenne cut her off and hissed at Shuyin, "Don't you have any decency at all?!"
"Decency? I didn't do anything wrong!" shouted Shuyin.
Zaon stepped between the fighting pair with his hands raised, "I think we just had a misunderstanding." He looked at Lenne, "Lenne that was…"
"I don't recall asking you to butt in Zaon!" Lenne shouted before turning her attention back to Shuyin, "You shamelessly flirt with another girl in front of me and then say you didn't do anything wrong! You really are a fiend!"
"I wasn't flirting!" Shuyin insisted loudly before taking a breath and lowering his voice, "Lenne, if you would just let me explain…"
"No!" hissed Lenne, "I won't listen to your explanations. Something told me not to trust you and no it wasn't Yunalesca. It was my own gut instinct this time. Are you sleeping with that girl?"
Shuyin's look was of shock and disgust at the thought and for a second Lenne thought she might have overreacted but just as quickly his look was replaced with one of anger. He leaned closer to her and whispered, "Are you saying that you think I'm cheating on you?"
"Yes…" Lenne replied.
It was Yunalesca's turn again to attempt an interruption. She spun Lenne around and said, "Honey, I'm not a Shuyin fan but I can tell you that you are overreacting this time. That was…"
Shoving her friend's arms off of her, Lenne turned back to Shuyin, "Yes, I do! You couldn't possibly be happy without sex in a relationship and yet you seem to be so you must be getting it from somewhere!"
Shuyin's look was as cold as ice as he murmured, "So that's what you really think of me?" Lenne nodded and Shuyin glared at her, "Then maybe we shouldn't do this anymore."
"Maybe we shouldn't!" Lenne agreed, although the tears beginning to form behind her eyes seemed to be screaming for her to apologize to him and make it better.
"Fine." Said Shuyin, monotonously.
"Fine." Lenne said.
"Fine!" shouted Shuyin.
"Fine!" Lenne screamed.
The two of them continued screaming 'Fine' at each other for another minute before both spinning on their heels and storming off in opposite directions.
"What about it?" Yuna asked, shifting her gaze from his eyes to the floor and back again. The entire conversation was making her uncomfortable. She didn't like remembering her past with this man. It was a lifetime ago – literally – and she just wanted to forget it.
"And you must remember what happened afterward…"
"You sleeping with Allyn?" Yuna retorted, "Yeah, I remember that."
"No." Shuyin replied, shaking his head, "After that…when I came to see you."
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."
"Why are we discussing this?" Yuna asked, "It was forever and a day ago, Shuyin. It doesn't even matter anymore."
"It does matter!" he insisted, reaching out for her but she dodged and he missed his grasp. Groaning, he stared at her, "Yuna, do you remember what happened after I told you about 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.
"Do you remember that look in my eyes when I told you?" he asked, "It was a look of sincere honesty. I'm not a good liar, Yuna. If I was then you never would have realized I wasn't Tidus in the first place." He sighed and stared into her eyes again, "I'm giving you that look now. I swear on Lenne – on you – on our love that I'm telling you the truth."
He wasn't sure if she believed him. She just stood there staring at him for several minutes after his words had been spoken. If it hadn't worked, then there was no convincing her of his truthfulness. But he couldn't blame her if she didn't believe him. He'd lied to her too many times to be trusted.
She turned away from him and knocked at the door to be let out. He sighed. She didn't believe him. She must have been so disgusted with him that she didn't even want to be around him anymore. She didn't want to bother giving him an answer.
Then it happened…
The big, ugly guard answered her knock and opened the door for her, bearing a practically toothless grin at her. Yuna smiled demurely at him and then proceeded to send her knee flying upward into the nether regions that caused Shuyin pain just by looking. The huge man fell to the ground in agony and Yuna used that opportunity to cast a sleep spell on him.
Shuyin watched in sheer awe as she pulled the key from the door and started to fiddle with the locks to his cage. The click of an unlocked cell was music to his ears, "Why…?" he asked her.
"I left Gippal to rot for something he didn't do and I regret it." She explained, "I don't want to do that again."
He smiled at her, "Does this mean you believe me?"
"Lenne believes you, and for right now that's good enough for me." Yuna said as she pulled the cell open and motioned for him to exit, "We have to move quickly. I wasn't planning this so we'll have to think while we move."
Shuyin grinned broadly, "Thank you so much!" he cried, excitedly, lifting her up in the air and spinning her around before pressing his lips to hers in a kiss that made her knees feel weak. Suddenly realizing himself, he released her and took a step back, "I…I'm sorry about that." He said apologetically, "I wasn't thinking."
She looked right into his eyes, "Don't do that again or Vengo won't be the only one meeting my knee."