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.
DO NOT COPY MY STORIES!!
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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". She has also taken to stealing my name "akksgurl" so for future reference, I am the one and only "akksgurl" and I have never posted on any other site besides this one, so if you see my stories floating around out there and they are not directly linked back here then they have been stolen and I'd appreciate if you'd report them to the webmaster for removal. Thanks a lot in advance! I am also 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.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the lateness of this chapter. With the site down for a few days and me just being generally busy, I got a little behind in posting but it's here now and I hope you all enjoy it. Spoilers for "Gippal's Sphere" in FFX-2 (although the part with a certain baddie from FFX is made up…). If you haven't gotten it then you will be surprised!!
SILVER WINGS 3: Back Into My Arms
by akksgurl
Chapter Twenty-Four: Grilled Cheese
It was certainly not the person Dona or Barthello were expecting to find on their doorstep in the late evening. The High Summoner looked flushed and extremely tired, but her eyes were surprisingly alert as she smiled, "Hello Dona. Hello Barthello. May I come in for a moment?"
Dona stepped aside for the petite female to walk in, "To what do I owe the honor?" she asked, her eyes never wavering from Yuna's form even as the summoner glanced casually around the room and accepted the proffered water that Barthello had run to fetch.
"As I recall," Yuna began, "I noticed quite a nice book collection the last time I was here."
Dona nodded, "What about them?"
"Do you happen to have one on ancient Spiran languages?" the summoner asked, taking a sip of the water and sighing contentedly, "Preferably one on the Latin language."
Dona stared at her guest. Why on Spira would Yuna want to read up on a dead language? And a boring language at that! Sashaying herself toward the window, the tan skinned woman replied, "I have a few books on ancient languages. It depends on what you're looking for."
"Well, I'm actually looking for a specific Latin chant."
Dona raised an eyebrow and looked at her guest, "Why? It wouldn't be worth its salt these days. Those spells are out of date."
"They may be out of fashion, Dona, but magic spells can never be out of date."
Dona rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say, dear." Flicking her wrist toward the bookcase, she said, "What you're looking for should be on the bottom shelf somewhere. I haven't looked for them in a long time, but I think that's where I saw it last."
Yuna walked over to the shelf and dug around for several minutes through romance novels and murder mysteries until she came across a book that had several years of dust on it. Dona sure wasn't kidding when she said she hadn't looked at it in a long time. Hoping with all her might that this is what she was looking for, Yuna opened the book called 'Ancient Spiran Languages, Vol. 2' and scanned the table of contents.
"Here it is!" Yuna cried, happily as she spun around and faced Dona and Barthello again, "Could I borrow this for a while? I'll have it back to you when I can."
Dona shrugged, "Keep it. I don't need it."
"Thank you, Dona."
"Don't mention it." She replied.
Barthello stepped forward and spoke for the first time, "Might the lady Yuna be interested in joining us for supper? I've made more than enough."
"Thank you, Barthello, but I really must be getting back." Declined Yuna with a smile.
"But…"
Dona groaned at Barthello's attempt to change Yuna's mind, "Be quiet!" she hissed at him, "Barthello, she's leaving."
And with one more smile, Yuna did just that…
------------------------.
"Rikku pushed you?!" Paine said in what almost sounded like a squeal to Gippal's ears.
Gippal nodded first, and then shook his head and finally shrugged, "Not really…" he finally admitted, "I mean, it was her body, but it wasn't Rikku."
"What on Spira are you talking about?"
How was Gippal going to explain this? He didn't even truly understand it himself. He bit his lip, "She wasn't herself. Someone was controlling her."
"Controlling who?" came Rikku's lilting voice from the doorway. She was carrying a tall glass of water and a small cup of soup and she crossed the room to Gippal quickly. Placing the glass in his hand and the cup on the table, she sat down beside him on the bed, "What did I miss?"
Paine smiled at Rikku and then Gippal, "I'll talk to you later. I'm going to let you two talk some more." She looked knowingly at Gippal, "I think I understand what you were saying. I'm going to look into it."
The two blondes sat in an awkward silence as their friend left the room. Gippal self consciously pulled the sheet up to his neck and then felt immediately ridiculous and let it fall to his waist again. It wasn't like Rikku had never seen him without his shirt on before. Rikku, however, didn't seem to be plagued by the bout of self consciousness. She was as perky as ever and showed it by bouncing up and down on the bed a few times before turning and saying, "I'm sorry I was such a meanie about the whole thing with Yunie." She twisted one of her long braids around her pointer finger, "I totally overreacted. I mean…we're just friends so you can mess around with whoever you want to and Yunie was totally within her rights since Tidus was…ya know…dead-ish and all."
"Dead-ish?" asked Gippal with a raised eyebrow.
Rikku smiled impishly, "Well, yeah. He's never really been dead. He's always been just dead-ish…"
Rikku's insane way with words was one of the things Gippal lov…er…liked – (in a totally platonic way!!) - most about her. And she was right…they were just friends. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Oh who was he trying to kid? She was the only girl in the galaxy that could make him feel self-conscious just by looking at him in her own special way. She wasn't judging him. She was just looking at him and she somehow managed to make him feel like he was worth something when his entire life he'd known that he really wasn't. He wasn't anything. He wasn't Al Bhed. He wasn't Yevonite. He was just somewhere in the middle – caught between two worlds and never truly belonging to either one. And she was just Rikku – the girl he used to torment while growing up just so that she'd notice him. The girl he used to sit and play dolls with for hours just so that he could spend time with her. The girl who made him want to be a better person when they had kissed under the bridge that day.
She was the reason he'd joined the Crimson Squad. He wanted to save the world and prove to her that he was worth taking a chance on. He'd made it out of the cave and onto the Crimson Squad only to find himself in the line of fire, running for his life with his friends away from Maester Kinoc and the Yevon soldiers. And when he'd woken up after Nooj has shot him, he'd been called to Maester Seymour and given his first – and as it turned out, only – order as a Crimson Squad member.
Kidnap the summoner Yuna and kill her guardians…
But killing her guardians would have meant killing Rikku. He couldn't bear the though of Rikku with a hangnail, let alone with his sword in her stomach or his bullet in her chest. That was why he'd warned Auron that day in the Bikanel desert. He had to let someone know what was going on and who better than the legendary guardian himself?
"Whatcha thinking?"
Rikku's cheerful voice interrupted his thoughts and Gippal sighed. He was thinking about how madly in love with her he was, but he certainly wasn't going to admit that to her so instead he said, "Nothing really…just thinking."
She smiled, "Do you accept my apology?"
"Of course I do."
"Good!" she squealed excitedly, crossing her legs underneath herself and tilting her head sideways, "So what were you talking to Paine about? Who was Shuyin controlling this time?"
"Shuyin wasn't controlling anybody that I know of." Replied Gippal, "Shuyin didn't do anything to me and that's what I was telling Paine."
"Than who was? Who hurt you?" Rikku asked, leaning in closer to him, "I'm gonna kick some serious hiney!"
Gippal sobered and gently stroked her closest hand with his finger, "Rikku, you were the one who hurt me."
He watched as Rikku's eyes widened in shock and she pulled her hand away from him, backing up on the bed but never breaking eye contact. She gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing like the Macalania fish that inhabited the spring in the middle of the now dying forest, "…what…?" she breathed.
"Someone was controlling you." Explained Gippal, "Don't ask me who. I don't know. But whoever it was is who made you try and kill me."
"…why…?"
"She said she needed to weaken Tidus' psyche. Whatever that means…"
Rikku licked her lips in thought, "How do you know it's a she. It could still be Shuyin…"
Shuyin wouldn't have tried to seduce Gippal. He wouldn't have been as blatantly sexual toward Gippal as the person inhabiting Rikku's body had been. Whoever it was was accustomed to feminine wiles. It was definitely a woman. However, Gippal didn't want to mortify Rikku by informing her that he was now familiar with every freckle on her body, so he simply said, "You could just tell, ya know?"
Rikku let a tear fall from her eyes as she cast her gaze downward, "I don't remember anything you're talking about. The last thing I remember is passing out after Tidus killed that praetoress." She sighed and gazed up at him cautiously, "Do you know who was controlling me?"
Gippal shook his head, "I'm afraid I don't, but if it's the last thing I do I intend on finding out."
"So do I." Nooj said as he walked into the room followed behind by LeBlanc, Ormi, and Logos. He smiled at his friend, "It's good to see you awake, Gippal."
----------------------------.
The S.S. Liki was still in service even though most people traveled by machina now. Yuna had been fortunate to catch the last ship out of Kilika Harbor and was happy to see the beaches of Besaid come into view. The book she'd borrowed from Dona was still clutched in to her chest, but Yuna had been afraid to look at it. She was afraid of what she'd discover on its pages.
What if the spell erased Tidus entirely? Maybe that was why he wasn't communicating with Shuyin. Or maybe Shuyin was just lying to her about it. Maybe Tidus really was screaming out for her and Shuyin was ignoring him…
Yuna shook her head and sighed. Shuyin hadn't been able to ignore Tidus before. Tidus had goaded him and Shuyin would smack himself and respond to whatever Tidus had said as if he was right in front of him. She doubted that Shuyin could turn off his natural reaction of response and even if he could, why would he do it? There was no saving him and he knew that. She'd have Tidus back eventually and Shuyin would be no more.
So why wasn't she happy?
It was a feeling that had been plaguing Yuna since the moment she'd realized Shuyin was inhabiting Tidus' body again. For a split second…a moment frozen in time…she'd been happy. Yet just as quickly, the feeling had faded and sheer fury had taken over and she'd been going on that emotion since then – except when she'd had moments of weakness and did stupid things, like busting him out of jail.
"That was really stupid, Yuna…" she muttered to herself, turning from the deck and making her way down into the cabin to await docking. She was aiding and abetting a criminal, and even though she believed that he was innocent, it didn't matter. He was still considered a criminal and she was still helping him. Yevon help her if her Uncle Cid ever found out.
The docking at Besaid went smoothly and it brought a smile to her face as Yuna remembered the beginning of her pilgrimage. She had thought she'd never see her beloved home again, but somehow having Tidus standing near her had gotten her through it. She'd felt close to him even then. She had always wondered why, but it was so clear now. They were fated – soul mates – and nothing, not even some black magic from a deranged witch, was going to keep them apart.
As Yuna stepped into the village, the first thing she noticed was that the only hut that seemed still active was Wakka and Lulu's. Then she noticed Squall and Rinoa walking hand in hand out from behind the temple. Although they were too far away and it was too dark to get a close look, Yuna noticed for the first time that there was a resemblance between Squall and Shuyin…
"Squall and Tidus…" Yuna reminded herself, "Shuyin's cousin is dead."
"Good evening, Yuna." Squall said to her as they connected in front of the door to the hut, "You've been gone for a while."
"I needed some air." Replied Yuna with a smile, clutching the book closer to her under Rinoa's scrutinizing stare, "What have you been doing?"
Rinoa smirked at Yuna and then grinned up at Squall, squeezing his hand tighter, "We were just spending some quality time together."
Yuna smiled back and looked up at Squall. In the moonlight she was startled to see just how much he did resemble his cousin. His eyes were especially obvious. They both had the same kind of striking blue eyes. Yuna was surprised she'd never noticed before. Squall tilted his head a little and Yuna's eyes traveled down his face a bit until… "Are you wearing lipstick?" she asked him, incredulous.
His gloved hand instantly went to his mouth and Yuna saw Squall turn more shades of red than she knew existed. He wiped furiously at his lips and muttered, "…whatever…" under his breath as he stalked into the hut followed closely behind by Rinoa.
Yuna sighed with a wistful smile upon her face as she looked up at the moon shining brightly down on Besaid. She had been that embarrassed when Tidus had first kissed her in the spring that night, but her embarrassment had vanished and when things took a decidedly more physical turn hours later, she didn't even care that what they were doing was frowned upon by the priests of Yevon. For the first time in her life she'd been a carefree teenager doing what she wanted to do and she realized that this must be how Squall was feeling now. He reminded her of herself at his age. He was 17 with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Sure, maybe he wasn't certain of his own death when he faced Praetoress Ultimecia, but he was still charged with 'saving the world' – although just how the Praetoress was threatening his world, Yuna was unsure of.
It didn't matter anymore, though. Things were different for everyone now. Reality and dream had molded together to form an alternate reality in which anything and everything was possible. As Yuna clutched the book tighter to her chest, she thought briefly about Shuyin and realized just how quickly things can change…
She pushed the door to the hut open and was greeted by, quite possibly, the most beautiful sight Yuna had laid eyes on in a long time. Gippal was sitting up in his bed, eyes wide and alert, trying to keep Rikku from force feeding him chunky potato soup from a nearby cup. Letting out a shout of joy, Yuna bounded over to her cousin and Gippal, "You're awake!" she cried, "You're alive!!"
--------------------------.
He had cracked the telephone receiver after slamming it down, but Cid didn't care at the moment. Things were going to shit and he wasn't going to worry over the little things right now. First he finds out that Gippal wasn't even an Al Bhed and then his little Yuna was helping the guy that had tried to kill her cousin and his daughter!!
"Kad dra tyshat yencreb nayto!" he shouted at a nearby engineer, "E's kuehk du Besaid!"The trip was short, but with Cid's mood it felt like an eternity had passed until the airship landed quietly on the shores of Besaid beach. Cid didn't even bother waiting to see if any of the ships attendants were going to join him. His feet hit the sand and he took off running before anyone had even realized he was gone. There was no time to waste. Shuyin was free, Yuna was helping him. Hell, Gippal was probably in on the whole conspiracy too!
That was it! Cid stopped in his tracks and cursed his stupidity. How could he have not seen this?! Gippal and Yuna wanted to be together, their messing around on the Zanarkand docks had only proven it, and the only way to do that was to get rid of Tidus and Rikku! They are the ones that brought Shuyin back and they staged Gippal's attack to make it look like he was innocent! This was all so that they could be together! It all made so much sense now and Cid found himself filled with a new sense of rage. How dare they do that to his little Rikku?!
Cid continued forward at a quickened pace, making his way along the path that led to Besaid. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Cid knew better. Cid knew the sinister machinations that lay in the hearts of his niece and her lover! He stormed up to the door of the hut and stopped. Voices were coming from inside. It sounded like Yuna, Rikku, and…
"The bastard is awake…" Cid muttered to himself, "I'm surprised he could fake a coma for so long. Impressive."
Cid put his ear to the door and listened quietly. Yuna gasped, "Wait…so you're saying that Rikku is the one that pushed you?"
"Well, not really Rikku. It was somebody controlling her."
Rikku's cheerful voice came next, "Yeah, and he swears that it couldn't have been Shuyin. He said it was obviously a woman controlling me."
"….Ultimecia…." Yuna whispered.
"That praetoress?" questioned Gippal, "But she's dead…"
Cid scowled and burst in the door, waving his arms frantically before him. While the trio had been the only ones talking, Cid was quick to note that they weren't the only ones in the room. Nooj, LeBlanc, Wakka, Lulu and the baby, and a few of the dream folks that Cid hadn't bothered knowing by name were there as well. It was the perfect audience for his one-man show, "I won't hear any more of this nonsense about Rikku pushing Gippal or some dead lady controlling her!" he shouted, running forward and grabbing Rikku by the arm, pulling her toward him, "Come with me and you'll be safe. They've been trying to kill you!"
Rikku stared at him, "Have you lost your mind, pop? Nobody's been trying to kill me."
Cid shook his head, "They have been!" he said again, pointing at Yuna and Gippal, "They had a plan to kill you and Tidus so they could do the hanky-panky and nobody would be there to stop them! They used Shuyin to make it look like she and Gippal were innocent! Everything was planned right down to the final detail. Why, I bet part of the deal was to give Shuyin his freedom. Am I right?!"
"What…?!" asked Gippal, incredulous.
"Shutup you…you…you criminal!" Cid stammered, his anger causing his voice to reach high pitches and crack on every other word.
Yuna stepped forward, "Uncle Cid, this is ridiculous. Gippal and I have done nothing of the sort."
"Yeah!" Rikku agreed, ripping her wrist away from her father and sticking her tongue out at him, "You've just cracked your head, pop."
"Oh really?!" Cid stated, his nose high in the air as he prepared to deliver the final crushing blow of evidence against Yuna, "Then explain to me why Yuna helped break Shuyin out of jail this afternoon."
The silence that followed was enough to put a smug smile on Cid's face. Everyone in the room seemed shocked and looked at Yuna for some sort of denial, but his niece simply stared him down until Cid felt his smile crumble. She was defiant and strong. It was the same look she had when she had insisted on continuing her pilgrimage even though she knew it would mean her death.
"Yunie…" whispered Rikku, "Tell him he's crazy…"
Cid sneered, "She can't Rikku. She did it. She's guilty." He formed a stern look on his face, "Aren't you?"
"I wasn't about to stand by and let you condemn another person without the slightest bit of reasoning or evidence." Yuna stated simply, sitting back down in the chair she had vacated and taking a long, leisurely sip from the glass near her.
"No evidence?! No evidence?!" Cid shouted, "He was found with the body! But of course, Gippal and you had planned the whole thing so he was fine, but my little Rikku certainly wasn't!!"
"Pop!"
Yuna lifted her hand and shook her head, "It's okay, Rikku. He's just angry because I outsmarted him."
Rikku looked at her cousin, "Did you really bust him out?"
"Yes, I did." Yuna sighed, "I was going to deny it and hide it for as long as I could, but since Cid has come up with these ridiculous accusations, I think it's better if I just set the record straight on why I did it." She turned and looked at her uncle, focusing both her eyes onto his, "Before I was even born you were practicing your racism and hatred on those around you. You stopped speaking to my mother simply because she fell in love with my father and married him. You had no interest in my life until we met up on my pilgrimage and even then it was only to boss me around and tell me how to live my life."
"How to end it was more like it…" scoffed Cid.
Yuna rolled her eyes, "Maybe, but it was my decision, not yours. I had truly hoped you had changed, but then you turned on Gippal without a shred of evidence. You through him in jail for Baralai's murder on circumstances that could have easily been explained away…" she sighed, "and I let you. I sat back and let you throw him in jail."
"You let me?" Cid asked, "Correct me if I'm wrong, girlie, but I'm the law in Bikanel."
"And I am the High Summoner." Replied Yuna, "What's your point?"
"Why you little…!"
Yuna smiled stiffly and continued, "Yes, Shuyin killed Baralai. Yes, he tried to kill me and Rikku and practically everyone else in this room. But he didn't do anything wrong this time and I wasn't about to let him be punished for someone else's actions. I wasn't going to let him rot away in prison, especially when he's still wearing my boyfriend's body."
Cid's mouth dropped, "So that's what this is all about?! You want Tidus and Gippal!"
"I don't want Gippal at all!" cried Yuna, pulling at her hair and spinning around.
"Then why'd you make moves on him? Hmm…?"
Yuna turned and glared at her uncle, "I didn't, but even if I did it isn't any of your business, so butt out!"
Cid returned her glare with a colder one of his own, "Where is he, girl? Where'd you stash Shuyin?"
"I will never tell you, Cid." Yuna replied, "You will never find him."
--------------------.
His stomach was screaming for attention, but Yuna hadn't come back yet and Shuyin began to wonder if she ever was going to. Maybe she was going to let him starve to death there. He couldn't imagine his Lenne letting him starve to death again, but Yuna…
Well, one never knew with Yuna.
That was the one thing he liked most about her. She was completely unpredictable. One minute she'd be furious and the next minute she'd be your best friend. Funny one minute, angry the next. She was great like that. He loved not knowing what to expect. It made life interesting.
When she came back, he wondered what her mood would be. Would she be happy, sad, angry, indifferent? His answer came quicker than he had expected as the front door slammed open and then slammed shut and he heard her pounding footsteps in the hall. Shuyin jumped up from the bed in the back and met her halfway. Her hair was wild and her eyes on fire. She was obviously really mad about something, but he didn't get a chance to ask before she said, "I got the damn book and your damn food. Cid found out about my helping you and the only reason he let me go was because he's hoping I'll be stupid enough to lead him to you. I had to spend two hours dodging his trackers just to get here. My friends think I've lost my mind for helping you and I am seriously starting to question my sanity too! I hope you appreciate all I'm going through for you!"
"I do…" he said, and she seemed to mellow a little as she lugged the small bag of food into the kitchen and sat it down on the remnants of the kitchen table. The first thing she pulled out was a box of matches and she started a small flame in the stove and put a pot down, "All I managed to get was some bread, fruit, and cheese, so I hope you don't mind grilled cheese sandwiches."
Shuyin smiled, "Sounds good." He replied, coming toward her with a grin on his face, "Say, Yuna…do you like cheese?"
Yuna tired not to laugh but ended up snorting as she tried to hold her mirth in. There were times when remembering her past life weren't so bad. She had had a few good laughs as Lenne…
Lenne decided to quickly change the subject and shouted from the kitchen, "What are you in the mood for?" She felt a blush creep into her cheeks at the sudden realization that the different ways you could take that simple sentence and she reworded with, "What would you like to eat?"
Shuyin was suddenly poking his head into the kitchen and Lenne felt like a deer caught in headlights – bright, blue headlights. The blond smiled at her, "Whatever you were going to make for yourself is fine with me."
"A grilled cheese sandwich it is, then." The songstress said.
The blitzer left the room and she could see in the reflection from one of the pots that he was sitting on the sofa again. She let out a slight sigh and then immediately realized that she had to keep the conversation going or else he might leave. Her mind spun with different things to say to him but none of them seemed right and as the time went by, Lenne panicked and said the only thing that came to mind, "Do you like cheese?"
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Lenne seriously considered summoning Bahamut to put her out of her misery. She felt a groan forming in her throat at that stupid sentence. Instead of saying something witty and charming, she had asked quite possibly the most attractive guy she'd ever seen if he liked CHEESE!
She waited and fully expected to hear the door slam behind his retreating form, but to her surprised she just heard a little chuckle as he approached her and responded with, "I like cheese, but I really love bread."
He was standing behind her now, offering if he could help her with anything and she immediately relaxed. Maybe he wasn't as bad as Yunalesca seemed to think. He was offering to help her cook. Yunalesca tried to make it sound like he would rather starve to death than lift a finger to do anything other than his "willing" fans.
"No, I've got it." She said finally. She almost regretted saying anything. She liked the way he was standing behind her. She could feel the heat radiating off of his body and once those words were out of her mouth, he backed away and she felt cold and alone.
He reentered the living room and the two made idle conversation while she made the sandwiches and silently prayed that she wouldn't burn them.
She never was a very good cook.
Luckily for her, the sandwiches turned out fine and she filled two glasses with water and joined Shuyin in the living room with their lunch. He smiled at her when he took the plate, "Thanks, Lenne."
"You're welcome, Shuyin." She responded. She loved the way he said her name. It seemed to roll off of his tongue. It sounded like a dream coming from his mouth. All of his words sounded like a dream – slow, languid, and deliciously wonderful.
He had gotten unexpectedly close to her during her reverie and when she turned her head she realized he was only inches away from her. He stared at her with Tidus' eyes, but she knew that it wasn't Tidus looking at her. She could feel the difference in the way Shuyin and Tidus gazed at her. There was a hunger in Shuyin's gaze that made Yuna feel nervous and giddy all that the same time. His eyes were just so blue and his hair was just so soft and his lips….
His lips were just so…
"I've gotta go!" cried Yuna, shoving Shuyin away from her as quickly as she could and getting around him and out toward the door, "Keep the food."
"Yuna!" Shuyin shouted after her. She heard him coming but she didn't stop moving until she opened the door and let out a curse. It was pouring. It looked like the clouds had just given way. There was no way she could make it back to Besaid in weather like this.
"It's not safe for you to go back tonight." Said Shuyin as he came up behind her and closed the door quietly, "Besides, I doubt the ships are going to be in service anyway."
"You're probably right…" admitted Yuna, trying to fight the shiver of pleasure that he invoked as he bumped her arm gently while shutting the door. Something was seriously wrong with her. Why was she acting like this all of the sudden? It just had to have been that soup Rikku made everyone eat. It hadn't tasted very good…
"Come on…" Shuyin said, "You can take the bed. I'll sleep on the floor."
Yuna shook her head, "No, you take the bed. I can take the couch. I don't want to inconvenience you."
Shuyin looked over at the couch and made a face, "You sure you want to sleep on that…?"
Yuna followed his gaze and saw that several of the rats had decided to make the remnants of her sofa into a restroom facility while she had been gone. She felt herself gag and looked at him, "The bed is better?"
"I guarded that with my life." He announced proudly, a smug grin on his face.
"Then I shouldn't deprive you of it…" insisted Yuna, "I'll take the floor, you take the bed."
Shuyin sighed, "No…you take the bed."
"No, you take it…"
"You take it…"
"You!"
"You!"
"You!!"
Shuyin raised his hand in submission, "Look Yuna, we're both adults here. Why don't we just share the bed? You take one side, I'll take the other and we just agree not to invade the other's personal space?"
Yuna's inner voice was screaming at her. Telling her that it wasn't a good idea to play with fire like this, but she was tired and ignored it. Nodding solemnly, she followed Shuyin into the bedroom and watched as he built a little "fence" out of a blanket. She smiled, "These sheets are pretty clean…"
"I washed them in the river this afternoon after you left." He said with a smile, "Then I build a fire and dried them out myself."
"Mr. Homemaker…" she teased.
"Aren't you impressed? I never used to be able to do laundry, but I'm learning."
"Very impressive…" she admitted as she kicked her boots off and climbed into her side of the bed, pulling the sheets to her chin. She watched as Shuyin finished the fence between the two of them by tying one end to the footboard and the other to the headboard.
"There…" he said, patting his handiwork, "Now you don't have to worry about me ravaging your body in the middle of the night."
"I wasn't worried about that…" Yuna whispered.
"Good…" said Shuyin with a smirk, "Cause this wouldn't really stop me if I had wanted to…"
Yuna laughed and rolled her eyes, "Maybe Yunalesca was right about you after all. You are bad news…"
"Guilty as charged, m'lady summoner." He replied, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it at the foot of the bed. Yuna's eyes widened and she quickly averted her gaze as he climbed into bed beside her. She simply adored Tidus' physique and coupling that with Shuyin's unrivaled self confidence….well…
It was going to be a long night…
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AL BHED TRANSLATION
Kad dra tyshat yencreb nayto!: Get the damned airship ready.
E's kuehk du Besaid: I'm going to Besaid.