Hello! This is probably one of my FAVORITE chapters! I had so much fun writing it, too! Finally, it's not a filler, although I was happy to find that many of you who reviewed liked my fillers! I'm glad, because I felt kind of bad for continuing to put them in! But, if you haven't noticed, I really like to keep this story together with the actual dates. So, if it's December here, it's December there, even though I'm not really sure if Spira has seasons! Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, because it was pretty action-packed, I thought. It actually had little to do with the actual plot line, but there is a dialogue not even half-way through that is in italics. Hint: It's what I named the chapter after! Unless you've figured it out, you'll just have to wait 'till the next chapter to know what that dialogue was about! And yes, I know I wasn't going to update until like the 18th, but I just couldn't wait! Anyway, chapter five! Enjoy!
Chapter 5: Everything's All Set
Dona blew on her gloved hands, and looked around the corner, holding her cell phone to her ear.
"Alright, she just turned your way," the girl reported, and then hung up her phone, stuffing her hands into her vest pocket, "It's damn cold out here, isn't it?"
Tidus didn't answer. He was still staring at the area where Yuna had turned. He then closed his eyes and said, "Yeah," answering Dona's question. He hadn't wanted anything to do with this, honestly he hadn't, but right now, it was his only option. He had to.
"How come you're not with your dad?" Tidus asked then, looking around, trying to pretend he was having nothing to do with Dona's plan, "Isn't he in Luca?"
"Yeah, he'll be there for a while," Dona just said, staring after Yuna again, clicking the top of her cell phone down, then up, and then down again nervously.
"Where's he staying?" Tidus asked, trying to get Yuna out of his mind.
"The Grand Lucan Hotel," Dona just said, licking her lips, and then pulling her cell phone to her ear again quickly, and shouting into it, "Well?"
Tidus didn't hear what the person on the other line said, nor did he even know who was on the other end.
"What floor?" Tidus asked casually, although Dona was on the phone.
"What floor what?" Dona asked, as she hung up her phone, still looking around nervously.
"The floor your dad's on," Tidus said, doing his best to make small talk. He figured somehow he could convince himself that the reasoning behind him standing where he was standing was to talk with Dona, not to go through with Dona's little ploy.
"I don't know, he's usually on the fifth. He has his own private room, and that's where he usually stays," Dona just said, looking around the corner again, and breathing heavily, "What the hell's taking Barthello so long?"
"That brute's in on this?" Tidus said, and then sighed. He decided a long time ago that he didn't want to know what it was Dona was going to do with Yuna. He'd just decided he didn't care. Right now, he tried to focus on something else.
"Where's your old man's 'private room'?" Tidus asked instead.
"Room 512," Dona just said, before finally looking at Tidus and saying, "Would you shut up already? Can't you see I'm more nervous than hell here?"
"What are you doing to Yuna?" Tidus couldn't hold it in any longer. The way Dona was acting, he figured perhaps Barthello and she had basically planned to murder Yuna. "Tidus...What have you possibly gotten yourself into!"
"We left a note saying her little flit cousin wanted to meet her here," Dona said, peeking around the corner again, "Down that alley."
"Why would Yuna go down an alley in downtown Bevelle?" Tidus asked, now quite shocked. Part of him wanted to chase after Yuna, and protect her. He was growing nervous himself, and despite the cold weather, he suddenly found beads of sweat dripping casually down his forehead.
"Relax," he heard Dona say, "It's not like we're going to kill her, or anything! Barthello's just drugging her, and then locking her in some old warehouse. Then, we'll go tell our dance instructor that Yuna's ill, and then I'll have to get the part. And even if I don't, at least it won't be Yuna up there on the stage."
"When will you let Yuna out?" Tidus asked, feeling a little less clammy now that he at least knew Yuna would eventually be okay.
"The day after the performance," Dona just said, "And Yuna won't even remember anything that happened! Barthello's using this special potion thing. One whiff of it, and Yuna's basically out of it for a while."
Tidus shoved his hands in his pockets, staring off into space, and closed his eyes. He really couldn't believe he was letting them go through with it.
If he hadn't been so selfish, and so sure that what he did was always right, he would have ran after Yuna right now. In fact, he honestly was just about to tell Dona off and run to save Yuna, when Dona's phone rang.
"Good," Dona said, "And she's locked in tight? Okay. Good. Okay then, I'll meet you at the dance hall. See you then!"
Dona slammed the top of her phone shut, and smiled a nasty smile at Tidus, and said, "Come on, you need to give me a ride to the dance hall!"
Tidus just looked down where he knew Yuna was probably lying helpless, and, convincing himself one last time that he didn't care one bit about her, sighed and followed Dona back to his car.
"Everything's all set. I got the information you needed."
"Guess who is the flower of Yevon!" Dona said, climbing into Tidus' car and examining herself in a mirror, placing lipstick on her lips.
"You?" Tidus asked, and, found himself actually feeling quite ill.
"Yes!" Dona cried, and wrapped her arms around Tidus, much to his dismay, "Can you believe it?"
Tidus just closed his eyes, looking pained. What was he doing? He'd been the one who had cheered Yuna on two months ago. He had been the one who had convinced her to try out for the part. She had tried out for the part for him. And she had gotten it. Yuna was the rightful person for the lead. Not Dona.
"Get away from me!" Tidus cried, pushing Dona away from him, "In fact, get out of my car!"
"What?" Dona seemed confused at Tidus' sudden explosion.
"I said, Tidus said, getting out of his car, "Get out." He walked to her side, and opened the door, and grabbed her arm, pulling her out.
"Hey—what's the big deal?" Dona cried, stammering out, nearly tripping on her high-heeled shoes. She grabbed on to Tidus' arm to keep from falling, but Tidus only shoved her off, sending her sprawling on the ground.
"You know quite well what the deal is!" Tidus said, "Yuna called you her best friend! Yuna trusted you! And what did you do? First, you tried to talk her out of trying out for the part, 'cause you knew she was better than you. Then, you tried to hit on me, when you knew Yuna was dating me! And then, you took me away when Yuna and I broke up. And now...You are willing to endanger her, just so you can have some Yevon-damned part in some damn ballet performance! You're nothing but a—."
Dona stood up, brushing her un-orderly hair out of her face, and said, "So what? I have the part now! And, and...You don't have the keys to let Yuna out! So you know what, she's staying in there!"
"It's not like I care," Tidus said through gritted teeth, taking a breath. Dona was still crouched on the ground, actually looking kind of scared, as if afraid Tidus would hurt her. Then, she slowly stood up, and just smoothed her jacket out.
"I'll get Barthello to give me a ride home. Ta-ta, Tidus."
"Just one thing," Tidus said, looking at Dona cooly, "If anything does happen to Yuna, I'll make your life miserable, you damn hoar."
Tidus didn't even wait to see Dona's reaction to his comment, and he simply climbed into his car, and sped off.
"Damn rotten b—." Tidus stopped his thoughts suddenly, realizing something. He may have broken up with Dona, but he still hadn't made things right with Yuna.
"Forget Yuna," Tidus thought, "She got herself into this. It's her own fault that she ever became friends with Dona, and that's that. I'm just free and totally unbounded by love."
Ding, ring, ding, ding, ring...
"What the..." Tidus said dazedly, rolling over and grabbing his phone out of the pocket of his jeans that were lying in a heap on the floor, "Hello...?"
He had only just fallen asleep, at four o'clock in the afternoon, "Sue me, I like to sleep, okay?", and now, at seven, his phone had started to ring.
"Hello?" a high-pitched voice said loudly in his year.
"Hello?" Tidus just said again, groggily.
"Hey, where's Yunie?" the high-pitched voice practically screamed in his ear.
"Who?" Tidus just said, rubbing at his eyes, as he slowly came back to senses.
"You know very well who I'm talking about!" the voice said again, angrily, "Now where is she?"
"I don't have a clue who you're talking about!" Tidus said, being that honestly, he'd missed the name.
"Yuna! Where is she?"
"Yuna?" Tidus said, as suddenly his thoughts returned to what had happened earlier that day, "Uh...Who is this?"
"Rikku, Yunie's cousin! She said she was going to meet you, and she never came back."
"What? She was never going to meet me!" Tidus said, "How did you get my number?"
"I'm on Yunie's phone," Rikku said, "She has it under 'contacts'. Duh. Now, tell me where she is! She's been missing all day long, and she had a rehersal for her performance today! Is she with you?"
"No...," Tidus just said slowly, "She isn't. I...I um...Haven't seen her all day." It made sense to him now; Dona had told Yuna that it was he who wanted to see her. So all this time, Yuna had thought she was going to see him. But really...
"Did she want to see me?" Tidus asked, wondering that if he honestly figured Yuna hated him, why would she go to meet him?
"Well, yeah, since you broke up with Dona," Rikku said, "Yunie wanted to apologize. I think, anyway. So, you know where she is?"
Tidus was silent. Of course he knew where she was.
"No, I have no idea," Tidus just said instead, "I'll call you though, if I find anything out."
"Okay," Rikku just said, and then hung up the phone.
Tidus lingered a while before hanging up also, and stared shamefully off into space. He knew somehow that he should do something about Yuna, but for some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
The phone rang again, causing Tidus to jump.
"Hello?" Tidus said, hoping his voice didn't sound shaky.
"Hey man!" Tidus heard the voice of one of his teammates on the other line, "You weren't goin' to that party downtown, were you?"
Tidus had no idea which party he was talking about, and just said, "No, I wasn't going to."
"Oh, well, that's good, 'cause the warehouse next door to it is getting burnt down tonight. The owners are putting in some new café or something, and their torching it soon. So, the party's off."
"Okay, whatever," Tidus just said.
"But there's a party goin' on at the club down the road a ways, wanna know the address?"
"Sure," Tidus just said, deciding that perhaps what he needed was something to get his mind off of Yuna.
"It's one-o-one avenue, downtown Bevelle. See ya there!"
"Yeah, sure man," Tidus said, and hung up the phone. Then, throwing on his jeans and a shirt, he grabbed his car keys and decided to go ahead and at least make a scene, before leaving again.
Tidus almost laughed to himself as he drove down 101 avenue, thinking that he'd only visited that same avenue earlier with Dona. However, his smile instantly faded, as a sudden thought hit his mind, for as he drove down the snow-filled, Yevonistmas-lit streets, he noticed a few people surrounding the warehouse that was being burnt down. The flame had started, but wasn't too far up yet.
However, that was the exact same warehouse that Yuna was in.
Parking in the dead-center of the street, Tidus jumped out of his car, running over to one of the bystanders.
"Hey, do you know who's in charge of torching this place?" he asked, his eyes probably wide open in shock.
"No one, really," the guy said, "They have some sort of spell on the fire to burn out as soon as the building's burnt. So, no one's really watchin' it."
"Did they make sure no one's in the building?" Tidus asked then, watching as the flames got larger, hoping that Yuna was out. He wasn't really worried, being that he figured that more than likely the owners had been in the building already and had found Yuna.
Still, Rikku hadn't known where Yuna was.
"Nah, they just torched it," the man said, and already the crowd had dispersed, and the man himself was leaving.
"Okay Tidus, no big deal," Tidus told himself, "The owners must have found Yuna and removed her. And besides, that flame's pretty small. Okay, so maybe it's already a little larger than before, but...Damn, what if Yuna's in there?"
Up until now, Tidus still seemed to be in shock over the entire situation. In his mind, it was almost as if Yuna had never been in there at all. Still, something told him that something was wrong.
Biting his lower lip in his nervousness, Tidus walked down the alley that Yuna had disappeared into earlier that day, and found the door to the vast warehouse, and gave a pull on the handle, only to find it was locked.
He realized that although the fire hadn't soaked into the building, it was large, and it was really only a matter of time before the roof caved in.
Suddenly, his heart dropped. He knew more than ever that Yuna was in there, locked in there. Even if she was conscious, she was locked. There was no way she could get out.
"But there's no way for me to get in, either," Tidus thought, and then, narrowing his eyebrows determinely, shoved his shoulder at the door. He heaved himself at the door as hard as he could, once, twice, three times. Soon he knew his shoulder was definitely bruised, if not broken, but he just continued to shove his way at the door, heaving himself on it. He knew it wasn't the fire that would harm Yuna, but at any minute, the roof could fall.
"What if it falls before I get in?" Tidus found himself thinking, "What if it falls when I'm in there? Screw myself. I'd rather die than have Yuna die."
At that thought, the door finally gave way, and Tidus sprawled into the building, smacking his head on the cement floor. That didn't slow him, however, and he simply regained himself, looking into the blackness, wishing he had a light, or something. He heard something fall, and figured the roof had already caved in on the other side.
"What if Yuna was already over there?" he thought, "What if she's already gone?"
He walked a ways into the dark, and suddenly bumped against something. Leaning down, he could just dimly make out that it was Yuna.
She was lying there, her eyes closed, and appeared to be sleeping.
"Yuna?" Tidus said, kneeling down beside her. He wanted to make sure she was okay right then and there, but he knew it was only truly a matter of time before the roof fell.
Although it pained him, being that his shoulder hurt terribly, and his head throbbed, Tidus put his arms underneath Yuna's body, which was still warm, to his relief, and lifted her up carefully, thanking that Blitzball season was over. With his hurt shoulder, he probably wouldn't have been able to play.
Hoping he was going the right way, he started back toward the door in the dark, hoping he wouldn't stumble and drop Yuna.
He heard something sound as if it was cracking, and he could feel something fall to the ground directly behind him, right where Yuna had been lying.
"If I had only taken a little longer..." Tidus stopped his thoughts there, not wanting to think about it. He felt as if he was almost to the door when he felt Yuna stir in his arms, causing him to almost lose his weak grip on her.
"Where am I?" he heard her say groggily, but a quick glance at her told him she wasn't all with it.
"About to die if you don't stay still!" Tidus said, almost soothingly, however, as he suddenly became aware that it was growing very hot. "If I don't find the door—."
Tidus' thoughts suddenly stopped, as then with a horrendous cracking noise, he knew the roof had finally given way. Throwing himself and Yuna at the wall, the roof fell down around him, bringing the flames with it.
Holding Yuna up vertically and pressing her to the wall, Tidus could only close his eyes as bits of the roof, fire, and smoldering pieces fell down all around him.
He could only vaguely realize that Yuna was standing on her own, which was helpful, because a large piece suddenly stuck Tidus knocking him to the floor. Without Tidus there to support her, Yuna fell to her knees.
Wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into him, Tidus just said, "Yevon Yuna, I'm so sorry."
He had tears in his eyes, because whatever had hit him at struck him on the back.
Flames were everywhere, and he wondered for a slight moment if he was being burnt. He couldn't tell. He suddenly felt frightened, realizing that he was numb everywhere.
"Am I paralyzed?" he could only think, "Did that thing that fell crush my back? Did it ruin my spinal cord?"
He heard Yuna make a little noise, and he wondered if she was fully awake yet.
With the flames that were around them, it was suddenly much brighter, however, and Tidus could see that the door was just a little ways away. But with all of the junk and flames around him, he had no idea how he would ever get to it. As far as he could tell, they were trapped.
"There's no way out," Tidus said to himself, and then looked down at Yuna to see that there was no way she was fully awake yet, being that her eyes were locked groggily shut, and she couldn't seem to figure out what was going on, "Unless..."
Moving his legs, which honestly surprised him, being that he figured he had become paralyzed, Tidus was able to stand up.
"Come on Yuna, stand!" he ordered her, although she didn't comprehend.
"Dammit, I said stand!" Tidus roared, and pulled her up with all of his strength, only to have her fall again, "Come on, use your damn legs!"
Tidus instead wrapped his fingers tightly around her, grabbed on to the door, through the fire, and dragged himself and Yuna over to it, and finally out.
The two rolled onto the street, and Tidus felt as if he could black out at any given moment.
He looked down and realized his pants had caught fire, and quickly put them out, looking over at Yuna quickly, praying she was okay.
She was sitting a ways from him, rubbing at her eyes ferociously. Her pants were ripped, and her knee was bleeding, and she was shivering uncontrollably. Otherwise, though, she appeared to be fine.
"Yuna?" Tidus said, taking off his jacket and wrapping it across her, "You okay?"
She just looked up at him, and Tidus could tell by looking at her eyes that whatever Barthello had given her was still in affect.
Sighing, Tidus shakily stood up, although he found it hard, and did his best to help Yuna up as well.
"Come on, let's get you home," he said, and wrapped his good arm around her waist for support.
Limping in pain, he was able to guide Yuna to his car, and put her in the passenger seat. He himself climbed into his own seat then, and sped down the road, deciding he'd just have to go to Yuna's house, and drop her off there.
As he turned down Yuna's street, Yuna suddenly looked at him, and said, "Tidus?"
Jumping, for he'd been used to her being quiet, Tidus looked over at her. She was staring at him, her eyes still with a misty look to them.
"Is that you?" she asked again, and Tidus wondered why it was that she couldn't tell. He figured the effect still hadn't worn off of her.
Swallowing, as Tidus pulled into her driveway, he simply said, "No, I don't know who you're talking about."
Yuna seemed confused, and Tidus led her to her doorway, and walked her in, hoping terribly that her father nor anyone else was at her house. Luckily, no one was there.
Tidus led her to her bedroom, and laid her in her bed, although he could tell she was kind of confused.
"Who are you?" she asked, and Tidus decided that her vision must have been distorted at the moment.
"Just some guy," Tidus said, giving a small smile, "And now, I've got to go."
She just watched him, still looking confused as he silently closed her door, and left her house.
Then, he climbed into is car, and with one last look at her house, sped away, deciding right then and there that he would never come to Yuna's side of town again for as long as he lived.