I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO UPDATE! Cries Honestly, I feel horrid! To make matters worse, this chapter isn't the best written...I am so sorry! You see, I've been trying to write this for a while, but for some reason, I just couldn't. So, I thought to myself, "Why am I forcing myself to write this? It's not quality work!" So I then stopped, and decided I'd work when I felt like it. But I just kept feeling bad for not updating, so I finally sat down and forced myself to write! I hope you still like it! I am so sorry! (Blame it on Gackt...I spend so much time downloading interviews, PVs, songs, etc.!) Honestly though, I really am sorry! However, I have been working on a Baralai story that I hope to post when I finish it!
Chapter 2: A Quick Dinner
"So, uh...Why the change of mind?" Yuna just said nervously over the phone. She had no idea why her father suddenly had a change of opinion toward Tidus, nor why Tidus suddenly was agreeing to come to dinner.
"Well...I...You know...thought it would be an okay...uh...thing to do," Tidus just said.
"Oh. Well, what happened to your phone? I've been trying to get a hold of you forever now!"
"It got smashed," Tidus just said, "A...Blitzball hit it. That's all."
"Oh," Yuna just said, "When are you getting a new one?"
"Huh? A new what?" Tidus said, and sounded as if he hadn't been listening to Yuna. Not only that, but he sounded very jumpy.
"Is something wrong, Tidus?" Yuna said, "You sound really jumpy."
"Huh? Oh, no...Uh...Nothing's wrong!" Tidus said quickly, "But...Yeah...Uh...I'll be over later today then, 'kay? For supper and all..."
"Yeah," Yuna said, "And dress fairly nicely, okay? My father has this whole weird dinner thing planned..."
"Oh...Okay," Tidus said, "Well, uh...Bye."
"Bye."
Yuna hung up the phone, and quickly glanced at herself in the mirror. She herself felt extremely jumpy, and she knew not why. Her father had been more friendly than he'd been in her entire life over the past few days, and Tidus was finally returning, but still...Something just didn't feel right.
There was a knock on her door then, causing Yuna to jump.
"Yes?" she said.
"It's me," it was the voice of her father, "May I enter?"
"Of course," Yuna said, figuring he'd come in whether she told him to or not.
He came in then, clad in a nice looking suit, and said, "How come you're not dressed?"
"Father, I was thinking maybe this shouldn't be so...elegant. It's just Tidus, after all..." Yuna said, biting her lip.
"I'm sure the boy knows how to dress," Braska just said, shaking his head at his daughter, "I'll give you ten minutes to get ready, okay? When is Tidus coming?"
"In about twenty minutes," Yuna said.
"Alright then, I'll see you downstairs in ten minutes."
"Yes, of course," Yuna said, as her father shut the door. Sighing, Yuna clad the evening gown that had been laid out for her.
It was supposed to be just Yuna and her father, but, annoyed, Yuna realized that there were quite a few of her father's officials in the halls. However, the dining room was vacant, and there were only three settings upon the table.
Ding dong...Even the typical things like the doorbell ringing were making Yuna jump. She had just sat down in thought, and now she reminded herself that Tidus must have arrived. She jumped out of her seat, rushing to the door just as one of her father's officials opened it.
Tidus stood there, dressed nicely enough, with his hands shoved in his pockets. He looked about as nervous as Yuna felt, but he smiled upon seeing her.
"Tidus!" Yuna said, wrapping her arms around him, "It's good to see you!"
"Yeah," Tidus said, looking past her, and then whispering, "What's with all the people?"
"Never mind them," Yuna said, linking arms with Tidus and leading him past the many people, "They're always around, doing nothing. I swear they live here...They're always here."
"That must suck," Tidus just said, looking around at everybody as Yuna led him to the dining room, "Where's your old man?"
"I'm not really sure," Yuna said softly, and turned to Tidus, and nervously fidgeted with his tie, trying to make sure it was perfectly straight. She then sighed as she noticed his hair was still damp, obviously from his shower after Blitz camp.
"You could have at least dried your hair," Yuna said, shaking her head.
"Yeah, 'spose I could've," Tidus just said, shrugging.
"Well, uh, take a seat right there," Yuna said, pointing to where Tidus was to sit, "And please try to refer to him as Sir, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Tidus said, sitting down, "What are we having?"
"I'm not sure on that, either," Yuna said, shaking her head.
"Make sure it's low carbs," Tidus said, "I'm on a diet."
"What? You, on a diet?" Yuna said, raising her eyebrows.
"Yup," Tidus said, patting his stomach, "Time for me to lose this excess weight."
"What excess weight?" Yuna said, rolling her eyes as Tidus continued to pat imaginary weight, "I think you're seeing things."
"Nope," Tidus said, "Coach said I could lose a few pounds."
Yuna just shook her head.
At that moment, the doors to the kitchen opened, and Lord Braska walked in, and stood there with a smile on his face.
"Why, Tidus, is it?" Braska said, "How pleased I am to meet you!"
Yuna gave Tidus a kick from underneath the table, signifying he was to stand and shake her father's hand.
"Oh, Yeah, nice to meet you too," Tidus said, standing up and shaking Lord Braska's hand.
"Sir," Yuna said under her breath, "Nice to meet you too, SIR!"
"Sorry," Tidus just whispered.
"Excuse me?" Braska said, not having heard Yuna, but having heard Tidus.
"Nothing, Sir," Tidus said, looking satisfied with himself upon saying the word "sir".
"Well, have a seat," Braska said, nodding toward the seat that Tidus had stood from not too long ago.
"Yes, thank you, Sir," Tidus said, and sat down, and Braska followed suit.
"So," Braska said upon sitting, "Yuna tells me you play Blitzball for the Bevelle Brutes, and I must admit, even I have heard of you. You took the Brutes all of the way to the Luca tournament, only to get last place, am I correct?"
"Father," Yuna said, giving her father a warning look.
"That's completely correct," Tidus said, giving Braska a satisfied smile, "'Cause I was too busy with your daughter!"
"Tidus!" Yuna said.
"Well, maybe if you hadn't completely brainwashed her into going to Luca with you, you could have won!" Braska said, his voice rising.
"Oh, brainwashed her, did I?" Tidus said, his voice also rasing.
"Uh, guys," Yuna said, trying to calm them down.
"Why else would my daughter go with you?" Braska said.
"Because she likes me!" Tidus said.
"Oh really? What makes you think that?" Braska said, loudly, "Maybe she–."
"Please! I'm right here," Yuna said loudly, causing both of them to look at her, "So, Tidus, how was your Blitz camp?"
Both Tidus and Braska sat back in their chairs, although they continued glaring at each other.
"It was fine," Tidus just said.
"That's nice," Braska said, "How is your father, Tidus? Does he still play Blitzball?"
"Uh...Not much," Tidus said, glaring even more so at Braska.
"Really? What does he do for a living?"
"Plenty of things..." Tidus just said, now looking away from Braska.
"Oh...Like what kind of things?"
"Just because he's not some Maester of Spira doesn't mean he's completely lousy!" Tidus finally just said, leaning back in his chair, looking angry.
"Everybody!" Yuna said, trying to direct the attention to herself, deciding it would be better that way, "The spring dance show is going to be held in April, and I got another lead. My second in one year! Aren't you all excited?"
"That's great!" both Tidus and Braska said at the same time, which caused them both to glare angrily at each other again.
"Uh...The dance is our rebirth special, celebrating the rebirth of Lady Yunalesca," Yuna just said, and tried to think of something to add, "I'm...really happy to have gotten the part."
"With Dona gone, there probably wasn't much competition," Tidus said, thinking aloud. However, this caused Braska's eyes to suddenly flame over.
"IF IT WASN'T FOR SOME CRAZY GROUP, MISS DONA WOULD STILL BE HERE!" Braska roared.
"She didn't have to leave just 'cause her bozo father died!" Tidus said, causing Yuna to gripe. She had really expected them to behave and get along.
To save the moment, the cooks came out then with plates full of food. They gave a still-red Braska his plate first, and then gave Tidus and Yuna's their's at the same time.
"Alright! No more diet for me!" Tidus exclaimed, licking his lips greedily, and started to eat.
"Um, Tidus, first we must pray," Yuna said, and, somewhat embarrassingly, Tidus put down his fork.
"Right, I'll lead," Tidus said, which amazed Yuna, and even Braska raised his eyebrows as if to say, "Oh, really...?"
"Alright," Tidus said, "Yevon, thank you very much for the food, and of course, for Blitzball."
Braska side-glanced Tidus with a disgusted look on his face, but then continued on looking down at the table in prayer.
"Thank you Yevon for making wonderful people like Yuna," Tidus then said, causing Yuna to turn red, "And thank you Yevon for guiding Yuna through her dance to gain the lead. However, Yevon, could you please allow the rest of this dinner to go by very smoothly and happily, for Yuna's sake?"
Braska looked over at Tidus again, and scrunched his nose in disgust.
"Thank you again, Yevon," Tidus said in the most fake voice Yuna could ever hear, "Alright, let's eat!"
"Um...Thank you, Tidus, for that...prayer," Yuna just said, looking over at her father.
"Yes...Thank you," Braska just said, although he continued to glare at the already-eating Tidus.
They all ate in silence, not talking for a very long time. Tidus finished his second helping before Yuna and Braska had finished their first and said, "Excuse me, but I need to take a sh–I mean, I gotta use the restroom."
"Would you like me to send for a cook to show you the way?" Braska asked, looking annoyed at Tidus' sudden outburst.
"Nah, I know where they are," Tidus said, giving Braska a wink, causing Yuna to sigh and redden at the same time.
At that, Tidus gave a salute, and left the room.
After a moment, Braska said, "Yuna, I am very disappointed in your choice of him."
"Father, I...You...Tidus...He's not..."
"Yuna, don't even try to explain. He is a good-for-nothing Blitzball player. I am very disappointed..."
"I know he acts..."
"He's from Zanarakand no doubt," Braska then said, looking in thought, "They're all like him in those parts."
Yuna didn't say anything, but leaned back in her chair. It was weird how her father acted as if he knew nothing of Tidus, when Yuna knew very well that her father had known both of Tidus' parent, and therefore had known Tidus. Or at least, if Tidus had always been telling the truth...
Turning back to her food, Yuna decided not to let it worry her.
"Man, why me?" Tidus thought as he marched through the halls. He knew by now he was far away from the restroom, but that wasn't where he attended to go. He had to find Braska's den, and steal some documents–anything he could get his hands on. As for the rest...Well, that was what his new camera-phone was for.
Tidus finally found the room that Nooj had explained to him, and tried the door to find it locked. Tidus pulled out a pick from his pocket and carefully picked the lock, hoping no people would come around the corner and see him at work. After a moment, Tidus was able to pick the lock and was then granted access into the room.
Tidus knew very well that whatever he did in this room would ultimately either lead to his own death or Braska's, or even worse, Yuna's. Sighing, Tidus knew he chose Braska's over all of those people.
Tidus entered the room, and moved to the desk, which was littered with papers. Opening the vest of his jacket, which concealed a hidden pocket, Tidus began stuffing documents into them, and flashing pictures of other documents. He wasn't one hundred percent sure on what he was getting, but Nooj had ordered him to grab a little bit of everything.
Tidus had been so into digging around that he didn't hear anyone enter the room until he suddenly heard the cock of a pistol.
Jumping, Tidus looked up to meet the barrel of a pistol pointed at his head, held by none other than Lord Braska himself.
"What do you think you're doing?" he sneered at Tidus.
"None of your business," Tidus said, and pulled out a pistol of his own, aiming it at Braska, "Two can play this game, ya know."
The two stood, gun at gun, for at least a few seconds in silence, each daring the other to pull the trigger first.
Nooj had ordered Tidus to kill Braska if it were necessary and then to get out of the house as fast as he possibly could. The pistol was littered with the fingerprints of one of Braska's colleagues, and Tidus just happened to be wearing gloves. No one would have to know.
Still, Tidus' arm was shaking. He could tell Braska's was also.
Suddenly, a head peeked into the room, and Tidus heard a gasp. It was none other than Yuna.
"Tidus..." she trailed.
"Yuna?" Both Tidus and Braska said at the same time.
"I told you to stay in the dining room," Braska said, his teeth clamped shut.
Yuna just stood there speechless, and Tidus put his gun down, looking at Yuna as if in shock.
Braska took this opportunity, and was about to pull the trigger. Yuna saw this, however, and rushed at her father's outstretched arm, pushing the gun over to miss Tidus by mere inches.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Braska roared at his daughter, who was crying. Tidus took this moment, and shot out the little window that was in the room and dived through it, rolling over as Braska gave a shot after him.
Then, running as fast as he could, Tidus rushed to his car, dove in it, and drove off, just as Braska climbed out after him.
Pulling his walkie-talkie that was connected on his shirt up to his mouth, Braska said, "Get him."
All Yuna could do was stand there in the den staring at the broken out window, before falling to her knees and allowing tears to consume her.