A/N: Hello people and here I am back with the fourth chapter. Yeah yeah, it took awhile for me to update I know, but school is KILLING me at the moment. BLOODY ASSIGNMENTS ARGH! I honestly was not expecting this story to do so well! I'm glad that everyone likes it though! That makes me really happy! I'm sorry it took awhile for me to update. It's just that both school and work have been really hectic this week, and I have had little time to write this let alone edit it. But it's done now so who cares right? Thank-you so much to everybody who reviewed! And now on with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy X or any of the characters used in the story so do not attempt to sue me, as I have already disowned them all. Go ahead if you want to but I assure you it will do you no good!
Chapter 4: Concerns, Confessions and Confrontations
The Ronso walked slowly down the passage way, gently rocking the precious cargo in his arms back and forth. It was then that he looked at her face, completely distraught with sadness. The tears that had fallen before she collapsed still remained warm on her cheek, slowly falling down her face and landing silently on her white blouse, creating small damp deposits all over. He entire body remaining limp in his bulky arms.
As he finished his examination of Yuna's current state, Kimahri couldn't help but feel…useless; like a failure. He was supposed to protect her from distress…from danger. He knew though that he couldn't really have done anything. This was the one thing he couldn't protect Yuna from…herself. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't guard her from her emotions. Her sadness and anguish could not be prevented in such a situation. The only one, who could make everything right again…make her smile, was…Tidus. He continued pacing down the corridor, taking giant strides towards Yuna's room.
The automatic door hissed open, and now with entry into the room permitted, Kimahri quietly walked over towards the bed before gingerly placing Yuna down, lifting her head up effortlessly but gradually so it came to rest on the yielding pillow. He carefully placed the strands of hair that had been glued to her face by her tears behind her ear, before walking out and leaving her to rest…temporarily. For Kimahri knew that once she was awake, she would immediately try and seek Tidus out. The whole episode would begin again. So he decided that he would wait just outside her door incase she emerged, ready to spring to her side and catch her upon falling. Kimahri knew all to well that once Yuna was up, there would be no stopping her…but he hoped to delay Yuna's misery at least a little while longer…
"Kimahri not like Yuna looking sad…Tidus better fix Yuna, or Yuna will die on inside…Kimahri not want to see this" He voiced out aloud, shaking his head as he did so. Disappointment and sorrow etched into his every word…
Meanwhile…
"What did you do to our Yunie!" Rikku spat at Tidus, millimeters from his face, looking quite upset. But he didn't seem to respond, he showed no signs of even hearing her, his eyes remained lowered. "Arghhh!" Rikku growled in frustration. "You're going to have to tell us something!" Rikku started. "Especially if you want to have the privilege of laying your eyes on Yuna again!" Lulu finished for her, also fuming at the lack of a response. "Y…yeah…!" Wakka stuttered, also butting into the interrogation nervously.
'What should I do?' Tidus thought quickly, unable to come up with a good enough excuse to fight them off. He had tried to think something…anything that would get them of his case! He thought about bowling over in an attempt to pretend he was sick, fainting, (well that wasn't going to work, that was already taken!) even asking if he could use the bathroom! But he knew that they would all be turned down ruthlessly by his comrades.
He was going to have to tell them the truth…even if he didn't wish to tell them. The last thing he wanted to be responsible for though, was causing his friends grief over his current situation…besides, they all had Sin to worry about. Anytime now, it was going to jump up and assault them all mercilessly for causing it so much pain. Of course he knew once Sin and Yu Yevon disappeared…he would fade as well. He didn't want to leave everyone behind…especially Yuna, but he was given no choice in the matter. Fate had simply drawn him a bad hand. Very bad in fact, but there was nothing he could do to better the circumstances. He would just have to live with it for now and deal with it when the time came… and unfortunately that seemed to be now. There was no getting out of it…no dodging the truth any longer. He closed his eyes, imagining the look of pure shock and grief that would take a hold of Yuna's already exhausted body. His confession could even send her over the edge…
"I Can't!" He shrieked, unable to get the horrifying image out of his mind. "Do you have any idea what it would do to her!" He cried out angrily, unable to contain himself any longer. "It would kill her…" He spoke more softly this time, unable to stop a stray tear from falling down his flushed cheeks. "I…I couldn't do that to Yuna…n-no matter how hard I tried…" He said, with a slight shake in his voice, as he eyed them all heatedly.
"What would 'kill' her...What on earth is going on between you too!" Lulu shouted, unable to contain her extremely aggravated state of mind any longer. "Have you seen her condition! If you really cared about Yuna, you wouldn't have put her through something as horrible and emotionally overloading as you did just then! She is an absolute mess thanks to you! So don't you dare stand there and tell me that you care about her too much to put her through something like that, because you obviously didn't take that into deliberation the first time!" Lulu screamed her voice full of mixed emotion.
She was obviously distraught and still unable to digest the scene that had just taken place right in front of her merely hours before. Unfortunately though, that wasn't where it ended. Tidus also had his side of the argument to declare, he was also extraordinarily angry that Lulu would even think he would do something like that to someone he loved. Tidus was now finding that it was taking an incredible amount of self control to stop himself from blurting out everything, as his rage began to devour him whole…until… 'I can't take it anymore!'
Too late…
"Do you think I didn't say anything about what was going to happen to me on purpose? Do you honestly believe that I would deliberately go out of my way to avoid her, not tell her anything and in turn completely smash her heart into a thousand pieces? I didn't do that because I wanted to Lulu, I did it because I had to!" He's voice began loosing anger swiftly and reducing to a much more anguished tone. "Of course I want to spend the rest of my life with Yuna! It's going to destroy her when she finds out what's going to happen to me! Of course I don't want leave you all behind! You're the best friends I have ever had and I am never going to see any of you again! But there's nothing I can do is there! I just have to accept it! He shrieked desperately, on the verge of breaking down, just as Yuna had. Growling and cursing furiously at himself for losing complete control over his feelings and revealing his horrible secret to everybody present. 'Now you've done it Tidus'
"What do you mean you have to leave us behind?" Rikku said with genuine concern for her friend, placing a supportive hand on each of his padded shoulders. "What's going to happen to you…?"
He looked at her then, agony and pain radiated out of his piercing blue eyes and into hers. Instantly, Rikku felt her high spirits droop down to their lowest levels. Now he would have to explain everything to them. He tried to think on how he could begin, what he could say…but the only thing he thought about at that moment was one simple question…
'How am I going to tell Yuna?'
"WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO YOU!" Rikku repeated, screaming again, this time shacking him violently to snap him out of his little world he had apparently entered. It worked. "Cut it out!" He yelled, feeling incredibly irritated and trapped. "No! Not until you tell us what's going to happen!" Rikku was still shaking him in an attempt to finally get him to say something. Again, it worked…eventually. "Alright! Geez… just stop shaking me okay!" She stopped immediately and stepped back. He stumbled as she let go, falling back a few inches before regaining his composure. "Now start talking!" Rikku demanded. Lulu and Wakka simply stood there, unmoving, waiting for his reply. He paced around nervously for a few moments, all three of them following his every movement until he stopped abruptly and began to speak. "I-if I tell you guys…you have to promise not to say a word to Yuna…got it? They all turned to each other for a minute, exchanging glances with one another before all turning their attention back to him nodding silently in agreement.
"Okay…" Tidus began rather nervously. 'How to explain this so that they understand…'
"I…I'm not…real…I-I'm a…a…dream" He said solemnly. The three guardians present could nothing but gasp horribly at his affirmation, but still remained utterly puzzled by the fact that he was indeed not real. He was standing in front of them at this very moment was he not? How could he not be real?
"What…What on earth are you talking about? It doesn't make any…"
"It makes perfect sense!" He spat back at her, furious that he had keep going…he despised talking about this enough as was, and now he had to go into every little detail. Every time Tidus thought about it he was afraid. How could he not be? Who would want to die? Especially at his age…having to leave everything dear to his heart behind. "Do I have to repeat myself? I am not real! I am a dream, and as soon as we defeat Sin, I will fade away! Why can't you see that I don't want to talk about this! Don't you see! That means that everything I thought was real, my whole life, my parents, Zanarkand and everything I cherished doesn't really exist, including me! It was just someone's stupid dream! He was having a hard time repressing the tears that were biting at the corners of his eyes, unfortunately though, he couldn't stop a couple rogue ones from escaping.
Not a word was spoken after that, because everyone finally saw the effect the convocation was having on him. It was plain to see just by looking at his face that it was causing him an extreme amount of pain to even mutter the words of his fate out aloud. They probably would have left it alone to…except that there was still one problem. They all knew what it was, but Lulu seemed to be the only person with enough courage to ask. "How do you plan on telling Yuna?" She spoke softly to try and ease the sting the topic was creating. Tidus cringed as Lulu spoke Yuna's name. It was bad enough he had to tell them, but telling her… well, he didn't want to think about it. The lump in his throat had lodged in his neck, which prevented him from giving a reply, so he simply waved his hand in the air to dismiss the matter, hoping that Lulu would drop it. Thankfully, she seemed to get the message and left him alone for the moment while he made his way over to a chair and sat down. His torso flexed forward with his arms resting on his knees, as he began rubbing away at his temples trying desperately to come up with a solution to his rather big problem.
&&&&&&&
Foreign objects began dancing in circles through blurred vision. As they slowed, everything began to come into focus, and through the small slits in her eyes, Yuna now realized what she was looking at…a grey metal ceiling. As she conjured up enough energy to open her eyes fully, she found herself wincing and immediately regretting the action, unable to take in the harsh light of the afternoon sun that was currently beating mercilessly through her window. Instead, she decided to try and move to position herself to sit up so she could take in her surroundings, but that wasn't working either.
'Am I really that exhausted?' She thought, struggling desperately to move herself into any kind of a pose that would allow her to see where she was. Finally, after taking several minutes to find out that her body was working, she managed to sit up and look around (even though her arms were shaking under the pressure she was that weak) It only took Yuna a few seconds to realize where she was…in her room on the airship. 'How did I get…'
It all came flooding back to her…
She had been intensely distressed over what Tidus was hiding from her, then after that, everything, started to go…blurry…she couldn't focus on him anymore. The last thing she remembered was seeing him run to her side as darkness completely took over and her legs gave way. 'I must have fainted or something' She thought as she struggled to move her legs around and off the bed. She sat there for a moment, contemplating if she should dare attempt to stand or not. In her current condition, she had trouble even sitting up by herself let alone walking. But she had to try…she had to get to him…even if it meant she had to crawl. Yuna instantly sprang up off the bed, only to be shot down by waves of nausea violently washing over her whole body…knocking her backwards, luckily back onto the bed. Now she was in trouble…she didn't know what to do.
Fortunately though, after hearing the commotion coming from inside her room, Kimahri carefully entered, ambled over and helped her to her feet, keeping her balanced. She immediately though found another wave of dizziness sweeping over her, forcing her hands springing up to grab the sides of her head, trying to force everything to straighten. Instantly, Kimahri eased her back down on the bed. "Yuna must rest, Yuna is very tired…" He said quite firmly. "No Kimahri…I must go and see Tidus…" She said breathlessly. "I have to…know…please Kimahri…?" She begged him, already tears forming in her eyes despite her greatest efforts to keep them back.
The last thing Kimahri wanted Yuna to do was have another episode. He was just worried that if she was to back there, she would indeed crash again. But still… he could not refuse her, he was still her guardian, and Yuna was still a summoner. So technically he had to take her. It was her wish. He nodded demurely before helping Yuna to her feet. She took a few minutes to gain her composure before nodding and giving Kimahri the signal to go.
Finally she was going to find out what he was hiding from her. Hopefully, Lulu, Wakka and Rikku still had him detained on the bridge.
As they struggled down the hall, having to stop for short breaks so she could rest before continuing, it was then that Yuna began to wonder how Tidus would react to her sudden entrance upon arriving at the bridge. After all, he probably still thought that she was still out cold. 'Does he want me to come…or does he want me to stay away? What if I make things harder for him?' She thought, hesitant as to whether she should go any further. But before she could stop and think, Kimahri's booming low voice interrupted her view on the matter. "Yuna has arrived…Kimahri will take Yuna inside now" As he began towards the door, Yuna managed to mumble a quick response to his statement. "Wait…Kimahri…I just need to recover a little before we go in okay?" Her voice was muffled by exhaustion, so it was a little hard for the Ronso to hear exactly what she had said, but he seemed to understand. He gave a silent nod of acknowledgement before leaving her to lean against the door that permitted entry to the bridge.
Yuna leaned against the smooth metal door gently, slowly bringing her arms to the level of her head before delicately placing them on the surface, the door surprisingly warm to her touch. With caution, she began lowering her head towards the door, ready to rest against it, while readying herself for the troubles that surely awaited her on the other side. She had gotten to about half way before she began to hear faint whispers floating through. Instantly, she pinned her ear up against the door, frantic to find out what was being said. Someone was yelling…a high pitched anxious voice…most likely Rikku, but what was she saying? If possible, Yuna pushed herself even harder against the door, her ear throbbing with pain from being crushed under the pressure.
That's when she heard it…
"Y-you can't leave us!…You can't leave Yunie either…I won't let you!"
Yuna needn't hear anymore. She already had begun pleading with Kimahri to open the hatch, the one obstacle in her way of finding out the truth at long last. She had heard enough; she already knew who Rikku had been begging with…what she was referring to. As tears began to fall down her face freely, it was almost as if she couldn't get in there fast enough. She whipped around to face Kimahri, her face painted a picture of pure misery and great anxiety. "Please…hurry Kimahri!" She bawled, unable to hide it any longer.
The door quickly sprang open, and her eyes searched the room frantically, trying pin point his location. As they came to rest on his familiar form, Yuna let out a mental sigh of relief, and despite how she was feeling, managed a small smile. 'Your still here…'
They were watching her now, watching her stumble about on the landing, trying to maintain her balance. The whole time her eyes never leaving his…not paying attention to anyone else in the room. But then all of a sudden, her legs, unable to retain her weight any longer, quickly gave way and she soon found herself falling.
Before anyone noticed, Tidus with lightening sharp reflexes bolted up the stairs and had nearly reached her… 'Just a little further and…' "Caught you!" he spoke out aloud quite triumphantly, grabbing her millimeters from the ground. He pulled Yuna in towards him tenderly, her head coming to rest on his shoulder and her body leaning heavily against his for support. "Are you… okay?" He managed to say through deep breathes, his lungs gasping for air from having to move so fast. "I am now…" She whispered.
"I'm so sorry Yuna…" he mumbled, his voice full of regret.
She stayed there for a moment not saying a word, before moving her arms from where they rested on his shoulders and joining them up around the back of his neck, embracing him loosely while burying her face in his chest. All the while enjoying the feeling of his arms steadily wrapped around her waist, supporting her stability. "Its okay…" she mumbled into his soft tanned skin. "You're here now…that's all I want" Tidus just nodded, unable to reply, also enjoying the moment. "Promise me one thing though…" She continued, her voice although muffled was growing awfully serious, and at that moment, Tidus' body began to tense up. She pretended to ignore it, her hold on him tightening as she spoke. He dare not respond to her request because he knew what Yuna was about to say, just from her tone of voice and body language. He could feel her heart begin to beat violently in her chest; her voice incredibly shaken and uncertain, all probably because of his lack of an answer to her question. At that moment, Yuna found thoughts of all the possible ways that Tidus could leave her involuntary forcing themselves into her mind. She tried to will them away as she spoke, however the fear of such possibilities rang clear in her voice.
"J-just don't…leave…m-me…okay?"
A/N: Hello again! So what did everyone think? I honestly thought that it turned out okay but…I don't know tell me all about what you think of the story so far! I wrote this chapter in a hurry because I know you guys wanted me to update soon. You know I love coming home after a hard day's work at school, turning on my computer and finding out that I have reviews for my story…It makes all my hard work worth it!REVIEW! And ENJOY!Whoa, seven pages though…didn't expect that! Well I hope that you all enjoy!