Lust for Blood

Part III: A Story's End

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Well, we're back with the story. I hope you enjoyed Tidus' little story, but I just had to end it. I actually wanted to make it much longer, but for some reason, the inspiration just wasn't coming. So here's the next chapter in Lust for Blood, which explains why it's chapter 18 all of a sudden! Eek...I like to do things weird, don't I? Which explains why I change the layout too...Heh...Anyway, enjoy!

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Chapter 18: Loss

"I never did go see Zanarkand," Tidus said softly, "I was too frightened of what I might see. Everything I knew was gone, and it was all my fault. It was all too much for me."

Yuna swallowed, and said, "It's all ruins. That's what I've heard, anyway."

"Well, that's my story," Tidus just said, shaking his head, as if to clear his thoughts, "I've been wandering around aimlessly ever since."

He stood up, and walked to the end of the room, before turning and facing Yuna. He took a deep breath, and said, "One of these days, I'll give up, like Paine did. But not until I find my father, and make sure he's dead."

"How come...How come you were able to stop yourself from killing me?" Yuna asked, her eyes slowly rising until they reached his.

"It's something I've learned over the years," Tidus said, "I can control myself now, much better than before. But you know, all those times I was sick, or all the times Paine was sick, those were the times when we were ready to just die. It happens a lot. It's easy to become depressed."

Yuna was silent for a long time, before she finally looked at him defiantly and said, "I've tried killing myself before too. Don't think you're alone. I'm a normal human being, and yet here I am, miserable!"

Tidus swallowed, and said, with a shrug, "And what do you expect me to do?"

Tears started streaming from Yuna's eyes, but she knew he was right. What did she expect him to do? He had come into her life, but now he had to leave. It was really as simple as that.

"You could at least stay here," Yuna was finally able to manage.

"But I can't," Tidus said, and looked away from her, "It's only a matter of time before Seymour kills me too."

"I wouldn't let him," Yuna said quickly, her eyes shooting back to Tidus', "Please, don't leave me here all alone."

Tidus just shrugged and said, "It's only a matter of time before Seymour kills you, too."

His words didn't soak into her. They made no sense at all. So little sense, in fact, that Yuna chose to ignore them, although he gave her an imploring look, as if begging her to beg for more information.

They just sat there, in silence, with Yuna refusing to think about his words, and Tidus just continuing to give her the same imploring look. Finally, angrily, Yuna stood up and said, "I've got to go now. Goodbye Tidus."

She started toward the door, but not before Tidus grabbed her arm, swinging her around, and pressing his lips against hers.

Her body seemed to fall limp in his embrace. She had assumed he no longer loved her, no longer even cared for her. In that one blissful second, the love seemed to return. But only for that one blissful second, for as their lips separated, neither of them said nothing, and she simply turned an leaved, as his eyes burned a hole in her back.

-

"YUNA!" the blonde came running at her, her hair flailing in the wind behind her. She was wearing her pajamas, and was running quickly at Yuna, through the puddles and mud that had been left from the rain.

"Rikku?" Yuna said, stumbling toward the girl, "What's wrong?"

"It's your father," Rikku cried breathlessly, grabbing Yuna's arm, "Come with me!"

"What's wrong?" Yuna asked as Rikku pulled her along.

"He's dead!" Rikku just cried, causing Yuna to stop.

Rikku's grasp slipped, and she stumbled forward, while Yuna stood there dumbfounded.

"What?" Yuna just said, in a tiny, soft voice.

"The beast has returned," Rikku said, breathing heavily, "And it killed your father!"

"But the beast was...Paine," Yuna said softly.

"Nope, there's another one!" Rikku cried, "And it killed your father! Come on!" Rikku retained her grasp on Yuna's arm, and dragged her into what had been Yuna's house for a short time, and what had remained Lord Braska's.

There were already quite a few people inside, mainly priests. Yuna saw Dona's father, and then her husband, who turned to her immediately. Neither of them looked glad to see her.

Seymour walked forward and grabbed his wife's arm, and dragged her into the dining room, thrusting her in a chair.

"Seymour," Yuna managed to stammer, "What's going on?"

"Don't you pretend you don't know," Seymour said, "Your father is dead."

"So I've heard," Yuna said, although she didn't feel sad. It still wasn't making sense to her; it wasn't soaking in.

Seymour's hand swept itself across her face, leaving behind a nasty sting. Yuna's own hands went to the place of contact, and tears swelled up in her eyes. Why was he hitting her?

"To make matters worse," Seymour said, almost hoarsely, "I know where you've been."

"What do you mean?" Yuna snapped, as she had actually forgotten that he had to have known she was gone.

"With the beast himself," Seymour said, almost tonelessly, "You've been seeing him for some time now."

"I don't know what you mean!" Yuna cried.

Again, Seymour's hand swept across her face, this time leaving an even greater sting.

"He's not the beast!" Yuna cried through her tears, "I was with him all night! I admit it! But he couldn't have killed my father! I was with him!"

Seymour gripped his wife by the shoulders, gripping her quite tight, causing more tears to spew from her eyes.

"What would you rather?" Seymour cried angrily, "That that vermin dies the death he deserves, or that you die for committing adultery?"

"I did not commit adultery!" Yuna cried, trying to break out of his grasp, "We're just friends!"

Seymour long nails began to dig deep into her skin, and she cried out in pain. Then, he released her, and started toward the door. He looked back at her, and sneered, "The entire town is after him." At that, he left, shutting the door behind him.

Yuna sat there, trying to soak up what had happened, before she finally managed to stumble up. She turned toward the other door from the one Seymour had left, and ran out the back, toward the forest. She had to beat everybody else to Tidus.

Suddenly, out of no where, she ran into someone, and would have fallen over, had he not caught her.

"Yuna?" it was none other than Tidus, "What's going on? The whole village is in uproar–looking for me!"

"My father is dead!" Yuna cried, "And they say you did it! They say you killed him!"

Yuna felt Tidus tense up beside her, and he said, "I knew this was going to happen!"

"Knew what?" Yuna cried.

"Relax," Tidus said, and was surprisingly calm about everything, "I didn't kill your father. You know that, right?"

"Of course, you were with me!" Yuna just said, trying to seem as collected as Tidus was.

"So I didn't do it," Tidus said, "Where's the body?"

"Of my father? Tidus, you should get out of here!"

"I went to the docks," Tidus said, somewhat sharply, "Only to have them all practically attack me, crying out that I was the beast that killed Lord Braska. Me wanting to leave just made me seem even more guilty. So I came here. Through the forest. So where's the body?"

"I haven't seen it," Yuna said, as Tidus brushed past her, entering her house through the back door.

"Tidus!" Yuna cried after him, and ran, walking back into the house, "There's people in here!"

"Just Al Bhed," Tidus said, "They won't hurt me."

As if to prove the point, none other than Rikku walked in right then. She jumped upon seeing Tidus, and then looked suspiciously at Yuna. She opened her mouth to say something, but Tidus spoke first.

"Where's the body?" he questioned quickly.

"In here," Rikku said, her voice sounding shaky. She led them into the kitchen, where Braska lay dead, apparently not have even been touched since his death.

"See," Tidus said, squatting down next to the body, and pointing to Braska's neck, "No holes. I didn't kill him."

"What do holes have to do with it?" Rikku asked, giving Tidus a nervous look.

"When I kill, I leave holes," Tidus just said, causing Rikku to turn pale.

"So you did kill him?" Rikku cried.

"He didn't say that," Yuna said, "He said...Ugh, Rikku, he didn't kill anybody!"

"Not tonight, anyway," Tidus said with a shrug.

Rikku's eyes grew large, and she looked ready to faint. Either that, or kill Tidus before he got to her.

Tidus rolled Braska's body over, to see blood gushing from his side.

"He was shot," Tidus said, pointing to a hole from where the blood, mostly dry now, had come out.

"But who shot him?" Yuna said, biting her lip. The sight of her father, lying dead, wasn't a very pleasant sight at all.

Yuna suddenly felt the hairs of her neck stand straight up, and Tidus must have too, for they both looked up toward the door at the same exact time, only to see Seymour standing there with a gun raised.

"I did." These words escaped from none other than Seymour Guado's mouth.