Black Dreams, White Dreams
By Lulu-san
Chapter 11 – Lick for lick? Mouth to mouth?
The pool that Rikku eventually guided them too was not only big, it was also very expensive. Lulu scanned the admission price list with a creased brow, before sighing.
"Isn't there somewhere cheaper we could go?" she asked crossly, looking pointedly at Rikku.
"Well, I want to go here." Rikku said stubbornly. "It's new, it's modern and it's SUPER cool!"
"Haven't you got freebies?" Lulu persisted, equally stubbornly.
"Man, give it a break, Lulu!" Tidus teased, patting her shoulder. "If you really, really, really can't shoulder the debt of a poor little pool admission fee, I'll treat you!"
Wakka, who had just been about to offer to pay for Lulu, returned his wallet to his pocket with a glare at Tidus.
"Oh, forget it." Lulu finally said, raising her palms in defeat. "Let's just get this over with."
"Excuse me!" Rikku exclaimed in disbelief. "I think you're forgetting – this is supposed to be FUN!"
"Of course." Lulu muttered sarcastically – although she felt a tinge of embarrassment. She hadn't intended for her behaviour to spoil everybody else's good time.
After (begrudgingly) paying for her ticket, Lulu followed the group to the interior of the complex, and was taken aback by the sudden rush of noise and humidity. It was a huge centre – with many different pools of varying size and depth. And judging by the crowd sizes, it seemed that almost everyone in Luca had turned out to escape the stifling heat outside. The actual area around the pool was surrounded by windows and tropical plants littered every possible surface. Looking at the carefree scene, it was hard to believe that only a few years ago, Spira had just begun rebuilding itself after Sin's final defeat.
Rikku stretched her arms above her head in excitement.
"Mmmm!" she grinned happily hopping from foot to foot. "I can't WAIT!"
She turned to Wakka and Tidus.
"You guys find a nice spot to set up our towels, and us girls are going to go and get changed!" she told them, before seizing Lulu and Yuna by the hand and practically dragging them towards the changing rooms.
"Lulu, is there something the matter?"
Yuna bent anxiously over Lulu, who was sitting on the changing room bench with her knees to her chest. She had already taken off her clothes and was sitting in her bikini waiting for Rikku and Yuna. However, during this time she was unexplainably overcome with a nervous, panicked feeling.
"I'm just fine." Lulu heard herself say. "Are you almost ready now?"
Yuna gave her a worried look, and Lulu smiled to convince her.
"No, really." She reassured her. "Just hoping I still know how to swim. It's been…a long time."
Yuna gave her a warm smile.
"Don't worry." She said softly. "You're a Besaid girl at heart, remember? Have some confidence."
It was funny, Lulu thought, how Yuna always seemed to know the right thing to say. Just a few words of support, and Lulu was already feeling somewhat more confident. Yuna was someone worth admiring, and Lulu respected and loved her dearly.
She stood up and hugged her quickly.
"If you worry about me, I'll worry about you – so don't!" She told her with a smile, which Yuna returned warmly.
At this moment, Rikku who had been in the toilet, came back into the changing room and approached the two girls. Lulu expected her to jump around happily, and ask if they could 'get out there and go now' or something; but instead, Rikku put her hands on her hips and frowned. Lulu sensed trouble.
"Hey… Lulu." Rikku eventually asked.
"Yes…" Lulu replied hesitantly.
"You can't really wear your hair like that in the pool."
Lulu's hand automatically rose to touch the long braids.
"Why not?" she demanded.
"Well, it's just that you've got them all done up in this bun, with those ornaments – you know, they'll get all tangly and messy."
Yuna nodded. Lulu knew they had a point, but…
"So what's the alternative?" she asked grumpily.
Rikku grinned.
OOOOO
"Man, what is KEEPING them?" Tidus complained for the third time.
"Beats me." Wakka replied, laying back on his beach towel lazily. "They'll probably turn up…sometime…"
He closed his eyes and let his muscles relax. The afternoon's training had been strenuous, but he still hoped to be in top condition for the tournament tomorrow.
Although he and Tidus would wear their blitz outfits at the Blitzball sphere, at the pool they had changed into simple shorts – afterall, the blitz outfits were a little too heavy for just mucking around in the water.
"Aha, I think I see them coming!" Tidus suddenly announced, interrupting Wakka's doze. He propped himself up on his elbows, and squinted into the direction that Tidus was pointing in.
"Thanks for waiting!" Rikku called as she charged over to them, Yuna and Lulu following only a few paces behind.
Wakka looked up at Lulu, intending to greet her casually, however his vocabulary seemed to desert him in this critical moment and he found himself suddenly unable to make a sound.
If Wakka had thought himself unsuitable for her before, he had now set this theory in concrete and sealed it forever. Lulu looked simply amazing, and he felt his confidence shrinking by the second. Somehow, he had no idea why, but she had been convinced to let her hair almost completely out –with only a few strands tied loosely at the back of her head. The rest of it tumbled down her bare back and shoulders in silky waves, reaching her upper thigh. Speaking of thighs, Wakka almost looked away from her almost completely uncovered body in embarrassment. The bikini that Rikku had lent her complemented the elegant curves of her body, and accentuated her stunning figure.
Only, Wakka thought with concern, she was still far too painfully thin. Perhaps it wasn't noticeable to others, but his eyes were drawn to the shadows of her ribs sticking out, or the fragile appearance of her small waist. Still, Wakka couldn't help but stare in awe of how stunning his childhood friend had grown up to be. Feeling like a stupid primary school student, Wakka forced himself to get a grip and stop gaping. She wasn't the only beautiful woman he had ever seen, after all.
He had no idea why she had agreed to wear the bikini, and it wasn't like he was complaining, but he was just a little bit…overwhelmed. And he wasn't the only one. He noticed that Lulu was attracting stares from many of the other guys in the area, and it made him feel uneasy.
He coughed embarrassedly.
"Wow, very sexy, Lulu!" Tidus exclaimed, giving her a roughish wink.
"Isn't it?" Rikku agreed, nodding in satisfaction.
Wakka noticed Lulu glancing at him occasionally. He looked away, feeling his ears getting hotter.
"Um…" he began, mumbling a little.
She looked at him.
"Um…you look….nice." he finished lamely.
"Haha!" Tidus cracked up. "Now, THAT'S what you call an honest reaction!"
"Aw, shuddup, ya!" Wakka replied angrily, looking grumpily away with burning red ears.
But Lulu sat down beside him on the towel, and gave him a tiny smile.
"Thanks, I think." She told him out of the corner of her mouth – so that it wasn't able to be overheard. "Although, I might as well be skinny dipping for all the covering it does! It's far too…well, 'Rikku' like for me."
"Uhmm.", was all that Wakka could reply.
He was thinking very hard of something more intelligent and impressive to say when Rikku suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
"C'mon!" she exclaimed in outrage. "Let's go SWIM already!"
Both Wakka and Lulu gave her a weary look, but agreed.
OOOOO
To be honest, Lulu actually quite enjoyed the first pool they entered. While Rikku, Yuna and Tidus splashed each other enthusiastically, she simply waded around waist deep in the water. The water lapped over her pale skin, and its cool caress was very comfortable. However, she noted, Wakka didn't seem to be enjoying himself very much at all – especially for someone who spent half his life swimming. He stood in the water, a few paces away from her, leaning against the pool wall with folded arms and glaring at anyone who crossed his path.
She sunk deeper into the water, until it almost touched her ribs and watched him as he continued to scowl at a group of young men nearby. She frowned, and waded over to him.
"What's wrong?" she asked, crossing her arms in a similar way to his own.
"Huh?" Wakka snapped out of his scowl, and looked almost surprised at her question. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing." She replied sarcastically. "Only, I'm making an effort here, but you're just standing here glaring at anyone and everyone."
He looked somewhat ashamed, and avoided her gaze.
"So, what's wrong?" She demanded, narrowing her eyes at him.
He remained silent, although his ears turned slightly pink. She felt like throttling him, but resigned just to growl in her throat.
Finally, after a few more standoffish seconds, she suddenly reached into the water and half heartedly splashed a little water into his face.
"It's supposed to be fun, isn't it?" she said dryly, repeating Rikku's words from earlier. "Lighten up, back to your usual boisterousness."
Wakka froze for a few moments and the water Lulu had splashed on him dripped down his chin and back into the pool. Suddenly, he seemed to snap back into life and grinned evilly at her. Sensing a foreboding of what he was about to do, Lulu hurriedly retreated away from him.
"No, Wakka…" she began in a strict voice while continuing to bob further and further away from him. "If you do this, I'll never…I'll never…"
But Lulu's final words were cut off as Wakka thrust both hands into the water and sent a massive spray of water right into her face. She yelped in surprise as the impact of the water hit her, causing her to loose her footing and crash backwards with an almighty splash.
Wakka laughed heartily as she emerged ungracefully from the water, glaring furiously at him through her now sodden hair.
"You should've know better, ya!" he grinned, extending a hand to help her up. She took it begrudgingly, before having second thoughts, and using it to pull him face first down into the water beside her. When he surfaced a few moments later, with an expression of pure indignation, she grinned at him maliciously.
"Soo, ya…who should have known better?" she mocked him while waggling her finger patronisingly.
"Arrgh…" Wakka grinned back. "You got me, ya."
But neither of them had been prepared for the tidal-wave sized splash that hit them from behind – sent by the combination force of Rikku, Yuna and Tidus who had decided to join in the fun.
OOOOO
"Really!" Wakka complained, towel drying his messy hair. "That was really cruel, you three!"
The group had retreated from the pool after Lulu had almost electrocuted Rikku, who had tried to dunk her (she had only stopped upon the realisation that she would consequently electrocute herself and everyone else in the pool as well.)
Now, the blonde al Bhed was digging through her bag, tossing items from in until she finally dragged out a small, pink and rather worn wallet.
"Who wants an ice-cream?" she called, waving it around happily.
Everyone raised their hand, except Lulu who averted her eyes, apparently finding great interest in the plant next to her. However, both Wakka and Yuna seized her arms, raising them in the air for her.
"Okay, so that's…why, everyone!" Rikku teased, before jumping to her feet and racing off to the canteen.
"Wait!" Tidus called, as she sped off. "Wakka and I will help you carry them!"
He turned to Yuna and Lulu.
"Try not to miss us too much, ladies!" he smirked, before chasing after Rikku – closely followed by Wakka.
"Oh…my." Lulu sighed, resting her chin in her hand. "They're all so energetic."
Yuna smiled knowingly.
"You're not all that old yourself, Lulu!" she reminded her.
"Yes, and everyone seems to be reminding me of it lately." She replied wearily.
Lulu and Yuna sat in a contented silence for some time. Yuna sat resting against her bag, reading the same thick book she had been when Lulu was cutting everyone's hair, while Lulu – who was a little too self conscious to lay down – simply sat hugging her legs up to her chest and leaning her arms and chin on them.
However, their relaxed silence was suddenly broken by the arrival of a group of three young men, who Lulu recognised as the group Wakka had been scowling at in the pool.
"Hi!" one of them said to Yuna, flopping down in front of her with a big smile. "How's it going?"
Yuna paused, and looked up from her book at them.
The tallest man squatted down in front of Lulu, and looked at her intently.
"Hey, now that the scary big guys have finally left you alone – how about hanging out with us for a while?" he asked her brightly.
Great, she thought, exchanging a hopeless look with Yuna. If only Rikku hadn't dashed off so quickly – she could have been useful for once. Neither she nor Yuna had much experience with being picked up – and neither of them knew how to reject them tactfully.
"Um, well…actually…" Yuna began hesitantly. "It's just that those 'scary guys' are…well…"
"Ah, don't worry about us!" the man in front of Lulu said confidently, turning to face Yuna. "We can take 'em on any day!"
"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Yuna quickly corrected herself. "It's just that…well, it's not like we don't want to hang out or anything…it's just that, that…"
"We're already…taken." Lulu interjected firmly, to which Yuna sent her a grateful smile.
"Oh…I see." The group got to their feet and gave them an apologetic smile. "That's too bad. Maybe next time eh?"
"Yes…maybe next time?" Yuna replied uncertainty.
With a final wave the group walked away, leaving Yuna and Lulu alone once again.
"Phew…" Yuna sighed with her head drooping. "That wasn't much fun."
She stretched her arms in front of her, and gave Lulu a funny look over her shoulder.
"But, Lulu?" she asked slyly. "Who are you taken by, then?"
Luckily Lulu never had to answer that question, as that moment was marked by the arrival of Rikku, Wakka and Tidus with the ice-creams.
"Wha'cha talking about?" Rikku asked as she passed Yuna an orange and pineapple icy-pole.
"Oh…nothing really." Yuna replied, with another sly look at Lulu – who pretended not to notice.
"Hey, Lu!" Wakka had flopped down beside Lulu. "Your ice-cream."
Lulu turned to face him, expecting a simple orange icy-pole like Yuna's, but came face to face with a huge, sickly sweet, chocolate topped soft-serve ice-cream instead.
"Wha-what's this?" She demanded as Wakka pushed the proffered ice-cream into her hand.
"Just the biggest, richest, chocolate creamiest ice-cream on the menu." He replied casually – grinning wickedly at her outrage.
"And I'm supposed to eat it, am I?" She asked irritably.
"You got it, ya." He answered, before returning to the task of licking his own ice-cream.
She frowned, but tentatively licked the tip of the cold, soft ice-cream and found that it was actually quite delicious.
"I suppose…once in a while is okay." She thought as she set about eating the treat. "I may as well enjoy it."
Wakka watched his old friend eat the rich ice-cream with a sort of satisfied pride – after all, he had chosen it.
He noted with amusement, that she still licked her ice cream in the same way she had when they were both kids on Besaid – first licking the top, before evening out the sides – so that it kept a perfect round shape. Ice-cream had been a real treat when they were kids – as it wasn't sold all year round. Occasionally – usually in the summer – it would be shipped in from Luca or Kilika amongst other rare foods. Wakka remembered fondly the days that Chappu or he would spot it being sold in the vendor and quickly rush to the temple to find either Lulu or Yuna. The four of them would scrounge whatever gil they could find, and when they had gathered enough, they would troop proudly off to the vendor to purchase their much awaited treat. Each of them would choose a different flavour – so that they could all taste the different options. Of course, this sharing was carefully monitored – on a 'lick for lick' system – which was - 'you lick mine, then I'll lick yours'.
Wakka smiled fondly as he remembered – but was soon broken out of his nostalgia as his ice-cream had begun to melt, and was trickling over his fingers. He quickly licked off the sticky mess, noting with embarrassment that Lulu was managing to eat her ice-cream very cleanly and evenly – despite the fact it was bigger than his. He felt so…grubby.
Lulu had noticed Wakka's eyes continually flicking back to her as he ate his own ice-cream, and with a sigh she turned to him and held out her own ice-cream towards him.
"Want a taste or something?" she enquired with a raised eyebrow.
Wakka returned the suspicious look.
"What, lick for lick?" he replied with a grin.
"If you like." She retorted.
He took the ice-cream from her outstretched hand, and passed his own over. He watched as she took a small taste of his 'mint-choco-chip swirl' ice-cream, and tried very hard not to look at her lips or tongue. In fact, he tried very hard not to think of anything at all – least of all anything that would make him blush. In an attempt to achieve this, he briskly looked away from her and took a large bite out of the ice-cream, while simultaneously banishing the words 'indirect' and 'kiss' from his thoughts.
"Wakka!" she suddenly exclaimed angrily. "That's not a lick – you've eaten half it."
"Hah?" he replied in confusion, before looking down to realise that in his attempt to ignore any indecent thoughts, he had absentmindedly chomped through a fair part of her ice-cream, without even really tasting it. Although, he found it somewhat amusing that all it took to break the ice maiden's cool was to eat half her ice-cream- obviously she still remembered how treasured such treats had been during their childhood.
"Hmph." She scowled before intentionally and obviously taking a huge bite out of his mint-choco-chip swirl cone before handing it back to him.
"Oi, Lu!" he exclaimed laughing as he returned hers.
They finished their ice-creams quietly, without much chatter or conversation. Even Rikku had nothing to say for once.
Eventually Lulu stood up and stretched.
"If you don't mind," she began. "I think I'll take a quiet swim on my own."
"Wha-?" Rikku moaned. "Why on your own."
"Because." Lulu stated firmly. "Because I want to. And because I want to enjoy a little bit of peace and quiet underwater, without being dunked or splashed or drowned or anything else in that genre."
And with that, she gave them a brisk wave and headed off towards the pool. She had spotted a smallish lap pool before, which had looked empty. But where was it? She began to search.
OOOOO
Wakka watched Lulu as she left the group and became lost in the crowd around the pools. He too, rose to his feet.
"I'm just…y'know, going to have a look round…ya?" he mumbled to nobody in particular before also heading off into the crowd. He hadn't gone far before he spotted Lulu (who stood out easily from the crowd) walking slowly around the pools – occasionally stopping and looking around her. He watched from behind a large plastic fern as she padded around the waterslide and spa towards a medium sized rectangular lap pool.
However, just as Lulu stopped to take another look around her, a group of fairly young men approached her- and once of them placed a hand on her shoulder while the others smiled welcomingly. Wakka frowned in concern, and instantly began to hurry over to her with the intention of telling the obvious hooligans to clear off. However, before he'd even taken a few steps forward she had already waved them away briskly. Wakka quickly retreated to his spot behind the plastic fern, wishing that he could be just a little more impressive to her – a bit more macho and manly, someone who she could rely on to look out for her. Someone a bit more like…Chappu. Wakka scowled, hating the twinge of jealousy that he was feeling.
Suddenly, a cool hand tapped his shoulder briskly, startling him out of his sulk.
"You know, I've never known a girl who's fallen in love with her stalker." Tidus said dryly, squatting down beside Wakka.
"Shut up." Wakka grumbled, wishing that Tidus hadn't crept up on him in such a way.
He was already feeling extremely foolish for being discovered following Lulu, even more so as Tidus would probably now think he was either incredibly over protective or incredibly desperate. Which, he realised with an even deeper scowl, he probably was.
"Aw, c'mon Wakka!" Tidus sighed, patting his shoulder consolingly. "Leave her be for a bit. Come and have some fun with us!"
"Yeah…." Wakka replied unhappily, before following Tidus back to where Yuna and Rikku were waiting in line for the waterslide. He briefly looked over his shoulder as he left, but Lulu had already vanished into the crowd.
When Lulu eventually did find her small lap pool, she was delighted to find that is was, as she had previously thought, empty and thus left her free to enjoy an uninterrupted swim. She pushed her hair over her shoulders and gently lowered herself into the cool water. Although it was not terribly large, the pool was extremely deep – she wondered if it was used for diving or blitz practice.
After treading water for a few moments she slowly dipped her head underwater and swum leisurely for a few metres, with her long hair fanning out gently behind her. She came up for air, and floated on the surface – bathed in the bright light from above. However, it wasn't long before she immersed herself underwater again, and swum deeper into the pool.
Wakka was probably right, Lulu thought to herself as she swam. He had told her once, that all Besaidians were born with a fish-like urge to swim – that there was no place more relaxing than underwater. She couldn't have agreed with him more when she was younger – she, Chappu and Wakka would be in and out of the sea everyday – and Lulu could have sworn that she was just a good a swimmer as either of the two boys. However, a short while after Yuna arrived on the island, Lulu stopped swimming quite as much, and began to spend more time studying at the temple. And then, a few years later, she had ceased to swim at all – forgetting just how wonderful the sensation of weightlessness was.
But now, as Lulu swam evenly and consistently below the surface of the pool in the clear, cool water, she felt more calm and relaxed than she had been in a long time. Gazing up at the water's surface from below, with the dappled light playing upon her face and hearing nothing but the occasional burble of the water around her, she closed her eyes and smiled.
There was just one thing that had changed about the whole swimming process though, Lulu realised after she had been swimming for some time. For some reason, she just wasn't able to hold her breath quite a long as she used to be able to. A minute, maybe two – but nothing compared to how long the Blitzball players were able to. She rose to the surface, gasping quietly as she struggled to catch her breath again. A frown creased her forehead, and she began to wonder just how much her fitness had degraded lately. After puzzling this for a while, she eventually decided she would test her fitness and body by seeing how far down she could dive, and how long she could hold her breath while down there. She gave the water below her a wary look, before taking a huge breath and quickly diving down towards the bottom.
At first, it was easy going. Her body cut through the water smoothly, resisting the pull of gravity that wanted to return her to the surface. However, as Lulu swum deeper, the water pressure began to hurt her ears and resiting the pull of gravity became hard work. She gritted her teeth, and continued to swim – despite the fact she was beginning to weaken.
Suddenly she felt a sharp jolt of pain in her stomach, and she gasped in agony. She clutched her waist with one hand, while using the other to quickly steer herself back up towards the surface. However, another similar stab of pain caused her to convulse again, this time causing all the air in her lungs to rush out into the water as she opened her mouth instinctively to cry in pain. She coughed and spluttered as she inhaled water in its place, and the chlorine stung terribly in her nose and throat, causing her to choke. As the pain in her stomach began to throb and spread around her body, she slowly became weaker and weaker – her mind a white blank as she struggled to reach the surface, which seemed to be miles and miles above her head
As Lulu slowly began to loose consciousness, she vaguely wondered if she had overdone it by eating such a rich ice-cream before swimming – but this thought vanished in a millisecond as the watery world around her blacked out into nothingness.
"Ah." She thought, as her unconscious mind rushed around in circles. "A dream again?"
Lulu was now completely unconscious, and therefore quite oblivious to the fact that she was now drowning. However, her brain – which was fast running out of oxygen, began repeating the same dream she's encountered for months and months, however in its panicked state, it played in all in pieces, some in a fast rush, others blurred together.
She stood on the Besaid beach, as rain poured down on the hot sand below – a blur that might have been Wakka rushed past – his face was clear as he ran, but when Lulu tried to look closer, he vanished into the darkness around her.
Dead friends littered the sand around her, vanished – then the horribly disfigured face of a dying Chappu rushed straight into her vision, before also fading into the darkness.
Memories sped on by her, flickers of light, sound and colour. She felt cold, tired and there was a sudden longing to close her eyes and fall asleep. Lulu lowered her chin, and rested her eyes closed. It seemed so easy, just to close it all off and give in to the fatigue.
However, just as the darkness began to close in around her, a warm hand on her cheek caused her eyes to snap open in surprise.
The dream had slowed down again, and had rested at the moment where she stood face to face with a concerned Wakka. They stood barely centimetres apart as the rain beat down on them angrily. She could feel his ragged breath on her face – and something in the back of Lulu's mind clicked in realisation. She had seen this scene before – it was always the same in this dream. She didn't know why, but she and Wakka would almost kiss – and then Chappu would appear beside them in a furious state.
Wakka drew closer, and she closed her eyes in dismayed resignation. Any second now, Chappu would appear. Any second now, he would appear beside her, clear as day. Any second…
Suddenly, she felt Wakka's warm lips press lightly upon hers, and she flinched in surprise.
Wasn't Chappu supposed to interrupt here? Her mind blankly wondered, as Wakka's lips pressed a little harder against hers.
Lulu's eyes snapped open, and she sat bolt upright in panic and shock – gasping and hyperventilating heavily as her breath came dry and raspy. Wakka had been bent over her, pale with concern, and Yuna, Tidus and Rikku sat surrounding her – their faces creased in worry. She spluttered, coughed and suddenly retched violently, bringing up a small amount of water.
"Lu…are you okay?" Wakka asked, his voice shaking in relief.
She stared at him for a few moments, before slowly coming to grips with the situation. She was lying flat on her back beside the pool she had just been swimming in, and a small group of concerned or interested people and gathered in a crowd around her.
"Lu?" Wakka questioned again, gently patting her on the arm.
She nodded unsurely, and Wakka turned to the small crowd.
"She's okay now." he announced quietly. "So, how about some space, ya?"
The crowd subsided slowly, and Lulu looked around her in slight bewilderment as their murmuring faded away.
"What…did I…?" she asked, shuddering slightly.
Yuna placed a towel around her shoulders gently.
"You drowned!" Rikku suddenly wailed, losing her controlled composure and throwing her arms around Lulu. "It was so so so scary! You stopped breathing and everything, we were all really really scared. Heaps of people came over to see what was happening – and you had to have mouth to mouth and CPR and all that stuff, and it was so so so scary!"
"I stopped breathing?" Lulu repeated incredulously, hardly believing it.
"I thought you said you could swim!" Rikku wailed even louder. "And it's all my fault for taking you here!"
Lulu shivered, as her memories of the event slowly returned to her.
"That's right." She said quietly, almost to herself. "I was swimming, but I got a cramp or something – and…well, I…"
She didn't really want to finish that sentence, and instead she hunched over her knees, pulling them closer towards her. Then, she remembered what Rikku had said before about mouth to mouth and CPR.
"Who saved me?" she asked even more quietly, as though she really didn't want to hear the answer.
"Well-" Rikku began, but Wakka suddenly cut her off – perhaps he thought she would ramble on unintelligibly for too long.
"Well," he began, with a frown at Rikku. "We're not sure, but it seems that a lifeguard dived in after he saw you drowning – and he revived you up here – that's when we got here."
Lulu sat up a little straighter, and Rikku and Tidus too gave Wakka bewildered looks.
"What lifeguard?" she asked uncertainly looking around her. Wakka too, looked from side to side.
"That one over there." He eventually said, pointing to a handsome blonde man, who was supervising the waterslide who looked over, and winked at them.
"But…uh," Wakka continued. "He had to rush off to save a kid who got stuck in the slide straight afterwards."
"I see." Lulu and Rikku replied in unison. Lulu shot Rikku a querying look.
"I…uh, was wondering where he dashed off so quickly to!" She explained with a laugh.
"I suppose I should thank him…" Lulu said, slowly beginning to stand up.
"No!" Rikku suddenly interrupted, hugging her around the waist and pulling her down to the ground again. "Uh, you need to rest – and Tidus'll get you a nice hot drink ("Ah, right!" Tidus agreed, before speeding off towards the canteen), and then we should get back to the hotel, maybe? It's already 5:30 y'know! It closes at 6:00 anyway!"
Lulu frowned, and extracted herself from Rikku's embrace.
"I still think I should at least say 'thank-you'" she replied, once again slowly heaving herself up from the ground.
"Nah, don't sweat it." Tidus had returned from the canteen, and he handed her a polystyrene cup of coffee. "It's just part of his job, he'll be right."
Lulu wasn't entirely convinced, but she drunk the coffee quickly and soon began to feel much more like herself. She stood up and tossed her hair over her shoulders impatiently.
"Man, Lulu!" Tidus said, shaking his head knowingly. "If you didn't want to go to the pool because you couldn't swim, you should have just said so sooner!"
Lulu glared at him.
"I/She can swim." Both she and Wakka replied angrily in unison. "I/She used to swim all the time in Besaid."
They turned to look at each other in surprise, while Tidus and Yuna laughed.
"If you say so." Tidus chuckled.
Lulu sighed, and using a towel from Rikku's backpack she dried her hair and body.
"I suppose we should sort of head back now." Rikku asked uncertainly, and Yuna nodded.
Rather than heading back to the changing rooms, the girls merely towelled themselves off and pulled their normal clothes over their damp bathers. Even though it was nearly evening, the Luca sun would still be hot enough to dry their clothes as they walked.
When everyone had finished changing, they left the pool in silence.
Lulu walked beside Rikku as they headed back to the hotel – and for the second time that day, the young al Bhed had little to say.
The evening's air was warm, but there was a brisk breeze that swept around them gently as they walked.
There was something the niggled at the back of Lulu's mind as she walked and although she tried to disregard it – it refused to leave her alone.
Eventually, she resolved to let it be. Whatever it was, if it was important – it would become clear within good time.
END OF CHAPTER 11
Oh my lordy lordy lord.
This chapter is bloody almost 6000 words loooong!
I'M MAD! MWAHAHA! If you read my notes on chapter 4-5 – I was like, yup 3000 words, what a long chapter…this is almost double that! Oh dear.
Oh well, it can be a special treat.
totters slowly over to her bed and dies….
I write this story far too late at night.
Actually, I want to know if you'd rather I update more frequently (every 2 weeks or so) with chapters of 2500-3000 words, or if you'd rather I do this – every month with 4000-5000 word chapters. Which is better for you readers?
Hohoho, bit of action this chapter. Poor Lulu, everything seems to happen to her – I'm such a cruel writer… But she's alright! Hohoho….
Well, I'm updating more often now – once a month? Better than not at all I guess!
I read some of the older chapters before…oh dear, it was very funny! Caus I started this story years ago, you can really see how crappy my writing style was before…although, it gets better around chapter 4 I think….(chapters 1-3 are goddam awful!) I would rewrite them- but you'd rather read what happens next, rather than what you already know, right? Let it be, let it beeee!
Good songs to read this chapter with are –
Orange range – O-MO-I (wonderful happy funky song!)
Spitz – Sakana (from the anime Honey and Clover)
Well, thanks for reading, I love reviews – drop me one if you feel like it! All feedback is acceptable – I've never got a flame yet though (fingers crossed)
Look forward to the next chapter – in which someone will get a hangover…heheheh
Lulu-san o