Sorry for the long wait everybody! I was in Japan! OMG, best country ever. Seriously. If you ever get the chance, go! So anyway, back to fanfiction…Sorry this chapter is so short too. I just wanted to get it up for you guys:D Anyway, I do hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4: The Marks on Her Arms

"So your dad's the Maester?" Tidus asked for the fourth time that day.

"Yes," Yuna answered for the fourth time that day, "Why does that surprise you so much?"

"It just blows my mind that I didn't know," Tidus said, shrugging.

"Well, I tried to keep myself hidden," Yuna said.

"Which also blows my mind," Tidus said, shrugging again, "How the hell do you hang with Bevelle High's snobbiest, richest crew and not get noticed? You sure you're a virgin?"

"My Yevon Tidus," Yuna said, surprisingly upset at his question, "Why would I lie about something like that?"

"Well, that blows my mind too," Tidus said, leaning back in his chair.

Yuna was silent, and she said, "Well, it wasn't in the code until now."

She took a seat next to him, sighing as she did so.

"But there are a lot of other things in the code that I wish weren't."

"Like what?" Tidus found himself asking, although Yuna had already basically made it clear that she wasn't sharing.

Yuna shook her head, signaling that she still wasn't telling.

Tidus didn't say anything in protest, so the two just sat there in silence, not saying anything.

Finally, Tidus leaned back and said, "How are we going to get anywhere if you don't tell me anything?"

To this, Yuna just gave him an annoyed look, and stood up, saying, "Who said we want to go anywhere?"

With that, she walked out of the room, leaving him there, staring after her.

Biting his lip in determination, he stood up, and followed her.

-

She was in her room, brushing her hair, not seeming to mind that he was staring at her reflection in the mirror, as he leaned against the entryway to the door.

She pretended she didn't notice he was there, despite the eye contact they made through the mirror. She just brushed, slowly, watching him, as he watched her.

Finally, she broke and turned around, crossing her arms with the brush still in her hand.

"Are you all going to the same college?" Tidus asked, inviting himself into her room and sitting on her large, plush bed.

"Maybe," Yuna answered, "Why does it matter to you?"

"Did Dona choose and say, "And the rest of you are going here too?"'

"No."

"Then why go to the same as her?"

Yuna slammed the brush down on her bureau and stood in front of him with her arms still crossed.

"Maybe I want to," she said, "Did that ever occur to you? Maybe she's going to the same as me."

Tidus decided that he had better change the subject. She obviously wasn't in the mood.

Sighing, he leaned back and said, "Sorry. I just worry about you, that's all."

She through on an obviously fake smile and sat down next to him, obviously attempting to look happy and light. He felt he could see straight through it though, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Well don't," she said, "There's nothing to worry about."

She was wearing a t-shirt with rather long sleeves. It was strange…it was quite warm outside. Tidus had on a t-shirt as well, but his was lighter and his sleeves much shorter than hers. He looked at her arms and noticed a slight dark area, leading up into the sleeve.

He was about to ask her what it was from, for it looked surprisingly like a bruise, but he thought better of it. Knowing her, she would get angry and have one of her sudden mood changes.

He had to get those sleeves rolled up.

She noticed he was staring at her arm, and she gave him a questioning look, so he looked away before she got too suspicious, and tried to think of a way to see what it was that was hiding.

"Okay…" he questioned himself, "What to do?"

"It's really hot in here, don't you think?" he found himself asking her.

"Do you want me to turn the air condition up?" Yuna asked, him, looking surprised that he had really changed the subject.

"Nah, I just wondered if you were hot?" Tidus asked, wondering then what he sounded like, and hoping she didn't have a dirty mind or anything.

She shook her head, and said, "I'm kind of chilly, actually."

Well, if that had been some kind of hint, they'd both blown it, Tidus realized. He looked at the ceiling, as if there was an answer up there. Of course, there was none.

She giggled and said, "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing," he said, continuing to stare at the ceiling, "Just thinking, that's all."

"About…?" she asked.

Hoping he didn't look too devious, he took her hand and said, "You."

She gave him a look that was somewhere between surprise and suspicion, but she allowed him to take her hand, although she looked uncomfortable under his gaze.

He tried to decide if he should take the moment or not, act upon it or not, but he couldn't decide. A strange silence filled the air.

Although it was odd, he took the moment, probably too late, and kissed her, pushing her softly down onto the bed.

If she was surprised by this action, she didn't show it, and she instead wrapped her arms around his neck, allowing him to have his way.

After a while, he found his way down to her neck, and, while sucking playfully, his hands found their way to the end of her shirt.

He was afraid she would move his hands, or pull away, or something, but she did nothing, except for lie there, almost as if frozen. Perhaps with fear, or passion, or…Well, Tidus stopped thinking about that.

Slowly, he lifted her shirt up, afraid that she would snap out of her frozen state and hit him or something. She didn't though. She just continued to lie there.

He worried that she wasn't breathing, but he decided it wasn't as if she was going to die.

He pulled the shirt up past her chest, wondering if she was going to assist him by raising her arms. It seemed to take her a while, but she lifted her arms, and he slid the shirt off of her, glad to see not Yuna in not much other than a bra, but rather her arms.

She stared at him, rather fearfully, but he just gave her a reassuring smile and kissed her, and then back to her neck, where he could see her arms out of the corner of his eyes. Sure enough, they were bruised.

Three little bruises were on her shoulder, and then one large one--the one that was peeking out of her sleeve--was on her arm.

Besides the bruises though, he noticed another mark. It was small, and appeared to be a burn mark of some kind, and there were five or so of these, covering the opposite shoulder of the bruises.

He pulled away from her, wondering how he was going to ask her about the bruises. Obviously she hadn't wanted anybody to see them.

"Yuna?" he said softly, and placed his hand on the bruises, and rubbed them softly.

It was then that she seemed to remember the bruises, and she pulled quickly away from him, sitting straight up, covering the marks with her hands.

Her eyes were opened wide, and she stared at him, as if unsure of what to do or say.

"What are they from?" he managed to ask.

"I…I fell down the stairs the other day," she said quickly.

Tidus swallowed, and said, "Yuna, does your…dad beat you? It's okay if he does. I mean, it's not but…You can tell me. My old man used to beat me."

She stared at him for a while, as if unsure if she should say anything or not.

Tidus removed his shirt, and pointed to his back, saying, "See that scar? It's from my dad. He cut me once, a long time ago, before he left."

Yuna seemed shocked, but she still said nothing. She seemed to be looking for her shirt, but Tidus still held it in his hand.

"Yuna, you can tell me," he said again, "If you don't want anybody to know, I won't say. I understand."

Still, she said nothing.

"What are the marks on your other arms from? Did you get burned by something?"

She tried to stand up, but he grabbed her arm to keep her from moving.

"Cigarettes perhaps?" Tidus asked, looking at the burns on the arm he was holding, "Let's see, who smokes…?"

Tears began to slip down her cheek then, and she said in a sob, "Dona."