Yay, I came up for this idea just last night! (Seriously, that's how I write…I came up with an outline for this story, but I haven't followed it since like June…) Anyway, you will finally get to see who Yuna's fiancé is! Haha! Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 15: Lies, Truth, and Reality

It wasn't long before a week passed. Of course, Tidus had been doing everything he could to make the week pass as fast as possible. Blitz practice would be starting soon, and he assumed that playing would get his mind off of Yuna.

It seemed to work. He spent most of his days practicing at an open blitz arena that was located in Bevelle. Gippal and he would spend most of their time there, but Gippal would eventually leave, leaving Tidus there, still practicing. The workers at the arena would finally have to kick him out. From there he would go work out.

Gippal tried to convince him to go to parties, but even when Tidus finally let in, he just didn't have the fun that he used to have. Not only that, but Gippal seemed to be giving Tidus a taste of his own medicine.

Gippal had grown rather serious with Rikku, so Gippal didn't even want to party—unless Rikku was there, too.

Not that Tidus really minded. Of course, Rikku would get annoyed with Tidus, being that all he wanted to do was ask her questions about Yuna.

"When's the wedding? Are you going? Where is it?" and of course, "Who's she marrying? Does she love whoever it is?"

Of course, Rikku would finally say, "Tidus, I've told you a million times! I can't tell you!" and leave, which would just make Gippal angry. In conclusion, Tidus wasn't really allowed to come on their dates with them.

So, Tidus simply tried to forget about Yuna. Blitz was going to be his life anyway, or so he convinced himself. He told himself that he wouldn't have time for Yuna anyway.

Still, it was hard.

Toward the end of the week though, he was feeling much better. He still wasn't quite himself, but something told him that he had matured over the summer. He was a different man. No longer a slack-off high schooler, but a hard-working blitzer. Or so he told himself.

Even if he was lying to himself, it seemed to work. His days were busy, and he was working hard. He wasn't partying, he wasn't drinking, and he wasn't messing around with girls. He was working on his game—what he should be doing.

No matter how much he lied to himself though, he couldn't lie that he was happy. Perhaps he had changed for the better, but it wasn't what he wanted. What he wanted was—well, he wasn't about to say it, for that would be telling the truth.

When the blitz arena was closed—which was practically everyday, much to Tidus' annoyance and Gippal's glee—Tidus found himself surprisingly scholarly. He scoffed at the idea, but it was true. Him, being smart? After school ends?

This was the truth though. He even toyed around with the idea of writing a novel. Of course, then he had to remind himself that everybody went though breakups, and just because this was his first didn't mean it would turn into a bestseller. Still, he thought about it over and over in his head.

The only thing was, he would probably give it a happy ending, something he knew his life wasn't going to get.

It was Saturday, exactly one week from when he had last seen Yuna. By then, he told himself to forget about her. He'd picked up his heart and put it back together. Or at least, that's what he told his brain.

"Well, I'm gonna go see Rikku, now," Gippal said, sighing and standing up.

"Yeah, I know," Tidus said. Tidus felt stupid—moronic, even!—having to have his best friend hang out with him all day, and then announce that it was time to spend with the girlfriend. He supposed that's what made Gippal his best friend though. He figured he was the type that needed someone there.

Tidus watched Gippal go, and simply leaned back in his chair. At least Gippal distracted him from his thoughts.

It was Saturday evening, and Tidus could hear that it was raining. The day had been extremely boring because of the rain, but Tidus had definitely done what he could to keep himself occupied.

However, now was the hard part. He had to do something by himself to keep his thoughts away from a certain someone.

He picked up a blitzball magazine and began to thumb through it. This entertained him for quite some time, actually, for he began to visualize himself smiling from the cover. Still, this didn't phase him like it once had. Life seemed rather…empty.

Finally, he put down the magazine and decided he needed to get out. He needed a girl. Someone new. Maybe he needed a nice long detailed relationship or something. And preferably with a girl that he would breakup with, versus the other way around.

He was just about to stand up and find a party to go to, when the doorbell rang.

"Did I order a pizza?" he questioned himself as he stood and went to answer the door.

He didn't think he did, so he then wondered if Gippal had left anything. The doorbell rang again, so he opened the door, wondering who was there.

He didn't have time to comprehend who was there, for as soon as he opened the door, the visitor flung their self at Tidus, and clenched him, tightly, bringing their wet body into his.

"Yuna…?" Tidus could only manage, as the girl stood there, dripping wet, clenching tightly to him.

She looked up at him, and he noticed she was crying. He noticed something else about her, too.

"Yuna, are you drunk?" he asked her, surprised at how simple his words sounded. He should have been happy to see her, but for some reason, he couldn't be.

She just looked at him blankly, while still crying.

"What's wrong?" Tidus asked, shutting the door and leading her into the house.

She didn't answer, she just kept crying.

"I don't want to go back!" she finally said between sobs, "Don't want to…"

"Well, it's dark and rainy anyway," Tidus said, "And you're completely trashed."

She was in complete disarray. She had a nice dress on, but it was soaked wet and probably ruined. Her hair was pulled up, and it looked as if she had gotten it professionally done, but it was now flying everywhere and water dripped from the ends.

Before he knew it, she was sleeping soundly in his arms.

"Um, Yuna?" he simply said, holding her up. He had no idea what was going on. Well, he supposed he did…A drunken Yuna came to his house, rang the doorbell, and passed out in his arms. But why? What should he do? Her fiancé was probably looking for her…

At this he scoffed, and lifted Yuna carefully into his arms, and took her to his bed. He tucked her in and then proceeded to his usual spot: the couch.

-

The next morning, Tidus had actually forgotten about Yuna. How, he didn't know, but he had. He had groggily gotten up, swam a few laps in the pool, and then went to take a shower. He came out and to his room completely naked, only to realize Yuna was lying there in the bed. Luckily for him, she was still fast asleep. Of course, he blushed immensely and cursed himself out for running around naked anyway.

After getting dressed, he watched her sleep for a while. She looked rather peaceful, despite her overall appearance. He didn't watch her long though, for he figured he'd better see if he had anything he could serve to her for breakfast.

To be honest, he was feeling rather awkward. He had finally accepted—or at least convinced himself that he'd accepted—the fact that she was gone. Now here she was. He didn't want to get his hopes up at all, so he simply made her breakfast, assuming that she would wake up, eat, and then leave his life forever. Maybe she would explain why she was there and what had happened, but he wasn't going to force an explanation from her.

He was still making breakfast when a very dazed and confused looking Yuna came staggering into the kitchen.

"Hey!" Tidus greeted her, "Need headache medicine?"

She stared at him for a while, looking completely confused, but she took the pills and glass of water that Tidus held up to her.

"What's going on?" she asked, as she popped the pills in her mouth and gulped down the water.

"It's called a hangover," Tidus said, smiling to himself, "You get it when you drink to much."

"Tidus, I'm really not in the mood," she replied grumpily, "Why am I here?"

"I was just going to ask you the same thing," Tidus said, sitting down at the table and nodding for her to take a seat next to him, "You came staggering in drunk last night. I didn't even know you knew where I lived."

She stared at him blankly for a while, and then recognition seemed to hit.

"Oh my Yevon!" she said loudly, and stood up, "I—I must have—I…"

"Relax," Tidus said, folding his arms across his chest, "Wanna tell me what you remember from last night?"

"My bachelorette party," Yuna said softly, "Well, actually it was—well, I guess that doesn't matter now."

"So what happened?" Tidus asked, leaning forward.

"I don't know," Yuna said, shrugging, "I…I was surrounded by a ton of older people that I didn't know, and the girls were all wives of some famous guy or something, and they all took me to this—" Yuna looked up at Tidus and said, "Well, it's really nothing."

Tidus rolled his eyes and said, "So you drank a lot?"

"Well I had to," Yuna said, leaning back in her chair, "I had to because I wanted to be drunk. I figured it would be better that way. But the next thing I knew, I decided to go see you, and that's really all I remember…"

Tidus' eyes seemed to brighten. Did she still like him?

"Yuna, who are you marrying?" he finally managed.

"You don't know?" she asked, looking shocked.

"No, I don't."

"The Maester," she said, giving Tidus a weird look, as if she had been certain he knew.

"Which Maester?" Tidus asked.

"Maester Kinoc, of course."

Tidus' stomach did flips, and he honestly felt like laughing. She had to be kidding.

"Kinoc? He's like ancient!" Tidus said, unable to hold the laughter in any longer.

"He's the one I've been engaged to my entire life," Yuna said softly, "Why is that so funny?"

"It just is!" Tidus cried through his laughter.

"Well, it's the truth," Yuna said, standing up, "I need to leave."

"Wait, you're not serious, are you?" Tidus asked, "You don't love him, do you?"

"It's not about love," Yuna said, and then she shook her head, "I don't know what I was thinking to come here! It's not like you understand anyway!"

"How do you expect me to?" Tidus asked, smiling in disbelief, "I got ditched for some fifty-year-old."

"He's thirty-five!" Yuna cried, and started off toward the door.

Tidus didn't chase her. He just watched her. She was gone for only a second, though, and she then came stomping back.

"I thought…I thought that I could explain everything to you, and you would understand!" she said angrily at him, "But you don't, do you? There's no way you can see! You are so selfish, Tidus!"

"Selfish? Me?" Tidus asked, "I gave up my entire summer for you. I've chased you down how many times? I—I even delivered Dona's dying words to you. How the hell am I selfish?"

"You should have just left when I told you to!" Yuna cried, "Because then you had to come and…" she trailed and her eyes went downcast. She swallowed, and then finally continued softly, "…And make everything so difficult."

"What's that even supposed to mean?" Tidus asked, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back in his chair.

"It means," Yuna said, shaking her head at him and looking disgusted, "that you are blind and dumb, Tidus. I can't believe I—oh just forget it!"

Again, she started toward the door, only to turn around and come back.

"What now?" Tidus asked, and it was his turn to shake his head at her.

Her eyes were filling with tears, Tidus realized, which shocked him.

"It means that I love you," Yuna said, "But I can't allow myself to be with you. Why—I can't really explain. Possibly because I'm afraid of happiness, okay? I'm afraid. I don't know why and I don't know how, but I am. I've never…" She didn't finish. She just turned around to leave.

"Yuna, I'm over you," Tidus said, surprised at how immature his choice in words was, "I gave you a ton of chances, and in each case, you just ignored me. Do you know how hurt I was? You changed me, Yuna. I'm not even close to being the same guy I was before meeting you. You did all of this, and then just leave me for some forty-year-old. Why? Because you say you have to. Because you're scared. Well whatever. I don't have any feelings for you anymore."

She faced him, looking completely shocked at his words. Then, she swallowed hard, and stomped off again. Only this time, she didn't come back.

Tidus listened to the door shut, but couldn't move. He just sat there, staring straight ahead. What had he done? Sure, the words he said were the ones he'd rehearsed over and over in his head, but were they what he really felt?

She was gone, and he knew this would be for the last time.

A silent tear slipped slowly down his face as he realized that even though he had plenty of lies stocked up in his head, telling him he didn't need her, he was going to finally have to make these lies a reality.

If that was even possible.

A/N: Also, I was originally going to make the fiancé Seymour. BUT, since so many of you guessed it in your reviews, I realized how cliché and obvious it was….SO, I decided to make it Issaru, only remember that I had already mentioned him. I toyed with the idea of Baralai, but since I wanted this character to be a bad character (and I really love Baralai!) I decided just to make it someone yucky like Kinoc. XD