Against the Odds.
Chapter 8.
The First Meeting.
When she said her name, Tidus could've sworn his heart skipped a beat. So, it was her. He tried not to show the excitement on his face, his breath catching in his throat, his eyes slightly widening in wonder.
"Yuna," He repeated, "Nice name."
"Thank you." Yuna replied, placing more fish in her mouth.
She was here, he found her. Well, technically, she stumbled upon him, but it didn't matter. He was literally talking to the person he so desperately wanted to find for weeks. She was sat at a short distance away, not close enough to be at arm's length, but close enough to keep a conversation going. He did notice she was glancing around every now and again; not often, but enough for Tidus to pick up on it. That must've been what Gippal and all the people who had seen her meant, that she was constantly looking over her shoulder for someone.
He tilted his head down to look at his food, anxious about how to talk to her. He didn't want to seem too keen, too excited to talk, but he didn't want to come across as not interested at all. He wanted to keep the conversation going, but how? Where did he start?
"Isn't it beautiful?" Yuna asked suddenly, knocking Tidus out of his thoughts. He looked up; his body turned toward her. She was looking toward the horizon, her feet still dangling off the harbour.
"Yeah…" Tidus trailed off, his eyes taking in a different view from Yuna's. C'mon, think of something to say, his mind demanded, you've waited so long to talk to her.
Tidus popped more rice into his mouth, and slightly covered his mouth to talk. "So, you a local?"
Yuna turned to look at him, a small smile on her lips. "No, just visiting."
"Oh?" Tidus quipped, happy she was still up for talking, "Visiting family?"
"No, I'm alone. I've always wanted to come here, so thought, 'why not?' You know?"
"Sounds adventurous!" Should he press further?
"Yeah," Yuna pulled one leg up to tuck under her opposite knee, much like how Tidus was sitting, and turned her body to face him, "I've seen spheres of Kilika, and I came here when I was younger, but never stopped long enough to take it in." She took another chilled shrimp, peeled it, and placed it in her mouth, chewed and then swallowed before talking again. "It's kind of a bucket list tick for me."
"I think that's great. Why not go and see the world?"
"What about you?" Yuna smiled, "I take it you're not from here if you're asking if I'm local?"
"Nahh," Tidus chuckled, wondering if she recognised him from his Blitzball fame, "I'm from Zanarkand."
"Zanarkand?" Yuna gasped, lurching slightly forward, placing her hand on the wooden ground. "You're from Zanarkand?"
"Yeah," He smiled simply, placing his hand at the back of his neck.
"I've never been to Zanarkand before," Yuna straightened herself again, a small flush of pink creeping up to her ears.
"Never?" Tidus questioned.
"Never." Yuna repeated, "I've always wanted to go. My father would tell me stories about Zanarkand. He spent a lot of time there when I was younger, but never took me."
"You should go. You'll love it." You should go with me. He thought. "You should see a Blitzball game there too, they're the best." Tidus started to feel a sense of pride rise in his chest. "You should especially see the Zanarkand Abes play."
"I've never actually been to a Blitzball game…" Yuna replied, reaching again for another shrimp. "It's not really my thing."
So that confirmed it. Yuna wasn't a fan of Blitzball, so she wouldn't know who he was. Unsurprisingly, Tidus was happy that she wasn't a fan. He enjoyed meeting people who didn't know who he was. It meant he could be himself, which he planned to be with Yuna, as much as he could, anyway. Placing his now empty tubs to the side, he nodded and scooted forward, only a mere couple of inches, but it was closer to Yuna. He liked being close to her, but it wasn't close enough to Tidus' liking. He wanted to be close enough to touch.
"Well, you should definitely go to Zanarkand." Tidus said, "It's like no city you've ever seen."
"Maybe, one day." Yuna relied, putting the now empty bag of shrimp shells in the tub. She turned her head to smile at him then, noticing his food tub were empty too. "Did you enjoy your meal?"
"I did." Tidus answered, smiling back at her. The evening was early, and Tidus was not done talking yet.
A couple hours had passed. The moon was in the sky, illuminated behind a smattering of clouds. A gentle breeze blew warm air around the harbour, and the young adults were still in conversation. Though they were talking and laughing, Yuna was still reserved, only giving a limited amount of information to Tidus. There was a trust level there that hadn't been reached, and Yuna wasn't ready to divulge too much information about herself to anyone. Tidus had noticed that every now and again, she would look around the area, scanning for something, or someone, and when she gave herself all clear, her attention would focus back on him.
Tidus had discovered that Yuna had a list of things she wanted to do with her life; travel more, which is what she was doing, ride a chocobo across the Calm Lands, visit the Moonflow at night when the Pyreflies were out, glittering across the water, visit the Ronso Tribe and learn their history, visit all the temples on Spira, the list was endless, and Tidus couldn't help but want to do it with her. She'd learned that he was a Blitzball player, though he was vague on the details of just how good he was, and that he was resting during the season due to an injury.
During the evening, they'd moved closer together, both turned toward the horizon, legs dangling, arms if slightly outstretched to the side could easily intertwine.
"It knocked me out." Tidus said, his hand instinctively moving to his shoulder. He'd explained how a member of the opposite team had used a poison spell during a tackle, however it was lanced with something stronger, which, along with the hard tackle, caused Tidus to black out, his shoulder getting dislocated and bent out of shape, and almost drowning. "I don't remember much. One moment I was in the pool, bracing myself for a hard tackle, the next I woke up in a medical building near the stadium, my arm in a sling, and my coach telling me I'm out." He couldn't help but look to the water below him, obviously still shaken by the memory. He said he was fine, but there were obvious feelings deep down he hadn't encountered yet.
"That sounds awful." Yuna sighed, a look of sympathy swept across her face. "And it hasn't gotten any better?"
Tidus looked at her, "A little, but not really. I went to see some friends in Besaid and did some training work there, but it still twinges. Doesn't feel right, you know?"
"Being told you can't do something," Yuna said, her voice low, "It sucks. It feels like your freedom has been taken from you, right?"
"You know it." Tidus agreed. Was that what she felt like with Seymour? Was he controlling toward her every move? He had to know but he knew it would be up to her to talk about that with him.
A small silence passed between them. It wasn't an awkward silence, more one of contentment. The nocturnal insects were out, chirping in the bushes near the entrance of the harbour. It was late, and, although Tidus was keen to talk more, he could feel his eyes getting heavy. He stifled a yawn, turning away from Yuna to hide his tiredness. Yuna, however, noticed and started to chuckle. She'd caught the contagious yawn, and hid her mouth behind her hand, turning in the other direction.
"It has gotten pretty late, hasn't it?" Yuna said, turning to stand. In a few swift movements she was on her feet, empty food tubs in her hands, a small smile on her lips. "I should get going."
"Can I…?" Tidus started, jumping up from his seated position. "Can I walk you back?" In all honesty, he didn't want this evening to end. He'd enjoyed talking to her, and it seemed like she felt the same. At his question, her eyes looked at him, the smile never leaving. The wind had picked up and caused her hair to get loose.
An image flashed before Tidus' eyes, his breath catching in his throat. Yuna was in front of him, tucking her hair behind her ear. Flashes of pinks and purples reflected the image in Tidus mind; the one of her doing the same motion in the sphere, the same slightly hidden uncomfortable look across her face. He instantly felt a tinge of regret for asking that question. Was it too forward? Was it too much for her to handle? The thought made him shudder slightly, knowing why she was so anxious.
"Um.. Well," Yuna trailed off, shifting from one foot to the other. Her face showed her emotions. Tidus saw that she was trying to say no without sounding rude.
"It's ok." Tidus said, feeling the uncomfortable vibe from Yuna, "You can say no."
Yuna wasn't sure how to take that. She had always had someone tell her to say yes and do what she was told. No one had ever said she could say no if she didn't want to do something. He was nice enough, friendly with a cute smile, but she'd been tricked by friendliness before. She wasn't about to be made a fool again. "I'm… It's not far."
"No problem." Tidus smiled, grabbing his empty tub, and placing it in the nearby trashcan. He reached for Yuna's, silently willing her to let him put them in the trash for her. She jumped slightly at the late realisation and handed them to him.
"It was nice to meet you Tidus," Yuna spoke softly, "I hope you enjoy your time on the island."
"You too." Tidus smiled, his eyes shining in the amber glow of the pathway lights.
With a small nod, Yuna turned and started to walk away. Tidus followed her, watching her leave his presence. He placed his hands on his hips, and turned toward the water again, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. He'd found her. It had only been a couple of weeks since this adventure began, but he'd travelled far and got some valuable information in the short time. He expected it to be longer before he'd found her. He didn't expect her to still be in Kilika by the time he'd gotten there. But she was here, not far at all, and the thought of that excited Tidus. He wanted to know her more, he wanted to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright, that he would be her guardian and protect her from all the harms the world would throw at her.
"Tidus?"
He turned toward the voice calling his name, surprised to see Yuna closer than what she was a moment ago.
"How about breakfast?" Yuna asked, gently gnawing on her bottom lip. Tidus could tell she was nervous to ask, but he was thrilled at the fact that she had asked to spend time with him.
"Breakfast?" He asked, needing to confirm he'd heard right.
"Yeah." Yuan nodded, "there's a small lodge that do fruit smoothies and pastries. They open early, so I thought we could grab a bite. My treat."
"I'd like that." Tidus said without a moments hesitation. "Breakfast. Daybreak?"
"Perfect," Yuna nodded, turning to point out the lodge where she meant. "It's just over the river, the blue one with the sign?"
"Yeah, I think I see it." Tidus leaned forward, mimicking that he couldn't, squinting his eyes and blinking rapidly. At this, Yuna couldn't help but chuckle.
"Ok, I'll meet you there." Again, she turned to walk away, smiling brightly as she waved goodbye.
"Looking forward to it!" Tidus waved back, eager to get back to his hut and sleep. There was no way he would miss this opportunity to spend more time with her. He was unsure of how she felt toward him. They had only just met after all, so naturally anyone would be uneasy and closed off. But Yuna was different, she had a complete wall around her, only letting out little pieces of information about herself. Totally understandable of course, but Tidus couldn't wait to get her barriers down to be able to trust him.
He wasn't doing this for Seymour; from the start he knew he was going to help her get rid of him for good. He was being selfish and wanted her for himself. Forget Seymour, he doesn't exist. There would be a time where he would have to face him at some point, but for now, he was thinking of himself and Yuna. Together. Alone. Just the two of them, and their breakfast date tomorrow morning.