"Tidus, we need to talk."
I had been completely ignoring her the past few months, and finally, she seemed to realize.
"Talk?" I reassured, with a sarcastic tone. "Are you sure?"
Without another word, she took me to a more quiet place on some snowy cliff.
"No doubt we're not going to be found here..." I said. "So, what's the deal?"
She took a deep breath.
"We're about to charge Sin in a few days," she began.
We had been through Mt. Gagazet once already. Then we had seen Zanarkand - needless to say, a bunch of ruins instead of 'my' Zanarkand - and then traveled around Spira in Cid's airship. Now we were back here again, to capture some monsters for the Calm Lands Monster Arena, before we'd set up the final showdown with Sin. The end was drawing near.
"I know," I commented to Lulu's statement.
"And it's obvious things still aren't clear between us two," Lulu went on.
"Oh really?" My voice had a razor-sharp tone. "And the fact that you have refused to even look at me, let alone talk, doesn't have anything to do with it, right?"
"Save it," she just replied. "Here I am, looking at you as you talk. So spill the beans. Go ahead, say it, say what's been on the tip of your tongue all this time, just waiting to be said."
For a while, my fiery eyes just stared at her.
"Burst it out," she provoked. She was summoning death.
"Okay," I said, teeth gritted, hands clenched in fists, my heart pounding.
I moved closer, and kissed her with all that passion that had built up during those months of silence and disregard.
-----------------------------------
Later, we sat on that cliff, with a safe distance between us.
"Tidus, you do realise there is no way we could ever be...together?"
I sighed.
"Don't say a word when words ain't enough," I quoted one of my songs. "And don't say things we both already know. Don't say things I don't wanna hear."
She was playing with her hair, and seemed to escape the truth I was voicing into that simple action.
"All right. So what do you want to hear, then?"
I glanced at her.
"You know what I wanna hear. You know it word by word, and you can hear yourself saying it. You know why I wanna hear it, and you know that on the other hand you could say it; and, you also know why you can't."
She was silent for a while.
"I want to hear you tell me," she then said, slowly.
I took a deep breath. All right then.
"I wanna hear you say you love me as much as I love you."
After another long silence, she said,
"I do love you, Tidus, a whole lot."
I had heard her telling me she loved me, but this time her words had more meaning to them. She did love me a whole lot, yet not the same way I loved her. She had been dating Wakka for months, the two of them were engaged. The word 'love' meant different things for her when speaking about Wakka than when speaking about me.
I wrapped my arms around her, caressing her smooth skin in the process. She smiled calmly, taking me in her arms, pressing me against herself.
"Lulu," I breathed, on the verge of tears. "Please, please be there... always..."
She browsed through my short blonde hair with her long fingers, and made a promise.
"I will always be there for you, Tidus. Don't worry."
I let the words sink in. I felt them.
"I love you," I managed.
"I love you too," she replied.
There was no need for explanations. We both knew the meaning behind those words. We knew the very same words had a different meaning to her than to me.
And to me, it was more than enough that she knew. And understood.
The End.