Yay, chapter 24! This chapter took me forever to write, but once I finally started going, it went pretty well. As you all may or may not know (haha, you probably don't...) I'm going to Japan a week from today (YAY!) so I'm going to try to wrap this story up within this week... So the next chapter could be the last chapter (as I originally planned), or the chapter after that, or possibly the chapter after that. Basically, expect an ending soon. Enjoy!

Chapter 24: A Definite Possibility

"Well, they're back together," Gippal said, clicking his phone shut.

"No way!" Rikku cried, her eyes glowing, "Who was the one who got them back together?"

"Apparently," Gippal said, "Tidus did. He invited Yuna to be the first to ride with him in that car he bought, and she accepted."

"I didn't know Yunie had a thing for cars…" Rikku said.

"I bet she wanted to get back with him, but she was just waiting for him to come to her."

"Yeah," Rikku said, leaning back with a satisfied smile.

"I wonder if he told her that he's leaving for Zanarkand the day after his birthday," Gippal mused softly.

"I'm sure he has!" Rikku said, nodding, "They're probably trying to work something out."

"I don't know," Gippal said, shaking his head, "Tidus has been trying to forget the fact that college starts in a month. I bet he hasn't uttered a word about it to her."

"I guess Yunie hasn't said anything about it to me," Rikku said, looking thoughtful, "But he'll tell her, won't he?"

Gippal shrugged and said, "I guess we'll just have to wait and find out."

-

"Thank you so much for helping me water the bushes," Yuna said, as she turned on the water for the hose.

Tidus, who was holding the hose, gave her a very annoyed look, and said, "Yeah, no problem. Sure I can't just call someone to do it for us?"

"You rely on help too often," Yuna said, shaking her head, "Okay, I'll be reading. Have fun watering!"

"Hey!" Tidus cried, but Yuna just started laughing.

"I'm kidding!" she cried, and she started toward him, "I can water them, actually."

She reached out to take the hose from him, but a sly smile spread across his lips, and he put his thumb into the opening of the hose, and sprayed Yuna.

Yuna let out a loud shriek, and cried, "Tidus, stop! It's cold!"

He laughed and ran away, still spraying her.

"Stop!" she cried, now completely soaked. She chased him, before she stopped and simply walked back and turned the hose off.

"This is why you're no fun!" Tidus cried as he watched the flow of water slowly diminish.

Yuna laughed and said, "And this is why I've decided never to water bushes with you again."

Tidus glared at her and said, "It was fun."

"For you!" Yuna cried, "Tidus, want a hug?"

"Hey!" Tidus cried as Yuna wrapped her arms around him, pressing her wet body into his.

"Hey!" he cried again, trying to push her away, "It's cold!"

"I told you!" Yuna said.

The two heard car doors shut then, and Gippal and Rikku walked around, both wearing perplexed expressions.

"What are you two doing?" Gippal asked.

"And why are you all wet, Yunie?" Rikku asked.

"Tidus sprayed me with the hose," Yuna answered, and shot him a quick glare. She took the hose from him, and turned it back on, and started to water.

"She's no fun," Tidus said, "So, what are you two up to?"

"I thought we'd work on some party planning," Gippal said, "But if you're busy…"

"I kind of am," Tidus said, nodding toward Yuna, who was now walking to the other side of the house, watering the bushes.

"Alright," Gippal said, "Everything's all set for the most part anyway. So, have you talked with her yet?"

"About the party? Just a little bit."

"No, about college," Gippal said, "You've told her that you leave the day after the party, right?"

Tidus shrugged, and noticed that Rikku was glaring at him. "What does it matter?" Tidus asked.

"What does it matter?" Rikku practically shrieked, "So what are you going to do, just dump her?"

Tidus glared back at Rikku, and focused on Gippal instead. "What, you want me to tell her?"

"Well of course! Shouldn't you guys discuss what you're going to do? She's going to be going to school here, and you'll be all the way in Zanarkand. And with your blitz schedule, you're not going to have time for her," Gippal said quickly, noticing that Rikku was beginning to look predatory.

"I'll have time for her," Tidus said, looking disgusted.

"What if she doesn't have time for you," Rikku pointed out quickly.

Tidus shot her another glare and said, "I'll tell her soon, okay?"

"Tell her now," Gippal said.

"Or I'll tell her," Rikku said, returning Tidus' glare.

Tidus made a face at Rikku and said, "Fine, okay? I'll tell her."

"Good," Gippal said.

"What are you two, my relationship counselors or something?" Tidus said, rolling his eyes in disgust, "Get lost."

"Just tell her, okay?" Gippal said.

"Yeah, work something out," Rikku said, smiling.

"Okay, okay," Tidus said, "Get lost you two."

Gippal shrugged and said, "Okay. See you later."

"Bye," Tidus said, crossing his arms. He watched them leave, before starting toward Yuna.

"Did Rikku and Gippal leave?" she asked as soon as he found her.

"Yeah," Tidus said, nodding.

Yuna said nothing, but she suddenly turned around, and sprayed Tidus with the hose.

"Hey!" he cried, "It's cold!"

She laughed and turned the hose back to the bushes. "I know," she said, shooting him a grin.

Tidus laughed, but he realized instantly how forced the laugh was. Gippal's words were bothering him. He found himself looking at the grass beneath him, his thoughts on what Gippal and Rikku had said. Surely he had to tell Yuna, but what would she say? Would she be mad that he waited so long to tell her? Would she say that it wouldn't work out?

Tidus' stomach began to ache. It wouldn't work out.

He looked up, and watched her as she watered the bushes. It had been stupid of him to get together with her again. But he couldn't help himself.

"Hey Yuna," he said, surprised at how easily he found his voice, "When do you head off to college?"

"In about five weeks," Yuna answered, "How about you? Do you know what school you're going to yet?"

Tidus shrugged. He hadn't officially made his decision, but he knew. He would make his decision everybody's news the day he headed off. A pang erupted in his stomach again. In just a matter of days…

"No, I don't," Tidus said, swallowing. Why was he having such a hard time telling her?

"When do you have to decide?" Yuna asked him.

"I don't know," came Tidus' answer.

"Well, which school do you want?" Yuna asked, flashing him a smile.

"None," came Tidus' answer.

"Are you nervous?" Yuna asked, her voice playful.

"Of course not!" Tidus said, laughing.

"Won't you miss Gippal?" Yuna asked.

Tidus shot her a quick glance. She wanted to know if he'd miss Gippal, but she wasn't worried about whether or not he'd miss her?

"Well, you could go to Bevelle," Yuna said, giving him a smile, "Right?"

Tidus wanted to tell her not to get her hopes up. But he didn't.

"Yeah, it's a definite possibility," he lied.

She smiled and said, "We'd be close too then, you know."

"Yeah…" Tidus said, and he forced himself to smile back at her.

"But you have to choose the school that's right for you," Yuna said, throwing him another smile.

Tidus laughed and said, "I'll only be there for a year or two, Yuna. Then I'll go play professional blitz."

"Oh, right," Yuna said, "It's still not a bad idea to get a degree. You have free college. Why not use it?"

Tidus laughed and said, "I'll be lucky to get the necessary point-five G.P.A."

Yuna laughed, and cried "Point-five!"

"Yeah," Tidus said, "We can't all get four-point-ohs!"

"Just study. It's not that difficult."

"College isn't for studying!" Tidus said, looking shocked, "It's for partying and blitzing!"

"No, it's for studying!" Yuna said, "It's school, after all."

"Let's stop talking about it," Tidus said, hoping that a change of subject would make the entire matter just disappear, "Wanna go swimming?"

"No thanks, I'm already drenched," Yuna said, turning the hose off, for she had finished, "I'm surprised you don't want to get ice cream again."

"I'm into popsicles now," Tidus said, stretching.

Yuna laughed, and her cell phone suddenly began to ring.

"Hello?" she answered it, "Oh, hey Rikku!"

Rikku? Tidus' eyes shot to his girlfriend.

"What was Tidus supposed to tell me?" Yuna asked then, turning and facing Tidus.

"Uh, Yuna!" Tidus said, taking the phone from Yuna, "I actually need to talk to Rikku. Hey Rikku, Yuna and I are kind of busy right now. She'll call you back."

With that, Tidus hung up.

"Tidus, what in the world—"

"Hey!" Tidus said, shoving her phone in his pocket, "Let's go for a walk!"

He took her hand and started dragging her toward the road, where they had been known to take walks down.

"Tidus, what's wrong?" Yuna asked him, but she walked alongside him anyway, not letting go of his hand.

"Nothing," Tidus said, "I just thought it would be a nice day for a walk."

"Is there something you're supposed to tell me?" Yuna asked, giving him a confused look.

"Why would you think that?" Tidus asked, doing his best to play it cool.

"Rikku said…"

"You probably misheard her," Tidus said, shooting Yuna the most charming smile he could muster.

She looked at him suspiciously, but she finally sighed and said, "Well, whatever. Hey, what do you want for your birthday?"

Tidus felt himself clench her hand tighter. "You," he said, smiling at her.

"Just me?" Yuna asked, "Nothing else."

"What would a guy like me possibly want?" Tidus asked, laughing to himself.

"That's true," Yuna said, "How about a book?"

Tidus laughed and said, "I guess I could read it while I'm on the toilet…"

Yuna rolled her eyes and nudged him, and said, "Seriously now, what do you want?"

"I already told you," Tidus said, "There's nothing else I want."

"Are you trying to be sweet?" Yuna asked, looking at him suspiciously again.

"Yuna," Tidus said, shaking his head, "I'm telling you the truth. Don't get me a gift, okay? And don't feel bad about it."

"Okay," Yuna said, shrugging, "But what fun is that?"

"It's a ton of fun," Tidus said, throwing her a cheeky smile, "Trust me."

"If you say so," Yuna said, smiling at him.

The two reached the end of their route, and turned around, heading back to their houses, their hands still enclosed around each other's.

"So are you excited for your party?" Yuna asked, still smiling at him.

"Yes and no," Tidus said shrugging.

"Why not?" Yuna asked.

Tidus shrugged and said, "I don't know…"

"I think it will be exciting!" Yuna said, "I'm a little nervous though…"

Tidus looked down at her, while the shoulder consciences came into his view once again. He had to tell her. They had to make plans. But how? How could he just break it to her that he was going to go to Zanarkand with little time to do anything but blitz?

He looked at their clenched hands. He wanted it to work out, he really did, but he was worried. So many things could go wrong. Was it selfish of him to keep Yuna as his, even though he wouldn't get to see her?

He swallowed. Yes, it was selfish. And it was also selfish of him to not tell her.

"Yuna, I—"

"Tidus!" Yuna suddenly cried, interrupting him, "I forgot to tell you! Brutus and Tiny both found homes! Isn't that great?"

"Uh, yeah…" Tidus said, his shoulders dropping, "That's really great."

"I'm sorry, what were going to say?" Yuna asked, her eyes glowing.

"N-Nothing," Tidus said, and he swallowed hard. He would simply tell her the next day.

-

"Tidus, why do you have Yuna's phone?"

Tidus jumped. "I-I don't have Yuna's phone."

"Then what's this?" Gippal asked, pulling a pink phone out of Tidus' pocket.

"Oh, that's Yuna's?" Tidus asked, snatching it back from him.

"Unless you now have a pink phone," Gippal said, giving his friend a suspicious look, "What gives, Tidus? Rikku told me she thought she lost her phone."

"I took it from her," Tidus said, sighing, "Gip, I can't tell her that I'm leaving."

"Why the hell not?" Gippal cried, "It's not a big deal, Tidus. You're making this way worse than it is."

"Gip, I can't, okay? I don't want to lose her!"

"You're going to lose her if you suddenly disappear for a few years!" Gippal cried.

"Yeah but…"

"Be a man, Tidus. Call her—oh, you can't, you have her phone—go talk to her."

"She's at the library," Tidus reminded his friend with a pout.

"Tidus, you leave the day after tomorrow!" Gippal said through clenched teeth, "And you don't want to tell her at the party!"

"Gip, I can't tell her!" Tidus said, and he leaned his head into his arms, "What am I supposed to say? Yuna, I'm going to Zanarkand in two days and I won't get the time to see you again, but I still want you to be mine?"

"Well, I'd word it a little bit differently…" Gippal mumbled, "Or, you could say, "Yuna, I have to go to Zanarkand, and I'm leaving soon. I know it's sudden, but I have to take it. I'll do my best to see you when I can."'

"That's a lie," Tidus said, glaring at his friend.

"Ti, it works!" Gippal cried, "And then you just try really hard to see her!"

Tidus shook his head. "I'm not doing that to her, Gip. I'm going to just disappear from her life. Got it?"

"Tidus, don't do that," Gippal said, shaking his head, "Okay, don't lie, but at least tell her! Even if you tell her what you said earlier! Anything, okay? Or Rikku's gonna get ticked and tell her for you."

"Fine, I'll tell her," Tidus finally cried, "Will that make you happy?"

"Yes, it will," Gippal said, "Come on, let's keep getting the coolers packed."

Tidus nodded, and began to dump some ice into a cooler. He tried to focus on his task ahead, even though it was one of the simplest tasks he could be doing. He definitely didn't want to think of Yuna.

-

"Wow, there are so many people here!" Yuna cried, grasping onto Tidus' arm tightly.

Tidus laughed and said, "There were twice as many people at our party, remember?"

She smiled at him and said, "I kind of try to forget about that night."

"Me too, to be honest," Tidus said, laughing, "Although our party is going to get voted the year's best. That's pretty awesome."

"This party should be voted the year's best though," Yuna said, "Our party was stupid compared to this!"

Tidus laughed and said, "Yuna, this is nothing…"

Yuna just smiled, and said, "Where are Rikku and Gippal?"

"I don't know," Tidus said, "I haven't seen Gippal for a while now…" He was lying. They had told Tidus that they would be by the pool, which was an area that Tidus was purposely avoiding. He sighed. He left in just a matter of hours, and he still hadn't told Yuna.

Tidus swallowed hard and said, "Yuna, there's something I need to tell you."

Yuna's eyes lit up to this, and she said, "There's something I need to tell you too!" Tidus' heart fell. He could only hope her news was nothing like his. Judging by the happiness in her tone and eyes, it wasn't.

"Um, let's go over here," Tidus said, taking her hand. He led her over to the corner of his yard, where it merged into hers.

"You go first!" she said, her smile apparent even in the dark.

"No, you go first," Tidus said, "Really."

Yuna laughed and said, "No, I want you to go first!"

Tidus bit his lip softly. She was obviously excited about something, and he was just going to ruin it.

"Yuna," he finally said, shaking his head, "Trust me, you go first."

Her smile faded, but only slightly. She then smiled widely and said, "Okay, I know you told me not to get you anything for your birthday, so I didn't. But I did a lot of thinking—a lot—and I really love you Tidus, and—"

"Yuna," Tidus said, "You should just—"

Yuna interrupted him and said, "I know you told me that you wouldn't pressure me, but I gave it a lot of thought, Tidus. Rikku and I both talked about it, and weighed out the pros and cons. Tidus, I want to—"

"Yuna, I'm leaving tomorrow!" Tidus finally cried out, and he was shocked at how harsh his voice sounded.

"What?" Yuna said, her smile instantly fading, "You're leaving?"

"I'm going to Zanarkand," Tidus said, "I…I'm going to school. Practice starts tomorrow."

"Oh," Yuna said, her voice very soft, "Well, it's alright. You'll be free on the weekends, won't you?"

"No," Tidus said, "Zanarkand has one of the best teams in the conference. We practice every second we can."

"Okay," Yuna said, "Well, I'll come visit you then!"

"I'm going to be tired and grumpy, and…"

"And it doesn't matter," Yuna said, "I still have a month before I start school."

"Yuna, it's not going to be that easy," Tidus said, looking at the ground.

Yuna looked at him for a long time, her features falling more and more with each passing second.

Finally, she looked away from him, and said, "How long have you known?"

Tidus sighed and said, "All summer."

"And you couldn't tell me a little bit sooner?" Yuna asked, her voice becoming louder, harsher.

"I wanted to…" Tidus started.

"So what, you're just giving up?" Yuna asked, "You don't even want to try to have a long-distance relationship?"

"Of course I want to try!" Tidus cried, "But I'm trying to be realistic!"

"Okay," Yuna said angrily, "So realistically, you don't think it's going to work? And since you're being realistic, you don't even want to give it a try? Because, realistically you're a huge wimp?"

Tidus rolled his eyes and he said, "Yuna, I've been thinking a lot about it."

Yuna just shook her head, a look of disbelief plastered across her face. "I'm just glad you told me. After all, I was about to do something rather stupid."

"Yeah, you were," Tidus said, shaking his head.

Yuna swallowed loudly and Tidus figured she was trying to keep from crying.

"I don't want to ruin your party," Yuna said after quite a while of silence, "But I…"

"Go ahead," Tidus said, "I ruined it myself. I should have told you a long time ago."

Yuna started to walk away, only to stop.

"Tidus, this is ridiculous," she said, turning around to face him again, "Is this really how you want it?"

"It's the only way I can have it," Tidus said, his eyes on Yuna's, "I love you, Yuna. I really do. But I think it's real selfish of me to keep you as mine and never see you."

"It's not selfish!" Yuna cried, and she hoped she didn't sound desperate, "It's alright! I swear Tidus, it's fine with me!"

"Yuna, I'm your first boyfriend," Tidus said, "I can't force you to remain my girlfriend. There's gonna be other guys."

"No there isn't!" Yuna said, "Tidus, even if there are, I don't care!"

"You're just being stubborn," Tidus said, shaking his head.

"And you're being selfish!" Yuna cried.

"I'm trying hard not to be!" Tidus cried, "Yuna, if I was being selfish, you and I would be in my bedroom right now, and the whole time I'd know that I'd have to leave in the morning. If I was being selfish, for the next four years you'd be doing nothing but studying, while I played blitz. It wouldn't work out. And I think that we need to end this before it becomes more serious than it is."

Yuna crossed her arms and said, "If you want to give me up that easily, I'm fine."

Tidus rolled his eyes again, and he said, "Yuna, you know it's not like that."

Yuna didn't answer him. She simply stomped off.

Tidus watched her go, while doing everything in his power to refrain from chasing after her. He hadn't exactly meant to do what he had just done.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and trudged back to his party.