Ich vermisse dich so (missing you)
Two weeks after Ienzo's last call, Yuna came home. I waited for her to return, sitting outside, jumping, humming and staring at the sky. My imagination made up weird stories of the cause of her return and how great it would be, when she was around again. She had not told anybody why she was coming back, so I expected to see her happy, maybe jaded from the journey, but at least smiling.
My parents allowed me to stay at home on the day she came back, so I ended up waiting out the front of our house, waiting and dreaming impatiently. Half of the day went by, slowing my enthusiasm down a bit, until I saw her crossing the street with two girls I couldn't remember, along side her. The three of them seemed tired and were barely paying attention to the cars passing in front of them as they crossed. It frightened me to see my sister like this and I was sure I could not blame it on travelling. That moment I noticed something was very wrong. Yuna looked too small and shaky to blame on being tired.
Hurrying, I got up and ran over to her, totally ignoring the other girls. Coughing, I came to stand in front of Yuna, watching her closely, trying to understand. For a second she just stared at me, eyebrows raised in question. I asked her carefully: ''Yuni?'', grinning insecurely. Her face lit up, but her eyes remained sad. ''Hello Myde! How are you?'' She patted my hair down, still showing the same sad expression. Her two friends also made weak attempts to smile, but altogether it just looked pathetic to me. They stayed close to her, like they had to protect her from an enemy I didn't know.
''God, you changed so much.'' Yuna mumbled as if she was talking to herself. When I tilted my head, forming an unspoken question, she blinked once and repeated: ''Uhm Myde? In case I haven't told you of them: These are my two best friends: Rikku,'' the blond girl next to her grinned and waved at me. I blushed as I noticed how short her skirt was, though it matched her personality perfectly. ''And Paine.'' My sister gestured in the other girl's direction, but she just nodded, not showing any emotion at all.
My eyes were still fixed on Yuna as I replied: ''No, you haven't mentioned them. Hi, I'm Myde. Nice to meet you.'' But she barely noticed me anymore. I wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her until she would wake up and be her happy self again but her two 'guardians' might have killed me doing so. Maybe not the younger blond, but Mrs.Chilly defiantly looked dangerous.
Rikku and Paine did a good job of directing Yuna away from our parents and their most likely bone-cracking hugs as we entered the house. Yuna introduced them and Mum hurried upstairs to prepare two guestrooms, though the three girls shared her old room in the end.
My room was next door, so I listened to them talking, able to understand the way they said things, but not the actual words. Most of the time, they talked quietly, but once I thought I heard my sister laugh. I sighed. She had changed a lot, but if these girls could make her laugh, then I guess it was okay. At least Yuna wasn't a complete stranger towards me.
The next morning came. I learned that pancakes and Rikku equals chaos and
waking up Paine before eight o'clock leads to trouble. They gave me a hard
time, defending my breakfast and hiding from a furious girl with a cushion.
We had fun, but my sister seemed too far away to notice any jokes. She just
chewed her toast and stared at the table. How badly I wanted to hug her and
tell her that whatever bothered her would go away.
A hand came to rest on my shoulder. ''Give her time. Don't push her.'' Paine
was done going berserk and grabbed a knife and butter. How could she stay so
calm? ''I won't.'' My gaze came back to my sister and I bit my lip. ''But... what is it?'' Silently I added: 'And how can I help her go back to what she was?'
The knife paused and some butter fell of it, melting. There was a short pause when the grey-haired girl looked into my eyes as if I should know the answer. ''She'll tell you as soon as possible. But until then: Spend time with her and hold her, just... don't leave Yuna. That's the best thing any of us can do.''
Yuna, Rikku and Paine, YRP for short, stayed with me for the next thirteen days, waiting for me when school was over and staying up with me when there was something on TV. They barely ever left the house, because Yuni was afraid of crowds. I stared to call them the chaotic trio, wondering how three people as different as them could stand each other.
After these two weeks, I told them that I wanted to be alone for a day and hid in my room, staring at the phone like a lovesick girl. It had been exactly a month and Ienzo hadn't called. When night time came, I started sobbing. He had forgotten me and swapped me for science. I felt betrayed.
The next morning took much too long to come and when dawn finally broke, I hadn't slept for a minute. Mum called and said that everyone was going to eat, but I used the excuse that I simply felt too sick to eat. Hidden under a giant mountain of blankets and cushions I waited for the day to go by.
After midday, Yuna came in and sat on my bed, Paine and Rikku stayed outside. "I thought you'd want to eat something." It took her some time to find me, for I was covered all over. My eyes were red and my forehead burned. She smiled at me and teased: ''You'll eat this Myde, even if I have to force feed you.''
I turned away and watched the phone again. ''He's forgotten me.'' Yuna turned to me, talking seriously. The soup sat there ignored. "Who? Who has forgotten you?" My answer was as weak as I felt: ''Ienzo.'' I blinked a tear away. ''He isn't here.'' My sister smiled sadly and embraced me, rocking back and forth as she did when I was little. "I know how you feel."
Suddenly I understood:
"Tidus?" I questioned. Yuna started crying. "Yes." We cried until there were no tears left, but still it was not enough for me. As soon as we both felt well enough to leave the room, we joined Rikku and Paine in the kitchen sipping tea. ''Can we... go to the beach?'' I needed to see the sea again or I would collapse. Yuna smiled faintly: ''Of course. Guess what I do when I...'' she stopped mid sentence as I left the house without as much as a 'Bye'.
"Bye." Yuna said as she watched me hurry out the house. She gazed at her two friends and smiled sadly. ''He is too much like me.'' Yuna shook her head and put her fingers to her lips, as if she wanted to whistle. Her hand shook. "And like him."
'I miss you.'