Three
The reunion was chaotic.
Tidus stood back as refugees and villagers alike collided in hugs and kisses with excited screams and almost indiscernible words. Rikku, Brother, Gippal, and Paine stood next to him, surveying the scene.
"Job well done, again," Gippal said triumphantly. Paine nodded silently in agreement before following Yuna, who seemed to be searching the chaotic crowd.
"Yuna, be careful! I don't want you to get trampled!" Brother called, running after her. Tidus looked to Rikku to translate, but she just shook her head.
"My brother has the hots for Yunie. It's never going to work out!" Rikku said, rolling her eyes.
"Oh... why?" Tidus asked curiously.
"Because she's in love with someone else," Gippal said, stepping into the conversation. He eyed Tidus harshly, and then looked at Rikku, his eyebrows raised. She glanced back at him and rolled her eyes once more.
"Some things just aren't meant to be," Rikku said exasperatedly. "Come on, let's go," she said, grabbing Tidus' hand and pulling him into the crowd.
"I've missed you both so much!" Yuna squealed, her back to Tidus and Rikku as they approached a group hug.
"We've missed you too," a cool female voice responded.
"It's been too long," a male voice with an island drawl added. Yuna stepped back from the hug and turned to face Tidus, Rikku, Brother, Paine, and the disgruntled Gippal.
"You remember my friends, right?" Yuna asked the man and woman, motioning to the Gullwings. They all smiled back, each giving their own little nod or pose.
"Of course, nice to see you all again," the woman nodded.
"Don't remember you though bruddah, what's your name?" the man directed toward Tidus.
"Me? I'm Tidus," he said, meeting the gaze of the man, and looking over to the woman and nodding.
"Nice to meet ya man, I'm Wakka,"
"And I'm Lulu," the woman said, as the man named Wakka stepped forward to Tidus and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. Tidus suddenly felt all the air rush out of him. His vision clouded over as another intense, lucid feeling of deja vu hit him. He saw flashes of light, and then heard a muffled echo of Wakka's voice. Where had he met this man before? And the woman Lulu seemed familiar too, and so did the island, the very ground beneath his feet...
*SLAP*
Tidus' eyes snapped open, and after a few seconds he realized he was looking up into the faces of the Gullwings, Wakka, and Lulu.
"Have we met before?" Tidus immediately asked Wakka and Lulu. They looked at each other, while the rest of the group looked to each other in confusion.
"No... I don't think so..." Wakka said, rubbing the back of his head.
"I'm afraid not," Lulu agreed. "Are you quite alright?" she asked, motioning down at him.
"Yeah, sorry about that bruddah, I guess I don't know my own strength," Wakka said with a laugh. The group backed up, and Rikku knelt down next to Tidus.
"You okay?" she asked, pulling Tidus' face toward her. He looked into her green eyes and nodded, aware of her small, soft hands on his rough face. "Good. You sure are a weird one," she said, helping him up.
"Is everything alright?" Yuna asked, turning to meet Tidus with her multicolored eyes. Once again, he was rendered unable to answer, so he just nodded. "Good! Must be this island sun, you're probably just not used to it," she said with a laugh, before turning back to talk with her friends.
"Island sun?" Gippal scoffed, smirking at Tidus. He shrugged, not really sure how to respond. Rikku frowned at Gippal and then turned to face Tidus again.
"Ignore him. You'll come to find he's... kind of... a... bully!" Rikku said, the last word seeming to just come to her. "Yeah, so just... you know... stay away from him! He's no fun at all," she said, dusting Tidus' clothes off. Before he could think of something to say, everybody turned to look at him once again.
"Hey bruddah, sorry about that again," Wakka apologized. "I have to go fishing inland at the river, would you like to come with me? It'll be shady, so no worries!" he said to Tidus.
"Oh... uh... sure, that sounds great," Tidus said, looking uncertainly at Rikku who gave him a nod of reassurance.
"Alright, let's get going!" Wakka said excitedly, going to pat Tidus' shoulder again, but stopping his hand in mid-air and retracting it to scratch the back of his head with a nervous laugh before nudging his head in the direction they were to go.
Tidus, Brother, and Gippal followed Wakka through the jungle shade, carrying various fishing poles and equipment. Gippal chatted with Wakka, and Brother followed in silence. Tidus was uncertain of how he could possibly strike up a conversation with somebody who spoke a different language. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure how he himself was able to speak at all.
For at least the hundredth time that day, Tidus tried to remember his past. Yuna, Wakka, and Lulu... he could have sworn that he had met them before. And Besaid Island seemed to be a familiar place now. As they headed off toward the jungle after visiting a few huts to gather supplies, Tidus was sure that he had been here before, maybe even done this before. He looked down at the equipment box he carried in his hand. No flashes of light or deja vu hit him, and he sighed.
"Alright, here we are!" Wakka said, setting his gear down a few feet ahead at the bank of a rushing, sparkling river. "You boys know what to do," he said with a nod. "Oh, except for you bruddah," Wakka said, rushing over to Tidus. He took the gear out of his hands and set it down. "I'll show you what to do," he said with a smile.
Wakka was a good teacher, promptly showing Tidus how to bait the hook, cast into the river, and feel the tug of the fish if it bit.
"Just like that," Wakka said with a grin, holding up the fish he had managed to catch in about five minutes. "Now you give it a try," he said smiling, passing Tidus the pole. Tidus took it reluctantly, surprised that he didn't spiral into another bout of deja vu. He wasn't exactly looking forward to passing out again in front of people, especially if it meant he would just get seemingly false clues about his past.
Tidus stood at the riverbank, lost in thought. His mind wound this way and that, until finally he was thinking in complete circles, unable to make heads or tales of the day's events. Every now and then he'd think of Rikku, his blond rescuer who he had initially mistaken for an angel. Why had he mistaken her for an angel? Surely it couldn't have been solely because of her beauty. But he hadn't recalled any familiar feelings around her; no flashes of light or muffled, echoing voices. As close as they had been at various in the points during the day, surely some shadowy memory would have surfaced. He strained to think, trying in vain to remember if he knew Rikku from somewhere. Instead, Yuna popped into his head. Her short brown hair and mismatched eyes, her kind demeanor and gentle determination. It only felt right for him to reach out and...
"BRUDDAH! LOOK OUT!" Wakka's shouting pulled Tidus out of his daydream, just in time for him to see a very large angry looking one-eyed bat-like flying monster careening toward him. He dropped his fishing pole and dove forward into the river, submerging himself into the current just as the the creature's talons skimmed the water a few inches above him. He let the water carry him until the shock of being attacked for the second time that day wore off, and then bobbed up to the surface to take a breath of air.
He had gone at least 30 yards down river, and he saw that there were actually three of these bizarre creatures engaging in battle with Wakka, Brother, and Gippal. Tidus edged over to land, fighting the current, and managed to pull himself out in a few seconds. Soaking wet, he rushed back to the fight. Wakka seemed to be throwing a flaming ball at one of the creatures, while Brother and Gippal each mixed and threw some sort of explosive concoction at the remaining creatures. Tidus stopped about 10 yards away, realizing he had no way of helping. He looked around the shore to find a rock he could lob that would be large enough to do some damage, but no luck. Before he could decide his next move, there was a triumphant cheer from the men, and Tidus watched each of the monsters dissolve into fuzzy orbs of light.
"Hey bruddah, it's safe to come back now," Wakka called with a laugh. Tidus jogged over to the men who were high-fiving and laughing.
"Thanks for the help, not that we needed it," Gippal said with a smirk.
"I don't think this kid knows how to fight," Brother said to Gippal, shaking his head and laughing. Gippal chuckled and responded something in Al Bhed.
"Hey, go easy on the kid, it's not like he has a weapon," Wakka said, motioning to the soaking wet Tidus. Gippal and Brother paused before erupting into more peels of laughter. Tidus sighed. At least Rikku wasn't there to see him fail once again. Or Yuna... "Hey, I've got just the thing for you bruddah," Wakka said to Tidus. "Ignore them, and come with me," Wakka said with a smile, as he turned to leave the laughing Gullwings where they were. "Don't worry about them. Now they have to carry dinner home," Wakka said to Tidus with a smirk, as the two headed back to the village.
"Wait here, I'll be right back," Wakka said to Tidus once they arrived in the village. The chaos of the reunion had died down, and there were only a few people to be seen meandering around the area. Wakka returned promptly with Lulu at his side, and a sparkling azure sword in his hand. "Something I want to give you," he said with a smile, holding out the sword for Tidus to take.
"Whoa! You're giving this... to me?" Tidus said, taking the sword. For the fourth time that day, Tidus was floored with a rush of memories. Words, faces, places... and this sword. Wakka had already given him this sword. This had already happened before. Tidus gulped for air and looked up at Wakka, trying to see through the flood of memories, trying not to pass out again.
"Yeah, use it well," Wakka's voice said, first muffled, and then echoed a second later in his normal tone. Tidus gripped the sword, trying to regain his composure and balance. He blinked, trying to concentrate, trying to focus on the reality at hand. He pushed away the fuzzy memories that had clouded his mind and vision, until finally he could think straight. Wakka and Lulu stared at him, eyebrows raised. Tidus grinned nervously, and swung the sword around, slicing this way and that through the air.
"Thanks," he said smiling.
"Don't mention it," Wakka said. "You're a natural, I knew it,"
"Hey, where did you get that!" a familiar female voice called. Tidus turned around to see Rikku running toward him, followed closely by Yuna and Paine.
"Oh... uh... Wakka just gave it to me," Tidus said.
"We got attacked again while we were fishing, but he's got nothing to fight with! So, why not help a bruddah out?" Wakka said with a laugh. Tidus looked down at the sword in his hands as chatter ensued around him. He turned it over, admiring the way the light caught the different shades of blue. The handle wasn't worn down, but Tidus could have sworn that this sword used to belong to somebody... Obviously it had to have been Wakka's sword, right?
"Hey, Wakka, this is your sword right? Won't you need it?" Tidus asked, prompting for the explanation he anticipated.
"Oh, no way bruddah. I've got quite a few swords, but I never use 'em. I just hit all those vermin with my blitzball. Helps me practice my aim," Wakka said, pretending to aim and throw an imaginary ball.
"Oh... ok... well, thanks again," Tidus said with a nod. It was not the answer he was expecting, but how could he even be expecting an answer at all? He hadn't anticipated receiving this sword, so how could he expect this scenario to unfold differently? His thoughts were a jumbled mess. He couldn't tell his reality from his foggy, muffled memories.
"Thanks for helping with the fish," Brother's voice called sarcastically. The group turned to see Brother and Gippal approaching, laden with fishing poles, gear, and two bulging sacks brimming with fish.
"Excellent, dinner is here! Who wants to help me cook?" Lulu said with a grin, casting a fire spell into the pit at the center of the village. Tidus looked up into the sky and realized that the sun had started to set. He looked back over at everyone else, as they helped take the equipment and fish off Brother and Gippal's hands. Villagers peeked out of their huts, eagerly eying the day's catch.
"Come on Tidus, put away your new toy and come cook some grub," Rikku said playfully, appearing at his side, slipping her hand into his. He nodded, and glanced back up at the darkening sky. He had the feeling that his day wasn't over just yet...
Author's Note: Hey everyone, thanks for reading! I debated whether or not to make this chapter longer, but it felt right to end it here. Please let me know if you like this length of chapter, or would prefer them to be longer! In the next chapter expect some Tidus and Yuna conversation, and some Tidus and Rikku... encounters :P Please R&R, let me know what you think! Thanks everyone, stay tuned!