TWO : Buried memories

Rikku walked in between Tidus and the couple and offered to take their jackets. Tidus glared at Seymour for a moment and Seymour calmly looked back at him.

"So, how have you been, Tidus?" Seymour asked, handing his trench coat to Rikku. "It's been a while."

"I'm fine thank you." Tidus forced a smile, "It's been a while indeed..."

Seymour chuckled, "I must say that I regret the circumstances in which we separated, Tidus."

Yuna gulped and turned to look at Seymour. "No, don't do this, please..." she whispered as she put a hand on his chest, "This is supposed to be a relaxing evening, please both of you..."

Tidus gritted his teeth, but then took a deep breath to calm down. "Yuna's right. Let's not ruin this evening." He looked at Yuna, who was clutched to Seymour chest, eyes closed, refusing to look at him.

Without another word he then turned and entered the kitchen.

"Dinner will be served in half an hour, so please make yourselves comfortable." Rikku's voice resounded from the kitchen. "I'll be right out with the drinks."

"I'm sorry, Yuna." Seymour softly said, as they went to sit on the couch, "It's just that... I can't forget what he..."

"I've gotten over it, Seymour..." She tried to smile reassuringly, but didn't succeed and just gave him a weak smile, "I'm here for Rikku and not for him..."

Seymour just looked at her and smiled. He remembered the first time he had laid eyes on her. He had instantly loved her. But little did he know about the burden that she had had to carry everyday...

5years ago…

The sun slowly came up and blessed the city of Bevelle with its rays of light. For a lot of people it was the end of the week and the beginning of the weekend. Weekend; a time to forget all the worries and the problems the week had brought with it for just a little period before the hell of a new week would start again.

Even though the day had begun without any problems, for some the night had already caused enough havoc to ruin the entire weekend.

Yuna lay with her eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. She sighed and thanked the gods that she was still alive after another horrible and humiliating night. As she turned her head to look at him, she felt a sting of pain in her heart; he lay there, so peaceful, looking so innocent. Where did it go wrong? She hated him so much but she knew that she would die if he just thought about leaving her. When she felt him stir in his sleep she gasped and laid as still as possible, eyes closed. She knew that this couldn't go on any longer. He stood up from the bed, looked at her for a moment and dropped a soft kiss on her forehead. Silently he left the room.

She turned on her side and silently wept when she heard the sound of the running water in the shower. Flashbacks of the last night ran trough her mind.

After the game, she went to see him in the team room. They had won the game and she wanted to surprise him with her presence, showing him that she did care. Even though she hadn't showed it much lately, she had interest in his professional Blitz player career. Hoping that he would appreciate her gesture she made her way to the locker room and got cheers from the other team members as she went. She smiled to herself and felt her courage grow.

But he wasn't there.

She waited for what seemed an hour and a half, thinking that he maybe was signing autographs; he was the star player of their team.

He didn't show up.

When she heard the janitor pass by, she asked him if he had seen him.

He told her that he had left two hours ago.

She thanked the man and wished that she could just get engulfed by the ground and disappear from the surface of the earth. She took her portable and called their apartment, hoping to hear him say that he had already arrived and that he was waiting for her.

The phone kept ringing, but no one answered.

She decided to just go home and maybe get dinner ready for him so that he wouldn't be waiting for hours to get some food after his big game. She nodded to herself; he would appreciate that.

Dinner had been ready for three hours and he was still not home. She had called his portable countless times, but she only got his voice mail. Discouraged and disappointed, Yuna decided to go to bed and maybe not think about how idiotic she felt right now. She couldn't muster the strength to hold back those tears that had threatened to fall for so long…

At one in the morning she heard the door open and felt him slide under the sheets.

"Tidus...?" she asked, sleepily, opening drowsy lids to focus on the vision that was stroking one hand the long her right leg.

"Not a word..." he huskily said to her, putting one finger on her lips, his other hand sliding underneath the satin fabric of her sleeping dress.

"Please no..." she pleaded, knowing that she sounded weak and not convincing. He was going to do it again…

He ignored her as he always and pressed his lips against hers harshly, his kiss ferocious and bruising. Yuna winced as he pulled both of her arms above her head and bonded them with rope to the headboard of the bed.

"Tidus please..." she pleaded again, but stopped as soon as he ripped her sleeping dress from her body with one surprisingly strong grasp. She cried out as she saw him throw it beside the bed; not only because it had cost her a little fortune, but also because he didn't even notice that she had bought it so she could please him…

Suddenly she felt him put a piece of fabric in her mouth. Yuna wanted to scream, but couldn't as she almost choked and desperately tried to calm her heart down so that she could at least breathe.

He ran his hands over her body, first exploring it fully like he always did, making her feel like an object, something that he could easily claim as his own... God knows that she wanted to be his, but then he should at least show himself as hers too? Or was that just too much to ask for?

She was scared, scared of what he was going to do to her this time... They had been together for a year and a half and he still surprised her in a sick way each time he came to her. She never knew what he had in his mind when he wanted to show her his love. The first time he had been rough on her, she had actually liked it, but it was like he had taken that first success as a cue to continue loving her in such harsh ways. Since then, he had never loved her tenderly anymore and he rarely spoke to her anymore. Their relationship was nothing more than a sexual one. All other characteristics had slowly died out and she didn't know the exact reason why...

A muffled scream escaped her and tears slid sideways from her face as he took her violently and kept his steady rhythm within her.

Oh yes, she was scared. She was scared that he might... leave her... she hated to admit it, but she loved him so much. She always had done so… Since that first day in the kindergarten and on until high school… He had admitted that he loved her only a year and a half ago. She recalled that day being the most wonderful of her life.

Tears blurred her vision and she slowly closed them, feeling sleepy all of a sudden. She still could feel him buried deep within her but it was like it all started to fade... his heavy breathing, his rough movements, and the pain in her wrists and between her legs...

She was falling...or was the scenery just moving upwards? What was happening? She suddenly felt her body tremble furiously and someone calling her name...

"Yuna! Babe, come back! Yuna!"

She gasped and opened her eyes. Moving her eyes to all sides, she saw Tidus bent over her, holding her close to him.

"I'm so sorry, babe...Oh my god!"

She was too astonished to even answer. What had just happened?

Yuna stood up from the bed and decided to go for a walk. She couldn't face him anymore this wasn't good. If she stayed longer he might...

She got dressed and silently left the apartment, leaving her portable, car keys and house keys where she had thrown them on the kitchen table.

Enough was enough.

To be continued…

-BDP-