NINE: Without you

Entering the large living room of the presidential mansion in Zanarkand, he immediately made his way to the head office. This just couldn't go on any longer! He had had enough of it. Why did he have to hurt her? She meant everything to him!

Lenne...

When he had come to three days ago, he had immediately felt that something bad had happened. And his suspicions had been confirmed when he had seen her lying on the floor in front of the window, covered in her own blood. His heart immediately had stopped beating, his eyes had become watery. As he had kneeled beside her, his hands shaking, he had silently wished that he hadn't involved her in all of this... He knew that she had accepted just because she had been ready to do everything for him, to follow him everywhere he would go... she had accepted because she had loved him... why hadn't he told her about his alliance with Jyscal? If he had... then all of this surely wouldn't have happened...

Hot tears had fallen from his eyes while he had taken Lenne's body in his arms, hugging her tightly to him. He looked at his hand that lay under her body and whimpered as he saw that it was drenched in the crimson liquid. A little silver dagger lay on the ground next to her.

His own dagger...

Brushing her long hair out of her face, tracing her frame with trembling fingers, he had taken the time to look at her beautiful features. Those graceful lines that he had realised only yesterday that he loved them... he would never get the chance to tell her that now... he knew that he hadn't felt this way since his relationship with Yuna... and now he had lost her... forever...

Deep sorrow and remorse overwhelmed him as he bent over and gently brushed his lips against her cold ones. How could Jyscal have done this to him... what had she done to deserve this? Tidus just didn't know... the last time that he had seen Lenne was... just yesterday evening... and everything had seemed alright then...

He watched her taking the glasses out of the cupboard in the kitchen and smiled to himself as he saw that she was too short to fully reach for them. She gave a frustrated sigh and reached again. Tidus chuckled to himself and slowly stood up from his seat in the living room. He approached her from behind and put his hands on her hips. She gasped and put her hands over his on her hips and then smiled as she felt him hoist her so she could reach the glasses.

Back on her feet again, she turned around and softly kissed him on his lips. "Are you trying to cheat?"

The blond gave her a sheepish smile and slowly shook his head. "Of course not ma'am... but I must admit..." he whispered, nuzzling her throat, "that it does smell good..."

She giggled and pushed him towards the door, "No cheating. I'll call you when it's ready!"

He chuckled and looked at her from over his shoulder, "It looks ready to me. Can't I have a little bite...?" he pleaded, "Just a little... I'm so hungry, Lenne...?"

Smirking, she shook her head and continued to push him towards the door. "It's almost ready, be patient!"

He groaned and trudged back to his seat.

"I had almost forgotten how well you can cook. This is good..."

Tidus smiled at her from over his glass of red wine and took her hand in his free one. Lenne smiled at him, "Thank you. Don't eat too much, though." She whispered, slowly standing up.

"There's dessert?" he asked, voice filled with a hungry undertone, his eyes getting a predatory gleam in them. She knew that he knew that he was doing it to her again... Lenne couldn't shift her eyes from him... she felt her body getting aroused from his mere gaze. How she loved feeling that way around him...

"Yeah." She almost moaned, the desire starting to grow within her. This was their night. Tomorrow will be something else but tonight... she was willing to take every little period of time she got with him. Tonight there would be no hurting, no hating, no complotting, no pain... tonight he was all hers.

"Alright." He suddenly said, shaking her out of her thoughts. His eyes were still fixed on her and he softly smiled at the sight of her blushed cheeks.

"But... I could use some help clearing the table first..." she softly whispered, starting to put all dishes together and in that way avoiding his gaze.

"Anything to get to dessert." He softly whispered in her ear as he passed her with plates in his hands.

She gasped and softly bit her lips. "It's ice cream..."

"What flavour?" he asked as he re-entered the room and approached her. He had already found the pot of ice.

"Chocolate..." she whispered, her eyes moving up as he neared her. She found herself trapped between him and the table. He opened the pot and dipped a finger in it, scooping a little bit of ice on the tip. He put it on her lips and watched her licking it away.

"I love chocolate..." he whispered, mesmerized by the sight of her tongue on her lips. "Because it tastes so good on you..."

He put the box of ice next to her on the table and grabbed her by her waist, pulling her to him. Catching her under lip hungrily between his teeth, he coaxed her legs around his waist and scooped her up, making her bend her head downwards towards him to keep contact with his lips. He walked over to the couch and sat himself down on it, with her on top of him.

She broke the kiss and started to take off the blue shirt that he was wearing, revealing his muscular, tanned upper body. She pushed him against the couch so that she had a full view of his revealed skin in front of her.

He just looked at her watching him and smiled. He knew that she wanted to be the one to take the lead tonight. And he definitely didn't have any objection to that. As she bent over him and ran her tongue over his right nipple, he slightly groaned and bit his lips. While doing that he felt her shifting her weight upwards on him. When her body was fully straddling his, he heard her moan. He knew that the foreplay had taken long enough, he could almost painfully feel it himself, but he didn't want to rush her. Still he couldn't help the frustrated groan that escaped him as she grinded herself against him.

"Lenne..." he hoarsely whispered, licking his lips.

"Yeah..." she whispered, her lips tracing a maddeningly slow path towards his bellybutton. "I wonder how you would taste with a little bit of chocolate..."

The pot of chocolate lay now half emptied on the carpet next to the couch. Discarded clothing was piled up next to the lovemaking couple. Soft moans and gasps resonated through the little apartment, occasionally followed by the whisper of ones name.

Holding his head close to her chest, Lenne enjoyed the slow and passionate pace their lovemaking was taking. It was something different from the hard and rough sex they always preferred to have. Now it seemed to last an eternity... and an eternity with him was what she wanted with all her heart. Feeling him caressing her body with his warm hands, she moaned while moving her hips up and down on him and then bent over to kiss him on his swollen lips.

"I want to be with you... like this... always..." she softly whispered against his lips, locking her eyes with his. His lips started to part to produce an answer, but it was then that she grinded her body a little bit harder against him, causing him to bite back a loud moan. The slow pace she had set up kept him at a save distance from his orgasm, but it took him every bit he had had to keep himself from grabbing her hips, accelerating the tempo and ruining the moment. He just nodded and closed his eyes. This was different from what they usually did and he too wanted to be with her like this, buried inside of her forever.

"Lenne..." he finally whispered, while caressing her lips with his thumb. She opened her mouth a little and started to suck on his thumb and while doing that looking at him in the most innocent of ways. Oh god! He knew she was doing this on purpose... he bit his lips and groaned, pulling her closer to him. She softly crooned and closed the distance between them, pressing her lips against his. He immediately took her head in one hand and ravished her mouth with his tongue while his other hand caressed her left breast, his thumb tracing circles around her nipple.

"Hmm... Let's go to bed..." she softly whispered as she broke the kiss and felt him rain soft kisses the long her throat and further down. "Make love to me, Tidus..." she sweetly inquired.

Tidus let go of her and let her climb off of him. She turned around and offered him her hand, then led him towards the bedroom.

Laying herself down on the soft covers, she kept her eyes locked with his, biting on her lips to prevent herself from moaning out of pure anticipation.

He too bit his lip as he saw her settling herself in the covers, her beautiful body fully exposed to him. Raw need clenched itself in his guts and he realised that he had never taken notice of the attraction she had on him. She truly took his breath away.

Crawling on top of her, his eyes still fixed on her hers; it occurred to him that this maybe was their last night together. They were in Bevelle on a mission and they both knew what risks being here implied. But for now, he was willing to put all of those worries aside and enjoy the time he had left with her.

He lowered his weight on her and settled himself between her legs, causing her to softly gasp his name and closing her eyes. He wanted to see those beautiful pools of brown and green. He wanted to be sure that she too felt what he was starting to feel deep inside. Putting his right hand tenderly on her cheek and whispering her name, he coaxed her to open them and to look at him.

Slowly entering her, eyes still locked together, he saw her face form a painful expression or was it one of pleasure? She briefly closed her eyes and he thought that he saw a tear glistering in the corner of her right eye. Then she whispered his name and pulled his face down on hers and took possession of his mouth with her tongue. He took that as a cue to start a slow rhythm within her.

"Yeah..." she whispered and threw her head back. Tidus groaned and nibbled on her collarbone, making her moan again.

Time was running out on him, he could feel it. It was only a matter of hours before Jyscal would claim his body again. Jyscal had told him to prepare himself for it. And that had sort of surprised him because he knew that Jyscal had taken his body before without him knowing it. For example the time that he had been at Rikku's house and when the little Al Bhed had gone outside to talk to a broken Yuna. He had been watching the game on the TV when he had suddenly felt tired. He had woken up in Zanarkand. Or when Lenne had told him that she had been really scared of his behaviour after a dinner they supposedly had had. He couldn't remember anything. It infuriated him because he would never, ever do anything to hurt Lenne.

Looking at her blushed face and hearing her soft cries of ecstasy he just couldn't believe that another man could do anything to hurt this beautiful woman. What could she do that would be so bad to deserve it?

He felt her shudder from her sudden orgasm and lowered himself on her, catching her lips and working towards his own release. Intertwining his right hand fingers with her left ones, he then held her close before seperating himself from her to spoon her body against his.

He loved the way she put all the passion she had in everything she did. He loved the way she always smelled. The way she wore her hair or smiled warmly at him. How she would always be there for him when he would feel low.

He loved the way... he loved... her.

"Thank you." She softly whispered and raised their joined hands to kiss them.

Tidus smiled and planted a kiss in the crook of her shoulder. She sighed and drifted off to sleep.

Tomorrow it would all be over if everything went to plan.

"I love you, Lenne..." he had whimpered, voice broken from the tears. How he had hoped that she would wake up then. He had taken her in his arms again and rocked her slowly back and forth against his body. "I love you..."

He had kept crying his eyes out for a long time. Letting out all the frustrations that he had had to deal with. Images of her had flashed through his mind and had brought him to more tears and wails. If he hadn't taken the time to stop crying, he surely wouldn't have heard the sound that lit up his heart.

"Ti...dus..."

It had been but a mere, almost inaudible whisperer, but he had heard it. He had stopped his rocking motions and listened a little more closely. He had realised that it had come from beneath him. Raising his arms to look at Lenne, he saw that her eyes had been open, and her lips forming his name.

"Lenne!" He then had cried out.

She had looked up at him very slowly and smiled weakly. "Tidus...I..." she struggled.

He had shaken his head, the tears falling on her face, "Don't talk! Don't talk!"

Putting a finger on her parted lips, he had tried to smile but couldn't as he had seen her pained eyes and felt her choked breathing against his own body. She had tried to raise a hand to him, but lacked the strength and it had quickly fallen to the ground. He had grabbed it and brought it to his face.

"You're going to be alright, Lenne... Please hold on... Please..." he had pleaded while reaching for his portable and dialling for help.

"You didn't kill her you bastard!" Tidus growled as he went up the stairs of the presidential mansion in Zanarkand. "This has gone far enough!"

He stopped in front of the large doors of the presidential office and kicked the door open.

"How could you have done this to Lenne?! What has she done to..."

He fell silent as he suddenly realised that the person he was screaming too was none other than...

"Hello Tidus."

"Seymour?!" Tidus' eyes grew wide out of disbelieve.

"How do you like my new body?"

"Seymour?!"

"Yes. How do you like it?" He asked again, looking at his new body. "It looks strong doesn't it?"

Tidus didn't know what to think of all of this. Had Jyscal lost his mind? He just kept staring at this version of Seymour in front of him.

"Now I have the power and the youth once again." Jyscal loudly said, feeling his upper arm muscles. "What was it you needed to talk to me about?" He carelessly asked not even giving him a look.

"Why did you do that to Lenne?" The blond asked feeling a little bit intimidated by the new form the president had acquired. Unconsciously he took a few steps back when Jyscal slowly started to approach him.

A sly grin appeared on Seymour's handsome features, "She didn't tell you about her betrayal?"

Tidus frowned.

Jyscal smirked, "I assume she didn't." He walked over to his desk and opened a drawer. He tossed a movie sphere on the table. "You can watch if you want. It's all in there."

The blonde briefly looked at the sphere and then fixed his eyes on Seymour's face.

"What? Are you just going to stand there gaping at me?" He rearranged his costume and walked past Tidus. "Now that I have what I want, our contract can be ended. Don't you think?" he smirked again.

Tidus turned around and wanted to launch himself at him. How could he just act so cool about all of this?

"Ah. Ah. Ah." Jyscal whispered.

Tidus found himself with a gun pointed at his forehead.

"You do remember that I am still the president of all Spira. Do you really think that I would let you harm me?" He smiled again as he saw the blonde regain little of his calm.

"And with this body I can easily do the same thing my son did five years ago to you and this time make sure that you're locked away on the Omega- Islands, where no one would help you. And where you're sweet Lenne wouldn't be able to comfort you." He continued with a sly grin on his face.

"You have no right to talk about Lenne like that!" the blonde growled from between his teeth, well aware that he was still under shot. "Shut the fuck up about her, you asshole!"

The blue haired man just chuckled at a memory. "Ah yes... she was a really good... how do you youngsters say it nowadays... ah... a good fuck. I must congratulate you on your amazing stamina." He laughed as he saw Tidus take a step closer and stop as he pressed a little harder on the trigger of the gun he was holding. "Go on, make my day..." he chuckled again with an evil smirk plastered on his face.

Tidus felt helpless... and he just looked away, defeated. Balding his fists, he realised that it had no use getting killed now... he would just leave her on her own again... He just growled and prayed that he would be able to maintain his calm.

"Good boy." The president smiled and lowered his gun, putting it in his holder underneath the long coat he was wearing. "Now, I have spoken to Jecht about your position on the team. He is willing to take you back, the poor guy realised that it had been a big mistake to dismiss you from his team. And also, as promised, you will not get pursued by the authorities. All the illegal actions 'you' committed will never be taken in your records and the case will be classified as soon as I've had a chat with my wife to be." He spoke diplomatically and then turned around to leave, "But Tidus, I would appreciate if you took a look at that sphere first. I really wouldn't want you to take the wrong decisions and end up in jail after all..."

A devilish smirk played on Seymour's face as he spoke the words, but Tidus didn't get the chance to see it for the president left and closed the door behind him.

Pure anger was flooding through his veins and he felt like he would explode if he didn't break something right away. Why the hell had he ever accepted to join with Jyscal? He knew the reason why... oh yes he did, but he knew that he didn't feel that way anymore...

"Seymour." His lips formed. Yes Seymour. He had hated his guts for five long years, and the hate had never diminished until he had met Lenne. But before that, Jyscal had already spoken to him about the possibilities that lied in an alliance between them. And he had gladly accepted...

Looking at the sphere on the table, he felt his anger being fuelled up once more and he took it, smashed it down on the ground and heatedly made his way out of the office.

Feeling the baby stir inside of her, Yuna sighed and looked at the beautiful pond she was sitting next to. The three past days had passed without too much of excitement and she was starting to get bored of her daily walks in the huge indoor garden of the mansion. She sighed again and kept staring at the pond where little fishes were swimming in it. Her heart felt empty and the only man that could do something about that was him... where was he?

Jyscal had told her that he would come and he wouldn't break his promise, now wouldn't he? And Seymour was a man of his words too, he would come.

She only wished she knew when...

The baby stirred again and she bent down a little, putting her hand on her belly. "I know, little one. I miss him too." She softly whispered and stood up and wanted to turn around to resume her walk.

"I've missed both of you too."

She laughed and threw her arms around the tall blue-haired man standing in front of her. "How long have you been standing there?" She whispered breathlessly in his ear and hugging him as tight as her belly let her.

"Not that long, I wanted to hold you so badly." He huskily responded, running a hand through her hair. "I've missed you so much, my love." He looked into her eyes and approached his face to hers.

She nodded and gave into the kiss he was so willing to give. She didn't want to admit it right away, but there was something off about the way he was kissing her. It almost felt like he was trying to bruise her lips...or he had really missed her... yeah that was it... Breaking the kiss and the embrace, she looked up at him and nervously smiled.

"How long are you going to stay this time?" she asked and for some reason she felt like she couldn't look him in the eye. Didn't she dream of this moment?

He seemed to not notice her internal twist and just gently smiled at her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "There will be no more of that." He whispered, gazing at her lovingly. "I am going to be a father soon... I am not going to leave your side anymore... ever." He took her in his arms again and his smile broadened when he heard her gasp and then softly whimper his name.

"I love you." She whispered in his ear, and then kissed her way to his lips where they engaged in another passionate kiss. This time she enjoyed it fully and felt the usual butterflies in her stomach tingle her insides.

"I want us to be together, Yuna..." he murmured close to her lips, caressing her hair back on her head. "I want us to stay together like this."

"Yes." She nodded and closed her eyes as she felt him kiss her softly on her cheek.

"Marry me."

Yuna's eyes shot open wide. What had he just said? "W-what?" she hesitantly whispered and backed away from his embrace once again, a puzzled look on her face. That was strange... he had never wanted to get married before... didn't they discuss that?

"Marry me, Yuna." He repeated and took a step closer to her.

"I... I..."

Suddenly they heard someone call for Seymour.

Yuna mentally sighed in relief and turned in the direction of the voice. A few moments later a young maid came running. She was crying like there was no tomorrow.

"Lord Seymour! Lady Yuna! It's terrible!" She whimpered.

Yuna glanced at Seymour for a split second and then looked back at the sobbing girl. "What is it? Tell us, please." She gently inquired, wiping the tears of the younger girl's face. The poor thing was shaking all over.

"Speak, what is it?" Seymour harshly spoke. Yuna was stunned by this, but didn't say a word.

"It's... It's Lord Jyscal, milord. We found him... he was... he was... dead..." she whimpered and then broke down in more tears.

"Do you have full certainty of what you're saying?" He asked, his voice slightly shaking.

"Y-yes, milord..." the girl whimpered again.

Yuna put a hand on her mouth and looked at Seymour, who had his eyes closed and his hand balled up in fists. They were trembling.

"Seymour..." she softly whispered in sympathy and reached a hand out to him. He looked at her and she saw that his eyes had become a little watery. Taking her hand in his, he softly shook his head and closed his eyes again, a single tear falling from his eye. She stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him, hoping to give him some consolation.

"Milady..." the girl tearfully whispered, "we also found this, by his side... it was addressed to Lord Seymour, but..."

Yuna gently nodded and took the letter the girl was holding, while caressing Seymour's hair with her other hand. He looked up at her, his face sad but other than that no other sign of his grief. She looked at him with a questioning face, trying to find out what he wanted her to do... or to say... This was something they both needed to get through... Jyscal had meant a lot to her too. And not only to her... he had been loved throughout all of Spira... this was a great loss for all.

He just shook his head, "What's in the letter?" he asked, slightly sniffing. She looked down at the letter she was holding and handed it to him.

"It's addressed to you." She softly whispered and let go of him so he could read.

He frowned and opened the letter. He read it silently and she waited patiently for him to explain it to her afterwards.

"What does it say?" She worriedly asked when she saw his hand tremble with held back anger. Without a word he gave her the letter. She frowned, and started to read.

You see, I'm even capable of this... You couldn't even protect your own father! Will it be the same with your lovely Yuna? Do you want me to find that one out for ya? I've had your girl's ass once and I won't stop myself from doing it again. But do note that this time I WILL finish her off!

ToBeContinued...

-BDP-