Sahrah: I was messing around on YouTube and I found one of the cutscenes from FFX-2 + International + Last Mission, and so I looked up the translation. For those of you who were worried, Paine and her old team are back together, Rikku and the Gullwings (minus Yuna and Paine) are still at it, and Yuna is living on Besaid with Lulu, Wakka, Vidina, and, you guessed it, Tidus! If you go on www. gamefaqs dot com, you can find the translation. Somewhere in there, Yuna mentions that she lives with Tidus and they watch the ocean and take walks and she prepares different meals for him. So I just had to say that. Sorry for talking so much! This chapter is dedicated to the oh-so-very rare male reviewer, Sammy2483. You rock, man! Yuna's Point of View.
Chapter Two: Letters
A month passed. Letters came, a few per week, and soon it was December.
The mystery admirer would generally write poems about how he thought I was beautiful, or smart, or whatever else.
However, the one I got one dreary Tuesday evening was not like that. This one was addressed to Tidus. And this one was a threat. It was a threat for Tidus to stay away from me. A warning.
Tidus ripped the letter in half and told me not to worry, that it was a prank, that someone just had a crush on me (he also said he didn't blame the guy) and made some hot chocolate.
That was the day I met Ray Ericson was a Wednesday, and it was raining. I exited from painting class- Raine lingered behind to flirt with Squall, and Lulu was sick with a fever- and I walked smack into him.
He was slightly taller than me, with rust-colored, choppy hair and piercing, dark, menacing brown eyes. Those dark eyes sparked with recognition when he saw me, and the corners of his mouth twitched upwards.
The impact of walking into him caused me to drop my books, and I dropped to my knees in a hurry to pick them up. He kneeled, too, and scooped up a few of my papers, handing them to me.
"Sorry, Yuna!" he exclaimed, bowing respectively.
How did he know my name? "Um… and you are?"
"Ray! Ray Ericson! I-I, um… I sent you those letters…" he looked up, blushed, and looked at his shoes.
"Oh yeah?" I was put off. "Did you also send that threat to my boyfriend?"
He looked up and blinked, his dark eyes flashing with both despair and loathing. He excused himself abruptly and ran off. Oh well. At least then I had a name, and a face to go with it.
I stayed kind of quiet on that lackluster December day, not bringing up the subject of the letters or the sender of them. At dinner, Raine and Rikku prattled on about some book the two had read (some vampire book called Twilight). (A/N: It's the most amazing book ever. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. Go read it. Now.)
Gippal and Wakka discussed video games; Paine rolled her eyes at R2 (Rikku and Raine; Raine was not added to our group name, but since Raine was a mini-Rikku, they were referred to as 'R2'.)
Lenne and Shuyin played with Emma, who could now sing the ABC's, and Tidus laughed at how his brother had changed. Lulu was not there; she was sick. And I sat and watched.
I walked to the bedroom in the apartment and opened a book I had been reading, one that I had dropped earlier, and a letter fell out. I groaned, tempted to throw it away, but I opened it out of politeness and curiosity.
Dear Yuna,
I grow weary; your lack of response makes me weary with anticipation. I love you so much more than that chocobo-haired Blitz freak ever could. Please, give me a chance.
In my weariness, I reached a decision—if you will not accept my feelings, then I will not let yours be directed at anyone else.
Does the name Emma mean anything to you?
I swallowed hard. Would he hurt Emma? Was he truly that psychotic, enough so to hurt a little girl? I balled up the letter in my hand and glared at it, tears of hatred forming in my bi-colored eyes.
"How can you do this?" I hissed at the wad of paper, throwing it against the wastebasket angrily, venomously. "Emma has done nothing wrong!"
"Yuna?" someone spoke behind me. Lenne.
"Oh… Lenne. Wh-what's up?"
"Is something wrong with Emma?" Lenne was concise, as always, and to the point, seriousness filling in on her gentle features.
"Lenne, I can't lie to you. You deserve better than that," I began. "Recently, I was receiving these letters… secret admirer letters… which was sweet at first, but it kept getting creepier and creepier. Then, Tidus got a letter from the same person. A threat. To stay away from me. And… and today, I got this letter." I leaned over, picked up the note, and smoothed it out. Lenne skimmed over it and dropped it, half out of shock, and half so she could hug me.
"Oh, Yunie," she whispered. "Why didn't you tell us? YRP plus L2, right? Forever and a day, sweetie. I don't care if you don't want to drag us into this; I'm pulling myself in."
Tidus's Point of View
That night, Lenne called a meeting to discuss Yuna's problem. The name of the letter writer was apparently Ray Ericson, a name I'd never heard before.
"I'm willing to say that he only heard you mention Emma once, and decided that the name would make a good threat," Paine said.
"Yeah, he might not even know who Emma is," offered Gippal.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Emma's safe for now, I think, but if this guy is willing to make threats like this, I think he'd be willing to act on those threats," Shuyin pointed out. "Everyone should keep and eye out for this guy, as well as for Tidus and Yuna."
Raine stifled a groan. It didn't work. "What's wrong, Raine?" I asked.
"Well, if we have to keep an eye on you, that means I have to leave right away after painting instead of staying to talk to Squall!"
Paine rolled her eyes and Wakka snorted. I ignored her.
"Anyway," I continued, "if anything changes, we can call another meeting."
"The cell phone's always on, ya?'
"Call anytime."
"Bye, guys! Call me!"
Everyone called their goodbyes and walked down the hallway to their own apartments. I looked over at Yuna.
She sat rigidly in the cold wooden chair, her eyes fighting back tears, her lips strained with concentration. I kneeled in front of her, pressing my palm to her cheek, lifting her face up gently.
"Yunie," I whispered. "Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen to Emma, or to me, or to you. Okay?"
She put a trembling hand over mine. "I feel… trapped again, Tidus," she murmured. "I'm afraid."
I nodded. "I know, Yuna. That's why, this time… you have me!" She closed her eyes and nodded, sliding off the chair and into a hug.
"Come on, let's go to bed," I murmured, holding her hand as we walked into the comforting room. We changed our clothes and slid into bed.
Just before losing consciousness, Yuna clasped her fingers with mine.
Yuna's Point of View
Forensics class was my favorite class. My teacher, Doctor Gregory Brown, was a nice man with interesting ideas and good inquiries. He was very easy to learn from. He could teach any type of person with any type of learning style.
He was a good man.
Why did he have to die like that?
It was the day after the meeting with my friends. I walked into the class, only to be ushered out by a police officer. There was caution tape all around the room. Officers were frantic, and the other students were really confused.
I saw the first person I recognized—Rinoa Heartilly—and ran up to her.
"What's going on?" I asked her in a rushed whisper.
"I don't know," she whispered back. For some reason, it felt right to whisper. "I got here a little early, but… like, I think Dr. Brown got murdered or something. In a forensics class. Omigawd, how dramatic. D'you think they'll let me help solve the murder?"
I rolled my eyes. Typical Rinoa. And then I saw it. The body. It was indeed our professor, with his eyes rolled back in his head, an eerie sight compared to his normal warm and welcoming self. He was dead. From one fingertip to the other was a frightening message, written by a knife in my dead teacher's skin.
I warned you that I was taking action.
I went pale. The letter. Ray. 'In my weariness, I reached a decision—if you will not accept my feelings, then I will not let yours be directed at anyone else.'
I stifled a scream and bolted, weaving through the masses of students and policemen, running, running, until I stopped outside in the courtyard. And there he stood, like a statue. The murdered. Ray Ericson.
"Did you get my newest message?" he asked hopefully.
"You-you killed him!" I choked out, glaring mercilessly.
"Red is a beautiful color, don't you think so? The color of passion. Perfect for the message."
"You are avoiding my question!"
"And you avoid mine." He turned to face me. "Will you give me a chance with you?"
"No!" I shouted. "You killed that innocent man! You are a killer! And a stalker! And you dare to act like you didn't do anything wrong!? You are twisted and SICK!"
Ray frowned. "Nothing is wrong in love, Yuna! I did it for you!"
I took a step backwards, leaning against the brick walls of the science wing for support. I leaned over and retched, coughing up my breakfast. The stalker only watched intently.
He took a step towards me.
"STAY AWAY!" I screamed. "YOU SICK FREAK!"
His eyes became sad, and he looked at his feet. "I can prove it," I heard him mumble. "I can prove I love you more than that boy."
"He's more of a man than you will ever hope to be," I answered, standing tall. "He aspires to do great things with his life. And what of you, Ericson? What are you doing with your life?"
He sighed deeply. "Winning you over. That's all I need right now."
"Keep dreaming."
He nodded. "Keep an eye out for my next message."
"Leave my friends alone, Ray."
He grinned. "You called me by my first name."
"I'm going to report you to the police."
"They won't find any evidence. I didn't kill him myself. They will only find the trail of someone who committed a murder whilst being on high and then overdosing themselves. There will be nothing left, except for your silly claims. Please, Yuna. You can't win."
I glared at him. I didn't know him very well, but I hated him. I hated his dark eyes, his feigned innocence; I hated how he walked so arrogantly.
I hated how he had outsmarted me.
Another meeting was called ASAP. There was so much to tell. There was so much danger. What was wrong with the world? Did Yevon hate me so much? After the happenings of the previous year, I thought all of us deserved to be free from those chains of betrayal and broken faith.
But all we got were more scattered ashes of hope, blowing like letters lost in the wind.
End of Chapter 2
Sahrah: Everyone, applaud, please! I worked hard on this. I also want to apologize for not updating last month—I was really busy. To make up for it, I will update twice this month, so don't fret. I'm sorry, gomen, gomen! And, everyone wish me luck, because on Saturday, I'm going to a winter ball at my school, and I might be asked out by this guy that I totally like, so please cross your fingers for me! Thanks!