Sahrah: OKAY I SERIOUSLY HAVE AN EXCUSE THIS TIME.
Editor: ((rolls eyes)) And I'm sure everyone's interesting in your excuses. Oh, wait, no, no they're not interested. They just want to read your damned fanfic already.
Sahrah: WHAT? EDITOR, YOU'RE BACK!?
Editor: Yep. Vacation's over, now start typing. ((glares)) Oh, and bloodredx will no longer be editing this fanfic.
Sahrah: Indeed. We seem to have gone our separate ways, so… ((glomp)) I missed you!
Squall: Okay, finish your pitiful excuses so we can start the chapter.
Sahrah: Right, of course. See, I had to wait until finals were over before I could work on anything, because for a while it was all "I'm either sleeping, in school, or studying." And then I had a week off, and I was, well, procrastinating, no excuse for that week. Then the last week of June I was away in Lincoln, Nebraska. These past few weeks I was adjusting to my new work schedule, but it's long past due for a fuckin' UPDATE.
Squall: What's with the profanity?
Sahrah: It's, like, a warning. Because Gippal curses a lot in this chapter. Because I think cursing is amusing, and "fuck" is my favorite curse word and none of the characters curse nearly enough to entertain me. But now for the dedication! In case no one remembers, last chapter I quoted Shakespeare, and whoever told me either the play or the meaning of the quote would have the chapter dedicated to them. There were four people who got really close, and one of them identified the play, which was "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar." These people are xkoolxmonkyx, FFX-Lover, Jessica, and sailor-jensi07. The quote basically means that a coward never really lives, and by not living, he misses out on life. Each time he misses out is like a death. A brave person experiences everything and only dies once. And now that we're done with that, let's start!
Editor: Um? Disclaimer. Now.
Sahrah: Riiiight. I do not own any of the characters, but not for lack of trying. Except for Raine, she's mine. I don't own Super Smash Brothers Brawl, or the anime series Death Note. You'll see why I say this. Also, another warning, Gippal curses a LOT in this chapter, because he's upset. And now, Yuna's Point of View.
Chapter 15: Arguments And Coffee
There's a certain anxiety that comes with graduation, I guess because it is the end of something you've worked for and the beginning of a new and scary experience. And of course Raine was laughing, because she was the only one of us who wasn't freaked out or anything. Paine was going to medical school of course, so she wasn't too nervous either.
Tidus was really nervous. It had taken him a little while to get all his memory back, and he was almost forced to repeat part of the semester. Needless to say, he was stressed beyond belief the week before finals. We all were, but him especially.
I was pretty high-strung that week myself. This is why we had such a terrible fight.
All couples argue. It'd be freaky if they didn't. Tidus and I were no different, of course, but we'd only had petty little disagreements in the past, fights that last for maybe five minutes. This time wasn't quite so easy.
It was a Tuesday night, I remember, and drizzling on and off. The sky was bleak and starless, a fitting setting for an argument. Tidus was in the kitchen, studying for a final, which would have been fine if not for a few factors.
First of all, he looked awful. He hadn't sleep very well for weeks, so he had purplish bags under his slightly bloodshot eyes. His lips were pursed with concentration, and he was slouching.
The second problem was that he was grumpy. He grunted answers, glared when I tried to talk to him, and wouldn't move when I wanted to set the table for dinner.
The third and final problem was that I was pretty grumpy, too. He'd been impossible all week, and I was pretty much sick of it. Not to mention that I'd pulled my fair share of all-nighters in the past few days.
So I did something I probably shouldn't have done. I walked up and shut the textbook he had been looking at.
"Come on, let's get some coffee or something," I exclaimed. "You've been staring at the book for ages." He looked up at me and glared; a look I'd never seen directed at me.
"No," he hissed, opening the book and flipped back to the page. "I am studying, because I actually care about my future, unlike someone I could mention."
"Excuse me? I'm ready for my test, because I remember the entire school year and wasn't stupid enough to get bashed by a maniac with a metal pole!" I answered bitterly. How dare he tell me I didn't care!
"Because you did such a great job standing up to him! Yevon, Yuna! Who's the one who almost got killed trying to help you?" He grouched. I sneered at him.
"Well fine! Then next time something bad happens to me, you won't find out about it at all!"
"Even if I did know, I wouldn't help you!" he yelled.
"I wouldn't want you to help me!" I yelled back. "You obviously can't even help yourself!" Tidus grabbed the book from the table and threw it against the wall. It made a loud sound and plunked to the floor. I stared incredulously at the book, then at him, and then back at the book. He hadn't thrown it at me, but he might as well have whacked me in the head with it.
"Grow up!" I screamed. "And hold onto this stupid thing, because I don't even know if I need it anymore!" I did something else I ought not to have done. I pulled off my engagement ring, slammed it onto the table, and crossed my arms. My eyes dared him to say something else.
His blue eyes met my bi-colored ones, the cerulean color I usually loved dark and murky with rage.
"Fine!" Tidus spat. "I swear, sometimes I wished I'd never bothered asking you to that stupid high school dance! Then I wouldn't be stuck with all of your stupid problems!"
Then he stopped. He realized what he said. He looked at the book, at the ring, and at my eyes. The eyes filling quickly with angry tears. He realized he'd made a mistake. A big one.
"Yuna, I didn't—" Tidus didn't finish that sentence. I walked up to him, raised my hand, and slapped him across the face. I hit him so hard that it stung my hand, but I didn't care.
"How dare you?" I whispered. But before he could say a word, I ran out the front door, and he stood in the kitchen with an engagement ring in his hand and a psychology textbook on the floor.
Tidus's Point of View
Yeah, okay. The only word that applies to that situation is: moron. I was a moron to let a sweet gesture become a war declaration. I was a moron to fight with the woman I love. I was a moron to throw the textbook. I was a moron to have said what I said.
But I never claimed to be smart. When Yuna stormed out of the apartment, I sunk into the kitchen chair and picked up the ring. She'd probably gone to Rikku's apartment. Or Raine's dorm, depending on how far she wanted to be from me. All I could do was sink my head into my hands and mutter "Why did I do that?" over and over.
I'm not sure how long I sat in the kitchen with the textbook on the floor and the engagement ring on the table and my head in my hands, but I guess it was long enough for Gippal to get Yuna's key and enter the apartment.
"Hey," he said softly, sitting in the chair opposite me. Yuna was probably with Rikku, if Gippal was here.
"Hey," I answered, quiet.
"So, you had a fight," the Al Bhed man sighed, leaning forward. "You had a fight with Yuna."
"Oh, really?" I growled, dripping with anger and sarcasm. Luckily, my friend simply ignored my fury. Gippal was cool like that. He let most things bounce right off him.
"It happens to everyone, you know. A misunderstanding, a mistake, whatever. It's not like it can't be fixed," he continued, reaching for the engagement ring that had been tossed onto the table, rolling the thing around in his hand. "Rikku and I argue all the time."
"Yeah, but your arguments are mostly jokes and teasing. This was a fight. I threw stuff, and she slapped me, and we yelled. Yuna and I never… I mean, I've never… yelled at her before."
Gippal sighed and looked at me with an amused twinkle in his green eyes. Eye. Whatever. "Do you remember four years ago, when you and Yuna broke up?"
I grimaced. It had been a memory that I'd lost for a while, and when it finally surfaced, I had felt the heartbreak from that terrible time all over again. I remembered the hurt, shock, and utter despair that I'd felt, the betrayal Yuna was led to believe, and how sick she'd gotten afterwards. It was a memory that I would have been glad to have lost forever.
"I remember it. Mostly because Yuna took my car," my friend smirked distantly. I rolled my eyes, but Gippal kept going. "Baralai, I think, was always dependent on you getting back with Yuna. He was like 'he's the only person who could be in love with the same girl since he was seven! He's always loved her!' Blah blah blah. Honestly, and don't tell anyone this, but I was sure you were done. Forever. I knew it wasn't your fault, I knew how much you loved Yuna, but I thought that probably she'd never trust you, or anyone else, ever again. I figured you'd hurt her way too fuckin' much, and you were too broken.
"But you, man, you proved me wrong. Sure it took some help from 'Lai and Rikku, but you ended up here, right? You've been living in this apartment for, like, four years, with Yuna. You're engaged to her. You're fucking in love with her, right?"
I nodded dumbly. He had a point.
Gippal continued. "You smashed her heart against a fucking brick wall, and she leaves you, runs away, and you still ended up together. I think maybe something's tryin' to tell you something, man. Yuna and Tidus are supposed to be together."
"That's awfully cheesy to say, Gip," I frowned.
"It's true, too. Then last year, she got kidnapped by a fucking psycho stalker, you got beaten in the head with a metal pole, someone got fucking murdered in front of you two, and somehow you're still together." I noticed that Gippal cursed more when he was upset. Not that it mattered.
"Last time something really fucking bad happened between you two, I was sure, I was so damned sure that you were done. But I was wrong, and I hate being wrong, so this time I'm telling you to apologize to the love of your fucking life, give her back the ring, and stop worrying so damn much!" The Al Bhed man ordered, standing up and glaring at me with his one good eye. "Shit, man, if you guys can survive fucking stalkers and concussions and jealousy and kidnapping and eating disorders and fucking high school drama, then you can survive a fucking Yevon-damned argument about fuckin' coffee!"
He was right. He was cursing like a sailor, he was yelling and glaring with his one eye and flailing his arms, but Gippal Djose was absolutely right. I told him so.
"You're right."
"Of course I'm fucking right!"
"What should I do? Should I go apologize to her?"
Gippal looked at me incredulously, as if I had five heads. "What the fuck? Obviously not right away. Give her time to chill out. I'll hang out here while she stays with Rikku for a little while. And now I have an important question for you."
I furrowed my brows in confusion. "What is it?"
"Are you ready for me to kick your ass at Super Smash Brothers Brawl?" Gip raised an eyebrow and smirked, challenging me.
"It is you," I answered with a grin, "who will be kicked in the ass."
"Let the merriment begin."
Yuna's Point of View
"Oh, that asshole! How could Tidus say those things to me!?" I shrieked at my cousin. I was sitting on her bed, shouting my anger, while Rikku attempted to rub my shoulders. I was waving my arms around way too much for her to give a good massage.
"I think he was just overtired, and you were overtired, and you both said stuff you really don't mean, y'know?" the blonde said. I knew she was right. "Now, I'm not an expert or whatever, Yunie, but I know that Tidus is crazy, madly, truly in love with you, and he always has been. He obviously didn't mean anything he said to you. I'm pretty sure you could put him through twice as much trauma and drama, and he'd still come running after you."
I still knew Rikku was right. I knew Tidus loved me, and I knew I loved him, and I knew we were just grumpy and sleepy and upset, but his words still stung, and I was still mad. The anger was fading fast at Rikku's words. Logic is the enemy of anger, I mentally complained.
"And, I wish I hadn't said what I said," I added softly, my cousin's fingers rubbing the stress out of my tired shoulders.
"It's not like you can't fix this," Rikku answered. "Go kiss and make up. Then you can have make up sex and everything will be good again."
"What are you talking about!?" I exclaimed, blushing. Rikku didn't miss a beat.
"Y'know," she said, "Make up sex. After you have a fight, then you make up and then have sex. Don't you watch television?"
"Maybe you shouldn't," I mumbled, rolling my eyes. My cousin has the magical ability to be profane, helpful and naïve all at the same time. Probably someone should remove her television privileges.
"Don't be silly. All kidding aside, Yunie, you should apologize."
"…You're right," I admitted. Because hey, she was. "I'll go right now."
"What!? No, give him some time to cool off first. Go back later. Let's do something else… Yevon, Yunie. Fro fuimt oui ku pylg nekrd yfyo? Eteud..."
"You switched to Al Bhed again, Ri…"
"Cu? Peda sa," she huffed, pulling her hands away and crawling across the bed to grab the remote. "I say we watch anime."
I sighed. Rikku had some kind of unhealthy addiction to anime. I liked it, but she was somewhere close to obsessed. But since I was feeling a lot better thanks to my cousin, I decided to indulge her.
"Okay," I smiled. "What shall we watch?"
"Well, I've been watching this one series lately… it's about a guy who kills people by writing their names down in a notebook. And an amazingly awesome detective that's trying to catch him. It's really intense and stuff."
I shrugged. "Sounds fun. Let's watch."
(A/N: I WONDER WHAT THAT SERIES IS.)
With that, Rikku popped in a DVD, and we watched cartoons.
Gippal's Point of View
After I creamed Tidus at Super Smash Bros, I went back to my apartment. Well, I was going towards it, but Rikku came out of our door at the same time.
"You fix things on your end?" she asked me.
"Yep," I answered, shoving my hands into my pockets and grinning. "You?"
"Yeah." She smiled and put her hands on her hips. "You do nice work, Mister Djose."
"Not so bad yourself, Mrs. Djose."
She threw her arms around me. "Cool. Let's enjoy the fruits of our labor."
"Which would be…?"
She looked at me with a teasing smirk. "An apartment aaaall to ourselves, of course. Shall we?"
I wiggled my eyebrows. "We shall."
Yuna's Point of View
So Rikku came back in and said that Tidus was chilled out, and that reconciliation was a good idea. I didn't even know she knew that word.
Anyway, I marched back home and opened the door.
"Tidus…?" I called out tentatively.
He was in the kitchen with two cups of coffee on the table. My fiancée stood up as soon as I walked over and we both yelled "I'm sorry!" at the same time. I suppose it was a little amusing.
"I'm sorry I threw the book and said all those things! I love you, and I didn't mean anything!" he exclaimed.
"I'm sorry I put the ring on the table and yelled at you! I didn't want to say it, and I'm really sorry!" I cried back. Then we froze, and then we laughed. I ran forward into his arms, and we stood in our tiny kitchen together like that.
Then we laughed, I cried a little, and he put the ring back onto my finger. We sat down, drank our coffee, and I learned that Rikku was right about make up sex.
A few weeks later, we all got our final grades back. Tidus passed all his classes (not the best score in the world, but that was totally not his fault so we were all proud of him) and then we graduated. Except for Raine of course, who was only halfway done. Now that we were finished, we got to laugh at her.
Rikku and Gippal were in RENT with their theatre company. They were just ensemble members, but I guess you can't star in all the shows. They left for a six-month tour just days after graduation, but after the tour, the troupe was going to perform in Zanarkand for three years. I was going to miss my cousin and my friend quite a bit, but there were always visits and cell phones to look forward to.
Lenne finished her teaching degree online and started looking for a job. Emma, now seven years old, was starting first grade in the fall. Shuyin worked part-time as a mechanic and was part of a minor-league Blitzball team. Of course, a scout had come to the last few games, and had requested that Shuyin transfer to the major league.
Squall bought Rikku and Gippal's apartment (they didn't need it anymore) and Raine moved in with him. Lulu and Wakka were happy together, as they always have been. Wakka, on the same team as Shuyin, was also requested for major league Blitz, and Lulu is continuing her degree in art, and Paine is going to medical school in Luca. Baralai is going with her.
Am I forgetting anyone? Oh, right.
Tidus and I are staying in Zanarkand. He's working on another degree in psychology, and I'm writing a book. My book is about a lot of things. It's about how Tidus and I got together, and how we stayed together. It's about all my "adventures" with my friends, and it's about how much better my life is because of the people in it.
My next big adventure is planning a wedding. Thank goodness I'm part of YRP plus L2. And Raine and Emma, who like to poke their heads in. Tidus helps when he can, but he generally isn't so helpful. Lulu most often sends him to get us coffee.
And I don't know what else. I'm very happy, I'm excited for my wedding, and Tidus brews excellent coffee.
End of chapter 15
Sahrah: Because coffee is excellent, that's why.
Editor: Sahrah, you hate coffee.
Sahrah: …SO ANYWAY… Next chapter is the WEDDING! ABSO-POSI-YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!
Squall: So what was the point of this chapter?
Sahrah: Good question, my good man!
Squall: …Don't call me that.
Sahrah: 'Kay. But yeah… this chapter existed because Tidus and Yuna never fight in my fanfic. At least, not enough to count. All couples fight; all relationships of every kind hit speed bumps sometimes. I wanted to point out that these two are no exception; they argue, they yell, and they get upset. And then, like most relationships, they heal. And have make up sex. But not all relationships do that. Like, friendships don't do that. Unless it's friends-with-benefits. But that's different.
Editor: OKAY! Enough. Next chapter will be the wedding, and then the epilogue. Thanks for reading!
Sahrah: Yes! Thanks for your continual support! I love you all very much, and sorry about the delay.
Squall: They're used to it. You never do anything on time.
Sahrah: ((sigh)) So true, so true. Oh well! The next chapter I wrote a while ago, so it's actually done all ready. I'm going to post it on my birthday, which is July 30th. I'm going to be sixteen, yay! So anyway. I'll see you all next time, and reviews are love. Bye!