Sorry I haven't been updating as frequently. I've probably said this a million times (or not?) but I've decided to switch to Yuna's POV... right after this chapter! And writing in Yuna's POV has been harder than I was initially expecting since now I can't just follow Gatsby and have to kind of make up my own stuff. But it's been fun. :)

I hope you enjoy!

VI: Tidus and Yuna

The next week followed without any sort of event. I went to lunch one day with Yuna (which, thank Yevon, was a much smaller affair than my previous lunches with her had been). I had waited for the perfect opportunity to speak with her about the status of her marriage with Baralai and how things were going, but she had found out that Gippal and I had been texting each other and that fact was the focus of our conversation.

"I knew he would fall in love eventually," Yuna had said.

"What makes you think he's in love with me?" I asked. "We've only texted back and forth a few times."

"I can just tell," Yuna had said with a sly smile.

As I left her that day, watching as she waved after me while I drove away, I couldn't help but feel guilty. I felt even guiltier when I passed Baralai on my way home and he flagged me to stop. He rolled down his window and yelled out, "How are ya, Rikku?"

"Good," I responded.

"Good, good… you haven't told Yuna about the other day, have you?"

"No, of course not."

"You're a good girl, Rikku."

I certainly didn't feel like a "good girl."

There were actually times that I felt so angry with Baralai that I thought of telling Yuna out of spite. But the reality of the matter was, just how do you tell someone that their husband is being unfaithful?

To distract me from thinking of Yuna, however, was a mixture of Gippal's flirtatious text messages and the fact that my neighbor liked to pay me a visit from time to time, usually arriving unannounced, tapping casually on my door with his cane.

"Hi Rikku!" he would always greet me, giving me a smile that suggested I was the greatest thing he had seen in a long while. "How are you today?"

We ate dinner together, one night out back on his dock (which was a masterpiece in itself). He had servants just as Yuna and Baralai did, and honestly, I was getting so used to being waited on that I no longer thought how odd it was that these people actually still had servants. I even accidentally found myself bossing the poor kitchen maid around when she brought my tea with lemon, despite the fact that I had specifically asked for no lemon.

Tidus ate in such a formal manner that I felt like a child sitting across the table from him. He looked at the array of silverware that was spread out and tried to use the same utensil that he was using. Eventually I gave up and just kept using the same fork for everything. Tidus, luckily, didn't seem to mind.

"Do you like it out here?" he had asked me after we'd been eating in silence.

"Yes. Your place is gorgeous," I said.

This made him look very proud. He straightened out and continued to eat with a strange, smug sort of smile.

Dusk was falling upon us quickly and suddenly, across the bay, was a green light.

It wouldn't have been anything unusual—the light was, after all, just a light at the end of someone's dock—but upon seeing it, Tidus' head snapped in its direction. He stood up quickly and walked toward it.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, wondering why he was so entranced by it.

"Of course," he said, standing with one leg up on a rock as though he was on some sort of lookout. "I always watch for that light. Every night."

Tidus was odd. I had thought that since before I had met him—after all, who else throws ginormous parties for an entire city but never really introduces himself? Not that he could introduce himself to all of his guests. But I was already convinced that anyone as wealthy as he was, living all alone in such a place, had to be a bit eccentric.

"What is it?" I asked, deciding to casually ask about the light. How could some dock light be so meaningful to somebody?

"What's what?" Tidus simply asked, and he made his way back to the table.

"The light," I said.

He had just taken a bite of his lamb, and he looked at me thoughtfully while he chewed. Then, he swallowed, smiled a small, careless sort of smile, and said, "What light?"

Frustrated, I ignored his question and kept eating.

It was a Friday when my phone buzzed, signaling yet another text from Gippal. While we texted throughout the day, Gippal never really seemed interested in meeting up. But this text was different. It said, "Hey, what are you doing after work?"

I quickly responded, "Nothing."

"Great. I'm going to pick you up."

Let's just say after that, the day certainly dragged.

When I was finally free for the weekend, I found Gippal parked where Tidus had been parked all those days ago. He honked at me even though I had seen him, and I went over to him, hoping the smile I was wearing wasn't too cheesy.

"Hey," I said, climbing into his gleaming convertible.

"Hey," he answered, and without saying anything more, he took off down the street.

I laughed and said, "Where are you taking me?"

"To dinner, of course," he answered.

He zipped off to what I was sure was yet another highly expensive restaurant. I felt myself lean back into the seat and wonder what I had done to deserve all the attention I was getting!

We made our way to the restaurant and were seated. The conversation was light, mostly about a blitzball game Gippal had played in the day before. Listening to him talk about blitzball actually made me feel a little, well, strange. Listening to him speak, it was as though nothing was amiss and he truly was Spira's greatest blitzball player. All I could think about, though, as he spoke, was how Tidus had said he was a better blitzball player than Gippal. And somehow, I figured that was true. After all, where would Gippal stand if he didn't cheat?

So, without even thinking, I semi-interrupted Gippal and said, "Did you know my neighbor was a blitzball player?"

At first Gippal looked a bit upset that I had interrupted his story about how he scored the third and final goal of the game, but when he registered what it was I had said, he suddenly didn't look so upset.

"Have you seen him lately?" he asked, ignoring my comment for the most part.

"Yeah, I had dinner with him the other night," I said. I wanted to add that it was a lovely dinner and Tidus was one of the most gentleman-ly men I had ever met, but I didn't want to make Gippal jealous or suspect that anything was going on between Tidus and I (especially because there wasn't anything going on between us).

"Did you tell you anything interesting?" Gippal asked. He laughed slightly, then, and said, "Other than that he was a blitzball player."

"No, not really," I said. "I don't know why he was so interested in telling me everything he's told me though… it's like he wants my opinion on him, or something. But why would my opinion matter?"

Gippal was watching me carefully as I spoke, and his smile was growing wider and wider with every word I said.

I gave him a suspicious look and said, "What do you know that I don't?"

Gippal suddenly leaned across the table so that he was closer to me. His long arms were outstretched in front of him, and he was almost touching my hands, which were resting on the table.

"Tidus used to know Yuna," Gippal said. "A long, long time ago. And I used to know Tidus, too."

"You knew Tidus?" I said.

"Yeah. I had forgotten until I saw him. I thought he looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. You know what I mean?"

I nodded. I had felt the same with with Gippal when I had first met him.

"Anyway, when he wanted to talk to me that night at the party is when I remembered where I knew him from. I knew him from my junior blitz days. He's Yuna's age, you know—two years older than me. He played for a team in Zanarkand."

"That's what he told me, too," I said.

"Yeah, but I first saw him in Bevelle," Gippal said. "I was, I don't know, sixteen or seventeen, and I was on my way to blitzball practice. The practice facility was actually just a few blocks away from my house, so I was walking there. On my way, I saw Yuna. She was sitting in her car parked down the road a ways from her house. And she was with someone. She was with Tidus."

Gippal paused. I supposed it was for dramatic emphasis.

"I remember it because his back was to me, but Yuna called over to me. She told me to come over to them, so I did. And she introduced me to him. She told me he was going to be a famous blitzball player someday. I shook his hand to be polite, but then I left. When I looked back over my shoulder at them, they were kissing."

Gippal laughed then, and said, "Yuna was popular with the guys, you can imagine, but I still remember feeling surprised that the esteemed daughter of Lord Braska was kissing a guy like that out in public. I guess I was kind of naïve back then."

But I had stopped listening when Gippal had told me that Tidus and Yuna were kissing.

"So they were… dating?" I said. I wasn't sure what the right word was.

"Yeah, they were," Gippal said. "But here's the thing: after Tidus' injury, things fell apart between them, or something. And you know how Yuna was back then."

I kept my face blank.

"Come on, Rikku. I know you know she was a bit—shall we say?—wild."

"She just got mixed with the wrong crowd is all," I said, surely.

"Yeah, well, anyway, eventually she settled down with Baralai—which she had to do, you know."

"I'm sure she loved Baralai." I quickly corrected myself. "Loves. I'm sure she loves Baralai."

Gippal let out a loud, bellowing sort of laugh.

"Come on, Rikku. They married each other for convenience. Everyone knows it."

"But you introduced them!"

"Of course. Yuna came to me, needing a way to get herself together. I knew Baralai was eying her. I set them up. But damn, I had no idea they'd be this miserable together…"

"Yeah, but—"

"Are you that disillusioned, Rikku?" Gippal suddenly said, pulling away from me. "Rikku, Baralai told me about that afternoon in the city. He told me you met her—Leblanc."

I suddenly felt ashamed.

"Well, why doesn't he just divorce her?" I asked, my voice small.

"Because, Rikku. He's in love with Yuna."

"Then why is he spending all that time with Leblanc?"

"Baralai just does what he wants," Gippal said. "And he gets away with it. But trust me, Rikku, he does love Yuna. The problem, though, is I'm not sure Yuna loves him."

"This makes no sense," I said. "Are you sure you're not the disillusioned one, Gippal?"

Gippal laughed again.

"Look, Rikku… Tidus wants to reconnect with Yuna. And he thinks you're the ticket to that little reunion."

"Me?" I squeaked.

"Yeah. You're Yuna's cousin. All you have to do is invite Yuna over for tea or something and then Tidus will just happen to be there. That's what he suggested, anyway."

"Who?"

Gippal laughed and took a long drink of his beer, before saying, "Tidus!"

I felt odd for the rest of the night. I felt as though I was getting wrapped up in all sorts of things I wanted absolutely no part of.

"So are you gonna do it?" Gippal asked as he dropped me off. I was still sitting in the passenger seat and he put his car in park, suggesting he wanted to chat for a bit.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I don't know if I want to get into the middle of things."

Gippal laughed and said, "Rikku, maybe you don't realize it, but you're already in the middle of things."

"I guess," I said, shaking my head. "I had no idea moving here would cause me to be involved in so much… drama."

"Yeah, but it's fun, isn't it?" Gippal asked. "All this drama?"

"Well, whose side are you on?" I asked then. "Baralai's or Yuna's?"

The left side of Gippal's mouth curled just ever-so-slightly.

"Come on, Rikku, I'm only on my own side."

"So what do you think I should do?" I asked.

His whole face broke out into a smile and he said, "Whatever's gonna be the most fun."

"Yeah but…"

Gippal interrupted me by putting his arm around my neck and pulling me in for a kiss. Whatever I was about to say instantly slipped from my mind.

When he pulled away, I knew my entire face was red. I had no idea what to say or what to do.

"Like I said," Gippal just said, casually, as though he hadn't just surprised me by kissing me, "just do whatever's going to be the most fun."

I still hadn't made up my mind when I heard a familiar knocking sound on my door. Feeling a bit flustered, I opened the door and saw that, of course, Tidus was standing on my small porch.

"Hey!" he said, smiling as he always did. There was undoubtedly a nervous twitch in his smile, however.

"Hi," I said.

"Um, how are you today?" he asked. He was rocking back and forth. His blue eyes were on mine.

"Look, Tidus, Gippal talked to me," I said, deciding to stop the small-chat.

"O-Oh?" Tidus said. Now he looked eager to hear what I had to say.

"I'll do it," I said, making my mind up right then and there. Why not? It was, after all, more fun, wasn't it?

Plus, the look on Tidus' face suggested he had never been happier to hear me say anything.

"How does tomorrow sound?" I asked.

"Tomorrow?" Tidus said. He was suddenly looking around—looking at the grass, and the siding to my cottage, and he was even trying to peak inside. "Well… we need to get the grass cut, and there's a bit of paint here that needs fixed, and…"

"Tidus," I interrupted him, "would Sunday work better?"

"Well, I mean, what works for you?" Tidus asked.

"Any day, really," I lied.

"Okay. Sunday. Yes. I can get everything all set for Sunday." He spun around from his place on the porch and said, "Does my house look good from this angle?"

For the first time, I felt a bit annoyed with him. But, I stepped outside and said, "Yes, Tidus, it looks very admirable from here."

As usual, this made him look satisfied.

"Very good," he said, nodding to himself. "Sunday at two?"

"Sounds good," I said.

He smiled at me, then. A small, toothless smile, his lips pressed just slightly together. There was a sense of gratitude shining in his blue eyes unlike any I had ever seen before. Even though he never said any thanks, I knew that he was entirely grateful for what I was doing. And I guess, as I watched him walk away, back towards his dark mansion, I felt as though I had done the right thing.

I called Yuna on Saturday. At first she tried to urge me that we could enjoy tea at her place. But I told her after all of the hospitality she had shown me, it was only fair that I repay her in some way. She then asked me if I wanted her to invite Baralai as well (which I found a bit shocking) and after momentarily panicking, I told her that no, she should come alone.

"Alone?" she'd said. "This sounds scandalous. I'll be there!"

And, I thought to myself, scandalous it would be.

Later that day, a man showed up to mow my lawn. Another man showed up to fix up the paint. And then, Sunday morning, rows and rows of flowers were brought into my small place, nearly suffocating me with their pungent smells.

It was also raining, too. I couldn't help but think that Tidus should have gone along with my plan to host this little "tea" event on Saturday instead of Sunday.

It was ten minutes to two when Tidus arrived, again tapping on my door with his cain. He had arrived with four servants—one who was holding an umbrella over him and the other three were carrying crumpets and a fine silver tea set. I looked at my old, worn tea kettle that was sitting on my stove.

"How does it look?" Tidus asked, walking in and taking in the flowers that had been set up earlier. He turned to me, then, a serious expression on his face. "How do I look?"

Every time I had seen Tidus previously, he had been wearing a tuxedo. I had never seen anyone strut around in a tuxedo the way Tidus did. But today he had on a nice, navy blue tailored suit. His tie was a skinny navy blue, his undershirt navy blue, the suit navy blue. He did, however, look extremely distinguished. His hair was gelled back carefully.

"You look great," I said. In the short time I had spent with Tidus, I had always found myself complimenting him, mostly because of the way it made his eyes sparkle with pride and happiness. But today, I really meant it when I told him he looked great. He did look great.

But this time, Tidus didn't seem to swell with pride at the compliment. In fact, he looked at me as though he didn't really believe me. But, he caught his reflection in an old mirror that was hanging and he straightened out his jacket and smoothed his hair carefully with his hand. Then, he walked quickly over to a chair, and sat down, lying his cane casually across his lap before apparently deciding to put it to the side.

He saw me watching him and he gave what sounded like a nervous laugh.

"I don't really need it, you know," he said, referring to the cane, which he nodded to. "But it helps."

I nodded my understanding.

Tidus shuffled in his seat a bit and the looked at his watch. Then, he looked around, tapping his hands on his knees. Then, he looked at his watch. He patted off some invisible lint on his sleeve. Then, he looked at his watch. He ran his hand over his hair again. Then, he looked at his watch.

I was about to open my mouth to start some sort of conversation to maybe calm him down, but he suddenly stood up quickly.

"She's not coming," he said, sounding incredibly angry. "I should have know."

"Tidus, there's still three minutes," I said, glancing at a clock on the mantel. "She's not even late yet."

"She's not coming," he just mumbled. He picked up his cane and started walking toward the door. He looked out the window, though, and I saw his face fall. He took a few steps backwards and spun around to face me. "She's here."

"I told you," I said, and I walked to the door.

"Y-You answer. A-And I'll just be in the other room," Tidus said, and he walked hastily off. I watched him and shook my head. I supposed I understood why he was nervous, but he was making me feel nervous too!

I opened the door and Yuna was standing there, folding down her umbrella.

"Is this honestly where you live?" She had a look of disbelief on her face. I fought a strange feeling of anger that suddenly surfaced and I had to swallow down the words "Well, if you had ever visited in Bikanel you would realize we don't all live like you."

She gave me a strange look, though, and set her umbrella (a Burberry umbrella) neatly against the wall to the house and put down the hood to her matching Burberry raincoat.

"I think it's perfectly rustic and wonderful, Rikku," she said, touching my shoulder gently. "You know that, right?"

"It's nothing compared to your humongous mansion," I just said, or rather, mumbled. Then, remembering Tidus, I invited her in hastily.

"Wow, what gorgeous flowers!" Yuna said, walking to one of the large pots carrying the flowers. She turned and gave me a strange look. "I didn't realize you were so into plants."

"Uh…" I wasn't sure what to say, so I simply walked past her and glanced in the other room where I had left Tidus. But he wasn't there. I peeked into the bedroom. He wasn't there either. Then, I saw that the back door was hanging open.

I couldn't believe it. He had left!

Yuna joined me side then, and said, "What are you looking for?"

"Oh, um, nothing," I answered.

"Wow, this is a lovely tea set!" Yuna said then, dragging her finger gently across the fine silver. "Is this yours?"

The surprise on her face told me she doubted it.

"You know, Rikku, this place needs a more feminine touch—well, other than the flowers." She laughed then, but her laugh was cut short. She gave me a strange look, and said, "Is there something wrong?"

I wasn't sure what to tell her. How was I supposed to tell her that all of this—the flowers and the tea and the smell of fresh-cut grass that she carried in with her—were not my doing at all. How I was I supposed to tell her that none of this was my doing?

She took a seat on one of the chairs and folded her hands in her lap. She looked sad.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Rikku?" she asked, her voice small.

My first thought was that she knew about Tidus. Somehow, she knew that Tidus was my neighbor and that he had arranged all of this. How upset she must be that he was nowhere to be found!

But then my stomach clenched. Or did she know about Baralai?

I was about to open my mouth to tell her something—I wasn't even sure what—when there was a sound on the door. I knew it was the tapping of Tidus' cane.

Feeling a strange sense of relief, I spun around to face the door and ran over to it, ignoring Yuna completely. I opened the door, and there he stood, completely drenched from the rain.

He gave me a shocked look, as though he wasn't expecting it to be me at the door. Our eyes were on each other's and I don't think either of us were breathing, although I'm not sure why I wasn't breathing.

Finally, I swallowed and said, "She's in the other room."

Tidus continued to look at me for a second, but then he walked past me, brushing against my shoulder just slightly with his sopping wet sleeve. I shut the door quietly and turned just as he disappeared into the other room where Yuna was waiting.

At first, there was no sound. Just silence.

And then, I heard Yuna's voice, small at first, but growing slightly: "I certainly am awfully glad to see you again."