Hi everyone. Chapter 5 time. Let's keep this story rolling.
Please forgive any spelling or grammar mistakes.
Italic writing like this signifies a character's internal thoughts.
Location: Mi'hen Highroad – Early hours
The party had been travelling for several days during the evenings and through the nights in the quest to get back to Luca. Given that Yuna and her guardians were now reviled by the people of Spira following the incident in Bevelle, travelling out in the open during the daytime had become far too risky to do. It wasn't because the group feared for their safety, they were more than capable of protecting themselves and Yuna from the over-zealous. No, the problem they faced was that many people were more likely to alert the authorities (who still wanted to capture them) if they saw them passing through their town.
Due to this, the group had been laying low and resting during the sunlight hours and only moving around after sunset. It was an irritating necessity, but a necessity nonetheless. To be extra save, Yuna had bought herself a veil and now wore it to hide her face whenever they whenever they set off.
"I hate travelling only when it's dark," Rikku whined as the group walked down the long, dangerous Mi'hen Highroad. "It's always cold and there's always more fiends around."
"That's because a lot of fiends in Spira are nocturnal," Wakka explained. "Only come out when it's dark ya."
"Like us," replied Rikku. "I guess given what we're doing that makes us nocturnal too."
"It's got to be done," Auron interjected now. "Travelling in the day is far too dangerous, we wouldn't make it five minutes before being recognised."
"Yes, Auron's right Rikku," said Yuna from underneath her veil now. "I know this is a pain but it's the only way we can move around freely."
"Yeah I know," Rikku admitted now. "Just, I hate the dark."
…
Later
The group had been on the Highroad for several hours now and had made considerable progress. Though they'd lost count how many times they'd had to stop to battle fiends, they were nearly at the end of the long road.
"I think we're nearly there," said Lulu. The group had stopped for a breather and to take in their surroundings.
"Yeah, Luca can't be much further," said Wakka. "But, what do we do when we get there ya? Yuna?"
"I'm not sure," answered Yuna truthfully. "I've been so focused on just getting there that I…. I haven't… really thought about what to do once we do."
"Well, now would be a good time to start thinkin' ya? We'll probably get to Luca before sunrise."
Yuna nodded in response and then looked downwards at her knees. She was sitting down in between Lulu and Kimahri.
"Well we look for Tidus, what else?" said Rikku now in response to Wakka's original question. "We look for Tidus."
"Yeah, but how?" asked the tall blitzer now. "How do we know he'll even be in Luca? And if he is, where do we start looking ya?"
"It's going to be hard keeping a low profile too. I mean, out here in the country is one thing. A big, busy city like that though? That's different."
"Yeah, you're right," said Wakka sounding downhearted.
"When we reach Luca, we split up in order to search for him," said Auron butting in now. He was, as usual, a little unengaged with everyone else.
"Walking around in a group like this would be foolish, we split up into pairs to keep a low profile."
"YEAH," replied Rikku enthusiastically. "It will be harder for people to recognise us if we go into smaller numbers. We'll be able to blend into the crowds more."
"But who goes with who?" asked Lulu now.
"Let's let Yuna decide that," replied Auron. He turned towards Yuna who looked up after he spoke to her. She looked around at her guardians, taking them all in one by one. After a minute or she'd decided.
"Okay, here's how we will go. I will go with Lulu. Sir Auron, I would like you to go with Kimahri. And Rikku and Wakka, you two together."
"Kimahri go with Yuna. Kimhari protect Yuna. Always," said the Ronso now in animated tone. Kimahri rarely spoke out in front of the group like this, but on this occasion he was very clear
"No Kimahri," she replied. "This time I need you to go with Sir Auron. If you were to escort me then I'm afraid we'd draw too much attention."
"She's right Kimahri," said Wakka. "Sorry to have to tell this ya but, you stand out in a crowd brudda."
Kimahri didn't respond to this but merely looked back to Yuna. She gave him a firm nod as if to tell him her mind was made up.
"Kimahri accept Yuna decision," he said quietly before returning back to his usual brooding, silent self.
"So I'm with Wakka?" asked Rikku now. She turned toward the Besaid blitzer, nodded and happily declared
"ALRIGHTY THEN!"
Wakka gave a small laugh in response to this.
"We should go," said Auron speaking up. "We need to press onwards if we wish to reach Luca before sunrise."
Luca – Midday – Tifa's room
Tidus had been awake for a few hours now and was still in Tifa's room, and (still to his extreme discomfort) without his clothes.
He'd been unable to leave and he was starting to get very irritated.
"Look Tifa, er, out my clothes ready yet," he asked cautiously.
"Almost," she replied. "They're just drying."
The barmaid was sitting at her chest of drawers putting her make-up on. She was getting ready to open the bar downstairs for the day. A couple of minutes earlier she'd stripped her night gown and got completely naked herself, RIGHT IN FRONT OF TIDUS. His embarrassment was again off the charts. She was acting as if he wasn't even in the room. No girl he'd ever met before would get stark naked in front of a guy she barely knew (never mind sleep with him the night before).
She'd put her dress on (he couldn't help but watch her) and had combed her hair. Now she was applying her cosmetics, all whilst Tidus sat on the bed, still covered by the quilt and feeling more awkward than he'd ever felt in his life.
She finished applying her lipstick, stood up from her stool and said;
"Your clothes should be ready now, I'll get them for you."
"Okay, thanks," he replied. Thank God was what he was really thinking though. He couldn't wait to put his gear back, bolt out the door and never come back.
She came back from the kitchen carrying his newly washed clothes. She handed them to Tidus who almost snatched them off of her in his eagerness to get them back on.
He stood up from the bed and with his cheeks flushing crimson, dropped the quilt from his naked form. If she's got changed in front of him, there was no way he could complain about having to do the same in front of her, no matter how uncomfortable it made him feel.
It took him no time at all before he was fully dressed again. Ironically, it was also the same time that Tifa finished getting herself dressed.
"I think…. I think should get going now," Tidus said very awkwardly.
"Are you sure?" asked Tifa. "Do you want a drink from the bar downstairs before you go?"
"Er… no. No thanks," he replied.
"Okay then," she merely said. "Your choice."
Tidus walked towards the door. Although he wanted bolt straight out of it, he instead brought himself to turn around and say one final thing to the barmaid.
"Erm…. Tifa, thanks. Thanks for everything."
"Don't mention it honey," she replied with a wink and a smile.
Realising what he'd inadvertently implied; Tidus gave her another awkward look and then a short nod. He turned towards the door to make his long-awaited exit. As he left she called after him;
"You ever want somebody to talk too or a place to crash again, you know where to find me."
Tidus heard her but didn't answer. He walked down the stairs, into the front of the bar and left through the front door. It felt so good to be out of there.
"What a crazy chick," he thought now that he was free and back in the Luca streets. "Smokin' hot, but absolutely crazy. What sort of person takes in a complete stranger, sleeps with them and then gets nude in front of them?"
Shaking his head in absolute bewilderment at the events of the last 12 hours or so, Tidus' thoughts drifted back to his situation.
"I need to forget about that wack-job. I need to think more about what happens from here on in. What do I do? And where do I go?"
He stopped and thought for a while. Many different things drifted in and out of his head as he did so.
"I can't go back to Yuna and everyone else. Can I? What would say? I walked out on them, they probably don't want anything more to do with me. Yuna. Yuna must have been so hurt that I just… I just… just left without warning or saying goodbye."
He fought back tears as these uncomfortable truths dawned on him. He had burned his bridges with the others, he couldn't return to them now. Not when he'd ended his guardianship of Yuna in the manner he had done.
"I just want to go home."
Tidus had lost count of many time he'd said this tom himself since he'd first come to Spira. But he still meant what he said, now so more than ever.
"I have to find a way back, I can't stay here in Spira. Whatever life I thought I could make for myself here, it's now gone. My life is back in Zanarkand. That's where I belong."
That's that chapter done. I originally wrote an entirely different chapter but over the last few days I've had a rethink about this whole story. I read previous chapters thoroughly and I decided to change the direction this story was heading. I regret some previous aspects I've put in previous chapters but I'm not going to go back and change them now. Anyway, this story has had its' direction changed back to what it was going to be originally when I first started it and before getting side-tracked. I hope you like this new chapter, reviews would highly appreciated. Thanks. New chapter sometime next week.