I walked back to the village holding Rikku's hand. While its warmth felt nice in the cooling weather, a cold guilt had been placed like a seed in my heart, growing with each passing minute. It festered within me, whispering Yuna's name in my ear and spitting out dirty insults. Cheater. Womanizer. Filanderer. My conscience pulled no punches as it assaulted my mind, and the only thing that eased it was the sight of Rikku's blushing face. I had no doubt in my mind that she felt guilty too, having betrayed her cousin and succumbed to her feelings. I kept telling myself that we were meant to be, Rikku and me… That it was fate that she was the first face I saw in Spira. I knew deep down that I was just cheating on Yuna, though. If anyone found out… What would they say? Wakka'd probably be pissed at me; he'd call me a piece of shit. Lulu would definitely wring my neck, and Kimahri… I don't even want to think about it. Rikku looked up at me as we neared the village entrance, uncertainty in her eyes.
"Is it no good after all?" She asked, tightening her grip in my hand. "Maybe we really shouldn't..."
"Rikku, believe me, I'm guilty too. It's eating away at me inside. But you know what?" I wiped a tear that fell from her misty eye. "My feelings for you… They're stronger. It may not be the ideal thing for everybody else right now, but for me at least, it is the only thing I want."
Rikku looked away and smiled, her cheeks taking on a slight pink hue. I felt her inch closer to me, and I did the same so that our shoulders were practically touching. We stayed like that the rest of the way to Faldrin, silently walking side by side as the sun inched higher in the morning sky. Maybe it was selfish, but this was my story, and I was writing it the way my heart was telling me to. Yuna and the others can wait until we've dealt with what needs to be done here in Mysida. Having Rikku by my side only strengthened my will to protect her and the rest of the people I loved from the disaster that was Yurlungur.
Today, Rikku and I planned to set out from Faldrin to the small town of Gaia to visit the Temple of Namazu. There, we would gather more information on how to find Yurlungur, and perhaps how to prevent it from starting a disaster. To get there, we'd have to cross the Delmar plains to the town of Delmar, then head north to Gaia through the Cavern of the Sealed Beast. I didn't like the sound of that place, and I made sure I had my prime equipment with me. Rikku stocked up on healing and support items from the shop before we left, and we set out from the east exit of the village that led to the plains.
The trek across the plains was pretty straightforward. According to the map I bought from the temple guide, there was a single path that went on for about twenty miles to the Delmar West Gate. There were a few campsites along the way, and it looked like the path was often traveled by fish traders, making fiends and animals wary of venturing out onto the path. Once Rikku and I confirmed we were ready to head out, we took our first step onto the Delmar Plains.
The path was as easy as the map suggested it would be, and Rikku and I made small talk as we crossed through the grassy fields. It was calming, being surrounded by so much green, and Rikku's smiling face washed away the guilt I was feeling earlier. Out here, there was nothing but me and her together, the awkward-but-cute brushing of shoulders, and the smell of wildflowers surrounding us. It was bliss.
About halfway to Delmar, we reached a small campsite, where a number of other people had stopped to rest. Rikku and I decided to take a break as well, and sat on a log near the fire pit. The campsite was really nothing more than a cheaply put together rest area, marked by the wire fence that encircled it. The area's diameter looked to be about two hundred feet, and supply carts were parked alongside various tents and sleeping bags. As I warmed my hands in the embers of the campfire, Rikku nudged my shoulder.
"Hey, Tidus. Isn't that…" She pointed to a muscular man in a large red haori. He was talking to some girl with pink hair and a white blouse.
"Auron?!" I shouted. Man, how long had it been since we'd seen him? Three days? Rikku and I made our way over to greet him. Hearing our footsteps, he and the girl turned toward us. Auron made a surprised look, and the young woman just tilted her head, wondering who we were.
"Who are these guys?" Asked the short statured girl, looking up at Auron.
"The friends we set out here for." He replied. The girl looked at Rikku and I, then smiled and held out her hand.
"My name is Sofya. It's nice to meet you."
I took her hand and introduced myself, then introduced Rikku, who seemed happy to finally have another girl to talk to. I left them to chat and decided to fill Auron in on the situation.
"We're going to the town of Gaia, north of Delmar. We think we can find out more about Yurlungur from the temple there."
"They have temples here too?" Auron said, scoffing. "It seems people are brainwashed even in other worlds."
"That's not all. Besides Yurlungur, there are like five other guys that are his sons or whatever. There's one for Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning. The people here worship them as gods."
"It did seem that way in the temple in Spira."
"Oh right, I think that temple in Spira used to be here. The old guy at the Faldrin temple told us about a village that disappeared along with the Great Temple a long time ago."
"Interesting." Auron placed a hand to his chin in thought, then turned to Rikku and Sofya, telling them it was time to go. The two girls rejoined us, seeming to have become fast friends. Sofya took her place beside Auron, and Rikku stood next to me.
"Where are we headed?" Sofya asked. It seemed she was going to be with us for a while.
"We're going to Delmar, then Gaia." I told her. She gave a look of distress, then gave an exasperated sigh.
"But we just came from there!" She frowned and looked up at Auron. "I'm not sure about you guys, but I'm pretty exhausted. Can we rest here for the night? Please?" Sofya implored, giving Auron a puppy-eyed stare. He sighed, then resigned to the pink haired girl's plea. It seemed the grumpy old man had a soft spot for this woman.
"I'm pooped, too." Rikku said. "You guys find a spot to pitch the tents. Sofya, how about we go look for firewood? I think they have some on the other side of the campsite." Rikku latched on to her new friend, who nodded in agreement. Auron and I were stuck with putting up the tents, which I always hated on our journey to beat Sin, and took out the supplies from our inventory.
"So what's up with Sofya?" I asked, hammering in one of the tent's corners.
"What do you mean?" Auron asked, pulling out another stake.
"Are you two… you know…?" I smirked at him, moving to the next corner.
"She wanted to come with me, so I let her. We aren't in any kind of relationship."
"Really? You seemed to give in to her pretty easily. I remember you making us go on even when we were on our last legs." I joked. Auron sighed, obviously finding this conversation tedious, and finished hammering in the last stake of the first tent. With that one up, we moved on to the next one.
"And you and Rikku? You seem close."
Dammit. Auron always had some weird sixth sense about people, and I blushed as it hit right on the mark. I wasn't ready to let him know about our relationship for fear that he might forbid it and force Rikku and me apart.
"Uh, what do you mean?" I asked, feigning ignorance. "We've always been close."
"You know what I mean." Auron said sternly. "You look at her the same way Yuna looks at you. What have you been doing while we were separated?"
I frowned at his mention of Yuna, the guilt once again clawing its way through my chest. I looked up at Auron, his eyebrows knitted in disdain. I thought about what to say, about whether I should tell him or not. I trusted Auron, and he had always given me good advice. Maybe I should ask him what to do. I wanted to be with Rikku, but I didn't want to hurt Yuna.
"I… We kissed." I confessed. Auron sighed, crossing his arms in disapproval. "Auron, I don't know what to do. I love Rikku. But Yuna... I don't want to hurt her."
"Tidus…" Auron thought for a moment, then looked at me with a father-like expression I hadn't seen since we were back in Zanarkand. "There is no way that can happen. You either stay with Yuna or you hurt her. That's it. There is no in between."
I sighed. Auron was right. I would just have to deal with hurting Yuna. I could only hope that she would forgive me and be able to move on. I struck hard at the stake in the ground, pouring my frustrations into each swing of the hammer. When it was secure, I moved to the next, while Auron finished up the other two. Just as the final stake had been driven into the ground and the tent was set, Rikku and Sofya returned with plenty of firewood, giggling to each other. Rikku dropped her armful into the fire pit, followed by Sofya, who then lit it with a fire spell. The heat was welcome in the bitter night air, and everyone huddled around the fire.
"Auron," I whispered, "Does she know about us? That we're from Spira and everything?"
"She doesn't." He said. "It didn't make much sense to tell her before now. If she is to join us on this journey, I suppose it would be wise to do so."
"Wise to do what?" Sofya asked.
"Uh, you might not believe us, but we're kinda from another world." I started. Sofya tilted her head, confused. "You see, we came here from a place called Spira, because we have to find a monster here that's threatening both it and this world."
"Monster? Spira? Auron, what is he talking about?"
"It is true. We thought you should know since you'll be accompanying us. We came to this world to destroy Yurlungur."
Sofya's eyes widened at the sound of the name. "Yurlungur? He's a god! You'll get yourself killed! You can't go up against something like that! You can't!" She seemed to almost be in tears. To say it was an overreaction was an understatement.
"I know you worship him and all, but he's gonna destroy everything, you know? Someone has to stop him!" Rikku said, trying to calm her down.
"No! Please, I don't want you to die too! I finally found someone I can be with, and you're just gonna die anyway! Why?!" Sofya stood up, staring at Auron with teary eyes.
"I see." He said. "Is this about Talya?"
"Talya?" I asked. Sofya had said we would die 'too'. What did she mean? She seemed to have calmed down a bit and sat back down, hanging her head.
"My best friend. We… We tried to do the same thing. To kill Yurlungur. We wanted to help Sarisa… To free her soul from Yurlungur. But he was too powerful! Talya… She got killed trying to protect me!"
"I'm sorry…" I said. "But even if we do die, we have to try to save everyone! I'm not going to just sit here and let Yurlungur destroy everything I love."
"Sofya. Didn't you decide to do something for Talya?" Auron asked her. She looked up at him for a moment, thinking. After a while, she nodded.
"You mean… this? Help you guys out?"
"Yes. If we succeed, you will have avenged Talya. If we don't, at least you will be with her again." Auron placed a large hand on Sofya's shoulder, a rare gesture of comfort from the man.
"Either way, she'll be proud of you." Rikku said, smiling. Sofya looked at each of us, measuring our will, then closed her eyes and smiled.
"You're right. I'll help you. For Talya."
For an hour or so after, we sat under the night sky, feeling the heat of the campfire on our bodies as we got to know Sofya. We were happy to have such a kind, caring person among us on our journey, and everyone went to sleep that night with strengthened resolves and stronger bonds. We were ready to take on a god to save the worlds.
Merry christmas everyone! Here is your gift. Another chapter of this mediocre fanfiction! I really wanted to portray the awkwardness of falling in love with someone while you're still in a relationship, and not knowing what to do about it. Hopefully I've done so? Anyway, as always, REVIEW/follow/fave, and thank you for reading!