I do not own these characters

Good Morning

Tidus rolled off of Rikku on to his back, breathing heavily. Rikku laid her head on his chest and wrapped an arm around him, happy and satisfied. They had been sleeping in the same room sense Yuna had left two days ago, and had been taking full advantage of their privacy. Tidus looked down at her and smiled, kissing her gently on the forehead. He was grateful to be alive and with her. She made him happy in ways he never knew he could be. As they laid there in silence, he began to think about what their life would be like now that he was back. Visions of the two happily married with children brought a smile to his face. As he continued to play out their future in his mind, he suddenly remembered the ring he had bought in the Ronso village. The ring was probably long gone by now, but he still had the same intentions he had back then. Rikku had waited for him for two long years, and he felt she deserved some reassurance about what would be in store for them.

"Rikku?"

"Yes, Tidus?"

"Two year ago, while we were in the Ronso village, I… bought you something." Tidus began, nervously.

Rikki looked at him.

"You bought me something?" She repeated.

Tidus nodded.

"It's long gone by now, but I had bought a ring. I meant to buy you a promise ring, but the Ronso rings are a bit unique in design. I ended up picking out… more of an engagement ring. I was planning on giving it to you when we defeated sin." Tidus finished saying.

Rikku stared at him adoringly then sat up. She reached over to her bedside table, opened the drawer, and took out a ring box. Tidus's mouth dropped as he watched her open the box, revealing the ring inside.

"After you were gone, I secretly slept in your room on the ship as a way to comfort myself. I found this." Rikku said, holding the box out.

Tidus took the box and smiled as he looked down at it.

"Did you ever try it on?" He asked.

"I was going to… once. The thought of what could have been was just too overwhelming. I couldn't bring myself to do it." She answered.

Tidus took the ring from the box and held it up.

"I can't believe you waited all of this time for me." He said.

"I had to. You're the only man I want to be with. Everyone else thought I was crazy for hoping you'd come back. They wanted me to let you go but I couldn't; Lulu was the only one willing to encourage me to hold on. It surprised me. She's usually the one all about reason and logic, but she was very sweet to me."

"Early motherly instincts." He chuckled.

"Yeah, I suppose so." She agreed, chuckling.

Tidus took the ring from the box, took Rikku's hand and slipped it onto the ring finger of her right hand. RIkku looked down at her hand, smiling from ear to ear.

"This is a promise to you, Rikku. I know things are a bit complicated because of the situation with Yuna, but I promise we will have the life we want together." Tidus said.

Rikku smiled and gave him a kiss.

"This time, I'm not going anywhere. I promise." Tidus said, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly.

Rikku buried her head in his neck and held on tighter. It was torture being away from Tidus for all of those years. She dreamt about him every night and would wake up to the disappointment of an empty bed. The day Tidus came back was the happiest day of her life and now she felt like she could fully begin to live like she wanted to. Every life plan she ever made for the last two years included him in her decision making process. Now she got to live out those plans.

Tidus stroked her hair and broke off the hug, looking her lovingly in the eyes.

"We should go visit the others. The last thing we need is them telling Yuna we did nothing but stay in the house together while she was away." He said, chuckling.

Rikku nodded in agreement. The two got out of bed and showered before getting dressed and making their way to see Wakka and Lulu.

/

Hours had past as the four friends had enjoyed a nice lunch together and long chat. Lulu had managed to convince Wakka to let her and Rikku go to the store for them to get a snack to have with tea. Wakka and Tidus sat in the living room of Wakka'a house and continued to chat.

"If I haven't said it before, it's good to have you back, brudda." Wakka said, with a big smile on his face.

"It's great to be back." Tidus said, leaning against the couch with a look of relief of his face.

"I can't imagine what it must have been like for ya, finding out you were a dream like that." Wakka said.

"It was a nightmare. Having to say goodbye to everyone I loved, for what I thought was for good, was torture." Tidus replied.

"I remember that day on the ship, when Rikku and Yuna went to hug you it was crazy how Rikku managed to do it. For a moment, I thought she would have ended up landing on poor Yuna." Wakka said, whistling as he envisioned it.

"I was surprised myself." Tidus said, laughing.

"Ya know… while you were gone Rikku took it the hardest. She never gave up hope of you coming back. When she told us she saw you, I thought she was seeing things. Wishful thinking, ya know?"

Tidus's eyes softened and Wakka caught the look in his eyes.

"Tell me something brudda, I know we all thought it was you and Yuna who liked each other, but I have to ask… Is there something between you and Rikku? The way you two are around each other and how she held on even after Yuna accepted that you left, it makes you think, ya?" Wakka asked.

Tidus didn't respond. He contemplated if he should answer honestly or lie. Wakka saw the conflict in his eyes and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything." Wakka reassured him.

"Yuna and I already agreed that it's best that we remain friends. Time can really change things… I can't help how I feel for Rikku. I tried to keep it quiet because I didn't want to hurt Yuna, but it's difficult pretending you don't love a person when you do. She told me she sensed something between us but I didn't have the courage to say it was true." Tidus replied.

"Tough situation. Don't worry about Yuna, she's a strong girl. She'll find somebody that's good for her. You can't go trying to hide your feelings forever. At some point she's going to have to accept it; you can't always pick who you fall in love with. Just look at me and Lu; you nearly had a heart attack. Never thought we'd end up settling down together, ya?"

"There was something always about you two. I think the bickering secretly turned you both on." Tidus said, with a grin.

Both men laughed.

"Was my feelings for Rikku really that obvious?" Tidus asked.

Wakka smiled and nodded his head.

"You can't hide love." Wakka replied.

"And here I was thinking I was clever. Everyone already knew." Tidus said.

"So, you see? There's no reason to pretend for Yuna. She'll know even if you hide it. Just be honest, ya?"

"I will. I still don't want to show too much too soon. I think a gradual transition would probably be best; it'll give her time to adjust."

Wakka nodded in agreement. Just then Rikku and Lulu came back from the store.

"Tea time! You guys can sit, I'll make it." Rikku said, happily.

Lulu sat in her armchair and smiled.

"Thank you, Rikku." Lulu said.

Rikku smiled back at her and went into the kitchen.

"How was the walk, Lu?" Wakka asked.

"It did me a lot of good." Lulu replied.

"I think I'll help her get everything together. You two made lunch so we'll prepare the snack." Tidus said, getting up and heading towards the kitchen.

Lulu and Wakka grinned as they watched him.

Tidus smiled as he saw Rikku joyfully beginning to boil the tea water. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Rikku smiled as she felt his arms, and turned her head to look at him. Tidus gently kissed her then rested nuzzled his face in her neck.

"I love you." Tidus said, holding her tighter.

Rikku felt her heart melt. She would never tire of hearing him say he loved her. With him and Yuna finally having their talk, Rikku felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Her and Tidus were now able to slowly make their relationship more public.

A/N: It's been quite some time sense I've updated, but I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I recently remembered my log in information and after re-reading some of my stories, I've went back and made some changes in the old chapters. If you've previously read this story, I recommend going back to the beginning of "Final Distance" and re-reading it. I will also go back and make changes to "Our Little Secret", so for those of you who have read it, you might want to re-read that as well. Chapters 1-5(and most importantly 2-5) has been revised already. I've also went back and corrected spelling, as well as sentence structure throughout my story for a more coherent read. Enjoy.