I'm back! Hey guys long time no see! Okay the thing is with this story, I didn't exactly have writers block, but since it's drawing near to the end, I sort of wanted to think it through, and I had school and everything, yes I did keep updating my fma fic but that's because I wrote like all the chapters a while ago, that's it really! Anyway once I finish this one and Bleed with me, I have a few more ideas for some FF stories that I think you will all enjoy! But anyway for now just enjoy this chapter (Even though it's badly written, I'm sorry)
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Wave of Tension
We laid there for a while, arms around each other. I still had no idea why Tidus had changed his mind, or why he was here holding onto me as if I would disappear. But I merely closed my eyes and enjoyed the peaceful moment why it lasted.
That's when I heard the gasp.
Our heads both turned to see Rikku standing beside Gippal, hands cupped over her mouth, knees wobbling. She then turned to us, and gasped again, obviously thinking we were also hurt in the dark of the night.
"Rikku" I said quickly, Tidus releasing me from his grip. We both stood up and brushed the sand away, Tidus side glanced me, the nervousness showing in his eyes. Rikku was staring at both of us in confusion, then back down at Gippal.
"Tidus?" Rikku asked quietly, taking a step forward. "You're here?" She said with a small smile. "But guys…" Her lips trembled, and tears welled in her beautiful green eyes. "What's going on? What happened to Gippie?" Rikku yelled desperately, begging for us to tell her.
"Rikku, I don't know how your going to take this, but I caught Gippie here, about to rape Yuna." Tidus said flatly. I glared at him and stepped in front of him defensively so Rikku didn't blow his head off.
"No Rikku, that's not true… Gippal and Tidus merely had a friendly fight, right Tidus?" I looked over my shoulder to stare him in the eyes and hoped that he would keep his god damn mouth shut.
Rikku looked between us and Gippal; hand over her mouth with shock. She took a few steps back and cried out with pain.
"Do you really want her to be with this maniac Yuna? If you love Rikku you would tell her to get rid of him, hell it's time I get rid of him, this guy has been on our wanted list for… I don't know how long." Tidus said thoughtfully. I slumped my shoulders and stepped away from Tidus, looking down at the ground with shame. I heard some terrified whimpers escape Rikku's mouth and finally looked up at her.
"Yunie, how long? Why didn't you tell me?" Rikku asked, falling to the ground. She looked almost unable to speak.
"Because I loved Gippal, I needed him." I whispered, looking down at the battered man on the sand. Despite how he treated me, he did look after me, give me food and shelter. I had loved him so deeply. At this reply Rikku stood up with an angry look on her face. She tensed her fists and looked like she was ready to strike. Suddenly, she kicked Gippal in the gut with a thud and ran off sobbing.
Tidus smiled and turned to me. "She isn't as bad as I thought." Tidus winked. I couldn't believe how light-hearted he was acting in a time like this and screwed my face up at him.
"This isn't funny Tidus, now what are we going to do with Gippal?" I questioned, slightly pissed off. My body ached all over, I was covered with sand, Gippal looked half-dead on the ground, and I had somehow pissed my best friend off.
"We should leave him here for now, I can't exactly contact home from here… but I will do something about it in the morning, we really need to get you some rest." He replied, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Just leave him here? But what if he wakes up?" I asked, my eyes widening.
"Yuna, he is almost dead. If someone doesn't get him to a hospital within the next three days, he will probably die. Trust me there is no way he could even move without some serious recuperation." Tidus grinned proudly. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the village.
"I hope you're right…" I said with some wave of tension and fear coming over me.
I lead Tidus through to the Village. It did take a walk through the forest, but he seemed amazed by the beauty of it all, especially the waterfalls. "Wow I have never seen anything so beautiful." Tidus said with awe, glancing up at the large waterfall above us. I smiled at him and looked up as well. Sometimes I did take these things for granted, but I always knew that Besaid was my home, and being home made me feel so safe.
"Apart from you."
I turned to him with a slight smile on my face. I tried hard to smile, even when the previous events still lingered in my mind. "Well thank you." I said softly. He once again grabbed my hand and pointed down the path. I directed him the right turn, again after again. When we finally made it back to the village, the party was still burning strong. Rikku was nowhere to be seen, and suddenly someone noticed us.
As soon as the woman pointed, it was all over. It suddenly became very quiet, as every pair of eyes were upon us. "The praetor?" A woman asked. We wereinstantly surrounded by beautiful women, all bowing down to Tidus and kissing his feet.
"I have never seen you before but you're so beautiful!" The women sighed. "Oh please bless me with Yevon's kiss." I stood there with an amused look on my face and Tidus turned to me.
"If they have never seen me before then how do they know I'm the praetor?" He whispered to me with confusion, a worn out look on his face.
I giggled and pointed to his attire. "Only the Praetor of Yevon, would wear something like that."
"Hey!" Tidus said with defeat. We smiled at each other, completely forgetting all the women around his feet. He then leaned over slightly, being careful about his feet, he didn't want to trip over about 10 women. So he beckoned for me to move closer to him, claiming he had something he wanted to whisper in my ear. So I did, I waited for him to whisper the sentence in my ear, and felt his breath, it tickled me. Without saying a word he grabbed my chin and turned my head to gaze into his eyes. Before I had a chance to react, his soft lips were upon mine.
"That will be enough girls." A familiar voice said. The women all moved away from Tidus, and he instantly stepped forward, pushing his body close to mine. His arms were wrapped around my waist and he held me to him firmly. I felt slightly embarrassed doing this in front of everyone, but I couldn't pull away.
When he slowed his kiss slightly, he pulled away not to long after. I opened my eyes slowly and glanced up at him with confusion. "Eehh?" He smiled, and then pulled me into a tight embrace. I rested my head on his shoulder, my eyes staring out behind him wide with shock. Suddenly Lulu appeared in front of my face.
"So this is the young man?"
Tidus pulled away to glance over his shoulder at Lulu, and I merely nodded.
"Yuna you fell in love with the Praetor?"
I blushed slightly and looked away. Great now Tidus will know I have been blabbing on about him.
"You're not another Yevon hater are you?" Tidus said with a gulp.
"My faith was shattered a long time ago, but I am not a hater." Lulu replied with a sigh. She flew me a sympathetic look, and I instantly knew she was referring to the situation with my parents. I was slightly grateful for her loyalty and smiled back gently at her.
Tidus blinked stupidly and let out a nervous laugh, a sign he didn't understand. I watched as his hand travelled up to the back of is head and shook my head with shame.
"Well I hope you two enjoy the party, it is in your honour Yuna, and it's not polite when you go off." Lulu scolded with an amused smile painted on the corner of her lips.
"I think I will be heading to bed actually." I said on edge. Please please don't get angry at me. Lulu turned around with a hurt expression which caused me to stiffen slightly. "I'm just really tired!" I said much too quickly while trying to defend myself. Tidus wrapped his arm around my shoulder and threw Lulu a pleading look.
"She has been through a lot… I think it's best if she gets some rest." Tidus whispered to Lulu with respect.
"I see" Lulu sighed. "Well don't think you will be sleeping together then, if Yuna is so tired she can sleep by herself."
I was about to object and opened my mouth defiantly. But Tidus clamped his hand over my mouth and laughed stupidly. "Right we understand." Tidus replied. He glanced down at me and winked. "Don't we Yuna?" He removed his hand from my mouth and I nodded sadly.
"Right whatever…" I answered. Lulu nodded with satisfaction and pointed towards my hut.
"Tidus can sleep with us." Lulu smiled.
"I appreciate your kindness." Tidus bowed gratefully. He had a playful smile on his face the whole time that Lulu didn't seem to pick up, but I could see it.
"No problem." With that Lulu was gone and we were left standing outside my hut.
"Well Yuna, goodnight." Tidus whispered into my ear. He brushed the hair away from my cheek and placed a very short kiss on it.
"Wait you two…"
I turned around to see Rikku standing in front of us. She stood there with wet cheeks and glistening eyes that were obviously still watering with tears. "I'm so sorry Yuna, about Gippal." She bowed her head. "But do you really think you should just leave him on the beach…?" Rikku asked cautiously. "I mean… I know… he did wrong stuff… but it's just not nice, you know?" Rikku yelled. She stamped her foot on the ground, anger flickering momentarily in her eyes.
"Mmmm I will attend to it in the morning, don't worry about it Rikku." Tidus told her with slight guilt evident on his face. I just sighed and rubbed my forehead.
"I said the same thing Rikku, but what else can we do?" I asked her, placing my hands on my hips stubbornly.
"We could bring him back here, clean him up a bit, then call the authorities tomorrow…" Rikku argued.
"Yes very true… but one would wonder where he would stay… I mean there is no way I am letting that idiot anywhere near Yuna…" Tidus said thoughtfully stroking his chin.
"And it's not like we can just give him to Lulu, because then she will know that Tidus bashed Gippal up…" I wondered out aloud agreeing with Tidus' logic.
"And to explain why I did that, we would have to tell them why I did something like that…" Tidus added.
"Then who knows what will happen, Lulu will probably kill him right on the spot or kick him back to the beach, so in the end…" I smirked slightly.
"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! You two win! Just promise you will do something in the morning." Rikku yelled with frustration. "Not fair! You two can't argue together, it's not fair."
I laughed slightly and enjoyed the slight happiness that flashed in Rikku's eyes. It was nice to see her happy in a situation like this. I smiled at her affectionately and looked up to see Tidus smiling at me the exact same way I had been at Rikku. But as soon as his smile blessed me, his concerned frown fell upon me and I looked away.
"Well Rikku, shall you walk me to Lulu's hut?" Tidus asked holding out his hand.
"Sure I have to crash there tonight anyway…" Rikku sighed. She took his hand and smiled at me.
"Goodnight Yuna." Tidus winked. With that he left for Lulu's hut with Rikku. What was he winking at me for? I knew Tidus had something up his sleeve, but I had no idea what. I exhaled with defeat and walked into my hut.
I was awoken by a slight sound coming from outside. I sat up and rubbed the sweat from my forehead. I was too sleepy to worry about the noise and walked over to the sink to grab a glass of water. I gulped it down and opened my eyes wider after being awoken slightly.
It seemed to be late at night. The party had finished and all that remained was the smoking ashes from the fire. Not to mention a fruit load of rubbish which we would have to clean up in the morning. It wasn't like me to leave my hut at night but I enjoyed the cool night breeze as I looked up at the moon. I was lost in my own thoughts when I heard the rustling sound again. I turned my head instantly and stood up with speed.
"Who's there?" Or what's there… I whispered grabbing the knife that was permanently strapped to my thigh. I slowly walked towards the lush green life near my hut and waited, waited patiently. But there was nothing. I laughed at myself and shoved the knife back into its sheath.
"What the hell am I getting so scared for? There are animals everywhere." I walked back into my hut and fell onto the bed. Now that I was wide awake the longing for Tidus entered my body. I had been too tired before I went to sleep to even think about Tidus, but now he was the only thing my mind could process. "Damn it."
Just when I pulled the covers up over my body and attempted to fall asleep, a figure appeared in my doorway. "Who are you?" I asked with fear, not being able to make out the figure in the dark of night. I heard him chuckle and instantly relaxed. "Tidus?" I question as the man moved forward slightly to step into my room. Of course its Tidus, who else would it be? I am going insane!
The man stepped closer and my heart started to pound desperately. This is not Tidus, it's not the same feeling I get whenever he is close. "I'm afraid not… Yuna." He moved closer to me and his face suddenly became visible. I tried to scream but he placed his hand over my mouth and pinned me to the bed. "You thought you could get rid of me just like that? You're going to pay!" I struggled underneath him desperately, but once again, he had my arms pinned and there was no point trying to use weapons.
"YUNA! YUNA! YUNA!"
I took in a large breath of air and sat up instantly as he slapped me across the face. But it wasn't who it was; it was who I wanted it to be.
"Tidus?" I asked cautiously, expecting his face to merge into Gippal's at any second.
"Yuna you were having a nightmare, its okay." Tidus whispered softly taking my body in his arms. I whimpered into his neck and felt the sweat on my body. "Sshhh… I'm here." He soothed running his fingers through my hair. I rolled my head back as he placed affectionate kisses on my neck and fell back onto the bed with a sigh.
"Tidus its Gippal… I know he is awake." I cried digging my fingers into his back.
"Gippal is not awake Yuna… don't think about it." Tidus pulled the straps from my nightgown down and began kissing my shoulders, over and over again. If he was trying to take my mind from the dream… it was definitely working.
"But Tidus!" I moaned as his lips caressed my body.
"No Yuna don't think about it."
With that last command I forgot everything and enjoyed my time with Tidus… fearing the morning to come.
Saturn Stars