Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ A Time for Reflection ❯ Bittersweet Feelings ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter IX: Bittersweet Feelings

The morning after Tidus asked for Yuna's hand in marriage, Jecht and his companions made their way slowly to Auron's house after a leisurely walk. No one was in a talking mood. He had left two days earlier, and each of them was trying to cope with the realization that he wouldn't be back anytime soon. At least they hoped that he wouldn't be back any time soon, for Yuna's sake.

Arriving at Auron's house, Jecht decided to strike up a conversation. "You think the runt will ask her right away? He'll probably lose the ring I gave him if he doesn't give it to her soon!"

"I'm sure he will ask very soon, if he hasn't done so already," Auron replied coolly. "He seemed eager to marry her, and I'm sure Yuna will say yes. I hope they can be happy."

Braska looked at Auron thoughtfully as they walked in the front door. "Is something bothering you, Braska?" Auron calmly asked.

"Auron, you were with them when Yuna went on her pilgrimage. It… It's not that I don't trust Tidus. How did he treat her when they were together?" Braska asked nervously. Auron, trying to get comfortable on his couch, looked at Braska sharply.

"Politely, graciously…" Auron looked Braska in the eyes and continued. "And… respectfully. You have nothing to worry about."

Braska's disposition lightened somewhat, and he laughed inwardly at his paranoia. Having a child that he couldn't talk to was hard. Braska and his wife were grateful that she turned out so well without their parental guidance. It's just that… he only wanted the best for her.

His wife… he felt kind of bad, really. Ever since Tidus came to the Farplane, along with Jecht and Auron, he had been ignoring her a little too much. Before, they spent every day together. When he returned to the Farplane ten and a half years ago, they were absolutely inseparable. Death had almost been like a blessing; he received the chance to return to her. But he didn't have Yuna, and that was the hard part.

Now he sat here on Auron's couch, praying that Yuna would have happiness on Spira. He proudly thought of how much she deserved some joy in her life and hoped that Tidus would give it to her. He was counting on him. Shortly thereafter, his thoughts were ruined.

"Hell, I've seen sacks of Great Malboro dung that were more fun than you two are right now!" Jecht yelled rudely. "C'mon, we're supposed to be celebrating for my boy, not mopin' around. If anyone should be depressed, it's me, but you don't see that happening, now do ya'?"

"He's right," Braska thought sadly. If anyone had a right, or reason, to be depressed, it was Jecht. But he wasn't, at least not outwardly, and Braska admired him for that.

Anya, Jecht's love. Braska thought back to the days of his pilgrimage. Jecht would only talk about her when he was totally smashed. In his drunkenness, though, Braska and Auron learned a lot about his wife. He loved her so much, but he could never be compelled to talk about her too much. Maybe it was sadness, or maybe pride, but it was clear as crystal that he loved her immensely. Braska's mind wandered, once again, to when they arrived at the Farplane.

He remembered how gut wrenchingly hard it was to tell them about Zanarkand. Tidus and Jecht grew up there, and even Auron had many memories about that place. They were all upset, especially Tidus. He didn't believe Braska; he said that he and Yuna both saw Anya at the Farplane in Guadosalam.

It was Kaemon that told him of all the souls that had been lost in Tidus' and Jecht's Zanarkand. He didn't doubt him at first, but his doubt grew with every passing day. He didn't want to tell Jecht or Auron about what Tidus said. He simply didn't want to get Jecht's hopes up, and he was afraid Auron would tell Jecht if he knew. Auron always had a way of being brutally honest. Surprisingly, Tidus never told his father about what he saw at Guadosalam either. Maybe he knew that it would only hurt him, but that was debatable.

Braska continued to sit on Auron's couch, pondering these questions, while Jecht went on about everyone needing to lighten up. Since Tidus left, he had become increasingly disturbed about all of this. If what Tidus saw was true, it was logical to conclude that maybe Anya could come to the Farplane. Maybe she didn't disappear. He needed to think some more about this. He thought it might be a good idea to talk to Kaemon about it.

Braska got up and made his way to the door. "Excuse me. My wife is expecting me. I… need to go home. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?" Jecht and Auron nodded in reply, and watched Braska briskly walk out of Auron's home.

Jecht looked at Auron curiously, confused at Braska's abnormal behavior. "What the hell was that all about, anyway?" Jecht asked loudly.

Auron looked at him and shrugged. "I don't know. He was acting... strange." Auron glanced in Jecht's direction and continued talking. "By the way… I obtained some more flamingos, to put in my front yard. Help me dig the holes for them, if you don't mind."

Jecht shook his head sadly and sighed.

~~~~~
In Spira
~~~~~

Breaking through the clouds, a massive flying object soared gracefully over Besaid.

"I'm looking forward to seeing Yuna again. I hope she is well." Lulu commented passively, looking in Rikku's direction. Rikku looked at her thoughtfully for a moment.

"Yeah," she said softly. "I feel bad for Yunie. I hope she's been okay. Say, how come she didn't come with us anyways?"

"She said that she wanted to be left alone. She has never been very outgoing or sociable, but her spirits have deteriorated since he's been gone." Rikku nodded and looked out the window, marveling at the sight of the beautiful beaches of Besaid. Something caught her attention.

"Hey Lulu!" Rikku proclaimed excitedly. "Have you been holding out gossip on me or something? Are there any new couples in Besaid?" Lulu looked out the window to see what Rikku was going on about. Sure enough, there were two people lying together on the beach and cuddling gently.

"That's interesting," Lulu said curiously. "Maybe I do need to catch up on the gossip. I can't quite make out who they are."

Kimahri, hearing Lulu and Rikku's repartee, walked slowly toward the window. "Lady on beach is Yuna." Kimahri said. Rikku and Lulu spun around to face Kimahri and looked at him sharply.

"How do you know that?" Rikku replied icily, not believing what he had just said.

"Ronso have good eyesight. Good for hunting… Kimahri see Yuna." Lulu looked at Kimahri thoughtfully. She inwardly prayed that she didn't give in to one of her rotten suitors.

"Kimahri," Lulu said expectantly. "If you can see Yuna, then tell me... who is she with?"

Kimahri looked at her for a moment and attempted his best Ronso smile. "Kimahri no tell… Kimahri like surprises." With that, Kimahri left his comment to Lulu and Rikku's over active imaginations.

Touching down on the other side of the beach, Cid demanded all of them to get off the ship quickly. When everyone had piled out, Cid took off at blinding speeds, anxious to finish the repairs on his ship. Rikku scowled at his behavior.

"Unthankful old man!" she yelled loudly. Rikku walked along the shoreline of the beach, curiously wondering who the mystery couple was. Was it really Yunie who was with that person? She didn't see how, unless…

"Oh m'god, oh m'god, oh m'god!" Rikku yelled, bouncing up and down happily, running to the unknown couple. Lulu and Kimahri looked at each other and shrugged, having no choice but to follow Rikku further down the beach.

Rikku bounded up to the couple, who were holding each other tightly. Breathless, Rikku looked at them as she waited for her other companions to arrive. She was right. He was here, with her, and she saw Yuna's left hand. A ring; a beautiful, gorgeous band, totally covered in diamonds, was on her left ring finger. For once, Rikku was speechless, and she helplessly looked at the couple that was sleeping peacefully in their tight embrace.

When Lulu and Kimahri finally caught up to Rikku, Lulu just about fainted at what she saw. Kimahri looked unaffected; he had known it was Tidus all along, and seeing Rikku and Lulu's reaction to his return were very humorous to the undersized Ronso.

"Sh-Should we wake them up, Lulu?" Rikku asked nervously.

She nodded immediately. "Yes. We most definitely should," Lulu replied, afraid that she was losing her mind.

Rikku walked slowly up to the couple and patted Yuna gently on the arm. "Yunie, wake up, it's us. We're, uhh, back!" Yuna slowly opened her eyes and squirmed around in Tidus' grasp slightly.

Noticing where she was, who she was seeing, and whose arms she was in, she bolted upright, embarrassed at what they saw. Tidus woke up and looked at Yuna. "Rikku!" Yuna said loudly. You… you scared me."

Tidus stood up slowly, yawning and stretching, and looked at everyone. "Hey guys!" Tidus said happily. Noticing the looks he was receiving from Rikku and Lulu, Tidus scoffed and gave them a sour stare. "C'mon, I'm tired of everyone looking at me like I'm some kind of ghost!" Tidus said jokingly, but no one laughed or found it the least bit funny.

Rikku decided to accept the unexplainable. "It… It really is you!" Rikku responded excitedly, running into Tidus' arms and giving him a big hug.

"Hey Rikku… umm, you're choking me!" Tidus replied, gasping for air. He was forcefully reminded of Rikku's bubbly attitude. It certainly was good to be home.

Rikku let go of Tidus and squealed in delight. "How did you come back, where'd you come from, why'd you leave in the first place…"

Tidus laughed at the way Rikku was shooting off questions a mile a minute and interrupted her. "Rikku, I'll tell you everything later, okay?" he asked happily. Rikku nodded, and Tidus walked in the direction of Kimahri and Lulu.

Lulu examined Tidus carefully. "Well, you're really here, I can see that. But you have some explaining to do, especially about the ring on Yuna's finger." Tidus backed away slightly, reminded of Lulu's well… forthcoming ness.

"It's uhh, good to see you too, Lulu!" Tidus replied as happily as he could. Lulu looked at him for a moment and managed to eek out a small smile.

"I'm happy and relieved that you are back. I'll admit it… Yuna needed you."

Tidus smiled and turned his attention to Kimahri. "Hey… you've been taking care of her, right Kimahri?" Tidus asked, looking at Yuna briefly.

Kimahri nodded stoically. "Kimahri watch Yuna all the time. Kimahri happy Tidus back."

Tidus grinned and walked back to Yuna. Hugging her sweetly, Yuna reeled back somewhat, not used to showing affection in public, but slowly reciprocated his hug. "I'm sorry," she whispered sweetly in his ear. "I… I'm just not used to this." Tidus understood and turned away from Yuna, looking at everyone else for a moment. Noticing the stares he was receiving from all of them, Tidus spoke up.

"Stop looking at me like that people… C'mon, I'm sure Wakka will be happy to see all of you!" With that, everyone reluctantly followed Tidus to Besaid. This was going to take some getting used to.

Reaching the entrance of the village, Wakka spotted them and waved excitedly. "Hey, it's good to see everyone. I see you've met up with him, ya? Did you almost pass out like me?" Wakka asked, looking at his friends.

"You bet we almost did!" Rikku yelled in delight. "Say, Tidus, when'dya you come back anyway?"

Tidus looked at Rikku and shrugged slightly. "Well, I came the night before yesterday. I left the Farplane, oh, earlier that morning, but I didn't get here till' that night. I don't remember anything about my trip!" Tidus replied enthusiastically. "But come on guys, I wanna spend time with all of you, not talk about how I got here!"

Wakka interjected. "Yeah, he's right. It's a time for celebrating!" Looking around, Wakka made his presence known to all the villagers. "Everyone, Sir Tidus has come back!" Now this got their attention. They had seen that strange young boy walking around with Yuna the day before, but they did not remember or care who he was. They remembered the name, however, and were happy that the hero of Spira had returned.

"Tonight, we party!" Wakka continued. "Let everyone know that there's going to be a celebration in honor of Tidus' return. Bring food, and I mean lots of it, cause this brudda likes to eat! It'll start at seven o'clock." With that, the villagers scurried off, excited that there would be a celebration in the sleepy town.

"Wow Wakka," Tidus replied coolly. "You've been thinking of this party, huh?" Wakka nodded, and his eyes met Yuna for a moment. Seeing her ring, he ran up to her enthusiastically. Lifting up Yuna's hand, he stared at the ring questioningly for a moment and let out an audible gasp. Tidus decided to say something about it, deeming it necessary.

"Everyone… Last night, I… uhh, I asked Yuna to marry me. She said yes, and, well, we're engaged."

Rikku was the first to respond, jumping up and down happily and embracing Yuna tightly. "Yunie! I'm so happy for you, you're getting married!" Yuna returned the hug, and Rikku, excited out of her mind, ran off, skipped merrily into her small hut to prepare for the party.

"Well," Lulu said calmly. "We'll leave you two alone for a while. We'll take care of this… party that Wakka wants so much. You two relax."

"Yuna?" Lulu asked softly.

"Yes Lulu?"

"I'm very happy for you." Yuna looked at Lulu and grinned, surprised that she had taken the news so well.

Kimahri, Wakka, and Lulu walked away, planning the party for later that night, and Tidus and Yuna were once again left alone with each other. "You know, with the way they're always leaving like that, I'm starting to think they don't want us around!"

Yuna laughed and grabbed a hold of Tidus' hand. "Come on," Yuna said happily. "Let's go for a walk." Tidus, more than willing to oblige, followed Yuna, happier than ever that he was finally home.
_________________________________________________________________ __________

It was more or less an uneventful. Everyone was working hard on the arrangements for the get-together. Tidus got a good laugh seeing Wakka and Rikku fight over whether or not gasoline should be used to start the bon fire later that night.

"I'm not gonna start MY fire with some smelly Al Bhed grease!" Tidus remembered Wakka saying.

"Ahh, come on Wakka! It makes a loud boom, hehe!" Rikku replied happily, with Yuna giggling profusely at her enthusiasm.

Tidus and Yuna sat lazily on the porch swing at Yuna's home most of the day. They lovingly touched and kissed each other, much to the disgust of their friends. At one point, when their affection for each other became especially fluffy, Wakka threw a blitz ball at Tidus and told them to get a room.

Tidus, in all his maleness, lustfully thought of getting a room with Yuna, but he slapped himself for it.

"Stop thinking like that! Braska would kill me, Braska, would *murder* me! Wait till' the wedding night, Tidus, you can do it! I love Yuna too much to take advantage of her like that!"

"What are you thinking about?" Yuna asked curiously, seeing the worried look on Tidus' face.

"Uhh, nothing Yuna, I… hehe, well, umm, nothing," he replied flatly. Yuna looked at him and grinned a little. She didn't even want to know.

The day had gone by surprisingly fast, and it was almost time for the festivities to begin. Tidus left Yuna to mess around with Wakka and Rikku's fire, leaving her alone on the porch swing. Deciding that she would freshen up by taking a bath, she walked into her house and in the direction of her bathroom.

After her tub filled with warm water, Yuna slowly undressed and stepped in. She enjoyed the warmth of the water as it washed away the sand that still lingered on her body from sleeping on the beach.

After messing around with Wakka's gasoline induced fire (Rikku won), he asked Wakka if he could borrow some more clothes for the party. He definitely needed to get some clothing… it was becoming a priority.

"Yeah, sure. Just go in my hut and get some, ya? But don't even try leaving your dirty ones in my house!" Tidus agreed and walked to his hut.

Looking through Wakka's clothing, Tidus found absolutely nothing that he liked. Wakka and Tidus certainly didn't share the same style. Shamefully, he decided to get some shorts and a tropical shirt type thing.

"This is not me!" Tidus thought disgustedly, but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Clothing in hand, Tidus headed in the direction of the pond, but than he remembered what Yuna had said.

"Tidus, you could have used my bathroom after I was done… I promise my bathroom won't bite!"

Tidus decided to take her up on the offer. He was getting kind of tired of the pond anyway. He walked into Yuna's home and called out for her. Yuna was oblivious to his calls, her head submerged lazily in the water.

"Hmm," Tidus thought curiously. "I wonder where she went." After walking into Yuna's bedroom, Tidus' hand reached the door knob of her bathroom, and he proceeded to open the door… big mistake.

"Tidus!" Yuna replied frantically. 'Wha… what on earth are you doing?" Tidus couldn't have been more embarrassed.

"Oh my… Yuna, I'm sorry!" Tidus quickly shut the door behind him and sat nervously on Yuna's bed.

Incredibly embarrassed, Tidus' heart skipped a beat when he thought about what he saw. She was beautiful. A little too beautiful, and he found himself wanting her more, if such a thing were possible. Guilt, lust, and a little more guilt ruled his emotions, and he knew he wasn't going to get that image out of his head any time soon.

A short while later, Yuna emerged fully clothed, a bright blush appearing on her face when she saw Tidus. He saw her and quickly walked up to her.

"Yuna, I am so sorry, I… I had no idea you were in there. It's just that you told me I could use your bathroom, and I called for you, and you didn't answer… and," Tidus stammered, barely getting his words out. Yuna interrupted him, her blush disappearing just slightly.

"Tidus, it's alright. Just… knock next time, okay?" Yuna asked. Strange feelings consumed her as well. She thought about if she would have been on the other end of the spectrum, seeing...

"No! Yuna, don't think like that!"

She quickly pushed the thoughts out of her head and looked up at Tidus.

Tidus gave her a hug and a kiss, giving her a bunch of thanks for understanding, and made his way to the bathroom. Before closing the door behind him, Tidus looked at her and grinned evilly. "Yuna… no peeking!"

Tidus laughed loudly, and Yuna put her hands to her face in total embarrassment.

After taking his bath, he emerged from the lavatory, sporting Wakka's colorful tropical shirt. Yuna spotted him and laughed riotously, completely agreeing that it wasn't his style.

"One good thing though," she said in between her chuckles, "is that it at least it matches your eyes." Tidus looked at her, faking his best angry look. "Gee, thanks."

Yuna looked at him thoughtfully. "You look nice though, in a Wakka sort of way." Tidus picked her up and twirled her around happily. After setting her on the ground, Yuna giggled and looked up at him. "I… I can't wait to marry you," she said adoringly, and Tidus smiled brightly at her.

"Me neither. It'll be great, I promise." Looking at her lovingly, the grin from Tidus' face disappeared. "Love you."

"I love you too… I know the wedding will be perfect," Yuna replied sweetly, her hand in Tidus'. They walked out of her house, toward the celebration in honor of Yuna's love. It was going to be a wonderful night.