Tuesday Afternoon: Serenity Cove: Catching Up
As soon as they'd gotten away from the crowd in room 308, Rikku took Tidus down to the beach. It just seemed right somehow, and it was private enough that they could catch up without a lot of distractions.
Rikku
Rikku took Tidus through town, pointing out the various buildings and chattering on about what each of them were and how she knew the people there and whatever else came to mind that wasn't just ... staring at him and asking if he was really real, was he sure?
She kept reaching over and squeezing his arm. She hoped he didn't mind. It was just that she couldn't accept it yet. Any minute now she was going to wake up. Or the ground was going to open up and snatch him back.
But instead they had a lovely walk down to the beach. She sat down on the sand, hugging her knees. "Okay. You have to have a hundred million questions. Where do you want to start?"
Tidus
Tidus didn't sit down yet; he felt restless and instead turned to look out across the water - it smelled different here, nothing like Besaid. "Well, how about 'where are we'?"
Rikku
Rikku smiled. "Had to start with a hard one, huh? Okay. We're on an island called Fandom. It's not on Spira. We're not anywhere near Spira. I'm not really sure how you get home from here, it's kind of ... sideways." She stopped to wave her hands. "I mean, you can get back and forth. I'm not stuck or anything. Just that I have no idea how it works."
Tidus
"Well, at least it's by water," he said, smiling. Really, having just been dragged out of the Farplane, he wasn't too worried about where this place was supposed to be. Not dead and with a good friend at his side was good enough for him so far. "Next question: why are you here?"
Rikku
Rikku stared out over the water, considering. "They have machina here, and they know how to use it, and I thought they could teach me. That's what I told myself, anyway. I don't think it's true. I mean, it's true, but ... it's not all of it, you know?"
Tidus
Tidus looked over at Rikku, nodded. "Did you want a break? I think we all deserved one, after that."
Rikku
Rikku smiled at him wryly. "I think ... I think I was tired of it all. We saved the world, you know? But nothing really changed. The Al Bhed are okay now! But people still look at you like they're not sure. Yevon's gone! So now everybody asks Yunie to think for them instead. And Yunie, she gets to live, and instead she sits on Besaid and ... I can't help her. So I left."
She stared at her hands. "Some Guardian I am, huh? I guess I was tired of failing."
Tidus
His smile faded, eyes sliding away, towards the sea. "You never failed, Rikku," he said quietly.
Rikku
Rikku laughed, a touch bitterly. "I didn't?! We said it'd be different this time. No one lost, remember? Then boom! Auron fades out, you disappear, and Yuna locks herself in a room on Besaid and pretends she's okay, and I leave her there."
Tidus
"We were gone way before we fought Sin," Tidus said, still quiet, and it felt so weird to think of himself like that, as just the vivid dream of a long-dead city. "Me and Auron... And Yuna--" He sighed. "It's not your fault."
Rikku
"I know," she said softly. "I think I do, anyway. But it's hard. I couldn't help her and I couldn't watch her just ... give up. And I was just tired of it all. So I came here instead."
She watched the waves for a few moments. "And I'm glad. I don't care if it's selfish or awful. I like it here."
Tidus
"Yuna -- all of you -- deserved a chance to live," Tidus said, and he sounded sad now. "It's not your fault you took yours and she didn't."
Rikku
"I like it here," she repeated to herself. "I can really have a life here. Everything's alive and not dead and ... it feels more like home than home did sometimes."
She caught the note in his voice and looked up with a sigh. "I'm sorry," she said. "Maybe she just needs time. It's only been ... what, six months? Seven? Maybe she needs to let things heal."
"And then I thought maybe ... maybe that's all crap, and she just needs you. Because you guys were just so ... everything else would fade away, you know? And that's how this whole mess got started." Rikku bit her lip. "That sounds awful, doesn't it?"
Tidus
"I just hoped she'd be okay," he said, chagrined. "I didn't want to leave, but between that and any of you dying, and the fayth wanting it to end, I had to. And I thought she'd understand, but I still abandoned her."
Tidus stopped, tilting his head back and closing his eyes, taking a deep breath of salt-tinged air. "The Farplane felt like nothing at all, but when you talked to me and said she needed me, it was like that's all I needed to be alive again."
Sighing again, he looked at Rikku over his shoulder, smiling a little. "After everything, I'm glad you found this place, that you're happy."
Rikku
Rikku considered everything for a minute and then laughed, sounding a bit like her usual self again. "You know what? I'll make you a deal. You forgive me for leaving her to come here. I'll forgive you for taking off on us. And we'll both give Yuna a good smack in the head next time we see her for not getting off her butt already. Sound good?"
She shook her head. "That sea ... I had no idea where we were. We were trying to find you, and there we were stuck on the Farplane with that weird little kid fayth instead. And he dropped us into an ocean and you weren't moving and I thought, well ... if anybody could reach you, it'd be her."
And she smiled up at him. "I really am. I'm learning so much, and the people here are so great, and this whole world is just alive. Every inch of it. You know, no one here's even heard of the Al Bhed? The first time someone noticed my eyes, I-I thought he was gonna go off on me. And he just said they were pretty. Can you imagine?"
Tidus
Tidus cocked his head, a grin spread slowly as he seemed to come to the same place Rikku was at. "Deal."
He finally went to sit down beside her, dropping onto a patch of sand and crossing his legs comfortably. "I think I'll be happy if I never have to meet that kid again," he mused, leaning back on his hands. "I'm done with the Farplane-- uh, at least, until I really need to be Sent. I'm hoping that'll be a long time now though." Tidus flashed Rikku another grin, looking much more like his normal self.
"Any place you can be yourself, and not have to be 'the Al Bhed girl', just Rikku, is pretty awesome," he said, nodding. "And you've got some great friends, too."
Rikku
Rikku giggled. "They don't even have Summoners here. Nobody has to send the dead, they just ... take off. I kinda asked some stupid questions until I figured that one out."
And nodded with a smile. "It really is. They're ... they're amazing. I was talking to people and apologizing for what happened before and they just said, 'so, can we help?' Like it was nothing. This place has some incredible people."
"Oh. Uh. I kinda ... if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell Yunie?" She looked over at him, suddenly serious.
Tidus
He nodded, smiling easily now with what felt like a ton of weight off his shoulders. "Yeah, of course."
Rikku
Rikku smiled nervously. "I, uh. I kinda broke reality a couple weeks ago. Trying to get you back. Not with Door and Dawn and Isabel, just ... I looked up some crazy information and did a ritual and ..." She swallowed. "I almost got myself killed."
Tidus
Tidus stared at her a moment. "You... you broke reality?"
Rikku
"Big hole in the wall. Purply-black ether inside. Dimensional boundaries got all funky and I didn't sleep for a couple days. Things got ... bendy. Like the walls were starting to break down." She folded her arms, feeling a bit of a chill that had nothing to do with the weather. "Had to get someone to fix it, and he offered to get you back but was all kinda scary about it, like, he wanted to make a deeeeeeeal and people were all, 'okay, no, don't do it.'"
Tidus
"You did all that, just to get me back?" He asked, caught somewhere between awe and disbelief.
Rikku
Rikku shrugged. "Kinda missed you. And Yunie, and ... maybe I felt bad, 'cause all these people I know are gone and they shouldn't be, but I'm okay, and that's not fair, I guess? And ..."
She smiled faintly at him. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. Don't screw it up, yeah?"
Tidus
Tidus grinned slowly, nodding again. "No way-- I've got friends to see again. And one that I owe everything." He reached out and bumped his fist against her shoulder, not too hard. "Just don't go tearing apart your new home, got it?"
Rikku
"I won't. I promise," she said, smiling thoughtfully. "Learned my lesson on that one. And it kinda made me realize ... what you were saying. About how I deserve a life, too. Just 'cause I owe Yunie a lot doesn't mean I don't, and I'm gonna live my life, you know?"
Rikku laughed. "You don't owe me. I mean, if you do? Then that's how you pay me back. You go and ..." She waved vaguely. "You deserve a life, too. Go have it. Go be with Yuna and play blitz and have five hundred kids and ... you know?"
Tidus
"I dunno about five hundred, but I like the rest of it," he said, laughing. "Does she know?"
Rikku
Rikku shook her head, smiling. "I didn't tell her anything. I didn't want her to get her hopes up or worry about me or ... you know how she is. I thought, if it didn't work, she'd never have to know, and if it did ..."
She looked over at him, eyes dancing. "Pops' ship comes in on Thursday. My classes are over for the semester, and I'm ..." Okay, blushing. "... we're going back for a little vacation before summer term. We should be back on Besaid Thursday night."
Tidus
"'We'?" Tidus grinned mischievously. "This could be fun... How long 'til Thursday from now?"
Rikku
Rikku blushed more. "Uh, Jude? The, uh, boyfriend. He's coming back to see Spira unless Pops throws a fit or something and you don't think he will, do you? I just said 'a friend' and left off the 'boy' part."
"Two days," she grinned. "And I don't know if you saw it, but Caladbolg is back in your room, and there are some people you need to meet, but my schedule's pretty open if you wanna mess some stuff up."
Tidus
"Your dad's pretty cool, so I wouldn't worry. And I could seriously be up for that," he said, grinning back. "Along with the meeting people - I want to see what you'll be sticking around for after you come back from Spira."
Rikku
"He's only cool when you're not his kid," she grumbled. "And I have been seriously low on mischief lately. Except for spending the weekend as a four-year-old." She looked over at him, rolling her eyes. "Weird stuff happens here. Boom, you wake up, you're four. Boom, your boyfriend's a cat. Boom, there are tiny penguins all over the place. Lasts a day or two and goes away again. It really keeps things interesting."
Rikku smiled. "There are a ton of people I want you to meet. And so much to see. I just didn't want to ... I didn't know if you needed time. Or to ask a bunch of questions. That's why I dragged you down here. So we could catch up a bit first."
Tidus
"...Tiny penguins?" Tidus shook his head, laughing. "Okay, I definitely want to see more of this place. But it was good that we did this first." He grinned at Rikku warmly. "I feel like I know who I am again."
Rikku
"Yeah, this place needs a bit of a warning on it. And I figured you might wanna just clear your head." Rikku grinned back. "Star player of the Zanarkand Abes, right? Ready to take on Fandom?"
Tidus
"You know it," Tidus agreed, cocky. "And maybe - but is Fandom ready for me?"
(OOC: follows this post. Preplayed with behindeyesonly as Tidus again. No interaction possible, but OOC comments are love.)
Rikku
Rikku took Tidus through town, pointing out the various buildings and chattering on about what each of them were and how she knew the people there and whatever else came to mind that wasn't just ... staring at him and asking if he was really real, was he sure?
She kept reaching over and squeezing his arm. She hoped he didn't mind. It was just that she couldn't accept it yet. Any minute now she was going to wake up. Or the ground was going to open up and snatch him back.
But instead they had a lovely walk down to the beach. She sat down on the sand, hugging her knees. "Okay. You have to have a hundred million questions. Where do you want to start?"
Tidus
Tidus didn't sit down yet; he felt restless and instead turned to look out across the water - it smelled different here, nothing like Besaid. "Well, how about 'where are we'?"
Rikku
Rikku smiled. "Had to start with a hard one, huh? Okay. We're on an island called Fandom. It's not on Spira. We're not anywhere near Spira. I'm not really sure how you get home from here, it's kind of ... sideways." She stopped to wave her hands. "I mean, you can get back and forth. I'm not stuck or anything. Just that I have no idea how it works."
Tidus
"Well, at least it's by water," he said, smiling. Really, having just been dragged out of the Farplane, he wasn't too worried about where this place was supposed to be. Not dead and with a good friend at his side was good enough for him so far. "Next question: why are you here?"
Rikku
Rikku stared out over the water, considering. "They have machina here, and they know how to use it, and I thought they could teach me. That's what I told myself, anyway. I don't think it's true. I mean, it's true, but ... it's not all of it, you know?"
Tidus
Tidus looked over at Rikku, nodded. "Did you want a break? I think we all deserved one, after that."
Rikku
Rikku smiled at him wryly. "I think ... I think I was tired of it all. We saved the world, you know? But nothing really changed. The Al Bhed are okay now! But people still look at you like they're not sure. Yevon's gone! So now everybody asks Yunie to think for them instead. And Yunie, she gets to live, and instead she sits on Besaid and ... I can't help her. So I left."
She stared at her hands. "Some Guardian I am, huh? I guess I was tired of failing."
Tidus
His smile faded, eyes sliding away, towards the sea. "You never failed, Rikku," he said quietly.
Rikku
Rikku laughed, a touch bitterly. "I didn't?! We said it'd be different this time. No one lost, remember? Then boom! Auron fades out, you disappear, and Yuna locks herself in a room on Besaid and pretends she's okay, and I leave her there."
Tidus
"We were gone way before we fought Sin," Tidus said, still quiet, and it felt so weird to think of himself like that, as just the vivid dream of a long-dead city. "Me and Auron... And Yuna--" He sighed. "It's not your fault."
Rikku
"I know," she said softly. "I think I do, anyway. But it's hard. I couldn't help her and I couldn't watch her just ... give up. And I was just tired of it all. So I came here instead."
She watched the waves for a few moments. "And I'm glad. I don't care if it's selfish or awful. I like it here."
Tidus
"Yuna -- all of you -- deserved a chance to live," Tidus said, and he sounded sad now. "It's not your fault you took yours and she didn't."
Rikku
"I like it here," she repeated to herself. "I can really have a life here. Everything's alive and not dead and ... it feels more like home than home did sometimes."
She caught the note in his voice and looked up with a sigh. "I'm sorry," she said. "Maybe she just needs time. It's only been ... what, six months? Seven? Maybe she needs to let things heal."
"And then I thought maybe ... maybe that's all crap, and she just needs you. Because you guys were just so ... everything else would fade away, you know? And that's how this whole mess got started." Rikku bit her lip. "That sounds awful, doesn't it?"
Tidus
"I just hoped she'd be okay," he said, chagrined. "I didn't want to leave, but between that and any of you dying, and the fayth wanting it to end, I had to. And I thought she'd understand, but I still abandoned her."
Tidus stopped, tilting his head back and closing his eyes, taking a deep breath of salt-tinged air. "The Farplane felt like nothing at all, but when you talked to me and said she needed me, it was like that's all I needed to be alive again."
Sighing again, he looked at Rikku over his shoulder, smiling a little. "After everything, I'm glad you found this place, that you're happy."
Rikku
Rikku considered everything for a minute and then laughed, sounding a bit like her usual self again. "You know what? I'll make you a deal. You forgive me for leaving her to come here. I'll forgive you for taking off on us. And we'll both give Yuna a good smack in the head next time we see her for not getting off her butt already. Sound good?"
She shook her head. "That sea ... I had no idea where we were. We were trying to find you, and there we were stuck on the Farplane with that weird little kid fayth instead. And he dropped us into an ocean and you weren't moving and I thought, well ... if anybody could reach you, it'd be her."
And she smiled up at him. "I really am. I'm learning so much, and the people here are so great, and this whole world is just alive. Every inch of it. You know, no one here's even heard of the Al Bhed? The first time someone noticed my eyes, I-I thought he was gonna go off on me. And he just said they were pretty. Can you imagine?"
Tidus
Tidus cocked his head, a grin spread slowly as he seemed to come to the same place Rikku was at. "Deal."
He finally went to sit down beside her, dropping onto a patch of sand and crossing his legs comfortably. "I think I'll be happy if I never have to meet that kid again," he mused, leaning back on his hands. "I'm done with the Farplane-- uh, at least, until I really need to be Sent. I'm hoping that'll be a long time now though." Tidus flashed Rikku another grin, looking much more like his normal self.
"Any place you can be yourself, and not have to be 'the Al Bhed girl', just Rikku, is pretty awesome," he said, nodding. "And you've got some great friends, too."
Rikku
Rikku giggled. "They don't even have Summoners here. Nobody has to send the dead, they just ... take off. I kinda asked some stupid questions until I figured that one out."
And nodded with a smile. "It really is. They're ... they're amazing. I was talking to people and apologizing for what happened before and they just said, 'so, can we help?' Like it was nothing. This place has some incredible people."
"Oh. Uh. I kinda ... if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell Yunie?" She looked over at him, suddenly serious.
Tidus
He nodded, smiling easily now with what felt like a ton of weight off his shoulders. "Yeah, of course."
Rikku
Rikku smiled nervously. "I, uh. I kinda broke reality a couple weeks ago. Trying to get you back. Not with Door and Dawn and Isabel, just ... I looked up some crazy information and did a ritual and ..." She swallowed. "I almost got myself killed."
Tidus
Tidus stared at her a moment. "You... you broke reality?"
Rikku
"Big hole in the wall. Purply-black ether inside. Dimensional boundaries got all funky and I didn't sleep for a couple days. Things got ... bendy. Like the walls were starting to break down." She folded her arms, feeling a bit of a chill that had nothing to do with the weather. "Had to get someone to fix it, and he offered to get you back but was all kinda scary about it, like, he wanted to make a deeeeeeeal and people were all, 'okay, no, don't do it.'"
Tidus
"You did all that, just to get me back?" He asked, caught somewhere between awe and disbelief.
Rikku
Rikku shrugged. "Kinda missed you. And Yunie, and ... maybe I felt bad, 'cause all these people I know are gone and they shouldn't be, but I'm okay, and that's not fair, I guess? And ..."
She smiled faintly at him. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. Don't screw it up, yeah?"
Tidus
Tidus grinned slowly, nodding again. "No way-- I've got friends to see again. And one that I owe everything." He reached out and bumped his fist against her shoulder, not too hard. "Just don't go tearing apart your new home, got it?"
Rikku
"I won't. I promise," she said, smiling thoughtfully. "Learned my lesson on that one. And it kinda made me realize ... what you were saying. About how I deserve a life, too. Just 'cause I owe Yunie a lot doesn't mean I don't, and I'm gonna live my life, you know?"
Rikku laughed. "You don't owe me. I mean, if you do? Then that's how you pay me back. You go and ..." She waved vaguely. "You deserve a life, too. Go have it. Go be with Yuna and play blitz and have five hundred kids and ... you know?"
Tidus
"I dunno about five hundred, but I like the rest of it," he said, laughing. "Does she know?"
Rikku
Rikku shook her head, smiling. "I didn't tell her anything. I didn't want her to get her hopes up or worry about me or ... you know how she is. I thought, if it didn't work, she'd never have to know, and if it did ..."
She looked over at him, eyes dancing. "Pops' ship comes in on Thursday. My classes are over for the semester, and I'm ..." Okay, blushing. "... we're going back for a little vacation before summer term. We should be back on Besaid Thursday night."
Tidus
"'We'?" Tidus grinned mischievously. "This could be fun... How long 'til Thursday from now?"
Rikku
Rikku blushed more. "Uh, Jude? The, uh, boyfriend. He's coming back to see Spira unless Pops throws a fit or something and you don't think he will, do you? I just said 'a friend' and left off the 'boy' part."
"Two days," she grinned. "And I don't know if you saw it, but Caladbolg is back in your room, and there are some people you need to meet, but my schedule's pretty open if you wanna mess some stuff up."
Tidus
"Your dad's pretty cool, so I wouldn't worry. And I could seriously be up for that," he said, grinning back. "Along with the meeting people - I want to see what you'll be sticking around for after you come back from Spira."
Rikku
"He's only cool when you're not his kid," she grumbled. "And I have been seriously low on mischief lately. Except for spending the weekend as a four-year-old." She looked over at him, rolling her eyes. "Weird stuff happens here. Boom, you wake up, you're four. Boom, your boyfriend's a cat. Boom, there are tiny penguins all over the place. Lasts a day or two and goes away again. It really keeps things interesting."
Rikku smiled. "There are a ton of people I want you to meet. And so much to see. I just didn't want to ... I didn't know if you needed time. Or to ask a bunch of questions. That's why I dragged you down here. So we could catch up a bit first."
Tidus
"...Tiny penguins?" Tidus shook his head, laughing. "Okay, I definitely want to see more of this place. But it was good that we did this first." He grinned at Rikku warmly. "I feel like I know who I am again."
Rikku
"Yeah, this place needs a bit of a warning on it. And I figured you might wanna just clear your head." Rikku grinned back. "Star player of the Zanarkand Abes, right? Ready to take on Fandom?"
Tidus
"You know it," Tidus agreed, cocky. "And maybe - but is Fandom ready for me?"
(OOC: follows this post. Preplayed with behindeyesonly as Tidus again. No interaction possible, but OOC comments are love.)