Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Dreams Come True ❯ On the Road...Again ( Chapter 9 )

"Cruimth'd Yuna pa yfyga po huf?"

"Nn...I dunno. Say it in Spiran." Rikku grinned at her rather flustered older sister.

"Fryd?"

"Cyo ed eh Spiran, Ranna. E ghuf oui ghuf ruf du cbayg Spiran."

Ranna made an unhappy sound, but complied. "Cr...er, should Yuna be awake by now?"

"It's 'shouldn't.'"

"Frydajan."

Rikku laughed, finishing the little braid she was working on in her sister's hair. "Yuna should have been awake a long time ago."

"Cdub ed, E tuh'd ihtancdyht oui!" Ranna complained, making Rikku giggle still more.

"Well it's certainly not *my* fault you can't understand Spiran."

"Rikku..." Ranna groaned.

Lulu sighed impatiently, done with her morning's work. She sat stiffly on the couch, obviously tense, obviously hiding concern.

"Yuna hasn't gotten up yet. And Tidus isn't in his room, so...one can only speculate." She muttered, with a deliberately controlled voice.

"Ooh! Ooh, that sounded bad," Rikku winced. "Should we risk goin' and gettin' her?"

"*I'm* not about to risk interrupting anything. But you're free to, if you like."

"Ah...Rikku...lyh oui *buccepmo* bmayca damm sa fryd'c kuehk uh?" Ranna asked, looking slightly aggrevated.

Rikku explained, "Lulu cyoc dryd Tidus ech'd eh rec nuus, yht Yuna ech'd ib oad. Cra'c esbmoehk dryd ra'c crynehk ran pat...E fuimth'd lusbmadamo amesehyda dra buccepemedo, pid E tuipd Yuna fuimt tu dryd, hu?"

Ranna's eyebrow quirked, but she didn't say anything.

It was at that moment that Tidus and Yuna appeared in the entryway to the room, both obviously attempting to keep a straight face, and both obviously not doing so well at the job. Lulu got up, walking over in Yuna's direction.

"Where've you *been,* Yuna?"

Yuna bit her lip and grinned, merely pointing upwards. "Sorry I took so long...I promise it won't happen again."

"And what about you, Tidus?"

He merely shrugged, trying to hide a grin.

"What do you two have to say for yourselves?"

Tidus rubbed the back of his neck and gave a sheepish laugh, taking his free hand out of Yuna's grasp. "Well, we made good use of the time..."

Seeing Lulu blanch, Yuna understood how her guardian had taken the statement. Her eyes widened and she laughed behind her hand, blushing brightly and attempting to hide a broad, embarrassed grin.

"No, no no no no NO Lulu...he didn't mean it like that. I *promise you,* he didn't mean it like that." She giggled.
"Huh?" Tidus looked blank for a moment, then got the joke and blushed as well. "Ah! N-not like that at all...anyway...long story, but we've kinda got a bit of a surprise for you guys; that's why Wakka's hogtied in my room, and why we were so late --"

"WHAT?!" Rikku screeched, jumping up and leaping to Tidus, eyes glaring death at him. "Why?!"

Tidus chuckled. "Like I said, we've got a surprise for you guys, but we can't tell you 'til later. Wakka overheard us talking about it, so...we tied him up and made him swear not to tell. Trust me, he won't."

"Oooooh...I hate surprises! Hog-tying Wakka...ergh! You two are so *mean!*" She kicked Tidus hard in the shin, then ran past him, toward the staircase.

"Hey...ow...!" Tidus feigned injury, hopping on one foot and cradling his shin in his hands. Ranna was laughing, shaking her head, her dark-emerald eyes glimmering in utter amusement. "E dyga ed so meddma cecdan ryc ran raynd cad uh dra natrayt, hu?"

Tidus laughed then as well, shrugging. "I guess so. Heh, she'll probably just sit on him until he tells. But she'll be sitting for a long time, because we threatened to cut off his cowlick if he said a word about the surprise. Er...cunno. E cyet dryd fa drnaydahat du lid uvv Wakka'c lufmelg ev ra dumt yhouha ypuid uin cinbneca," he translated. At that, Ranna beamed, laughing lightly.

"Wakka has...big hair only...to fa--er, only to feel tall. No? Wakka...short. Perhaps better to...what word? Pop? Perhaps better to pop ego of Wakka. Make sure Wakka know smallness of himself. Wakka too teeny to act big."

Lulu smirked, chuckling as well. "I wouldn't doubt it one bit. Oui'na nekrd, Ranna -- you're right."

Meanwhile, a rather irked Rikku leapt up the stairs, trying to recall what Lulu'd said about where Tidus' room was.

"Wakka?" she called out loudly. A muffled 'Rirphhue?' came from some room to her left, so she followed the sound down the chilly hall. She repeated his name -- he answered with a more insistent call of his own, however indecipherable the words might have been.

She found him almost immediately, curled up on his side on the floor and seemingly holding his feet. Rikku then saw the way some of the rope - left over from the house's hardly-completed construction - had been tied so many ways that it looked like an interwoven bird's nest around his wrists and ankles. He smiled seeing her, then jerked his head to gesture that she might untie the short length of cloth covering his mouth. This set her laughing hard - she could just imagine Yuna mischeviously binding him, Tidus holding him still.

"Looks like they got you good, huh?"

Wakka looked slightly miffed, but sacrificed a short nod. Rikku walked over to him and undid the cloth muffling his mouth; he inhaled deeply, and grinned up at her. "Thanks, Rikku. They tell you why they did this to me yet?"

"Well, not the specifics. Just that they've got some 'big surprise' for us. Everyone's wondering what it is -- that's where *you* come in!" Rikku chirped happily. True to form, she flopped heavily down on his side, bringing a breathless grunt out of Wakka. Settling comfortably into a waiting position, she looked down at him eagerly. "Now c'mon, tell me what the surprise is and I'll let you go."

"If I did, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it? Jus' hold your chocobos, ya? They won't be able to keep their mouths shut for long."

"Well why can't you just...tell me? I'll still *act* surprised, I promise! Pleeease?"

"They made me promise not to tell anyone."

"Oh, what're they gonna do if you do? Yuna wouldn't hurt a fly...well...unless it was a Bite Bug or somethin'...blah, you know what I mean!"

"They'll gimme a haircut, that's what," Wakka fumed. "Just lemme go already, ya?"

Rikku mocked pondering a decision, then beamed down at him. "Nope! Not 'till ya tell!"

Wakka groaned. "I'ma be here a *long* time, then."

"...Well too bad, y'big meanie! Just tell me!"

"Awright, awriiiight...Tidus' gettin' her a chocobo."

"Liar!"

"Huh?"

"We've already *got* chocobos, remember? Plenty of 'em! Both Maechen and Shelinda gave us chocobos as gifts when they came. And even if he *was* getting her a chocobo, she wouldn't look *that* thrilled."

"Uh...it's a white chocobo?" Wakka offered, before having his cowlick tugged good-naturedly. "Ow!"

"Liar again! White chocobos don't exist."

Wakka grinned then, and shrugged. "Awright, I lied. I'm still not allowed t'tell. Untie me?"

"Fine, fine. Meanie." Rikku pouted. Picking through the impossible knots took several minutes, with intermissions for perplexed looks and muttered Al Bhed curses; but with her knack for fixing things, Rikku solved the problem a fair bit more easily than most would have. Once she'd completed her task, she looked up at him with a relieved, beaming grin. Wakka laughed at this, flexed his wrists, and stood up hesitantly with a grunt.

"Gah, my back hurts like Omega's holy hell," he complained. "Now I know what Mika musta felt like. Old bones, ya?"

"Should I get you a cane, Grandpa?" Rikku teased. "I'm sure we could make you a machinified wheelchair that just scoots around by the press of a button...or one of those weird walking sticks that functions perfectly as a weapon! Wait...no...that'd endanger *everyone,* knowing you..."

Wakka took a deep breath dramatically, placing one of his broad hands on her shoulder and looking down at her solemnly. "Rikku?"

"Huh?" She queried, lost. "What?"

His expression broke into a silly grin as he bent his head to hers. "Shut up, ya?"

He'd kissed her before - not many times, but enough to...well...enough to what?

To make her familiar enough with him not to feel awkward, but not to lose the novelty of it, either.

And it was so strange. Sure, she'd kissed boys, growing up in Home - plenty of boys. None of them - not one - had given her such a funny feeling when they kissed her. Not the strange tingling feeling, like all the nerves on her skin had been given a teeny jolt of energy and hummed with it; not the instant submission, as if she sought to fall into his arms dramatically like some actress in a mushy sphere movie; not even the butterflies in her belly, fluttering at each little movement of his.

Of course, realism set in, too. It could have merely been puberty that made her swoon, could have been simply that she'd likely been *ten* the last time she kissed a boy, could have been this or that or whatever. And then the girlish, teenage notion that had led her older sister into *her* biggest mistake: thinking maybe it was love. ...Nah...far too soon for that...right? Yeah, way too soon. Maybe later, but not now. No way.

After a long moment he pulled back; Rikku leaned forward just the slightest bit at his withdrawal, as if seeking out his mouth again, but caught herself and stopped, not meeting his eyes. In response to his request, halfway hoping he wouldn't hear and all the way hoping he couldn't understand, she whispered under her breath:

"Uhmo ev oui gecc sa mega dryd ykyeh..."

"...Huh?"

"Ah--er...nothing." Rikku blushed. "Come on, let's go downstairs. There's lots to do today, and we shouldn't keep Yuna waiting."

Wakka nodded. Rikku turned and headed for the door - he followed close behind, uncharacteristically silent, but not in such a way that worried Rikku - maybe he was just thinking. He seemed far from bothered.

"What *do* we gotta do today, anyway?" He asked finally.

"Well, Yuna's got a lot of thank-you notes to write, but she'll be doing that on the way. We've got to go to Luca again. There's another tournament there, and it'd make lots of people happy if Yuna showed up. Poor Yunie, she's so busy lately...she'll probably introduce Sir Jecht and Tidus formally too. Or maybe she won't. We'll have to see. Security, you know?"

He made a muffled 'mmmphm' of agreement. "Yeah, wouldn't want anything to happen to *them.* Forget about the Lady Maestress, ya? Just worry about the kid with the weird shorts and his pops."

She grinned back at him. "You know Yuna."

"So when d'we gotta get to Luca?"

"By tomorrow, noon."

"*Tomorrow?* And how you plannin' ta pull *that* off? Cid's airship is back in Home."

"Chocobo carriages, what else?" Rikku chirped, laughing. "They've been ready to go since early this morning. They're just waiting for us."

"Don' we even get *breakfast* first?" Wakka complained, before being elbowed in the gut. "Agh!"

"Yeah. We eat on the way. Quit whining, you -"

"--'you big meanie.' Yeah yeah, I got it by now." Wakka interjected, finishing Rikku's habitual accusation with a chuckle.

"Well, good." Rikku 'hrmph'ed, then turned back and continued walking.

Once they returned to the room where their friends had been, only Lulu was there, looking impatient. "I'm not even going to ask what took so long. Come on, everyone's outside waiting."

Lulu brought them outside into the warming sunshine, then pointed to one of the rear carriages. "Just sit in there. Sir Jecht and Tidus are both sitting with Yuna, so that leaves only you two."

"Ooooh! Chocobo carriage! Thanks, Lulu!" Rikku beamed, then dashed forward to go to the assigned 'vehicle.' Wakka ran after her, causing Lulu to shake her head and laugh under her breath. Kids could be so silly.

As she headed for her own carriage, shared with Kimahri, she thought about the tension between Tidus and his father. From what she'd seen earlier, Tidus and Yuna together made Jecht somewhat tense; all three of them would be crammed into a relatively small space for a full day.

*With all three of them together, it's going to be a very....'interesting' trip, indeed. I'm just glad I'm not going to be there to witness it.*

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YAY! I'm back! ;D I've been gone for the past week on a road trip/family reunion in Texas. So, that explains the lack of updates. Sorry!

The coolest thing happened a couple weeks ago. My late uncle had this daughter a long time ago, but her momma took her to Puerto Rico with her, and eventually gave her up for adoption. Her name's Kathleen. My mom gets a call a week or so ago, and it's this guy, saying that he's helping his wife find her family. Guess who his wife was? :D It was really awesome. But sad, because her father (my uncle) died three months before she called. He said they lived in Texas, and she'd been looking for her family her whole life. So my mom packed me, my cousin and my grandma into this rental car and drove us to Texas to go meet them. :D It was SO awesome. Kathleen's got four boys and lots of wide open space and she wants us to move out there and I really want to because California's stinky and and and.....anyway. *clears her throat* ^_^; I'm just really happy. And I'm inspired! Heehee. Expect more soon.

Poll: Should the next chapter be from the POV of Tidus, Yuna, or Jecht? I'm thinking Jecht, but I wanna hear what you guys think too!

More to come soon! ^_^