paixaorpg | I've been waiting for so long (Complete / Closed)

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I've been waiting for so long (Complete / Closed)

Character(s): Yuna and Rikku
Content: Cousins are reunited! And then bonding time.
Setting: Yuna and Tidus' apartment
Time: week 38.
Warnings: Energy. Rikku. Adorableness.

Yuna was excited to see her cousin again. It had been far too long and the last time she'd seen Rikku, the blonde hadn't remembered nearly as much as she did. This Rikku seemed at least to be on par with her, or at least she seemed to remember more. Yuna would have to get specifics on that soon enough.

For now, she just waited impatiently downstairs in the apartment complex for Rikku's arrival. She couldn't wait to catch her up on everything that was going on, everything that had happened. There were some things that were just better said in person, some things she didn't want to risk saying on the journals. She had to explain the city to Rikku and that Tidus and Jecht and Auron were here - even if she'd already touched on that. Everything was so complex. Best take it slow.

So Yuna waited. Come on, Rikku. Don't get lost now.

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This place was definitely weird, to say the least. Some of the things she'd been told about it were just so bizarre that she didn't know where to start. They were in a castle, there were floors, Spira was one one of those floors... to be honest, even as much as she'd dealt with alternate realities in the past few months, she still couldn't wrap her head around it. So for right now, she wouldn't--instead, she'd make her way across the city to find her cousin.

Luckily, she didn't get lost; Rikku found the apartments easily enough, and seeing her cousin standing there, she grinned and broke into a run. "Yunie!" Hope Yuna was read for the biggest of hugs.

Oh Yuna was more than ready and she practically tackled her cousin in excitement just inside the doors. She was so happy to actually see Rikku again, and if the outfit was anything to go by, at least she wouldn't have to explain dresspheres again!

"Rikku!"

Okay, holding back the tears of joy and relief was harder than she'd thought, but at least now she had someone who really understood what she was worrying about with Tidus being here.

"I'm so glad you're here!"

Though she had only been away from Spira for a few hours, she was just as happy to see her cousin as if she'd been gone for weeks. Laughing, she hugged her close. "I'm glad, too!" Even if she didn't know what this Paixao place was all about, she did know that she had friends here, and that was really all that mattered.

Yuna pulled back with that grin still on her face. "Come on! Let's go up to my room!" And without waiting for Rikku to agree or protest, she grabbed her cousin's hand and started up the stairs. "We're close to the top. I think Tidus is out right now, so we've got time to talk. Just us girls. We have a lot to catch up on, like what you remember of Spira, and I have to explain about the city. So, which should we do first?"

It wasn't as if her cousin would have said no, anyway. She was excited to see Yuna and where she'd been living--she was really proud of her for... well, striking out on her own. Mostly. Having Tidus there just made it ten times better. "Uh, you go first! I'm really curious about this place." And a quick jaunt up the stairs would really get her ready to talk about Spira--not that she even imagined Yuna didn't know they'd beaten Vegnagun.

"Well, it's kind of complicated." And that was putting it mildly. "The city itself is called Paixao, but it's located inside a castle. This is only one floor and a lot of floors have opened up since I've been here. From what I've heard, the floors are made up of memories; they aren't real. But they always look perfectly real."

Like her own. It had felt real, just like a passage from her pilgrimage, and she wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"Spira's one of them," Yuna continued as they reached the right floor of the building. She headed for her door, unlocked it, and pushed it open. The apartment itself wasn't big by Paixao standards. It had a few rooms, bedroom, bath, kitchen and the like, but by Spiran standards, it was huge. "I can't tell... whose memories it was made of. Macalania, the Calm Lands, Mount Gagazet, and Zanarkand look just like they did during my pilgrimage." She shrugged, turning towards the living room-type area, suddenly nervous. Seeing Spira had been weird, to say the least.

"I didn't got to any of the temples. I didn't want to see if the fayth were still there or not."

And hopefully Rikku would understand why.

Rikku was, in fact, surprised at the size of the apartment. Even after living on the Celsius for months, she still remembered the tiny houses on Besaid and the cramped hotels they'd stayed in during the pilgrimage. She felt like their entire family plus a few extra people could fit in there. Sharing bedrooms and possibly beds? No sweat. The blonde just wanted to throw her arms out and spin around a bit, just to enjoy the space.

"That's all crazy," she said, still eyeing the room they were in; she couldn't get over it just yet. "And memories? Shiva, again?" Hands folded behind her back, she started to wander, automatically wanting to investigate every nook and cranny. She paused when Yuna started talking about Spira, though. "Pre-pilgrimage, huh? Well... I guess that's good and bad in some ways." Definitely good for Zanarkand and the Calm Lands; less foot-traffic, less desecration of sacred places (Rikku knew how much that meant to her cousin, even if it was less important to her).

The temples... she turned to her cousin, nodding, suddenly almost solemn. "Yeah, good plan."

"I know," Yuna agreed in response to the comment about memories. "It's very strange and hard to get used to, but it's true. It's not the same Spira we remember. It is but it isn't. Some of the fayth are there. I've spoken with the Magus Sisters and someone else asked me about Bahamut. It makes sense, but it doesn't."

Yuna frowned as she thought back to her journey across the Spira that was here. It was all very, very strange to her, hard to picture and remember.

"Oh... Rikku? Lenne's here."

Rikku's reaction to that name would tell her a little bit about how much her cousin remembered of their travels as sphere hunters with the Gullwings.

Rikku pretty much understood what Yuna was saying; and she decided that this was one of those times where things might be best left unexplained. For the time being. One day she'd find the time to figure it all out. "What'd you say about 'em?" Good things, she hoped. Those aeons had saved their butts more than a few times on the pilgrimage.

At Lenne's name, she paused again, whirling to face her cousin. "Lenne?!" It was obvious that Rikku was well-aware of who that was. "But wasn't she--she was sent. Kind of."

"It was strange. They talked about fragments and everything they said... it was like something big was happening. I didn't really understand it. Maybe sometime we could go back and talk to them again."

It might be worth it for more answers.

Yuna nodded, glad at least that she didn't have to explain who Lenne was, but the rest of Rikku's sentence got a frown. What was she talking about? "Lenne was sent? But I don't remember-" Wait a minute. There's an actual explanation for that. "Rikku... are you from my future? What's the last thing you remember?"

She nodded absently, but when Yuna asked if she was from the future... her eyebrows raised, and she put a hand on her waist, hip cocked to one side. "Uh, we beat Vegnagun? And I was just about to go around Spira on the Celsius again." Well, this was kind of weird. She'd never really thought about being from the future. But she liked the idea. "What about you?"

"We beat Vegnagun?"

Her tone and question alone conveyed that she hadn't yet experienced that. And it had been so long since she'd been home that she'd almost given up on ever going back, forever to wonder about what had happened. But if Rikku was here and she knew... it gave Yuna a little hope.

"I was on my way to fighting Vegnagun. We hadn't yet reached it. What... happened, Rikku?"

Rikku's mouth dropped open a bit, and she stared, dumbfounded. Yuna... didn't know. She hadn't known they could come from different times. She gulped, and then lifted her hands to gesture almost randomly as she explained. "We, y'know, made it there, and Shyuin was kind of playing his piano thing. So we beat Vegnagun's head, and then fought him... He thought you were Lenne. After we beat him, he let Baralai go and Lenne kind of appeared. Then... they just faded." IT was sad, but still true.

If Yuna hadn't been confronted by the idea of her father being there before her when she'd first arrived, she would have been as awestruck as her cousin. But she listened carefully, glad at least that things had turned out okay for everyone.

"So Lenne got to tell Shuyin how she felt?" It made sense and gave her hope. "Rikku, Lenne doesn't know about that, the Lenne here. I don't think she remembers what we do."

"Yeah, right before they faded." It had been a sad, touching moment, and Rikku knew that she and Paine had both felt awkward for seeing it--but considering how close Yuna and Lenne seemed to be, she didn't know if her cousin had felt the same.

This was getting weirder by the second. How could they not know?

Right, timelines. Man, she hated timelines. With a little, almost overdramatic, sigh, she makes a show of rubbing her temples. "Man, Yunie, this is gonna get really confusing really fast. But I think we should tell her." It seemed like a good idea--maybe Lenne would be... comforted or something, knowing she got to talk to her lover one last time.

"Good. I'm glad she got the chance." And she was. Yuna was very happy things had worked out for Lenne, especially now that she knew the girl better. Lenne was a very sweet woman and Yuna had come to consider her a very good friend. Knowing that she got her happy ending made things a little more bearabke.

"Maybe. But, Rikku... We'll have to be careful. She's-" A lot like Yuna herself when it came to bottling up unpleasant emotions and Yuna didn't want to add more if she could help it. "Maybe you could meet her before we decide?"

Rikku nodded. It would probably be best if they too this slowly. After all, Lenne was a thousand years behind their time. She might not be used to things yet (even though this wasn't Spira, Rikku still assumed it was closer to modern Spira than Lenne's Spira). "Yeah, okay. Where's she live?"

"She lives here!" Yuna answered. "Not here here, but in this building. I'll be sure to contact her and then maybe we can all sing and dance together. We've been meaning to put on a concert for the city, but it hasn't been done yet."

It was one of Yuna's pet projects. Someday she hoped to get it up and running.

"Oh, great! That'll make this way easier." Not that Rikku would have minded going on an adventure around the city to find her; it was just more convenient this way. At the mention of the concert, her eyes light up. "That'd be awesome! We won't have the ship, of course, but I know I can rig up some kind of stage for you guys."

Yuna grinned and threw her arms around her cousin again. "I knew we could count on you!" And beyond that, she was just glad to have another familiar face in the city, someone she hadn't seen in months and had missed beyond belief. "I'm so glad you're here, Rikku."

Rikku hugged Yuna back, giggling a bit. She couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Yunie to be (kind of) alone, but she was glad to be there to keep her company, now. "You betcha! I'm the most reliable person I know." An exaggeration, but she didn't really care right then. "I'm glad too, Yunie. Things are gonna be awesome now, just you wait!"

Yuna clapped her hands together excitedly, still grinning. "Yes! Oh! Did you have any other questions about the city? Maybe we should go take a walk?"

The blonde shrugged, waggling her hands a little. "Well, not really. I mean, I'll probably just figure out everything as it comes, you know?" That was how she liked to do things, for the most part. "But yeah! Let's go."

Yuna knew well that was how her cousin worked and somehow it did well for her. Rikku was also good at encouraging Yuna to do the same. Yuna grinned. "Oh! Here." She reached into her belt pouch and pulled out what appeared to be a shiny, metal leaf, handing it to her cousin. "This is what they use to pay for things. Really, the shopkeepers will take anything that's shiny like this. So... money really does grow everywhere!"

Rikku took it immediately, looking it over and running yellow-polished fingers over it. She was obviously entranced. "That's.... so cool! I think I'm gonna like it here."

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I've been waiting for so long (Complete / Closed)

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