InsaneJournal

Who: Rikku, Yuna
What: Yuna tells Rikku about Harvard.
When: Last Week!
Where: Yuna's place.
Ratings/Warnings: 5/5 Adorbs really.
Status: Complete!


Though Yuna’s mind was mostly made up, she still felt like she was making some kind of mistake. Mainly, she knew that her family here was some of the only family she knew, and had left. She’d be leaving them behind, and that was hard enough for everyone. Both Ben and Rikku understood what it felt like to have to say goodbye to someone too soon.

But it wasn’t like she was leaving forever. She reminded herself of that while she handed Rikku a coffee she’d got at Baxter bakery earlier, and a offered her a plate with fresh baked scones on it, “You should have one, they’re really the best in town.”

Rikku was an Air Force brat through and through. She didn’t have to be told twice to eat food, and immediately plucked up one of the scones. “Mmm, they smell awesome. You okay, Yunie?” Rikku gestured at her face. “You’re making a face.”

"Oh... am I?" Yuna looked around the room, like she might find her reflection in one of the objects so she could see what kind of face she was making. Of course, that was silly. There was nothing around like that, so she looked down at her coffee, instead, "I guess... I probably am. You're always so good at reading me."

“You don’t make it hard,” Rikku smiled. “You kind of telegraph everything on your face in big letters.” She tried to pull the same face that Yuna had been doing, but eventually gave up in favor of eating another scone. What. She was hungry.

"I thought I was better at hiding it than that," Yuna smiled sheepishly at Rikku, then a bit more adoringly as she watched her cousin put away another scone. The girl could devour the entire plate if Yuna let her, and she found that more endearing than ever now.

"You all must have known the entire time, how sad I was. I guess I wasn't as good at lying as I thought."

“Nobody is,” Rikku smiled. She worried about all of her friends, she worried about everyone, to be honest; it was just Rikku’s way. She’d worry, then find something fun to distract herself and make herself laugh.

"That's probably true."

Yuna set her own coffee off to one side and stole a scone for herself, nibbling on it for a few seconds while she tried to settle her thoughts. She didn't want this conversation to sound like she was asking her younger cousin for permission to leave.

But she needed it. She needed Rikku to be okay with it, "Rikku... you know I was going back to school, to become a Doctor? A lot of my nursing classes actually transferred over to the pre-med degree, so I got very lucky there."

“I did, yeah.” Rikku blinked at her. “Why, what’s wrong? Did they take that back or something? They can’t do takebacks on your college credit!”

"Oh, no! Of course not!" Yuna flailed her hands a bit, and shook her head, "No, it's something... It should be something better, it should be something that really makes me happy, the thing that's happened. But I can't help but feel like if I take advantage of it, I'm going to be abandoning all of you."

Rikku just blinked. “What is it?” She didn’t think there was anything that Yuna could do that was bad, Yuna just wasn’t a bad person. “It’s okay, I won’t be mad or anything.”

"It's..." Yuna wrinkled her nose a bit, and tore off another piece of scone. But she didn't pop it in her mouth. Now that she was this close to telling Rikku the news, it just kind of spilled out of her, "I got into Harvard. They're going to... I really couldn't believe it myself when I got the letter, so I actually called them up to make sure first. I never thought they'd accept me, but they did, and they're thinking even with a late start on the semester I should be okay to pick up their pre-med degree and then finish out at their medical school completely."

Yuna stopped to breathe, then added in a whisper, "I think Magius must have pulled some strings because they're going to pay for it."

Rikku didn’t know what Yuna expected her to do. But what Rikku did do was sqwak with joy and run over to Yuna, burying her in a tight hug. “YUNIE THAT’S AMAZING ARE YOU GOING TO DO IT YOU HAVE TO DO IT I CAN COME VISIT YOU ALL THE TIME!”

Whatever Yuna was expecting, it wasn't nearly as wonderful as the reaction she got. Rikku's hugs and enthusiastic shouting filled her with so much joy that she started crying on the spot, while also bouncing in place a bit on the couch and glomping onto Rikku.

"So you're okay with it then?" She asked, which was silly, because Rikku was obviously just fine with it.

“Of course I am! Yunie, that’s amazing, and you’re going to be the best doctor ever and heal everyone ever and oh my gosh can you be my doctor when you’re done? Maybe I can invent robot nurses or something to help you or at least hand you stuff and make your patients laugh.” Rikku was more than happy for her cousin, and she hugged her tighter. She’d miss her, but it was selfish to hold people back.

"Robot nurses! That's something..." Yuna giggled and nodded her head. She was ecstatic that Rikku was this happy for her. It was the happiest that she'd been in a long time, really, "And they could make all the kids laugh. I really do want to be the best doctor I can be, and your robot nurses will help me with that a lot!"

“I’ll get to work on it while you’re studying so they’ll be perfect by the time you’re done.” Rikku leaned against her cousin. “I can come see you on holidays, it won’t be so bad. I’ll see you way more than I ever did when I lived with Pops.” Threading their fingers together, Rikku squeezed Yuna’s hand. “You thought I’d be mad at you, huh.”

"I did, yes... I'm so relieved that you aren't." Yuna squeezed Rikku's hand a bit. Tears were still on her cheeks a bit, but she was grinning widely, "And I can come out here to visit, too. I'll have months off every summer, so I can return then, maybe, too."

“You know Ben and I would love to have you.” Rikku smiled, wiping off Yuna’s cheeks. “And there’s email and Skype and we can talk on the phone all the time. It won’t be so bad, you know. Why would I be mad at you being awesome?”

"I don't know, it seems awfully silly now," Yuna giggled. Then she calmed down a bit and smiled, "I'm not sure I'm awesome, but I... definitely want to be. I'm going to be the awesomest doctor, and have amazing robot nurses."

“You are already and you will.” Rikku leaned against Yuna. “If you know who shows up, I’ll email you, ‘kay?”

"Maybe I'll meet him over there. Do you think that's possible?" Yuna pondered that. Kitty had said the same, but Yuna didn't want to admit that she'd spoken to Kitty about it first, "Only... if I do, I guess I'll have to... leave him there, or stay there. Since I don't know where my dreams end, and I wouldn't want him to start, only to discover what my pilgrimage was for."

“I wonder.” Rikku grinned. “Or you could just drag him wherever you go. You seem kind of stronger than he is anyway. He’s soooort of a baby,” Rikku giggled. “But that’s why he’s your dream guy, you see stuff in him I don’t?”

Yuna laughed, "I don't know, either. He really is... completely unable to take care of himself, isn't he? It seemed a little funny to make him a guardian, even to me. But he was... from Zanarkand, like Sir Jecht, and he was so full of life, and since he didn't know, I felt like it was easier to lie to myself, maybe."

She smiled a bit. It was a somewhat sad memory since he wasn't here, but she hoped she found him here someday anyway, and the thought of him alone made up for it, "I just loved him. I've never understood how that's possible, or why. He was so different from everything we'd ever known."

“Love is a weird thing.” Rikku shrugged. She’d never been in it, still wasn’t, but she could see herself being in love someday. She also knew how it made people different. Her father was a better man when her mother had been around.

"It is. I hope we all get to really experience it someday. Even Ben. He always seems so lonely." Yuna frowned. She hoped he'd be okay while she was gone, "You should check in on him when you can. Do that for me, will you?"

“Of course I will.” Rikku nodded. “He’s my other favorite cousin. You guys are tied, sorry to say.” The tiny blonde girl smiled. “Maybe I can help fix his taxi or something so he won’t feel like I’m checking up on him!”

"That's a great idea. Or... you could get him to help you find parts for your robots as a front?" Yuna's smiled widened a bit. She was glad that they were tied, really. It meant Rikku and Ben would still have each other and she didn't need to worry so much.

“Exactly! There’s lots of ways I can ‘bump into’ him.” Rikku made finger quotes, grinning broadly. “I’m creative, I can do it.”

"You can do it! I believe in you." Yuna nodded, and grinned at Rikku.

She got up off the couch, and clapped her hands together, "So, now... Why don't we go out to eat, to celebrate? Something really yummy, and I'll buy!"

“Yeah, I’m really hungry, I haven’t eaten like, anything today.” Rikku grinned, standing up and bouncing a little. She was so happy for Yuna, she could burst.