Somebody Told Me

Author's Note: Just a quick little tidbit before I begin. This is going to start out seeming very strange, but I promise it will have some of my angst in it! Though, not as dark as some of my other stuff. I don't know how long this story will end up being. Reviews generally help, but it really depends on how much time I have. So I will try to work through everything to get this completed.

Now... a little about the story. This is an AU Final Fantasy X-2 world fic, based on the song "Somebody Told Me" by the Killers. Baralai is a singer who is reeling off of the break-up with Yuna. When she starts going out with Shuyin it brings up memories of a past love, Tidus, for Baralai and the drama begins...

Episode 1.1: Pedals Crushed

Cast: Baralai, Gippal, Yuna, Tidus, Shuyin, and Rikku, with a special appearance by Lulu

Guest Staring: Wakka, Nooj, LeBlanc

He set the pen down and sat back in his chair, watching the pen as it rolled off the desk and clattered to the ground. In the din of the room he could not think. Silence screamed all around him, filling him with old memories, ones he would rather not think about. There was so much on his mind that he could not sift through the clutter enough to get one coherent thought down on the paper.

All this time he had just wanted to write one more song, one new song that would rock his fans. Since the breakup a few months ago with Yuna he had been plagued by nightmares and unable to create any more rhymes and rhythms. Normally a thing such as this would destroy an artist, but then they would come back with something awesome. They turn that energy into something so creative that it shocks the world.

This was not true for him.

He could not think straight for longer than absolutely necessary, and even the thought of bringing his pen to paper and compose another song was beyond him. Gippal, his best friend and the synthesizer player for their band, "Fate Forgotten", had done a wonderful job of getting some music together, which inspired Baralai to write, but not enough.

"What have you done to me?" Baralai asked nothing. His words echoed off the wall only to bounce back to him, leaving a tension in the air so thick it could be cut with a knife.

A faint knock drifted to him from the outer room of his apartment. Shutting off the synth music flowing out of the speakers, he paused to make sure he heard correctly. Again the knock came.

No one came by much anymore. He had gotten a couple calls from his manager, asking when he was planning on writing anymore songs. Nooj had offered to hire someone to write the songs for Baralai until he got back on "the horse", so to speak, but he declined. No one but him would write what came out of his mouth, what people would know him for. He was going to be in complete control of that aspect of his life.

Gippal did stop by every once in a while, to check in on him, see if he made any progress, but unlike Nooj, he was more Baralai's friend than a band mate, and therefore would care more about Baralai's well-being than the music any day.

Sunlight hit him as he strode across the room and he threw one hand up to shield him from the glare. His white hair was in a mess, spiking up in every direction. Not that he often cared for his outer appearance, especially when he was home alone not expecting company. Which was always. After Yuna left he did not much care for people in general.

Opening the door, he was not surprised when Gippal walked in through the doors.

Slightly shorter than normal, with messy yellow hair and a wonderfully blue eye, Gippal was the eye candy for thousands of teenage girls. Never mind the one eye that was completely hidden by a black eye-patch, he had the body, the face, and the chipper attitude that made him just the kind of guy that you wanted to be with but knew you would never have.

He walked down the sidewalk lining Baralai's apartment building, turning the corner to get to the entrance. On the other side of the street, walking out of a department store, he saw Yuna.

"Damn her," he whispered beneath his breath. He knew the story between her and Baralai, and thought she had been utterly unfair in breaking it off with him.

Yuna was not alone, of course. A man stood with his arms around her, tugging her along with him down the road. It was Shuyin, the famous Blitzball player. His shaggy light brown hair fell in locks, framing his angular face. Gippal had not seen him so close in person before, but now that he saw him, it was striking how closely he resembled Tidus, a boy who Baralai had "experimented" with over a year ago.

They had the same build, the same hair, only Tidus' face was a little more round. It was very uncanny, and very weird. Gippal had to pause for a moment, hesitate, and when their bodies swung in his direction he scramble to the door of Baralai's apartment building in an attempt to make it look like he had not just been spying on them.

Opening the door to the building with a key he had taken from Baralai –Baralai hated the buzzer, and hated even more having to get up and answer it then wait for the person to get to the door and open it for them.

Going up the stairs he wondered whether or not he should tell Baralai about what he had just witnessed. What was he going to say? "Yuna has a boyfriend that looked like a girlfriend you had last year?" (They had called Tidus "the girl" jokingly because at times he was too feminine acting for his own good.) That would be a very weird thing to say.

He laughed as he knocked on the door. Inside he could hear the synth music he had made a few weeks ago being shut off and feet start to pad across to the door. At least he was trying to work, Gippal thought. He was at least giving it a shot.

The door swung inward and a very haggard looking Baralai stood there. Gippal put on his best smile and walked right in as if he owned the place. Someone had to take affirmative action around this guy or else nothing would ever get accomplished... ever.

"Hey," was all the greeting he got from the singer. He was slightly grumpy. Yay.

Gippal bounced a little. He had to at least act very happy. Sometimes it helped work Baralai out of a funk, sometimes not. Depended on what he had been doing. He had been interrupted while trying to work on a song, which meant he was thinking about Yuna, and trying to cheer him up was next to impossible, but it had to be done. Besides, Gippal had some good news.

"What's up?" he asked in a highly happy tone.

"Trying to work," his friend replied glumly.

Gippal took a peek into the dim room where Baralai liked to write his songs and saw the blank sheet of paper. "Doesn't look like you are getting anywhere," he chided.

"What do you want?" came the voice with a growl hidden in it.

Smirking, Gippal turned his attention back to the man before him. "What are you up to tonight? Any plans?"

Baralai shot him a glance that answered his question quickly and without a doubt. "No," he said curtly, sharpening his point.

Gippal held his hands out in front of him, holding back his friend's negativity. "Hey, now. Simmer. I have something for us to do." As he spoke a gleam glazed over his eyes.

"Oh no..." Baralai said, weakening. Maybe it was possible to break him? Gippal spurred with hope. "What is it?"

"There's this little party down at the Label building tonight. Big people will be there, a lot of alcohol. Nooj said something about introducing the next big thing in music. He threatened that they might replace us as his favorites if we don't attend."

No doubt they would be replaced, Baralai thought. They had not written anything in over a month now and it seemed like they were in a rut. Or... Baralai was. Gippal could really quit their band and join up with any one else, surely there was someone out there who could utilize Gippal's talents, vast as they were. The music industry was very cut-throat anyway, why Nooj had not fired them from the Label was beyond them anyway.

"Do you know this new band's name?" he asked, an edge of excitement creeping into his voice. Gippal was sure he would win this time.

"Pedals Crushed, that's all I know."

"Sounds like some dumb girl band."

Fire lit in Gippal's eye. "I guess we'll just have to go and see."

Baralai walked over to Gippal. "What time does this party start?"

"In about two hours."

"I'll get a shower, get dressed, and meet you at the coffee house on the corner in about an hour and a half?"

"Awesome."

Baralai turned to the bathroom as Gippal let himself out of the building.

He leaned his head against the cool tile of his bathroom. The water had turned from pleasantly warm to almost cold, his hands and feet had pruned up. What was that? Someone knocking loudly on his door.

Tidus used his arms to heave himself from the bathtub, water sloshing over the side. His feet slipped on the grubby bathroom floor as he reached for a towel. It barely registered when his side hit the side of the bathtub. He knew that it would bruise, but found himself not really caring. Not much mattered anymore.

Pulling a towel around him, he walked out the door and took the two steps it was to get across his apartment. Opening the door as far as the chain would allow, he saw Wakka standing out in the hall.

"It's over, I'm done." Wakka said bluntly.

"What?" Tidus asked, incredulous.

"You can't get over one guy, I don't want to have anything to do with this. If you can ever find yourself again, give me a call. Don't get me wrong, the sex was good, I just can't take your emotional baggage with me anymore."

"Wakka, I-"

"No."

Wakka was walking away, disappearing down the hall. By the time Tidus got the door open, he was gone down the hall.

Amidst shouts and screams of the neighbors around him in the shotgun apartments, he slid down, the towel falling off of his hip. In the dirty hallway he wept.

The Label building was alight with something akin to fire. It seemed the walls themselves glowed with a glory that was beyond anyone of the party guests. Nooj was not only the band manager for Fate Forgotten, but also the President of the Label, the biggest record label name in Zanarkand. He believed in wild parties in a major sense.

The pair mingled their way through the crowd, drinking, having a good time. Baralai was even beginning to forget, if even for a moment, all the pain and was letting loose.

Gippal could not have been more pleased.

The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed, turning towards the stage against the far wall. This was the room usually used when press conferences and interviews were held. How easily it became a party room...

The lush, dark blue curtains parted a little down the middle. Nooj strode out, dressed in a very expensive suit. He liked to flaunt like that. Some called him a conceited asshole, most called him Boss. At his right side was his wife LeBlanc. She was a shapely woman, wearing her bright pink dress that revealed a little too much for comfort.

Nooj took the microphone in one hand, leaving the other one free to move about as he spoke. "I would like to welcome everyone here tonight. This is a great night for Label and the music industry with the induction of a new group, Pedals Crushed, to our family."

He was talking in his best professional talk, which was animated, dripping with sugar. Too sweet to be believed. "They have been together for only a few weeks now that they finally discovered how amazing their voices are after a karaoke night at a party I just happened to be attending. They sing and look like seraphs straight from heaven itself. Now, welcome to the stage, Rikku, Lulu, and Yuna, of Pedals Crushed!"

Baralai's heart caught in his throat and he gagged on the sip of beer he just took. The curtains withdrew all the way and the three girls were in the center of the spotlight.

As their song began Baralai knew who the song was about. His forehead beaded in sweat, his body began shaking. Gippal came up beside him, apologizing. "There's something else you need to know," he said, tugging Baralai away from the crowd.

"What?" Baralai spat, venom clear in his voice. He knew that he should not be mad at Gippal, that none of this was his fault, but he could not help it. Anger was anger, and rage was rage. He was plenty pissed off.

"She's... kinda..."

"Kind of what?"

When his shoulders were seized, Gippal thought about punching the other man, but stopped himself. He gritted his teeth against the pain and said, "She's seeing someone."

Baralai's grip loosened and his hands fell away from Gippal's shoulder. The Al Bhed silently thanked no one in particular, watching as the other man's eyes glazed over slightly. "Who?" he asked in a voice that should not have belonged to him.

"Shuyin... the Blitzball stud," Gippal said slowly, calculating the reaction. There was surprisingly none.

"I'm ready to go home," Baralai said as Pedals Crushed ended their song and Yuna ran into the arms of Shuyin.