Disclaimer: I don't own crap.
Pairing: TidusxFirion
Rating: T, could possibly go up.
Setting: AU

Beginning

By the time Firion was nine, he had learned that it was just best to stay with his brother and sister and parents and to not try to make friends. Other people often looked at the boy oddly, what with his long silver hair and love for flowers that no proper young boy should have. No, he had decided, it was not worth enduring the ridicule.

So there he was one summer day, working in the small garden with his mother. While Firion loved all kinds of flowers, his favorite were red roses, and his mother would often help him prune them and take care of them. This year, he had been allowed to grow a rose bush on his own, with his mother close by and supervising.

It was especially hot this summer, so after an hour or so Firion's mother went inside to house to get some lemonade and cookies, while her son stayed outside with the flowers. The peace and the quiet that had pleasantly blanketed the world was crudely broken when a ball landed merely an inch away from the plants, causing him to nearly have a heart attack. At age nine. Such tragedy. He jumped up and looked around, looking for some evil man in black or a just as evil sorceress who dared to ruin his and his mother's flowers. Instead, all he saw was a boy around his age with tanned skin, bright blue eyes, and tousled dirty blond hair.

Firion had no idea who this boy was, who was currently looking nervous and sheepish but trying to cover it up with a daring grin. The jeans he was wearing were torn a bit, and his blue shirt was faded and too big, allowing one sun kissed shoulder to be exposed.

"Um, hiya!" the mysterious boy called out from the sidewalk. "Sorry about that… I didn't mean to almost ruin your flowers."

Firion glared at first, but something about the other boy's grin wouldn't let him stay angry. Eventually, he sighed, deciding to let it go. "What's your name?"

The uneasiness faded from the other boy's expression, his grin becoming even brighter. "I'm Tidus! I'm gonna be the best blitzball player in the world! Who are you?"

Firion felt tempted to point out that kicking balls into other people's flowerbeds was a good start to a successful sports career, but he held his tongue on that. "Firion…"

"So whatcha doin', Firion?" Tidus asked, not at all seeming to catch on to the other's reluctance.

Firion squirmed a little. If he told Tidus, then he'd laugh at him and mock him. If he didn't, then he'd figure it out anyway. Too bad…Tidus seemed nice…

"Tending the flowers…"

Tidus blinked. Firion tensed, expecting insults to be thrown his way.

"Can I come and see?"

Firion stared at him.

"I mean," Tidus rubbed the back of his head, "I gotta get my ball back, anyway, so…mind if I take a look?"

"Um, sure…" Firion couldn't believe what Tidus was saying.

Tidus smiled again, and this time he couldn't help but smile back as the other walked over and began admiring the flowers.

Years later, Firion would look back on this and realize that the events of that day caused him to love flowers even more.