Wakka finished his third bottle of hard whiskey in a single gulp.
"Sir, don't you think…"
"Boooooze m-me up, Scottie."
He can't believe it. He just couldn't believe it.
How can one man lose so much so fast?
Okay, so Lulu asked for divorce. Reason? He wasn't spending enough time with her. He spent more time working to keep their home up and put food their bellies. Or, in her words, playing with his balls. Apparently, the courts believed her (No thanks to his blitzball team coming to his defense.) and granted it. He kept the house, but lost privileges to see his kids. His lawyer had gotten tired of him, and sent Wakka in the direction of a cheaper, greasier lawyer.
To drive the knife in further, who did Lulu turn to after the divorce got finalized?
RIKKU.
The Al Bhed bitch.
As it turns out, Rikku had a crush on Lulu when they met during the pilgrimage. While Wakka went to work, the two shared talks with each other. Which eventually lead to the reveal of the crush, and Lulu's revelation about the marriage. Worried about her ex-husband's rage, they moved in together.
Apparently, according to rumors, their neighbors didn't mind their late night activities.
He hadn't seen them in at least a week. He had a sinking feeling that by next week, they would come out in public.
Disgusting.
"How you doing, buddy?" Wakka turned around on his barstool to see a familiar face. Tidus, back from the dead. "One Pink Squirrel!" The bartender sighed, and got to work on the very manly Pink Squirrel.
"How's life?" Tidus slapped Wakka on his back.
"Blows."
"That's what Yuna did ten weeks ago!" Tidus laughed. Wakka wasn't in the mood. However, he was just barely sober enough to catch something. After the Pink Squirrel was delivered from the far end of the bar, Wakka asked,
"Ten weeks?"
"Oh, yeah!" Tidus downed his Squirrel in one gulp. "We broke up. Didn't see that coming, did ya?" He laughed.
Wakka placed down some money. The bartender immediately replaced it with a fourth bottle. "Why is this the first I'm hearing of this?"
Tidus laughed again. The bartender gave Wakka a look that just read, 'Hit him for a free drink.' Tidus threw his glass down the bar before speaking. "Oh, I decided to go out and fight some monsters. Felt better after a day. Guess I got carried away."
"For nine weeks, you've been fighting monsters."
"Oh, yeah! Made tons of gil."
Ah. Perfect.
Wakka placed his fist in Tidus' face, KOing him instantly. The bartender smiled, and placed a fifth bottle. Wakka dived down and retrieved Tidus' wallet. It was thick, and only had gil in it. Figures. When he woke up, he could explain that a Tonberry robbed him. Good thing he was a idiot.
Wakka grabbed both bottles and headed out. The bartender followed him, carrying Tidus' snoring body with him. Wakka held the door open as Tidus was thrown out, and landed in a garbage can. Wakka took a long inhale of the fourth bottle, leaving a shot-full for Tidus. He placed it carefully between Tidus and the edge of the can.
The walk home was long. It didn't help that Wakka turned in different direction every minute. He actually went around in a circle before the bartender pushed him in the right direction. Tidus continued to snore.
He continued to stumble through the city, avoiding people along the way. His hearing turned into ringing. His sight turned into swirls of bright lights. Finally, his legs locked together, and fell to the earth, his head bouncing off the concrete twice. Some drool dripped out of his mouth. Breathing shortened. The end?
No. As soon as he started to see black, he felt…wet. Water, produced by magic. He felt this before. A small restoration effect came over him, allowing him to see color again, though heavily blurred. His hearing still reached a low hum.
"Wakka?" A familiar voice entered the air. It didn't sound like Tidus, but had the same pitch.
"Wuna?"
"Yuna." Rikku's cousin, a much better person than her. In fact, she helped him up, as he found himself on the floor.
"Woo! That's drunk as you can ever smell." A unfamiliar voice came from the right of Yuna. Wakka never heard the voice before. She sounded older.
"Leblanc, help me."
Leblanc? The thief? Why was Yuna with her?
"Errgh!" Leblanc for the left arm and Yuna for the right arm managed to lift up the drunk, blitzball player. He regained his balance, and leaned against a building.
"Wakka, you really shouldn't drink. It's not good for your career." Yuna said. Wakka's sight was becoming more clear. The two women were close together. Yuna, the one with the light brown hair, was wearing white, while Leblanc, blonde from what he heard, was wearing red.
"And your hygiene." Leblanc chimed in.
"Leblanc."
"Sorry."
"I understand what you're going through. Breaking up with Tidus was hard. We had a good relationship…"
Wakka interrupted. "He spent the next day fighting monsters. He said he felt better afterwards."
Yuna stepped back. She was wearing high-heels. Wakka's hearing regained more clarity. "Oh? And how did you know this?" Leblanc sounded annoyed…yet, a hint of smirk?
"He told me. Tonight. In the bar. Ten weeks ago, right?" Finally, Wakka could see perfectly. Just in time to see Leblanc catch a collapsing Yuna, her face completely stunned at the news. Leblanc held her…much like how a boyfriend would hold a girlfriend who just fainted. A arm around the waist, and one cupping her head.
"Are you…" Wakka questioned.
"Yes." Leblanc answered, trying to prop up Yuna. "We're dating. Would you like to hear the story?"
Wakka nodded yes. He hadn't heard from Yuna in months.
The three walked to a set of benches. Yuna and Leblanc sat on the one side, with Wakka on the other. Yuna laid her head on Leblanc's shoulder.
"Okay, so you know that Tidus and Yuna broke off their engagement ten weeks ago. Tidus, as you know is a idiot." Leblanc said, draping a arm around Yuna.
"Ya."
"Good. Yuna was depressed. Really depressed. I mean, come on, she went on a world-wide quest to resurrect him! In the end, her patience broke. So while Tidus went on his monster hunt, like you said, Yuna spent time in bars, like you are now. I heard about the divorce."
"Good. Bring THAT up."
"Sorry. I was hitting bars myself, Nooj rejected me, and my 'business' was falling apart. It took about two weeks from the break-up for us to meet in the same bar. We ended up fighting, I forgot the reason why we fought…and destroying the bar. Well, at least the inside. The outside was already trashed."
"Remember the manager?" Yuna said, her voice still trembling.
"Oh yeah. What a dork. More interested in posters than the destroyed chairs and tables. So, we fought, stopped by the police, and were sentenced to work community service together. During our time picking up trash and repairing the bar, we dropped the hostilities and talked. We discussed our lives, our loves, and our general love for strawberry ice cream."
"Mmm…" Yuna said, licking her lips.
"Later. Once our service ended, we said our good-byes and went on our ways. But I felt something. I guess…I felt alone. For once, in a long time, I actually had someone who actually knew me. I called her, and we met for dinner one night. Again, we discussed things over, and we came to a conclusion that eluded us during our time working together."
"Love." Yuna sat up.
"Well…yeah. Love after bruising and making each other bleed on many different occasions. We went on a more official date, to see if it would work. And…still to my surprise…it worked. It worked pretty damn well, if I may be blunt. Hell, what we did just two weeks ago…"
"Woah, woah!" Yuna placed a hand around Leblanc's mouth. "That's enough. But yes, Wakka, we're dating."
"Like Lulu…and Rikku." Wakka placed a powerful emphasis on the latter name.
"…yes." Yuna's voice confirmed the relationship to the letter.
"Yuna?" Wakka asked.
"…yes?"
"Did I fail?" Wakka sounded defeated. Alone, defeated, and reflected. "Did I fail her? Was it for the better that we aren't married no longer?"
Yuna looked Leblanc. She whispered something in Yuna's ear. Yuna's face fell. Wakka knew the obvious conclusion.
"You…just reminded her too much of Chappu. She couldn't stop thinking of him. She told me before she went to court. I'm sorry."
Wakka couldn't believe it. Yuna could never lie. Her face confirmed that. "Why…didn't she tell me?"
"She didn't want you to harm you even more than necessary."
Wakka pooled the information around in his head. He was still drunk, but he managed to create a path of thought. "What about Rikku? Where does she figure in all of this?"
"As you know, she spent time with Lulu, talking with her to keep her busy. She came to the revelation during those talks."
"Before or after Rikku came out of the closet?"
"Actually, before."
Wakka blinked. His binge on whiskey slowed down his thoughts. So, Lulu lost her love for him before Rikku admitted her feelings? Basically, if the information was correct, Rikku came out when Lulu came out. He continued to mull it over. Lulu rejected him many times during the adventure to defeat Sin, due to the reminder of Chappu.
Meaning that he married a woman that had no love for him.
He put her between a rock and a hard place.
"Wakka?" Yuna said, sounding a bit concerned.
"Thanks, buddy." Wakka said. He sounded a bit better, still drunk, but spirits still high. He patted Yuna on the shoulder. "You girls going anywhere special?"
"Just the movies." Leblanc answered a little dryly, yet a small hint of concern.
"Well." Wakka clapped his hands. "Enjoy the evening." He got up and walked off, feeling a bit sober. He stumbled a little bit, but quickly regained his balance before disappearing into the night.
"Should we follow?" Asked Leblanc.
"…no. I think he can make it just fine. Besides, we're going to be late for the film." Yuna said, the two getting up and heading off, arms locked, in the opposite direction.
Time heals all wounds.
Wakka agreed with the statement. After getting home and getting over the hangover, he focused on his work. He trained day and night to bring his team to the championship every year, and keeping himself out of the news. He didn't want the press to end up hounding Lulu and Vidina.
And Rikku. He had to remind himself that he didn't want the press after Rikku, who could lead back to Lulu.
And…Creha. He kept out of the headlines to make the family of four safe.
He was allowed to see Vidina on weekends, and he got to live with him once a month for a week. He spent every moment of that week with his son, doing all the activites that a father-son would do; fishing, traveling, blitzball…all the sorts of things that a father would like, and the son would first loathe, but grew fond of it over time.
Speaking of Rikku and Lulu, they lived in the same house for about a year and a half before they got married. Wakka was invited, but politely declined. He didn't want to take the chance that he would ruin the happy day. He was still sent a nice gift: a basket of fine fruit. Apparently, as least according to Vidina, one of the reasons for the marriage is…well, Rikku was 'gaining weight.' Again, according to Vidina. Lulu was a powerful magician, after all.
Creha took more after her mother than her 'father'. Her blonde hair, reckless attitude, and a bubbly personality just reminded Wakka of Rikku every time she came over. But there was a bit of Lulu in her. She stylized like Lulu (Accessory overload), played with dolls and magic like Lulu, and did have a bit of Lulu's stoic nature to her.
She was…fun to have around.
As for Yuna and Leblanc? Well, there was no official thing, but they're apparently married. Not even Yuna, when she came to visit him, gave any hint that there was a private ceremony. But Yuna and Leblanc (She came over another day.) shared the same golden band. All the hints were there.
That, and their kid.
Vidina was a constant source of information from the Rikku/Lulu household. Apparently, after Yuna came over to have a 'private' talk with Lulu, the next time she was seen, she also had a 'weight gain.' Made sense. Leblanc had too much pride still attached.
The child was also a girl, this one named Suuh. She had more inheritance than Creha, mixing half from the mother and 'father.' Brown hair, with purple eyes. She was nice like Yuna, but having a spoiled, self-centered side to her, like Leblanc. She wore Leblanc's colors, shades of pink, but wore clothes more akin to Yuna. She already made good friends with the other children, having gone on their own adventures together.
Tidus? Not a word, clue, or even a small hint of him since the bar. Must gone off to do his usual thing, killing monsters. Probably explains the recent decline in monster attacks.
Wakka looked away from the photos that were captured in the last ten years. He had a big game tomorrow. Not the finals, but one more step to that. His family was going to be there.
He had no intention to let them down. No holding back.