A/N: Another request fic. It seems that's all I'm doing these days. :P But then again, it's for a good cause. My friend has to match the number of words I write for every pairing that she gives me. And since I really like her fics, I do consider it a good cause. Anyway…enjoy!
--
They were tense.
And after all, who wouldn't be? Wakka had thrown a bad pass last game, nearly costing them the win. Brother had gotten distracted by a blonde girl in the first row and hadn't bothered to block a pass that was coming right at him. And Tidus had completely missed a shot from almost right in front of the goal…thankfully, he recovered the ball and was able to make his next shot.
But the Al Bhed Psyches were on a roll. In a matter of minutes, the Besaid Aurochs were going up against them. And with the way they'd been playing all season, it was a wonder they'd even gotten to the point where they could play them.
The other players were good; Jassu's passing abilities far exceeded everyone else's, Botta's tackle pretty much assured them the ball every time, and Keepa had become a much better goalie since he had started practicing catching against Tidus's shots. But were they really good enough?
"Uh…Wakka?" Tidus asked, strolling over to him in the locker room. "Win or lose, it's going to be a great game, okay?"
Wakka shook his head, but tried to sound reassuring as he said, "Yeah, the team should enjoy it."
"Hey, hey," Tidus said. He was loosening up a bit. If the Aurochs were to have any chance against the Psyches, he would have to be ready for anything. "Just have fun out there, all right? That's what I'm going to do. And if we don't win, it's fine. Everyone's tried really hard this season. We can't win everything."
"Weren't you the one that said we were going to win?" Wakka joked back. The smile that followed was tense, however.
Brother walked over to them. He had been practicing his speaking with the team ever since he had first met Yuna, but it sure made it easier to communicate the plays with him. "Eigaar should be our main threat," he informed them. Brother was a formidable Blitzball player; in the past, he had actually played for the Psyches. When his contract ran out and Tidus and Wakka approached him to join their team, he said yes. And ever since then, he's been able to give them inside tips on all of the players. Eigaar was the best shot on their team, but Blappa was undoubtedly be able to assist him, and he might try to shoot on occasion. The others were mainly fast, but Brother could outswim them all.
"Botta," Tidus shouted into the general area of the showers. "Cover Eigaar when we're out there, okay?"
He heard a garbled, "All right," and turned back to Brother and Wakka.
The three stood there in silence for a moment or so.
Wakka broke it with, "Last game of the season."
"Yeah…there's a lot weighing on this. No pressure, though, guys," Tidus said.
Brother nodded, not bothering to try to figure out how to respond.
Once again they fell silent, all thinking about the game a little too hard.
Botta and Jassu came over after a time, but said nothing.
The buzzer sounded through the locker room. It was followed by a female voice telling them, "Besaid Aurochs, please report to the playing field."
"This is it, guys," Wakka said to the team. "Do your best out there!"
--
The team certainly played their best. Tidus, in the first 30 seconds, managed to score a goal. Just before halftime, he scored again. The Psyches may have been fast, but they had trouble penetrating the defenses set up by the Aurochs. They had yet to score.
The Aurochs were back in the locker room, discussing plays for the next half. Everyone was pretty confident, based on the current state of affairs. All they had to do was defend really well, and the Psyches didn't have a chance. If they happened to make a few goals in there, well, the more the merrier.
"Hey, Wakka," Tidus said, on their way back to the sphere.
"Ya?" Wakka said, cocking his head a Tidus. He had a bit of a smile on his face again.
Tidus thought for a second about how nice it was to have the old Wakka back. "Be careful out there," he warned. Wakka had had the ball taken from him once, by a pretty severe tackle on the part of Blappa. He had almost been called out of the game, but had been able to convince the crowd that he was still in a good condition to play, so he had been left in.
"Hey, don't worry about me out there. Just think about shooting. I wanna beat these Al Bhed bastards by 3 points, at least."
Tidus smiled. "Sure thing, boss."
Brother fell back and walked with them to the entrance to the sphere. "Any instructions for me?" he asked.
"Just keep the ball outta their hands. You gotta swim as fast as you can. And pass to Tidus as often as you can."
Brother nodded and swam out to the field. Tidus dove through the doorway, Wakka just behind him. Botta and Jassu were already in place, and motioned to the rest of the team that they were ready to play.
--
Jassu whooped as the team entered the locker room for the final time that season. Botta followed close behind, cheering. Keepa couldn't seem to wipe the look of shock off his face. The clock had run out right before he missed catching a goal…and although that point wouldn't have changed the game for either side, it would have been disappointing. In the end, there was a score of 3 to 0, the Aurochs obviously with the 3 goals.
Wakka pulled Tidus aside as soon as they were in the locker room. "You did great! Thanks, man," he said, pulling him into a hug.
Almost involuntarily, Tidus relaxed into the brotherly hug. Tidus knew Wakka didn't really mean anything by it―well, at least anything like that―but some part of him made him want to do more than congratulate Wakka with words. What was up with that?
Wakka broke the hug after only a second, possibly weirded out by the fact that Tidus seemed to enjoy it so much.
"Hey, you were the one that blocked―"
"But you shot―"
"And Jassu passed―"
"Botta tackled that one―"
"Brother threw it once―"
"And Keepa caught―"
They both laughed happily. "Man, we were great!" Tidus said.
Brother came over and joined them then. "We won against my old team!" he said through a huge smile.
"Hey, guys, get over here, ya?" Wakka said to Botta, Jassu, and Keepa, who were all over by their respective lockers. When they had joined them, he continued. "We played a great game today. You guys are the best team I could ask for. Now, don't get too drunk, but enjoy yourselves―you've earned it!"
Everyone cheered again and went their separate ways; Botta, Jassu, and Keepa returned to their lockers and began to change, Brother toweled off and left the locker room, Wakka went to take a shower, and Tidus looked after him, but did nothing.
It was only a matter of time before Botta, Jassu, and Keepa would leave, he told himself. And when they did…
Well, what the fuck would happen, really? What was he really expecting?
But he didn't bother to answer that. He just stood there, by his locker, pretending to dry off, waiting for the others to leave.
When they did, he would find out.