Authors Notes: This a quick oneshot that was written to cure my little stint of writers block. please enjoy.

The Crystal Cup

By Lenixxx

The Luca Café. Known for its amazing food, but even more so for its broadcast of the Crystal Cup. Every year, the café would draw hundreds of customers, as well as retired blitzers who would reminisce of games they played and to watch to see their team in the finals. The owner would get more gil the day of the tournament than he would get in a month.

When the final match rolled around, the match up was historic. The champs for the past three years, the Besaid Aurochs and the Luca Goers. They hadn't played in the championship game since the Aurochs had won their first Crystal Cup 20 years ago. Almost everyone was placing their bets on their favorite team. Even the Guados and Ronsos were placing bets for either team. The bookie was grinning and laughing as the money just rolled in nonstop.

At the bar, a young man of about 17 with brown hair and hazel eyes continued to stare at the sphere as Madame Yuna gave the opening speech, wishing all the players a good game.

'Man, even though she's like 40 something, she's still pretty hot.' The boy thought as he took a sip of his water, never looking away from the sphere. An older man of around 40 years old sat next to the boy and said, "Hey, beer me!" then looked at his neighbor at the bar.

"Hello."

"Hello, sir." The boy looked over to see the older man. He was rather tan, had shoulder length blonde hair, wore a red headband, had ocean blue eyes.

"Heh. Whats with the sir shit." The man said as he took a few drinks of his beer.

"Just being respectful." The boy said as he looked from his drink back to the older man and asked, "So who are you rooting for?"

"Me? I wanted the Psyches to win it, but that ship sank when they were finished off by the Glories. I'm a huge fan of their forward, Rikku. But I'm goin' for the Goers. You?"

"My friends say I should go for the home team but I'm a huge Aurochs fan. My dad would show me old sphere videos of games when Wakka, Keepa, and Tidus would play. They knew the game and played it with intensity." The old man smiled slightly.

"Here, take a look at this." The boy said, reaching into his wallet. He produced a piece of cardboard with some writing on it.

"Autographed Wakka rookie card. My dad got it for my 12th birthday. Said he met him in Besaid on a business trip. It was also the day Wakka retired for good."

"Chappu is captain of the Aurochs now. Family business I guess. Got Tidus's John Hancock?"

"Nah. His rookie card is very rare, let alone his autograph."

"Hey, quiet down, the match is starting!" yelled the bartender. With this, the older man finished his beer and tossed some gil onto the bar. While the boy was watching the tip off, the man pulled a card out of his pocket and scribbled something on it.

"Hey, kid. Whats your name?" he asked still holding the card.

"Corbin Record, sir."

He nodded and handed the card to Corbin as he stood and left.

"Hey the match just started. Where are you going?" Corbin yelled.

"I got a ticket and a box waiting for me. I'll catch ya later Corbs." The man said as he headed for the door. Corbin sat there for a minute looking at the door, then back to the sphere. He then looked at the card the man had given him. It was a Tidus rookie card that said, 'Dear Corbin, It was nice talking to ya. Don't worry; I know that the Aurochs got the game in the bag. I hope you appreciate the gesture. Your bud, Tidus.'

Corbin almost fell off the barstool when he finished reading. He then looked back at the sphere to see the camera zoom in on a box where he saw Wakka and Tidus sitting together, watching the game. Tidus saw the camera and gave a small wave. Corbin looked down at the card and smiled brightly. He heard the café erupt into cheers and whoops as Chappu scored another goal for the Aurochs.

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