I do not own any part of the Final Fantasy franchise.
Author's Note: I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you have a great time reading it. I have an idea of what the story will become if I decide to continue it, but whether I do or not is completely up to you. All I need is motivation, so positive reviews will prompt that!
Enjoy!
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That long walk home was always the most frustrating. A win or a loss in a blitzball game could mean thousands of cheers and another ounce of fame or thousands of boos and more critical response, but none of it seemed to matter whilst walking ten miles home… alone. Even a well-furnished apartment couldn't replace the loneliness in anyone's soul. Shuyin clicked his heels on the metallic bridge underneath him as he slowly made his way home, a Zanarkand Abes duffle bag filled with his blitz uniform slung loosely over his shoulder. Despite night time darkness Shuyin was well illuminated by numerous lights beating down on him from streetlamps and windows of buildings. The light caused his hair to glow a bright gold and his shirt neon white. However conspicuous he appeared, there weren't any fans around to hound him. There was no one anywhere near him, for that matter. All that awaited him at the end of his path was another one that was even longer.
"Why does every game night have to be so damn monotonous?" Shuyin quietly said to himself, adjusting his duffle bag. It was true that every night he had a game had the same outcome: play the game, sign autographs, walk home. As boring and frustrating as his life was, Shuyin would never turn down an autograph. Shuyin stated previously on more than one occasion that turning down an autograph was the most assholeish thing anyone could do to someone. It may just be a few seconds of Shuyin's time taken away but he knew that to a fan it meant so much more than that…
Shuyin's thoughts continued to drift as he finally rounded his final turn, looking down the three mile long stretch of path that would take him to his apartment. Despite Shuyin's dampness the breezes in the air didn't cause him to shudder like usual. Maybe he was too used to the idea of walking home in the chilly weather. Zanarkand never received snow, no matter how cold it got. Mount. Gagazet was just south of the massive machina city and for some reason the snow clouds always stopped there, right before crossing over the borders to Zanarkand. It may have deprived the city of variety in the weather, but it didn't stop Zanarkand from getting its fair share of rain. The city actually received more rain than any other city in Spira. Shuyin was surprised that a light drizzle wasn't coming down now, as a matter of fact. In the event that any clouds decided to precipitate, Shuyin had a hood on his shirt and an umbrella in his bag, just incase.
Growing tired of walking so much Shuyin walked down a long path of stair steps off to the side of the road and down to a small observation platform with short walls and railing surrounding it in a half circle. This was one place Shuyin hadn't visited in quite a while, usually being too tired to acknowledge that this spot was even in existence. Nevertheless Shuyin walked slowly to the railing, dropping his bag equipment to the side and leaning against the thick bar in front of him.
"Gorgeous," Shuyin said, his voice holding a slight sense of awe, but easily noticeable. He was looking up into the sky at the thousand of stars peppered throughout space, as well as the large, platinum moon shining down on him brightly. He felt as though all of his annoyances and frustrations melted away under the moonlight. Shuyin inhaled deeply, breathing in the fresh oxygen around him. The only thing he longed for was someone to share this with; someone to stand by is side that would be there for him. He had never felt love before in his life and wanted that more than anything. Women weren't exactly hard to come by for Shuyin. He was famous, handsome, and had a steadily increasing amount of wealth, but women who were attracted to that weren't worth his love and affection. He wanted someone who would look past all of that and treat him like a person, rather than an object of gain. Shuyin had plenty of girlfriends that was for sure. Throughout high school he was the star of the school blitz team, which attracted enough female attention to keep any teenaged male busy. At first he basked in the affection of the girls, fooling around with a few at a time, but then realized what he was doing. It took a couple years but Shuyin realized his faults and finally saw those girls for what they really were.
Every last one of them was clawing after his wallet like a pack of ravenous wolves, so to speak. Shuyin's thoughts stayed on the subject of love for quite some time. He kept wondering to himself whether or not he was one of the people who would ever find love and deserve to keep it. He always thought that if he was meant to fall in love, he would have by now. He was young and at the top of his game, true, but he was surprised that no girl he had met in the last two years looked past that. It seemed as though wasn't a single descent, respectful woman in his life. Maybe Shuyin was just looking in the wrong place.
"Maybe I am just looking in the wrong place," he said aloud, repeating his thought.
"Looking for what?"
Shuyin nearly jumped out of his skin at the question, not realizing that anyone was on the platform with him. Calming down slightly Shuyin whipped his head around to see a woman walking down the last few steps leading to him. He calmed fully at the sight, let out a small sigh, and turned back to face the other direction.
"Just looking," Shuyin finally replied, the girl leaning against the rail a few feet away from him. "Don't quite know what I'm looking for yet." Shuyin was lying, but he didn't feel like sharing personal thoughts with some girl he didn't even know. He briefly glanced at her, and upon doing so he realized just how pretty she was. Her hair was dark, chestnut brown, long and silky as well. He didn't get a good look at her eyes, but assumed them to be the same color. Shuyin turned his head back to the stars, getting lost in the many constellations.
"So what brings you out here?" the woman asked, not breaking her gaze at the moon. Shuyin was slightly surprised at this, seeing how he didn't even know her. Then again, it was nice to have company finally.
"Stress filled day," he said, his gaze fixed as well. "Stressful life, actually. You?"
"About the same for me, actually. More tiring than stressful, I suppose, but this place always helps me for some reason."
Shuyin smiled for some unknown reason. He didn't even know why he was doing it. Maybe he was happy to have someone to talk to, finally.
"Me too," he replied happily. "This place makes me feel insignificant, but at the same time, significant to something."
"How so," the female asked, looking at him now. He still starred ahead, speaking as if he was programmed to do so.
"I feel insignificant in the sense that beyond these stars there are more than likely millions of other worlds that are flourishing with life. Heck, even this one is. My insignificance comes from me being only one person in such a massive place. I am tiny and powerless when I am singled out. I feel significant at the same time because, despite how small I may be to the universe, I am still a part of something great, whether or not I am the strongest piece of the puzzle. I still feel like a part of something important, and it's nice to have that kind of assurance, don't you think?"
"That actually makes quite a bit of sense. We are all here for something and I believe that everyone knows it. We just don't take advantage of out meaning as often as we should."
Shuyin now looked at her, realizing he was right with his previous assumptions. Her eyes were dark brown, just like her hair, and sparkling like rare jewels embedded in white. She was very attractive, wearing tan pants that were almost skin tight from the waist to the knees, becoming baggy the rest of the way down, and a thin, dark blue jacket that was buttoned to the top, probably to stop to chilly air from making her too uncomfortable. Her skin tone was tan, but lighter than that of Shuyin.
"Well I'm glad someone understands what I am saying," Shuyin said, relief in his voice. "So, what's your name?"
"Lenne," she stated, holding out a hand to Shuyin. He took it slowly, feeling how soft her palms were before gently shaking it.
"I'm Shuyin."
Lenne smiled as they both let go of each other's hand, taking a moment to commit the name to memory.
"Shuyin," she repeated. "Where are you headed tonight anyway?"
"Back to my apartment," he replied. "About two miles down the road. I only stopped off here for a break."
"Do you need a ride by chance?" Lenne offered. "I live down there as well, so it wouldn't be a bother." Shuyin thought about it for a second, but decided against taking courtesy this time.
"It's ok. I could use the walk anyway. Sure it's long, but it's relaxing. Besides, it keeps me out of the house longer. All I do when I get there is sleep and wake up in the morning to go to practice."
"Practice for what?"
"I play blitzball for the Abes," Shuyin said, no pride present in his tone. He still sounded cheerful, but just a little worn out.
Lenne starting thinking for a moment, about what, exactly, Shuyin didn't know. Then her face suddenly lit up and she grabbed both of Shuyin's forearms.
"That's where I've seen you!" she exclaimed. "I knew you looked familiar. I'm the opening and closing act at all of your games."
"Oh yeah," Shuyin said to her, the thought of who she was finally dawning on him. "So you're the Lenne? I've never actually seen you before now, so I didn't even recognize you."
"Being the Lenne isn't all it's cracked up to be, Shuyin. I love to sing, true, but every day is exactly the same as the last: sing, smile, sleep, repeat. I get so tired of doing this all of the time."
Shuyin smiled slightly at hearing his own thoughts being said to him. She felt the same way he did, which was strange to him because on more than one occasion he had heard people saying how happy Lenne was with doing what she was doing.
"I know exactly how you feel," Shuyin replied sympathetically. "I was actually thinking about how predictable life is as a blitzball player. I love the sport and I love getting paid for it, but a check just isn't enough to keep me interested in something at consumes my entire life. I have no time to do anything exciting anymore and I am sick of it. I want to be able to have a girlfriend, get married one day, even have kids, ya know?"
"I can relate," she said, letting go of his arms after realizing, with embarrassment, that she was still holding on. She realized how much taller he was than her as well, a full head. "I can't do any of that either and it gets frustrating when I have no one to talk to besides producers and stagehands. I do what I do because it helps people become happy, but at the same time I'm alone and unhappy, so it is really sacrificial I guess… Hey, how exactly did we go from talking about our significance in this world to talking about my singing and your blitzing?"
Almost immediately both Lenne and Shuyin started to laugh. Neither of them found the subject extremely funny, but still acted as such. Being in each other's company was the real joy to both of them. Neither of them led a life short of boring and lonely so to have a person to talk to who felt the same way as they did was a rare occurrence. Finally slowing his laughter, Shuyin decided that it was time for him to leave.
"Lenne, I want to thank you for giving me the most fun I have had in a while," he thanked, slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder once again. "This was a lot of fun for me."
"Likewise," she replied, following Shuyin as he began to ascend the stairs up to the street. A few moments later they finally arrived at the top, Shuyin finally seeing Lenne's form of transportation. It was a sleek, crimson machina hover bike, a little smaller than the average, but bit for the driver and a passenger.
"Well Lenne, I guess this is goodbye for now," Shuyin stated, reaching out to shake her hand again. Lenne took it quickly, shaking gently.
"I guess so," she replied, letting go of him. "Are you sure you don't need a ride?"
"I'm sure, don't worry. Maybe I'll see you after a game again."
Lenne smiled at the thought.
"Maybe you will," she said, grinning at Shuyin.
"If I do it'd be nice to talk again."
"I agree completely, Shuyin."
With a final wave goodbye, Shuyin began to walk in the direction of his home with more happiness in his steps. Shuyin also wore his smile still, excited that he might have made a potential friend. She seemed sweet to him and he'd love to talk with her again. She even seemed interested as well. Maybe Shuyin's luck was finally starting to look up. A light buzzing sound caught Shuyin's ear as Lenne whizzed by on her hover bike, waving at him.
"Goodbye, Lenne," Shuyin said inaudibly. Despite everything he was thinking about earlier, he doubted that his thoughts would stray far from Lenne for the rest of that night.