I had the thought of "What could happen in FFX to dramatically alter the history of what happens... and it hit me. What if when Tidus is on the Al-Bhed ship... Sin never attacked? Meaning Tidus never washed up on the Besaid shore... he never met any of the people that he would have met... and he'd never have become Yuna's guardian. Here's what I'd like to have thought could have happened. I started the story with the last few moments before Sin would have attacked, to bring y'all up to speed.
And to note... Italic text = Al-Bhed translated into English
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CHAPTER 1
I laid on my back and stared at the sky. It was kinda uncomfortable lying on the steel floor, but I was tired after all that had happened, and the only thing I wanted was to fall asleep... fall asleep and wake up in Zanarkand. My stomach rumbled. I guess I wanted sleep AND food... but I knew the chances of getting both were slim to none.
"Ugh... hungry..." I groaned aloud. Almost as if on cue, the girl from today exited the ship, and approached me. I heard a clunk on the ground, and looked up to see a tray of food. "Whoa! Right on!" I said in appreciation. I began to scarf down the food... I just wanted to get rid of those hunger pains so badly. Suddenly, I felt something get caught in my throat. I was choking! I tried to say something to get the girl to realise, but all that came out were muffled shouts. I guess she understood, as she raised a bottle of water. I snatched it from her hands, and immediately starting chugging the life saving liquid. It had helped clear my throat, but I kept drinking... it's been too long since I'd had any water. The girl knelt down.
"It's 'cause you eat too fast." she said, refering to my greediness. I stood up. "Hey!" She said in a friendly tone.
"Hello there... what is your name?" I asked, hoping she could understand me as well as I could understand her.
"Rikku" the girl replied.
"You really do understand!"I grabbed her hands and started swinging her around in a circle in joy. She let go, embarrassed. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" I asked.
"I didn't get a chance to! Everyone thought oui were a fiend." she explained.
"Uh...'we'?" I asked.
"Oh, 'oui' means 'you.'" she explained... it still didn't make any sense to me...
"Who are you guys, anyway?" I asked. The clothes they worse weren't like anything I'd ever seen back in Zanarkand.
"We're Al Bhed. Can't you tell?" she asked, as she leant on the railing of the ship. "Wait. You're not an Al Bhed-hater, are you?" she said defensively.
"I don't even know what an Al Bhed is." I confessed.
"Where are you from?" she asked.
"Zanarkand. I'm a blitzball player. Star player of the Zanarkand Abes!" I bragged, imitating kicking a blitzball.
Rikku looked at me as if I'd just said the most outrageous thing possible. "Did you hit your head or something?"
"Uh... you guys hit me." I said, refering to our first meeting.
"Oh, right..." she said embarrassed. scratching her face with one finger. "Do you remember anything before that?"
I stood next to her by the railing, and leant my arms on it. I stared out to the see. All I could see for miles was just the blue ocean. I told Rikku everything there was to tell about Zanarkand... About life there, blitzball, and Sin's attack...and about how Auron and I were engulfed in this light. I just said things as they came to mind. But then I started to wonder. I finished off where we first met. Rikku was kinda bug eyed at this point... as if I was spinning the tallest tale imaginable.
"Did I say something funny?" I asked.
"You were near Sin." she said, pacing slowly around the ship. She turned to me and smiled. "Don't worry, you'll be better in no time! They say your head gets funny when Sin is near. Maybe you just had some kind of dream?"
"You mean I'm sick?" I asked.
"Because of Sin's toxin, yeah." she explained.
"You sure?" I asked again. It couldn't have been a dream! I remember my whole life so clearly! My first blitzball match at the stadium... the day that my old man disappeared... and when Sin arrived...
"Yeah, there is no Zanarkand anymore. Sin destroyed it a thousand years ago. So...no one plays blitzball there." she explained.
"What do you mean, a thousand years ago? But I saw Sin attack Zanarkand! You're saying that happened a thousand years ago? No way!" I argued. We stood in silence for a moment, before Rikku perked up.
"You said... You play blitzball? You know, you should go to Luca. Someone might know who you are, or you might find someone you recognise." she suggested.
"Luca?"
"Okay, leave it to me! I'll get you to Luca, promise!" said said, holding up a hand in an oath like gesture. I was kinda reluctant. "You'd rather stay here?" she asked. Hmm... now that I think about it, sharing a boat with those other Al-Bhed people wouldn't be my idea of fun. I shook my head. "Okay. I'll go tell the others. Wait here. Oh, and one thing. Don't tell anyone you're from Zanarkand, okay? Yevon says it's a holy place. You might upset someone." she said, running into the ship's interior.
My Zanarkand, some kind of holy place? Yeah right, I thought. Since when? Yevon? Sin? Luca? I thought Sin had just taken me to some faraway place, that I could go back in a day or two. But a thousand years into the future? "No way!" I shouted, as I kicked a container. It was at that moment, I had a strange feeling... hmm... deja vu... strange. Rikku returned from inside the ship.
"Brother says it's ok. Our next stop will be Luca! It'll take us a few weeks to get there. Then we'll be headed back Home. You'll find someone you know in Luca. I just know it!" she said in hope.
"Well, I guess I better get some rest. It's been a long day." I said, as I stretched and yawned.
"Hey wait... I got it!" said Rikku as she scurried over to a large container. "Come over here!" she beckoned. I walked over as stared at the large steel box. Rikku opened the door. Inside, was a ratty old mattress and a raggedy pillow. "You can sleep in here." she said. "When we left Home, we had a castaway on board. He was using this container as a bedroom. We found him on the way here and left him at the same place we found you." she explained. I climbed into the container, and lied down on the bed. "Goodnight!" she said cheerily. She began to close the doors.
"Oh, hey Rikku?" I said, trying to get her attention.
"Yeah?" she asked, stopping.
"Thanks." I replied, thanking her for what she's done for me.
"No problem." she said with a wink, as she shut the doors. I was engulfed in darkness. Nothing to do now but sleep. I guess things were picking up for me at last. But my mind still wandered. Where was I? What are all these strange places and names I keep hearing? Zanarkand destroyed? It was too much for me to handle in one night. Slowly, my mind emptied, and I fell asleep.
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"Rao oui! Kad ib!" shouted a voice, as I felt something kick my leg. It was one of the Al Bhed from last night. He had a blond Mohawk, and a large blue tattoo on his chest and stomach. He wore grey pants, with red suspenders. "Desa vun pnaygvycd, kad ib huf un oui'mm kad hudrehk!" he shouted again.
"Ok! Ok! I'm up!" I shouted, standing up. The man walked back into the ship. As I exited the container, a voice behind me spoke.
"Good morning!"
I turned around and saw Rikku leaning on the side of the container.
"Oh, good morning." I replied.
"It's time for breakfast. Come on inside! Brother gave the all clear for you this morning." she explained.
"Who is Brother?" I asked.
"That would be the guy who woke you up just then" she explained.
"Boy, he's one happy camper, isn't he?" I said sarcastically. Rikku laughed.
"Brother is like that to all strangers. Don't worry, he'll warm up to you in no time. Then you'll see he's just a big goof ball." explained Rikku.
We entered the ship, and descended a flight of stairs. There in front of us, was a long table. Plates of delicious looking food lined up against several seats.
"Alright!" I shouted in joy. I was still somewhat hungry. I rushed over to a seat and sat down, preparing to dig in. Brother entered the room and started shouting at me again.
"Oui! Hud drana! Ouin vuut ec ujan drana!" he shouted, pointing at another table. I guess I can't eat with them... I stood up and walked over to the other table. It was a small square shaped on, built for one. On the table, lay a plate and spoon. Some sort of unappetising mush of food sat on the plate. I sighed. At least it was better than nothing. I picked at it with my spoon... I could swear I saw something moving around in it. I heard footsteps behind me. It was Rikku with a chair and her plate.
"Mind if I sit with you?" she asked.
"No, go ahead." I said, gesturing for her to sit. She placed her chair across from me and sat down. I was still picking at the food, when Rikku noticed.
"Eww... is that what they gave you?" She asked.
"Yeah... what is it?" I asked.
"Brother's 'cooking'" she joked. "I usually make all the food here, but Brother wants to try and be the one to do it all. The first night he made this for us, we couldn't sleep that night from how sick we got. From then on, no one allowed him near the kitchen." she joked. I laughed heartily. But then I realised why Brother made this for me...
"Oh wow..." I said as I stopped laughing, and immediately pushed the plate aside.
"Here, you can have mine. I already ate this morning." she said, as she place her plate in front of me.
"Thanks!" I said as a started eating. She sat there as I ate for a few minutes.
"So... you don't remember anything yet, huh?" she asked. I quickly thought it over.
"Hmm... nope... I still remember Zanarkand, Auron and the night I got zapped up into Sin." I explained.
"I guess I should help you remember everything..." she said, as she started thinking. "Hey uh... uh..." she began to say, as if she was trying to remember something.
"What?" I asked.
"Well this is awkward... I haven't even asked your name since we found you!" she said.
"Oh yeah... right... I'm Tidus!" I replied.
"Tidus..." she said as her mind wandered again. I continued eating. A roar of laughter came from the table beside us, as Brother and the other Al-Bhed joke around.
"So... when should we start... teacher?" I asked Rikku with a smile.
Rikku smiled back. "After you're done eating!" she said, gesturing me to keep eating.
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The room was almost like a classroom. There was a blackboard, and a bunch of desks.
"What is this room anyways?" I asked Rikku.
"This is our mission room." she replied. "We get briefed on what our missions and tasks are here."
"Wow... so you guys do this stuff all the time huh?" I asked.
"Oh yeah. We've been doing this for a year now. Salvaging valuable machina parts for use." she explained.
"Uh... machina?" I asked.
"Hmm... I guess we should start there." she thought aloud. Rikku walked over to the blackboard and wrote the word 'Machina'. "Machina..." Rikku began. She immediately froze up and began muttering to herself, thinking of a way to continue. "Hmm... I know... I'll give examples of what Machina is... maybe that'll help you!" she said as she began to pace around the room. "Aha! Uh... this ship... is machina!" she exclaimed. "Uh... what else... uh... a blitzball arena! A blitzball arena is machina! Hmm... think Rikku... think... aha! The airship we found is machina!"
"Hmm... so machina... are machines?" I asked.
"Yeah! That's it... gee... you're better at this than me... maybe you should be the teacher!" she joked.
I laughed. "Hey, I've got an excuse for why I don't know anything." I said.
"I guess you're right." said Rikku as she blushed. "Now... let's see... now Sin... a lot of people think the reason Sin is here is 'cause people used machina. The difference between Al-Bhed and everyone else is, that we don't believe that machina is the reason why Sin is here." Rikku explained. "That's why we still use machina. When you see the cities around Spira, you'll see that they're nothing at all like Zanarkand was a thousand years ago."
"Hmm... I guess that all makes sense." I said, confirming I could understand all this... or at least I thought I did. "Could you teach me your language?" I asked. Rikku's eyes opened wide in surprise.
"W-why?" she stammered as she asked.
"If I'm going to be on this ship for a while, then I should at least be able to understand what every keeps yelling at me for." I explained. "Plus you never know when it could come in handy!"
"I guess so. Alrighty then... let's begin! Now... I guess we'll start with the al-bhed alphabet... repeat after me! Ae..." she started.
"Ae..."
"Pe..."
"Pe..."
"Lu..."
"Lu.."
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Lunch time on the ship. I'd spent all morning learning Al-Bhed, and all about Spira. Al-Bhed isn't actually that difficult of a language when you pick it up... I could write basic sentences, and even speak them. I wondered how Brother would react. I decided to ask him as we passed by in the halls.
"Hello Brother! How are you?"
Brother grunted, but then realized what I had said. He turned to me with a look of surprise.
"You speak Al-Bhed?" he asked.
"Rikku is my teacher. I am learning." I replied.
He nodded with a serious look of approval. "Good." he said. "Maybe if you don't meet anyone in Luca, you could join us." he suggested.
"Yeah, maybe" I replied. Brother gave a thumbs up with right hand, before he walked away. I met Rikku at her room, before we headed to the eating tables. There on the long table, at the very end, was a plate with the same food as everyone else. The other Al Bhed were already eating, so it must have been for me. I sat down and started eating. I looked up at Brother from the other side of table. He gave me another thumbs up. I guess it's good to know that I'm actually starting to get accepted around here.