Chapter 1:

Cycle No. 1: Tidus/Sazh: A Fathers Love

"Watch this son! This is how a real man fights!"

Tidus made an irritable growl when he watched his bronzed skin, muscular Blitzball Ace Jecht smack an incoming Frost Lizard straight in the face, causing the creature to make a loud shriek before its inevitable death. It was the same thing every time he went out on missions with him. Jecht stood at the front, took out most of the monster they encountered, and taunted Tidus with any preceding chance.

Today, the Warrior of Light had sent Tidus out to patrol an area where a few Warriors of Chaos had been spotted. Perhaps they were just a small patrol group themselves, or perhaps Chaos minions were amassing a large group to invade their headquarters. It was their job to find out.

"Stupid old man…he just has to show off at every chance." Tidus growled, looking away from the cackling Ace. Tidus made it no secret that he hated his old man. He was loud, rude, arrogant and for some reason, a genuine asshole to him alone. It seemed his old mans two biggest hobbies were showing off and making his life hell.

And yet, this was their twelfth mission together. The Warrior of Light insisted on pairing them together when he assigned mission, and it infuriated Tidus. He would've coped working with Squall, with Vincent, even with Lightning! Anything was better than working with this stupid drunkard. He even asked the Warrior of Light if he could swap with another team, and be as far away from Jecht as possible.

It was then he found that Jecht had asked the Warrior of Light at the start if he could pair up with his son, and that sent Tidus off the deep end. It took Wakka, Zell, Snow & Bartz together to hold Tidus down and stop him from tearing his old mans throat.

Still, Tidus had one saving grace, and that was the man who accompanied the two on the mission. The brown skinned man, sporting a bright green jacket and a holster holding a gun on each of his side. Inside the bushy afro on his head, a small Chocobo Chick hid inside, popping out now and again, which had instantly made him a fan of the ladies, though Tidus couldn't help but imagine how much Chocobo dung was inside that afro…

The mans name was Sazh, and like Jecht, he was a father too, to a young boy named Dajh, who-to the father understandable relief, had not been summoned by Cosmos. Tidus had therefore never seen him around his son, but Tidus knew instantly that Sazh was the kind of father he wished he'd had growing up. He was kind, funny, considerate to everyone, and Tidus could tell that behind his sometime goofy persona, was a ma with a strong sense of justice and would go through hell and back to protect those he loved.

Tidus couldn't think of a better dad.

"You really hate your old man, don't ya?" Sazh asked with a small chuckle. He turned to look at Jecht, stroking his small beard "I hope my Dajh doesn't feel the same way about me when he's your age."

"As if he will! You're a great dad! Much better than that bastard up front!" Tidus proclaimed. Sazh chuckled nervously at the boys loudness. He was almost sure Jecht had heard that.

"I'm not that great. Back on my world, I let my son get cursed and doomed to a fate worse than death. I managed to save him, and myself, along with my friends, but it was a real close call" Sazh explained "point is, it was my fault my son got branded as a L'Cie. I should've protected him."

"Y-yea, but everyone's told me how far you went for him! Snow, Vanille, even Lightning commented how heroic you were!" Tidus insisted.

"Lightning too, huh? Guess I did do well if she's handing out praise" Sazh laughed "y'know, once you get to know her, she's actually quite a nice person."

Tidus found that incredibly hard to believe.

"And I think your dads quite the nice guy as well" Sazh added. Tidus just snorted and turned away.

"Sure, to everyone but me. It's like he thinks having son is like having your own clown to laugh at." Tidus growled. Sazh made a small sigh, rubbing his temple.

"I'm sure your old man loves you, y'know?"

"Pfft. My dad only loves three things: Blitzball, Boasting and Booze."

Sazh suddenly busted out with laughter, crossing his arms as he laughed, "you really don't have anything nice to say about your father. But even I can tell that your old man's constantly thinking about your safety."

"Oh really?"

"Yea. You remember a while back when you got injured?"

"Don't remind me…" Tidus grumbled with embarrassment. It was his first assigned mission in this war, and amongst, he'd been paired with Yuna. Actig like any typical boyfriend who wanted to show off to his girlfriend, Tidus went running straight to take out every single enemy first.

He'd been in a coma for a whole week afterwards.

"I heard your girlfriend Yuna never left your side once, so I heard. She's a sweet girl, you're pretty lucky to be with her" Sazh pointed out. Tidus blushed and looked away. He couldn't disagree there. Yuna was everything to Tidus, and he would give up anything for her.

He once gave up his life for hers…only for her to bring him back to her.

"The thing is though…your old man never left your side either."

"HUH?" Tidus shrieked, spinning around to the much older man. He bore a face of extreme shock; there was no way someone like his arrogant, abrasive old man would ever do something like that.

"Yea. I heard he stood by your side, next to Yuna, watching over your silently while you slept like a guardian angel, only leaving when you were about to wake up. If that ain't a dedicated and loving father, then what is?"

"Bu-bu-but I-I don't get it!" Tidus exclaimed, rubbing his head with both hands as he frantically paced back and forth. He couldn't believe any of this "why didn't my dad say anything? Why hasn't Yuna? Why hasn't ANYONE said anything about it?"

"Your old man told us all not to, saying something like 'I don't want that crybaby blubbering over me' or something like that. He'll probably choke me to death when he found out I told ya" Sazh chuckled with a hint or nerviness.

"It's just…I don't get it" Tidus sighed, slumping his shoulders "he's never shown me that kind of care before, so why now?"

"Y'know, I find that hard to believe. I bet you he's been looking out for you since day one" Sazh commented, folding his arms "in fact, if you ask me, he asked the Warrior Of Light to partner up with you on all those missions not so he could make fun of you, but so he could protect you."

"Huh? But…why?"

"Why else? To look after the most important thing in his life, his son" Sazh explained. Tidus remained silent, taking in all the former L'Cie had told him. After a moment, all it seemed Tidus could do was chuckle softly.

"You know what's most annoying? If he wasn't such an ass and a pathetic drunk…I would look up to my old man more than anyone else" Tidus admitted "he's everything I wanna be and more…so why has he always pushed me away? Why am I the one person he doesn't want to get praise from?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but…" Sazh said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. He started to walk forward again, following the great Jecht as he continued to stroll forward.

"…I think it's because you're his son, and a father doesn't need praise from his son. All a father needs is to known his son is safe. I mean come on, why do you think Jecht is at the front, taking out all the enemies for us?"

Hope you all enjoyed! If there's any oneshots you'd like to see, feel free to request!