Proverbial Revitalization

Written by Whimsical Symphony

Hello all, my apologies for the fact that I haven't been updating recently. I will attempt to do so more often. Please enjoy this newest chapter. Any constructive criticism or comments about the story are appreciated.

As a note, also my apologies for keeping the part with the Zanarkand Duggles quite brief. I need to figure out how to properly build them up, since there is no proper background for their team other than the fact that they play dirty and they also play for Zanarkand. I hope you'll find this chapter satisfactory; there were several aspects of it I was not so happy with. To be honest, I'm not used to so many events and scenes in one chapter. I believe it moved a little too quickly.


Chapter 3 - The Feeling of Gratitude

Yuna embraced her father tightly after she had separated from Tidus, and then Belgemine as well. It wasn't all that difficult to find her way to the VIP box, thankfully. If she had gotten lost, she wouldn't know what to do. After all, she didn't even know how to whistle like the Blitzball fans. She would have been just the same as she had been hours before, on the street, looking helplessly at the surrounding alleys and bustling crowds feeling more lost as time passed by. Thinking about it to herself, she smiled slightly, glad she had met him, hoping she would meet him sometime soon, hoping that she would see him smile and hear his Al Bhed improve over time.

"We were so worried for you, Yuna!" Braska exclaimed, holding his little girl tightly to himself. "I cannot believe we were separated like that." He did feel for those hours, that his heart was torn to shreds. His only family, his Yuna had gone missing because of an error completely preventable. He didn't know if he'd ever felt so lost, so empty, as horrifying it would be when a man realized he had nothing, that he had become penniless and had no family at all, all alone. Not since his wife had died, not since then. She, in the Farplane, would have never forgiven him if Yuna had been hurt or whisked away. He wouldn't have forgiven himself, he still didn't.

When Yuna looked upon her father for the first time since her absence, she noticed he looked weary despite them being apart only for a short period of time. He frowned and when he had embraced her with such relief, yet such heartbreaking agony, she felt her neck become damp. Then, she knew, her father was spilling tears for her. Yuna had always known how much he had cared for her, always, and felt grateful that she had been born with such a caring parent to love her.

"I'm sorry, Father, for making you worry so…" she whispered, tightly hugging her father back, sending through it all her gratitude to him, all her regret. Yuna wouldn't be surprised if she had started to cry as well then.

"Your father was very worried for you, young lady. Though, it was my fault. I should have kept a better eye on you, Yuna," Belgemine said, stroking Yuna's hair softly, an oddly focused look upon her face.

Yuna was also grateful for Belgemine. While no one could ever replace her own mother, Belgemine was motherly and cared for her like her own child. Yuna knew she could always rely on her, always know that she cared for her and would train her to be the best Summoner the world had ever seen. Belgemine had been quite talented in the day. Yuna only hoped that her own meagre talent would be enough to keep the woman proud of her, even though she knew that if it so happened that she wasn't up to par, the woman would still love her.

"I'm sorry… it was all my fault. Please don't take the blame for my own misconduct," Yuna said softly, clasping her hands together, bowing deeply to show all her regret for her actions to the woman, not raising her head, remaining submissive.

"Yuna, I am glad you're safe," Belgemine whispered and embraced her tightly. Braska looked upon the seen with a serene smile set upon his face, like all the burden had lifted from his shoulders. Yuna embraced her as well, hoping that tears wouldn't fall from seeing the worry that both Belgemine and her father had shown her.

Yuna was happy she was loved like this…


Tidus sighed, knowing he would have to go inside the Blitzball Stadium soon enough in order to see Maester Mika, like all the other teams had to, or rather the captains did. It was the traditional way to kick off the Blitzball tournaments. Tidus remembered, earlier on in the day, his own frustration. Cetan, the Zanarkand Abes captain, had called him up sounding terribly ill, clearly blowing his nose while talking to him, probably with an old sullied tissue as sick people often tended to do. Tidus grimaced as he envisioned the male on his own bed, a tissue box on his nightstand, several stuffed up his nostrils and his eyes red and bloodshot. It wasn't a pretty scene.

"Tidus, sorry to call you up like this," he said, his voice hoarse. He sneezed then, an awful large one. "Man, that was a big one. 'Scuse me."

"Bless you," Tidus said, in a rare display of fine etiquette.

"Thanks," he muttered, then he blew his nose. "Well anyway, the team captains are all supposed to meet Maester Mika today for the Blitz tournament. As you can see, I'm awful sick." He hesitated for a moment, wondering if a sneeze was coming upon him, and then after several moments sneezed again, directly into the phone. Tidus thought it sounded rather like the phone line did when it was breaking.

"You want me to go in your place, don't you?" Tidus said, not particularly frustrated at that point. He twirled his hairbrush in one hand, debating over whether or not he should get ready.

"Well, yeah. You're the Star Player, so you won't really make a bad impression." Cetan sneezed again. "Thanks, Ti'. I can always count on you for being a good sport."

"No problem, just get better soon, 'kay?" Tidus said, honestly. He didn't like to see people ill, or know they were.

"Thanks so much!" Cetan said gratefully. Then Tidus heard something suspicious on the other end of the line: 'Hey baby, why don't you get off the phone now, it's done, isn't it?' in a sensual voice, it sounded like. Tidus narrowed his eyes, the voice sounded familiar, terribly familiar. Then, he had an epiphany.

"Wait, what the hell is Dona doing at your place?" he asked slowly.

Dona was his ex-girlfriend, a dark skinned, exotic island beauty. Tidus admitted that might have been the reason he liked her at first. It was most definitely a fling. He remembered the old days when she'd display her dominance over him, somewhat like an Amazonian woman, demanding this and that. He obliged, turning into little more than a puppy licking his master's feet. After realizing that when talking to Rikku, he broke up with her, and felt relief like he never had before. Now, he wasn't particularly offended that Dona had gone running to Cetan, but when the man was ill and asking a favour of him. No, he was pissed at Cetan.

"Shit, hang up the phone now!" Dona whispered, all too loudly actually. There was scrambling on the other end of the line. Tidus heard Cetan sneeze once during the whole ordeal.

"Hey, wait one second-" Tidus protested, but it was too late. Holding the phone to his ear, he heard it go back to dial-tone. He looked blankly at his wall for a second before deciding he would do Cetan this favour, but he wouldn't let this matter go. "Stupid Dona, knowing her, she probably convinced him to lay the responsibility on me!" And it was probably true. Dona had never taken it well that they'd broken up. It might've been another scheme to annoy the living daylights out of him, revenge of sorts. "Why did I go out with her?" he moaned.

So that was how he found himself walking towards the Blitzball Stadium, and then after running into a mob of fans, running into the innocent, proper and poised girl Yuna, from Bevelle. The 'bnaddo kenm', he thought almost proudly because of his small progress in the language of Al Bhed. In a way though, despite feeling incredible amounts of vexation because of Dona, he was thankful, because he believed those three years ago when he had made the idiotic decision to go out with her, and ultimately broke up with her, he met Yuna. Tidus didn't often believe fate, but in this case whatever force was out there seemed to work in his favour. It was because of Dona's apparent meddling and her running to Cetan which had caused him to meet Yuna.

He never thought it was possible to enjoy such a simple walk to the Blitzball Stadium so much, or enjoy the company of a person so much. Seeing Yuna and talking to her melted away all his previous frustrations. He felt like a flustered schoolboy again when Rikku had told her about his 'flooozies', and felt such happiness when she taught him Al Bhed. And, despite him trying to keep a smile on his face, trying to lengthen the moment for just a little while…

"This is what Blitzball fans do when they cheer. Here, you try too."

He remembered teaching her how to whistle and seeing her put out look, similar to flowers when it rained too much and they felt the weight on their petals, vibrant but shaken just a little, not as content and relaxed, but just as beautiful.

Smiling to himself as he walked, whistling a child's tune to the beat of his footsteps, he hoped he would see her again soon. After all, like he had told her, he wasn't all that hard to find.


"Welcome all Blitzball teams," Mika greeted, sitting on an ornate chair that could only be compared to a throne used by the kings and queens of old. His eyes scanned the room before he announced the teams. When Tidus looked beside Mika, he noticed a man who could only be Summoner Braska; he looked as tranquil as Tidus felt on nice summer days with just the right amount of breeze to keep the sweltering heat away, the times when he could simply sit down, reminisce to himself about all the times he felt content within his lifetime. Tidus felt strangely comforted by this man, although he barely knew him, only what little a regular citizen would find from news articles.

"Today we have the Al Bhed Psyches," he announced first, gesturing to the man standing to the far right in the row. He calmly nodded, not knowing English, and fixed his goggles quietly.

"The Guado Glories," he gestured to another man, clearly Guado, who took little interest in what he had to say, the captain of the Guado Glories.

"The Kilika Beasts." The man was an islander, dark skin, wearing an eyepatch. Though, the fact he was an islander alone, and the fact he didn't exhibit the normal almost arrogant confidence that Blitzball Players often did, reminded Tidus oddly of his friend Wakka.

"The Luca Goers." This was the attitude he thought of. The red haired man exhibited an almost diva-like persona, and clearly thought he was much better than every other player. It was people like him which made him, sometimes dislike playing Blitzball, when people never enjoyed it for passion, but merely for fame. Tidus often felt satisfied when he beat people like that, crushed their confidence enough to bring them back down to earth.

"The Ronso Fangs." The Ronso captain was incredibly tall, and muscular, as most Ronso tended to be. He wore no expression on his face; Tidus sometimes wondered whether Ronso couldn't smile.

"The Zanarkand Duggles." It was the team that Tidus disliked the most. The other team that played for Zanarkand fought dirty. The Abes were a much more honest team and played them fair and square. He remembered a couple years ago, during a match, one of the Duggle players injured an Abes player, Kiryl, so that he wouldn't be able to play. Tidus resented them for it, ever since.

"And lastly," Mika announced, "the Zanarkand Abes." Tidus immediately straightened, ensuring he would make a good impression on Maester Mika. He looked at all the captains for a moment before speaking again. "Many great team captains have gathered here today. You will all receive your blessings."

Braska looked toward the doorway for a minute and then smiled softly. Tidus followed his gaze. It opened, and in walked someone he wouldn't have expected to see so soon. His eyes widened when he saw her, garbed in simply flowing garments of white, like a kind of priestess. In her hands she held garlands of flowers strung together, flowers of the lightest shades of pink and others of white. Judging by the stain of pink which engulfed the apples of her cheeks, similar to how tea spread when spilt on tablecloth slowly, she didn't know she would see him either. She averted her eyes shyly, and Tidus noticed then that one was blue, and the other green, baffling, but it never detracted from her charm.

Tidus who truly couldn't stop his motor of a mouth sometimes, was about to speak, up until he saw Yuna place one finger to her lips, then smiled, a gesture to tell him to speak later.

"Lady Yuna, daughter of Summoner Braska, will place these garlands around the neck of each team representative. They have been blessed with holy water and will be my gift to you, my desire to see you all do well," Mika explained, then gestured for Yuna to go forth. Tidus was surprised to learn the girl he had met on the street merely hours ago was akin to an idol by many people in Spira. Braska's daughter, he could believe it. They seemed to have the same temperament.

Yuna looked around timidly, almost like a frightened rabbit, at each team captain. She started from the Al Bhed Psyches. The man lowered his head and she placed the garland around his neck slowly. He nodded at her, a kind gesture, much less intimidating than she thought he would be. Then she moved on to the Guado Glories Captain, placing it around his neck, noticing he looked at the wall, never at her face. Shrugging, she did the same to the Kilika Beasts Captain, feeling marginally more relaxed. The man looked friendly. Then it was the Luca Goers, and Yuna swore her hair was standing on end.

"Hey, Lady Yuna, want to go out on a date later?" the male whispered, smirking. Yuna quickly put the garland on him and moved on, but he grabbed her hand. "What're you running away from, hun?" Snickering, he didn't pursue her any further though, besides leaving something in her palm. When Yuna, baffled, unclenched her fists, she found it was a phone number on the back of a business card of some kind. She flushed, and ignored the man for the rest of the time.

"Who said we need any blessings?" said the Zanarkand Duggles Captain, scowling at her. Yuna could see Tidus glaring at him. She hurriedly put the garland on him and was about to walk toward Tidus when she tripped. The Duggles Captain had stuck out his foot.

Yuna squeaked, frightened and surprised as she began to tumble forward. She shut her eyes tightly, and then, didn't fall. Tidus had caught her.

"You okay?" he asked, flashing her a bright grin. He leant down then and whispered in her ear. "Those Duggles aren't the nicest guys around. I'll beat them in the tournament, don't you worry." He had flashed her a grin because he didn't want her to be intimidated, when inwardly, he was seething, having to witness the Duggles trip innocent, childlike Yuna, of all people: Yuna who, from what little he knew of her, probably wouldn't hurt a fly.

She smiled at him then, a small bashful smile, as he assisted her to get to her feet. She put the garland around his neck, her fingers lightly grazing his neck as she did so.

"Thank you," she mouthed. "I'll cheer for your team."

Tidus sheepishly scratched his neck. He wondered then why her smile made it feel like dainty butterflies fluttered around his stomach from top to bottom, every square centimetre of room they could find. It felt strange, but never unpleasant. It made him feel content, relaxed.


The blessings ended and the team captains all went home. Yuna looked at him then, like she wanted to say something. She walked up to him then and gave him a small smile. Tidus wondered what she had to say. He was about to leave merely minutes before, but then, just by simply seeing her smile, seeing her happy, all thoughts of leaving were erased, like a new layer of white acrylic paint on top of a dry, finished painting.

"I would like you to meet my father, to thank you for earlier today," she said, averting her eyes from his own. "I want him to know how grateful I am for you helping me."

He chuckled at that, but would like it if she met his eyes. "You sure?" he asked though, wondering if he heard right. To meet Summoner Braska was a high honour, especially with everything he did for Spira. Tidus remembered hearing about him as a little boy, hearing about him helping the sick, poor and injured, donating sums of gil, assisting the homeless and tending to those crippled from war. He was a philanthropist through and through. Sometimes, Tidus remembered wishing his own father was the same way, not the arrogant drunkard he was most of the time back then. "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be okay with you introducing him to a regular old Blitzball player. It's probably frowned upon by people like you."

"No, no!" she protested. "My father wouldn't mind. He supported me when I came here. He knows how much I love Blitzball, and I know he'll think you're a wonderful person!"

Tidus was glowing. "Alright then, lead the way."


Yuna hadn't known what made her decide to introduce him to her father, though she felt relaxed all the while. Her father was a kind man, she knew. But, she also understood how Tidus felt. Back in Bevelle, many of those deep within the religious sect of Yevon had adopted arrogance, a thought that they were superior, they were god's disciples. Yuna hadn't enjoyed watching them walk past the poor with their noses upturned high in the air, sending a silent message that they didn't even wish to share the same air as those lesser beings than they. Then they would talk to Yuna, treat her so differently, fawn and dote on her despite the nasty behavior she saw them exhibit only moments before. When she was young, she didn't know, but then with time's passing, she learned it was because she was Braska's daughter.

The people of Bevelle loved Braska, adored him, though she hadn't the foggiest idea why, what with how they acted, their painted masks. They would sit around a table eating snacks and would talk about all the wonderful things he had done for the people of Spira, how much he had given, especially after the death of his late wife, Yuna's mother. Their voices would contain such sorrow, such sympathy but then, Yuna could always sense a false tone to it, one ingredient not at all genuine or sincere. It was because they pretended, they followed the herd because everyone else liked Braska, because Maester Mika liked Braska and they would like to be in his favour. They truly didn't care about the poor or the injured or the homeless, crippled, or unfortunate, they hardly cared about each other. The admiration they held for Braska was false, Braska, one of the few genuine and sincere people who lived in Bevelle, she was ashamed to realize then.

Braska's hands were clenched around the railing as he looked at the Sphere Pool. That was how Yuna found him, seemingly looking at the pool, but not really. Where he was truly looking, Yuna wouldn't know. She wondered if he was thinking about her mother. He often did, and tried to hide it. Yuna could still see that her death hit him hard; how hard he tried to be a good parent to her, to not show her his suffering.

She wondered if him meeting Tidus would make him forget about the pain for a little while at least, as conversing with others so often did for him. Yuna wanted his pain to disappear; she didn't want him to pretend to be fine in front of her. It made her hurt too.


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