Chapter 2: The First Party
"Party time!" Rikku said happily, dragging her cousin outside of the airship. They were
in Luca, where tons of partiers were dancing around, basically making fool of themselves.
Rikku dragged Yuna over to an area where other girls were standing, and said, "We just
wait here 'till we're picked up!"
"Sounds..." Yuna bit her tongue from saying that it sounded like a dumb idea to her,
"Sounds good, I guess."
"Lady Yuna?" a girl about a year younger than Yuna said, "I...I didn't think you went to
parties!"
"She does now!" Rikku answered for Yuna.
"I heard you were like depressed or something," the girl said, and then looked
embarrassed. She began to blush, and backed out of the area.
"Aw, don't mind her words Yunie, that's not true, is it?" Rikku looked up at Yuna,
waiting for her reply.
"Sure isn't," Yuna said, but wondered if it were true. She didn't even know herself if she
was depressed or not.
"Ooh!" Rikku squealed then, "See that guy right there? That's Quell, he's a new blitzball
player for the Goers, I think. He's really good," she gave Yuna a nudge, "And not to mention
really cute!"
He was cute, Yuna had to admit to herself. He smiled a bright smile, and Yuna thought
she could fall in love just with his smile.
"If you want him, I bet you could get him," Yuna heard Rikku whisper to her.
"Oh no," Yuna said, "He's all yours."
Rikku raised her eyebrows and kind of pushed Yuna forward, "Uh-uh! He's looking at
you!"
He was looking at Yuna, and Yuna found herself not caring too much for his intent gaze
on her.
"Maybe he'll ask you to dance," Rikku whispered excitedly to her cousin.
"Oh, I don't-." Yuna said, but then noticed Quell had moved right in front of her, still
gazing at her.
"Uh, hi," he said, and Yuna said "hi" also.
"Would you...uh...like to dance?" Quell asked, smiling one of those charming smiles. All
of the other girls around Yuna were either swooning over Quell, or glaring jealously at Yuna.
"Go!" Rikku whispered harshly in Yuna's ear, "Just dance!"
"Sure," Yuna said, deciding it would be fun to challenge herself. In her head, she came
up with a little bet.
"I'll bet I can get him to like me in one night," Yuna thought to herself as Quell took her
hand and pulled her toward the dance floor, "And then I bet I can break his heart just like that.
Then, maybe I'll point him toward Rikku..."
A slow song came on just then, as Yuna continued to think of her challenge. She placed
her hands gently on his shoulders, and he placed his on her waist. Yuna stood with her arms
fully extended, as if trying to keep her distance between him and herself.
"So," he said, as if trying to start a conversation, "Where has your ladyship been over the
past year?"
"Around," she answered bluntly, trying hard not to stare too deeply into his dark blue
eyes. His hair was brown, and was curly. His smile was rather boyish, and had deep dimples on
both sides of his mouth.
He was holding her close, making her have to lean back to keep her arms straight. She
gave him kind of a warning look, as if telling him not to hold her so close. He either didn't
notice or pretended not to notice.
"You know," he said, "There are a lot of girls out there who wish they were in the same
place you are right now."
"You mean being the High Summoner?" Yuna asked sweetly, even though she knew he
meant dancing with him.
"Uh..." he said, giving her a puzzled look, "Well, so..."
Yuna just gave a sweet smile, watching as he tried to come up with something to say to
her comeback.
He was quiet then, and Yuna began to wonder just how long the slow song was. It
seemed to her that it was lasting forever.
Her arms began to ache from keeping them straight, so she finally decided it best to let
them relax. She allowed her arms to bend, amazed at how close it made her lean into Quell.
The two continued on in silence, without as much as a sound passing between them.
Quell lowered his hands from Yuna's waist onto her hips, making Yuna's eyes roll.
"Who does he think he is?" she thought, feeling thoroughly disgusted. She looked over
across the dance floor and saw Rikku and a young man whom she'd never seen before dancing.
Rikku caught her eye and winked, giggling as she did so.
The song finally ended, and Yuna had never felt so glad to end a dance. A much faster
song came on, but by now Yuna didn't feel much like dancing this.
As if reading her mind, Quell said, "Say, wanna get a drink or something? Just talk?"
Yuna sighed at the thought of just talking. It'd been a while since she had had a real
conversation.
"That sounds great," she said, and led the way to a small little bar.
Quell ordered two drinks, and turned to Yuna.
"So," he said, "Have you seen me play?"
"Play?" Yuna said, trying to look bored.
"Yeah. I'm the Goer's new star player. Your Aurochs kind of turned me down, but I
definitely tried out for them first." Quell said, leaning back and eyeing Yuna with interest.
"I wonder if Tidus is ever this cocky?" Yuna found herself thinking, "I wish he were
here."
"You're a blitzball fan of course, aren't you?" Quell asked, breaking Yuna's thoughts.
"Oh sure," she said, even though her mind was still on Tidus.
"What did you think of our game the other day? Did we smoke those Glories or what?"
Yuna hadn't watched a blitzball game in so long, but she decided to pretend as if she'd
seen the game anyway.
"Oh yeah," she said, "Not that they had a chance against you anyway." She begged he
didn't notice the sarcasm in her tone.
Quell smiled again, and Yuna tried not to look at it. This guy was a total creep, but his
smile was enough to hook you.
"Just be nice," Yuna told herself, "Do it for Rikku. Maybe if this goes well, she'll leave
you alone from now on."
By now the drinks that Quell had ordered had arrived, and Yuna thought about totally
saying something mean about the drink. She didn't though, reminding herself that she just had to
stick to it for now, to convince Rikku that she was fine and over Tidus, even if she wasn't.
The two drank in silence, which made Yuna feel relieved, being that she didn't really
want to talk. However, she was growing more and more annoyed at Quell's constant stare. He
seemed to be checking her out rather thoroughly.
"Maybe I'll tell him off by the end of the night," Yuna began to think.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" Quell asked, breaking into Yuna's thoughts once again.
"Sure," Yuna said, hoping that if they were doing something, he couldn't stare at her as
much.
The two stood up, and began to walk away from the commotion that the party was
bringing.
"So," Quell said, walking close to Yuna, "Do you come to parties here very often?"
"Uh, not really," Yuna said, "My cousin kind of made me come."
"Not into parties?" Quell asked her.
"Not really," Yuna said.
"That's too bad," Quell said, "You know, everybody's wanted to see you get married now
for some time."
"How about you Quell," Yuna said, not wanting to talk about her getting married, "Why
aren't you married?"
"Haven't found the right girl yet," Quell said, and Yuna tried hard to ignore the look that
he cast on her.
"Well I'm not that girl!" Yuna's head screamed at him, and she found herself hoping he
could read minds.
"Wanna sit?" Quell asked, and Yuna noticed that by now they had reached the docks, and
they were far away from the party. The stars were shining quite brightly, and seemed to
mesmerize Yuna.
"Sure," she said slowly, and on the bench that Quell had pointed to.
The two sat there, in silence, and Yuna's mind had drifted elsewhere, into the stars.
"It's real pretty, isn't it?" Quell asked, and hearing his voice turned Yuna's thoughts bitter
again.
"Sure is," she said anyway, ignoring her thoughts.
"You know," he said softly, "You're really beautiful."
Yuna's eyes rolled, but she still seemed to smile at his compliment.
"Maybe," she thought, "I'm being too harsh? I mean, I haven't even given Quell a
chance. And his smile is charming..."
Quell leaned his head toward Yuna's then, and whispered, "You're the most beautiful girl
I've ever laid my eyes on."
Was it the drink? Yuna couldn't tell. But her bitter thoughts seemed to stop. Only
momentarily, however.
Quell's arm went around Yuna, as if he knew when to take the moment. He leaned his
head against Yuna's, and Yuna decided that maybe he wasn't so bad after all.
"Maybe," she thought, "We can take it nice and slow...I don't know..."
Quell leaned even more towards Yuna and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. Yuna felt her
body freeze. Even her mind seemed to stop.
"Wait," she thought, glad her thoughts had started back up, even if her body still felt still,
"Something about that kiss just didn't feel right."
Before Yuna could react, her head faced Quell's and he smiled, making her body feel
even more numb.
Then, he pulled her head toward his and kissed her, and as Yuna sat there unable to move,
her thoughts went ahead.
"Hey!" her mind raced, "Stop it!"
Quell stopped then, and Yuna's thoughts stopped. Perhaps he just couldn't control
himself?
That wasn't the case. Quell went for her neck then, and Yuna felt herself shudder. She
was still unable to move, and couldn't imagine how shocked she must have looked.
He went back up to her mouth, and even as Yuna tried, it was still open-mouthed. Yuna's
eyes closed in a tight closure, and she finally seemed to regain of her body, and not just her
thoughts.
She shoved him away from her and stood up quickly.
"Just who do you think you are!" she screamed angrily, "We barely know each other, and
there you are, making out with me! I'd bet anything that tomorrow you wouldn't even remember
me! You...You slime ball!"
"Hey!" Quell said, surprised at her actions. He stood up too, and grabbed Yuna's arm,
"And just where do you think you're going?"
"Let me go!" Yuna ordered him.
"Oh yeah?" he said, "Make me!"
Yuna hit him in the arm hard, but he just grabbed her other arm in his.
"Leave me alone!" she said, and kicked him hard in the shin. He dropped her arms, and
she ran from him. He caught up to her, and grabbed her arm again.
"I said leave me alone!" Yuna said, more and more bitter thoughts rushing through her
head.
The two were now fighting, dangerously close to the docks. Yuna broke free from him
and said, "What is it with you? You think that just because you're some star player that you can
just get whatever you want?"
"Well yeah," he said, looking at her with a sneer on his face.
He went toward Yuna again, but she had taken enough. She jumped into the ocean,
deciding that she didn't care what happened.
She swam as fast as she could farther away from the dock that he still stood on, but to her
surprise he jumped in after her.
"I can get whatever I want!" he yelled after her, and was swimming nearer and nearer to
her quite fast, "And I'm not going to let you turn me down like this!"
Yuna took a deep breath and dived down as far as she could. She went down the very
bottom of the fairly shallow water, and tried to swim away. Being that he was a rather fast
swimmer, Quell was gaining on her any way.
"I wish you were here!" was all that raced through Yuna's head as she continued her
swim.
Suddenly, in the midst of everything, a strange looking sphere that was lying on the
bottom caught her eye.
"A sphere?" she thought, "What's a sphere doing here?"
She swam over to it, forgetting about Quell. He seemed to have stopped also, as if
wondering what she was doing.
Yuna swam over and picked up the sphere, trying to decide if it would still play back after
being in the water. She felt herself running out of breath, but didn't seem to care. The sphere
was the strangest looking sphere she'd seen in her life.
It was orange and glowing, and spherical, just like all of the other spheres. But something
was different about it. Yuna just couldn't figure out what it was.
Curious, Yuna pushed the play-back button, but was greeted by a blinding light. The next
thing she knew, she was knocked unconscious.
"Party time!" Rikku said happily, dragging her cousin outside of the airship. They were
in Luca, where tons of partiers were dancing around, basically making fool of themselves.
Rikku dragged Yuna over to an area where other girls were standing, and said, "We just
wait here 'till we're picked up!"
"Sounds..." Yuna bit her tongue from saying that it sounded like a dumb idea to her,
"Sounds good, I guess."
"Lady Yuna?" a girl about a year younger than Yuna said, "I...I didn't think you went to
parties!"
"She does now!" Rikku answered for Yuna.
"I heard you were like depressed or something," the girl said, and then looked
embarrassed. She began to blush, and backed out of the area.
"Aw, don't mind her words Yunie, that's not true, is it?" Rikku looked up at Yuna,
waiting for her reply.
"Sure isn't," Yuna said, but wondered if it were true. She didn't even know herself if she
was depressed or not.
"Ooh!" Rikku squealed then, "See that guy right there? That's Quell, he's a new blitzball
player for the Goers, I think. He's really good," she gave Yuna a nudge, "And not to mention
really cute!"
He was cute, Yuna had to admit to herself. He smiled a bright smile, and Yuna thought
she could fall in love just with his smile.
"If you want him, I bet you could get him," Yuna heard Rikku whisper to her.
"Oh no," Yuna said, "He's all yours."
Rikku raised her eyebrows and kind of pushed Yuna forward, "Uh-uh! He's looking at
you!"
He was looking at Yuna, and Yuna found herself not caring too much for his intent gaze
on her.
"Maybe he'll ask you to dance," Rikku whispered excitedly to her cousin.
"Oh, I don't-." Yuna said, but then noticed Quell had moved right in front of her, still
gazing at her.
"Uh, hi," he said, and Yuna said "hi" also.
"Would you...uh...like to dance?" Quell asked, smiling one of those charming smiles. All
of the other girls around Yuna were either swooning over Quell, or glaring jealously at Yuna.
"Go!" Rikku whispered harshly in Yuna's ear, "Just dance!"
"Sure," Yuna said, deciding it would be fun to challenge herself. In her head, she came
up with a little bet.
"I'll bet I can get him to like me in one night," Yuna thought to herself as Quell took her
hand and pulled her toward the dance floor, "And then I bet I can break his heart just like that.
Then, maybe I'll point him toward Rikku..."
A slow song came on just then, as Yuna continued to think of her challenge. She placed
her hands gently on his shoulders, and he placed his on her waist. Yuna stood with her arms
fully extended, as if trying to keep her distance between him and herself.
"So," he said, as if trying to start a conversation, "Where has your ladyship been over the
past year?"
"Around," she answered bluntly, trying hard not to stare too deeply into his dark blue
eyes. His hair was brown, and was curly. His smile was rather boyish, and had deep dimples on
both sides of his mouth.
He was holding her close, making her have to lean back to keep her arms straight. She
gave him kind of a warning look, as if telling him not to hold her so close. He either didn't
notice or pretended not to notice.
"You know," he said, "There are a lot of girls out there who wish they were in the same
place you are right now."
"You mean being the High Summoner?" Yuna asked sweetly, even though she knew he
meant dancing with him.
"Uh..." he said, giving her a puzzled look, "Well, so..."
Yuna just gave a sweet smile, watching as he tried to come up with something to say to
her comeback.
He was quiet then, and Yuna began to wonder just how long the slow song was. It
seemed to her that it was lasting forever.
Her arms began to ache from keeping them straight, so she finally decided it best to let
them relax. She allowed her arms to bend, amazed at how close it made her lean into Quell.
The two continued on in silence, without as much as a sound passing between them.
Quell lowered his hands from Yuna's waist onto her hips, making Yuna's eyes roll.
"Who does he think he is?" she thought, feeling thoroughly disgusted. She looked over
across the dance floor and saw Rikku and a young man whom she'd never seen before dancing.
Rikku caught her eye and winked, giggling as she did so.
The song finally ended, and Yuna had never felt so glad to end a dance. A much faster
song came on, but by now Yuna didn't feel much like dancing this.
As if reading her mind, Quell said, "Say, wanna get a drink or something? Just talk?"
Yuna sighed at the thought of just talking. It'd been a while since she had had a real
conversation.
"That sounds great," she said, and led the way to a small little bar.
Quell ordered two drinks, and turned to Yuna.
"So," he said, "Have you seen me play?"
"Play?" Yuna said, trying to look bored.
"Yeah. I'm the Goer's new star player. Your Aurochs kind of turned me down, but I
definitely tried out for them first." Quell said, leaning back and eyeing Yuna with interest.
"I wonder if Tidus is ever this cocky?" Yuna found herself thinking, "I wish he were
here."
"You're a blitzball fan of course, aren't you?" Quell asked, breaking Yuna's thoughts.
"Oh sure," she said, even though her mind was still on Tidus.
"What did you think of our game the other day? Did we smoke those Glories or what?"
Yuna hadn't watched a blitzball game in so long, but she decided to pretend as if she'd
seen the game anyway.
"Oh yeah," she said, "Not that they had a chance against you anyway." She begged he
didn't notice the sarcasm in her tone.
Quell smiled again, and Yuna tried not to look at it. This guy was a total creep, but his
smile was enough to hook you.
"Just be nice," Yuna told herself, "Do it for Rikku. Maybe if this goes well, she'll leave
you alone from now on."
By now the drinks that Quell had ordered had arrived, and Yuna thought about totally
saying something mean about the drink. She didn't though, reminding herself that she just had to
stick to it for now, to convince Rikku that she was fine and over Tidus, even if she wasn't.
The two drank in silence, which made Yuna feel relieved, being that she didn't really
want to talk. However, she was growing more and more annoyed at Quell's constant stare. He
seemed to be checking her out rather thoroughly.
"Maybe I'll tell him off by the end of the night," Yuna began to think.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" Quell asked, breaking into Yuna's thoughts once again.
"Sure," Yuna said, hoping that if they were doing something, he couldn't stare at her as
much.
The two stood up, and began to walk away from the commotion that the party was
bringing.
"So," Quell said, walking close to Yuna, "Do you come to parties here very often?"
"Uh, not really," Yuna said, "My cousin kind of made me come."
"Not into parties?" Quell asked her.
"Not really," Yuna said.
"That's too bad," Quell said, "You know, everybody's wanted to see you get married now
for some time."
"How about you Quell," Yuna said, not wanting to talk about her getting married, "Why
aren't you married?"
"Haven't found the right girl yet," Quell said, and Yuna tried hard to ignore the look that
he cast on her.
"Well I'm not that girl!" Yuna's head screamed at him, and she found herself hoping he
could read minds.
"Wanna sit?" Quell asked, and Yuna noticed that by now they had reached the docks, and
they were far away from the party. The stars were shining quite brightly, and seemed to
mesmerize Yuna.
"Sure," she said slowly, and on the bench that Quell had pointed to.
The two sat there, in silence, and Yuna's mind had drifted elsewhere, into the stars.
"It's real pretty, isn't it?" Quell asked, and hearing his voice turned Yuna's thoughts bitter
again.
"Sure is," she said anyway, ignoring her thoughts.
"You know," he said softly, "You're really beautiful."
Yuna's eyes rolled, but she still seemed to smile at his compliment.
"Maybe," she thought, "I'm being too harsh? I mean, I haven't even given Quell a
chance. And his smile is charming..."
Quell leaned his head toward Yuna's then, and whispered, "You're the most beautiful girl
I've ever laid my eyes on."
Was it the drink? Yuna couldn't tell. But her bitter thoughts seemed to stop. Only
momentarily, however.
Quell's arm went around Yuna, as if he knew when to take the moment. He leaned his
head against Yuna's, and Yuna decided that maybe he wasn't so bad after all.
"Maybe," she thought, "We can take it nice and slow...I don't know..."
Quell leaned even more towards Yuna and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. Yuna felt her
body freeze. Even her mind seemed to stop.
"Wait," she thought, glad her thoughts had started back up, even if her body still felt still,
"Something about that kiss just didn't feel right."
Before Yuna could react, her head faced Quell's and he smiled, making her body feel
even more numb.
Then, he pulled her head toward his and kissed her, and as Yuna sat there unable to move,
her thoughts went ahead.
"Hey!" her mind raced, "Stop it!"
Quell stopped then, and Yuna's thoughts stopped. Perhaps he just couldn't control
himself?
That wasn't the case. Quell went for her neck then, and Yuna felt herself shudder. She
was still unable to move, and couldn't imagine how shocked she must have looked.
He went back up to her mouth, and even as Yuna tried, it was still open-mouthed. Yuna's
eyes closed in a tight closure, and she finally seemed to regain of her body, and not just her
thoughts.
She shoved him away from her and stood up quickly.
"Just who do you think you are!" she screamed angrily, "We barely know each other, and
there you are, making out with me! I'd bet anything that tomorrow you wouldn't even remember
me! You...You slime ball!"
"Hey!" Quell said, surprised at her actions. He stood up too, and grabbed Yuna's arm,
"And just where do you think you're going?"
"Let me go!" Yuna ordered him.
"Oh yeah?" he said, "Make me!"
Yuna hit him in the arm hard, but he just grabbed her other arm in his.
"Leave me alone!" she said, and kicked him hard in the shin. He dropped her arms, and
she ran from him. He caught up to her, and grabbed her arm again.
"I said leave me alone!" Yuna said, more and more bitter thoughts rushing through her
head.
The two were now fighting, dangerously close to the docks. Yuna broke free from him
and said, "What is it with you? You think that just because you're some star player that you can
just get whatever you want?"
"Well yeah," he said, looking at her with a sneer on his face.
He went toward Yuna again, but she had taken enough. She jumped into the ocean,
deciding that she didn't care what happened.
She swam as fast as she could farther away from the dock that he still stood on, but to her
surprise he jumped in after her.
"I can get whatever I want!" he yelled after her, and was swimming nearer and nearer to
her quite fast, "And I'm not going to let you turn me down like this!"
Yuna took a deep breath and dived down as far as she could. She went down the very
bottom of the fairly shallow water, and tried to swim away. Being that he was a rather fast
swimmer, Quell was gaining on her any way.
"I wish you were here!" was all that raced through Yuna's head as she continued her
swim.
Suddenly, in the midst of everything, a strange looking sphere that was lying on the
bottom caught her eye.
"A sphere?" she thought, "What's a sphere doing here?"
She swam over to it, forgetting about Quell. He seemed to have stopped also, as if
wondering what she was doing.
Yuna swam over and picked up the sphere, trying to decide if it would still play back after
being in the water. She felt herself running out of breath, but didn't seem to care. The sphere
was the strangest looking sphere she'd seen in her life.
It was orange and glowing, and spherical, just like all of the other spheres. But something
was different about it. Yuna just couldn't figure out what it was.
Curious, Yuna pushed the play-back button, but was greeted by a blinding light. The next
thing she knew, she was knocked unconscious.