I apologize immensely for the late update! Especially since I've had this chapter written for a long time now... sorry! In my defense, I was on vacation and waaaay too lazy to plug my grandpa's internet into my laptop. It's so hard going from wireless to no wireless! But, I did write this chapter, and I rather like it. The sad news is that I think there's only going to be two more chapters... so a short story. Oh well, though, right? I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 10: Reassess

Baralai takes a seat at his desk and nods to me to take my seat and drag it up to him. I feel as though I'm back in high school, sitting across from the principal as the principal beams at how proud he is of my perfect 4.0 GPA. Only Baralai isn't the principal and he's not happy with me.

I pull my chair up to his desk and sit down, wondering what he's going to say to me. The suspense doesn't hold long, for he immediately says, "What were you talking to those guys about?"

I don't bother holding it back. "Tidus," I say. "I was pointing out his good qualities."

"He has good qualities?" Baralai said with a harsh laugh. I feel myself frown. I feel myself grow angry and I speak before even think. "Maybe I know more about blitzball than you, Baralai. Those guys were impressed—."

Baralai's laughter cuts me off. "Oh really. You know more about blitzball than I do?"

I simply nod. My arms are crossed, and my frown feels as though it's etched into my face.

Baralai shakes his head, a very small smile grows onto his lips. "So you really have no idea, do you? Yuna… I played blitzball."

I feel my eyes widen, and I am sure my jaw dropped. I don't mean to act so surprised, but I can't help myself. I see Baralai laugh. His dark eyes quickly look away from mine.

"Surprising, huh?" he says, shaking his head, a smile still on his lips.

"A-A little," I say, attempting to cover my surprise in fear that I am being rude to him. "It's just that you're so… so professional."

"Right," Baralai says, still shaking his head. "I guess it's because I'm not like Tidus, huh?"

My eyes immediately dart to his, and I feel a pain begin to grow in my stomach as my heart begins to pound. I blink a few times in an attempt to clear the emotions that I must have just let flash through my eyes, and I quickly say, "Tidus… what do you mean by that?"

Baralai's eyes roll, and a smile pries at his lips once again. "Cocky, arrogant, full of myself… I'm none of those things. So you must not have thought I could be a blitzball player."

I feel the nerves in my stomach suddenly turn into anger. "Tidus isn't like that!" I say quickly, my eyebrows furrowing outward to show my anger. "He isn't cocky. He isn't arrogant."

Baralai laughs again, and the result is a smile of disbelief.

"Yuna," he says, with that same disbelieving smile, "why can't you see it? Tidus doesn't care about you."

The anger begins to boil.

"But he does," I say surely. Honestly though, I have nothing else to say. I feel my guard dropping, and I look over to my right at nothing in particular. I can feel something with Tidus. My mind flashed to the time at the golf course. Tidus was so close to me—and he did it on purpose. But not to tease me… at that time, there was no teasing involved. I want to tell Baralai that Tidus and I have a bond. But that would be a lie; Tidus and I don't have a bond. And that's the reason the anger is so prominent in my stomach. I let out a sigh and hope Baralai doesn't notice. It's not anger I feel. It's frustration.

As soon as that realization hits me, I feel myself almost start to tear up. Finally I feel it. The frustration of everything is finally crashing down. I had expected Tidus to be surprised to see me and perhaps a little taken aback, but he wasn't. Well, initially he was, but now he was just… being a jerk. I feel my teeth grind. I wanted to stick up for Tidus, I was sticking up for Tidus. But why? Did Baralai have a point?

No, my head screamed, he does not have a point. I knew Tidus. Deep in my heart, I knew Tidus. And Tidus was not the Tidus I had been seeing. Tidus was the Tidus I had seen in the winter at the coffee shop. That was Tidus. And I just had to find a way to get back to that Tidus.

I swallow and shake my head to clear my thoughts. "What happened?" I finally manage. "Why don't you play anymore?"

Baralai's expression softens, and he shrugs. "Injury," he says, his voice soft. "You probably haven't noticed this." He rolls up his sleeve then, and I feel my eyes widen once again. His hand is deformed.

I don't know what to say. What do you say when someone shows you something? It's the same when someone is ill. What can you say? "I'm sorry?" Will that suffice? I decide to try it.

"I'm sorry," I say softly, and I feel my tongue quickly wet my lips. I want to ask what happened. I want to know why his hand looks the way it does, red and purple, his fingers nothing but stubs.

He shrugs again, and he says, "Two years ago, we were playing in the finals for the Triumph cup. We were playing against the toughest team in the league, no doubt. Players who are now Spira Cup champs. Big guys. Strong guys. One of 'em had a shot that was a good hundred miles per hour. We were desperate—down just one goal. The clock was ticking down. That player kicked his hardest shot ever marked—it would have been a record, if I hadn't stopped it with my hand."

I feel myself cringe. "Why did you do that?" I ask. "Surely it was going too fast."

Baralai shrugs again. "I was desperate," he said. "Back then, winning was everything to me. Little did I know that it could cost me my career.

"Luckily," Baralai continues, "they let me keep my job… just as a office clerk now. Instead of being out there, playing, I'm here, helping with the scouting, with office work, and of course, helping with the interns."

He gives me a smile then, a small, almost sweet smile.

Silence falls over us then, and I look up at him and say, "So… am I off the hook?"

He simply rolls his eyes and shakes his head, and his voice begins to rise. "You think it's about being in trouble, don't you? That I'm angry at you for talking to those men? No, I could care less, Yuna. I could care less that you switched Tidus' seat. I really don't care. But it hurts me to see someone as smart and…" he trails then, and instantly looks away from me. Finally, he clears his throat and says, "Why would you want to be with a guy like Tidus anyway?"

"Versus who?" I say, and I cross my arms. Just what is Baralai trying to say?

"Versus someone more responsible, more respectable, more confident."

Confident. For some reason, that word hits me hard, and it doesn't help that Baralai is now looking at me, an almost determined look in his eyes.

I know it right then. Baralai likes me.

I blink a few times in the embarrassment. I feel as though he has just asked me out, even though he hasn't exactly made any such advancements, and my heart is suddenly pounding in my head.

"I-I should go," I say then, and I stand up quickly, almost knocking over the chair. I'm not sure if Baralai knows that I now understand how he feels, but he just gives me what appears to be an angry shrug and turns to his computer.

"You're making a mistake," he says, his voice coming out very strong just as I put my fingers over the doorknob. I pause to show that I have listened to his statement, but then quickly open the door, and then quickly but softly, shut the door behind me.

As soon as I'm in the hallway and now out of the office that had suddenly seemed to grow hot, I let out a huge sigh. It was a sigh of relief, but I'm not entirely sure what I was relieved at. Especially since at that moment, I glanced up to see none other than Tidus walking toward me, his eyes appearing angry, but in a very curious way.

"Just the person I was looking for," he says, his voice coming out louder than I had expected it to, causing me to jump slightly.

"Oh hey," I say, as casually as I can manage, but there's no hiding the slight shake.

He stops about a foot away from me and crosses his arms, and licks his lips. His eyes are blazing, but up-close, I'm not certain if it's with anger or something else.

He seems to be having difficulty with speaking, but he finally takes a deep breath and says, almost impatiently, "So I got promoted. They want me to swim tomorrow with the "elite" group."

It takes longer than it should for his words to soak in, possibly because despite the fact that what he speaks is excellent news, he does not sound happy.

"Well, that's great, isn't it?" I question.

"Fantastic," Tidus says, and his tone would suggest that he is being sarcastic, but I know he's not. It really is fantastic. There's just something bothering him, and I brace myself and wait for it.

And it comes.

"You talked to them, didn't you? Why the hell couldn't you just leave it alone? I would have showed them what I could do without your help! Now they're all going on and on that I should thank the intern, and the guys are all giving me shit about how I must have slept with you and they're all patting me on the back and congratulating me for getting in your damn pants and I didn't even do that and I did it on my own but no one cares 'cause all they care about is the fact that the damn intern was the one who got me where I am and Toma is pissed at me and saying a bunch of nasty things about how he's gonna…" Tidus finally stops, probably to take a breath, but doesn't finish his breathless complaint. "The point is, I don't need your help. So stay outta my business."

I can't help but feel completely taken aback. My mind is completely blank, and I'm staring at Tidus with my mouth completely agape. I feel a film of tears start to cover my eyes, but there's no way I'm about to cry in front of Tidus.

So I swallow, and take a deep breath.

"Well Tidus," I say, my voice only cracking slightly, "you don't have to worry about me being in your business anymore. I'm quitting."

It's Tidus' turn to look shocked.

"What?" he says, the anger disappearing slightly.

"Yeah, I'm quitting," I say again. "I'll pack up my stuff and be out of here tomorrow. Isn't that excellent news?"

Tidus blinks a few times, and then lets out a laugh. He seems to not believe me.

"I was just trying to help," I say. "I just… I felt like they weren't really watching you"—my voice is cracking now and I don't bother to stop it—"they were only worried about Cetan and that Toma guy and a few others but they weren't watching you at all. I just knew that if you were just given the chance, you could be excellent. I was just trying to help."

"Well, don't," Tidus says. "I've told you that all summer."

I shrug, and I say, "I'm done. I'm going to go tell Baralai I'm quitting right now."

"W-Well I didn't mean you had to quit," Tidus says, but I feel disgusted by his sudden change of heart.

"It's alright, Tidus. I only did this to be around you. And apparently you don't care, so I'm done. I'll go back to Bevelle and stop worrying about how you're doing."

"Well… don't care!" he says, his anger suddenly returning, and he starts off. He looks back at me then, as though he's going to say something, his face suddenly much more relaxed. His eyes meet mine, but I force myself to look away.

Without waiting for him to finally say anything, I put my hand on the doorknob, and without looking back at him, I turn the handle, not even bothering to knock.

It takes all of my effort to keep a tear from slipping out as I step back into Baralai's office, especially as I shut the door, and catch a last glance of Tidus as I pull the door to a soft close.

"So you're quitting?" Baralai says, giving me a look as if a part of him is surprised and a part of him isn't, and I'm guessing he must have overheard the conversation.

"Yep," I say and with that, I collapse into the chair I had been sitting in not long before, and finally break down. Tears slide down my cheeks quickly, and I do the best to wipe them off with my hand as Baralai hands me a tissue. "I'm quitting."