My how you have grown,
Cast my memory back there, Lord
Sometime I'm overcome thinking 'bout
Making love in the green grass
Behind the stadium with you

Brown Eyed Girl- Van Morrison

May 5th, 4020

Shuyin

Tidus enters the room, still damp from practice. He throws his bag down on one of the double beds, falls back against it and lets out an audible groan. He drags his hands down his face and the silence settles.

We'd almost lost— he easily could have blown it for us. We pulled away with a 3-2 point lead.

"I'm sorry." He mumbles.

"You're entitled to an off game." I assure him, pulling my own damp shirt off and throwing it on top of my luggage. "If every one in a hundred games you trip up like that, no one should hold it against you."

"I saw her." His voice is barely audible. "Adrianna was in the stands, behind the goal."

It had given me shivers catching her eye through the water, looking almost ethereal, her long blond hair loose and her almond eyes wide. She mouthed something interrupted by a hard break.

Tidus had seen a ghost and I'd seen a nightmare.

"At least I think… I think I saw her."

"You need to try and forget about that woman."

Tidus lies down on his mattress, grabs a pillow and buries his face into it. "I'm on it." He mumbles.

"Is this because she was at the game… or do you still think about her often? You've got someone who's ready and willing to love you back in Zanarkand. I bet she's missing you over a bottle of wine with the girls right now."

"I'm not forgetting about Yuna. It's just hard seeing Adrianna." He breathes, "Yuna's great— she's everything I could ask for. But…"

He pauses, silence settles back in. "You're confused right now… it's really new but you've known each other for so long already that it feels like it should be easier."

"I don't know what to do with her. I'm worried I'm taking things too fast and yet it's crazy how attractive I find her. In the mornings I'll wake up next to Yuna and have to stop myself from getting carried away, you know?"

"So you don't feel like just friends."

"No. But Adrianna… Why was she here?"

I look up at the stucco on the ceiling thinking the same thing. She wants something, Adrianna always wants something. "She must have had money on the other team."

Tidus throws a pillow over at me, "Take out?"

"Chinese. The greasier the better."

He picks up the menu to make the order and I grab my phone to text Lenne. I find that I was right, Adrianna always wants something.

Gippal

I slam the hood of my '67 Dodge Challenger. The car is a classic that I paid a small fortune to have sit in my garage. In Rikku's absence, I've had more time to myself to work on forgotten projects like this old car. I remember the day I bought it; we were fresh out of high school and Rikku was pissed. She nagged constantly as we moved into that old two-bedroom apartment. It was located in smack-dab in the center of West Zanarkand. The slums. She didn't think we'd ever make anything of ourselves.

I guess you might say we've moved up a class or two... and into a 10-bedroom estate, with more money than she's able to spend—but she tries her best. We ran into debt pretty fast those first few months, before we learned to budget. I'd been working double shifts at the shop, while she sat on her pretty little pregnant bottom. I didn't mind so much as long as it was making her happy.

Yeah, I remember it now, back when we used to be happy.

Those days crept by, the way they say time flies when you're having fun. We didn't consider it much fun back then, but maybe that was the golden era, back when we knew everything and nothing, back when we had a future to look forward to. It was intimidating, being that we were so young, but we would've been up to it. It's not like we didn't have our friends, our families. Even her old man Cid started to get excited.

For a long time... after the "accident" – that's what she liked to call it – Rik just acted like it never happened. She wouldn't talk to me... and I guess I had nothing to say to her—not when she insisted on pretending. These days nothing fazes her, gets that old spark of anger, lucid excitement, or even jealousy going.

I guess sometimes, the people closest to you change so drastically they become nothing more than memories. She told me once, after my uncle died, that: "memories are nice, but that's all they are..."

Adrianna

The hotel bar is quaint, the tender probably 27, cute. He serves me my first two drinks but has little time to chat. I missed my first opportunity after the game; the guy's left, trailed by the press. I got caught up in the fans. I should be more nervous. I should feel something aside from this mild, numb trepidation.

I prop my elbows on the bar, trying not to pay too much attention to the overpaid, overzealous sportscasters on television

Tidus is tonight's big topic. "What exactly was he thinking out there?" one man asks the other, exaggerating the lift of his arms into the air.

His partner slams a fist down against the desk in disgusted reply. "Joe, you're absolutely right. Tonight, he wasn't a leader. I've never seen him choke the way he did. Usually I'm not all that interested in his after-game commentary, but tonight I was hoping he'd give us a few words; an explanation."

"He's being paid to do a job, and tonight it just wasn't being done." 'Joe' replies.

"I wonder why." A familiar voice drifts through the air. "Guess he must have been a little distracted."

I turn in my barstool to face the culprit himself standing behind me, grasping a grease-stained brown sack bag. "Distracted? By what, I wonder…" He grins. "What are you doing here Anna?

I swivel to face him. "Work in the city. Thought I'd catch a game—thought I might run into you and your brother."

"You thought so?"

"I hoped I would." I place a few bills on the bar and stand up to face him. The familiar features, sun-threaded hair and a pare of questioning eyes I can't remember ever seeing look quite so intense.

"Save it, please."

"I know we aren't exactly on speaking terms, but I'd appreciate it if you'd let me buy you guys dinner."

"It's covered." He holds up the bag, walking back towards the elevator. "Shuyin's waiting for me back in the room, have a nice business trip."

"Meet me later—" I call to him, "I'll text you my room number, just come up and talk."

He shakes his head, "We don't need to talk."

I let him leave. I let him walk away and I shoot myself for it. There is a lot left to be said, a lot he should know. A lot that I think he'd want to know, or at least this is what I tell myself. That might just be another excuse.

May 6th, 4020

Yuna

I find my footing on the stairs down to Lenne's kitchen. My head is a mess of tangled braids and the fuzzy afterglow of one too many drinks. Bright light intrudes through the window in the kitchen, above the sink. I close the wooden blinds before helping myself to a glass of orange juice.

I was so proud of myself for not calling him last night, but I missed Tidus terribly. I've gotten use to having him around. I woke up this morning with Lenne's arms around me and no missed messages on my phone.

"Yunie, what time is it?" Rikku asks from the couch, "I have a splitting headache."

"Almost eleven."

She takes a moment, paces around the room, grabs her phone. "I haven't heard from Gippal. Not a word." I hand her some juice; she puts it down on the table. "I'm going crazy."

I feel like hangovers always make me feel crazy—and maybe Rikku's going through the same thing. "I haven't heard from Tidus, either."

"Is Lenne still sleeping?"

"Yeah."

"Are you still a virgin?" She asks cheekily, my face heats.

"Rikku!"

"Sorry… but it just seems kind of wacky. I can hardly remember ever having my virginity… and you, you're still in tact."

"In tact?" I don't like the way she puts it, like somehow having sex breaks you. It makes me nervous.

"Don't worry so much about it, Yunie. I'll help you out— we can go shopping today and buy you something exciting."

"I know just the place." Lenne joins in, coming down the stairs, "There's no mixed messages with lingerie."

"And if he doesn't get the message?"

Rikku and Lenne look at each other.

Shuyin

Between twenty-second and twenty-third Street, at the end of a long ally are the rotted wood doors of Garbies Pub and Grill. The joint has become a regular post-game drinking hole. After downing a few beers and dodging the fans crowded in the lobby, we decided to head over and meet the team. Tonight, being our first big win after annihilating the Goers in a 7-2 lead, is due time for a celebration. We push through the doors, and join our team table.

"Good game, Tidus!" our goaltender Mercedes leaps from her seat to congratulate him. She hugs my brother briefly as I pull a few abandoned chairs towards the team table. "Definitely an improvement… for a moment there I thought you'd lost it… that thing that you do."

"Well, you know I couldn't have you thinking like that!" He winks, nudging her arm. "Seriously though, it's always a team effort."

"Aye, we owe it to you, man; this is about to be your fourth year, isn't it?" our teammate Gavin muses, counting down on his fingers. "We haven't lost more than a handful of games since you brothers joined the team."

"And you won't until we retire!" My brother raises the pitcher and pours us a couple classes.

I clink his glass in agreement. "What would you do without us?"

"You know, we didn't do too bad the other night..." Mercedes points, leaning over the table to poke my brothers nose "I don't mean to bust your chops or anything, but I'm surprised coach didn't bench you and put old Jeff on center."

Jeff smirks, shaking his head and adjusting his well-worn cap. "Uncalled for, Mercedes…" Jeff shoves her halfheartedly. "I'm not as young as I once was. You boys know how that goes; your ol' man went through the same thing. It ain't my fault."

"Maybe if you didn't drink so much," Tidus teases, leaning casually against the back of his wooden chair. "You're getting a bit of a gut there."

"Guess that's just another thing I have in common with your old man, isn't it, boys?"

Jeff's arrogant attitude warms my blood. I tentatively take a sip of my drink and through the corner of my eye I can see Tidus nodding his head in agreement. "You know that's the great Jecht you're talking about. Heck, even in those glory days that you keep rehashing he outplayed you."

"Jecht was a stunt man, nothin' more." Jeff laughs, standing up from his seat, swaying a little as he speaks. "He was a ladies' man, a drunk and a fool."

"Come on Jeffery..." Gavin grabs his arm. "How bout we don't get into this right now? We got a jukebox, some lovely ladies over at the counter that have been eyeing us up and the company of friends. There's no need to cause a ruckus."

"Well I think it's a little too late for that," I reply, stiffening my shoulders. "It seems like Jeff has something on his mind... he might as well come out with it."

"Shuyin, he isn't worth it. Let's just leave before this gets out of hand," Tidus suggests, before standing up to grab our coats. "We have another game left to play tomorrow. This isn't the time, or the place."

"Figures." Jeff chuckles, grabbing his drink and draining it with the sway of his arm. "Right now you think you're on the top of the world, making headlines, collecting numbers... just wait a few years. You'll see what happens. Your old man may still have a reputation, but you're just living in his shadow." He spreads his arms wide. "Son of Jecht, what a hero."

Mercedes begins snapping her fingers in front of Jeff's face "You're making an ass of yourself." She's right: people have begun to gather and speculate, camera phones ready. "We're a team..."

"You're a joke, Robinson..." Tidus shakes his head incredulously as he backs away. "Pathetic. Really."

It's my turn to step up. Tidus was right: this isn't the time to fight, but if Jeffery has his way that might not be the case. "Come on, let's get out of here." I urge, pulling him back.

"Yeah... at least your father had gonads!" Jeff calls out to our backs. The crash of his mug shattering against the floor sounds across the room as we slip through the door. A slap of cold air hits us as we back into the ally.

"Just keep walking," I plead, pulling Tidus forward.

He breaks from my grasp and starts walking violently forward. "Fuck it!"

"Yeah, I know..."

"You're only mad about him trashing Jecht's name... but you know... what if everything he said is true, what if we're just living in his shadow... like, I'll never be good enough."

"Well, you're better than me..." I shrug. "Come on, you're a starter. In a few years they'll be calling you captain and you'll make Dad proud."

"You think that's what I'm worried about?" He laughs. "Making Jecht proud?" A stiffening silence mixes with the cool, sharp air; he turns away from me and quickens his forward pace, "That's not it at all... Shuyin, I don't want to live in the background of his reputation, notorious for being a washout's son reclaiming... whatever glory it's rumored he once had."

"Rumored..."

"Dad was a loser, a drunk... I don't want to turn out like that."

"He's made his mistakes, but he's still our father, you understand that. You can't hate him forever."

"I don't hate him."

"Right."

He turns to me with narrowed eyes. "We're not kids anymore. Do you understand that... you don't know everything, and you have no right to assume..."

"Assume what?" I ask in disbelief. "I'm not assuming anything."

"You think I'm stupid... don't you?"

"Tidus..."

"Even this thing with Yuna, she's my girlfriend... and you and Lenne think it's okay to just pry into everything, but it's really not."

"You asked me for help, remember?"

"Well I don't need it anymore!"

"Have you even called her? Have you picked up your phone to ask how she's been doing these last few days because according to Lenne..."

"It's between Yuna and I."

"You're chasing a ghost," I call, as he quickens his stride ahead of me. "Adrianna and you aren't getting back together. I don't know what she wants with you, or why she came here... but you have to let her go before you ruin what you have now."

He begins jogging, step by step disappearing into the darkness ahead. Still young, still stupid, and more like our father than he'd care to admit. That's what Jecht did: bottle in hand, he ran. He ran far enough that we could never quite catch up.

LEAVE A REVIEW. Retouched 02/2013.