Author's note: Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, you can follow the continuing adventures of Linna and company in the other two stories in the Green Eyes trilogy: Green Eyes in Overdrive and Green Eyes Plays Dressup. The plan is to "remaster" both of those as well (and finish the never-completed Dressup), so if you Follow those stories, you can either read the original versions now or wait until the revised chapters go up. More snark! More character development! More convoluted attempts to incorporate inexplicable game mechanics into a semi-realistic narrative! Don't miss it!
Looking back, it wasn't during the tournament that I really became part of the Aurochs. It wasn't in the aftermath of our big win, when we were throwing back drinks in the bar or trying to learn the Jecht Shot. It was those three days we spent building the hut. We ate together, drank together, sweated out more liquid than I'd thought we had in our entire bodies together, cursed and worked and joked and just kicked around a ball together.
I'd been convinced a team was all about what happened in the sphere. I'd been dead wrong.
The whole village got together for a feast the night we finished: roasted fish on a bonfire in front of the temple. I was worried about meeting the rest of the villagers - leftover goodwill from winning the Aurochs the tournament or not, there was always the chance my big mouth'd self-destruct - but it turned out to be easier than I expected: Naaga'd already charmed almost all of them in the days she'd spent weaving, from the little kids to the grandparents. If a priest had come storming out of the temple and demanded that the heathens be kicked off the island, he would've had a riot on his hands.
We took our seats on the ground around the fire - the same seats we'd have at every feast in the years to come. The unfamiliar taste of the southern fish, the feeling of fabric swishing around my legs, the slap of my sandals on the sand and stones, the strong accents in the strange language; it all felt new and different. But not bad, I realized when I felt the soft pressure of Bickson's fingertips against the small of my back and caught his expression - one last question. I nodded at him, leaning back into his arm. Not bad at all.
Only the fishers beat me down to the beach the next morning, right at first light. The boats were already far enough out that they wouldn't interfere with practice. I walked right to the shore with the heels of my boots sinking into the sand and the waves washing over my toes. Three weeks ago today I'd been watching the snow fall outside Macalania Temple. Hell of a trip since then.
It wasn't over. I knew that. It might be a long time before the nightmares finally went away for good, if they ever did. Naaga and I would still have to make choices every day about how much of our own language we could afford to speak, when to cover our eyes with our goggles, when to bring which machina back into our lives. What parts of ourselves to hide and reveal. A fringe group of Al Bhed attacking a temple or something could change everything for us in an instant. I still didn't know much about captaining a blitz team, and no matter how hard the other Aurochs and I practiced, we'd be going on without Tidus. Maybe for good.
And Sin was still out there.
But, I thought as the sounds of voices and footsteps crunching in the sand rose up behind me, at least I wasn't alone.
"Hey, Cap'n!" Datto was calling. "You ready for practice?"
A blitzball zinged through the air toward me. I whipped around at just the right moment, snapped it into my gloves and hurled it back. My teammates were all coming down off the path, freshly uniformed up and raring to go.
"Hell yeah!" I shouted back. "I was born ready! This is gonna be the season of our lives, ya?"
"Huh!" the Aurochs cheered, laughing.
Two deep breaths. Count to ten.
I took off running and dove into the water headfirst.