Chapter 4: Birthday Sphere
Yuna awoke on the couch feeling actually quite awake. She jumped up, wondering to
herself where Tidus was.
"Tidus?" she called, wondering what the time was. She remembered him saying that he
was taking a two hour nap and then going to Blitzball practice.
"He must be at his practice," Yuna said aloud, and looked around the room she was
standing in. It was a total disaster, with food bits and everything else everywhere.
"Someone doesn't know how to clean..." she said to herself, and actually found herself
stooping down to clean the room. In a little while, she had filled three garbage bags of junk and
actually had the room looking rather nice.
Smiling, she made her way into the next, and found herself curious to know what the rest
of the house looked like. She walked into the next, which appeared to be the kitchen. It was an
odd looking kitchen, with very little food in it. Yuna made her way to the next room, which was
a room filled with trophies that were in terrible need of dusting.
The next room was a lovely marble bathroom, and Yuna smiled at the thought of it
actually being clean, and put it onto her "to do" list.
The room next to the marble bathroom was the bedroom, which was by far one of the
largest rooms in the house.
The bed was a large, rounded one, and the blankets were everywhere.
"He could have at least made the bed," Yuna said with an eye roll, as she made the bed.
Clothes were scattered everywhere on the floor, and Yuna tried not to feel too disgusted as she
piled up all of the dirty laundry.
The room was clean then, and Yuna smiled to herself. She ran back into the bathroom
and did a quick cleaning job, surprising herself at how much nicer it looked. The trophies were
dusted then, and the kitchen was tidied up as well, and then Yuna made her way into the next
room, where more large spheres were, all of them showing a blitzball game.
As Yuna put recorded spheres into their places, one in particular caught her eye. It was
labeled, "Tidus' Seventh Birthday"
Curiously, Yuna played back the sphere, to see a smiling seven-year-old Tidus waving
into the sphere.
"Hey mommy!" he said, smiling as he said so, and looking at all of the decorations.
"How old are you?" a woman's voice asked, who Yuna guessed was his mother's.
"Seven," the little Tidus said, and he stuck his tongue out, "I'm almost as old as you!"
His mom laughed, and she said, "Flattery isn't going to get you any more presents!"
"I know!" Tidus said, and ran over to a wrapped gift that lay on the floor.
"Wait just a second," his mom said, "We should wait until your father gets home."
Tidus stuck his lip out in his famous pout and crossed his arms.
"Do we have to?" he asked, frowning as he did so.
"Yes, I believe we should," Tidus' mom said, and then the sphere turned off.
It was black for a while, and then it came back on. It was now late, and Tidus was lying
on his stomach staring out the window.
"Your father should be back any minute now," Tidus' mother was saying, but she had a
worried tone in her voice.
"Yeah, sure," Tidus mumbled, not really paying attention.
Suddenly the door opened, and Jecht stood in, and two other men were there. They were
laughing and talking excitedly about something.
"It's about time," Little Tidus mumbled, but Jecht didn't seem to notice.
"How was the game?" Tidus' mom asked her husband.
"It was great!" Jecht said, "You should have been there!"
"I know..." Tidus' mom's voice dragged, "But you know, it's Tidus' birthday."
"Birthday?" Jecht said, and looked over at Tidus, who Yuna could tell was deliberately
not looking his way.
"I'm seven," Tidus' little voice said, "Starting today, anyway. Now can I open my
present?"
"Present?" Jecht said, "Do you deserve it?"
"Yes, I do!" Tidus said, standing up and grabbing his gift, "Now can I open it?"
"Go ahead," his mom said, and Tidus began tearing at the gift.
It was a box, and inside of it was a blitzball.
"Oh great, another Blitzball," Tidus said, tossing it aside.
"Tell 'im what else he got already," Jecht said to Tidus' mom.
"Not only that Tidus," his mom said happily, "But you were allowed into the year round
school for serious Blitzers!"
"Huh?" Tidus seemed shocked.
"Don't act stupid," Jecht said, "We're sending you away to an all year camp."
"Why?" Tidus asked, "Aren't the camps here good enough?"
"Oh, they're good," Jecht said, laughing, "But how else are we supposed to get rid of
you?"
Tidus frowned, and Yuna saw tears coming out of his eyes.
"Oh, go and cry, just because your old man wants you to be good." Jecht said, laughing as
he did so.
Tidus ran off, flying out of the door.
"Even if he goes to that camp, he'll never be able to beat his old man," Jecht laughed, and
was followed by his two friends. "Anyway," Jecht continued, "I called a babysitter for Little
Crier over there. We're invited to the after-party of a lifetime!"
The sphere dimmed then, and was over.
Yuna was amazed at what she saw. She stared at the sphere for quite some time,
absolutely amazed at what she'd viewed.
"Good thing I killed him, huh?" she heard Tidus say, and looked up.
He was standing in the doorway, looking quite hurt.
"I...I..." Yuna didn't know what to say.
"You obsessed fans," Tidus just said, shaking his head, "Just can't stay out of my
business. You even cleaned the house, didya? Wait, you didn't go upstairs, did you?"
"I didn't even know there was an upstairs," Yuna said, putting the sphere away, "And I'm
sorry, I didn't try to be in your business."
"Whatever," Tidus just said, and he threw a blitzball down in the corner.
"Hey!" Yuna said, picking it up, "Go put it away! I just cleaned!"
Tidus spun it on his finger and looked at Yuna for a while. Finally, he tucked the ball
under his arm, and said, "Did we really take care of my old man?"
"Yeah..." Yuna said, "But it wasn't quite like that. We didn't just go and kill him. In
fact...You know, he loved you..."
"Ha! Now that's a laugh," Tidus said, throwing his ball into the wall, "As if!"
Yuna picked the ball up once again, and said, "So, do you believe my story yet?"
"It's far too good to be true," Tidus said, as Yuna threw him the ball, "Where do you
want me to put this?"
"In the trophy room with your other five hundred," Yuna said, smiling.
Tidus scrunched his nose, "You're as bad as Auron was!" Then, he shook his head and
went into the trophy room.
"Don't just throw it in there!" Yuna shouted to him, smiling as she did so.
"Too late!" she heard Tidus yell back to her, "And there's no way I'm picking it up!"
"Fine then," Yuna yelled, "Don't. You know I'll just pick it up later."
"And just how long are you staying?" Tidus asked as he appeared back from the trophy
room.
"Uh, don't know," Yuna said, "As long as it takes for me to convince you that my story is
true."
"Then what?" Tidus asked her.
"We'll go back to Spira. Together! Wakka and Rikku, and everybody else will be really
glad to see you, you know."
"Wakka and Rikku?" Tidus said, "You really need help. They your imaginary friends?"
Yuna sighed and shook her head. It really was going to be hard to convince Tidus that
what happened in Spira really happened.
"Tidus?" she said finally, "I couldn't make all of this up. Some day, you'll realize that
what I'm saying is the truth. Unless I'm stuck in some weird reality..."
"Oh, I believe you enough," Tidus said, sitting next to her, "You're kind of cute to be an
obsessed fan."
"Uh...Thanks...I guess," Yuna said, trying to figure out if what Tidus had just said was a
good thing.
"I mean, you don't get lucky enough. I mean, come on, there's thousands of hot girls out
there, right?"
"Uh..."
"And none of them are totally obsessed fans. I mean, sure, everyone's a fan, but I can't
just snap my fingers and there they are sleeping with me, right?"
"Uh..."
"But then there's those ones who'd do anything for me, right?"
"Uh..."
"But hello! Can you say, huge, five-hundred pound chicks?"
"Uh..." Yuna just stared at Tidus, as he blabbed, and then finally shut up.
"Er, I mean..." he looked away from the strange look Yuna was giving him, and then
looked back at her and smiled.
"What can I say?" he said, shrugging, "I totally speak my mind!"
"Oh, I see," Yuna said, hoping that Tidus was just trying to be funny or something.
"Anyway," Tidus said, leaning his head in his arms, "In conclusion, you're not the
five-hundred pound, "I'd do anything for you" type."
Yuna smiled. "Well, you sure have me figured out," she said, and gave a slight giggle.
"And then again, you're not the, "hey, you're popular, so I'll go out with you" type either,
are you?"
"Tidus," Yuna said, feeling somewhat hopeless, "I told you. I met you in Spira. I fell in
love with you. You disappeared, came back, and disappeared again. Then, I found this sphere, it
transported me here, and you don't remember me."
"And why do I not remember any of this happening? I don't think it's something I could
just forget." Tidus was now fidgeting with his thumb, which had a bandage over it.
"What did you do to your thumb?" Yuna asked him, as he took the bandage off.
"Got in a fight and the idiot bit my thumb," Tidus said, seeming indulged in the process
of taking off his bandage, "Don't worry though, I showed him who was boss."
"Was that today, at your practice?"
"Sure was. It was actually...Uh...It was a ref. He said my shot wasn't a fair one, and the
next thing you knew, there we were, in the middle of a huge scrape, and the moron bit my thumb.
We'll see if he's reffing after this little incident."
"Oh, I see," Yuna said, as Tidus re-wrapped his thumb, "Was it a bad bite?"
"Let's just say the water where I was at was turning red," Tidus said, and seeing that
Yuna's face had gone white, covered himself saying, "I mean, naw, it wasn't that big. But my
stupid trainer, Francimo, or whatever his name is, was all like, "Hey! You need a bandage on
that!" I was all like, "Yeah right, monkey-."
He looked up from his bandage at Yuna who was listening to him with a strange look on
her face.
"Anyway," Tidus said, "You hungry or something? I guess we could go get something to
eat."
It was then that Yuna realized how hungry she was. She couldn't even recall the last time
she had eaten.
"That sounds really good," Yuna said, rubbing her stomach as she said this.
"Good, 'cause I'm starved," Tidus said, and then smiled in a thoughtful way, "Then, we'll
have a huge party here. Even larger than the last one!"
"Okay, that sounds good, I guess..." Yuna said, looking at Tidus in her own thoughtful
way, "Are you ever alone? You know, by yourself?"
Tidus looked at her as if he didn't comprehend the question.
"Sure I'm alone," he said, smiling, "It's not like I go to the bathroom in public! Anyway,
come on, we can go the pub that's down the street from here. It's awesome, 'cept for the fact
that it has tons of lame pictures of my old man..."
Tidus jumped up, and Yuna reached her hand for him to help her up, but he just ran to the
door, ignoring her.
Sighing, Yuna hopped up too, and ran to the door, following Tidus.
"Do you run everywhere?" she asked him as she caught up to him.
"Yeah! If we want a party, we'll have to hurry. We'll have to have it before all of the
games are on," Tidus replied.
"Are your Abes playing?" Yuna asked.
"Not tonight," Tidus repeated.
"Are you going to watch a game?"
"I could," Tidus said, slowing down a bit, "But that's boring. I usually go train by myself
or something."
"So you are alone," Yuna said, slowing down too, "You go train all by yourself?"
"Yeah, usually," Tidus said, giving Yuna a questioning look, "Why do you care?"
"I don't know," Yuna shrugged, "I just always wondered how you spent your days, that's
all."
"You sure you're not an obsessed fan?"
"Positive."
"Here we are," Tidus said, rounding the corner, "We can just have a seat outside and then
the waiter will take our order. We can see the stadium from here; it's definitely pretty awesome."
"You sure have things figured out," Yuna said as she followed Tidus onto the deck, and
watching as he plopped into a seat. Yuna took the seat ahead of him, and picked up the menu
that was lying on the table.
The waiter came by then, and said "hi" to Tidus, and the two became engaged in a
conversation about Blitzball.
"Well Tidus!" the waiter said with a chuckle, "Are you having the usual?"
"You know it!" Tidus replied.
"And how about you, Miss?" the waiter asked Yuna.
"Uh..." Yuna quickly scanned the menu, at all of the odd food that was on there, "I'll
have what Tidus is having."
"Okay," the waiter said, and Yuna guessed he was jotting down the word, "usual".
He was off then, telling them that their food would be on its way.
"So," Yuna said, lying her napkin neatly on her lap, "We're having a party?"
Tidus gave Yuna a questioning laugh, and smiled, "Actually, I'm having a party," he said,
somewhat nastily, "But you're invited."
"Uh, okay..." Yuna looked off, trying hard to figure Tidus out. One second he acted as if
he like her, and the next he acted as if she was nothing but an annoyance. It was almost as if he
had two personalities. She just couldn't figure him out.
Tidus closed his eyes then, as if trying to think of something.
"Sorry," he said, shaking his head, "I didn't try to sound rude or anything."
"Oh...Um...Don't worry," Yuna said, "I didn't think you sounded rude..." As if to prove that he
wasn't rude, Tidus took the napkin that he had scrunched up into a ball and placed it neatly on
his lap also.
Tidus stared at Yuna, as if deep in thought.
"You know," he said finally, "I've been doing some thinking...And...Well...I uh...Yeah..."
"You...uh...Yeah?" Yuna said, wondering what Tidus was trying to say.
Tidus leaned back in his chair, placing his arms behind his head, and not looking away
from Yuna.
"I kind of like you," he said finally, and smiled, "You're not so bad."
"Okay..." Yuna said, wondering what to say.
"Anyway," Tidus said, "The point is, I'm not trying to sound mean, or anything. It's just
that...Well...Any of the other girls I've ever dated were kind of popularity hogs. You know, they
were after my popularity, or my good looks, or my money, or..." Tidus continued naming off
things, smiling broader and broader each time he mentioned one of them.
"Man am I awesome," he finally said, and Yuna gave him a questioning look. "Okay,
back in your district," Tidus finally continued, "You were popular, right?"
"Uh...I wasn't in a district," Yuna reminded Tidus for what seemed like the hundredth
time.
"Uh, yeah, in Spita, or whatever district it was, you were popular though, right?"
"Spira..." Yuna said, rolling her eyes, "And yeah, I was fairly popular, I guess. I was the
High Summoner."
"Right, the High Summoner," Tidus said, smiling and leaning closer to Yuna, "So did
you have guys all over you?"
"Well, things in Spira are a little different..." Yuna said, but then recalled all of the
marriage requests she'd received and Quell, "Well..."
"See, you and I are on the same boat," Tidus said, leaning back again, "Girls just can't get
enough of me."
"Was he always this cocky?" Yuna found herself asking herself.
"Would you look who's here..." Tidus mumbled almost to himself, and leaned back in the
chair.
"Huh?" Yuna said, and looked behind her. A girl with a cute short blonde hair cut was
coming up, holding hands with a black haired man. Tidus was eyeing the girl with a strange look
on his face, and had his eyebrows raised.
"Hey Lea," Tidus said, "That your new guy?"
"Sure is," Lea said, sounding rather nasty, "That your new girl?"
"Sure is," Tidus said, matching Lea's tone, "Anyway, heard you were throwing some
party tonight. That true?"
Lea's blue eyes rolled, and she said, "Get to the point, Tidus. I'm not stupid. I know
you're having a party tonight also."
"Well," Tidus said, smiling, "I was going to invite you, but seeing that you're obviously
tied up, I guess I won't."
"Like I would need to come anyway," Lea said, rolling her eyes again, "My party's going
to be a huge success."
"You realize that your popularity is going to fade a little quickly, don't you?" Tidus just
said, sounding quite sure of himself.
"Oh, sure. C'mon," Lea said, turning around, "We'll go eat someplace else. Oh, and
Tidus? Just remember who's dad is head referee, okay? Toodles!"
The blonde girl flipped her short hair, and her escort and her left the area.
Tidus smiled, more to himself, and leaned even further back in his chair, letting his
napkin blow off of his lap.
"Who's that?" Yuna asked him.
"Her? Just some girl I know," Tidus said, "She's always been nothing but a pain. I can't
stand her."
"She's kind of pretty," Yuna said, looking deep in thought.
Tidus smiled, as if he was going to laugh, and said, "Yeah, but she's a major jerk."
The food came then, and the two ate in silence. Yuna had no idea what she was eating,
but she didn't mind it too much.
"Done?" Tidus said after a while, and laid some coins on the table, and stood up
stretching as he did so, "Now come on, party time!"
"How do people know you're having a party?" Yuna asked, running after him toward his
house.
His eyes rolled. "When am I not?" he said, shaking his head as he ran, "Now come on!
It's party time!"
Yuna awoke on the couch feeling actually quite awake. She jumped up, wondering to
herself where Tidus was.
"Tidus?" she called, wondering what the time was. She remembered him saying that he
was taking a two hour nap and then going to Blitzball practice.
"He must be at his practice," Yuna said aloud, and looked around the room she was
standing in. It was a total disaster, with food bits and everything else everywhere.
"Someone doesn't know how to clean..." she said to herself, and actually found herself
stooping down to clean the room. In a little while, she had filled three garbage bags of junk and
actually had the room looking rather nice.
Smiling, she made her way into the next, and found herself curious to know what the rest
of the house looked like. She walked into the next, which appeared to be the kitchen. It was an
odd looking kitchen, with very little food in it. Yuna made her way to the next room, which was
a room filled with trophies that were in terrible need of dusting.
The next room was a lovely marble bathroom, and Yuna smiled at the thought of it
actually being clean, and put it onto her "to do" list.
The room next to the marble bathroom was the bedroom, which was by far one of the
largest rooms in the house.
The bed was a large, rounded one, and the blankets were everywhere.
"He could have at least made the bed," Yuna said with an eye roll, as she made the bed.
Clothes were scattered everywhere on the floor, and Yuna tried not to feel too disgusted as she
piled up all of the dirty laundry.
The room was clean then, and Yuna smiled to herself. She ran back into the bathroom
and did a quick cleaning job, surprising herself at how much nicer it looked. The trophies were
dusted then, and the kitchen was tidied up as well, and then Yuna made her way into the next
room, where more large spheres were, all of them showing a blitzball game.
As Yuna put recorded spheres into their places, one in particular caught her eye. It was
labeled, "Tidus' Seventh Birthday"
Curiously, Yuna played back the sphere, to see a smiling seven-year-old Tidus waving
into the sphere.
"Hey mommy!" he said, smiling as he said so, and looking at all of the decorations.
"How old are you?" a woman's voice asked, who Yuna guessed was his mother's.
"Seven," the little Tidus said, and he stuck his tongue out, "I'm almost as old as you!"
His mom laughed, and she said, "Flattery isn't going to get you any more presents!"
"I know!" Tidus said, and ran over to a wrapped gift that lay on the floor.
"Wait just a second," his mom said, "We should wait until your father gets home."
Tidus stuck his lip out in his famous pout and crossed his arms.
"Do we have to?" he asked, frowning as he did so.
"Yes, I believe we should," Tidus' mom said, and then the sphere turned off.
It was black for a while, and then it came back on. It was now late, and Tidus was lying
on his stomach staring out the window.
"Your father should be back any minute now," Tidus' mother was saying, but she had a
worried tone in her voice.
"Yeah, sure," Tidus mumbled, not really paying attention.
Suddenly the door opened, and Jecht stood in, and two other men were there. They were
laughing and talking excitedly about something.
"It's about time," Little Tidus mumbled, but Jecht didn't seem to notice.
"How was the game?" Tidus' mom asked her husband.
"It was great!" Jecht said, "You should have been there!"
"I know..." Tidus' mom's voice dragged, "But you know, it's Tidus' birthday."
"Birthday?" Jecht said, and looked over at Tidus, who Yuna could tell was deliberately
not looking his way.
"I'm seven," Tidus' little voice said, "Starting today, anyway. Now can I open my
present?"
"Present?" Jecht said, "Do you deserve it?"
"Yes, I do!" Tidus said, standing up and grabbing his gift, "Now can I open it?"
"Go ahead," his mom said, and Tidus began tearing at the gift.
It was a box, and inside of it was a blitzball.
"Oh great, another Blitzball," Tidus said, tossing it aside.
"Tell 'im what else he got already," Jecht said to Tidus' mom.
"Not only that Tidus," his mom said happily, "But you were allowed into the year round
school for serious Blitzers!"
"Huh?" Tidus seemed shocked.
"Don't act stupid," Jecht said, "We're sending you away to an all year camp."
"Why?" Tidus asked, "Aren't the camps here good enough?"
"Oh, they're good," Jecht said, laughing, "But how else are we supposed to get rid of
you?"
Tidus frowned, and Yuna saw tears coming out of his eyes.
"Oh, go and cry, just because your old man wants you to be good." Jecht said, laughing as
he did so.
Tidus ran off, flying out of the door.
"Even if he goes to that camp, he'll never be able to beat his old man," Jecht laughed, and
was followed by his two friends. "Anyway," Jecht continued, "I called a babysitter for Little
Crier over there. We're invited to the after-party of a lifetime!"
The sphere dimmed then, and was over.
Yuna was amazed at what she saw. She stared at the sphere for quite some time,
absolutely amazed at what she'd viewed.
"Good thing I killed him, huh?" she heard Tidus say, and looked up.
He was standing in the doorway, looking quite hurt.
"I...I..." Yuna didn't know what to say.
"You obsessed fans," Tidus just said, shaking his head, "Just can't stay out of my
business. You even cleaned the house, didya? Wait, you didn't go upstairs, did you?"
"I didn't even know there was an upstairs," Yuna said, putting the sphere away, "And I'm
sorry, I didn't try to be in your business."
"Whatever," Tidus just said, and he threw a blitzball down in the corner.
"Hey!" Yuna said, picking it up, "Go put it away! I just cleaned!"
Tidus spun it on his finger and looked at Yuna for a while. Finally, he tucked the ball
under his arm, and said, "Did we really take care of my old man?"
"Yeah..." Yuna said, "But it wasn't quite like that. We didn't just go and kill him. In
fact...You know, he loved you..."
"Ha! Now that's a laugh," Tidus said, throwing his ball into the wall, "As if!"
Yuna picked the ball up once again, and said, "So, do you believe my story yet?"
"It's far too good to be true," Tidus said, as Yuna threw him the ball, "Where do you
want me to put this?"
"In the trophy room with your other five hundred," Yuna said, smiling.
Tidus scrunched his nose, "You're as bad as Auron was!" Then, he shook his head and
went into the trophy room.
"Don't just throw it in there!" Yuna shouted to him, smiling as she did so.
"Too late!" she heard Tidus yell back to her, "And there's no way I'm picking it up!"
"Fine then," Yuna yelled, "Don't. You know I'll just pick it up later."
"And just how long are you staying?" Tidus asked as he appeared back from the trophy
room.
"Uh, don't know," Yuna said, "As long as it takes for me to convince you that my story is
true."
"Then what?" Tidus asked her.
"We'll go back to Spira. Together! Wakka and Rikku, and everybody else will be really
glad to see you, you know."
"Wakka and Rikku?" Tidus said, "You really need help. They your imaginary friends?"
Yuna sighed and shook her head. It really was going to be hard to convince Tidus that
what happened in Spira really happened.
"Tidus?" she said finally, "I couldn't make all of this up. Some day, you'll realize that
what I'm saying is the truth. Unless I'm stuck in some weird reality..."
"Oh, I believe you enough," Tidus said, sitting next to her, "You're kind of cute to be an
obsessed fan."
"Uh...Thanks...I guess," Yuna said, trying to figure out if what Tidus had just said was a
good thing.
"I mean, you don't get lucky enough. I mean, come on, there's thousands of hot girls out
there, right?"
"Uh..."
"And none of them are totally obsessed fans. I mean, sure, everyone's a fan, but I can't
just snap my fingers and there they are sleeping with me, right?"
"Uh..."
"But then there's those ones who'd do anything for me, right?"
"Uh..."
"But hello! Can you say, huge, five-hundred pound chicks?"
"Uh..." Yuna just stared at Tidus, as he blabbed, and then finally shut up.
"Er, I mean..." he looked away from the strange look Yuna was giving him, and then
looked back at her and smiled.
"What can I say?" he said, shrugging, "I totally speak my mind!"
"Oh, I see," Yuna said, hoping that Tidus was just trying to be funny or something.
"Anyway," Tidus said, leaning his head in his arms, "In conclusion, you're not the
five-hundred pound, "I'd do anything for you" type."
Yuna smiled. "Well, you sure have me figured out," she said, and gave a slight giggle.
"And then again, you're not the, "hey, you're popular, so I'll go out with you" type either,
are you?"
"Tidus," Yuna said, feeling somewhat hopeless, "I told you. I met you in Spira. I fell in
love with you. You disappeared, came back, and disappeared again. Then, I found this sphere, it
transported me here, and you don't remember me."
"And why do I not remember any of this happening? I don't think it's something I could
just forget." Tidus was now fidgeting with his thumb, which had a bandage over it.
"What did you do to your thumb?" Yuna asked him, as he took the bandage off.
"Got in a fight and the idiot bit my thumb," Tidus said, seeming indulged in the process
of taking off his bandage, "Don't worry though, I showed him who was boss."
"Was that today, at your practice?"
"Sure was. It was actually...Uh...It was a ref. He said my shot wasn't a fair one, and the
next thing you knew, there we were, in the middle of a huge scrape, and the moron bit my thumb.
We'll see if he's reffing after this little incident."
"Oh, I see," Yuna said, as Tidus re-wrapped his thumb, "Was it a bad bite?"
"Let's just say the water where I was at was turning red," Tidus said, and seeing that
Yuna's face had gone white, covered himself saying, "I mean, naw, it wasn't that big. But my
stupid trainer, Francimo, or whatever his name is, was all like, "Hey! You need a bandage on
that!" I was all like, "Yeah right, monkey-."
He looked up from his bandage at Yuna who was listening to him with a strange look on
her face.
"Anyway," Tidus said, "You hungry or something? I guess we could go get something to
eat."
It was then that Yuna realized how hungry she was. She couldn't even recall the last time
she had eaten.
"That sounds really good," Yuna said, rubbing her stomach as she said this.
"Good, 'cause I'm starved," Tidus said, and then smiled in a thoughtful way, "Then, we'll
have a huge party here. Even larger than the last one!"
"Okay, that sounds good, I guess..." Yuna said, looking at Tidus in her own thoughtful
way, "Are you ever alone? You know, by yourself?"
Tidus looked at her as if he didn't comprehend the question.
"Sure I'm alone," he said, smiling, "It's not like I go to the bathroom in public! Anyway,
come on, we can go the pub that's down the street from here. It's awesome, 'cept for the fact
that it has tons of lame pictures of my old man..."
Tidus jumped up, and Yuna reached her hand for him to help her up, but he just ran to the
door, ignoring her.
Sighing, Yuna hopped up too, and ran to the door, following Tidus.
"Do you run everywhere?" she asked him as she caught up to him.
"Yeah! If we want a party, we'll have to hurry. We'll have to have it before all of the
games are on," Tidus replied.
"Are your Abes playing?" Yuna asked.
"Not tonight," Tidus repeated.
"Are you going to watch a game?"
"I could," Tidus said, slowing down a bit, "But that's boring. I usually go train by myself
or something."
"So you are alone," Yuna said, slowing down too, "You go train all by yourself?"
"Yeah, usually," Tidus said, giving Yuna a questioning look, "Why do you care?"
"I don't know," Yuna shrugged, "I just always wondered how you spent your days, that's
all."
"You sure you're not an obsessed fan?"
"Positive."
"Here we are," Tidus said, rounding the corner, "We can just have a seat outside and then
the waiter will take our order. We can see the stadium from here; it's definitely pretty awesome."
"You sure have things figured out," Yuna said as she followed Tidus onto the deck, and
watching as he plopped into a seat. Yuna took the seat ahead of him, and picked up the menu
that was lying on the table.
The waiter came by then, and said "hi" to Tidus, and the two became engaged in a
conversation about Blitzball.
"Well Tidus!" the waiter said with a chuckle, "Are you having the usual?"
"You know it!" Tidus replied.
"And how about you, Miss?" the waiter asked Yuna.
"Uh..." Yuna quickly scanned the menu, at all of the odd food that was on there, "I'll
have what Tidus is having."
"Okay," the waiter said, and Yuna guessed he was jotting down the word, "usual".
He was off then, telling them that their food would be on its way.
"So," Yuna said, lying her napkin neatly on her lap, "We're having a party?"
Tidus gave Yuna a questioning laugh, and smiled, "Actually, I'm having a party," he said,
somewhat nastily, "But you're invited."
"Uh, okay..." Yuna looked off, trying hard to figure Tidus out. One second he acted as if
he like her, and the next he acted as if she was nothing but an annoyance. It was almost as if he
had two personalities. She just couldn't figure him out.
Tidus closed his eyes then, as if trying to think of something.
"Sorry," he said, shaking his head, "I didn't try to sound rude or anything."
"Oh...Um...Don't worry," Yuna said, "I didn't think you sounded rude..." As if to prove that he
wasn't rude, Tidus took the napkin that he had scrunched up into a ball and placed it neatly on
his lap also.
Tidus stared at Yuna, as if deep in thought.
"You know," he said finally, "I've been doing some thinking...And...Well...I uh...Yeah..."
"You...uh...Yeah?" Yuna said, wondering what Tidus was trying to say.
Tidus leaned back in his chair, placing his arms behind his head, and not looking away
from Yuna.
"I kind of like you," he said finally, and smiled, "You're not so bad."
"Okay..." Yuna said, wondering what to say.
"Anyway," Tidus said, "The point is, I'm not trying to sound mean, or anything. It's just
that...Well...Any of the other girls I've ever dated were kind of popularity hogs. You know, they
were after my popularity, or my good looks, or my money, or..." Tidus continued naming off
things, smiling broader and broader each time he mentioned one of them.
"Man am I awesome," he finally said, and Yuna gave him a questioning look. "Okay,
back in your district," Tidus finally continued, "You were popular, right?"
"Uh...I wasn't in a district," Yuna reminded Tidus for what seemed like the hundredth
time.
"Uh, yeah, in Spita, or whatever district it was, you were popular though, right?"
"Spira..." Yuna said, rolling her eyes, "And yeah, I was fairly popular, I guess. I was the
High Summoner."
"Right, the High Summoner," Tidus said, smiling and leaning closer to Yuna, "So did
you have guys all over you?"
"Well, things in Spira are a little different..." Yuna said, but then recalled all of the
marriage requests she'd received and Quell, "Well..."
"See, you and I are on the same boat," Tidus said, leaning back again, "Girls just can't get
enough of me."
"Was he always this cocky?" Yuna found herself asking herself.
"Would you look who's here..." Tidus mumbled almost to himself, and leaned back in the
chair.
"Huh?" Yuna said, and looked behind her. A girl with a cute short blonde hair cut was
coming up, holding hands with a black haired man. Tidus was eyeing the girl with a strange look
on his face, and had his eyebrows raised.
"Hey Lea," Tidus said, "That your new guy?"
"Sure is," Lea said, sounding rather nasty, "That your new girl?"
"Sure is," Tidus said, matching Lea's tone, "Anyway, heard you were throwing some
party tonight. That true?"
Lea's blue eyes rolled, and she said, "Get to the point, Tidus. I'm not stupid. I know
you're having a party tonight also."
"Well," Tidus said, smiling, "I was going to invite you, but seeing that you're obviously
tied up, I guess I won't."
"Like I would need to come anyway," Lea said, rolling her eyes again, "My party's going
to be a huge success."
"You realize that your popularity is going to fade a little quickly, don't you?" Tidus just
said, sounding quite sure of himself.
"Oh, sure. C'mon," Lea said, turning around, "We'll go eat someplace else. Oh, and
Tidus? Just remember who's dad is head referee, okay? Toodles!"
The blonde girl flipped her short hair, and her escort and her left the area.
Tidus smiled, more to himself, and leaned even further back in his chair, letting his
napkin blow off of his lap.
"Who's that?" Yuna asked him.
"Her? Just some girl I know," Tidus said, "She's always been nothing but a pain. I can't
stand her."
"She's kind of pretty," Yuna said, looking deep in thought.
Tidus smiled, as if he was going to laugh, and said, "Yeah, but she's a major jerk."
The food came then, and the two ate in silence. Yuna had no idea what she was eating,
but she didn't mind it too much.
"Done?" Tidus said after a while, and laid some coins on the table, and stood up
stretching as he did so, "Now come on, party time!"
"How do people know you're having a party?" Yuna asked, running after him toward his
house.
His eyes rolled. "When am I not?" he said, shaking his head as he ran, "Now come on!
It's party time!"