And Baby Makes Three
Chapter Fourteen – I Hope You're Left-Handed…
By: Digi-Esca Girl
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"I won! I won! I won!"
The excited cheers of a certain four-year-old adoptee echoed through the empty stadium, eliciting laughter and smiles from his new parents. The trio had been playing blitzball in the Zanarkand Memorial Stadium for over four hours, and despite this, Kieran was still brimming with energy.
"C'mon Kieran!" Yuna called as the dark-haired boy began to follow Tidus into the Men's locker room, "I have to wash your hair!" The brunette child looked to the blitzer beside him, but the blonde just shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head towards the woman to their right with her hands on her hips.
"Coming!" Kieran replied, turning on his heel and trotting off towards the young girl who was to become his mother. Yuna smiled when he reached her, placing a hand on his back and walking with him into the locker room designated for women.
Tidus stood there for a moment, watching them disappear behind the cerulean walls of the building and into the change room. He sighed, running a hand through his wet hair and letting it drop listlessly back to his side. He shook his head, a slight smile appearing on his lips as he turned and walked into the locker room, his feet making smacking sounds against the wet floor.
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A few minutes later saw Tidus leaning leisurely against the front desk, speaking avidly to his friend about his encounter earlier with the Luca blitzball team. He was so enthralled by his own story he failed to notice Yuna approaching with a very tired looking Kieran in her arms.
"So then I went to punch him," Tidus' fist jutted out in front of him in a fast punch. "and the stupid prick grabbed me and slammed me against the wall. I hit my head, so I couldn't counter fast enough and the bastard kneed me right in the stomach!" The blonde lifted up the front of his shirt to show Taylor the faint purple bruise that spanned 10 inches in diameter. The young man winced, then discreetly pointed over Tidus' shoulder at the waiting girl behind him.
"Oh, hey Yuna!" Tidus greeted, a smile lighting his face almost instantly, despite his past annoyance with her. He was about to say more, when he finally took note of the half-asleep boy she was holding.
She extended her arms towards him slightly. "Would you mind taking him out to the car?"
Tidus didn't know what to do, and he glanced over his shoulder quickly at Taylor for help. The other youth just nodded vigorously, putting his own arms out in front of him as if he were receiving the child himself.
Taking a slow, calculating step forward, Tidus mimicked his friend and held out his arms. Once the boy was handed to him, he barely noticed the additional weight and adjusted him to a more comfortable position with ease. He looked down at him with cautiously receding uncertainty, taking in the adorable sight of his damp chestnut hair hanging limp over his gently closed eyes.
"Later Tidus." Came Taylor's whispered voice from behind the desk.
"It was nice meeting you," Yuna replied quietly, tossing the youth a smile over her shoulder as she walked away to catch up with Tidus, who was nearing the front doors.
Yuna went to hold the doors open for him, and was surprised for a moment when they swung open as she approached.
'Automatic doors,' She laughed to herself, watching the blonde pass quickly through the entrance way and out into the parking lot, 'How could I not remember that?'
She followed Tidus to his car, and stopped to take his keys from his pocket when he gestured for her to do so. Luckily for her, they were hanging slightly out of their cloth cage, so she didn't actually have to go into the man's pants. (-_^) She unlocked the doors and helped him slide the sleeping boy carefully into the back seat. Once he was buckled in around the waist, (a tricky manuver as he was asleep) the two young adults got into the front driver and passenger seats without so much as a sound.
Tidus started the car and turned around in his seat, draping his arm across the back of Yuna's chair as he guided himself backwards out of the parking stall. His hand, back inside its usual leather casing was touching her shoulder lightly, but he didn't seem to notice. Yuna concluded that the thickness of the material was preventing him from feeling her skin under his fingers, and she was suddenly glad for it. Once they had pulled out of the parking lot and turned into traffic Tidus' arm slid back to his side, his hand now lightly gripping the bottom of the black steering wheel.
Inwardly, Yuna was both relieved and slightly disappointed. After their encounter in the sphere pool, she couldn't shake the strange, yet prominent feeling that she liked him being close to her. For almost the entire ride she thought about the blitzer.
'Now if we were talking about any other guy,' She thought to herself, watching two birds hop about on the sidewalk as Tidus waited for the light to turn green, 'I wouldn't be as frazzled. But with this.....' She paused to glance sideways and look him over quickly. She took in the khaki shorts and navy button-down T-shirt and moved on to his face. With his bright cerulean eyes and jagged blonde hair he looked like a...well, like a-- 'jock.' Yuna decided, 'It's different somehow...'
Thoroughly puzzled, the young summoner opted to continue staring out the window, watching their high school fly past as Tidus sped up slightly to avoid being trapped by the impending red light. He turned onto the street that ran behind the gymnasium, and slowed down a slight bit as he drove down the long residential road. He took a left at the first junction, then continued down a little ways until turning left onto a freshly poured concrete driveway.
He turned off the car, opening and closing his door quietly before walking up towards the house. Yuna already had the back door open and was in the middle of extracting the sleeping boy from the vehicle, so he figured he'd be best off just opening the front doors and getting Kieran's bed ready for him.
He fumbled around in his pants pocket for his keys, and began searching his jacket when he didn't find them. He was starting to get angry when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whipped around to see Yuna standing beside him, Kieran resting on her shoulder being supported by her left arm while her right hand held out his keys. He flashed a smile and took the yellow keychain from her fingers, glancing at it for a second and locating the key to the house. Sliding the key into the lock, Tidus turned it quickly until he heard a click from inside the door. Opening the door slowly, he held it open so as to let Yuna through.
Once inside, Tidus kicked off his shoes and dashed upstairs towards Kieran's room, while Yuna slowly placed her shoes to the right of the door in their designated spot. After this was done she made her way up the stairs, with her right arm now supporting the boy and her left steadying herself by holding the stair rail as she ascended.
Upon arriving at Kieran's door, she was slightly surprised to see a certain blonde blitzer fixing the small pillows in a way she knew would be comfortable for the slumbering child. She smiled warmly at him, walking into the room and laying the boy down gently onto the small mattress. While Yuna carefully took off his jacket, Tidus removed his shoes, setting them on the floor by the dresser. He grabbed the jacket from Yuna and hung it on the back of the nearby chair, making sure it wouldn't fall.
He then walked over to where Yuna was standing, admiring the sleeping boy as if he really was her very own child. 'It's amazing how they make you like them…' Tidus thought of children, gazing down fondly on the small brunette as he stood at Yuna's side.
*RIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!*
The interruption made Yuna jump slightly, and Tidus placed a hand on her shoulder quickly out of habit before racing out of the room to grab the offensive intruding object. Once he reached the wall on which the phone hung, he glanced at the name and number displayed in the identification panel.
547-8716
Unknown Caller
'That's Dad's number…' The teen thought warily, slowly extending his arm out to push the "Answer" button. Once he did so, the small screen that also hung on the wall flickered to life, and the various colors affiliated with Jecht's home and face melted quickly onto the screen.
"Tidus." The older man's face was set in a frown.
"Dad." The blonde replied, leaning against the wall opposite the screen and folding his arms defensively across his chest.
"I want to see you and the team. We need to talk about something." He kept his sentences short and to the point; a sure sign that he was angry.
"I just got home. D'you mind?"
"Not really. Be at my house in five minutes." The screen went blank as Jecht disconnected. Tidus growled deep in the back of his throat and squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to hold back his anger. What was it about that man that aggravated him so much, anyway?
He ran his gloved hand through his hair and let out a pent up breath he'd been holding since Jecht had told him to leave the house. Shaking his head he walked back in the direction of Kieran's room, only to find Yuna leaving it and closing the door softly behind her. She looked up at him when she heard his heavy footfalls on the carpet, and the barely-caged anger boiling in his eyes made her own mixed gaze swell with concern.
"I have to go somewhere." He suddenly found the carpet very interesting. "I'll be back in a little while." He turned and headed for the stairs, determined not to make eye contact with the young chestnut haired woman behind him. She always managed to make him feel guilty somehow...
He made it to the front door, and was just about to exit the house when he stopped dead in his tracks. Turning back around, he looked up and saw Yuna standing half-way down the staircase, her left hand on the railing and her right resting on her hip.
Fishing his car keys out of his pocket, he quietly said, "Don't wait up this time."
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It was beginning to drive him crazy.
The incessant ringing of his cell phone was making Wakka insane. He was rummaging through the various compartments in his truck, trying to locate the source of the noise. Luckily for him it was the middle of the day and rush hour traffic was preventing him from heading across the intersection even though the light was green.
He finally found the menacing object, buried underneath the spare shirt and pants he kept in the back seat incase he needed a change of clothes. He flipped it open and pushed the flashing blue button, not even bothering to check whose name was blinking on the display panel.
"Ya?" He barked into the end of the device.
"Wakka? It's Tidus." The sound of his best friend's voice relaxed the Besaidian native a slight bit.
"Whadda ya want?" He questioned, re-buckling his seat belt and placing one hand on the steering wheel.
"My dad wants the entire team at his place. Right now." Agitation was present in the younger man's voice as he spoke.
"Okay. See ya there, eh?"
"Yeah."
The voice was followed by the dull sound of a ring tone, and Wakka clicked his phone shut, shoving it into his pocket and stepping on the gas. The four cars in front of him and turned right, leaving him clear to get across the street and onto the less crowded residential roads. He referred to the well-worn map in his mind to get to his coaches' house, and arrived there within a few minutes.
Just as he pulled up, he saw a familiar red sports car drive past him and pull into the driveway, stopping abruptly next to the silver SUV already parked there. Wakka got out of the truck, locking the doors behind him, and walked over to the car, whose driver was still buckled into the front seat. The window was open, so the flame-haired teen bent down to peer inside, already knowing what he would see.
Tidus sat there, looking like he was going to explode; into terrified spasms or uncontrollable rage, Wakka couldn't be sure. His hands still gripped the steering wheel like a vice, and his eyes seemed to be burning a hole into the garage door in front of him.
"C'mon, man." Wakka said quietly, gesturing out of the car with both hands. "It can't be that bad, ya?"
"It's about Luca." Tidus replied quickly, reaching over and taking off his seat belt. "I know it is. He found out somehow." Wakka couldn't respond right away, seeing as the blonde teen had rolled up his window in order to lock up his car once he exited. He did just that, locking the doors and putting the alarm on the vehicle, not caring that they were in practically the safest neighbourhood for miles.
"Hey guys!" Came a shout from the end of the driveway. The two teens turned to see Leathen jogging up the concrete surface towards them, a smile on his face.
"What're you so happy about?" Tidus asked, a small grin appearing on his face at the sight of his fellow blitzer. His happiness was contagious, no matter what had caused it.
"I got my acceptance letter from the BSC today!" He replied excitedly, coming up in between them and draping his arms around their shoulders leisurely.
"Bevelle Sports Camp?!" Wakka inquired, his head snapping around to stare at the other boy. "You serious, man?"
"Of course I'm serious! See? I told you guys to send in your applications! If I can get in, you guys will be accepted no problem!" Leathen sounded encouraging, which gave them both a much needed ego boost.
"Actually…" Tidus began, stroking his chin with his thumb and forefinger thoughtfully. "There was a letter in the mail today from the camp. I haven't looked at it yet, though." The spark had returned to his eyes.
"It's probably them asking you to register there instead of going to collage next year. How much you wanna bet?" Leathen joked, his smile widening, if it were possible.
They arrived at the front door, a grand affair in itself standing at eight feet high and made of acutely polished oak. The handles were ornately designed and even the doorbell was fancy. 'This is my dad's house, alright…' thought Tidus with a slight frown.
He reached up and pulled open the door, not even bothering to announce their presence by ringing the doorbell or knocking. He figured that as one of the players on the team, not to mention as the coach's own son, he had the right to simply enter the building. They stepped inside, taking off their shoes and placing them on the racks designated for holding the items in pairs. None of them having jackets, they continued on towards the spacious living room, where Jecht, Auron and the rest of the team were already seated around a roaring fireplace.
Jarvis looked up at them and flashed a smile. "About time you guys got here!" He joked.
Leathen sat beside him and the two began talking enthusiastically about the sports campus in Bevelle that the elder teen was admitted to.
Not even glancing at his father, Tidus strolled over to the armchair that was nearest to the kitchen door and sat down. He rested his left elbow on the arm of the plush chair and propped up his head with his left hand, sighing quietly and wishing he was anywhere else.
Wakka settled down on the far right side of the couch next to Tidus' chair, leaning back and sinking into the soft cushions. He folded his hands together behind his head and closed his eyes, listening to the chatter of his fellow blitzers. The soft crackling of the fire lulled him into a relaxed haze, and he wasn't aware of the talking ceasing around him until Jaxon, a defenseman seated beside him on the couch, elbowed him swiftly in the ribs. He grunted and sat forward, one hand flying to his rib cage automatically and the other laying to rest on his knee. He nodded his thanks to the red-haired young man just as Jecht stepped in front of the fireplace and addressed the group.
"Do you have any idea why you're here tonight?" He asked, his voice rough and strained.
'You called us here, that's why. Idiot…' Tidus snapped mentally, shooting a quick glare in his father's direction.
When no one answered out loud, their coach continued. "There was an incident a few days ago regarding a team that we all know very well." The last few words were spoken with so much sarcasm that Jecht actually sounded as if he favoured the Luca team, but his own players knew better.
"The Luca Goers filed a complaint against us, claiming physical harm was inflicted on several of their players by members of this very team." Auron stepped in to carry on, casting pointed glances in Tidus and Wakka's general direction as he spoke. "Thankfully, they reconsidered before any actual charges were laid, but the price we paid for this was great. Gentlemen, we have to throw the next tournament and let Luca take the cup."
Angry and surprised shouts erupted all around the room, and players looked wildly around, as if accusing everyone else in the room for this injustice. Leathen and Jarvis bowed their heads slightly, trying not to make eye contact with anyone else around them. Tidus and Wakka simply glanced at each other before resuming their steady gaze at the floor and fireplace, pretending not to notice the stares coming from their coaches and teammates.
"We absolutely have to? There's no way around it?" Jaxon questioned, trying his best to remain optimistic.
"None whatsoever." Jecht answered, leaning against the fireplace wall and folding his arms across his chest.
"Now we are aware that not all of you were involved. Leathen?" Auron turned his sharp gaze on the young man, who remained motionless in his seat, defiantly staring right back at his superior. "Would you be so kind as to dismiss all those who were not present at the time of this incident?"
"Yes sir." Leathen replied, rising to his feet and looking around the room. He pointed first at a pair of ebony haired twins seated on the floor beside the fireplace. "Damien, Dante; you guys can leave…and Ayden you can go too." He gestured to a young brunet seated next to Jaxon on the couch. Leathen dismissed six more players before finally sitting back down beside Jarvis.
"Just as I expected." Jecht muttered, his dark sienna gaze lingering a moment too long on Tidus.
"Normally in a situation such as this, boys," Auron addressed them calmly, but there was a distinct edge to his tone that did not go unnoticed. "we would make you run so many drills you wouldn't be able to move for days, you'd be so physically exhausted. We could make you run barefooted until your feet were nothing but bloody stubs attached to your legs; we could make you throw a blitzball until your arm snapped or ripped off, and other such delightful things."
Lucian looked afraid, but hid it well, while Tidus and the others looked completely unfazed. They had heard these threats several times before, and they were always meant to scare, nothing more.
Jecht continued on in Auron's place. "But since that tournament we're all looking forward to is only two days away, inflicting physical harm on you boys wouldn't be a smart thing to do."
"Why does it matter? We have to lose anyways; might as well be injured so we can forfeit the game." Lucian offered, sounding defeated.
"If we're gonna lose, we're gonna do it in the most dignified way we can!" Jecht argued.
'Ooooo. Daddy knows a big word!' Tidus drawled sarcastically in his mind, wishing he could say the words out loud.
"We'll make it a nail-biter, so to speak." Auron said, removing his sunglasses and cleaning them quickly with his deep crimson sweater. "Lose at the last second so it looks like Luca is the better team."
"Did ya have to say it like that?" Jarvis muttered, rubbing absentmindedly at a bruise on his upper arm.
"We'll just tell Jaxon to let that last goal go in, ya?" Wakka said, more so to himself than to the others around him.
"So what are you gonna make us do instead?" Tidus asked, sounding uninterested which, coincidentally, he was.
"See this?" Jecht replied, reaching down into a drawer and pulling out a large, blue-backed book that was at least five inches thick. "You're gonna write this out by hand."
"All of it!?" Lucian exclaimed, almost falling out of his seat.
"Every word. But there's a catch; you have to do it with your non-dominant hand." Jecht answered, an evil smirk playing on his lips.
All the players' eyes widened, but not one of them said a word. Wakka rose to his feet and fumbled around in his pockets for a second, withdrawing a pen from inside his vest at last. He looked at Jecht and Auron each in turn before walking up to them and grabbing the book. He sat down on the floor in front of the coffee table, placed the book on his back and opened it up to the first page. He cringed inwardly when he saw that the writing was very small, but didn't show any signs of dislike outwardly.
He glanced around to the others, all of them searching their pockets for the pens they always had with them incase the 'crazy fan wanting an autograph' situation reared its ugly head.
"We're gonna need some paper, ya?"
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"And just where have you been?" The greeting that welcomed Wakka home over six hours later was exactly what he had expected.
"You really wanna know?" Smirking, he pulled off his boots and tossed them into the closet. She nodded as he walked past her into the kitchen. "I had to do a little paperwork, ya?" He answered enigmatically.
"What do you mean paperwork? Blitzball players shouldn't have anything to do with paper, with the exception of signing autographs." Lulu replied, following him into the blue-tiled room and watching as he withdrew a can of soda from the fridge.
He pulled back the tab, cracking open the aluminium can and taking a slug of the acidic drink inside before responding to her question. He swiped the back of his hand across his lips quickly before he spoke. "Jecht and Auron gave us our punishment for gettin' involved with the Luca team." He chuckled and took another drink.
"They made you do paperwork? What kind of punishment is that?" Lulu tried to imagine Wakka behind a desk, a pen in his hand flying across a piece of paper. She could picture that, but trying to conjure up an image of the Besaidian actually looking like he was interested in what he was doing was a futile effort.
"A damn good one!" Wakka retorted before gulping down the last of the soda.
"Call me retarded, but I still don't have an answer to my question, Wakka."
He crushed the can in his right hand, holding up his left to the mage. The thumb and forefinger's sides were red, and the bottom of the cuticle on his ring finger was swollen and slightly purple. 'Obvious signs of a lot of writing, but…Wakka's not left-handed…' Lulu thought, reaching out to pull his hand closer to her face. Her crimson eyes widened slightly as another idea entered her head. 'What if that was the intention…?'
"He made you write with your non-dominant hand, didn't he?" She asked quietly, still studying his swollen appendage.
"The entire Blitzball Rule Book, ya?!" Wakka replied, his voice rising in volume out of anger.
"Shhh!" Lulu scolded instantly, "Jade just went to sleep half an hour ago!" She whispered harshly, smacking his hand roughly on the palm. He yelped and sent a glare her way, before fully taking in what she had just said.
"It's eleven o'clock at night. Why did she go to sleep so late?"
"She couldn't relax because you weren't in the house." Lulu answered firmly, but quietly, letting his hand fall back to his side, "It's amazing how attached she got to you after barely a week…" She continued, more so to herself than to Wakka.
A slightly awkward silence followed, broken only by the sound of Wakka's soda can whizzing through the air and landing smoothly in the blue recycle box by the kitchen door.
"The ENTIRE rule book, huh?" Lulu said, her eyes roaming quickly over Wakka's deep orange cargo pants and slightly brighter tangerine sweater. She stopped on his tanned face and waited for his reply.
"The whole damn thing." Wakka confirmed, his russet eyes flashing with anger at the mere mention of what he had just been forced to do.
The silence lasted for only a few seconds before it was interrupted by the sound of quiet laughter. Wakka's eyes, which had been focused intently on the tiled floor, snapped up to the magic-user's face, taking in quickly what he found there.
Lulu was chuckling to herself, and she was slowly but surely getting louder. Soon enough, she was almost doubling over with the force of her laughter, and her eyes were beginning to water.
"And just what in the hell is so funny?" Wakka asked, placing one hand on his hip and leaning down to try and peer at her face.
It took a minute or so before the mage could collect herself and give him an answer. "A combination of things, actually." She replied, her eyes sparkling with mischievous mirth. Wakka nodded at her to continue, so she did. "First, the fact that you had to write out a 1,592 page book with your left hand;" She paused to chuckle several times before going on, "and secondly…" Her eyes roved over his form once more, "you look like a carrot."
"Wha?!" Taking a step backwards, Wakka's eyes widened and he took on a look of total shock.
"See for yourself…" Lulu gestured towards the mirror with her hand, laughing at the look of utter disbelief on his face.
The blitzer made his way over to the reflective glass hanging on the kitchen wall, and gave himself a quick once over. 'Hmmm…' He thought, 'Orange pants, orange shirt…' He didn't like where this was going. 'Green headband. Yevon help me, she's right!'
As he took in his carrot-ness, he began to realize that he had not planned this at all. He had simply reached for clean clothes in the morning, and this was what he came up with. After that realization, came another: Whenever he had run into someone, they'd chuckled to themselves once or twice, but never actually said anything. He had been called carrot-top in school, but this was ridiculous.
Soon, a laugh began to rumble deep in his chest, and it slowly bubbled forth until it spilled from his lips. After a minute or so of watching him laugh at himself, Lulu joined in without even thinking about it, her feminine laugh mingling with the deep baritone of Wakka's chuckle.
They stood in the kitchen for at least five minutes laughing, for once not caring that they didn't really like each other and just enjoying the moment. It passed quickly, however, and the pair of them were soon simply standing there, looking at each other with soft smiles still on their faces.
"Well, I gotta go to practice tomorrow, so I better get to bed, ya?" Wakka broke the silence, his voice quiet and still laced with the humour he had expressed mere moments before.
"Yes…I should go too. I'm taking Jade down to a ballet school tomorrow to see if she'd like to sign up." Lulu paused, lifting her gaze slowly to meet his. "That is, if it's alright with you. We're supposed to talk about every decision we make…" She added the last few words as an afterthought to herself.
"It's fine. She needs something she can focus on besides that orphanage." Wakka replied, turning to walk out the doorway.
"What do you mean?" Lulu called after him, extending her hand in front of her slightly as if to stop him from leaving.
"She's afraid that we won't like her and we'll take her back, ya know? She thinks about it all the time; how much she hates it and stuff like that." Placing a hand on the doorframe, he turned his head to look at the young woman standing by the table. The questioning look on her face made him explain the rest. "She told me a few nights ago when she climbed into my bed. She likes to talk, that one…" He chuckled to himself and walked out of the kitchen, slowly ascending the stairs and leaving Lulu to watch him go, a look of mixed shock, surprise and relief flickering on her face.
She remained in the brightly lit room for a few more minutes after he left, finally sighing and turning off the lights. She turned off the lamps and hall lights as she headed upstairs, and by the time she got to her room, she had counted ten switches, eleven, if she counted her bedroom.
She washed her face and brushed her teeth as methodically as she usually did, slipping into her nightgown and crawling into bed. She debated reading for a little while, but quickly banished that thought when her head hit the feather pillow. She reached up and turned off her bedside lamp, rolling over onto her side and pulling the covers up to her chin.
Curling her legs up to her body, she wrapped her arm around a pillow that lay beside her, loving the added warmth it provided once she'd held it for a few minutes. Her eyes opened slightly, and she stared at the wall, knowing that on the other side, Wakka was sleeping soundly. She smiled to herself, remembering the sound of his deep laughter, and unconsciously pulling her pillow closer to her.
Whether it was just a pillow, or Wakka, her mind couldn't decide as sleep claimed her for the night, enveloping her in its satin folds and lulling her into a dreamless sleep.
Meanwhile, Wakka was not sleeping as soundly as the black mage had assumed. He was lying on his back, his arms folded underneath his head, staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom.
'I wonder what it would be like if we kissed again…' He thought vaguely, sleep already beginning to cloud his mind. 'Would it be any better if we were both…ready for it? Hmm…………'
His last conscious thought was of those full lips meeting his, letting them both abandon all their inhibitions and just……be. It was the most incredible thing in the world, and he had experienced it with the last person in his life that he had thought he would ever share it with.
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Tidus trudged up the driveway for the second time that day, feeling tired, angry and above all things extremely annoyed with his father. 'Writing out the entire manual is one thing, but with my left hand?! The man's a lunatic!!' He thought, his frown deepening as he finally reached the front doors. He dug his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, opening it rather loudly for someone coming home at eleven thirty at night.
He quickly realized his mistake when he saw Yuna's sleeping figure on the couch, looking as serene as ever. He quietly put his shoes away and set his keys on the small shelf inside the closet, closing and locking the front door behind him.
He entered the living room and quickly glanced around for any sign of Kieran, but found none. 'Probably up in his room…' Tidus concluded, walking slowly towards the large couch in front of the television. The 52 inch screen was still blazing with the various colors of last week's blitzball game; Yuna had been watching the weekly Sports Report that aired every night and showed all the highlights of the week's games.
A small smile crept onto his face as he kneeled down in front of the sleeping girl. Both of her hands were curled and resting beside her face, her knees pulled up to her stomach and a blanket draped loosely over her body. His gaze travelled over her quickly, stopping to rest on her face.
The light from the TV reflected onto her face, making her skin glow blue, then red, then blue again as the colors on the screen changed. He moved so as to block the intruding light from hitting her face so he could really look at her. He had to admit, just this once, that she certainly was beautiful.
Her lips were parted very slightly, her chest rising and falling with each deep breath she took in sleep. Her eyes were gently closed, and Tidus could just picture those bi-coloured orbs staring up at him as they had earlier that day. He could see the tiny freckles that peppered her nose and cheeks, and wondered why he had never noticed them before.
She shifted suddenly, causing a strand of her fawn coloured hair to slip from behind her ear and fall into her face. Her nose wrinkled the tiniest bit, and Tidus couldn't suppress the smile that spread quickly onto his face from out of nowhere. He pulled off his glove and reached towards her, very gently moving the silky strand back to where it came from. It felt like the smoothest velvet under his fingers, and he was suddenly very glad that he had thought to remove the leather covering that had encased his hand.
He located the TV remote after a few seconds of searching and flicked off the large screen, cutting off the annoying voice of the commentator as well. He set it back down onto the coffee table and stood up to his full height. Looking down at Yuna, he closed his eyes and briefly contemplated something. Deciding a minute later, he bent down and collected the slender girl into his arms, shifting her so that her head lay against his shoulder and he was holding her under the knees and supporting her back. He let the blanket fall back to the couch, and made his way upstairs. It was not a daunting task, seeing as Yuna weighed practically nothing to him, and he soon found himself outside her room.
The door was ajar, so he lightly kicked it open, his sock-encased foot not making a sound. The lights were off, but he had the light from the hallway to navigate with. He carried her over to the bed, setting her down and holding her in a sitting position with one arm, while his other pulled back the covers and moved her pillows around. Once he felt that the bed was ready, he lifted her again, gently laying her down on the space he'd created by moving the blankets.
She shifted onto her side right away, curling her knees back up to her chest like she had when she was on the couch. Tidus covered her up with the white sheet and quilt, noticing for the first time that there were lightly drawn pink, blue and purple flowers dancing across the fabric, as if blown by some imaginary breeze. He pulled them up to her chin, tucking them in so she wouldn't be cold. He smiled slightly as he looked at his work, and turned to leave.
He stopped dead in his tracks when he felt a pressure being exerted on his forearm as he tried to walk away. He looked down, locating the source of the problem instantly. Yuna had her hand resting on his arm. She had obviously moved it there when he was carrying her, and simply hadn't let go yet. He contemplated again for a moment, making his decision quickly.
He took a few steps back, sitting down and situating himself on the edge of her bed. Her grip relaxed, but she didn't move her hand, keeping it near his wrist as she slipped deeper into slumber. Tidus watched her for a few minutes that, unbeknownst to him, quickly turned into an hour. When he finally glanced at his watch, he had to do a double take to make sure that it really read 12:34AM. Once he was sure it did, he moved his gaze back to where her hand rested, taking in the sight of her small fingers and the silver ring that fit snugly onto one of them.
He gently fixed his other hand around her wrist, lifting it so she released her hold on his forearm. She didn't move, so he set the small appendage down beside her face, watching as the fingers curled into a very loose fist and she relaxed totally once again. After quickly making sure that she was still tucked in, he got to his feet and left the room.
As he closed the door behind him, he glanced over his shoulder one last time at the sleeping summoner, and his smile returned. Once it was closed, he walked down the hallway to his own room, cracking open the door and looking at his unmade bed with amusement. He undid the first four buttons of his shirt and pulled it over his head, tossing it into the laundry basket without even looking. He changed quickly into his favourite pair of deep blue pyjama pants, revelling in the feeling of the soft cotton against his skin.
He crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to his chest like he usually did, angling his body slightly onto his left side and tucking one arm under his pillow. The other came to rest draped over his chest, his hand landing near his face with a quiet 'thump'. He closed his eyes, letting sleep claim him like he had wanted it to since he wrote the first line of the rule book.
His last conscious thought was of a beautiful lavender flower, which smelled strangely of cinnamon…
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"Do you ever miss him, Auron?" Jecht asked, shredding the last of the written out rule books.
"Who?" Auron inquired, lifting his gaze from the newspaper for a second to glance at his friend.
"Braska. I was just thinking about him today when Tidus walked in here…" Dumping the finely shredded paper into a garbage bag, Jecht moved to sit on the recently vacated couch.
"Why would he enter your mind at the sight of your son?" Auron wondered out loud, putting down the flimsy paper and taking a seat next to the younger man on the furniture.
"Tidus is paired up with Yuna for that marriage thing in school. It just got me thinkin' about him, that's all." Jecht's gaze became lost in the dancing flames in the fireplace.
"I do miss him, to tell you the truth. He always kept us from fighting too much…" The elder of the two men began to reminisce as a small smile fell upon his face.
"Yeah. Remember the time when that Bandersnatch* stole my wallet?"
"And you chased it down a ravine and fell into a pond? Yes, I remember." Auron and Jecht both chuckled at the memory.
"I smelled like swamp mud for three days!"
The two of them laughed for a few minutes, before Auron sobered up and a very unhappy look overtook his aged features. "Yuna's going to have to start her training in a year or two."
"Do you think she's ready for that?" Jecht's laughter ceased immediately at his friend's question.
"She is Braska's daughter, isn't she?"
"True…But he was older when he started his training; At least five years older than Yuna is now." Jecht's statement made Auron's eyes cloud with contemplation.
He replied after a few long, silent minutes had passed between them. "She has Lulu for her guardian; She'll be just fine."
"You forget, my fine feathered friend," Auron looked quizzically at Jecht, who appeared to be too deep in thought to notice the humour of his sentence, "she's living with MY son…"
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*A Bandersnatch is a dog-like fiend monster in the game.
FINALLY!!!!! Whew! *wipes brow* I'm soooooo glad I finally got this finished! It's been a while, hey?
First of all, I'd like to send a HUGE thank you out to one of my reviewers named "kieka" who wished me well with my finals and summer school. I only know two of my final marks, for those of you who are interested: 82% on Math and 85% on Science.
Secondly, another reviewer pointed out that it appeared that I post one chapter a month. This will probably be the norm for a while, but I will honestly try to get them out before 30 days have gone by, okay? I swear, I'll really try hard!!! (^_-)
Till next time,
Digi-Esca Girl
laurie_22@hotmail.com
Chapter Fourteen – I Hope You're Left-Handed…
By: Digi-Esca Girl
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"I won! I won! I won!"
The excited cheers of a certain four-year-old adoptee echoed through the empty stadium, eliciting laughter and smiles from his new parents. The trio had been playing blitzball in the Zanarkand Memorial Stadium for over four hours, and despite this, Kieran was still brimming with energy.
"C'mon Kieran!" Yuna called as the dark-haired boy began to follow Tidus into the Men's locker room, "I have to wash your hair!" The brunette child looked to the blitzer beside him, but the blonde just shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head towards the woman to their right with her hands on her hips.
"Coming!" Kieran replied, turning on his heel and trotting off towards the young girl who was to become his mother. Yuna smiled when he reached her, placing a hand on his back and walking with him into the locker room designated for women.
Tidus stood there for a moment, watching them disappear behind the cerulean walls of the building and into the change room. He sighed, running a hand through his wet hair and letting it drop listlessly back to his side. He shook his head, a slight smile appearing on his lips as he turned and walked into the locker room, his feet making smacking sounds against the wet floor.
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A few minutes later saw Tidus leaning leisurely against the front desk, speaking avidly to his friend about his encounter earlier with the Luca blitzball team. He was so enthralled by his own story he failed to notice Yuna approaching with a very tired looking Kieran in her arms.
"So then I went to punch him," Tidus' fist jutted out in front of him in a fast punch. "and the stupid prick grabbed me and slammed me against the wall. I hit my head, so I couldn't counter fast enough and the bastard kneed me right in the stomach!" The blonde lifted up the front of his shirt to show Taylor the faint purple bruise that spanned 10 inches in diameter. The young man winced, then discreetly pointed over Tidus' shoulder at the waiting girl behind him.
"Oh, hey Yuna!" Tidus greeted, a smile lighting his face almost instantly, despite his past annoyance with her. He was about to say more, when he finally took note of the half-asleep boy she was holding.
She extended her arms towards him slightly. "Would you mind taking him out to the car?"
Tidus didn't know what to do, and he glanced over his shoulder quickly at Taylor for help. The other youth just nodded vigorously, putting his own arms out in front of him as if he were receiving the child himself.
Taking a slow, calculating step forward, Tidus mimicked his friend and held out his arms. Once the boy was handed to him, he barely noticed the additional weight and adjusted him to a more comfortable position with ease. He looked down at him with cautiously receding uncertainty, taking in the adorable sight of his damp chestnut hair hanging limp over his gently closed eyes.
"Later Tidus." Came Taylor's whispered voice from behind the desk.
"It was nice meeting you," Yuna replied quietly, tossing the youth a smile over her shoulder as she walked away to catch up with Tidus, who was nearing the front doors.
Yuna went to hold the doors open for him, and was surprised for a moment when they swung open as she approached.
'Automatic doors,' She laughed to herself, watching the blonde pass quickly through the entrance way and out into the parking lot, 'How could I not remember that?'
She followed Tidus to his car, and stopped to take his keys from his pocket when he gestured for her to do so. Luckily for her, they were hanging slightly out of their cloth cage, so she didn't actually have to go into the man's pants. (-_^) She unlocked the doors and helped him slide the sleeping boy carefully into the back seat. Once he was buckled in around the waist, (a tricky manuver as he was asleep) the two young adults got into the front driver and passenger seats without so much as a sound.
Tidus started the car and turned around in his seat, draping his arm across the back of Yuna's chair as he guided himself backwards out of the parking stall. His hand, back inside its usual leather casing was touching her shoulder lightly, but he didn't seem to notice. Yuna concluded that the thickness of the material was preventing him from feeling her skin under his fingers, and she was suddenly glad for it. Once they had pulled out of the parking lot and turned into traffic Tidus' arm slid back to his side, his hand now lightly gripping the bottom of the black steering wheel.
Inwardly, Yuna was both relieved and slightly disappointed. After their encounter in the sphere pool, she couldn't shake the strange, yet prominent feeling that she liked him being close to her. For almost the entire ride she thought about the blitzer.
'Now if we were talking about any other guy,' She thought to herself, watching two birds hop about on the sidewalk as Tidus waited for the light to turn green, 'I wouldn't be as frazzled. But with this.....' She paused to glance sideways and look him over quickly. She took in the khaki shorts and navy button-down T-shirt and moved on to his face. With his bright cerulean eyes and jagged blonde hair he looked like a...well, like a-- 'jock.' Yuna decided, 'It's different somehow...'
Thoroughly puzzled, the young summoner opted to continue staring out the window, watching their high school fly past as Tidus sped up slightly to avoid being trapped by the impending red light. He turned onto the street that ran behind the gymnasium, and slowed down a slight bit as he drove down the long residential road. He took a left at the first junction, then continued down a little ways until turning left onto a freshly poured concrete driveway.
He turned off the car, opening and closing his door quietly before walking up towards the house. Yuna already had the back door open and was in the middle of extracting the sleeping boy from the vehicle, so he figured he'd be best off just opening the front doors and getting Kieran's bed ready for him.
He fumbled around in his pants pocket for his keys, and began searching his jacket when he didn't find them. He was starting to get angry when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whipped around to see Yuna standing beside him, Kieran resting on her shoulder being supported by her left arm while her right hand held out his keys. He flashed a smile and took the yellow keychain from her fingers, glancing at it for a second and locating the key to the house. Sliding the key into the lock, Tidus turned it quickly until he heard a click from inside the door. Opening the door slowly, he held it open so as to let Yuna through.
Once inside, Tidus kicked off his shoes and dashed upstairs towards Kieran's room, while Yuna slowly placed her shoes to the right of the door in their designated spot. After this was done she made her way up the stairs, with her right arm now supporting the boy and her left steadying herself by holding the stair rail as she ascended.
Upon arriving at Kieran's door, she was slightly surprised to see a certain blonde blitzer fixing the small pillows in a way she knew would be comfortable for the slumbering child. She smiled warmly at him, walking into the room and laying the boy down gently onto the small mattress. While Yuna carefully took off his jacket, Tidus removed his shoes, setting them on the floor by the dresser. He grabbed the jacket from Yuna and hung it on the back of the nearby chair, making sure it wouldn't fall.
He then walked over to where Yuna was standing, admiring the sleeping boy as if he really was her very own child. 'It's amazing how they make you like them…' Tidus thought of children, gazing down fondly on the small brunette as he stood at Yuna's side.
*RIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!*
The interruption made Yuna jump slightly, and Tidus placed a hand on her shoulder quickly out of habit before racing out of the room to grab the offensive intruding object. Once he reached the wall on which the phone hung, he glanced at the name and number displayed in the identification panel.
547-8716
Unknown Caller
'That's Dad's number…' The teen thought warily, slowly extending his arm out to push the "Answer" button. Once he did so, the small screen that also hung on the wall flickered to life, and the various colors affiliated with Jecht's home and face melted quickly onto the screen.
"Tidus." The older man's face was set in a frown.
"Dad." The blonde replied, leaning against the wall opposite the screen and folding his arms defensively across his chest.
"I want to see you and the team. We need to talk about something." He kept his sentences short and to the point; a sure sign that he was angry.
"I just got home. D'you mind?"
"Not really. Be at my house in five minutes." The screen went blank as Jecht disconnected. Tidus growled deep in the back of his throat and squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to hold back his anger. What was it about that man that aggravated him so much, anyway?
He ran his gloved hand through his hair and let out a pent up breath he'd been holding since Jecht had told him to leave the house. Shaking his head he walked back in the direction of Kieran's room, only to find Yuna leaving it and closing the door softly behind her. She looked up at him when she heard his heavy footfalls on the carpet, and the barely-caged anger boiling in his eyes made her own mixed gaze swell with concern.
"I have to go somewhere." He suddenly found the carpet very interesting. "I'll be back in a little while." He turned and headed for the stairs, determined not to make eye contact with the young chestnut haired woman behind him. She always managed to make him feel guilty somehow...
He made it to the front door, and was just about to exit the house when he stopped dead in his tracks. Turning back around, he looked up and saw Yuna standing half-way down the staircase, her left hand on the railing and her right resting on her hip.
Fishing his car keys out of his pocket, he quietly said, "Don't wait up this time."
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It was beginning to drive him crazy.
The incessant ringing of his cell phone was making Wakka insane. He was rummaging through the various compartments in his truck, trying to locate the source of the noise. Luckily for him it was the middle of the day and rush hour traffic was preventing him from heading across the intersection even though the light was green.
He finally found the menacing object, buried underneath the spare shirt and pants he kept in the back seat incase he needed a change of clothes. He flipped it open and pushed the flashing blue button, not even bothering to check whose name was blinking on the display panel.
"Ya?" He barked into the end of the device.
"Wakka? It's Tidus." The sound of his best friend's voice relaxed the Besaidian native a slight bit.
"Whadda ya want?" He questioned, re-buckling his seat belt and placing one hand on the steering wheel.
"My dad wants the entire team at his place. Right now." Agitation was present in the younger man's voice as he spoke.
"Okay. See ya there, eh?"
"Yeah."
The voice was followed by the dull sound of a ring tone, and Wakka clicked his phone shut, shoving it into his pocket and stepping on the gas. The four cars in front of him and turned right, leaving him clear to get across the street and onto the less crowded residential roads. He referred to the well-worn map in his mind to get to his coaches' house, and arrived there within a few minutes.
Just as he pulled up, he saw a familiar red sports car drive past him and pull into the driveway, stopping abruptly next to the silver SUV already parked there. Wakka got out of the truck, locking the doors behind him, and walked over to the car, whose driver was still buckled into the front seat. The window was open, so the flame-haired teen bent down to peer inside, already knowing what he would see.
Tidus sat there, looking like he was going to explode; into terrified spasms or uncontrollable rage, Wakka couldn't be sure. His hands still gripped the steering wheel like a vice, and his eyes seemed to be burning a hole into the garage door in front of him.
"C'mon, man." Wakka said quietly, gesturing out of the car with both hands. "It can't be that bad, ya?"
"It's about Luca." Tidus replied quickly, reaching over and taking off his seat belt. "I know it is. He found out somehow." Wakka couldn't respond right away, seeing as the blonde teen had rolled up his window in order to lock up his car once he exited. He did just that, locking the doors and putting the alarm on the vehicle, not caring that they were in practically the safest neighbourhood for miles.
"Hey guys!" Came a shout from the end of the driveway. The two teens turned to see Leathen jogging up the concrete surface towards them, a smile on his face.
"What're you so happy about?" Tidus asked, a small grin appearing on his face at the sight of his fellow blitzer. His happiness was contagious, no matter what had caused it.
"I got my acceptance letter from the BSC today!" He replied excitedly, coming up in between them and draping his arms around their shoulders leisurely.
"Bevelle Sports Camp?!" Wakka inquired, his head snapping around to stare at the other boy. "You serious, man?"
"Of course I'm serious! See? I told you guys to send in your applications! If I can get in, you guys will be accepted no problem!" Leathen sounded encouraging, which gave them both a much needed ego boost.
"Actually…" Tidus began, stroking his chin with his thumb and forefinger thoughtfully. "There was a letter in the mail today from the camp. I haven't looked at it yet, though." The spark had returned to his eyes.
"It's probably them asking you to register there instead of going to collage next year. How much you wanna bet?" Leathen joked, his smile widening, if it were possible.
They arrived at the front door, a grand affair in itself standing at eight feet high and made of acutely polished oak. The handles were ornately designed and even the doorbell was fancy. 'This is my dad's house, alright…' thought Tidus with a slight frown.
He reached up and pulled open the door, not even bothering to announce their presence by ringing the doorbell or knocking. He figured that as one of the players on the team, not to mention as the coach's own son, he had the right to simply enter the building. They stepped inside, taking off their shoes and placing them on the racks designated for holding the items in pairs. None of them having jackets, they continued on towards the spacious living room, where Jecht, Auron and the rest of the team were already seated around a roaring fireplace.
Jarvis looked up at them and flashed a smile. "About time you guys got here!" He joked.
Leathen sat beside him and the two began talking enthusiastically about the sports campus in Bevelle that the elder teen was admitted to.
Not even glancing at his father, Tidus strolled over to the armchair that was nearest to the kitchen door and sat down. He rested his left elbow on the arm of the plush chair and propped up his head with his left hand, sighing quietly and wishing he was anywhere else.
Wakka settled down on the far right side of the couch next to Tidus' chair, leaning back and sinking into the soft cushions. He folded his hands together behind his head and closed his eyes, listening to the chatter of his fellow blitzers. The soft crackling of the fire lulled him into a relaxed haze, and he wasn't aware of the talking ceasing around him until Jaxon, a defenseman seated beside him on the couch, elbowed him swiftly in the ribs. He grunted and sat forward, one hand flying to his rib cage automatically and the other laying to rest on his knee. He nodded his thanks to the red-haired young man just as Jecht stepped in front of the fireplace and addressed the group.
"Do you have any idea why you're here tonight?" He asked, his voice rough and strained.
'You called us here, that's why. Idiot…' Tidus snapped mentally, shooting a quick glare in his father's direction.
When no one answered out loud, their coach continued. "There was an incident a few days ago regarding a team that we all know very well." The last few words were spoken with so much sarcasm that Jecht actually sounded as if he favoured the Luca team, but his own players knew better.
"The Luca Goers filed a complaint against us, claiming physical harm was inflicted on several of their players by members of this very team." Auron stepped in to carry on, casting pointed glances in Tidus and Wakka's general direction as he spoke. "Thankfully, they reconsidered before any actual charges were laid, but the price we paid for this was great. Gentlemen, we have to throw the next tournament and let Luca take the cup."
Angry and surprised shouts erupted all around the room, and players looked wildly around, as if accusing everyone else in the room for this injustice. Leathen and Jarvis bowed their heads slightly, trying not to make eye contact with anyone else around them. Tidus and Wakka simply glanced at each other before resuming their steady gaze at the floor and fireplace, pretending not to notice the stares coming from their coaches and teammates.
"We absolutely have to? There's no way around it?" Jaxon questioned, trying his best to remain optimistic.
"None whatsoever." Jecht answered, leaning against the fireplace wall and folding his arms across his chest.
"Now we are aware that not all of you were involved. Leathen?" Auron turned his sharp gaze on the young man, who remained motionless in his seat, defiantly staring right back at his superior. "Would you be so kind as to dismiss all those who were not present at the time of this incident?"
"Yes sir." Leathen replied, rising to his feet and looking around the room. He pointed first at a pair of ebony haired twins seated on the floor beside the fireplace. "Damien, Dante; you guys can leave…and Ayden you can go too." He gestured to a young brunet seated next to Jaxon on the couch. Leathen dismissed six more players before finally sitting back down beside Jarvis.
"Just as I expected." Jecht muttered, his dark sienna gaze lingering a moment too long on Tidus.
"Normally in a situation such as this, boys," Auron addressed them calmly, but there was a distinct edge to his tone that did not go unnoticed. "we would make you run so many drills you wouldn't be able to move for days, you'd be so physically exhausted. We could make you run barefooted until your feet were nothing but bloody stubs attached to your legs; we could make you throw a blitzball until your arm snapped or ripped off, and other such delightful things."
Lucian looked afraid, but hid it well, while Tidus and the others looked completely unfazed. They had heard these threats several times before, and they were always meant to scare, nothing more.
Jecht continued on in Auron's place. "But since that tournament we're all looking forward to is only two days away, inflicting physical harm on you boys wouldn't be a smart thing to do."
"Why does it matter? We have to lose anyways; might as well be injured so we can forfeit the game." Lucian offered, sounding defeated.
"If we're gonna lose, we're gonna do it in the most dignified way we can!" Jecht argued.
'Ooooo. Daddy knows a big word!' Tidus drawled sarcastically in his mind, wishing he could say the words out loud.
"We'll make it a nail-biter, so to speak." Auron said, removing his sunglasses and cleaning them quickly with his deep crimson sweater. "Lose at the last second so it looks like Luca is the better team."
"Did ya have to say it like that?" Jarvis muttered, rubbing absentmindedly at a bruise on his upper arm.
"We'll just tell Jaxon to let that last goal go in, ya?" Wakka said, more so to himself than to the others around him.
"So what are you gonna make us do instead?" Tidus asked, sounding uninterested which, coincidentally, he was.
"See this?" Jecht replied, reaching down into a drawer and pulling out a large, blue-backed book that was at least five inches thick. "You're gonna write this out by hand."
"All of it!?" Lucian exclaimed, almost falling out of his seat.
"Every word. But there's a catch; you have to do it with your non-dominant hand." Jecht answered, an evil smirk playing on his lips.
All the players' eyes widened, but not one of them said a word. Wakka rose to his feet and fumbled around in his pockets for a second, withdrawing a pen from inside his vest at last. He looked at Jecht and Auron each in turn before walking up to them and grabbing the book. He sat down on the floor in front of the coffee table, placed the book on his back and opened it up to the first page. He cringed inwardly when he saw that the writing was very small, but didn't show any signs of dislike outwardly.
He glanced around to the others, all of them searching their pockets for the pens they always had with them incase the 'crazy fan wanting an autograph' situation reared its ugly head.
"We're gonna need some paper, ya?"
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"And just where have you been?" The greeting that welcomed Wakka home over six hours later was exactly what he had expected.
"You really wanna know?" Smirking, he pulled off his boots and tossed them into the closet. She nodded as he walked past her into the kitchen. "I had to do a little paperwork, ya?" He answered enigmatically.
"What do you mean paperwork? Blitzball players shouldn't have anything to do with paper, with the exception of signing autographs." Lulu replied, following him into the blue-tiled room and watching as he withdrew a can of soda from the fridge.
He pulled back the tab, cracking open the aluminium can and taking a slug of the acidic drink inside before responding to her question. He swiped the back of his hand across his lips quickly before he spoke. "Jecht and Auron gave us our punishment for gettin' involved with the Luca team." He chuckled and took another drink.
"They made you do paperwork? What kind of punishment is that?" Lulu tried to imagine Wakka behind a desk, a pen in his hand flying across a piece of paper. She could picture that, but trying to conjure up an image of the Besaidian actually looking like he was interested in what he was doing was a futile effort.
"A damn good one!" Wakka retorted before gulping down the last of the soda.
"Call me retarded, but I still don't have an answer to my question, Wakka."
He crushed the can in his right hand, holding up his left to the mage. The thumb and forefinger's sides were red, and the bottom of the cuticle on his ring finger was swollen and slightly purple. 'Obvious signs of a lot of writing, but…Wakka's not left-handed…' Lulu thought, reaching out to pull his hand closer to her face. Her crimson eyes widened slightly as another idea entered her head. 'What if that was the intention…?'
"He made you write with your non-dominant hand, didn't he?" She asked quietly, still studying his swollen appendage.
"The entire Blitzball Rule Book, ya?!" Wakka replied, his voice rising in volume out of anger.
"Shhh!" Lulu scolded instantly, "Jade just went to sleep half an hour ago!" She whispered harshly, smacking his hand roughly on the palm. He yelped and sent a glare her way, before fully taking in what she had just said.
"It's eleven o'clock at night. Why did she go to sleep so late?"
"She couldn't relax because you weren't in the house." Lulu answered firmly, but quietly, letting his hand fall back to his side, "It's amazing how attached she got to you after barely a week…" She continued, more so to herself than to Wakka.
A slightly awkward silence followed, broken only by the sound of Wakka's soda can whizzing through the air and landing smoothly in the blue recycle box by the kitchen door.
"The ENTIRE rule book, huh?" Lulu said, her eyes roaming quickly over Wakka's deep orange cargo pants and slightly brighter tangerine sweater. She stopped on his tanned face and waited for his reply.
"The whole damn thing." Wakka confirmed, his russet eyes flashing with anger at the mere mention of what he had just been forced to do.
The silence lasted for only a few seconds before it was interrupted by the sound of quiet laughter. Wakka's eyes, which had been focused intently on the tiled floor, snapped up to the magic-user's face, taking in quickly what he found there.
Lulu was chuckling to herself, and she was slowly but surely getting louder. Soon enough, she was almost doubling over with the force of her laughter, and her eyes were beginning to water.
"And just what in the hell is so funny?" Wakka asked, placing one hand on his hip and leaning down to try and peer at her face.
It took a minute or so before the mage could collect herself and give him an answer. "A combination of things, actually." She replied, her eyes sparkling with mischievous mirth. Wakka nodded at her to continue, so she did. "First, the fact that you had to write out a 1,592 page book with your left hand;" She paused to chuckle several times before going on, "and secondly…" Her eyes roved over his form once more, "you look like a carrot."
"Wha?!" Taking a step backwards, Wakka's eyes widened and he took on a look of total shock.
"See for yourself…" Lulu gestured towards the mirror with her hand, laughing at the look of utter disbelief on his face.
The blitzer made his way over to the reflective glass hanging on the kitchen wall, and gave himself a quick once over. 'Hmmm…' He thought, 'Orange pants, orange shirt…' He didn't like where this was going. 'Green headband. Yevon help me, she's right!'
As he took in his carrot-ness, he began to realize that he had not planned this at all. He had simply reached for clean clothes in the morning, and this was what he came up with. After that realization, came another: Whenever he had run into someone, they'd chuckled to themselves once or twice, but never actually said anything. He had been called carrot-top in school, but this was ridiculous.
Soon, a laugh began to rumble deep in his chest, and it slowly bubbled forth until it spilled from his lips. After a minute or so of watching him laugh at himself, Lulu joined in without even thinking about it, her feminine laugh mingling with the deep baritone of Wakka's chuckle.
They stood in the kitchen for at least five minutes laughing, for once not caring that they didn't really like each other and just enjoying the moment. It passed quickly, however, and the pair of them were soon simply standing there, looking at each other with soft smiles still on their faces.
"Well, I gotta go to practice tomorrow, so I better get to bed, ya?" Wakka broke the silence, his voice quiet and still laced with the humour he had expressed mere moments before.
"Yes…I should go too. I'm taking Jade down to a ballet school tomorrow to see if she'd like to sign up." Lulu paused, lifting her gaze slowly to meet his. "That is, if it's alright with you. We're supposed to talk about every decision we make…" She added the last few words as an afterthought to herself.
"It's fine. She needs something she can focus on besides that orphanage." Wakka replied, turning to walk out the doorway.
"What do you mean?" Lulu called after him, extending her hand in front of her slightly as if to stop him from leaving.
"She's afraid that we won't like her and we'll take her back, ya know? She thinks about it all the time; how much she hates it and stuff like that." Placing a hand on the doorframe, he turned his head to look at the young woman standing by the table. The questioning look on her face made him explain the rest. "She told me a few nights ago when she climbed into my bed. She likes to talk, that one…" He chuckled to himself and walked out of the kitchen, slowly ascending the stairs and leaving Lulu to watch him go, a look of mixed shock, surprise and relief flickering on her face.
She remained in the brightly lit room for a few more minutes after he left, finally sighing and turning off the lights. She turned off the lamps and hall lights as she headed upstairs, and by the time she got to her room, she had counted ten switches, eleven, if she counted her bedroom.
She washed her face and brushed her teeth as methodically as she usually did, slipping into her nightgown and crawling into bed. She debated reading for a little while, but quickly banished that thought when her head hit the feather pillow. She reached up and turned off her bedside lamp, rolling over onto her side and pulling the covers up to her chin.
Curling her legs up to her body, she wrapped her arm around a pillow that lay beside her, loving the added warmth it provided once she'd held it for a few minutes. Her eyes opened slightly, and she stared at the wall, knowing that on the other side, Wakka was sleeping soundly. She smiled to herself, remembering the sound of his deep laughter, and unconsciously pulling her pillow closer to her.
Whether it was just a pillow, or Wakka, her mind couldn't decide as sleep claimed her for the night, enveloping her in its satin folds and lulling her into a dreamless sleep.
Meanwhile, Wakka was not sleeping as soundly as the black mage had assumed. He was lying on his back, his arms folded underneath his head, staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom.
'I wonder what it would be like if we kissed again…' He thought vaguely, sleep already beginning to cloud his mind. 'Would it be any better if we were both…ready for it? Hmm…………'
His last conscious thought was of those full lips meeting his, letting them both abandon all their inhibitions and just……be. It was the most incredible thing in the world, and he had experienced it with the last person in his life that he had thought he would ever share it with.
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Tidus trudged up the driveway for the second time that day, feeling tired, angry and above all things extremely annoyed with his father. 'Writing out the entire manual is one thing, but with my left hand?! The man's a lunatic!!' He thought, his frown deepening as he finally reached the front doors. He dug his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, opening it rather loudly for someone coming home at eleven thirty at night.
He quickly realized his mistake when he saw Yuna's sleeping figure on the couch, looking as serene as ever. He quietly put his shoes away and set his keys on the small shelf inside the closet, closing and locking the front door behind him.
He entered the living room and quickly glanced around for any sign of Kieran, but found none. 'Probably up in his room…' Tidus concluded, walking slowly towards the large couch in front of the television. The 52 inch screen was still blazing with the various colors of last week's blitzball game; Yuna had been watching the weekly Sports Report that aired every night and showed all the highlights of the week's games.
A small smile crept onto his face as he kneeled down in front of the sleeping girl. Both of her hands were curled and resting beside her face, her knees pulled up to her stomach and a blanket draped loosely over her body. His gaze travelled over her quickly, stopping to rest on her face.
The light from the TV reflected onto her face, making her skin glow blue, then red, then blue again as the colors on the screen changed. He moved so as to block the intruding light from hitting her face so he could really look at her. He had to admit, just this once, that she certainly was beautiful.
Her lips were parted very slightly, her chest rising and falling with each deep breath she took in sleep. Her eyes were gently closed, and Tidus could just picture those bi-coloured orbs staring up at him as they had earlier that day. He could see the tiny freckles that peppered her nose and cheeks, and wondered why he had never noticed them before.
She shifted suddenly, causing a strand of her fawn coloured hair to slip from behind her ear and fall into her face. Her nose wrinkled the tiniest bit, and Tidus couldn't suppress the smile that spread quickly onto his face from out of nowhere. He pulled off his glove and reached towards her, very gently moving the silky strand back to where it came from. It felt like the smoothest velvet under his fingers, and he was suddenly very glad that he had thought to remove the leather covering that had encased his hand.
He located the TV remote after a few seconds of searching and flicked off the large screen, cutting off the annoying voice of the commentator as well. He set it back down onto the coffee table and stood up to his full height. Looking down at Yuna, he closed his eyes and briefly contemplated something. Deciding a minute later, he bent down and collected the slender girl into his arms, shifting her so that her head lay against his shoulder and he was holding her under the knees and supporting her back. He let the blanket fall back to the couch, and made his way upstairs. It was not a daunting task, seeing as Yuna weighed practically nothing to him, and he soon found himself outside her room.
The door was ajar, so he lightly kicked it open, his sock-encased foot not making a sound. The lights were off, but he had the light from the hallway to navigate with. He carried her over to the bed, setting her down and holding her in a sitting position with one arm, while his other pulled back the covers and moved her pillows around. Once he felt that the bed was ready, he lifted her again, gently laying her down on the space he'd created by moving the blankets.
She shifted onto her side right away, curling her knees back up to her chest like she had when she was on the couch. Tidus covered her up with the white sheet and quilt, noticing for the first time that there were lightly drawn pink, blue and purple flowers dancing across the fabric, as if blown by some imaginary breeze. He pulled them up to her chin, tucking them in so she wouldn't be cold. He smiled slightly as he looked at his work, and turned to leave.
He stopped dead in his tracks when he felt a pressure being exerted on his forearm as he tried to walk away. He looked down, locating the source of the problem instantly. Yuna had her hand resting on his arm. She had obviously moved it there when he was carrying her, and simply hadn't let go yet. He contemplated again for a moment, making his decision quickly.
He took a few steps back, sitting down and situating himself on the edge of her bed. Her grip relaxed, but she didn't move her hand, keeping it near his wrist as she slipped deeper into slumber. Tidus watched her for a few minutes that, unbeknownst to him, quickly turned into an hour. When he finally glanced at his watch, he had to do a double take to make sure that it really read 12:34AM. Once he was sure it did, he moved his gaze back to where her hand rested, taking in the sight of her small fingers and the silver ring that fit snugly onto one of them.
He gently fixed his other hand around her wrist, lifting it so she released her hold on his forearm. She didn't move, so he set the small appendage down beside her face, watching as the fingers curled into a very loose fist and she relaxed totally once again. After quickly making sure that she was still tucked in, he got to his feet and left the room.
As he closed the door behind him, he glanced over his shoulder one last time at the sleeping summoner, and his smile returned. Once it was closed, he walked down the hallway to his own room, cracking open the door and looking at his unmade bed with amusement. He undid the first four buttons of his shirt and pulled it over his head, tossing it into the laundry basket without even looking. He changed quickly into his favourite pair of deep blue pyjama pants, revelling in the feeling of the soft cotton against his skin.
He crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to his chest like he usually did, angling his body slightly onto his left side and tucking one arm under his pillow. The other came to rest draped over his chest, his hand landing near his face with a quiet 'thump'. He closed his eyes, letting sleep claim him like he had wanted it to since he wrote the first line of the rule book.
His last conscious thought was of a beautiful lavender flower, which smelled strangely of cinnamon…
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"Do you ever miss him, Auron?" Jecht asked, shredding the last of the written out rule books.
"Who?" Auron inquired, lifting his gaze from the newspaper for a second to glance at his friend.
"Braska. I was just thinking about him today when Tidus walked in here…" Dumping the finely shredded paper into a garbage bag, Jecht moved to sit on the recently vacated couch.
"Why would he enter your mind at the sight of your son?" Auron wondered out loud, putting down the flimsy paper and taking a seat next to the younger man on the furniture.
"Tidus is paired up with Yuna for that marriage thing in school. It just got me thinkin' about him, that's all." Jecht's gaze became lost in the dancing flames in the fireplace.
"I do miss him, to tell you the truth. He always kept us from fighting too much…" The elder of the two men began to reminisce as a small smile fell upon his face.
"Yeah. Remember the time when that Bandersnatch* stole my wallet?"
"And you chased it down a ravine and fell into a pond? Yes, I remember." Auron and Jecht both chuckled at the memory.
"I smelled like swamp mud for three days!"
The two of them laughed for a few minutes, before Auron sobered up and a very unhappy look overtook his aged features. "Yuna's going to have to start her training in a year or two."
"Do you think she's ready for that?" Jecht's laughter ceased immediately at his friend's question.
"She is Braska's daughter, isn't she?"
"True…But he was older when he started his training; At least five years older than Yuna is now." Jecht's statement made Auron's eyes cloud with contemplation.
He replied after a few long, silent minutes had passed between them. "She has Lulu for her guardian; She'll be just fine."
"You forget, my fine feathered friend," Auron looked quizzically at Jecht, who appeared to be too deep in thought to notice the humour of his sentence, "she's living with MY son…"
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*A Bandersnatch is a dog-like fiend monster in the game.
FINALLY!!!!! Whew! *wipes brow* I'm soooooo glad I finally got this finished! It's been a while, hey?
First of all, I'd like to send a HUGE thank you out to one of my reviewers named "kieka" who wished me well with my finals and summer school. I only know two of my final marks, for those of you who are interested: 82% on Math and 85% on Science.
Secondly, another reviewer pointed out that it appeared that I post one chapter a month. This will probably be the norm for a while, but I will honestly try to get them out before 30 days have gone by, okay? I swear, I'll really try hard!!! (^_-)
Till next time,
Digi-Esca Girl
laurie_22@hotmail.com