Allo, here chapter 2! Many characters appear in this chapter but theres still more coming in the next. Hmmm.....I don't really know what else to say here so I'll just let you read. Wait, big thanks to the people who reviewed so far!
Disclaimer - I don'ta owna any thingy ya? Except for the characters that I made up, everything else belongs to Squaresoft.
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Shelinda walked into the living room of the Blaze family's house, covering her mouth as she yawned. She sat down on the sofa and looked up at the clock on the wall.
''1:30.....they should've been home by now..'' she said as she turned her body to face the window behind the couch. Putting her hand on the curtains she pushed them aside to take a look outside. ''I hope nothing happened..''
Shelinda lifted herself off the sofa and began to head up the stairs towards Rikku's room. She stood at the doorway and watched Rikku as she sat there at her little table.
''hmmm...hmmmmm...hmmm.....hmmm.....hmm....'' Rikku hummed a song as she drew with her crayons. Shelinda watched her with amusement briefly before she knocked on the wall to get Rikku's attention
Rikku looked up at Shelinda standing in the doorway and her eyes widened a little as she smiled. ''Shelinda!, is mommy home yet?'' Rikku asked with a very excited voice. ''Sorry dear, I'm afraid they aren't..''
Shelinda walked up to Rikku and sat down next to her, trying to make herself comfortable on the small chairs. ''What are you drawing there? Shelinda asked, smiling. ''A cat!'' Rikku said as she continued to color the cat in the color blue.
''Wow thats very good!'' Shelinda said, staring at the drawing. It was actually quite a good drawing of a cat, considering Rikku was only 5 years old.
''Mommy said that Rikku is a good drawer too. Rikku will draw lots and LOTS of things for mommy when she comes home.'' Rikku said as she finished up her coloring and placed the crayons back into the box.
Shelinda looked up as she heard the door bell ring. Rikku had heard it as well and gasped loudly. Her face lit up and she ran out of the room. ''Wait for me!'' Shelinda shouted, slowly getting up. Rikku had reached the door and swung it open. ''Mommy!'' She yelled, but her huge smile faded away instantly as she looked up at the two people standing infront of her who were not her parents at all. Shelinda had reached the bottom of the stairs and saw who was at the door.
''Can...Can I help you?, officers?'' Shelinda said, walking towards them. She had a startled look on her face, she wasn't expecting this and already she was beginning to have a funny feeling in her stomach. She could tell something was wrong as she looked at the two policemen at the door. One was male and the other was female.
''May we come in?'', the male officer asked. ''Oh, yes, of course.'' Shelinda was somewhat in a state of shock. She placed her hand gently on Rikku's shoulder, who was staring at the officers with a blank face, and pulled her back slightly so the policemen could enter the house.
The female officer closed the door behind her. ''Is this Rikku Blaze?, and who are you?'', the male officer asked. ''Yes this is Rikku and I'm her babysitter. I live next door, her parents asked me to watch over her while they were away, is there something wrong officers?'' Shelinda felt a tug on her shirt and looked down at Rikku who was looking back up at her. ''Where's mommy and daddy?'' Rikku said with a confused look on her face.
The female officer kneels down till she was Rikku's height. ''Hi Rikku, will you be a good girl and go play? Us grownups need to talk for a while.'' the officer smiled at Rikku who gave her a blank stare. Rikku blinked twice. ''Rikku can be a good girl!'' she says and then runs up the stairs to her room.
''I think you better sit down...'' the male officer looked at Shelinda and she nodded. They headed to the living room and Shelinda sat down on a sofa facing the officers.
Both of the officers stared at Shelinda for a moment trying to think of how to tell her what had occured.
''There...has been a horrible accident in the Calm lands earlier this day....''
''...No...'' Shelinda's eyes widened as she put her fingers over her mouth and gasped loudly.
''3 chocobo eaters had made there way into the Calm Lands and tried to eat the chocobos...they started to chase them and the hundreds of chocobos that were there ran, causing a stampede. And..well...Cid and Alexia....'' The officer sighed aloud.
''...Cid and Alexia...they got into a car crash.''
Shelinda looked away from the officers. She was in shock. ''I...I..can't believe this happened...No..this can't be happening..''
''The man that reported the accident had witnessed most of what had happened; he said that they appeared to have lost control of their car..''
''What about Cid and Alexia? Are they alright?'' Shelinda's eyes filled with hope as she asked the question.
''I'm sorry...but...Cid..he didn't make it, and Alexia....she's in the hospital...with a coma. She is severely injured and the docters don't know when, if ever, she will awake..I'm really sorry..''
Shelinda covered her face with her hands as she began to feel the tears form in her eyes.
''What about Rikku, what will happen to her?'' Shelinda looked at the officers and they could she her face was now reddened from her crying.
''A social worker will come by at 3 pm to pick her up. Please help her pack clothes and valuables. She will be living with her relatives, the Ballards, who live across town.'' The officers got up off the couch and began to walk to the door.
''Wait!, I can take care of her!, leave her with me!'' Shelinda shouted to them.
''I'm really sorry Miss, we can't do that, we have to leave her with her relatives...you can visit her there whenever you like. Here is their address.'' the officer handed Shelinda a piece of paper and said their farewell.
Shelinda stayed seated on the sofa and stared at the piece of paper. Her eyes became blurry from the tears and she watched as a few dropped onto the paper. She wiped them away with her hand and got up to walk towards Rikku's room.
Shelinda peeked into Rikku's room and looked at her, she was playing with her favorite stuffed pink rabbit. ''You want more tea Mr Rabbit?'' Rikku picked up a toy teapot and pretended to pour tea into a teacup.
''Rikku...'' Shelinda walked into the room and sat down next to her. ''Why ..is Shelinda sad?'' Rikku saw that Shelinda was crying because her eyes were red, she quickly hugs her. ''When Rikku gets hurt, mommy hugs Rikku and I feel better.'' Rikku said, still hugging Shelinda. Shelinda sobbed.
''Is Mommy home yet?'' Rikku asked. Shelinda felt more tears were starting to come.
''No, sweetheart, Mommy....is....she......Mommy is going to be away for a awhile. Y-...You will be living with your relatives. Come on, we have to pack some of your clothes, you can bring anything else you want!'' Shelinda said as she quickly moves towards Rikku's clothe drawers. She couldn't bring herself to tell Rikku what had really happened to her parents, it would have broken her heart.
''What are ..re...re.....relaaativess?'' Rikku asked as she went to her toy chest. ''They are the people that are part of your family.'' Shelinda responded. ''But why do I have to live with my...re...relatives? I don't want to.'' Rikku said. ''Its complicated honey...'' Shelinda said as she packed Rikku's clothes into a suitcase.
''Why doesn't mommy want to come home? Is mommy.....mad.....at Rikku? Rikku didn't mean to be a bad girl! Pl-..please..tell mommy to come back.'' Rikku said, looking down, her eyes becoming teary. ''Oh no no sweetheart, she will never be mad at you, never think that...never'' Shelinda hugged Rikku tightly in her arms. Rikku sniffed and Shelinda helped her wipe her nose with a tissue.
They both heard a doorbell. Shelinda looked at the clock in Rikku's room, it was 5 after 3. ''Its time to go...'' Shelinda said as she looked at Rikku, wiping away a tear on her cheek. Shelinda picked up Rikku's suitcase and started walking to the front door with Rikku following closely behind her. Shelinda put the suitcase on the floor and answered the door.
''Hi there, my name is Monica, I'm the social worker that will be taking Rikku to her relatives.'' she said as she smiled at Rikku.
''I'm Shelinda..'' Shelinda shook Monica's hand.
''I already contacted the lady of the house at the Ballards. They will be expecting us shortly.'' Monica said, taking the suitcase from Shelinda. Shelinda knelt down and helped Rikku put on her teddybear doll backpack. She leans in and kisses Rikku on the cheek. ''I'll visit you as soon as I can...'' Shelinda said. Rikku took the hand of the social worker and walked out the door. She turned her head and looked at Shelinda who was waving at her till they reached Monica's car. After getting into the car Rikku stared at Shelinda while hugging her pink rabbit till she was too far away to be seen.
They arrived at the Ballards house after about 45 minutes. Rikku got out of the car and looked up at the large house infront of her. She felt a hand take hers and looked to see the social worker smiling at her. ''Come on.'' Monica said.
Rikku dragged Mr. Rabbit along on the ground as she walked towards the house. Monica rang the doorbell and after a minute a woman answered the door. She had shoulder lengthed blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Rikku stared at her with a blank, expressionless face.
''Hi Mrs. Ballard, I'm Monica, I talked to you on the phone earlier today.''
''Yes, please come in.'' The woman stepped aside to allow them in, smiling at Rikku as she walked into the house.
Happening elsewhere in an arcade......
''Left, Right, Up, Down......Yes....all perfects so far.....I'm gonna do it...I'm really gonna do it!!...LAST STEP....c'mon....you can do it.....I GOT A GREAT?!?''
The boy thought to himself as he brushed a strand of blonde hair off his eyes. ''NOOOOO!, I can't believe I almost AAAed that song on heavy if it weren't for that last step!'' the blonde boy yelled.
''Tough luck Tidus, but you're getting pretty good at this, ya?'' the orange haired boy said to him, patting Tidus on the back.
''Thanks, Wakka..'' Tidus said, a little saddened by his performance on the game.
''Well, at least I AAAed it!'' another boy said with a huge grin on his face who was standing on the 2nd player platform of the Dance Dance Revolution machine. (A/N to the people who don't know what DDR is its a music game where there are platforms that have 4 direction arrows on it. On a tv screen several arrows will float up to stationary ones at the top of the screen, when they do, you step on the corresponding arrows.)
''Shut up Baralai'' Tidus said jokingly. ''I'll beat you one of these days.''
Tidus turned around and stared at his 1 great. ''Man I still can't believe it...so close.''
Someone wrapped their arms around Tidus, causing him to jump a little. Turning around he found that it was a girl. ''Heeey Tidus, haven't seen you all summer, how ya been?''
''Heeey Dona. I'm better, now that you're here'' Tidus looked at Dona with a huge grin on his face.
The guys watched them with disgust.
''Hey what is this game anyways, it looks fun.'' another girl had spoken up and Tidus turned to look at her. ''Hey Jess, its called Dance Dance Revolution.'' Tidus smiled at her and she smiled back. Jess was Dona's bestfriend.
''Yeah, teach me how to play!, please?'' Dona was now hugging Tidus's arm, looking up at his face.
''Well....'' Tidus had started to speak but was interrupted by Baralai. ''Actually, we were thinking of going to go get some pizza from Buddy's Lounge, the place across the street from here.''
''Oh yeah, right. Maybe some other time, Dona.'' Tidus said, trying to get Dona to release his arm. ''Aww, can't we come?'' Dona gave Tidus her puppy dog eyes.
''Sure!, I guess''
Tidus headed out the door with Dona clinging to his arm and Jess walking closely behind. Wakka and Baralai watched them as they exited the arcade. ''Whats he got that I don't have ya?'' Wakka said, watching Tidus with the girls. ''Uh....'' Baralai had started to chuckle a little. ''Okay, don't answer that.'' Wakka said, as he began to walk to the arcade doors. Baralai followed behind him but stopped and turned around when he reached the exit. ''Are you coming Nooj?'' A boy with brown hair and glasses was sitting on the seat of a car racing game next to DDR, he picked up two crutches that he had left on the floor and stood up on the one foot that wasn't broken. ''Yeah, I'm coming.'' Nooj had broken his foot during a basketball game in school last year right before summer had started. Baralai kept the door opened for him till he was through.
Wakka had already caught up with Tidus and the girls as they entered Buddy's Lounge. Buddy's Lounge was a popular teen hangout, it was a Coffee/Pizza/Icecream all-in-one. The place was separated into two big rooms, the front of the store was usually more quiet, it sold coffee and had more of a classy look to it with paintings on the walls, small tables and couches so a lot of people would come in to do homework there. In the back was where most people hung out, it had a futuristic look to it with pinball machines in there as well. That is where the pizza and icecream are sold.
As Tidus entered he noticed two girls sitting on the couches near the door. ''Hey Lenne, Lulu.'' he said, giving them a small wave. Lulu was reading a book and completely ignored Tidus. Lenne placed her cappuccino down onto the table infront of her and looked at Tidus. ''Hey Tidus, is Shuyin with you?'' she seemed a bit excited as she watched Wakka, Baralai and Nooj walk in but became disappointed to find that noone else was behind them.
''Nah, he's at home as usual, he doesn't come out with us much, why are you looking for him?'' Tidus asked. Shuyin is his twin brother, he was born 5 minutes before Tidus was and they've been playing on the same blitzball teams since they were really young. For twins, they are both complete opposites of each other, blitzball seems to be one of the only things they have in common.
''Oh, um, no reason.'' Lenne gave Tidus a smile and he walked away into the other room with Dona and Jess.
Baralai and Nooj followed Tidus into the next room while Wakka stayed behind for a second. ''Hey Lulu.'' he said while smiling at her. ''Hey.'' Lulu responded without even looking up from her book to look at Wakka. Wakka made a small sigh and walked to where Baralai and Nooj was. Lulu looked up from her book and watched him as he entered the other room.
Lulu placed the book she was reading on her lap with a finger on the page she was on and turned to look at Lenne. ''Why are you so interested in Shuyin anyways? He always seems so quiet and doesn't seem to really ...notice..you.'' Lulu said.
Lenne picked up her cup of cappuccino and held it with one hand close to her. She moved a finger on her other hand around the rim of it and stared into the cup. ''I don't know...'' she made a small smile. ''I guess he just seems so different from the other guys..''
Tidus and the gang sat down at a table. ''I'll go order the pizza.'' Tidus said getting up off his chair but he felt something pulling him back. ''No, don't go, stay here with me.'' Dona said pulling him down onto his chair. ''Ok.'' Tidus smiled a little and leaned in closer towards Dona to kiss her. Just before their lips met Tidus felt something hit him on the head. ''Ow!. What the heck?.'' Tidus said while rubbing his head where he was hit, the guys were now laughing at him. He looked up to see a man holding a rolled up newspaper in his hand, he had a scar that ran through one of his eyes, forcing it shut. ''Why is it that everytime I see you, you are out with another different girl?''
''Auron?!, what are you doing here?'' Tidus asked. ''Thats Mr. Bradford to you and I'm just getting some dinner and dessert.'' Auron said, holding up a brown paper bag with the Buddy's Lounge logo on it containing his food.
''Hey, school doesn't start till tomorrow so we can call you Auron..'' Tidus smiled at him. ''Heh..'' Auron chuckled a little. ''By the way, I'm in your homeroom class.'' Tidus told him. ''Me too!'' Baralai, Nooj, Wakka, Dona and Jess had all said in unison. ''Heh..I was just talking to Lenne and Lulu and they both said the same thing.'' Auron said as he scanned the group with his eye and began to chuckle. ''This is going to be some year isn't it....'' he said as he walked away without saying goodbye to the group.
''Now where were we?'' Tidus said as he leaned closer to Dona. ''Right about here...'' Dona said, leaning closer towards him as well.
''Cut it out already, you gonna make us sick ya?'' Wakka said while giving them a disgusted face. Baralai and Nooj laughed a little. ''I'll go order the pizza.'' Baralai said as he got up off his chair. ''Pepperoni?'' he asked. The gang nodded and he walked off towards the counter. ''So Nooj, whens the cast coming off eh?'' Wakka asked. ''About a month or so, maybe sooner.'' Nooj responded.
Tidus had heard his cell phone ring and took it out of his jacket pocket. He looked at the caller ID and sighed. ''Great, it's my sister..'' Tidus thought to himself as he hit the answer button and held the phone up to his ear. ''Tidus!, get home this instant!, if you aren't home in 10 minutes I'll kill you!!.'' The girl had yelled loudly right into the phone, Tidus had to hold the phone 2 inches away from his ear but he was still able to hear every word perfectly.
''What on earth was that?'' Dona stared at the phone with a strange look on her face. ''Was that LeBlanc?'', Nooj asked with a chuckle. ''Yeah, sorry guys I gotta get home.'' Tidus got up off his chair just as Baralai was returning from ordering the pizza. ''Hey, where are you going?'' Baralai asked. ''Home, LeBlanc called, she sounded mad.'' Tidus said. ''I see, isn't she always mad?.'', Baralai asked as he sat back down and notices Jess staring at him. She was so quiet the whole time that he forgot she was even there. ''What?'' Baralai asked, looking at Jess. ''Er...nothing.''
''Yeah anyways, see ya.'' Tidus waved goodbye to them before he ran out the building.
''Lets go too Jess.'' Dona told her as she stood up. Jess and Dona had left the table without even saying bye to the guys but they didn't care since they never liked Dona anyways. As they walked out Jess looked at Dona. ''So are you and Tidus going out now or what?,'' she asked. ''Yeah right, noone really takes him seriously enough to actually become his girlfriend. He's totally not boyfriend material, every girl just plays with him for fun.'' Dona responded happily. When Dona reached the door she glanced over at Lenne and Lulu. Lulu glared at her and Dona glared back before she and Jess left the building.
Tidus was panting when he reached the front door of his house. ''Geez, I...wonder...what..I did...this...time...to make her..mad.'' he said as he panted. He took a deep breathe and opened the door. ''I'm home.'' he peeked his head in but found noone there. He could hear the television on so he walked into the living room but also found noone there so he plopped onto the couch. He sat there relaxed, staring at the television for a moment until he heard a small voice. ''Hi.''
Tidus turned his head to see a small blonde girl sitting right next to him holding a stuffed pink rabbit doll. Tidus's eyes widened and he quickly sat up. ''Oh my gosh, LEBLANC? IS THAT YOU? WHAT HAPPENED?!'' Tidus yelled. The little girl looked at him confused. ''Rikku.'' she said as she just stared at him. ''Rik....ku?...eh? what?'' Tidus was also very confused but then he suddenly heard LeBlanc's voice behind him. ''Are you retarded?'' LeBlanc looked at Tidus strangely. She crossed her arms and leaned onto the wall. ''We're all in the kitchen, come with me.'' LeBlanc said. Tidus got up off the couch and watched as LeBlanc went towards the little blonde girl. ''Hi Rikku, we're just going to be in the kitchen if you need us ok?'' LeBlanc said in a really nice tone, very unlike the one she gives Tidus. Rikku nodded and continued to watch TV.
Tidus followed LeBlanc into the kitchen to find his entire family there, even his grandparents. None of them were making any eye contact with each other. ''Hey Grandpa! Grandma!'' Tidus said, looking very happy to see them. ''Be quiet, and sit down.'' Leblanc said as she snapped her fingers and pointed at a chair, giving Tidus an angry look. ''Yes ma'am..'' Tidus sat down on a chair across from Shuyin. ''So whats up?, whose that little girl in our living room?'' Tidus asked. Jecht, their father aka star player of the Bevelle Glories, cleared his throat and looked at Tidus. ''Well, do you remember your Uncle Cid and Aunt Alexia?'' Jecht said. Tidus nodded at him then looked at his mom, Jill, who was all teary eyed and holding a tissue. ''They got into a terrible car accident when they were coming back to Bevelle from Zanarkand.'' Jill cried louder when she said that.
''Some chocobo eaters entered the Calm Lands while they were driving there and made the chocobos cause a stampede. They crashed into a semi and well...Uncle Cid didn't make it but Aunt Alexia is in the hospital, barely surviving the crash, with a coma. They don't really know when she'll wake up though..'' Shuyin said with an expressionless face.
''I see....So we have to take care of her now?'' Tidus asked. ''We're trying to figure out how we're going to do this since most of us are really busy. I know I can't, this is my senior year and I really have to concentrate on my studies, otherwise I would.'' LeBlanc said. ''I can't either, I'm always away from home with my blitzball team, otherwise...I would.'' Jecht said sarcastically and chuckling. ''I can't believe you guys, this is a little girl we're talking about here!'' Tidus shouted. ''Hmm..since you feel so strongly about it maybe you should take care of her.'' LeBlanc said. ''But blitzball starts soon, what about Shuyin?'' ''I'll be on the same blitzball team as you you know, and I'm not good with kids.'' Shuyin responded. ''Then its settled!. Tidus will take care of her, it will teach him some responsibility since he's always running around with some girl anyways. We'll all try to help out whenever we can though right everyone?'' LeBlanc said and watched as everyone nodded. The family got up off their chairs and left the kitchen except for Tidus and LeBlanc.
''Blah, why do I have to?, I have no idea how to take care of a little girl, I'm a guy!'' Tidus said, trying to change LeBlanc's mind. ''You have nothing better to do.'' LeBlanc responded. Suddenly Rikku appeared at the entrance of the kitchen and stared at the both of them. ''Hi Rikku!, is there something I can do for you?'' Leblanc asked her nicely. ''Rikku...finished watching the cartoon and Rikku didn't want to sit ...there alone..'' Rikku said looking slightly saddened. ''Aww, you won't be alone anymore cause you know why?, Tidus is going to be taking care of you until your mommy comes.'' LeBlanc said as she hugged Rikku. ''Ti...Ti....Tiiidus?'' Rikku said. ''Yeah, that dumb looking guy over there.'' LeBlanc said pointing at Tidus. ''Hey....'' Tidus glared at her.
Rikku looked at Tidus for a second and gave him a big smiled. ''She's so cute'' Tidus thought to himself. LeBlanc stood up and grabbed Tidus by his shirt collar. ''I hope you know, that she's only 5 years old! If you do anything to her I'll hurt you.'' LeBlanc said. ''I know, I'm not that desperate.'' Tidus said, rolling his eyes.
LeBlanc released Tidus collar and he fixes his shirt. He glares at her as she went towards Rikku. ''Rikku, do you want to come play with me?'' LeBlanc asked. ''Okay!'' Rikku responded excitedly. They both left the kitchen and went into the backyard.
Tidus ran a hand through his blonde hair and stared out the window in the kitchen. ''Oh man, how'd I get myself into this....''
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Whoo...that was long, the next chapters won't be like this. Well, at least I'll try to make them shorter. Anyways, next chap, Yuna and a few more will appear so watch for it!