A/N: Well, here it is: my first Tidus POV chapter. Its a little glossy--hope you
don't mind. But nine years of mundane child raising is kind of boring to read or
write. I promise, tho, it gets better from here!
TIDUS
I had just turned eight when I lost my mom. Don't get me wrong--she
didn't die or anything. She just sort of…stopped one day while Auron and I were
at a blitzball game.
After that, Auron took care of me full time. Not that he hadn't been
pretty much doing that for the last couple of months. but now he moved into my
house, cooked all the food, did the laundry, all of it.
Auron--who'd never even had kids before me--became my mom and dad both.
I don't think I realized how lucky I'd been that he was there until now.
Those first few years were a trip. There was lot of resentment on my
part for a while. He wasn't my mom, and he wasn't my dad, and I wanted to hate
him for it.
I think I got over it when blitzball season started back up that summer
and he knew about registration before I did. And he made sure I got signed up on
time. After that, I found it pretty hard to be angry at him.
He was better about being at my games than Mom had ever been. He didn't
miss one that first year. Auron even took the team out for dinner himself when
the Junior Abes won the championship.
For being such a stiff, he was a huge softie when it came to me.
I think my childhood actually got better after my mom got put into the
asylum.
He moved out of the house when I got recruited to play pro for the Abes. Guess
he figured that if I was old enough for that, then I was old enough to take care
of my own house. He got a little loft apartment about three blocks away from the
docks--just close enough to me so that I could go running to him if I needed
him.
The first few weeks, I think I wore a rut in the sidewalk going to his
place. I even got to know his landlady on a first name basis. I mean, hey, I was
only fifteen--I was having a ton of crises.
Those trips tapered off after awhile, though, as I learned to handle the
fans, the reporters and the bills on my own. Instead of two or three times a
day, they became two or three times a week. Then just twice a week or so. By the
end of six months we ere having dinner once a week while we discussed bills and
schedules and things.
It really was a good place to be for me. I was finally out from under my
father's shadow and making my own name. Sometimes, when I went to visit my
mother, I even caught her smiling faintly from her corner of the world at
mention of my new place in the spotlight.
I had been on my own for about a year when I started canceling our
dinner nights. At first it was just a few, but eventually it became a surprise
when I was actually home for one. Auron never missed one though. I would come
home from my nights on the town and find whatever note he'd left me on the state
of my affairs along with some dinner that wouldn't be too terrible reheated.
I dunno why I stopped going really. I guess I thought girls and blitzing
were more important than dinners with the guy who raised me.
I think I turned into my old man.
And I think that I really hurt Auron.
We had our first real fight right before the championships the year I turned
sixteen. I went out and partied hard the night before the semi-finals. So I was
exhausted and hung-over for our game.
We lost spectacularly because of my "off game." Auron was…a little upset
about it.
"Your team lost because of you."
"Oh, please! You came here because I had a lousy game?" I was so cocky
and full of myself--and my relatively new fame--that I didn't really care.
"They were counting on you. You were their leader and you let them down.
Your actions cost them the championship."
"Oh, like it was all my fault. There are five other guys on the team,
you know."
My back was to him, so I didn't see him move, but I knew when he grabbed
my shoulder and spun me around so that I was facing him. He was glaring
daggers--or maybe they were longswords--at me.
"Having five other guys in the sphere just means that they all look bad
too, for depending on a loser like you."
That made me mad. Nobody called me a loser. I was the Abes golden
child--I was the best! I was NOT a loser.
I punched him. It didn't even make him loosen his grip in me. I didn't
realize what I was in for until I was laying on the floor with pain exploding
through my face.
Auron--my friend, mentor and pseudo-father--had hit me. In anger, I
thought.
He knelt down in front of me, and looked me straight in the eyes. I
almost flinched away from the anger burning there. "That was to remind you that
you are responsible for the results of your actions. Not the rest of your team.
Not me. And not your father."
Then he got up and left. I watched him go through tear-filled eyes.
I'd been so sure of myself--so arrogant--before that day. But Auron
proved that the golden child had tarnish.
I cried for the first time in a long time that night.
don't mind. But nine years of mundane child raising is kind of boring to read or
write. I promise, tho, it gets better from here!
TIDUS
I had just turned eight when I lost my mom. Don't get me wrong--she
didn't die or anything. She just sort of…stopped one day while Auron and I were
at a blitzball game.
After that, Auron took care of me full time. Not that he hadn't been
pretty much doing that for the last couple of months. but now he moved into my
house, cooked all the food, did the laundry, all of it.
Auron--who'd never even had kids before me--became my mom and dad both.
I don't think I realized how lucky I'd been that he was there until now.
Those first few years were a trip. There was lot of resentment on my
part for a while. He wasn't my mom, and he wasn't my dad, and I wanted to hate
him for it.
I think I got over it when blitzball season started back up that summer
and he knew about registration before I did. And he made sure I got signed up on
time. After that, I found it pretty hard to be angry at him.
He was better about being at my games than Mom had ever been. He didn't
miss one that first year. Auron even took the team out for dinner himself when
the Junior Abes won the championship.
For being such a stiff, he was a huge softie when it came to me.
I think my childhood actually got better after my mom got put into the
asylum.
He moved out of the house when I got recruited to play pro for the Abes. Guess
he figured that if I was old enough for that, then I was old enough to take care
of my own house. He got a little loft apartment about three blocks away from the
docks--just close enough to me so that I could go running to him if I needed
him.
The first few weeks, I think I wore a rut in the sidewalk going to his
place. I even got to know his landlady on a first name basis. I mean, hey, I was
only fifteen--I was having a ton of crises.
Those trips tapered off after awhile, though, as I learned to handle the
fans, the reporters and the bills on my own. Instead of two or three times a
day, they became two or three times a week. Then just twice a week or so. By the
end of six months we ere having dinner once a week while we discussed bills and
schedules and things.
It really was a good place to be for me. I was finally out from under my
father's shadow and making my own name. Sometimes, when I went to visit my
mother, I even caught her smiling faintly from her corner of the world at
mention of my new place in the spotlight.
I had been on my own for about a year when I started canceling our
dinner nights. At first it was just a few, but eventually it became a surprise
when I was actually home for one. Auron never missed one though. I would come
home from my nights on the town and find whatever note he'd left me on the state
of my affairs along with some dinner that wouldn't be too terrible reheated.
I dunno why I stopped going really. I guess I thought girls and blitzing
were more important than dinners with the guy who raised me.
I think I turned into my old man.
And I think that I really hurt Auron.
We had our first real fight right before the championships the year I turned
sixteen. I went out and partied hard the night before the semi-finals. So I was
exhausted and hung-over for our game.
We lost spectacularly because of my "off game." Auron was…a little upset
about it.
"Your team lost because of you."
"Oh, please! You came here because I had a lousy game?" I was so cocky
and full of myself--and my relatively new fame--that I didn't really care.
"They were counting on you. You were their leader and you let them down.
Your actions cost them the championship."
"Oh, like it was all my fault. There are five other guys on the team,
you know."
My back was to him, so I didn't see him move, but I knew when he grabbed
my shoulder and spun me around so that I was facing him. He was glaring
daggers--or maybe they were longswords--at me.
"Having five other guys in the sphere just means that they all look bad
too, for depending on a loser like you."
That made me mad. Nobody called me a loser. I was the Abes golden
child--I was the best! I was NOT a loser.
I punched him. It didn't even make him loosen his grip in me. I didn't
realize what I was in for until I was laying on the floor with pain exploding
through my face.
Auron--my friend, mentor and pseudo-father--had hit me. In anger, I
thought.
He knelt down in front of me, and looked me straight in the eyes. I
almost flinched away from the anger burning there. "That was to remind you that
you are responsible for the results of your actions. Not the rest of your team.
Not me. And not your father."
Then he got up and left. I watched him go through tear-filled eyes.
I'd been so sure of myself--so arrogant--before that day. But Auron
proved that the golden child had tarnish.
I cried for the first time in a long time that night.
