Chapter 16
News for Yuna
---------------------------------
Yuna swallowed nervously as she fought the urge to bite her bottom lip. She had anticipated his arrival ever since the beginning and yet now, for some reason, a foreign feeling engulfed her entire being. Nervousness. But why? This was after all, her own father whom she had grown up to love. Never had she felt the absence of her mother who had died a few years after giving birth to her because of the amount of attention and love Braska showered upon her.
Though it was undeniable that at times, Yuna secretly confessed her longing for a mother figure, it never lasted long or strong enough to overpower her appreciation of the presence of just her and her father. Unlike stories, unlike movies and most of all, unlike many other families, as cruel and selfish as it may sound, Yuna never lived a day feeling the guilt of her mother's premature death upon her shoulders. And that was how she liked it. That was what Braska made sure of.
Taking a quick glimpse at her wrist watch, she anxiously stood near the pier and desperately waited for her father to arrive and along with that, ridding her from this negative feeling.
The miscellaneous noises surrounding her were drowned out, even the two bickering voices next to her faded away as question after question sprinted through her head. Yuna realized, not long later, that she in fact had not anticipated his arrival, but instead misinterpreted it. She had told herself so many times that she was supposed to feel positive about her father visiting that she sub-consciously allowed her brain to do the feeling instead of her heart.
"Seymour, are you sure that this is the pier?"
"For Yevon's s- Rikku, if you're gonna ask me that again I'm going to-"
"What? What are you going to do?" Rikku threatened, standing on the tip of her toes.
Crossing his arms and looking away, Seymour softly mumbled to himself, "Girls. What do guys see in them anyways?"
Yuna's bi-coloured eyes once again fell down to her wrist watch, this time feeling slightly impatient. She had rushed to the pier after school for no reason. They were 30 whole minutes late. What could be holding them up? Were they really on the wrong pier? Damn Seymour. You can never rely on someone like him.
"Yunie, do you want me to go check the other piers?" Rikku asked.
"Uh," Yuna thought as her eyes quickly glanced around in front of her, "No, we'll just go together. Doesn't seem like a boat is approaching anyway."
Rikku nodded her head as Seymour continuously defended himself by reassuring them that this was where Braska was arriving. Choosing to ignore him, the two girls turned around and began making their way past Seymour before their eyes landed on their target.
"Ahem, Seymour? I don't see how you could get Pier nine mixed up with Pier seven."
Seymour spun around quickly to the sound of that voice.
Braska smiled light heartedly, momentarily placing his luggage on the ground, "Hi Rikku."
"Hi Uncle!" she squealed back, this provoking a little chuckle from Braska.
Now turning his full attention to the brunette who was still standing like she was suddenly paralyzed, he spoke, "Well, are you just going to stand there or are you gonna give this old man a hug or something?"
Immediately, Yuna broke into a full fledge smile before she ran up to him and welcomed him in an embrace.
"It's nice to see you too sweetheart."
Hesitantly, Yuna let go.
"Hey Braska, I thought Cath-,"
Just before Seymour could finish his question, a voice to all of Yuna's unanswered questions was heard.
"Hi everyone." The voice was gentle and carried an air of grace along with a bit of shyness.
Looking over Braska's shoulder, there stood a composed figure that Yuna had already met before at many occasions.
There stood Catherine.
------------------------------------
"Wow Catherine. This is impressive. It's much better than the so called food they give me." Seymour complimented whilst jerking a thumb towards the direction of the talkative blonde and the unusually quiet brunette.
She merely waved a hand in the air, a gesture of dismissal and modesty. Hurriedly, Catherine undid the hair tie that was pulling up her short dark brown hair and made her way towards the dinner table in the over-crowed apartment.
She seated herself in between Rikku and Braska but neither one gave notice to it as they were already wolfing down their dinners. Her dark brown eyes looked around the little apartment, for she herself did not feel the need to eat. Gradually her eyes fell upon the figure sitting somewhat directly across from her. Bi-coloured eyes darted away as her brown orbs met them.
"Yuna," she addressed, "are you not hungry?"
Quickly, before her father could see, she merely offered a smile and shook her head as she dug her fork through the mashed potatoes.
Seymour chuckled, "She's just awed that for once she's actually having a decent meal."
This caught Braska's attention, "Yuna, don't you have proper meals?" concern heavily detected as he spoke.
Rolling her eyes at Seymour, who still had a little smirk on his face, she answered, "The meals I have are fine. Someone's just hard to please."
Braska took a quick look at Seymour before turning back to his left and whispered, "If he's giving you any trouble, let me know, and in no time, this," he gestured to his fork, "will be up his 'you know where'"
At that comment, Seymour gave a look of utter disgust and horror as he flinched ever so slightly.
"Uh..H-Hey! You know I'm not serious. You're meals are completely fine and not to mention, your food is way better than this!" This time, jerking his thumb towards his plate of food.
"Boy you better watch what you say." Braska warned, pointing his fork at him that made him whimper in his chair.
The scenario played between the two men successfully brought a little giggle from Yuna, and unknown to the still laughing ladies, relief washed over Braska.
-----------------------------------
"Lu, seriously, he's gonna bust my ass if I don't get back. He's really shitty today."
"Oh come one, just a little longer, I'm bored."
"Oh man. He was already suspicious before. Come on Lu, if you love me, you'll let me go ya?" Wakka pleaded desperately.
"Just tell him it took longer than expected."
There was a brief pause and Lulu could almost hear him roll his eyes, "Lu, it doesn't take fifteen minutes to take a dump. And plus, Tidus could've killed some guy out there from his attacks for all I know. Come on, we're talking bout life or death situation here."
Sighing in defeat, Lulu hung up without saying good-bye. It wasn't out of anger, but instead, out of knowledge of Wakka's urgency.
Jumping up from the change room bench, he flung his cell phone into his bag and sprinted outside, where he was then confronted by an intimidating face.
"It took you fifteen damn minutes?" It was a rhetorical question.
Chuckling nervously as he jogged away from his coach, he yelled back over his shoulder, "Well, who knows what kind of food the cafeteria is serving us these days ya?"
----------------------------------
"WHAT?" the three roommates cried in unison.
"No No No. Uncle, he cannot stay with us anymore. No way."
"She's right…for once. I cannot stay with them. They don't even provide the essential needs for a man with high maintenance."
There was silence for a while, everyone, with the exception of Catherine, hoping he would detect his own stupidity in his statement.
"What, it's true." He protested, "Their hot water runs out after only 32 - yes I timed – 32 minutes of showering. They don't have cable. They only have two different types of combs. I need four. I don't have privacy, I don't have freedom, I don't-,"
Braska indifferently walked towards the kitchen cupboards before he quickly grabbed something and walked towards Seymour, pointing the fork at him again.
Groaning in annoyance, Seymour tiredly fell back onto the one seater couch. As much as he knew that it was just a hollow meaningless threat, he obeyed every time.
"Look kids. Don't forget, I help you pay half the bills here, now all I'm asking in return is that you keep Seymour here for another three weeks. Just three short weeks. After that you can do whatever you want with him, throw him on the streets, ship him away, whatever. It's up to you."
"Man Braska, I thought we were pals." Seymour mumbled.
"We are pals. Only that you're my daughter's age and I'm, well, you're father's age."
"Uh, please. Do not compare me with these teena-,"
"So is that a yes from the two of you?"
The girls took a look at each other before succumbing to Braska's plead. What other choice did they have? Braska obviously had a good reason for this and either way, he was going to have it his way no matter what. Plus the idea of shipping Seymour away was more than just appealing.
-----------------------------------
Auron ran his rough hands through his damp hair as he rested both his elbows on the tip of his knees with his torso leaning forwards. Without a doubt, victory played a big part in Blitzball. That was just the way it is. Everyone was there for one key reason. To win. The adrenaline, the atmosphere, the praise, those were just bonuses. But on the contrary, losing did not mean the end of the world. Not for Auron anyway.
What would tear him up inside would be why they lost. As he looked around the stadium and watched his fierce blitzers train with everything they had, he shook his head in disappointment.
As far as he could see, they above all other teams had the potential to win every tournament. But why couldn't they see that this time, they were letting victory slip through their grasp.
No. He shook his head whilst little droplets of water landed on the bench. Not they. He. Why couldn't he see that he was letting the entire team down? Why couldn't he see that his emotions had already over taken him? Why couldn't he see them?
Even though Auron hated to admit it, he knew Tidus was the key to victory for the team. He was the best player. Maybe he hadn't surpassed Jecht yet, maybe he has, he couldn't give a rat's ass. All Auron knew was that Tidus was just like a double ended knife. If shown the right directions and techniques, it could be ruthless, dangerous yet successful, but if for some reason, it had been misled, everything could backfire.
Too much thinking got Auron to rub the area between his eyes, a futile attempt to clear his head. If Tidus wasn't going to play, the team was screwed. If Tidus were to compete, but in the state that he was in now, the team was still screwed.
Sighing, he realized that all he could do as a coach was consider what was best for the team. But right now, he didn't know what was best.
-----------------------------------
10.05 pm
"G'night Uncle, G'night Cat." Rikku yawned and hugged them good bye.
"You sure you don't want to stay longer? It's still early." Yuna asked as she grabbed her car keys.
"Nah, Rikku seems tired and the boat ride wasn't exactly the best."
She merely nodded as she waited for Seymour to grudgingly bid them farewell.
"Okay let's go." Yuna announced as soon as Seymour finished.
Their trip down to the parking lot was a silent one, and it only continued in the car when not long afterwards, Catherine had fallen asleep in the back seat. Though neither daughter nor father spoke, there was no awkwardness. It was only a feeling of peaceful tranquility in which they both basked in. The silence would only be interrupted when Braska would briefly point out the directions to his hotel. But after that, it was a mutual understanding to remain quiet.
"Yeah, that's the one. Just stop here"
"Here?" Yuna asked, stirring Catherine slightly.
"Yeah, you have to pay for parking."
Understanding at once, Yuna parked her car on the side of the road.
"Hunny? Hunny. Wake up. We're there."
"Dad? Why don't you actually get outta the car and get her?" Yuna questioned.
Ignoring Yuna, he continued to keep his torso twisted to tap Catherine on the shoulder.
Not long later, she woke to his fingers now jabbing her arm, "Oww."
"Cat, why don't you go up first? I have to talk to Yuna for a bit."
Groggily, Cat bid Yuna goodbye before stepping out of the car and slowly but steadily made her way to the hotel.
Both pairs of eyes followed her until she safely made her way into the lobby before Yuna broke the silence, "You need to talk to me? About what?"
"What do you think about Cat?"
Confused, she simply answered, "Uh, she's nice."
"Do you like her?"
"..I-uh I guess I do. She's friendly, I don't see why not."
Her dark brown eyebrows furrowed inwardly a bit, confusion evident on her delicate facial features. Did her father seriously stay behind just to ask her what she thought about Catherine? Sure they had already had their little private conversation after dinner, but Yuna couldn't help but let the disappointment show on her face. Thankfully, Braska was so occupied with what was going on in his own head, the expression went by unseen.
Braska seemed pleased with the answer, but made no attempt to say anything.
"Dad, what is all this about?"
"Do you ever miss your mom?"
"…um…I."
This totally caught Yuna off guard. Honestly, where was this leading? Now, despite confusion claiming her, annoyance was also detected. Can he just get to the point? This was getting tiring. If Braska had started the conversation differently, like asking about her well-being, maybe she wouldn't be as aggravated as she was right now. However, before she was given the chance to express her frustration, he was quick to rearticulate his words.
"Wait. Sorry, let me rephrase that… Do you miss a mother figure?"
Silence claimed them.
-----------------------------------
11.00 pm
Wondering downstairs, Tidus pulled his aching body towards the kitchen in search for something, anything, edible.
Just as he got to the kitchen, he was there to witness Jecht hanging up their home phone in slight annoyance. He tiredly rubbed his eyes before they caught sight of the person he wanted to speak to.
"Boy."
Taken aback that his father was actually acknowledging his presence, he turned around to face him, hoping that for once, his father would drop the Blitzball shit.
"Do you know a girl named Yuna?"
Immediately yet sub-consciously, the blonde's blue orbs widened visibly. That was the last thing he had expected his father to ask him. At the mention of her name, he couldn't help but allow an immense amount of interest in the topic to swell in him. In fact, he actually wanted to pull the chair out in front of him, grab a banana and have a deep and meaningful conversation with his 'Dad'. But as second after second went by, he realized that this topic may actually lead off onto other paths, paths that Tidus preferred to steer off.
'Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. How the hell does he know Yuna? Yevon I do not need some sex ed. Lecture. Not now. Not ever. Not from him. Argh gross.'
Taking his silence as a 'yes', he continued, "Well, I just got off the phone with her father."
"WAIT! You KNOW her father! Shit."
Now it was starting to freak Tidus out. His father knew her father. Since when? How? Why hadn't Yuna and he met before?
"Shut up boy, I'm already pissed enough that we have to show up to his stupid wedding, I don't need more of your shit!"
--------------------------------------
An: I don't like the new rating system. Too confusing for little minds. Now go read my other fic! SHOO! If you want, that is.
Side note.
For the readers who are interested in being notified when I update a week or few days before hand, please leave a review WITH an email and I'd be more than happy to email the people who have requested for advance notification. Thank-you.