So, more Final Fantasy X!
This time, some of Tidus' birthdays throughout the years, mainly the most memorable ones.
Enjoy, and let me know what you think!
Birthdays through the years
Tidus's fifth birthday is the first one he remembers clearly. His mother makes his favourite pancakes for breakfast, and there's going to be cake, and he's going to have his friends over to play later. He even woke up extra early that morning, he was so excited!
As a present, Jecht gets him a Blitzball. His first, very own Blitzball. It's, of course, the children's model, smaller and softer than the real thing. Still, Tidus is overjoyed at the gift. After all, Blitzball is the best sport ever, and now he can start training! He can't wait to show it to his friends so they can play together!
Then Jecht tells him "You'll never be as good as me, of course. But if you train really hard, you just might become second best."
His seventh birthday, even if he doesn't know it then, is the last one he'll spend with his parents. His mother no longer makes pancakes, but she does make some cupcakes instead, for later, so it's fine. Jecht tells him "Happy Birthday," and then tells him to start putting on some muscle, because he's so scrawny he could be mistaken for a five-year-old girl.
Luckily, Jecht isn't home for the rest of the day, so when his friends come hang out, it's all fun and games. Eating cupcakes, laughing, almost starting a food fight, and kicking Blitzball outside, trying to hit targets from various distances.
His eight birthday is probably the worst one ever. His father is gone, for good, and after getting the news of this, his mother just went and died. That was only a couple or so months ago. Tidus still misses her sometimes, though he doesn't miss him. Still, it gets lonely, especially today.
He still doesn't quite know how to feel about this strange man clad in red, who calls himself Auron and claims he's here to look out for Tidus. Tidus had never seen the man before he showed up some months ago to tell them Jecht wasn't coming back, ever. After that, he just decided to start hanging around, for some reason.
He also claims to have been friends with Jecht, which is probably the most surprising thing he says. As far as Tidus knows, his father didn't have any friends, just fans.
Auron is strange. He doesn't really seem to know what to do with children, how to talk to them or act around them. He talks weird, and a bit too formal. He dresses like no-one else in Zanarkand and has a big scar over his eye that makes him look kind of scary. And he doesn't seem to get the point of birthday celebrations at all.
But still, when Auron sits next to Tidus as he's moping alone on the couch in his too-empty home, tells him "Happy Birthday," somewhat awkwardly pats him on the shoulder, and makes him some food, Tidus feels just a little bit less lonely.
His tenth birthday is actually a lot of fun. Auron is starting to finally understand birthdays and actually lets him have pizza for breakfast! And after school, he's going to go with some friends to the moves, followed by having fast-food for dinner. One of the friends' parents is going to watch them, since they aren't allowed to wander Zanarkand alone for so long, but otherwise it's just him and five of his friends. When Tidus talked about it to Auron, the man even offered to pay for everything, as a birthday present from him. It's awesome!
Since Auron is actually a very lenient guardian and lets him do pretty much whatever and go wherever, as long as it's not something completely crazy and doesn't wander off too far, he's learned it's always better to just let Auron know where he's going, and when he'll be back. He once tried sneaking out, a complete disaster and something he never attempted again. Turns out Auron can see more with one eye than most people do with two.
The day goes great. He has so much fun with his friends as they play Blitzball at the beach right after school, as the movie isn't until later in the afternoon. The movie itself is one of the best he's ever seen, and they finish the day with all the pizza and ice cream they can eat. He even gets to stay up longer than he normally would be allowed on a school night, so he watches some fun movie.
As he's dozing off at the end of the movie, he can distantly feel a large hand ruffling his hair, accompanied by a quiet voice saying, "happy birthday."
On his fourteenth birthday he gets what's possibly the best birthday present ever, when Auron tells him he's signed him up for a Blitzball school. It's such a great thing, as he's been dreaming of becoming a professional Blitzball player since pretty much forever.
He's so excited about this, as he's been asking Auron to do this for months. He's even been doing research to find the best Blitz-schools to choose from. He wanted one that's not too far (so he doesn't have to spend hours on commute), has a good reputation, and isn't associated with Jecht (the last thing he wants is people constantly comparing him to his father, even more than they already tend to do). He found a few that he presented to Auron, to which the man just said, "We'll see."
It's one of these Auron has chosen to enrol him in. It's pretty new, only five years old, so no connections to Jecht, it has good reputation despite being so new, having reputable trainers and good techniques. It is far enough for him to have to take the bus, but the ride is less than thirty minutes, so it's not that bad.
He gets so excited and happy when he hears the news, Tidus jumps up and enthusiastically throws his arms around Auron. It might be the first time he's done this, and Auron is visibly startled, as he tenses up before carefully returning the hug. Or, well, he doesn't shove Tidus away and kind of pats him on the back. But it still counts.
He spends the evening with his friends, this time hanging out without adult supervision. Not that they really do much anything of note. They go practice some Blitzball, because that's just something they'll never get tired of, followed by a dinner of nothing but junk food, topped off by the largest ice cream available for dessert.
At his seventeenth birthday he feels like an adult already, even if he won't legally be one for another year. He lives by himself, and handles most things, like food and stuff, by himself. Auron pretty much just comes by now and then to make sure he's doing okay. Which is fine by him, he actually kind of likes the independence. Especially when his friends still live with their parents and have to abide by their rules.
And he's even recently joined the Zanarkand Abes Blitzball Team! He doesn't even care it's the same team Jecht played for, he's just so excited! He hasn't actually played any official matches yet, as the rules state you have to be seventeen, but he's been to lots of practices and practice matches, and made many new friends amongst his teammates.
So this birthday, to celebrate, he spends the day with his friends and teammates. He knows he'll be out late, so he even leaves a note on the kitchen table, just in case Auron decides to show up at the house. It just feels like a very responsible adult thing to do.
During the day, they hang out at a café, chatting and having some hot chocolate and too-sugary pastries. They also get a small cake for dirt cheap, since the café gives discounts on them if it's your birthday, something they take full advantage of.
Since Zanarkand never sleeps, there's always somewhere to go, someplace that's open, and someplace to have fun and party. Tidus and his friends find a bar, not too far away, where they don't check your id, other than when buying drinks. Since some of his teammates are somewhat older than him, they buy some beer for the rest of them.
Tidus also has one beer with them, along with several glasses of soda. After seeing what alcohol did to Jecht, he has promised himself to never, ever get drunk. But one beer with his friends, on his birthday, isn't really a big thing, surely (it doesn't even taste good at all, and he'll never understand how anyone can actually enjoy drinking this stuff).
For the evening and well into the night, Tidus and his friends party, eat, talk, sing karaoke horribly off key, laugh and in general have a good time. He completely looses track of time, and they don't leave until after midnight. Luckily, they picked a bar so close, so they don't have to walk far.
When he gets home, the place is dark and empty, but there's a small cake from a nearby bakery sitting on the dining room table. The note he left is gone.
His eighteenth birthday is the first one he spends in Spira. This one is completely different from any birthday he's had before. Mainly because he's in a place so different from what he's used to.
One might think that in Spira, where Sin runs rampant and death lurks behind every corner, where every year survived is basically a milestone, birthdays would be even more of a celebration than they are in Zanarkand. But they're not. At least, not like he's used to.
Instead of celebrating, giving gifts, eating cake and having fun, people in Spira celebrate birthdays in a more solemn way. By praying to and praising Yevon for blessing them with another year lived, as well as wishing for another year of life. Or something among those lines, as Tidus really wasn't paying too much attention the first and only time he witnessed a birthday celebration.
He doesn't know what the Al-Bhed do for their birthdays, if they celebrate them at all, and doesn't really dare ask Rikku.
Tidus doesn't tell anyone about his birthday. It somehow would seem... attention seeking? Insensitive? To basically just go "Hey, pay attention to me! Celebrate me! Gimme stuff!" So he doesn't, and no-one knows it's his birthday.
Well, Auron does, but Tidus knows he won't tell anyone. It's just not something he's get involved in.
Besides, they have more important things to worry about. Like defeating Sin.
So, in other words, his birthday in Spira is just like any normal day in Spira. They travel, fight fiends, make stupid jokes and talk nonsense to keep the mood up, stop to eat, the usual. As they're settling down for the night, he sits down on the ground a bit further from the others, exhausted after the long day.
Then a new shield, complete with some protective enchantments he'll have to take a closer look at, as well as some potions fall onto his lap, seemingly from nowhere. Before he has time to as much as look up, a large hand lands on his head, ruffling his hair, accompanied by a quiet
"Happy Birthday."