A game of Blitzball is enjoyed.

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italics = denotes thought or memory (for the most part)

Not Mine

Besaid - 6 Days Until the Coronation

Yuna walked down the hallway at a quick pace, but instead of looking hurried it looked graceful. Only years of practice had allowed her walk to evolve like this. Her shoulder length hair, now worn loose - swished around her face. Behind her Shelinda tried to keep up, a datapad clutched in her hands. She didn't understand how the Lady Summoner ne. Emissary could walk so fast. They were about the same height weren't they? Yet somehow Yuna's strides were measured and strong, allowing her to keep up a quick pace that Shelinda just could not match.

Shelinda sighed and looked down at the datapad in her hands, there were so many things to do this week - and only 6 days to do them in. So many years ago, when Yuna had asked her to be her personal assistant she had blushed and then stammered, unsure of why Yuna had chosen her. After all, the Lady Summoner had many friends who could have certainly done a better job that her - the one named Rikku for instance. But now she understood, Yuna hadn't wanted to trouble her friends who had lives to live outside of the messy politics of the city. Shelinda on the other hand - had always wanted to help out. Staying close to Her Lady's side was something of a dream to her.

Yuna had also mentioned, in their first meeting as Lady and her Lady's assistant that Shelinda and her husband had shown great bravery in their part in saving Spira. So, eight years after the defeat of Vegnagun here they were. After a few tears and goodbyes she and Isaaru had packed up their lives and left Bevelle. Now they resided in the new Capital area of Spira - Besaid Island. Despite her original fears and worries somehow it had worked out, for both her and Isaaru.

Thankfully the small village where Yuna had grown up still remained. Rather than tear down her home village, the beach where the small harbor to the island once sat had been hollowed out a bit. Here large structures in the style of the ruins that had once made up the island's sea cityscape had been erected. In these structures people sold wares in a small but but lovely open air market.

The tiny harbor to the right of the market had been torn down as well, and replaced with two long and wide wharfs that resembled those in Luca and Bevelle. Here many traveled either by machina or foot across the long stretch of water to the new city that rose up from the sea in the distance. The wharfs were not complete, there were still signs of construction alongside the bottom of them - but for the most part they were safe, walkable, and able to hold great weight.

The city itself was gorgeous. This was because the people in charge of designing and constructing the new man-made island had tried to keep it as organic as possible. That way the city matched that of its home island. Trees and greenery had been planted all around the island, and the city was built around their placement instead of the otherway around. From a design perspective the city was in the shape of a three leafed clover with the two sea wharfs and main street inside the city making up the "stem".

Each leaf of the clover represented a different district - of which there were three. The leftmost leaf from the sea was the innovation and housing district, made up mostly of Al Bhed and Al Bhed shops. The rightmost leaf from the sea was the garden district: full of fashion shops, trendy restaurants, offices, and the homes of the more well off. It also featured many beautiful parks and gardens. The final district was the back most leaf, and was called the Imperial district. Here the hustle and bustle of political life lived and breathed. At the very back of the leaf the Capitol Building sat, and it was here that Yuna would hold office.

New Zanarkand, as it was being called wasn't complete. However it was clipping along at a quick rate. Shelinda did not doubt that it would be done within the next ten years. Without Sin Spira had wanted to start building right away, hungry to rebuild what they had long ago lost to war. Thus, about four years ago buildings had started popping up quickly, and with great speed. Seeing all the finished projects that had started so soon after the defeat of Sin come to life, well it was nothing short of magical. A flower blooming after years of drought. A lot of the buildings were self-funded too, so beyond permit rights the government hadn't had to pay much out of pocket. It was all rather grand and exciting, Shelinda thought.

In front of her, Yuna turned a corner and almost collided with a hard body. Using skills honed by many a game, Tidus jumped backwards from where Yuna had skid to a stop. He looked at her, a thin chocolate biscuit stick hanging out of his mouth and smiled. Just the person he had been looking for. He quickly used his tongue to pull the rest to the stick into his mouth, and chewed it hastily. But Yuna somehow still beat him to the conversation punch, "Tidus!" she paused thinking on something, "Shouldn't you be in the locker room already? The game is set to begin in less than fifteen minutes."

He finished chewing and grinned, "I wanted to wait for you. It's the grand opening of the stadium and it would feel wrong if I wasn't the one to escort you to your seat."

"You must be excited. No more practice in the sea."

Tidus shrugged. Honestly he liked practicing in the sea and the team did too. Fighting against the current made for a real workout. They had to be fully cognizant of each team member just in case the tide came up to swallow one of them into the dark waters. It made for a good teamwork exercise. Some people called him a hardass, but it won them matches so he didn't have any regrets, "I don't think I'll stop sea drills. It keeps the team sharp. Wakka was afraid to train in the deep sea but I'm not, at least that's what Datto tells me."

Looking at her partner of many years, Yuna smiled up at him fondly. In some ways he had changed a lot over the past eight years. He had let his hair grow out, and he now wore it in a short ponytail tied with a blue ribbon. His clothing had changed too. A year or so after the defeat Vegnagun and his acceptance as the Captain of the Besaid Aurochs he had finally discarded his own blitzball clothing for that of the island. He was currently dressed in a Captain's outfit that almost matched Wakka's save a few adjustments here and there, and a pair of black swim boots. Deep under all the cosmetic changes though, he was still her Tidus - the man she had fallen in love with all those years ago, "You have a very strong team this year. Last year's second place standing against the Ronso Fangs must have stung. Especially after coming in first the year before that."

That had been a good day though. With no meetings Yuna had been free to go watch the game and enjoy spending time with friends. Kimahri had even come down from the mountains to watch his team compete. Until that year, the Ronso Fangs had remained rather low in rankings and their success had forced Kimahri out of hiding.

They had met him for an early breakfast and he and Tidus had traded barbs on which team would win. When the Ronso Fangs had emerged victorious Kimahri had pounded his chest and growled into the sky. His excitement had startled a lot of those who had come to watch the event. The rest of the Ronso had joined him - and Yuna sitting next to him, had laughed in her seat. Later a photo of that moment would make the cover of a the most read paper in all of Spira with the title: Lady Yuna enjoys diplomatic day out with Ronso Leader Kimahri. That night the two teams, and Yuna would go out for celebratory dinner. The dinner would lead to a comment said by Kimahri that Tidus would later privately admit to Yuna, left him smarting and hungry for revenge. "The team this year is even sharper than last. Calli, that young girl I told you about? The one who's a little Chocobo obsessed? She's new but she's a speed demon in the water." Tidus told her.

"I can't wait to see it."

"Come on, let me escort you to your seat."

Tidus held out his arm for her and Yuna looped hers through his. Together they walked down the long hall and up a few steps that lead to the box seats. Yuna had seen the stadium in its various stages of build but she had to admit seeing the full thing was beautiful.

The stadium had been built out behind the temple of the fayth. It was round like a coliseum and used the natural sea water to fill the playing field. This water was then cleaned after every game and deposited back into the ocean safely. It was an efficient cycle. Large white cloths were used to shade the seats and decorate the top of the stadium. On the outside giant, but also somehow delicate propellers turned as wind from the sea swept into them, giving the stadium power. In fact the whole stadium exemplified the theme of wind, from the airy decorations to Valefor's glyph used as decoration on the columns.

Docks surrounded the outside of the stadium, to transport people to and from the ocean structure. A final long platform connected the stadium to the land where a path cut into the cliff lead them up and back to the temple. The beach and beach house where Yuna had lived after the defeat of Sin long torn down and removed.

As she entered the box - Isaaru who was already there and waiting for his wife smiled, and stood up. Walking over to the front of the platform he spoke into the microphone that lay there, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome her Lady Emissary to the high box."

The crowd cheered and Yuna waved before kissing Tidus on the cheek, "Good luck."

"We're going to crush them." he told her before removing his hand, waving to the crowd as well - and leaving Yuna alone with Isaaru and Shelinda.

Once she had gotten comfortably seated Shelinda passed her the datapad she had been clutching furiously a few minutes before, leaving Yuna to mull the words on it over. Work it seemed, never really ended. With only a few minutes before the game started Yuna begun to read as fast but as efficiently as she could. It seemed, from her quick scan of the document - that it was a missive from the Guado who wanted more funding for a school that they were planning to set up in their new home of residence. A small village on the east side of the largest part of main continent near the sea.

They said the school would eventually teach about the wrongs that the Guado had committed during the end of the war. The government was hesitant to give them the money - instead hoping to put what they being asked to spend on the Guado School, into the mining town that was being built on Bikanel Island. Once the mining town was set up, they would have more money than they knew what to do with to spend on the school. Or at least that was what Baralai assured Yuna. With Gippal's backing it would be hard to fight. But Yuna wanted to give it to them. A lot of money was being put into the town in Bikanel anyway and she didn't see the harm in a school of Guado.

A tap on her shoulder alerted her to the fact that the countdown clock in front of them said that the game was going to begin any moment now, "Lady Emissary, it's time." Shelinda told her.

Ah, yes she had almost forgotten what she had promised Tidus. Straightening up from her chair and walking over to where the microphone was she cleared her throat, "I do not have much to say. The sun is shining, and I am surrounded by the beauty of this brand new Stadium. So I will keep it short. Today is a day of joy and revelry and hopefully good sportsmanship. Let the games begin!"

There was a buzzer sound as the water filled the playing field and the teams swum out into positions. Then the clock was set to twenty minutes and they were off. Tidus passed the ball to Datto who swam swiftly forward to the goal. He was blocked by two players from the opposing team - the Kilika Beasts, and was stopped in his tracks. A good number of people in the crowd booed and for a good fifteen minutes after that no one scored any points. The atmosphere that hung over the stadium was tense and at each missed point Yuna felt her chest tighten. At about the 5 minute remaining mark Yuna looked over and noticed that Calli was wide open, "She's wide open! Calli is wide open! Pass the ball!"

A pause followed before she realized what she had done. One of the first things that she and Tidus had discussed re: his blitzball games was the express disuse of their shared mental space. It was akin to cheating and Yuna didn't disagree. Usually when he played games he would close himself off to her and while the lack of him had at first felt like a physical pain, Yuna understood the necessity for it.

Learning to close each other off, or hide things in unshared rooms in their minds had been a hard but important lesson. They didn't like doing it - but sometimes it had to be done. Since that discussion they had been very good at closing themselves off. Therefore for the past eight years they had done so without question, at least when necessary. That was why, upon speaking out to him she was surprised to find that communication with Tidus was still open. Yuna covered her mouth, ashamed of what she had done. Even though their conversations were done by thought, the action of covering her mouth had felt right. In the middle of the playing field Tidus stopped, and then called a timeout, "My bad." he answered her.

"No, it's my fault. I should have known better and checked. Things have been hetric recently but the connection goes both ways. Responsibility goes both ways."

"I should have known something was wrong. The whole game I've been feeling tense, which is not normal for me."

"That would be me."

"I'm shutting the whole thing down. See you after the game?"

"I've made space in my event calendar - we will celebrate your victory in style."

"I love you."

"I love you too. Now go win this game."

Something like walking into a room that had its sound muffled happened inside of Yuna's mind and she knew that the connection between them had officially been put on hold. When, about 60 minutes later after the game had ended and Tidus had scored the last goal bringing the game to 5-3 in favor of the Aurochs; the connection opened again and Yuna found herself blasted with cheer and elation. Dinner would be nothing short of a party tonight.

A/N: So this chapter should give a picture of how a lot of the story is going to be handled. There will be a few fights scattered around here and there but they take a backseat in this story.