Disclaimer 1: Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy X belong to Squaresoft. The world of Spira and all associated characters belong to Squaresoft. This story is written and published without permission or consent of Squaresoft. This is a fictional story made for purely entertainment purposes. The author of this story does not claim to own the world of Final Fantasy, or any characters or likenesses. Any relation to events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Author's Note: The Al Bhed in this story are speaking Al Bhed, unless otherwise noted. While they have a language all of their own, all prose and dialogue will be in English (or Yevonite, if you prefer), with a few notable exceptions.

For Love Of The Game
(c) 2003, 2005 Mayumi.H

5 - Replacements (Blappa)

Even in the muting water, the stomping and shouting of the tournament crowd could be heard after every play. Or maybe Blappa's ears were just better attuned to them. Whether Al Bhed, Guado, Ronso, or Yevonite, a great blitzer was just that, and he wasn't about to disappoint the crowd.

Ninety seconds left in the game, and Berrik signaled to both forwards - they were going for a crunch play, the same one that had won them the quarter-finals game against the Fangs. Berrik threw the ball to Eigaar, who somersaulted in place to take the momentum. He swam for the goal, and the Glories' defensemen, Auda and Pah, angled in on him. Auda rushed him first, but Eigaar slipped out of her grip. Then it was Pah's turn, and she managed to connect with a clothesline tackle. But Eigaar shook her off, too, and sent a quick pass to Blappa.

Less than a minute to go, and Blappa lined himself up for a clear shot on goal. He dropped the ball into position and kicked it hard, and it spun toward the goal.

Noy, the Glories' goalie, strained his long body to catch the ball. Though he couldn't catch it, he did manage to get a hand on it, and it fell back into play. Blappa couldn't believe it; those big Guado hands were just too good at blocking shots.

Auda grabbed the ball and made a long pass to Giera, who was deep in the Psyches' territory. Blappa, Eigaar, and Berrik all swam like crazy for him. The Psyches still led by one, but even in thirty seconds, Giera could tie the score, making the game essentially worthless.

The Psyches forwards were coming from behind, and Judda was swimming over to him, so Giera took his chance while he was still relatively clear. He fired off a venom shot, just to give the ball some extra strength.

Lakkam rose up and got a hand on the ball, but it still careened toward Nimrook. The goalie stayed in position, his body swaying back-and-forth in a steady motion. The ball came at him and hit him square in the chest, then fell into play once again.

Ten seconds left, and Judda picked up the ball. She threw a long pass to Berrik, just waiting for the clock to run out. Only a few more seconds, and the game was theirs.

The buzzer rang, the players dropped formation, and the crowd started cheering. Sometimes, it seemed as though it never mattered to the fans who won, as long as they saw a good game.

As the announcers started rattling off statistics, the players broke. The Glories swam back to their goal-line, and the Psyches did the same.

Nimrook was first out of the sphere, and he helped Judda and Lakkam onto the exit platform. Blappa jumped onto the tiny deck behind them.

"Nice try out there," Judda said, tossing a towel at him.

"I hate shooting against Noy," Blappa told her as he flung the towel over his shoulder.

"Yeah," Eigaar agreed. "He's got the longest reach in the league."

Nimrook led the way down the steps to the lockers, which had been built deep under the stadium. "He's a good goalie," he admitted, rubbing a hand over his short-cropped hair.

Berrik snickered. "Not as good as you, though." He cocked his head and squeegeed some water from his ear.

Nimrook shrugged. "That goes without saying."

As the rest of the Psyches laughed, Blappa dropped back to pace Lakkam, who was bringing up the rear. She was looking at her hand, flexing and relaxing the fingers.

"You okay?" Blappa asked in a low voice. Up ahead, the others were talking about strategy, or performance, or something. At the moment, he wasn't as interested in anything as he was in the girl beside him.

Lakkam smiled bravely. "Still stings," she offered softly, showing him her fingers.

Blappa stopped and took her hand, turning it over in his larger one. The tips of her fingers looked red, as if burned. He rubbed a thumb across them. "That should go away in a few minutes," he assured her. He favored her with a long look. "You did good out there."

Lakkam dropped her head and tucked an unruly strand of hair behind her ear. "He still got through."

Blappa put an arm around her and started to lead her after the rest of the team, who had stopped by the locker room entrance. He leaned his head close to hers and told her: "Sometimes you block them, and sometimes they get through." He hugged her shoulders for emphasis. "The game's the only thing that matters."

She chuckled, and he laughed with her, enjoying the sound of her voice and the pretty way that she smiled. He was still laughing when they stopped in front of the locker room, and he looked up to see that the Psyches had a visitor.

"Linna," Blappa managed to choke out. He dropped both his smile and the arm that was around Lakkam's shoulders.

The blonde Al Bhed woman in front of him nodded coolly. "Blappa." She turned her head to Lakkam. "Who's this?"

Berrik, ever cordial, made a polite if hasty introduction. "Linna, this is Lakkam. She's our right defenseman."

Linna smiled. "Ah! My old position." She looked back and forth between Blappa and the girl.

Lakkam extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Blappa reached out and put her hand down, but his gaze never left Linna's. "Not that nice," he said.

Eigaar forced himself between Blappa and the newcomer, while making a show of laughing. "Well, you two obviously have a lot to catch up on." He grabbed Lakkam and shoved her toward the door. "Come on, let's go watch the next game."

In similar fashion, Berrik hustled Nimrook and Judda inside the locker room. He threw over his shoulder, "Good seeing you again, Linna," before the door closed behind him.

In the silence of the hall, Blappa crossed his arms in front of his chest and waited to see what she was going to do. Even in the blitzball sphere, he always wanted to know what his opponent had in mind before opening himself up for any strategic opportunities.

Linna clasped her hands in front of her. "Good game," she said, making conversation. "You played well."

Blappa wrinkled his nose. "You came all the way from Macalania just to tell me that?"

She seemed taken aback by his confrontational attitude. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again, without a word. After a long moment, she said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Blappa asked, his tone even.

Linna pulled a strand of hair behind her ear, much the same way Lakkam had done before. But it wasn't Lakkam who told him: "I never wanted to hurt you. I just couldn't find it in myself to stay." Her shoulders sagged. "Macalania seemed the best place for me."

"Can't get any colder than you," he said, grinning at his own joke.

She threw up her hands in disgust. "Fine! Make jokes!" She stabbed a finger into his chest. "But it's not endearing to me anymore."

Blappa shook his head, a little sadly. "I'm not looking for your approval, Linna. I stopped doing that a long time ago." He glanced down at his feet, then looked back to her. "The day you left, in fact."

Linna's face softened, and she moved closer to him, reaching a hand toward his face. "Can't it be like it was before?"

He thought carefully about her words.

She had left him in tears the day after he'd been assigned as the new right forward of the Psyches. He had wanted to celebrate with her - no more sitting on the sidelines, waiting like a scavenger for someone to slip up; now they would be on the same team in more than just name - and had come home to find a message scrawled on his door. She had to get out, get away from Home, from the game, from him. She didn't know when she'd be back. She had even asked him to tell Nimrook for her. And that was all. No apologies; no goodbyes.

There had been days when he pined for her and nights when he cursed her name, wishing for all the world that she would both leave him forever and come running back to him. The memory of her had hurt less as time wore on, though, due in no small part to Eigaar's cajoling and Judda's unforgiving teasing. Eventually, he found himself getting close to another woman who wasn't like Linna at all - a girl who loved the game like he did, a girl whose laughter sounded like music and whose kisses tasted like honey.

Blappa sidled away, out of the range of her fingers. "No," he told her. "It can't."

The expression on Linna's face was more hurt than angry. "I guess you found a replacement for me, more than just on the team." She straightened up, forcing her shoulders back. "Well. I guess I should be going, then." She smiled at him. "Maybe we'll meet again someday."

He nodded. "Maybe." But he doubted it.

Linna turned around and headed for the exit, walking slowly. At the stairs, she turned, and gave a little wave. "Goodbye," she said simply, and then she was gone.

In her wake, Blappa gave a long sigh. He hadn't thought himself capable of any of that.

He walked into the locker room, where the rest of the team was watching a remote sphere of the second semi-final game. He asked of no one in particular: "Who's winning?"

Judda turned to him briefly. "The Beasts, if you can believe it."

"It's only the first half," Nimrook said. "Anything can happen."

Blappa put his foot up on the bench, angling himself between Eigaar and Lakkam. He put his chin on his fist and stared up at the sphere.

Beside him, Eigaar whispered, "What did Linna have to say?"

Blappa turned his head to his friend and thought for a moment. "Goodbye," he said finally. Then he glanced at Lakkam, who was completely intent on the game in front of her, and he smiled.