At the end of the party, Lenne led her guests outside for her first summoning. Shuyin walked out with Lenne's siblings. Bahamut clung to him, playfully tugging him along. Bahamut was a big fan of Shuyin's and would consistently seek him out to kick the blitzball around. Shuyin didn't mind. He saw Bahamut as a little brother he always 'kind of' wanted (or so he would say to him as a joke).
The guests arrived near the beach for Lenne's first summoning. Lenne smiled to June, almost seeking the final approval from her. June reluctantly nodded to give Lenne the go ahead for her first summon.
Lenne took a deep breath as she twirled her staff in a graceful dance. The ground surrounding her lit up with energy and pyreflies. The energy raced through the air and into the sea. The crowd collectively held their breath in anticipation. Seconds passed with nothing appearing.
Lenne took another big breath before a huge wave crashed towards the shore, and a blue sea serpent rose from its depths. The crowd gasped at its enormity and power. The serpent gracefully moved towards the beach in order to greet Lenne. Lenne walked towards the Aeon, to meet it halfway. She reached out her hand to pet the giant sea creature, and the Aeon nudged her head against Lenne's hands in approval. The crowd began to cheer for the indication of Lenne's first successful summon. Lenne turned towards the crowd with her hands clasped in front of her chest in excitement. She began to do small dance of victory as Bahamut ran towards her. Lenne held out her arms for Bahamut to come running to her for an embrace.
"You did it!" Bahamut exclaimed. Lenne gave him an affectionate bear hug. The rest of the crowd followed Bahamut's steps and hugged Lenne and provided her with words of congratulations. She spent the rest of the evening wishing the guests a good night and thanking them for their support.
"Well damn. That was scary." Shuyin muttered towards Vajiru.
"Yeah, those Aeons are no joke. If they don't approve of the summoner, they could chose to kill them."
Shuyin's eyes widened in shock. "Sheeeeesh. Thanks gods that didn't happen."
"Seriously." Vajiru laughed. "But I had no doubt Lenne could do it. I just wish she reconsidered before doing her first summon."
Shuyin looked on with concern. "Because she could be placed in the army if there were to be a war?"
"Exactly."
Both men sighed, hoping that would never become a reality. "Why is she adamant about becoming a summoner?" Shuyin asked.
"Because our mother was a summoner." Vajiru explained how their mother had been a successful summoner who defended Zanarkand for 10 years, before ultimately losing her life during a small conflict with Bevelle. This conflict did not end up leading to war; as peace agreements were soon made. Nonetheless, she lost her life for the protection of Zanarkand. "Lenne has always had a strong desire to protect others. Just like our mom."
Shuyin nodded in understanding, but continued to ponder why Lenne would want to put herself in danger. "But she saw how it got your mother killed..."
"She knows the risks. It doesn't seem the deter her." June interjected. "But this is why we've tried to convince her to not pursue this path. Hoping that, perhaps, she would pursue music instead."
Shuyin asked: "Yeah, she recently put out an album, right? Like two years ago?"
"Our father was a musician. Which led to Lenne's love of music." Vajiru continued. "Through him, she wanted to go into music. And through mom, she wanted to become a summoner."
'Oh, that's why she said she wants to be both.' Shuyin recalled their previous conversation.
Lenne and Bahamut joined their group. "Whatcha guys talking about?" Bahamut asked.
June replied: "Grown up stuff."
Bahamut scoffed. He looked to Shuyin and grabbed at his sleeves: "Heyyyy. Do you think we could play some blitzball?"
Shuyin laughed in response to the child. He messed with the child's hair and said, "Maybe tomorrow. It's kind of late now. And isn't it past your bedtime?"
"I don't have a bedtime!"
"The hell you don't." Vajiru laughed. "Come on kiddo, we're going home now." Vajiru picked Bahamut up and placed the child on his shoulders. Bahamut sighed and said "Ohhhh, man!" as they made their way to the parking lot. June and Lenne followed behind.
Shuyin called out: "What time are you guys going to be at practice tomorrow?"
June turned to him and stated: "On time. Unlike you." Shuyin laughed at her sarcastic remark and waved her off dismissively.
Lenne looked at Shuyin with a smile on her face. "I'll be there as well. To cheer you guys on."
"Well then, I have a good reason to show up on time." Shuyin replied with a cocky smile, to which June rolled her eyes and motioned for Lenne to keep going to the car.
Kenji walked up behind Shuyin and patted him on the back. "Smooth, Shu. Real smooth." Shuyin shrugged his shoulders to get Kenji's hand off his back.
"Fuck off, dude."
Kenji drunkenly laughed as Shuyin walked in the opposite direction of the crowd.
The next day for Blitzball practice, Shuyin made sure to show up on time just as he said he would. The coach made a comment on how this was a first for Shuyin, and that hell must have frozen over.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Shuyin dismissed the jokes from his coach and teammates.
His blue eyes scanned the crowd and looked to the sidelines where family or friends may be watching the practice. He didn't spot his friends, or Lenne. He was planning on showing off some of his most famous moves for Lenne, so he was hoping she would show up.
Kenji stumbled onto the field, completely hung over, much to the dismay of the coach. The coach required Kenji to sit out of practice to sober up. Shuyin had half a mind to dump some cold water on Kenji, maybe that would shock him back into a more wakeful state.
Shuyin took note of the members of the team who showed up on time. They were members of the team who showed a lot of dedication. They had dreams of making it big in the sport. It made Shuyin start feeling like an asshole for showing up whenever he pleased. He was honestly shocked that the coach put up with him, but maybe he got away with it by being the star player and the son of a legendary blitzer. Shuyin grew annoyed with himself for thinking about his father…
A few minutes passed before he spot June, Vajiru, Bahamut, and Lenne entering the arena. Shuyin waved to them, and Lenne smiled and waved back.
"Wow, you actually did show up on time." June remarked. "We would have been on time but little miss summoner over here was obsessing over her hair and makeup."
"I was not. I just had bed head." Lenne jokingly frowned and acted offended.
June laughed with her, playing with Lenne's hair. "Gods forbid your hair is out of place."
Shuyin laughed at their banter. "Well, I like your hair. It looks pretty." Shuyin stated.
June shot him a glare that could scare a Behemoth. Lenne tilted her head and smiled, "Why thank you, Shuyin." She crossed her arms in front of her and held her wrists. Shuyin noted her demeaner was always so kind and warm. He admired how sweet she was… and how pretty she was.
The coach blew the whistle indicating the beginning of practice. "Well, here we go." Shuyin slapped June on the shoulder, a little forcefully in response to her glare, and ran to the field.
June shook her head, "asshole…"
"June, stop. He seems nice."
"Lenne, he's nice to pretty girls because he wants one thing."
"That may be so, but you don't have to worry about me. You know I'm not going to get involved with anyone." Lenne retorted.
"I know. I trust you. But I don't trust him."
Lenne hugged her sister as a sign of affection and appreciation. "Thank you, June. But really, I'll be fine. I'm not starting any kind of relationship with anyone. Let alone with him." Lenne giggled. "Now get out there for practice. Maybe give him a good tackle or two."
June nodded. "Good idea".
Lenne laughed as June ran onto the field where the practice was taking place. Today's practice took place outside of the water. A lot of the focus today was on passing, shooting, and tackling. And when it came time to practice tackling, you can bet she was sure to take Lenne's advice and tackled Shuyin harder than anyone else.
Shuyin made sure to practice his signature move, all for the sake of showing off for Lenne. The signature shot he completed was a variation of the famous shot his father created. It was a fan favorite amongst the Zanarkand Abes fan base. Lenne clapped from the sidelines. She was genuinely impressed by Shuyin's athleticism. She was not much of a fan of blitzball but felt watching their practice was a little more exciting than she anticipated.
Shuyin spent so much time looking at the sidelines for Lenne to see if he was impressing her. He was distracted so much that he didn't see the blitzball heading straight for his head. June made sure to get a good shot at Shuyin's face. The ball bounced off him with great force, leaving a huge red mark on his face.
"Fuck!"
The team howled with laughter. June too was doubled over and cackling. She fell to her knees trying to catch her breath, in between trying to hold back tears from laughing too hard.
"What the hell June?" Shuyin was genuinely embarrassed, and his pride was wounded.
"Sorry! You should have been paying attention." She replied half-jokingly.
Shuyin ran from the field in a huff and made his way to the sidelines. He was considering leaving the practice all together. Lenne ran down to him to check on him.
"Shuyin!" Lenne caught up to him. "Are you okay?"
Shuyin sighed. 'Oh great, now Lenne is going to see me injured…'
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Your nose is bleeding…"
"I'm fine." Shuyin made sure to hide his face from Lenne.
Lenne grabbed an ice pack for the swelling, and some tissue for his bloody nose. She handed the items to him. "I'm sorry June was being harsh."
"She really needs to knock it off. I get she's looking out for you or whatever, but she needs to calm down."
"Looking out for me?" Lenne questioned.
"I guess she thinks I'm going to try to…you know".
Lenne laughed in response.
"Never mind." Shuyin stated. The coach came by to check on Shuyin, and then asked him to come back onto the field. Shuyin sighed and agreed to go back out. Lenne grabbed his wrist before he made his way back.
"Hey…do you think you'd like to hang out after practice? Maybe go for a walk around the city?" Lenne asked.
Shuyin smiled. "Sure!" The idea of spending the afternoon with Lenne made the remainder of practice so much more bearable.
Corresponding song: Womanizer by Britney Spears:
🎵 Daddy-O, you got the swagger of a champion. Too bad for you, you just can't find the right companion. I guess when you have one too many, makes it hard, it could be easy. Who you are, that's just who you are, baby 🎵