Ok in this chapter I attempt to write about a blitzball game. Forgive me if it is bad. And when you read it try to imagine it happening like the cut scene at the beginning, action packed, rather than the actual in game blitzball that you can play.!
And also the story develops a plot in this chapter. Eventually.
Ok goes AU from here. And I may get a few minor details wrong, but they may be intentional.
R&R as usual!
It had 3 weeks since Tidus had returned, and he and Yuna had spent the majority of their time in Besaid, relaxing, catching up and…something a little more active, and private.
But this one day they had set off to watch a blitz game in Luca. The Aurochs were playing in the semi-finals of the Grand Maesters Memorial Cup, against the Luca Goers.
Tidus anxiously paced the boat; this was the first actual game he would be playing in since his return. Wakka had decided that he would take up coaching again, and has practically forced Tidus to join the team again. Not that Tidus was complaining, he loved blitzball, and getting to play it again was great. But he did worry that he may have lost some of his former skill, after being gone for 2 years. However in the following training sessions it appeared he had not.
Even so, this was his big game. And he was nervous. Strange, in Zanarkand I was never nervous about blitz games. He didn't ponder it too much; he could easily work out the reason. Yuna. He wanted to impress her. Stupid yeah, she probably didn't care if he won or lost, but nonetheless he was determined to play his best for her.
He stopped pacing when he saw the person he was thinking about a few metres away from him, staring out over the tranquil blue ocean. She wore a simple white shirt, and navy skirt yet Tidus thought she looked as beautiful as ever.
He walked up to her and planted a kiss on her cheek while hugging her, his arms around her waist.
They stayed like that for a while, oblivious to the world around them. That is until the skyline of Luca appeared on the horizon.
Tidus grinned, running to the front of the boat much like he had when he saw Luca for the first time. Grabbing onto the rope to support himself; Tidus' eyes lit up seeing the city again. He wasn't sure why, but Luca seemed to draw him in, it was the same on the pilgrimage, maybe it reminded him of Zanarkand a little, the way everyone would flock there when there was a blitz game being played.
"The ship will be docking in 5 minutes at dock 5, please make sure you have collected all your personal belongings before leaving. Thank you"
"Hey! Brudda, ya gotta get all ya stuff. We gotta a game to play real soon ya! Can't be late!" Wakka called as he ran from player to player making sure they had their blitz strips and all their other things, as it wasn't uncommon for someone, usually Letty or Keepa, to leave something behind.
Tidus' stomach once again began to churn as he remembered the blitz game he would shortly be playing. He jumped down from the raised platform he had been standing on and ran to where Yuna was. Yuna, who could see how nervous Tidus appeared, tried to calm his nerves by hugging him. As soon as she pressed her body against his she could feel him relax, but she could also sense that he was still nervous.
"Hey, the Aurochs'll win! Especially with you back!" Yuna whispered in his ear. She then stared into his ocean blue eyes.
Tidus was amazed. She seemed to always know exactly what was on his mind, exactly what he was worrying about or generally just what he was thinking. He always hoped he was good at telling what was wrong with her if she was ever down, yet somehow he was sure he wasn't very good at reading people.
At that moment Tidus felt something collide with his head, quite painfully.
He turned to see a blitzball rolling across the deck and a laughing Wakka standing by the boats ramp.
"Hey, I told ya both before ya, get a room!" He laughed to himself as Tidus replied merely by raising an eyebrow at him.
"I am wanted by my o-so-kind coach. What seat you gonna be in?"
Yuna gave him a smile, and spoke in a tone that resembled that of a child that was reciting something they did not understand. "East block in the front row. Fifth from the right."
…Fifth from the right. That sounded very familiar to Tidus, but he couldn't quite think why. Dismissing the feeling of déjà vu, Tidus lowered his head to give his girlfriend a quick but very passionate kiss, earning wolf-whistles from his team-mates, and collected his stuff.
"I'll wave to you!" he called as he disembarked the boat. He watched Yuna as long as she was in view, he didn't like leaving her, just because he loved being around her, but she was going to spend sometime with Lulu and Vidina before meeting Rikku and Paine to watch the match.
One hour later
The Aurochs had been through their warm up and were currently in the changing room, watching the Guado Glories play the Ronso Fangs on the Spherescreen. The tension between the two teams was evident, they still could not get along, after so long. Tidus didn't particularly blame the Ronso, he wasn't a very big fan of the Guado. Especially one particular, deceased Guado.
No, I shouldn't be thinking about him before I go on. I need to focus.
He heard the klaxon like buzzer sound, indicating the end of the game. He grinned when he saw the Fangs had won by 3-1.
As they exited the changing rooms and neared the entrance to the blitz sphere, Tidus caught sight of the Goers, and was annoyed to see that Bickson and Abus were pointing towards the Aurochs, nudging each other and muttering.
Pathetic. They're acting like they're in high school. I'll make sure we win just to wipe the smirk off their faces.
Determination. That was the best thing to take into the sphere pool with you; that's what Tidus had always thought anyway.
As both teams lined up at the entrance, Tidus suppressed a laugh as he saw the look on Wakka's face as he was made to shake the coach of the Goers hand.
Then the entrance opened. And they walked along the tunnel, and one by one, jumped into the sphere pool. As Tidus prepared to jump in, the crowd gave an extra loud cheer. They all knew who he was, Lady Yuna's boyfriend.
Just to fill those who had been living in isolation for the past month the announcer made it clear to everyone just who he was.
"And now, the person we've all been talking about. The person the High Summoner has been searching for and finally found! THE STAR PLAYER OF THE BESAID AUROCHS!"
Star player of the Besaid Aurochs? Not quite got the same ring to it as Zanarkand Abes, but I like it…
He dived into the pool, and as soon as he did, the voice of the announcer and the cheers from the crowd became muffled, and that strange not-quite-silence became his new surrounding. He swam into his position, right-forward, and waited for the remaining players to enter and get ready. This happened much sooner than he thought it would, and before he knew it the buzzer sounded, and Jassu jumped forward to snatch the ball before Abus could.
Tidus took this as his cue, and shot off towards the goal, where he swam slightly higher than the others to observe the game and was prepared for any passes that may come his way. He watched as Jassu passed to Botta, who swam as fast as he could towards the goal, however Bickson appeared from his left hand side and tackled Botta aggressively, stealing the ball easily, and speeding away towards Keepa.
Letty tried to intervene, but couldn't quite catch him in time. Seeing that he was in a relatively clear area, Bickson shot the ball. It shot towards the goal, and looked as if it was going to go in, however a spectacular save from Keepa made sure the score remained 0-0.
He threw the blitzball quickly Datto who swam away, dodging an attack from Graav. He hadn't managed to totally evade him though, Graav had a firm grip of Datto's foot, so Datto threw the ball blindly, in the hope one of his fellow team members would be able to get to it before a Goer did. Tidus swam towards it, shooting through the water like a bullet, and ripped it out of Balgerda's hand that had got to it before him.
Before anyone had a chance to follow him, Tidus was away again. However instead of swimming towards the goal, he swam to the top of the sphere. He broke the surface, threw the ball over his head and did a flip in the air, so that he was upside down, aiming directly at the top right corner of the goal. The Sphere Shot. The exact same move he had used in Zanarkand, the very last game he had ever played in his home city.
This time, there was no Sin to interrupt his shot, and his foot came into contact with the ball, and with a reassuring thud, zoomed away to the goal.
Tidus straightened to a perfect dive back into the pool, and turned just in time to see the ball soar through Raudy's hands. The Buzzer sounded and Tidus, instead of going towards his team to celebrate swam towards the east block of the stadium. As he circled the sphere, he spotted who he was looking for, and giving her a wave and a wink swam back towards the centre for the jump ball.
Taking his place again, he watched as Jassu caught the ball yet again, and seeing Tidus was in an open space, made no hesitation to pass to him. Tidus caught the ball with ease, however just as he neared the goal to shoot, Doram and Abus were both on him, one trying to rip the ball from his grip, the other grabbing his feet, to prevent him from swimming away. Tidus, managing to shield himself from Doram for a moment, threw the ball back to Jassu.
The Goers had not expected this, and had no hope of catching up to him to block his shot. Jassu took time choosing his position to shoot from and took aim. Raudy almost caught the ball, but just as the half-time buzzer went, the Aurochs score went up to 2-0.
In the changing rooms, there was a very cheerful atmosphere, and Tidus commented how well they had all improved, and was answered with mock offence. However as they went out for the second half, Wakka reminded his team to stay focused, and to play as well as they had been.
The second half went very quickly, Tidus scoring another goal, and Keepa making two more spectacular saves.
As the final buzzer rang through the stadium, the Aurochs had much to celebrate. They had just beaten their biggest rivals, and couldn't be happier. As Tidus grabbed a towel from the locker room, he didn't stick around to celebrate with the rest of the guys. No doubt there would be a party at the hotel tonight that he would attend, however right now there was only one person he wanted to share his victory with.
Yuna cheered along with the crowd, maybe even louder than them all.
"There you have it folks, he really was the star player! Two spectacular goals! And we can't forget that great goal from Jassu! They certainly will be a formidable team to be up against in the final, a week today. Don't forget that date folks!"
The announcer fell silent, for one he had no more to say.
"Lady Yuna! Tidus played excellent!"
"Mi'lady Summoner, I wish you luck with that fine young man!"
"Lady Yuna, I could play much better than him! I'd be much better for you!"
Well there always is one…
Yuna ignored the last comment, actually, she ignored most of the comments, she didn't particularly care what everyone else thought of Tidus, even if it was almost all good.
Just then she heard a whistle pierce the babble of the stadium and looked round to see Tidus running down the many stairs towards her. She lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the glaring sun…and then she saw it. There was no mistaking the shadow that was overhead. She had fought alongside that shadows owner many times.
And she felt her heart sink. It could only be bad news.
Valefor...
Woo! I am very sorry I took this long to update. I shall try harder next time, I promise