Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Dreams Never Fade ❯ One ( Chapter 1 )

"I hate you dad. Everything is your fault. It's your fault I lost my mother . . . your fault I never had a father." Tidus glared at a picture of his father, clenching his fists tightly. "It's your fault that thousands of people died in Spira." He growled loudly in frustration and anger, then sighed and slumped over slightly, as if giving up. "It's your fault that I met Rikku, Wakka, Lulu, Kimahri, Auron . . ." he paused a second, looking down at the ground and holding back tears. ". . . Yuna . . ."

"It's been a year . . . you should be over it by now." a deep, unemotional voice cut the brief silence.

"You just don't understand." Tidus sighed, closing his eyes, not bothering to turn around.

"You must focus on the present and your future . . . forget the past." the man's voice continued harshly.

"I can't! I want to go back to Spira! I need to see everyone!" Tidus shouted, turning to Auron who was standing in the doorway.

Auron was aged 37 years and stood at 6'0" with black and silver spiked hair. His eyes were dark brown and kind, but one eye was forced shut by a long, vertical line . . . a battle scar. Small, ovular sunglasses were placed carefully near the tip of his nose. He always wore a large, faded out red colored trench coat with his right, gloved hand protruding from the right sleeve, and his left arm bent at the elbow inside the coat, resting at his stomach, using the coat's belt for support. It appeared as though his left arm was lame, but he fought with it quite well using the extensive katana he wielded. Underneath the long, flowing red coat he wore a black tank-top with green lines accentuating his pectorals, a large, white jug hanging from his right hip, baggy black pants with one gray stripe down the front middle of each leg, and a pair of odd black boots with metal covering the top of the foot and a wide line of brown leather near the toes.

Auron narrowed his good eye at the blonde nineteen year old for a moment, then relaxed and gave a deep sigh. "I lived in Spira for many years . . . I have put it behind me and decided to be realistic . . . live what's left of my life here in Zanarkand. I've accepted the fact that I can't go back. I'm dead to that world, as are you." Auron explained to him for the millionth time. Tidus glared at him with anger, then disappointment as he realized that Auron was absolutely right, as usual. "Don't you have a practice to go to?" Auron abruptly changed the subject. Tidus gasped and darted past Auron. Auron left out a slight chuckle as he turned and watched Tidus running frantically down the street.

Tidus finally arrived at the huge blitzball stadium in the center of the city. Jecht Stadium, home of the Zanarkand Abes.

Tidus ran straight through the large locker room to the side-line benches where Coach Neely was giving her eight team members the run-down on that evening's practice.

The coach was only 18 . . . younger than most of the team. She had long, raven colored hair, gentle brown eyes, and a rather thin, small frame. She stood at only 5'3" and fooled many people with her appearance. She seemed weak, vulnerable, and innocent, but in all reality, she was strong, fast, brutal, and not afraid to fight. Her normal outfit consisted of a light yellow, loose fitting hoodie and a pair of black, spandex shorts, which looked a lot more like underwear.

Tired and out of breath, Tidus flopped down on a bench beside one of his teammates.

"Ah, look who has finally decided to grace us with his presence." the coach announced, sarcastically.

"I . . . got here . . . as fast . . . *gasp* as I could!" Tidus managed to say between breaths, then coughed violently a few times.

"You think that just because you're the star player, you don't have to show up on time for practice?"

"No, it's . . . not that . . . ma'am, I . . ."

"I will not tolerate your excuses Tidus." she interrupted harshly. "Well everyone, thanks to your good friend here, practice will be extended by thirty minutes."

The team groaned their disapproval as Tidus covered his face with his hands.

"But Coach, we're already the best team on Bayna!" The comment came from Tidus's teammate, Kutai.

At age 27 and 6'0", Kutai was a tall and scrawny man with medium length black hair, chocolate brown eyes, and tribal type tattoos covering most of his well-built body. He wore only a pair of baggy jeans and his black Jecht-Air blitzball sneakers. Kutai was serious when he really had to be, but any other time, he used sarcasm for laughs.

"Practice will now be an hour longer. Anyone have any more comments?" Coach Neely replied, tilting her head to one side. All eight players stayed completely silent. "Good. Swim thirty laps around the sphere . . . you have ten minutes. GO!!"

The team mates jumped up and quickly scrambled toward the giant sphere of water. "Tidus!" The young blonde turned around and continued running backwards. "Come here."

Tidus slowed to a brief stop, then ran back to the coach. "Yeah Coach?"

"I expect you to be on time from now on. You're the team captain and your teammates look up to you. If . . . "

"Coach, I look up to THEM . . . they're all taller than me . . . except for little Rayne." Tidus snickered. Neely glared at him angrily. "Heh." Tidus yelped, cleared his throat, and straightened up.

"If you decide to slack off, your teammates will follow your lead and you'll all be screwed. No championship, no Jecht Gold Cup, and no pride. Do you really think all that is worth whatever made you late today?" She stopped to let him answer. Tidus took a breath to reply, but the coach didn't give him enough time. "I didn't think so. You have eight minutes for your forty laps."

"Forty?!" Tidus exclaimed, then prepared to complain.

"GO!!" The coach ordered. Tidus groaned as he ran toward the large, floating ball of water. He quickly ran in and started to pace himself for the many laps ahead. She was always harder on him than the rest of the team.

"Hey T. Where were ya?" Kutai asked Tidus as he caught up with him.

"I was . . . busy." he replied plainly.

"Oh . . . cursing out your dad's picture again?" Kutai laughed.

Tidus said nothing and sped up, pulling away from Kutai almost immediately.

"Aw, come on, T. I was just playin' with ya." Kutai chuckled as he also quickened his pace, catching up to Tidus again. "What happened over there with the coach?"

"She upped my laps to forty. You wanna do the extra ten with me? You might get brownie points." Tidus laughed.

"Yeah right! I'd probably get more laps added on for doing extra laps." Both young men laughed.

"Race ya." Tidus grinned and started swimming as fast as he could.

"Hey!" Kutai shouted and grinned then chased after Tidus.

They went all out. Tidus was in the lead until Kutai actually started to try. Tidus knew that Kutai was much faster than him, but the little game would make their laps go faster.

When everyone was finished with their laps, they paired up with another teammate to practice their passes. For some reason, Tidus would always end up winning himself more laps and then have to pair up with Coach Neely.

When Tidus finally approached his teammates, the coach updated the group. "Next practice we'll be perfecting the venom pass and the venom shot, so make sure you bring your poison proof gear. Poison ward is also acceptable, but if that's all you're gonna use, you better have some antidotes on hand. The wither pass and wither shot are our main objectives for today, which means that you will need to break up into groups of three. You will take turns being the passer, catcher, and victim." The coach explained harshly, then gave a slight giggle at her little 'victim' joke. The teammates just looked at each other. "Alright, try not to deteriorate each others' stats too much. Get to it!" she ordered.

Tidus grabbed a blitzball off of the ball rack, as Plau and Niani also reached for theirs. When Tidus swam to a triangular goal, his friends Kutai and Rygan were waiting for him.

Rygan, at age 18, stood an inch taller than Tidus at 5'10" and had soft, gentle eyes; his right one blue, the left, green. His normal casual attire wasn't far from Tidus's. The only difference in their clothing was the fact that Rygan's hoodie and shoes were a dark green-blue, instead of Tidus's trademark color, canary yellow. Rygan and Tidus had been best friends for as long as they could remember. They acted alike, dressed alike, talked alike, played Blitzball alike, and had just about everything in common . . . heck, they even had the same hair style with Rygan's hair being of numerous light and dark brown tones instead of blonde.

Kutai and Rygan floated in the water, about fifty feet apart, obviously suggesting that Tidus be the first victim. Tidus swam to his position halfway between them and tossed the ball to Rygan.

"This is for being late and making practice longer!" Rygan shouted with a playful grin, then wound up and wailed the ball at his best friend. Tidus got a hand on the ball, but it went sailing by him to be caught by Kutai.

"Ow! Geez! That was one heck of a pass!" Tidus laughed as he tried to shake the sting from his hand. He balled his fingers in to a fist then stretched his fingers back out, repeating the motion a few times. He felt strange for a few seconds as a tiny bit of strength fled from his body.

"Thanks!" Rygan laughed.

Tidus was suddenly beamed in the back of the head with the ball that had then been in Kutai's possession. He whirled around quickly to look at his tattooed friend. "Hey! What's the big idea?! Is this team up on Tidus day?!" Tidus exclaimed.

"Aw, he figured it out Ry, now what?" Kutai asked, a devilish smile spreading across his lips.

Tidus turned back around to see all of his teammates now standing in a row, holding blitzballs in their hands. His eyes grew wide.

"FIRE!" Rygan yelled and launched a ball from his hand. Seven blitzballs sailed toward the startled Tidus. The first two smacked him in the forehead and stomach. He pulled his knee up, trying to give the sensitive flesh of his tummy some protection as he tucked his chin to his chest and put his hands on the back of his head, putting his elbows together at the front to protect his head. A third ball bounced off of his raised knee and a forth off an elbow. The next ball came from a slightly different direction and pelted his unprotected side. The sixth sailed right by him and the seventh smacked him directly in the arse.

"Whoa!" Tidus yelped as he jumped and grabbed his butt. Everyone, except Rayne, was doubled over with laughter as Tidus rubbed his stinging rear end. Rayne stood by, holding back a giggle.

Rayne was a cute, innocent, giggly 16 year old blonde with big, innocent, gray-blue eyes and a bright, sweet smile. She wore glasses with thick, gawky, black frames and always wore her hair in extremely long pigtails which made her look like a mere child. Everyone made fun of her style because it seemed that the only clothing she owned were sweatshirts, floor-length jean skirts, and one pair of oversized, black, military boots. The only ball that didn't hit Tidus was thrown by Rayne . . . and it wasn't a case of bad aim. She was very shy and didn't really talk to anyone except the coach . . . and Tidus if he talked to her first. She wouldn't dare talk to anyone unless they initiated the conversation and even then, she gave one word answers.

That's when Tidus noticed that not only his teammates were laughing, but Coach Neely's sides were practically splitting from her hard laughter. Tidus was slightly miffed, but decided that it was a good thing that the Coach was obviously now in a better mood.

"Good work team! The extra hour is now canceled . . . you've earned it!" Neely laughed. Tidus glared at her for a minute, then shrugged it off, glad that he wouldn't have to spend an extra hour with the cold-hearted coach.

Everyone got back to working on their wither abilities. Occasionally throughout the rest of the practice, Neely would grab a blitzball from the ball rack and plant a perfect sphere shot right onto Tidus's arse from the sidelines, simply for her own amusement. It caught him off guard every time and Neely would bust up laughing harder every time. Tidus wasn't going to be able to sit at all the next day because of the pain.

"Alright, get out of here!" Neely announced, signaling the end of practice. Everyone jogged to the locker rooms with Tidus slowly bringing up the rear. As he was sauntering by Neely, she grabbed him by the hood of his jacket to stop him. Tidus lost his balance and almost fell backwards, but then steadied himself.

"Make sure you're not late tomorrow, kid." Neely ordered in a stern, yet almost affectionate tone that gave Tidus the chills.

"Will do coach." Tidus flashed her a big grin.

"Good . . . and uh . . . I'm sorry about the whole . . . um . . . you know . . . " It was the first time Tidus had ever heard the coach speak with any hint of . . . could it be? . . . sympathy? . . . not to mention the fact that she was apologizing.

"It's all good coach. I won't be able to sit tomorrow, but hey, who needs to sit?" Tidus chuckled.

Neely smiled . . . a soft, sweet, kind, smile that stunned Tidus. She really WAS human . . . she could be nice if she really wanted to . . . it was now a proven fact.

Once she realized she was smiling, she cleared her throat and pursed her lips. "Now get out of here." she tried to say harshly, but couldn't hide the femininity now clearly prominent in the tone of her voice.

"See ya tomorrow, Rachel." Tidus smiled and patted her on the shoulder. She tensed. He knew he was in for it, so he immediately sprinted to the locker room before she could unleash hell on him. She wanted to stay strictly on a last name basis with the Zanarkand Abes. She wanted to let the team know that she was in charge, no questions asked. She wanted everyone to know she wasn't going to take any crap from anybody . . . and yet, she so badly wanted someone to talk to, someone that she could trust. Her stomach twisted in knots, knowing that no one would ever like her . . . or love her.

No one had called her Rachel for years . . . for years it was just 'Coach' or 'Coach Neely'. Tidus struck the only horribly vulnerable spot in her, and she hated him for it.

After the rather draining practice, Tidus trudged home slowly, occasionally wincing from the stinging in his rear end. He vowed to not wake up at all the next day. All was quiet except for Tidus's slow, heavy, shuffling foot steps.

"Huh?" he stopped suddenly, a confused expression flooding his face. "What was that noise?" he asked himself out loud. He listened for the sound. Nothing. He shrugged and continued to trudge toward his house. He froze, knowing he heard the noise again. A whistle. Could it be Yuna? Had he gone completely insane? Another whistle. He wasn't going to take any chances and broke into a full sprint toward the whistling, racing the wind to a nearby dock. A dark figure stood near the end of the wooden structure. It appeared to be slightly shorter than him, slightly larger in size, and shrouded in an enormous, dark cloak.

"Hey there." Tidus said softly as he approached the figure. It gasped and turned around quickly. From the gasp, Tidus could tell it was a female. Before he could say anything else, he was flat on his back with a large beast growling and breathing in his face.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the female commanded in her gentle voice. Tidus would have laughed at her attempt to be forceful if he hadn't been pinned by what he then discovered was a black panther.

"I-I'm Tidus . . . of the Zanarkand Abes!" he stuttered nervously, being careful to not look into the huge cat's eyes.

"Liar!" The panther gave a mighty growl, bearing it's sharp teeth.

"No, no! I'm serious!" Tidus yelped. There was a whistle and the panther was suddenly gone. Tidus slowly stood then brushed himself off and looked up. The mysterious girl was standing slightly closer with the panther by her side. The girl moved closer but stopped before she got too close to the light from the overhead street light.

"Come closer." she demanded. Tidus shrugged and obeyed, stepping into the circle of yellow light and scratching the back of his head. "I've seen you play . . . you're good."

"Best player on the team!" Tidus boasted.

"Statistically anyway."

"Huh?"

"I'm betting that none of your teammates have an ego as big as yours."

"Hey!" Tidus said angrily and took a step toward her. The panther immediately growled and pounced between Tidus and the girl. Tidus took two steps back. "Ok, ok. Geez." He put his hands on the back of his head and stretched. "Who ARE you, anyway?" There was a rather long pause.

"The angel of shadows . . . and we'll leave it at that."

"Ah, who has a big ego now?! At least I'm not calling myself an angel!" Tidus grinned, trying to lighten the mood of the situation. There was silence again. Unknown to Tidus, the girl blushed, embarrassed by his come back. "Hm, I'm either right or you're not there any more." he chuckled, breaking the silence. Still no reply. "Hello? Are you there?" Tidus stepped forward, expecting to be attacked by the panther again. Nothing. Tidus sighed and sat down on the edge of the dock, dangling his legs over the dark water.

Tidus sat there for twenty minutes, staring at the moon's reflection rippling across the water. Suddenly, he got the wind knocked out of him and he flew into the water. He knew the feeling by now . . . it was that panther again. He gasped for air, and when he finally caught his breath, he started choking on the oxygen. The next thing he knew, he was being pulled out of the water by his collar and placed on to the dock. After a moment of silence, the mysterious girl spoke up.

"Why are you still here?" she ordered. Tidus couldn't help but laugh this time. She became more stern. "What's so funny?" He laughed even harder. "Stop it." she growled. Within the second, the panther had him pinned again.

"I'm sorry!" he chuckled. After a brief moment, there was a whistle and the panther walked away. Confused, Tidus jumped up and looked for the mysterious, cloaked girl, but to no avail. "Are you still there?" Tidus asked into the darkness.

"No." was the reply.

"Hey! You have a sense of humor!" Tidus chuckled.

"Shut up. Why were you laughing?"

"Well, you have such a sweet, light, friendly, feminine voice and you were trying to be demanding. Sweet and demanding don't go well together." he smiled. No reply . . . she was blushing again. "Oh, and I'm still here because I was hoping you would tell me your name." There was a long pause.

"My . . . my name is Jaeda." she replied hesitantly.

"Nice to meet you." Tidus smiled and reached his hand out. To his surprise, the panther didn't tackle him again and a small gloved hand reached out of the darkness to meet with his for a very brief moment. "So, are you a Blitz fan?"

"Yes. I never miss a game." she answered truthfully. She failed to mention that she also attended every practice. It's not like she had anything else to do . . . she didn't have friends or family . . . she had nothing but her faithful black companion.

"Have I met you before?"

"No . . . I stay away from humans." Tidus was slightly surprised at the way she worded her reply.

"Are you new around here?"

"I've been here for twelve years."

"Oh . . . well, why do you stay away from other people?"

"Are you interviewing me for something?" she snapped.

"No." he chuckled, "I just wanna get to know you, that's all. You seem interesting." There was a slight pause.

"I stay away from humans because I don't like the looks on their faces when they see me."

"Aw, I'm sure it's not as bad as you think."

"Yes, it is. I've been very successful for the twelve years I've been in this city, until now . . . the last time I came in contact with a human was back in Macalania."

"M-Macalania?! In Spira?!" Tidus stuttered excitedly.

"Yes. How do you know of Spira?"

"I had quite an interesting visit to that place. Do you know how to get there?!"

"No. I don't even know how I got HERE."

Tidus sighed and calmed down. "Well, is there a reason that you came here?"

"I . . . I don't want to talk about it." The panther started purring and rubbing up against Jaeda. She reached down and scratched behind the cat's ears which made it purr louder.

"Does it have a name?" Tidus asked, referring to the panther.

"Her name is Kiya."

"Nice name . . . How did you get her to be so docile and obedient to you? And what's with the whistling?"

"She and I have an understanding. When I whistle, she knows to come to me . . . and she CHOOSES to do whatever I ASK. She came with me from Spira. We grew up together."

"How old are you?"

"You really like asking questions, don't you? I'm eighteen." she giggled.

"So you've basically raised yourself AND Kiya from the age of six?!"

"Wow. For a jock, you're quite the mathematician."

"Oo, now THAT hurt!" They both laughed.

"Hey . . . you there!" a husky voice pierced through the night. Tidus turned to see two large, rough looking, muscle-bound men. "Are you talking to someone, kid?"

"Nope. It's just me." Tidus replied.

"Good. Give me all your money and jewelry." The man who hadn't spoken yet, pulled out a gun . . . not that either of the men needed a gun to be intimidating.

"Heh." Tidus yelped. He quickly drew his sword and bravely prepared himself for battle. The two burley men just laughed. The gunman raised his gun and aimed for Tidus's heart.

"Drop the sword!" Jaeda told Tidus, trying to be quiet, but startled the muggers. Tidus quickly obeyed. The sword hit the ground with a loud gun shot.

When Tidus opened his tightly closed eyes, he couldn't see anything, but he felt something soft and warm surrounding him. He could hear the surprised gasps of the two huge muggers. Whatever had deflected the bullet quickly opened up and moved away from Tidus giving him only a glimpse of . . . white feathers? . . . he thought he REALLY had gone insane this time.

"You'll regret you chose to mug someone this evening." Jaeda growled. She flew over Tidus's head, grabbed the head of the gunman, and snapped his neck. His body immediately sank down to the ground. The other man started to run. Jaeda caught sight of the fleeing crook and lunged toward him, then planted a foot into his back, breaking his spine and severing his spinal cord. His body slumped down to the ground a few feet from his partner's. It was a quick, easy battle for Jaeda. Suddenly being reminded of Tidus, she looked up, hoping he hadn't run away. Tidus stared at Jaeda with wide eyes. She looked down at the ground, embarrassed. Tidus couldn't speak. She was definitely not human.

The first thing that Tidus caught sight of was what had saved his life by deflecting the bullet . . . a pair of human sized, white, feathery wings . . . he started thinking that this was all just a dream. Jaeda was 18 and stood at a slender 5'8". Her skin almost glowed with a blueish-lavender colored pigment which brought out the ice blue highlights in her piercing, yet gentle green eyes. Above and below her right eye were what appeared to be white icicles, embedded into her soft skin. She wore a long-sleeved, floor length gray dress with a tear where a slit could have gone, and a few scattered holes. Over the dress she wore an ugly, tattered black vest, while atop her head was an equally distasteful, floppy, gray hat. The outfit looked as though it had been through and lost numerous battles. Tidus came to the conclusion that Jaeda had found the clothing in a dumpster.

"Th-thanks." Tidus stuttered, still shocked. Jaeda raised her head again, looking at him with confusion. "Thank-you . . . for saving my life."

"No problem." she replied shyly, wondering when he was going to run.

"You're beautiful!" Tidus gushed in awe, still completely taken aback.

Jaeda's eyes grew wide with surprise and she held back a smile. "You really think so?"

"Hell yeah! Who wouldn't?!"

She looked down at the ground sadly. "The people of Spira . . . that's why I came here. I was exiled because I'm different. Maester Mika said that I frightened the people and therefore had to be 'disposed of.' They knocked me unconscious and I woke up here . . . on this pier." She gave two flaps of her wings and flew up to sit on the projecting bar of the street light. "Please don't tell anyone about me."

"I won't." Tidus promised with a smile, "When you come to Blitz games, you don't sit in the stands, do you?" he insinuated.

She giggled, happy that he had changed the subject. "Nope."

"Clever girl . . . gets you out of paying for a ticket. How did you . . . get to look the way you do?" he asked cautiously, trying not to ask the question in a way that would hurt her feelings.

"Well . . . I'm half aeon-half Al Bhed. My mother is the ice aeon, Shiva, and the only thing I know about my father is that his name was Cid." Jaeda sighed.

"Cid, the LEADER of the Al Bhed?!"

Jaeda shrugged, "I have no idea."

"I wonder if Auron would know . . ." Tidus thought aloud.

"You said you wouldn't tell anyone!"

"I know but . . . hey . . . you might already know who he is! Do you remember ever hearing about high summoner Lord Braska?"

"Of course! Everyone living in Spira has heard of him at least once. I actually got to meet him and his guardians."

"And who's this pretty little thing?" the shirtless man chuckled, leaning down to see eye-to-eye with a young Jaeda.

"Who, me? I'm Jaeda." she replied and grabbed his hand to greet him with a handshake, "What's YOUR name?"

"I'm Jecht, the best Blitzball player in the world! How old are you, young lady?"

"Six and three quarters."

Jecht laughed, "Very precise." His smile slowly faded to a frown.

"What's the matter mister?"

"Huh? . . . Oh . . . I have a son your age."

"Why does that make you sad?"

"I might never see him again."

"Why?"

"Well, because . . ."

"Jecht, Lord Braska is ready." the trench coat clad man interrupted him.

"Gotchya, Auron." he replied, then turned back to Jaeda, "Nice meeting you young lady. Be good, stay strong, and I'll see you later." Jecht smiled, patted her on the head, then followed Braska and Auron into the Cloister of Trials. Jaeda walked over to the door of the trials and looked up at the priest standing nearby.

"He was really nice . . . but he smelled funny."

"He's a drunkard." the priest replied emotionlessly, not bothering to look at her.

"A what?"

"The day they came was the day that I was arrested. Jecht was ready to fight for me and Auron had pulled his sword, but Braska stopped them. I remember his exact words . . . 'Stay calm. We cannot do anything about this but pray to Yevon that she'll be safe.'"

"Jecht . . . he was my old man." Tidus sighed.

"There must be good genes in your family." she smiled softly.

"Cheer up kid. You might be going to a nice place." Jecht spoke softly.

Jaeda looked up immediately, "Really?"

"I'm not sure . . . but if you end up in Zanarkand, can you do me a favor?"

"Zanarkand?! The holy place, Zanarkand?!"

"Yeah . . . only you could end up there a thousand years in the past, before it was destroyed."

"How do you know all this? What are they going to do to me?!" Jaeda suddenly became frightened.

"Hey you . . . time's up." the prison guard spoke up.

"I gotta go . . . if you DO end up in Zanarkand, find my kid and give this to him . . . please." Jecht handed her a small object.

"I'll . . . do my best." Jaeda sniffled, ready to cry.

"Hey now, don't be a cry baby . . . you gotta stay strong!"

Jaeda sniffled again, then wiped a tear from her cheek. "Yes sir!" she smiled and saluted him. Jecht gave a chuckle and slid his hand through the bars to pat Jaeda's head again.

"Jecht . . . thanks for being my friend." she smiled. Jecht just gave her a nod and left.

"Oh . . . he asked me to give this to you." Jaeda reached into her cloak pocket and pulled out the small object that Jecht had given her in the prison. She still had it after all those years.

"It's . . . a sphere!" Tidus said surprised and immediately turned it on.

"Hey kid . . . you know I'm not too good with this kinda thing, so I'll make it quick." Jecht threw the ball into the air. When it came back down, he swiftly executed a complicated kick, sending the ball off like a rocket.

Barely a second later, a loud "Ouch!" was heard from off screen. Jecht busted up laughing. "Sorry Auron!" he shouted between laughs.

"That is the third time in two days." Braska's chuckle could be heard, also from off screen.

Jecht cleared his throat and directed his attention back to the sphere. "He's gotta have a headache by now. I call it the Tidus shot . . . use it when the ball is passed to you instead of catching it. It's risky, but it'll catch everyone off guard."

Suddenly, Jecht turned toward the direction in which the ball had gone. The ball came flying back on screen at Jecht, but he expertly used the Tidus shot again, sending the ball right back where it came from.

"That would be number four." Braska chuckled.

"AUGH! I'LL GET YOU JECHT!" Auron yelled in frustration.

Jecht laughed again as he walked toward the sphere and picked it up. "See, that's how you use it." He then turned away to shout, "Hey Auron, great pass! Ever thought of playing Blitz?!" Jecht laughed as he turned the sphere off.

Tidus wished his father hadn't disappeared. Tidus always said and acted like he hated Jecht, but deep down he really wanted him to come back.

"Hey . . . wow . . . he named a shot after you." Jaeda smiled. Tidus was . . . moved . . . yeah . . . moved by what he saw on the sphere and felt as though he was about to cry. It showed the side of his father that he never got to see . . . at least, not from what he could remember. When she didn't receive a reply, Jaeda jumped down from her perch and looked at Tidus's grief stricken face. She took a step toward him and hesitantly wrapped her arms around his neck to give him a gentle, consoling hug. He returned the embrace by wrapping his arms around her torso tightly.

'I don't know what it was about that hug . . . maybe because it was my first human contact since I was six years old . . . maybe because, for once in my life, I felt needed . . . I'm not sure, but it made me cry. I bawled like a baby . . . and to my surprise, so did Tidus.'