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Our umbrella creaked in the ocean breeze as I watched the captain of Besaid University’s volleyball team give a high five to another player. Then another. Then two people at a time.
“Seems like we’re in for a bit of a wait," I said.
“Mm-hm.” Lulu leaned back, crossing her legs underneath her long, black skirt. “It’s the last practice of the week. He’s asking them all about their weekend plans.”
“So, he’s not always like this?”
“No… well, other than the first practice of each week. That’s when he has to talk to everybody about how their weekends were.”
I gave her a sideways look. “And let me guess. Mid-week practice, he asks how their weeks are going?”
Lulu’s dark-painted lips turned up in a smile, eyes closed against the afternoon sun. Her off-the-shoulder top was fitted with a bodice around the waist, and she wore some sort of sheer purple shawl draped over her bare shoulders. Not for the first time, I wondered what kind of goth magic she used to survive such commitment to an aesthetic in this heat.
“He’s got his priorities,” she said.
I took another drink, wishing we could go inside. Summers in Besaid were always too humid. Most men just went shirtless the whole season. I preferred some cover against the sun; I had on my red linen shirt with long, wide sleeves today, my hair pulled back in a ponytail to feel the barest of breezes that came off the ocean.
This heat was one of many things I’d been happy to leave behind four years ago, when I’d gotten a scholarship to Zanarkand College a whole world away. I’d sworn then that I would never return to Besaid.
Then I met Jecht.
He played volleyball at Zanarkand. I met him training in the off season at my martial arts dojo. Our relationship was volatile - fighting, making up, constant drama. We pushed each other, charmed our friends, convinced ourselves we were happy.
We formed a sort of unofficial group that sparred on the weekends. We called ourselves "The Fiends". That group grew as fast as our egos.
We got careless. A couple members started trouble with a local gang. One of them, Yunalesca, issued a challenge. As our group’s leader and best fighter, I accepted. But Yunalesca didn’t play for points. She wanted to send a message. She fought dirty; I got hurt.
We all called it an “accident” to avoid legal trouble. Doctors said it was an injury to my spine. I’d never walk normally again.
The Fiends quietly disbanded. Some probably started other groups, but I didn't keep up with them. I stayed with Jecht to recover. Our fights got even worse. He resented me; I envied him. He lashed out. I fell into depression. He got more controlling, isolating me, calling me a burden. I believed him. I lost my job, my scholarship, my future.
The choice became clear: I could stay, and lose myself… or leave.
Besaid University accepted my transfer. Lulu, my best friend from high school, even got me a gig at the school paper. They said needed a sports writer. I was more of a politics guy myself, but, well. Desperate times.
So I stayed put, out in the heat, waiting to talk to the captain of the most infamous college volleyball team in all of Spira. I studied my interviewee from a distance. Tanned, muscular, obviously charming. He smiled at each person he talked to like they were the most important thing in the world. In that moment, I bet they felt like they were.
“Enjoying the view?” said Lulu
I glanced down at her and raised an eyebrow. “You’re not?”
She waved a hand at me dismissively. “I’m done with men for a while. So sensitive, you know?”
A memory flickered in my mind, blurring my vision. Another man, standing in an arena, dark brown eyes easily picking me out in a crowd. Smiling in a way that made me feel important, too.
Dread flared in the pit of my stomach. I checked that my cane was still hooked to the table edge, ready to steady me or defend me, I wasn’t sure. “Yeah,” I replied, my voice low. “Sensitive.”
“Hey, Lulu!” The team captain waved at us and headed our way.
Lulu got to her feet to give him a hug. “Auron,” she said to me, “This is Wakka. Wakka, this is the friend I told you about, just transferred to BU. Rikku’s got him working on the Spira Championships tournament story for the paper.”
“Already? Man, doesn’t anybody respect summer vacation around here?” Wakka grinned and held out his hand. “Anyway. Welcome to BU!”
I returned the handshake, trying to keep my eyes from wandering. This man was gorgeous. Tan, muscular, with bright red hear that stood almost straight up like it had been gelled in place by the ocean breeze, a million-watt smile shining brighter than the sun on his face.
Then he asked, “Where’d you transfer from?”
I dropped my hand back to my cane. “Zanarkand College.” I gripped the handle, waiting for the dreaded “Why?” question. An accident, cost of living, perfectly normal reasons…
Wakka nodded. “Cool. Want to meet the best team in Besaid?”
“Um…”
“They’ll give you the real scoop on all the Div 1 teams coming here for the tournament.” Wakka’s eyes lit up. “And then you can cover our matches, too! We’re Div 3, but we’re gonna dominate this year. You’ll see us all in Div 1 in no time!”
My lips quirked up in a reluctant smile. “Sure.”
…
“What is this?” Wakka gasped. “You want to interview me again?”
We were sitting at our usual table on the pier, where Lulu had introduced me to Wakka two months ago. The scent of seawater filled the air. I’d actually missed that smell.
I shrugged. “It was an assignment.”
“Rikku liked Auron’s article about the tournament coming up,” said Lulu, stealing one of my fries. “The descriptions were very… detailed.”
Wakka turned that million-watt smile on me. “Wow. You must have made our team look real good for them to want more articles about us.”
I pulled the paper boat of fries out of Lulu’s reach, ignoring the meaningful looks she was giving me. “Not the team.”
“Rikku was intrigued by the charismatic team captain of the BU Aurochs,” Lulu explained, enjoying my awkwardness. “She suggested Auron do a profile on him as well.”
Wakka gave me an appraising look. “First you finally come with me to Temple Escape, and now you’re flattering me. Is it my birthday or something?”
I hid a smile. It had been a fun day. Wakka had been badgering me to try out an escape room with him, one he and Lulu hadn’t attempted yet. It seemed simple enough. You had to follow clues to hidden compartments, finding a series of keys to unlock each one until you find the final key to let you out.
Simple concept. But with Wakka there, the execution was… complicated.
“Let’s move the desk!”
“Wakka, this clue says we need to find a book -”
Wakka tried to move the desk, which was bolted to the floor, and accidentally knocked into a file cabinet, which triggered some mechanism that made the bottom drawer pop out. In it was a key.
It was out of order, we had no idea how to use it, but Wakka was elated. Lulu and I quickly gave up on procedure. As Wakka tried to brute-force his way through every obstacle, we raced him, solving clues as fast as we could in his wake.
We ran out of time, of course. It didn’t matter. To Wakka, winning wasn’t the point - it was about having fun with friends. That’s how the Aurochs deal with being so terrible, I thought. Having Wakka around made losing seem like just another part of the game.
So different from… before.
Back at the table, I rolled my eyes. “It’s just a profile. Don’t let it go to your head.” I stood and picked up my cane. “I’m getting another soda.”
“Get me one too, yeah?” Wakka winked. “Since you’re in such a giving mood.” I turned away quickly to hide my smile.
I got two sodas from the vending machine, one in hand, the other in my pocket.
“Hey there.”
Icy numbness shot up my spine. I turned. There he was, as if conjured from the dark memories I was avoiding every day. One hand on his hip, a cocky smile on his face.
I kept my voice level. “What are you doing here, Jecht?”
Jecht grinned. “The tournament, baby! I’m with the Maesters now! Took a contract right after graduation.”
“Graduation?” Jecht had been way behind on credits when I left. His status as a star hitter on the Zanarkand College volleyball team kept him from failing out, but… graduation?
Jecht shrugged. “Coach got them to pass me. Can’t hold back a star player with a Div 1 contract. Bad look and all that.”
A spike of pain went up my leg. I’d shifted into my old fighting stance, balanced in a way that my injured body couldn’t support. I moved into a modified stance I’d learned after the accident, easing some of my weight onto my cane.
Jecht looked down. “New walking stick? Didn’t like the one I got you, huh?”
My eyes narrowed. “It didn’t fit.” He hadn’t even asked. Using the wrong-sized walking aid can hurt more than help. My cane was custom-made, cherry wood shaft with adjustable metal brackets at the base of a comfortable, padded handle. I’d used the last of my savings on it.
Jecht’s eyes narrowed. I forced myself into expressionless calm, refusing to give him a reaction. He took a step toward me, and I flinched. Memories flooded back, yelling, grabbing, anger and pain –
“Hey!” I heard Wakka’s voice, and turned to see him waving, heading up toward us. He playfully punched my shoulder when he got to me. “Thought you forgot about us.”
My brain refused to come up with an answer, and my mouth had gone so dry I wasn’t sure words would come out even if I had any. I pulled the soda from my pocket and offered it to him.
Wakka took it, smiling, angling himself a little in between me and Jecht. He popped the cap. “Who’s your friend?”
Jecht scowled at the newcomer. He opened his mouth, but I spoke first.
“The newest member of the Maesters team,” I said. “Jecht, this is Wakka, team captain of the Besaid Aurochs.”
Wakka held out his free hand. “Looking forward to the tournament! Keep an eye out for us – you’ll see the Aurochs make Div 1 in no time.”
Jecht ignored the hand. He leaned back, one hand on his hip, and looked my friend up and down. “I hope you do,” he sneered. “It’ll be fun to see what you’re made of.”
Wakka raised an eyebrow. “You know,” he said, mischief in his tone, “if you really wanna find that out, we don’t have to wait for anything. Ever played beach volleyball?”
Jecht gave a harsh laugh. “Are you challenging me?”
Wakka shrugged. “Just having fun, yeah? Besides, my team would love seeing two experts out there.”
I interrupted. “Wakka, he’s with a Div 1 team.” Beach volleyball was doubles - two on two. Even if Wakka was a match for Jecht, no one from the Aurochs could possibly match someone from the Maesters.
“I won’t bring another Maester,” Jecht said. “I’ll just bring my cousin.”
I whirled on Jecht. “Tidus is here? You brought him to Besaid?” Jecht’s younger cousin had just started at Zanarkand when I left. He was obsessed with Jecht. Jecht, in turn, treated him like garbage.
Jecht shrugged. “Zanarkand Abes are a bunch of wusses. The kid needs a better education.” He looked me in the eye. “Bet he’d love to see you again, babe. He was a mess when you left.”
The guilt stung. I growled, “Don’t call me that.”
“OK!” Wakka clapped his hands. “I’ll bring someone too, not from the team. So we’re good, yeah? Tomorrow, South Beach?”
“Tomorrow.” Jecht nodded at me. “See you around, Auron.”
I watched him walk away. Part of me still wanted to make him angry, get him riled up, jealous. That’s not me anymore, I told myself. No one controls me. Never again.
I felt Wakka’s hand on my shoulder. His eyes caught mine, warm and inviting. “He seems nice.”
…
Word got out. By the time I finally got to South Beach, a small crowd of locals had already gathered around the nets. Some wore Besaid University colors - everyone at BU knew Wakka, even if they didn’t care about the team. I saw plenty of people in Maesters shirts and hats, too.
Lulu was easy to spot. She wore a strapless black top and held a black lace parasol, looking more summery than I’d ever seen her.
I walked over and eased myself into the empty beach chair beside her. Wakka was on his side of the net, talking to a tall, buff man with long, white-blond hair. “Is that Wakka’s teammate?”
“Kimari,” Lulu said, shifting her parasol to give me some shade. “A family friend.”
I was about to ask more questions, but then I saw Jecht on the other side of the net, Tidus at his side. The kid had to be about 19 years old now, blond, eager, energetic. I had hated leaving him. The thought of him traveling here and back with Jecht made me feel sick.
The referee blew a whistle. “Best of three games, 21 points a game,” she said. “Ready?”
The teams squared up, a whistle blew, and the game began.
Jecht and Tidus’s skills immediately put them ahead. They won the first game quickly, 21-11. But Wakka and Kimari weren’t fazed. They moved like dancers, Wakka laughing and light on his feet, Kimari focused, fast, and steady.
I wondered what it would have been like if I’d met Wakka before college, or gotten to know him like Lulu did here in Besaid. His ease with people, letting them be themselves, making everyone feel like part of his own family… would I have been part it? Would I have appreciated it, like I did now?
The ref called a foul on Jecht. He whirled on her. “You can’t be serious! That was a legal play!”
Tidus grabbed his arm. “Come on Jecht, your serve.”
Jecht wrenched his arm away and grabbed the ball from Tidus. He slammed it hard, sending it over the net so fast I was sure no one would be there. But Wakka stepped just in time, setting up Kimari to spike it.
Tidus dug the ball but couldn’t control it, sending it out of bounds before Jecht could keep it in play. Wakka whooped loudly, giving his team mate a signature high-five. “Boo-ya!”
Jecht turned on Tidus. “What’s wrong with you? You’re useless!”
Tidus grit his teeth, eyes shining.
The rest of the game was brutal. Tidus pulled out all the stops. But even as Wakka and Kimari lost ground, Wakka was consistently in a good mood. He high-fived Kimari at the end of each rally without fail, no matter who scored, and yelled loud encouragement with every serve.
Jecht and Tidus won again, 21-19 this time, taking the match. I followed Lulu to the court to meet Wakka. Lulu ruffled his hair. “That was fun,” she said. “Now will you stop with the bragging? Your team was ready to bet money on winning the whole tournament this weekend.”
“Are you kidding? We’re gonna go all the way!”
I looked to the other side of the net. Jecht’s back was to me, arms outstretched as he hyped up the crowd, chanting his name.
“Jecht! Jecht! Jecht!”
Tidus stepped up beside him, waving triumphantly. The crowd cheered. A few started chanting for him, too.
“Tidus, Tidus!”
Jecht paused. Then he grabbed Tidus’s shoulder, knocking him off balance, and put him in a headlock. “That’s right, baby cousin!” he said, knuckling his head. “Show ‘em what I taught ya!”
Tidus pushed him off. His face was flushed with embarrassment. “Don’t call me that!”
Jecht’s eyes narrowed. He grabbed Tidus’s arm again. To the crowd he said, “I’m gonna get my best teammate in the world something to drink.”
You broke the rules, I thought as he dragged Tidus toward the pier. Never take the spotlight from Jecht.
They reached the convenience store counter and moved past it, going around a corner. I made a split second decision and followed behind. I heard Jecht as I got closer. “Play like that –“… “Did you forget everything I …” “… gonna cry now?”
I came around the corner, and froze. Jecht had Tidus’s arm in a strong grip. He turning toward me, eyes flashing. “This doesn’t concern you, Auron.”
I grit my teeth. All those dark, wretched months stuck in Jecht’s apartment came back to me. I remembered him glaring at me, grabbing me, his words mixing with the pain in my leg telling me I needed him, I was trapped, I had nowhere else to go.
It wasn’t true.
I gripped my cane, shifting my weight off it into a modified low guard. “Let him go, Jecht. You won.”
“I won, too!” Tidus shouted, jerking free. “I won that match for you, old man. Get over it!”
“You disrespectful –“ Jecht pulled his hand back to strike.
I stepped through in a practiced motion and snapped the cane up and out, catching Jecht’s arm as it dropped. Jecht yelled, stepping back, eyes alight.
I pulled myself back into my stance, but my heart was racing. What was I doing? Was I really fighting Jecht?
Part of my brain was screaming at me to run. But another, newer side, the part of me so angry it had gotten me to break free so many months ago – that part of me wanted to fight. That part of me wanted to hit him so hard he could never hit anyone else again.
Maybe he saw that second thought cross my mind. His expression changed, became cold, calculating. “Do you know what you look like?” he sneered, stepping toward. “You threw away the only good thing you had, you know that? No one else is gonna care about you the way I did. These losers all know how pathetic you are.”
Pain shot up my bad leg as I struggled to keep my stance. The words echoed old fights we’d had, pulled me like an undertow, threatened to rake me across the ocean floor.
Jecht noticed. His mouth twisted into a cruel mockery of a smile. “You think they like you here, Auron? You think that ridiculous excuse for a volleyball player actually likes you? They see you, you and your big ego, you pathetic, useless, cri-”
“You talkin about me? That’s so rude, you know?”
Wakka’s voice rang out from behind me. The earth steadied beneath my feet. I stepped back, and Wakka was by my side, solid as granite. The easy grin was gone.
Jecht leaned away from me. “Just going over that match again with the kid,” he said smoothly, his arm snaking around Tidus’s shoulders. “Got to know who the real winners are in the world.”
Wakka nodded at Tidus. “You got skills kid. That’ll take you places. But if you really want to be a winner, you’re gonna need more than that. You’re gonna need heart.” He eyed Jecht. “That’s what makes a team, you know. Can’t play when nobody wants to play with you, yeah?” He eyed Jecht. “Some people never seem to learn that lesson. Angry, sad, lonely people.”
Jecht’s face contorted with rage. I should have been afraid. But this time, seeing him make that face after Wakka’s little speech, it almost made me laugh.
I drew in a calming breath. “Come on Tidus. Let’s let your cousin feel his feelings.”
Tidus ducked out of Jecht’s grip to come to me. “Don’t you dare go away from me,” Jecht yelled. “I brought you here!”
“Jeez, man, calm down.” Wakka waved dismissively at Jecht as we moved away. “Go on back to your team. We’ll show Tidus all the sights of the town.”
Jecht’s eyes were full of fire. But his shoulders dropped. He’d lost control. “This town is shit,” he spat. “I’m done. With you,” he pointed at me, “and with your idiot boyfriend, and that crybaby of a cousin. You hear me, Tidus? Find your own way home!”
With that, Jecht turned and stomped away from us, heading in the direction of the street.
We watched him leave. Wakka asked Tidus, “Did he really just do that?”
My cousin shrugged under my arm. “He’s left me before.”
I squeezed his shoulder. “I know the feeling.” Tidus glanced up, questioning. I cleared my throat. “I was two weeks out of surgery,” I explained. “We were at a hotel in Kilika, on vacation. We got into a fight. He took the car, left me at the hotel. I couldn’t afford a cab back to Zanarkand, so I just stayed there, leaving him voicemails, until he came back for me the next day.”
Wakka and Tidus stared at me. I pushed my sunglasses up on my nose. I’d never told anyone that story.
Wakka leaned back, hands on his hips. “Wow,” he said finally. “That guy SUCKS.”
…
Lulu and Wakka helped Tidus get his stuff back from the hotel he was staying at with the Maesters team. We set him up in my apartment and vented our stress for a while with video games and nachos, then headed to the pier.
Lulu took Tidus to get us all ice cream, leaving me and Wakka at the railing next to our usual table.
Wakka touched my arm. “You ok?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I will be.”
Wakka rubbed the back of his neck. “So, I hope you don’t mind that I stepped in back there. I mean… you can handle yourself, obviously.” He dropped his arm and sighed. “I just didn’t think… you should… have to. You know? By yourself.”
I took Wakka’s hand. “I’m glad you did.”
Wakka’s grip tightened. Slowly, he turned me toward him, looking me in the eyes. His free hand cupped my face, thumb rubbing light circles on my cheek. “I just want you to know… if there’s anything you need, anything you… you want…”
I stepped in. “I want to kiss you.”
There was that smile again. He kissed me, and I let myself feel truly happy, truly free, the taste of sea salt and sunshine on my lips.