Authors Notes:style='font-size:11.0pt;text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'> Hey all who
read this, if any! This is a fic that I originally posted on Fanfiction.net and
although it may not be as risqué as some of the fics posted at this sight I
still wanted to give it a shot. Maybe spice it up a little bit more. So I hope
you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Disclaimer: My original character is mine but every other
Final Fantasy 10 character and idea or whatever does not belong to me!

Forever Silent

Prologue

Two
people sat on a beach bathed in moonlight, the white sand sparkling like tiny
crystals around them. They were yards apart, yet both were completely unaware
of each other; much too consumed with their own troubled thoughts to realize
they were not alone. Or maybe they just didn’t care.

Up
on a hill, shrouded by the islandsse fse foliage, a young couple watched the
man and woman on the beach with interest.

“Don’t
you think he’ll be upset when he finds out what you’ve done?” asked the young
woman, her face concealed in shadow.

“Yeah,
but it’s a risk I’m willing to take. You saw how good she was. I just can’t
believe they let her go.” The young man shrugged and wrapped his arms around
his companion. “Their loss. Besides…” he paused and watched the two people on
the beach get to their feet and walk off in separate directions across the
sand. “They might be good for each other.”

Turning
in his arms, the young woman stared up at him and saw her own feelings of hope
mirrored in his clear blue eyes. Maybe this new comer would be exactly what
their friend needed to pull himself out of his current slump.

“I hope you’re right.” She said with a sad smile, and then she turned
and led the way back into the small town of Besaid.

Meeting The Team

Tidus
turned over onto his side, still mostly asleep and wrapped his arm ad
Yd
Yuna’s sleeping form, pulling her snuggly against him. He smiled. Even though
it has been close to three months, he still couldn’t believe he was alive. But
they had promised him. Lord and Lady Braska, Lord Jyscal, Auron…even his own
father. They had all promised him that this time he would not be just a dream.
Thanks to his friends on the Farplane and Yuna’s constant whistling, Tidus was
back goo good.

Yuna
made a small sound and stretched like a cat. “Good morning.” She murmured in
that soothing musical voice that Tidus loved so much. He grunted a response and
buried his head in the crook of her neck, drawing forth a tired giggle from
Yuna. “I love you.” He whispered.

Yuna
flipped over to face him, running her hands up and through his shaggy blonde
hair. “I loI love you, Tidus.” They shared a gentle kiss, both lingering over
their last few minutes they had left to sit in bed. Tidus pulled away and
smiled down at the beautiful woman he had come to love so deeply. “Got to get
up hun. I bet Wakka’s gonna come bustin’ in here any minute now.”

Tidus
stood up and walked across the small hut to where his shorts lay in a rumpled
heap on the floor. Pulling on a clean pair of boxers, Tidus put his dark gray
shorts on over them and turned back to Yuna who was still lying in bed. He
watched her sit up slowly with a seductive smile, watched the sheet slide from
her bare shoulder and pool around her waist, and he heard her silent plea for
him to join her. He’d be insane to turn down an offer like that!

He
made a running leap and landed halfway on top of Yuna, smiling as her light
laughter filled the room. Their moment of privacy was interrupted though, by
the sound of feet apphinghing, possibly the soles of sandals slapping against
stone. Tidus held his finger to his lips and listened.

“Hey
man! You in there?” a voice shouted from outside.

There
was barley enough to to yank on disregarded clothing and hide Yuna under the
blankets before the cloth door to the hut flew open. Tidus groaned as harsh
sunlight flooded the room and momentarily blinded him. A tall, muscular man
with bright amber eyes, a lop sided smirk and short spiky red hair, several
long strands of which stuck straight up from underneath a thick blue headband
like an unruly cowlick loomed in the opening to the hut. He wore his usual
Besaid Aurochs uniform which consisted of baggy yellow, chap-like pants that
cuffed below the knee and were worn over dark blue shorts and a short yellow
vest patterned with blue crosses that was cut down the middle, exposing a
washboard stomach.

“Outta
bed, man. We got a lot of stuff to do today, ya?’ Wakka said, yanking him out
of bed and into a not-so-playful headlock.

“Ack…hey,
come on! Don’t you…think you’re…getting a little…to old for this?” Tidus choked
out. He pulled himself free and stumbled backwards. “You could at least let me
find my shirt first!”

Wakka
laughed and slapped him hard on the back almost knocking him over. Tidus turned
and glared at the older man. “Sorry ‘bout that.” Wakka said. “I’m just excited,
you know?”

Tidus
nodded and walked back to the bed where his shirt hung, draped othe the
headboard. He tried not to laugh at the startled wide eyes, one green, and one
blue that peeked up at him over the edge of the blankets. He grabbed his shirt,
gave Yuna a quick kiss on her forehead and turned back to Wakka, pulling his
hooded yellow shirt over his head.

“Don’t
forget this.” Wakka threw him his blitz bag. “Ready?”

After
a quick scan of the room, Tidus nodded again. They walked outside into the late
morning sunlight.

“You
sure you’re not forgettin’ anything?” Wakka asked.

“Yeah…”
Tidus said at length, looking up at his friend.

Wakka
shrugged. “Alright then. See ya on da ship, Yuna!” he yelled over his shoulder.
At Tidus’ shocked expression, Wakka just said. “You two are about as sneaky as
a hyper chocobo.” And with that he laughed and took off across the beach to
where the remaining team members of the Besaid Aurochs stood, waiting for
practice to begin.

“Man,
it’s going to be one of those days.” Tidus grumbled.

Several minutes later, Tidus and Wakka sat on a bench
that had been pulled out onto the beach. Tidus was lacing up his shoes and
Wakka was staring off into widewide blue ocean.

“This
one last practice before the tournament…it’s a good idea. Wish I would have
thought of it when I was capn’ ya?” Wakka said.

Tidus
looked thoughtfully at his friend. “Well…how would you like to be the captain
for the rest of the season?” he asked. The idea settled well with him, so he
knew that handing over leadership to Wakka was the right thing to do.

Wakka
stared at Tidus with his mouth agape. “You serious?”

1'>

“Yeah!
I could be like…a back up captain. Come on Wakka, you deserve this.”

Wakka
scratched his head. “Nah. You the cap’n now. I don’t this it’d be right, ya?”
The red haired man looked back out over the water.

Tidus
shook his head. “Wakka, quit being so stubborn. You know you want this.
Besides, I think it’s a good idea.”

Wakka
threw a skeptical look in Tidus’ direction, but as he rubbed his chin he
appeared to be considering his offer. “Alright…” he said after a moment of
silence. “I’ll do it.”

Tidus
smiled. “Great.” Tidus clapped Wakka on the shoulder and turned to leave when
he saw something out of the corner of his eye. His smile slowly turned into an
uncomfortable grimace. Wakka was going to kill him.

“We
do this on one condition though.” He said cautiously.

“Yeah?
And what’s that?” Wakka asked, his eyes narrowing.

“That
every decision I made as captain stays.”

“Deal.”
Wakka said, then added, “why?” Noticing that Tidus was staring at something
behind him, Wakka turned around and his eyes landed on a pair of the longest
legs he had ever seen. He let his gaze travel appreciatively up the strong,
deeply tanned limbs, gently flared hips, trim waist, and ample chest. Quickly
scanning her flawless features he smiled at the careless way the woman’s
strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, designed so that
wisps of hair fanned out every direction and the longer wavy strands hung to
the base of her slender neck. Tiny braids criss-crossed over her scalp and
disappeared into the ponytail. The effect was adorable.

Tidus
watched his friend and had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing. The
older man was too busy noticing everything about the woman, everything except
who she actually was. Maybe Tidus had lucked out. “ aga again…maybe not.” He
muttered quietly to himself. Wakka’s expression had gone from interested, to
confused, to slightly hostile. He knew.

Kenzi,
one of the top Blitzball players in Spira, had appeared out of nowhere at the
beginning of leagleague season. The leggy blonde had proven herself well,
scoring a majority of the goals for the Al Bhed Psyches. When they had let her
go, Tidus had been the first to find out. He’d hired her on the spot and she
had happily agreed. Now he wasn’t sure he had made the right decision.

Fixing
the smile back on his face, Tidus waved to Kenzi and she trotted over pushing
her sunglasses back onto her head. “Nice island you got here!” she said when
she had reached them.

“Glyou you like it. The rest of the team is down on the beach. Why don’t you go say
hi? We’ll be right behind you.” Tidus motioned down the hill to where shouts
could be heard from the team.

“Sure.”
She started to walk away. “Oh…Tidus?” she called, spinning back around.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks
for recruiting me.”

“No
problem.” Tidus said. He watched Kenzi disappear down the hill, feeling
reluctant to face his friend again.

“Mind
tellin’ me what the hell that was all about?” Wakka asked.

Tidus
laughed uncomfortably. “That? Oh, that was Kenzi. She’s kind of…um…well, you
see…I recruited her.” He managed to stutter out.

“You
recruited her?! An Al Bhed?!” Wakka ted.ted.

Tidus
backed away from his irate friend, holding his hands out in front of him
defensively. “Com on Wakka, calm down. I had to recruit her. Letty just had a
kid. He’s out for the rest of the season. I needed another forward. The Al
Bhed’s dropped her Wakka. She won most of their games for them and they dropped
her. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to have someone that good.” Wakka’s gaze
remained hard, his blue eyes glittering with anger. “Besides, she’s tough and
she’s as devoted to the game as you are. Give her a chance.”

“She’s
an Al Bhed.”

Tidus
shook hi head. How could someone be so damn stubborn? “So is Rikku,” he pointed
out.

“That’s
different,” the red headed man grumbled.

“The
hell it is Wakka,” Tidus said, turning and walking down the beach to where oth other team members were waiting to start practice. Except they needed a captain
and he was no longer the captain. “By the way, you might want to hurry up
Wakka. The team’s kind of waiting on you,” he threw over his shoulder as he
walked.

< !su !supportEmptyParas]> 

He
was tired of Wakka’s prejudice towards the Al Bhed’s. Sure, the man had his
reasons to dislike them but after Rikku, finding out Yuna was part Al Bhed, and
fighting beside them when they had battled Sin, Tidus really thought he would
have put the past aside. Obviously he hadn’t. ‘Oh well,’ he thought. It wasn’t
his problem it was Wakka’s. He just hoped the guy would figure things out and
let go of his anger for good.

Up
on the hill, Wakka watched Tidus’ retreating back with a frown. “It is
different,” he muttered softly, hoping the words would sound convincing. But
they didn’t and that was a bad thing. Tidus thought he was mad that he had to
play on the same team as an Al Bhed. It was good that he thought that but it
wasn’t the reason. Wakka had actually come to terms with his hatred for the Al
Bhed. As long as they didn’t directly interfere with his life, he was fine.
Yuna and Rikku were the only exceptions to that. Yuna because she was like a little
sister to him and Rikku because she was related to Yuna and had, for the most
part, left him alone. But this new Al Bhed, she was a problem.

The
reason? Because despite the fact that she was an Al Bhed….he was still strongly
attracted to her and that made him mad. Mad at her, mad at himself, even mad at
his way-too-optimistic friend Tidus. And not only die une unexpected attraction
anger him, it also made him feel guilty. He was with Lulu now…kind of. At least
he thought he was. It was complicated.

Muttering
a string of curses, each one worse then the one before it, Wakka trudged down
the beach to join his team. The only thing he could really do was try and avoid
her. Had he been paying attention he would have been able to do just that but
he wasn’t and the cause for his troubles slammed right into him before he even
noticed her.

He
opened his mouth to yell at her just as she turned to face, a , a blitzball
clutched in her hands, her high cheekbones flushed and cool gray eyes that held
of hint of distain staring up at him. Suddenly he forgot what he was going to
say.

“Hi.
I’m Kenzi,” she said in a smokyce tce that made his head swim.

‘It’s
not her fault she’s an Al Bhed,’ he thought. Not her fault that he felt like
this. Not her fault, not her fault, not her fault. “I’m-.”

“Wakka.
I know,” she interrupted, giving him a delectable smirk. “You’re the Al Bhed
hating captain of the Besaid Aurochs with the unique stroke, weird hair and
wicked stubbornness.”

At
least it wasn’t her fault until she opened her damn mouth. Wakka glared down at
the infuriating woman. “You’re lucky Tidus made me promise not to change any of
his decisions or I’d be throwin’ ya out on that scrawny ass of yours.”

Kenzi
placed her fists on her hips, her silvery gray eyes flashing dangerously. Even
at her full height she still only came to his chin. “Well, you’re lucky I even
decided to join this sorry excuse for a team, especially whens rus run by an
asshole captain like you. But from what I’ve seen you guys are in need of some
serious help and I’ve always thought of myself as a charitable person.”

Wakka’s
hands itched to strangle the little hellcat and he would have too if Tidus
hadn’t come jogging up and intervened.

style="mso-spacerun: yes"> “Hey guys. I see you’ve met,” the platinum
blonde said, glancing nervously between the two. “Uhh….Wakka, I think the guys
want a word with you. We’ll be right back Kenzi.” He said, pulling Wakka away.

Once
they were at a safe distance Kenzi drew an unsteady breath and let her
trembling arms drop to her side. God, what had possessed her to say things like
that to him? She almost felt sick. Here she was, meeting the man she had
admired from afar for years and the first thing she did was insult him!

“Way
to make a first impression Kenzi,” she murmured as she bent over to pick up the
blitzball she had dropped during her stand off with the large Auroch captain.
She could still remember the first time she has laid eyes on him. It had been
her first time in the Blitzball arena. She had been there with her father and
mother to support her brother and his team as they went up against the Besaid
Aurochs. Immeely ely she forgot her intentions when the muscular red head swam
into the sphere. All day she silesilently cheered for his team as her father
had loudly booed them. When the game was over and her father and mother had
gone off to celebrate with her friends, she had gone in search of him.

She
had found him sitting on a dock, in the middle of a heated conversation with a
younger man who slightly resembled him. They had been talking about Sin and
machina. The younger man had stood, muttered something under his breath and
stormed off.

Kenzi
watched wide-eyed as Wakka sighed, pulled off the thick blue headband he always
wore and buried his head in his hands. She wanted to go to him, comfort him,
but her legs would not cooperate. So she just stood there, hidden behind a
stack of wooden crates, watching him. That had been years ago when she was
sixteen. Then Sin had come and everything had changed.

Now
she was twenty-two, hardened from years of solitude, yet she still held
feelings for him.

He
can never know, whispered the rough
voice of the evil that had been haunting her mind since all of the death had
begun. Knowledge leads to heartbreak and you know what happens then. Your will
is then mine to command and by your hands all of Spira will die.

“No,”
Kenzi whispered, shaking her head. The voice laughed at her, mocking her and
telling her that she was not strong enoto sto stop it.

“I
am strong,” she said in an anguished voice. “I am.”

“Kenzi?”

She
jerked her head up. Tidus stared at her with worried blue eyes and an unsure
smile. “Are you okay? You look kind of pale.”