Forever Silent

Disclaimer:
Same rules apply. I own shit folks. Well…not literally. You get the point. Oh,
and a warning…those of you who are Lulu fans might want to turn back now. This
isn’t exactly a Lulu friendly fic.

 

 

Ship Encounters

 

 

Sitting
on the bed in his cabin, leaning against the wall with one leg stretched out
over the side and the other one bent at the knee, his sandaled foot propped up
against the edge of the mattress Wakka listened to the gentle slap of the waves
against the ships side, thinking of Kenzi. After seeing her at practice he now
grudgingly admitted to himself that she was defiantly skilled when it came to
blitzball. He would even give her credit for acting like their little fight had
never happened and listening to his instructions. But he was still pissed at
her.

 

She may
have had an amazing figure, long slender legs, gorgeous silvery gray eyes and a
smile that could melt even the most cold hearted man, not to mention the
ability to turn his entire team into a bunch of bumbling idiots, but that
didn’t change the fact that he was angry. He snatched up the blitzball lying
next to him on the bed and hurled it at the wall. “Damn females.”

 

A knock
sounded at the door and Tidus poked his head in. “Hey. Mind if I come in?”

 

Wakka
only shrugged. Rolling his eyes Tidus entered the small room, closing the door
behind him. “So,” he said, sitting down next to Wakka. “She’s not half bad,
huh?”

 

“Speak
for yourself,” Wakka muttered.

 

“Come on
man, you’re really not being fair. I know she’s an Al Bhed and everything but
she still deserves a chance. Especially from you. You’re her captain.” Tidus
looked hopefully at his sulking friend, trying not to laugh at how much he
resembled a pouting child. “Just go talk to her. She’s right across the hall.
It wouldn’t hurt you to tell her you’re sorry about commenting on throwing her
out on her scrawny ass.”

 

Wakka’s
brows shot up and he stared at Tidus in disbelief.

 

“You guys
were talking pretty loud. We all heard it.”

 

Crossing
his arms over his chest, Wakka went right back to sulking. “Why should I
apologize? She’s the one who said we had a lousy excuse for a team. I think she
should be the one appologizin’ ya?”

 

Tidus
elbowed his friend and gave him a stern look. “Be the bigger man. Go tell her
you’re sorry.”

 

Seeing
that there was no way he was going to let up, Wakka made a sound of frustration
and pushed himself off the bed. “Alright! But just so you know I’m only doin’
this to get you to shut up.”

 

“Yeah
right. You were probably sitting in here thinking of reasons to go talk to
her,” Tidus commented dryly, throwing his friend an evil smirk.

cla class=MsoBodyText> 

Wakka
shook his head and slammed the door. He crossed the small walkway, all the
while thinking up different ways to make Tidus pay for this little set up. Once
in front of Kenzi’s door he lifted he hand and knocked…..hard. The door flew
open and once again the giant man was left speechless.

 

Kenzi
stood there, arms crossed over her chest and wearing nothing but a short towel
that revealed every devastating inch of her sinfully long legs. Her damp hair
hung in s pas past her shoulders and he had to do everything in his power to
keep himself from leaning down to inhale the sweet scent of whatever shampoo
she used. “What’s up captain? Is there a problem?” she asked, her lips
twitching with the beginnings of a smile.

 

“I…ah…just
came by to umm…” he stammered. It was no use. He couldn’t think up sentences
that made sense when she was standing there in a towel. “Damn. I’m sorry. See
you later, ya?” Before he could make a bigger fool out of himself he turned and
walked away, missing the small smile that curved Kenzi’s lips.

 

Heart
swelling with happiness, Kenzi turned and went back into her room. She laughed
softly as she closed the door. He was so cute when he was flustered. While
entertaining thoughts of Wakka she dug through her bag, looking for something
to wear. She pulled out a pair of indecently short blue shorts with gold bands
circling the hems and a short, tight, yellow tank top with blue at the cuffs,
neckline and hem. She liked her new team she was going to show them how much by
proudly wearing their colors.

 

An idea
formulated in her mand and she dressed quickly then went back to digging into
her bag. She pulled out a small container of sparkling blue face paint.
Smiling, she applied two lines to each of her cheekbones and checked her
reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall. Yes, she defiantly looked like an
Auroch now.

 

She
slipped her boots on and was in the middle of pulling her hair up into its
usual messy ponytail when another knock sounded at the door. Pushing aside her
thoughts of her devastatingly adorable captain she opened the door to a short
girl with wild blond hair dressed in a pair of olive green shorts and a deep
pink tank top. The girls green eyes went wide as she stared up at Kenzi. “Oh my
god, I thought they were kidding,” she whispered.

 

Kenzi
smiled as she tucked strawberry blond bangs behind her ear. “Nope. It’s me.”

 

A smile
broke the shorter girls face and she squealed with joy, launching herself
forward. “Oh wow Kenzi! I can’t believe you’re really here!” she yelped,
wrapping her arms around Kenzi’s neck.

 

Kenzi
laughed, hugging the young girl back. “It’s good to see you too Rikku. It’s
been a long time.”

 

“No
kidding!” Rikku bounced back, dropping her arms. “The last time I saw you was
at Home before I left with the others.” Visions of their Al Bhed home being
destroyed flashed through her mind. Home. It was nothing more then ashes now
mixed in with the dessert sand. She looked up at her childhood friend, eyes
narrowing warily. “How did you-.” Her voice drifted off when she saw deep
sadness flash in Kenzi’s stormy eyes. Maybe it was best that she didn’t go
there. Instead she lifted her hand and softly gripped the older woman’s upper
arm. “It’s good to have you here Kenzi.”

 

“Thank
you.”

&n]> 

Rikku smiled,
tilting her head to the side. “Anytime. Are you done getting ready?” She didn’t
wait for an answer. Tightening her grip on Kenzi’s arm she pulled her out into
the narrow hallway. “All the guys are up on deck. Yunie’s up there, you can
meet her. And the view is amazing. Wait till you see Zanarkand. I guess they
just finished the blitzball stadium so no ones even played there yet. Yunie had
it designed just like Tidus described it and he says it’s going to be awesome.

p;

Amused by
the fact that Rikku could still talk a mile a minute without taking a breath,
Kenzi willingly allowed herself to be pulled along.

 

“So you
switched teams huh? Does Brother know who you’re playing for the Aurochs?”

 

Kenzi
ducked her head to hide her indulgent smile as they climbed the stairs to the
ships deck. “He will soon.”

 

“And I
wasn’t going to come with today,” Rikku quipped. They reached the top of the
steps and she came to an abrupt stop, whirling around to face Kenzi. “What
about Blappa?!”

 

Kenzi’s
eyes turned the color of cold steel. “What about Blappa?” she murmured coldly.
The thi thing she wanted towas was talk about her heartless, domineering
ex-boyfriend. He was the reason the Al Bhed’s had dropped her so quickly after
league had ended. When he saw that she was exceeding him in every aspect of
“his” game there had been no end to his anger. He had attempted to beat her.
When that had failed he had dumped her and told their captain some elaborate
lie that had gotten her kicked off the team. “Blappa can go straight to the
Farplane for all I-.” Kenzi’s stopped talking to let loose a startled shriek as
she was tackled to the hard deck. “Jassu!”

 

Smiling
down at her, his bleach blonde hair a surprising contrast to his deeply tanned
skin and dark brown eyes was the left defense for the Besaid Aurochs, Jassu.
“Hey Kenzi,” he said cheerfully. “I was just practicin’ for the tournament.
Wouldn’t want to let capn’ Wakka down, you know?”

 

“You
could have warned me.” Kenzi remarked dryly, gently flicking his nose.

 

“I made
sure you didn’t get hurt, didn’t I?”

 

Kenzi
gave him a confused look then felt fingers brush her scalp. He’d cradled his
hand around the back of her head to keep it from slamming against the wood
deck.

 

“See?”

 

Kenzi
smirked and pushed him off, getting to her feet. “You still scared the life out
of me. Youknowknow that I’m going to get you for this.”

 

n stn style='mso-tab-count:1'> Jassu
grinned, shaking his head. “Good luck, ya?” he said as he disappeared down the
stairs.

 <

“Dork,”
Kenzi muttered.

 

“Yeah,
but he’s a cute dork,” Rikku spoke up beside her. Kenzi turned to face her,
arching a delicate brow in interest. Blushing, Rikku grabbed her arm and drug
her up another flight of stairs. “Come on. Yunie’s right up here.”

 

They
walked onto a small upper deck above where they had been standing. The view
from the deck was amazing. Pure blue stretched for miles on all sides, the hot
sun’s reflection glittering over the calm surface.

 

Two women
stood on the far side of the small deck. One was garbed in a black dress with
long flared sleeves and a plunging fur neckline. Her black braided hair was
pulled back and thick bangs hung over her right eye. imagimage alone screamed
black magic.

 

The other
woman was shorter with feathery brown hair that brushed her bare shoulders. She
wore a unique white shirt that wrapped around her body and was secured by a
decorative gold sash. White makeshift sleeves that darkened gradually to a deep
pink hue towards the ends were tied above her elbows with blue ribbon and
flowed down her arms. Her dark violet skirt, adorned with silvery blue vines
and leaves waved in the breeze, brushing against practical black boots. She was
the Summoner, Lady Yuna.

 

“Come
on,” Rikku urged, tugging on her arm. “Yunie! I want to you meet a really good
friend of mine.” The two women turned to face them as they approached. “This is
Kenzi. Kenzi, meet Yunie and Lulu.”

 

Kenzi
bowed respectively. “Lady Yuna.”

 

“That’s
much too formal. Please just call me Yuna,” the summoner said, giving her a
kind smile. “You’re the one Tidus recruited right?”

 

“It’s a
pleasure to finally meet you. I watchou pou play during league. You were
great.”

 

“Thank
you,” Kenzi said, blushing at the compliment.

 

“I….I
hope Wakka isn’t giving you a hard time. He’s very stubborn in his beliefs and
it’s not always a good thing,” Yuna murmured, managing to look apologetic and
concerned at the same time.

&nb> 

“Wakka?”
Kenzestiestioned, laughing softly. “Nah. He’s a big teddy bear. No worries. I’ll
win him over eventually.”

 

“That
would be a miracle,” Lulu remarked, finally speaking up. “Wakka hates Al Bhed.
That will never change.”

 

Something
in the tone of her voice sent a wave of unease through Kenzi. She stared at the
dark woman for a moment, trying to read her expressionless face. “How do you
know that?”

 

“I know
Wakka,” Lulu said evenly. She crossed her arms over her large chest. “He will
never change.”

 

‘We’ll
see about that,’ Kenzi thought. She was always up for a good challenge and if
she won this one, the reward would be very much worth it. She turned to stare
out over the ocean, wanting to avoid Lulu’s unkind glare. Did Wakka really hate
Al Bhed that much? Lulu had made it sound like there was no hope of the man
seeing her for who she was instead of what she was. But there had to be. People
changed all the time. Or at least their opinions did.

 

Kenzi
frowned and forced away the negative thoughts. Why was she even listening to
this woman? She hardly even knew her. Besides, now was not the time to be
doubting herself.

clasclass=MsoBodyText> 

Voices interrupted her thoughts,
male voices, and Kenzi smiled wickedly. Yes, now was defiantly not the time.
She had better things to do. She took several steps backwards towards the edge
of the deck and listened carefully as the voices drew closer. Her grin widened
when she recognized one in particular.

 

“Will you
guys….um….excuse me for a sec?” she asked politely, glancing over her shoulder
and trying to judge how far down the drop was.

 

“Kenzi,
what are you doing?” Rikku asked.

&n]> 

clasclass=MsoBodyText> “Getting
back at Jassu,” Kenzi replied be lee leaping from the deck and tackling the
first person in her way, which she had assumed, would be Jassu. They went down
hard, him cursing, her congratulating herself on taking him by surprise.

 

“Nice
tackle Kenzi, but…ahh…..you got the wrong guy,” her intended victim said from
somewhere above her.

 

Kenzi
froze. Her heart plummeted and she jerked back, a horrified gasp escaping her
lips when she saw who it was that she had accidentally tackled.

 

Wakka
glared up at her, his golden brown eyes burning with anger.

 

“Oh shit-,”
she whispered, trying to move off of him but finding that every limb seemed to
be more or less paralyzed. All she could do was stare down at his handsome face
and wait for him to kill her. But instead of beating her within an inch of her
life, he did something very unexpected. Something she would have completely
missed if she had not been staring at him so intently. His gaze softened and an
emotion flashed deep in his eyes. When she recognized it for what it was her
own stormy gray eyes widened in response. Desire.

 

Then she
became aware of everything. Her hand pressed against his smooth, muscular
chest, his hand resting lightly on her waist, the bare skin of her stomach
pressed against his. Breathing became a little more difficult as heat consumed
her body. She licked her parched lips and his eyes followed the movement.

 

“I’m
sorry,” she murmured, praying that he could not hear the erratic beating of her
heart.

 

His lips
quirked up in and enticing smirk. “Just don’t let it happen again, ya?”

 

Cheers
and whistling broke through the haze that had surrounded them and cut them off
from the rest of the world. Blushing furiously, Kenzi pushed herself off Wakka.
“I….I’m sorry,” she repeated, turning quickly and running downstairs to the
safety of her room.

 

On the
highest deck of the ship Rikku turned to Yuna with a huge grin. “Did you see
that?!”

 

na
nodded, keeping the pleased smile off of her face. She knew Lulu had seen the whole
display as well and was not at all happy about it. Yuna didn’t want the older
woman to see that she was happy about what had just happened between Wakka and
Kenzi. As much as she loved Lulu she knew that she and Wakka didn’t belong
together. Wakka needed someone cheerful, someone who would show him how to
enjoy life and not continually bring up the painful past he was trying to put
to rest. Yuna only hoped Kenzi was strong enough to be that person.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The sun
was centered in the clear blue sky; it’s rays beating down mercilessly upon the
S.S. Liki’s occupants when Zanarkand came into view. Kenzi and Rikku were
leaning against the rail at the front of the boat, each having changed into a
bikini top after pulling their shirts off their backs for the 20^th
time. Rikku, wearing a top of deep burgundy perked up immediately. “There it
is!” She yelled, bouncing excitedly and pointing to the horizon where a large
city was starting to take shape. “There’s Zanarkand.”

 

Straightening
her own top of dark blue, secured by golden leather strings, Kenzi stared out
across the water to where Zanarkand lie in the distance. “How long is it going
to take to get there?”

hour unless the wind picks up,” Tidus said, coming up beside her.

 

Kenzi
smiled at the shaggyred red blond. “He finally shows himself.”

 

Tidus ghedghed as he strapped on a thick leather glove and arm guard. “Yeah. I hear I
missed a pretty steamy scene between you and Wakka,” he said, regarding her
with laughing blue eyes.

 

Kenzi’s
cheeks burned as she lowered her gaze to the ship’s deck. It seemed like
everyone knew about what had happened, even those who hadn’t been there. Kenzi
herself couldn’t forget it. She never would. She could still feel the weight of
his hand where it had rested on her waist. All day she had been thng hng how
far things may have gone if they had been alone. Imagining things she shouldn’t
be imagining. ‘It’s almost game time Kenzi; you don’t have time for distracting
thoughts! You need to prove yourself to these guys,’ she thought, desperately
trying not to think about Wakka anymore. “What’s the plan when we get to
Zanarkand?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

 

Tidus
shook his head, chuckling softly. “Well, first we have to registers then we’ve
got two hours to get ready before the tournament starts. There’s four games
this afternoon and the play offs are around nine tonight.”

 

“Oh, a
night game! I love night games,” Kenzi exclaimed.

 

Nodding
his agreement, the blond pulled a thick silver chain with a triangular shaped
pendant from his pocket and slipped it over his head. He glanced at Kenzi out
of the corner of his eyes. “There’s a pretty good chance we’re going to have to
go up against the Al Bhed Psyches. Are you okay with that?”

 

Kenzi
turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him her most
indignant look. “I’ll help my team grind their asses into the ground,” she
replied evenly.

 

“Kenzi.”
Tidus placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t get all defensive. I just meant are
you going to be okay playing against them. Last time I checked they had no idea
that you had joined up with us.”

 

Cursing
herself for being far too distrustful, Kenzi pushed her bangs out of her face
and sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get like that. Don’t worry about me
though. I’ll be fine.” She laughed softly. “I just can’t wait to see the looks
on their faces when they see me.”

 

“Me
neither!” Rikku said. “I love Brother and everything, but the face he makes
when he’s shocked is so funny!”

 

For the
next hour the three passed the time talking about blitzing until finally the
city of Zanarkand loomed above them. Kenzi eyed the city in awe. Never in her
life had she seen something so massive. Cheering people crowded the wharfs,
awaiting the arrival of their favorite teams, forgotten balloons drifted lazily
above the city skyline, the entire city buzzed with lively activity.

 

Tidus had
to force back the tears that had come from seeing his beloved home rebuilt in
his honor, just the way he had described it. He pushed a hand through his
platinum blond hair and closed his eyes, relishing the heartwarming feeling
that spread through him.

 

“Welcome
home,” a soft voice murmured behind him as feminine arms circled his waist.

 

Tidus
smiled. He turned in Yuna’s embrace and wrapped his arms tightly around her.
“Thank you Yuna. It’s amazing.”

 

“It’s the
least I could do.”

 

Tidus
pulled back and cradled Yuna’s face in his hands. “I love you,” he said,
placing a whisper soft kiss against her waiting lips.

 

“I love
you too, Tidus.” She moved back into his arms, snuggling against him.

 

Kenzi
watched the couple, a bittersweet sadness twisting her heart. If only she could
have a love like that. But she couldn’t. The risk was too great. She would
rather the world around her remain intact then be destroyed because of her
selfish need for such an emotion.

 

“Alright
guys, lets go. And no go’ ar’ around. We celebrate after we win.”

 

Looking
up, Kenzi’s heart fluttered nervously when her gaze connected with Wakka’s.
Again the world seemed to fall away and it was just them. At least that’s what
it felt like for her. She gave him a shy smile and he smiled back. Maybe she
could feel it someday, this love thing everyone made such a fuss about. Maybe
it could be hers. If only Wakka would put the past aside and give her a chance.
They could be so good together. Then Lulu ambled up, sliding her arm through
Wakka’s and Kenzi’s heart clenched painfully. She watched them walk away,
knowing it could never be.

 

“Kenzi,
you ready?” Tidus asked.

 

She came
out of her daze, seeing that Tidus, Yuna and Rikku were all watching her
expectantly. Now would be a good time to stop thinking about him and start
concentrating on what lie ahead. She plastered on her best fake smile and
nodded. “About as ready as I’ll ever be.”

 

She
followed them off the ship, onto the docks and into the massive swarm of people
all waiting for the tournament to begin.