Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Forever Silent ❯ Ship Encounters ( Chapter 2 )

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.

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 waves 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 mind 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."

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.

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 last thing she wanted to do 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. You do know that I'm going to get you for this."

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. Her image 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?"

Kenzi straightened and returned the smile. "Yeah, that would be me."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I watched you 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.

"Wakka?" Kenzi questioned, 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.

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.

"Getting back at Jassu," Kenzi replied before 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?!"

Yuna 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 20th 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?"

"About an hour unless the wind picks up," Tidus said, coming up beside her.

Kenzi smiled at the shaggy haired blond. "He finally shows himself."

Tidus laughed 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 thinking 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 goofin' 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.