"Yuna what’s with--"

"Paine! I’m getting dressed!"

"So?"

"Not with a sphere!"

"So?"

"Nothing," Yuna sighed.

"Your boyfriend hungover or something?"

"Of course not, why?"

"Because he just threw up all over Auron. Funnest thing he’s done in oh, two damn days."

"Paine, he swallowed glass."

"How? Who’s dumb enough to do that?"

"Didn’t I tell you about the glass?"

"You told us about the fire. About the argument. Jyscal told us something about a fight and a dead assassin he’s pissed about."

"Not the glass, though?"

"No glass."

"It turned out it was ground up really fine and someone put it in the wine."

"Man, these people are professionals," Paine said. "That’s a hard thing to pull off."

"Is he gonna be okay?"

"Why? Yuna, he kicks the bucket again and you’re free."

"Paine!"

"What?" Paine asked. "That’s not Tidus, Yuna. You risked your life for him, you—"

"I don’t want to hear about Tidus!"

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because… because… because I don’t know any more!" Yuna cried. "I know I did all that for him! I know I couldn’t have defeated Sin without him! But… but… as much as I want him back… I just felt something missing when thought about him on the farplane. And… And I never told anyone, but… but I did like Seymour… just a little, back then."

"’A little’ is not a reason to marry someone!"

"What do you know?" Yuna yelled. "You don’t understand any of this!"

"Of course I don’t!" Paine yelled back. "You wanted Tidus, we fought for Tidus, now this dipshit just happens to show up and you two spend a week arguing! Why the hell did you want to marry him?"

"…I wanted to give him something he deserved," Yuna said meekly.

"What about what you deserve?"

"What about what I deserve? What do I deserve for just killing someone outright when all I had was a sphere of his father accusing him? What do I deserve for thinking a fiend is the same person as when they were alive when I was a summoner? I deserve a chance to make things right and that’s what I’m doing. I deserve someone who loves me. I deserve someone who needs me. Even if it’s not Tidus."

"Excuse me!" Wakka yelled over the two, despite the fact that they’d gone silent. Embarrassed, he lowered his voice. "Keep it down. You’re gonna wake the dead and we got enough of them around here already."

"Wakka, is he going to be okay?"

"Anzi said he ripped some internal stitches, probably throwing a chair or something. He’ll be up in a few days; just keep him away from the furniture for a while after that."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

"Fryd’c drec?" (What’s this?) Brother asked.

"Anxi kyja sa draca," (Anzi gave me these) Rikku answered, looking at the spheres. "Drec uha’c vencd."

Brother whislted excitedly.

"Ed'c hud mega cra't keja sa bunhu," (It’s not like she’d give me porno) Rikku said, rolling her eyes. "Drao'na zicd cusa umt cbranac cra kyja sa yht dumt sa hud damm Jyscal ypuid." (They’re just some old spheres she gave me and told me not to tell Jyscal about."

"Lyh E cdemm fydlr?" (Can I still watch?) brother asked.

Rikku shrugged and turned the sphere on as he sat down.

"Seymour, look, look at mommy," Anzi’s voice said over the sphere. She was rather good at holding the sphere steady.

"Fruc dryd?" Brother asked. (Who’s that?)

"Tuh’d ghuf," Rikku answered. "Muugc mega Jyscal… yht cusauha amca." (Don’t know, looks like Jyscal… and someone else.)

"Seymour, look at Mommy, isn’t she pretty? Look, you’re mommy and daddy are getting married, isn’t that wonderful?"

An infant’s hand waved in front of the sphere, already with tiny blue nails.

Rikku giggled.

After a while of just listening to the priest, Brother yawned. "Vehymmo!" (Finally!) he said when the sermon was over.

"Juuno, what are you doing?" Jyscal asked as she started walking over to Anzi.

"You don’t expect me to abandon my son all day, do you?" she asked, taking Seymour, who was now asleep, from Anzi.

"Anzi, what are you doing?" Jyscal asked.

"I wanted to record this. It’s not everyday I get to see my two best friends get married."

"Especially not with children," Jyscal said, putting his arm around Juuno. "Are you going to carry him with you all day?"

"If I feel like it."

"It’s not like he’s going to care. We can leave him with Anzi, and have the whole day to ourselves."

"I don’t mind," Anzi said.

"We’re going to have the whole night to ourselves anyway, Jyscal."

"Why wait until tonight?" he asked, wrapping his arms around Junno’s large chest.

"You’re going to make me drop the baby," Juuno said. "Here, you hold him."

"I don’t want to hold him."

"Just for a minute, for the sphere,"

"Why?"

"Just hold him, here, Jyscal, support the head!"

"Fine, I’m holding him, can I put him down now?"

"Jyscal, he’s your son."

"Well I want to put him down. Anzi, turn that thing off," Jyscal said, handing Seymour roughly to Juuno. So roughly, in fact, that Seymour woke up screaming.

"Jyscal," Juuno scolded. "Shh. It’s okay, sweetheart."

"Anzi, off! The wedding is over." Jyscal’s hand went over the sphere and then there was static.

"Punehk!" (Boring) Brother said.

"Yeah, yeah," Rikku said, setting up the next sphere.. "E's zicd caaeh' fryd'c u draca." (I’m just seein’ what’s on these)

"Seymour, Seymour, look at me." This time it was Juunon’s voice. And this time he was around two.

Both Rikku and Brother burst into laughter so hard at what a two-year old Seymour looked like, Buddy came over to see what they were laughing about—and found himself equally amused.

"No, Seymour leave that alone," she said, pulling him away from playing with a rug. "Seymour, say ‘Mommy.’ Come on, say ‘Mommy’"

"He already knows that word," came Jyscal’s voice.

"Well, I want him to say it on recording."

"Up!" Seymour said, reaching for the sphere and standing slightly.

"No, say ‘Mommy.’

"Mommy up!" he said, reaching again.

"Good boy! Seymour you’re such a cute little boy, aren’t you?" Juuno said. "Now say ‘Daddy.’"

Seymour sat down and pouted.

"Say ‘Daddy,’ Seymour."

Seymour looked over to his side, then back at the sphere, pointing to something he was looking at.

"Yes, that’s daddy."

Seymour tried to go back to playing with the rug, but Juuno shooed him off of it several times.

"Seymour, say ‘daddy.’ You can do it."

"No."

"Seymour!"

"Up!"

"No up, say ‘daddy’ first."

"No."

"Here," Juuno said, setting the sphere on the ground. All Rikku, Brother, and Buddy got was a view of the floor and part of a table for a while.

"Juuno, what are you doing? He doesn’t want to."

"Just hold him."

"Juuno, I don’t want to hold him."

"Down!" Seymour yelped.

"He doesn’t want me to hold him either,"

"Just hold him," Juuno said, picking up the sphere again and aiming it at her husband and son, both of whom were unhappy with the situation.

"Don’t hold him like that!" Juuno said to Jyscal, who was holding Seymour at arms length.

"He keeps squirming!" Jyscal said.

"No. No!" Seymour yelped again.

"Seymour, say ‘addy.’ You can say ‘daddy.’ He’s right there."

"Mommy!"

"No, ‘Daddy.’ Say ‘Daddy.’"

"Juuno, this isn’t going to work," Jyscal said.

"Well, hold him better."

"Anzi!" Seymour said.

"No, that’s Daddy"

"Want Anzi!"

"Daddy’s holding you. It’s okay. Look at the sphere, come on,"

"Vee!" Seymour shouted, pointing at the sphere. "Vee. Ver!"

"Seymour, say ‘daddy’ and you can go back to playing."

"No," Seymour shouted, wiggling so hard Jyscal nearly dropped him.

"Hold still," Jyscal yelled.

"No! Mommy! Anzi! Want Up Down! No!"

"Seymour, what’s wrong with you? Just say ‘daddy.’ You can do it."

Seymour burst into tears and howls and the sphere was turned off.

Rikku turned on the next one.

Someone was already crying, and it turned out to be Seymour, only two years later, as his father forcefully dragged him into the dining room, which had been decorated.

"Damnit Seymour!" he yelled.

"Jyscal!" Juuno scolded, holding the sphere again. "Don’t use such language around him!"

"He’s going to learn it some day,"

"He’s four!"

Seymour was still screaming, holding his reddened cheek.

"You did NOT hit him, did you?" Juuno yelled.

Jyscal didn’t reply, nor did Seymour, who didn’t stop crying.

"You do NOT hit him, understand?"

Anzi was furiously trying to Help Seymour calm down now, bending over him and cleaning him up as best she could, straightening his robes, which he must have put on himself.

"Sweetie, Sweetie, calm down. Sweetie, it’s your birthday. Come, on, give us a smile. A little one."

Seymour sniffled and stopped crying, but shook hid head.

Anzi stood up, for a second he robes obscured Seymour from view mostly and Brother whistled as he caught less than an inch of bare leg.

"Seymour, don’t cry, it’s your birthday. Come on, let’s celebrate, the four of us. You’re s big boy now, what do you want to do?"

"NO!" He yelled, and took cover under Anzi’s legs. "I don’ wanna!" he screamed, holding onto Anzi’s legs like bars of a prison.

"Eep!" Anzi shrieked, trying to keep her balance.

"Seymour, come on. Don’t you want anything to eat? All the cake you want!"

"No! Lea’me alone!"

"How about presents? You like presents, right?"

"Don’t want presents!"

"Seymour, don’t cry again, please."

"I don’ wanna birthday!"

"Why not, sweetie?"

"No one likes me."

"That’s not true."

"Daddy doesn’t like me."

"Of course your daddy likes you."

"No, he doesn’t. He said so."

"Jyscal!"

"Everyone’s like daddy. I don’t wanna."

"It’ll just be me and Anzi, then Come on, your four years old today, let’s celebrate."

"No! No! I dont’ want to! I hate birthdays!"

"Sweetie, please don’t say that!"

"No!"

The sphere turned off when Seymour began crying again.

"Ra'c cbuemat," (He’s spoiled,) Brother said.

"Mycd uha," (Last one) Rikku said, grabbing the sphere.

"—does this thing work?" Anzi asked herself, aiming the sphere at her chest by accident, making Brother very happy until she turned it around and set it one a table in the hallway.

"Seymour," she said knocking on a door.

Nothing happened.

Brother yawned.

Anzi knocked on the door again. Nothing happened again.

Anzi opened the door and went in, guiding Seymour, who was much older now—just barely hitting puberty—and very solemn.

"Seymour, it’s okay."

Seymour looked at his feet.

"Seymour, it’s been five years, you’re safe. You’re never going there again."

"…I know." He answered to his feet.

"Honey," she said, bending down to look him in the face better. He had been right, he was runty. Even when he was fully-grown, Anzi was taller than he was.

"I just thought you deserved a happy birthday for once, Seymour. You haven’t celebrated your birthday wince your were little, and you were so upset. I just wanted—"

"Mother wanted to celebrate it on Baaj. We didn’t have anything, but… but she wanted me to remember… she…"

"Seymour, don’t," Anzi said, hugging him. "Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I just wanted to try and give you something you never really had.

"I’m sorry," he said and started crying on her shoulder. "No more, please. I don’t wanna remember, Anzi."

"I’m sorry, I didn’t know it meant so much to you."

"She… she was there… and she was smiling… and she… she told me… she said…"

"Hush, it’s okay. This is my fault, I never meant to make you cry."

"That was it," he said. "She told me not to cry. But—"

"There you are!" Jyscal yelled before he came into view in the sphere. He grabbed Seymour’s hand and tore him away form Anzi. "Knock it off, you’re too old for that now."

"Jyscal, please—" Anzi said.

"What in the world are you doing, Anzi?" Jyscal asked as Seymour tried to pull himself away, failing horribly.

"It’s his birthday," Anzi protested.

"Well, I have a speech to give and I need him there with me! Do this later." Jyscal turned to Seymour, who looked like he wanted to scream, but stayed resolutely silent. "YOU are going to behave, understand? You are going to stand up straight, you are going to look at the crowd, you are not going to fidget, cry, or do anything else embarrassing! You’re trouble enough being here."

"Jyscal, he’s just a boy!" Anzi protested, putting her hands on Jyscal’s shoulders

"He’s old enough to understand!" Jyscal yelled at her, shoving her away. Then he turned back to Seymour. "It was bad enough you cost me my pride and my reputation! If I could see you dead for the good of this country I would! You’rethe reason Juuno died, do you hear me? You could have died instead of her like you were meant to! You don’t understand how much I want you gone!"

Seymour was still silent. He stopped protesting and pulling and just stood there, staring at his father. There was something he wanted to say, obviously, but he kept his mouth shut. He was too young to throw chairs or start fighting, so there was no way to protect himself.

He turned to Anzi as Jyscal angrily led him down the hallway. "He won’t hit me until it’s over!"

Anzi was no longer in view of the sphere, but she could be heard sobbing loudly.

"Thank you!"

There was sobbing for several minutes until something knocked the sphere over and Anzi caught it, holding it close to her chest—this time Brother wasn’t interested in it. There was more sobbing and she struggled with the sphere until she managed to turn it off.

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