(3/19/2011) Okay, so I accidentally deleted my author's note from when I first uploaded this chapter (oh, the nostalgia!), so I'm writing a new one! I have revised this chapter, and for the moment, I'm satisfied with it. I could absolutely not write the next chapter of this story until I revamped this chapter a little bit, so here it is. It's been a long four years. I'm going to start popping out some more chapters, I promise! And I love youguys! Thanks soooooo much to the people who read past the original first chapter of this story. My respect for you goes beyond words. More loving to come when I upload the next chapter! Please enjoy this chapter.

Chapter One: Paper Airplanes

Yuna's heart jumped as she bolted up in bed. The thin, cotton blankets slid slowly off of her legs. She shivered in the cool of the morning. The sun was about to break the sky in its oranges and pinks—it sat docilely inside of the purple sky. She put a hand over her chest. Another scary dream.

She pulled the remaining covers off of herself, revealing chocobo-themed pajama pants. Her t-shirt stuck to her back. She wiped her forehead, grimacing. She was sweating... even in the brazenly cold fall weather. Yuna sniffed. The clock read 5:30 a.m. I can't remember the dream that woke me up, she thought somewhat defeatedly. It was typical. Even the sweat was typical.

All it usually took was a solid thirty minutes at most to shower and get dressed, but since she was up, she thought that she might as well take a bath before Rikku did; she would be able to soak in the clarifying heat and steam. She'd have time to ponder her other unexpected wake up calls. She would have time to relax, instead of rushing a cold five minute shower after Rikku, and forgetting her homework on her mahogany dresser for the fourth time that week.

Her feet hit the floor. She almost lost her balance on her frozen feet. Rubbing her arms she opened the door, trying to avoid the clicking sound as she twisted the doorknob. She scampered down the carpeted hallway and shivered her way to the bathroom between her own room and Rikku's. Heat didn't feel like it was rising much on the second floor, she thought as she walked again past Rikku's room to get to the bathroom. Her uncle's bathroom was downstairs, and Rikku would be forced to use it. The sanitation was abominable down there. The toilets were clogged with sogged toilet paper and mold often spotted the corners of the wide shower. Just the thought of brushing her teeth in there made her nauseous.

Yuna flicked on the light. She squinted self-consciously at her reflection in the narrow mirror above the sink as she got accustomed to the sudden brightness. Her plain, almond brown hair hung sheepishly at the bottom of her neck. Her nose was small and indistinct. Her face was round, haltingly unexotic. And her smile was… tolerable. It seemed ornamental, almost, like a pearl earring hanging from her pale lobe. Her eyes were arguably the only unique thing about her, she thought. One was blue, the other was green.

She tore her gaze away from the mirror, and pulled back the curtains to reveal a combo bathtub and shower decorated with pink shampoos, blue body washes, and creamy orange conditioners. I better hurry before Rikku wakes up.

The brunette yawned and twisted the silver handle. The tub began to fill with hot water. She sat on the floor, leaning on the edge of the bathtub. The steam hovered pleasantly under her elbow. She dropped her head on her overlapped forearms, pondering her dream. What... what was she afraid of? She was uneasy when she closed her eyes. Tried to will the nausea away…

"Yuna!"

Yuna's eyes wrenched themselves open. She hastily turned off the water, which was rippling placidly around her elbow. She rubbed her elbow, shaking the water off her hand. Must've dozed for a second. She sleepily turned to the Al Bhed behind her who was speaking through the bristles of her yellow toothbrush.

"What time is it, Rikku?" the brunette teenager grumbled tiredly.

"Time for you to get up and change!"

Yuna smiled weakly at her, and saw Rikku sigh, before moaning. "It's 5:50, Yunie. Are you sure you're going to have enough time for a bath?"

"An hour's plenty!"

"Only an hour?" Rikku looked taken aback, but then she shrugged and shouted to Yuna, "I'm gonna use Pop's shower! He had to turn into work early this morning," and jogged out of the bathroom, only to appear in the doorway again only moments later. She plucked up her hairbrush, murmuring, "I'm so glad that Pop's bathroom is not as filthy as Brother's..."

Yuna smiled. Brother was in college, but his bathroom was still as filthy as he'd left it. And no one had been brave enough to scrape away at growths that had accumulated over the years in his bathroom. Yuna undressed quickly and slowly sat in the tub. The water threatened to rock contentedly over the edges of the tub. She drew the curtains closed.

Sooner than pleasure would've allowed, she was wrapping a towel around her body. Out of the heated breath condensing in the bathroom, she felt sickly in the sudden chilled air. Yuna patted her hair dry with the towel when she got back to her room. She enjoyed the feeling of the air gracing over her warm hair. She patted herself dry with the other towel, and pulled on the clothes she'd picked out in the chaos of the previous night. She pushed away the wrinkles in her shirt with her hands, and picked up a pink comb that lay on her dresser to quickly rake through her hair.

"Good enough," she muttered and glanced at the clock that recently read seven fifteen AM, giving her a good ten minutes before it was time to wait for the bus.

Yuna trotted downstairs to see her petite, blonde cousin already digging messily into a large, plastic bowl of cereal. Rikku beckoned excitedly for her cousin to sit down. Yuna grasped a bowl from a cabinet beside the fridge and poured herself a generous bowl of cereal and mused as Rikku hummed a bouncy melody. Yuna nearly choked on her juice, as she heard the squeaks of the bus' breaks, coming to a halt in front of their house. Eating one last spoonful of her cereal, the animated blonde yanked Yuna's arm with a, "Let's go, Yunie!"

The morning mist was damp on Yuna's face like sweat. Her cousin locked the door behind her. The two barely made it to the bus, and Yuna felt herself rocking as the bus moved under them. Yuna breathlessly looked for an empty seat for her and Rikku.

All she could see were herds of blonde groups, flashy cliques, rich friends, and snarky relatives, who were talking like dogs, laughing, singing, cracking jokes like eggs, and giving Yuna a headache that made her head pound in an already uncomfortable morning. She hesitantly walked further to the looming back of the bus, but she could not find a decent seat. She tucked her hair behind her ear, self-consciousness rising in her chest.

"Yunie! Sit there!"

Yuna followed Rikku's pointed finger to a seat with a lone person. He was talking to a thick, muscular guy with orange-reddish hair. He had an accent that Yuna distinguished warmly as Besaidan. Yuna looked frantically around for another seat, avoiding, the person who Rikku had pointed to—

"Excuse me," Rikku shouted over the noise. He apparently hadn't heard her. "Excuse me!" Rikku yelled impatiently, as the bus gathered speed. She felt a little shaky. The boy turned his attention to the Al Bhed and looked expectantly up at her. Yuna's shoulders shot up to her ears, and her face flushed a cherry red.

"Can she sit with you?"

He glanced at Yuna and flashed her a quick smile. "Sure," he said, and turned to the redhead in the seat beside his. Rikku jumped across the redhead's lap. The Besaidan he gurgled out an exasperated sigh.

"Rikku, haven't you ever heard o' askin'?"

"Shut up, Wakka! No one else is complaining!"

Yuna saw the guy she identified as Wakka shake his head. He turned back to the person he was conversing with:

Tidus.

She walked up to him, and tried to squeeze passed his legs, her heart thumping in her throat.

"Oh, sorry," he breathed with another amazing smile.

"Thank you."

He moved his leg, and she plopped tensely down next to him. She gaped at him. Her jaw was glued shut. She could only steal side glances at him. His platinum blonde hair was layered in gracious locks, his tan complexion was mesmerizing. He was muscular and lithe, he was a blitzball player, and the practice had built him up healthily.

She looked out of the window and furrowed her eyebrows. She tucked the same almond-colored lock of hair behind her red-tinged ears compulsively. She tensed and untensed depending on his breathing. She wasn't going to look at him. She wasn't going to look—

"Hey! You!"

Yuna jolted and whipped her head in Tidus' direction when he patted her on the shoulder shoulder. He pointed enthusiastically to Wakka, the Besaidan redhead. "Y-Yes?"

He was laughing with his other hand over his eyes, and he exclaimed, "Wouldn't Wakka look great with Lulu?"

"Lulu?" Yuna responded as she recognized the name as one of her close childhood friends. She had quite an familial relationship with the dark, exotic-gothic, responsible, grouchy, short-tempered, empathetic, merciful, and tender girl. She was a little surprised upon being asked to match the two together.

"You didn't have to ask her that, ya?" came Wakka's embarrassed voice, as he punched Tidus' shoulder resignedly.

Tidus patted Yuna on the shoulder again, while continuing to dazzlee Yuna with his laugh. He rested his hand there, on her tensed shoulder, other hand still covering his eyes, probably crying from something he thought was extremely funny.

"No, no!" Yuna retaliated at Wakka, shaking her head, and waving her hands frantically, but in a shy manner. "Anything is worth a shot! I'm sure if you try hard enough, she'll consider you!"

"Nah," he protested, humiliated, "She's been my neighbor since we were kids, ya?" He shook his large head and scratched the back of his neck. The bus came to a stop. It rocked as a couple of students entered the bus.

"If how I've tried wasn't hard enough, there's no trying harder..." He sat, with his back to the seat. Yuna was a little unsure of how to offer any advice to Wakka. He seemed like the least-likely candidate for Lulu's love interest. She noticed Rikku snoozing contently at his side, curled up, head resting on her knees. Yuna straightened. Her cheeks burned pink. She'd been leaning on Tidus! He didn't seem to have taken notice. And… he was no longer laughing.

She turned back to the window, the school in view, as a question lazily rose in her mind. "Umm, Wakka?"

He hopelessly turned his head to her. She noticed that Tidus was looking at her also. She became hot around the ears, and the neck.

"Why doesn't Lulu ride the bus?"

He didn't seem surprised at the question. "She's driven by her dad. Doesn't like the daughters of shoopufs that ride this bus, know what I mean, ya?"

Yuna gasped at his phraseology, but nodded. She hastily stood as the bus came to a stop. Lulu had never told her that before. Then again, she'd never asked. But it made her wonder if Lulu had a more warm and intimate relationship with the redhead than she'd previously considered.

Tidus got out of the seat as the bus pulled to rolling stop, but let Yuna go ahead of him, so he could lag behind her with Wakka. The brunette asked Wakka to wake her cousin, who was snoring against the window.

"She fell asleep, ya?" Wakka chuckled. He rolled his blitzball from under the seat and threw it. They watched it rebound off of her head. Yuna bit her lip. "Hey, get up, ya?" he said, pitching it at her once more.

"Five more minutes, Pop..." she mumured in her sleep, and Wakka let out an exasperated sigh. Yuna looked at Wakka, who and chucked it impatiently at her once again.

"Ow!" came Rikku's shouts over the others, who were groaning about the line. Yuna heard Tidus snigger. Rikku sat upright and squeezed in between Wakka, who scowled, and Yuna. The line was moving faster, and Yuna stepped dejectedly off of the bus without so much as a good bye from Tidus. It was safe to assume that Tidus hadn't really remembered her. She could just barely see Wakka's red head next to Tidus' platinum blonde head, head bobbing alongside each other, going to greet the blitzball team, only to be interrupted by Dona's posse—

Yuna gasped. I can't believe I just thought that! That's not fair, to say. I don't even know her. She and Rikku strolled by the, what Rikku called, "poppies," and she could hear Wakka's booming laughter. Apparently he'd gotten over the previous predicament. He was laughing at some kind of joke Keepa, the large and friendly goalie of the blitzball team, muttered, and was bombarded with flirty passes from girls he didn't even know. She stole a glance at Tidus. An dark, graceful woman hung on his arm and kissed his cheek. Dona. He laughed and scratched his head. Yuna turned away. He was definitely too popular, he was definitely out of her league... she was enveloped by a crowd of people again. She was bustled through the door to the Luca Institute. A huge, public school that was not far from the gigantic, glittering blitzball stadium in the heart of Luca.

Yuna's pale blue locker was relatively close to the shortcut to Lunch that led outside, then out to the cafeteria. It was right in front of the music room. She was a good student in all of the teachers' eyes, but among her peers, she was just a plain girl. Actually, Yuna was quite used to the 'plain' title by the time that Tidus had first talked to her at the Luca Institute.

He'd first spoken with her, during the last year of school, when he'd signed her yearbook—subconsciously, Yuna was sure—like a celebrity he scrawled his autograph and said, "You're eyes! They're so cool!"

Yuna was, to say the least, upset.

It was... the first time they'd spoken in awhile, but not in their lifetimes. Yuna and Tidus were once what Wakka and Lulu presumably were now. Not only shy, friendly neighbors, but intertwined best friends. Everything they did, they did together, whether it be playing, fighting, suffering, or taking in the sweet, salty air of the sea lapping the beaches of Zanarkand or Besaid. After he moved… he spent the years forgetting his intimate friend, and he began to craft memories with new friends. Even groupies.

She smiled. She'd gotten over it. Now that he was so big, it made her realize that they weren't actually really kids anymore.

Yuna walked down the hall, after bidding Rikku farewell from her paint-peeling locker, and headed into the spacious, well-lit Social Studies classroom. She sat in her assigned seat and stared at the board, waiting for the teacher to brusquely start the class... he was constantly late, which left plenty of time for mischief that Yuna was prone to getting accidentally involved in. Examples included things like getting hit in the head with Dona's paper airplanes, although they were always accidents, considering they were just notes to pass to Tidus.

She was also in Bickson's, the blitzball captain's, first hour class, and thus was entangled in mini-blitzball games all the time. Usually involving her getting hit in the head with thick, round, hard objects.

It wasn't that she hated the... more favored people. It was more just because she envied them, and the way they were acknowledged by everybody. Why did it matter so much, that Tidus was good at blitzball, and Dona was gorgeous? Well, thought Yuna, trying to hide her bitterness, that just it! That was, of course, what highschool was about. It was either being ignored, or being worshipped.

Rikku was one of the semi-popular females in the school. The hyper Al Bhed was what kept Yuna from being completely invisible, like Rikku's sibling, Brother, who had the misfortune of being simply unknown all of his life. He graduated high school when Rikku was becoming a freshman. Yuna had to undergo the humilation of saying she was used to it, when, on occasion, Rikku had to defend her from something like being cut in front of in the lunch line. Yuna was not one to get into fights for no reason.

Or for any reason, for that matter. But sometimes she wished that she was.

Yuna ducked her head when Dona hurled a lopsided paper airplane at Tidus, although it still rebounded off of her hair. Doing athletic things, including throwing, was something that Dona looked doing no matter how dark and painted and fluid she was. Yuna smiled at the dark-skinned beauty. She furrowed her eyebrows once she was under her desk, picking up the craft. However, instead of throwing it to Tidus embarrassedly, she handed it to him... embarrassedly. He took it, and Yuna's heart sunk as he grinned at Dona's writing. Yuna tried to casually sneak a peek at what was written, but Tidus stood from his seat, and gently pushed passed Yuna with an, "excuse me."

Yuna nodded, submissive. She sat down at her desk. Tidus strutted over to Dona's desk, and asked, "What's with this?" he was laughing, now, and she said, "I'll be at your game..." and she saw Dona turn his head in her hands, and draw his body close to hers... Yuna jerked her head away from the scene. She jumped at the sight of her social studies teacher standing in front of her with a disgusted look plastered on his face.

"Big shot! Stop eating Dona's face! You know the rules," he yanked Tidus by the shoulder, "No exchanging salivia in my class!"

Tidus slumped lazily into his desk, contributing much to the awkward atmosphere. She realized she was staring at him when he looked at her in turn and said, "Hi," with a small wave and a laugh. Yuna blushed, and couldn't even reply. She ducked her head in her palm, and stared at the instructor with intense concentration.

"Dona," the social studies teacher, Auron, said wearily, "detention after school. No more interaction of that sort. That's strike three for you this week... and it's only Wednesday."

"No way!"

"Excuse me?" he rolled his eyes up at her, as if it took an inhuman effort to be able to pay even slight attention to the flailing girl.

"That's," she began, not at all reluctantly, "That's the game! I have to watch! I have to be there."

The teacher looked smugly at her and blinked. "That's the price you pay for breaking rules. I trust you won't break anymore rules during my hour?"

"Rules are meant to be bent, sir," Tidus pitched smoothly.

"Tidus, don't say stupid things," Auron retorted casually.

She felt somewhat bad for Dona, and as the dark beauty was slowly sliding inside of her seat, an idea occurred to Yuna.

"I have an extra sphere... I… maybe I could tape it for you? The game, I mean." Yuna smiled sheepishly at Dona and tucked her hair behind her ear. She felt almost… ashamed to look at Dona, as if she wasn't even worthy to stare at her.

Dona opened her mouth in response, but the teacher spoke first. Sarcasm was swimming out of his stale words. "How very kind of you."

Yuna stared at her hands, not wanting to see other people's reactions. They would wonder why she'd decided to do such a thing for a girl who never even noticed her, despite the many times she'd been assaulted by her tacky airplanes.

"Okay, class, we have a special assignment today," said Auron, not attemptin reduce the annoyace in his tone, "I made it up just for you people who are flunking—this is your big chance to get up there to a 'B'!" he added, "of course, if you fail, you'll be staying here with me, next year... because, you've probably failed all your other classes, too."

The class surveyed him as he belted out directions: "Get into groups of four. There may be groups of less than four, depending on the number of people in the room... no groups of five allowed. Go. Now!"

Yuna never felt like she knew many people in the class, so she stood around by nobody in particular, and eventually other people who didn't have any partners came to her. Keepa soon came dragging his feet to her side. His face was heavy with disappointment, his ample cheeks sagged with sadness. Yuna reluctantly decided not to say anything comforting, at the risk of making him feel worse. She simply greeted him with a small smile and a "hello, Keepa." He nodded in acknowledgement, but then continued to sulk.

All of the groups were generally what Yuna thought they would be. Blitzball players, "hot" girls, "hot" guys, intelligents, less-than intelligents, and the leftovers. She was one of the leftovers. She glanced around for Tidus but didn't see him. Auron resumed shouting.

"No, no, this'll never work. Luzzu, switch with Leblanc. Hm, Yaibal, that's a group of five. Switch with the newly-switched Leblanc. Yuna. Yuna, switch with Elma... better, better... Dona! No, Leblanc, not over there with you, absolutely not. Shelinda, switch with Dona. Wow. Clasko, you don't have any partners? Come over here with Yaibal and Yuna. No, no, Wakka, come over here with Clasko... no, on second thought, how about Tidus over here?"

Yuna's heart was beating so loud, she could swear that he would hear it. Thmp! Bdmp! It was yelling... stomping in her ears. She closed her eyes, nauseous, just wanting to keep the little shred of dignity she still had left—

"Are you okay? You don't look so well," rang Clasko's whiny, yet sweet, voice in her ears. It had never sounded so nice, his quiet concern for her. Yuna's heart was in her throat, and she was sure she was gagging on it.

"Yes, thank you," she replied, with another bright smile, and got hot around the neck and ears when she saw the dazzling Tidus and rigid Yaibal looking at her in concern.

The face of her childhood friend blurred in and out of focus, and she heard him say what she never thought she would hear him say another time. "Yuna?"

That was it. She could feel her heart beating in her throat. She tried to swallow, but it hurt.

"Yuna?" Tidus' voice sunk into her lungs like breath, "Yuna!" She felt his hand on her arm.

Darkness.

Hey! Pretty long chapter, I thought! It was okay, though, wasn't it, for a good first chapter? Tell me what you thought, and if I should continue! I hope you really did enjoy it! Please review-thankies!

Miko