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Azul... I never thought I'd like you so much as I do. xD Goodness. New character, in a post-FM thing. Er, yeah. That's about all to be said about this. Just a drabble I wanted to post somewhere. :3

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Sleepless Nights
A Azul story, from the post-FM 'verse.

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A large hulking giant lay in bed after a rather eventful day, his mind whirling in so many different directions; he didn’t have a chance in hell of sleeping, even as his digital alarm that sat upon the floor next to him turned to tell him in its soft green numbers that it was three in the morning. Sighing, he rolled over onto his back, placing his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling, listening to the sound of the apartment creaking and groaning around him, the soft snores of his mother in the other room, the sound of the air gusting gently outside his window... Laying here just wasn’t doing it for him. He needed to move or he wasn’t going to get to get any sleep that night.

Rising from his bed, he threw on a shirt and a light jacket, slipping nearly silently to the door. Sliding into a pair of flip flops, Azul exited his and his mother’s tiny apartment, being sure to lock the door just in case. Pocketing his key, he shoved his large hands into his pockets, and started to walk through the sleeping city. No one was outside this time of night; everything was still. The moon, high in the sky and nearly full, lit his way through the streets that had broken lamps as he made his way to the city of Luca’s beach, which wrapped its way around the city, not breaking up and down the coast for.. well, miles upon miles. Slipping out of his sandals, he carried the items as he walked north along the beach, his golden eyes set on the silver the ocean had become, under the moonlight. It was a beautiful sight... and he wished he could show it to a certain new friend of his.

A smile rose to his face as he thought of the boy that was the reason that he wasn’t able to sleep; what would that boy think if he found out that Azul was suffering through a sleepless night because of him? He’d probably apologize profusely and might buy him more cake. That thought made him smile even wider, until he was nearly grinning at the softly lapping waves, his large feet leaving a lazy set of footprints as he journeyed on his way, no destination in mind.

Vivi... that kid was cute. The little mage reminded Azul of children many years the young man’s junior, filled with innocence and laughter and the inability to dislike anyone, and he knew now why Nero and Weiss liked the boy so much. Vivi, though... Vivi liked him. That was an odd sensation, and it confused Azul as to what he was suppose to do. Vivi had just asked if he could get to know him better, and Azul had readily agreed to that; there were so few people in the world that didn’t automatically cringe at the sight of him, and so Vivi was already a special friend. Just like Weiss and Nero... just like that little girl Shelke that he walked across the heavily packed intersection on his way to school every morning. Just like his mother. Just like his father had been...

Azul missed his father. Regal Bryant had been a kind, doting father, one that had taken care of their family with everything that he was. Regal had been a man that Azul had always looked up to, a man he idolized as the perfect guy, someone that he wanted to be... It was too bad that Azul seemed to inherit his mother’s short temper. It had been hard when Regal had no longer been there to break up any arguments that had come up between Azul and his mother, Raine... it had been tough, but they always worked it out. They had to; Regal was watching from beyond, Azul was sure, and he would be disappointed if he saw Raine and Azul fighting too much.

The young man, a monster of a height even now, at sixteen years old, stopped and stared out at the sky, eyes focusing on the moon that gleamed above him. “Would you be proud of me, dad..?” he wondered out loud, setting himself down where he was, not taking his eyes off the sky. He liked to speak to his father whenever he was having trouble thinking things through; Regal had always had good advice and had always listened to his problems with a patient, kind word. “Would you be proud of who I am? I have a temper, but I don’t think I’m such a bad guy. Though, I have been letting Nero and Weiss talk me into fighting with Vivi’s friends a lot... I don’t mind hitting them, I.. They make me mad a lot, the crap they pull with the twins. Am I a bad guy for doing that?” Azul sighed into the cool, moist ocean air, dropping his head and yawning, rubbing his eyes a little. He was tired, but still, there was too many thoughts jumping around in his mind.

“Vivi... He’s this kid at school. One of the teacher’s kids... Mister Valentine’s his dad. Me and him talked a lot today. He came over with cake; Mom left some of the vanilla cake for you at the shrine. She ate a little bit of it, though, I saw her take a bit of the chocolate on top, though I don’t think you would’ve minded. She probably knew that...” Looking out over the waves, Azul continued to speak to his father, five years gone from the world. “Vivi’s a good kid. He’s better than I’ve ever been... He’s nice to everyone and he has eyes like mine. All gold... they look really nice on him, with his black hair. He’s really short... And he really likes strawberries, like me.” A smile returned to his face, his features turning a little wistful. “I think I’m going to skip through your cookbook, Dad. I want to learn the recipes that involve strawberries. He was really nice about you, saying how bakers like to make people happy; what you always used to say. I want him to taste how good your cakes were, and I want to see him happy because of it... I won’t be able to make ‘em as well as you could, but I’ll give it a shot.” Thankfully bad cooking was something that Azul hadn’t inherited from his mother; he had a bit of a knack for it, not as good as his father was, but Regal had told Azul that talent comes with time and practise.

Flopping back, Azul stared up at the stars above his head, pulling his light jacket around him as a rather powerful gust of wind blew up from the ocean, rushing over him with the scent of rain and fish. “It’s going to pour tomorrow, isn’t it? Good thing I got a little sun today. It would’ve been a shame if I didn’t.”

Digging his toes into the cooled sand, Azul sighed a little more. “Vivi wants to make his friends and my friends try and get along. He’s very optimistic about it, but... I dunno, Dad. Weiss and Tidus hate each other. I don’t know if they can ever stand to spend an hour in the same room without spitting insults at each other, let alone try and get along. Vivi wants to try, and I’ll help him if that’s what he wants to do, but I just don’t know. I don’t know what Weiss’ll do... They’ve been fighting since they were kids. Do you think he’d be able to at least tolerate Tidus?” The question was left unanswered, as Azul’s questions to his father always were these days.

“Vivi said that if they didn’t get along... he could always turn them into frogs until they agreed to get along.” A humoured smile came to his face. “I told Vivi that we could use that recipe your French cook friend gave you the recipe to. Y’know, the sautéed frog legs? Vivi had a good laugh about that. I.. like it when Vivi laughs. He has a nice laugh.”

Gaze set on the sky, his mouth turned down into a frown. “I wish you were still with us, Dad,” he said softly, melancholy breaking into his mind and his heart, but it wasn’t as bad as it used to be, he noted, as he rose to his feet. “Me and mom miss you, but we’re getting along alright. We don’t have a lot of money, like we did when you were with us, but we have each other. Did you know that mom even made rice this morning without burning it?” A small smile slipped to his face as he remembered how proud his mother had looked that morning having made edible rice for the first time. “You would have been proud of her. I know I am.”

Azul felt sufficiently talked out, and he decided that it was time to finish his walk, then head back home for at least a few hours of shut eye before he had to be awake for school. “We love yah, Dad. Wherever you are, just know that. Night...” With his customary goodbyes said, he slowly made his way home, taking a long route home, swinging past Nero and Weiss’ house to note the house was quiet, before heading towards home. He would need to find out where Vivi lived, he guessed... so he could check up on his new friend when he was out on his night-time walks, which had started up almost directly after his father had passed away.

Returning home, he slipped in as quietly as he was able, shrugging his shirt off as he crawled back into bed at a little after four in the morning. He’d need to be awake in two and a half hours; that was a shame. Maybe he would skip the first class... Ah, but then Shelke wouldn’t have anyone to walk her across the street in the morning, and he couldn’t leave the six year old to cross that busy street by herself... With a sigh, he settled in, his eyes staring up at the ceiling for a few moments, until he was slightly startled by his mothers voice, coming from the other side of the paper-thin wall.

“Did you have a good chat with your father?” she asked, her voice heavy with drowsiness.

Smiling, Azul nodded to himself. “Yeah, I did. Sorry for waking you.”

“It’s alright. Did you tell him that I made rice this morning? And that it was good?” she asked, and Azul could hear the smile that went along with her words, which made him smile wider.

“Of course I did,” Azul stated, rolling over to his side, closing his eyes, before continuing after a moment. “I didn’t tell him how you burnt the toast, though. I thought I’d keep that to myself.”

“I knew there was a reason you were the best son in the world,” Raine chuckled from where she lay, sighing before slipping back to sleep now that Azul was back, safe and sound.

“It’s ‘cause I have the best parents,” he whispered softly to himself before he drifted gently off to sleep, to dream of strawberry short cakes, frog legs, and a certain golden eyed boy that who was happily eating both.