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It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly, the trees and grass were a vibrant green, the mottled and colorful birds were fluttering about and Alexander had a wonderful outlook on life. The last day of school loomed ahead and he was ready to embrace it with gusto.

For most individuals the first year of high school was a time of shame and adjustment; a new school, new crowd, new teachers and new problems. Half of his old friends had been trash-canned within their first month but his agility helped him avoid it until he no longer needed to run. Soccer try-outs was the day he no longer needed to run.

"Billy, Joel, Kyle, Mark! All of you get a ball. Let's see how this rookie does against some professionals!" That was the team captain, Lenny. Most everyone called him Cap'n or Balls, oddly enough, and he was among the most respected of the school along with the football and baseball captains and the valedictorians. The other four were first and second string varsity forwards.

So far Alexander had blocked every single ball coming his way against the other prospects who were mostly freshman or sophomores. Now there was five animals who were all very skilled at what they do heading his way. He steeled himself, flexing his gloved paws and slightly digging his talons into the grass below him, knowing they weren't going to make this easy. In fact they were about to give him the greatest workout of skill he has ever received. They started from mid field, spreading out to their respective favorite areas. Alexander's large ears folded back to avoid having the sounds of the crowd distract him as his focus was on the two who were closest. Billy and Mark, these two who were juniors and most ambitious, were first up. One left one right, Billy was first firing off his ball to the upper right corner of the goal. It was batted away and before Alexander's talons re-touched the ground the second shot was taken. He immediately flexed and dove to the other corner to narrowly deflect the second ball. Now Joel, Kyle and Cap'n were making their shots in quick succession before his talons were into the ground. Thankfully the goal posts were heavy steel pipes as he grappled the nearest one to launch from instead of waiting for the soft ground. With a mighty grunt of effort that shook the pole as he leapt, deflected Joel's shot over the goal, catching Cap'n's and head butting Kyle's past the side. He landed in a heap on the ground and realized Cap'n and Kyle had both reached the first two balls he deflected and were firing those two as hard as they could at close range. It was then he realized they weren't aiming around him but at him. Kyle's he caught at his gut with some effort but it knocked the wind out of him. Cap'n's shot was coming now and was aimed at his head. With barely enough time to react he tilted his head down and took the force to the crown of his skull instead of the face.

The crowds had gone silent, whether from shock or concern he didn't know, as he lay there on the ground loosely clutching the ball he caught. He had taken pop shots to the head before but never had he taken a blow hard enough to flip him over from the impact. Sure he wasn't a big guy at barely four and a half foot tall and ninety pounds but he was now lying on top of the ball still clutched to his abdomen. His head hurt, bad, but he needed to get up. Slowly and deliberately he pushed himself up, trying to ignore the throb in his head and burn in his chest from the two blows he took. There was a few whistles and cheers from the small crowd that had been watching now that he was moving and he noticed the feet of a panther walk up to him as he got to a knee.

"Good job, kid. Welcome to varsity."

Alexander had never heard Cap'n's voice as warm as that before, perhaps he was impressed but the outstretched hand interrupted his thoughts. Taking the hand he was hauled to his feet and unceremoniously thrown over the big panther's shoulder with a jubilant cheer from everyone at the meet. The goal he was at caught his attention once again. He glanced up and was awarded the joy of knowing he stopped all seven shots, the one that hit his head was on top of the goal and the one he took the the stomach was sitting just outside the line of the goal.

It was only a week or so later that he discovered that no one else had ever done what he had. They called it the gauntlet and even the current varsity goalee only stopped the first three shots taken. Though they wanted to put him on first string, as humble as he was he didn't want to put out the current first string goal keeper since he was a senior and Alexander still had three more years to play. Play he did still, switching out every quarter with Manuel to keep the both of them fresh and taking the team to be second in state and only losing by one goal.

That was his freshman year though and he still had three more to go to be great. He hadn't even realized he daydreamed half of his day away until Cap'n walked up next to him at the bus stop he took to get home.

"Hey, Alex. You want a ride home? I finally got a car!" Even though Cap'n was going to be a senior next year, he had the energy of a child who just got exactly what they wanted for Christmas. His parents had taught him to drive and got him a license but said he had to work to get his own car which he did with enthusiasm and now, with his car keys in hand, him and Alex climbed into his 'new' '98 civic. The two only lived a couple blocks away from each other.

The two had become great friends over the year and did many things together though they still had their differences, the biggest one being Cap'n was openly gay and Alex was completely straight. Their differences usually led to them having their jabs at each other which led to joyous laughter between the two.

Today though, their jabs and laughter would get them in trouble. No one noticed the eighteen wheeler barreling down the street, thick black smoke pouring from its exhaust stacks. The driver of the rig, an older man whose life of Popeye's and McDonald's on the road has led to more than one health problem was having a heart attack. He had slumped down in his chair and the pressure floored the accelerator of his rig. The poor man would never know about what happened after he blacked out. The sheer carnage of what happened was caught by a security camera at the bank on the corner as Cap'n's light changed green to turn. The rig was traveling at over seventy miles per hour when it hit the first cars, a single man driving a BMW on the left and a single woman in a Porsche on the right. They had been talking at the light about hooking up for the weekend, little did they know they would be but in a location they didn't expect. The next two hit were an elderly couple driving their old and mint '69 charger they bought after they married and mother on the way to pick up her kids from daycare. Though both hit hard, they would later be released from the hospital that day with minor injuries and minor whiplash. The last one hit was Alex and Cap'n who were halfway across the street when the truck hit them. It had lost some momentum but still had plenty to send the small car rolling into a tree on the side of the road while the truck went plowing into a large tree in the median, splintering the base and destroying the cab of the truck. The truck driver would be the only fatality of the incident that shook and rocked the small town of only 20,000 people and his heart had stopped before he had hit anybody. The two in the sports cars had awoken in beds next to each other in the recovery wing of the local hospital at almost the same time and shared a nervous laugh about it before asking a nurse if they could scoot their beds closer together so they could chat better.

Cap'n and Alex didn't fare as well though. They had to amputate Cap'n's leg below the knee and repair a ruptured gall bladder and spleen. Alex fared better on the life threatening injuries but he still needed 121 stitches from taking the impact on his side of the car and had a broken arm and two broken ribs. His worst injury though, at least to him, was his eyes. They had both been lacerated beyond repair by the glass shards. His first words upon waking had been heard by a nurse in the room: what happened, where am I and why can't I see?

Summer break had been hard on him, spending all of his time learning to read braille and walk with a cane instead of hanging out with friends and practicing soccer. He had hoped things would get better once he was back in school but it didn't. His first day back some team mates had decided to joke with him like they did several times the year before and throw some balls at him while he ate lunch in the center of school. It was usually preceded by a 'think fast' before they threw three to five balls at him which he typically stopped. That day though, they had all connected with him and sent him over the bench that was his seat.

"What happened Alex? Lose your touch over break?" It was Kyle, he could tell by the voice, the other three were laughing with him but didn't sound familiar.

He wanted to run. Run and hide somewhere he could have his break down in peace but he couldn't. He was forced to break down right there in front of everyone on lunch break. He started sobbing slowly, "lose my touch? Lose my touch?!? What the hell is wrong with you? I lost my eyes!"

A lot of people had been watching and were concerned when he didn't deflect any of the balls and had been approaching but halted and covered their mouths in shock at his outburst. No one remembered the article in the papers nor the short report on the radio. Most had been too busy with their fun and games to care and realize who it was that got injured. No one had cared until that moment the proud goalkeeper they all loved was curled on the ground sobbing.

On the second day was when Cap'n showed up. He had gone to Alex's first class that day to talk to him. Alex could tell it was him but only barely, the life that had once been in his voice had drained away much like his own. When the teacher allowed Alex to step out with Cap'n his heart leapt a little having not seen or heard from him all summer. He grabbed his cane and stepped outside to talk with the panther, "Cap'n? How are you doing? I haven't heard from you all summer."

The panther was silent for a solid minute before speaking in a hushed tone, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Alex."

Alex had heard a little sob in his voice, "sorry? For what, Cap'n? What's going on?"

"For what I did to you, Alex," the sob was very noticeable now, "I hurt you... I ruined your life! Neither of us will ever be able to do what we really wanted now."

"Whoa! Easy there, Cap'n. You didn't ruin my life or your own," he surprised himself with his own sudden optimism, "you will be able to walk again once you heal and soccer isn't everything. Yeah we both lived for soccer, but soccer wasn't our life... Hell you may even be able to play soccer again eventually! You may not be as good but I'm sure you can still knock someone down with that leg of yours!" The memory of the first day the two had met washed into his mind, a small smile breaking on his face that was lost to the bat, "c'mon man. It's not that bad."

Some of the energy returned to his voice, "you're right. Thanks Alex, I think I needed that. Well I need to get back to class myself, I'll look for you on lunch."

Alex listened to the squeak of Cap'n's temporary wheel chair fade off down the hall before heading back into class with a small smile on his face. The door was still open when he reached it and the class was eerily quiet aside from everyone's breathing. He could even hear the heart beat of the person closest to him, "why is it so quiet in here?"

The teacher just cleared his throat and everyone turned around at once to begin lecture. The rest of the year went by mostly smooth and he was reacquainted with Cap'n once again. Cap'n had even gotten a boyfriend eventually though that meant less time spent with Alex but he didn't mind. The year did come to an end though and neither Alex or Cap'n spent that last day in a car our of fear.

The start of the next year was interesting though. Everyone in the school had gotten used to Alex and his cane, moving aside when he was near to avoid getting bashed in the feet or shins since he didn't know you were there. He had grown less careful with his guide cane and sometimes would swing it a little farther than he needed but apparently there was a new person on campus since they weren't paying attention and got bashed in the shins. Their quick squeak of startled pain jarred his senses, "sorry! I didn't mean to do that, I swear!"

The new person, female it seemed from the tone of her grumblings, was not very amused, "yeah yeah, just watch where you're swinging that stick of yours."

Alex was taken aback at her bluntness and ignorance but tried to be the nice guy, "I will try but that's not easy to do."

The girl just snorted, "yeah, reaaal hard to look for legs while you're swinging that stupid stick around."

Alex no longer knew what to do, this girl was either stupid or very ignorant, "umm. No, I--"

"Ahhh, Monique was it? I see you met our local blind kid. She not giving you any problems is she, Alex?"

Alex wasn't too sure which teacher that was but he sounded like he may be a coach. This Monique was just giving him a headache, "I'm not causing any problems! HE is the one who is smacking people in the legs with his stick! What the hell are you carrying that thing around for anyways, blood sucker? I am well aware of how well you--"

"That will be enough, Monique! First off, Alex is a fruit bat. Secondly he is completely blind. Now I think the councilors would like to have a word with you." Yeap, definitely the head football coach, Mr. Lyons.

Alex was still in shock over what had just transpired when another voice suddenly appeared next to him, "sorry you had to deal with her," he jumped to the side with a squeak, "oh jeez, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you."

With an exasperated sigh he replied, "that's okay. A lot of people forget I don't see them even when they're right in front of me. One of the problems with only being blind for a year, I guess."

"No, that was my fault. I should've known better after that display my sister had made." He heard her fidgeting with something for a few seconds, "my name is Jasmine."

Alex switched the cane to his left paw and held out his right, "Alexander. Everyone just calls me Alex though. Are you new here?" Jasmine timidly took his paw and he noticed how warm and soft it felt. A quick shake and he also noticed the two digits folded back that made her wings; she was a bat like him.

"Yeah. Mom got a good job in the area that made more than double our dad's income so we moved over. Monique has already been in the councilor's office twice today and I can only hope no one confuses me for her." Her last bit tapered off, making Alex think it had happened before.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I can tell the two of you apart already!" There was a little more pep in his statement than he intended and he cleared his throat, "I mean, your voice has a much softer tone than hers and you aren't... oh, what's the word."

"Rude, obnoxious, ignorant, asinine?" the mirth and distrust was palpable on her voice.

"I was looking for abrasive but I think you would know her better than me," they shared a laugh together and he found he enjoyed it. The rich, almost melodic tones seemed to lift his spirits to his heart as he leaned on his cane. The bell rang to head to class and broke their moment of rapture, "darn. Well hey, my next class is in room 72, are you headed in that direction?"

Her reply sounded more enthusiastic than he expected, "really? That's my next class! Oh, but we need to hurry or we'll be late!"

Alex chuckled to himself as he heard her bounding down the hall, her talons clicking on the pavement. As soon as he started forward on his own he heard the clicking stop then approach at a slower pace. She stopped and walked next to him, possibly embarrassed, "sorry Jasmine, I can't exactly run down the halls." She gave a very quiet apology, were it not for his good hearing it would have been unnoticed, and gingerly took his hand. He smiled at the warm feel of her fur as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze, walking hand in hand across campus to their class. There was a few steps that he had to pause at to get over and made a mental note to not stall on his way to avoid being late.

Alex was shocked the moment he walked into class, "it's about time you showed up! I thought you ditched for a few minutes there. Mitch! Scoot over a seat so Alex can sit next to his new eyes and Alex, try to be on time tomorrow!"

He recognized the voice instantly but hadn't recognized the name on his schedule, "Coach?"

"What? I'm a teacher first and foremost, Soccer is what I do on the side. Now hurry up and get your seat so I can start my whole lot of nothing I do on the first day of school and you don't have to call me Coach. Technically I'm not your coach any more."

Alex was slightly saddened by his statement, "I may not be able to play any more, but you'll always be my coach, sir."

Coach got serious and started his class, "alright everyone, this is the book you will be using. It contains everything you will need to know about world history according to the people who wrote it. Some of it is abridged, other parts are wrong but this is what the school district says we must teach and teach it we will." Alex noticed he passed by his desk but set one on Jasmine's. Once he was back at the front he brought it up, "don't worry, Alex. Your book is on the way but it will be here in a couple weeks. For now your eyes will have to read it for you." Alex nodded his understanding and noticed Jasmine's heart beating a little harder, going from the slow steady rhythm to a hard fast beat. For a fleeting second he thought she may have been embarrassed by the remark.

Class progressed along fine, with a whole lot of nothing done as promised aside from coach wanting to get to know his new students. He recognized a few names from the team and was glad to see that some had gotten onto varsity this year. Of course, Coach skipped over Alex since he already knew enough to blackmail the kid if he wanted, and finished with everyone right as class ended. He discovered Jasmine shared three classes with him as they walked to the next one, their first sixth and seventh classes and neither had an eighth. At the end of the school day they went their separate ways, Alex to the bus and Jasmine to find her sister who he found out was an identical twin.

The way home felt good. A cool breeze was blowing through his fur and the late summer sun was warming his back while he walked. He was taking a small detour to visit Cap'n's parents on his way home to see how he was settling in with college. He stepped up the driveway and noticed a different car. Putting it off as someone visiting he continued up and rang the doorbell, being surprised by a strange voice, "hello, what can I do for you, son?"

The voice was male and sounded older, definitely not someone he was expecting, "I'm sorry, I may have the wrong address. Is this 1324 Angus?"

"Why yes it is," the man sounded more confused than he was, "is there something you need?"

"Oh! Well... my friend used to live here. I didn't think his parents would move out so soon with him starting college. How long have they been gone?"

"Well we have lived here for about a week now, they moved out just a week before. Are you okay, son?"

"Yes yes. I'm fine. Just surprised. I wasn't able to get my friend's number before he left," his ears drooped to the sides, "thank you though."

"I'm sorry, kid," the man actually sounded remorseful. He figured it must have been a good family as he turned to walk back down the path.

As the door was closing, Alex heard a familiar voice from behind the door, "who was that daddy?"

"Oh, just some vampire kid who was looking for his friend who used to live here," the voice was more muffled now that the door was closed but the voice of Jasmine had stopped him halfway down the path, "poor kid must have some pretty bad eyes if he's using a cane."

The front door must have had glass panes since it swung open rather fast, "Alex?! Is that you?"

Her voice was an interesting mix of surprise and joy that made him smile as well as perk his ears straight up, "Jasmine? You live here now?"

Her father's voice was slightly cold and very incredulous, "you know this kid, Jasmine? I thought you knew better than to mingle with vamps."

Alex heard her smack something he hoped was just an arm, "He is not a vamp daddy! He's a blind fruit bat!" There was a quiet 'Oh' from her father as she walked down the path to Alex, "I'm sorry for my father, Alex. He can be rather blunt and rude at times but he's not all that bad... my family just doesn't like bats of the blood sucking variety."

"That's okay. I kindof got that impression from your sister earlier. Can't say I enjoy being called a vamp though." He got an interesting idea, "well now that I know where you live, care to walk with me to my place? Its just up the street!"

He figured Jasmine was looking to her dad since a low 'sure' came from the door before it closed and Jasmine grabbed hold of his hand with a lot of enthusiasm. Jasmine was ecstatic that they lived so closely and seemed to have a bit of a bounce to her step as they walked to his place. His parents had installed a bell at the corner of their driveway that would ring when his cane bumped it so he always knew he was home and it also announced his arrival to his parents as well who were pleased to have him bringing a friend over. They talked and shared some stories at Alex's expense before insisting he walked her back home. On the way back she finally asked the question that had been bugging her all day about why he called their history teacher Coach. He explained everything he did his first year and she came back with an odd question for him, "have you ever tried using your hearing to find things?"

The question slightly confused him but he went with it, "you mean like our ancestors did? Echolocation?"

"Well... kindof. I know we aren't that good any more," he heard her fidgeting like she had when they first met, "maybe you could train your hearing so you could at least locate something making noise or moving?"

Alex gave it some thought as they walked. It seemed like a good idea and had many practical uses, "I hadn't thought about it before. Sounds like a good idea though. It'll give me something to do at least instead of 'staring' into space." He said that last bit with a chuckle at the irony.

"Well it's just an idea!" She gave him a quick peck on the cheek that brought a blush to his ears, "well we're at my house again. Thanks for taking me to meet your parents. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow!"

He smiled and waved in her direction before turning back towards his house. He adjusted the armbands holding his wings in place in thought. It was an intriguing idea. He already did notice a lot of things with his ears that he ignored when he could see. He would have to see how far he could take it but for now he could smell his mother's home cooking.

As the year progressed, Alex and Jasmine grew closer, sharing their first kiss during the winter break under mistletoe. Jasmine had only intended it to get a quick peck out of him but they wound up making out rather heavily in front of his parents who both whistled at them when they finished which got them both blushing profusely. He also found out that Jasmine was rather adept at Tennis and was going to try-out for the team. The day of try-outs turned out rather interesting.

Alex was sitting outside of the cage after school just listening to Jasmine battle her heart out. She had claimed being adept but from the sounds of things she was very good. She was directly behind him and the balls never got past her but when they switched sides it was the same but with the balls hitting the fence right behind him constantly until she was put up against one of the varsity players to test her skill. Everyone else had stopped playing and were watching the match as they kept hitting the ball at each other trying to foul the other up. Even Alex was entranced with the sounds the two were making and wasn't paying attention to the group playing some game just a little ways away from him. Someone yelled out for him to duck but he heard the ball whistling through the air, pin pointing it and catching it right before it hit his head. There was a cheer behind him he guessed was from one of the girls finally besting the other but he had missed it.

He felt the ball for a few seconds, feeling the weave of hard wicker. He remembered them as takraw balls and stood up to take it over to the ones playing, "hey, I thought you were blind, Alex!"

It was Mitch from history, "I am, actually. This thing makes enough noise for me to find it. First time I tried that though." It felt good, too, but he didn't want to tell them that. Catching anything made him feel good at this point. The adrenaline rush when he felt it hit his hand was almost better than the rush he got from running the gauntlet two years earlier.

"Well either way, that was amazing, dude! Anything else you can do with those ears?"

Alex gave it some thought. There definitely was a few things he'd like to do but he would have to try that later, "not that I know, Mitch. You never know though." He walked back over to the bench he was sitting on just a minute ago to find two girls breathing heavily and smelling strongly of sweat occupying the seat. The one on the left he could tell was Jasmine while the other he assumed was the varsity lead she was just battling, "so who won?"

Jasmine replied between her breaths, "neither. Couldn't finish... one set. Too tired."

"Welcome... to varsity." He couldn't recognize the voice but she sounded just as tired as Jasmine. The rest of the try-outs were continuing behind them but neither cared. Alex sat to the side of Jasmine and gave her a soft furry shoulder to rest on while she recuperated.

Monique had taken the bus home reluctantly and left the chance open for Jasmine to drive Alex home. On the way he told her about catching the ball and surprised her. He wanted to try listening to other balls and see if he could catch them as well to which she offered to help with. They agreed to test the theory that weekend at the park.

It may had seemed strange to others watching as Jasmine hit whiffel balls with her tennis racket at Alex in front of a soccer goal but to them it was exciting as he got better and better at finding them and stopping them. They kept practicing through the summer and eventually got Mitch to help them out with trying to catch larger balls like a soccer ball. At first he couldn't hear the ball moving and missed most of them but over time he started hearing the little nuances of the ball traveling through the air and the light rustle and crunch as it rolled and bounced across the grass. It brought a high to him that he hadn't felt in years, the elation of doing something he loved. The biggest test was still to come though.

That day was a beautiful day. He was nervous and excited all day, his heart hammering away in his chest. The wind was making the leaves brush and rustle on the trees, the birds were fluttering and singing in the skies, the sun was warming his fur and the sweet smell of the perfume he found for Jasmine was filling his nose. It was a mix of Ylang Ylang and vanilla and the sweet and sensual mix was almost as much a high to him as the warm, soft feel of her fur. Only Mitch and Jasmine were aware of what he planned to do that day and he wondered what kind of shock it would produce if he succeeded.

Jasmine walked hand in hand with him out to the soccer field at the end of the school day for the try-outs. Coach, of course, was confused with the prospect but allowed him out anyways with a quick 'it's your funeral'. He got himself situated into the center of the goal and listened for the ball. Someone to the left had it and they were moving pretty fast. His ears followed the sound across the field and back towards him as the person made their shot. They must have thought it would be a piece of cake since they didn't shoot it that far away from where he stood. A quick step over and he reached out and caught it, a couple seconds later he heard Mitch call out 'clear!' and he booted it to where he was. The whole field stood in silence. Not only did the blind kid catch the ball but he just kicked it to a few feet away from Mitch out on the field. Everyone was still standing around when Mitch came running around to make a more challenging shot at Alex. This one he had to dive for but caught it all the same, launching it to Jasmine who called clear near center field. Instead of running it in herself she got one of the players out of their trance and got them to take the ball. By the time he took his shot, Mitch was back at center field to repeat the process. Jasmine prodded Coach into action and got everyone playing again and trying to best Alex. A couple of good shots made it past but he caught most of them and was having a blast. Towards the end of the try-outs he was going to trade back out with the other goalkeeper when he heard something strange with the ball. A metallic clicking sound. It confused him but he followed it anyways as it dodged and weaved around the field. Finally the shot was made and he leapt to catch it on his chest as it knocked the wind out of him as he sank to his knees when he landed.

The metallic click came up next to him, "good job, kid. You made me proud."

That voice! He could never forget that voice as long as he lived, "Cap'n?!"

He laughed. That was the same laugh he had before the accident. Cap'n was happy again and it was horribly infectious as Alex laughed with him. He reached down and hauled Alex back to his feet but this time didn't throw the poor bat over his shoulder, "you might not be able to call me Cap'n for much longer. I'm working on getting my teaching credentials so I can coach, maybe play a little soccer while I'm at it. College is too stuffy and win oriented for me but I found a local team that plays for fun I am looking to join. You should check it out too!"

The sweet smell of perfume filled his nose before his Jasmine took his hand to put the cane in it and step to the other side to hold the other. He could never get over how soft and warm her fur felt to him, "I probably should. I know I'd never be able to play like this at a game... way too noisy to hear the ball coming my way but it was fun while it lasted."

"Well that's sad to hear, Alex." Coach sounded disappointed, "you did really good. Not quite as good as beating the gauntlet, but still really good." Thankfully Coach turned before shouting, "hey Zander! You're up for the goal. Show me what you're made of!"