Where the wind whispers

Title: Home
Characters: Steven Gerrard
Rating: G
Words: 237
A/N: Written for footballverse's 3rd Fic Challenge: General fic. It won 1st place :D

The smell of the Melwood training ground is absolutely gorgeous. He doesn't think there's ever been a smell quite as fantastic as that. The way the smell of fresh-cut grass mixes beautifully with the smell of the wet earth after the ever-present rain. It's almost as wonderful as the smell of Anfield under the same circumstances, accompanied with thousands of the Kop when it is in full-bloom.

Steven loves the feel of the ball under his fingertips as he spins it, occasionally tossing it up in the air and then catching it between his palms. He does this absently, something he's done ever since he can remember as he carries it to the park, the training ground, to the center circle before the match.

It's been too long since he had to carry the football to the pitch, since he's been able to use it if he did. He no longer has to sit on a bench in the park and watch kids run around in five-a-side the way he wanted to at Melwood. He no longer has to watch from the stands, the sideline, or at home when he can't bring himself to feel the terrible anxiety he has when he's not amongst the eleven on the pitch. He doesn't have to feel that anymore because he finally has paid his penance.

It's been too long, but now he doesn't have to wait anymore. He's back.

Title: All Will Be Made Clear, I'm Positive
Characters: Xavi/David Villa, Victor Valdes; implied Xavi/Andres, David/Leo Messi
Rating: PG-13
Words: 500
A/N: Written for footballverse's 6th fic challenge, Rarepair. It won 3rd place. :-) I'm very proud of this one, and surprised I did so well with it being short. I may go back and expand this one like I wanted to originally.

Confusion is something that goes hand in hand with clarity. It may take a while before the former becomes its latter counterparts, but, eventually, the truth does out in its full glory. This is something Victor has always believed in.

It’s because of this that he doesn’t immediately know the answer when he sees David acting grumpier than usual. Sure, Villa is no saint and acts like an ass some of the time, but that doesn’t explain why he was suddenly so easy to snap at everyone who came near him or why he flatly refused to warm up with Xavi or Leo during the morning’s pre-training stretching.

He also can’t quite figure out why Xavi is also looking like his favorite dessert at his favorite bakery has suddenly gone out of stock when he was positive there were three left. Victor’s mind grows cloudy with the puzzle and he tries to find the pieces to make them work. So he watches both the famed striker and the legendary midfielder all throughout the morning’s exercises.

By the afternoon dismissal, Victor still hasn’t figured out what the problem is, to his dismay. He watched when Xavi stretched with Andres as a replacement for Villa, something that had become normal occurrence since a week after Villa had joined the squad in the first place (poor Andres, Victor thinks). He watched as Leo had to stretch instead with Thiago, all while giving curious glances at Xavi, Andres, and David. David had been left out of the pairings so he’d had to stretch alone (poor lad, Victor thinks again). Training itself had been an almost nightmare. Villa had not worked with Leo at all and had not taken the beautifully laid out passes that Xavi had sent him, Xavi or Andres, Victor noticed after an hour or so. Pep had been greatly displeased by the lack of form that Villa usually had and promised in no uncertain terms that Villa would be benched during the next game (as if, Victor thinks, Villa would always start—especially with Leo as his partner).

Victor remains confused about the whole ordeal until he gets into the locker room, late because he’d had to discuss something with Pique (mustn’t forget to bring the beer to the party on Monday night). He hears Xavi and Villa shouting, albeit somewhat quietly, in the small physio room that never was used. He hears Villa accuse him of being very friendly with Andres while Xavi calls him stupid and then asks ‘what about Leo’? Victor hears Villa’s hesitation before asking what Xavi means. Xavi swears quietly, tells him how stupid he is, before there is some muffled noises. Victor isn’t quite sure why it went silent, so he looks around to see Xavi holding tightly to Villa’s shirt while he kisses him hard enough that Villa is half-leaning on the physio table and half-hanging on to Xavi.

Suddenly, Victor understands and he backs out of the room as quietly as he can.