AN: Hi all! Thanks for stopping by. This is my first fan fiction in almost 10 years! So please let me know what you think.

I'm replaying the ffx series since it's been remastered and I just love it. There's a huge lack of my fan fictions about my favourite couple so I've been inspired to write this one! Enjoy :) Set just before 1000 words concert in thunder planes in ffx-2 with the return of the seriously sexy/grumpy legendary guardian himself. Thanks, P x

A guardians duty is never over.

Chapter 1

His foot reached the crest of the hill, the grind of the gravel underfoot barely audible over the clash of harsh words and misinformed opinions of those New Yevonites and Youth Leaguers below. When will Spira ever learn? he thought to himself as he scanned the audience gathered in the valley. He watched the crowd move with the will of those struggling to deal with this new day and age, one free from fear and threat. Outbursts of bickering and name calling scattered groups of fans who were desperately clambering towards the front row, calling out her name. Despite witnessing one of the most diverse and multicultural gatherings happening in Spira's history - The Yoonapalooza so called by the dimwitted one and only Tobli , he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. These public events although well intentioned rarely went smoothly, especially when righteous egos, volatile opinions and bi-polar designs for the future of the Eternal Calm were involved. How could you blame them? The end of a 1000 year long war against Death himself could only bring about a traumatic labour before the birth of a new era.

Yet here they were, broken families, torn friends and disillusioned comrades of opposing sides called together by the High Summoner once again, hoping desperately she would resolved this conflict as she did 2 years ago.

His eyebrows creased and he lowered his chin down behind his collar. Hasn't she done enough? A wave of nervous energy coursed through the crowd, everyone eager for their High Summoner to appear.

Just wait, he asked the crowd as he traced his route across the Thunder Planes to the nearest tower. Her story is far from over, and today you all have the privilege to play a part in it.

Yuna marched in circles around the bridge of the Celsius followed closely behind by a flapping Rikku who was desperately trying to calm her down.

"It's not like it was two years ago, you know?!" She cried out, stopping dramatically and desperately throwing her arms in the air. "Back then I knew exactly what I had to say, in fact I even had people to write the speech for me! Defeating Sin was less nerve wracking than this!"

Rikku,who had collided instantly with her cousin, extracted her nose from Yuna's back rubbing the pinkish tip gingerly. "It's okay Yunie...we can do another practice in the cabin again...?"

"Another practice!? Last time you stepped on my foot half way through the song and I forgot all the words! I don't even know what I'm supposed to sing out there!" She screamed, exasperated. Little Shinra, the child genius, jumped out of the way as Yuna collapsed into his chair pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Oh no Yunie... Don't cry!" Rikku flapped her hands in Yunas face trying to calm her down. Yuna looked at her as her eyes welled up and both cousins erupted into to a cascade of flamboyant tears. Paine turned her back on the pair and threw her arms into to air mirroring Yuna's earlier frustration, took a moment to herself and then turned back to the cousins with the ferocity and aggression of someone who just solved the riddle to what Clasko should do with his life. Yuna and Rikku were taken a little by surprise.

"You two! Stand up and pull yourselves together!" She hissed at them, red eyes flaring. " Rikku, running around flapping like a chocobo's tail isn't doing anyone good, least of all Yuna. And Yuna, half of Spira is out there waiting for what you're going to give them, what are you doing crying over a couple of nerves!? You brought the Eternal Calm for crying out loud!" The two girls hung their head in shame.

"You're right Paine, we're sorry" said Yuna.

"It's okay." She said, a little unconvincingly. They blinked at her waiting for what to do next. "Now Rikku, why don't you go and ask Barkeep if he has anything that might calm Yuna down, and Yuna, you know who to ask. Put on your songstress dress sphere and ask Lenne for some inspiration."

"Right!" They cried in unison.

"I know" piped up Rikku, her ocular emerald swirls positively tightening with excitement, "I'm sure Brother has some really strong Al Bhed engine juice we brewed from back at Home! That stuffs strong enough to put a Shoopuf to sleep! I'll be right back!" And she ran off in the direction of Brothers bunk barely hearing Paine yelling that she didn't want Yuna drunk.

Yuna turned to Paine. "But Paine...how do I ask Lenne for help?"

Paine shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Try looking inside yourself."

Rikku skipped along the corridor towards the private cabins on board humming to herself and occasionally tripping on the yellow end of her sunburst scarf. And it was in precisely one of these moments where she found herself mid-trip and unable to correct her balance, that she crashed headlong into another persons torso for the second time that day. This mysterious figure's natural response to personal spacial invasion was to perform a tight fisted armlock and use his broad chest to pin his pretty unsuspecting victim to the ground.

"Fryd dra ralg?!"said Rikku, puffing her blonde braids out of her face and wriggling her behind trying to escape from her captor. Although an inwardly intelligent and sensitive soul, Rikku did not possess particularly fast powers of deduction and struggled to discern who this man was from underneath him. He was a man, familiar, and part of her extended family of ex-guardians she was sure of. There was no one in Spira except a fellow guardian that could take her out so easily, she assured herself and figured that that left her 4 possibilities. She ticked off the huge blue furry beast, the blitzballer dream and the dead man off her list of suspects which could only mean one man- the tall jock from the tropical island had indeed tried to prank her.

Hey! Get off me Dad! Shouldn't you be back home in Besaid?! "She huffed at him.

"...Dad?" He said, lifting her off the ground.

"Yeah Wakka!" She said dusting off her skirt. An awkward silence passed as she rearranged herself until she finally turned round to regard him more closely.

"Wait, you're not..."

"No. I'm not." She knew that sarcastic tone anywhere. The one that made her insides clench in preparation for the oncoming lecture about wasting time. That one that made her jump as she knew something was about to get a katana through it. The one she hadn't heard in 2 years.

"You're back..."

"Yes, I am"

"But how? How did you..? Did anyone else come with you? Is he here!?" She felt herself become a little unhinged by the shock of seeing one of Yunas former guardians that should be currently be enjoying the rewards of finally defeating Sin and having an eternal chill out with his besties on the Farplane.

"No, I have returned alone."

"Oh..." Her shoulders sagged a little, dissappointed that they wouldn't be having a full family reunion, and disappointed for Yuna. "...are you still Unsent?" she asked a little timidly. He nodded slowly in response and she involuntarily shivered, hoping it went unnoticed by the Legendary guardian. But Sir Auron never missed a thing.

"I never made you uncomfortable when we shared Yuna's pilgrimage, but I do now?"

Rikku hiccuped a little giggle. Sir Auron had infact been the only person she had ever met in her entire life that had been able to make her feel uncomfortable, and make her feel like that all the time. Looking at him she swore he had even smirked when she giggled, but true to his nature any sign of emotion disappeared as soon as it revealed itself. Perhaps that was why two years ago she had found herself, a violently hormonal teenager hell bent on saving her cousins life, completely smitten by this emotionally elusive man. She'd never admitted it to anyone. And now, as an almost-adult woman she couldn't deny, casting her eyes across his powerfully charged frame, absolutely nothing had changed.