Author's note: This is going to be my first true multi-chaptered fanfic. So forgive me if it sucks. Oh well. I was planning to just make it a short fic, but then I decided "What the hell, I'll extend on it". And just to let you know, I'm not a good writer. So deal with it. And there's a lot of OOC-ness in this story. Oh well. Anyway. Enjoy. One last thing. AURIKKU FOREVER!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy X. If I did, I'd execute the people who came up with the chocobo racing minigame in the Calm Lands. 0:0.0 my ass... ::grumbles::

Rebirth of Love

Prolouge - Separation

Pyreflies glimmered in the air as the lady summoner began her slow dance. Yuna turned her staff around, performing the sending. Her youngest guardian, Rikku, watched on in happiness.

'We did it! Sin is gone! And Yunie didn't have to die!' the young Al Bhed thought, a smile on her face. 'We're all heros! Me, Yunie, Tidus, Wakka, Lulu, Kimahri, and...Auron...'

Rikku softly blushed, thinking about him. She had a secret crush on him for quite some time. No, it was more than a crush. She was head-over-heels in love with the older guardian. But she knew that he had no interest in her, so she kept her feelings to herself.

As she turned to look at the object of her thoughts, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in shock. Pyreflies were emitting from Auron's body. She gasped and covered her mouth, in a state of shock and disbelief. 'He's...an...unsent....?!'

Her gasp drew the attention of her fellow guardians, and they looked at Auron in surprisement. Yuna turned around to see what was wrong, and was shocked at the sight.

"Don't stop," Auron stated firmly. Yuna shook her head.

"But I..."

"It's all right. ...It's been long enough," Auron said as he started walking towards where Yuna was standing. He looked at the rest of the guardians, one by one, as he passed by them. Wakka...Kimahri...Lulu...Tidus...and Rikku.

When he reached Rikku, he stopped and turned to face her. Rikku was still staring at him in shock, a few tears running down her cheeks. He took off his sunglasses and let them drop to the floor. Auron raised his hand and brushed the tears off of the young girl's face. He stared into her eyes, only now realizing how much she had affected him.

Rikku had always made it a point to get Auron out of the shell that he had put himself in. She kept bugging him, trying to get him to open up to her. Why she did this, he wasn't sure of, but now...now, he was thankful. But somewhere along the road...Auron had begun to develop some feelings for her. However, he had to keep them out of his head and out of his heart, for he knew it would never work out.

Staring at Auron, Rikku tried to stay strong and not cry. However, she failed and just let the tears stream down her face. She let her heart prevail over her mind, and wrapped her arms around Auron's waist, hugging him tightly.

Although a bit shocked, Auron put her arms around the young girl, whose chest was heaving with sobs. He put his hand on her face, softly caressing it, trying to comfort her. The other guardians and the summoner looked on in amazement, as well a bit of confusion.

"A-Auron...I....Don't...leave me...I...I.." Rikku tried to speak through her sobbing. Auron shook his head and put his index finger to her mouth. "Shh...it's alright...I know...." he whispered as he leaned down, softly kissing her. It would be..his only chance to do this...

Rikku's eyes widened a bit more at the realization of just what exactly was happening. He...was kissing...her? She decided not to waste time thinking about it, but just to enjoy this last moment...

Auron pulled away from her, feeling himself about to vanish completely. "Goodbye..." he said softly, as he allowed himself to finally depart and disappear in a sea of pyreflies, which rose up into the air and faded away.

Dropping to her knees, she stared at the ground where Auron had stood, finding it impossible to cry anymore. She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes, and glanced up at the sky, whispering, "...I love you, Auron."

And somewhere...somewhere, she could faintly hear a voice whispering back to her....

"....I love you too...."

~End of Prologue~

End note: Whee, that was fun writing. Like I said, this was originally gonna be a one-shot fanfic. I'm most likely gonna write more, but only if people want me to! ...yeah, that's my cheap way of making you people review. Ah welp. Please review the fic! Feedback makes me happy and makes me write faster! ^_^