A/N: had to do this…. Couldn't find a one on FFN ^.^;; if you don't like girl/girl stuff then don't read it. If you read it anyway then flame me… =..= well that's just stupid… anyway… it's not bad or anything, and um… *thinks* might be some spoilers… kinda got the idea from a that point where the gang exits the mountain and enters Zanarkand.

{This story is for Juni – just cuz it is} {and for DD cuz well… you know why =P}

A Promise

The evening was cold. No, it was actually rather warm but all the same Rikku was numb inside. A dark foreboding, a coldness, a fear – it gathered and grew inside, twisting her insides painfully. She wandered away from the little group and the heat of the fire – not that she'd have felt it anyway. Here they were, they were going to save the world, bring peace and the calm to all of Spira. Rikku sighed and wandered further along the path, reaching out to touch the ruins of Zanarkand. This was the end, what they'd been fighting for. The final battle against Sin and the final summoning. Shouldn't they be glad? There would be no more death and suffering like before.

"Ohh… who am I kidding!" Rikku muttered, kicking angrily out at a piece of broken stone. "Yunie…. She's going to…." She shook her head and covered her face with her hands, trying to hold back tears and not succeeding. The Al Bhed sunk to the ground, crying quietly into her hands.

"Rikku?" a familiar voice asked, that gentle, caring voice that what always trying to help others. Rikku dried her eyes and looked up at Yuna. The summoner smiled down at her and crouched near her friend. "Don't cry Rikku…" she said softly.

"Yunie…." Rikku sniffed, looking down, "can't you… why do we have to – I mean you can still quit your pilgrimage…"

Yuna just smiled, "We're here Rikku, I'll bring the calm to Spira, you'll see, and then you'll be famous and can live in peace…." She rested a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. Rikku just stared at Yuna, her eyes pleading.

"But Yunie I don't care about fame, or peace…." She looked down, "I'd be good and all… but not if you're gone…" she trembled and hastily wiped her eyes again. "I don't want you to die Yuna… I want you to stay with us, it hurts just thinking of you dying…"

"Rikku, I'll always be with you in your heart, and I could never forgive myself for not trying – for quitting the pilgrimage…" Yuna whispered, her own head lowered.

"Yunie…" the Al Bhed girl said quietly, placing her hand over top of Yuna's and lifting her gaze to the summoner. "I… I'd really miss you… I don't want you to die…"

Yuna looked up to smile slowly at Rikku, a certain amount of sadness in the miss-match-coloured eyes. She turned her hand to hold Rikku's in a gently but comforting grip. "I know… you've all done so much for me... but I can't quit Rikku, I just can't – you have to know that, no matter how much I love you, er, all of you."

Rikku turned a smile on Yuna, she placed her other hand around Yuna's and her own. "I will find a way Yunie… I won't let you die, I promise…" she nodded, suddenly seeming entirely sure of herself. Her odd eyes brightening and the smile growing. And yet – yet she looked on the verge of tears. "I promise…" she repeated in a whisper.

Yuna's smile faltered and she felt tears glistening in the corner of her eyes. She swallowed and looked down at their linked hands, placing her remaining hand together with Rikku's. "I glad to have you as a friend Rikku…"

"I'm glad too Yunie…" Rikku replied. Yuna pulled the other girl into a hug and as the two embraced they had time to think.

Yunie… I've tried so hard to stop you… and still you insist on going, you're so brave – I wish I was more like you. I'd rather take your place, not loose you, what will I do without you? Rikku though to herself as she wrapped her arms around Yuna's neck. Her head resting on the summoner's shoulder.

I wish I could always be here for you… I'm sorry I have to leave you – all of you… oh Rikku! I'm so sorry I cause you pain, I wish you could understand why I have to do this… I wish… I wish there was a way, that there was no sin, and that we didn't have to fight… but then, maybe we would never have met – and I would never want that. Yuna thought, holding Rikku's smaller form against her.

With a tiny sigh Rikku pulled back, her head down, a single tear trailing down her cheek and falling from her chin. Yuna tilted the Al Bhed's head up, a weak smile in place.

"Rikku…" she said softly.

"Yunie…" Rikku whimpered back, her lower lip trembling slightly. Rikku suddenly leaned forward pressing her lips into a kiss against Yuna's mouth as a second tear streamed down her cheek. Yuna's blue and green eyes widen for a moment then slowly close, her eyelashes brushing Rikku's cheek.

The two stand in the dimming light, their arms around each other and their lips locked in a caring kiss. No matter what is to happen when they face Sin, both of them know that what they fight for is something thing they hold inside themselves. Love.

~Fin~