Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy X

(Author's note: It's been awhile since I put up any new stories because I've been focused on Final Fantasy X: Edited. But don't worry people, I'm still going to be working on it while I work on this one!)

Chapter One: Happy Birthday Rikku!

The frozen night winds of the Sanubia desert caused her to shiver uncontrobally as she staggered around in the moon-lit sand. The desert was like that. She knew. Unbearably hot in the day, nearly below freezing at night. Being in a cloak that was soaked throughly with water was not helpping her either. In fact her heavy wet cloak, and the heavy sword in her left hand, and the bundel of cloth that she cradeled closly to her body with her right hand was slowing her up a bit. She was also bleeding pretty badly, so she was becoming too weak to move anymore.

Before the last of her strength gave way, she stummbled upon a large building in the middle of the desert. The lights out infront of its entrance, nearly blinded her as she stumbbled closer to them. Before collasping to the ground, she could see the shadowed forms of two people. Their panicked Al Bhed voices were so far away to her, as she looked weakly up at them.

Soon one of the two took off. He returned sometime later with another man. Her vision was just clear enough to see this man. He was a stern looking man, with a tattoo on the side of his bald head. His green Al Bhed eyes didn't seem phased by all that was going on.like the other two around him were.

Seeing this, The woman felt sort of comforted.

"What's your name."

She looked up at the man weakly, saying nothing for a moment. Soon she found the strength to speak. Her voice was a small whisper, that floated gently away with the breeze of the destert as it left her mouth.

"Sora."

The man nodded. He turned to the two men, to tell them to start healing up her wounds. He was trying to keep Sora calm by asking her questions. "Where are you from?" He asked. Calmly taking hold of her hand, for her to squeeze if she felt any pain.

"I'm of the Shinda tribe. We are gypsies." Sora breathed out. Her hand tightened around this mand's hand, as her wound was touched by the gloved hands of the other two.

She hugged the bundel of cloth closer to her gently.

"How did you end up here, when did you get shot?" The man asked. His calmness rising to a bit of a curiosity. He didn't know what Sora was talking about. The Shinda tribe? He had never heard of it in his life! He was also rather curious about the bundel that this woman was holding. Also. He was definately starting to get curious on how this woman had ended up shot.

For all that he knew, only the Al Bhed used machina.

"I was shot in Bevelle. A warrior monk shot me. I fell into the water, and washed up here, it all happened a few hours ago." Sora said. Her voice becoming fainter.

"My daughter, thankfully didn't get hurt. I on the other hand.." She said. She gave a weak laugh, and looked down at the bundel in her arms.

"What's her name, Sora?" The man asked curiously.

Sora smiled weakly. "Her name is..." She began.

"BEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEP!"

This drove Rikku out of her sleep. She was kind of captivated by a dream she had. After this dream (which she had had more than once), she always wondered if Sora was going to be alright, and what the child's name had been. She always thought that it was a vital bit of information to know the daughter's name. She felt it would help her understand the dreams she had, more.

She also wondered why these dreams felt so real to her. They were just dreams after all. Right?

Rikku didn't know. It all felt real. The coldness of the air. The pain. The feeling of the wet cloth. over her body. All of it felt unaturally real.

She looked around groggily, slammed the "Off" button on her alarm, then got to her feet and frowned as she looked up at the calander. October 13th, Friday the 13th. Rikku gave a breif laugh. What luck it was for your 19th birthday, to fall on the unluckiest day of the year?

Rikku was offically 19 years old. An adult in Al Bhed terms. But Rikku didn't want to think about that. She didn't want to think about being any older. She didn't want to think about her birthday.

She didn't want to think about the plans that She and the other guardians and Yuna had made for that night.

As she reached blindly into her closet and dresser for clothing, she shook her head. She really didn't feel up to faking that she was alright today. She didn't feel like giveing a forced smiled and laugh as she hung around with Yuna, Tidus, Lulu and Wakka.

To be quiet honest, eversince Tidus had come back, Rikku was more irritated by all her friends.

Everytime she thought about how Yuna and Tidus were back together she couldn't help that anger started welling up inside her. Rikku was alone now. No one knew how she felt about not having anyone.

For awhile, Yuna and Paine, her two best friends, had been the only people that she could relate to. Both of them had been single with her.

But now, things were diffrent. Yuna was happily married to Tidus, with one kid one the way. Paine was dating Gippal, (an Al Bhed who Rikku had sort of had a crush on forawhile.) Which left Rikku by herself.

Rikku slammed her fist down on the dresser as she stood there. She hated it! Why was it, that everyone else got to be happy? But she always seemed to be passed up?

"Maybe it has something to do with your birthday." She said sarcastically to herself, as she withdrew her clothing from the dresser and closet.

She frowned and then headed toward the bathroom. Shedding her pajamas as she walked and just leaving them were they fell. This had always irritated people, she knew that. She also knew that she probably should be more neater.

She glanced around at her small, cheap, one bedroom apartment in Luca. For only 150 gil a month, it was a pretty decent apartment. Everything, the water, the heat, and the air and the electricty worked just fine.

There were no cracks in the floor, or walls, that Rikku could see. (she wasn't so sure. she really hadn't checked every inch of the apartment, eventhough she had been living there for the last 2 years.) Aside from all that, the place was a total mess.

Spheres and garment grids that she had collected in her Sphere hunting days. were strewn all over the floor and on the desks. Newspaper clippings from several years back were scattered here and there on her desk.

Her old scarf, was thrown over the back of a chair, slighlty unravelling. Her shoes were up against the coffee table. Her weapons were also laying on the ground. (she had been meaning to hang some of those up on the wall.) and among all of this commotion. leaned up against the wall, was Masamune.

Sir Auron's favorite katana.

Rikku had come into possession of this weapon, months ago. She had found it washed ashore in Zanarkand, the last time she went and visted, on the anniverisary of the beginning of the Eternal Calm. It was half buried in the dirt when she accidentally tripped over the handle.

She couldn't believe it was the same weapon at first.

Of course Masamune, Auron had told her once when she has asked him about why he liked that weapon so much, was the only katana in creation that was styled like that.

Auron's grandfather had crafted the blade for him before passing away. Auron had probably been very close with his grandfather ,Rikku guess, so Masamune was proabably like a momento that Auron had of his grandfather. It was unique and irreplaceable.

There wasn't any weapon in Spira that was like it, and there never would be.

Unless of course you counted, the weapon that Rikku had used while in her Dark-Knight outfit. But even that wasn't exactly like Auron's weapon. There were major differneces in both of them.

Rikku gave a small smile as she looked at the weapon. She couldn't help but do that everytime she saw that weapon leaning there like that.

It made her feel like Auron was there, leaning up against the wall, like he did on the Airship 4 years ago, looking disapprovingly at the mess. Ready to start in on a lecture about how Rikku was old enough to start to learn to clean up after herself, or something.

Of course. Auron couldn't be there, Rikku reminded herself as she stepped into the shower and turned the hot-water on, to begin the pre-afternoon-plans activity of bathing, Auron was dead.

Well Okay, he had always been the "dead guy" to her. She had met him during his time as an unsent. So what she really ment was, Auron couldn't be there because he was on the Farplane.

Rikku frowned as she lathered up her long, golden hair with some shampoo that gave off the scent of Lavander and vanilla.

She always felt so bad when she thought about Auron's death. For some reason she couldn't help but feel personally resposible for the Elder Guardian's departure to the Farplane, and for his death in general.

Rikku knew it was silly really. Auron had left for the Farplane because he had no more promises to keep in Spira, and because he felt it had been long enough. He felt that it was time for him to rest in peace. Auron's death? Well that, Rikku knew, was Yunalesca (or her ghost's) fault. She had murdered Auron 14 years ago.

As the soap from the shampoo, was washed from her hair and ran down her tan body, and swirlled around her feet in soapy currents of hot water, she felt a little bit angry with herself.

She just sort of wished she had been abit quicker to realize that, despite Auron being old enough to be her father and being dead, Rikku really liked Auron alot. She just wished she had told him sooner.

Rikku inhaled the steam, letting the relaxing lavander scent carry mind back to 4 years ago.

There they all were on the airship, just about to go and defeat Sin. The orange evening light filted in through the cracks in the door leading out into the hallway. Rikku could just see Auron standing there leaning up against the wall.

The lights in the hallway's pinkish purple glow casted shadows on Auron's form. Making him look even more mysterious and cool than ever. Rikku approached him in her usually bouncy and energetic manner.

He looked up at her over his shades. His deep brown eye evaluating the look on Rikku's face, that he could see in this light. He then gave her his oh-so-famous death-glare, that was a sign to get lost. A sign that Rikku normally ignored.

"What do you want?" Auron finally asked after a few minutes, seeing how Rikku wasn't going to leave him alone.

Rikku's face was really warm out of embarrassemnt. She was really glad that there really wasn't much light in this room. Yevon only knows how pink her face was becoming, or how badly she was shaking.

"U-um. Auron. Can..I talk to you for a.uhm. minute about s-something?"She asked. Man, he was gonna know something was up, just by listening to her voice.

Thankfully though, Auron didn't say anything about it. He just seemed to over look the Al Bhed girl's stuttering voice.

Rikku took Auron's sclience as a signal to go ahead and talk.

"Well..you see. um. We've been travelling together alot and I think that um...I...It..it's really sorta of embarrassing to say this..." Rikku began. Her voice shaking terribly as she stuttered out her words.

Rikku's mind brought her back to the shower.

She hadn't told him. Before the words had left her mouth, they both were called to the bridge as they started to final showdown with Sin. Rikku didn't have anytime to tell Auron during the battle, and she was afraid of telling him infront of the others.

However when she had worked up the courage to tell him, he was already heading for the Farplane.

Rikku brushed some of her soaking wet hair over her shoulder.

As she did this, her eyes fell upon her her right wrist. A strange birth-mark was on that wrist. It was in the shape that looked more like a bruise than anything else.

A bruise almost in the shapes a skull, a diamond, a circle and a crescent moon. Rikku wasn't sure what these were, but she knew it had to have been some sort of birth-mark since it never had healed up, in all the time that Rikku was aware of it being there.

Rikku shrugged it off. Sure, she was curious about it, but it really never bothered her, and it wasn't going to kill her, so she didn't mind it.

As she stepped out of the shower, and wrapped a fuzzy green towel around herself she sighed. She flicked on the blow-dryer and then started dying her hair off.

Glancing at the clock in the bathroom as she did this she frowned. Yuna would be there in a minutes, so that she and Lulu could take her birth-day shopping. Rikku groaned.

Birthday shopping used to be fun. Now it was just a pain. She was merely just dragged from store to store, with her cousin, her black-mage friend, and her sphere-hunter friend, being forced to try on clothing, and look at stupid stuff that Rikku couldn't have cared less about.

...and then the chatter between the other three. It was always nothing but.. "Tidus' is so wonderful.." or "Wakka was so sweet because he did (insert word here) for me." and "Gippal and I..."

Blah! It made Rikku want to throw up. She didn't care how wonderful or sweet the other guys were, or how happy her friends were with them. She didn't want to hear it! It wouldn't have bothered her so much if Auron and her were together, and she could join in on the conversations.

Oh, yeah...Rikku thought. It's gonna be a little bit worse probably this year. Yuna's mother and Father, and Tidus's mother and father had returned from the Farplane, a few months ago, for some reason.

This year Rikku's Aunt and her Aunt-in-law were going to be tagging along with them.

Rikku remembered something. The guys were planning her party, while she was out shopping. She couldn't wait to see what type of party they'd come up with!

A bunch of guys planning a 19 year old girl's birthday party. The thought made Rikku laugh. She could only imagin how odd her party was going to be.

Atleast, she was hoping, Tidus and them won't have the party be too frilly, and pink like it would have been if..oh let's say, Yuna, had planned it.

Once Rikku had dried and brushed out her hair and put it up in the regular ponytail, she slipped into the clothing she had chose for that day. She then glanced at the clock one more time.

Yuna would be here right...about...now.

Sure enough, the doorbell rang, just as Rikku predicted it would. Yuna was never a second late for anything, especially not a so-called day of "fun" with her cousin, and her friends.

Rikku answered the door, and faked the most cheerful grin she could manage.

"Yunie! Lulu! Paine! Aunt Alice! Aunt Catherine! I'm so happy to see you all!" She said in a super sugary, but false, voice, as she opened the door to see the four women standing there.

"Come in. Don't mind the mess." She said as she led them inside.

"Rikku, happy birthday!" Yuna said cheerfully, withdrawing a package from her purse, and handed it to Rikku before sitting down on the couch, and putting her hand on her pregnant stomach.

She gave a huge smile as Rikku looked curiously at the lumpy package wrapped in shimmering pink paper.

"Go on, open it!" Yuna said nodding to Rikku, then looking around at the smirky faces of everyone else.

Rikku carefully tore the paper apart. Sitting down in her favorite green chair as she did so. She held up the obect.

Rikku wanted to throw up. What sorta prank was this? Talk about ugly dresses that had too many frills and lace on them.

Why this dress was noting but pink lace and frills,and the largest most puffed out skirt she had ever seen.! Rikku was suprised it didn't come with a frilly bonnet, and a shephards staff. What is this, Rikku thought, a Little Bo-peep costume?

She glanced over the top of the fabric to Yuna and the others. Smirks set on all there faces. "Ah..Thanks guys. It's really...pretty." She lied in a false sweet voice so that she didn't upset Yuna, or the others, by making it all too obvious that she hated it.

Yuna bursted out laughing. "No, no! Rikku! that's just a gag gift! We'll return it to the costume shop while we're out shopping today. The real gift was under that extra paper we put in there!" She said.

Rikku couldn't help but turn a little pink. She set the awful disaster called a dress aside and then took the other paper out slowly. As she did this, her eyes widened in pure shock. As she brought this article of clothing up out of the box to look at it, she couldn't believe it.

It looked just how she remembered it only cleaner. It felt the same. Rikku held it to her nose. well, it smelt more like laundry soap than anything, but Rikku could just make out the fimilar scent that it used to carry.

But there was no way! Rikku wanted to sort of cry. She now held in her hands, another reminder of Auron. His, now cleaner, red coat.

Looking up at them now, all of them could tell that Rikku was amazed by this gift. They could tell it really ment something to her. "Go, on...put it on! That's what you have it for!" Alice said with a smile on her face, she gave a wink to the others.

Rikku glanced over to Masamune. She wasn't sure if Auron would approve of her wearing his coat. It was his after all.

Was it right to wear the belongings of a dead person? Wouldn't that count as disrepect? Rikku didn't want to disrepect Auron's memory. She then looked to Alice and Catherine, uncertainly.

Their looks seemed to tell her "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Rikku got up, and walked over to Masamune. She draped the crimson coat over her shoulders.. "I hope you won't mind." she whispered. She then smiled. and looked around.

"So, are we ready to go?" She asked, with a smile.

They all got to their feet, and headed for the door. Rikku was trailing behind them. As she walked out the door, she gave a last glance to Masamune. "Keep and eye on this place alright?" She thought as she closed the door.

Meanwhile. the guys were setting up for the party, in a small place that they had rented just for the night.

Looking around at the progress that had been made since 10 o'clock that morning, all the guys were feeling rather pleased with themselves. They were exxited about the party tonight. Rikku deserved a great 19th birthday party. With all the suprises they had planned for that night, they all could just feel that this would be one birthday party that Rikku would never forget.

They knew they had a really good suprise planned for Rikku, one that she'd never expect, but would be all too glad for it to have happend.

Little did the others know, Cid had a big suprise for Rikku that was going to have quiet the same effect, except that he knew, Rikku might not be so accepting of the news he had to tell her.

All that was certain right now was that Rikku would never forget this party.

Never in her whole life.

(And so there is chapter one. What do you think of it? really random, I bet. I hope that you liked it. Review me and tell me what you think! Uh..and by the way, please try to ignore most of my spelling errors.)