The girl looked at the ground and shuffled her feet as the taller man walked up to her, looking over her wet, small form in utmost consideration. She was just so small! What use could she even be?
"Show me your face," Auron craned his neck ever so slightly just to get a look at the green swirling orbs that made Rikku so special. "Look at me..." He tried again, trying to make his voice a bit more soft as not to frighten her or make it seem like he was mad at her for attacking them.
"Oh...okay." She slowly looked up at him, opening her eyes so gently. His face was riddled with maturity, yet he had a youthfulness to him.
"Open your eyes..." he mused, finding it just plain funny now that she was being so bashful and hard to do what he told her to.
"Um...no good...?" She thought for sure Auron would tell the others that she was an Al Bhed, but he simply asked her, "are you certain?"
"A hundred percent!" She continued on.
No one suspected her to be one of 'them' as they ventured to Guadosalam to meet Maester Seymour at his home. Auron walked near Rikku, keeping an eye on the girl whom he thought to be completely useless. She proved him wrong when a chest came along with a few fiends, in which she stole the items from the chest and then combined the items from the chest to make a sort of...bomb. The bomb had effects based on what kind of fiend she stole it from, and what she combined it with. That could be useful...
Upon entering Guadosalam, Auron grabbed Rikku's arm gently and stopped her from walking, pulling her to the side. She looked a bit startled as she looked up at him with wide green eyes, frightened a bit by how tall he was compared to her. Yet...she was quite short, so Auron probably wasn't all that tall.
"Your way of fighting...it's admirable. Lady Yuna made a wise decision in choosing who her friends are." Auron kept his voice low, eyeing the girl in admiration. "I expect you to guard her with your life."
Rikku nodded and smiled. "I will. Yunie is my cousin...! Of course I will, Auron. I mean...! SIR Auron...I'm sorry." She lowered her head and looked at his boots, feeling a bit embarrassed for not using formalities with him.
With a small sigh, Auron moved the feather that hung from her hair from her shoulder, tucking it behind her ear. "Formalities are not needed in the company of good friends. The boy (Tidus) seems to trust you deeply, so I shall go along with him and trust you as well. Understand that if you are to make a wrong move and it strays us from our path in any way, I will no longer grant you my trust so easily. Is it understood?"
The blonde girl put her hand to her mouth and nodded, keeping her eyes to the ground as she walked away and for the rest of the time in Guadosalam. He had sort of hurt her feelings, but she wouldn't be so cowardly as to show him. Like he cared!
When it came time to see loved ones, Auron chose to stay behind. He simply did not belong in the spirit world, for he was one of them and would disintegrate into a cloud of pyreflies, giving his "cover" away. Instead, he chose to wait and sit on the steps, sitting firmly, yet relaxed. He was joined by Rikku, who sat opposite of him, hanging her leg over the side of the steps and eating an apple. She looked quite bummed out.
"What is it?" He dared ask, not even looking at her. He was surprised when she didn't answer him back, but instead sniffled quietly. The dark-haired man sighed and got up, going over to her and offering his nog to her. "Drink it. Only a little bit."
The Al Bhed looked up at him and slowly took it, opening it and taking a rather large gulp of it without even reacting to the taste of the strong drink. "It's...rum...Sir Auron?"
"M," he sighed, sitting next to her. "Why did YOU stay behind? Is your past one you do not want the others to see?"
"I don't need to see my memories. That's all they are, but they're nice just as they are. Memories. Do you...hate me?" She dared to look at him, tilting her head in his direction slightly.
The ronin couldn't help but chuckle, running his thumb and pointer finger over his chin in thought. "No. You're troublesome sometimes though. Do you hate me; the old man who is very straight-forward and not quite what you expected?"
"No...I just thought that since you...lectured me, like my father, that you hated me. You really hurt me, you know?" She put her head into her hands to hide her tears that Auron had caused.
"Troublesome...like the boy." Still, he didn't apologize and just kept looking straight ahead. He really was a big meany after all! "Are we to be enemies then?" He finally looked at her, tucking the feather once more behind her ear, yet letting his hand stray on her shoulder, gently holding onto her shoulder in a comforting sort of way.
Rikku looked at him and broke down, sobbing quietly. "You big meany! You big...big meany! Can't you just be nice to me and Yunie?!"
The ronin slid his hand across her shoulder gently and wrapped it around her, pulling her against the right side of his body in silence. It was his way of saying he understood and things had to be this way for now. He wanted to protect Yuna, Wakka, Lulu, Kimahri, Tidus, and especially now, Rikku, since she was so much smaller than the others and just a kid, from anything bad that would happen in this place, and especially from Sin.
She grabbed onto his red jacket and held it tightly in her fists. "Ybumukewa! (Apologize!)" Rikku was surprised when he sighed inwardly and held her just a bit tighter, his form of an apology. "I apologize. However, it is wise not to speak Al Bhed while around Wakka. I heard he is not fond of the Al Bhed."
He began to think about how she had not reacted to him being so affectionate to her when he had showed little to no interest in being affectionate with the others when they were feeling down. He hoped she showed no interest in knowing either...it'd be hard to explain without sounding, well, cheesy and like he was interested in her.
Soon the others returned and began whispering about Auron and Rikku found in such an affectionate pose, in which Rikku silently thought about, and Auron let it pass as they walked to the Thunder Plains.
Rikku shrieked when thunder sounded or lightning struck, extremely scared. "Do we HAVE to go through the Thunder Plains? I hate thunder! I hate lightning!"
"Yes. It is the only way," Yuna soothingly patted Rikku's arm, smiling a bit. "We'll hurry, okay?" Rikku's cousin kept a smile throughout the entire walk through the plains for Rikku's sake. It helped quite a bit, along with holding onto Tidus' arm and looking at Auron for mental support. Somehow, just by looking at Auron, Rikku's strength seemed to increase just slightly. He was so admirable.
However, when they reached Rin's Inn about half-ways into the plains, lighting hit the ground near Rikku, scaring her half to death, so much so that she jumped and sprinted to Auron, hugging onto him tightly. "E's clynat! (I'm scared)"
The ronin wrapped his arm around her protectively and led her into the Inn. "We should rest. Rikku cannot go any further. Besides, the fiends in the Thunder Plains are especially powerful. Take the time to heal, rest, and buy more items, then we shall continue." He led the blonde back to a room and shut the door behind him.
"This is unacceptable, Rikku. You're holding us back. Unless you can show how courageous you are, then you will no longer be traveling with us." Auron watched her sink onto the bed, pulling her wet clothing off to dry by the fire.
She sat in her bra and underwear, not caring if he looked at her or not.
Auron watched for a brief moment before doing the same, removing his jacket, armor, shirt, and pants to dry off on the rack near the fire. Until then, he'd sit with Rikku and just wait. It was a bit weird, being in the room with Rikku when there were plenty of other rooms for each of them, but he paid no mind to it. He wasn't a pervert or anything!
"I guess I hurt your feelings again...I'm sorry." He looked at the girl who was curled up with blankets around her shoulders, staring at the fire before her. "It's nothing personal. Just business."
"Drah fro tu oui ryja du gaab rindehk sa, oui pek sayho? (Then why do you have to keep hurting me, you big meany)" Rikku looked at him, eyes softening. "But you keep holding me so closely...remember? Like when Yunie went to see her parents a bit ago. Remember? You remember, don't you?" She gently pulled at a braid and leaned against him, wanting her new friend's comfort.
With a sigh, Auron held her again with his good arm, imagining the horrors that Sin had done to Braska all over again to his new crew. "I'm fighting to keep the past from happening again. That is all. As for "holding you so closely," I am merely trying to protect you too. You're so small, useful, but after all...you're just a KID."