Anything recognizably canon is not mine. All of the spoken dialogue from Tidus' entrance on, excluding the part where Rikku, Yuna, and Lulu go over to their private corner, is straight from the game. This will most likely not happen in the rest of the fic, but I wanted to start off the tone of the story with Rikku's perspective instead of Tidus', and this was just what I came up with to do so. I need to work on my Lulu-voice, I know, but for the moment, she's the hardest character to write for me.

EDIT: Fixed some minor wording and tense errors.

And so, on with the fic!

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Can't breathe can't breathe can't breathe…

Rikku desperately paddled for the surface of the Moonflow. She was a good swimmer, true, and going diving for old machina in the depths of the ocean for her Pops had given her the lungs of a blitzball player, but this time was just a bit different.

She had never been a claustrophobic person, always the first to go crawling down an air duct or scramble along maintenance tunnels, and had always laughed at those who were fearful of the tight, cramped spaces. Never again.

She understood now. The Extractor, pretty little piece of machinery that it was, was fine when they sent it on its first few missions, but didn't seem to hold up to a prolonged assault very well. By the time Tidus and the guy with the blitzball and funny red hair had landed a few whopping hits to finish her off, Rikku had been focusing less on the battle and more on keeping the machina going. She had just enough time to release Yuna from getting dragged down with her before the pressure seal on the cockpit broke, flooding the tiny room in the blink of an eye.

With its propellers broken and buoyancy tanks lost, the Extractor sunk like a stone. Rikku, struggling like mad despite the water in her lungs, managed to yank the escape handle, blowing open the hatch and pushing herself upwards amidst a cloud of bubbles as the wrecked machina continued to sink into the ancient, ruined city below.

She had sunken quite a depth below the surface in a short amount of time, and swam straight for the glimmer of light reflecting off the surface high above. Rikku's lungs were already burning, eyes blurring as oxygen deprivation began to set in. Can't give up… just a little further…

Blackness crept into the corners of her eyes, overtaking blurriness. Her arms slowed. I'm not…gonna make it…

Rikku never did remember the moment she finally broke the surface, still paddling like she was going to sink. Coughing mightily to clear her lungs and gulping air like she would never taste its sweetness again, she finally settled down, treading water and gathering the thoughts from her fuzzy mind.

I swear I heard Mom. Mom, holding me, telling me stories. Did…did I…die? Is this the Farplane?

She looked down at herself. Nope. Not dead. Not a fiend. Still good 'ol Rikku. She looked around. And this is not the Farplane, though with all the pyreflies it's hard to tell. Catching a glimpse of the shore, Rikku began swimming in earnest, ready and eager to have her feet planted on dry land again. As soon as she made it to the shallows, winding around the long stalks of the moonlilies and water grasses that tried to tangle her feet, she flopped down upon the sand, dragging her fingers through the grainy soil. It was just enough like Bikanel to bring the reality of what she had just survived right back at her.

I could have died. I could have died. Died and never seen Dad or Brother again. Never run through the Sanubia, feeling the sand between my toes, ever again. Never ever fixed another machina, babysat Yveyakk's kids, covered my hands in grease, made a kite, played chocobo with cactuars, none of it, ever again.

Rikku could count on one hand how many times she'd almost died.

The incident with Brother and the lightning spell was the first; she had been standing in the water when the fiend appeared and the Thunder had fried them both. Only the speed with which Brother had frantically carried her back Home and to the healer who knew Curaga had saved her life.

The second didn't involve fiends but did involve electricity again. It was a simple accident. A scaffolding Rikku had been walking on had given way, wrenching from its ancient moorings with a loud screech and dumping the hapless Al Bhed into a mass of open wiring. The burns weren't as bad as they could have been, but Rikku had it on Pops' authority that her heart had stopped beating for a good twenty seconds.

The third time she had almost died was on the end of a Yevonite spear.

This was the fourth time she had almost died, and Rikku was dead sure she had never ever been so frightened in her entire life. She clenched the sand in her fingers so tightly she was sure the grains would never come out, never never, and even if it wasn't Sanubia sand at least the next time she might almost-die she'd have sand in her fingers reminding her of Home.

No use lying here on the beach any more. C'mon, Rikku m'girl, get yourself up, pull yourself together, and continue on living.

"Five more minutes?" she grumbled to the Pops-voice in her head. Groaning, she pushed herself to her knees, and in the midst of that motion caught a glimpse of yellow and black boots. Rikku remembered those boots, had thought about snatching them for herself, they were so awesomely yellow, but figured they were too big for her.

"You're…not dead?"

As she straightened to take off her wetsuit, she looked over to the owner of said spiffy boots, who had stopped to stare as she shimmied out of the confining material and popped off her helmet, taking another good, long draught of air, just for good measure. Looking over at Tidus, who was still staring like an idiot who didn't quite believe what he was seeing, she grinned at him.

"Haah. Thought I was done for back there!"

Tidus just gaped at her as she fell to her knees again, not quite over the exhaustion of the battle, but not running on an adrenaline high anymore either. "You… Rikku! You're Rikku! Hah…you're okay! How you been?"

Rikku grimaced and shook her head. "Terrible." And you should know why! Meanie.

He knelt down beside her, taking her hands as if to help her to her feet. "Y-yeah, you don't look so good. What happened?"

At least he sounds worried. Rikku stuck an accusing finger at his face. "YOU beat me up, remember?" Her righteously indignant speech was almost ruined as she nearly gave in to a fit of giggles at the sight of Tidus avoiding her pointing only to fall back on his butt in the sand.

"Oh…that machina? That was you?"

Oh, so he didn't know. Oopsie. Rikku guessed he was right; there was no way he could have seen past the grill and one-way glass that covered the Extractor's cockpit. Maybe she shouldn't call him a meanie then.

"Mmhmm." she replied, finally feeling recovered enough to push herself to her feet and managing to stand, albeit a bit wobbly. Her head was pounding. Hopefully it wasn't a concussion. She began to revise her opinion on the 'meanie' bit. "That really hurt you know! …you big meanie."

Tidus had the decency to look wounded for a second before retaliating. "W-w-wait! But… you attacked us!"

Now that just couldn't stand. "Nuh-uh! It's… not exactly what you think." It's not like she could just come out and tell him that they were… liberating… summoners. He was one of cousin Yunie's guardians now and, despite being amnesiac, wouldn't take to the capture of a summoner very readily, even if the summoner caught wasn't his own.

They both started at the sound of a loud "Yo!" ringing out from the direction of the encampment. Turning quickly, Rikku could see Yuna, dear sweet Yunie, walking confidently in front of a short blue Ronso that Al Bhed intelligence had called 'Kimahri'. The 'Yo!' had obviously come from the blitzballer in Besaid colors with the wacky hair who was striding up to them with a big grin on his face. A little ways behind the Ronso's bulk, Rikku could see the deceptively delicate form of the black mage, who appeared to be gliding more than walking, graceful form masking sheer elemental power. She thought she saw another, a flash of red behind Kimahri, but only for a moment, and the glimpse was oddly… fuzzy.

She turned her attention back to Tidus, who was introducing her to the Besaidian blitzballer. Once again she stopped to ponder if his hair was that way naturally, or if he had to use a spell to keep it up like that. Putting on her best time-to-meet-new-people smile, she beamed up at the redhead and gave him a hearty wave. "Pleased ta meetcha! I'm Rikku."

Tidus, meanwhile, had turned to Yuna and the black mage, Lulu was her name according to intel. "Yuna, Lulu, I told you about her, remember? She was the one who helped me before I was washed up on Besaid! She's an Al Be… ah… eyahh… aheh…"

Rikku winced at the fumble. Obviously someone here was anti-Al Bhed. Hopefully whoever it was hadn't picked up on Tidus' mistake, though obviously the girls of the group did, if the gasps coming from Yuna and Lulu were any indication.

"Wow, so you like, owe her your life! What luck meeting here, ya? Praise be to Yevon," the blitzer said, following with the traditional prayer bow. Rikku tried to keep the dismay from her face. The man was easily a foot taller than she was, and even though she was positive she could run circles around the guy, one good hit could knock her down and out, left to the mercies of a hardcore Yevonite. Not the way she planned on going out. He turned to her. "So, uh, Rikku… ya look a little beat up… you okay?"

That was definitely not a question Rikku planned on answering. Fortunately, salvation came in the voice of Lulu. "Uh, Wakka?"

"Huh? What?"

This time it was Yuna answering. "There is something we need to discuss."

"Oh… go ahead."

Rikku did a little cheer-dance inside her head. Go Yunie! Stickin' up for family! She rushed over to her half-Yevonite cousin. "Girls only! Boys, please wait over there!"

A slight smile twitched at the corner of Lulu's purple-painted lips. "Right. Sorry Wakka." Rikku almost did a jig right then and there at the bemused look on his face, honestly confused.

"Huh? What…? Gaah…"

Rikku spun over to Yuna as they meandered over to a secluded spot on the riverbank. "Oh, Yunie, Yunie! I'm so happy to see you again!"

Yuna giggled as she gave Rikku a hug. "It's been such a long time. How's Uncle Cid? Still a grouchy old codger?"

"As always!" Rikku laughed. "But that's not why I'm here. Why did you start the pilgrimage, Yunie? You know that even if you beat Sin, it always comes back! You know!" She sighed, knowing that trying to get Yuna to change her mind was like trying to move Gagazet. "Come back to Home with me. We're trying to figure something out, at way to beat Sin! Forever! We almost had it at… at…" Rikku bit her tongue, the metallic taste flooding her mouth like the painful memories that swept through her mind, hopes dashed, friends and family lost, "…at Mi'ihen. We're so close Yunie. I…I don't want you to die for nothing!"

Yuna's eyes, harmonious blue and green, softened at Rikku's distressed plea. "No pilgrimage is ever for nothing. Summoners and guardians, live or die, are Spira's one great hope when there is no calm. The Crusaders try, the monks and acolytes of Yevon try, but there is nothing like a Summoner to embolden the hearts of the people. I know." She glanced away. "I've seen it. And if there is one thing that will banish Sin for good, it is the hope of the people, our repentance, our wish for a better world."

Rikku shook her head violently. "Yevonites have been hoping and praying and Fayth knows what else for a thousand years! If it hasn't happened by now, it's not gonna, Yunie! Wishes and dreams are good and all, but if you don't do something about it, it'll just continue on all the same." But Yuna just smiled at her, that sad, sad smile that Rikku could never win against.

"If I may," Lulu, quietly observing until now, suggested, "Yuna has resolved to continue her pilgrimage, and nothing anyone says can now sway her. If you wish to keep at it though, why not join us as a guardian? You could remain near Yuna and protect her, even if you choose to continue your attempts at persuasion. We could always use an extra hand on the journey, and since you two are family, it might help…" She flushed lightly. "T-that is, if our lady summoner wishes it."

Rikku squealed happily and swung Lulu into a hug, releasing the slightly dazed black mage to reorganize her mussed hair and dress and leapt over to Yuna. "That's a great idea! Can I, can I, Yunie, pleeeaaase? I'll be good, I promise! And you'll eventually see it my way, I just know it."

Yuna smiled again, Rikku's enthusiasm visibly winning her over. " I'd love for you to join me Rikku. But…" She glanced over at Lulu, a slightly worried look crossing her features. "We should probably ask Sir Auron first and see what he thinks. I would like to have his opinion on the matter."

Rikku's jaw dropped. "Sir Auron? As in, Auron, your father's guardian? The Legendary Guardian? Nobody's heard from him in ten years; it's like he just dropped off the face of the planet! And you're telling me he miraculously appeared again, showing up just in time to find you making your pilgrimage? That's way too much of a coincidence, Yunie, he's probably a scam-artist just looking to pick off a young summoner! You can't trust guys like that!"

Yuna looked down, shuffling her feet in the sand. "But it is Sir Auron, I know it is. I knew him from before my father's pilgrimage, remember? And besides, Tidus knows him. He said Sir Auron's been looking after him all this time, as a promise to Sir Jecht."

"And you're trusting the memory of an amnesiac?" Rikku rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Ugh, fine. If you say it's the Sir Auron, it must be the real thing. And I have to convince him?" She grinned her thief's grin, the one she got when her nimble fingers snatched the jackpot. "No problem! No one can resist the patented super-special-awesome Rikku's Look of Cuteness! I'll have him wrapped around my finger in no time flat! So, uh… where is he?"

She looked over at Yuna, who started to walk over with Lulu to where the rest of her guardians stood under the boughs of the riverside trees. Rikku followed, chipper as a squirrel. No problem, I'll just be myself, smile bright, he'll say yes, and then we'll be off! But as they got close, skirting Tidus and Wakka, who were watching curiously, and passing Kimahri to see Auron, still alert in the rearguard, Rikku froze.

Terror greater than ever before, even at her almost-deaths, coursed through her like a blizzaga in her veins. FIEND! FIEND! WALKING DEAD! MALEVOLENT SOUL! FIEND! All her Al Bhed instinct screamed at her, run, run, this is a fight you cannot win, and Yuna was still walking forwards nonchalantly, like she was safe in a fortress, with nothing around to harm her.

Yunie, Yunie, can't you see it? Run away! But Yuna was just standing there, talking to it, a little nervously, true, but not afraid at all. Rikku gave a small whimper of agonized fear when it turned to look at her. Wings and scales and claws that could rend me in half without a thought, why is Yuna not RUNNING, why are her guardians not trying to drive this thing away with all their might?

Rikku wrenched her eyes shut as it stalked over to her, tried not to think of her imminent, painful death. She tried to move, to run, to hide, anything, but she was so afraid she couldn't move, her limbs locking up and freezing in place, taut as a bowstring and ready to shatter at a touch. She could hear it, padding closer, ever closer, until it was right in front of her, oh Fayth, I'm going to DIE…

"Show me your face."

Wait a minute. That sounded… human. And fiends don't talk! Still, Rikku determinedly kept her face down and eyes closed, falling back on the child's 'if I can't see them then they can't see me' as a last resort.

"Look at me." The rumbling voice came a little more insistently this time, and Rikku could tell that whatever it was, it was not amused with her trembling fearfulness.

"Oh, uh…okay." She tilted her head back, but still kept her eyes shut. There was no way she'd look at that thing again unless forced…

"Open your eyes."

Well damn. So much for that. Rikku steeled herself and cracked open an eye. It was there, standing right before her, and the cold terror took her heart again. She couldn't do more than just stand there, one eye open, staring into…wait. She looked harder for a second. The fiend was still there, but it wasn't as she first thought. Rikku could see the fiend, grey scales on a powerful body, wicked metal ring encircling its neck, and huge wings that were nevertheless too small for flight, all of this wrapped like a cloak of pyrefly-mist around a tall man in a very red coat.

She stared.

The man tilted his head towards her. "As I thought." Rikku couldn't see his expression behind the polarized lenses of his glasses and the high grey cowl that covered his lower face, but the image of the wyrm superimposed on the man gave her a blank stare, red-gold eyes wandering over her, focusing on her spiraling eyes as if in realization. Hold on…could this be…Sir Auron? No way… But when she looked over, there was Yuna only a few feet away, her hands clasped in front of her expectantly, as if waiting for an answer. Rikku looked back to the impossibility in front of her and tried to choke down her fear.

"Um, no good?" She was desperately hoping for both yes and no, because while she wanted to stay with Yunie and protect her, the only blood-family she had left besides Pops and Brother, there was no way she was going to get any sleep at all on this pilgrimage if that… that fiend masquerading as a man was going to be there too. It was like all of her old monster-in-the-closet nightmares come true.

"Are you certain?" And there it went again, talking, like no real fiend should, and Rikku found herself doubting what the heck this person was, but her eyes couldn't lie, so it must be a fiend, but… Yunie…

She pasted on her best bubbly smile and did her best to lie convincingly. "A hundred percent! So, anyway, can I?" Oh dear Fayth, I'm going to regret this.

The man, who must be Sir Auron because he matched the descriptions and everyone seemed to act like he was more or less in charge, looked over to Yuna, the young summoner standing close with a hopeful smile on her face. "If Yuna wishes it."

The smile broke into a full-fledged grin. "Yes, I do."

Wakka made a noise and Tidus leaped to Rikku's defense. She nodded and 'mmhmm'ed at all the right points, her mind still not quite unfrozen yet. At hearing Wakka's "…more the merrier!" she decided it was time to jump into the conversation. Maybe it'd get her mind off of the chill still running down her spine. "Right-o! Then I'll just have to be the merriest!" She bounced into the center of the circle of guardians, giving all of her new comrades, even Wakka, huge grins. "Rikku, at your service!"

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