Okay, so I know this one isn't as long as I would like it to be, but I wrote this in the freezing cold outside. I mean, my little brother refused to leave me alone, so I sat out in the wind and drizzle to type this up, no joke. So be happy, I promise the next one will be longer (if you review:) Anyways, enjoy!

Note: I don't own this, FFX, or anything else. Just an FYI, being sued sucks...

Chapter 4: Damn Bird

I woke suddenly and sat up quickly. There was a mysterious arm draped around my side, and I jumped away from it. I thought I had been having the most glorious of dreams; that Auron had come back to me. My eyes followed the arm up to the body it seemed to be attached to. And then I saw his face. He was back, it wasn't a dream. It was real, thank the gods it was real.

"What's wrong?" Auron asked me, and I just smiled. I knew I had tears streaming down my face again, but they were from relief, not unhappiness. I just lay back down next to him, and his arm resumed its position, holding me tight.

"I thought this was a dream," I said, and he snorted. The usual Auron sign for stupid thoughts expressed out loud. It wasn't cold outside by any means, but we would have to get a blanket if we were going up into the mountains for sure. I mean, I'm tiny and my feet almost were poking out of the bottom of his coat. A blanket with baby Chocobos on it would be awesome, I think.

"How did you sleep otherwise?" he asked, and I turned to face him. He just smiled at me, and I knew I was smiling back, ear to ear at least. The smile was probably threatening to have my head just lop itself in two.

"Good, you?" I asked, and he laughed.

"The ground is hard. And my pants aren't a very good pillow," he said and laughed some more. I had to agree, a pair of pants is no pillow, at any time. Might as well use a rock or tree branch.

The Chocobo must have heard us talking, because the tent started shaking violently amongst a flurry of loud 'warks'. Auron's face contorted into an evil grin, and it made me laugh even louder. The bird was just trying to make him angry, I think. A dangerous game, that was.

Auron sat up, stretched, and grabbed his shirt. He continued dressing leaving me on the ground underneath his coat. I blushed a little, realizing I wasn't wearing a whole lot. I had to get used to this sometime, but…not right now. Auron saw my blush and just smiled.

"I'll wait for you outside," he said, and let himself out. "Gahhhh!"

As the tent flap was shutting, I saw a yellow streak tackle Auron, throwing him onto the ground. I burst out laughing, and I could hear Auron grumble, curse words in Spiran, Al Bhed, and other languages I couldn't understand. It was hilarious, Auron had made a friend.

"You think it's so funny?" I heard him say, and then the tent started collapsing around me.

"Auron you meanie! I'll be out in a second!" I said loudly, and he just laughed, leaving the tent half collapsed. I'll have his head for this, that's for sure.

I threw off the coat, and changed into a new set of clothes that looked pretty much like the ones I always wore. Short and to the point, pops used to always say. What point was he talking about? Anyways, I packed up the bag and jumped out of the tent. Auron was talking to the Chocobo, and it looked really happy. Maybe Auron has just lost his mind, that's all. No big deal, better than being dead, they always say. Oh that was mean…

I waited for Rikku to get done with whatever it was that took females so long to get done in the morning. The Chocobo had already tackled me this morning, things were looking up. At least the damn bird was still here. And Rikku was laughing, at me, but laughing nonetheless. Such a wonderful start to a day.

Rikku burst from the tent and scowled at me. I just smiled, and continued what I had started before and took down the tent. It fit right back in its bag, and back onto the Chocobo. The bird looked ready to go, so no worries there. I pulled two big chunks off of a loaf of bread that I had, and handed one to her.

"No deluxe breakfast at this hotel?" she said and smiled at me.

"This is deluxe, I can send the bird for what you could have had," and I smiled venomously. She just laughed at proceeded in eating the bread I had given her. Hopefully Rin could set us up a little better than that Chocobo stable could, he usually was at the one in the Calm Lands.

We both finished eating, and we got up to get on the Chocobo. As she stood there, waiting for me to get on, I just gave her a once-over, and she punched me in the arm.

"That costs money, you know," she said, and it was my turn to laugh. I hadn't been this at ease in…forever, I think. I didn't even feel like myself anymore, and I really didn't feel like going back to the way I had been.

"How about this for payment?" I asked, sweeping her backwards and dipping her deeply to kiss her on the lips. I stood her back up and she just blushed a little bit. I guess she hadn't been expecting that. I did, at one point, no how to dance believe it or not.

"I guess that works," she said, and I laughed again. I mounted the bird, and helped her up onto the Chocobo in front of me. I spurred the Chocobo in the side, and it again resumed the pace he had kept up all of yesterday.

We rode for several hours, until the sun was past noon. My butt was getting so sore; I wasn't used to this kind of thing you know. It wasn't uncomfortable, but I wasn't the kind of person to sit in one place for any length of time usually. But I had Auron's arms around me, and that helped a little bit. But my energy got the best of me, and I finally turned around to talk to Auron.

"Can we stop for a while?" I asked, and he nodded. He patted the Chocobo on the back leg a couple of times, and he slowed down to let us off. He seemed hungry too, I guess.

"Thanks," I said, jumping in place to regain feeling in some of my extremities.

"I'm getting hungry too," Auron said, fishing around in the Chocobo's bags. He pulled something out, re-latched the bags, and slapped the Chocobo signaling it was his turn to find some food.

He handed me a big piece of beef jerky, another piece of bread, and an apple. I just smiled, and devoured almost all of it. I hadn't realized how hungry I was, it wasn't like I was doing anything to lose energy. Maybe the Chocobo just siphoned it away to keep on plodding along. Who knows?

"God, my butt hurts bad," I said, returning to my jumping around. I needed to vent the energy somehow, here was better than it was on the back of a Chocobo.

"You were the one who said 'at least we have a Chocobo'," Auron said, and smiled at me. It was so good awesome amazing to see him smile. I had only seen it a couple of times before he left, but now he really didn't seem to have another expression. Not that I'm complaining, because I'm not, I just wanted to get used to this Auron.

"I know. We could get a hover or machina or something instead of the Chocobo," I said, and he just laughed.

"And how is a hover going to climb up a mountain?" he asked, and I frowned a little bit. Hadn't quite thought about that, damn mountains.

"How long until we get to Rin's?" I asked, and he looked like he was doing calculations on how long. I didn't even really know where we were, I mean I had an idea, but I really didn't know. Between Bevelle and the Calm Lands, that was all I had. So I really didn't even have an idea.

"Two more days, I think. Providing it isn't terrible weather," he said, and I cringed. I hadn't thought about bad weather. I didn't really bring a coat. I had a sweatshirt, but nothing as far as snow worthy. I had almost lost my nipples to the cold on Gagazet, I swear. Okay, that was a little obscene of a metaphor, maybe I almost lost my fingers. But if I lost my nipples wouldn't Auron be sad? I just blushed and laughed off my last thought as I jumped around. Auron just smiled.

"I think I can handle that," I said, and the Chocobo came walking back into view. It had only been gone for fifteen minutes tops, but it looked as chipper as it had this morning. I'll never understand those birds, I swear.

"Ready to go?" he asked me, and I nodded. Sooner we left, the sooner I got to share a real bed with him. And that made me blush even darker, thank god I was on the front and he couldn't see my face.

I noticed the sun was starting to fall, and I stopped the Chocobo again. He seemed glad for the rest. Maybe the combined weight of me and her stuff was weighing him down a little. I mean, her bag probably weighed more than she did. We both climbed off, and Rikku duck walked a bit from numb legs.

"I'm good!" she said, and promptly lost her legs and fell forward. I just laughed, and she scowled back at me. I pulled our bag, the tent, and some food from the Chocobo's back, and slapped him on his way to find some food for himself.

"Obviously," I said, and found a spot to put our tent.

"Meanie," she said, finally able to stand up again. She strolled over, and just sat in the grass and watched me fumble with the tent. I swear it was made by a Hypello with one left arm on the right side of his body. I finally got it standing, and Rikku clapped.

"Thanks a lot for your help, I mean I couldn't have done it without you," I said sarcastically, and she just grinned. She hopped over and kissed me, and then rummaged through her bag. She pulled out her claw and targe, and started strapping them on.

"We need fire!" she said, and hopped along towards the forest. We were pretty much skirting the borders of Macalania Forest now. The depths were still ripe with fiends, however, so we did not travel within them.

"Be careful, Rikku!" I yelled, but I don't think she heard me. She was too far away and in her own little world.

I walked through the forest, again looking for something I could carry. I swear they made the fallen branches just too big for me. Stupid forest, just had a grudge against me for some reason. Maybe my dashing good looks, or my amazingly awesome fighting skills, or something like that. Who knows?

I finally found a few pieces that we could use, but continued looking for me. I was sort of humming something with the birds. They were always around singing, or so I thought. As I was humming, I realized it had gotten really quiet really really fast. I looked around, but I didn't see anything, which just seemed to creep me out more.

I attentively kept walking around, trying to start backtracking back to Auron. But the birds didn't start singing again and that certainly didn't help my nerves. I heard some howls in the distance, and it really started creeping me out.

I noticed the sounds seemed to be getting closer to where I was, and I started running. I don't know why I was running, but then something snaked out of nowhere and threw me backwards. I dropped all the wood as I flew through the air. I flipped around backwards, and landed on my feet like I always did. But I knew that would leave a healthy bruise. I looked around for what had hit me, but I couldn't see anything.

I heard the growling first, and found myself staring down the biggest Chimera I had ever seen. I mean, we had killed several on our way through Macalania before, but this one was HUGE! Like three times the normal ones size, the snake tail as big as me.

I threw myself down to avoid a quickly thrown punch and it just seemed to make it angrier I think. It roared loudly, and I prayed Auron could hear it, but I knew I had wandered too far away from the camp we set up. I quickly got back up, and the Chimera just stared at something in the distance. I turned to see what it was, and it was Kelvin, I think. I mean Chocobo's were hard to tell apart. The bird took off, and I prayed it was to Auron. There was no way I could kill this thing with a little claw.

The Chimera must have seen me turn around, because all I saw was pain as I flew through the air again. The Chimera's fist had connected solid on my right arm, and I was thrown like a rag doll into a tree. I slumped down the tree, and I honestly couldn't feel much. My right arm was numb, the stupid claw was useless now. My right half, when I thought about it, was pretty much numb.

The creature looked around for where it had thrown me, and I slowly started trying to escape. I had always been good at getting away, but this overgrown meanie saw me somehow and I just started sprinting as fast as I could. It was hard to run with no right half, but I was making good speed. But like twenty of my steps were two of his. His roar sounded like a laugh as it chased me, as if it were a game. And his prize would be a nice Rikku stew.

I dodged through the brush, weaving through the trees, but I couldn't shake the thing. I ducked around a tree and found myself looking in the face of a normal sized Chimera. I quickly juked to the right, and now had two evil things chasing after me. I knew I was getting closer to the camp, but I was still too far away. And then I felt the searing heat of a pair of fireballs, and it all went black.

"She's been gone for a while," I mused, flipping through the pages. I was still in my coat with sword strapped to my back. I didn't want to get out of it until we had a fire, so I could actually stay warm. For some reason Macalania had always exuded cold. It was nice in the Calm Lands so I never understood why Macalania was frozen.

I flipped another page, and looked up to see if I could see her somewhere, but all I saw was green foliage. I looked back down, and I was almost bowled over by Kelvin.

"Damn bird!" I yelled, trying to get him to leave me alone. But it insisted, picking me up with its beak, and then sitting so I could climb on it. I didn't understand what the hell was going on, but I jumped on anyways, and it took off at a speed faster than I could have imagined. The bird was making a ton of noise, crushing brush and screaming loudly.

I heard the roar, and I knew what was going on. Rikku was in trouble, and the Chocobo had saved her, I hoped. He had come to get me at least. The bird burst through the brush and into a clearing, and I saw Rikku lying on the ground unmoving, and then I saw the enormous Chimera roaring, with what seemed like laughter. He had at least five other smaller Chimera's with him, it looked like. Nothing like intelligent beasts ganging up on helpless women.

I leapt from the bird, unclipping my sword in midair. The Chimeras hadn't seen me yet, and I slowly flipped through the air, pulling my sword down with all the might I could muster. These things had hurt my Rikku, my Rikku! Anger was my only emotion, and I pulled out of my slow flip, pulling the sword to the ground.

Two halves of a smaller Chimera slipped to the ground, cleaved in half. The others looked for this new intruder, and saw me. All I saw was red; four more things that needed to die. So many thoughts flew through me as I stood there staring at them. They had the gall to hurt the one thing I had come back for, the one person who mattered. And they would pay.

I sprinted after the large Chimera, and several of the smaller ones stepped in the way. I chopped them into small pieces the same way I had the first, and then there was just me and the boss. And soon there would be just me. I swung my sword around, and the fury blinded even me.

I regained consciousness long enough to feel an extremely hot wind blow past me, and when I opened the one eye I could, all I saw was a red coat and flames. And then, as soon as I had come again, the darkness overtook me again. But this time with a small smile.

The charred, unmoving body of the large Chimera slumped and fell backwards onto the ground. I strapped the sword back in quickly, and ran over to Rikku. She was burned bad, and had too many cuts to count. She was unresponsive to any of my calls.

"Rikku, please wake up."

"Rikku, please, I need you here."

"Come on!"

Curses slipped from my mouth in every language I knew how, Spiran, Al Bhed, Ronso, Hypello, even some I picked up in Zanarkand. As the curses flew, so did the tears. It was a relatively unknown feeling for me, as I slipped my arms around the unmoving body of the one person that had mattered the most to me. Not had, DOES!

I walked quickly back to the camp, trying to figure out what I needed to do. The potions we had brought with us wouldn't heal this, I already knew that. She needed actual medical attention, and we were closer to the Calm Lands than to Bevelle now. A part of me took over, because the real me was about to collapse. Emotional and physical stress had taken its toll already, so this no-emotion uncontrollable part of me took over.

I got back to camp, and the Chocobo was waiting. I packed the bag, and threw it around the bird's neck. He didn't make any sounds, and I knew the bag was heavy. But I couldn't hold onto the bag and her, and the bird knew it. He sat down real low, and I slowly climbed aboard. The bird sat up slowly too, and took off towards the Calm Lands. I spurred the bird harder, and he was almost sprinting back to Rin's.

This mechanical part of me reasoned that at this pace, we could get there in less than eight hours. But that was up to the Chocobo, not me. Hopefully she was going to be able to make it. But as we rode, this mechanical part of me started to fade; the emotional and unknown side of me took over.

I had been riding the past few days on the highest of highs, and now I knew the downfall of real emotions. I hadn't had to deal with real emotions since before I went to the academy, and now I remembered why I had turned as hard as stone.

The tears poured down my face, my body slowly heaving in agony. If she didn't make it, then I would take myself to her again, anyway I could. I refused to lose her again. My emotions turned to determination, and the Chocobo seemed to sense that. He spurred himself faster into the night, walking paths that I couldn't really see. I prayed that the Chocobo knew what he was doing, but most of all I prayed that Rikku, my poor sweet Rikku, would be alright.

Kelvin and I rode through the night like shades, flying upon the ground we rode upon. I did not need to spur him further or faster; he was pushing as hard as he could. We exited the forest before the moon had risen to its apex, and continued our flight. We passed like ghosts, passing other camps and travelers alike. I could hear shouts as we passed, but Kelvin never altered his pace or course, he was on a mission.

I could feel his muscles straining against my legs, but yet he pressed onwards. I still cradled Rikku in my arms, knowing the jostling was not good for her. But it was worse to stop, that much I knew. She still felt warm, and jolts of electricity ever time she groaned, me fearing for the worst. I knew we were going the fastest we possibly could, but I prayed we could keep it up.

All I have to say is, thank god Rin moved his travel agency. I knew he had had plans to move it to the front of the Calm Lands in order to open a second on at the other end. A monopoly of sorts. But as the sun began to rise in the east, the path we flew upon turned into a well-used road. And still the Chocobo soared, the closest thing to flight a Chocobo could ever attain.

The Chocobo 'warked' quietly, and I saw the rising set of buildings ahead of us. Rin's Travel Agency had made itself a bit of a town, I guess. I didn't admire the town; however, I headed directly for the building with its lights on. The Chocobo sprinted until the last moment, screeching to a halt as dust and rocks flew from its talons upon the screeching stop. I jumped off the bird's back, and ran inside.

"Hello, wel…" the lady at the desk started, but I cut her off.

"She needs medical attention, NOW!" I screamed, the distress obvious. We were wasting time, more time than she had. She ran upstairs, and Rin came down the stairs four at a time. He took one look at me, and nodded. He motioned for me to follow him, and I did.

He entered a room, and motioned for me to lay her down. It wasn't a medical facility, but I knew Rin well, we went pretty far back. His skills in healing were astounding, and all of it without magic of any sort. Rikku still hadn't moved a single muscle, and she looked terrible. Her face had swollen and turned red, one of her eyes a black hole of swollen tissue. Her hair was matted with blood like the rest of her tiny body. Her arms and legs were covered in cuts and gashes, dried shut from her own blood. She had a large gash from her shoulder to her stomach, the worst wound of them all. She had lost a lot of blood, and looked extremely pale. It wasn't befitting her naturally tanned skin.

"Stay with her," he said, and ran out of the room. I nodded, and knelt at the bedside.

"Please Rikku, don't leave me. It will all be okay, I need you here," I said quietly, grasping one of her hands lightly. I kissed her lightly on the lips, and Rin returned with the lady from the front desk, arms full of medical supplies

"Leave the room, I need the room to work," he said, and I nodded dumbly. What am I supposed to do with myself, knowing she was in here? I walked out of the room and back down into the main part of the agency. I looked out of the glass door, and saw Kelvin lying there on the road, not moving.

I ran out the door, and Kelvin looked up at me with his beady little eyes. My heart panged for him, he had given his all, and then some. He was truly a loyal pet, maybe not a pet anymore. A loyal friend seemed more appropriate.

"Wark…" the Chocobo voiced his opinion on the situation quietly.

"She's in good hands, my friend," I said, and helped the bird to its feet. Kelvin was extremely wobbly, almost unable to stand. I walked him to the stable on the backside of the agency while pulling the bag from around his neck. I looked at where the bag had sat, and there was a ring of missing feathers. The bird really had sacrificed a lot to get us here.

I put him in a stable, and he laid down on the bed of grasses and hays. I pulled the saddlebags from around him, laying them down on the ground in his stable. I pulled a trio of apples, the last three I had brought with me, and hand fed them to Kelvin. He devoured them, but was careful not to nip me with his beak. Ravenous, I think. All night with no stops or food had to do something to a Chocobo. They were all muscle and sinew, no fat reserves for that kind of trip.

I fed him the three apples, and searched the stable until I found a large bale of grasses labeled Gysahl. I grabbed an armful, and brought it to Kelvin, who looked up at me as I returned. He could probably have smelled me coming with this stuff. He couldn't eat it himself, so I slowly fed him clump after clump of the pungent grasses until I ran out of the stuff. He seemed satiated, so I stood up.

"Wark!"

"I'll be back, I promise," I said, and the bird laid his head back down. I don't know how they could understand me, but I was glad they could. I couldn't have asked the Fayth for a better Chocobo if I had wanted to. I must have been outside for close to two hours, because Rin and the lady were waiting for me as I re-entered the Agency.

"Is she going to be alright?" I asked, and he nodded. Relief surged through my body, and if there hadn't have been a chair behind me, I would have just collapsed to the floor. We made it in time; she wasn't going anywhere, yet.

"She had third degree burns on the entire backside of her body, two broken arms, nine cracked ribs, innumerable cuts and gashes, and her right eye is so swollen shut it is unbelievable. I don't know what you were doing, but she will be alright. In a couple of days, she should be fine enough to walk around, I hope," he said, and I nodded. Rin's trading business had brought him in contact with the ingredients to make the strongest of potions, and his non-magical healing was arguably the best in Spira. He had been working on that back in Bevelle, when I was younger. A story for Rikku, in a couple of days, probably. But not now, I knew.

"Anything long term?" I asked of him, and my gut turned when he nodded.

"The burns will heal, but there will be some scarring. She had no tissue left in the center of her back, like a fireball had hit her or something. An extremely powerful one, for that matter. There is an area of about four inches around that will scar over. But nothing other than that. Consider yourself lucky, friend," Rin said, and stood.

"I do, Rin. I will repay you, like I always do. Can I go up to her?" I asked, and he nodded again. Rin was one of the few Rikku had confided in about me, but she had no idea that Rin and I were friends from Bevelle. I always owed Rin a favor or something.

"Go, my friend. Mciib zicc," (sleep well) he said, and I walked up the stairs tentatively. I slowly opened the door to the room I had left her in, and she laid there yet unmoving. She was covered in bandages, her clothing resting on a table in the back. Even her head and face had bandages on them, something to keep the potions from running I supposed. It pained me to see her like that.

Again I knelt at her bedside, holding her bandaged hand in my own lightly. I kissed the tips of each of her fingers, the only part uncovered from bandages. As I kissed her pinky, I could feel her hand flinch in response.

"A…Auron?" she croaked. Nothing like the voice I knew, it sounded just like pain. And it tore my insides up like I swallowed a thousand razors. I never wanted to hear that voice again, the pain and agony making me want to break down like a small child.

"I'm here, Rikku," I said quietly, knowing tears were again flowing down my face.

"I'm…I'm sorry," she said, and began coughing. It made the tears pour out, her apologizing to me.

"It is my fault, Rikku. Just sleep now, I will be here for you," I said, and she tried to nod. Her head moved, and she groaned in pain.

"I love you," she said, and I smiled. I felt sad and happy at the same time, she was in so much pain, yet she was still alive.

"I love you to, Rikku, I love you too," I said, and I clung onto her however I could until I knew that she had fallen asleep.

Once she fell asleep, I didn't know what to do with myself. Part of me wanted to wander the forest and kill everything that moved, but I knew that wouldn't help anything. Rikku and Kelvin would be pissed at me then. Damn bird. I decided to sit in the recliner next to her bed, and I stayed awake until the sun began setting again. She still slept, and she needed it. I refused food, only getting up to use the bathroom and I quickly sat again.

I thought about reading, but I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate. Instead I stared at the unmoving body of Rikku, knowing I would never let it happen again. Ever again. As I stated that repeatedly in my mind, my eyelids began to take over my body. I could no longer keep them open, and I succumbed to the darkness known as sleep.

Hope you enjoyed it :) It was fun to write, I went through and edited it twice, so I think the spelling/grammar is okay. For the first time in my life, I wished I was female so I could understand emotions :(