"Hey, you know what I just realized?" I asked as we walked further down the Mi'ihen Highroad after leaving Djose.

"What?" Alex replied.

"You haven't shown me your other two aeons."

"You want to see them?"

"I'd love to."

"Well, maybe if we wait for a f—"

A fiend known as an Ochu came charging out of the grass at us, cutting her off. Its vine-like appendages writhed in anticipation of a fight, and the fluids inside its mouth increased, as though it was preparing for a meal.

"Fiend," she finished with a sigh.

"Well, looks like I'm not going to have to wait long," I said, staring at the monster.

"Step back—it's about to get hot," she said, smirking and readying her summoning rod.

I stepped about ten feet away and watched to see what she would do.

"Here goes," she murmured. The Ochu and I both watched as she spun the rod around 360 degrees, a drop of fire falling from the end. It spread, creating a large ring around her, as Alex dropped to one knew and placed her hand in the center of the circle. A slight motion of her arm prompted the circle to rise, drawing up a cell with bars of flame containing a giant creature—the aeon. It broke the cell, Alex landing on its shoulder as it planted its feet firmly on the ground. She slid off its shoulder and ran to stand just behind it as it roared out its battle cry.

She glanced over her shoulder and motioned for me to come forward. I approached with caution.

"Is… is that the aeon?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, he is," she confirmed.

"How do you know its—his—gender?"

"Didn't you hear the faith singing back in Kilika? The voice was obviously male, so he was obviously a he."

"Hm," I nodded. "So… what do we do now?"

"Stand back and watch."

I did as advised. The aeon sent a couple fireballs at the Ochu before bracing himself, then creating a gigantic sphere of fire and entrapping the fiend within it. He raised it up into the air, then pulled a chunk of ground from the rest of it and flung it at the creature. The rock shattered and the ball of flame dissipated as the Ochu crashed to the ground lifeless, its body breaking into pyreflies.

"Wow," I managed as Alex ran up to the triumphant aeon, who was unleashing a roar of victory.

"Thank you, Ifrit," she said, patting his arm. "You may leave now."

It looked at her, nuzzled her cheek, then burst into flame and vanished.

"Dramatic exit," she chuckled.

"Wow," I repeated. "You know his name?"

"'The faith joins with the summoner and together they receive the aeon,'" she replied, quoting one of the teachings. "I learn a good deal about them when I meet them, when I join with them, and they also explore my thoughts, my past. They must know that I'm worthy, but to make it fair, I get to learn a little about them, too."

"Fascinating," I awed as we continued down the road. "That's remarkable! I never learned anything about that…"

"Maybe you would have, eventually," she shrugged. "Or maybe you would've had to be a summoner to know—or talk to one, at least."

"Possible," I nodded. "But still, that summoning, that power… I was completely dumbstruck."

"And it looked even more mesmerizing against the twilight, didn't it?" she asked, scanning the road ahead.

"Mm." I looked between her and the road for a few seconds, trying to ascertain what she was looking at, before I finally just asked. "Are you looking for something?"

"No, not really," she said. "I just noticed we were coming up on the Moonflow, and that it's almost night, and, well…"

"You want to stay the night there?"

"I would very much like to, yes," she confirmed. "And then we can watch all the pyreflies dance at night, and gaze at the moonlillies, and maybe even go for a midnight dip in the water. It's very pleasant, believe me."

"I don't doubt it," I replied. "Who did you live with when you lived here?"

"My grandmother, Nina."

"Will we be staying with her?"

Alex shook her head. "No, I'm afraid not."

"Did you two have a falling out, or…?" I trailed off when I realized what the reason she moved must have been.

"She died in her sleep," Alex informed me, probably taking my sudden lack of words to mean I had figured out that her grandmother had passed on. "She was the one who taught me about sendings after I told her I wanted to be a summoner. She was one herself once, until she met my grandfather," she explained. "She told me that she had accepted death, but she wouldn't leave until I sent her away properly."

"And did you?"

"Of course," she nodded.

"How did you know she approved?"

"I could almost feel her guiding me," she replied. "And when I had finished it, a little breeze blew over the water, sweeping up some moonlily petals in it. It blew into my face, caressing my cheeks and leaving me with the scent I associated with my grandmother; she always loved moonlillies, was around them so much that she began to smell like them." She inhaled deeply. "Now, whenever I see of smell them, I think of her… and I think I can smell them from here."

"How beautiful," I noted genuinely, taking a couple sniffs of the air myself. "I don't smell anything."

"Trained nose," she smiled, tapping her finger on the tip of her nose. "But come on—I can't wait to write the chapter 'Return to the Moonflow' in my story."

"Why?"

Her smile widened. "I don't know why exactly, but I have a very good feeling about this place."

:::

We had just finished pitching our tent off the shore of the river when the pyreflies started swarming.

"Auron, are you watching?"

"Intently."

I stood next to her as the pyreflies flooded over the water, some perching atop the petals of the moonlillies while others wove in and out of the water. The entire river glowed brightly in pastel hues and the air was filled with the sound of pyreflies… except this sound was different. Typically, pyreflies were accompanied by a sorrowful sound, as if the souls they had come from were wailing, crying; this sound, however, was almost happy, and at least soothing. It was extraordinary to watch them dancing in and on top of the water.

"This is beautiful," I breathed, my gaze still affixed to the illuminated river.

"I know," Alex nodded. "I could watch this every night for the rest of my life and never grow tired of it."

"Mm," I mumbled. We both stared at the spectacle before us for a moment more before she spoke again.

"Well, it's swim time!"

"In the middle of this?"

She laughed. "Well, they do this all night—when did you expect we'd go swimming?"

"Morning?"

"Wrong," she said, shedding her white cloak to reveal a white strapless swimsuit with plum trim. "Come on, the water's pretty warm here."

"But I don't have a—"

"Then take off everything but your drawers," she shrugged, stepping up to the water's edge. "Hey guys. Remember me?"

The pyreflies spun around in a circle and sent some moonlily petals up into the air, which brushed her cheeks as they blew past her.

"I knew you would," she grinned. She dove into the river, the pyreflies parting for her. Her head popped back up a few seconds later, and she wiped the water from her eyes.

"Come on, Auron!"

I shrugged off my red cloak and slipped out of my boots and shirt, following her into the river, which really was quite warm.

"This is nice," I observed, wading over to her.

"Of course it is," she said. "Now come on, get your face wet or I'll have to do it for you."

"What do you—?"

"Time's up!" she exclaimed, splashing me.

"Hey, not fair, you didn't give me time!" I protested.

"I gave you enough time to duck."

We splashed each other a few times before we heard some noise coming from a few yards away. Alex stood inches from me as we both turned our heads in the direction of the laughter, and ended up seeing a young girl with an older lady, both of them splashing around and having a blast.

"Do you know—?" I began, looking at Alex. I cut myself off when I saw that she was smiling sadly and tears were slipping down her cheeks.

"Alex?"

"That's my grandmother, and me when I was younger," she explained. "We played here a lot."

"Then it's just a memory?"

She nodded. "Must be the pyreflies."

I swallowed. "Come here."

She stepped closer to me and we wrapped each other in a tight embrace. She cried into my chest and I held her securely in my arms.

"Auron?" she said softly after a moment of silence.

"Yes?"

"When you said 'maybe it feels like this,' back at the Mi'ihen Travel Agency… you didn't mean a sunset, did you?"

I was caught off guard. "Hm?"

"You didn't mean that you thought love felt like looking at a sunset, correct?" she clarified. "You meant it felt like… like what you were feeling. Like what I was feeling."

We pulled away from each other a little bit, but only enough to look into each others' eyes.

"Do you mean you…" I trailed off.

She nodded. "It seems like this would be the perfect moment to tell you. And besides, Mara told me I should."

"That's so funny, because Braska told me I shouldn't say anything."

"Did he now?"

"Yes," I nodded. "He said, 'Guard your emotions, then guard your summoner.' But from the looks of it, I don't have to look out for my feelings so much anymore—now I can completely devote myself to you."

"Well, that's good," she smiled. "I'd hate to give you all of me and not get all of you back; I'd feel incomplete."

"You'll never have to feel that way," I promised her. "I'll protect you from anything."

"Auron…"

She leaned in slowly and tilted her head upward. Our lips grazed slightly before I tightened my grip on her and kissed her properly. She ran her fingers through my moist hair and held onto me. She pulled back only to have me reign her in again and embrace her more passionately still. As we kissed, a tingling sensation shot from my lips and my racing heart through my bones and blood until it felt as though the only things I could feel were Alex's lips against mine and my heart crashing against my ribs. I had been happy before, but I had never known bliss until this moment. Bliss was her. Bliss was this. And I had no doubt in my mind that this was love.

She pulled back just enough to look into my eyes. I stroked her cheek as she spoke.

"I'd always wondered what it felt like," she whispered. "And it's everything I'd imagined it was, everything I wanted it to be, and more."

"I'm glad," I murmured.

"Auron… I have to ask," she said, stepping back suddenly and taking my hands in hers. "Will you be all right?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what will happen if I get the Final Aeon. Will you… will you be able to handle it?"

"It would be worse if I had to deny these feelings now," I told her. "To know that I hadn't taken my chances with you when you feel the same way I do. I'll be fine."

"And if you're not?"

"I'll deal with that then."

"'Deal with it?' And how do you plan to do that?"

"I'll follow you to the Farplane," I replied determinedly.

"Auron, no," she refuted. "You should go on living. And besides, didn't you tell me you've always dreamed of a Spira without Sin? Don't you want to see that?"

"I do, but I want to see it with you," I insisted. "I want to walk with you in it, kiss you in it, raise our children in it. I'd fight a thousand Sins if I could do it with you beside me." I kissed the top of her head. "A world without you… I don't even want to think about it. At least… no sooner than I must."

"Okay," she said quietly. "I won't make you think about it then." She paused. "We should probably dry off and get to bed, huh?"

"Yeah, probably."

Fingers intertwined, we left the water and headed for our tent. Her eyes were alight with joy as she looked at me.

"I knew there was a reason I had a good feeling.

I grinned. "Me too."

She ducked into the tent as a breeze blew moonlily petals past me. I turned to watch them fly over the glassy surface of the water, but they instead swirled around the feet of a spirit. Surprised, I looked up at her face; it was the woman I had seen playing with young Alex in the river, her grandmother Nina. She was looking at me and smiling as the petals encircled her, and again a breeze blew past. I could hear very faint words, whispered in it:

"Thank you for making her happy. Treat her well."

I nodded. "I will."

Nina nodded back before her image faded and the petals dropped into the water.

Alex poked her head out of the tent. "Hey, who're you talking to?"

"No one," I replied, shaking my head.

"Well, are you coming in or not?"

"Sorry," I apologized.

"I know it's pretty, but don't take too long," she advised. "We have to get going pretty early."

"I'll be in in a sec," I promised.

"Good." Alex retreated back into the tent.

I looked back out to where the petals had fallen to the water. "I promise, I'll keep her safe," I added to Nina softly, even though she had gone. With the scent of moonlillies lingering in my nose, I went into the tent to prepare for slumber.