Ahoy, mates! Here we be, a crew fit for the best o' boats! We'll be the terrors of the literary seas, we will! Are ye with me, lads?

Yeah…so, Auron got a talking ball of water, and they all went on a little walk to this lagoon where the Kraken is at. Let's see what else befalls our crew, I mean characters.

I do no own FFX-2, that do belong to Square Enix. The story do be mine though.

Auron turned to where Braska was already removing his heavy robes and boots. He was a surprisingly fit man under the robes. He had a body most would assume belonged to a warrior rather than a summoner. The resources needed for summoning took a toll on the body. It had to be in superb working order so that it would not be drained after a summoning. He could fight as well, as Auron had discovered. Not to any extreme, but he could defend himself when the need arose. Braska hesitated for a moment at the cliff edge.

"Are you sure it knows I'm coming?" Auron thought it was brave of him to ask that instead of 'Is it safe?'

"He knows! I told him you're my friend, and that you can make him better. He's just scared. Nothing's ever hurt him before."

"Alright." With a nod, Braska made a perfect dive into the water. Auron watched nervously as they both swam up to the Kraken. It was still an animal, after all. Animals often turned on their own friends or masters when injured. The awaited attack never came. Braska extended a hand to the creature, one of its tentacles reaching out and touching his hand. After that, he was right next to it, closer to the mouth than Auron wished him to be. He came up for another breath of air, and then cast a healing spell when he went under again. It was a powerful bit of White Magic, no small feat to accomplish underwater.

Auron watched as the wounds on its face healed, and the tentacles became whole. The pitiful moaning had stopped, and it remained still and silent for a moment before experimenting with movement. Once it realized that it was indeed free of pain, it made an entirely different sort of noise. It was a series of clicks and whale-like moans. The sounds echoed in the lagoon, amplifying it.

Then, Braska held out his hand again to the Kraken. It was met with a tentacle and several clicking sounds. After that, he surfaced and swam back to area where Auron and the others waited. Rikku left the Kraken and swam to Braska. How they were to get back up the cliff was anyone's guess. They had no rope, and the rock face was devoid of hand holds. The few spaces that could support a toe or finger hold were occupied with plants.

"You'll have to catch us! I'll send Braska first!"

"What?" In answer, there was the sound of rushing water, and Braska was flying up to them on top of a column of water. He was nearest Wakka and Chappu, so they caught him before he hit the ground. The man looked slightly shaken from his 'flight'. He sat down quickly. Auron started to ask if he was well, when the same sound of rushing water caught his attention. This column of water held Rikku at its peak.

It was something that should have been a statue, or painting. The water spiraled upward, ending in a high fountain that sent water spraying in all directions. The individual drops acted like prisms, catching and enhancing the sunlight. Rikku was at the center of the fountain, wet hair gleaming, with a brilliant smile on her face. Then she was tossed high in the air, flying slightly forward before beginning to fall. The column of water disappeared and Rikku fell into his arms. Her momentum nearly caused him to fall, but he kept his footing. Rikku pulled away from him slightly, grinning.

"Thanks." She kissed his cheek quickly before going over to check on Braska. Auron watched her go, wondering what had possessed her to do that in front of a Summoner. People were generally against any type of romantic display around them or the priests. Rikku left Braska and came back over to him. "And thanks for getting Braska here."

"He was the one who decided to come here."

"Still," Rikku took a step closer, speaking quietly so that the others could not hear. "You trusted me to be telling the truth. You don't even know me."

"I know you enough." She smiled at him then, and he had he been the type to fidget, he would have done so at that moment. "If you wanted to harm me, you'd have done so while I was sleeping." The smile on her face widened slightly.

"Well, I thought about dropping a coconut on your head for drooling on me, but you looked so cute and peaceful I just couldn't do it."

"If you had, I'd have retaliated by throwing you bodily into the water, with the coconut following you." Rikku narrowed her eyes at him, and Auron felt a grin pull at his lips despite his best efforts to remain expressionless.

"Oh really." She said it like a challenge. "And what would you do if I drooled on you, Mr. Grump?"

"That depends on where you were drooling." It was out of his mouth before he could stop it. He watched her eyes widen in shock at his words. Auron was shocked himself. He had never said such a thing to a woman before, let alone in the presence of a summoner.

"Did you just make a sexual innuendo?" She sounded shocked and delighted at the same time. Her eyes danced merrily beneath their lashes.

"I said nothing of the sort. You're the one with filthy, impure thoughts." His comment was rewarded with a peal of laughter.

"Care to let us in on the joke, Auron?" Braska asked while wringing the water out of his hair not three steps away from them. He looked innocently curious, making Auron wonder just how long he had been standing that close to them. Rikku saved him from answering, her laughter still threatening to burst out.

"Well, I doubt you'd find the idea of a Malboro and a Chimera getting it on as funny as we do. It was one of those 'you had to be there' moments." Auron was amazed to find Braska chuckling at the idea.

"Yes, I doubt it, but the idea has merit. How is our young Kraken doing?"

"Hmm? Oh, he's happy not to hurt or be in the sun anymore." Rikku suddenly got serious, frowning toward the water. "I still don't like it."

"Don't like what?"

"I don't like the idea of something that can hurt a Kraken, let alone separate one that young from its mother. An adult is over three times larger, and nearly invincible to boot. They're poisonous too. The minute one gets attacked, that's the first line of defense. It'll kill anything in about five minutes. So, what could hurt an adult so badly that its baby runs away with wounds of its own, and survive one of the most potent poisons in Spira? A mommy Kraken will die defeating anything that hurts its baby." She had crossed her arms and furrowed her brow unhappily.

"He was telling me what he saw. Not that he knows a whole lot, cause he's still a baby, but it makes me...uncomfortable. A Big Thing, as big as Mommy, froze him in place with a goo that burned him, and he cried out to Mommy. She came and pulled him free, while the Big Thing screamed and slashed at him. Then Mommy attacked it, telling him to get far away. So he ran away, and kept on going cause he could still hear them fighting and screaming. He was at the surface by that time, and the sun came out, making him partially blind. A strange thing on the surface of the water came right over its head, and it was making so many noises like the Big Thing it scared him and he attacked it. Then he went into the darker water, and I found him. He was so happy to find someone he could talk to, and he was so hurt and crying so much and bleeding and..." Rikku looked ready to cry at the memory. "My healing magic isn't strong enough to deal with that much injury. I almost didn't get him here..."

"That thing can TALK!" Wakka and Chappu said in unison. Both had been silent until now.

"Of course he can talk! Krakens are almost as smart as humans!" Rikku replied heatedly. Her glare made Chappu wince and Wakka rub the back of his head uncomfortably. "Just because he looks different doesn't mean he's not smart or doesn't have feelings! He could even learn human language if he was given the time and chance. I swear, if I hear one more thing out of either of your mouths degrading him I'll hang you from the peak of Gagazet by your underwear so that I can bludgeon you with blitzballs and raw potatoes!" If anyone else had made that threat, Auron would have laughed. Wakka and Chappu both nodded vigorously, making placating noises. Rikku glared at them for a moment longer before looking away.

"So, you're telling us that there is a powerful fiend lurking in the depths of the ocean?" Braska said into the silence.

"Yeah. But...like I said, an adult Kraken is almost invincible. The only thing that could hurt one would be Sin."

"Sin?"

"Yeah, Sin. Great, big, fish-looking thing, harbinger of death?"

"What are you talking about, Rikku? How can sin be a fish of all things?"

Rikku's head whipped around to Braska, disbelief written on her face.

"You've never heard of Sin?" The question was timid, as though she were afraid of the answer.

"No. Have you, Auron?"

"No I haven't my lord." Rikku turned to face him then, her eyes pinning him to the spot. Auron could finally understand why a mouse froze when confronted with a serpent. It took a great deal of will power to keep his eyes locked with hers. Finally, she closed her eyes, rubbing them with her hands.

"No Sin... knayd, zicd knayd. Drao tuh'd ghuf fryd Ceh ec...fryd'c haqd? Dra syacdan'c tuh didic yht tu dra rimy?" Both Auron and Braska broke out laughing. Rikku jumped, then frowned at them. The frown turned to a glare, which only made them laugh more. By the time her hands were balled into fists, Auron was nearly doubled over. Braska was much in the same boat.

"Keep, laughing Braska...or she'll kill us both..." Neither of them stopped until Rikku was doing nothing but glower at them. Braska wiped tears from his eyes as Wakka and Chappu looked at them as though they had both lost their minds. Auron straightened, only to find Rikku glowering specifically at him, arms crossed under her breasts. It nearly set him to laughing again.

"I'm glad you find this funny, Auron. And to think I even apologized for hitting you! We'll see if I ever do that again."

"You have my sincerest apologies, my lady. I beg your forgiveness." Auron knelt at her feet, still holding in laughter. Braska started laughing again, but Auron wisely stayed silent. "Shall I kiss the ground at your feet? Or shall I steal the stars from the sky for you?"

"I'll settle for a single star, thanks. And you'd better deliver it before the start of Blitz season!"

"As you wish, my lady. Is there aught else I can do for your pleasure? My heart fails me at displeasing you."

"Hmm, not right now. But I'll keep you posted. Rise, Sir Grump, and start figuring out how to get me a star."

Yar, here be the translations from Al Bhed.

great, just great. They don't know what Sin is...what's next? The maester's don tutus and do the hula

Thought the idea was pretty clever myself…a maester doing the hula…specially that girly-man Seymour…movingrightalong! It's getting interesting, don't you think? And a joke? From Auron? The grumpiest man ever? Why are you shocked? I think the man's hilarious. Not to mention hot.  Review please! It keeps me going. More chapters come quicker when I know you people like reading this. Thanks!

Cap'n Tagg