Title: Spiral of Love

Pairings: Kimiko/Rikku, Auron/Tidus, Yuna/Tidus, Wakka/Lulu, Kimiko/Yuna

Summary: Kimiko is the daughter or Sir Auron and a guardian of Lady Yuna…love is not that hard to come by in a group of eccentric people, but is the one she loves going to respond to her advances?

Warnings: Plans to wedding crash, Angst some more, seductive Blitzball players, innocent flirtations from main characters, semi-fluff, and using my OC for my benefit…not all necessarily in that order.

Disclaimer: If I owned them do you really think I would be writing about them?

Notes: I had half of this chapter written up before I trashed it because it wasn't good enough. Then…the characters decided to do things their way and this is what we have. Enjoy?

Thanks to: My original beta reader: Exxal! And to all of you lovely readers!

Chapter Seven

After Home became a pile of ash mixed with the sand of the Sanubia Desert, Cid announced that he was going to help the rest of us find Yuna. I was angry as hell that the Guado had kidnapped her and shed so much of the Al Bhed blood for no reason, if they were supposed to uphold the law and be peaceful then why couldn't they just have a diplomatic negotiation or something?! I didn't understand, and as much as tried to wrap my head around it…I still couldn't understand it all.

It took me a few hours before I felt like returning to the cockpit (even then I stayed only for a little while before going to my room), and that was only because I couldn't stand the cries of men, women, and children everywhere else on the airship. No matter where I went, I could either hear them singing, bellowing, or just shrieking for their loved ones to come back to them. Normally, I hated crying in front of other people. I always wanted to be strong, hold my own, and never let anyone see my moments of weakness even though there were many. I wanted people to rely or depend on me, but after seeing this…

There were so many times that I had shed tears alongside different families. Some were Yevonites and others were Al Bhed, then of course there were those who sided with nothing and hoped to live a peaceful existence despite all of the war and chaos. All of these people had come together in their moments of grief and created a strong bond despite their differences in faith or lifestyle. I thought about the Guado bitterly, and even though they had fucked up so bad and killed so many…something genuinely good had come out of it. Something good had come out of the death and destruction they caused.

That thought alone made me think about the pilgrimage and what it all means. I was even more afraid for Yuna who was going to take on a daunting task; the task of saving our world—saving Spira. And if and when she succeeded…I closed my eyes and shook my head; I didn't want to think of what it could mean, what the end of her pilgrimage could mean. It would only be more death and destruction and yet…something genuinely good for the population.

I sat in my bed for a while, thinking about the pilgrimage, the Al Bhed, Home, Yevon, and the Guado. I had hoped that the world would be at peace, that people would be happy to see their summoners fighting for them and trying to purge Spira of its evil…but what happened at Home only made me wonder if it even mattered. People were still willing to kill one another over trivial things, and as much good that was put in to the community…a lot of hate still came out. I sighed and fell back onto the mattress, my arm covering my eyes in case I decided to cry. I was arguing with myself not to cry because damn it all there were too many tears shed already on this airship. I had done enough of it already, and I wanted for the pain and anguish to go away…just evaporate or turn into a completely different emotion—one that would free everyone from the sadness.

Instead of my emotions magically changing in ten minutes, I fell asleep for three hours on my bed in the same position. I only woke up when the door opened and light burned my eyes because my arm fell off of my face. Hissing at the light and rubbing at my eyes, I could hear Rikku's voice whispering about how sorry she was for waking me up and that I should go right back to sleep. However, seeing as I had my fill of a cat nap, I continued to lie there only propped on my elbows and watched her close the door. She tried to maneuver in the darkness but that only made her crash into my bed and on top of me.

Smacking right into my chest, we both sank down on my bed and we were both hyper aware of how awkward this was. Especially since I had taken off my vest and was only in my midriff shirt. I could feel Rikku's cheeks burning into my chest as she tried to get off of me which only felt like she was shimmying further into my cleavage. Naturally, I couldn't help but laugh because she kept making things worse for herself and I really needed an outlet for my dark and depressing thoughts earlier. My laughter was what made her stop moving altogether and so I had a blond girl on top of my body and pressing me into the bed like dead weight now.

"Um, I'm really sorry!" she whispered, unmoving but I could tell that she was wondering if it was an acceptable time to get up.

Another laugh bubbled out of my throat and I patted the top of her head, easily finding it by my neck. "It's fine. But, I don't think we can really sleep like this…" She shifted and for some reason I didn't want her to leave me yet. She was keeping me relatively warm and I knew that if she got up, the loss of contact would have me feeling cold and a little empty. I pressed the top of her head and she stopped moving again. "Are you okay..?" I whispered.

She shifted again, this time her face left the crevice of my breasts and stared straight at me. Her eyes were so…green. The irises were swirled as were all Al Bhed's but hers looked like they glittered even in the darkness. They were bright, and reminded me of happiness even if she wasn't smiling at the moment. They were really pretty…quite beautiful. My breath hitched as we stared at each other; I almost forgot that I even asked a question because of the silence, but when Rikku did answer me I knew that my eyes widened at least a fraction of an inch.

"It's hard…This isn't the first time it's ever happened, but it's never been this horrible either. We all just wanted to live together happily…why can't things ever go the way that we want them to?" Her eyes closed and I immediately started stroking her hair. The ponytail came undone, letting a sea of gold scatter down her back and my chest and we just let it fall. It was so tiring to be this messed up, this hurt, this sad and depressed; one thing kept happening right after the other and there was no way to stop it. We wished we could stop all of it, at least give us some sort of a breather, but no…there wasn't a time to breathe, we just kept on drowning.

Rikku's eyes were closed tight and I already knew she was crying before the choked sobs started. It only made me hold her tighter, much closer, and I sincerely wanted to do anything to make her stop, to make the pain go away, but I was so helpless myself. After murdering Seymour and watching people die back at Home, I continually felt helpless and defenseless…and all we wanted so much was to be happy…

Rikku sniffed and opened her eyes again to look at me. She smiled a little, tears still coming down and coating my chest. She made a move to get off of me, and yet neither of us took the opportunity to let go of each other. "I want to be okay for everyone, but it just hurts so much Kimi. Don't you ever get tired of hurting..?"

One of my arms was still wrapped around her waist while the other was tangled in her hair. I let it go through her locks before pressing it to her cheek and wiping a tear away. We both swallowed at my action, and I wondered if she could hear my heart beating in my chest, roaring like never before even though I was so comfortable and felt so different around her than when I was with Yuna. "It does…it's very tiring, but we have to press on. You…maybe I'll even help build a new Home. A hell of a much cooler one because that design wasn't even as snazzy as it could have been—" Rikku laughed, a sincere one that went to her eyes. "Yeah…a much snazzier one, and then we can have parties or something in there. It'll be great."

She continued laughing before it died down into a few giggles. One of her hands reached up to touch my own that stayed on her cheek, taking off any traces of her tears so that she could keep smiling. She laced her fingers with mine; staring at me intently and I could guess that she was wondering if this was okay. We had definitely gotten past the boarders of a normal friendship, skirting into unfamiliar territory and possibly moving ahead to something different…something more. I swallowed again, thinking of where these things could lead before she guided my hand with her own so she could press a kiss to my palm.

"…Rikku…" It was a sudden and brief touch of lips to skin. It was barely a kiss and yet my hand felt much hotter than it did before. I was sure that my face was also burning up and probably mirroring her own face, but it was too dark to see anything but her eyes really. I didn't know what to say, what I could say that wouldn't damage the situation. It was only just a short while ago that I told Lulu I liked both Yuna and Rikku. That I wasn't going to chase after either of them, or let them know of my feelings because we had a pilgrimage to finish. And then here I was, on the verge of wanting to kiss Rikku and possibly screwing things up.

Before I could say anything else, she took my hand away from her mouth and started to get up. This time I let her, still unsure if I wanted her to actually leave me, hold her close, or ram her into the adjoining bed. I hadn't had sex in a while; the last time was on the boat to Luca or was it to Kilika..? Either way, it felt like a very long time and with everything that was happening it would be nice to take out my frustration even for a little bit. I licked my lips and thought about it, but came to the conclusion that I couldn't because this was Rikku and we had a job to do and her family was just practically murdered. It was a little insane to be thinking about gratification right now, wasn't it?

I sat up once Rikku was standing in front of me. She didn't say anything and her damned eyes just continued to shine and look beautiful in the darkness. I sighed and ran a hand through my own hair, ruffling it up a bit because I was so tired, so confused, and just so damned frustrated in more ways than one. My mind wasn't on the straight and narrow and I really, really didn't want to fuck up anymore.

"We don't…we're not…I'm sorry." Rikku was still standing in front of me, and I pressed my head onto her stomach. My eyes closed as I sighed again, wanting to do more and pull away at the same time. It was maddening, so confusing, and irresistibly tempting. She patted my head and sniffed. I didn't know if it was supposed to be a kind or an affectionate gesture and so I just took it as both. Fisting the sheets so that I would wrap my arms around her waist, I started pushing my head into her so that she would try and get a move on.

"It's been a long…" What? Day? Week? Month? Who even knew anymore? "A lot's happened; we should both get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be another long day and we've got stuff to do…" I trailed off, and moved away from Rikku's body. She stared down at me before she nodded, briefly closing her eyes and walked over to the other bed before climbing into it. She stripped off her shirt, but kept on her shorts and murmured a meager "good night" before turning away from me and pretended to sleep. I watched for a while, hoping that she would say something else or maybe climb into my bed, but neither of those scenarios played out in the night.

I sighed again, laying down properly and pulling the covers above my bed before whispering my own good night to her. The only response I got were soft snores that at least made me smile. I silently prayed to whatever was watching over us that she would have sweet and pleasant dreams, Rikku deserved that much…everyone on the airship—hell all of Spira deserved some happy dreams.

And with my prayer, I fell asleep.

x.x.x.

"Aah! Do you think they could keep it down?!" I groaned just as Rikku started yelling in our room, picking up a broomstick and ramming into the adjoining wall. It was way too early in the morning for anyone to be angry, and I didn't hear the sounds that were coming through the wall under the haze of my sleep and dreams. I was going to say something, ask what she was so mad about but my throat felt like there was a ball in it from the way I had slept during the night.

"Mrgh…" Was the intelligent response I gave her while pulling my blankets up again. Rikku continued to bang on the wall letting my attempt at conversation go unheard. I would have fallen completely asleep if not for the fact that someone came into our room to see what all of the ruckus was about.

It was the third day since Home had been destroyed and we took to the skies to look for Yuna. The days prior had been uneventful after Rikku and I had our "chat" in the room where she kissed my palm. Every time I remembered it, I could still feel her lips grazing the skin and making my hand feel much warmer than it actually was. Of course, I quickly got over blushing about the whole thing and just kept wondering why I couldn't get the damned scene out of my head. Yes, I understood I liked her but I didn't need to act like some idiot in love; it just wasn't my style!

Also, she visited me in my dreams despite sleeping in the bed right next to my own. The only thing separating us was a small night table and a bit of space on the floor. The kinds of dreams I kept having did nothing but spurn on my crush and when I woke up I would groan in the displeasure of it only being a dream. It was the same damn thing every morning since that chat.

The door opened and Rikku abruptly stopped banging on the wall. I peeked under the covers to look at her and she had the broom poised for another attack. Just looking at her with her hair standing up on end in her bra and shorts made me want to laugh but I just rolled my eyes instead. She was such a wonder to behold in the mornings, really. I decided to focus my attention on whoever was at the door, rolling over a little bit I could see the outline of a male and I groaned already aware of who was standing there and giving us looks.

Sitting up, my blanket pooled at my waist and I rubbed my eyes while yawning. "Morning, dad. Sleep well?" He didn't answer me but switched his gaze between me and the frightful girl with a broomstick in her hands. She was holding it like some kind of spear and as he looked at her disapprovingly she scrambled to put it on the wall, squeak, and shuffle underneath my covers. I sighed heavily as Rikku wrapped her arms around my middle and jammed her face into my side. "I'm guessing it's time to get up, huh?"

"Hmph. Breakfast is ready; make yourselves decent." He nodded before slamming the door behind him as he exited.

Rikku's face was still in my side even after he left, and the touch was making me more uncomfortable by the minute. She smelled really good and I was also wondering if she tasted just about the same. I tried to pry her off of my body but with each pulling motion, she just latched onto me tighter. "C'mon, you heard what he said we gotta get ready." She shook her head, rubbing her nose into me which was making me a little ticklish. It had me laughing a little and I tried to push her off again. "Rikku!"

"Mm. Let's just stay here for a little while longer. Please?" Her please was more of a whine than an actual question and I sighed again. What was up with this girl and why did I feel a lot more comfortable around her than anyone else? I understood what it was with Yuna and why I felt like I needed to impress her so much, but with Rikku…this comfort and lust was a bit too much to bear. I ran a hand through my tangled hair before patting her head, admittedly giving up and letting her do what she wanted with me.

I had succumbed to her innocent charms.

After another half hour of just sitting in my bed together, Rikku withdrew from me and got dressed. She told me that she had already showered and everything and that I should do what I needed to. Before I even stripped myself in the bathroom, she was gone to some other part of the airship and neither of us talked about why we needed the physical contact when we first woke up. Nothing happened other than just sitting there in each other's arms, but most people would see that as a little weird even under the circumstances. It's not as if I was consoling her or that it was the other way around…

It was all so confusing.

Within the bathroom under the warm running water, I stood there and thought of the events that had transpired already since our pilgrimage began. There were still so many sights we had yet to see and get through before we reached the end, and none of us had any brilliant plans to stop the inevitable. It wasn't so much that I hadn't given it much thought, I'm sure we all did, but…It was just so hard to try and figure something out. I banged my hand against the shower wall, water pelting me and soaking me through and through. It was pleasant against my skin and made me feel like it was purging me of my sins, like the murder of Maester Seymour and yet once the air made contact with my skin…I felt just as unclean as before.

Underneath the shower water I could also cry easily, shedding also of my vulnerabilities and insecurities where no one else could see them. It would take me about fifteen minutes for it all to go on before I felt well enough to climb out of the shower and get dressed. I would put up the mask again, pretend to be much stronger than I felt so that I could be a pillar of strength just like Yuna. I couldn't let anyone think of me as weak even if I felt like I was.

Once I was ready to face the day, I would make my way down to the cafeteria/bar area of the airship and I would always find my father down there. He held that jug of alcohol close to him but didn't seem to use it unless he felt like it was absolutely necessary. Every time he caught me staring at it, he would act as if he was going to tell me the story behind it but thought better of it. Believe me, it was just as agitating as it sounds, he didn't give me as many details of his life before mom and me if he didn't want to.

I sat down at the bar beside him as a plate slid down right in front of me courtesy of the cook. I would give them a smile and a wave before showing down and waiting for my old man to talk first. If I started the conversation, I wouldn't get much out of him, but if he started it then he would talk a little bit more than I expected. After learning that the hard way, I made sure to keep to this kind of communication with him. After my plate was half gone, he decided to open his mouth. Even though he drank heavily, he didn't smell like an alcoholic in the slightest which I thought was odd but it was great as well. It would suck if I had to cover my nose in his presence.

"We're close to finding her and continuing our journey." I made a small noise in appreciation while I was scarfing my food into my mouth. It was good to find out that we weren't all that far from Yuna now and we could get through our pilgrimage again. "It's been too long since we were on land." He sighed and went back to downing his cup as I stared at him.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights." He grunted and continued drinking. I laughed a little and swallowed the food I was chewing on. "No way…"

"I am not afraid. Being in one place for too long of a time makes me restless. After traveling for so long, you realize that all you want to do is continue on." He had a point; I was also getting tired of being cooped up on the airship, wanting to stretch my legs on the outside. Sure, we had the deck in which we had access to, but that wasn't the same as feeling the roads beneath our feet as we walked on during the pilgrimage.

"Mm. Guess that's true."

Our conversation didn't last very long as my father had his fill of liquor for the time being. He left the bar and made it a point to tell me to come to the control room as he had a feeling we would be landing shortly. I waved dismissively at him and finished the rest of my breakfast. As I ate the last of my portion, I heard a few giggles coming from behind me and I curiously turned around to see what all the commotion was about. I ended up staring at two female Al Bhed blitzball players. Their giggling grew to new heights as I held up my hand to wave at them as well.

Two small waves were granted back to me as the cook leaned over to take my plate away. "They've been staring for some time, miss. Looks like you've got a few admirers." He chuckled and glanced over at the girls who were apparently still watching me. "Perhaps you should introduce yourself, even though everyone knows of the Yevonites who were helping at Home. It would be nice to have a face to match that reputation."

I gave it some thought as the cook gave me a wink and returned to his duties. There wasn't any harm in going over to introduce myself to the two lovely ladies, and yet the idea still didn't feel all that right to me. I had no idea why but I felt that if I went over to talk to them that I would be causing some great offense, but to whom I did not know. I sat in the chair swiveling and trying to get the girlish giggles out of my mind, but they decided to strike first. One of the girls came over and took the seat that my father had occupied only minutes before and leaned over the counter, body facing me.

"(1)Lida. Ryjah'd caah syho mega oui pavuna." She whistled as her friend giggled from their table behind me and I smiled. Rikku had given me a few lessons on the Al Bhed language since I started rooming with her. She felt that it would benefit me if I needed to talk to anyone who only spoke Al Bhed. It helped that I understood the compliment that the girl was giving me right now.

"(2)Dryhgc. Oui tuh'd mug cu pyt ouincamv." My accent was thick and I was still having a problem letting it flow, but she merely giggled and leaned in a little closer. I took a sip of a glass of water that the cook gave to me before smiling at the girl. She obviously wanted to keep paying me compliments and hopefully have something else happen but the second I was going to open my mouth again; Rikku ran into the cafeteria and made a beeline for me.

"Kimi!" My head snapped up to look in the direction where my name was called, but Rikku was already standing right before me and staring between me and the girl. At least now she was going to know my name before I would be able to find out hers. Hands on her hips and a disappointed look in her eyes, I opened my mouth to ask her what was up but she grabbed my arm and tugged me out of my seat. "We've got to go, they found Yunie and we're going to go get her now!" I had no say in what was happening and suddenly I found another hand on my other arm that wasn't occupied by Rikku; a forceful tug made me stop and my friend along with me.

"Uh…" I turned to see that the Blitzball player had an eyebrow raised and was standing beside me with her hand on my arm.

Leaning onto me, her breast pressed into my shoulder and she wrapped her other arm around my neck. "(3)Lyh'd oui caa fa'na ryjehk vih? Ouin vneaht ec y pek kenm; fro hud mayja ran fedr sa?" Her voice was husky and the way she was leaning onto me made me lick at my lips. There was no doubt that she was quite attractive with her long blond hair pulled into a ponytail and her green eyes unobstructed by glasses like so many the Al Bhed wore. And the way she spoke against my ear didn't make me want her any less. However, there was Rikku who tugged on my arm again and pulling me away from the sultry blitzball player and closer to her. She changed her grasp on my arm to my wrist and wouldn't let go for the life of her.

Glaring at the blitzball player she told her, "(4)E fuimth'd ajah mayja Brother fedr oui. Ryhtc uvv uv ran." Without another word Rikku turned on her heel and tugged me out of the cafeteria. I could still hear the girl and her friend speaking rapidly in Al Bhed and probably yelling after the two of us, but my mind was trying to wrap around Rikku's last sentence. Once we traveled through two corridors together, she dropped her grip on my wrist and stopped completely. Her whole body was turned away from me and I reached out to touch her shoulder only to be brushed off. "We're going to get Yunie now. We've got to meet up with the others first."

I wanted to say something that would make her feel slightly better but there was nothing I could say. Her change in attitude made me feel guilty when I had done nothing wrong. As we walked down the rest of the halls all the way to the control room, she didn't turn around or say anything else to me. I would sigh heavily every so often so that she could ask me what was wrong, but I supposed she was wrapped up in her own thoughts to deal with it. In that way, we reached the cockpit and she hurried fast to her father's side. There wasn't going to be any time to talk about what was going on between us for a while now.

Sighing again, I walked over to stand by Tidus as Cid triumphantly declared that he found our summoner. She was located in Bevelle right now, and more importantly they were holding her against her will, or at least that's how he translated the situation. Brother hit a few panels before lighting up a screen and showing us what was happening.

The city of Bevelle was heavily guarded with many soldiers and infantrymen, and they also had a sacred guardian watching above the skies. Its name is Evrae and its one massive creature. From our point in the sky, we were close enough to Bevelle to see what was happening: the soldiers moving in tandem to protect their city and its citizens, the guardian wyrm Evrae floating above them and protecting them as well and of course the commotion that had the citizens celebrating through the streets.

"Wait, what's she wearing?" Wakka asked suddenly.

I looked closer as did Tidus and suddenly we glanced at one another. On the screen wandering through the streets of Bevelle in a wedding gown was Yuna. Her eyes were forward, walking up to the highest point of the entire city and from the other side was Seymour and his own entourage following suit. It looked like a happy wedding and the citizens had every right to celebrate the coming union but those of us who were watching the screen intently knew that this was no happy affair.

Lulu sighed and crossed her arms. "It's called a wedding dress." Even though her words carried their normal sarcastic tone, I could tell she was furious about the entire thing.

"So that's their game then. A marriage between her and Seymour even if she didn't want it in the first place?" Tidus grunted as he looked up on the screen, seemingly angry at the proceedings. Yuna was like another sister in his eyes, and he would be damned if she was going to be forced to do something like this.

"I don't think that's all though. Yuna wanted to marry him to give Spira hope. I think now she's still doing that, but with a cost. She's not as naïve as everyone thinks she is…" I bit my lip as my words trailed off, wondering what it was that she could be after now. Seymour isn't as dead as we originally thought, even after I had shot him right in the chest. He was…

"An unsent." I turned around to look at my father. "That is what he has become, and he is a dangerous one at that. Perhaps she wishes to send him."

Everyone took in a collective breath. It would make sense that Yuna would do something risky like that; the entire pilgrimage was a gamble on her life anyway, and this would make no difference. I looked at Cid before walking up to him. "We've got to go and get her before it's too late. Who knows what could happen?" I looked at everyone gathered here and my eyes met with Kimahri's, and he nodded. "We've got a wedding to crash; let's make an entrance—a damn good one that they'll never forget." I smiled at Cid again, "I think you can get us close right? We'll take out Evrae before we get to Yuna and Seymour."

"Hahaha! I like your style kiddo!" He clamped a hand on my shoulder before ruffling my hair. "Rikku! (5)Kuut lruela." I glanced over at her to see that she was blushing and failed to hide it. I made a mental note to ask what was going on with her later on when we had some more spare time, but for now we had a job to do.

Kimahri and my father were the first to exit the room and make their way to the deck. They wasted no time in prepping themselves for the battle ahead and I couldn't help but smile. Wakka and Lulu followed them, and the Blitzball captain kept asking questions about weddings that made Lulu sigh even more with exasperation. If Chappu planned to marry her, didn't he ever confide in his brother? I tilted my head in thought as I watched them go but couldn't find any answers.

"Guess we've got to head out too." Now it was Tidus who pressed a hand to my shoulder and started pushing me out of the door. I couldn't even argue with him as we made it to our rooms to grab our weaponry before checking in with Rin. Being a proprietor of any and all of the Al Bhed inns located throughout Spira, he gave us a lovely discount for helping out with fighting the Guado at Home and keeping the peace on the airship. He gave us a few words of encouragement before moving to another part of the ship and out of our way.

By the time we reached the top deck and breathed in the fresh air, everyone was assembled and more than willing to fight for our summoner. It took us ten minutes for Cid to pull up closer to Bevelle, close enough that Evrae became aware of our presence and everyone got into their battle positions. As we were all ready to strike, Cid's voice rang from the intercom and onto the deck to us. "All right. I've got some photon blasters here that can blast that thing from here to kingdom come! But, you're all gonna have to tell me when to move."

"Roger that!" Rikku piped up.

"I'll help with the commands!" Tidus shouted.

Right after those words were uttered, it was go time.

Key of Al Bhed phrases:

(1)Cute. Haven't seen many like you before.
(2)Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself.
(3)Can't you see we're having fun? Your friend is a big girl; why not leave her with me?
(4)I wouldn't even leave Brother with you. Hands off of her.
(5)Good choice.