Ok, so I made Aniki more relaxed then he is in the game. Hey, I needed someone in the family who was sane! If you don't like it, well I might consider changing it, but don't hold your breath. Also, this time you get to find out how Auron gets into Rikku's room all the time. After all, how does he do that little vanishing act anyway? Now for the chapter dedication. This one goes out to...losttoxichope! Hope you get the answers you were looking for. If not, well then I guess you'll just have to stick around longer.

Week 7/ part 2

"Girl, don't just stand there. Get your stuff and let's go!" Cid shouted at Rikku ignoring the question she had just asked him.

"I'm sorry, pops. But I don't want to leave now. There is still so much here that I want to finish."

"Rikku, you are finished. You did more then you were supposed to. Now go get your stuff!" His face was turning red from shouting so much, but Cid didn't care. He needed to do something to protect his daughter from the man who he felt was unworthy of her.

Aniki reached out and held her hand. "Lusa, Rikku. E'mm ramb oui bylg." (Come, Rikku. I'll help you pack.)

Rikku broke free from his grasp. "No! I'm not going. I'm staying here like I said I would!" She ran up the stairs and to her room after glaring at her father. They all heard the slamming of her door seconds later.

Wakka had stood off to the side silent until now. "Sorry if I seem confused, ya. But what's all this about?"

Cid turned to him next. His eyes blazed with anger and hatred. "What's this about? What's this about? I'll tell you what!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a well worn slip of paper. "Have a look at this, will ya." He shoved the paper at Wakka so he could see for himself.

He took it weary of just what was inside. His jaw dropped at what he read. It was only a single sentence, but now he understood why Cid was so upset. "That's bad, ya?"

Lulu entered through the door under the stairs. She had been in the servant's dining room when she heard a door slam. "Sir Cid. What do we owe the honor of this visit?" She greeted him causally. Her expression turned from one of curiousness to confusion at Wakka behind the man she had just addressed. "Do I want to know what is going on here?" She used one finger to indicate the actions taking place.

"Do you know what your master has done?" Cid snapped at her. She had to shake her head in reply.

"Take a look at this, Lu." Wakka handed the letter over giving her a chance to understand.

"I see. Very well then. I'll go see what I can do. If you will excuse me." She curtsied before heading up the stairs.

"And just what am I supposed to do now?" Cid asked annoyed.

"Well, uh. Are you hungry? I'm sure you had a long trip, yeah?"

"Let's eat, vydran. You need the time to calm down." Aniki agreed as he led Cid from the room following Wakka.

--

Rikku lay on her bed crying. The wound on her hand a long forgotten pain. Her heart hurt much worse. Sobs racked her body as she tried to understand why her father would take her home so suddenly. She felt as a hand rested on her back and began to rub small circles to calm her down. Lifting her head she looked to see who was there.

"I'm sorry." He said.

Rikku twisted her body before sitting up. She used the back of her uninjured hand to rub the tears from her eyes. "What do you have to be sorry about?"

He tried to smile, but his lips frowned instead. He moved away from her bed and faced away from her.

Rikku used one hand to reach out to him. She noticed it was covered in blood and still bleeding. She gasped before pulling it back and cradling it close to herself. Looking around, the bed under her was also covered in blood stains.

The man turned when he heard her gasp, and frowned even more when he saw her sitting surrounded by her blood. Roughly he seized the hand she was clutching to inspect it. "Why did you let this go?" He snapped at her.

Rikku began crying even more. She had not meant to make him angry too. Seemed like today was the day she was going to make everyone mad.

His heart reached out to her seeing her so upset. He had been worried when he saw her hand, the gash still releasing her life giving substance.

"I apologize. I did not mean what I said." Using the hand he still held onto, he pulled her into his lap. "Forgive me. I am not used to talking with people."

"I know, it's okay." Unable to say more, Rikku buried her head into his chest.

A knock on her door interrupted the moment. Reluctantly, he let her go. "Answer that. It will be Lulu. She has come to check up on you."

She stood up and glanced at him about to ask how he knew who it was. Instead he placed one finger on her lips before guiding her to the door.

Making her way over, she glanced back one last time at him only to find him gone. Her head dropped as she opened the door not surprised to see Lulu on the other side.

"Rikku, are you alright?" Lulu looked at her concern showing in her eyes. She reached one hand out and cupped Rikku's cheek. "No, of course you're not. How foolish of me." She glanced over the upset blond before a gasp left her lips. "Rikku, your hand. We better get that taken care of right away."

"I'm fine, Lulu. Really I am. Don't worry yourself about me."

Lulu looked at her skeptically. "Then we must at least get you cleaned up. You are covered in blood. What would your father think if he were to see that?"

Rikku dropped her voice a little as she tried to give an imitation of her father for Lulu's sake. "You can't fix anything without adding a little blood. It's what sets your work apart from someone else's."

Lulu rolled her eyes and scoffed before gently pushing Rikku back into the room and helping her clean up her hand and bed.

--

Wakka watched as Cid had trouble speaking now that his belly was full of wine. He was becoming increasingly more and more intoxicated. Cid slurred some more as spittle flew from his mouth when he spoke again.

"An' den I tol' my son, Anocky, dat we was cerming to git Rikky."

"Aniki and Rikku, vydran." His son sat next to him with what appeared to be a permanent blush on his face. He corrected his father's mix up of his children's names.

"Huh? Anocky and Rikky. Dat's what I sid!" He hiccuped before taking another sip from his glass. "Dis is some good sturff!" He yelled in Wakka's direction as he held the glass out for more.

"No, vydran. You have had enough. Please, do you have a room where my vydran can rest?"

"Sure, brudda. Come this way." Wakka stood from his chair and waited for Aniki to follow. He waited a moment before coming back to help him carry Cid upstairs. "Does he always get this drunk?"

"Only very rarely. And only when he is funneat." Wakka glanced at him confused before he translated. "Worried."

By this time Cid had passed out and the two men strained as they carried him. Aniki at his head, and Wakka at his feet. "Man, your father weights a lot, ya?"

Aniki nodded as they started up the stairs. Anything said now would take away from being able to get him upstairs. It would be a waste of breath. They made it up without problems. Wakka dropped Cid's feet to open the door. They carried him inside and lay him on the bed.

"I pity the headache he's gonna wake up with, ya?"

"He will be fine. Let him sleep it off. Where is Rikku's room? I would like to speak with her myself."

"Yeah, sure. This way. I think Lu should be in there with her." Wakka walked down the hall to the other side of the stairwell. He came to a set of double doors and knocked.

Aniki glanced around. He noticed this was the only room that had the particular difference of double doors. His brows creased together as he tried to figure out why. Before he had the chance to answer, Lulu answered the door.

"What is it, Wakka?" She asked kindly. After the night under the stars she had began to talk to him in a much nicer tone.

"Rikku's brother wanted to see her. Thought I would let him. That is, if she wants to, you know." One hand reached up and scratched the back of his head as the other settled on his hip.

Lulu smiled and opened the door further. "Of course. Come on in. We were just cleaning up."

Aniki saw Rikku sitting in a chair by the window with her hand held palm up. It was partially bandaged as Lulu had stopped to answer the door. A pile of blankets was thrown on the floor. Stains of blood covered spots on them. His eyes opened wide as he rushed passed Wakka to kneel next to his sister.

"Rikku! Fryd rybbahat du oui? Yna oui rind?" He grabbed her hand to have a closer look.

(Rikku, what happened to you? Are you hurt?)

She giggled lightly before answering. ""E's veha. E zicd lid socamv frah E fyc uidceta fungehk."

(I'm fine. I just cut myself when I was outside working.)

He frowned as he turned her hand over in his own. While Lulu did do a nice job of fixing it up, he knew he could have done better. Since she had waited so long to get it cleaned up, he was sure she would end up with a scar on the palm of her hand. Rikku pulled her hand back and finished the bandage that was started before he showed up.

"Vydran will not be happy." He said as he stood.

"Let me worry about pops. I used to cut myself all the time, remember? This is no different."

Aniki sighed before shaking his head. "If you say so, cecdan."

"Eh, Lu and I have things to take care of, so we're going to go. Feel free to look around the place if you want. Rikku can show you around."

"Thank you." Aniki nodded as Rikku grinned before they left. He turned to his sister. "Cu fryd huf?" (So what now?)

Rikku jumped from her seat feeling much better. Obviously she was either over or good at hiding whatever negative emotions she had before. Using her good hand, she took his and drug him from the room. "Come with me! I want to show you everything!"

They went outside first, Tidus was working there. He was busy, but did make time to wave to them as they passed. Yuna was outside as well. She was working on a new section of flowerbeds they hoped to have done for the next spring.

"Yunie, I want you to meet my brother. This is Aniki."

Yuna stood from the dirt and walked over to them. "It is very nice to meet you. Will you be staying with us for a while?"

In that instant, Aniki forgot how to speak. He stared at Yuna trying not to drool on the spot. He could only nod in response to anything she said. Rikku scowled before whacking his on the back of the head.

"Oww, fryd fyc dryd vun?" He asked as he rubbed the pain away.

(What was that for?)

"For being an idiot. Yunie has a boyfriend. She don't need another."

Yuna giggled as she watched them tease one another. It was endearing to watch siblings fight. It almost made her wish her mother was able to have another before she died. She excused herself to get back to work before they went off to look at more parts of the estate.

"And over here is my work shed. It's smaller then the one at home, but it has everything I need for here. Kimahri helped me build it. We had to tear down the old one before it fell."

"Kimahri? Who's that?" Aniki glanced around expecting another person to step out of nowhere.

"Oh that's right! You so have to meet him! He helps me with so much." She grabbed his hand again and brought him around the other side of the mansion. Kimahri was there moving logs so they could be cut for winter. Rikku shouted his name and waved to get his attention.

He set down the log in his hand and gave the Ronso version of a smile. "Rikku appear excited. Why so happy?"

"Kimahri, I want you to meet my brother. This is Aniki." She introduced him to the surprised man still standing aways back. "Pnudran, get over here! He won't hurt you. Kimahri may look big and nasty, but I assure you, he's as gentle as a baby chocobo."

"Umm, hi."

Kimahri nodded his head in reply. He looked up at the sky before addressing Rikku. "Little Rikku be careful tonight. Looks like a storm is coming."

Rikku shuttered at the thought. She forced a smile on her face nonetheless. "Don't worry. I'll be fine, I think. I have a plan to keep myself from getting scared this time."

Her brother scoffed. "You have always been scared of storms. I have yet to see anything that helps you feel less afraid."

Rikku grinned. She knew one thing that helped. He helped her over her fear when he was near.

--

Cid slept for the next five hours. By the time he woke up, it was too late to leave. The storm had started and even if they rode chocobos, they would still be soaked. As much as he hated to admit it, Cid was resigned to stay at Auron's for the night.

"Wakka showed him where everything was that he might need. And he seems to have calmed down since this afternoon. I wouldn't worry too much about him now." Lulu had explained to Rikku and Aniki about their father before dinner. The trio was sitting alone in the main dinning room, but Rikku felt out of place. She had gotten so used to eating with the rest of the servants that this did not feel right to her.

Cid, however, thought it was wonderful. He was eagerly shoving food into his mouth going on about how great it tasted. Aniki was doing the same but not as enthusiastically. As much as she wanted to, Rikku could not bring herself to do more them play with her food. She used her fork to push it around her plate only taking small bites once in a great while.

Cid stopped talking long enough to notice how distressed she appeared. "What is the matter with you? You look like a sand wolf that got separated from his mother."

Rikku lifted her eyes from her plate to look at him. She sighed as another crack of thunder sounded. Suppressing a shudder, she answered him."Sorry, pops. Guess I'm not that hungry." She pushed her plate away and slouched in her chair. "May I be excused? I'm going to go lay down in my room."

Cid looked back and forth between his children. Aniki shrugged indicating he didn't know what the problem was. Another crack of thunder sounded, closer then ever, and Rikku whimpered in fear. "Yeah, go ahead. I'll talk to you later." He picked his fork up once again and continued eating. It was too good to just let it go to waste.

Rikku stood from her chair and dashed from the room. She wanted to get somewhere that she felt safe. And lately that place was her room. She closed the door tightly behind her and huddled under the covers of her bed. The storm was getting progressively worse and she was starting to regret coming up here. More whimpers could be heard from her bed as she held back the tears that normally followed.

Giving up, she uncovered her head looking for a better spot to hide. With a glance to the window, she pulled all the covers with her from the bed and made her way over to the closet. Closing the door behind her helped to keep some of the sounds of the storm at bay. She cocooned herself in the covers and waited for sleep. But with the storm still raging, she was not able to.

As she sat in the dark closet, she could feel a cool gust of wind hit her face. "Wind? In a closet?" Uncovering herself, she did a little exploring. Her hands felt along the floor from where she felt the gusts coming from. Her fingertips could just make out the barest hint of a rail of some sort. As if a door had once been where the wall was. She followed the corner and could still feel cool air escaping from behind it.

She gasped before the explorer in her got a crazy idea. She wondered just what was behind the wall and where it led. The tips of her fingers fumbled with the edges in the dark before the wall began to slid back. As soon as it moved she brought her hands back to her chest. It was a secret passage! She stopped and pressed an ear against the door of the closet making sure no one would be coming anytime soon.

It was silent, and she smiled. Time to find out where this led. She wrapped one blanket over her shoulders to keep warm before moving the wall even farther. It moved without hardly a sound, so she knew it was something that was not forgotten.

When it was open completely, she reached one hand out and felt a stair. She looked up searching for any sign of light. There was a small crack shining through at the top. Holding the blanket tighter around herself, she began to climb.

--

Cid leaned back in his chair patting his belly. Dinner had been filling. He didn't know if he would be able to eat another bite for the next three days. "I will say this for the man, he does know how to treat guests." He gave a hearty laugh before calming back down.

A small burp escaped from Aniki before he could stop it. "I agree. I never had a dish like that before. I wonder what it was."

Shammi had been standing against the wall waiting for when she was needed next. Taking Aniki's question as just that, she answered. "It was called sautéed flan. It's one of Sir Auron's favorite dishes. The lady Rikku has also expressed how much she enjoys it as well"

"Well, I don't blame her!" He spoke out before pausing. He remembered Rikku sitting in her spot only a half hour ago playing with her food. If she enjoyed it so much, why hadn't she eaten? He had come to take her home after the note Auron had sent him, yet that was when she did not seem herself. She seemed withdrawn. At least to him. This was the first he had talked to her since showing up. Cid scratched his chin in thought. Perhaps she did not know of the feelings Auron held for her. That was a possibility.

He reached into his pocket and pulled the paper out once more. It was starting to rip from so much use, and folding. But the message was still the same. Auron had fallen in love with his daughter. The question the nagged at him, was how. If the man was never seen and never interacted with people, how could he love Rikku?

He was going to get his answers somehow. Auron was going to answer him whether he liked it or not.

--

"If you are finished sir, I can show you gentlemen to your rooms for the night" Vilucha had entered the dining room with instructions from Wakka to make the two Al Bhed feel as comfortable as possible.

Cid and his son looked up as she addressed them. They glanced out the window as rain pounded on the glass. "Sure. Why not? I'm ready to call it a night anyway. Not much else to do around here now."

"Very well. If you would follow me this way."

They stood from the chairs and went with her. She led them up the main stairs and showed Cid to the room he had occupied earlier. Before leaving she showed him where to find towels and such in case he were to want a shower. From there she showed Aniki his room, and did the same thing.

Bowing as she left, she bid him good night.

--

Auron could hear the small sounds of something moving. He set down the book he had been reading to listen closer. He wondered if he had even heard it at all when it was quiet for several minuets. Then just as he was about to pick his book up once more to continue reading, it sounded again. It was a shuffling sound coming from the next room.

The next room, it was where... He jumped from his seat and ran to make sure that the lock was in place. How had she found it? He gritted his teeth at how good the girl was at finding secrets. He heard more movement from the other side, then what sounded like something sliding along the other side of the wall. She had reached the top.

He had known from Braska's wife, that the Al Bhed were known for their inquisitive natures, but to find out something that was so well hidden was beyond him.

She was scratching now, trying to get a grip on an edge to open the doorway. It stopped and he could hear her let out a deep breath before saying something. "Dead end. Figures." She was moving away now, back down the stairs. Back to her room, he hoped. If he were to appear now, she would know how he got into her room and would know that what she thought was a dead end, was really something else. It looked as if he would not be able to use this entrance any more.

His head bowed, and he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Rikku. I am not the man you think me to be." A scream diverted his attention from his own failures to the secret passage.

--

Rikku had given up and scooted back down the stairs. She tried to be careful in the darkness as she moved. Since she did not remember how far she had climbed, she sat on her butt and allowed her feet to guide her. Thinking she had reached the bottom, Rikku stood up and took a step. She felt herself fall forward when there was nothing there to support her foot. Rikku let out a scream as she fell. Her hands reached out trying to grab hold of anything she could to stop her decent. It was useless, and her head hit the wall because her feet had twisted in her covers throwing her off balance and twisting her body.

She lay on the floor dazed as her eyes struggled to stay open. Soon she couldn't tell if they were open or not since she was unable to see anything. Her body felt like it was floating next, before she felt something soft under her. Unable to distinguish what was reality, she let herself go.

--

Yuna was the first to hear the scream and sat up in bed before throwing her feet over the side and into her slippers. She ran from the room and banged on doors as she hurried to Rikku's room. She knew it was Rikku just by the sound of the voice.

Several sleepy heads peeked out from the doors wondering what had gotten into her. Yuna never ran through the halls waking everyone up.

"Rikku's in trouble." She explained quickly before stopping in front of the double doors. "Rikku! Rikku, it's me. Open up!" She tried turning the nob, but it was locked. Her fists slammed against the wood again as she tried to get Rikku's attention.

Wakka placed one hand on her shoulder and gently moved her back as he pulled a set of keys out and inserted on into the lock. "Let me try, ya."

Cid and Aniki pushed their way to the front of the group and into the room as soon as the door was open. What greeted them all was much more surprising then any of them expected.

--

Another cliffy! Haha! You know, I'm starting to see the downside of typing so many chapters ahead. I have to reread the chapter I post just to know what you all are talking about! Anyone have any of that memory stuff around?