AN: Wow! I have a few thank you's to write! I have a love/hate relationship with writing, and you guys are cures for writers block :D

Sephchipmunk - Thanks for following! Followers keep me writing!:)

Badewanne13 - Following AND favouriting?! I am honoured! I have big plans for this story!

CupofteaforAliceandHatter - Thank you for your reviews, reviews motivate me to keep going. And keep going, I shall!

As always I love to hear what people think about how it's going so far, whats your favourite moment? Who's your favourite character? Story too fast? Too slow? Too mushy? Not sexy enough?!(all in due time my friends.)

I've started replaying ffviii so who knows, I may get a fanfic started for that too in time!

Chapter 9

Bevelle had no praetor, no leader and had to contend with the torn anger from those in Spira who felt betrayed and abused by Yevon's role in the cycle of Sin. And with no one to defend them, speculation and conspiracy theory ruled over her citizens. All loyal and faithful guards had been dispatched to protect the peace, all entrances and exits to the Via Purifico had been abandoned in favour of protecting family and friend. This suited Auron and Rikku who had reached Bevelle's underground and were making their way to the vast cavern that had been Vegnagun's resting place for a thousand years.

Once Rikku had picked the locks into the gaol they proceeded through to the chamber of the Fayth. The chamber itself felt hollow and empty. There was no song, and the fayth had long since departed this place. They paused for a moment to silently pay their respects before jumping down into another labrynth of lime coloured corridors, Rikku taking point this time. She was thankful to be walking on familiar ground, and was eager to show Auron what she was really capable of. They jogged quickly through the maze, this one as twisted and elusive as Bevelle and her many secrets.

Rikku's mind was on their interaction in the sewers. Although the physical bond between them had been broken and their hands were resting on their weapons, she felt as though the connection remained. She knew Auron felt the same as she occasionally caught him glancing at her.

He couldn't help it. She was running in front of him, but he still felt the residual warmth from where her arm had laced in around his waist, from where her forehead had rested on his chest. It scared him. Nothing had ever been able to distract him from a mission at hand, but there she was, creeping into his field of vision. Soon he'd have to leave her for a short time, and eventually for good.

He caught her eye once again and felt the cracks in his resolve widen.


"It's just up ahead..." Rikku pointed to a large set of ancient machina doors. Her pace slowed as they approached.

"Well, looks like the coast is clear...no one knows you're here."

"That is...thanks to you, Rikku." He said, sincerely. She fiddled with one of her braids awkwardly, her face heating at the compliment.

"Well...you too Auron, I thought I was gonna die down there in the Via... You got me out." Now it was Auron's turn to shuffle awkwardly. As the silence between them became too long to stand, Auron cleared his throat loudly. Rikku looked up at him and giggled.

"You know, you're such a stiff, Auron." she said, teasing him.

"Jecht used to say the same thing..."

"And Tidus..." She said, winking up at him.

"Maybe they had a point." He said, his expression darkening.

"Yeah but...I think you're stiffness is something that makes you a great Guardian. It protects everyone around you, keeps us focused, keeps us going. It's solid..."

Auron actually smiled down at her and Rikku felt she had just witnessed the discovery of something rare and beautiful. He looked at the young woman in front of him. That was what made Rikku special. Despite her naive charisma and childish flair, she could dissect a person, pick apart everything that made them who they are and put them back together again just like the biggest of machina.

The far off sound of running boots pulled his attention away from her.

"Can you get us in?" he said, watching the corner.

As if she had read his mind, the door slid open.

"Yep, lets go" She whispered urgently before grabbing his robe and pulling him in so she could lock the door. Once the door had closed again she ran to the LED lock and pounded in a code. A long high pitched siren went off and the LED screen turned red. She turned to him, her face registering calm control.

"I've locked the door, We'll have a few minutes warning before someone tries to get in. If they see me it's okay, I'm with the Gullwings, I'll buy you some time."

Auron nodded and quickly jogged down the suspended walkway. He couldn't deny he admired Bevelle's tenacity for attempting to hide such an immense object of power. He paused to take in the vastness of the cavern that had been Vegnagun's home for a thousand years. The weapon clearly had some amount of intelligent control, to be able to rip itself free from it's bond and create a hole big enough in the earth to reach the Farplane.

The Farplane.

Auron wondered if he would ever understand Spira, even if he walked the earth for another thousand years. How was it that even after the death of his body he was able to stand here physically on the plane of the living, feel anger, hunger, pain and even... He watched Rikku jog down the walkway toward him. No, He would not consider that, he could only consider what needed to be done to save the people of Spira.

"Whatcha think?" She asked politely, watching his good eye scan the hole Vegnagun had left in his wake.

"Not as big as Sin, eh?"

"Not as big, possibly not as powerful, but definitely more dangerous."

Rikku's eyes widened. "You have got to be kidding..."

"Sin was the momentum in a never ending cycle of death and rebirth that shackled Spira to Yu Yevon's will."

Rikku nodded, understanding him.

"Vegnagun however, is a weapon of immense power. And it is controlled by an echo of a spirit who has had one thousand years to boil down and concentrate his anger and regret into one sole purpose: to destroy."

Rikku blinked, taking in everything he said.

"There can be no cycle of rebirth after complete destruction. " He warned her, his eyes locked on her face.

Suddenly she felt her eyes water, taking her completely by surprise. Auron stepped towards her. "Do not be afraid, Rikku." he told her.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"That's the second time you've told me that today, Auron. Who do you think I am? ...Wakka?!"

Auron laughed.

"No, I think you're Rikku."

"Well, Rikku isn't afraid" She said haughtily.

"Not even of thunder?"

"Not anymore!" She stamped her foot and planted her hands on her hips. Auron turned his head to regard the hole again, but she swore she saw a smile cross his face. She raised her hands to an imaginary audience.

"But the real thing we all want to know is- what's Sir Auron afraid of?" she teased at him, a long slender finger prodding his chest, demanding his attention. He looked down at her hand and followed the lines of her arm up to her shoulder and along her chin, taking in the pale honey colour of her desert tan. Rikku's powerful stance faltered under the intensity of his gaze and she shivered as she realised his focus was resting on her mouth. He slid her hand away from his torso and moved forward, closing the gap between them.

An alarm rang out, it's distant yell strong enough to pierce through the air that hung between them. Auron looked at the light flashing angrily above them, internally relieved something had been able to stop him.

"Someone's coming." He snarled at the door before turning on his heels and preparing to jump.

"Wait! Auron!" Two days hadn't been enough, Rikku wanted more time. "Can't I come with you?"

He glared at her. "Who will protect Yuna?"

"Yunie's all grown up!"

"Rikku, you are her guardian."

"But so are you!"

"Enough!" He barked at her, frustrated. Rikku found herself blinking back tears. Auron took a breath, quelling himself as he knew they had just seconds before he was discovered. He reached out to take her hand. Rikku came to him and snaked her arms in under his robes.

"I'm sorry, you're right." She mumbled into his robes. Auron sighed.

"I will see you again." He said down to her, and turned, stepping off the edge of the platform. She didn't even hear him hit the ground as ten armed soldiers burst into the room, gun barrels pointed directly at her.


"It's okay, It's just me!" She said weakly, trying to hide the emotion in her voice. "Don't shoot!"

Someone was shuffling through to the front of the line.

"Rikku?!"

"..Yunie?! What are you doing here?!"

"What are you doing here Rikku? We heard two people had broken into the Bevelle underground and Issaru called the Gullwings to help out" Rikku barely heard the urgency in her cousins voice as she ran at her down the suspended walkway and embraced her. It had been only two days, but she felt like she had last seen Yuna in another life. Paine observed the scene with interest, her sword hanging from her gloved hand. Yuna held her cousin at arms length.

"Rikku, what happened to you..?" Her concerned bi-coloured eyes flicked over her cousin, taking in the dirt that was encrusted on her skin and hair, the bruises from battles with fiends and the bags under her pale eyes. Rikku could barely stand from exhaustion, she had been trapped in a blizzard, passed out, gotten herself lost in a hellish underground labyrinth, barely eaten, barely slept and felt herself come ragged at the seams from intense emotion.

"Ma'am, are we to put the Lady Rikku under arrest?" One of the guards piped up, clearly confused by the scene. Paine turned her crimson eyes on them.

"Rikku is not the intruder, lower your weapons, it's a false alarm." She glared at them. The guards relaxed and filed out the room, pleased they could return to their posts. Yuna was trying to get information from her cousin.

"Why are you here? We thought you were on a date! Who did this to you?! You look sick! Are you here alone?!" Rikku could barely find a space in the conversation to answer and she looked to Paine for help.

"Yuna, Rikku needs rest, we need to get her back to the Celsius." Yuna opened her mouth in protest. "We'll find out more once she's had a chance to recover."

"You're right..." She conceded and took in Rikku once more before turning to call Brother on the intercom. Rikku mouthed a quiet 'thank you' to her friend as she hugged herself. She looked at the spot where Auron had stood moments before and sagged under the weight of the time they had shared. The light of the remote teleporter swirled around her and her friends, preparing them for transport. But before being cast up to the ship Rikku pulled from her pocket the tiny golden sphere Auron had used to communicate with her and squeezed it in the hand he had held.