A/N: Even evil ophthalmic optics exams can't keep me from writing! Wha-ha-ha! Ok seriously...thanks to those of you who took the time to review!!! Means a lot to me!!
The two sated women entered the lobby to see the beginning of the worst fight the group had up to date. Auron, far from the gentle lover she held in her arms the night before, stood over Tidus, a murderous look in his eyes. Blind with rage, he had backed Tidus into a corner and was yelling at him at the top of his lungs. This loss of control was proof to Moira and the others how out of hand this situation could become.
"How dare you speak to her like that!? And how dare you make her think she's a danger to anyone!?" Auron thundered at the intimidated boy.
"I was only concerned for Yuna!" Tidus replied, his voice breaking with fear. Auron was not a man you messed with.
"Has Yuna gotten injured since Moira joined us?"
"Well, no..."Tidus began.
"Then what on Yevon's world would make you think that she would! What do you think would happen?"
"Well," Tidus said opening and closing his mouth like a fish gasping for air, "you saw the tree." Auron paused, remembering the vicious look in Moira's eyes before she annihilated the small tree and thought back to the dream he had. It was true, at that moment she did look dangerous, but he knew in his heart that she was not. He glared at Tidus again and said with deadly force,
"You will forget this stupid idea of separating us from her. And you will apologize to her, right now!" He looked across the room seeing that she had entered, and walked over to her. He stood beside her and stared at Tidus. The young blonde did not hesitate, but walked over to Moira and in front of the whole group made an elaborate bow to her.
"Moira, I'm sorry. Please forgive me my arrogance." Moira looked at the top of Tidus' head as he had not dared to look at her, as if she was some kind of dread queen. She felt a short rush of power as she glanced down at him, then over at Auron who stood by her like he was her guardian, not Yuna's. She could see that Tidus was very embarrassed and wanted to end the encounter quickly. Placing a hand on his shoulder Moira said,
"Tidus, I know you only have Yuna's needs at heart and I admire that." Tidus looked up at her as she continued. "I hope you can understand my reasons for staying, and who knows, I might prove myself useful."
"Well, you are getting better with your fighting skills, and we can always use another good sword on this team," Tidus offered.
"Ya! Didn't you see her take out that ogre! She was amazing, ya!" Wakka called out.
"Thank you," she said blushing a little. "And one day I might even be able to heal someone without half killing them in the process!" Tidus gave a hearty laugh and said that he hoped that day would come soon. He led the rest of the party outside leaving Auron and Moira alone in the lobby. She turned to him, delighting in his closeness and placed a small kiss on his cheek.
"Do you feel better now?" she asked.
"Not really."
"What would make you feel better?" Moira asked with a wink.
"Cutting him to pieces," Auron said simply.
"That won't help."
"It might," Auron countered weakly. She sighed and kissed him once more before walking outside to join the others.
The crossing of the second part of the Thunder Plains was much quicker. Rikku was too distracted by the argument to notice the storms. Just to be safe, Kimahri walked close behind her. Rikku interrogated Moira as to what the argument centered around, astonished about the reasons.
"You mean to say he ordered you to leave?"
"Well, not ordered, more like strongly suggested," Moira replied.
"But he said that you were distracting Auron," Rikku said in a conspirator's whisper as the swordsman in question was just a few feet in front of them.
"Yes he did. But now he's been set straight and everyone is fine," Moira said sounding cheerful but inwardly unsure. Tidus had apologized but she couldn't be sure if it was owing to the fact that he actually was sorry or if he was just terrified of Auron. She needed to change the subject and looking down at the girl she couldn't help but notice a large, angry red scratch running down the girl's throat, disappearing into her top.
"I think you could use this," she whispered, pulling the blue vial of Al Bhed potion that Rikku had given her the night before. Moira pointed discreetly at the girl's throat.
"You didn't need it?" Rikku said taking the vial.
"No."
"No marks?"
"None that I want healed, but they are there – well earned and well hidden."
"Well done!" Rikku said as she spread the blue liquid on her own marks. Moira watched astonished as they disappeared almost instantly.
Before long, the group reached Guadosalam. Moira was speechless at the sight; it was a city carved out of the center of a dense forest. All the houses and shops seemed to be made of tree roots and there was a comforting earthy scent everywhere. She marvelled at the grace and strange beauty of the Guado people themselves. They seemed to glide wherever they went in a natural calm state. She was absolutely enchanted by the beauty and whimsy all around her and she turned to gage the rest of the group's reaction to the city but only met Auron's troubled stare. She smiled at him but noticed him give a wince of pain. She was about to ask him what troubled him when she was interrupted by the same young Guado who had bid them come. He informed them, after appropriate scraping and bowing to Yuna that Seymour had not yet returned to Guadosalam but was expected the next day. He saw to it that there were rooms arranged at the inn and offered to conduct a tour of their most popular attraction; the Farplane.
At the entrance to the Farplane, Auron stopped dead in his tracks and doubled over, with a groan of pain. Moira rushed to him to see if she could help him, but he held her off, saying he would return to the inn to rest. Rikku, who had made it clear she was never going to enter the Farplane, told Moira she would take care of him. The two left and Moira noticed that strangely enough Auron's strength seemed to return to him the further away from the gateway he got. By the time they turned the corner he was no longer leaning on the Al Bhed girl for support and was walking tall once more. She was puzzled by this but she was distracted by the young Guado man who was ready to lead them all inside. She watched as the rest of the group calmly walked through the shining curtain of light that served as the gateway between dimensions. She slowly walked up the stairs to the curtain of light and very gingerly reached out her hand to touch it. She felt the exact same cooling sensation on her skin as she did just before Auron pulled her into his world. She gasped, gulped and strode forward; wondering if she would land back in her own world or if she would stay in Spira but be separated from Auron and the rest forever. When she emerged on the other side she was relieved to see Wakka, Lulu and the others standing on a huge platform that seemingly had no support. The platform was suspended in mid air, surrounded by stars, comets and floating chunks of earth. Pyreflies were everywhere, darting here and there and Moira watched as Wakka stood near the edge of the platform and closed his eyes for a moment. She gasped as she watched the figure of a young man appear in the air before him surrounded by a large group of pyreflies. She quickly realized that the pyreflies were not just flying around the spectre, the spectre was made of pyreflies. She heard Wakka talking to the image, telling it about the pilgrimage and what he had been up to. She heard him call the image Chappu and suddenly realized he was speaking to his dead brother. Moira looked at the others who were all speaking to or looking at images of their own. Lulu was speaking to a young woman and telling her how much further she had to go. Tidus was regarding a woman who Moira assumed was his mother and Yuna was gazing at a happy couple. Moira recognized the man from the statue she had seen in Requiem Temple. She was speaking to her parents. She wasn't sure what would happen if she ventured further onto the platform but curiosity got the better of her. She walked as close to the edge as she dared and closed her eyes. She now understood that the pyreflies reacted to the memories of a lost loved one and created an image of them for you. But Moira couldn't settle on one person to speak to so she opened her eyes. She gasped when she saw the pyreflies create a very faint image of Auron in front of her, but before she could guess the reason behind it, they scrambled and reformed into the image of her best friend who had been senselessly killed in a car crash two years ago. She felt a tear escape as she looked at the smiling image of her friend.
"Shellie," she whispered. "I miss you so much! If you could only see what I'm doing now! You wouldn't believe it!" Memories of her friend came to the surface and she felt herself laughing at some of them and retelling the stories to the image in front of her. She turned around to see if the others were there, but they had all gone. She looked back to where the image of her friend had been but it had disappeared too. She ran to the gateway and breathed a sigh of relief when she passed through; she had been convinced that she wouldn't be able to get back. Wakka was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs and she ran up to him, gushing all about what she had seen and felt while in the Farplane. He laughed and said it was like that for him the first time around.
"Now, let's get you to the inn before I get killed, ya?" he said.
"Who's going to kill you? Is it Lulu?"
"No way, Lu wouldn't kill me, just kick me outta bed! Auron on the other hand would kill me for keeping you from him, ya?" he said leading her down the path back into the city. Moira stopped and said,
"What do you mean?"
"Auron gets what Auron wants," Wakka said, tugging her along. Moira walked behind stunned. She knew how he felt about her but she had no idea that the others were privy to that knowledge too. They returned to the inn to find Auron and the rest waiting for them. They ate a hearty dinner and sat around talking far into the night and eventually they all said goodnight. In front of the group, Auron took Moira by the hand and led her to their room.
She wanted to ask him why the Farplane caused him so much pain but the first syllable of her question was stopped by a fervent kiss from the swordsman. She sighed against his mouth, relieved that their days of fighting were behind them. She let him lead her to the bed and quickly remove her dress without ceremony. She automatically returned the favour and for a few moments the lovers just held each other, skin to skin. She pushed the memory of Auron's image in the Farplane to the back of her mind and concentrated on the task in hand, literally. She had been absently running her hands over his body and as his fingers found her wetness, she had gripped his penis and began to stroke it. They both sighed their mutual pleasure and Auron led her to the bed, laying her down gently. He immediately took control of the situation, grabbing both her hands at the wrists and holding them above her head. This gave him free access to her breasts which he immediately began to suckle and caress. She sighed his name again and worked her hands free so she could hold his head to her. She needed to feel that he was real, not some ghost image she had conjured in her loneliness. His needs were further ahead of hers and without ceremony Auron entered her with an almost violent thrust. Moira was shaken out of her thoughts with a loud moan and she wrapped her legs around his waist pulling him in further. Auron whispered her name over and over as he reached his climax and she shouted out his name as she came, shuddering and quaking. Looking down at her, glowing with satisfaction Auron felt completely happy for the first time in years and leaned in close to her ear. He whispered the words that she had longed to hear from a man, "I love you, my Moira." She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, never wanting to let him go. The two simply held each other, absently stroking and kissing until drowsiness came over them. Moira slipped into a deep contented sleep. Shortly before dawn she rolled over to cuddle into Auron but found the bed was empty. She sat up, fearing it had all been a dream but was relieved to see him sitting in a chair across from her.
"What are you doing over there?" she asked.
"Watching you sleep."
"Come here," she called holding her arms out to him. He took her up on her invitation, slipping back into the bed with her. They kissed slowly, a peaceful meeting of lips and tongues until Moira increased the intensity. She felt Auron grown hard again and smiled at him as she positioned herself between his thighs where she took matters into her own hands, and mouth for that matter. He sighed and groaned as she ran her wet tongue up and down his length, drawing him in for a quick suck before all too gently running the tip of her tongue around the head. A small drop of milky fluid appeared and Moira lapped this up savouring his flavour. With a wicked smile she straddled his thighs and paused, hovering just inches over his erection. He made and insistent thrust upwards with his hips but she dodged his attack. He grunted his frustration and she leaned in to place a teasing kiss on his lips. Quick as lightning he grabbed the back of her neck in a firm grip and pulled her back in for a deep satisfying kiss. She moaned his name and momentarily forgot her teasing, wanting only to make him happy. He allowed her to sit up and once again thrust upward with his hips, wrapping his large hands around her waist. Moira slowly raised herself over him and allowed just the tip of his member entrance. Auron stopped what he was doing to concentrate on this new torture. He tried to move further inside of her but she withdrew and made a long, slow production of re-positioning herself. She "missed" several times causing the head of his shaft to rub along her inner folds, causing them both to moan. He called her several names as she continued the torture and she smiled at each one. She had positioned herself just so again and gave him a short squeeze.
"I could stay like this for hours," she drawled, giving him another quick squeeze, relishing this new power she had over him. He gasped and grunted,
"I can't!"
"Oh, Auron, Auron, Auron," she sighed, contracting her entrance with each word.
"Moira!" he gasped.
"Say it!" she ordered, shocked at her new bravado. He hissed his response, so close to losing control.
"Moira, please!" He groaned the last word and she finally obliged sliding herself down his length until she had taken him right up to the hilt. He immediately started to thrust, hard, and she rode him like it would be the last time she ever saw him. They soon found a perfect rhythm and Auron called out her name as he came, shaking and quaking in his lust. Moira continued to ride him and reached out her hand to take his and placed it between her legs. With rough yet skilled fingers, Auron quickly brought her a profoundly intense orgasm and she collapsed upon him, gasping for breath. They fell asleep almost at once, both exhausted.
Lord Seymour summoned the party to his mansion early the next morning. While waiting for him in the front hall, Moira tried to tell Auron about what she had seen while in the Farplane.
"I saw something strange while I was in there," she began.
"It was merely the pyreflies reacting to your thoughts," Auron replied. "It's not real."
"I know that, but what if I saw someone who didn't belong there? Someone who I know isn't dead," she asked, her voice trembling.
"Like who? Someone from your world?" Auron asked, concern showing in his eye.
"No, not from my world," she said. She was prevented from finishing her statement by the arrival of Seymour. He was six feet tall dressed in elaborate robes and he had the same gravity defying hair that all the Guados seemed to possess. But Moira could see there was something different about him. He was more human looking than the other Guado people. His robe was open at the front showing part of his hard muscular chest and Moira could see there was none of the soft hair that the other Guados were covered in, but there were strange elaborate tattoos which reminded Moira of Celtic knot work. She also noticed his eyes were a cold metallic blue that pierced her to her soul when he looked at her. There was nothing human about them, more animal, almost feline. When he spoke his voice was surprisingly soft and smooth for someone of his size. He welcomed them warmly to his city and begged them to take refreshment in the next room until he could return. They followed him into a large hall where there was a huge meal laid out on a table in the center. Rikku, Wakka and Tidus tucked in right away and began eating with gusto. Lulu sighed watching Wakka stuff his face and Yuna just giggled. Moira was hungry too, but something in the Guado's eyes gave her a distinct mistrust. She and Auron stood off to the side not happy about being made to wait. To pass the time, Moira played around with a tiny fire spell and found that she could create a small ball of flame in the palm of her hand, change it to ice and to a drop of water that held its shape and did not flow away. She tried to create a small bolt of lightning but she became distracted by Auron's discomfort at waiting and the shock of it caused her to gasp sharply. She had succeeded in giving herself a small burn in the palm of her hand which she showed to Auron, pouting a little. He chuckled softly, a sound she loved to hear and held her hand. When he let it go she noticed that the burn was gone, he had healed her with a simple touch!
"You're getting better at that," Moira remarked.
"I figure with you around I need to be a good healer," Auron said with a smile.
"You'll pay for that!" Moira hissed. "Tonight!"
"I look forward to it," Auron replied calmly. At that moment, Seymour returned and sparing no courtesy for the rest of the group asked to speak to Yuna in private. Yuna agreed but only after seeking the reassurance of Tidus. She followed Seymour into another room and the rest fell back into waiting. Moira felt another prickle of distrust and whispered to Auron,
"I don't what he wants with Yuna but I don't trust him."
"Neither do I, Moira."
"What's taking them so long?" Rikku whined from across the room. "There's nothing to do!" She was prevented from whining further when she was hit in the face by a large water droplet. Moira had been playing around with magic again and launched the water bomb without thinking. Rikku squealed and looked around for the nearest thing to throw back at her, unfortunately the only thing she could find was an apple which missed its mark and hit the wall behind Moira. A large grinding noise was heard and they all gasped as a secret door appeared in the wall and swung open revealing a long dark tunnel. The curiosity about the hidden room made them all forget their impromptu food fight. Auron peered into the darkness then barked out an order for a torch. Wakka brought one on the double and the group ventured into the dark tunnel. Tidus stayed behind to wait for Yuna.
The tunnel ended in a large room, deep underground that was both bare and cold. There was a single table in the center and on it was a blue sphere surrounded by a gold ring. Auron touched the sphere and a small holographic Guado man was seen standing on the top of the sphere. It spoke,
"If you are watching this sphere then I have gone to the Farplane. But I fear that I have not reached my final rest by any cause that is natural. I fear my son, Seymour. I fear the look in his eyes and his thirst for power. It is he that has killed me, you can be sure of that; I have overheard his plans to poison me and take over the rule of the Guado."
"It's Lord Jyscal!" Wakka whispered.
"Yes, and it seems he had prior knowledge of his fate," Auron muttered darkly. He had respected Lord Jyscal as both a fair ruler and a strong leader. "Seymour!"
The sphere continued,
"My son will not stop at ruling the Guado nation. He wants control over all Spira, at any cost, however high or dangerous. Stop him. Do not let me have died in vain, I beg of you." The image made the same elaborate prayer/bow that Moira had seem performed all over Spira. Then, with a flash it disappeared.
"That sphere appeared at the edge of the Farplane," a voice said from behind them. They turned to see the young messenger standing behind them. "This is why you have been brought here. I needed to show this sphere to someone who could help. Lord Seymour's need to see Lady Yuna was the perfect coincidence."
"Who has seen this sphere?" Auron asked.
"No one outside this room, not even Lord Seymour."
"But what can we do?" Rikku asked. The group stood in stunned silence and contemplated the situation they were in, and then with a collective gasp they realized they had left Yuna in Seymour's clutches. They rushed back into the room they had been waiting in just in time to see Seymour and Yuna returning. Yuna looked pale and Seymour looked smug.
"You will think on what I have asked you?" Seymour practically purred at her.
"Yes," Yuna replied in a tiny voice. Moira could see the confusion that clouded her features. Seymour bowed to them all, begged them to take their time and make themselves comfortable in his city and left them.
"Yunie? What did he want?" Rikku asked concerned.
"He asked me an important question," Yuna whispered shivering a little. Tidus wrapped a strong arm around her and led her to a chair. Once she was seated, Yuna looked at everyone around her and said,
"He asked me to marry him." There was a collective gasp and a growl from Kimahri. Ronso and Guado were not on the best terms and Kimahri could sense some ulterior motive in this request.
"You said no, right?" Tidus asked.
"I gave him no answer," Yuna said. "I told him he needed to let me think about it."
"Marriage? What possible reason could he have for interrupting your pilgrimage for that?" Moira asked out loud. "Have you ever met him before?"
"No."
"Then what the hell is he thinking? It's not as if there is a great political alliance to be made here right? What reason could he have for wanting to marry you?"
"I'm not sure. He did say he wanted to be with me at the end of my pilgrimage. He wanted to see me gain the final Aeon."
"But Yunie, what are you going to tell him?" Rikku asked.
"I don't know," she sighed. "I can't say yes, but there's something preventing me from saying no."
"But you're gonna say no, right?" Tidus asked, a little afraid of what the answer might be.
"I might. But I need to know why he asked and until I do, I cannot give him an answer." They were escorted out of the mansion by a servant and they returned to the inn. It was too late to travel onwards so they decided to stay one more night.
Moira walked behind the rest of the group trying to fathom why Seymour had brought them all there, far from the pilgrimage path to make such an unusual request. She tried to find an answer in her lose grip of Spiran politics but found she could not. All she knew was she didn't trust his motives and neither did Auron. Moira was just about to enter the inn's door when strong hands grabbed her and a long fingered hand clamped itself over her mouth before she could cry out. She had been far behind the rest and none of them saw her being abducted. A blindfold was wrapped around her eyes and she felt her arms being tied together. She struggled as much as she could and screamed for Auron from behind the gag that replaced the furry Guado hand. She felt her captors tighten their grip on her arms and legs and she felt it harder to struggle as the ropes were wound tighter and tighter. She heard one voice hiss,
"Tighter! You have no idea how strong her magic is!" She felt herself being carried a long distance and could hear the soft sound of crystal leaves brushing together. They had taken her out of Guadosalam and back into the Macalania Woods. She was tossed roughly into a cart and she heard the driver yell to the creature pulling the vehicle to get moving. She was jostled about the cart for what seemed like hours and her initial fear had turned to rage. The cart hit a large bump in the road and she was tossed unceremoniously against the leg of one of her captors, loosening her blindfold. She peered around carefully and saw there was one man driving the cart which was being pulled along by a large yellow bird; she decided she would marvel at that later. There were two men in the back of the cart with her, but they were concentrating on the road behind them, making sure they were not being followed. Moira realized she needed to get free of her bonds before she made her escape and concentrated on creating a fire spell to burn through the ropes. She knew she ran the risk of hurting herself in the process but it was the best idea she could come up with at the moment and she was counting on her own control of the spell to keep her from being burnt. Somehow she knew she would not be. Details like what she would do when free would have to be sorted out later. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her anger and fear. Unfortunately, she let too many worries about not seeing Auron again get in the way and this new rage pushed her spell over the edge. What she intended to be a small ball of flame to burn through the ropes evolved into a huge fireball that engulfed not only herself but one of the Guado on in the back of the cart. The burning man screamed and launched himself out of the cart rolling himself across the ground, trying desperately to extinguish the flames. Moira pulled the burnt ropes off her wrists, amazed that she was not hurt by the flames and stood up, trying to decide the best moment to jump out of the cart. In her haste to escape, she forgot the second Guado sitting in the back of the cart. He had escaped the fire ball with only a minor singe or two and was ready to take Moira down. She had her back to him and never saw him raise the club over his head but she did hear him grunt as he brought it down and turned towards him just in time to see him hit her on the head. She fell sideways into the cart, and the last thing she saw before passing out was the glare of the Guado who had struck her. The rest was darkness.