A/N: Well, here I am again. Aaannd, I'm sick again! Haha..I find it funny. I've been sick twice during this thing, and I'm usually pretty sick resistent. But, yeah, anyhoo, here is chapter eleven. Thank you all for the loverly reviews! And, I had such positive feed-back on my action, you will never hear me complain again on the subject. So, again, thanks!
Tad Al Bhed featured in this. Site is: albhed (.) netfirms (.) com. Make sure you leave out the www- Ha! I typed it in for reference, and was like, what the crap? The took it down! But, it's there as long as you exclude the www. Heh!
Disclaimer: Peoples, I don't own this game. Do you think I'm smart enough to create such a thing? ...Don't answer that.
Chapter 11: Dreams and A Stolen Kiss
xxxx
"What a tiresome day..."
Nodding in silent agreement, Rikku slid beneath the heavy covers of her bed. Reaching out, she clicked on her bed side lamp and turned to face her cousin. The Summoner looked exhausted. Though the young woman had been excluded from the battle with the giant bird, she had stayed up half the night healing her friends; and it drained a lot of her energy.
"I can't believe such a thing entered the city," the brunette continued, crossing the cool, stone flooring of her palace room and slowly lowering herself onto her off-white comforter. Folding her legs across the other, she placed her hands in her lap and fingered the edge of her blue night shirt. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help."
"You did help, Yunie," Rikku reassured, propping herself up on her elbow. "You healed my arm." Stretching out the said limb, she wriggled it about, proving that the painful gash on her shoulder was indeed healed.
Laying back in her bed, Yuna sighed up at the ceiling. "But I wish I could have gotten there in time. If only I hadn't dragged Tidus to the southern end of the desert to look for those beautiful wild flowers! Then he could have helped. You would have had one more ally."
Rikku waved off her cousin's concern. "It's all good, Yuna. We made it out alive. Barely," she added, a teasing glint in her emerald eyes.
Smiling, the betrothed woman slipped beneath the covers. The smile soon fell from her lips, however. "Rikku, things are getting much worse. And so very quickly. Not even a week has passed!"
Sighing, Rikku hoisted the cover up to her shoulders, the chill in the room prompting her to do so. "I know, Yunie, I know. What we're going to do about, I don't know. We have this to contend with, and the weddings..."
"I know. I hate the thought of postponing the weddings, but, we might have to do so."
Shaking her head, Rikku snuggled into her pillow. "No, we'll fix his before the weddings. We still have a week. We'll figure this out, Yunie. You'll have your wedding."
Following Rikku's lead, the Summoner buried her head into her own pillow, her eyelids falling over her bi-colored eyes. "Thank you, Rikku. That means a lot to me."
"Not a problem, Yuna." The Al Bhed smiled, reach out to the night stand seperating the two beds in the room and clicked off of the light, casting the room in darkness. With only the moonlight streaming into the room, she could only make out her cousin's form, yet she was sure that the Summoner was already asleep. The events of the day had drained everyone of their energy.
Turning to face the double doors at the far end of the room, Rikku closed her eyes. She was back home. Back at Home. Hot days, cool nights. Surrounded by her family and by her old friends. Yet instead of feeling peace, she felt restless. Fiends were everywhere. She could have died today. Her friends and family could have died. Auron could have died. The once peaceful world was once again cast into danger. And Rikku didn't like it.
Yet she could do nothing about it.
She had no leads. She had no clue what could have caused this. She had nothing. Auron seemed convinced that it was Zarinia, but Rikku was now sure that that was not so. The woman had been terrified today! Why would someone bring back something that frightened them in such a manner? But...
Could someone fake being so scared?
Surely not...Rikku reasoned silenty. It was too real. Zarinia had been clutching Brother's arm for dear life. Besides, Zarinia was...nice. Sure, she was a little high-strung, but, still; Rikku liked her. And her friendship with the woman had no effect on her rationality. Just because she liked the ebony-haired woman didn't mean she ruled her out of the equation. Rikku simply didn't believe it to be Zarinia. Her feelings of friendship didn't cloud her vision.
At least, that's what she told herself as she drifted off to sleep.
xxxx
Auron paced the stone flooring of his room, positioned directly across the large hall from the room Rikku and Yuna was sharing. His mind was far from the sleeping women, however; they were focused on the woman two doors down from the pair.
Zarinia.
Not that he wanted them to be. He would rather forget her and never speak her name, nor see her face ever again. Most viewed him as 'bitter' on the subject. Ha. A lot they knew. The raven-haired beauty had already won over most of the Al Bhed staff in the palace. They couldn't see through her façade- couldn't see the truth that Auron knew.
Ceasing his fervent pacing, Auron dropped onto the edge of his cushiony bed, burying his stubbly face in his hands. Maybe...maybe he was bitter. Zarinia had been first love. Being a Monk didn't leave a lot of room for a personal life. And when he was presented with beautiful woman, he had fallen fast. He had been serious about the relationship. He had wanted it to work; strived to make it function.
But had Zarinia?
No. Perhaps at first she had, but in the long run, she hadn't. And if she did, she had an odd way of showing it. Bunking with your fiancé's friend was a grand way of proving your love.
And then she left. Well, he left. Regardless of who left, he was alone. And, at first, it hurt. It hardened him. He shut himself off to people, didn't want anyone to get close to him again. But Braske, his Summoner, broke through that shell. And Jecht, his fellow Guardian, with his loud mouth, and I-don't care attitude had also befriended him. And soon his shell began to crumble. And then, a few years after Braska's and Jecht's demise, Tidus, Yuna, Wakka, Lulu, and Rikku came along. He had friends. He had love. He was happy.
And, then, bam! Zarinia pops up again, and with her, she brings monsters and mayhem.
And dreams.
Which was why he was awake at three in the morning, sitting on the edge of his bed with his mind reeling. He had had another dream. They were becoming insistent. And they always picked up from the same point: From where he was struck in the head.
In the dream, he'd awaken on the shores of Besaid. He'd go from pitch blackness to twilight. He'd be on the beach, the water gently laping at the shore, and that was it. No other sounds. No gulls, no shouts of happy children, no wind. Just water. As he he'd stand to his feet, he would be greeted by nothing. Nothing but a large, circular patch of sand, water to his left that stetched out as far as the eye coud see, and a sky above him painted with shades of pink, purple, and orange.
That would be it.
Beyond the patch of sand, there was nothing. Only the familiar blackness from his first dream. And then, when he would be completely baffled, Zarinia would appeare. Just like that. She would just pop out of the air, and land a few feet before him. Her long, ebony hair flowing frely down her back, and her outfit consisting of a skin-tight, lowcut, light purple leather suit with patches of material cut out of the sides, yet connnected with extremely thin stripes of the leather. The legs also had circular patches cut out along the sides, yet you could only see down to her knees, where the top of her black leather boots reached.
Oddly enough, in the dream, Auron would wonder why she dressed in such a getup, and how she moved in it. Yet he would only briefly ponder the thought, because very quickly she would saunteer up to him, grab him roughly by the collar, and kiss him.
And he would respond.
Again.
Emiting a half sigh, half growl, Auron threw back the covers of his large bed and buried himself beneath them. Why? Why did he kiss her? He didn't want to kiss her! Not in the reality, at least. But...he did in his dream. And that angered him more than Zarinia appearing on his doorstep for dinner, which had practically caused him to bust a vein.
Yet, in the dream, they'd kiss, and then, as quickly as she initiated the gesture, she's end it. And then she'd start talking. About Sin. About how horrible it was when it lived. About how everyone was forced to live in constant fear, how innocent poeple were forced to die. And about how Summoners were forced to end their live for an artificial soltution to a problem that would simply return in a few years time; then she would launch into a recap of the later half of his journey with his second group of teammates.
Auron would stand abashed, wondering how she knew such a thing, and she would simply say her 'Master'.
After she recaped the end of his journey, she would go on to say that her Master wanted it to be this way, and that what Master wanted, Master recieved. When he would question her about what 'this way' was, she would smile, shake her head, and tell him that he was smart enough to figure it out. Without breaking her smile, she would lunge at him as quickly as she had in his previous dreams, and knock him off of the edge of the cirrcular ring of sand, plunging him into the dark abyss below.
That was when he'd wake up. That was why he was awake now. That was why he knew it was Zarinia's fault that the fiends were back. The reason why vehicles wouldn't run, why telephones wouldn't work, and why they now had to either ride the Airship or a Chocobo if they wanted to reach their destination faster was Zarinia. He just knew it.
Yanking the covers up to his chin, Auron sighed and closed his only fuctional eye. If only he get someone to believe him...
xxxx
Two doors down, Zarinia also sat awake in her bed. Sitting up, her head leaning against the mahogany headboard, covers pulled up over her slim shoulders, the woman sighed.
They were still alive.
That overgrown crow hadn't finished them off at all; they had finished it off! She hadn't expected such a creature to appear in the desert, but when it had, her blood had ran cold and boiled simultaneously. It had boiled because of the fact that the group may die, and she wouldn't have to lay a finger on them. Her job would be complete without her having to actually do it.
It had ran cold for the same reason: They might die.
Frustrated, the woman hurled one of her feathery pillows across the large, castle like room. Why! Why did she care? She wasn't supposed to care. Her job was to eliminate them. To get rid of them. Her job was to please her Master.
But I can't! she inwardly whailed. How am I to kill people that I like? I've never killed anyone that I cared for...Yevon, I've only eliminated a handful of people.
Moving to lay down, Zarinia dwelled on the word 'eliminated'. It sounded so impersonal. So uncaring. Eliminated. So final. It symbolized death. Funny, the word had never really affected her before. Saying it now, however, left an ill-flavored taste on her toungue.
But she had to do it. Had to kill them. Her Master wanted it. He demanded it. Never had she disobeyed him, and she never would. No, disobedience was never taken lightly. If you were to disobey, who knew what would become of you? Who knew if there would even be a 'you' anymore?
Turning to face the unused fireplace, Zarinia closed her eyes. The day after tomorrow, they would be heading back to Besaid. Once they were back in fairly familiar territory, she was sure that she would finish the job. The only part left undone.
She would do. She must! It might even be easier if she could seperate the two posing the hindrance to her plan. Perhaps she could find someone to aide her in it...She had to finish her mission!
For what Master wanted, Master recieved.
xxxx
"C'mon, Rikku! Move your buns!"
"Shut it, Tek! Move it yourself!"
"Wonder what you're old man wants, anyway?"
Rikku shrugged her shoulders, shoving her greasy wrench into the front pocket off her overalls. "He's probably going to congratulate me for fixing all of those sand mobiles."
"Peh. Yeah, right."
Whacking her childhood friend gently on the shoulder, Rikku grinned. "I dunno what Pops wants. Maybe he's going to promote you to full-time mechanic."
Tek ran his hand through his shiny brown hair, his jade eyes shining. "Really?"
"Ha! No way! You couldn't even fix the sand mobiles!"
Returning his friends earlier whap, the lean man rolled his eyes. "Well, if you hadn't ran off to boring ol' Besaid, we could be partners."
"Besaid isn't boring, it's peaceful! Besides, I'm thinking of starting my own garage back home. I didn't realize how much I missed working on machina 'til I came back here."
"Back home, you mean."
"Yeah, back to Home."
"No, back home. Ri, this is your home. Not Besaid. Here. You're an Al Bhed! You belong here, with your own race.
Reaching the palace steps, Rikku gently lowered herself onto the wide, rock banister running along the stairs that led to the entrance. "T, coming Home is nice. It's Home, you know? My childhood place. But, I live in Besaid, now. I'm there with my friends. I'm there with Yunie. I'm there with Auron."
Tek stood before her, crossing his arms across his bare, tanned chest. "That may be where you live, but you blong here. With your people."
Rikku sighed. She had decided long ago that her home was with her cousin. She loved Home, her friends, and her family. She missed her father and brother daily. But they had family. Yuna had no one but her. When she voiced this, Tek merely laughed.
"Yuna has Tidus. They're going to be married. Do you think she'll want you hanging around with her all of the time?"
At his incredulous tone, Rikku bristled. "I'm not going to hang around her 'all of the time'. I don't do that now. But, yes, I'll still have a strong bond with Yunie."
"Heh. Naïve lil' Rikku. She'll be married. She'll have babies. She'll have a family, yes, and it'll include Tidus. Not you. You don't need to subject yourself to that. Come back home."
"I'll be going home later today, Tek." Jumping down from the wall, Rikku started to shove past her old friend, her temper flared and her feelings mused. Tek was just trying to get under her skin. Yunie wouldn't desert her for Tidus! They were family! And there was plenty room for Tidus in that circle.
"Hold it, Ri." Grabbing her arm, Tek drew her against him. "I didn't intend to upset you," he murmured gently. "I'm just trying to point out the facts. You belong her with your own race and family. Oui pamuhk fedr sa."
Rikku's eyes widened, and she wasn't sure if she should take him seriously or not. Since that night in the garage, he had been acting a little different, but she had tried to ignore it. Before she could even attempt to laugh it off, Tek closed the space that seperated them and claimed her lips. It was a short kiss, but far from gentle.
"Tek! Fry- Fr- Oui- Dryd-" Regaining her senses, she quickly shoved him away, so chagrined that she switched to her natural toungue.
"Ev E't ghufh dryd geccehk oui fuimt lyica oui du najand du Al Bhed, E fuimt ryja tuha ed tyoc yku."
Unable to respond with a retort, Rikku gave him a hearty shove, the pleased glint in his swirling eyes prompting her to add a smack across the cheek. Stomping up the stairs, she hauled open the large doors and disappeared into the palace.
xxxx
Auron walked through the newly rebuilt palace, admiring the smooth, grey stone walls. Beneath him, a ribbon of red carpet stretched through the hall. Potraits of the Al Bhed royal lineage lined the walls, and Auron found himself stopping quite a few times to admire them.
While they all appeared to be different, they all shared one thing in common: Thier eyes. Emerald, swirling green eyes with an indistnguishable likeness. They each possessed the same, almond-like design. That was the only thing, really. Some of the men were thin, some heavy. Some tall, some short. Some bald, some with rather long hair. But you could tell that they were all decendants of the same line.
Moving to the end of the hallway, Auron was greeted with another portrait. But instead of only showing one face, it showed four. It was a family portrait, with a man standing behind a young woman in a chair, a boy to his left, and a young girl sitting on the woman's lap. Auron recongnized three of the people featured in it immediately; Rikku, Cid, and Brother.
Cid appeared to be in his early to mid thirties. Same bald head, same bold eyes, and same proud smile. Add a few more wrinkles, and you would be seeing the ruler of the Al Bhed people as he looked today. Brother was a young teenager, and looked exactly the same. The only difference in the young man was his height. The small girl sitting on the woman's lap was without a doubt Rikku. She looked like a young, elementary school version of herself. The lap she was sitting on, smiling happily, had to be her mother. The woman loked exactly like Rikku.
She possessed the same heart-shaped face, the same creamy tanned skin, the same full lips, exact petite nose and delicately shaped blond brows, and swirling green eyes. Rikku was her mother's child.
The clicking of thick soled boots could be heard echoing down the hallway, and Auron turned to inspect the noise, a small smile appearing on his lips when he saw he person advancing towards him.
"Hi, Auron."
"Rikku."
Stopping beside the man, Rikku tried to offer him her most dazzling smile, hoping that he couldn't see her discomfort. She had just finished speaking with her father, and while she should be happy to hear that they would be leaving this evening, she felt dreadful. Tek should never have kissed her, and forced her to feel so awkward around the man she loved...
Auron shot up a quizzical brow up at the smile that didn't quite reach Rikku's eyes. She eluded his gaze, though, and focused her own on the portrait he was studying. "That us," she stated softly, pointing to the wooden framed picture.
Auron nodded. "So I assumed."
Slipping her arm threw his, she scooted closer to the once Warrior Monk. "My mom was pretty, wasn't she?"
"Beautiful."
Reaching out, the Al Bhed traced the image of her deceased mother. "Yeah...Beautiful."
Auron saw the loneliess behind her eyes, and the sad smile on her lips, and wanted to erase them. Trying to turn the reminiscent moment into a compliment, he muttered softly, "Her daughter looks just like her."
Turning to the man at her side, Rikku smiled, and Auron noted that the gesture did reach her eyes. But as swiftly as it appeared, it left, and Auron steered her away from the picture, figuring that it was only causing her pain. "When will we be leaving?" he queried, trying to change the bleak subjuct.
"Tonight. I can't wait."
"Really? I would have thought you would be happy to be back at Home."
"I wa- am. It's just that...I'm ready to go back home."
Auron nodded, though he was concerned. This was not the happy, vibrant woman he knew and loved. "Is there...a reason for that?"
Though she was hesitant, Rikku responed with, "Tek...said some things."
"Things?"
Haulting their trek forward, Rikku moved her hand from the crook of his arm to the warmth of his hand. "Auron, you don't think Yunie will blow me off after she is married, do you?"
"He said that?" Auron asked incredulously. Some friend. He knew he didn't like the man.
"...Basically."
"Of course not," he reasurred, propelling her out of the potrait-filled hallway and into the hall that Wakka jokingly reffered to as the 'bedroom chamber'; the hallway that housed everyone's bedrooms.
Rikku nodded. She knew Yunie wouldn't act in such a way.
"Is that all that is troubling you?"
"...Not really."
"Oh?" Leaning against the door to his bedroom, Auron crossed her arms across his broad chest.
"He...did something..."
"Oh?" Auron repeated, his tone much deeper than before. "Along the lines of what, Rikku?"
"I didn't want him to. And I slapped him, too, so it's not like I condoned him in it."
"What did he do, Rikku?"
Shuffling her feet nervously, the Al Bhed refused to meet his gaze. "He...kissed me."
"I see."
At his even tone, Rikku jerked her head up. "You're not angry with me?"
Ignoring her question, he contined, "I suppose I can find him in the garage?"
"Auron..."
"If you'll excuse me, Rikku."
"Wait!" Grabbing his arm, turned him to face her. "You aren't mad at me, are you? I swear, Auron, I didn't want him to! I didn't even know he was going to! He just...did. But-"
Silencing her with a raised hand, Auron shook his head. "No, Rikku, I'm not upset with you." How could he be? She looked as though she was ready to burst into tears.
"You're not?"
"No."
"Then-
"But, if you'll excuse me-"
"Why are you being so curt if you're not mad at me?" Rikku practically cried, gripping his hand tightly.
With a heavy sigh, he replied, "Because, I'm trying to retain my anger so I can direct it at a certain mechanic." Without giving her a chance to respond, he swiftly removed himself from her grasp and exited the 'bedroom chamber'.
He knew he didn't like that Tek fellow.
xxxx
A/N: Yeah, I'm done! And Auron is not a happy fellow! Would you be happy? I think not! Heh. So...the plot thickens! At least, I tried to make thicken. Hehe. Hmm...Well, I have got to get off of here and disinfect my laptop. Ha! I've been coughing like mad! So...Thank you all for the reviews, and please do it again! And now the moment you've all been waiting for!
Big thanks to: Chibi-Sorrow, Darth-Lexi, Hello-Blondie, GiGgLyGaL, Auron's Fan, BlackDeath6, AllPowerfulDaisy, Mandyfanforevr, and last but not least, She's Happy2bHardcore! How cool are you guys? I'll tell ya! Superdy-Dooperdy Cool!