"Ow!"

Auron sucked his thumb, glaring at the soldering gun. He bent over his work in his cramped windowless room, eyeing half-finished circuits and pieces of intricately wrought gold alloy.

I leave things until much too late, he thought angrily. My fatal flaw, whose price is too often paid by others.

He worked until his eyes ached and his back cramped, took a couple of hours' sack time, and started again as soon as he roused groggily. At last it was finished. Not pretty, but finished. He shoved it in his pocket and left his room with a delicious lungful of fresh air and glorious stretch.

Yuna sat at the bar, alone. He smiled and approached.

"Feeling any better?" he said. He saw to his surprise she was drinking hot sake. He'd only ever seen her drink once before, at Lulu and Wakka's wedding reception. She'd been much more giggly then than she appeared now.

"Mind if I join you?" he said, sliding in beside her. "Barkeep, same for me."

The Hypello went to warm another bottle. Yuna sipped from her sake cup, silent eyes still on Auron.

"I didn't miss anything, did I?" he said.

She poured herself another cupful, drained it, and set it down. She watched Barkeep serve Auron and then tactfully move away.

"Look, Auron, I don't pretend to understand your friendship with Rikku," said Yuna. "You two are always fighting, and I never know when you're playing, but you seem to make it work, so I stay out of it. I know it's none of my business. But I love my cousin more than anyone in Spira. She's my family, not just like Lulu and Wakka, but like a sister to me. And I hate seeing her hurt. Like I said, it's none of my business what you're fighting about, but I have never seen her like this, not even after she performed the sending for Jecht. Then you holed up in your room for over a day. Don't interrupt me! I haven't finished yet."

He shut his mouth, bewildered, cradling his warm cup in his hands.

"We just planned out and executed a really intense concert to try to bring Spira together," said Yuna. "And now I think I have an idea of how we can stop Shuyin and Vegnagun—but I can't do this on my own, not with my friends falling apart and fighting around me! What was the point of everything we just did if even the two best friends Spira has ever seen can't stand to be on the same ship together? Whatever your fight was about, whatever's going on, even if it's not your fault, I suggest you apologize for whatever it is you did to hurt her so much. Sometimes you need to apologize even when you did nothing wrong, because you love someone and care about their feelings. And fix it as quickly as possible, because this kind of thing only gets worse the longer you leave it."

He lifted a hand. "May I speak now?"

She shrugged. "Yes. I've said what I had to say."

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," he said. "After the concert she wanted time alone with you, and I haven't seen her since. Did she say anything to you about why she's upset with me?"

She shook her head. "I wondered if maybe it might be a fight with Paine, since she's off sulking too, but Paine can't get under Rikku's skin like you can."

"I'll talk to her. Where is she?"

"I don't know. Buddy won't tell me. He says she made him promise not to tell anyone."

He sighed gustily and tweezed the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "I'll find her."

"Hurry it up." She poured herself sake out of his bottle and knocked it back in one sip. "We've got bigger problems than this."

He nodded, picked up the sake bottle and drank the rest of it in one go. Liquid fire filled his throat. He hoped it would soothe his irritation.

Auron found Rikku the very first place he went. She huddled in a ball, boots dug into the dirt of the south Moonflow bank, fingertips pressing hard into her own arms. Her head snapped up as he approached.

"Go away!" she snarled, turning her head from him.

He plopped down next to her. She growled.

"You deaf, old man? Becc off!" she said, twisting her head further.

"Whatever it is, I'm sorry," he said. "Now, will you tell me what it is, or do I have to tickle it out of you?"

She recoiled. "Don't touch me. For vilg'c sake, Auron! Just go off and… be with Paine, okay? I don't care, do whatever you want, but I don't want to see it, and I don't want to be around it! And most of all, I do not want to talk about it, so get lost!"

"Paine?" he said, and started to feel a creeping, hideous suspicion.

She turned murderous eyes on him. "Don't play stupid with me, yccmura. I saw you two kissing up on deck."

He put his face in his palm. "Vilg."

"Now, for the last time: get out of here, get out of my life, stay the ramm away from me!"

He dropped his hand and looked out across the water at the swirling, looping pyreflies. "I vilgat up, Rikku."

She stood up abruptly and stalked off. He leaped up and dove to grab her arm. She spun around and he ducked instinctively, reaching up to catch her other hand. She kneed him in the groin.

He hissed, dropping to his knees. Pain radiated out from between his legs like fiery lightning. She looked down at him with utter contempt.

"Please, hear me out," he gasped. "I should have stopped her. I know that now. I knew she had… feelings for me, feelings I didn't reciprocate—which I told her, after she kissed me up on deck, a mistake which unfortunately you saw. I was an eteud. I am an eteud. I should have discouraged her from day one. There is nothing between us, Rikku. And I hurt both of you, and I'm sorry." He looked up and saw tears running down her face, her hands bunched into fists. "I cannot apologize enough for what I did. It was unforgivable. I jeopardized the greatest friendship I have ever known because my stupid male ego liked the attention."

She sighed and sank down next to him on the ground. "You're right. You're unforgivably stupid." She hugged her knees and set her chin on them, looking out at the water. He tried to ease into a less-excruciating sitting position and felt a lump in his pocket.

"Do you know what today is?" he said.

"I don't know," she said. "What does it matter? Yunasday, Zanarday… probably Zaonsday, all the worst days of my life happen on Zaonsday."

"It's your birthday," he said.

She laughed mirthlessly, buried her head in her knees and groaned. "Oh, perfect."

He dug the gold box out of his pocket and held it out. "Happy birthday, my friend."

She lifted her head and reared back as if he was handing her a snarling handful of mini-malboros. She shot him a wide-eyed frown. "What the ramm is this?!"

"A vehkan-bnuseca," he said.

"Yes, I know what it is!" she said. "Do you? Do you know what it's for?"

"Yes."

"Is this some kind of sick joke, Auron?! I swear, I am this close to murdering you right now!"

"It's no joke. Try it."

Scowling at him, she snatched it out of his hand. He held his breath, mentally crossing his fingers: Please, please work…

She pressed her right thumb in the finger-shaped groove on the lid of the box. The center compartment popped out, and so did his breath. Small red, green, and blue jewels sparkled in the sunlight. The elaborate technical Al Bhed engagement gift meant to convey seriousness of intention.

She stared at the box that had opened for her touch alone, transfixed. At last she said, in a detached voice, "Where'd you lift my thumbprint?"

He shrugged. "Inside of the Godhand."

Her head snapped up. "I haven't used that in six months! How long have you been planning this?"

He held her gaze. "I've been thinking about it for a long time. But I wasn't sure, particularly after we… re-met three years ago. It didn't seem right, given the age difference. I tried very hard to convince everyone that I didn't have those kinds of feelings for you. Turns out I was only trying to convince myself. Unsuccessfully."

"You've never even shown the slightest sign that you were interested in me in that way!"

"I was afraid."

"Afraid? You? Ha!"

"Yes. First of myself, for these feelings, and then afraid that revealing them would end our friendship. Paine was an unfortunate catalyst. The more she flirted with me, the more I realized there was only one woman I wanted to see every day of my life, only one I wanted to fight with, and journey alongside, for the rest of my days. In whatever way you might have me." He sucked in a breath, bracing himself for the worst part. "And… though not consciously… I think… that… the way you reacted to her flirtation… inspired in me hope that you might…"

He had to break off here, because she started hitting him, quite hard, with wordless yells. He recoiled from the blows but made no move to defend himself, fight back, or stop her. I earned this, he thought.

"Miss? Are you all right? Is this guy bothering you?"

They looked up at a short but well-built dark-haired woman, concern on her face. Others visiting the Moonflow had turned to stare.

"Yes," said Rikku, "and I'm taking care of it, thank you for asking!" She continued hitting Auron. The woman lingered with a suspicious look at Auron before moving off. The other visitors dissipated as well.

Rikku stopped, perhaps not because she ran out of anger, but because she was sobbing too hard to continue. He reached for her. She slapped his hands away. He waited.

Hiccupping, wiping her face with her scarf, at last she said, "Remember when… when you beat up Gippal, for what he did to me? What you did was about a million times worse, Auron!"

"I know," he said. "And I don't expect you to forgive me. But if you're going to end our friendship, I want it to be for the right reasons, and not because you think I have any interest whatsoever in Paine. I want to tell you the truth."

"How could you do this to me? How could you put me through this?!"

"There is no justification for my actions. I wasn't aware of what I was doing. That doesn't make it all right, but I want you to know, anyway—I'm a big dumb male, and I do not know how to handle rejection adequately to just ask for what I want. This has been the defining relationship of my life in many ways and I greatly feared losing it. I know I don't deserve it, but I will ask for it anyway: would you consent to marry me?"

She made an irritated noise. "Auron, you've never even tried to kiss me! You expect me to believe you really want to get hitched? You're all talk! Show me!"

After holding back for so long he'd feared he would be unable to let go, but it turned out to be surprisingly easy once he made the choice. Even the pain in his groin took a backseat to the emotions surging through him as he surged his lips onto hers, grabbing her, dropping to the ground and pulling her weight on top of him.

It felt heavenly to touch her face, cup it to his, slide his lips across hers, feeling every nerve ending alive where they touched. As often as he'd envisioned what it might be like, all expectation blew away in a sheer explosion of bliss. She fitted so neatly against him. Her every move sparked shivers down his spine.

When she unfroze and her hands slid up his chest to his shoulders, his neck, not pushing but pulling, all possibility of cognition evaporated and he turned into a sea of pure sensation. Even the pain he still felt seemed beautiful because it was all part of this moment, in his body, connected to hers in an utterly satisfying way. No part of him wasn't participating. A bushido sort of kiss.

She broke the kiss. His eyes were in the act of opening when she initiated a fresh one all her own, much more urgent and searching than his had been. He felt her body surge with a deep inhale, pushing ever so slightly more into his. She contracted and sank into him as her exhalation through her nose feathered his face. He slid his hands over her nearly-bare back. His fingertips explored every pore.

After a few metaphorical eternities were born and collapsed with poofs, sighs, and bangs, she pushed off, propped on her hands, hanging over him. He gazed up at her. He had looked on that face thousands of times, knew every detail of it, but had never beheld it in this way before, through the eyes of a man who had kissed her, declared love for her, had no more secrets from her. The change in him gave her a sort of glow, to his imagination. He traced the inside of her arms with his fingertips.

Her green eyes had a fierce set to them. A smile played on her lips. "If you're sorry, and I mean really sorry, about what you put me through, you're gonna have to make it up to me," she said.

"Of course," he murmured. "Anything you want."

"Anything?" Her eyes glittered.

"Anything."

She gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Good. Then take me to the travel agency up the road, get us the most lavish room, and apologize to me until I'm satisfied. And you're not allowed to speak one tysh word, though you are certainly welcome to use your mouth for other things. And yes, I'm fully aware you're still hurting where I kneed you in the balls. Love hurts, suck it up."

He was grinning like a maniac before she'd even finished. He swept her up in his arms and carried her away from the shore of the Moonflow at a rapid stride.

Auron woke groggily. Rikku was shaking him, hard.

"Wstfgl?" he groaned into the pillow. He swallowed and lifted his head from the travel agency pillow, blind in the depths of night. Every part of him felt sore—some bits more than others.

"Yes," said Rikku.

"Mm?" he said.

"I said yes, sunuh. As in 'yes, I will marry you.' I thought you'd want to know as soon as I decided. But this doesn't mean you're done apologizing yet," she said.

He flopped onto his back, now fully awake. Just in time he remembered her ban on speaking, and instead buried his face in her bare skin and kissed and kissed his way all around her torso. In this manner he expressed tired but ecstatic joy at her answer. She giggled, running her longed-for fingers through his hair.

For one more night, nothing else mattered outside that room. Spira could have ended and he wouldn't have cared. Nothing, no concern, no external influence penetrated their haze of love and lust long unrequited and unspoken.

The second time Auron woke to the rarely-heard sound of a mortal scream from Rikku.

So awful and jolting was that sound to him that he began moving even before coming fully awake, scrambling to get out of his bed and to her side. He was not yet awake enough to remember they were in the same bed until he rolled over on her small body.

He thrashed, getting tangled in the covers in his haste to get off her. Meanwhile her scream dissolved into shrill, stuttering whimpers. He flailed one arm out and managed to turn on the lamp at the same time as knock it over. Momentary light flashed out with a smash on the floor.

He found her violently shaking body by feel. "Rikku!" he said. "Rikku, it's Auron!"

She dissolved into sobs and clutched him hard, burrowing against his bare skin. Her fingers dug in with painful intensity.

"Are you hurt?" he said, heart and head still spinning with panic. His whole body thrummed with adrenaline. "Did you have a nightmare?"

She nodded hard against his shoulder. He guessed 'nightmare' and attempted to soothe her even as he took stock of the situation and re-remembered the events of the day and night before. He shivered involuntarily. He allowed his arms to cuddle her closer, as befitted their new roles to each other.

"Shh." He kissed her brow. "It's all right. I'm here. I'm alive."

She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out, spraying him with a little snot or tears or drool. Considering the puddles of each other's sweat and other fluids they'd been sleeping in, he cared not one whit.

"Not that," she said. "Vegnagun. Since… since Djose, I've been dreaming of Vegnagun. Auron, we have to go back! Whatever it takes, we've gotta get back there!"

"We will," he kissed her salty face. "Together."

"Now!" she said.

"No," he said, and kissed her mouth. She writhed, trying to shove him off, but not wholeheartedly enough for him to desist. He kept kissing her until her muscles eased and her arms slid around him. When he let her go she made a soft noise of protest.

"In the morning," he said. "We'll return to the Celsius and regroup. We need a plan, Rikku, much as you and I hate making them." He stroked her wild braids as she snuggled into him, kissing his cooling chest.

She lifted her head. "Hey, you did plan something. The finger-promise box. Where'd you get it, anyway? I think I personally know everyone left alive who knows how to make 'em. Most Al Bhed don't even use 'em anymore."

"I learned how to make one years ago, from Shisen, before she died. I learned a lot of Al Bhed skills and culture in the years I was searching for you. Shinra ordered the machine parts I was lacking—not that he knew what I was doing with them. I got the gold and gems from Luca."

"You made it? You really have been planning this a long time, haven't you? All while Paine was flirting with you?" Her voice grew acerbic. Clearly in spite of all his 'apologizing' it would be a long time before that topic cooled for her.

"When I learned to make one, years ago, I wasn't thinking of this moment, of asking you. Yet I think this has been a long time coming. Courage to ask took the longest. That was far harder than anything I've ever done—learn Al Bhed, learn how to make the box, search for you, understand my feelings, even fight Sin. I trained for years as a monk to learn how to fight, and had plenty of years to learn the arts of traveling and asking questions. But asking for your hand in marriage—I had so much to lose."

She scoffed.

"Rikku, you never saw me in the ten years between when I lost you and when we were reunited. I was an unholy, drunk, bitter, cynical terror. I am a mess without you. Ask my friend Tem sometime."

"Mm. Sounds like a story for the reception."

"Hmm?"

"Wedding reception."

He laughed. "Oh, yes."

"You forgot?"

"Not exactly. It doesn't seem real to me yet. I vividly imagined you saying no to me about a million times, in a million different ways, with different amounts of mocking laughter, over the years. Kept me from asking."

She fell silent, and he thought she'd slipped back into sleep when she startled him out of a dreamy haze by speaking again.

"If you'd asked, I would have been so surprised I wouldn't have known what to say," she said. "It would have been… weird. It was weird. But… good weird." Her hands slid over him, as if inventorying all his parts. "When did you decide to ask me, anyway?"

"After we came back from the Scar of the Fayth on Gagazet."

"You mean when I…"

"Yes."

She sighed. "You sure took your time telling me."

"I had very narrowly missed losing you for good. It was difficult to think of losing you as a friend if my proposal did not go over well. To say the least." He found his hand stuck in a tangle and busied himself extracting it. "How long are you going to have these confounded braids?"

"Long as I want," she snapped. Her hands zeroed in between his legs. He groaned and rolled onto his back.

"…Ow! Careful, that still hurts."

"Aww, poor Auron. Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

"Uh…"

"Yeah, I think I'll do that… mm…"

"Oh, vilgehk RAMM! Rikku…"

"…Heh heh heh heh heh!"