Hey. Well, Merry Christmas. I'm giving you guys an early chapter. Hope you like it.

You know, in the last chapter I actually had "slap me with a fish and call me Wanda" instead instead of "Shirley". That's kind of embarassing.

Okay, is it Who or Whom? Nevermind.

Well, guess that's it.

So. Major spoilers. Disclaimer: FF12 isn't mine either. (Hey, at least it's new information.) Follows the story (the FFX one) but kind of AU. It's an Aurikku. (Didn't start that way.) This is about characters and a relationship. And it's rated -T-.

This chapter and the next one are dedicated to pyschostudent06. (For heaven's sakes girl, be more careful.) Hope you enjoy the chapter.


Soldier of Spira


Auron:

Sea and sky and stone and pillars arching high into the air. I stand outside the temple at Besaid and wonder what it will be in another hundred years. What form will it take? The temples have stood for more than a thousand years. There was a temple on Kilika even before the Bevelle-Zanarkand war. Before Sin.

Is it hubris to believe that what the temples will become depends on me? On my choices? On my actions? Will the temples be what I make them? Shall I cast them down, so that no stone stands on stone? Shall I sow the ground with salt?

Or shall I take the harder path, and try to make of the temples something new, and better?

Destroy...create...

Behind me I can hear young boys and girls running and playing. Of course, in the end they will decide what the temple will be. Spira belongs to the living, and the future belongs to the children. The decision is theirs, as it should be.

But I think I can give it a push.


Besaid Nights


Rikku's Diary:

Of course he was already up. He's always up before the rest of us. So there he was, standing in front of the temple, just sort of staring at it like he was lost in thought. We formed up around him, and Yuna looked up at him, and he looked back at her and nodded, and we all walked up the steps and inside.

I held him back a little when the others went ahead, and he looked down at me a little sadly and I smiled at him and reached up and tugged down his cowl and jumped up on my tippy-toes and gave him a little kiss. And he smiled and we held hands as we walked in.

Then I tugged my hand away cause I just had to get a look at everything! Hey, you know, this was only the second temple I've ever been in. Well, if you don't count Bevelle. And Baaj, I guess.

Auron:

I don't really know what I expected today. From her, I mean. But she surprised me again, as she has so many times. She wasn't...I don't know. She hadn't been angry last night. Sad, perhaps? But in any event, this morning there was no trace of last night's seriousness. Instead she was smiles and sunshine, rainbows and snowcones in summer, and she dashed around the temple as curious as a kitten, trying to see everything at once—the tapestries and mosaics, the mighty statues of the four high summoners, the lesser statues of other successful summoners. I thought the priest might try to say something about an Al Bhed in the temple, but no. He seemed...dispirited.

I also watched the others in our party. Wakka stood with lowered brows and raised chin, looking around with a mixture of defiant truculence and slightly abashed confusion. He didn't know what he should be feeling. This was the temple of his childhood, and perhaps he wasn't as ready to give it up as he had assumed. The priest came over to speak quietly with him and with Lulu. The mage might have felt the same as Wakka, with the added guilt of being Bevelle's agent in our party, but of course she didn't show it.

Yuna was the only one who knelt in prayer. The Ronso stood protectively over her. Tidus watched her silently, and then come over to speak with me.

"How can she still pray to Yevon?" he asked me, shaking his head. "After all she knows now? Why does she do it, Auron?"

"Yuna has believed all her life in something larger than herself, Tidus. She still does, even if she isn't sure what yet. Prayer gives her comfort."

"Huh."

He didn't sound convinced. Zanarkand was always a pretty secular place. It looks like they're done now, and we can proceed.

Lord save me from cloister trials.

Rikku's Diary:

FUN!


Auron:

They all laughed and clapped as Rikku bowed and presented the Magisterial Rod to Yuna, and Tidus put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. (That can't be sanitary.) It was a hidden treasure that the others had missed their first time in the temple. But of course Rikku found it as she sped through the trial, moving so fast it sometimes seemed as if she was juggling the silly spheres. She put the destruction sphere into the correct recess and exposed a hidden room with a chest.

Rikku's Diary:

ALL HAIL RIKKU!

Auron:

Of course, none of them understood the real significance of the process. The secret wasn't the chest. That was a distraction. The secret was the room.

But I had no reason nor wish to visit the Egg, hidden deep beneath the temple, so I merely followed the others down into the depths of the cloister to the chamber of the fayth.

Rikku's Diary:

Creepy!

There was a round chamber and someone was singing the Hymn of the Fayth and then Valefor appeared in a flash and disappeared the same way and there was a woman lying there in front of us and she got up and you could see right through her! Shivers! It was kinda like when Auron took me to see the fayth of Yojimbo.

I kinda moved over and fumbled for his hand, you know, in case he was nervous or whatever, and IT WAS WAKKA looking at me like I was crazy! Dammit, Auron was right next to me when we walked in! Now I've got Wakka looking at me like I have two heads or something!

Auron:

A young woman in pigtails. I wonder who she is. Some of the fayth I know, but not this one.

"Sin is cursed..."

You cursed him.

"Sin prays..."

Whom to?

"It curses its form,

"It prays for dissolution."

It drinks too much, and swears like a sailor.

"Sin sees dreams of its own destruction.

"Sin is looking at us."

Be afraid.

"We live in a fading echo of time,

"Left us by the destroyer."

You were just minding your own business, right?

"Free him from Yu Yevon.

"Free him—the fayth that has become Sin."

He was a dream. You made him a man. You made him a fayth. You made him Sin.

We're going to free him.

But we're not doing it for you.

Rikku's Diary:

Whup! Creepy-lady disappeared and a sphere dropped from where she was! It probably wouldn't have broken but it might have bounced off the edge, and it looks like a looooong way down! So I jumped forward and caught it and then I sat there on the platform admiring my new shiny evasion sphere (that'll come in handy!) when I heard a certain, gruff-yet-smooth voice saying, "Rikku..."

Okay, okay, I'll share. Sheesh. I didn't see anyone else leaping to save it. But when I looked up at him with my tongue sticking all out, he just smiled a little and pointed.

Holy jumping chocobos!

Where did those chests come from!

Auron:

When I see how happily Rikku attacks the chests I can almost forgive the fayth for what they did to Jecht. She pouts prettily when the first chest yields a couple of common potions, and gasps in delight when she finds a white magic sphere in the second. She accepts the hi potion and elixir that she finds in the remaining chests philosophically.

When Rikku is eighty, her pouts will still be adorable. She puts her arm through mine and smiles as we head back.

Rikku's Diary:

No getting away this time!


Auron:

"Well, what do we do now?" Tidus asked as we left the temple.

"I think we should do something special!" Rikku said, still holding onto my hand. "To celebrate the start of the new pilgrimage!"

"I agree," Lulu said. Did some significant look pass between the two of them? "A special dinner."

"Great," Wakka said, and Kimahri grunted.

"Yes, we'll all have a special meal tonight!" Yuna smiled.

We agreed to spend the rest of the day taking care of personal things. Rikku squeezed my hand and hurried off, and the rest of the day I saw her and Lulu together, hurrying along and talking with one another.

I have always been somewhat alarmed by the idea of Rikku and Lulu together. Working together. Cooperating. Yuna is a moderating force, but somehow Lulu and Rikku bring out the...less restrained...aspects of each other's character.

After the events on Mt Gagazet I wouldn't have thought they'd be getting along so well.

Yuna and Lulu and Wakka and to some extent Kimahri were all quite busy. They had many things to do before they left their homes here on Besaid again. Rikku was wrapped up in whatever plans she and the black mage were hatching. Tidus spent most of his time hanging out with Yuna or Wakka, but he took some time to spar with me. And also to talk. We haven't really had a chance for that since Zanarkand, the two of us.

"So," he said, breathing deeply as we took a break. "I, uh, guess I'm not going to fade away just yet, huh?"

"No, Tidus, not yet," I said. "We still have a great deal to do first."

He looked down at his feet.

"I'm glad," he said quietly. "I'm glad I get more time to spend with Yuna, you know? I'm glad we got to save her."

"You're growing up," I told him.

I was proud of him.

I'll tell him one day.

"Yeah, I guess. Hey, Auron...?"

"Yes, Tidus?"

He looked own at the ground for a moment, scuffing the dirt.

"Tell me it's worth it," he said.

Worth it?

Well...is it?

I took a breath.

"Is it worth giving your life to save another person?" I asked him.

"I guess, yeah..." he said. "Yuna, anyway...or any of the guys."

"And to save two people?"

"Uh, I guess."

"Ten? Twenty?"

"Well, sure."

I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Tidus, in a very real way, we're trying to save...everyone. It's worth it."

"Huh," he said, frowning. "Isn't that kinda what Yuna was trying to do?"

"She still is," I said, leaning back.

We stood and looked out at the water in silence.

"Hey, Auron?" he said without turning. "I'm glad that you and Rikku are, um, together. I think you're good for each other, you know?"

"She's good for me," I answered quietly.

"No, Auron," he shook his head. "You're good for each other. You know how I know? It's easy. I've seen the two of you together, and I've seen you apart. No contest. Believe me."

I sighed.

"One day I'll leave her, Tidus. I have no choice. And I know it'll hurt her."

"We've had this conversation before, Auron," he answered me. "One day I'll have to leave Yuna. So we spend the time together that we can. That's life. That's what life is! Joy and pain together! Hopefully...enough joy to make the pain worth it."

"Tidus..."

"Okay! You're gonna hurt her! Okay, so make her happy while you can! Auron, make her happy enough that it's worth the hurt!"

I looked at him quizzically.

Who is...?

Who is this young man standing in front of me, instructing me so passionately in how to live life? There was always more to him than blitzball and blond hair and perfect teeth, but you usually had to dig deep to reach it. And now here he was, throwing real wisdom in my face. Who is he and who are all of these young people that I'm traveling with? I thought I knew, and then one after the other they surprise me with...

I don't know.

"What?" he said, raising his chin and looking me in the eye.

"Nothing," I answered slowly. "Only..."

I didn't know how to say what I wanted to say.

"Oh hell!" he said, shaking his head and making a rude noise and drawing his sword. "That's enough of this. Com'on old man! Time to kick your ass!"

And he did, as he usually does when we practice together.


Rikku's Diary:

"Com'oncom'oncom'on!"

Tidus told me I could find him out by the headland between the temple and the water and I ran out there and there he was meditating or brooding or thinking and I grabbed his hand and practically dragged him back to the village cause it was time for the party! Okay, it was just a dinner at Yunie's place, but it was a special dinner for all of us and that's like a party, right?

He stopped me just before we went in, and said, "Rikku, you know we need to talk some more."

Man, he picks the worse times!

"Yeah," I said, "But later! Not now!"

He nodded and we ducked inside with the others.

Auron:

Inside, the others were sitting on cushions around a low table loaded with local food. Rikku yelled, "Here he is!" and rushed into another room as Tidus waved and the others nodded. I sat down and looked around. Yuna had traded her traditional summoner garb for what Willa had always called a sun dress, still white and blue, but loose and falling only to her knees. Lulu was dressed as usual in black and leather trimmed with white fur, but accented with flashes of red. She caught my eye and leaned forward a little.

Still flirting.

I'm not even sure Lulu particularly likes me.

Parties are not my natural element. Luckily I was next to Kimahri and we formed a sort of island of silence amid the small talk. I don't mind listening to others though, and I was pleased to hear them talking about this and that—the people here in the village, the state of Yuna's garden, the season's blitzball standings. Even though their time in the Calm Lands was cut short, I could see that the stay there had done them good. They were more relaxed now.

"Auron?"

...Rikku...

Rikku's Diary:

Um...

Ta dah!

Auron:

...Rikku...

She...

Rikku's Diary:

Um, cat got your tongue, Auron?

He was staring.

Auron:

She is...no child.

I've said that before, and I believed it. But...I'm not sure I ever really knew it...until that moment.

She was standing in the doorway, wearing a simple white dress trimmed in green. Her hair was down, falling free around her face, and there was something about her...I can't say what it was, but I couldn't stop looking, and I couldn't speak.

"Um, Auron? Do you like it?" she said coming close with a lovely, nervous smile.

I...

"Rikku," I half-whispered, "You're so beautiful!"

I said it without thinking, and she was smiling, and flushing a deep red. I was barely aware that the talk around us had died to silence.

Rikku's Diary:

And...and after he said it, he kind of blinked, and stood up and came and took my hand and sort of bowed over it a little, and he led me back to sit down next to him, and he never took his eyes off me, and I just knew I was still blushing all the way down to my toes!

And the looks Lulu and Yuna were shooting their boyfriends! HA!

IN YOUR FACES!

HA!

Um, um...I mean, Lulu and Yuna were obviously quite impressed with Auron's manners.

Auron:

We didn't say much. She sat next to me, and kept sending shy little glances my way, then looking back down at the table in front of her with a smile.

And I couldn't look away.

Or maybe I could. But I didn't want to.

She wore just a hint of some delicate perfume, and the toenails on her little bare feet were painted white, like her fingernails, and her toes were constantly clenching and unclenching.

"Um, do you like my dress, Auron?" she asked shyly, quietly. "And my hair this way?"

I leaned closer.

"You are prettier than rainbows," I murmured, looking into her wide green eyes. "You are more beautiful than sunsets."

She gulped, and looked down at her plate, blushing. But her fumbling hand found mine beneath the table.

Talk and laughter and stories swirled around us, but I said little through the meal, just sitting and watching her.

I fell in love with her spirit first, and sometimes I just forget how beautiful she is to me.

That isn't right. I shouldn't take any part of her for granted. As the evening passed I noticed a sort of gracious new maturity about her that puzzled and intrigued me. But I was obscurely sad to see that she was taking small bites, being careful never to speak with her mouth full.

When had she started to do that?

Then I saw a look pass between Rikku and Lulu and Rikku smiled and I stiffened, not knowing what was coming next.

"It's time for the gifts!" she yelled, jumping up.

" 'Gifts?'," Tidus and Wakka and Yuna and Rikku all said at the same time.

"Jinx!" Rikku yelled. "You all have to buy me something to eat!"

Rikku's Diary:

Ha! I so knew some of them would repeat it!

Yuna laughed and Wakka groaned and Tidus reached over to shove me but Auron had his arm around me and pulled me away. So nyaaa, Tidus! And I started to stick out my tongue, but then I didn't. I didn't even cross my eyes at him. I just smiled and didn't say anything, just snuggled a little with Auron.

Auron:

They were smiling and laughing as Rikku and Lulu got up and passed around the gifts they had prepared as a surprise for the rest of us.

"Here, Kimahri! It's an Astral Spear! You can cast all the spells you want and you won't hardly use any magic at all! And maybe we can add a magic booster to it later!"

Wakka got a new catcher blitzball with stonestrike on it. He seemed to be drooling over it as Rikku leaned close to whisper to me.

"Lulu and I thought of making him a piece of armor instead, but let's face it, Wakka loves blitzballs. We know it won't make much difference now," she added, "But it'll come in real handy later when we're catching stronger fiends!"

Tidus got a Curative Shield, with auto-med, sleepproof, and confuseproof. I learned that Lulu had gotten the blanks for some of the gifts from the local shop or from Rin on the airship. Rikku had then customized them with the abilities the two decided on from our stock of available items. Rikku must have worked all day and all night.

"Here Yuna! Open yours!"

Our summoner took the little package and started to carefully undo the wrapping. I could sense Rikku's desire to snatch it from her hands and tear it open. But she didn't.

"Oh!" Yuna finally said. "It's a ring!"

"Uh huh!" Rikku answered. "It's called a Peaceful Ring! It's really rare! It repels fiends!"

Ah...interesting. We all leaned closer to examine it.

"Rikku," I murmured to her. "You made this?"

"Well, no" she said. "We fought the ghost on the arena. You know, the one we caught in that cavern with Yojimbo? The guy said in Catching Fiends for Dummies that sometimes when you beat them they drop these pieces of armor with this really rare ability. So Lulu and I fought ghosts and beat then over and over and it worked! It dropped this! Eventually."

That ring is going to come in very handy. But...

"Rikku, just how much time did you spend in the arena?"

"A LOT. That's where I stole most of the stuff we used to make this stuff. Wait, Auron. Time to surprise Lulu now!"

And Lulu was surprised.

"What!" she yelped.

"Heh heh, yeah...I added it to your Booster Cactaur when you fell asleep helping me!"

"And I didn't even notice?" Lulu said, holding out her doll for close inspection.

"Guess not. Hey, me and the little guy agreed to try and surprise you! Guess it worked," Rikku said, and threw a wink at the Magical Cactuar in Lulu's hands, which now would allow her to cast spells practically without using any magic at all. Like Kimahri's new spear.

Did...did it wink back?

I must have imagined it.

"Auron? Um, here."

She was holding a package out to me, wrapped in red.

Well.

"Open it for me, Rikku," I said.

For a moment she looked puzzled, and then she smiled and tore the wrapping to shreds.

It was a bracer.

"Auron? It has auto-protect, and auto-med, and I used a stamina tonic so it'll boost your health, like almost by a third! Do you like it Auron?"

"I like it Rikku, very much. I love it." I leaned close, and whispered in her ear, "I love you."

She smiled and looked down at the floor for a second, then looked back up at me.

"Hey," she said quietly. "Are you finished eating?"

I was eating?

I nodded.

"Com'on," she said, and grabbed my hand. "Let's go for a walk."

As we quietly left, Tidus and Wakka were throwing the new blitzball back and forth across the room while Yuna clapped and Lulu was betting with Kimahri on how soon one would turn the other into stone. The falling door-flap cut off the sounds of conversation behind us as we ducked out into the night.

Rikku's Diary:

"Um, do you want to walk along the beach?" I asked, and he nodded, and we wandered down that way holding hands.

The moon was big in the sky and bright enough to see by. There was a patch of sharp stones and I was still barefoot, and he picked me up and carried me for a little while, until we reached the sand. Then we walked a little, and we kissed a little, and then we found a nice spot and we sat down and watched the waves coming in and going out and the slow dance of the moonlight on the water.

"Auron?" I said after a while, smiling and leaning into him, "So, um, have you ever been skinny dipping?"

"Rikku," he said, all gravel-voiced and exasperated like.

"It's no big deal, Auron," I told him, rolling my eyes. "Back on Bikanel no one wears suits!"

Ha! What a whopper! If Dad had ever caught me skinny-dipping with a boy he'd have taken away my tools for six months!

But Auron doesn't know that!

Auron:

Lies smell like something burning

Quick breath...cherry wood and cedar...

A playful little lie, no harm meant.

Rikku's Diary:

"Rikku," Auron growled, "No teasing me!"

I put down my head and poked out my lower lip and looked up at him from under my lashes with wide eyes and in a little girl voice I said, "Not at all?"

He sighed and rubbed his forehead with one hand.

"Wellllllll," I said, with a little smile, "Okay, but I do have a little yellow bikinimmmmppphhh?

He was kissing me!

Auron:

Had to shut her up.

Rikku's Diary:

MMMmmmmmMMmmmm...

"Again," I gasped when we broke apart, and he leaned in.

MMmmmmmm...kiss.

"Again." Smiling.

MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmm...kiss.

"Again." Happy gasp.

"Rikku...?" Puzzled.

"Because of my idiot father, that's why," I said, shifting around and grabbing up a handful of sand and throwing it at the water with a frown. "Because he told an idiot Al Bhed kid on the ship that I needed to get over some old monk and the idiot kid KISSED me when I wasn't looking!"

"WHAT! RIK—mmMMMmmmmphh?"

Kiss.

Auron pulled his head back and tried to say something but I shook my head and with my lips still on his, I said, "And I've brushed my teeth and rinsed out my mouth and gargled and SPIT but I can't get that taste out of my mouth. So..."

"Rik—MmmmmmMmmmmmMmmmmm...!"

Kiss.

And he pulled his head back and tried to say something else and I smiled into his lips and said, "Oh yeah! That's got it! A couple more just like that."

"Rikk—mmmmmMMMmmmmm..."

Kiss.

"Ha...again!"

MMMMmmmmmmmmMmmmmMmmmmmmmheheheeheeheeheehee...I was giggling and he was laughing quietly and have you ever tried kissing someone while you're both laughing?

"Auron," I said when we broke apart, "You're not mad?"

He looked at me a minute, and then he sighed, and smiled a crooked little smile and said, "Kiss."

MmmmMMmmmmmMmmmmm...

"No," he said, after a minute. "Of course I'm not mad at you, Rikku."

"Good. Ptui! That taste is finally out of my mouth. Kiss please!"

"Rikku," he said softly, pulling back for real now, "Is there something else?"

Well yeah.

I sighed, and turned to look out over the water.

"Just...stuff" I said, digging my toes into the sand. "Like, you know I had a talk with Dad. It didn't go very well. I heard yours didn't either."

"You could say that, Rikku."

"Well, I don't know what happened in yours, but in mine, when I talked to him he tried to treat me like a little kid. I mean, like I was ten years old, and like I would stand there and take it because I haven't had my official coming-of-age ceremony yet! Like he didn't know there's more to being a grown-up than that!"

I sat there for a moment, breathing hard and thinking about it, getting mad all over again. Then Auron asked slowly, "Rikku...is that why you were acting so grown up at dinner?"

"Um..." I put my head down. "Whatdaya mean?"

"I mean taking small bites, and not talking with your mouth full, and not sticking your tongue out even once, or getting into a food fight with Tidus."

"I thought you didn't like it when I did those things," I said softly.

"It annoys me," he said. "But I accept it. Rikku, you don't have to change for me."

I sighed, and sat up a little. I picked up a fistful of white sand and let it pour slowly out between my fingers.

"You changed for me, Auron. You...talk more. And you smile more. You told me so." He opened his mouth to say something but I went on, "It's not like I'm becoming someone else, some whole other person. But I can change a little...for you."

"Rikku..."

"And maybe...maybe I just think it's time to grow up a little."

He closed his mouth and didn't say anything for a while. The moon went behind some clouds, and we were sitting in the dark, and then he asked gently, "Why?"

Because...

"Because there are things I have to do. Grown-up things. Like...like protecting the Al Bhed."

Auron:

Oh.

Rikku's Diary:

"Auron? I'm not blaming you, I'm not! But..." I frowned, "I just don't understand. I mean, it's just that Tidus would never have let Seymour hurt the Ronso that way, and I know you believe you had to, but I just don't understand...you raised Tidus, and he wouldn't have done it. He couldn't have. So how...?"

His hand found mine in the dark, and I clutched it with both of mine, letting him know I was there, and that I wasn't blaming him! I just wanted to know.

"I tried to give Tidus my values, Rikku," he said softly, "But I didn't try to raise him to be a copy of me. We're different. We're different people. You're right, Rikku, he would never have sacrificed the Ronso, and he would never sacrifice the Al Bhed. Tidus is a hero...I'm a legend...there's a difference.

Oh.

"Oh. I see...," I said quietly, "...I guess. And I don't blame you, really. But, so, someone has to protect the Al Bhed, Auron. Just like Rin said. And I know you can't. I mean, I know you don't want us to be hurt, but I know that can't be your first priority. And it's okay. It really is. I know you have something even more important to do. I know I don't know what it is, but I know you, and I trust you, Auron. But...someone has to...I...have to protect the Al Bhed. I have to try."

"Rikku..."

He stopped.

"Auron...what?"

"Rikku...most people wouldn't understand. Most people would blame me for not promising that I would protect their people. They see the world as a simple place, black-and-white, good and bad. And...well, just, I'm glad that you don't blame me, Rikku. And I suppose what I'm saying is, you really don't have to change, you know. Rikku, you're already more grown-up than most people I know. Wiser, and more mature."

Oh...

Wow.

"Um...thanks."

"Rikku, you wanted to be more like Lulu, didn't you?"

"Well..." I dug my toes into the sand, and wriggled them, "She's just so..."

"Wrong."

"What?"

"She was wrong, from start to finish on the pilgrimage—what she wanted, what she expected, what she accepted. It was all wrong. And Rikku? You were right. And you had the courage to hold on to your beliefs and fight for them through everything that happened. Rikku, listen to me..."

He squeezed my hand and I turned to face him in the dark.

"Rikku, Lulu is smart and talented and resolute. She is gifted, and she has it in her to be an extraordinary woman, successful and strong. But it will never happen until she becomes more like you."

"Uhh...?"

"Your strength, your courage, your faith in life."

Um, okay...

So, so can I kiss him now?

My arms went around him and our lips found each other, and when we came up for air, I said, "You make me sound perfect."

"You're not perfect," he said, "And neither am I, and we both know it because we knew each other before all of this happened between us. I know you're messy, you know I can be insensitive. And we love each other despite that. And I know that you will try to do what you think you must. You will protect the Al Bhed. Of course you will. You couldn't do anything else."

"But I don't want it to come between us, Auron! I mean, like..."

I ran down.

"Like the crest," he said quietly.

I swallowed, and took a deep breath.

"Yeah. Like the crest. Auron, I know you hate Masamune, and don't trust it. But I NEED it! I don't know all the things you do! I don't even know what I don't know! It'll help me protect my people! My family! But I don't want you to hate me."

"I don't hate you Rikku. I'll never hate you, but I am worried. I am terrified for you, Rikku. I don't trust the sword and I never will, and you said you didn't trust it either."

"I don't. But, I trust its advice, mostly."

"Why...?"

"Because it's obsessed with you! And it knows if it hurts me you'll never EVER forgive it! So I think it'll give me the best advice it can, mostly. So it can stay close to you."

"Hm..."

Auron:

It's...possible.

"Auron?

"Yes, Rikku?"

"When that kid kissed me? I...I didn't know what to do. I mean, I slugged him, and made sure it'd never happen again! But, I didn't know what to tell you, you know? I didn't want to keep secrets, but I didn't want to hurt you, and I didn't want you to worry, you know? So...so..."

There was a rushing sound in my ears.

"You asked the sword."

"Yeah, and, and it gave me good advice! About how to tell you! You weren't worried and you weren't hurt and you weren't mad! It was good advice! Auron...? You're not mad? You don't hate me?"

Do I...?

No, of course not.

"Of course I don't, Rikku."

I heard her let out a breath in a big puff.

"Okay, okay, good. So Auron? I need the crest. To help me protect the Al Bhed. Auron?"

"Yes, all right Rikku," I sighed. "The...the crest and I need to have a little talk soon, but...all right."

"Thank you Auron," she said quietly. "Um, so, uh, let's talk about something else, 'k?" she asked, snuggling back up to me.

Yeah.

Something else.

What?

"Rikku," I said. "I like my gift very much. Everyone liked their gifts. But Rikku, there was no gift for you."

"I know," she sighed. "Oh well, I guess I get to enjoy the gift of giving."

I snorted.

"Yeah, yeah," she giggled. "At least this way they'll feel guilty and do nice things for me. Auron?"

I was shifting around, digging into the pockets of my coat. The moon was finally coming out from behind the clouds again. She was looking puzzled, trying to figure out what I was doing.

"Here, Rikku. A gift for you."

She took it and smiled, and I know exactly what she was thinking. She thought it was something that I grabbed quickly and wrapped sometime tonight when she wasn't looking, because I wanted her to have something to open. She thought it was a sweet gesture.

She tore open the wrapping, and I watched her eyes go wide.

"Auron..." she whispered.

"It's from Luca," I said quietly. "It's called jade...green, like your eyes...and rare and precious, as you are to me."

She turned the little figure over and over in her hands, looking at it.

Rikku's Diary:

"Do you like it, Rikku?" he asked a little uncertainly. The figure was cool and slick under my fingers, and pale green in the moonlight. I've never held anything so...so exquisite.

"Yes, I do," I said in a small voice.

I love it.

"I love you," I said, looking up at him, and he smiled, and I put the little figure down carefully, and wrapped my arms around him and gave him a kiss deeper than any we'd shared that night.

Was there ever a more perfect night?

I love Auron.

I do.

So...

"Auron," I whispered. My hand was trembling a little as I trailed my fingertips gently down his body, sliding over his belt, lower, "There's another gift I could give you..."

"No, Rikku!" he said, grabbing my hand and snatching it away.

"I'm not teasing you," I breathed looking up into his hard, gentle face.

"I...I know you're not. But you're not ready, and neither am I. And Rikku," he said, and lifted my hand to his lips, and softly kissed the very tips of my fingers, "Rikku, you love me. There truly, truly is no gift you could give me that means more to me than that."

I sighed and settled back. He was right. I knew he was right. My head knew it, but the rest of my body...dammed teenaged hormones.

"Hey Auron...?" I said, turning and laying back in his arms. "Do you remember when we always said stuff like, This isn't a GIFT Rikku, and This isn't a GIFT Auron! Remember?"

"I remember."

His voice was a little hoarse.

"Why did we do that?"

"I was stupid. I think you were just getting even."

"Yeah," I giggled.

We just stayed there for a while, like that.

"Auron?" I said.

"Mmm?"

"Tell me a story. Tell me the story about the ruins, and your family."

"All right.

He cleared his throat.

"Once, a man named Matoya..."

"Your grandfather."

"Yes, Rikku. My Grandfather. Once, a man named Matoya visited the island of Besaid. He was a mystic warrior and he searched for a sword out of legend."

"Uh, a sword...?"

"Yes Rikku, it was Masamune. Hm, Rikku...well, you know these stories...have a kind of rhythm."

"Oh okay."

"Once, a man named Matoya visited the island of Besaid. He was a mystic warrior and he searched for a sword out of legend. He was exploring some ruins when he found a girl being attacked by strong fiends. He drew his sword, Murasame, and together they defeated the fiends. He asked her name, but she laughed and kissed him, and said she had a treasure to find but they would meet again. When she was gone he realized she'd stolen all of his money. With Murasame he went deeper into the ruins, determined to find the sword before the thief did. On the highest level, he found her again, beside an open chest, fighting more of the huge flying fiends. He rushed to help her, but she was struck, and fell from the ruins to the forest below. When the fiends were dead, Matoya sadly turned to the chest. Inside he found a targe, with a note from the girl. She wrote that she had found the treasure, but she would leave her favorite armor in its place so that he wouldn't be empty-handed. And although Motoya was sad, he laughed. When he was older he did find Masamune, and wielded the sword for many years. But his own blade, Murasame, he left in the ruins on Besaid that day, lying next to the chest with the young thief's armor."

Uh...

"So...so the beautiful talented young thief girl got the treasure but she died! Auron! That's so sad!"

"Well, yes," he said slowly, "But another story says that she didn't die. Matoya didn't know it but she lived, and they met again years later."

"OH! So then it's a romantic story!"

"It's just a story, Rikku. Just a story they tell in my family."

"Grump! I'll bet it's all true!"

"There are no powerful fiends on Besaid, you know that."

"Hmph. It's a perfectly good romantic story, Auron!" I said, twisting in his arms to look up at him. "Admit it!"

"All right. I admit it," he said, bending down to kiss me. "It's romantic."

MMMmmmmmmmmmm...

The moon was in the sky, and the waves were lapping, and the breeze was playing over us, and the stars were wheeling overhead, and I felt safe and loved in his arms.

"Auron? Can we sleep out here, Auron?" I asked. "Just like this?"

"I'd like that, Rikku," he said, throwing his old red coat around us both.

"I've missed you Auron," I said. "I mean, when's the last time we held each other at night? I missed that."

"Zanarkand. I know," he said. "I've missed it too."

"Don't be afraid, Auron," I whispered, closing my eyes, wrapped up tight in his arms.

"Don't be afraid, Rikku."


Auron:

When I woke up, she was gone.

Next: The Smell of Blood