Rikku had never been more confused in her life. The person leaning over her was definitely the man from her memory, but he was fifteen years younger. As she studied her scarlet-clad friend, she noticed something she hadn't at their first meeting: a small, ivory horn on his forehead, right at the hairline. The horn appeared to possess some sort of benevolence, a quiet power of sorts, but Rikku couldn't quite define it. Her friend ran his hand over her forehead. Rikku could sense something there that hadn't been before. It was small and sharp, registering the presence of every living thing around her, including her friend.
He helped her to a sitting position and held a Potion to her lips. Rikku made a valiant effort to drink what she could of it.
"Feeling any better?" he asked.
"Yeah, thanks a lot. Where am I?" Rikku mused.
"You're in Remiem Valley, below the Temple."
"Remiem Temple? Where's Yuna? Where's that White Fayth?" A shadow of pain crossed the scarlet-clad boy's face for a mere nanosecond before disappearing.
"Yuna... has returned to Bevelle. She was very worried when you didn't come back, but Braska knows you're with me and that I'll be bringing you back to Bevelle soon, too."
"What about the White Fayth?"
"The White Fayth joined with a human not long ago. She perceives her time has come."
"Time for what?"
"Let me show you..."
Her friend led her to a circular wall not far from where they were camping. Pictures of Aeons and other creatures which Rikku did not recognize were painted at regular intervals on the wall. One of them was a girl with black hair, at a first glance she looked almost identical to the scarlet-robed boy, but she had ivy-colored eyes as opposed to his swirled russets. The girl had two children in her arms, a boy and a girl, black-haired and blonde. The barrier Iifa had placed on Rikku's memory fell, as Rikku herself fell into her friend's arms, unconscious.
Rikku could see a crowd of warrior monks coming toward her village. Several of them were headed specifically in her direction. Swords raised, they charged like madmen into the groups of children, hacking wildly, blood flying everywhere. Many of the children were holding their foreheads and screaming in excruciation. When they approached her, they appeared frightened and stepped back, throwing down their weapons. A pair of mystical arms lifted Rikku into the air and a white light chased away the soldiers.
Rikku looked around to find the person who had saved her. She couldn't see her protector, but she did see another child her protector had lifted from the ruined city. He looked about five years of age with onyx colored hair, just long enough that it could be bound back, and his swirling chocolate eyes were glassy with pain. Rikku looked up a little bit and saw that sharp spikes of moon-bright, blood-covered ivory were sticking out of his forehead, right at the hairline. It appeared that a small horn must have once grown where pools of blood now did. The boy was making a valiant effort to be strong, but the pain was threatening to pull him into the shadow world. Rikku extended her hand to him and found that all of what she was seeing, she saw through the eyes of a five-year-old girl. The boy grasped her tiny hand tightly, almost cutting off her circulation. Rikku felt a small power jump from the top of her head to the boy's injury. The wound sealed instantly and the blood faded. A white-gloved hand comforted the boy. The owner of the hand began to sing a lullaby, and sleep claimed both Rikku and her companion...
Rikku opened her eyes. The scarlet-clad boy had brought her to her balcony in Bevelle. A pair of moon-colored wings were folded around her as the boy just held her, praying that she would wake up. Rikku looked at him with sudden realization...
"Auron... your name is Auron..." The boy nodded. He began to quietly sing the song Rikku had heard in her memory, the song of her tribe. And as he lulled her to sleep, another song came to mind. 'So let me come to you/ Close as I wanna be/ Close enough for me/ To feel your heart beating fast/ And stay there as I whisper/ How I loved your peaceful eyes on me/ Did you ever know/ That I had mine on you..."