He just stood there watching the room, leaning on the wall, arms crossed over his chest. He felt his good eye began to get heavier by the minute. "No." He shifted to a less comfortable position. His eye snapped open when the choking of a dying snore stopped, and a content sigh echoed. He couldn't help but chuckle, poor Wakka. Auron doesn't know how long he stood there, thinking about the nothingness, but the creaking of an opening door pulled him from his thoughts. His eye saw a shadowed figure emerge from the girls' room. Rikku, was his immediate thought. He just shook his head and closed his eye, he wanted to be left alone.

"Auron?" Rikku whispered, cautiously getting closer to what seemed to be a sleeping guardian. She couldn't tell if his eyes were closed through those superfluously black tinted sunglasses that hid his eyes, rather eye from the world. She gingerly reached up to remove the glasses, and was almost successful when two hands grabbed her wrist, it all happened so fast but suddenly her back was on the floor. A whimper escaped her lips as she stared into his face, his sunglasses on the brink of falling off.

"What do you think you're doing?" A malicious tone murmured angrily off his lips.

"I…I…I…" Rikku stammered feeling the weight of the elder guardian pin her in place. His eye wasn't full of age old wisdom shining a dark brown. No, it was something else, and Rikku couldn't place it. She was horrified of him and what he was going to do, to even think about it.

"Speak up." He growled his grip tightening on her wrists.

"Ow, you're hurting me!" Rikku tried to look away from the intense gaze of something she didn't recognize, but the intensity drew her attention back to it. His eye was nothing but black now. You couldn't even see the whites of his eye.

"Damn it, what did you think you were doing?" He shook her viciously, her head hitting the ground repeatedly.

"Auron, stop it. You're scaring me." Rikku allowed her frightened tears to slip out of her eyes, the pain was intense. The crushing weight, the vice grip, and the violently shaking too much for her.

"Go on scream, wake the others." Auron snarled, jerking his head to the side, letting his sunglasses fall to the floor. "Answer me!" His face inched toward hers.

"I…I…I…don't know." She stuttered, feeling faint.

"You don't know?" He laughed in an icy tone, "Then why the hell did you try to take my sunglasses off? To see my ugly scar? To play girlish games? Damn it don't tell me you don't know." Auron's eye stared menacingly.

"I'm sorry…Just let go, you're hurting me." Rikku tried to squirm free, but he held her in her place.

"Be glad I don't…" Auron's voice began to waver, and his grip loosened slightly, he shook his head. "Be glad I don't…" The black began to recede back into his pupil. "Just be glad I…" Auron suddenly dropped unconscious on top of Rikku. The flesh of his neck muffled her scream. Rikku began to wriggle beneath him, her hands hitting his back furiously. Her hands tried to then push on his chest, trying to roll him off of her.

"Auron…" she tried to scream again, scared. A weak grunt came from the older man, as two hands punched the ground next to either side of her head. She closed her eyes, tears flowing from beneath her eye lids. She felt the crushing weight lift off, one eye peeked open. Auron was on his knees next to her. "Don't touch me." Rikku sat up quickly, scrambling backwards.

"Rikku, what…" He stared at the ground, picking up his sunglasses and stared long and hard at them. "What just happened? Are you okay?" He glanced up to see a shuddering teenager with her knees up to her chest.

"Don't play games with me! You know very well!" She yelped as Auron inched closer to her. "Get away from me you old bastard!" She raised a hand to slap him, but a gloved hand caught her wrist, she cringed. With his other hand, he gingerly grabbed her fingers and moved his gloved hand a little further down her arm.

"Who did this to you?" He indicated to the angry red hand mark around her wrist.

"Don't touch me." She jerked her hand free from him. She stared at his eye, it was that calm mahogany again, touched with confusion and worry.

"Oh…" Auron felt realization hit him like a ton of bricks, he scrambled backwards until his back hit the stone wall. "No…not now. Not yet." He shook his head vigorously, and stared hard at his hands. "Not yet." The fear in his eye and the panic in his voice alarmed Rikku.

"You really don't remember, do you?" She pried, carefully crawling closer to the shuddering man. Picking up his sunglasses along the way.

"No…" He murmured closing his eye tightly shut. He covered his scarred face with his hands, and shook his head.

"Auron, what's wrong? What's happening?"

"I have an idea what happened to you…" He let his hands fall limp in his lap, his eye stared at her. "I attacked you didn't I?" A nod yes. "I seemed like a caged beast didn't I?" Another nod. "I hurt you didn't I?" A vigorous nod. "You're scared of me, aren't you?" A shaking of the head, confused the guardian. Suddenly Rikku was by his side, and a frail arm wrapped around his shoulder. He was too weak to shrug it off.

"Not yet what? What's happening? When I looked at you, you're eye…It wasn't you anymore."

"Rikku…I'm…" He fought that fighting demon trying to claw its way from the depths of his soul. He sighed deeply and tried to use the breathing concentration that helped calm him down, that he learned when he was a warrior monk. No use.

"What? What?" Rikku saw his pupil dilate slightly. She cautiously wrapped her other arm around his waist, and pulled him closer to her in a tight embrace. "Auron, what ever is happening, you can fight it. I don't know what's going on, but Yunie needs you. So fight it for her." Auron took the sign of affection from her, and let a single gloved hand wrap around her tiny waist.

"Rikku I'm…" His voice was soft…so vulnerable, "I'm turning into a fiend."

"Auron! No…" Rikku's eyes opened wide, as Auron just stared straight ahead, his eyes glistening. "You're not dead! You're not dead! You can't be turning into a fiend. You're not dead…are you?"

"Rikku…" He turned his body to face her more, still allowing the younger girl's arm wrap around him. "…I am…I am…"

"Yunalesca killed you…Didn't she?" A nod came from the taller guardian.

"Don't tell anyone…not yet…just not yet." His hands reached up and removed the kind gesture Rikku was showing towards him. "No more sentimental conversations. Forget this night ever happened." Auron sighed with a heavy heart, turning his back on the younger girl. He had a sudden interest in his Masamune.

"Auron! I…" Rikku gazed at his back with confusion, he was just opening up to her. What brought up those emotional walls so quickly? "…I promise…" She sighed and stood, steadying herself against the wall. She began to trudge back to her temporary room, with an occasional glance over her shoulder. Auron just sat there, eye closed, in silence. "…Auron…" She murmured and stepped into the dark room.