Nearly there I feel…

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Darkness Falls

Chapter 23: Well?

You have got some explaining to do miss!" Cid shouted at his daughter in Al Bhed.

They stood around the bridge, leaning against wall and surfaces. Except for Cid and Rikku, who stood in the centre of the centre, facing off against her father. The others couldn't hear what was being said, but they guessed.

Auron stood in the doorway rubbing his jaw. The man had a punch. The group had entered the airship in silence, Rikku seething at her father.

"You had no right to do that!" she shouted back.

"You're my daughter! I have every right!" Cid replied.

"I love him!"

"You're only 16, do you even know what love is?" he asked incredulously.

Rikku tired a different angle of attack. "How old was mother when you married her?" she asked.

Cid spluttered for a few seconds, then recovered smoothly. "This is not about your mother! This is about you and him!" he shouted. Smooth Cid, real smooth, he thought.

"Why won't you understand?" Rikku said desperately. "What does age matter? I thought you wanted me to be happy!"

Cid took a deep breath and calmed down. "I do, but you can't know what you're talking about."

"Why not?"

Cid did not have an answer to that.

Rikku also stopped. She looked at the others, asking them a silent question. As one they nodded and began to walk from the bridge. Cid looked around, wondering what was going on, and then seeing that everyone was frowning. He looked back at Rikku, who was staring at him.

Rikku didn't even look around. "Auron, please," she said. Auron grunted and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Cid looked at his only daughter. "What?" he asked.

"There's something else you need to know," she said, so quietly that Cid almost didn't hear.

Cid grabbed Rikku's shoulders and forced her head up, so their eyes met. "What?" he asked.

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The other stood outside the bridge. No-one spoke. They had managed to accept Rikku's state, but they doubted her father would be so forgetful.

Tidus looked at Yuna. He found his thoughts directed to his father. He had no idea how Jecht would have reacted to the news if he had suddenly told him he was dead, and he honestly would rather not know. He doubted it would be in the way he hoped, if there was a good way to accept the news.

Cid's reaction, based around what the team knew of his personality, was predictable.

The door to the bridge slammed open and Cid stormed out, eyes scanning the team. They fixed on Wakka and he started walking towards the blitzer.

Wakka noticed the look in the man's eyes. "Hey, is there anything…"

He never got farther. Cid punched Wakka in the side of the head and he went down hard. Khimari's eyes widened slightly – which wasn't saying much – and he walked over to Cid, pulling him off Wakka before he got off another punch.

Wakka scrambled out from under the old man. "What in the Farplane is wrong wit you man?" he said, rubbing the side of his face. There would be a big bruise there tomorrow.

Cid just stared at him and tried to pull himself away from Khimari, back onto Wakka, but the Ronso's arms were too strong. "You killed my daughter! I'll kill you!" he said.

Wakka's eyes widened as everyone looked towards him. "What? No! It was Seymour!"

"LIAR!" Cid shouted. He finally got control of himself and stopped straining against the Ronso's arm.

At that second Rikku ran out of the room and grabbed her father. "Vydran!"

"What?" Cid said, though – the others saw – he spoke less angrily at Rikku.

"Leave Wakka alone!" She leant over and whispered into his ear. "It wasn't his fault. He didn't know."

"He damn well did! What the hell did he think was piloting the thing?" Cid shouted, glaring at Wakka.

Wakka just sat there, brain ticking away furiously. Craft… Pilot… Wait a minute! He turned to Rikku. "I did it, didn't I?" he said softly.

Rikku cursed and turned to Wakka. Could no secret be kept longer than three days among this lot? "It was an accident. You had to rescue Yuna right?" she said.

Cid brushed her off and stood there, Khimari ready to jump back on him in a second. "Don't expect me to forgive you," he whispered.

Wakka just sat there, not getting up, staring alternately at Rikku and Cid. "I…"

Rikku cut him off. "Don't say you're sorry, you have nothing to be sorry for," she said.

Auron stared at the scene, and the three main protagonists, especially Rikku. It was amazing how serious she could be. He was reminded of Braska's dead wife. As graceful as a willow and with a heart to match, but cross her and you would soon regret it. He sighed and walked up to Cid. "Cid…"

Cid rounded on him. "Don't you tell me it's all OK because it's not!" he said. "My daughter is dead and…"

Rikku patience snapped. "I'm not dead! I'm standing right here! If you need to punch something use the wall and not my friends!" she screamed.

Cid looked at her in shock. He had never seen her shout like that… Before he could say anything Rikku had stormed off. The others just watched as she stormed from the corridor, and no-one saw the tears that were falling from her eyes as she did.

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Rikku slammed the door behind her and fell onto the bed, weeping. Damn that man! Why did he have to be so tysh stubborn?

He's right though.

I'm not dead!

Yes you are. It's true. You know it. They know it. He knows it.

"I'm not…" Rikku whispered into the pillow.

"No, you're very much alive," a voice whispered.

Rikku felt a hand on her shoulder pull her up, and she fell into Auron's embrace. She cried into his shoulder. "Then why…"

"Because he is crushed. The only person he has left is dead. How would you feel if your family died?" he asked softly.

Devastated… she thought. She had never known her mother that well, and had been unaffected. "I thought… never mind," she said.

"What?" Auron asked.

"I never thought it would be like this… We were all supposed to come home and live happily ever after…" she said dreamily.

"We still can," Auron said.

Rikku looked up. "You really think so?" she asked, and Auron knew what she needed to hear.

"I promise," he said, and kissed her. Rikku kissed back, and the pair closed their eyes as Auron's hands reached down to embrace her waist. Her legs curled around his on the bed, and for a few hours the two found peace in each other's arms.

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Cid paced the bridge, Brother staying well out of his way.

Rikku, dead? My little girl?

He was burning himself out, walking back and forth on the same piece of deck, wearing out his nerves.

Brother split his attention between the window in front of him – which was full of clouds - and his father, watching the man pace back and forward, his feet making the same damned noise over and over. Finally he couldn't stand it anymore.

"Will you quite that damned pacing!" he shouted at Cid in Al Bhed.

Cid turned to him. "Just pilot the damned ship! Are we at Bevelle yet?" he asked.

"The amount of pacing you're doing you'll hole the deck, and we'll never get there!" Brother said back.

Cid took the hint and stopped. He went to the window and looked out, resting his elbow against the glass. "What am I supposed to do about this?" he asked.

Brother was surprised. His father had never shown less than a 'hard-man' image for most of his life, – excepting 'psychotic rage' of course – but even the toughest of men could be broken, and this had done it.

"There is nothing you can do, except let her live in peace," Brother said, The Voice Of Reason.

"And that's the damned problem isn't it?" Cid growled.

"Let them be," brother said, and tuned back to the controls. He had said his piece.

Cid looked out at the clouds and saw the unmistakeable shape of the Holy Capital below him. He sighed. Throughout all his years watched summoners die and guardians protect them he had always held the hope that Yuna Would Win. After watching for years, trying to change it and failing, he had to face a new thought. Yuna Would Die And So Would Rikku. He punched the glass.

Part two is done you old fool. Now you're taking your niece to follow.

She will change it. Her and that boy…

Too late her Rikku though…

"If she is happy," Cid said quietly.

Brother caught it, and glanced at his father. Realisation is the hardest part. At least if his father accepted it, it would make letting go of his daughter so much easier when the time came.

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A quiet knock on the door was all it took to bring Rikku back to consciousness. She lowered the covers from over her head and stared as the door opened slowly. Before someone did something they would regret she said; "Come in."

The person on the other side sighed and opened it further. Wakka walked into the room and blushed. Rikku smiled. "Yes?" she asked.

"Erm, we're at Bevelle, Yuna is gonna go talk with Mika. You two wanna come?" he asked Rikku, and, indirectly, the other person under the covers.

"Sure!" she said cheerfully. Just… um… give me a few will ya?" she asked sheepishly.

Wakka nodded frantically and turned to go. Before the door had closed he turned back. "Rikku?"

Rikku turned back and pointed at him. "Don't you dare try and apologise for anything," she said.

Wakka looked hesitant, then nodded and walked out.

Rikku sighed and punched the covers above Auron, and he stirred. "We're at Bevelle, come on," she said, getting up and starting to put on her clothes.

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The others were noticeably silent as Rikku and Auron walked up to them on the Highbridge.

Tidus nodded as they approached. "Get a good night's sleep?" he asked, then realised what he had said and blushed.

Rikku laughed.

"Pretty fair," she said, holding Auron's hand, as Shelinda approached them.

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…Which is the closest I will ever get to a lemon. So tough cookies.