AN: Yay! Tonight's the opening night of the play! I must say, Les Miz is a hard play, so I'm really happy/excited that we can pull it off ^-^ ::clears throat:: Anyway, I was surprised I got so many reviews for such a short chapter ^-^;;
I'd like to thank tuatha danaan for giving me honest opinion of my story. And I'm glad that my grammar and such is good ^-^ I re-read the chapters and realized you were right, and I'm sorry if it got too repetitive! From now on I'm going to try my best to keep Rikku out of the "helpless" zone.
And sorry about inserting AN in the middle of the story, I try and avoid it, but I guess I kinda added them this time, huh? ::grimaces:: Gomen!
And Rocker Baby, I definitely LOVE Rent! I wanna see Tick…Tick…Boom! But it's only on tour and nowhere near me XP
~*^-^*~
"Lady Rikku? Lady?"
Rikku grumbled and buried her head under a pillow. She heard someone shuffle in the room, and heard the clanking of the curtains as they were whisked back and sunlight streamed into the room. She heard footsteps next to the bed and shivered when the covers were pulled back, exposing her to the cold.
"Lady Rikku, we must hurry! The Maester had wanted to wed you at dawn, but I insisted you needed your sleep. We can't delay any longer, lady."
Rikku yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. What was all the fuss about? Glancing around the room, she started.
"W-where am I?" Rikku looked around, bewildered. She didn't remember crawling into a bed.
"Why, you're in the Maester's guest room, don't you remember?" The pudgy Guado serving lady pursed her lips in confusion. Rikku's eyes widened as she realized the truth of the last statement and exactly what had happened last night.
"We really must hurry. Quickly, follow me!" The woman grabbed Rikku by the wrist and yanked her out of bed. The younger girl yelped, but allowed the antsy Guado to lead her out of the room and down the hall.
"Here we are. This is where you'll prepare for the ceremony." The woman opened a large oak door and motioned Rikku inside. The room was large, a black marble tub in the back corner. A vanity, complete with matching stool, sat in the corner, various toiletries and brushes laying on the table. A long black garment bag caught Rikku's attention, and she was pretty sure she didn't have to ask to know what was in it.
"Come now, I'll help you wash up." The woman gave Rikku a couple of small pushes before bustling lively over to the tub and drawing a bath.
"Thank you for your help…."
"Arthea. You may call me Arthea." She smiled and poured some scented oils into the water.
"Come Lady Rikku, your bath is ready."
Rikku stood in the middle of the room and let Arthea strip her clothes off her. Numbly, she sunk into the hot water and slid down until only her chin was above water. Rikku listened quietly and uninterested to Arthea babble as she washed her hair. She was so wrapped in her thoughts that she shrieked when Arthea grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the tub.
"Here, wrap this one around your hair while I get your clothes." Arthea said as Rikku finished wrapping a fluffy white towel around her body. The Al Bhed nodded and wrapped the extra towel around her wet hair. Rikku felt sick as she watched Arthea unzip the large black bag and pulled out a huge white dress. Her knees no longer able to hold her, she sunk to the floor.
She couldn't really be doing this, could she? She wouldn't really marry the Maester, right?
"Lady?"
"I'm fine, really, just a little tired." She laughed uneasily and forced her legs to work so Arthea could get her dressed.
"Just a little tired."
~*^-^*~
Yuna sighed and ran a hand through her hair, clearly frustrated. She glanced at her uncle, who was now steering his ship, face set in grim determination. She couldn't blame him; His daughter was missing. Lulu and Wakka stood in a corner near the front of the ship, quietly arguing about something. Khimari stood guard at the door, and Tidus paced anxiously in a small invisible path. Auron was nowhere to be found.
"I'll be back." She whispered to Tidus before leaving the deck. She caught a blob of red in the hall, and smiled sadly as she recognized Auron leaning heavily against the wall.
"Sir Auron, I'm sure we'll find-"
"It's not my concern, my only concern is to finish the pilgrimage."
Yuna stared at her eldest guardian, horrified. What he was saying could not be true, she wouldn't believe it.
"But you had said before that if we found Maester Seymour we would find-"
"If we find Rikku while we are there, then we will help her, if not, we don't have time to stop." Auron stared evenly at the summoner. Yuna opened her mouth, then closed it, shook her head, and walked away.
Auron stared after her before sighing heavily and slouching deeper into the wall. His head hurt and he felt the odd stirrings of something deep in his chest.
The cabin door opened and Tidus, Lulu, Wakka, and Khimari rushed out, weapons ready. Tidus stopped in front of him.
"There's a fiend on deck, we've gotta stop it before it knocks us down!" Tidus adjusted his sword before hurrying off after the group. Auron stared after the group, weary. He took a quick swig of sake before starting off after them.
~*^-^*~
"You look marvelous!" Arthea clapped her hands together happily and bounced up and down. Rikku was less ecstatic, settling for just looking at herself in the full-length mirror.
The dress was long, so long that Arthea had to trim it before she could wear it. Ruffles puffed out the front, tiny off-white beads sewn across the trim. The top was tight fitting, lace threaded through the front and tied in a small bow in the center. The sleeves were long, a small triangular point fell to the middle of the back of her hands. The shoulders were big and tacky, but Rikku had no say in what she wore.
To complete her attire, a pearl necklace hung from her neck, making her skin look even paler than it normally was. Her hair had been yanked in every direction, until it was woven into a tight bun at the top of her head and she felt like she had a face lift. Small pearl clips held loose wisps of hair back, and a veil hid her face.
"Smile, Lady, that frown doesn't suit you."
Rikku forced a wobbly smile as she looked at the Guado woman. She had been so kind, even though Rikku had done nothing in return. Arthea took her arm and pulled her out of the bathroom and down the hall. Rikku swallowed the lump of fear in her throat. Nobody was coming to save her.
~*^-^*~
"Man, that, was tough." Tidus panted, falling back against the ship deck. Yuna nodded wearily and sunk down next to him, hands still shaking as they clutched her staff. The fiend had been huge, and had drained most of everyone's MP.
"Khimari sees something." The Ronso pointed a large clawed hand down below the ship to a small raised platform. Tidus crawled to the ledge, careful of the long fall down, and squinted.
"Hey Yuna, ask your uncle to go lower, it's hard to make out anything from here." Tidus glanced over his shoulder to make sure Yuna had heard, but she was already on her way to the cabin.
"Hey Auron, you see that?" Tidus waved his hand to the platform. Auron nodded wordlessly. A quick jerk of the ship and the feeling of their stomachs' dropping signaled that the ship was lowering. Yuna appeared on deck a few seconds later and kneeled next to Tidus. Wakka and Lulu instinctively grabbed an arm to prevent her from falling.
The platform was coming into view now, and they could barely make out people and what appeared to be Guado, gathered to the sides.
"What is this?" Tidus asked as he leaned forward, Yuna grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He laughed nervously.
"It looks like a Guado wedding reception." Lulu offered her input as they drew even closer.
"A wedding? Here? Now?" Wakka was skeptical. Lulu nodded but didn't say anything else. Yuna's gasp caught their attention.
"Yuna?" Auron walked behind the girl to see what had upset her so much. She pointed towards the platform with a shaky hand. Auron squinted with his one good eye, trying to get a better look.
Then he saw her. She was wearing a long flowing dress that trailed a short way behind her. A bouquet of wild flowers were clasped tightly in her hands, and she stood next to the Maester of Yevon on the alter.
"Rikku?"
~*^-^*~
AN: I lied about doing the whole wedding ceremony in one chapter ^-^;; I didn't expect this part to be this long…o well!
It's now 12:30 in the morning, hours after I wrote this chapter, and I just came back from the Diner after Le Miz. It went great ^-^ I'm happy, and now I'm gonna go to bed ^-^
Please Review!
~Neoshipper~
