AN: ::throws confetti:: Waii waii! Over 100 (slightly ^-^;;) reviews! Arigatou!!! ^-^ Neoshipper est very happy ^-~ Hmm, about the stripping poll, a majority wanted him to loose his shirt, some his glove, and some his boots XD. I feel really really bad going against the majority, but as stated in one review, I should give Auron some sense of dignity, so he'll end up loosing one of the latter.
Don't worry though! Because I plan to have him loose his shirt at some point in time. The longer you wait the better it will be, ne? ^-^ And don't worry, I don't plan to have him loose all his clothing until he's only left walking around in boxers/briefs/thong (o.o). slowly he'll regain articles of clothing (at least some of them ^-^)
~*^-^*~
Rikku shielded her eyes from the prodding sun as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. So these were the Calm Lands.
"It's very….calm." She stated before starting off down the hill that led to the vast plane. Auron just shook his head before following the Al Bhed. They had left the forest early that morning, traveling through a path that they didn't go through on their first trip. Rikku, as usual, had been in her normal chipper mood, chattering about this and that. Auron followed along in his normal mood. Silent.
"Ne, Auron, what's that?" Rikku's inquiring voice made him look towards the large yellow bird that headed towards them. Auron almost told her to stop goofing off, then stopped. No matter how "normal" (or as normal as Rikku can get) Rikku was acting now, she was still missing a large part of her memory.
"It's a Chocobo."
"Chocobo?" Rikku said, trying the strangely familiar word on her tongue. Auron nodded and stopped beside her as the Chocobo and its' rider approached.
"Greetings. Would you like to ride a Chocobo? The Calm Lands stretch pretty far back and it can get tiring."
"No thank you, we're not interes-"
"Yes!"
The woman stared at them with a raised eyebrow, silently asking, 'which is it?' Auron sighed and nodded his head towards Rikku, indicating it was her choice. The woman nodded and held out her hand. Of course, Auron through grimly as he fished through his pants pocket, everything had a fee.
He pulled out two coins and placed them in the palm of her hand before the woman whistled and a Chocobo appeared.
"If you need riding lessons, you can find me somewhere on these fields. Enjoy your ride!" Then the woman was gone, her Chocobo racing away. Auron sighed as he held the birds' reign.
"Hop on." Auron instructed. Rikku nodded before attempting to swing her leg over the birds' back. Instead, she ended up in a heap in Auron's arms.
"Sorry." She giggled and straightened before attempting to mount the Chocobo again. This time, with a little push from Auron, she was able to get on. The Chocobo clucked happily.
"Auron, what about you?" She asked as she glanced down at the man. He shook his head. He never really liked Chocobos.
"I only had enough for one. You can ride. We should head towards that Inn over there and check our supplies. We're running a little low on potions."
"Okay!" Rikku grinned before gently kicking the bird in the side. It squawked, clearly upset by the motion, before taking off at an alarmingly fast pace. Rikku screeched and clung to the birds' neck. Auron sighed and shook his head before slowly following after.
~*^-^*~
"Man, what a rush!"
Rikku hopped off the bird and ran a hand through her unruly hair. Auron could be seen in the distance, slowly approaching. Rikku tapped her foot impatiently. Why were men so slow?
"C'mon!" She whined. Auron didn't quicken his pace, but continued to take long even strides. Rikku sighed, exasperated.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, Auron approached her, looking slightly amused that she was pacing.
"Let's go." She huffed before pulling him into the store. A cool breeze met them at the door, opposite of the heavy warm air outside. It felt good to be out of the heat, Auron thought. Black attracted heat, even more so than his heavy coat that he was beginning to miss.
"Rikku!" A young man with goggles on his head approached the Al Bhed girl. Rikku cocked her head to the side and frowned, puzzled.
"Do I know you?"
"R-Rikku? It's me! Blappa!" The man had a heavy accent that sounded roughly familiar to Rikku. She knew he was Al Bhed, anyone could see that. But where did she know him from.
Suddenly, a violent image ripped Rikku away from her body. She gasped as she floated above what looked like a large ship.
"An Al Bhed ship!" She exclaimed, studying the familiar interior. A young man with dirty blonde hair was curled up on the deck, head resting on his knees. Rikku's eyes widened in recognition.
"Tidus! Tidus, up here!" She waved her arms above her head and frowned when he didn't acknowledge her. Where was she anyway. A door to the side opened and a young girl stepped out, decked out in a skin tight body suit and goggles.
"T-That's me! What am I wearing!?" Rikku eyed the outfit in obvious distaste. She watched herself approach Tidus and say something she couldn't hear. Time flew as Rikku watched herself interact with Tidus, and before she knew it, the ship lurched to the side. She gasped when a large wave came on deck and swept away Tidus.
"Tidus!" She reached out for him, already knowing she couldn't help. The Rikku below her did the same, but a pair of arms held her firmly to the deck. Her eyes widened.
"Rikku! Rikku, wake up!"
A pair of hands on her shoulders made Rikku snap back into reality. The whole room spun for a second before everything settled calmly into place. She blinked, looking at Auron, who was looking into her eyes, worried. The man behind him caught her attention and she pulled away.
"Blappa, you were there when Sin almost took us under, weren't you?" She stared at him, certain that this was the same guy. He nodded slowly, a small smile on his lips.
"Yea. Is that really all you remember of me? Has it been that long?"
Rikku bit her lip and looked to Auron for help. He nodded and stepped up beside her.
"She lost her memory when she hit her head on a rock. She's slowly gaining them back."
Blappa seemed to consider this before nodding, a sad look in his eyes. Auron felt a touch of jealousy when Rikku hugged the Al Bhed.
"Daijoubu, I'm sure I'll remember everything someday!" She hid the sadness in her eyes behind a smile. Auron frowned but said nothing as Blappa said his good-byes and left the inn. Rikku watched him go wistfully before going back to Auron's side.
"Let's get a room, ne?" She forced herself to sound cheery, and Auron could tell. He nodded and went to the front desk, where he requested a room for the night. Wordlessly, Rikku followed after him to a wooden door on the right. Upon opening it, he found that there was only one bed. Half of him felt dread while the other half had a strange pleasant feeling at the thought of sharing with Rikku. He quickly shook the thought away. Now was not the time for that. He noticed Rikku was being awfully quiet sitting on the edge of the bed. He sat next to her.
"Is anything wrong?"
"Iie. Nothing, just thinking." She smiled, and it seemed to him that maybe she was just thinking. Maybe she wasn't upset after all. He was about to say something else when an annoying itch came from under his glove. Frowning, he pulled it off and rubbed at the irritated skin. Why he had bothered to keep it on after loosing his coat was a mystery even to him.
"Ne, look, Auron." Rikku giggled, sounding like her old self again. Auron offered a rough smile as she slipped his glove onto her hand. It was way too large to accommodate her small wrist, and dangled recklessly from her arm.
"Here, it will fit better if you fix the straps."
Auron leaned in and gently took her arm in his. Rikku held her breath as he pulled the straps tighter until the structure was snug against her arm.
"There, that's-" Auron looked up and froze as his nose brushed against Rikku's. When had she gotten so close? Her warm breath blew against the stubble on his cheek. Slowly, as if someone else had possessed his body, Auron leaned in and let his lips brush against hers'. Rikku stifled a gasp and stiffened, before allowing herself to relax and respond. Auron's rugged facial hair brushed against her soft cheek, causing her to snap back into reality.
Rikku pulled back, eyes wide. What had just happened? Auron watched her calmly, lips drawn in a line. Rikku offered a wobbly smile before jumping up off the bed.
"I-I'm going to take a walk now, kay?" And then she was gone. Auron waited until he couldn't hear her retreating footsteps down the hall before dropping his head in his hands. What had he done?
~*^-^*~
AN: That's it! That kiss makes up for Auron only loosing a glove and skimping on the details! XD I figured it was about time that there was a small kiss ^-~ Don't worry, they're not gonna get all hot and heavy all of a sudden. Not yet at least XD. I hope everyone enjoyed this chappy! I'm finally sorta out of my writers' block ^-^
Please review!
~Neoshipper~
