Author's note: . . . . . Blah . . . .

Disclaimers: I don't own anything. I only own Ryo and the storyline . . . that's it . . . no really . . . that's it . . . . why do you keep insisting that I own more . . . . stop looking at me like that . . . . .o_O

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"When I see your smiling face

And my heart begins to race

That's when I begin to realize

That I'm in love with you."

~Set on You

Starlight4u

(Yes, this song's written by me)

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Later on that evening, Auron made his way to Rikku's hotel room. His heart pounded heavily as he worried what she'd think when he told her. He knew he should have gone down to the bar before telling her everything. If he ended up regretting it later, he could always blame it on the liquor.

When he reached the penthouse suite, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Now or never, Auron. Just tell her. He nodded to his thoughts and knocked on the door. The door opened and he opened his mouth to talk but stopped when he saw who it was. A girl about eight or nine was staring back at him with wide eyes and a toothy grin.

"I'm . . . sorry. This is Rikku's room, isn't it?" Auron tried to look past the door to see if this was the right room at all.

"Serenity, darling. That isn't housekeeping, is it?" an older woman's voice called out. From the room to the right emerged a rather wealthy looking woman who couldn't have been much older than thirty-five. She was slowly putting earrings in her earlobes as she spotted her daughter at the door with an odd-looking man.

"Mommy, is this Rikku's room?" Serenity asked her mother. The woman pulled her daughter away from the door and smiled at 'Tidus'.

"I'm sorry, sir. There's no one here by that name. My husband and I just happened to get this room as we were checking in. They said the people here before us had to leave unexpectedly and left no excuse. I'm sorry."

Auron still tried to look past the woman to see if she was lying. "But . . . I know that she's up here. I was just here last night to see her. She wasn't supposed to leave for another three weeks or a month or so. Are you sure that she's just not hiding or something?"

"Sir, I swear that there's no one else in here besides me, my husband and my daughter. I wouldn't lie about such a thing," she said with force. Auron gave up looking for Rikku inside the room and left to go back to his hotel room. His mind was swarming with thoughts about Rikku's whereabouts. Just why would she up and leave so suddenly without a word to him?

When he opened the door to his room, he saw Tidus and Yuna on the balcony of their room. Tidus had Yuna in his arms and his chin rested on hers. Auron opened the door to the balcony. "Hands off, Tidus. This isn't the time to cuddle with your girlfriend. Sorry, Yuna," he scolded.

"Yeesh, sorry. What's your problem?" the blitzball star released Yuna and leaned against the rail.

"Rikku's gone," Auron quickly said. His eyes focused on the cars driving around on the road. The blitzball stadium was lit up and people lined up to get inside. Of course, there was a game tonight. That's why it was so crowded.

"Auron, what are you talking about? She went shopping with Ryo today. Of course she's gone. She'll be back later," Yuna reassured, earning a cold glare from the guardian.

"That's not what I meant. I mean, she's gone. I went up to her room to . . . well . . . that's not important. What I mean is that someone else had the suite. Ryo and Rikku checked out sometime this afternoon," he explained.

Tidus' eyebrows furrowed and he ran a hand through his dark hair. "I can't believe it. Do you know why? Where'd they go?"

"I don't know. Yuna, they didn't say anything about them leaving this morning?"

Yuna shook her head. "Nothing. All I know is that they were going to go shopping for wedding stuff and then go out for lunch. I had no idea they planned on checking out."

Auron growled and stormed inside, throwing a few things inside the suitcase that he and Tidus had brought. The couple hesitantly moved inside. Tidus asked, "Auron, what are you doing?"

"We're going to find her. We're going to find Rikku even if it kills me." Tidus snorted at the comment and Auron glared daggers at him. "Not one word."

The younger guardian saluted; a goofy look still on his face. While he was busy giggling, he failed to hear Auron say, "I let her go once. I won't let her go again."

Yuna walked over to the safe and tapped it with one finger. "Sir Auron, did you forget something?"

He moved quickly to the safe and opened it up, taking out the mysterious object and placing it in a pocket. After everything was packed up, all three headed to the desk in the lobby. They approached the woman that Ryo had spoken to earlier. "We'd like to check out," Auron announced. Tidus and Yuna exchanged glances from behind Auron's back.

"Ah, yes. Your name?"

"Tidus and Auron."

When she finished typing in the names, she frowned at the screen. "You were booked for . . . two more weeks . . . wow . . . two in one day."

"What are you talking about?" Auron leaned across the counter. "That comment wouldn't have anything to do with a young man by the name of Ryo and his fiancée, would it?"

"Auron, calm down . . . people are staring," Tidus warned.

"I'm sorry, sir. I cannot give such information away," the girl said.

"No! This is important! I need to know where they went!"

"Sir Auron, c'mon . . . leave her alone . . . she doesn't know," the summoner pleaded.

"She does know! She knows where they are!"

"Is there a problem?" Rin asked from behind in his thick, Al-Bhed accent.

"Where are Rikku and Ryo?" Auron pulled back from the counter and jumped right before Rin.

"Rikku and Ryo? They are gone? Strange . . . uh . . . Lorena . . . please tell these kind people the whereabouts of Rikku and Ryo."

Lorena bit her lower lip. "I was told not to tell where they went."

Auron turned back to her. "You do know where they are!"

Tidus leaned over to Yuna. "Have you ever seen Auron like this?"

"I've seen you like that, so seeing Sir Auron yelling like that isn't much different."

"Lorena, I've given you permission to tell them where they are. They are, after all, paying guests."

She sighed and looked at her manicured nails. "From what the man told me, he wanted the bags on a ship leaving to Bevelle. But that ship left about an hour ago. The next one leaves in two days."

Auron felt ready to be sick. Just when he thought he could catch up to her, she was out of reach once more. He nodded and looked back at Tidus and Yuna. "Well, we'll have to wait for two days."

Yuna shook her head. "You've seem to have forgotten just who else lives in this city. Who was Rikku living with when she met Ryo?"

Auron smiled. "Cid."

Tidus snapped his head up and widened his eyes. "Cid has the Airship!"

"That's right. We'll be able to get to Bevelle before Ryo and Rikku. And you can stop the wedding from happening," the brunette stated.

~*~*~

Author's note: Sorry this chapter's so short. I wasn't having such a great day today :-( and I didn't want to write the story while I was crying. I'd have probably found a way to kill off all the characters. ^_^ Now I'm happy, so yeah . . . besides. I don't want to write so much in one chapter. I want to kind of even it out between all the rest of the chapters!

Review Replies:

Jay: I'm sorry there wasn't alot of Auron in the last chapter. I couldn't really find a spot to put him. I thought the same thing as I posted the chapter. Even though this is a short chapter, I made sure Auron was in the whole thing. It is, after all, mostly about him and Rikku. ^_~

Aidrianna: *places her name on a waiting list to kill Ryo* Alright! You get first dibs! *looks at Ryo evilly* And you, my friend, shall die.

Auron's Biggest Fan: Actually, Ryo isn't really using Rikku. He's extremely possessive and jealous because he's used to getting everything he wants. Spoiled little brat . . . but if you think he's using her, by all means, continue thinking that. ^_^

MaxMyu: Don't worry! In time you'll find out what he put in the safe. And I felt so bad writing that whole argument with Rikku and Yuna . . . *looks at other family rivalries gone bad such as Sesshomaru and Inuyasha*. Hmm . . . *Adds Rikku and Yuna* Teehee!

Kingster0517: Thanks for adding me to your Favorite Author's list! *hugglez*

Auron is my man: Yes! Another Ryo hater!! And to think . . . he's my evil creation . . . WHERE HAVE I GONE WRONG?! *sob sob* He was . . . just misunderstood . . . *snort* Yeah, right.

Cool-Kitsune: Yay! You think I have a great Aurikku going! *wipes away tear* I is so happy.