Everybody screamed and ran to the side of the shoopuf where she'd been taken.

"Yuna!" screamed Tidus. He dived straight in after her, Wakka closely following him. The shoopuf had been shocked and was being hell to control. Kimahri jumped down to help the driver. So it was just me. And Sir Auron..

"Do you think she'll be okay?" I said, wringing my hands.

"She'll be fine." He said in a deep voice. "What about you?" He rested on his sword, Masamune, and looked at me. Sharp intake of breath. I stuttered and he came in closer, until I could feel his breathing on my face and saw the colour of his eyes - brown.

"I'll be.. I'm.. You.. I.."

"I know why you're nervous." He said.

"You.. you do?"

"Yes. I do." I don't know if he smiled or smirked. "You're afraid you're going to fail again." He turned away and sat down.

"How do you know that?" I stood there, bewildered. He laughed that throaty laugh and I felt myself shaking.

"Because I know about Zuke and..."

"Shut up." I said. "Sir." I quickly added. Auron laughed again.

"I like you Lulu. You're feisty." He stood up close to me again. "Yuna will be fine. You'll be fine. I'm fine."

"I know you are...." I said dreamily. I wanted to hit myself. Instead I hit sir Auron. I pummelled his chest hard. "What? How can you say Yuna will be fine? Yuna will die! She won't be fine in the end of all this! I can't see why she has to...." Then I wailed. I was sobbing, my shoulders shaking. Auron scooped me up and I lost myself in his arms. His flesh muffled my cries and he stroked my hair.

"What do you look like with your hair down, huh?" he said, softly, as if I was a child. "Enjoying yourself? No more duty or pain, just having fun, huh?"

"My whole life," I said, still shaking like a leaf in a blizzard. "Has been full of pain. That's all I can look forward to. I'll never be happy. Never."

"Isn't it more just a case of finding the right guy?" He sighed. "I tried to find the right girl and then I thought I'd found her. Her father was a priest, a very powerful one. I was a monk at that time. I met her and I thought I was in love. She was beautiful. Pretty beautiful. Then she asked me to marry her and then I realised I had no feeling for her, just pity. Her mother was banished and she only had her father who was of course never there so I would fill both of their posts. I said no and Yevon thought I was disgraceful, just for taking control of my life. That's what Yevon can't stand, losing control. Am I boring you?"

"No." I said quietly. I looked up at him and he looked at me, eyes hidden by his sunglasses. I could feel my make-up running down my face. Auron wiped it away.

"You see?" he said, his thumb now blackened. "You just need to find the right person." He leant down and I turned my head up. I closed my eyes and our lips touched. Auron pulled me in, his grip around me tightening and I held his neck as if I'd never let go. I didn't want it to end. I was myself. All the sorrow of Spira just drifted away and I was with Auron, who I'd admired since I was a little girl. When he did pull away, I wanted to hit him again for making it feel so awkward. Slap him for taking advantage of me. I would have done, just a second earlier. A second later I couldn't, because Kimahri was now standing there in front of us. I straightened my skirt and adjusted a pin in my hair. Auron sat down and waited for the argument between Kimahri and I.

I had already planned my defence. "I was lonely" or "We're rehearsing a play." I expected an earful, but Kimahri just looked away, sheepishly. He was ashamed of me. Oh Yevon, oh Yevon, oh Yevon.....