Note: Hi all! Where have my Auron/Lulu fans gone? :( Ders far too many Aurikku fans....*shudder* sowwie to those who are offended by my words, but I prefer Auron and Lulu! Der! Hah! I said it! *Ahem* Anyway........ On with the story!



Chapter 11 - The Paths We Choose



Why had she run earlier? What was the point? It wasn't like she had any feelings for Auron...

Or did she?

Lulu let her hands trail down on her lap as she sat on the field, watching the wind blow aside the tall grasses and the yellow daises that had fallen dead from Sin's attack. She knew she had to help the villagers, but she wasn't quite ready to face Auron just yet after that humiliating performance she just had earlier. Much as she'd like to admit it.... she WANTED to, so she could get rid of this mixed feeling for the Swordsman.

"May I join you?" came a voice from behind.

The Black Mage didn't need to turn around to know who it was that spoke. She didn't need to answer either to agree with him joining her. He sat anyway, even without her consent. She felt a slight, thud as he sat on the grass beside her. "I apologize for earlier, Sir Auron," she spoke.

Auron glanced at her in the corner of his eyes and shook his head, his eyes watching a female deer and her fawn prancing across the grass, then disappear behind the forest ahead. "You don't need to apologize for something so normal, Lulu. I can understand that you're worried about your friends getting hurt, but you must understand, that it's a human's intuition to help those in need, even those who don't need it."

They were quiet for a while, until Lulu spoke again. "I guess I can never stop you from doing what you want, can I?" With courage, she looked directly at Auron, with an awkward smile on her face. "No matter what I say..."

"We will still continue to help each other," Auron said, finishing her sentence.

"But what I don't understand Sir Auron is...you..."

The Swordsman lifted a single eyebrow, watching her intently. "What do you mean?"

"I mean... why do you go all this way, even almost killing yourself to help me? Even when you don't need to, you still do...." She looked away when Auron didn't say a word, but continued to stare at her with his now bare eyes. The sunglasses he usually wore had completely disappeared.

Auron turned away, a slight hint of redness coloring his cheeks, but luckily, he was able to brush it off the moment he spoke again, making Lulu look back at him with her curious stares. "I just like to help you out. Like I said many times, Lulu, Guardians must stick together. Where would Yuna be without you?"

Lulu shook her head, frowning. "You really think Yuna needs me that much?"

"Of course."

The Black Mage stared at the Swordsman with doubts in her mind. She didn't know why she was already comfortable talking with the usual silent warrior. Three days ago, Lulu would feel awkward sitting or standing alone with just Auron. They didn't know how to interact with each other, because they were similar, yet quite different in a way.

Sighing, Lulu nodded. "Thank you, Sir Auron. But you never really answered my question. I know that you answered it to me before, but...just why? I don't understand."

Auron stood up and brushed off imaginary dirt. He took a few steps, stopping just beside a single tree in the meadows and glanced over his shoulder, his mouth covered by his large, round collar around his neck. "Because Lulu I care for you." Without giving Lulu a chance to answer back, he quickly left.

Lulu watched him go, shocked by his words, though quite confused about them. He cared about her? What did he mean? she thought. Did it mean what she thought he meant? Or was it something else that didn't mean anything at all? People say those things to their 'friends,' but Lulu and Auron didn't really consider each other as, 'friends,' just two Guardians protecting the same person. She blinked, shaking the thoughts away. Thinking about it too much was giving her a headache. She watched the same doe and fawn they saw earlier sprinting away from the forest and paused just in front of her, to take a break to eat from the tall grasses. The fawn ran around for a while, prancing at a butterfly it curiously noticed flying around. The mother watched closely, while at the same time, took some bites from the green pasture. Lulu sat still, watching both, wondering how they could be so carefree after Sin destroyed their forest? That thought, for some reason, made her think of Kai's whereabouts. It's been at least two days ago since he appeared in her life once again and after that, after escaping from him, she hasn't really seen much of him lately.



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They held each other for a while, warming each other with their body heat. Yuna felt comfortable around Tidus as they slept through the night, hoping that when they wake up the next morning, the storm would be gone.

As if by magic with their minds, when Yuna woke up the next morning, indeed, the storm calmed down. It was replaced by the beautiful, rare sunshine hovering far into the clouds. She nudged Tidus awake and stood up, releasing herself from her boyfriend's arms. She stretched and yawned, making her way towards the entrance. The sun glared down on her, so she had to block the sun with her arms as she peered out in the fresh, open air.

Another wonderful thing when storms appear in the middle of the night...

It left behind a fresh morning to wake up to.

Yuna stretched once again and her eyes traveled from one bush to an odd looking one just near it. She squinted her eyes and focused her eyes closer to that bush.

It was no ordinary bush, because it was moving.

The young Summoner approached the object, slowly--ever so slowly--her hands with a vice grip around Lulu's Moogle doll, as if it could help her defend herself in case the object was a type of monster that might attack her at any moment.

To her relief, it was no monster, but her panic has not disappeared, for the object was a body... a man's body with his back to her. Yuna approached it cautiously and kneeled down to check his pulse, but suddenly yelped when he began to move.

Her short squeak must have gotten Tidus' attention, because seconds later, he was at her side, wondering what was wrong. Yuna pointed at the body below them and Tidus was suddenly hesitant to look at whose body it was.

He suddenly pulled Yuna behind him and clenched his fists defensively.

"What are you doing, Tidus?" Yuna asked, curiously.

Tidus pointed to the body. "You know who that is, Yuna? That's Kai!" he whispered hoarsely.

Yuna gasped.

The body groaned, then began to move. Yuna and Tidus prepared for battle, but all they received was a weak body trying to get up, but couldn't. He moaned, tried to use his arms as his lever, but failed again, falling back flat on the ground. It took a moment for the couple to realize that he was harmless, but despite that, only Yuna had the courage to move. Tidus tried to pull her back to safety, but the female Summoner just shrugged his arm off and approached the body carefully. With all her might, her heart beating loudly, she turned the body over to face him. To her shock, the Kai they saw before them, was pale and very injured, as Yuna noted to the large gash on his shoulder and on both his left arms. She looked over her shoulder and frowned.

"He's injured..." Yuna spoke out. "Help me lift him up to shelter."

Tidus frowned. "What? Are you joking? He nearly killed all of us and he would still be killing us if he was not injured, Yuna!"

Yuna didn't look at him, as she answered, "No, I'm not joking and yes I understand that he wants to kill us and would to if he was standing, but would you really strike a man who was down? Would we really stoop to his level?"

The blond hesitated for a moment, then realized that Yuna made a point. He didn't want to be like the red haired man who had no mercy for any living being, except Lulu, which was a bad thing of course. Kai's obsession was more dangerous than passionate. If anyone, as he witnessed, were to stand in between him and Lulu, he'll receive a very brutal death, even if she was a woman or a child. "Damn..." he muttered, kneeling down to help Yuna lift Kai up on his feet.

"Let go of me..." Kai mumbled.

"Shut up, you should be thankful we're helping you, instead of killing you," Tidus said, dragging the injured man towards the cave they took refuge in. Yuna was struggling with the man's weight on the other side, but was trying her best not to look weak.

"You pathetic weaklings....*mumble* I can easilly kill you *mumble* with my magic power and......."

Yuna looked up and noticed Kai's eyes were closed. "He's unconscious now."

"Good! That would shut him up!"

"It's not a good thing if we want him alive."

"Why would we want him alive?"

"Because maybe he can change his ways if we do."

Tidus sighed. "What are you trying to do, Yuna? Make him change his mind about going after Lulu? I don't think an evil man would quickly do that. You can't just make him feel better and make him think, 'oh! thank you so much for helping me, maybe I'll be a good person now!'"

Yuna frowned at the blonde's sarcastic remarks. "You know, Tidus, you should really give people a chance to live. I know you're not like that... killing off someone while they're vulnerable. Would you really be able to kill someone, even when you have them in their grasp?"

The blond thought for a moment. She was right. He wasn't like that. He hated killing people...good or evil. "You know me too much!" Tidus spoke, grinning.

The summoner sighed, noting that Tidus has finally realized it. She had to admit, at first, she was about to agree to Tidus to leave Kai outside, injured....bleeding... but she just wasn't that type of person. She couldn't stand the thought of blood, or anything that resembles violence. Together, they dragged the unconscious Black Mage back to the cave. Although he was a tall, lanky man with, odd looking red hair, Kai was not much of a trouble to carry. Tidus, despite his age, was a strong person and Yuna, herself, wasn't branded as weak either. They carried Kai off into the cave without having to stop for a few breaths.



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Darkness.

Her best friend.

It had finally hovered above the skies.

She realized, now was the time for her to have a conversation with the Swordsman.

The whole day, Lulu wasn't able to have alone time with Auron, or had the courage to go up to him and ask him for a little alone time, because the whole day, he, and others who were helping rebuild the village, were far too busy. That would mean, Rikku and Wakka would find it odd if she just wanted to speak with Auron alone.

No.

After a lot of struggling with her thoughts, she decided to speak with him at night.

Where her emotions were usually hidden underneath the blanket of darkness.

She also knew, after observing Auron's sleeping habits, that he would be awake in the middle of the night and would not complain to anything if she knocked on the door to his room. If he wasn't in his room, then he would be practicing with his sword outside in the yard.

Lulu crept through the hallway, glad that the stairs were no longer squeaking to give herself away as she tip toed down to Auron's bedroom. The Inn was the first thing the villagers repaired, because it had the most damage and Lulu was even gladder that they did. She didn't want to share any rooms with Rikku or Cess... both were probably good roommates, but she would rather have her own room. By the looks of Cess, Lulu figured she wanted to have her own room as well.

When she made it in front of her door, Lulu paused and was beginning to have second thoughts. Why did she need to talk to him? She doubted Auron would listen, but she was curious about what he said this afternoon. Did he mean what he said? Was the only reason she was standing here right now in the middle of the night in front of his door, was because she was starting to have feelings for the quiet man?

She clenched and unclenched her fists a few times, before finally lifting up her hands to knock on the door, but something stopped her.

Something was not right. Although Auron was a quiet man and had no reason to be noisy in the middle of the night, Lulu felt something odd about the door. The Black Mage looked down and realized that the door, was indeed, opened, just enough so she could see through the small slit that it created. Inside, she heard some voices too. Not just Auron's...but also someone else.

A woman's voice.

Lulu leaned close enough to hear everything, yet far enough, careful not to lean against the door to give herself away.

"What are you doing here?" Auron whispered.

Lulu felt her heart skip a beat. She has never felt this bad for a man before, ever since Chappu. When he spoke, even it wasn't towards her, the Black Mage felt like her legs were going to give out and sink her to the bottom of the floor.

"I'm here to tell you something, Auron..." the other voice spoke.

The Black Mage frowned. Now she knows who the other voice was.

Cess.

What was going on here?

"What?" Lulu could hear Auron was getting impatient.

"Auron I.... I still have feelings for you and when you and that woman had that conversation earlier about edangering your lives for her, I saw something of myself when she looked at you."

"What are you talking about?" Auron looked at her, lifting a single eyebrow curiously.

"I'm talking about that woman's feelings. Don't you see how much she cares for you? That was the same feeling I had when you left me behind to be Braska's Guardian. I want to be with you."

Auron gave a rare smirk towards Cess. "Do you realize what you're saying, Cess? You want to bring back the past...is that it?"

Cess slowly nodded. "If that's what it takes to be with you, then so be it." She wrapped her arms around him, lifting her head up towards the tall man. Auron stared long and hard into her eyes.

But, Lulu turned away. She's had enough of listening to the conversation. She doesn't want to know what would happen next. Auron CLEARLY still had feelings for Cess, because he wasn't turning away from her. If he didn't, Auron would easilly remove his arms away from her, but he wasn't fighting back. He wasn't rejecting Cess. It took a moment for her to realize, that SHE was the one being rejected by him.

Slowly, without a thought of finding out what REALLY happened, the Black Mage continued down the hall and back into her room.

Auron came out a few seconds later, looking around at the hallway, wondering what he just heard just now. He thought he heard a door closing. Thinking it was just the wind, Auron went back inside the room and closed the door behind him, to finish the "conversation" he was having with Cess.



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"Dammit!" he hissed, lifting up a hand to touch the wound. His hand was suddenly slapped away by a small hand he would gladly like to cut off once he found a knife to use. Unfortunately, when Kai looked around, there was nothing for him to offer, except maybe a couple of large rocks laying nearby, but magic was funner.

"If you touch the wound, your dirty hands will leave it infected!" Yuna spoke, regretting of ever helping the injured Black Mage.

"I can easilly kill you with my magic, you wench and-!" Kai paused. He felt something hard and angry around his neck. The red haired Mage looked down as an arm went around his neck, threatening to choke him to death.

"Do you even know what she's trying to do to you, you bastard!?" a voice whispered in his ears. No matter how threatening he was, Kai could tell the blond warrior was too hesitant to kill him on the spot.

Kai just smiled and cackled. "Hah! Hah! Are you threatening me? You make me laugh!"

"Well, you won't be laughing when I have my weapon and slit your throat with it!" Tidus spoke. He looked up and was about to grin at Yuna, when her eyes suddenly looked frightened at the blonde's words.

Yuna shook her head in disbelief. Was this the Tidus she met and fell in love with? The lovable, kind Tidus who would never threaten anyone, despite the situation?

As if knowing of her discomfort, Tidus backed away, releasing his grip from Kai and looked down on the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with his girlfriend. What on earth was he doing? He couldn't afford to make Yuna uncomfortable...

ESPECIALLY around him.

"Hah! Hah! I see that you just had a little fight, no matter how small the evidence is. Yuna, I am so glad that you are so kind to help me and make me better until I get my muscles back to use my magic and kill you BOTH with it!" Kai leaned his head back and laughed, but suddenly stopped when a pain hit him around his shoulders. Yuna and Tidus looked at the Black Mage. "AGGH!"

Tidus just smirked. "Well, that should shut you up for a while."

Yuna, on the other hand, was more concerned than please with Kai's condition. Why all the anger? she wondered. "You really should rest, Kai. I do not think you are well enough to move around, yet."

Kai scowled at her, as if he was looking at his mother. "I do not listen to what you say, WOMAN! I am my own person and I can do whatever you want."

"You heard him, Yuna." Kai looked up at the glaring Tidus. "The man wants to do whatever he wants. So, I think you should stop caring for him and let him go. I mean... he is his own person."

The young summoner glanced at Tidus, then back at Kai. "I do not think..."

Tidus sighed. "Yuna, it's impossible for you to change EVERYONE just by helping them with something. I think you should let the man do whatever he wants so we don't have to worry about taking him to the ship."

Kai began to slowly get up. "So, if you'll excuse me, I best be going now. You pathetic mortals will regret of ever helping me!" With that said, he turned and was heading towards the exit. However, the same pain nudged through his shoulder once again, forcing him to kneel on the ground, howling in agony.

Yuna was about to help him, when Tidus' hand on her shoulder stopped her.

Kai closed his eyes and screamed as loud as he could. Why was this happening to him? He is the most powerful Black Mage there is! He refuses to be taken down by a mortal wound! He is invincible! Slowly and stubbornly, Kai lifted himself from the ground and strayed once again towards the exit.

The couple watched him go, then stopped again as another pang of pain exhausted him from his destination.

"YUNA! TIDUS!" yelled a voice. Kai stopped in his tracks. DAMN! he hissed in his head.

"Uncle Cid?" Yuna whispered. She glanced at Tidus, then stepped outside, while Tidus closely stepped beside her, making sure Kai wasn't going to attack her. As if I could, Kai thought, watching Tidus watching him closely in the corner of his eyes. "UNCLE CID!" Yuna called.

A moment later, a bald head popped up from the distance. Kai didn't have time to figure out who it was, because he was beginning to feel nauseated. He was slowly drowning into the pain, slowly drawing himself into unconsciousness. No one paid attention, but he didn't care, so why should they? He could hear three people speaking as he kneeled down again on the ground, feeling himself getting weak.

"I'm so glad I found you!" came a deep man's voice. "Are you both all right?"

"Yeah, we're both fine and going great Uncle Cid..."

Kai couldn't hear the last words from Yuna's mouth, because he felt his eyes closed and then the last thing he remembered, was blackness.



GoodGurl: There you have it! I have answered the question concerning Kai's whereabouts! So, all this time, Kai was actually injured while trying to get away from Cess' attacks around two days ago and all this time, he's been struggling to survive! o.O And indeed, for Yuna being so nice, she offers to help him with his painful injury! And hey, what's this!? Cess confesses her past feelings towards Auron while Lulu was going to do it too? (after knowing of her true feelings of course!) Uh oh! What's in store now for our two lovebirds? o.O Stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!!