While Wakka and Tidus were snuggling in their room Auron was wandering around the ship. He was thinking about what his fellow redheaded guardian had said and the kiss Rin had given him in Bevelle. He hadn't been kissed since Braska...The man's cheeks colored slightly and he pushed those thoughts out of his head.

[I was young and naive back then. And Braska was...lonely...]

At least that's what Auron had convinced himself with. He refused to let himself believe that Braska had fallen in love with him. The swordsman found himself the deck. He leaned on the railing and watched out the window. There wasn't much to see. The airship was moving too fast.

"You look lost..."

Auron looked over to see Rin walking up to him. He stopped beside Auron and offered the man a smile. The older guardian smiled back.

"A little lost in the past maybe..."

Rin nodded, "I understand."

"Rin?"

"Mmn?"

"Did you...lose anyone to Sin?"

"Not that I remember. Rajhel and I never knew our parents. Neither of us remember them either. We both grew up in an orphanage. I don't know if they were killed by Sin or something else."

The swordsman nodded. Slight color came to Rin's cheeks as his friend leaned closer to him.

"And that...kiss you gave me Bevelle..."

"Yes?" Rin squeaked, his cheeks coloring more.

"What did you mean by it...?" Auron unzipped the back of his collar.

"I-i...are you going to hurt me?"

"What do you think?" He asked, pulling his collar free and letting it drop to the floor.

"No...?"

Auron smiled crookedly, "No."

Auron grabbed the Al Bhed by the back of the neck, pulling him into a kiss. Rin made a cute mewling noise and he braced his hands against Auron's muscular chest. The swordsman's free hand snaked around Rin's waist pulling the blonde closer. They didn't break the kiss until they both desperately needed air. Even then Auron kissed his companion's cheek and ear while the blonde panted softly.

"Does this mean you like me?" Rin asked with a cheeky grin.

Auron chuckled and pressed a light kiss to the other guardian's lips. "M-hm..."

The blonde frowned slightly and brought a finger up to trace a rather large scar that ran down Auron's neck. The swordsman swallowed, making the scar seem alive.

"A souvenir from Yunalesca...?" The Al Bhed asked.

Auron nodded then froze slightly as Rin pressed a kiss to his scar.

"Sorry..." Rin mumbled.

"No. It's ok. Felt good..."

A slight blush streaked across Rin's nose and he smiled shyly. Auron smirked and wrapped his arms around the man's waist.

********************

Lulu and Rikku were cuddled up in bed together. The blonde giggled as Lulu shot her bra across the room.

"You have to get that for me after!" Rikku commanded.

"Yeah, yeah."

Rikku giggled again as Lulu kissed her shoulder.

"I suppose we should be thinking up brilliant ways to defeat Sin..." The mage sighed.

The Al Bhed sighed too, rolling on her side to face Lulu.

"I thought of something but I don't know if it'll work or not..."

"Well share away, love."

Rikku told Lulu her plan. She had just finished when Cid blasted over the intercom.

"We're floating over Baaj right now! Wake up and get moving!"

********************

Auron growled slightly and nipped at Rin's bottom lip before releasing his captive.

"We'll finish this later..." He said, picking his collar up and walking off.

"One can only dream..." Rin murmured to himself with a gaga expression on his face.

Then, with the fleeting thought of [Auron is such a stud!], Rin ran off.

The group, now all fully dressed, met up at the very bottom of the ship. Aniki opened a door and rolled the rope ladder out. Rin's color faded from his face when he saw how far down they had to climb. Kimahri was already climbing down the ladder, face first. Rin shivered. He didn't know how the Ronso could do that. Once he was all the way down Kimahri held the ladder for everyone else. Tidus went next, Wakka not far behind. Rikku and Lulu went after that.

"I think I'll stay here." Rin said. Tiny droplets of sweat beaded on his upper lip.

"Tidus needs your guardianship." Auron replied. "Get on my back. I'll carry you down. The ladder will hold the weight, right?"

Aniki nodded.

"W-what?" Rin sputtered.

"Get on my back."

The Al Bhed stared at Auron like he was crazy. The dark-haired man smirked, walked over to Rin, and kissed him.

"You can hang on as tight as you want..."

"WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG!" Rikku's voice yelled.

With a deflated sigh Rin climbed onto Auron's back. He blushed and wrapped his legs around the swordsman's middle and his arms around the man's neck.

"Hold on. Here we go."

Auron swung out onto the ladder. It swayed a bit. Rin dug his fingernails into Auron's leather chest plate. The climb down wasn't as bad as Rin expected but then again he did have his eyes closed the entire time. Once he felt Auron's feet hit the ground he dropped from the man's back and opened his eyes.

"You're such a wuss, Rin." Rikku teased.

In response Rin stuck his tongue out at the girl. The group (even Rin) had a laugh and they continued on their way.

"So...why are we here?" Lulu asked.

"There's a Fayth here and I have to find some way to free her..." Tidus replied.

The group made their way through the water-logged paths until they found a deep, circular pool.

"This is the other entrance. This'll take us back to the place we first came too."

One by one they jumped into the pool and swam under. There was a ragged hole between two statues and Tidus swam through it. He felt something brush against his leg and turned to see Wakka grinning at him. He smiled back and swam through a short tunnel. It wasn't long before he spotted light above him and surfaced. He pulled himself onto some stone stairs and helped his guardians up.

"Brr..." Wakka shivered then placed a kiss on Tidus' lips.

Tidus smirked and helped Rikku out of the water. Once all his guardians were present and accounted for he lead them up a long, dark set of steps. They found themselves in the long, torch-lit room Tidus and his original guardians had found the first time they visited.

"I've freed all the Fayths." Tidus whispered.

The group watched in awe as one by one the Fayth started to leave Tidus' body. The Cerberus brothers were quite handsome. Each had a shaggy brown mop of hair (cut in different styles) and piercing violet eyes. Ifrit's Fayth looked a lot like Tidus with his unruly blonde hair and blue eyes. Maybe he was an ancestor of the summoner? Ixion's Fayth looked like he was once a great mage. He had silver hair that was spiked out in a more gravity-defying hairstyle than Wakka's and his eyes were black as coal. Shiva's Fayth was a beautiful young woman. She had silky-looking white hair and very light blue (almost transparent) eyes. Nathaniel Leviathan was as cute as a button. He didn't look a day older than eight. His caramel-colored hair was combed neatly. His eyes were almost like Yuna's: one blue, one violet. Lulu smiled as she saw her father, Bahamut's Fayth. Now that he wasn't angsting so much in that awful cave his skin tone had taken on a healthier color and his eyes had returned to their normal green color. Alexia was the last Fayth to emerge from Tidus. She smiled slightly and nodded at Tidus and his guardians. She motioned to the other Fayth and they each walked to a statue.

"I get it now. The symbols on the floor correspond to each Temple they're from..." Tidus murmured.

The party kept watching the spectacle in front of them. Each Fayth leaned down and traced their finger through the symbol on the floor. Magick filled each symbol and they returned to Tidus' subconscious. The magick seal in front of the shield vanished and Tidus saw that the shield had a symbol carved into it as well. Alexia stepped forward and put her hand on the shield. The symbol glowed a purplish black and the shield slid open. She smiled and returned to Tidus.

"That was uber-cool." Rikku blinked.

"Yeah." Rin agreed.

"Let's go..." Tidus said.

The summoner and his guardians entered the chamber of the Fayth. Tidus barely even started to pray when the brunette woman with the blue eyes appeared.

"You are Maester Seymour's mother." Tidus said softly.

"So you know. Yet you still seek my aid? My son...Do you not hate him?"

The blonde blushed in shame. He couldn't think of anything to say. Neither could his guardians.

"It is all right. He is the one who sowed the seeds of hatred. He is to blame."

A transparent image of young Seymour crying appeared beside her. She looked at the image briefly before continuing.

"But I am at fault for letting him become what he is. He was always alone...half Guado, half man. I wanted to give him the strength to live by himself. And so I became a fayth. But... because I let him taste power, he began to thirst for more. He was not satisfied with my aeon. He wanted more. More power."

And he found Sin..." Auron grumbled.

"Yes. Come, Summoner. I will bestow you with my power. The Dark Aeon, Anima." The image of young Seymour disappeared and an apparition of Anima rose up behind Seymour's mother. "Destroy Sin and my son's obsession with it. Though it is small recompense for what I did to him."

The image of Anima vanished and Seymour's mother lunged at Tidus. It felt like someone smacked him in the stomach with a 2x4 as she burrowed into his subconscious. He coughed, choked, and took a deep breath. Wakka immediately hugged the summoner close to him.

"I'm...ok..." He gasped.

Once the boy had stopped shaking he and the others made their way back to the airship. Once they'd all changed into dry clothes they met on the bridge for a meeting.

"So anyone have any good ideas on how to destroy Sin?" Raylei asked.

"Yevon's teachings." Kimahri replied.

"The teachings won't help us fight Sin." Tidus sighed.

"No answer in the teachings, answers lie outside. Must know both sides to find answer."

"Both sides..." The summoner repeated thoughtfully.

"Mika knows much. Find him, make him talk."

A bright smile broke out on Tidus' features. "Kimahri that's it! You rule!"

Kimahri grinned.

"Also...Rikku had a thought." Lulu spoke up. "Go ahead Rik..."

"The Hymn is the key." Rikku said.

"The Hymn?" Auron raised an eyebrow.

"Sir Jecht likes the Hymn of the Fayth correct?" The mage asked, looking at Tidus. The blonde nodded. "That's why he was listening to it in Macalania."

"Sin...violence incarnate, listening peacefully." Rin added.

"If we attack Sin head-on, we have little to no chance of winning. However, if he hears the Hymn of the Fayth, he will become docile."

"And that's when we make our move!" Wakka exclaimed. "Might be against the rules and all, but who gives a shit, ya?"

"Ya!" Rikku grinned. "It could really work!"

Tidus nodded. "Yeah. It's worth a try...but first...we head to Bevelle. It's time we paid Maester Mika a visit."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There. Some Auron/Rin-nage for those of you who waited oh-so-patiently ^~. R&R please ^^.