Eva Harlow: It makes me so happy that you like it, squee. And I'm glad you see what I'm doing with Rikku, I don't think she is a wimp, but I realized that it might be interpretted that she is one with the story.

Guan: Thanks for the compliment, and poor Rikku, but things have a way of getting better and then worse, just like a sine wave. Up and down, up and down.

Chapter Ten
I am the Onion Knight, cry before me.

Auron awoke that morning rather rudely to the sun. Confused for a moment as to where he could possibly be he soon determined that he was still on the observation deck. And that his darling girl was snuggled securely in his arms. That made him smile. He had to chuckle at what the night crew would think, the group was back on the ship, but Auron was not wandering at night. The world had come to an end. His chuckle must have slipped out his mouth, for Rikku sleepily looked up from his chest and started smiling too. And that just fed it. Auron had forgotten how contagious smiling was.

As they pulled themselves into a sitting position still leaning on each other, Rikku started to chuckle. And then Auron was chuckling and before long Auron and Rikku were laughing, not in desperation or fear, but in happiness and the laughter that comes with care. Since they had quite overslept, that was how the group found them, Rikku leaning on Auron's chest, the two of them looking into each other's eyes and laughing, laughing as all are born too, but to few do.

"That's it they've officially lost it." Tidus stage whispered to the group trying to keep from laughing himself, but it was too funny, serious Auron who never even smiled, was laughing like an insane clown. (A/N: I doubt they have clowns in Spira, but they might have in Zanarkand). Surprisingly it was Kimhari who first lost it and joined in. And then Lulu. Before long the whole group was laughing in wild abandon as the sun finished rising over the clouds.

"I always said I wanted my journey to be filled with laughter, I just never thought I'd see the day Sir Auron agreed." Yuna teased. "At least his laughter sounds better than yours Tidus" Yuna finished as she lovingly looked over at Tidus and swatted him on the arm.

Rikku and Auron were the last to calm their laughter into chuckles and finally into smiles.

"Off to Macalania, I assume?" Auron said trying very hard to school his features back to their impenetrable state.

"We've arrived, and are ready to depart." Yuna confirmed.

With that most of the group left, leaving Rikku and Auron behind.

"It's a good thing, they left when they did or I might have been tempted to change the timbre of the laughter to something altogether different." Auron insinuated to Rikku.

Her face looked confused for a short while and then took on a rather eager and impish look.

"Oh I think we still have a little while before they come looking for us again." Rikku breathed.

Auron didn't need anymore encouragement than that, he pulled her back into his lap and commenced to plundering her mouth, he tried to memorize everything about her, everything he had previously tried to ignore he tried to capture. His hands started to wander--but then he forced himself to stop.

Rikku looked up at him, and it seemed to him she was rather disappointed, but that could just be him projecting on her.

"Stopping so soon Auron" she said playfully.

"We have to stop now, or I won't ever want to"

"And who said that was a bad thing" But after saying that she let Auron help her up. And with that they headed down to the bridge.

The group dynamic was quite different this visit to the woods than it had been last time, with the final battle looming on the horizon truths were coming out. Tidus and Yuna spent all of their available time together, even Lulu and Wakka had finally admitted the care they had for each other, and of course, Auron thought, he was spending as much time with Rikku as was safe. The woods seemed happier this time around and while Rikku still was in awe of the beauty of the woods, she also stayed close to Auron's side.

Since this wasn't going to be the last trip to the woods, the group was in a relatively good mood. It was like a mini holiday, the fiends weren't hard, and it was so gorgeous. Auron glanced over at his little sprite, his darling girl and smiled. Who would have thought, Auron remised that the second time around to battle sin wouldn't be filled with duty and honor alone, but also with love. Rikku must have felt him smiling at her, because she raised her eyebrow at him slightly.

"It seems so odd to see fiends here in this beauty."

"Not all danger is ugly"

"I suppose, look at Maester Seymour, for instance he was beautiful but evil. But not all that is ugly is evil to, eh?" Auron scowled at this, was his Rikku saying that he was ugly?

"Hmpf'" At this Rikku started laughing. Auron's scowl grew deeper.

"Honestly Auron you are worse than a teenage girl."

"Hmpf"

"I of course think you are quite handsome"(A/N: just for you Aurriku4Eva).

"Hmpf" Auron's reply stayed the same but his scowl lessened. He thought to himself that it was just so hard to get used to people teasing him.

"What kind of name is the Onion Knight anyway? I mean what does the it do make everyone cry." At this Auron began to chuckle.

"And when it gets hurt, even more cry, just like when you cut an onion," Auron joked back.

"Sin will be so scared," and then Rikku mocked in sotto voice "I am the Onion Knight cry before me, muhahaha." Auron and Rikku continued to laugh, but at the same time they began to grow quiet. Rikku had just brought up the taboo subject. Even though they were on their way to fight Sin, no one was talking about it.

"I'm sorry Auron, I just..."

"Rikku, haven't I told you that you apologize too much. We should talk about Sin."

"Perhaps we can even make him cry, eh?" Rikku continued trying to lift the mood.

"I'm sure by the time we finish with Sin, Sin will have cried."

But as much as Auron tried to recapture the mood of earlier, it was gone. Sinking with the reminder that their days were limited. Luckily Lulu and Kimhari returned and they decided to visit Mushroom Rock. Auron wasn't exactly looking forward to this because it meant that he would be separated from Rikku, she was to go in search of her Godhand, while he went to transform his rusty sword.

But Auron went, he knew that no matter how much he wanted it not to, his duty as a guardian always came first, always. And tysh, if that didn't just kill him, he rued rather ironically.

So Rikku went off with Wakka and Lulu, while Tidus, Yuna and Kimhari came with him. It was a rather good distribution, at least Tidus was semi-fast and just because Auron was cranky didn't mean he had to make everyone else so he thought. He watched as Rikku walked out of sight but right before she disappeared she blew him a kiss. Hmpf, maybe it wouldn't be that bad of a day.

In the end the day was actually quite good for him. The fiends were hard enough to capture his attention, but not hard enough to worry him. And they were prevalent enough that he enjoyed the hacking, he enjoyed the release it brought. And he didn't think about her at all, until he returned to the ship that night.

He heard, good and bad news when his group returned to the ship, Rikku had already completed her cactuar quest, so all they had was the stop in Macalania. Good for Sin would finally die, bad because he had wanted another day with her.

Night, as always found him on the observation deck. Night, found him waiting. Night, found him hoping, hoping the she would come, hoping that he would survive Sin, hoping that he could survive for her. Night, found Auron hoping for perhaps the first time ever that this journey to Sin would not end with him fulfilling his duty and keeping his honor, but that perhaps it would not end. However Auron knew that this couldn't be, short of turing evil and becoming a fiend, who heard of an unsent surviving once his purpose was gone. Maybe the gods would take pity on him, like the girl in the happy family story. That last thought stopped Auron cold, he turned his head in dismay, who would have thought.

"You're shaking your head. Everything all right" Rikku queried.

"Of course, my darling girl."

"How was the desert?"

"If you are trying to hint around about how I am because of Home, I'm all right. Home isn't what is bothering me right now." Auron chose not to address that last part of the statement.

"You know me too well," Auron said as he reached up and brushed the hair out of her face. Caressing several of the strands in his fingers. He wrapped his arms around her, and together they looked out at the night sky. His fingers continued to caress her hair and soon her neck, and then his lips joined his fingers. He wanted to, burn her into his memory. He wanted to possess her. Rikku made a low sound in her throat and turned around surprising Auron, and then their lips met. They paid no attention to the clouds that night, and the only stars they saw where those reflected in each other's eyes.

A/N: well you can take that to be what you want it to be, i can barely write fluff, much less lemons or even limes, thus...you are left to your own imagination, and since I know that you are all creative and this is Auron, I don't think any of us will have a problem, right.