Chapter Eight
Best I Ever Had

So you've sailed away
Into a grey sky morning
Now I'm here to say
Love can be so boring
--Vertical Horizon, "Best I Ever Had"

It really couldn't get much worse. The guardians had finally found their summoner – being forced into marriage with Seymour. They had quickly disposed of the evil unsent Maester and then made a run for it.

If they hadn't been on the bad side of the Guados before, they surely were now. They had killed their beloved Maester twice.

The group ran and ran until Rikku thought her lungs might just explode. Finally, they decided to hide in a tiny alcove of trees in Macalania Forest for the night. Rikku climbed up into a tree and watched everyone else from her perch. She watched Yunie take off for the spring, followed closely by the ever-faithful Kimahri. She watched with pained eyes as Tidus and Auron discussed something, and then as Tidus went off in the direction Yuna had gone only moments before.

She watched as Auron looked around the campsite, no doubt looking for her. She tucked her knees up to her chin and hoped he couldn't see her. He asked Lulu and Wakka if they had seen her. And of course, Wakka cheerfully pointed up to the branch that Rikku was hiding in.

"Damn it, Wakka," Rikku mumbled in Al Bhed as she felt the tree begin to quake with extra weight. "I don't want to talk to you." She said the words just seconds before Auron pulled himself up beside her.

"Well, that's too damn bad," he told her. "What in the hell is going on, Rikku?"

"E dumt oui uh dra airship," Rikku said stubbornly. I told you on the airship.

Auron was grateful for the cowl – it hid his smirk. The girl was stubborn! "You forget, Rikku, that I speak Al Bhed," he said smugly.

Rikku glared at him. "Just go away!" she hissed.

"No, I won't. Not until you tell me what's going on!" Auron thundered.

Rikku looked up to the sky, willing her eyes not to betray her, willing herself not to cry. She lowered her face to look at him squarely in the eye. The pain she saw reflected in his eyes made her resolve shake. The tears that were brimming in her eyes spilled over and ran down her cheek. Auron reached out to brush them away, but she slapped his hand away.

"Please! Please just leave me alone! I can't – I can't do this!" She put her head in her hands and began to sob.

"Do what, Rikku?" Auron asked softly.

"I can't – I can't let myself get too attached to you. You're dead. You're going to leave me. You're going to go somewhere that I can't follow! So please, Auron, just let the fact that I love you be enough. Where you are going, you won't feel any pain. But I – I will still be here on Spira. And pain is very real here."

"I didn't want this to happen any more than you did, Rikku," Auron said softly. "I tried to fight the feelings, but they were too strong. I knew that I would only cause you pain – that's why I told you who I was at the beginning. And even after you knew that, you came to me willingly. And now, it's too late for me. You taught me how to feel again. So forgive me if I can't walk away from that. If I can't walk away from you."

Rikku sniffled and looked up at him. He was so earnest, so sincere. "I – I don't know," she began.

He reached out and put a finger to her lips. "Rikku," he said firmly, but not unkindly. "I understand how you feel. But trust me, I know from experience. No matter how grim the outlook now, you will forever regret not following what your heart is telling you to do. What is it telling you?"

Rikku took a deep breath. "It's telling me – that I love you. That I'll never love anyone as much I love you. It's telling me that – no matter how dark the night, morning always follows. It's telling me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I should make the most of the time we have left."

Auron leaned in to embrace her, but she pulled back. "Wait, Auron. I've always let my emotions rule me. But my time with you has taught me to be logical." She reached out sadly and touched his face.

He jumped at the touch. The skin of his face beneath her hand had begun to tingle and feel warm – as if there were blood flow again. And again, he felt that achingly familiar "thump-thump" in his chest. But as quickly as those sensations had come about, they were gone again.

"I'm sorry, Auron. I just – can't," Rikku said apologetically. "I'm young, and naïve. And I just can't let myself stay close to you. It will kill me when you go if I don't end this now. Forgive me?"

Auron shook his head sadly. "There's nothing to forgive. You say that you're naïve, but I disagree. Right now, you're smarter than I." With that, Auron climbed out of the tree, the sound of Rikku's uncontrollable sobs filling his ears the entire way down.

He shot straight up out of a deep sleep in the middle of the night. He had heard Braska's voice. "Auron – Auron, did you feel that?" The High Summoner had the same soft-spoken manner of speaking as his daughter.

"Feel what?" Auron asked.

"The heartbeat." Braska's voice almost sounded like the wind.

"I did. What does it mean?" Auron asked, looking around him frantically for the owner of the voice.

"You are learning, Sir Auron, something that you could not learn when you were living," Braska said.

"What's that?" Auron asked.

"To love . . ."

Auron sucked in his breath.

"Do you like the way she makes you feel?" Braska questioned.

"Yes," was all Auron could say.

"How does she make you feel?"

"Alive. Complete," Auron responded. Adored. Loved.

"I heard that. Don't think I can't here what you think," Braska chided. "Do you wish to stay with your Al Bhed?"

Auron could only nod. More than anything.

"As I thought," Braska said thoughtfully. "Auron, during my pilgrimage, you were my most trusted confidante. My dearest friend. I never got to thank you."

Auron didn't say anything. He waited for Braska to speak again.

"I want to thank you now. If you can get Rikku back before the final battle with Sin commences, your life shall be returned to you after the battle," Braska said.

"What?" Auron asked, dumbfounded.

"You heard me, my friend. However, you may not tell her of this conversation. You may not tell anyone. She must come back to you of her own accord. She must realize that she needs you, as much as you need her. She must kiss you. But if you speak of this to anyone, it is null."

"How is this possible?" Auron asked.

"The Fayth. The Fayth have watched you since your birth, Auron. Every step of your life has simply been one step closer to your destiny. Your heir is to be the most important, most powerful figure in uniting all of Spira as one. Why do you think you were sent back, Auron?"

"For Yuna – and Tidus, of course!" Auron exclaimed.

"Only partially, my friend. Yuna and Tidus have each other, and they are both brave and good. But the two of them together were completely instrumental in leading you to her.

"The first child of an Al Bhed and a human is my beautiful baby, Yuna. And trust me when I say that she will bring the Eternal Calm. The second child of an Al Bhed and a human – she will be yours. You will call her Lilia. In twenty years time, something far worse than Sin will come about Spira – hatred. The very thing that spawned Sin. The only person who will have the power to stop this will be your daughter, the warrior Lilia. If Lilia does not come to be – Spira will founder. And no one will be able to stop it."

Braska's words hit Auron hard. "But – she has made her choice, Milord. How can I get her back?" Auron asked.

"You do everything she asks you to do. That is all I can tell you. Her kiss is paramount to the future of Spira. I wish you luck." With that, Braska was gone.

And Auron woke up. He looked to his right side, and saw her, sleeping not three feet from him. But oh, she felt a million miles away. I must get her back. I must.