Chapter Twenty-Three
I'm With You

They had walked for what felt like miles to Rikku, before she asked the dark-clothed stranger to stop. "I'm – sorry," she panted. "I'm carrying thirty extra pounds here. Can we rest for just a minute?"

His eyes narrowed. It was so dark, he hadn't been able to see her clearly. He wanted to, though. He wanted to see the woman who was carrying his child desperately. "Fine. We rest. But only for a minute."

Rikku smiled in the darkness. "Thank you," she breathed. This man – this stranger – he reminded her of . . . It couldn't be. Could it?

Rikku made it her mission to figure out this strange man's identity. "Why are you helping me?" she asked.

"I already answered that question," the man said gruffly.

"But, if you had it in for Gippal so much, why not just kill him, and forget about me?"

The idea of killing Gippal had merit – but not until he was sure she was safe. "We're almost there. All will be revealed in good time."

She paused. "All in good time?" she said softly. Auron had said that to her, once.

"Are you all right?" he asked her, less gruff now.

"I'm fine. You just – you remind me of someone I knew." She shrugged. "But he's gone now." They could now see the outline of a small building. "What is that?"

"That is our destination. It's where we stay for the night," the man said.

"Great. Is there food there? I'm starving."

He wanted to laugh. She was still the same girl he had fallen in love with nearly a year ago. Instead, he forced himself to remain stoic. "I'm sure we can find something," was all he would say.

Rikku shook her head as they neared the hut. "Why do I always get stuck with the grumps?"

They walked inside, and immediately, Rikku collapsed into an overstuffed armchair. It wasn't long before sleep caught up with her.

Auron carefully lit one candle and kept it away from the window. He knew that by now, people would be looking for her. He set the candle down on a low table, and removed the leather jacket he had been wearing.

Then he turned to look at the sleeping girl. She still looked angelic, still looked like the picture of perfection that he had remembered all this time. Carefully, he reached out and placed a hand on her swollen midsection.

As if the baby somehow knew him, he felt it kick. Rikku stirred at the baby's motion, and unconsciously placed her hand over Auron's on her belly.

When she felt the other hand, her eyes fluttered, but did not open. She sighed softly in her sleep. Slowly and gently, Auron picked her up and carried her to the small bed that was in the opposite corner of the room.

Rikku, still asleep, nuzzled up against him. "Auron," she whispered in her sleep. "I miss you." He tensed up a bit, and then laid her down, and then moved to sit in a chair beside the bed, where he could watch over her for the night.

Morning dawned, and Rikku woke early. She looked around the room but saw no sign of the man who had helped her the night before. Had he left already? Sighing, she stood up and crossed the room to the washbasin. She splashed some of the cool water on her face, and used the clean cloth lying beside it to clean herself as best she could. She would kill for a bath right now.

Her back was to the door as she stood at the basin. The door opened, and she didn't turn around.

"Oh, good, you didn't leave!" she cried. "I was so worried!"

"Yeah, you should be!"

The voice – was not that of the man from last night. It was –

"Gippal!" Rikku cried, spinning around to face him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked, crossing the room and grabbing her roughly by the arms. "Embarrassing me like that? You're my wife now Rikku! You better start obeying!" He reached up and slapped the girl across the face, and then pushed her back against the wall.

"Ow!" Rikku cried as she fell to the floor, one hand over her midsection protectively. "Stop it! The baby . . ."

"I don't give a damn about that bastard child you're carrying!" Gippal spat.

Rikku stood up slowly, shakily, and glared. "Don't call her that!" she yelled back.

"That's what it is, Rikku! A bastard. The illegitimate child of you – and Sir Auron."

Rikku froze. "How – how did you know that?"

"That really doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is, that child's father is dead. Rumor has it, he's been dead for over ten years." Gippal shook his head. "Sex with a dead guy Rikku? That's twisted, even for you."

"Shut up!" Rikku cried, flailing her arms out and hitting Gippal. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"Don't tell me what to do, pedlr," Gippal sneered, grabbing her by the wrist.

She was stronger than he had counted on, and she broke free of his grasp easily. "The only reason I married you was to avoid disgracing my family – to avoid disgracing Yuna! But to stay with you – that would be the bigger disgrace. I don't need you, and my baby sure as hell doesn't need you. My baby has the blood of the greatest warrior ever known in her."

Gippal made an inhuman sound and lunged for Rikku with a blade that he had pulled out from the inner lining of his jacket. The blade sliced across her midsection, and Rikku began to bleed. "Oh, no," she said quietly, looking for anything – anything – to stop the bleeding.

"Let's see your great 'warrior' baby save itself now," Gippal said cruelly, as he stood there and watched her bleed.

Suddenly, the hilt of a sword slammed into Gippal's skull, knocking him unconscious – perhaps even killing him. Auron didn't care. Rikku was hurt.

She had an old rag in her hand and was holding it over the laceration, but the blood was still gushing from the wound. She grew paler by the second. She looked up into the face of the man who had come to her rescue once again.

Her sparkling green spirals widened when she looked upon his face – his young, unscarred, perfect face. "Aur . . ."

And then she fainted.

A/N: I apologize for the sloooowness of the last chapter. I hope this one is more satisfactory to you:) It's just kind of hard, when you know what you want to do with something, but you have to get things set up before moving forward. Anyways -- we're on the home stretch now, kiddos. The end, sadly, is near. :( But don't worry, there's still another probably three chapters before the final epilogue! So keep reading and REVIEWING and I hope you enjoy where this story goes in the very very very near future! Until next chappie, Rhianna :)