Disclaimer: I don't own a damn thing.
My head pounded in ways that I only thought could be accomplished in torture chambers when I finally came to. I groaned outloud and tried to open my eyes, but the room was far too bright for that to happen.
"Sir Auron, you need your rest," someone nearby said. A squint in the direction of the voice showed me that it was Yuna, but she was barely recognisable to me. Revealing clothes... short hair... dancing in her underwear? What ever happened to the modest summoner that I left behind?
"You've changed," I mumbled.
"Confidence, maturity, and love do that to a person," she smiled.
I tried to sit up, but it didn't work out for me, and I just landed right back on my pillow. Opening my eyes a tad bit more, I realized that I was inside Yuna's hut, laying on her couch. She was bustling around nearby, fixing me a tray of food.
"Don't bother with the food," I said gruffly. "Where's my sake?"
"You are NOT getting drunk right now, Sir Auron. Not when I need some answers from you," she said sternly.
Answers? Vilg. "I don't know any more than you do right now."
"Well, you must, considering you showed up at my doorstep alive, and then fainted at my feet."
"Fainted? More like died again..." I grumbled.
"It's nice to know that you're still so optimistic," she giggled.
I had a feeling that she wouldn't have been giggling so much if she had seen me a few hours before. I shook my head, embarrassed at myself. I did a happy dance? On a beach where people could see me? Great. Just great. "It's always been one of my strong points."
She giggled again, then set the tray of food in front of me. It was all pretty normal stuff; soup, bread, and fruit. I noticed that my coat was far across the room, along with my sake.
Shit, I thought. I guess I'm going to have to eat this.
To tell you the truth, my mind wasn't on food at all. My mind was on figuring out why I was here, why my song was on the radio at Yuna's house, and where Rikku was. Basic nessecities weren't very high on my list.
"Eat," she smiled as she messed with the pillow behind my head.
...........
"So, let me get this straight," Yuna said after nearly an hour of prodding me for answers. "You last remember drinking?"
"Oh yes," I said, then smiled at her. "I was drinking rather excessivly."
"For some reason, I don't have a problem picturing that."
I sighed, then looked her directly in the eye. "Look... I have no idea why I'm here, or what my purpose is right now. But I do have a few questions for you."
"Go ahead," she said.
I breathed in, trying to figure out how to word the question that was most prominant on my mind. She smiled at me, then did something I found very suprising.
"Rikku is in Luca. She should be back tomorrow, though with her I never know."
My mouth dropped open, and Yuna grinned. "What," she said, "you think that I was completely blind on my pilgrimage?"
"To everything but Tidus, yes."
Her eyes clouded over and I knew I said the wrong thing. "Yuna... He didn't come back, did he?"
She looked out the window as she spoke, avoiding my eyes. I knew that if I looked deep enough, I would find pain within them. "I've whistled every day..." she whispered.
"He'll come," I said with a confidence that I didn't feel.
We paused for a few moments, neither wanting to disturb the fragile environment. Then, she looked at me with the most false smile I've ever seen painted across her face. "But anyway, we were talking about you and Rikku."
"What do you know?"
"Only what I read between the glances, and what Rikku has told me so far." She paused for a moment, reading my expression, and then continued. "But the person you really need to talk to about this is Rikku, not me."
"Very well. Answer me a different question then."
"Yes?"
"What was that song that was playing on the radio when I walked in?"
She looked at me oddly, as if antlers had suddenly sprouted out of my head. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Just humor me, Yuna. It's been an odd day."
"That was the newest song by Blitz, a band from Luca. It was called Lovesong, I believe. It's actually really popular now, which I thought was surprising. It's not often that a song that good actually gets some radio play," she smiled as she stood up from the chair next to my bed. "But, I think you need to get some rest, Sir Auron. I need to go run some errands, but if you need anything, feel free to run next door. Lulu will surely be home."
"Thanks..." I mumbled as she ran out of the door. Sinking back into the couch, I could feel my headache returning.
"What does screaming out the words to songs accomplish, Rikku?"
The corners of her mouth turned up as she tried to find some sort of actual reasoning. I could hardly believe how cute she looked when she was thinking hard about something. "I only scream them when they make me feel."
"Feel?"
"Something. ANYTHING. I don't know if you would understand this, Auron, but some things produce feelings of extreme quantities. And when a song produces a feeling within me, the only thing that I can do is scream the words out loud."
"Ah," I nodded, contemplating her answer.
The song was popular. Shit. But that wasn't really what worried me.
The question that kept popping to my mind was, would Rikku scream the words to the song I wrote for her? Or would she listen, smile carefully, and just let the feelings pass her by?
I contemplated that until I fell into a deep, dreamfilled sleep.