A/N: Well, I realize that it has taken me a loooong time to get this up! But here it is, chappie two of my modern-day Aurikku! Yay! So I made it kinda long to make up for my lack of writing. I am introducing some more familiar characters in this chapter -- I hope you like what I've done with them. XD I actually am pretty fond of this chapter -- good stuff is going to be happening very soonly -- but you realize that these things must be set up properly. :)
Chapter Two
Fall From Grace
Rikku followed Yuna into her apartment and set her bag in the corner of the guest bedroom, as Yuna instructed her to. "Will this be okay?" Yuna asked her shaken cousin.
Rikku nodded, eyes wide, as she looked around the room. "I just – after Braska died and all – I waited, you know? I thought something might happen with my family. And when it didn't, I – I was glad. I don't understand why they waited so long."
Yuna put a reassuring arm around Rikku's shoulders. "To throw us off, that's why. But don't worry. Detective LaGuard is the best there is. He has a lot vested in this. Braska and Jecht were his partners."
Rikku nodded. "So who is Tidus?"
Yuna's eyes darted around as if she feared eavesdroppers. "He's Jecht's son," she whispered. "But don't say anything. He's undercover."
"You and the detective, you're close, huh?" Rikku said softly.
"Auron?" Yuna's brow furrowed. "He's been there since my father died. He was the one who came to tell me, as soon as he could. He stayed with Dad and Jecht until they were declared – dead. And then he came to tell me, but he got mugged on his way here." She motioned to her right eye.
"Oh! Is that why . . .?" Rikku asked.
Yuna nodded sadly. "He's got a nasty scar on his chest too."
Rikku raised an eyebrow at her cousin. "Just how close are you two?"
Yuna laughed nervously and blushed. "Not that close. He's almost forty!"
Rikku shrugged. "That's not that old," she said. "So what do you think of all this? Do you have any ideas?"
"I used to think that I knew. It seemed so cut and dry – the drug ring, the government officials who were covering it up. But they seem to have their goons everywhere in Spira. Really, it could be anyone. The government has a lot of people who work for them on the down-low."
"Scary," Rikku said with an involuntary shiver. "So do you think they have you bugged?" she said quietly.
Yuna shrugged. "Auron's run several checks on the place – usually two or so a week. He hasn't found anything suspicious yet."
Rikku nodded. "So I guess it's safe here, huh?"
"Safe as any other place when you're related to Braska," Yuna said.
"How'd you meet Tidus then?"
"Well, I thought that he was following me – that he was connected to whoever killed Dad," Yuna said. "But we just learned tonight that he's from Zanarkand, and he's – you know who's you know what," she said quietly.
Rikku laughed. "Nice code, Yunie," she said.
Yuna rolled her eyes. "I'm not used to all this. My life was finally starting to get better – and then it all started up again. More letters, more scary phone messages."
"We didn't get anything like that," Rikku said. "We had a perfectly normal day. I left at five and went home. At five-twenty-two, boom!" She looked around again, as if she expected someone to jump out from behind a door.
"So the detective – he's here a lot, then?" she ventured slowly. The tall, dark, and handsome investigator had intrigued her.
"A few times a week – maybe more now that you're here," Yuna said.
Rikku's head jerked up. "Why more now that I'm here?" Her heart sped up a little.
Yuna looked at Rikku sympathetically. "Because of what just happened with your family," she explained.
"Oh! Oh, right!" Rikku blushed. "Why else?"
"Why else indeed," Yuna said quietly. "If you'd like to take a shower, the bathroom's just down the hall. There are towels in the tall cabinet in the hallway. And my room is right across the hall if you need anything."
Rikku nodded, and then hugged her cousin impulsively. "Thank you, Yunie!" she said quietly.
"Any time, Rikku," Yuna told her cousin. She turned to go back to her room then.
Outside the apartment building, a man dressed all in black spoke into a walkie-talkie. "The Zu has landed," he said. "All three targets are in Bevelle."
There was static, and then a response. "Good work. Lie low for a few days – maybe even a week – and then make the next move."
"Roger, over and out," the man in black said.
"Over and out." Seymour Guado, the highest official in Spira clicked off his own two-way radio and looked at the men seated around his makeshift office, now located in the forgotten Omega Ruins. "Our plan has worked perfectly. The three descendants are all in Bevelle. We know that investigator will do all he can to protect them – even if it costs him his life. That's all we're really looking for. We don't want to kill the children. They can't hurt us. But he can." Seymour opened the file he had started on Auron LaGuard, and tossed the black-and-white photo onto the desk. "Once we get LaGuard out of the way, we can stop hiding, and finally have the kind of control of Spira that we deserve."
A woman stood in the background of the room, dressed in the same dark clothing as everyone else. She listened to Seymour's spiel and then darted out of the room, unnoticed.
She hurried down the hallway of the dark ruins and turned a corner where she knew her accomplice was waiting. "Did you get it?" the man asked her.
Sighing, the woman removed her hood and shook out her long black hair. Her reddish-brown eyes lit up as she pulled the tiny recorder from her pocket. "Every word out of his filthy little mouth." Looking behind her, she quickly stuck the recorder back into her pocket. "Come on. We have to get back to Bevelle before they initiate their little plan."
She pulled the hood back over her head and peeked around the corner. "Okay, it's all clear. Let's go."
The two of them made their way through the dungeon and to their waiting airship. Wakka Capitan had scoffed at the idea of using an airship for so long, but after much persuasion and coercion from his pretty partner, he had finally agreed. And now he couldn't imagine getting around Spira without it. Or her.
They sat down on the bridge of the airship, and she removed her bulky hood and overcoat. Wakka couldn't help but notice the low neckline of her stretchy black V-neck shirt that hugged her curves to perfection.
Lulu Magis was oblivious to the attention. She played the tape for Wakka. "I cannot believe the nerve of that Guado!" she raged. "He's a bloody fool if he thinks it will be that easy to take down LaGuard. Auron's not an idiot. He knows when he's being followed."
Wakka glared stonily. He and Lulu had been partners in the espionage department of the Bevelle Police Department since it had been founded, close to a year-and-a-half ago. It had been decided that the P.D. needed to have spies working for them on the drug case that had taken the life of two of their own. Lulu Magis and Wakka Capitan had been among the first hired, and were immediately partnered.
Wakka had begun to believe in love at first sight when he first laid eyes on his new partner. Lulu hadn't been as responsive to his flirtations as he had hoped. She seemed more enamored of Detective LaGuard. She claimed he was her personal hero, and that she wanted to be just like him someday.
Wakka kind of hated Auron LaGuard. How was he, a lowly blitzball player with unruly looks such as his own, supposed to compete with Bevelle's handsome hero?
"Wakka?" Lulu was talking to him.
"Yah?" he asked.
"Is something wrong?" she asked him, concern in her eyes. She would never admit it, but over the past year-and-a-half, she had become quite fond of her partner. He seemed to clam up everytime she mentioned Detective LaGuard though. She smiled to herself. Jealous, are we, Wakka? You have nothing to worry about. Auron is an icon – a legend. You are someone I could love.
She frowned as the thoughts entered her head. What was that all about? She knew better than to mix business with pleasure.
"Nothing's wrong, Lu," Wakka said in a cool tone. "Are we in Bevelle yet?"
Lulu shook her head and stood up. She touched the top of Wakka's head and played with the long, flame-red spike of hair he wore in the front. "Your hair," she said with a small chuckle.
"What's a matter wit' my hair?" Wakka protested. He spoke with the accent of the island-dwelling Besaidians.
"Absolutely nothing," Lulu told him gently. "I'm going to get some food from the galley. Would you like anything?"
Wakka reluctantly stood up. "I'll go wit' you."
Walking ahead of him, Lulu smiled to herself.
The next morning, in Bevelle, Yuna woke early to get ready for her classes. At seven-thirty, there was a knock on the door. Yuna used the peephole and smiled when she saw Tidus' blond head.
She opened the door. "Good morning!" she said brightly, motioning for him to come inside. "Have to keep it down. Rikku's still asleep." She smiled at him. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to make sure you get to class all right," Tidus told her, smiling back. He felt goofy around her, and he didn't really know why.
"Oh! Okay," she said. "Auron's orders, huh?"
"Partly," Tidus said cryptically.
"Hmm. Let me just go tell Rikku that I'm leaving," Yuna said, disappearing down the hallway.
She opened the door to her cousin's room. "Rikku?" she said softly, shaking her gently.
"Mmm?" Rikku mumbled sleepily. "Yuna?" Her green eyes opened.
"I have to go to class now," Yuna said. "If you need anything, the police department number is on the fridge. Just ask for Detective LaGuard. I won't be home until about eight. Will you be all right?"
Rikku nodded. "I'll be fine, Yunie, thanks. You be careful!"
Yuna smiled and headed out. "So – partly Auron's orders, huh?" she pressed Tidus as they walked to the elevator.
"Well, he was going to come, but I volunteered," Tidus admitted.
"Really?" Yuna said, eyes lighting up. "Wow."
"Don't look so shocked. You're the prettiest girl I've ever stalked."
Yuna's mouth dropped open. "What?"
Tidus laughed. "Just kidding."
Yuna smiled sadly. "I see."
"But – not about the pretty part," Tidus told her. She looked up at him hopefully.
"Thanks," she said quietly.
Rikku went back to sleep and slept until about eleven-thirty. Sleeping was the only way she could avoid having to think about what happened to her father and brother – and even then, it wasn't foolproof. The explosion was in her dreams.
She crawled out of bed, showered, and dressed. She started looking through Yuna's fridge for food, but found nothing that really appealed to her. She closed the door and saw the paper stuck on the fridge with a magnet shaped like a Hypello. The police department's number and address.
Smiling, she went to grab her jacket. She had a better idea. She hurried down the busy Bevellian streets to the gray stone building with the sign that said "Bevelle Police Department."
She walked inside and the woman at the front desk greeted her. "May I help you?"
"Um, I'm looking for Detective LaGuard," Rikku said.
The lady smiled kindly. "His office is down that hallway, second on the left. His name's on the door."
Rikku smiled. "Thanks." She walked down the hallway and found the door easily. She knocked on the door gently.
"Enter." His voice sounded scratchy, like he hadn't slept well.
Rikku peeked her head around the corner. "Hi," she said carefully.
She noted the woman sitting across from LaGuard. Tall, long-legged, with long dark hair. She was dressed in a tight black V-neck sweater and short black skirt and impossibly high heels. Rikku smiled a bit self-consciously. This woman was so gorgeous and put-together. Rikku felt so young and dowdy dressed in her faded hip-hugger jeans and a bright yellow halter-top, with her brown leather jacket and thick-soled brown boots to complete the ensemble.
"Rikku, good morning," Auron said. He wondered at the curious speeding up of his heart when the girl entered. He motioned for her to shut the door behind her. "Rikku, this is Lulu Magis. She works here. She's just found out some interesting information."
Lulu raised an eyebrow at Auron's candidness with the young blonde who had just entered the room. "Ahem," she said loudly.
"Right. I'm sorry. Lulu, this is Yuna Summers' cousin, Rikku Sands," Auron explained.
Lulu stood up gracefully. "Right, right. From Bikanel, yes? Sorry to hear about your father and brother."
Rikku nodded. "Thanks," she said quietly. "Um, so what – what was the news?"
Lulu handed Rikku a photograph. "The man in the picture is Seymour Guado. He is the highest-ranking official in Spira. He's also a bit mad. Completely power-hungry. From the evidence that I've gathered, he may be the one behind everything. You understand that I can't go into any more detail than that with you," Lulu explained.
Rikku nodded. "What – what do you do here, Miss Magis?" she asked.
Lulu laughed. "Lulu, please. I'm not at liberty to discuss that." She breezed past Rikku and to the door. "I'll be in touch, Auron," she said, grinning at him suggestively as she left the room.
Rikku fought off the urge to glare. "Nice lady," she said to Auron when Lulu was gone.
"Lulu? She's all right. A bit cool, but good at what she does," Auron said. He shuffled some papers on his desk and then looked up at Rikku. "Is everything okay?"
Rikku nodded. "Yeah, everything is fine. It's just – Yuna's in class all day. I don't know anyone here, except you. I guess I was just lonely." She shrugged. "But if you're busy, I can just go home."
"Did you walk here alone?" Auron asked her.
"Um, yeah," she said.
Auron took a deep breath and told himself to calm down. "You realize that that is dangerous, right?"
A light dawned on Rikku's face. "Oh, right. I – I forgot. I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I didn't even think."
"Well, you had better start," Auron said warningly.
Rikku fought back tears. "Yessir," she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
Auron shook his head and exhaled noisily. "Well, since you're here, would you care to join me for lunch?"
Rikku perked up. "Really?"
"Well, it's either eat with you or eat alone – again. Company would be nice," Auron said.
"Okay." Rikku said, smiling. "Where are we eating?"
Auron chuckled a bit. "The cafeteria. It's not fine dining, but I'm sure you understand."
Rikku nodded. "Sounds great," she said. And she meant it. The more she was in his presence, the more enamored of him she became. He really was looking out for her – his anger at her walking alone had proven that. And he was so handsome. The scar did nothing to deter from his handsomeness.
Of course, he probably looked at her only as someone to look after. The thought dampened her mood a little. She wondered what it would be like to be with him, but quickly pushed the thoughts out her mind before her imagination took over.
Auron walked beside the girl to the cafeteria on the lower level of the department. He kept glancing at her surreptitiously. He liked what he saw. Her curves were hugged perfectly by the jeans and top she was wearing. He found himself wishing she would take her jacket off so he could admire more of her form.
He shook his head for thinking such things. He was far too old – nearly forty – for one so youthful and pretty to take any interest in. Yes, she had come to see him, but as she had said, she was lonely. Yuna was gone, and she was in a strange city. She had just lost her father and her brother. The only other person she knew in this town was Auron.
However, when she looked up at him and locked her spiraled green eyes with his own gaze and gave him a soft smile, he couldn't help but to think that maybe, just maybe there might be something of a spark between them.
He guessed only time would tell. In the meantime, he knew he could very possibly enjoy being in this girl's company.
Rikku was thinking the same thing about him.