Chapter Thirteen
Broken

Part One
Rikku's eyes fluttered open and took in her surroundings. She was in a very non-descript apartment, wrapped comfortably in a few fluffy blankets. She felt slightly disoriented, like she'd been sleeping for a few days.

Her eyes finally found their focus – the stunning brunette sitting opposite her in a worn armchair. When she saw that Rikku's eyes had opened, she jumped up. "Rikku!" she breathed.

Rikku pulled herself into a sitting position and looked at the woman. "Lulu? What is going on? Where am I?" Pausing, she sat back and looked around. Recognition dawned on her features, and her eyes widened as images of the past several weeks flooded her brain.

"Rikku ..." Lulu began slowly.

"Oh, my Gods," Rikku breathed out, tears flooding her green eyes. "Where's Auron? Where's Yunie?"

Lulu's heart rate returned to a normal pace, and she said a quick "thank Yevon" to herself. At least one of them had returned.

Part Two
The man in the lab coat had burst through the doors of the Police Department, a crazed, frantic look in his eyes. "I need to see Auron LaGuard," he told the desk clerk.

Wakka had been on his way out the door when he heard the man's voice. He turned back to face him. "Are you from the hospital?" he asked, taking note of the man's lab coat.

Isaaru nodded. "I'm Isaaru Brothers. I was working on something, for Yuna Summers."

Wakka's eyes widened in understanding. "Follow me," he told Isaaru. "I'm Wakka Capitan."

Isaaru nodded his recognition. "Yes, Yuna mentioned you."

Wakka led Isaaru back to Lulu's office, where Rikku sat. The doctor looked at the shaky young girl, and immediately knew that this was Rikku. Lulu looked at the man, and then at Wakka, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Lu, this is the lab guy from the hospital," Wakka told her.

Isaaru looked at the two cops. "I'm going to give this to her, and then one of you will need to take her home. She'll probably sleep for a few days, but when she wakes up, she should remember everything."

Lulu nodded. Then she turned to Rikku, who looked frightened. "What is that?" Rikku said frantically, noticing Isaaru's syringe. "No! I am not letting you inject me with that!"

Lulu knelt before her. "Shh, Rikku, it's okay," she said soothingly. "Isaaru is here to help you. He's going to reverse what Seymour did to you."

Rikku looked up at Wakka, who nodded his concurrence. Finally, Rikku closed her eyes and nodded. "Okay," she said.

The medicine worked almost instantaneously, and Rikku fell into a deep sleep. Lulu motioned for Wakka to carry the girl out. "Take her to my car, and I'll take her back to your place," she said.

As they turned to leave Lulu's office, they came face to face with Tidus. His eyes were full of rage. "Yo, what's up?" Wakka asked him.

"Yuna," Tidus said, almost hissing with his anger.

"What about Yuna?" Isaaru asked, his heart speeding up. He knew he shouldn't have left her there alone!

"She's in a coma," Tidus spat. "Hospital security found her in the lab, passed out in her own vomit." He was trying to fight back the tears that were threatening. He was not going to cry now. Yuna didn't need his tears, she needed his help!

"Oh, gods," Isaaru breathed. "This is my fault."

"How is it your fault?" Lulu asked him.

"When he showed up, I didn't want to leave her alone," Isaaru began. "But she was very adamant that I get the hell out. I think that making sure Rikku was safe was more important to her than anything. I thought ... I thought for sure if I alerted security on my way out, they would get there in time ..."

"When who showed up?" Tidus asked, clenching and unclenching his fists as he spoke. He knew if he heard that name spoken, he might come unhinged.

"Guado," Isaaru said in a low voice.

"He's fucking dead," Tidus pronounced. "I'll go and I will kill him myself!"

Lulu put a firm hand on the younger man's shoulder. "No, Tidus, you won't. What good will it do Yuna if you run off and get yourself killed." She turned to Isaaru. "You can find out what he gave her, can't you?"

Isaaru nodded. "Of course. I'll get straight to work on an antidote." With that, he hurried back to the hospital. There was no way he would let Yuna Summers die. He'd never be able to live with his own guilt ...

Tidus was still fighting mad. "We have to do something!" he exclaimed. "We can't let him get away with this! First Rikku, now ... Yuna ..." His voice cracked when he spoke her name.

"Tidus, listen to me," Lulu, the eternal voice of reason, said calmly. "Go and find LaGuard and bring him back here. Then, you and Wakka go to the hospital and sit with Yuna. Trust me, it's the best thing you can do for her right now. Are you listening to me?"

Tidus nodded reluctantly.

"Good," Lulu continued. "Isaaru is going to bring Yuna back to us. And then and only then will we deal with Seymour. But I won't let you go get yourself killed while you grieve."

A few minutes later, Tidus had returned with Auron. Auron took the sleeping Rikku from Wakka's arms, and stared down at her face, forgetting that anyone else was there.

After Tidus and Wakka had left, Auron looked up at Lulu. "You know I'm going to kill him," Auron told her in a steely voice.

Lulu looked down and nodded slowly. "I know."

"There's no reason to wait any longer," Auron continued. "We know where he is now, thanks to our anonymous informer. And I won't let him do this to another person."

"Auron, you really shouldn't ..."

"Don't tell me what I shouldn't do, Lulu!" Auron snapped. "I've sat back and watched him hurt too many people ... Too many people that I have cared about have been stolen from me, by him. But this ... this is the last straw."

"Will you at least wait a few days?" Lulu asked him. "Until Rikku wakes up?"

Auron closed his eyes for a moment before he nodded silently. "Until Rikku wakes up."

Part Three
Rikku had slept for two and a half days. But now she was awake, and she looked completely horrified. "Lulu, oh gods," she stammered. She looked down at her hands, and saw the gold band that no one had ever bothered to remove. "Oh, I'm gonna be sick!"

Lulu watched with concern as Rikku raced to the bathroom and vomited. When she finally re-emerged, she looked pale and drawn. "I married Seymour Guado? I really did?" she asked in a voice barely above a whisper. "Where is everyone?"

Lulu didn't say anything at first. "Lulu!" Rikku snapped. "Where is everybody?"

Lulu sighed. "At the hospital," she finally said. "Yuna ... She's in a coma."

Rikku's eyes widened. "Seymour?" she asked.

Lulu could only nod. "Do you want to go to her?"

"Yes! She's Yunie, I have to be there for her!"

When they reached the hospital, Lulu hadn't even put the car in "park" before Rikku had opened the door and was sprinting toward the entrance. She went to the receptionist. "Yuna Summers," she said.

"She's in ICU on the fourth floor," the lady told her. "I'm sorry, Miss, but no visitors allowed ..."

Rikku barely heard her, for she was already halfway to the elevator. She didn't even have time to wait for Lulu ... Yunie was in trouble, and she hadn't been there for her!

She burst through the double doors of the ICU waiting room and immediately spotted Wakka, pacing. "Wakka!" she cried, rushing to him.

"Rikku! You're awake!" he exclaimed, giving her a warm hug. "Are you ... I mean, do you ...?"

"I'm awake, I remember, and I want to see Yunie!" she demanded.

"They won't let anyone in to see her," Wakka told her sullenly.

"Dammit!" Rikku cried, kicking the wall forcefully. "I don't ... I can't ... Why is this happening?" she choked, feeling tears threatening once again.

"Don't worry," Tidus said from behind her. "It'll all be over soon."

Rikku turned to him and took him in her arms. "Tidus," she said. "Are you okay?"

The feel of Rikku's kind arms around him was too much. He allowed himself to give into the anguish he had been feeling for the past two-and-a-half days, and he let himself cry on her shoulder.

Rikku was so engrossed in comforting Tidus, that she didn't notice that a third man had entered the room. Tidus finally regained his composure and loosened his hold on Rikku.

Rikku straightened herself and gave Tidus a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "It'll be okay. If Isaaru could help me, then I am sure he'll be able to help Yunie."

Tidus nodded and then went still. Rikku wondered what it was that had caused him to freeze like that, so she turned around.

There he was. Like a pillar of strength and hope and dignity – her very own knight in shining armor, or Prince Charming, or something. As perfect as she last remembered him.

The thought made her want to laugh. And she could laugh now, because she did remember him. But she didn't feel like laughing. She felt like bursting into tears, and that's exactly what she did. "Auron ..." she sighed, flinging herself into his arms without reservation.

He held her without saying a word, just stroked the silk of her hair and kissed the top of her head. "Welcome home," he finally managed.

Rikku pulled back and looked at him. He was right. She was home now.

A/N: Sorry this is so short, but it's just my little transitory chapter into the next events of the story. I just needed a little mid-way chapter that wasn't too long or over the top. I realize that there are other ways I could have done this, but really, this seemed like the easiest, least time-consuming way to do it. I hope you guys like it -- there are still a few more chapters to come, so this is by no means the END or anything ... that'd be a pretty sucky ending, ya know? lol I promise that the next chappies I get up will be longer, but for now, I hope you are okay with this! As always, R&R and thank you so much for all the great reviews I have gotten so far! I love you guys! Until next chap -- Rhianna XD