Love Through Jealousy
Natsue Arishima
Chapter Ten: Competition
Glaring out of the corner of her eye, Rikku stomped forward, not really knowing where she was going. The fact that everyone had been relying on her to get out of the endless dunes proved to be a problem, as they found themselves wandering around for hours. Unknowingly, they had been walking in circles.
Suckers.
Yes, she was moody. And no, she didn't care. When Tidus asked her what was wrong, she had screamed something about PMS followed by castration. He had immediately backed away.
The trip had been quiet ever since.
Besides her, Wakka was twitching a bit, perhaps due to his fear of Rikku doing any bizarre things on him or the fact that he too was annoyed with his surroundings. Surroundings meaning the two people at three o'clock, one who happened to be saying something in the other's ear while the said other was casting up small flurries of wind.
He yelped in surprise when a large pact of sand blasted him in the face. The heat was unbearable already, and it didn't help that he was now partially blind. Stumbling around, he rubbed his face furiously, all the time cursing under his breath.
Rikku quickly turned to him, blinking in surprise before pulling his hands from his face. Soothingly, she revealed a cloth that was magically devoid of any sand and dabbed at his eye. Hesitating slightly, her eyes flickered towards the other couple before she kissed him gently on the brow.
"What you doin' —?"
Silencing him quickly with a finger, she pulled away, smiling sweetly. Wakka frowned, rubbing his forehead. It wasn't that he minded, it was just that she had placed the sand previously on her lips now on his forehead.
Still smiling, but with a warning glare in her eye that promised death if he objected, she curled her hand in his, edging up closer.
When she wasn't looking, Wakka rolled his eyes.
---
They had somehow found their way back to the small oasis. Without missing a beat, Tidus turned to stare disapprovingly at Rikku, albeit warily, who grinned sheepishly at him before shrugging, still cuddled up next to Wakka's side. "The dunes weren't where they were last time I was here."
The blond blitzball player sighed before heading towards the water. He was secretly grateful — the small ring of water gave off a sense of security. But Yuna… He needed to know if she was okay. She had to be okay.
Knee-deep in the water, he cupped his hands and brought them up to his face, washing away the sand.
There was a faint gasp to his left and he turned. The sight he saw was something he never thought he'd see in his entire life. He knew about Lulu's fiery temper, and that she would snap at anything foolish and idiotic. But something stupid had happened now, and she wasn't snapping.
She was smiling, if not a bit annoyed. Even so, she was smiling.
The world had come to an end.
The black mage was sitting in the water, and by the looks of it, had not voluntarily dropped in. She was glaring at a retreating Auron, but a small smile was gracing her lips.
Tidus shook his head. Lulu had been shoved by Auron (which itself wasn't something a person would see everyday), fallen in the water, was soaking wet, and smiling.
As the black mage slowly stood up, Tidus turned back to his hands and splashed his face furiously.
---
Though she had to admit, being pushed into the water had been rather startling, but she was surprised when she hadn't felt mad about it. Auron had been… almost… what was the word? Playful? And the fact that their little act was putting Rikku and Wakka on an edge was even more amusing.
She even surprised herself (and most likely a watching Wakka) by smiling. She could have sworn Auron smirked when he walked away, corners of his mouth just visible over his collar, once again acting indifferent to the world.
She had forgotten how fun it was to do what she now called foolish acts. Like with Chappu.
Thinking of him caused her to think about his brother. She caught herself in time before the sappy ideas sunk in. What was going on? She felt like a kid again, innocently following her secret love only to be rejected and sent crying home. The memory made her smile inwardly again. Where had that little girl gone?
She stood up, trails of water sliding down her frame. Her dress stuck to her, the fur lining matted, dark leather belts dripping. Sighing, she reached for her braided hair, damp and cold. She would have to do them again.
Wringing out as much water as she could, she stepped forward, towards Auron. What would it be? Water? Or maybe even watera. Yes. That would do.
Ignoring the heavy weight of her dress, she made her way up to the water's edge, raising her arms as she shut her eyes. Yes. Watera.
She heard Auron give a little grunt of surprise as he was drenched in water.
Revenge was sweet.
---
Wakka shifted out of Rikku's glaring range. The Al Bhed had been extremely shifty today, and though it was obvious why, it was still uncomfortable.
Sighing, he dropped onto his back, cushioning his head with his arms. The sky was surprisingly blue, clear and bold. It was like back in Besaid, where it had only been him and Lu, Chappu, Braska, Yuna…
He felt the familiar pang of guilt when he thought about the young summoner. To fail Yuna… he hoped she was okay. His guilt increased, followed by small annoyance at himself. Was he degrading her? Underestimating her skill? He knew he would feel angry if someone took him for a small pushover.
She would be fine.
Hopefully.
He groaned. Time to think of other matters…
Like why Lu and Sir Auron found so much interest in each other.
He could feel it, could feel the familiar weight of jealousy. Hadn't this entire ordeal been about making the others jealous? Instead, he and Rikku were the ones feeling angry. He felt like a fool. Their plan had completely backfired.
But… did Lu really have no feelings for him? He eyed the distant two. Auron had laid out his wet scarlet robe under the sun, now clothed in only a sleeveless black shirt and pants. He was sitting underneath a small ledge with the black mage. Wakka blinked at Auron's choice of clothing. He had never thought that the legendary guardian would be one to wear tight shirts.
But considering the less heated glare from Rikku, he was betting that she was enjoying the show.
He sighed.
But back to the problem at hand. He swallowed when he saw Lulu, pale skin darkened under the shadows. Her dress had dried, and she had let her hair down. It now hung in smooth tresses over her shoulders and back. He wondered if it was as soft as it looked.
Wakka frowned and turned away when Auron reached for one of the many hair ornaments on the ground and began examining it.
He looked back up at the sky, the sun scorching him mercilessly. Even though he hated seeing the two of them together, to see Lu actually smile was a definite change. But the fact that she had been smiling at Auron…
Wakka pounded his head.
He was surprised, though, at her sudden change in attitude. Before they had arrived at Bikanel, Lulu had been, if possibly, colder than usual. Why?
But then again, Auron had been knocked out during that time.
Perhaps…
Had Auron's accident somehow spurred the two of them together? Wakka himself had been surprised that out of all of them, Auron had been the first to nearly die. The Auron. The legendary one, guardian of High Summoner Braska.
Even since his accident, though, Wakka realized just how lucky everyone was to have gotten this far. But then there was always tomorrow, and who knew if they'd make it to the end. A small part of him shivered every time a day passed and another begun. What if he died before he told Lu how he felt?
Thinking was easier than acting. He constantly played out what he was going to say to her, and what she'd say in return. But when perfect chances came up, he passed them by, always convincing himself that it had been a wrong time, that another one would come up in the near future. Truthfully, pretending he was in love with Rikku was just another way to hide.
He was hiding. A coward.
And he did nothing to change it.
---
As Auron helped the black mage with the final touches to her hair, and as said black mage began to fall asleep on Auron's shoulder, Rikku could take it no longer.
She was cracking, she knew it. Sooner or later, she'd let everything slip, that she and Wakka were faking, that she had no feelings except for friendship for the blitzball player, and that the one she really wanted was Auron. She could feel it getting closer, feel her sanity slip away…
She wanted to do something, anything, to get him to notice her. He hadn't said a single word to her since Macalania. Was he mad that he almost died because of her?
She shivered.
Did he hate her?
Besides her, Wakka was deep in thought, eyes on the sky. How could he be so calm? He was going to lose Lulu if he didn't do anything. And it didn't seem like he cared. Rikku cursed. He was just lying there, not angry or anything, just blinking and staring.
Dammit!
She turned back to Auron, who was now sharpening his blade, Onion Knight standing on the tip and jumping over his hand every time it came close. She wanted to shout something. Maybe, "I hate you Auron!" or "Look at me! I'm madly in love with you!"
Rikku always knew she was sensitive when it came to these things. She had little self-control — when something came up, she just blurted it out. And now, she was close…
Wakka suddenly ripped his eyes from the clouds, turning to gaze at her as if sensing her soon-to-be slip. She had to admit, Wakka truly was smarter than he looked. He was kind and thoughtful, with a good sense of humor. So why couldn't she love him instead of the grumpy man sitting over there, currently too obsessed with his sword to even notice her?
If Auron was happy with Lulu, when why couldn't she be happy with Wakka?
Without any warning, she launched herself onto Wakka, who gave a startled yelp. It was cut off when she pressed her lips against his furiously, desperately. It wasn't even a kiss — just a crush of lips, with no feelings behind it. She waited, shutting her eyes, expecting the feeling of love, a rush of passion. It didn't come.
Frustration bottling up inside of her, she ran her tongue over his bottom lip. Perhaps out of surprise, he parted them. There was no heat when she explored his mouth, nothing when he responded seconds later.
Slowly, she pulled away, and Wakka stared at her, confused. Out of the corner of her eye, she could sense Auron blink before returning to his sword.
She wanted to cry.
---
A/N: Argh! I'm so mad! Not to mention feeling slightly un-organized, which was not supposed to happen with the whole posting the update thingy. I would have had it up by the designated time, but nooo... one of my fanfics had to have been taking down, rendering the whole chapter update button absolutely useless. Not to mention that I really liked that fic too...
Grr...
Anyhoo, I realized that this fic was going a lot slower than I thought it'd go. Stupid outline. Yeah, technically, the kissing and crap was supposed to be a lot sooner and not under these circumstances. Oh well. At least Rikku and Wakka got one down.
Anyhoo, my mental senses tell me this fic is coming to an end soon. Many four more chapters or something like that. But anyhoo, next update (considering that I'm going away for two weeks): December 26, 2004 (hopefully)
- Natsue Arishima