A/N: Well, there's no Al Bhed in this chap, so no translations needed! It's not quite as long as the last one was, but I think you guys will find this chapter to your satisfaction So enjoy! As always, review so I know if I'm doing good! XD Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, you guys ROCK! Oh, yeah, while I don't think that this chap is bad AT ALL there are some bits and pieces that may not be appropriate for young 'uns you know who you are. lol If you are easily offended, then click the back button. For the rest of you, enjoy this lovely fluff-filled chapter! XD
Chapter Seven
Angels
He found her on the deck, against the side of the airship, her knees tucked up to her chin. Her head was down, forehead resting on her knees, and her arms were wrapped around her legs. Her shoulders were shaking, and he knew that she was crying
"Rikku." His normally gruff voice was tinged with a hint of sympathy.
Rikku's head shot up, her tears leaving white trails down her dirty face. "Sir Auron!" she cried. "What – what are you doing here?"
"I came to make sure you were all right," he told her. "Are you?"
Rikku nodded. Then she shook her head. "I – I will be. But it's too soon right now, you know?" Sadly, she looked up at the older guardian. "I – I'm sorry. I feel like everything is my fault!"
"Well, it isn't."
She looked away from Auron. "Thanks, for coming to check on me." She managed a small smile, but there was no enthusiasm behind it.
"You've suffered much for one so young," Auron said, deep in thought. "I wish there was a way to make this easier on you."
"I feel so bad making a big deal out of this, when we have other things to worry about!" Rikku confessed. "I mean, we don't know where Yunie is …"
"But you lost your home today, Rikku," Auron said kindly. "There is no shame in grieving over it. And as for Yuna … we'll find her."
Rikku nodded. "You're right. How do you always stay so calm?"
Auron chuckled a bit. "If this is what you consider calm."
Rikku stood up. "It is – you and Lulu both do it. Like, you're just detached from human emotion or something. But I guess I understand. Once you lose people who are precious to you, it kind of doesn't matter any more."
Auron looked at her. She was perceptive – more so than one would be led to believe. But she was also naïve, and young, and she often missed what was right in front of her face. "What of you?" he asked her. "Did you not lose your mother?"
"I was only two – I barely remember her," Rikku said, taking a deep breath. "Sometimes I wish I could, though. Her name was Cassia – pretty, huh? I'll name my first daughter that." Her green eyes got a faraway look to them. "Cassia Yuna … that is, if the rest of us make it back."
"You will," Auron said with certainty.
She smiled sadly. "How do you know that, huh?"
"Perhaps I've seen it," he told her, amusement twinkling in his good eye.
"Well, if you can tell the future, I'd love for you to share it with me!" she laughed.
"Life should hold some surprises," he told her. "And, trust me, yours will." He turned to leave, and then turned back. "Rikku …" he said.
"Hmm?" she murmured, staring out at the sunset.
"If you ever need to talk, I promise to listen – and I don't interrupt."
Rikku turned and smiled. "Thanks."
The whooshing sound of the door told her that Sir Auron was gone. Slowly, she walked to the end of the deck and stared out at the vast expanse of sky. It amazed her that they could be flying so high that even the clouds were below them.
The sunset light had turned the sky all different shades of the rainbow – pink and orange directly in front, and purple and blue behind. So my life will be full of surprises, huh? I wonder what?
She didn't have to wait long, for the whooshing sound came again, and she turned to see who was joining her now.
Wakka.
He had a pained expression on his face as he crossed the deck toward her. Rikku held up her hand to stop him when he had gotten halfway. "Stop," she said. "Don't talk." His expression was confused, but he obliged.
Slowly, she brushed her bangs off of her forehead and then smiled ever so slightly. "Did you come to try and cheer me up again?" she said dryly.
Wakka shook his head. "No – I came to apologize, ya?"
"I told you, don't talk," Rikku said firmly. "Let me say this."
Biting her lower lip, she looked down. The only thing she wanted in the world right now was to forget everything that had happened today, but she couldn't. Perhaps, she could explain it to him. Perhaps he would understand.
Perhaps he'd want to help her forget.
Taking a deep breath, she began. "I'm sorry for not telling you the truth about me. I'm sorry that I yelled at you and called you names. I'm sorry that I can't make you understand that no matter what you say to me, I won't feel any differently about my race. I'm sorry that you feel like I'm not good enough for you now." Rikku saw that Wakka wanted to speak, but she shook her head.
"Keyakku, that boy back at Home?" Rikku began. Wakka nodded. "Keyakku was, well, I guess he was my boyfriend for awhile – about a year ago. It was after the mission at Djose, after your brother … after Chappu died. Well, that really got to me, you know? I was only fourteen, and it wasn't like it was just death, this was death of a friend. And it bothered me that there was so much that he wanted to say to you and to Lulu and he never got to, and I had nightmares about it for weeks."
"What does that have to do with Keyakku?" Wakka asked.
Rikku looked at him. "I'm getting there," she said impatiently. "Do you want to hear this or not?"
Wakka nodded. "Sorry, continue."
"Anyway – that was the first time I'd had any kind of real experience with death, and afterward, you know, I didn't even get rid of the shirt that I was wearing. It was still at Home, and still stained. I guess – I guess I felt like if I threw it away, I'd be throwing Chappu away too, and I didn't want to do that. He was nice to me, and the first Yevonite who didn't judge me. So I kept it." She looked up at Wakka. "After we got back from Djose, I did some stupid things. Instead of telling people that I was in pain, I just started causing it. I started to dismantle things, started to steal things. It wasn't because I needed the things, because Pops always provided us with a lot, I just, I wanted to hurt other people, because I was hurting, I guess."
Wakka nodded knowingly. "So that's why you're so good at that."
She shrugged. "I never knew it would actually come in handy someday. I'm not proud, but I guess it's okay when it's just fiends. Anyhow, Keyakku caught me once, trying to steal from his room at Home. Instead of getting mad, though, he just sat me down and made me talk to him. And I did – I told him everything, and I cried my eyes out to him that night. He's the reason I decided to start saving summoners – because it gave me something productive to do with my time."
"He sounds like he was a good friend," Wakka told her gently.
"He – he was more than a good friend." Closing her eyes, she counted to ten before continuing. "He was also – well, he was my first." She dared to open her eyes and saw that Wakka was looking at her, dumbfounded.
Wakka hissed. "Ooh, boy," he said quietly.
Rikku placed her hands on her hips and looked at him defiantly. "That wasn't the point of this conversation that you need to be dwelling on! I didn't tell you this so you'd have something else to judge me about! You know that Yevonites live in fear of Sin and death – but the Al Bhed, we have it even worse. Because it's not just Sin out to get us! We have to take advantage of whatever time we have on Spira – because we never know when it'll all be over. You see, Sin didn't kill Keyakku – Yevon did. Do you understand?"
Wakka put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed just enough to get her attention. "Rikku, Rikku, hey, calm down, ya? I'm not judgin' you, okay?" He exhaled. "I'm through with that, all right?"
She stepped away from his grasp and turned away. Looking out over the darkening sky, she took a deep breath. "Are you? Because at this point, you guys are all I have – and you were the most important of all. I'm sorry I hurt you – but you hurt me too, you know."
"I know, I know," he said, shaking his head. "And I came to apologize, ya?"
"Apologize?" Rikku sighed. "If you really want to apologize, there is something …"
"Huh?" Wakka asked.
She looked over her shoulder at him, his expression bewildered, his brow furrowed. Turning, she stepped toward him. "Help me forget," she said in a low, steady voice. Her eyes had a strange light to them, the likes of which had never been directed at Wakka.
"What do you want me to do?" Wakka asked. "Look, Rikku, I've been an idiot, whatever it takes to make this up to you …"
Rikku stood in front of him now, looking up at him and smiling a little. She ever so lightly caressed the exposed flesh of his well-muscled torso with her fingertips. He sucked in his breath.
"Kiss me," she whispered. Wakka gulped audibly, and Rikku giggled a little. "Wakka ..."
"Rikku …" he began.
She wrapped her arms around his midsection and looked up at him hopefully. Her eyes were vivid and bright, burning almost, and there was a soft smile on her lips. "Kiss me or I'm gonna kiss you," she told him in a teasing voice. Still too nervous to move, Wakka just stood there, baffled by what was going on. Was he dreaming? Rikku smiled again, the dimple in her left cheek showing. "Wakka, are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah, of course," he managed to stammer.
Her grin widened and she unwrapped her arms from around his waist. Standing on her tiptoes, she placed her hands on his shoulders and barely brushed his lips with her own. She pulled away and searched his face. "Was that so bad?" she asked him, a smirk on her face and mischief sparking in her eyes.
She was teasing him, he decided, treating him like some naïve young kid. Well, he thought to himself, I'll show her, ya? She started to back away from him, but he grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her back. He searched her face for a split second before crushing his mouth down on hers.
Rikku's eyes widened a bit from the initial shock, but as the kiss deepened, she closed her eyes to the sweet sensation filling her. She parted her lips slightly and ran the tip of her tongue across his lips. He trembled and pulled her closer to him, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him. The kiss grew hungrier and more intense until finally Wakka pulled away.
Rikku searched his eyes for any sign of – well, anything. "Wakka …" she said, her breathing ragged and shallow. He just stared at her as if he had never seen her before. "Come with me," she whispered.
His vision seemed to clear, and he looked at her warily. "Why?"
"Because … I don't want to be alone," she told him honestly. She took his hand and led him off the deck and into the airship. Making sure that no one was lingering in the hallways, she led him down the corridor and into her cabin.
He looked around as the door shut behind them. "Uh, Rikku …" he began.
"Shh," she told him, pressing her index finger to his lips. "It's okay," she said. "I just want you here with me, okay?"
Wakka nodded. He supposed that would be okay. He owed her that much, didn't he? After all his pigheaded stubbornness … it was the least he could do.
Rikku sat down on the edge of the bed, and looked up at him expectantly. When he didn't make a move, she sighed and motioned for him to sit. "I won't bite," she said. "Unless you ask me to," she added slyly.
"Rikku," he said sternly.
She rolled her eyes. "All right, all right." She held up her right hand. "I swear to behave myself," she said, lowering her voice to make it sound serious and solemn.
Wakka laughed in spite of himself, and went to sit beside her. Rikku smiled up at him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Now, is this so bad?" she asked him.
"I don't know," he confessed. She smiled, satisfied with the answer for now.
They sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity, and finally, Rikku spoke. "Wakka," she said slowly.
"Yeah?" he said, his eyelids drooping. He was exhausted after the long day they had had. Maybe she was going to tell him that she wanted to sleep.
"Do you think you might want to kiss me again?"
His eyelids flew open at that. "What?" he choked, looking at her.
Rikku, grinning in triumph, quickly took advantage of the situation by capturing his mouth with her own as soon as he turned to her. He made a noise of protest, but soon discovered the benefits of going along with her.
The kisses quickly grew more intense and passionate, and Wakka knew that soon they were going to pass the point of no return. Did she realize it as well? She must have, yet she still kept urging him on.
"Rikku?" he said quizzically.
In answer, she pulled off his vest and ran her dainty hands along his flesh. "Yes, Wakka?" she finally said.
"Are you sure?" he asked her.
The look in her eyes was not one that could be mistaken. Silently, she got up from the bed and stood before him. She didn't take her eyes off of his as she unbuckled the clasps on her shirt and slid it off over her head. She tossed the garment into the corner of the room and lowered herself onto Wakka's lap, pressing her lips against his hungrily, guiding his hands along her body, and letting him know without words all he needed to know.
He knew that everything was about to change, and he didn't care. Wrong or right, it didn't matter. All that mattered tonight was Rikku. Hell, maybe she was all that mattered period.
He could take whatever came at him now – if she could forgive him, and come to him in this way, then there was nothing that he couldn't do.
Rikku didn't care about anything at that point – her mind was filled with Wakka, and that was all that mattered – as long as he was there, she wouldn't have to face the reality of what was going on all around her.
For tonight, at least, she could be free.
