Hoping for the best, just hoping nothing happens
A thousand clever lines unread on clever napkins
I won't ask if you don't ever tell me
I know you well enough to know you never loved me
Why can't I feel anything from anyone other than you?
I stay wrecked and jealous for this-
For this simple reason I...
Just need to keep you in mind
As something larger than life

-"Cute Without the E (Cut From the Team)" by Taking Back Sunday

I huddled under a chair, cuddling my legs to my chest, tears trickling down my cheeks. Luckily for me, the rest of the group thought that I was crying because I was scared, but it was really so much more than that. Mr. Thinks-He-Knows-Everything was standing across the room from me, and all I could see was the rough toes of his boots. But, unfortunatly for me, just something simple like that made me cry even harder.

"Rikku?" I heard Tidus call from above me, his feet twirling in every direction as he turned to find me.

"She's under there, ya? Can you try to help her? She seems pretty upset," Wakka said, pointing his toes in my direction. Tidus quickly kneeled and looked under the table. I wiped my eyes quickly and tried not to look quite as pathetic, but I know it didn't work.

His face crumbled at the sight of me. "Oh, Rikku, are you really that scared?" he asked, reaching under to give me a hug. I kept it brief but was thankful for the gesture just the same, and I smiled gratefully at him when he broke away.

"Yeah, I..." the thunder clashed again and I jumped, hitting the top of my head on the table, "... hate it."

"Why? What happened to make you so scared?"

I started to speak loudly, realising that Auron's boots turned in our direction and he was listening. "When I was a little kid, Brother and I were playing down at the beach, and I was swimming. But then, out of nowhere a water fiend showed up and grabbed me! Brother just started getting into magic then, and he cast Thunder at the fiend, but missed the fiend and hit me!" I shuddered from thinking about it, and Tidus nodded apologetically.

"Oh, I see," he said loudly, then he leaned in farther and started whispering. "What's up with you and Auron? He looks like he's about to spit flames."

"Uh, what are you talking about?" I sniffed, not looking at him. He paused, and I knew that he knew that I was lying. Finally, after he sat there in silence for a minute, I whispered, "I would tell you, but I can't. But eventually you'll figure it out."

He nodded, and then slid out from under the table. I heard him above me talking to Wakka in the most fake cheerful voice that I've ever heard, "I did the best that I could do. Someone elses turn!"

"No more turns," Auron said sternly. "It's time for bed, since we have an early start tomorrow. Get to your rooms."

"How come he gets to choose the bedtime?" Wakka grumbled to Tidus as they walked away down the hallway. I could hear their conversation fade away the farther they went, and finally it was just me huddled under the table, a hotel worker at the desk, and Auron leaning against a wall a few feet away. We stayed silently in our positions for what seemed like hours, until finally the hotel worker spoke.

"Sir Auron, it's getting late and I must go to sleep. Can you make sure that the door is locked when you go to bed?" she asked, her voice having a nice melodic ring to it.

"Of course."

"Thank you very much! Have a lovely evening," she said as her boots clicked past the table I was under. I watched her step up on her tippy toes, and with a soft sound, most of the light disappeared from the room, except for a small lamp on top of the table I was under. I saw flickers and flashes of light above me, and I whimpered pitifully with every single one. I knew I had a room somewhere, but there was no way that I was getting out from underneath this table to go find it, especially in the dark. I was just going to lean myself up against one of the legs and sleep there.

Of course, that was very, very, VERY uncomfortable. I tried a bunch of different sleeping positions, but finally I just curled myself into a little ball and tipped over onto the floor. My body made a small sound when I did this, but I thought it went unnoticed.

How stupid of me. Mr. Wonderful may not be able to see very well, but he sure can hear.

"Rikku, go to bed," he grumbled quietly from his little station across the room.

"You go to bed," I grumbled back. "I'm staying right here."

"You're going to sleep under the table?" he asked stupidly. "You can't do that."

"Watch me, meaniepants. I can do whatever I want."

He sighed with exasperation, but I was serious. There was no way in shanaynay that Auron was going to pry me out from under this table and out into the open. No, no, no. "You have a comfortable bed, Rikku, in a hotel room where the lightning cannot reach you. It's pointless to sleep like this when you won't have too many other chances to be comfortable later in the pilgrimage."

"That's not your problem, Auron. Besides, if you're so worried about being comfortable, you go sleep in your soft and fluffy bed, and leave me alone," I yawned. "It isn't like I'm going to end up sleeping anyway."

I heard a noise, looked up from my uncomfortable position, and met his eye. "Come on, Rikku," he said quietly. "I'll walk you to bed."

The lightning flickered through the window and highlighted the tender look on his face. I let my knees drop away from my chest and smiled shakily. "I'm not sure I can even walk at this point, but maybe I'll be able to in a few minutes... hours... days? I.. I don't know," I whispered, jumping a bit at another flash. "I hope that I can at least sleep a little bit tonight."

He nodded, smiled, and started to slide further under the table. I scootched back a bit, making room for him, not thinking of my pact to myself to keep him away. He reached his arm around me and held me close, our chests rising and falling in a rhythm that only we could keep. The lightning flickered around us, but I felt calmer, and only jumped a bit every time.

"W.. We can't make a habit of this, you know," I whispered as I clutched his arm closer to me. I played with his fingers as he played with my hair, and we sat comfortably together, without any of the malice that we had before. What had changed? I didn't understand, but I didn't want it to stop either.

"I know, princess, I know... You were right."

"About?" I asked absentmindedly, not really paying attention to what he was saying.

"I wasn't there when you needed me..." he whispered quietly, shocking me with his words. I turned and opened my mouth to speak, but he put his finger to my lips and shushed me. Then, he continued, "I don't expect you to be perfect, Rikku, especially since I'm so far from perfection that it's amazing. And I can understand why you can't exactly trust me at this point, considering you needed me and I wasn't there. But," he said, his eye pleading with me in the darkness, "please believe me when I say that I'm going to protect you, regardless of what happens at this point. I know there is something much bigger than you and I in the works and there isn't much that either of us can do to stop it, but I'm still here for you, princess, whenever you need me."

I could feel tears sting my eyes again, and I sucked in my breath quickly, trying to catch my bearings. I stared at his face for a long time, and he stared back, content with each other exactly how we were. I almost felt as if he was really seeing me for the very first time. "Why do you still call me princess?" I asked quietly.

He smiled through the shadows at me, and I felt the butterflies come back into my stomach again. "Because you're delicate and beautiful, yet strong and stubborn, and even if you never told me that you were one, I still would think of you as my princess."

The tears spilled over at that point, and I threw myself into his arms all the way again. I felt his hands clutch me to his chest, and I held on tightly to his coat, sobbing into him, soaking his clothes. We stayed that way for awhile, me crying, him holding on and mumbling words of comfort to me, until I finally pulled back.

"I wish I could tell you everything," I whispered tearfully.

"All in due time, princess. I'm sure you'll tell me everything when you need to," he whispered back, faith in me shining in his expression.

An understanding took place in our eyes, and I nodded, realizing everything. Then, I leaned back into him, until my drowsy body finally took control of my frightful mind and let me drift off to sleep.