This is fact not fiction for the first time in years
All the girls in every girlie magazine can't make me feel
Any less alone
I'm reaching for the phone
To call at 7:03 and on your machine,
I slur a plea for you to come home
But I know it's too late,
and I should have given you a reason to stay
Given you a reason to stay

-"A Lack Of Color" by Death Cab For Cutie

The black sky made me nervous.

I stood out in front of the inn, shaking slightly, jumping a bit every time the lightning struck the ground in front of me. I didn't remember the trip from the bathroom to the front door, but I hoped that I had made it quietly, due to how early it was.

7:03 AM. How is it that life always seems to shatter just before breakfast hits the table? I'm sure I could have taken everything better if I had more than a few stale cookies settled in my stomach, but nothing ever seems to go wrong when it's convienent for me.

Luckily, no one else was up but Auron and I, and he didn't want to talk to me anyway. Maybe a few minutes of peace and quiet was all I would need.

"Good morning."

I jumped slightly at the sound of the voice, and turned to find Tidus clicking the door quietly behind him. "Whew..." I breathed. "You scared me, you meanie!"

He started playing with his messy blonde hair, looking sheepish. "Sorry about that."

"No problem... And good morning to you too!" I laughed nervously, glancing back up at the sky. "How did you sleep?"

"Better than you, I bet. Did Aurie Warie Poo protect you last night?" I glared at him, and he burst out laughing. "Sorry Rikku, I couldn't help myself."

"For your information, we aren't exactly speaking at the moment," I grumbled, jumping again at another flash of lightning.

"I know," he said, much to my surprise. I turned to face him, and the corners of his mouth turned up a bit. "You act like I haven't known the guy for the past ten years," he added. "You've been pouting, and he's been more grouchy than usual. It's pretty obvious, you know."

"Define pouting."

"Standing out in the middle of the storm when you're afraid of thunder, simply because you're too stubborn to go in there and tell him the truth."

I turned slowly, in shock at his words. "The truth, Tidus? What do you know about the truth?"

His eyes told stories of secrets he wasn't supposed to know. "I know everything, Rikku. Everything."

"Everything?" I gasped, backing away from him. Backed up one, two, three steps until I hit the door to the inn.

"Yuna sent me to check on you and Auron, but by the time I got there, Auron was hustling down the hallway and Seymour already locked the door behind him," he said, his eyes clouding over with guilt. I could tell that he already beat himself up over the situation over and over while I was too busy flipping out over the weather.

"Oh, Tidus..." I whispered, pulling him into a quick hug. "I'm sorry you had to hear all of that."

"I'm sorry you even have to deal with it, Rikku," he mumbled into my hair before pulling away. "But, on top of Seymour being an asshole, we have more problems."

I clasped my hands behind my back and squeezed, as an unconcious effort to stay calm. "Define problems."

"When we came out of the Farplane, the ghost of Seymour's dad was waiting for us. And of course, Auron was too busy being pissed off at you to even notice him," he said, sounding very annoyed. Then, his expression changed slightly, into one of concern. "Yuna sent him, but now it seems like she's worrying more than usual."

"Wasn't he sent before?" I asked, confused. "And why didn't anyone tell me about this?"

"We didn't tell you because you were flipping out. And Auron said something about an 'unclean death', so maybe our good ol' Maester..."

"... Killed his own dad," I interrupted, everything becoming clear for me. "I wouldn't put it past him."

"And neither would I," he said, nodding in agreement.

We were both silent for a few minutes, standing next to each other, staring blankly at the sky. The flashes of lightning were barely registering with me, even though I knew I should be 'flipping out', as Tidus so nicely put it. Why was it that something once so scary was now unimportant? I have no idea, but that's how things seemed to be working out. I almost wished that I could find it in me to be more afraid of the storm, that way I didn't have to think so much about everything.

"You don't think she's really going to marry him, do you?" his voice, hushed, traveled out into the air, only to be swept away by the wind. I barely heard his question, but I knew the reasons behind it, and it made me smile and feel incredibly sad at the same time.

"The marriage can't be real, sweetie. He only asked so that we wouldn't skip the temple," I said without moving any part of me to look at him. For some reason, his pain was too much for me to bear.

He nodded slightly, but I knew he didn't believe me. And honestly, who would? I had no idea what Yunie was thinking at the moment, in fact, I barely knew what I was thinking at the moment. My mind was travelling so fast that it was hard to stand still without becoming dizzy.

The door clicked open behind me, and the five other members to our makeshift party filed out slowly. "Are you ready, you two?" Lulu asked calmly.

"They better be," Auron said gruffly. I knew he was staring at me when he said it, but I refused to look at him. In fact, I refused to move at all. My soaked hair was stringy and blowing in the wind, and my expression barely changed from the moment Tidus and I had stopped talking.

"Rikku?" Yunie moved next to me, her concern apparent in her voice. "Are you ready to move on?"

"I wish we could stay longer..." I whispered without thinking. The second the words were out of my mouth, I wanted to yank them back on a little string. What was I thinking? Staying longer would only make the situation worse, because it meant there was more time to sit and think obsess over it, and obsessing wouldn't help any.

"You know the storm will not stop, Rikku. We're moving on, with or without you," Auron said quietly, stepping closer to me. "We've wasted enough time here, catering to your needs," he added, the words similar to the time he scolded me after the fight with Chimmy.

"Fine," I whispered without even a glance in his direction. "Let's go, Yunie. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."

"Wait, Rikku..." she started, but I already started to move, brushing past without moving my eyes towards her, and the rest of the party started silently alongside me. Auron was the only person ahead of me, and I was just far enough in front of everyone else to be out of earshot of them. I gave his back a death glare, but realizing that a death glare did nothing when someone doesn't know its being given, I instead said the first thing that came to my mind.

"To think that I thought you understood me..." I whispered.

His back tensed up slightly, but he didn't stop.

Neither of us could stop once we got started, it seemed.

AN: I was completely uninspired for this chapter, but I wrote it anyway. Funny how that happens... I love you, reviewers. You guys make me feel good enough to push out another chapter when I feel like giving up on this whole stupid thing. So thanks. You're awesome and if I could bake you some cinnimon cookies, I would.