See my eyes, they carry your reflection
Watch my lips and hear the words I'm telling you
Give your trust to me and look into my heart
And show me, show me what you're doing
So sit on top of the world and show me how you're feeling
What you feel is what I feel for you
Take my hand and if I'm lying to you
I'll always be alone, if I'm lying to you

-"Take My Hand" by Dido

"Oh no... Please Rikku, come back to us..." I heard Yunie's voice faintly breaking through my mind, where before all I could hear was the sound of drumming water and the beating of my head against the pavement. My body was slightly burning a bit, but not as much as it should have been. Was I healing?

I moaned quietly, and started to roll my body slightly. "Ohh... no... no... no..." I mumbled, shaking my head from side to side, cracking my eyelids open a bit, silently pleading with the sky and the dirt and the clouds that whatever it was that smelled like burning cabbage wasn't me. Please.

"RIKKU!" Tidus jumped up into the air, randomly clicking his heels together for no apparent reason. "You're alive? Great! Now I can go dodge more lightning bolts."

"Tidus, sit down," I heard Auron growl, his voice resonating in my spine. I knew that voice like I knew my times tables... or at least, were supposed to know my times tables. Bad example. I knew that voice like I knew the password to Home (which is "sand surprise", by the way), and he sounded like he was mighty crabby. Hmm... Wonder why?

"You sit down..." I mumbled, rolling onto my stomach in the mud, feeling the rain drip down my face. I found myself nose to toe with his dark boots, but instead of moving away like a normal, uninjured person, I leaned my head down on the top of them. "And don't yell at him..."

"Rikku," Lulu said, her voice having a slight edge of humor to it, "Do you have any idea what happened?"

Amazing. His boots didn't even stink. I wrapped my arms around his leg, and snuggled more into his boot, feeling my head start to get dizzy again. I could feel his leg tense up a bit, but I honestly didn't care if he was uncomfortable or not.

"Uh..."

"Rikku, get off my boot," Auron interrupted, nudging me with his other foot.

"Just let her catch her breath, ya? Jeez..." Wakka said, before he realized exactly who he was talking to. "Uh... I mean, um... I'm sorry, Sir Auron, it's just, she just got struck by lightning. She might need your boot for a few minutes before she can get back up again."

Auron grunted above me, and nudged me again, but I wasn't moving. "Yeah... listen to Wakka..." I said sleepily, holding onto his leg even tighter than before. "I think I need to sleep... Good night..."

"Oh no, you don't," Yuna said quickly, before she started mumbling. "Curaga," she finally said with a smile as the pink glow wrapped it's way around my body.

Leaning on Auron's other boot, I pushed with my arms, shoving myself off of the ground. But, I figured out that my legs still felt woozy, so there, in the middle of the muddy, rainy, thunderstormy Thunder Plains, I plopped my butt on the top of my heels and looked up past the rest of the group to the sky.

To my surprise, we weren't out in the open, like usual. Somehow they found their way, with no help from me, to an old, ratty looking shelter. Sure, it didn't have much, like... Oh, I don't know, walls? Doors? Windows? But it had a roof, and I guess that's all that mattered.

"Feel better now?" Yuna smiled as she leaned down to feel my forehead. "You started running a fever, before S... um, before we could get you over here."

I brushed her hand away from my face, feeling myself blush a bit. Here we go again, with I, the fabulous Rikku, wasting everyone's time. "I feel fine, Yunie. Just peachy." I started to stand up, but the second I let go of the ground, my knees started knocking together, like my nervous system was suddenly attached the wrong way. I collapsed to the ground in the same position as before, with my face in Auron's boots.

"Get OFF my boots!" Auron said sternly, nudging my face away from him again. "You're getting them dirty."

"Grow up," I mumbled, pulling myself back up again. "On second thought, Yunie, is it okay if we take a breather for a minute or two? I'm not exactly sure my legs feel like doing the whole walking thing right now."

"That's fine, Rikku," Yunie smiled. "I have something to talk to everyone about anyway."

Oh great. Here we go.

Auron sighed with disgust, and turned away from the group, looking out into the storm. I nudged his boot with my finger. "Hmmmph. What do you want?" he growled, refusing to look at me.

"Let her talk without discouraging her, Auron. You know she deserves our attention," I said quietly. Then, looking away from his face and towards Yunie, I smiled. "Go ahead Yunie. We're listening."

She looked around nervously at all of our anxiously awaiting faces, trying to smile but it didn't reach her eyes. "I... I've decided to marry."

"NO!" I exploded, jumping up from my spot, legs still wobbling but I didn't even care. Tidus had a similar reaction, his hair flailing about wildly as he screamed with me, our voices in stereo. The rest of the group took it a bit more calmly, Lulu shaking her head slightly, Wakka scratching his in confusion, Kimahri standing still, not saying a word as usual, and Auron staring off in the distance at that same exact spot that he was before.

"I was afraid of this..." Lulu said quietly. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said quietly, giving me a look. I calmed down slightly, sinking back into the mud in a heap. "Maester Seymour was right... My marriage might be the only thing that could keep their minds off of Sin right now."

"You're already sacrificing enough for the sake of Spira, Yunie," I said, staring at my hands. "You don't have to give up on love too." I glanced over at Tidus, who looked like he was about to cry and about to beat the crap out of someone at the same time... Truthfully, I felt the same way.

"Will you continue with your pilgrimage?" Auron asked calmly, without any of the panic that crept into my voice without my control. As usual, he took everything in stride, never panicing, never blowing up... well, except for when it was about me.

"Yes, of course. The people of Spira depend on me," she nodded.

"Then do what you need to do," he said without much feeling.

"How can you even say that?" Tidus screamed at Auron. "She's throwing her life away!"

I looked over at Lulu in confusion at his statement. She shook her head slightly, and I nodded, understanding. Apparently, my good buddy didn't realize yet that being a summoner meant throwing your life to the wolves anyway. And, if they weren't telling, I wasn't saying a word either, because they probably had a good reason.

"It's none of our concern, boy. Let her make her own decisions," Auron said calmly to Tidus, who was standing toe to toe with Mr. Calmness, spitting fire.

Finally, a voice of reason came into my mind, and I calmed down. I remembered the little fact that Seymour wasn't serious about marrying Yunie, he was just saying that so we had to go to Macalania, which made everything much better. Standing up shakily, I held onto Yunie's shoulders, looking into her eyes. They were filled with resolve, definatly, and something else that wasn't exactly happy. That's when it hit me.

She didn't want to do this either.

"Yunie..." I started, when suddenly a hugely, loud, thunder boom shook the ground. "SHUT UP!" I screamed at the sky, before I turned back to her. "Yunie, I wish I could just help you somehow... Is there anything that I can do for you?"

She smiled slightly. "Getting to Macalania without any more injuries would be helpful." We both started laughing, and then she continued, "No, Rikku, I'm fine. But thank you anyway."

"Well, since that's settled..." Lulu said, looking back and forth at me and Yunie, "We should probably move on before the storm gets any worse."

We all nodded, and walked out from under the shelter, our slightly drying clothes getting drenched instantly. I walked slowly along the path, barely noticing anything around me, when I realized that Auron had slowed down beside me.

"You handled that very maturely, Rikku," he said without looking at me. "I'm proud."

"... Thanks," I said quietly, shocked that he was even speaking to me at this point. "Thanks a lot."

He nodded slightly, then sped up, leaving a slightly smaller space between us. It was barely noticable, but it was enough, and it was all that I could get.

And I've learned to take what I can get.