Standard Disclaimer. I do not own FFX or the characters in it. They are owned by Square-Enix. I do own this story, and my original characters. The song "Fire Down Below" was written and performed at different times by Bob Seger and Bette Midler (and it does sound different each time), and "All I Want Is You" was written by Carly Simon, Jacob Brackman and Andy Goldmark, performed by Carly Simon, and I don't own them, either

They escaped the Via Purifico, all somewhat damaged in spirit, but as alive in body as when they had each entered Bevelle. When the party reached the safety of Lake Macalania, Yuna said she wanted to be alone, so she walked to the spring while the rest of the party halfheartedly set up camp. Kimahri followed her at a discreet distance, to give her the privacy she requested, while still keeping her safe. They had all suffered in some way from the ordeal at Bevelle. Wakka's faith in Yevon had been shaken, and even Lulu's. But Yuna was the one who had been most betrayed by her faith, her loyalty to the temples, her respect for the priests and especially her profound reverence for the maesters. Perhaps even her belief in the teachings had wavered. Auron was simply tired, he felt wearied to the bone. If Yuna chooses to stop her pilgrimage, I do not have the heart to argue with her. After what has just occurred, she has more than earned the right to refuse to sacrifice herself for that bunch of pompous, unsent, shoopufs' asses. If she chooses to run to the Al Bhed with Tidus, and live out her life, she has my blessing. I'll save my arguments for Braska on the Farplane. I'm too damn tired to have them now. But I fear that… she is my lord's daughter, after all. I think she is too strong to give up now.

Although Yuna had asked to be alone, not a single one of them, not even Lulu with her need to keep up the proprieties, really believed that Yuna should keep solitary company with her dark thoughts. Every member of the party suggested to Tidus that he should join Yuna at the spring, except for Kimahri. The Ronso remained silent, but he left his watch over his Summoner when the young man joined her at the waterside. And it was clear to everyone when they returned to the camp later, hand in hand, that their relationship had changed, but the only matter that was discussed was that they were continuing with the pilgrimage, and moving on in the morning.
But after the disaster of Yuna's wedding, and the events that followed it, Auron spent too many hours that night remembering another wedding, in Zanarkand, three years before.

Zanarkand…three years ago

They had had an argument on the way home from the club where Mercy and Dafydd had performed that Sixthnight. Auron had been defending the warrior-monks' position of refusing to admit women, and naturally Mercy had been arguing for the Crusaders' admission of women to their ranks. It was one of their typical 'discussions' about the way things were done on Spira, heated, and intense. They had started, as they often did, with Mercy asking for details about everyday life in Spira, but it had ended with Auron questioning his basic assumptions about the way things were done. The more often she asked, "Why?" the more he found himself wondering about the answers. Mercy had told him more than once that the neighbors wondered why they stayed together; they so often acted like they were fighting. This time, another couple had entered the lift as they were leaving it, while their debate was at its most intense, and had clearly thought that they were both out of their minds. The other couple's expressions had been so comical that they had stopped talking and started laughing as soon as they were alone.

Mercy had woken up Lastday morning with the beginnings of a song in her head, and had practically locked herself in the spare room with her keyboard and started plunking out music before she even finished her morning tea. Auron knew he wasn't going to get much of her attention until she was done, whether he dragged her out of the apartment or not. His only problem was that Tidus was supposed to come over in the afternoon. I can always take the boy to a game, he thought, without much enthusiasm. At least the kid is practicing regularly now, and doing well at it. Thanks to Mercy's help, I may manage to fulfill this part of my promise to Jecht after all.

By the time the boy arrived in mid-afternoon, Mercy had reached the 'obsessed' stage, she wouldn't notice if the building fell on her, as long as she completed the song. Auron opened the door, told her that he and Tidus were going out, got one of those distracted mumbles that meant she might remember later, and might not, and left with the boy. He was used to this now. The first few times this she had behaved this way, he had gone out of his mind. Now, he could almost predict the cycle. He believed that, based on the ratio of music to silence by the time he and Tidus left, she would probably be ready to push back from the keyboard by the time they returned for dinner. The song wouldn't be complete, but she would have enough committed to the keyboard machine's 'memory storage' that she would return to real life. He also knew that he wouldn't get to hear the song until she decided it was truly finished, however long that might take.

On the way to the stadium, the boy spied a wedding taking place in the park and pointed it out to the older man. "Why haven't you asked Mercy to marry you?" Tidus asked slyly. "What's the matter, old man? Afraid she might turn you down?"
Auron replied in what he hoped was a quelling tone. "That is none of your business." This always works when Mercy says it, why am I certain it will not work in this case?
Tidus went on anyway. "You might as well be married. I mean, you live together and everything."
"I said, that is enough." Auron's arm chopped down, indicating that he wanted to cut this topic off, now.
The boy couldn't resist one last sally, but it was under his breath. "You might as well get married. Neither of you will ever look for anyone else."
Auron pretended to ignore both the words and the slightly acid tone of the boy's voice, but he could not forget what he had heard. The boy had certainly read him correctly. He had not been looking for Mercy, the fayth knew that all too well, but he would be an even greater fool if he were to throw away the gift they had given him in allowing that door to open two years ago. He would never look for another woman, whether or not Mercy reached the Farplane. But he still prayed with all his heart that she would.

In the days that followed, Auron couldn't stop thinking about what the boy had said. Maybe I should ask her…but what would it mean, here, in Zanarkand? Ironically, he found himself in her 'territory', doing research. It seemed that marriage ceremonies in Zanarkand, as in Spira, included the words 'as long as we both shall live' or 'until death do us part' or a variation thereof. The only difference was that in Zanarkand the words were always meant literally, where in Spira, it was known that marriages could sometimes transcend death. He knew that Braska's marriage had been one such, that his friend had become a Summoner in part to revenge himself for his wife Jenni's death, and to meet her in the Farplane that much sooner. His own commitment to Mercy began because he had continued beyond his own death. For his part, it would go with him to the Farplane, whether or not she was waiting for him there. "Neither of you will ever look for anyone else," the boy had said. And he was right, for once. It was even possible that, if they married, it might make it easier for her to reach the Farplane. Easier somehow for her to reach beyond her own continuing doubt and disbelief.

But, like any man, he had his own, simpler doubts. What if I ask, and she turns me down? He continued his internal debate, while she polished the song. In the end, he found his answer when she sang it for him.

The night Mercy decided to sing the new song the first time, she'd worn a mischievous smile during the first set that made her look rather like a cat in cream, so he expected that she had something special planned for this performance. After two years together, he had learned how to read many of her moods, but she could still surprise him when she wanted to.

She opened the second set with a song he had heard before, but the way she sang it made him wonder. She introduced the song as "Fire Down Below", and he'd heard her sing it any number of times. The hard, rock-and-roll beat pulsed in his blood, and when she strut across the stage, and then turned her back to the audience and looked over her shoulder and winked at him, he was aroused in an instant. Even after two years, she could still tease him from across a room with a single glance. He thought she always would.

She had chosen this song to begin because she was building a theme. Teasing Auron was just an extra benefit. The lyrics of the song were the same, whether it was sung by a man or a woman, but when a man sang it, it was simply about prostitution. To her, when a woman sang it, as when she herself did, it was also about just plain sex. Raw sex, no commitment.

When the street light flicker bringing on the night
Well they'll be slipping into darkness slipping out of sight
All through the midnight
Watch 'em come and watch 'em go
With only one thing in common
They got the fire down below

As the applause faded for the first song, she began the second, "Slow Hand." She saw Auron flush under his tan as she started to sing. Neither of them would ever forget those first performances of this number. But the steam doesn't come out of his ears any more, she noted with some disappointment. This song was the next step in the arc she was trying to build. Still sex, but the song was showing that it might be about something more.

At last, it was time for the new song:

What do the neighbors say
When they hear us scream at night
Do they talk about a love
All in tatters
What do the neighbors know
About the heart and soul
The fire down below
That really matters
They can never guess
In the silences
That all I want is you
And the sexy hurricane
We got here
All I want is you
I don't want a man
To say "good morning dear"
Let 'em listen at the door
Let 'em listen through the floor
Let 'em go ahead and draw the wrong conclusion
So chase me 'round the room
Make me crazy like the moon
They can never guess
In the silences
That all I want is you
And the sexy hurricane that we share
All I want is you…

At first, he was simply stunned. Then embarrassment replaced his initial shock, and his face flushed even darker than before. Why does she do this to me? This song is…much too close to the truth. The neighbors who see us argue in the lift, or hear us in the corridor. The elderly lady from down the hall, who kindly offered to provide Mercy with some lessons on exactly how to 'unman' me, as she put it. I hobbled up behind Mercy just then, limping painfully as a result of a well-placed, or ill-placed, from my perspective, kick of Mercy's on my thigh from that afternoon's sparring session that had very nearly done the task the old woman was talking about. The old lady stared me down for a few seconds, gave Mercy an appraising look and said to her, "Never mind, dearie, I can see that you already know just how to manage this one." He remembered Mercy's sweet mouth and hands on him that night, promising to "make it up to him" and telling him to "just lie back and enjoy." That memory made him instantly hard. At least she left out the ones who sometimes pound on the bedroom ceiling of the apartment below…or occasionally on the floor of the one above. Her eyes met his, and she smiled that mischievous smile again. You know I can't resist you. don't you, my lady, he thought, as he grinned back at her.

In the repeat at the end of the song, he finally received the underlying message, the one he should have heard all along. "Neither of you will ever look for anyone else," the boy had said. "All I want is you," she sang to him. He didn't understand why, he had never understood why she loved him, why she bothered to put up with his moods and his temper, but he knew that when she sang for him like that, her words were true.

On the way home, he stopped suddenly at the base of one of the towers. "Let's go up. I want to ask you something." He simply could not wait any longer. He thought he knew now what her answer would be, but he had to be certain. There would be no need to jump over the security chain this time, he just wanted a little privacy, so they rode the lift to the first balcony and exited to stand by the rail. They faced each other, ignoring the view of the city. He looked and sounded very serious as he asked, "Mercy, will you marry me?"
She peered up into his face, trying to read his expression. Damn, stupid, dark glasses. Why is he wearing them at a time like this? I can't see his face. She placed her hands at his temples, tilted his dark glasses up to the top of his head, and asked, "Are you sure?"
He pulled her close, so that her hands settled on his shoulders, as his face lit in a gentle smile. "I am certain, my lady."
Her answering smile was brighter than the starlight. "Then yes, I will marry you." Their lips met in a mind-drugging kiss. "Let's go home, where we can celebrate," she breathed. By the time they were inside the apartment, their anticipation had become a raw, aching need. They left a trail of clothing from just inside the door to the living room couch, which was all the further they managed for a while. Eventually, they made it to bed.

The next morning was Lastday, so they were expecting to see Tidus later. Meanwhile, they were sitting on the living room couch, discussing the mundane aspects of getting married, since Auron wasn't ever going to tell Mercy he'd done any research into the subject.
"Without temples, how is this done? Who performs the ceremony if there are no priests?"
"This must seem so strange to you. We can get married wherever we want. Here, your dojo, a restaurant, a park. The place doesn't matter. And, since all weddings in Zanarkand are civil ceremonies, almost anyone can officiate."
"You're not serious." He had read about this, but it had not made any sense then, either.
She laughed softly. "Yes, I am. Most people have a judge perform the ceremony. But any adult can get a one-day permit to perform a wedding ceremony. Honestly. Tidus isn't old enough, but Daf or Marko could do it if we asked. But anyway, I know a judge, the one who helped Daf and I when we were kids. He's retired now, but I'd like to ask him, if you don't mind. His wife was my mentor at the Archives when I was first starting out, and it would really mean a lot to me."
He took her hands in his. "That will be fine."
She turned serious. "Without a priest, will this seem, well, valid, to you, Auron?"
"As valid, as you say, as a temple wedding… or maybe even more so. I know what Yevon is. He is not…worthy of being worshipped. I believe that the commitment is in our hearts, the ceremony is a mere…formality, a celebration of our promises to each other."
She leaned over and kissed him gently. "You have that exactly right, love." She kissed him again, radiant with joy, then she cuddled against his side, and he settled his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close. She picked up his free hand, and began to caress it between her two hands.
"Auron, on Spira, is it traditional to exchange rings, or other marriage tokens?" she asked, as she played with his fingers.
"Usually, but not always."
"Here, too. It is traditional, but the tradition is not followed 100 of the time. Also, sometimes the woman wears a ring but not the man." She stopped for a moment to consider, then went on. "I'll make a deal with you. I'll wear a ring if you will." A pause, then, "Deal?" She looked up and met his gaze steadily. I know he never wears jewelry of any kind, none. He probably won't want to do this, either.
He looked back at her. This would be a symbol that I could carry with me. "Deal," he said simply. "I will wear it…always." I give you my word.

Auron knew a weaponsmith who knew an expert jewelry-maker who agreed to see them about possibly making their rings. Galdan only worked by appointment, and might not have time to actually do the work, but the friend-of-a-friend network was in good enough working order to get them in to see the 'great man'. Something about the couple made Galdan decide to take the commission, or perhaps he was prompted by the young man almost visible in the shadowy corner of the room. Ifrit was pleased enough by this development to grant the craftsman a momentary vision of Auron and Mercy as the fayth saw them, so Galdan designed a pair of rings to fit these images. The rings complemented, rather than copied, each other. Mercy's ring was more delicate, primarily consisting of a silver band, but the top of the ring was shaped into a flat oval. Inside the oval a diamond shaped lozenge was outlined in black. The lozenge was filled in with gold, polished flat, but with the veins still showing in the metal. Auron's ring was heavier, but was otherwise opposite, a heavy gold band, opening to a flat top like a signet ring, with the same diamond shaped lozenge outlined in black. On his ring, the lozenge was filled with silver veined ore. The symbology was elegant to the artisan's eye, the essence of each in the other. If they approved the designs, the rings could be completed in a month. They very much approved, and set the date for their wedding accordingly.

The private ceremony took place six sennights later. They had intended to have just a few friends in attendance, but Auron had not realized that such a list would mean that twenty people would be invited to their wedding. He was astounded to realize that he had invited five of them himself, Sensei Hikaru, three of his adult students, and the weaponsmith he had been working with since he came to the city. Truly, he had invited six people if one counted Tidus, who proceeded to tell everyone in the small restaurant, one of their favorites that they had rented for the occasion, that he was responsible for the fact that the wedding was taking place at all. Auron was nervously alternating between staying near Tidus, who was talking enough to cover for the fact that he himself was completely tongue-tied, and standing with Dafydd and Marko, repeatedly asking Dafydd why it was taking Mercy so long to change clothes and get back in here. His palms were sweating and his mouth was dry as dust. What if she is having second thoughts? What do they call it? Cold feet? Her feet are always cold. I mean, what if she has changed her mind?
Auron hadn't spoken aloud, but Dafydd could figure out most of what the poor man was thinking from the expression on his face, and the way he kept glancing back to the door Mercy should have opened several minutes ago. He looks different, Dafydd thought, so Daf studied the other man for few seconds, trying to figure out what had changed. The lights are bright in here, and Merce must have coerced him into wearing a white shirt for a change, but that's not all of it. The white shirt, the bright lights, the uncertainty on his face, this is the first time I've ever seen him look so scared, or so young. He's what, thirty-two now? I keep forgetting that he's five years younger than I am. No wonder he's half out of his mind wondering where she is. She's ten minutes late. If I were him, I'd be petrified by now.
Dafydd spoke up. "Hey, Auron, you want me to go see what's keeping her?"
"Please," Auron begged.

Mercy was in the bathroom, staring at the mirror. She had changed into her dress some time ago, a carbon-blue silk confection that dipped into a vee at her neck, tied around her waist and ended in a handkerchief hem around her knees. She was perfectly happy with the dress and how she looked in it. Instead she was thinking about all the things she should have been thinking about, would have been worrying about, if life were 'normal'. If she did not know that that her world would end in three more years. But the world is coming to an end in three years. So, if I could pick anything, anything at all, to do today, what would I pick? Marry Auron, what else? She met her own eyes in the mirror, and smiled softly.
"Hey sis, you okay in there?" The concern in Dafydd's voice came through the door.
"What's the matter? Is everything okay out there?"
"Is everyone okay out here? Is everything okay in there? You're the one who's fifteen minutes late, Merce. If you're not having cold feet, please get your butt out here before Auron starts tearing down the walls, will you?" he pleaded.
Mercy opened the door, and Dafydd whistled in appreciation. "I think he'll probably decide it was worth the wait. Has the man ever even seen you in a dress?" She shook her head. "He'll definitely think it was worth the wait. You ready?"
Her expression was uncertain, as she looked into his face. Then she sighed, and said, "I'm ready." Dafydd tucked her hand into his arm, and started leading her down the hallway. She continued staring at his profile as the walked. "Daf, stop for minute. I need to tell you something, but I don't have time to explain anything right now. You'll just have to take this on faith. Just…trust me, okay?"
"Merce, you know I trust you. I trust you with my life. Just tell me." He stopped, and turned to face her.
"It's not a…tell, exactly, it's…more of an…ask, I guess. Daf, if you knew, knew, for sure, for certain, and for true, that the world was going to end in three years, how would you live your life for those years?" Her voice, and her expression, were completely serious as she looked into his eyes.
His face was puzzled. "I don't know. I'd have to think about it."
She took his face between her two hands, and stared into his eyes. "Then think about it, Daf. Think about it very, very seriously. Live your dreams, honey, here and now, because that's all we have." Then she flung her arms around his neck, and hugged him tightly, and he squeezed her in his arms. And as he did, he remembered the man waiting in the other room to marry her, the man who had swept her off her feet two years ago, when her life began to change. The man who appeared out of nowhere, saying he came from outside the city, where no one had ever come from; bearing a hellish scar that no one in the city could ever have even gotten, that if they had, would have been healed in moments with little or no trace by healers in the city's hospitals; a man carrying in his soul an edge of darkness and violence of a kind that could not have been born in this bright, gleaming city.
They let go of each other, and Mercy smiled now, a little tremulously. "I'm sorry to dump that on you now, but that's what I was thinking about, back there. I suddenly couldn't not tell you."

He tucked her hand back into his arm. "We'll have to talk about this more, later, but I think I have an inkling. But if you're still planning to go through with this, you need to get in there. Auron really looked like he was afraid you were going to bolt on him. Either that, or like he was about to throw up." Dafydd tried to lighten the mood for her, remind her that this was her wedding day.
"We'd better hurry, then," she answered, as she practically pulled him down the hall.

When the door opened, and Mercy stepped through on her brother's arm, the radiant smile on her face made all of Auron's nervous agitation vanish instantly. As Mercy made her way through the room toward him, Auron again experienced the illusion that he often did as she walked towards him, that brief moment when he seemed to see her with both eyes, but he put it out of his mind when she took his hand. As Mercy repeated the words of her vows, she was awed by the commitment they were making, and a little afraid. As she repeated, "Until death do us part," she was suddenly afraid how Auron might take it if she couldn't pull off the 'trick' of reaching this Farplane of his. I love him so much; I don't want him to face eternity alone, if that is what these words really mean. Maybe I should have said no, after all.
He watched the growing panic on her face, and guessed what she was thinking. He shook his head slightly. Doesn't she know by now that it does not matter? There will never be anyone else for me. He repeated his own vows in a steady voice. They exchanged rings, each placing a ring on the other's left hand. Then the judge intoned the final words of the ceremony, "I now pronounce you husband and wife." As he kissed his bride, Auron had the sudden thought that, on Spira, she would officially be 'Lady Mercy' as of this moment. If only there was a way to get her to Spira…

…Spira…Lake Macalania

Yuna woke in the middle of the night, and looked around the camp at her guardians, her friends. She couldn't go back to sleep, she was too worried about the trouble she had caused them all, so she sat up to think, instead. Her gaze rested on each bedroll, as it represented one of her companions in this peril. Lulu and Rikku were sleeping closest to her, now that Lulu had returned to minding the proprieties. In a way, if Lulu was her big sister, Rikku was fast becoming her little sister. Wakka and Tidus were next. Wakka, her big brother, might be even more disturbed than she was at the knowledge they had gained about the true face of Yevon. Then Tidus, her love, and now, her lover. She hugged that flicker of happiness close to her in the dark. Last, guarding them all, Kimahri's empty bedroll, as he was standing watch, and Sir Auron, who was apparently having a nightmare, or something close to it. Yuna could see that he was agitated, his head turning back and forth, and he was saying the same word, over and over, "Mercy, mercy, mercy." Then his right hand pawed the ground, as if he was searching for something, or maybe someone, Yuna thought to herself, as he tried to pull whatever he was reaching for towards him, then, when his arm was against his side, he stilled.

Auron woke. After five years of sleeping with Mercy curled against his right side, he still searched for her in the night, like someone who has had an arm or leg amputated still felt pain in the lost limb. It seemed that nearly three months alone hadn't yet burned into his brain that she was gone.

End Chapter Seventeen