Standard Disclaimer: Don't own it...yet.

leikela: Sorry about that. But I hope I do better in this chapter.

minako-j: Truthfully, um I kinda didn't think about that. Oopsies. But don't worry, thanks to you, they are now going to see Shiva so she can tell them.

chibi-sorrow: Yeah I saw that too. But I cheated. I just removed the song. Anyway, it's great to hear from you. Glad you like this so far. I aim to please.

--

Rikku concentrated on what she thought Auron would look like as an aeon. She raised a dagger above her head and twirled on her left foot, raising her other and folding it behind her knee. "Anytime, Auron." She said softly. She imagined him as something strong and majestic. What else could he possibly be?

She brought the arm that held the dagger strait out in front of her to finish the summon. People held their breath waiting to see what was going to come. It was quiet until Rikku realized he wasn't coming. She dropped both arms to her sides and stood with her feet firmly on the ground. He shoulders and head slumped in surrender.

Yuna ran up next to her cousin. She felt bad making her call the aeon, and then having to stand in the middle of the crowd when nothing happened. "Rikku, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you. Tell you what, why don't you try calling Shiva. You said you didn't have a chance yet."

"Okay. I guess." Rikku tried to hide the nervousness she felt. Yuna nodded and backed up next to Tidus. Rikku watched her and waited until she was ready. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated again. This time on Shiva. She raised both daggers up, just as she had seen Yuna do with her staff. She brought then down quickly and almost jumped when three large slabs of ice fell from the sky to land behind her. She turned to see a metallic shape fall and land within the ice. Shiva had answered. The ice broke and Rikku shielded her eyes from the flying pieces. A blue piece of cloth was thrown at her and without thinking, she reached her hand out to grab it. It felt cool on her skin, but it didn't freeze like she expected.

Shiva stood in front of her watching. This was the second time she had ever seen the blond Al Bhed. The first being when they had visited the temples before defeating sin. She watched as a brunette stepped forward to hug her new summoner. She remembered her, this was Lady Yuna. The one who had sent her after she helped to fight Yu Yevon. Shiva remembered the peace she felt during her sending. She was going to get her rest. That was until Bahamut found out about Yevon. She volunteered immedently to help. He warned her she may have a different summoner, but she hadn't cared. All she wanted was Spira to have a chance at peace.

Rikku smiled at the aeon. She was still just as beautiful as she remembered. She dismissed the aeon and Shiva disappeared in a gust of cool wind. Turning to her cousin, she smiled. "How was that?" She asked.

"Rikku, that.. that was amazing. She is just as I remember her to be. I'm happy for you. I think you are the first Al Bhed summoner in the history of Spira."

Rikku giggled lightheartedly. She had to remain upbeat when around her friends, but the nature of her mission sent chills down her spine. Add on that the fact Auron was giving her the silent treatment didn't help. Well two could play that game. "That's interesting, but I'm hungry. Is there anything to eat around here?" She asked trying to change the subject. As if to back up her claim, he stomach let out a small rumble. "Hehe."

"Yo, Rikku." Wakka called to her. "The guys and I have something for ya."

She smiled and ran after him. "I hope its food! I'm starved."

Yuna stood unmoved. She sighed once as Rikku ran off. Tidus came behind her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Feeling nostalgic?" He asked her.

"Yeah. I'm happy for her, really I am, but..."

"But you wonder why the fayth chose her as a summoner." He finished for her.

"Yes, she was the weakest and youngest of us all. On both of my journeys. Tidus, she's only nineteen. Does she really think she can pull this off on her own."

"Are you worried because she might get hurt, or because it should have been you?" He asked as he removed his arm and began to walk away.

Yuna's breath caught in her chest. Why was she so worried? Was she really jealous? Or was there something more to it. She thought about it for some time before slowly moving to join with the rest of the group who had already began to eat. Rikku saw the pained expression on her face and gathered her food into her arms to sit next to her cousin.

"You okay, Yunie? You don't look so good. Here have some fruit." She offered holding out some Besaid mangos.

"Thank you." She took the mango Rikku held out, but instead of eating it, she set it in her lap. "Rikku?"

"Hmm?" Rikku tilted her head slightly showing she was interested in what Yuna had to say.

"I, uh. I just wanted to apologize. For making you call an aeon when you weren't ready to."

Rikku's face grew almost as red as the fruit she was eating. The real reason the aeon never came was because Auron wasn't talking to her. But she couldn't tell that to Yuna. She wouldn't understand. Not yet anyway, maybe after everything was done, then she could tell her. She scratched her cheek, it was something she always did when she was deep in thought. She swallowed the food that was in her mouth before speaking. "Look, Yunie, you didn't know. Like I said, this aeon is different then any other you knew. He can be very, um, temperamental." She explained.

"Temperamental?" "Temperamental?" Both Yuna and Auron asked at the same time. To Rikku though, it was like hearing the same thing in stereo. She grabbed her head and screamed; loudly.

Everyone stopped eating and stared at her. She lifted her eyes and glanced around. "Hehe. Um, I'm kinda full. So I'm just going to go for a walk. So, um, thanks for the food, but uh, bye." She raised her right hand and gave a quick wave before running out of the village.

Tidus, Wakka, and Lulu came over to join Yuna. "What was that all about?" Tidus asked first.

"I'm not entirely sure. She said something about one of her aeons being temperamental, and when I asked her about it she screamed."

"Something is definitely wrong. Somebody should go talk to her." Lulu said, being the voice of reason.

"Not me, ya. I still have nightmares from the last time I was on the receiving end of her claw." Wakka said as he waved his hands in front of him.

"I should go. After all it was me who upset her." Yuna suggested, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I'll go with you. If you can't get her to talk, maybe I can."

"Yes, I think that is a good idea, Tidus. If she is half as upset as she looks, then she may run into trouble if she encounters any fiends." Lulu agreed with the blond Blitzer.

Meanwhile Rikku sat in a secluded area of forest overlooking the sea. It was childish of her to just run off, but she didn't care. To her it was Auron's fault.

"You could have helped me, you know. Do you even know how embarrassed I was when you never showed up?" She yelled at him.

"I think I can imagine."

"No, I don't think you can! You never cared about what other people felt. I don't know why you even agreed to come with me on this stupid mission."

"Rikku." He tried to interrupt.

"And during Yuna's pilgrimage, all you wanted was to get her to Zanarkand. I bet you didn't even care she was willing to throw away her life."

"Rikku." He said just a little louder.

"So why you traveling with me then? I bet I was the only one available so you had no choice in the matter, did you?"

"RIKKU!" She jumped slightly, but stopped her rant. Auron sighed before speaking. "Just hear me out on this. I did not come, because it was not time yet. You have to understand that I am not like Valefor or Shiva. You must travel to Macalania if you want to know more. Shiva is waiting for you there."

"Why can't I just go to the temple here in Besaid? Valefor is here. Couldn't I talk to him?" She asked wondering why she had to travel so far away just to talk to a fayth.

"Shiva knows more. That is why."

"Oh, okay I guess." A twig snapped behind her and she jumped to her feet. She waited for something to leap at her and prepared a fire spell just in case. Whatever it was, went still for a moment and she almost let the fire fizzle out. That was until she heard another snap. Letting the fire go just feet from where the supposed fiend was, she hoped it would choose to run away knowing it was outmatched.

She waited with one arm outstretched in front of her. Resting in her palm was another fire.

"Ow, Yuna. That hurt!" Came Tidus' clear voice. Rikku sighed and dropped her palm. Tidus and Yuna came out from the bushes she was just aiming at. Tidus was rubbing at a spot on the side of his head.

"What are you guys doing here?" Rikku asked them. "You're lucky I didn't just burn that bush like I wanted to."

"Yuna felt bad about before. She wanted to... ow!"

Yuna hit him again before smiling at him. It was an obviously fake one though. "I just wanted to check up on you. To see if you were alright."

"Thank you for being worried about me, but I just need some time alone. There are some things I need to think about. You know, by myself." She hinted strongly hoping they would get the idea.

"Yeah, we get it. Right Yuna?" Tidus said as he pulled Yuna away from the clearing by her arm.

"But I.." She protested as he led her back the way they came.

Rikku sat back down and stared out over the sea. "They are still nearby."

"I know. Yunie's worried about me. She thinks I'm crazy, you know." She agreed. "They are about twenty feet behind me and just to the left, right?"

"Yes. You plan on letting them aware that you know they are there?"

"Not yet. Let them think they have the upper hand for now. They will be quite shocked when I am gone in the morning."

"You are leaving so soon?" Needless to say, Auron was taken aback by her plans.

"You said I have to talk to the fayth in Macalania. I might as well go as soon as possible. Tomorrow morning, the first boat of the week leaves. I plan on being on it."

"I am proud of you, Rikku. Even knowing what they might think, you are still willing to go on. That shows maturity." He complimented.

"Thank you, Auron. I have grown up some in the four years since you last saw me." She said out loud.

--

"Did she just say, Auron?" Tidus asked the brunette beside him.

"Shh. She'll hear you." Yuna shouted at him in a whisper. "We don't want her to know we never left."

"That would be impossible since I knew you were here the whole time." The two spies turned behind them to see a very angry Al Bhed standing behind them with her hands on her hips. "You two couldn't sneak up on a sleeping Malboro."

Tidus scratched the back of his head in shame. "Hey, we're sorry. It's just that you seemed so, so."

"Not yourself." Yuna finished for him. She stood up and hugged her cousin before holding her out in front of her at arms length. "You said you had a journey to go in. Tidus and I want to go with you."

"You can't!" Rikku protested as she stepped away from them. "I can't do that to you."

"Rikku, you helped me on both of my journeys, now it's time for me to do the same. You may not have understood why I was willing to die when I journeyed to fight sin, but you were there for me."

"All we ask is that you let us do the same for you." Tidus spoke up.

Rikku closed her eyes in thought and to see what Auron had to say about this. "So what do you think? Should I let them come? You know they won't take no for an answer."

"You want them to come with you?" He asked her after a moment of silence.

"I don't know." She opened her eyes for a second to see the two waiting for what she would say. "Yes, the answer is yes. Having my friends around would make this a lot easier." She spoke out loud, but it was the answer to all of them.

--

Okay, I didn't have Auron appear as I had planned, but don't worry he will show up soon. So now Tidus and Yuna are along for the ride as well. Ought to be fun, huh?

So far no one had guessed what Auron is going to look like. I want to give you another chance so I'll give you a hint. It isn't a new summon to the series, so if you played more then ten you might get it. Also, think back to what he told Rikku back in chapter 2.

Gin