A/N: Hey guys! Wow, I gotta a lot of reviews for the last chapter! I'm glad you guys like it! And, I'm sorry I've taken a while to up-date. I've been sbusy, and right now I'm sick, but I gotta write! You better be glad I like ya! Well, here is the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Me not own a thing.

Chapter 18: Aftermath

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"Rikku!" Yuna shouted, chasing after her cousin. She had stayed at the dinner to make sure Lily was all right after Rikku's blow, and now they were close to the hotel. Out of breath, Yuna finally caught up with Rikku. "Rikku, are you...out of...your mind?"

"What? Yunie!" Rikku spun around to fac her cousin. "Didn't you hear what she was saying? What was i supposed to do? Just sit there and take it!"

"No. That's not what...I'm saying," Yuna replied, still trying to catch her breath.

"Was in necessary that you hit her?"

Two sets of eye turned to look at Auron, who had finally caught up with Rikku.

"Yes," the young Al Bhed replied simply.

"Yes? Rikku, that was a very immature stunt you pulled back there," Auron stated, running his hand threw his slightly graying hair.

"Oh, and what Lily was saying was completely appropriate. I can see why you think I overreacted," Rikku spat back.

Sensing an arguement, Yuna stepped back to stand by Tidus, who had also reached the group.

"That is not what I said. I'm simply trying to say that you should not have hit her."

"Well, since I'm such an immature heathen, why don't you go make sure Lily all right? You two were having such a nice time, I wouldn't want to get in the way." The main reason she had hit Lily was because she was jealous, and now Auron was telling her that she had done wrong.

"I never said you were an immature heathen," Auron said, trying to remain calm. One of them had to, and it was plain to see that Rikku was way past calm.

"Not in so many words," muttered Rikku.

"What is going on?" Wakka whispered as he and Lulu joined Tidus and Yuna. His response was a 'shhh', so he decided to take that little piece of advice.

"Rikku, I was only trying to make the best of the sitution," Auron said, referring to Rikku's earlier comment. His reply was a scoff, and he started thinking that he knew what some of this was about. "Lily means nothing to me," he said in a voice so that only Rikku could here.

"You could sure fool me," Rikku retorted.

"I was only being polite."

"Well, so was I. I was polite enough to give her what she deserved."

"Enough of this," Lulu began, stepping into the line of fire. "It is getting late, and we need to get back to the hotel and put this whole evening behind us."

"I agree," Yuna supported.

Shaking her head, Rikku walked ahead of the others, fuming silently.

"I do not have feelings for Lily. What would make her think such a thing?" Auron asked his companions. "I showed no signs of intrest in her." After a brief pause he added, "Did I?"

"I don't think so."

"Not really," Wakka replied.

"Well...In a way. But, you weren't really interested in her, right? I mean, you're with Rikku," Yuna answered.

"No- I mean, yes- I mean-" Sighing, Auron started over. "Yes, I am with Rikku. No, I do not have any interest in Lily. I was only trying to be polite."

"Next time, mayb you should be less polite, no? The woman was practically drooling over you, so I can see why Rikku is upset. Sometimes, you can not be polite. You just have to tell them flat out," Lulu stated, offering a piece of friendly advice.

Auron nodded his head. "So, Lily likes me?"

Lulu rolled her eyes. "Men," she sighed, walking ahead to see if she could talk with Rikku.

"Yes, Auron," Yuna smiled, patting him on the shoulder briefly. She then rushed off to catch up with her cousin as well.

"Hmm. Does she really?"

"I don't know. I couldn't tell is she did," Tidus replied witha shrug of his shoulders.

"But, if Lu says she does, she probably does. Not much get's past Lulu, ya?"

"True. It would explain why Rikku was so upset," Auron mumbled, talking more to himself than to the others. "But what would make her think that I would return Lily's feelings? She's the only one I've ever really lo-" Stopping, Auron quickly realizied that he was not alone. "Cared about."

"Uh-huh," Tidus nodded.

"Maybe you should tell her that you 'care' about her," Wakka advised.

"You're really one to give advice about telling peole who you feel. It took you about twelve years," Tidus joked, trying to ease the mood.

"Hey Brudda, I was afraid."

"Of what? Rejection?"

"Well, yeah, but mostly of Lu's spells. Those things hurt, ya!"

Hearing this Tidus started laughing, and it wasn't long before Wakka had joined him.

"Humph." Auron took a few long strides to seperate himself from his laughing friends. He needed to think. He had almost said 'loved'. Since when was he in love with Rikku? He cared for her, but loved her? He had never really loved anyone. Well, he did love his friends, but that was a different kind of love. This was 'in love' love. He exhaled heavily. This was going to be a long night.

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"Rikku, would you please so slow down?" Lulu huffed.

Sighing, Rikku stopped so her two friends could catch up with her.

"Are you feeling better?" Yuna inquired, noting that Rikku didn't look as flustered as she had earlier.

"Sorta." And she was. Slapping Lily had been quite satisfying, and she didn't care what anyone thought about it. The only downside was that Auron seemed to think less of her and more of Lily. "oh, he can have her if he wants her."

"What?" Lulu and Yuna questioned at the same time.

"Auron. If he want's that crazy witch he can have her." Even as she repeated the words, Rikku knew there was no truth in them.

"Oh, please. He doesn't want Lily. The poor man didn't even know she liked him," Lulu replied with a wave of her hand.

"Bull."

"No, really. He's as slow as Wakka."

Lulu turned to Yuna. "What did you just say about my future husband?"

"I mean...Uhh..."

"Anyways," Lulu turned her attention back to Rikku, "Auron was completely bewildered because you think he likes Lily. No human being can fake being that confused."

"Yes. Like I said, he's as slow as Wa-" The statement quickly died on Yuna's lips as Lulu shot her an icy glare. "Pond water," she quickly finished.

"Really?" Rikku questioned, looking between the two woman standing in front of her.

"Honestly."

Rikku almost smiled. "Well, he still called me immature."

"If you don't go talk to the man, I'll have to support him," Lulu sighed as the small group reached the hotel.

"I guess you're right. I'll talk to him later." She really needed to patch things up anyways. It would rather immature if she didn't. "You know, I guess it was kind of immature for me to slap Lily in the middle of a diner."

"It was. But I was tempted to use one of my spells," Lulu replied, climbing the stairs to their room.

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After reaching the hotel room, everyone had prepared for bed and were now in the process of watching T.V. Wakka and Lulu shared a chair while Tidus and Yuna sat on the couch. Auron occupied the other chair and Rikku sat on the floor.

Glancing to the floor, Auron's gaze settled on the woman that was seated there. He was very tempted to ask her if she'd like to sit with him, but he knew she would decline. They had barely spoken two words since arriving back at the hotel. Unless you count 'could you hand some popcorn' as apologizing, then nothing had changed at all.

Not that he was any better. The only words he had spoken were 'sure'. That wasn't very reasurring that all was forgiven. Sighing mentally, Auron settled back into his chair and tried to concentrate on the movie that was playing on the television.

Rikku grunted as she tried to get comfortable. It was proving to be very difficult. Looking away from the sappy movie, she stole a quick glance at Auron. She wished she could be sitting in his lap and snuggled up agaist his broad chest but no, she had to sit on this cold, hard, uncomfortable floor.

Looking away from Auron, Rikku looked at the clock to find it to be past eleven o'clock. She had decided that she would try to patch things up with Auron when they were alone in the living room. Knowing that if she waited much longer she would be to tired to care, Rikku stood up and said, "I'm getting sleepy, you guys. So, get outta my room."

"I'm getting tired too, ya?"

"Oh, c'mon. Let's finish the movie," Tidus said.

Knowing, or more so guessing, why Rikku wanted to retire earlier than usual, Yuna got up from the couch. "It's late. Come on, Sweetie, let's go to bed."

"It only has a few minutes left," Tidus pleaded.

"It's late, Brudda. Time to hit the sack," Wakka said, pulling the blond to his feet and giving him a slight shove towards the bedroom.

"I don't know why you wouldn't let me finish the movie. It had a couple of minutes left," complained Tidus as he shed his shirt and crawled into bed.

"Because, I think Rikku and Auron are gonna make up. It'd be kinda hard if we were in there watching a movie, ya?" Wakka explained, shedding his shirt as well and getting into his and Lulu's bed.

"Who's boyfriend is slow?" Lulu whispered to Yuna.

Instead of answering, Yuna switched of the lights and got into her bed. "Good night, everyone."

Laughing slightly, Lulu crawled into her bed and slung her arm over Wakka's chest. Sure, he may be kind of slow on somethings, but he was still her's. She felt Wakka pull her closer to him, and within minutes she was asleep.

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Laying on the opposite end of the couch, Rikku felt like slapping herself. She still hadn't said anything to Auron. She had grabbed their blanket and pillows, bid him goodnight, and gotten into bed. Not exactly what she had planned to do.

She could tell Auron wasn't asleep yet, even though he usually fell asleep quickly. She wanted to say something, bu she wasn't sure how to start. She felt rather dumb for acting the way she had. Maybe Auron was right. Perhaps she was immature...

"Rikku?"

"Yes," she replied quickly.

"I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No." There was a moment of slience, and Rikku began to think that he wasn't going to say anything. "Auron?"

"I'm sorry for upsetting you," he said softly.

Rikku smiled. He had said it first. That meant he really meant it. "I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean to lose my temper. It's just that," she sighed and swung her feet to the floor, "Lily had no right to say those things to me." Always having your race thrown in you face got tiring after awhile. Not to mention hurtful.

"No she didn't," Auron argeed, moving to sit by Rikku. "I wasn't trying to justfy her, I was just trying to say that violence doesn't solve anything."

"This from the man that thinks katana's can solve anything,"Rikku said light-heartedly. Auron chuckled and put his arm around her shoulder. Rikku snuggled into him and muttered, "The way she was hanging all over you kinda got to me as well."

"Rikku, I wasn't trying to encourage her-"

"I know," Rikku interrupted. "I just lost my temper. I know I shouldn't have hit her, and I also realize that I was being immature."

"I didn't say you were immature. I said the stunt you pulled was immature. I don't find you to be immature. I find you to have a temper and a short fuse."

Rikku nodded her head. That was true. "I guess I do. I should probably work on that, huh?"

Auron chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "I think we should go to sleep."

Rikku agreed and layed back down. "Good night, Auron."

"Good night, Rikku."

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Replies to my fantastic reviewers...

LadyInRed: Lily was just crusin' for a brusin'! Heh. Oh, and thanks for reviewing to my poem!

DesseMew:Lily likes Auron, and she doesn't like Rikku. So, a little of both.

Shaunamitchell: She's you fav? I think Auron is mine. Or maybe Wakka. I like them both. I think the 'people' are gone...not sure though.

ShadowRaven/Auron's Little Rikku: Hey! I thought you guys had quit reading! Nice to see you're back!

Kawii-Chibi-Baka: That movie is hilarious! I kinda twisted the plot my own way, but it does have reference to A Johnson's Family Vacation. So..Yeah...At least you think it's good.

Rikku-Thief: Whoop Whoop! Heh!

GiGgLyGaL: Of course he will! Favorite...Yay!

Ignes Fatui: Thanks and I will!

Cloudude: Heh! Yep, cat fight!

PsychicFairy: Lily deserved it...Heh! I'll try.

Guan: Glad ya liked it!

Mysticmaiden: Really? I love humor stories. But, I like serious ones too. I like a lotta stuff.

Sephiroth: Glad ya like! I'm not sure how many more chapters are left...At least two.

Meru-Chan: Yes, she did. Heh!

Mandyfanforevr: You know it!

Innocentenshi: Glad ya like!

A/N: Chapter seventeen had a review list all it's own! Whoa! Heh...Anyways, thanks for the reviews! There was supposed to be more to this chapter, but wrestling is on so I cut it short. I will try to up-date faster, but with my other fic in the Tales of Symphonis section and Christmas creepin' up, I can't promise anything. But I will try! Don't forget to review! I shall be back soon!