Chapter 9
It was embarrassing and frightening for the both of them, meeting up with the rest of the group on the beach in Besaid, waiting to board the Airship Celsius. Auron and Rikku each had been so wrapped up in these confusing thoughts of the other person, that they both made double-takes and tried to excuse themselves when Auron cleared his throat, and Rikku giggled a bit and blushed.
"Um... I needed to go run out to the Moonflow... you know, to get everything ready for the concert? I'm sorry it's on such short notice, but you see I was busy..." Yuna said hesitantly to Tidus as the wind whipped through her hair.
"Whatever you want to do," Tidus said, resting his hand at her waist, "I'll be with you. Shall we, then? I really can't wait."
"I've already booked Bayra, Donga, and Pukutak to play tonight, so whatever you two decide to do, make sure you'll be there to receive them on time this evening," Paine told the couple, advancing on to the Celsius. "Just find me later."
"Will do!" Tidus yelled after her with a wave, then turned to Auron and Rikku. "Are you two coming? We still have time before dinner and the concert."
"An invitation given to me by the High Summoner is not one to turn down," Auron said gleefully, with a smile. "And from what I understand, this one"--he pointed to Rikku--"follows you everywhere."
"Hey!" whined Rikku, glancing up at Auron and hitting his shoulder playfully.
"Well, you two slowpokes hurry up!!" Yuna called happily, waving from the staircase leading up to the Celsius's bridge. "We're wasting valuable fun time!"
"I guess that means us," Auron smiled down at Rikku and began sloshing his way through the cold ocean. "Cold," he grimaced a second later.
Rikku giggled, trying to shake off the embarrassment that had come with staring at him earlier. "You're slow," she said, jogging backwards into the sea. "Can't you run?"
"You can, if you like, but I prefer not to." Auron kept his eyes lifted to the sky. The sunlight bounced off his sunglasses, streaking them and shining its way back down onto Rikku. "Now that no one seems to be in danger, I prefer to keep running to a minimum, thank you."
Rikku's eyes brightened. "What about if I challenge you to a race?"
"I would win anyway."
"Why?"
"Because you would probably fall on your face into the cold saltwater."
"HEY!!!!!!!!!" Rikku stopped, putting her hands on her hips. "Whatta ya mean?"
Auron burst into cracking laughter and begin to run with all his might toward the Celsius. "I'm winning, Rikku!!"
"Grrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!" Rikku chased after him, biting back laughter. "I'll get you for that, you big meanie!"
"You'll have to catch up first!"
But when she finally did, they were on the Celsius and Auron was taking a look around while re-acquainting himself with Brother and Buddy again.
"Very impressive, considering that Cid didn't help you. The design is definitely more appealing," Auron said, the latter commenting on the red and blue wings.
"It would be very impressive," Brother said in his strange accent, spinning around in his captain's chair, "if Rikku did her part once in awhile and helped clean up the place!"
Rikku puffed up a bit. "Crid ib[Shut up]! It isn't just you who does everything around here! And you know it! You big, rude and inconsiderate-"
"I still think it looks nice. And it's quite an accomplishment for someone Rikku's age, co-building a great machina like this." Auron nodded at Rikku in polite acknowledgement, and the Rikku beamed at him cutely.
"You-you really think so, Auron?"
"Would I tell you so if I didn't mean it?"
Suddenly, there was a hard jerk and the two of them almost fell over as the airship began to move so fast through the air that it seemed to defy all aerodynamic laws.
"Whoa!!!" shouted Rikku as Auron, clasping the back of Brother's chair, grabbed a hold of her arm. His sunglasses fell and he knelt at the same level that Rikku crouched, meeting her two bright and pretty eyes with his one.
"You two should have been paying attention!" Brother scolded them.
"Uh... thanks." Rikku rubbed her knees from the scrape against the airship's floor when she fell, and Auron cleared his throat again.
"No problem....Well, aren't you going to show me around?" Auron brought himself upright again and adjusted the weight of the katana on his shoulder.
"Oh, right."
She led him into the cabin where he immediately sat down at the bar and rested his katana against it. He waved at a very thin creature with large yellow eyes and blue skin. "Mish Ree-koo, is this a guesht?" the blue creature said in a goofy voice, with a goofy, dizzy facial expression. "Hey, Barkeep!! This is Auron. We found him on Besaid Island and he might stay with us for awhile. Auron, this is Barkeep." Rikku smiled warmly and gestured to the short blue Hypello.
"Pleased to meet you," Auron greeted him with a whimsical smile, remembering his encounters with the kind, gracious Hypello and the shoopuf rides on his past journeys.
"Ish there shomething I can do for yoo?" Barkeep outstretched his hand span and pointed to various bottled potions and shelves of bright, shiny jewelry of all kinds. "Mish Ree-koo, maybe Shir Auron would likesh to resht, yesh?"
"Thanks, Barkeep," Rikku said. "Maybe in a couple minutes." When Barkeep occupied himself with wiping glasses, she turned to the old guardian. "So... what do you think, so far?"
"Very well kept together." Auron nodded in approval before taking a sip of a free brandy Barkeep slid him over the counter, expensive and of the best from Bevelle. "I'm proud of you, Rikku."
"Proud? Of me?"
"Yes. What of it?"
"Well, I... you've just... never told me that before."
"I didn't get the chance to, on Yuna's pilgrimage. So I'm saying it now. In the midst of everything I had forgotten to thank you for keeping us alive in the Sanubia Desert. You have done much to keep all of us going. And you were the merriest of the group." Auron reminded her of when she first joined Yuna's entourage as a brand-new guardian. Wakka had welcomed her, "The more the merrier" and she had said, "Well then, I'll just have to be the merriest!" Rikku spun around on her bar stool and began to dab at the forming tears with her long scarf. "Oh, I... it was nothing. Really. I was trying hard to do all I could, and I'm glad I could help." "Where's our destination?" "Guadosalam. We're inviting Leblanc and Meyvn Nooj, then we go to Bevelle and meet Praetor Baralai." "Hmph." "You'll meet them, and we'll explain everything while we're there. You'll see." The two of them paused for awhile and after about two minutes they heard cheerful yelling coming from the airship's deck. "WA-HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" Tidus's voice rang all throughout the Celsius, followed by Yuna's piercing whistles. A screen hanging up in the corner over the bar showed the two riding on the top of the airship. Yuna leapt up onto Tidus's back and the young man lifted her higher, to spread her arms out like wings. "Higher, Brother, higher!" Yuna shouted. Auron had to grip his wine-glass steady and lock his heavy black, red, and silver boots into the wooden floor of the cabin, and Rikku had almost toppled over, as Brother did as requested and brought the Celsius even higher. The rush felt so great that Rikku began to slip into a daydream of her and Auron being up there, except she would be up on his shoulders and Auron would be reprimanding her, but she wouldn't listen. It would feel too great for anyone to heed warnings, and after a few minutes he might come to see that. "How long have they been together?" Auron asked suddenly, throwing a dart into Rikku's daydreaming. "Mmm... three months? Maybe four. Why?" "They look happy together." "You're right. Yunie smiles every day without faking it." Auron looked down pensively and set his large hand on his knee. "How... how has Yuna been these past two years?" "Well... she's changed," Rikku told him, leaning her elbows back against the counter. "She's become a lot stronger and more aggressive... well, just a little, but not really... and... let's see, she destroyed a large machina weapon underneath Bevelle, she stopped a war between the Ronso and the Guado, she united the people of Spira and dissolved the conflicts between the Youth League and New Yevon-" "Hold it, hold it!" Auron put up a hand. "She did all this?" "Yeah! Yunie can do anything, including the impossible... and more!" "I believe you, if those stories are true. How does she live now?" "Well, me and her and Paine are sphere hunters! We fly all over Spira up in the Celsius and salvage ancient treasure spheres!" Auron chuckled lightly. "Oh, boy. Kids." "Hey! You should really give it a try too, you know?" "HIGHER, BROTHER!! YE-AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" "Those two..." Auron shook his head. "Young and happy and in love..." "Wanna try it?" "Try what?" "Let's go up to the deck!" "You're kidding me, right?" "Rikku." Paine approached the two at the bar and tapped Rikku's shoulder. "We're at the Moonflow now. Are you coming with me to Guadosalam? Or are you going to sit here pestering Sir Auron all day?" "She's right, Rikku," Auron hid his smile underneath his collar. "You'd think I was your boyfriend or something this Valentine's Day." Then he threw his head back and laughed at the thought. He knew it would make her mad... although he didn't think it made a very good joke at all. Now he wished that he hadn't said it, because he grew more quiet and pensive after that. "You? Yeah right!" Rikku puffed up again and hit his upper arm jokingly. "That's not even funny, it's so gross. Get over yourself!" Walking out of the cabin, Rikku almost thought she had been too hard on him. But her second thought was that she'd said it for her own good. After all, it's not like it's really going to happen. But geez, Auron, you sure picked a fine joke to lay on me.
It was embarrassing and frightening for the both of them, meeting up with the rest of the group on the beach in Besaid, waiting to board the Airship Celsius. Auron and Rikku each had been so wrapped up in these confusing thoughts of the other person, that they both made double-takes and tried to excuse themselves when Auron cleared his throat, and Rikku giggled a bit and blushed.
"Um... I needed to go run out to the Moonflow... you know, to get everything ready for the concert? I'm sorry it's on such short notice, but you see I was busy..." Yuna said hesitantly to Tidus as the wind whipped through her hair.
"Whatever you want to do," Tidus said, resting his hand at her waist, "I'll be with you. Shall we, then? I really can't wait."
"I've already booked Bayra, Donga, and Pukutak to play tonight, so whatever you two decide to do, make sure you'll be there to receive them on time this evening," Paine told the couple, advancing on to the Celsius. "Just find me later."
"Will do!" Tidus yelled after her with a wave, then turned to Auron and Rikku. "Are you two coming? We still have time before dinner and the concert."
"An invitation given to me by the High Summoner is not one to turn down," Auron said gleefully, with a smile. "And from what I understand, this one"--he pointed to Rikku--"follows you everywhere."
"Hey!" whined Rikku, glancing up at Auron and hitting his shoulder playfully.
"Well, you two slowpokes hurry up!!" Yuna called happily, waving from the staircase leading up to the Celsius's bridge. "We're wasting valuable fun time!"
"I guess that means us," Auron smiled down at Rikku and began sloshing his way through the cold ocean. "Cold," he grimaced a second later.
Rikku giggled, trying to shake off the embarrassment that had come with staring at him earlier. "You're slow," she said, jogging backwards into the sea. "Can't you run?"
"You can, if you like, but I prefer not to." Auron kept his eyes lifted to the sky. The sunlight bounced off his sunglasses, streaking them and shining its way back down onto Rikku. "Now that no one seems to be in danger, I prefer to keep running to a minimum, thank you."
Rikku's eyes brightened. "What about if I challenge you to a race?"
"I would win anyway."
"Why?"
"Because you would probably fall on your face into the cold saltwater."
"HEY!!!!!!!!!" Rikku stopped, putting her hands on her hips. "Whatta ya mean?"
Auron burst into cracking laughter and begin to run with all his might toward the Celsius. "I'm winning, Rikku!!"
"Grrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!" Rikku chased after him, biting back laughter. "I'll get you for that, you big meanie!"
"You'll have to catch up first!"
But when she finally did, they were on the Celsius and Auron was taking a look around while re-acquainting himself with Brother and Buddy again.
"Very impressive, considering that Cid didn't help you. The design is definitely more appealing," Auron said, the latter commenting on the red and blue wings.
"It would be very impressive," Brother said in his strange accent, spinning around in his captain's chair, "if Rikku did her part once in awhile and helped clean up the place!"
Rikku puffed up a bit. "Crid ib[Shut up]! It isn't just you who does everything around here! And you know it! You big, rude and inconsiderate-"
"I still think it looks nice. And it's quite an accomplishment for someone Rikku's age, co-building a great machina like this." Auron nodded at Rikku in polite acknowledgement, and the Rikku beamed at him cutely.
"You-you really think so, Auron?"
"Would I tell you so if I didn't mean it?"
Suddenly, there was a hard jerk and the two of them almost fell over as the airship began to move so fast through the air that it seemed to defy all aerodynamic laws.
"Whoa!!!" shouted Rikku as Auron, clasping the back of Brother's chair, grabbed a hold of her arm. His sunglasses fell and he knelt at the same level that Rikku crouched, meeting her two bright and pretty eyes with his one.
"You two should have been paying attention!" Brother scolded them.
"Uh... thanks." Rikku rubbed her knees from the scrape against the airship's floor when she fell, and Auron cleared his throat again.
"No problem....Well, aren't you going to show me around?" Auron brought himself upright again and adjusted the weight of the katana on his shoulder.
"Oh, right."
She led him into the cabin where he immediately sat down at the bar and rested his katana against it. He waved at a very thin creature with large yellow eyes and blue skin. "Mish Ree-koo, is this a guesht?" the blue creature said in a goofy voice, with a goofy, dizzy facial expression. "Hey, Barkeep!! This is Auron. We found him on Besaid Island and he might stay with us for awhile. Auron, this is Barkeep." Rikku smiled warmly and gestured to the short blue Hypello.
"Pleased to meet you," Auron greeted him with a whimsical smile, remembering his encounters with the kind, gracious Hypello and the shoopuf rides on his past journeys.
"Ish there shomething I can do for yoo?" Barkeep outstretched his hand span and pointed to various bottled potions and shelves of bright, shiny jewelry of all kinds. "Mish Ree-koo, maybe Shir Auron would likesh to resht, yesh?"
"Thanks, Barkeep," Rikku said. "Maybe in a couple minutes." When Barkeep occupied himself with wiping glasses, she turned to the old guardian. "So... what do you think, so far?"
"Very well kept together." Auron nodded in approval before taking a sip of a free brandy Barkeep slid him over the counter, expensive and of the best from Bevelle. "I'm proud of you, Rikku."
"Proud? Of me?"
"Yes. What of it?"
"Well, I... you've just... never told me that before."
"I didn't get the chance to, on Yuna's pilgrimage. So I'm saying it now. In the midst of everything I had forgotten to thank you for keeping us alive in the Sanubia Desert. You have done much to keep all of us going. And you were the merriest of the group." Auron reminded her of when she first joined Yuna's entourage as a brand-new guardian. Wakka had welcomed her, "The more the merrier" and she had said, "Well then, I'll just have to be the merriest!" Rikku spun around on her bar stool and began to dab at the forming tears with her long scarf. "Oh, I... it was nothing. Really. I was trying hard to do all I could, and I'm glad I could help." "Where's our destination?" "Guadosalam. We're inviting Leblanc and Meyvn Nooj, then we go to Bevelle and meet Praetor Baralai." "Hmph." "You'll meet them, and we'll explain everything while we're there. You'll see." The two of them paused for awhile and after about two minutes they heard cheerful yelling coming from the airship's deck. "WA-HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" Tidus's voice rang all throughout the Celsius, followed by Yuna's piercing whistles. A screen hanging up in the corner over the bar showed the two riding on the top of the airship. Yuna leapt up onto Tidus's back and the young man lifted her higher, to spread her arms out like wings. "Higher, Brother, higher!" Yuna shouted. Auron had to grip his wine-glass steady and lock his heavy black, red, and silver boots into the wooden floor of the cabin, and Rikku had almost toppled over, as Brother did as requested and brought the Celsius even higher. The rush felt so great that Rikku began to slip into a daydream of her and Auron being up there, except she would be up on his shoulders and Auron would be reprimanding her, but she wouldn't listen. It would feel too great for anyone to heed warnings, and after a few minutes he might come to see that. "How long have they been together?" Auron asked suddenly, throwing a dart into Rikku's daydreaming. "Mmm... three months? Maybe four. Why?" "They look happy together." "You're right. Yunie smiles every day without faking it." Auron looked down pensively and set his large hand on his knee. "How... how has Yuna been these past two years?" "Well... she's changed," Rikku told him, leaning her elbows back against the counter. "She's become a lot stronger and more aggressive... well, just a little, but not really... and... let's see, she destroyed a large machina weapon underneath Bevelle, she stopped a war between the Ronso and the Guado, she united the people of Spira and dissolved the conflicts between the Youth League and New Yevon-" "Hold it, hold it!" Auron put up a hand. "She did all this?" "Yeah! Yunie can do anything, including the impossible... and more!" "I believe you, if those stories are true. How does she live now?" "Well, me and her and Paine are sphere hunters! We fly all over Spira up in the Celsius and salvage ancient treasure spheres!" Auron chuckled lightly. "Oh, boy. Kids." "Hey! You should really give it a try too, you know?" "HIGHER, BROTHER!! YE-AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" "Those two..." Auron shook his head. "Young and happy and in love..." "Wanna try it?" "Try what?" "Let's go up to the deck!" "You're kidding me, right?" "Rikku." Paine approached the two at the bar and tapped Rikku's shoulder. "We're at the Moonflow now. Are you coming with me to Guadosalam? Or are you going to sit here pestering Sir Auron all day?" "She's right, Rikku," Auron hid his smile underneath his collar. "You'd think I was your boyfriend or something this Valentine's Day." Then he threw his head back and laughed at the thought. He knew it would make her mad... although he didn't think it made a very good joke at all. Now he wished that he hadn't said it, because he grew more quiet and pensive after that. "You? Yeah right!" Rikku puffed up again and hit his upper arm jokingly. "That's not even funny, it's so gross. Get over yourself!" Walking out of the cabin, Rikku almost thought she had been too hard on him. But her second thought was that she'd said it for her own good. After all, it's not like it's really going to happen. But geez, Auron, you sure picked a fine joke to lay on me.