Chapter 10
"Do you think they're even here?" Rikku asked Paine as the two of them plus Auron walked down the winding forest path leading into Guadosalam.
"You say that almost like Leblanc would allow Nooj any space on Valentine's Day," Paine said with a smirk. "I bet that by now, Nooj would be jumping for joy if Captain Lucil came here and asked him to come back to work."
"Yeowch. Yeah, I'd hate being the Meyvn and Leblanc's boyfriend at the same time," Rikku winced. Her boots made prints in the golden, sandy dirt path and she almost stopped when she came to realize that this was the spot... the very spot. Her eyes dilated and became moist, and she looked sad.
She did stop, but only long enough to take in the sight of those trees that shaded her and Auron on that fateful day she became her cousin's guardian.
"Open your eyes," Auron had told her, holding Rikku's face in his hands. "Let me see."
She hesitantly opened one eye, revealing its green color and its unique spiral that only meant one thing.
Paine was already a good fifteen paces ahead of her now, and Auron held his head level and stared straight ahead. Rikku sulked disappointedly and marched on. Of course that place would have no sentiment to anyone else.
Auron remembered, however. He did settle his gaze on that spot just as she did, and the same flashback ran through his mind. He stopped so as to look as if he was resting for a moment, lifting his gaze to the sky and setting his katana down.
Rikku was beautiful. He couldn't deny that even when first laying eyes on her. What a bad impression she had made, appearing out of the blue like that, but sure as hell was she a beautiful young girl. That hair, that skin, and that flawless face. Just about every part of Rikku made Auron want to look at her all over again. And then there was her shy approach to him, just like a little lamb, and the moment she opened one eye it was like a powerful blast straight to his heart. His great, vast, cold, unsent heart.
"No good?" he remembered her asking.
"Only if Yuna wants it."
He'd known she was an Al Bhed even before that ordeal, and when he weighed it over in his mind the disadvantages extravagantly outweighed the advantages of an Al Bhed guardian. He himself held no religious beliefs, but sheesh, if an Al Bhed followed them around as a guardian, that would sure stir up some controversy among the followers of Yevon.
But now that all this Yevon crap was over, and the issue seemed to be more about the Youth League and New Yevon these past couple years, Auron felt free to think about Rikku all he wanted, in any way he wanted. His heart warned him that it might not be enough, but for now, it was a release.
"WATCH OUT!!" Paine yelled as there came a snapping of twigs and branches in the surrounding forests. The clicking sound moved throughout the treetops overhead, so that the three of them turned their heads every which way.
Out leapt a spider-like fiend on four long, skinny blades for legs. A longer one stood up in the back like a dorsal fin. It hissed at them, its thin and agile brown body all made up of sharp angles.
"I see the fiends haven't changed," Auron observed, balancing his katana over his shoulder and bracing himself for an attack.
"Just stand back, Sir Auron," Paine told him, running out and striking the Takouba as if with a golf club. "Leave it to me and Rikku."
"I don't think so." Auron let down half of his jacket so that his bare arm hung at his side. Rikku stared on at those muscles and watched him attack the fiend with earth-shattering strength, her mouth gaping wide open without her knowing it. "I can take it down easily with my katana."
"Then let mine help you!!" Rikku finally shouted. Raising her arms into the air and letting her thief ensemble disappear again, a new outfit formed on her slim body. A purple decorative helmet covered her headband and blond braids and a white tube top spread across her chest. A large blue cloth belt held together a very nice armored robe, red and with green and yellow stripes. Underneath a metal band, she gripped in her hand a silver, sharp double-bladed katana with a long gray handle striped with gold.
Watching Rikku in combat, Auron stood in silence with a grin across his old face. Somehow it made him so proud, seeing that she'd learned some of the ways of the Samurai. In one sense, it was nothing other than beautiful, seeing her small, swift body stride up to the creature and the power of those thin, youthful little arms as she swung her Bushido sword in a sort of circling motion. Maybe-just maybe-he had made an influence on her two years ago as a fellow guardian. Maybe she'd watched him. Maybe.... These thoughts made him a little more self-conscious by the second.
"RIKKU, NO!!!!" Paine yelled, breaking the silence with which Auron had used to watch Rikku.
The Takouba clicked at her and dove, slashing her down the center with its bladed legs. Rikku yelled out as she felt the toxins moving into her fresh, stinging wound and fell to the ground.
"She's always been the careless type," Auron shook his head as he moved in and approached the four-legged fiend. "I wasn't watching," he admitted. "Maybe she shouldn't fight for awhile."
Rikku hung her head in embarrassment as she fought to get up again.
"Sir Auron," Paine said, nodding to him and showing the sincerity in her fiery crimson eyes. "Why don't you let me handle it? You can tend to Rikku; I think she's poisoned."
"No, really, I'm fine," Rikku called, finally getting to her feet. The poison began to sink in again and she fell back down, sitting up and supported by her palms. Would Auron really sit out this fight just to tend to her wounds and her poison?
"I'd rather not."
Rikku's heart sank lower and lower until she felt it stinging in her stomach... or was it the poison?
"Sir Auron..."
"You go on ahead. I'll take down the fiend, and besides, you two have all the medical equipment."
Paine did as instructed and knelt at Rikku's side, rummaging through their stash of restoratives and battle equipment. "Let's find something to anoint you with... it was a pretty bad cut and the toxin's probably running deep by now."
"I'm fine," Rikku snapped at her through gritted teeth, watching Auron slay the Takouba. "Don't touch me. I'll be just fine, really, it's a small scratch--"
"But Rikku, you're bleeding!"
Rikku wasn't listening. Why didn't Auron come by to tend to her? Was she really so repulsive that Auron would risk a fight straight out of the Farplane rather than keep himself out of danger by sitting near her? She bit back frustration and anger, until taking care not to bite her lip open, and complained heartily as Paine dabbed at the long scrape with a piece of cloth.
"So what's going on?"
The two of them looked up to see Auron standing there, gazing down upon both of them. "Is it okay to move on now?" It was a question that became a reflex, as well as how vigorously he pressed on after all those days as a guardian.
"You took care of the fiend!" Rikku exclaimed enthusiastically.
"I'm out of Antidotes," Paine winced. "Maybe she can hold out until Guadosalam, but you see how bad it is..." She pointed to the long cut that marred the Al Bhed's Samurai outfit with fresh blood.
Just then, Auron was thankful that they couldn't read the emotions in his eyes behind the sunglasses, for they had dilated in concern and remorse.
If only I'd been watching her fight rather than staring at how good she looks.... I could have pushed her out of the way, dammit! Auron's eyes scanned the two of them over, then he cleared his throat. "Okay. Paine, you run along and make preparations at Guadosalam, so that Rikku can be treated when she gets there. I'll take her."
I've got to do something to take responsibility.
"Alright," Paine nodded before taking off running down the dirt path.
Auron smiled down at Rikku, embarrassed, and scooped the girl up into his arms.
"Heh heh... hey, uh... this is kind of embarrassing," Rikku told him, looking at how high up she was being carried and trying to avoid Auron's face. "......Thanks," she said uneasily.
He ignored her words of appreciation and carried her on. "Now I'm going to get blood all over my jacket."
Rikku kicked her legs but didn't come remotely close to hurting him at all. "Hey!! That wasn't nice! Aren't you going to say something like, 'You're welcome'? Or, or, or 'You'll be okay' or something?"
"No. Simply because this favor really is nothing at all."
"Well, you didn't have to answer like that, you know!!"
Auron chuckled under his breath. Those words, too, echoed across time.
You didn't have to say it like that, you know! Couldn't you... you know... maybe try to cheer me up? You didn't have to say it like that....
It warmed his heart to hear her say those words again. When she said them, it was as if they belonged to him and only him. Especially when she'd said it in the presence of the other guardians. It made him feel like she had the authority to tell him things like that. Like a princess to her knight, or like they were an old argumentative married couple....
"A-HEM," he cleared his throat, trying to drive out those thoughts. Especially with Rikku in his arms right now, he didn't need to show such complex emotion on his face. Those were the kind of happy thoughts that hurt him, somehow, and the state of his... um... friend... being wounded was not exactly a happy moment that called for reminiscence. "...I'm... sleepy," Rikku yawned, wanting to pass into a slumber in the warmth of Auron's strong arms. Maybe it was the poison, or maybe it was the dreamlike state with which she had pretended Auron was carrying her to.... She stopped her thought right there before she accidentally daydreamed of Auron carrying her someplace she would not admit to anybody, not even Yuna. "Oh, dammit. It's the poison, isn't it? I knew it.... We'll be in Guadosalam soon. I'm not going to run there because I don't want to worsen your condition.... Rikku?" The little blond teenager had her full, creamy eyelids closed over those intriguing emerald-jade eyes and breathed tranquilly with her head resting against the large muscle of his left arm. Auron groaned, but kept his eyes on her and only looking up occasionally lest he should walk into something he couldn't see in front of him. Then after awhile, he felt almost soiled inside. Something, he didn't know what or why, felt wrong about carrying this beautiful, delicate young thing in his unsent arms. How long is your being beautiful going to kill me from guilty pleasure, Rikku? Just how long?
"Do you think they're even here?" Rikku asked Paine as the two of them plus Auron walked down the winding forest path leading into Guadosalam.
"You say that almost like Leblanc would allow Nooj any space on Valentine's Day," Paine said with a smirk. "I bet that by now, Nooj would be jumping for joy if Captain Lucil came here and asked him to come back to work."
"Yeowch. Yeah, I'd hate being the Meyvn and Leblanc's boyfriend at the same time," Rikku winced. Her boots made prints in the golden, sandy dirt path and she almost stopped when she came to realize that this was the spot... the very spot. Her eyes dilated and became moist, and she looked sad.
She did stop, but only long enough to take in the sight of those trees that shaded her and Auron on that fateful day she became her cousin's guardian.
"Open your eyes," Auron had told her, holding Rikku's face in his hands. "Let me see."
She hesitantly opened one eye, revealing its green color and its unique spiral that only meant one thing.
Paine was already a good fifteen paces ahead of her now, and Auron held his head level and stared straight ahead. Rikku sulked disappointedly and marched on. Of course that place would have no sentiment to anyone else.
Auron remembered, however. He did settle his gaze on that spot just as she did, and the same flashback ran through his mind. He stopped so as to look as if he was resting for a moment, lifting his gaze to the sky and setting his katana down.
Rikku was beautiful. He couldn't deny that even when first laying eyes on her. What a bad impression she had made, appearing out of the blue like that, but sure as hell was she a beautiful young girl. That hair, that skin, and that flawless face. Just about every part of Rikku made Auron want to look at her all over again. And then there was her shy approach to him, just like a little lamb, and the moment she opened one eye it was like a powerful blast straight to his heart. His great, vast, cold, unsent heart.
"No good?" he remembered her asking.
"Only if Yuna wants it."
He'd known she was an Al Bhed even before that ordeal, and when he weighed it over in his mind the disadvantages extravagantly outweighed the advantages of an Al Bhed guardian. He himself held no religious beliefs, but sheesh, if an Al Bhed followed them around as a guardian, that would sure stir up some controversy among the followers of Yevon.
But now that all this Yevon crap was over, and the issue seemed to be more about the Youth League and New Yevon these past couple years, Auron felt free to think about Rikku all he wanted, in any way he wanted. His heart warned him that it might not be enough, but for now, it was a release.
"WATCH OUT!!" Paine yelled as there came a snapping of twigs and branches in the surrounding forests. The clicking sound moved throughout the treetops overhead, so that the three of them turned their heads every which way.
Out leapt a spider-like fiend on four long, skinny blades for legs. A longer one stood up in the back like a dorsal fin. It hissed at them, its thin and agile brown body all made up of sharp angles.
"I see the fiends haven't changed," Auron observed, balancing his katana over his shoulder and bracing himself for an attack.
"Just stand back, Sir Auron," Paine told him, running out and striking the Takouba as if with a golf club. "Leave it to me and Rikku."
"I don't think so." Auron let down half of his jacket so that his bare arm hung at his side. Rikku stared on at those muscles and watched him attack the fiend with earth-shattering strength, her mouth gaping wide open without her knowing it. "I can take it down easily with my katana."
"Then let mine help you!!" Rikku finally shouted. Raising her arms into the air and letting her thief ensemble disappear again, a new outfit formed on her slim body. A purple decorative helmet covered her headband and blond braids and a white tube top spread across her chest. A large blue cloth belt held together a very nice armored robe, red and with green and yellow stripes. Underneath a metal band, she gripped in her hand a silver, sharp double-bladed katana with a long gray handle striped with gold.
Watching Rikku in combat, Auron stood in silence with a grin across his old face. Somehow it made him so proud, seeing that she'd learned some of the ways of the Samurai. In one sense, it was nothing other than beautiful, seeing her small, swift body stride up to the creature and the power of those thin, youthful little arms as she swung her Bushido sword in a sort of circling motion. Maybe-just maybe-he had made an influence on her two years ago as a fellow guardian. Maybe she'd watched him. Maybe.... These thoughts made him a little more self-conscious by the second.
"RIKKU, NO!!!!" Paine yelled, breaking the silence with which Auron had used to watch Rikku.
The Takouba clicked at her and dove, slashing her down the center with its bladed legs. Rikku yelled out as she felt the toxins moving into her fresh, stinging wound and fell to the ground.
"She's always been the careless type," Auron shook his head as he moved in and approached the four-legged fiend. "I wasn't watching," he admitted. "Maybe she shouldn't fight for awhile."
Rikku hung her head in embarrassment as she fought to get up again.
"Sir Auron," Paine said, nodding to him and showing the sincerity in her fiery crimson eyes. "Why don't you let me handle it? You can tend to Rikku; I think she's poisoned."
"No, really, I'm fine," Rikku called, finally getting to her feet. The poison began to sink in again and she fell back down, sitting up and supported by her palms. Would Auron really sit out this fight just to tend to her wounds and her poison?
"I'd rather not."
Rikku's heart sank lower and lower until she felt it stinging in her stomach... or was it the poison?
"Sir Auron..."
"You go on ahead. I'll take down the fiend, and besides, you two have all the medical equipment."
Paine did as instructed and knelt at Rikku's side, rummaging through their stash of restoratives and battle equipment. "Let's find something to anoint you with... it was a pretty bad cut and the toxin's probably running deep by now."
"I'm fine," Rikku snapped at her through gritted teeth, watching Auron slay the Takouba. "Don't touch me. I'll be just fine, really, it's a small scratch--"
"But Rikku, you're bleeding!"
Rikku wasn't listening. Why didn't Auron come by to tend to her? Was she really so repulsive that Auron would risk a fight straight out of the Farplane rather than keep himself out of danger by sitting near her? She bit back frustration and anger, until taking care not to bite her lip open, and complained heartily as Paine dabbed at the long scrape with a piece of cloth.
"So what's going on?"
The two of them looked up to see Auron standing there, gazing down upon both of them. "Is it okay to move on now?" It was a question that became a reflex, as well as how vigorously he pressed on after all those days as a guardian.
"You took care of the fiend!" Rikku exclaimed enthusiastically.
"I'm out of Antidotes," Paine winced. "Maybe she can hold out until Guadosalam, but you see how bad it is..." She pointed to the long cut that marred the Al Bhed's Samurai outfit with fresh blood.
Just then, Auron was thankful that they couldn't read the emotions in his eyes behind the sunglasses, for they had dilated in concern and remorse.
If only I'd been watching her fight rather than staring at how good she looks.... I could have pushed her out of the way, dammit! Auron's eyes scanned the two of them over, then he cleared his throat. "Okay. Paine, you run along and make preparations at Guadosalam, so that Rikku can be treated when she gets there. I'll take her."
I've got to do something to take responsibility.
"Alright," Paine nodded before taking off running down the dirt path.
Auron smiled down at Rikku, embarrassed, and scooped the girl up into his arms.
"Heh heh... hey, uh... this is kind of embarrassing," Rikku told him, looking at how high up she was being carried and trying to avoid Auron's face. "......Thanks," she said uneasily.
He ignored her words of appreciation and carried her on. "Now I'm going to get blood all over my jacket."
Rikku kicked her legs but didn't come remotely close to hurting him at all. "Hey!! That wasn't nice! Aren't you going to say something like, 'You're welcome'? Or, or, or 'You'll be okay' or something?"
"No. Simply because this favor really is nothing at all."
"Well, you didn't have to answer like that, you know!!"
Auron chuckled under his breath. Those words, too, echoed across time.
You didn't have to say it like that, you know! Couldn't you... you know... maybe try to cheer me up? You didn't have to say it like that....
It warmed his heart to hear her say those words again. When she said them, it was as if they belonged to him and only him. Especially when she'd said it in the presence of the other guardians. It made him feel like she had the authority to tell him things like that. Like a princess to her knight, or like they were an old argumentative married couple....
"A-HEM," he cleared his throat, trying to drive out those thoughts. Especially with Rikku in his arms right now, he didn't need to show such complex emotion on his face. Those were the kind of happy thoughts that hurt him, somehow, and the state of his... um... friend... being wounded was not exactly a happy moment that called for reminiscence. "...I'm... sleepy," Rikku yawned, wanting to pass into a slumber in the warmth of Auron's strong arms. Maybe it was the poison, or maybe it was the dreamlike state with which she had pretended Auron was carrying her to.... She stopped her thought right there before she accidentally daydreamed of Auron carrying her someplace she would not admit to anybody, not even Yuna. "Oh, dammit. It's the poison, isn't it? I knew it.... We'll be in Guadosalam soon. I'm not going to run there because I don't want to worsen your condition.... Rikku?" The little blond teenager had her full, creamy eyelids closed over those intriguing emerald-jade eyes and breathed tranquilly with her head resting against the large muscle of his left arm. Auron groaned, but kept his eyes on her and only looking up occasionally lest he should walk into something he couldn't see in front of him. Then after awhile, he felt almost soiled inside. Something, he didn't know what or why, felt wrong about carrying this beautiful, delicate young thing in his unsent arms. How long is your being beautiful going to kill me from guilty pleasure, Rikku? Just how long?