Chapter 11
Why are you staying behind, Rikku? I think the images in the Farplane are just psychological. They don't do anything for me at all. People go there to visit their loved ones to make themselves happy. That kind of thing doesn't make me happy. You know, there aren't many happy times ahead of us. So while the others are up there reflecting and rejoicing over seeing their loved ones again, you're missing out on the one chance you have. Wh-what about you, Sir Auron? What makes you happy? I mean, since we won't have the chance? I'm not going to tell anybody... I know we haven't... talked like this before, Rikku, and that's why this is the perfect time to tell you....Listen. Lean this way... That's better. Nice and closely now, because I may never get the chance to tell you this again. I want to tell you, Rikku, that I.... This time Auron's hand was curled around hers, warm and rough and huge, everything that her little hand wasn't. A few beautiful pyreflies circled them so closely it was as if they were going to whisper to them. Rikku's eyes met his once again and their voices finished the sentence in synch. "...that I love you!!" Rikku blurted out before her eyes fluttered open in the fluorescent light of a room she didn't recognize right away. "Huh?" "Good to see you're awake," Auron greeted her. He was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the room with his arms folded, and his large red overcoat was covering her. Rikku blushed and wondered just how long he'd been sitting there. "How long have you been here?" Rikku asked him, sitting up and wrapping his coat around her shoulders. "I don't know. Forty seconds?" Auron gazed up into the ceiling nonchalantly, not seeming to care at all about anything. "But you've been lying there for about twenty minutes now." "You could have woken me up, you know!!" She stood and threw Auron's jacket at him before smoothening out her original thief outfit. "Sheesh!" "What was that... outfit change you did back there?" Auron asked her before she made her way out of the room in the Guadosalam Inn. "Oh... that's a dressphere. The Samurai dressphere, really. Um... we use them for battle, and uh... yeah. I guess that's all there is to say about it. Like whenever we find a treasure sphere that doesn't seem to have anything good on it, we can harness its power and turn it into a costume for battle." "...I see. Now, to whom was it you were saying that when you woke up?" "Huh?" Rikku failed to put on a genuine tone. "Wh-what are you talking about?" "You know what you said. Now who were you talking to?" "N-NOBODY." "I can guess." Rikku felt a pinching in her throat and a shaking in her voice as she spoke. "You'll-you'll never guess. Nope, you'll never, ever guess!" "Well... it could be Buddy..." "Nope." "And if it's not Buddy, then... Oh, I know! Barkeep!" "WHAT?!?!?!" Auron threw his head back and laughed mirthfully as Rikku puffed up and yelled her reproaches. "How could you say that? What are you, crazy? Geez! Me with Barkeep. You've got to be kidding me!!" she exploded as she followed him out the door while he put on his overcoat. "Well, I see everything's back to normal," Paine said, standing outside the Inn with her arms crossed and one leg up against the wall. "To Chateau Leblanc, shall we?" The three of them walked down the mildewed paths of the small village that had been formed inside an immense, ancient tree. These branches they walked on overlapped each other as overpasses, and various shops were built on their sides. The walls were a unique green with bluish and lighter green veins spreading all over. They stopped in front of a pair of red, elegant double-doors which Auron remembered had led into the palace of the former Maesters Jyscal and Seymour Guado. "Breaking and entering," Paine may as well have yawned as she leaned against those doors and pushed them open with seemingly no effort. "She should be used to the concept of it by now, shouldn't she?" Paine smiled and glanced at Rikku, reflecting this gleeful look. "Oh, yeah," Rikku said with a tone of delight. "Let's do it!" "It looks to me like you've kind of lost your manners from your guardian days," Auron shook his head at her while he glanced around at the old photographs of the Guado family hanging on the walls next to the staircases on the left and the right of the front chamber in the mansion. He remembered all too well the lush green color everywhere, the red doors... the only thing that seemed to be missing was the group of Guado guardians standing in every corner. Instead, there were ladies with their hair tied back and standing in pink body suits with large red heart designs on their chests. "And where are we?" "This is Chateau Leblanc," Paine explained. "The Guado are thinning out, and after Maester Seymour's departure to the Farplane, she came along and took the palace for herself. And no one did anything about it, just because the Guado are disappearing. It's kind of depressing." "'She' ?" "You'll know her when you see her," moaned Rikku, laying her palm across her eyes and forehead. "She's a real pain." "Excuse you?" Paine turned to her. "No, no, I didn't mean that." At that instant, out walked two figures unfamiliar to Auron. He heard Rikku and Paine take deep breaths as the two approached them. One was a woman, not so tall, with short blond hair in spiked ends like Yuna's, in a suit that Auron found less than impressive. It was designed with jagged points, pink and purple all over, cut so low that the ends joined at her violet bikini bottom. Large bell sleeves flared out over matching violet gloves. Purple leggings covered from her thighs down over pink shoes that seemed more tacky than fashionable, and in one hand she held an obscene looking, large red fan with holes cut through the top. A big red heart tattoo was emblazoned on her chest, and her breasts looked like they'd spill out the sides of her suit in any minute. The tall man who was with her had dull, blanched-brown dreadlocks hanging in loops on the left side of his head, spiraling bangs on the right side, and a long crooked ponytail hanging at his back that somewhat resembled a crude wooden staff. His left arm and leg were mechanical and he propped himself up on a titanium cane. He looked as if his girlfriend had picked out his wardrobe, standing in a tight red suit with magenta zippers and buckled straps, and a mass of white fur around his right shoulder over a long, purple flared bell-sleeve. "Well, well, if it isn't two of the Dullwings and... oh!!!" exclaimed the blonde, covering her mouth with her hands in surprise. "Who... are you?" Her eyes scanned Auron up and down and she fanned herself as if she was seeing a large fiend. "You can't be Sir Auron," said the man, his eyes widening underneath a pair of round spectacles. He extended his right hand and leaned against his cane. "Are you? I-I'm Meyvn Nooj of the Youth League, and this is Leblanc." "I'm the leader of my own sphere-hunting team, the Leblanc Syndicate," Leblanc wheezed in admiration. "Surely you've heard about me??" "I can't say I have," Auron replied, feeling and sounding less than enthusiastic. What would Yuna and her friends hang out with a woman like that for? "We'd only heard that you'd disappeared after the High Summoner's pilgrimage two years ago," Nooj rambled on. "Have you been vacationing alone? I keep imagining you've seen some rare sights!" "I have been watching over friends as a different kind of guardian," Auron chose his words wisely. "But perhaps we can talk about that later. I believe Rikku and Paine have a sort of message for you." "Yunie's having a concert tonight at the Moonflow. She wants you to come," Rikku spoke up, handing Leblanc an invitation that her cousin had handwritten herself. "An invitation, for us? We'd be honored. Can we make it tonight?" Nooj said, turning to Leblanc. "Ohhhh, what an opportunity!" Leblanc giggled. "Dancing in the beautiful lights of the Moonflow-at night! Oh, please, Noojie dear? Shall we go?" "I'm all for it." "Then please follow us aboard the Airship Celsius," Paine said dryly. "First we're having dinner in Bevelle and then it's off to the Moonflow." Auron watched Paine roll her eyes as she led a chattering Leblanc and an exasperated Nooj out of Guadosalam. With a strange feeling washing over one whole side of his body, he looked out the corner of one eye and noticed Rikku walking closely behind him. A look of unease appeared on her pretty little face, and Auron restrained himself from taking her hand. "Is something wrong?" he finally asked. Rikku kept her eyes on the ground as they walked. "Well... when we get back on the Celsius... I guess there's something I kinda want to ask you."
Why are you staying behind, Rikku? I think the images in the Farplane are just psychological. They don't do anything for me at all. People go there to visit their loved ones to make themselves happy. That kind of thing doesn't make me happy. You know, there aren't many happy times ahead of us. So while the others are up there reflecting and rejoicing over seeing their loved ones again, you're missing out on the one chance you have. Wh-what about you, Sir Auron? What makes you happy? I mean, since we won't have the chance? I'm not going to tell anybody... I know we haven't... talked like this before, Rikku, and that's why this is the perfect time to tell you....Listen. Lean this way... That's better. Nice and closely now, because I may never get the chance to tell you this again. I want to tell you, Rikku, that I.... This time Auron's hand was curled around hers, warm and rough and huge, everything that her little hand wasn't. A few beautiful pyreflies circled them so closely it was as if they were going to whisper to them. Rikku's eyes met his once again and their voices finished the sentence in synch. "...that I love you!!" Rikku blurted out before her eyes fluttered open in the fluorescent light of a room she didn't recognize right away. "Huh?" "Good to see you're awake," Auron greeted her. He was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the room with his arms folded, and his large red overcoat was covering her. Rikku blushed and wondered just how long he'd been sitting there. "How long have you been here?" Rikku asked him, sitting up and wrapping his coat around her shoulders. "I don't know. Forty seconds?" Auron gazed up into the ceiling nonchalantly, not seeming to care at all about anything. "But you've been lying there for about twenty minutes now." "You could have woken me up, you know!!" She stood and threw Auron's jacket at him before smoothening out her original thief outfit. "Sheesh!" "What was that... outfit change you did back there?" Auron asked her before she made her way out of the room in the Guadosalam Inn. "Oh... that's a dressphere. The Samurai dressphere, really. Um... we use them for battle, and uh... yeah. I guess that's all there is to say about it. Like whenever we find a treasure sphere that doesn't seem to have anything good on it, we can harness its power and turn it into a costume for battle." "...I see. Now, to whom was it you were saying that when you woke up?" "Huh?" Rikku failed to put on a genuine tone. "Wh-what are you talking about?" "You know what you said. Now who were you talking to?" "N-NOBODY." "I can guess." Rikku felt a pinching in her throat and a shaking in her voice as she spoke. "You'll-you'll never guess. Nope, you'll never, ever guess!" "Well... it could be Buddy..." "Nope." "And if it's not Buddy, then... Oh, I know! Barkeep!" "WHAT?!?!?!" Auron threw his head back and laughed mirthfully as Rikku puffed up and yelled her reproaches. "How could you say that? What are you, crazy? Geez! Me with Barkeep. You've got to be kidding me!!" she exploded as she followed him out the door while he put on his overcoat. "Well, I see everything's back to normal," Paine said, standing outside the Inn with her arms crossed and one leg up against the wall. "To Chateau Leblanc, shall we?" The three of them walked down the mildewed paths of the small village that had been formed inside an immense, ancient tree. These branches they walked on overlapped each other as overpasses, and various shops were built on their sides. The walls were a unique green with bluish and lighter green veins spreading all over. They stopped in front of a pair of red, elegant double-doors which Auron remembered had led into the palace of the former Maesters Jyscal and Seymour Guado. "Breaking and entering," Paine may as well have yawned as she leaned against those doors and pushed them open with seemingly no effort. "She should be used to the concept of it by now, shouldn't she?" Paine smiled and glanced at Rikku, reflecting this gleeful look. "Oh, yeah," Rikku said with a tone of delight. "Let's do it!" "It looks to me like you've kind of lost your manners from your guardian days," Auron shook his head at her while he glanced around at the old photographs of the Guado family hanging on the walls next to the staircases on the left and the right of the front chamber in the mansion. He remembered all too well the lush green color everywhere, the red doors... the only thing that seemed to be missing was the group of Guado guardians standing in every corner. Instead, there were ladies with their hair tied back and standing in pink body suits with large red heart designs on their chests. "And where are we?" "This is Chateau Leblanc," Paine explained. "The Guado are thinning out, and after Maester Seymour's departure to the Farplane, she came along and took the palace for herself. And no one did anything about it, just because the Guado are disappearing. It's kind of depressing." "'She' ?" "You'll know her when you see her," moaned Rikku, laying her palm across her eyes and forehead. "She's a real pain." "Excuse you?" Paine turned to her. "No, no, I didn't mean that." At that instant, out walked two figures unfamiliar to Auron. He heard Rikku and Paine take deep breaths as the two approached them. One was a woman, not so tall, with short blond hair in spiked ends like Yuna's, in a suit that Auron found less than impressive. It was designed with jagged points, pink and purple all over, cut so low that the ends joined at her violet bikini bottom. Large bell sleeves flared out over matching violet gloves. Purple leggings covered from her thighs down over pink shoes that seemed more tacky than fashionable, and in one hand she held an obscene looking, large red fan with holes cut through the top. A big red heart tattoo was emblazoned on her chest, and her breasts looked like they'd spill out the sides of her suit in any minute. The tall man who was with her had dull, blanched-brown dreadlocks hanging in loops on the left side of his head, spiraling bangs on the right side, and a long crooked ponytail hanging at his back that somewhat resembled a crude wooden staff. His left arm and leg were mechanical and he propped himself up on a titanium cane. He looked as if his girlfriend had picked out his wardrobe, standing in a tight red suit with magenta zippers and buckled straps, and a mass of white fur around his right shoulder over a long, purple flared bell-sleeve. "Well, well, if it isn't two of the Dullwings and... oh!!!" exclaimed the blonde, covering her mouth with her hands in surprise. "Who... are you?" Her eyes scanned Auron up and down and she fanned herself as if she was seeing a large fiend. "You can't be Sir Auron," said the man, his eyes widening underneath a pair of round spectacles. He extended his right hand and leaned against his cane. "Are you? I-I'm Meyvn Nooj of the Youth League, and this is Leblanc." "I'm the leader of my own sphere-hunting team, the Leblanc Syndicate," Leblanc wheezed in admiration. "Surely you've heard about me??" "I can't say I have," Auron replied, feeling and sounding less than enthusiastic. What would Yuna and her friends hang out with a woman like that for? "We'd only heard that you'd disappeared after the High Summoner's pilgrimage two years ago," Nooj rambled on. "Have you been vacationing alone? I keep imagining you've seen some rare sights!" "I have been watching over friends as a different kind of guardian," Auron chose his words wisely. "But perhaps we can talk about that later. I believe Rikku and Paine have a sort of message for you." "Yunie's having a concert tonight at the Moonflow. She wants you to come," Rikku spoke up, handing Leblanc an invitation that her cousin had handwritten herself. "An invitation, for us? We'd be honored. Can we make it tonight?" Nooj said, turning to Leblanc. "Ohhhh, what an opportunity!" Leblanc giggled. "Dancing in the beautiful lights of the Moonflow-at night! Oh, please, Noojie dear? Shall we go?" "I'm all for it." "Then please follow us aboard the Airship Celsius," Paine said dryly. "First we're having dinner in Bevelle and then it's off to the Moonflow." Auron watched Paine roll her eyes as she led a chattering Leblanc and an exasperated Nooj out of Guadosalam. With a strange feeling washing over one whole side of his body, he looked out the corner of one eye and noticed Rikku walking closely behind him. A look of unease appeared on her pretty little face, and Auron restrained himself from taking her hand. "Is something wrong?" he finally asked. Rikku kept her eyes on the ground as they walked. "Well... when we get back on the Celsius... I guess there's something I kinda want to ask you."