Chapter 20
The glide in the water, against her bare back with the exception of a string holding her dress together, was natural and instinctual. Catching on, Rikku looked at him, her eyes shining amiably and almost moist. Her hand interlocked with his and they began to step together, rhythmically through the water and the music.
The Al Bhed's tender smile and hopeful eyes, shining with the happiness Auron could only hope for in dreams, contributed to the beauty that swallowed him, and would possess him forever. If he didn't have such a strong desire to behold her charm eternally, while a million forevers came and gone and he could still see her through two eyes, he could have wept for the perfection of his time spent before returning back to the Farplane. Her soft, lush breasts pressed against him and Auron's arms tightened around her thin waist.
Rikku leaned her head against his shoulder, from time to time closing her eyelids and taking in the scent of his cologne. His heart beating against hers, his slow and calm breathing, were so real now that she promised herself this would last. She didn't let Yuna go two years ago, and after what she'd gone through today, there was no way he was leaving her. Her hand tightened on Auron's shoulder and she let out a content sigh. They would just keep dancing, until the first cracks of daylight streaked through the pyreflies and splashed them with orange-gold. How beautiful he was to her just now, as he had always been, except the magic of it all was that it became real.
"I hear your voice and I start to tremble
Brings back the chain that I resemble
I cannot pretend
That we can still be friends
Don't wanna be
Alone tonight
What can I do
To make you mine?
Falling so hard, so fast, this time
What did I say?
What did you do?
How did I fall in love with you?..."
Auron stepped, each time, and Rikku followed in perfect synch. The ends of her silk gown often sluiced between their legs in the flow of the river. Pyreflies began to spiral around them slowly, as Auron led her into this suspended oblivion where nothing mattered, except this song, this dance, and these two hearts melting as one, in a saccharine, gentle aching for one another.
"I wanna say this right
And it has to be tonight
I just need you to know
I don't wanna live this lie
I don't wanna say goodbye
With you I wanna spend
The rest of my life...!"
Yuna's punchful notes rang out and vibrated, reaching them along with the piano and string crescendo, evoking sadness and deep yearning in the two lost, lonely souls. Those pyreflies, souls that had been lost for those long-forgotten years, guided them in chances and opportunities that this timeless man, and girl of everlasting youth, could not cheat fate and miss a second time.
This last line seemed to pierce them both hardest. Rikku's watery eyes darted inevitably into Auron's fiery, reminiscent ones. Like children, they looked to each other in fearful anticipation. The easygoing movement of the Al Bhed's spiraling eyes, following Auron's dark pupils, seemed to reveal everything. They were drowning in each other. Auron's fingertips reached for Rikku's face and his nose was nearly touching hers.
His voice began to crackle, like that of a nervous adolescent. "Can I tell you something?"
"Y-yes..." The tears almost spilled as Rikku's wet, gloved fingers sought out Auron's neck. His hand caressed her back and her senses shut down to everything else in existence except the pyreflies' candy-like glow reflecting on his clean-shaven face, framed by stray wisps from his long brunette ponytail, his spicy-sweetness she could just taste, the roughness and softness of his jacket and his arms warming her in the cold of the water, and the low, sexy coarseness in his half-whispers. The only other thing she realized was that they'd stopped moving.
"I want you to come closer," Auron said, pulling her in and resting his forehead onto hers, their eyes half-open. "We haven't... talked like this before, Rikku. This may be the perfect time to tell you, since I might not get the chance again. I hope you're listening, because this time I want to tell you, that I..."
"What can I do
To make you mine?
Falling so hard, so fast, this time
What did I say?
What did you do?
How did I fall in love with you?"
"...love you," they whispered at the same time. The first tears rolled down Rikku's cheeks, intermingling with the freshness of the river's water, still dripping down off her hair from her fall into the Moonflow. Through half-closed eyelids, Rikku saw only a flash of the clear sepia of his iris and a set of beautiful, healthy eyelashes, and the two came as close as they could to locking onto each other's eyes in a fixed, deep, captivating stare. Auron leaned in and Rikku stepped closer, finally finding her determination in blind instinct.
A soft, high-pitched singing came from somewhere around him, and the pyreflies gathered all around Auron's body, causing him to glow. A white aura surrounded him before the pyreflies scattered again, then the old scar appeared over his eye and the man he was before, in his mid-thirties before his time, rugged and worn from a life without this joy, stood before her.
"It's-it's the spell of the pyreflies counteracting the sphere waves," Auron choked softly, his face still close to hers and his eyes almost shut. "I'm sorry that... it didn't... last......" His voice trailed off as Rikku clenched both his shoulders tightly in her gloved fingers, passionately, and yearning. Now he knew he was never alone in these feelings. Come what may later, he wanted nothing more than to do this now, screw explanations until later.
His lonely, long-untouched lips came in contact with her pink, glossy, full ones, caressing gingerly, with that same fluffy softness as if a feathers from an angel's wing had drifted and landed on their mouths, or the pixie dust of the moonlilies swept up onto their lips. Heat blazed within them, and Auron tightened his arms around Rikku's waist and shoulders. Rikku's trembling fingers came up and stroked his chin, her heart pounding and tears falling into the Moonflow. Auron felt the tiny shudder in Rikku's body and rubbed her shoulders as their kiss deepened. The blonde moved her arms up and around his shoulders and neck.
"...I love you," they whispered again together as they withdrew to catch their breath. Auron's thumbs brushed away the crystalline tears that caught the glow around them, forming rainbow-hued streaks down her face. He kissed her neck, and she choked again on the joyful tears before their lips met again and they seemed to melt together, their hearts fluttering as the only sounds in the universe other than the turning waters and singing of the pyreflies.
The glide in the water, against her bare back with the exception of a string holding her dress together, was natural and instinctual. Catching on, Rikku looked at him, her eyes shining amiably and almost moist. Her hand interlocked with his and they began to step together, rhythmically through the water and the music.
The Al Bhed's tender smile and hopeful eyes, shining with the happiness Auron could only hope for in dreams, contributed to the beauty that swallowed him, and would possess him forever. If he didn't have such a strong desire to behold her charm eternally, while a million forevers came and gone and he could still see her through two eyes, he could have wept for the perfection of his time spent before returning back to the Farplane. Her soft, lush breasts pressed against him and Auron's arms tightened around her thin waist.
Rikku leaned her head against his shoulder, from time to time closing her eyelids and taking in the scent of his cologne. His heart beating against hers, his slow and calm breathing, were so real now that she promised herself this would last. She didn't let Yuna go two years ago, and after what she'd gone through today, there was no way he was leaving her. Her hand tightened on Auron's shoulder and she let out a content sigh. They would just keep dancing, until the first cracks of daylight streaked through the pyreflies and splashed them with orange-gold. How beautiful he was to her just now, as he had always been, except the magic of it all was that it became real.
"I hear your voice and I start to tremble
Brings back the chain that I resemble
I cannot pretend
That we can still be friends
Don't wanna be
Alone tonight
What can I do
To make you mine?
Falling so hard, so fast, this time
What did I say?
What did you do?
How did I fall in love with you?..."
Auron stepped, each time, and Rikku followed in perfect synch. The ends of her silk gown often sluiced between their legs in the flow of the river. Pyreflies began to spiral around them slowly, as Auron led her into this suspended oblivion where nothing mattered, except this song, this dance, and these two hearts melting as one, in a saccharine, gentle aching for one another.
"I wanna say this right
And it has to be tonight
I just need you to know
I don't wanna live this lie
I don't wanna say goodbye
With you I wanna spend
The rest of my life...!"
Yuna's punchful notes rang out and vibrated, reaching them along with the piano and string crescendo, evoking sadness and deep yearning in the two lost, lonely souls. Those pyreflies, souls that had been lost for those long-forgotten years, guided them in chances and opportunities that this timeless man, and girl of everlasting youth, could not cheat fate and miss a second time.
This last line seemed to pierce them both hardest. Rikku's watery eyes darted inevitably into Auron's fiery, reminiscent ones. Like children, they looked to each other in fearful anticipation. The easygoing movement of the Al Bhed's spiraling eyes, following Auron's dark pupils, seemed to reveal everything. They were drowning in each other. Auron's fingertips reached for Rikku's face and his nose was nearly touching hers.
His voice began to crackle, like that of a nervous adolescent. "Can I tell you something?"
"Y-yes..." The tears almost spilled as Rikku's wet, gloved fingers sought out Auron's neck. His hand caressed her back and her senses shut down to everything else in existence except the pyreflies' candy-like glow reflecting on his clean-shaven face, framed by stray wisps from his long brunette ponytail, his spicy-sweetness she could just taste, the roughness and softness of his jacket and his arms warming her in the cold of the water, and the low, sexy coarseness in his half-whispers. The only other thing she realized was that they'd stopped moving.
"I want you to come closer," Auron said, pulling her in and resting his forehead onto hers, their eyes half-open. "We haven't... talked like this before, Rikku. This may be the perfect time to tell you, since I might not get the chance again. I hope you're listening, because this time I want to tell you, that I..."
"What can I do
To make you mine?
Falling so hard, so fast, this time
What did I say?
What did you do?
How did I fall in love with you?"
"...love you," they whispered at the same time. The first tears rolled down Rikku's cheeks, intermingling with the freshness of the river's water, still dripping down off her hair from her fall into the Moonflow. Through half-closed eyelids, Rikku saw only a flash of the clear sepia of his iris and a set of beautiful, healthy eyelashes, and the two came as close as they could to locking onto each other's eyes in a fixed, deep, captivating stare. Auron leaned in and Rikku stepped closer, finally finding her determination in blind instinct.
A soft, high-pitched singing came from somewhere around him, and the pyreflies gathered all around Auron's body, causing him to glow. A white aura surrounded him before the pyreflies scattered again, then the old scar appeared over his eye and the man he was before, in his mid-thirties before his time, rugged and worn from a life without this joy, stood before her.
"It's-it's the spell of the pyreflies counteracting the sphere waves," Auron choked softly, his face still close to hers and his eyes almost shut. "I'm sorry that... it didn't... last......" His voice trailed off as Rikku clenched both his shoulders tightly in her gloved fingers, passionately, and yearning. Now he knew he was never alone in these feelings. Come what may later, he wanted nothing more than to do this now, screw explanations until later.
His lonely, long-untouched lips came in contact with her pink, glossy, full ones, caressing gingerly, with that same fluffy softness as if a feathers from an angel's wing had drifted and landed on their mouths, or the pixie dust of the moonlilies swept up onto their lips. Heat blazed within them, and Auron tightened his arms around Rikku's waist and shoulders. Rikku's trembling fingers came up and stroked his chin, her heart pounding and tears falling into the Moonflow. Auron felt the tiny shudder in Rikku's body and rubbed her shoulders as their kiss deepened. The blonde moved her arms up and around his shoulders and neck.
"...I love you," they whispered again together as they withdrew to catch their breath. Auron's thumbs brushed away the crystalline tears that caught the glow around them, forming rainbow-hued streaks down her face. He kissed her neck, and she choked again on the joyful tears before their lips met again and they seemed to melt together, their hearts fluttering as the only sounds in the universe other than the turning waters and singing of the pyreflies.