A/N: I actually have no plans whatsoever to put this on but Fwe (yes, the one who writes WONDERFUL Aurikkus) thought that I should (thanks a lot, girl!), and thus… this.

Disclaimer: FFX is yet to be mine.

Ever since he was dead, Auron began to learn how to appreciate the smallest things in life. Like the hot, merciless sun of Bikanel, or the cold, cruel chilly wind of Macalania; like the cookie crumbs and Tidus' nervous smile, or the peace and quite a nightwatch could bring.

Like the laughters and the jokes and the hugs a young girl used to provide, back when she was brave enough to hope, and hopeful enough to be brave.

He watched her fidgeting with her arms and her golden strands with one tireless russet eye; she sat with her back to the fire, the warm, orange glow bathing her exposed skin. Their next destination stood proudly in front of her petite figure, an easy target for the cold, harsh winds of Zanarkand. She'd been silent for almost an hour now, ever since Tidus excused himself to look around his hometown--or sort of-- with Yuna following him suit.

(Those two had been inseparable since the events in Macalania; no, Auron hadn't meant to peek, he was merely trying to find a place to relieve his really full bladder when he found them in the lake--he decided to hold his bladder until the Calm Lands).

She hardly noticed him coming, despites the heavy tap-taps of his leather boots; a few months ago she'd have jumped at him and shout loudly in his ears: "Tryin' to sneak up at me, HUH? Tough luck, old man!". The silence was too deafening even for him to take, and he cleared his throat.

Two green orbs framed with those blond strands looked up and the corner of her mouth twitched--she tried to smile, and failed.

"I gave you back your 30 Gil, Auron," she sighed, scooting on the chunk of rock that happened to be her seat for him to occupy. "What do you want now?"

You being that little girl who used to run around trying (and mostly failed--for Lulu, Kimahri and his case) to put smiles on our faces.

"..." He rubbed his neck (a bad habit of Jecht's and Tidus' he picked up unconsciously), trying to find something to say; so much for the Legendary Eloquent Guardian.

"Wait. Lemme guess." She stood up to her 5'2" height, all temper and curiousity and what-used-to-be-joy in that blond, green eyed Al Bhed small figure of hers. "You're gonna talk to me about customising Tidus' weapon so that it sings the Guado National Anthem everytime he tries to use his overdrive? That's just because I wanted to give him a surprise birthday present, asshole. Waiittt. Or issit about me trying to snap a picture of Yunie and Tidus totally making out in Macalania? You were there too, old man; betcha you were enjoying the show--"

'Rikku," he said quietly and she stopped, sitting back down with her head bowed down. The wind blew again and she shivered--he took a step to the right and blocked the damned thing (it had never stopped blowing since he arrived in Zanarkand ten years ago, a bloody wreck that got stuck in someone's chimney; kids thought he was Santa Claus--bad memories). "What's going on?"

She looked up and again tried to smile. "Nothin'!" she declared. "I've stopped stealing since a week ago, I swear and I've already given Wakka back his underwear that has Lulu's name written... Fuck you and your amazing pyschic eye, Auron. I've always known it can see inside unsuspecting young girls..."

She mumbled something about wearing a black bra and warning Yuna about sick old perverts that pretended to be guardians to innocent young beautiful summoners but she stopped after a while. She always did.

"It's Yunie, and her oh-so-noble cause that will ultimately kills her at the end but she never does care because she thinks way too much about Spira and all its fucked up people and how she wants it to be good and stop all this death and destruction all around us," she started, her voice a low whisper, a complete change from her high pitched enthusiastic replies. "I love her, Auron. We all do. I'll break all my ribs and my knees and get my pretty lil' heart ripped out again and again and again to keep her safe throughout this pilgrimage of hers, but it all will come back to zit when she reaches Bitchalesca over there and poof... dies."

He looked at her, studying the little girl he'd come to adore during these few months (with a bittersweet feeling, of course) carefully--she was a fragile little thing composed of hope and dreams, much like him back when he was still Young, Naive Auron and tried to change everything with his own hands. Tried to do the right thing everytime, tried to stop his best friend from getting killed, and tried to stop his other best friend from becoming the very entity they tried to stop.

She was just like him.

"I... tried everything," she continued after her three-seconds-break. "And, damn, Yunie's stubborn. She's as stubborn as my old man; she's as stubborn as me."

He stifled a chuckle; he still had the bruises that bore witness to this virtue of the little thief's.

"Hey, Auron?" She tugged at his empty sleeve that flapped madly in the wind. She sounded tired and hopeless--her old temper was nowhere to be found and how he missed that. "Are you trying to send her to her grave?"

He sighed and finally took the place she had left for him. Taking a swig of the sake in his jug, he opened his mouth and waited for the words to come."Once upon a time... there was a young man who ..."

"C'mon, man. I'm asking for a 'yes' or 'no'. Not a story," she whined. Auron ignored her.

"...tried too much. But at the end, everything he tried failed, and he was left with only promises and what used to be hopes and dreams." He took off the shades that hid his russet eye and rubbed his face. "One of the promises was something he made to himself: he's stopped letting his friends die off in vain'."

She was silent again and the wind had yet to cease blowing. He inhaled--the smell of death and forgotten dreams that was Zanarkand and the sweet, innocent hopeful scent that was the girl entered his system. At the corner of his eye, he could see Tidus and Yuna making their way back to the campsite (holding hands, of course) while Wakka cleaning up the remnants of that day's dinner. He placed his shades back on the bridge of his nose, and was about to stand up when a small hand gripped his large gloved one.

"Mind if you do me a favor?" she asked, leaning closer. "Promise me, like that guy in your story promised himself, to stop Yuna and her stupid deathwish."

He felt the corners of his lips tugging. "If you stop being silly and depressed," he nodded.

"Done, then!"

Then, she jumped up and leaned down and smiled, a bright sight that rivals cherries and pyreflies and the the Bikanel sun; and like all the small things in life, Auron took that in and appreciated that.

So, what do you think?

I hunger of thy reviews. Stomach grumbles.