If this chapter looks familir, im sorry. i had to repost it cause i changed some stuff in it! Please re-read it.

My heart bleeds no more

chapter 6 (EDITED)

Rikku sighed heavily as she poked at the small campfire with a stick. There were few if any fiends around. She was bored. She was expecting to get some type of exercise, but alas, no. Since the defeat of Sin, fiends had become few and far between. The fiends that were left proved to be of little or no challenge to Rikku.

However, just incase there happened to be a stray wolf or something running around, she set up a parameter scanner around her small campsite by the beach. The small bots made light humming noises as they scanned the surrounding area. A design she came up with herself, she had never had a real chance to test them out, though, now days, they almost weren't needed.

She had traveled far in only one day. She couldn't even see the lights from New Home on the horizon anymore. After much arguing with her father, he finally agreed to let her go. Then, they spent another hour or so arguing over weather or not she would go alone. In the end her way prevailed.

She threw the twig into the fire and groaned. She stood up, brushing the sand off the back of her skirt and looked around for something do to keep herself occupied until she was tired enough to fall asleep. She walked a few steps closer to the water.

The moon was huge over the endless black horizon. She waves washed up in shore creating a soothing rhythm. She closed her eyes and just listened for a moment before walking closer to the water. She slipped off her shoes and kicked them softly to the side careful not to get too much sand in them. She took one more giant step so that the waves touched the tips of her toes. The water was cool, but not cold. Perfect.

She stepped into the water a bit further, it came up to her ankles now. She stepped backwards out of the water and kicked off her skirt on top of her shoes. She was about to jump in but stopped herself when she realized that she really didn't have any other normal clothes to change into. If she wore what she had on in the water, she would be cold, and the sand would cling to her even worse. She shrugged. She was the only person out here for miles.

She took off the rest of her clothes (that is, her bikini top and bottoms) and threw them over with her skirt.

Then, She dove in.

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Auron didn't have any trouble getting out to Bikanel that night. It took about an hour to for the ship to get finished making other deliveries, then they swung by and picked up Auron on their way back in for the night.

However, when he arrived and stepped off the ship, he was awed at the sight before him. The new Albhed home was huge. Buildings touched the sky, light brightly with multicolored lights. It seemed that the place had a dull blue aura. It was beautiful. It reminded him too much of Zanarkand, only not quite that big.

Someone stepped off the ship behind him and chuckled, "Surprised Sir Auron?"

He turned and looked at the dark skinned Albhed named Buddy, "To say I'm not would be a lie."

They both stood there for another moment in a comfortable silence admiring the view. Auron wondered how he was going to find Rikku in all the confusion.

Buddy spoke again next, "C'mon, I'll take you to Cid..."

"Hu?" Auron was confused. Cid? He wasn't looking for Cid...

"You looking for Rikku right? Cid would know where She is, he keeps pretty close tabs on her when she's in the city..."

How the hell did he know he was here looking for Rikku? Does everyone seem to know about them? He though about that for a moment. Them? There really was no 'Them.' It was a... he didn't know what to call it. He didn't even know if she would still want him. She was grown up now. Surely she had moved on...

"Well?" Buddy was waiting for him a few feet ahead of him now, "Are you coming?"

Auron grunted a yes and followed him into the city. He was even more suprised to see that there were not just Albhed living there, but every race in spira. As they made the short walk to a small yet secure builing close to the hanger they stepped out of, Auron noted all the shops and events happening.

Street performers, Bars with live bands, shops full of everything you could ever want. It was like every city in spira came together into one. No one was figting over space, or race...it was, peaceful (if thats what you could call a city.)

Has that much reaally changed since he had been gone!

Rikku sat at the waters edge ignoring the tiny creatures that scurried around her. As long as she didn't move, they wouldn't try to hurt her. She gazed out at the vast sky and all the stars that inhabited it.

She wonders if there were other planets like spira. Would the things that lived on the planet be like the inhabitants of her planet or would they be different? Was there some girl, way off, a billion light years away wondering the same thing. She kicked back and floated easily ontop of the gently moving water.

In her thoughts a brief memory popped into her head, something she had almost forgotten about.

Rikku stepped out of her tent and breathed in the cool air of the calm lands. The breeze that passed was warmer than the air around her. The grass at her feet was moist with the dew. By the position of the moon, she'd say it was about 2 or 3 in the morning. He would be on watch by now.

She looked around for him. She had to go by the faint light of the moon since the fire had long since died out. She spotted him, standing near a cliff about 100 feet from camp. His back was to her and his long red coat blew around him, as if it were his own personal tent. His cowl and glasses were at his feet, he was completely open, vunerable.

She quietly walked over to the silent guardian trying not to disturb his meditative state. Her eyes glanced across the ocean, knowing that somewhere across from them was her home, well, former home.

She could feel a lump forming at the back of her throat, but she would not cry. She had shed too any tears, and now it was time to move on, everything would be okay.

She felt eyes on her now. Auron was looking at her silent as always.

She blinked, "Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you..." she said a bit sheepishly.

He smiled, "No, there's no need to apologize. I was waiting for you to come."

She smiled now, "Were you now?"

"Yes." He said looking back out at the stars.

"And just how did you know I would?" She said sitting down on the ground.

He shrugged, "I just knew..." He sat beside her shoulder lightly brushing against hers as he took a seat. She then proceeded to sit ned to him, getting as close as she could wtih out sitting in his lap.

They sat there together in a slightly awkward silence until Rikku though of something to say.

"Did you know the Albhed use to use the stars to navigate their way through the desert? Some of us still do, with the proper training of course."

"No I didn't know that..." Auron said wondering if there was a point to the conversation, "Are you properly trained to do so?"

"Of course I am, what kind of princess would I be if I couldn't..." She stated as matter of factly.

He chuckled, "and just what kind of AlBhed princess sneaks out of her tent at night for the company of an excommunicated monk of Yevon?"

She shrugs, "A damn good one..." she says passivly as she scoots a bit closer to him. He wrapped an arm around her and she welcomed the embrace.

After a few moments she spoke again, "Auron?"

"Hmm?"

"E muja oui..."

He blinked wondering if what she had just said to him was what he thought, "care to repeat that in english?" He asked in order to confirm his suspicions

"I can't..." She said, "I don't know how..." A lie of course...

"Well..." Auron pulled her closer, "E muja oui, duu..." He kissed her forehead.

She looked up at him smiling then kissed him gently on the lips.

Rikku sighed and wiped a tear from her cheek. She didn't know what brought on that. It really didn't have anything to do with anything she could associate with at the moment.

She seemed to be doing that a lot lately though, having random memories of the pilgrimage. One's of Auron imparticular, that is.

She stood from her position on the water and walked, still naked over to the still live campfire. She pulled a large blanket out of her bag and wrapped it around herself tightly as if to ward off any other memories that would only bring her pain. She stared in to the fire and sighed. Sleep would not be comming to her tonight.

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Auron stood there before a man not much older than himself waiting to be acknowledged. Cid was currently talking, well, yelling at a young Ablhed with an eyepatch. The young man, who Auron had picked up to be named Gippal, was pleading deasperatly for more time to get the irrigation system working properly. That's all Auron could pick up because most of the time, they were speaking Albhed, abnd he only understood certin things.

Auron blinked. maybe this wasn't the best time to be here...

Cid looked past Gippal to Auron, "So, your looking for my daughter..." Gippal then turned to look at Aruon suspiciously. Auron noted the scrutnizing gaze he was receiving from the young man. Auron suddenl remembered the name Gippla from the earlier conversation with Lulu and Yuna.

So this was the young man that Rikku was formerly involved with. He noted again the eyepatch and laughed inwardly. He would have to ask Rikku about that later...

Auron swallowed hard, then looked back to Cid and nodded, "Yes, I'm afraid there's a new threat to spira and I'm sure her help will be needed along the way" It wasn't a lie at all.

"Can't help you then..." He said quickly.

Auron opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again. What would he say to that?

"Listen, you don't have to beat around the bush with me. I'm pretty sure I know why your here, but if I'm wrong you can go now. If your only going to get my daughter involved in another one of these damned rescue Spira missions again, Im not going to tell you where she is" Auron was slightly confused but gave Cid the chance to continue, "However, if you are here to make my daughter the happy girl she once was before you left, then she's along the beach."

Gippal looked at from Cid to Auron wide eyed. Auron ignored him.

Auron still didn't know what to say, "Sir?" He felt like a teenaged boy again trying to convince a father to let him speak to his daughter. Why was he so intimidated by this man?

"I just want her to be the same... I thought she was finally happy when Gippal here proposed, but it only made things worse. She was settling, and that's not good enough for my baby girl." Cid stood and turned looking out the window.

Gippal scoffed, "Hello I'm standing right here!"

Cid turned and looked at Gippal, "I said you can go..."

Gippal was about to protest, but then decided against it. He walked out of the office slowly, like a puppy with his tail between his legs.

Auron watched him go. This young man was much more suited to Rikku that he himself was. Had she really waited for him specifically to come back. He told her to move on, to be happy. What if he hadn't come back? Would she have stayed alone forever?

Cid turned back to him, "Well What the hell are you still doing here? Get goin I told you where she was! She shouldn't be too far, I'll even give you a speeder..."

Auron nodded, "Thank you sir..."

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The familiar sounds of a speeder out in the distance woke Rikku from her light sleep. She stood up, then realized she was still naked. Who ever it was would surely get and eyeful if they passed over the dunes near to her.

She crouched and reached for her bag, pulling out her usual thief dress sphere. In nearly the blink of an eye she transformed into her practical, yet still sexy, desert dwelling thief sphere.

She could see the lights of the speeder over the top of the dune. What the hell? Did her father send someone out to check on her? She started to get angry just thinking about it. Would that man never trust her?

She grabbed her weapons where they were securely attached to her belt and crouched low in a fighting stance hoping that the flames from the fire would hide her enough to give her the upper hand.

As the speeder peaked over the dune she could see the faint silhouette of it's single rider. The speeder slowed as it neared her, and she could tell there was something familiar about the occupant. She straitened up and looked hard through the darkness.

The speeder stopped about 20 feet away from her small camp. A large man stepped unsurely off the speeder and stood there for a moment. Rikku's heart stopped. Her stance relaxed, her weapons slipped out of her hands and fell into the sand at her feet.

The coat. The could see the coat swaying gently in the salty ocean breeze.

Auron took a step towards Rikku but stopped. Was it her? Of course it was, but she had...grown. The young perky teenager had turned into a beautiful woman. He could just barley make out her emerald green eyes in the darkness. She was looking at him in utter disbelief. He smiled, though still unsure of what to do.

He didn't have to though because within the next second Rikku was running towards him at full speed. Auron held open his arms and braced himself for impact. She leapt at him and the fell to the ground and instantly Rikku's lips were on his.

Auron was too shocked to react at first, then hastily kissed her back with equal passion.

After what felt like forever, yet not long enough, Rikku ripped herself away from him in a rush of air between then. She finally let out a breath she never realized she was holding. She looked at him closely touching his face.

She noticed he had both eyes, yet the scar was still there. It made him look younger. There wasn't as much gray hair as she remembered. Best of all however, he was smiling.

"Auron is it you?" She asked her voice cracking a bit.

"Of course it is..." He answered pulling her back down for another kiss.

I had to change this chapter. I had a few new ideas. The next chapter will be out hopefully by tommorow or friday!