Disclaimer: I do not own Auron, Rikku, or any of the other characters for that matter. All storyline similarities are credited fully to the creators of the game.

Chapter 2

Rikku sat in her room, staring up at the ceiling. It had since grown dark, and she had been trying to distract herself by counting the dots on the ceiling of the hut. Nights had never been this much of a problem for her… not until she'd lost him.

"I wonder if he's really out there somewhere…" she whispered, her mind drifting toward the Farplane. She had once said that she didn't believe in visiting people there; that she preferred to remember loved ones the way they were while they were alive. It was at that moment that Rikku wondered if her preconceived notions about the place were completely true these days.

Getting up off her bed, the young girl looked out the window to the moonlit waters beyond. Silently she wished that Auron had been able to see a Besaid sunset with her. Just then she allowed a laugh to emerge from the surface, the old Rikku beginning to show as she pictured Sir Auron trying to enjoy a moonlit night. "He would have done it for me," she thought. "He would have done anything for me."

"You're thinking about him again," Yuna said softly so as not to startle her.

Rikku nodded her head in a barely unnoticeable manner as her friend walked in. She knew Yuna had another lecture in mind for tonight, but she silently begged her not to share it.

"I'm sorry…" she murmured, wrapping her arms around the younger girl, pulling her close. "I'm so sorry… you must almost resent me these days…"

"Yunie, I'd never resent you… I'm fine, really I am!" Rikku managed her voice a bit below its usual tempo and pitch. "I'm happy for you and Tidus, and… well, maybe some day I'll have that too."

"Just try and get some sleep. I hate seeing you like this," she said, releasing her friend.

Yuna turned back and headed for the door, unsure of how she'd left things. There was one thing she wanted to say to Rikku… one thing that'd been burning in her mind… but she hadn't the heart until now.

"He thinks about you all the time…" she whispered, as she walked off.