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 4

Upon entrance to Guadosalam, Rikku felt as though she had a thousand pyreflies flying around in her stomach. It had been her idea to come in the first place, so she felt kind of silly that she was so shook up over the visit.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea…" she thought to herself as she fought to place one foot in front of the other. "Maybe I should stay on the ship."

"Come on, Rikku!" Tidus yelled from up ahead. "Sir Auron's not going to wait forever, you know!"

Rikku blushed, her entire face betraying her intentions. "I'm not here to… well, you know! I'm not here to see him," she murmured unconvincingly.

"Uh huh… then why are you here?" he challenged.

"That's enough," Lulu chimed in. "She's been through enough."

Lulu was right… she had been through enough over the past year. In the same year she managed to fall in love and have her heart skillfully ripped from her chest. As far as she was concerned, fate could go to hell. It'd dealt her so many troubles that she didn't know what to do with herself anymore. "I hope this solves everything," she thought. "Maybe seeing him one more time will help me move on…"

"It's okay, Tidus… I am here to see him," Rikku admitted. "But that doesn't mean you get to start making goo-goo faces at me again just because of it!"

Tidus laughed as the group wandered up the steep slope up to the Farplane entrance. Rikku stopped just short of the place her and Auron had been the year previous. She couldn't believe he was gone… a whole year, and she still couldn't believe he was gone.

"Are you sure about this?" Yuna asked, her hand resting on the younger girl's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "You know you don't have to…"

"Yes I do," she said, mustering up enough courage to move on. "I have to do this… I have to."

Yuna nodded slightly before taking Tidus' hand in hers as the group made their way into the giant spherical entrance to the Farplane.