A/N: Hey everyone! One update as promised! I want to thank everyone again for reading and reviewing! You guys are still awesome! I'll keep it short, just shout-outs then all story from there.
Kitty Malone and RikkuLovesAuron: Thanks so much from reading and reviewing! I'm glad you guys are liking this!
Krazie-edge: Oops good looking out! You think I would get that number right since I just was playing FF7 the other day. Thanks! Keep reading!
Perfect yet broken: I know, I know, I will have pancakes haunt Tidus next chapter, thanks for reading!
xxRhixx and VampyreQueen24: Thanks as always for reading and reviewing and I hope you like the chapter.
Starry34: I'm glad you liked it. Note your summary a little way down.
Pychostudent06: thanks! Yeah don't worry, she is gonna get it! Hope you like the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own FF or any of its characters. What.
To Djose
Last chapter:
"NO! Sir Auron she told me she should see you as an old man That she isn't supposed to like you. But she does!"
"Yuna are you saying..."
"Sir Auron, I can tell you what Rikku feels in her heart. You have to talk to her yourself."
Yuna turned and went back inside leaving Auron to think...
"Item is tribe weapon. Weapon is in Djose. Little Al-Bhed has details tomorrow. Tonight we feast."
Rikku almost choked on her food. Did he say Djose? Uh-oh.
Yuna smiled to herself as she looked around at her former guardians. Everyone had finished eating the wonderful feast Kimahri set out for them and were now conversing among themselves. Kyra had given up on seducing Auron for the time being and was investigating the comm-sphere in the corner. Lulu and Auron were talking to Kimahri about his role as tribe elder. Further down the table, Wakka and Rikku were arguing about which location was harsher, Gagazet or the Thunderplains. Yuna looked next to her at Tidus and giggled. He was slowly nodding off and then jerking back awake. She watched him do this a few times before she shook him.
"Tidus," she whispered, "wake up!"
Tidus sat up and took a look around. He inhaled deeply before settling back in his seat.
"I wasn't asleep Yuna, I was just-"
"resting your eyes?" Yuna finished for him. Tidus smiled at her and nodded. He rested his head on her shoulder preparing to go back to sleep. To his dismay, Yuna pushed him into a sitting position and stood up, preventing him from lying down again. Tidus grumbled and settled on resting his head on the person on his left, which turned out to be Wakka.
Wakka was in the middle of making a point to Rikku.
"Rikku," he was saying, "if the Thunderplains were worse than Gagazet, people wouldn't travel over them. How many people you see climbing Gagazet? None, ya! People cross the Thunder-"
Wakka stopped and looked down at his shoulder to see a puff of blonde spikes. He looked over at Rikku and rolled his eyes. "Oh brutha!"
Rikku laughed at Wakka's discomfort and got an idea. "Hey Wakka, hand me that cream on the table!"
Wakka grinned and handed it to her...
Meanwhile, Kimahri was telling Auron and Lulu about what was happening on the mountain.
"All was calm until player stole item" he told them.
"Player? What player?" Lulu asked.
"Player from blitzball team. Took item to make Ronso team angry. It worked."
"Hmmm, why would a blitzball team steal from the Ronso?" Auron wondered aloud.
"Kimahri not know. Know that item is in Djose. That is all."
"I wonder how it ended up...Lulu, what are Rikku and Wakka doing?"
Auron and Lulu looked over at them to see an amusing sight. Tidus was sound asleep in his chair with his head tilted back and his mouth wide open. Rikku had sculpted his hair into a mohawk with the cream. Wakka had busied himself by dotting Tidus' face with a red paste he made out of what ever was left over. Lulu smiled seeing that Rikku and Wakka were having a hard time keeping their laughter under control.
"What are you two doing?" Auron said sternly, causing both Rikku and Wakka to jump.
Rikku saw a twinkle in Auron's eye and asked, "Wanna help?"
"No I do not. I am taking no part in that."
"I'll help!" Lulu said excitedly. Wakka and Rikku smiled and motioned Lulu to join them. Yuna came over and occupied the seat Lulu had just left.
"Sir Auron, can't you do something!" she laughed.
Auron chuckled and watched his friends assault Tidus with the leftovers. Even Kimahri joined in after a while. After they were done, Tidus wasn't recognizable. He had food on him everywhere and was still sound asleep. Once they decided the masterpiece was finished, everyone returned around Auron and Yuna.
"Kimahri not have that much fun in a while." the Ronso chuckled.
"Aw you missed us!" Rikku hugged her friend and laughed.
"Yes, Kimahri missed friends. Now time for friends to rest. Stay on mountain tonight?"
"Yes we will stay here tonight and depart for Djose tomorrow." Auron announced.
Rikku gulped remembering that she wasn't looking forward to that. Yuna walked over to Tidus and shook him for the second time that night.
"Tidus come on. It's time to sleep!" she told him.
Tidus blinked at Yuna and stretched. When his sense of hearing woke up, he heard his friends snickering.
"What?" he asked, "did I drool?"
Wakka was the first to crack up followed closely by everyone else. Auron picked up a huge silver tray from the table and held it in front of Tidus like a mirror. When Tidus saw his refection he let out a yell.
"Arrrghhh! What did you guys do!"
Yuna took a napkin and wiped a spot on his cheek clean so she could kiss it. "Come on Tidus, let's get you cleaned up."
After Tidus cleaned himself up, Kimahri led the group to where they were going to sleep. By this time, Krya had rejoined the group.
"Kyra did you see what they did to me?" Tidus asked.
"No Tidus sorry. I was using the comm-sphere." she answered.
Kimarhi led his friends to a very large stone room. It was pretty bare except for a huge red carpet on the floor and a large fireplace against the far wall. They were several bedrolls laid out around the fire in a half-moon shape. When they saw the bedrolls, Tidus and Yuna exchanged a look.
"Operation Aurikku begins Yuna. Objective: keep Krya away from Auron." Tidus whispered in Yuna's ear.
Yuna giggled at his serious tone and nodded. "Yes sir!"
The rest of the group were admiring the carvings on the ceiling of the high room. "Wow, they look really old!" Rikku said.
"Right, well come on everyone we have an early start tomorrow!" Tidus told them. He saw Kyra make a move toward Auron and stepped in. He pushed Auron toward the farthest bedroll on the left.
"Ok Auron, you have to sleep over here because you snore and no one wants to hear that!" Tidus pushed Auron over onto the bedroll.
"I do NOT snore" Auron protested.
"Yeah good idea," Yuna said catching on, "Rikku you have to sleep next to me so I can grab you when you start to sleepwalk!" Yuna pushed Rikku onto the bedroll next to Auron and then took the one next to her.
"I don't sleepwalk!...Wait, do I sleepwalk?"
Yuna patted Rikku on the head and settled down next to her. Tidus followed suit and hopped down next to Yuna. Wakka and Lulu took the next two and Kyra had the one farthest to the right.
Tidus winked at Yuna when he noticed Kyra huffing about her sleeping spot.
"Objective complete!"
Rikku wasn't stupid. She knew full well what Yuna and Tidus were up to and loved them for it. As long as Sleezy McWhorey was far away from Auron, she didn't care about where she slept. But somehow, they managed to get her and Auron together too! Mental note: buy Tidus and Yuna a thank you gift.
Auron felt a calm in his body knowing Kyra was all the way across the room. He didn't have the patience to deal with her tonight. He also felt happy that Rikku was next to him. He looked over at her and smiled as he watched her shift around in her bedroll. She was trying to find a comfortable position and had a look of concentration on her face. Auron wanted to reach out to her and pull her close to him so she could snuggle into him. He never felt the urge to do that before. Did I really think the word 'snuggle'? I wasn't aware that was in my vocabulary...
Finally calming down, Rikku opened her eyes and found Auron staring at her. She blushed.
"What?"
Auron smirked when he saw the blush on her cheeks. "Nothing"
Rikku grinned at his half-smile and hid her face under her blanket.
"Rikku," Auron said in his low voice after a few moments.
She opened her eyes and looked at him. She looked over his face and liked the way the firelight accented his dark locks.
"Yeah?" she whispered back.
Auron looked into her eyes. "Rikku, did you really think the kiss we shared was a mistake?"
"No"
When Auron didn't answer, Rikku lifted her head up and looked at him harder.
"Did you think it was?"
"No"
Rikku dropped her head back to her pillow and pulled her arm out from under her blanket. She extended it halfway to Auron.
Auron looked at her and reached over to her hand. He covered her small hand with his large one occasionally stroking her skin with his thumb.
"Goodnight Auron"
"Goodnight Rikku"
The two fell asleep soon after holding hands well into the night.
The next morning the group woke up slowly. Lulu was rubbing Wakka's shoulders as he stretched.
"Man it's been a long time since we had to camp out like this ya?"
"Sounds like someone is going soft!" Tidus teased.
"Shut up. I am just getting spoiled sleeping in a bed and everything..."
Auron had been a wake for a while and was waiting for everyone to get ready to depart. This is really familiar...
Unlike last time, he didn't feel the need to hurry anyone. He walked around talking to his friends and helping out when needed.When everyone was ready, they said a quick goodbye to Kimahri and headed to the airship.
When they were in the air, Yuna and Lulu pulled Rikku to the side
"Hey Rikku, have you thought about what you are going to tell Gippal?" Yuna asked.
"Yup"
Lulu waited for her to continue. When she didn't, Lulu asked, "Well? What are you going to say?"
"I am going to tell him I'm not interested. I know what I want now. Finally."
Yuna and Lulu smiled at each other.
They arrived at Djose midday and were met with an interesting sight.
"What is going on here ya?"
There were hundreds of people around, gearing up and trading goods. The group was still standing in confusion when Gippal approached them.
"Rikku," Gippal ran up to her and kissed her on the cheek, "you came! Are you here for the tournament?"
Auron felt his fist involuntarily clench when Gippal kissed Rikku. "What tournament?" he asked.
"Come inside and I'll explain."
The group followed Gippal into a large room and waited for him to talk.
"Basically, the Machina Faction is hosting a tournament. Everyone here is getting kinda antsy because there aren't many opportunities to fight fiends anymore. We needed something to do so we are holding a tournament to find the best fighting team in Spira".
"Why didn't I hear about this?" Kyra complained, "I have been waiting to fight for a long time!"
Lulu ignored her and addressed Gippal. "So you all decided to fight each other?"
"It's a little better than that. There are prizes involved. Not to mention bragging rights!"
"Let me guess, on of your prizes is a Ronso weapon." Auron asked.
"You got it. That is our first place prize. The Al-Bhed blitzball team brought it."
"And the only way to get it is to win." Yuna said.
"Well yeah Yuna. No one is getting the prize for free!"
The six friends looked at each other.
Rikku sighed. "Where do we sign up?"
Djose was soon buzzing at the news that Yuna and her former guardians were entering the tournament. Some dropped out immediately fearing for their safety. Most welcomed the challenge.
"Can we do this guys?" Yuna asked.
"It has been a long time." Lulu observed.
"I don't know" Rikku added.
"I have every bit of faith that we can win now as I did the day we defeated Sin." Auron reassured them.
It was just what everyone needed to here. "Yeah! What are we worried about? We're awesome!" Tidus yelled.
Rikku smiled and asked, "Do you know what would make us more awesome?"
The group shook their heads as Rikku ran back on the airship. She soon returned with a long black bag.
"How is a body bag going to help us Rikku?Is it supposed to be intimidating?" Wakka asked.
"Open it silly" she told him.
Wakka unzipped the bag and smiled. "You're right Rikku. This is more awesome."
The group was silent as Wakka passed out their legendary weapons.
"Hey has anybody seen Kyra?" Yuna asked.
The six friends were waiting around for their turn in the first round.
"I'm right here!"
Everyone turned around to see Kyra standing with a small group of men.
"Guess what everyone! These are my peers that I went through guardian training with! We are entering! Good luck!"
Everyone looked at each other as Kyra and company walked away. "I'm not scared." Tidus told them.
One hour later, they had returned form their first round of fighting.
"That was awesome! We barely fought and we kicked butt!" Rikku yelled.
"Why were we worried?" Lulu asked.
"I can't believe how good that felt." Auron added.
"We are gonna win this!" Yuna said excitedly.
"Now guys, don't count your chocobos before they hatch! We still got a lot of rounds to go, ya"
Everyone looked at Wakka in shock.
"What?"
With each battle that passed, the group felt more confident. It had been a while but they still had it going on. Every team they beat sat on the sidelines trying to catch their breaths. Yuna, Tidus and Lulu took out the team from Luca. Right afterward Rikku, Auron, and Wakka beat the team from Kilika. The six of them together took out Gippal and his team and then the Crusaders.
The final battle was between Yuna and her guardians and Kyra and company. The teams strapped up their weapons and moved to the arena.
"Ok folks, this is it!" The announcer said, "It all comes down to this. The winning team gets the Ronso sacred weapon and title of Best Fighting Team in Spira. Good luck!"
Yuna and all of her friends stepped up. They wanted to take out this group and get back to Gagazet.
One of Kyra's friends stepped to Auron. "Sir Auron," he said, "it is an honor to fight you. It will be a great honor to defeat you."
Auron smirked at the young man and pulled out his sword. "We begin!"
Much to their surprise, Krya and company had a lot of power and the skill to back it up. The team was in full force.
Kyra immediately leapt at Rikku.
"You are going down Al-bhed!"
Rikku adjusted her Godhand. "Bring it on!"
Everyone spent the next half an hour sparing and fighting. It was a tough battle and everyone was tested. Lulu easily cast spells and Wakka helped deflect the attacks toward Lulu with his blitzball. Yuna made sure all her friends were healed while she wielded her guns. Tidus and Auron fought two men with their swords and were winning. Rikku meanwhile continued to leap and fight with Kyra. It was very satisfying for her. She made sure she got in a few good punches.
Finally, Kyra and her group were defeated.
"And the winners are... Yuna and her guardians! Congratulations!"
"We did it! Take that Kyra!" Rikku shouted. Lulu looked over at Kyra to gloat.
Kyra stood up and shot a glare at Rikku. She raised her hand high up in the air.
The smile fell from Lulu's face. "Rikku look out!"
Auron turned in time to see Krya cast three consecutive Thundaga spells at Rikku.
He ran to Rikku and caught her right before she hit the ground.
A/N: that's all for now folks. i am not sure when my next update will be,but don't worry I won't keep you hanging for too long.
