Disclaimer: nope, don't own it...yet.
A/n: Okay everybody cheer with me, I finally got something better then dial up! I got my DSL, so now I should be able to respond to you all! Oh yes, Gin is a very happy girl...
Yuna stood in the doorway shocked at the speed which the younger girl had ran past. All she wanted to do, was tell her that her caretaker had woken up. She hadn't even waited to hear what she had to say. She noticed a piece of paper on the floor and picked it up. The envelope still on the dresser confirmed what she thought it to be. Whatever was on this letter made Riana run out at the mention of Auron. She glanced around before beginning to read.
"Rikku, Braska?" She questioned after she had finished. "Braska was my father's name." She glanced to the open door that Rikku had run out of only moments before then back to the letter in her hand. "I must tell her!"
A throat clearing made her pause. She looked up to see Kimahri standing there. "Kimahri think Yuna should wait. Rikku have much to think about now."
"Rikku? You knew about this?" She asked indicating to the letter in her hand.
The Ronso shook his head. "Sir Auron explained on first night they entered town. Kimahri keep secret, Yuna do same."
"Oh, I see. But what if something were to happen and she doesn't say anything?" She objected.
"Yuna will protect, Kimahri will too."
"You're right. Thank you, Kimahri." She gave him a quick hug before something else occurred to her. "Just one thing, we can't say anything to Wakka. You know how he hates Al Bhed."
Kimahri nodded. "Yuna must go now."
"Oh yes! Rik, ahem, Riana will need someone to explain about, you know."
--
Rikku had ran out the hut and across the village as fast as she could. After reading that letter, what was she to expect? She had to see with her own eyes though. Someone tried to stop her as she ran passed, but ignoring them, she kept on. By the time she reached the inn, she was out of breath.
Rikku took a deep breath and entered the room. Auron was there, but he was...standing? He noticed her and gave a quick nod as he finished putting on his coat. She gasped in shock before running to him and wrapping her arms around his mid-section.
"Rikku, what?"
"Shh. Don't say anything. I'm just so happy you're ok." She interrupted.
He unwrapped her from around himself and knelt so he would be able to see her face. "Are you crying?" He asked.
"Only from relief. I was so sure you had died." She explained before throwing herself back at him. "I don't know what I would have done if something happened to you."
He barely managed to keep upright as she hugged him again. "Rikku," he whispered, "What on Spira would make you think that I had died?" He asked only somewhat cross. He had raised her to learn not to jump to conclusions.
She backed away slightly knowing that maybe she had pushed him too far. "The letter. It was sitting on the dresser when I woke up. I thought..." She stopped as she saw him searching in his pockets. He scowled as he came up empty handed.
"That was not for you to see yet. How did you get it?" He growled.
Rikku backed away under his intense gaze. "It, it was sitting in my room. I found it sitting on the dresser when I woke up."
He sighed. He should have known she wouldn't willingly go through his possessions. But that still did not answer the question of how she came to receive it. "Then you have read it?" She nodded. "And?"
"I don't know. Is, is it true?" She asked him unsure of what to make of the new found information.
Yuna entered the tent at that point. She saw that Rikku had already seen that Auron really was alive and well. She hid a sigh of relief. Auron noticed her entrance and stepped over to her. His frame towered over her, but she was unafraid.
"I believe I owe you my gratitude. You are the healer, are you not?"
"Yes, I am. My name is Yuna."
"As I thought." He then left the hut without saying any more.
Yuna glanced over at Rikku as if to ask, "What did he mean by that?" Rikku could only shrug as she followed him out.
"Auron, wait!" She shouted as he was quite a bit ahead of her. He paused long enough for her to catch up, then moved on.
"Talk later. Kimahri will allow us some privacy." Rikku complied as she followed him into the hut.
--
Kimahri noticed the look in Auron's eye as he entered the hut. Silently he put down the ladle he was using and left the hut. Auron gave a nod in gratitude as he did so. He had a lot to discuss and did not want others to overhear. Rikku stood behind him swinging her arms and looking every where but at him.
"Soooo," She began. "What was it you needed to tell me?"
"I..." He closed his eye in thought. "Forget it. You can't dwell in the past." He turned away from her and tried to leave the hut.
She moved quickly so she stood in front of him. Holding her arms out in front of her, she blocked his way. "Now wait one moment. You tell me you want to talk about it, and when you get the chance, you back out. Who are you, really?"
"I am who you see. A fallen warrior. Nothing more."
"I don't believe you. And that letter, what is that all about? Or was that a lie as well? I need answers and you're the only one who can give them to me!" She shouted at him ignoring the angry tears that stung her eyes.
He sighed. What was he supposed to do now? Lie and risk hurting her more in the long run, but let her be at ease now? Or tell the truth, and be prepared for whatever questions she had now? Lying held a certain allure right about now.
"Look, Rikku, I am nothing more then a temple monk who was banished for siding with the Al Bhed. I have no idea what even happened to cause such a fall out between temple and the tribe. I was asked to protect a small child, and have been doing so for the last twelve years." So the truth comes out anyway. He should have known, it was too hard to lie to her anyway. "I have lost everything to protect the one thing that..." He stopped, but in his mind he finished it. "That is most important to me."
"That what? You saying that you regret it? You saying that I was nothing more then a burden? I don't understand you at all! All these years and you never said anything to me. And why? Because it would ruin the lie you constructed about yourself?" It hurt her more then she ever thought it would. Here was the man she had looked up to for so long, the only person who knew who she was. Then without even thinking about it, her hand came up and slapped him across the face. All the hurt and anger poured into that one action. Her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped as she realized what she had just done. Tears fell freely now as she ran out of the hut and somewhere in town.
Auron rubbed his cheek where she had struck. He attempted to follow her out to see where she might have gone, but by that time she was long gone. What was he to do now? A villager walked past him. "Excuse me, have you by chance seen a young girl run by?"
--
"So you're saying you want me to go to Kilika and find one girl? All I have to do is find her and tell you where she is? That's it, nothing more?" The rough voice asked.
"That's it." The other person confirmed.
"There's gotta be catch. A man who..."
"Watch it." The man interrupted.
"Fine, right. And what about my wife and kid? You saying I have to leave them behind?"
"That will be up to you. Speaking of which, how old is Tony now?"
"Tidus. Least you can do is remember his name." He snapped.
"Ahh, my apologies."
"Yeah, yeah. And he's twenty-one."
"Not much of a boy then, is he? Perhaps he might end up being a liability. Maybe you should think about leaving him at home."
"I don't think so. Where I go, we all go."
"Very well. In three days, I will send a boat for Kilika. Just make sure you and your family are on it, understand."
"Yeah, I get it." Jecht disconnected his end of the commsphere.
"Who was that, dear?" His wife asked as she entered the room.
"Hey, you remember that guy who helped us when we were looking for a house?"
"Oh no. That was him? What did he want?" She came up close to him and pressed herself next to his chest.
He wrapped his arms around his wife instinctively. "Clarise, I'm sorry. It's time to repay the debt we owe."
She sighed. She knew this would happen sooner or later. "So what did you do?"
"Ha! Do you even need to ask? I'm the great Jecht, I do what I want."
"What does he want you to do?" She asked with a knowing hint in her voice.
"Hey, you saying I can't make my own decisions?"
"No, not at all dear."
"Good, 'cause we're going to Kilika. We leave in three days, that's when the boat comes."
"And Tidus, what about him? He has a life here, you going to make him leave all that behind?" She asked, though she already knew the answer to it.
"What do you think? He's my son, he'll go where I go whether he likes it or not! Besides, maybe this will teach him how to become a man. The boy is such a crybaby."
"Whatever you say dear." A door closed in the next room. "Here's your chance to tell him."
"Mom, Dad, you here?" His voice drifted through the house to them.
"In here." Clarise answered from the kitchen. A second later a blond head peeked around the corner.
"Just checkin to make sure it was safe." He explained as it disappeared only to be replaced by the rest of his body. Tidus was a young youth, in the prime of his life. Looking at him, you could tell he was an athlete. And he made sure to show that fact off, by not wearing a shirt under his open fronted yellow tops. Every mussel rippled as he moved. He moved around the kitchen checking cupboards looking for food. He found something and sat down to eat. "So what's up?" He asked between bites.
"Tidus, your father has something to tell you." Clarise said as she moved away from Jecht and sat down at the table with her son.
Jecht scratched the back of his neck before speaking. "I have a job. But we have to move for me to do it."
Tidus dropped his spoon and stared at his father dumbly. "Yo, old man. You're kidding right?"
"No, Tidus, I'm not. If you want to keep living here." He pointed around him, "We have to move to Kilika until I finish the job there."
"I don't think so." Tidus stood from his seat forgetting the food in front of him. "I like Zanarkand. Everything is here for me. You expect me to just drop it all to go with you for some fool trip? Forget it."
"Now you listen here, boy!" Jecht roared. "You do as I say or you can kiss sports goodbye!"
"Jecht, please. Relax." Clarise interrupted before fists began flying. It had happened before, and she wasn't about to have it happen again, not when she could stop it. "Tidus, think about it, for me at least. We will be back before you know it. Then you can go back to whatever life you had."
Tidus glanced from his mother to Jecht to see him scoffing as he leaned against the counter. Ignoring that he looked back to his mother. "Fine, but it better be done quickly." He said as he left the house.
"Well, that went better then I imagined." Clarise noted as she cleaned up the mess Tidus had left behind.
"Yeah, at least he didn't start crying." Jecht added.
--
Auron found Rikku about two hours after she had run off. Villagers said they had seen her leaving the gates and heading to the sea. That was where he found her, sitting on the sand overlooking the water. He stood at the edge collecting his thoughts before moving. His feet never made a sound as they moved over the sand. Within moments he stood slightly behind her. He didn't say anything.
"I'm sorry, you know." She finally whispered after some time.
"I know." He replied.
"I don't even know why I did it." Still the same level as before.
"I know."
"And I also heard you coming as soon as you stepped on the sand."
"I..." Wait, she had heard him. He must be getting rusty after so many years. He looked down at her for the first time. She held something in her hand, but she wasn't looking at it. More or less using instinct to piece it together. Auron moved to sit next to her, pulling one knee up and resting his arm on it. "What do you have?" He asked her using his head to indicate the object.
"I have no idea. I found it in the water when I came down here. I've been working on it since then." She picked up another part from the sand and fitted it together without looking. Her gaze never left the sea in front of her.
The sun had begun to go down leaving her colored in golden light. Her hair and skin took on a majestic glow. A breeze blew by blowing some strands of hair into her face. She shook her head to encourage it to move back, but it only ended up shaking more loose. Auron resisted the urge to reach out and tuck it back for her. Instead she reached up and did it herself leaving part of her blond hair streaked with black. He chuckled within himself.
She eventually turned her head to look at him. A soft intake of air let him know she saw the faded handprint on his cheek. "It will heal soon enough." He said as her eyes didn't move from it. Slowly she moved closer and traced her fingers over it. He felt a slight tingle of a cure spell, then nothing.
"It's the least I can do." She replied. She reached back and grabbed the object she was working on. "It's finished. Don't know what it does, but you can have it if you want. Think of it as a peace offering." She held it out on the palm of her hand in front of her.
He raised his hand as if to take it, but then closed her fingers around it. his large hand dwarfing hers. "You keep it. You found it. I don't even know what it is." He confessed.
"I don't either, but whatever it is, it sure took a while to put together." She gave him a small smile to let him know that things were alright between them again. "Auron?" She moved away and sat back down. "Can, can you tell me about my parents?"
"Are you sure?" He didn't want to go into it if she wasn't serious. Her life would be full of enough problems as it was.
"Maybe you could tell me about what I was like as a kid then?" She suggested.
"That, I can do." Rikku moved in close for warmth as the sun went down. and he told her all about what she was like.
