Hey everybody, here comes the second chapter sorry it took me so long. I applaud Jaymo and Gin who were right about whose voice it was, but! I wanna thank Fwe who gave me another voice idea. But rather than spoil it I'll let you guys read.
Umm dedication . . . I don't know who to give it to I'll be honest you guys are all great reviewing - so I'll pick the easy way and this goes to my first reviewer Jrockerwendie!!!
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own the character. But I feel the need to manipulate them!!!
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The floor was flying under her feet. Or so it seemed. She felt like she was floating through the air her body was moving so quickly. "Yunie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YUNIE!!" She yelled at the top of her lungs trying to find her cousin.
"What Rikku?!" Said Yuna - worrying flowed through her voice and through every feature. It only increased when she saw her cousin hunched over at the waist breathing in deeply - gasping for air like a fish out of water.
Her pants weren't soothing her lungs - no, her lungs were just burning into oblivion for moving so quickly. But, she didn't care - her pain didn't matter even remotely to her. "It's Auron - his arm - it's warm. There's actually heat in his body!" she said between gasps for air that would sooth.
"What!" Yuna said her eyes becoming large. Without more than a moments hesitation she moved quickly into on of the rooms in the hall and came back out with her staff in hand. Rikku, she found had already started to make her way back down to Auron's room. She ran as quickly as she could to see just what was happening in the room.
She found Rikku standing next to him, worry filling all her features over with a certain recognizable hope consuming her at the same time. "Come here and feel him Yunie" she spoke almost quietly to her cousin. Yuna made haste to do so. She let her hands fall onto his and couldn't believe it. She lifted her hand and quickly moved to the opposite side of his body. It was eerie to her - one arm on his body felt like flames were engulfing it while the other felt as if it was sitting in an ice bath for a week. Yuna lifted her hand once more and lifted it to Auron's forehead - it was cold too - but somehow it didn't seem as cold. Yuna's eyes gazed over Auron's body inquisitively.
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It felt like, water this time soothing over his limbs. It wasn't as nearly as soothing to him as the ice had felt but it was certainly a nice feeling. It was weird - it was as if the more he felt these things looming over his body - the more he felt - alive. He didn't know why that was. He still didn't understand the idea of zombie powder but perhaps - perhaps this meant it was working. Maybe he was being pulled out of the abyss and onto a side.
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"Well Yunie what do you think?" Rikku's voice broke over Yuna's thoughts.
"I'm not sure Rikku" she said shaking her head "I think the powder is finally working - somehow I think it's starting to work.
More tears became apparent in Rikku's eyes. "Do you mean that he won't be stuck any more - the scholar man was right?"
Yuna nodded "Yes, I think he was."
"Oh thank . . . . everything." Rikku gushed an immense relief filling her. It was quickly pushed away though "How long do you think it will take to fully work?" she asked.
"I'm not sure, but the powder working like the Maechen said it would. So we should give it time, he said something would have to trigger the powder to begin its work otherwise, he would stay in his suspension."
"Something triggered it huh?" 'I wonder if it was what I said. It would only make sense right?'
"Well, all I can do is try to heal him and try to scan him and see what's going on." Yuna said breaking Rikku from her thoughts.
"Yeah, please."
Yuna nodded and removed her hand from Auron's forehead placing it on her staff. She started her chant - staff raised over Auron's limp body.
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The water washed away and again he was annoyed that the feeling had vanished. Someone was near his body he guessed and touching him, their touches were caring it seemed. If you could feel concern through fingertips, he would imagine they felt like this. Both the water and the ice that is. But with the ice a different emotion seemed to be attached. He decided to not think too much about that. It could be addressed only after he found a way out of this . . . void.
"I remember her asking me to wait. I remember she asked me to give her one month to find the Zombie Powder, but what happened after that. Everything else feels like, well I feel like I never really experienced it." Auron took a chance at speaking into the air, hoping for the voice to respond to him again.
"Well, I should think it'd be obvious she found it."
"It was. And who are you? Where is B-"
"Someone from the farplane was calling him. So your left with me."
"Can you answer my questions?"
"Of course I can."
"Well" he spoke with his words almost clipped
"Watch the temper."
" . . ."
"You agreed to give her the time. So she searched, her and Yuna with the help of the Al-bhed. You went along too, of course. I don't think you expected her to find it - you assumed it was just a legend."
"I did assume it was fake. But the girl needed closure of some sort. After all she had been through I couldn't find it in myself to deny her request. I didn't actually think it would get me anywhere. Certainly not in another plane of existence."
"We never think it'll work out. But she got lucky, she ended up finding something near my temple. That's where the trail led her. She almost didn't make it to you. That's why you're stuck here."
"I won't pretend I understand that statement."
The voice just chuckled. It seemed to fill the air around Auron causing his body to shake and his eyes to widen. His ears pounded at the noise but not hurt. Auron didn't really understand how that was happening but he wasn't really pushing away anything as being impossible at this point.
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Yuna held her staff over Auron allowing it to scan over him. "I'm still not getting anything from the scan Rikku."
"Nothing at all?"
"No."
Rikku's eyes fell to the ground but never rested on any site. They darted back and forth rapidly. He features were overtaken by a miserable look again. It was apparent to anyone who would have looked at the girl but to Yuna it was so much more. Her cousin wasn't one to be so withdrawn and miserable. Always happy in a bad situation, doing what ever was in her power to make it better. But now, she looked so . . . so. . . Yuna couldn't begin to express it.
"Rikku, it's working that's all that matters. Whatever happened while I wasn't in here had some effect on his body. It's starting to come alive again. Just feel his hand and you'll find that. Just because scan isn't telling us doesn't mean anything. You should be happy."
"How can I be Yunie? I did this to him. If it wasn't for me than he would be able to rest not . . . not just lying there lifeless. I wanted him to be alive and with me - us - not like this. I screwed up."
"Rikku . . . . . " Yuna's words failed her for a minute. The next words left her confidently "Take his hand Rikku."
Rikku looked up her cousin startled by her tone change and what she told her. "Wha -"
"Take it."
Rikku kept her eyes wide and looked down at Auron's hand, she turned away from him for a minute and let her eyes search the room - they fell on a chair. She reached out and pulled the chair over to her and sat down next to Auron, reaching and taking his hand in her own. She didn't move an inch and spoke quietly as if the man she was touching was in a light sleep and her voice would wake him. "What now?"
"Just stay with him, feel him and remember that day Rikku. Remember what you gave of yourself to have him here with us. Let him remember that too, remember what he has to come back to."
She looked up and nodded at her cousin. "And what are you going to do now Yunie?'
"I'm going to go see what I can find out about the sphere I found of him. . . . Of Tidus."
Rikku's eyes stayed pinned on Yuna and finally a smile filled her features. "Tell me when you find something out and we'll go search this whole planet!" she said enthusiasm in her voice.
Yuna smiled back "I will."
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Ice. Chilling one side of him body. He closed his eyes again at the feeling but this time instead of fully being able to enjoy it he heard the voice laugh at him once more.
"What?"
"You enjoy that feeling a lot don't you?"
"It's soothing, it makes the . . ."
"Pain go away?"
"There is no pain . . . but it makes something go away.'
"The feelings of nothingness I suppose."
"Welcome back Braska"
"Hmm yes, welcome back my lord."
"Auron and Anima. Now where are we in our conversation?"
"I was about to tell Auron what happened with the powder, and how Rikku almost didn't make it back to him in time."
"I'll take it you didn't understand what she was saying did you Auron?"
"No."
"You remember the pulling and tearing from the farplane don't you? The feeling of being torn away because your purpose was no longer existent. You remember fighting against it right?"
" Yes, I was trying everything I could to remain in Spira for that month."
"And towards the final week do you remember the pain?"
"Yes . . . I think so. I think I started to fade. Send myself if possible. Is that possible?"
"You had special abilities Auron and an even stronger will of course you could send yourself. Not many would ever be able to do so."
"It's a bizarre concept I'll admit but you started to. You were fighting it and the girl was running to you. My niece was running faster than I've ever seen her or anyone run to you. She had it in her hands - she wasn't going to be so close to saving you just to have it fail."
"So what happened then?"
"She needed to mix it. She needed to mix the powder with items to allow you life. She gave to you herself in the mix, a little taste of life to edge away the death."
Auron's face was full of confusion and remorse and a slight intoxication.
"She didn't hurt herself."
The remorse fluttered away.
"And yes, she did do that for you, no matter how indifferent you were towards her. She would have done it for any of you."
The confusion seemed to melt.
"And she's waiting for you now, to pull through. To take the life she gave to you and embrace it."
The intoxication filled up to a more noticeable elation.
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Her hand gripped his. "You'll make it through Auron. I know you can. You were the strongest you know? I don't care how long it takes I'll sit by you. I'm still terrified you'll be stuck but if Yuna is right, if Maechen is right than you'll be up and moving around soon."
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He could feel ice again. It didn't help the elation. But it felt different this time. When he felt -it- the voices went away. It was like it was just him and this feeling - him and her - It was unusual, he couldn't quite grasp if he liked this idea or not, but he liked the feeling and it wasn't as if he could stop it even if he wanted to so he just enjoyed it. The cooling and the attached feeling of life that seemed to come along with it. This time though, feeling wasn't all there was to it. It was almost as if he could her something as if he could hear something -her-
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"I don't know if you can hear me or not. But I'm just going to speak and hope your listening okay?"
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With each word that she spoke on the side of the living it was slowly meshing into his realm of indifference. The voice was low though. He couldn't hear it clearly at all. It was small and muffled. It was almost as if there was a hesitation within her to let him know what she was thinking and a hesitation on his part to her what words she wanted to speak to him. So he focused, as hard as he could to try and hear her words, and push back what nervousness and pain that were seeping into him. He focused in on his hand -her hand- their connection.
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It was then that Rikku decided to take a breath and focus on his hand, lend all her focus to just him. What came next shocked her though. She could have sworn that she felt his hand tighten around hers.
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He felt his hand, actually felt it touching her skin and tightened their connection. He was ready to hear her.
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So what'd you think? Any advice or questions or anything like that welcome. So please R/R thanks!!!
Oh and what do you think about the two voices of Anima and Braska? Good idea?