Ok wow, how long has it been?

...sorry 'bout that O.o I was cleaning out my fic folder and found this nearly-finished part of the two-part, and thought that the least I could do was sweep away the dust and finish the damn thing.

So I expect most people who read this the first time round don't remember a goddam thing, so feel free to re-read it :P

Or if you are new to this, :D enjoy.

Although Rikku barely slept that night, she wasn't exactly awake either, and had no memory of being in the bedroom other than the unpleasant jitter of being taken there. Apart from one occasion when she woke up searching for someone…anyone, she was terrified of being there alone. However despite finding another person near to her she somehow couldn't shake a feeling of abandonment – there was someone meant to be there, and she was sure that person wasn't Lulu.

"Just go back to sleep." The black mage hushed as Rikku began to babble and flinch in her fatigue, then tried to sit upright to convince herself that she was safe, in an airship… Not trapped back in her room at Home whilst it burnt to the ground.

"But I…" She mumbled weakly as Lulu's cool hands pressed down on her shoulders and kept her from moving, forcing her to be still and to sleep…and the nightmares didn't help much.

The early hours of the morning lit up the small cabin and stung her bitter eyes awake, and unable to sleep any longer she got shakily to her feet and walked outside to find some fresh air. Lulu had fallen asleep soon after she'd settled for good, and was now so soundly unconscious that she did not so much as stir when Rikku attempted to sneak out and find a bathroom to brush her teeth in. However, not two steps out of the door a low voice called out to the wandering Al-Bhed.

"Are you going somewhere?" The Guardian on watch announced and she froze in her tracks, for two reasons, one: because she knew she'd been caught, and two: because she suddenly realized that if she took another step she was going to be sick - the guardian's voice had literally turned her stomach.

"Uh…bathroom?" She mumbled weakly without turning around, and heard a sigh from the watchman as he stepped away from the wall.

"This way." Auron stated uninterestedly as he strode ahead, and as she meekly followed Rikku tried to recount her distorted memories of the night- she recalled the glass breaking…or more accurately breaking the glass when Auron's sake ran out (she needed to apologize for that), along with some rather vivid recollections of being violently sick. It was amongst these memories and while walking the same corridors that she suddenly remembered being held and carried around by the someone who came across her sorry state last night – who was all rough palms and heavy hands and didn't know quite how to hold her: who despite having every right to simply leave didn't, which was when Rikku realized with a stab of guilt that it was actually Auron who'd found and remained with her.

She felt even worse at this and had to stop walking all of a sudden, curling up until her nausea faded, which Auron noticed and fell back to the girl's side; not saying anything but waiting patiently for her to recover, so with a grimace she continued down the hall.

"In here." He stated impartially and opened the door into a small bathroom, but when she ran over to stagger over the sink he stepped in with a jolt of anxiety. Rikku clutched at ragged breaths to battle her queasiness, and then heard Auron's footsteps behind her. He placed a hand on her back like he did the night before, and ran his palm across it soothingly as she swallowed the bitter taste on her mouth.

"…Sorry." She chocked as she willed tears away from her eyes, not meaning to cry but everything seemed to be going wrong and she felt horrible and Auron was bound to be mad at her and so would everyone else and this was Yuna and Tidus's story not hers so why was she doing stupid stuff like this but he was being so nice which just made it worse because she'd have to apologize even more when she…

"Stop apologizing." He replied coolly as she hiccupped and pressed her palm over her mouth to stop herself retching, thankful for the comfort but still sick with guilt for being such an idiot.

"Okay…I'm fine." She mumbled as he held something forwards to her: a container of water.

"Drink it." He stated more than he actually asked, but Rikku was willing to obey for two reasons – one: her mouth was drier than the bikanel desert, and two: Auron did not seem to be in a mood to take no for an answer. So she swallowed a mouthful of the bitter tasting liquid and then feebly requested to be left alone, reluctantly obliged by Auron, as the girl was entitled to some privacy. However, he remained close to the door on the other side and listened intently as she ran the taps to wash her hands and face, both being in a rather sickly state.

Rikku stared at herself in the mirror and twisted the taps until they stuck, trying to make as much noise as possible so Auron couldn't hear her whimpers and sobs while her stomach did its very best to redecorate the basin.

'Why were you so stupid!?' She asked her reflection, nearly recoiling at how awful she looked – pale, almost green in fact, with dark circles under her eyes and chapped lips; she probably bore more resemblance to an unsent than a real person. Suddenly she couldn't bear to look at herself any longer, but instead of turning away impulsively raised a fist and slammed it into the glass of the mirror, screw luck, she probably deserved it for acting like such a cretin.

She had only hoped to crack it, having assumed that it was a flat plane bolted to the wall, but unfortunately the thing was in fact the door of a cabinet and Rikku's hand plunged straight through it, burying splinters of glass in her fist as she screamed with fright… the pain hitting a moment later as a crippling afterthought.

'Now that was stupid!' She told herself as a worrying amount of blood began to pour from the numerous cuts, and she wrenched her wounded fist away just as the door flew open with a concerned guardian on the other side. Auron cursed himself for leaving Rikku alone the moment he heard the scream, let alone as he forced in the door and saw blood running down her arm – she was too young to be unsupervised…and Yevon he sounded like an old man when he thought like that.

"Auron! I…!" She stuttered pitifully while trying to move her hand, which caused shards of glass still lodged between her knuckles to sear and she cried freely, no longer worried about anyone seeing.

"I thought…it was…flat…I didn't mean to…oww," was her explanation as he cast a quick look first towards her hand, and then the broken mirror. Eventually deciding against a reprimand for the girl while she was still injured and probably losing a fair amount of blood, Auron stepped forwards and gripped her wrist tightly, then forced it under the running tap and washed away enough blood to see the parts still embedded in her fist.

Instead of trying to remove the shards with his fingers and probably end up hurting her, he brought the lacerations up to his mouth and as gently as he could sucked out the splinters; turning his head aside to spit them into the sink as if it were something he did everyday, while trying to ignore the confused looks Rikku was giving him – the fact that the Legendary Guardian had anything of hers in his mouth was an anomaly in itself: he wouldn't even eat her cooking.

It was a pretty weird sight, she had to admit that, and Auron was beginning to look a bit like a vampire with her blood all around his mouth and a glare to kill. But she wasn't in any sort of situation to comment upon it and stood there lamely, crying her eyes out and squeaking whenever he flexed her knuckles - to check for fragments of glass obviously as he wasn't a complete sadist. He threaded his fingers through hers to be able to bend them a little more and for a short moment Rikku wanted him to do it without her being hurt as an incentive, although it was a completely insane thought of course – he was Auron for Zaon's sake!

"What do you feel?" he asked while flexing her knuckles another time, and although she could probably sob for hours about her 'feelings', that wasn't what he was after.

"It hurts." Rikku whimpered pathetically, sure she'd sported all sorts of injuries in her time, most of which were nastier than this little scratch, but it was just everything.

"I know," he softly replied to her surprise, was that empathy coming from the lips of the Legendary Guardian? "Sharp or dull?" after a few seconds she realized he meant the pain.

"Uh…no more glass I think," she answered as he ran her hand under the water one more time, once again turning it a charming crimson.

"Don't do that again." He told her as he released the iron clamp he had on her wrist and wiped his own mouth, then rinsed the palm under the tap, where she still held her weeping knuckles.

"Yessir," she mumbled brokenly, still holding out her fist in the sink like a stuck puppet. Auron carefully took her hand again and tentatively rubbed his thumb over the cuts, letting his other fingers curl over hers as he drew her hand back and toweled it dry on his loose sleeve – it was red after all, so the blood didn't show.

He bunched up a part of the scarlet material and pressed it over her hand then clamped his on top, hoping to staunch the blood flow slightly until he could find a potion or healer. This arrangement meant that the easiest way for Rikku to walk without twisting her arm or tripping Auron up was more or less in the crook of his arm, into which she slotted into rather nicely and managed to shuffle down the corridor without bursting into tears or being sick. Quite an achievement considering recent events.

"Auron…?" She asked in almost a whisper as he tightened his arm around her, probably because his arm was getting tired of reaching across to hold her bleeding fist.

"Yes, Rikku?" he replied flatly while wondering what the chances were of anyone on board this airship was a healer, or if he was going to have to embarrass them both by attempting some more second-rate first aid once they reached some medical supplies.

"I'm sor…uh, thank you." She said quietly, and the Guardian's hand squeezed over hers more than was necessary to stop any blood flow.

Ta-da :P

Now I finally have this off my conscience XD Hope any readers enjoyed it and reviews would be a thoughtful closing note.