"I don't care why she's unconscious; I just want her awake and talking!"
"Calm down, Wakka. She'll be fine. You and she took the brunt of that last battle and she's exhausted on top of her injuries."
"Ya, and about the injuries; why didn't the Save Sphere or the Hi Potions wake her up? Look, the cuts and burns are healed; why isn't she awake?"
"I told you, Wakka. She. Is. Exhausted." Lulu put a comforting hand on Wakka's arm. "Yuna says she'll be fine with a good night's sleep".
Wakka sagged with relief. "I know. It's just, Lu, I was so unkind to her, and I didn't really get a chance to tell her, ya?, and when she screamed and fell I just…" He spread his hands helplessly. "I need her to be okay, ya, Lu? I need to tell her I was wrong." He hung his head.
"You were an ass, Wakka." It was Auron, seemingly appeared behind them. Wakka groaned, his head in his hands. "I know, I know. Sir Auron, what if she doesn't wake up? What if she… you know… before I can tell her I was wrong, ya?" Auron grunted. "Yuna says she'll be fine. Lulu backs her up. That's enough for me." He studied Wakka, kneeling in the dirt by Rikku's prone form, and sighed. "You children rest now. Lulu, come with me." He walked away, Lulu following in his wake.
As the two older Guardians got out of earshot, Lulu spoke up. "Thank you, Sir Auron. I was wishing I could cast a Silence spell there." He stopped, turned, and looked at her closely. "I must ask you some questions which are none of my business, because they may affect Yuna's pilgrimage." When she just inclined her head slightly, he continued, "It is clear to me that Yuna and Tidus shared… a moment… back there in Macalania Woods". She nodded again. "You know Yuna best of us all, Lulu. Is this – incident – going to affect her pilgrimage?" She looked more closely at him. Why, he was actually blushing slightly around the ears. She said, "Yuna will not be swayed by – an incident – like that one. In fact, it will probably be good for her. I'm sure it was a first for her; most men her age feel that Summoners are… untouchable."
He nodded. "Good. And the others?"
"You mean Wakka and Rikku? A relationship of that sort would be good for him, and I don't think it would hurt her at all. He's a good man, Auron, with a few blind spots. She seems to have opened his eyes to at least one of those spots, which is all to the good. I can't speak for Kimahri. As for me, well… I lost something very precious the last time I was in the Calm Lands. Right now I need to focus on getting Yuna safely to Gagazet. But after…" She gave him a whimsical little smile. "After… who knows?"
He looked sharply at her. She was flirting with him. He nodded his head once, very slowly. "Indeed."
Rikku was beginning to become aware of things around her. She seemed to be lying on the ground, but her head was pillowed on something elevated and she could hear that slight high-pitched humming sound that indicated a Save Sphere nearby. And who was stroking her hair back from her forehead, humming the Hymn of the Fayth? She slowly opened her eyes, and looked up at Wakka. His eyes were closed as he gently stroked her forehead to the rhythm of the hymn he was humming. She reached up and gently put her hand over the one in her hair. His eyes opened and the song stopped abruptly. "Don't stop," she whispered, "it's nice. I didn't know your voice was so good". He smiled at her and began the song again. This time he sang the words. She began to sing along with him, weakly, but he looked at her in surprise. He hadn't known she'd know the words. It was just another indication that he had been wrong about the Al Behd, ya? Come to think of it, the men on her father's machina ship had sung it too, when they had to destroy their Home. His voice faltered as his throat closed up with guilt.
"Aww, Wakka, why'd you stop singing? It was nice." He stared at her, aghast that he had believed such awful things about her and all her people, based on lies from the priesthood of Yevon. And here he was, singing their song with her? He could have kicked himself. "I… Rikku, I… I didn't mean it, Rikku. I mean, I meant it then, ya? But I didn't know any better and now I…" She looked at him perplexedly. "Wakka, what are you talking about?" He pulled her up to a sitting position so he could look into her eyes. "I… Rikku, that song is of Yevon, and I… I believed such horrible things about the Al Behd because of Yevon, and then I sang you their – the Temples' – song, and I…" He stopped when she put her hand over his mouth. "Wakka. Don't go from thinking Al Behd are all infidels to thinking we're all saints. We're not. We're people, ya know? Just people, who fight and play, hate and… and love. It's not Yevon or the Fayth we have a problem with. It's the temple's sacrifice of the Summoners. The Hymn belongs to the Fayth, not to the Temples." She reached up, took his face in her tiny hands, and kissed him gently on the lips.
He froze, not sure what to do. It started out as a gentle, friendly kiss, but now… she was kissing him and he was kissing her back and it felt so good and his heart was racing like he'd been playing Blitzball for hours and he had the brief thought that it was a good thing they could both survive underwater for a long time because neither of them were going to breathe anytime soon if this kiss kept going like this and then she put her arms around him and clung to him, her compact little body molding to his and he broke off the kiss, breathing raggedly and looked into her eyes. The spiral-pupiled green gazed steadily back at his brown and she grinned. "Well! That was more than I expected! Don't look so shocked, Wakka; haven't you ever kissed a girl before?"
Not like that, he hadn't. He thought about telling her so, but there was a sound of a clearing throat behind him. He sighed, squeezed her hand, and looked up at Kimahri.
"Kimahri have food ready. If Rikku and Wakka done with play time."