Aww, you guys are so sweet, your reviews make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside u/ / /u
Buffalochip: Thank you! Here you go! :3
GentlyRiseAndSoftlyCall: New chapter now, enjoy!
starfox: Thanks! You know, I always thought that native english speakers would be perfect XD But now that I see this whole "your/you're" and "their/they're/there" drama... i just have to shake my head x'D
inkie: hehe that's sweet c: Hope you will like him again now ;P
CupofTeaforAliceandHatter: Aww, so kind, thank youuu! ;A; I'm doing what I can!
OfCoffeeAndIceCreams: *o* Thanks a lot! I'm glad you like him, I hope I can keep up with your high expectations now :P
This chapter is a bit longer, the next one will be even more! *flies away* Hope you'll like! Let me know everything that's good/bad and how I can improve. (my english too)
Their next goal now was much more to Rikku's liking. Wide, sunny plains - the complete opposite of this freezing hell they had just escaped. After all the trouble with Seymour, these beautiful plains seemed more than a worthy prize.
The Al-Bhed girl was the first to run to the cliff to oversee this whole place. "Woooah!", she exclaimed, gaze wandering over the grassy field. Beside a few small hills here and there, it appeared all flat. One weird thing, however, were the spiky rocks coming out of the ground, along with the other weird stone formations. When she took her gaze further, she could see cliffs leading down the western and northern parts. Apparently, this whole thing was some kind of mountain... As on the eastern side, the mountain continued - but upwards this time.
After meeting a person who explained this place a little - stating that it had been the battleground of Lord Braska and [Sin] ten years ago, everything started to make sense. Especially those spiky stones scattered around the plains...
They continued their journey until it had to be about noon. The sun was high up in the sky by now, so they decided for a little rest before it was getting too hot. As a resting place, they chose one of these ground spikes, as it somewhat delivered some cool through its shadow.
A Chocobo carrier wagon crossed their way and offered some food for the summoner and her guardians, mentioning how much she respected Yuna for taking this hard journey upon her. The brunette girl merely smiled and thanked the woman, settling down on the floor then.
"I'm glad that some people are still supporting us.", she mumbled, setting down the food for everyone.
After eating a little, Rikku couldn't help but notice that someone was missing. A certain crimson cloaked swordsman...
Half of her food still in her mouth, she supported herself on one arm to get up, grabbing a rice ball in the progress. "Mhh", she started "I'ma gwet Auron sommfing" and with that, she ran off, ignoring the scolding about not talking with a mouth full.
It took her some minutes to find the old man. Well, "old" was probably a bit harsh... but everyone older than her was "old", Rikku decided. So it didn't necessary have to mean the "old geezer" kind of old. She didn't know his age, anyway, but never planned to judge anyone for theirs. Auron took care of the group - that was what mattered. For Tidus, he played some kind of father role, apparently... different from Rikku, it was at least. Right now, she couldn't quite place it. "Father" was just not the right thing to say. Maybe teacher? Idol? Idol as in, legendary guardian who had already defeated [Sin] one time... She really hoped she could be part of it this time, to bring peace to Spira, and to save Yunie... The young Al-Bhed really wanted nothing but that.
The swordsman was sitting near the western cliff, back to a rock - his gaze far away. Rikku decided to wake him nonchalantly by lightly knocking her riceball-hand against the side of his head. He turned it, giving her a playful deathglare, then a questioning look.
"Your food!", the blonde cheered and plopped down next to him into the soft grass.
She heard a mumble which probably was something along the lines of "You didn't have to" and "thanks" when he took her offering, so she settled down with placing her hands on the ground on either side of her body.
The ground was warm from the bright sunlight shining down on it, however, it was no uncomfortable warmth as there still was a slight breeze blowing over the wide plains, making the grass and flowers dance. Rikku had to fight to keep her hair in place, to not have it spill all over her face. After a while, she realized that her hair was fine when she looked in Auron's direction.
He was just finishing his riceball and obviously not saying a word, so Rikku chose to find something to talk about.
"I'm glad we're out of the cold. That's just not my place to be, y'know?" She watched how his facial expression didn't change. "I guess we all feel the same in that matter!" Rikku stretched her arms, flinging them around a bit before slightly turning towards the older man, sitting a little closer this time. She really wanted to get him to say something.
"Y'know... thanks for last time. The, uhm... teaching." Auron's face turned towards hers, the cloak around his face slipping down slightly to reveal a single grain of rice beside his lips.
The blonde's eyes widened a little, but her hand reached out. Leaning closer to him, she planned to wipe it away in an innocent matter, however - her now half lidded eyes and slightly open mouth told Auron something different. Therefore, he spoke up. "You're ready for step two already?"
For a few seconds, Rikku was confused. That, however, didn't stop her current action of now stretching out a finger to gently poke the piece of rice, making it fall down. Her finger lingered on his skin just for a while more for her to take a look at the older man's lips... The lips that she had kissed not so long ago. Well, it had been more of a peck, but... "Step two?" She snapped out of it when she noticed that she had been poking his lower lip for a few seconds.
His eye gave her a look of confusion before he answered. "Of kissing."
All of sudden, she jerked backwards. "Aah, you're right!", Rikku squealed but before she could say anything else, the swordsman spoke up again.
"I don't think this is the right atmosphere, though." His head turned towards the cliff again, eyes following a lone seagull flying past them before he was blinded by the hot noon sun.
"Huh? Atmosphere?" The young Al Bhed looked puzzled. She had never really been with anyone before, therefore she had no idea about... anything, to be exact.
"Yes. Come find me again at sunset.", the older man said, getting up slowly, turning to leave.
"Eh?", she made a surprised sound and watched his back slowly getting smaller and smaller as he marched away.
"Humphh", Rikku grumbled. "What a meanie-head. He better tell me all about it later."
xxx
The day flew past them pretty quickly, beside from the Malboro attack on their lunch-camp. Luckily for them, he hadn't gotten as far as using his stomach acid attack - so they avoided having to take a long bath and clean the mess afterward. Valefor had been the one to save the day - she raised her wings in triumph before flying off into the sky.
Everyone gave off a loud sigh before packing up their things to continue walking north for a while, in search for an inn. Later that evening they did reach one - it had been a few more minutes to the east, as a Chocobo rider informed them.
Rikku had been watching the sun's position steadily. When they reached the inn, it had already seemed to set from their position. After all had settled down inside, she sneaked out again and found Auron doing the same, just not as discreetly. He had his sword flung over his back, ready to take down anything that would attack him, with a single hit.
He had proven to be the strongest guardian here, but all of that was experience. The young Al Bhed followed him, talking a few things about the landscape and her home until they arrived at the western cliff again. To her surprise, the sun was still above the horizon here. Then again, the wide plains weren't in the way here and they could view - what it felt like - whole Spira from here.
The sight was breathtaking, the setting sun contributing its part by setting the sky on fire with its colors of yellow, orange, red and some hints of purple.
The blonde gasped, leaning over the cliff, Auron grabbing her wrist just to make sure she was okay and not overwhelmed by the moment.
"Auron! It's beautiful!", she squealed, turning to dance around her fellow guardian.
He nodded, "Told you." and moved to sit down.
"Ohh" Rikku suddenly remembered the reason they came here.
"Soo...", she started. "How do grown ups kiss?" The young Al Bhed stopped in her tracks, standing in front of the sitting swordsman now.
When he reached up with his ungloved hand, she curiously took it.
"You want to leave a good impression on that guy, isn't it?" He slowly lead her closer to him by his hand, gently motioning her to sit on his lap. "This isn't a bad start if you want to initiate a kiss. Get closer to him."
Rikku nodded, kneeling on the older man's lap now. "Is that comfortable for you... erm, him?" She was wondering if her knees were too pointy.
"You can change your position any time, I guess..." Auron said, watching her place her legs beside his body now, still sitting on his lap.
"That's better.", she spoke more to herself than to her "teacher". "And then? How do I... initiate anything?" She felt herself blushing a little, now on eye level with the guardian... the legendary guardian. Suddenly, she got a little shy, looking down. The ground they were sitting on also had been HIS battleground ten years ago, he had been the only one to survive it. She wondered what his feelings to returning here were... But now was not the time.
"Are you okay?", the dark haired man asked, worried for a second. Just now she had seemed so cheerful, now she appeared to be a little uncomfortable.
"Huh? Y-yes, I'm alright." She looked up again, Al Bhed green eyes meeting the older man's amber one. His sunglasses had slipped down a bit, revealing a bit more of his face.
He looked back at her with a reassuring gaze, as if to tell the young girl there was nothing to worry about. Auron then slowly raised his ungloved hand to the blonde girl's cheek, placing it there. When her lips parted slightly, he softly started stroking it.
Rikku didn't notice her eyes closing from enjoying the feeling of his slightly raw, but warm hand on her skin. She enjoyed every finger's slow movement, how they slightly brushed some of her hair away and then came to a stop when his - assumingly thumb - brushed her lips.
When nothing happened anymore after that, she opened her eyes, looking slightly confused.
"As for the beginning, I think touching the face or neck is alright. But be aware that he wouldn't let you do that if he didn't like you as well. The face is a private place to touch - people won't let just anyone do it."
Rikku now was more surprised by the amount of words coming out of the guardian's words at once. She noticed that she was staring a bit, but nodded nevertheless.
"That's true! I wouldn't let just anyone do that to my face!" That's when she realized what she had said and looked to the side again. "... Beside you and him, that is..."
Her eyes wandered to the sunset again - watching the red, yellow and purple of the sky mixing into the most beautiful colors. Auron had been right, this did add to the feeling. The sun was now starting to disappear behind the horizon, therefore a few cool winds already blew by.
She turned around again, her task already half forgotten. "So it's-"
"-your turn now.", the swordsman finished for her. He let the hand from her face drop and unbuttoned the collar of his cloak to allow his lower face region to be set free.
Rikku gulped. All of sudden, she didn't know if she was ready for this. It was just simple kissing, after all... but still, something completely new to her. But, she was willing to discover...
"But... How does it work? I mean, after the touch-", she started but got interrupted by him once again: "I will explain to you."
This time, she nodded and decided to just give it a try. Slowly, she took off her gloves and rose one hand up to the older man's left cheek. It felt a little colder than her hand, and certainly a bit raw. Not in a negative aspect - we were talking about a grown man's face, after all, with a slight beard as well.
After she had been caressing his face gently for a few seconds, she saw to her surprise that Auron's good eye's lids lowered and eventually closed - like hers had. A little pressure also told her that he was leaning into her touch. So he was... enjoying it as well?
Rikku felt her heart skip a beat - somehow, this made her happy to see him like that... and want for the planned thing to happen. She couldn't remember ever having seen his face as relaxed as this. No frown, no furrowed eyebrows... Just relaxing. Enjoying.
Now that it felt right, the blonde Al Bhed began slowly leaning in, hand still caressing. She stopped when her face was barely an inch from his, expecting some instruction. When none came, she decided to mimic Auron's slightly parted lips... and leaned in to close the distance between them.
For a second, she felt a bit of helplessness creep up - as to what to do next. As promised, though, Auron helped her out by leading the way. He slowly withdrew his lips from hers - which made her confused for a second - only to press them back against her a moment later. Her humble beginnings at mimicking this must have looked silly to outsiders, as she was still tensing her lips like it was done in pecks.
Auron stopped for a second when he noticed this, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Relax your lips. Real kissing is nothing like brats do it.", he whispered, warm breath touching her slightly cool face and lips. She took in the scent of the older man's cologne, enjoying the fresh smell. The young girl couldn't quite place it, but this did feel more intimate than what he called "brats kissing", or simply "pecking".
"I'll try", she whispered back before pressing her lips against his once again. She felt the stubbles of his slight mustache scratching her upper lip - but not in a painful way. It only meant that she now was closer to him, and the way their lips moved over another now felt strangely... right. Unlike her mistake just now, they were now in a somewhat fluent motion with another. If she had to describe it, she would call it dancing of their lips; they completed each other just perfectly, finding a matching rhythm between slow and fast.
Just like she had expected - it was an intimate thing to do with someone. She could actually TASTE Auron. The legendary guardian... something she had never imagined before. Somehow, Rikku couldn't find anything to compare it to, it was slightly spicy in a way, and... just him. Just Auron, and that made her feel warm and fuzzy on the inside somehow - as well as unbelievable comfortable.
Now also seemed the time to do something with her hands - as she noticed the hand of Auron's arm that wasn't around her holding her chin steadily, caressing her soft skin. A bit unsure, she snaked an arm around the older man's neck, and surprisingly found that she could pull him closer this way. Since getting closer than liplocking wasn't possible, she settled with playing with his ponytail, taking the other hand to massage the back of his neck gently.
When she received a small groan as a response, she was worried to have made a mistake for a second and therefore stopped her actions.
A simple, slightly huffed "Go on." from his side was enough to encourage her to start again. The dark haired swordsman now took both of his hands to cup the young girl's cheeks, not leaving her lips unattended for a second.
After a few minutes, when Auron was about to pull away, he decided to leave a tease for the young blonde. Seductively, he moved his tongue out to brush it over Rikku's soft lower lip, immediately sending pleasant chills down her spine.
"Wha-", she was flabbergasted, both her hands dropping down from his neck in surprise.
"So much for this lesson." He skillfully picked her up, moving into a standing position in one swift movement. When he gently set her down, the swordsman noticed how he had - probably for the first time - achieved to make the young Al Bhed speechless.
She just stood there, blushing, looking at him both puzzled and questioning.
He just nodded and made his turn to leave. "Hope that helped.", he mumbled, his cool attitude back, nothing left from the heat of just now.
The corners of Rikku's lips already dropped at the thought of him not having liked it.
Her eyes, however, lit up again when the crimson coated guardian turned around, smile on his lips, asking "Want to join the others at the bonfire as well?"
Face full of glee, she jumped into the air, loudly screaming "Wheeee!" as she ran after him.
xxx
This night wasn't one of much sleep for Rikku. For some reason, she always had to think of a certain red cloaked guardian, the one with the grumpy face and attitude. The one that bullied her every now and then. The one that was mean for no apparent reason sometimes. The one with the lips that felt amazing on hers... The one with the overwhelming scent in her nose and taste on her lips...
Suddenly, she wasn't all that sure about her crush at her old home anymore. But then again, if kissing always felt that amazing, why would she doubt? Or, in other words, if kissing someone she didn't have a crush on already felt like this, how great would kissing someone she really liked feel? She really did like Auron too, just not in that way.
Therefore - she concluded - was everything going to be fine after Yunie's Pilgrimage. But now, she would have to go back to concentrating on that for a while.
Once again, review for feedback (and faster update *cough*) please ;3 It means a lot to me! I always check my phone to see if I got new reviews, and then grin like an idiot when I got new mail x3
Also, I am thinking about doing a mature sequel in a seperate story *hides* Tell me what you think about that. And if you would be interested in reading... o/ / /o