AN: I so love writing this fic :)

Chapter 5

She didn't know how long she'd been out, but when she woke up she definitely knew she almost regretted coming out to Macalania all alone in the middle of a blizzard. Her muscles groaned at her as she stretched her legs and tried to sit up in the massive bed she had found herself in. Looking at her body, Rikku tried to assess if there was any permanent damage to her after staying out in the snow so long. No missing limbs, she noticed gladly, and she was as fully clothed as she normally was - just missing her poncho. She was in a warm room decorated in traditional Al Bhed colours that made her feel at ease as she looked around. Her bags and boots had been placed neatly at the foot of her bed and her poncho was hung over a table and chair, steaming itself dry next to a crackling fire. Feeling comfortable on the bed, she lay back with a content smile on her face and enjoyed the calm feelings of being in a cosy room and out of the vicious winds of before. Her smile tightened into a mischievous smirk as she thought about Auron returning from where ever he was to find her in this room, barely clad in her bikini and skirt combo, draped across the bed and ever so thankful he had rescued her from the storm. As soon as the thoughts of trying to lure him crossed her mind she regretted it and slapped her forehead with childish embarrassment. Firstly, It might not even have been Auron that found her, and she didn't fancy someone like O'aka walking in on her, rubbing his hands together as soon as he saw her. Secondly, Auron had no time for anything remotely personal and quite frankly regarded her as a child. How could he even notice her when he was so tightly wound around his lofty goal of saving Spira - again? And thirdly, she thought with a chill, he was dead. She stopped herself there, feeling nauseous at the thought of being attracted to a ... spirit? Is that was he is? When people died, they weren't supposed to come back. And if he did save her, what was he thinking, leaving her alone in a strange place after she had passed out in the snow?! She missed Yuna and Paine, and hid her face under a pillow wishing they were there to advise her on just what the hell she was doing.

Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be destroying Vegnagun so Yuna doesn't have to, she remembered sheepishly. She stepped gingerly off her bed and wrapped a nearby blanket around herself, spurred on by remembering her mission and the noise of her growling stomach.

No one was at the front desk when she reached the inn's reception. The sign above the desk said "Welcome to Lake Macalania!" confirming that she was where she was supposed to be. But where was Auron? She caught herself in the mirror with a jump, reaching quickly to calm her mop of yellow hair that had doubled in size after being in the snowy wind. Half of her braids had been un-woven and most of the beads had become thoroughly entangled in her golden mass of hair. She set to work untangling it, chewing her lip when O'aka, the inn's newly appointed owner, blew in from outside.

"Oooohhh...well what do we have here? If it isn't the lovely Lady Rikku!" he said, stamping the snow from his boots.

"O'aka! How have you been?" Rikku bounced on her heels with pleasant surprise, her blanket slid down around her shoulders.

"Well, truth be told, the weather's killed off almost all my trade!" He sighed, "Almost literally in some cases!" He said, casting an eye over her nest of hair and exposed shoulders. Rikku blushed tremendously as he leered toward her slightly and whispered, "Although maybe it's a certain stranger that's responsible for sweeping you up, m'lady, and not the weather!" His eyebrows raised and he winked toward the door to her room, looking once again at the young lady in a blanket with massive bed-head.

"Shut up O'aka! it's not what you think! I fainted in the snow!"

"Ooooh, I don't know dear, I haven't seen a sight like it in a long time - a man striding in with a fainted lady thrown over one shoulder and carrying bags in the other arm. Was quite a sight it was. He completely ignored me, he did, and took ye straight to yer room! Was there quite a while before he came back and explained himself!" He said, poking her in the shoulder.

Rikku looked at him aghast. Not only was no one to know Auron had even returned, but now he'd been caught with Rikku in what could be called a rather 'compromising' situation.

"Don't worry m'lady" He said, eyes twinkling, "you secret is safe with me. O'aka, at your service!" He tapped his nose and bowed, giggling under his breath. Suddenly his eye's darkened, seriously.

"I mean it m'lady, no one will ever know he's here"

Rikku smiled with relief. "Thank you, O'aka."

"I should expect not, after the gil I paid you" growled Auron, slamming the inn door behind him. Rikku almost dropped the blanket to the floor with fright, how was it he always managed to come out of the shadows when she least expected it? Had he heard what O'aka had insinuated? She panicked as his gaze caught hers from the opposite side of the room. Oh Yevon, Auron could as good as read her mind she thought, her ribs tightened anxiously.

"You're right Sir Auron, silence can always be bought for the right price. And you certainly paid it." laughed O'aka as he made a hasty exit, the static atmosphere between the two scaring him off.

Several minutes passed between the two as Auron observed Rikku from where he was leaning. She did the same, taking in the shadow he cast as he leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed but shoulders relaxed. Little droplets of snow were beginning to melt on his hair and his face had a redish wind rushed look about it. He had rested his katana nearby against the wall.

"Are you well, Rikku?" he said, breaking the silence, his words dropping with the weight of a stone in water. All she could do to stop herself falling over was nod her head timidly and squeak a pitiful 'yes'.

His eyebrows knitted together revealing concern for the breath of a second and he strode toward her purposefully, brushing her fringe away from her face with one hand and checking her temperature with the other. The sheer proximity of him nearly knocked her over and her face heated under his glare. What she wanted to say was 'thank you for saving me from the storm' but the extreme energy she was using just to hold herself together in front of him broke momentarily and all she could muster was a pathetic wobble.

It was easy with her other friends and guardians. She would just do what Rikku always did: Run, jump, hug, clap hands, high five and even dance around a bit. But nothing was easy with Auron. He let no one near him. Except right now when he stooped dangerously close to her, gathered her up and carried down the hallway to her room.

"You shouldn't over exert yourself Rikku, you suffered a bad fall and you were out for a few hours." He spoke slowly, avoiding contact with her eyes. He propped her down outside her room door.

"I'll just be in this room, across the hall. Knock when you are ready to discuss Vegnagun. I will wait until you're rested." And with that he turned on his heels and walked to his room, apparently he had nothing else to say. Rikku on the other hand had questions that ran as far as the Calm Lands. But it was her stomach that caught his attention, growling angrily at its emptiness.

Auron stopped, hand on the door handle. She almost missed his quiet laugh as she cringed badly, willing her stomach to shut up.

"Ummm Auron? You don't happen to have any snacks in there do you? Heh heh..." She laughed shyly, hand rubbing the back of her head. He opened his door marginally and turned to her with the hint of a smile on his face.

"Come in, Rikku, I'll have O'aka send something over."

She grinned and pushed ahead of him into his room, shedding her blanket on the floor.

"Tell him to make it quick!"

From behind his dark glasses, Auron subtly traced his scarless eye across Rikku's beaming face and lithe body. The blanket was strewn across the rug next to her delicate toes and he caught himself wondering what the rest of her body might look like, free from the bonds of clothing. He blinked the images away as quickly as they came to him and cursed himself. Stilling himself mentally, he grabbed the nearby sphere and began calling O'aka for supplies.

And for the two hundredth time since he saw her huddled in the snow by Lake Macalania, he asked himself again: what in Spira was he thinking?