AN: This chapter took me forever to write! I don't feel confident writing the mushy stuff, I redrafted it three times over 3 days and I still think it needs work. My cat Truffle commanded me to upload it so I could start the next chapter, and as I am a crazy cat lady, I could only obey my cat. But hey! I'm trying to the characters and their personalities justice, so YEY Aurikku moments finally happening! Adieu!

PS. Dear CupofteaforAliceandHatter, Thank you for your review and for following this story, I hope you wont be disappointed!

Chapter 8

The Via Purifico, an imaginative title giving allusions of purity, cleansing, enlightenment and virtue. However, it was in fact a festering underground maze in which traitors against Yevon were thrown into to rot until death for their sacrilege. Most of the criminals that were thrown in there died of starvation, drowning or madness, and then went onto contribute to the ever rising numbers of fiends that stalked and swam in the vaults. In it's entire history, only a mere handful of traitors survived and they in fact went on to destroy Sin, defeat Yu Yevon himself and bring the Eternal Calm. None of them wanted to set foot in the Via Purifico again.

Rikku stood at the entrance and swallowed back the rising nausea and panic that she associated with memories of the dungeon. Auron, sensing her fear, allowed her a few moments to prepare herself before stepping into the brick sewer.

"Auron! ...Do we really have to?" She called out to him, her plea echoing pathetically around him. He didn't even pause to answer her, instead choosing to continue forward, his boots slopping through the water running toward him.

"Aww man..." She muttered to herself and inhaled deeply before stepping in after him.

Progress through the labyrinth was slow and the majority of the journey was done in complete darkness, the tunnel twisted and turned, the floor was uneven and slippery. At times Rikku felt she was walking entirely alone with only her fingers tracing the grooves on the wall, the faint sound of Auron's breath and an occasional direction of left or right up ahead to guide her which way to go. They continued in silence and listened to the steady dripping of stagnant water along the tunnel. Rikku felt wet with condensation but was shivering in the dank air. Her journey along the Via Purifico had been a walk in the park compared to this. Despite having to hold her breath underwater for almost longer than she was able to and having a rematch with Bevelle's Guardian Wyrm who had come back from the dead, she had had the concerned and familiar faces of two of her best friends to latch onto. And she had been able to stretch her body out and feel the freedom of swimming freely in water. This tunnel was so deep underground that the air was warm and didn't move, and she couldn't even stand straight for fear of scraping her head along the foetid brickwork. Thinking back on how her cousin had had to walk this path with Auron two years ago, Rikku wondered for the hundredth time since meeting him on the Moonflow if he actually feared anything at all. She narrowed her eyes and squinted to try and catch the outline of his solid figure up ahead but without a source of light it was impossible to see anything at all. Her ears strained for the sound of his breath but it had grown fainter over the sound of the water, he was far ahead of her. The cold grip of claustrophobia settled in across her lungs and down the sides of her torso as she realised that the only thing that would get her through this journey was the rhythmic sound of a dead man's breathing.

Auron was silent as they walked. He counted his strides as he had done many years ago during his training as a warrior monk in the depths of the Via Purifico. He knew these waterways like the veins on the backs of his hands. The trick to stave off the fear was to keep the pace constant, keep counting the evenly spaced strides, keep your fingers running against the wall feeling the decades old markers he had carved into the bricks signalling which corridor to take when the path broke. | for left, || for straight ahead, ||| for right. These ran vertically signalling movement toward Bevelle, and horizontally on the opposite side for heading toward the exit. They had never failed him and served him well as he lead Yuna, Kimahri and Lulu towards clean air two years ago.

But as he persevered onward he found that his thoughts were focused entirely on the erratic sound of Rikku's boots as she stumbled in the water behind him, and on her shallow breath that would quicken if he got too far ahead of her. She was Al Bhed, a creature of open skies, dry heat and blistering sun. Her eyes were genetically designed to filter the sharp glare of the desert light through the tightening of the swirls in her irises. It would be impossible for her to see as well as him in here, and walking through these lightless and humid tunnels would be a living nightmare for her. Something contracted in his chest as he empathised with her panic. Her step behind him faltered and she stepped on something that cracked loudly.

"Oh god, I hope that's just a branch..." She whimpered pathetically as she told herself it would be impossible for trees to grow down here. Her stomach flipped dangerously and a sob she'd been holding escaped her chest.

"Rikku," Auron said softly, giving her vocal rope to hold onto, "We'll be at the exit shortly." It wasn't much at least she didn't feel alone for a second.

"Auron, where are you, I can't see you..." she stretched her arms ahead of her.

"Right here..."

She laughed sadly as her fingers made contact with the soft material of his cloak. She pulled herself toward him through the underground stream they were following and rested her head on his chest. Auron's arm hung by his side, his other neatly tucked away. She just needed a reminder that she wasn't stumbling around in the dark alone down here, that there was someone with her. He knew she needed comfort from him, but how could a dead man bring comfort to the living? He sighed slowly, knowing that the life he felt running through him when he stood next to her was a trick his mind played on him, teasing him with something he yearned for but could never have. It was wrong.

"Auron, I really don't like it in here..." She whispered into his chest.

Rikku didn't care how uncomfortable she was making him feel. She reached inside his robe, pulled out his arm and placed it on the small of her back. He gave her no reaction so she wriggled in a little closer to him, breathing in the warmth he was emitting. She had no idea an Unsent could feel so real. What was he made of, if not flesh and bone? She reached down and squeezed the joints in his other hand, counting his knuckles. Flesh and bone. She reached her free hand up to his chest, placing it lightly on his heart and counted the subtle rhythmic movement of the beating underneath. Flesh and bone. She swore she felt the hand she had placed on her back press her into him, and he rested his mouth on her head. A shiver raced down the back of her skull as she felt him breathe her in and she realised she was doing the exact same thing. They stood together, Rikku's shallow breath slowing down to match Auron's and they breathed in time, like two parts of the one organism.

"You feel so...alive."

With one slip of the tongue, the air in the tunnel turned sour and the warmth she felt him emit turned cold. He broke himself away from her.

"I am not."

His voice was desolate, and the veins in her body twisted. He turned away from her, cursing for allowing himself to forget for a moment that he was dead. But she refused to let go of his hand. His other hand pulled at hers but she dug her nails in forbidding their bond being broken, so instead he moved himself around and raised his good arm to the bricks once again.

They both sighed under the strain of the moment they had shared.

After a moment her asked her if she was ready to move on.

"Lead the way Mr. Legendary Guardian, Sir." Said Rikku, her energy feeding off the constant pressure of their gripping hands.

Slowly, as they made their way to the exit, Rikku wondered if Auron had held Yuna's hand two years ago.

They rounded the last corner and Rikku gasped with relief.

"I see it! Up a head!" She started moving quicker towards a dim patch of light several meters ahead of them and, retaining the grip on her hand, Auron's pace matched hers.

"Up ahead is a series of rooms before the exit into Bevelle." He informed her. "We shall use the teleporter for this leg of the journey. Keep aware for fiends." Rikku barely heard his words as she started running for the light. She didn't care about fiends or danger as long as Auron held her hand. Without even a precautionary glance she threw herself from the tunnel into the first of several derelict rooms and turned to her guide, her one free hand punching the air for victory.

Auron, without even as much as rolling his eyes, pulled her in close to him and stepped out around her, drawing his sword at a fiend patrolling the room.

"I said, keep aware for fiends." He growled at her.

"Oops..." Rikku fumbled with her garment grid but by the time she had managed to engage her it, the battle was already over. Auron had made clean work of the fiend and was waiting for her in the centre of the room. Rikku settled on her thief garment, for ease of movement and comfort. Watching her change outfit, Auron raised an eyebrow.

There was a little platform with arrows pointing in different directions. Rikku had seen these before, on Mt. Gagazet and knew how to use them.

"I'll go first and clear the next room." Said Auron as he gazed at her. Rikku swallowed back some fear as she scanned the room. Seeing the cloud of pyreflies she decided that she didn't want to be left alone and shook her head.

Auron smirked and raised his hand to the platform.

"After you then"

"Ha...no way."

She stepped onto the platform and grabbed Auron's hand, pulling him up with her. They shimmied awkwardly around each other trying to find space. In the tunnel, their brief moment of physical closeness had felt natural and safe, but now that they could see each other, Rikku's nerves kicked in and she couldn't quite look at him in the eye.

"Don't be afraid, Rikku." he said, ambiguously.

I'm not afraid of you, Auron, I'm afraid of having to let you go again.

She didn't know when it happened, but sometime, somewhere along the way she realised that she didn't want him to go back to the Farplane. Acknowledging this, she closed the tiny gap between them and buried herself in amongst the layers of his cloak. Auron shifted his weight awkwardly and choose the direction of the teleporter. The tiles at their feet lit up and they felt themselves pulled through walls into the next room. Auron allowed himself to relax around her and held her tiny frame against his as they moved from room to room. He prayed silently that they would not reach the entrance to the Farplane in the depths of Bevelle too soon.