18: Uncertain

"We need to talk."

Rikku swallowed and squirmed in her seat by the campfire. She'd been expecting those words for quite some time now. The trip out of Macalania's frozen cliffs had been uneventful and cold. Conversation was sparse - unlike the fiend battles they were challenged by. But with Braska determined to flex his summoning muscles, at the least the journey was easier; he wanted to master Shiva's frosty power while the aeon was still in her home element. Rikku didn't mind; it gave her that much more time to concentrate on salvaging their dismal supply situation - something that hadn't been aided by her previous gil-tossing effort.

Auron remained reticent for the entire hike, but Rikku could feel he was brooding over something.

Jecht's increasingly erratic behavior wasn't helping, either - in place of his usual tension-breaking jokes, a surly temper was growing instead. He was reminding her less and less of the childish yet endearing boor she'd come to know and more of the arrogant, careless stranger Tidus had described to them. If that wasn't enough, his fighting was in a worse state than ever - Rikku swore that she could see his hands shake when he gripped his sword. It was lucky for everyone that Braska was eager to pick up the slack with his aeon, but Rikku wondered what would happen once they left the icy planes and training would no longer be Braska's priority.

It wasn't a pleasant mix of tensions to travel with - the atmosphere was strained, with pressure building on every side. Rikku expected things to boil over as soon as they made camp, but instead, both Jecht and Braska had bundled themselves straight off to bed. And now, Auron had finally broken the tense silence as they watched the others sleep.

She glanced at him, wondering if this was going to be "the big kablooie." Couldn't he have picked on Jecht? Gathering her resolve, she stopped fidgeting and met Auron's stare. I am a Guardian. I've faced Sin. I won't let anything scare me! Not even Auron's scary face!

"Talk? Do we need to, really?" Rikku blurted out.

Or, okay, maybe I can deal with the big kablooie on another day. Auron's scary face wins!

Auron gave her a simple, knowing look. One of those looks, the ones that told her he wasn't going to let her shake him off. She drew another point for him on her mental scorecard and rolled her eyes. It's completely unfair. That man could move mountains with the twitch of an eyebrow.

"Alright, Mister Eyebrow of Doom. We can talk now if you insist." Rikku scrunched her nose at him in defeat.

"Thank you," Auron replied, his voice so dry Rikku was sure he could have cured jerky by breathing into the bag of rations he carried. "I think the problem to discuss is obvious."

Rikku sucked in her breath. Busted! "Okay, yeah." Breathe, Rikku!

"About that aeon thing. I can totally explain! I know you hate it when I keep secrets, and I guess this is the mother them all, but I can't just tell you. I mean, maybe I can, but I think you'd better your sword away - come on, Braska's been all lemmie-at-em! all day, I don't think there are any fiends left out here to jump us. And I mean it, stop polishing that thing and put it away, otherwise you might accidentally impale yourself, or something, and then - hey, actually, I don't know if that would really change anything! But it would be all gross and nasty and I'd have to sphere change just to heal you because Jecht just drank our last hi-potion - without asking, I might add, and you know what he said to me after he did it? He said I don't feel high at all, can you believe that jerk? And anyway - uh, hello, are you even listening to me?"

She trailed off as she noticed the look Auron was directing at her. This one was a different look now, one of the ones he tended to fire off at Jecht. It was the incredulous one, with the quirked lip, asking how stupid are you?

"Huh? What, what'd I say?"

Auron shook his head, pinching his brow in annoyance and muttering something under his breath that sounded a bit like I can't believe she talks that much but could have just as well been I can't believe we didn't have brunch. Which was a point - they were almost out of food, and everybody was ready for a hot meal and something other than dried meat to chew on. Yeah, it was definitely the food problem that was giving him trouble concentrating on their conversation, Rikku decided.

"Not about that," Auron said, looking up. "Does everything in your perception always revolve around you?"

"It does when I'm talking about our supplies!" Rikku answered defensively. "Since I'm only holding all of them! In one small pouch!"

"I'm aware of the situation," Auron told her. "But I want you to forget for a moment about the food, the money, and whatever it is you're trying to hide from me this time and focus on something much more immediate. Do you think you could manage that just this once?"

Rikku stared. "You don't want to talk to me about money, and you're not going to interrogate me about the aeon?" She frowned and peered at him with suspicion. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Auron replied with faint amusement. The smirk dropped from his face and his expression turned serious. "I'm not here to ask you about what you obviously don't want to tell me."

The shock was enough to snap Rikku's mouth shut, followed by a momentary feeling of shame - mostly because of the relief she felt on hearing that she wasn't Auron's problem this time. It probably wouldn't last, but for the moment it was a bullet dodged.

But... if he didn't want to talk to her about that, then why approach in the first place? "So... umm, what's up?"

Auron turned his gaze to one of the occupied bedrolls across the glowing embers of the dying fire. "Has Jecht been acting strangely around you of late?" he asked in a low undertone.

Rikku followed his glance, landing on Jecht. The suspect was snoring, as usual. As they watched, he rolled over and smacked his lips together a few times, before scratching an armpit and resuming his evening serenade, completely unperturbed.

Rikku winced. "Jecht always acts strange," she pointed out, earning a brief smile from Auron. It soon dropped, however, and Rikku sighed and wrapped her arms around her legs, rocking herself to and fro. She'd tried to avoid this - considering how straight-laced Auron was, it was a wonder he'd kept this to himself for so long. "But I think I know what you mean."

Auron's face settled into a more typical frown, though it lacked his usual fierceness. "Jecht is suffering from the drinking sickness. He'll put us all in danger, one way or the other, whether he finds a new source or tries to free himself of it. I had my suspicions, but Jecht should have mentioned it was this severe." Auron's frown deepened. "This is not how we should have found out." That it was exactly the wrong place and time was left unsaid.

Rikku lowered her chin onto her knees and stared at the burned remains of the detritus they'd scrapped together for fuel. "We all know Jecht has a room temperature IQ, and we've just been to Macalania." Idly, she flicked a hand out and reignited coals with a small burst of Fire magic. Jecht's snoring continued unabated. "I bet he doesn't realize how sick he really is."

Auron nodded in agreement. "So far it hasn't been a problem. But Braska is becoming accustomed to the new aeon, as well as the rigors of the Pilgrimage. He'll notice - if he hasn't already."

"Let's hope not," Rikku said, her eyes flicking from Jecht's bedroll to Braska's.

Their summoner was sleeping opposite of Jecht. The two had a strange symmetry, being a study in contrasts even at rest. Jecht was a mess, sprawled over the crumpled remains of his blanket, while Braska lay motionless on his bedroll, so still and pale that he could be mistaken for dead, if not for the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Exhaustion kept Braska still, lost in the deepest of sleeps as he gathered his magical strength for the next day's journey.

Rikku's hand travelled to her lips, recalling the fleeting kiss she had planted on Braska's cheek. She blushed when she realized Auron was watching her, and redirected her gaze elsewhere. "Braska's been practicing pretty hard with Shiva, huh. I think he's getting better at this summoning stuff."

Auron said nothing for a while, and Rikku shuffled her feet. "You... umm. You don't want to ask me about what happened in the temple, do you?" she ventured. Seeing Auron's complete lack of response emboldened her. "Not even a little curious?" she added, her nervousness being replaced by indignation. Is he ignoring me?

Auron shrugged. "It isn't my place to ask you anything." He wasn't looking at her, but his gaze lost a bit of its usual intensity as a smile pulled at the corners of his lips. "I think I've finally realized that," he admitted after a moment. "I am neither your keeper, nor Lord Braska's. All this time I've tried my best to protect him, but I think..." He trailed off, staring into the fire's remains. "Perhaps I've been... overzealous. He's earned the right to do what he wants - or what he feels is best. So have you."

He looked at her, then, his eyes shadowed. "You see someone important to you, someone you've lost, when you see me." Shaking his head when Rikku opened her mouth to protest, he continued speaking. "I am neither blind nor stupid, Rikku. I accept that you, too, have suffered from Sin, just as we all have. It's easy to forget that around you and Jecht... you're both so different from us." He studied Braska. "Braska does the same. He sees his wife in you - he can't help himself." Auron's expression turned grim. "Braska has already sacrificed too much. If… your attentions make this Pilgrimage easier for him to endure, then I won't stand in his way. He deserves to know comfort and companionship on this, his final journey."

Rikku's heart dropped like a stone - the way Auron put it so bluntly, Braska's final journey, brought the inevitable conclusion of the Pilgrimage to the forefront, reminding her of what was in store for them all if they succeeded. When we succeed, Rikku corrected herself. It has to be when. She started as Auron continued speaking, feeling her breath hitch. Hold on - is he saying what I think he's saying?

"And I know now, Rikku, that you won't hurt him. You... may return his affections, if you wish. I won't interfere."

"It's not Braska's affections I want!" Rikku felt as though she had been punched in the gut; not enough air was making the journey into her lungs for proper speech. She glared at Auron. "This could be the last journey for all of us! What are you, some kind of martyr? Don't you think you deserve a little happiness too?"

Auron faced her. "From you?"

For one a heart-stopping moment, Rikku felt despair. The tone of his rhetorical question was leaden and uninviting, clearly spelling out REJECTION, sending her thoughts into a tailspin. He doesn't feel anything for me? No... we're friends... I'm his friend! But nothing else? Then this... this journey I was sent on... all that pain I felt when he left... it was all for nothing? "W-would that be so bad?" she managed to reply.

Auron sighed; his iron mask slipped a little as something flickered behind his eyes, and suddenly Rikku found she could breathe again. She resisted the urge to sock him in the shoulder for scaring her so much, figuring it would kill the mood of the moment they were sharing. If you could call his avoidance of her and the fact that he had just practically shoved her at Braska a moment at all.

"You're a very pretty girl," Auron admitted. "Even for an Al Bhed."

Rikku felt her cheeks turn pink a moment before her mouth dropped open. As expected, Auron's dubious compliments were a double-edged sword. "Gee, thanks," she deadpanned. "I guess you aren't half-bad for a Bevellian, either." She waited to hear the real words, whatever it was he was trying to tell her.

"I know you believe you're attracted to me. You're a very poor actress and you wear your emotions on your sleeve." He chuckled. "At first, it offended me, but now..." His smiled faded, and his stare was so heavy Rikku felt a chill run down her spine. She wet her lips nervously, and was surprised when he looked away first.

"... things have been changing between us. Between all of us." There was a tense, but not entirely uncomfortable pause, and Auron gave her a significant look. "You no longer disgust me, in any case."

Rikku rolled her eyes. "Oh, you flatterer," she drawled, turning away from him to hide her face. "Maybe you should get some pointers from Braska. At least he knows how to make a girl feel welcome." She squeaked in surprise when Auron's hands gripped her forearms to twist her back around. He seemed upset - but not with her for once.

"You are a puzzle," he breathed, lowering his face towards hers. He looked conflicted, as though he was struggling to come to terms with her presence before him, even though he was the one holding her still. Rikku blinked, unable to do anything but stare as her heart beat a staccato rhythm.

"Trying to unearth your secrets is... tempting," he murmured, his eyes roving over her face, as if he was looking at her for the first time. The most he'd ever said about her appearance was that she bore an uncanny similarity to her aunt Raenn; maybe he was trying to take his own advice.

Rikku was not feeling quite as adventurous - searching his face seemed like a moot point when his lips were that close to her own. It was hard enough trying to resist her own urge to lean in and test them. Were they as soft as they looked? Auron's mouth was moving, but his words were being drowned out by her own heartbeat.

"But - what you feel, Rikku..." His grip loosened.

Kiss! Rikku thought hazily.

"Who you see... that man is not me."

Kiss me now, you idiot! she railed, still zeroed in on his lips.

"And I cannot... no. Will not be him."

Something clicked as his lips drifted away. Still not kissed! her mind screamed, preparing to take over and drag Auron down to extract satisfaction whether he wanted to kiss her or not, consequences be damned. She gained control over herself before the "conversation" turned into a wrestling match and tried to sway him with a little good old-fashioned Rikku-style logic.

"Well, we could still... um... hang out together, right? Like we're doing right now?" Except closer. Like, say, if you were holding me on your lap instead of on this stupid stone, her mind supplied. "You could just be yourself! Honest!"

Auron's fingers flexed against her forearms. His eyes were so dark - she hadn't had the opportunity to see them this close since he had first stared her in the face all those years ago. Why in Shiva's name hadn't she realized how beautiful they were? A heavy sense of anticipation filled her, and she leaned forward, letting her own fall shut as she puckered her lips.

"I can't do that, Rikku."

That was not a kiss. Rikku's eyes flew open. She voiced the first, immediate thought that came to mind. "Why not?"

Auron sighed, though he didn't release her - which she noted with glee. "You asked if I wanted to know why you kissed Braska. I think you should ask yourself that question first."

Rikku twisted out of Auron's grasp. So he was jealous! With a great amount of effort, she ignored the urge to celebrate. "But that was because of Jecht! Him and his stupid bet! That wasn't my fault!"

Auron sat back, his expression closing. "Jecht may have many flaws, but intentionally wounding Braska isn't one of them. And no -" he added with a quick look, "I don't believe that's your intent, either. But what you gave Braska was more than a simple kiss. Surely you understand that."

Rikku sat back, stumped. No, she didn't understand that. More than a kiss? "Back up there! What do you mean? That was just an innocent peck on the cheek!"

The hard stare Auron gave her made Rikku want to disappear into her boots.

"What? It was just a stupid bet! It didn't mean anything!"

"You gave him hope, Rikku. Something you wouldn't have done if you had no feelings for him, no matter which inane games you play with Jecht."

"Of course I have feelings for Braska!" Rikku sputtered. "He's my un... uhh, he's family! I love him! Just not the way you think I do."

The conflicted, vulnerable Auron she'd witnessed moments before was disappearing behind his wall of granite, though his eyes remained locked on her own. "I was Braska's companion long before you even knew of him." He paused to regard Braska. "Lord Braska is not your brother in blood. He's well within his right to pursue you - if that's what you both wish."

"No way! That's not what I want!" Rikku felt herself turn colder than Shiva at Auron's mention of her "brother." That's who Auron thought she was? Raenn's sister? Technically, what Auron said was true - she wasn't related to Braska by blood. The only problem was that Auron was dead wrong - and besides, Braska was Yuna's father. Friends didn't jump other friends' dads - that was just gross.

"I don't like him! I like you! Even Jecht knows that!" Rikku pinned Auron under a challenging stare, ignoring her own gut reaction to turn around and run away while squealing in the highest pitch possible. I can't believe I just said that. Goodbye, dignity! Hello, embarrassment! Well... what's done is done. Second-guessing herself was a sure-fire way to guarantee a loss in her stare-down war with Auron. "I think you've started to like me, too. So what's the problem here? Am I not good enough for you?"

Auron grimaced, startled by her accusation. "Don't try to make this an issue of race, Rikku. Or have you already forgotten your own prejudice? Maybe you should don that magic armor of yours if you need a reminder."

"Is that what you really want right now, huh?"

Auron sighed. "That wasn't - Rikku," he tried again, rubbing a hand over his face in an oddly familiar gesture - one that had stuck with the older Auron over the years. "I don't know what you want. But what I'm trying to explain is that you don't know, either."

Rikku grit her teeth. "Hey! I know exactly what - no, who - I want! Stop putting words in my mouth!" She bit off the sentence before she could tack on a "and try your tongue instead," but Auron still gave her a knowing stare.

What am I missing here? Rikku thought. Her confusion must have shown, because Auron answered her question without any prompting.

"There is much more to a relationship than physical attraction," Auron told her. "What you think you feel, what you see in me - and yes, even what I feel - that isn't enough. It's not enough for me, it wouldn't be enough for you and it's certainly not enough to force onto Braska. There are no fairy-tale romances in Spira, Rikku."

"Leave Braska out of this!" So what if he was right - maybe there weren't any happy endings in this Spira, this past, foreign world of his. That didn't mean that she wasn't going to try. "This is between you and me right now."

"Look, I don't know what happened in your clan, or why you're exiled," Auron said. "But I can tell you that Braska is a good man, despite what you may have been told to believe. You don't have to feel shame or disgrace for returning his feelings. You don't have to run away from him."

Rikku studied Braska, still sleeping and unaware of their late night discussion and his own role in it. "Auron, you don't know what you're talking about," Rikku began, but he cut her off.

"You're a liar, Rikkma," he told her. "You've lied about your past. You've lied about your feelings for me. Now you're lying to yourself about your feelings for Braska as well. You've lied so much that I wonder if you even know truth anymore." His words were harsh, but his tone was not full of censure, as she would have expected. "You know what he sees in you, yet you continue to encourage him - with your smiles, your touches, your kind words and now even a kiss. You're not cruel, Rikku. But you are naive."

He's wrong. Auron's wrong. Rikku tore her eyes away from Braska. "You mean I should push him away then? Be mean to him so he won't get his hopes up? Tell him a dramatic story about how it's not meant to be over a campfire?" She shook her head, braids and beads slapping into her face and stinging her cheeks. "Just like you right now. Well you know what I think? I think you're using Braska as an excuse. You're just afraid of me, yeah!" Rikku huffed and waited for his reply. The silence loomed, but she hunched her shoulders and refused to give up. She could wait forever for this answer.

A dry laugh, unexpected, broke the tense silence. "Maybe you're right," Auron admitted. "I am pushing you away. But you know why. I don't want to be someone else for you." His eyes lost their amusement when he looked up again. "I don't know what I feel, but at least I know what I don't want." He fell quiet, his own challenge still unyielding.

Rikku flushed and peered at Braska. She won the battle... sorta. Auron's answer was as raw and honest as it could get, she couldn't deny that. But it still didn't change anything. Well I know that I don't want to be Raenn. Maybe I do need to start being meaner to Braska. Just because he has it hard doesn't mean I should be leading him on.

Braska sighed and shifted, rolling to his side. The glimpse of his face she caught was contorted with the remnants of some bad dream, but it passed as quickly as it came, and his features soon returned to their slack, unguarded state. Yuna had suffered from those dreams too, Rikku recalled, after she started collecting aeons.

"They say summoning changes a person," she remarked, feeling an urge to move to Braska's side and rest her hand against his forehead, to try and soothe away the worries and the dreams that she knew were plaguing him. But instead she caught herself and scowled at Auron. "You think showing someone a little compassion is a sign of being in love? You know, you're pretty messed up, Auron. I don't want to know what your family was like."

"Compassion," Auron echoed, a humorless smile back in place. "Is that what you call this. Hnn," he added, looking away.

The conversation died out, and though they were sitting right next to each other Rikku felt tired and alone. Auron's words bothered her - but not as much as they should have. All things considered, he didn't seem very upset with her either, despite their obvious disagreement. Most of all, though, Rikku was surprised that she wasn't angrier at his accusations of her own supposed feelings for Braska.

Well, it's because I do love Braska, she reasoned. Just in a different way. I thought he could understand that.

"I'm sorry for treating you like somebody else. Someone you're not," Rikku said. "You were right about that. But -" She took a deep breath. "I'm willing to do what it takes to prove that I really like you. You, Auron. Not someone who looks like you. Not just my memories."

Auron glanced at her warily. "Don't try to kiss me," he said with a faint look of alarm.

Rikku rolled her eyes. "Hey, how'd you know I was even thinking - oh, forget it! Besides, I didn't win the part of the bet where I got to kiss you anyway, not that you'd believe that." She shrugged. "But I do want something from you, to show you that I'm serious. At least give me the chance to change your mind," she pressed.

"Something," Auron repeated after a short, thoughtful pause. "You've already taken my sword, my bracer, and all of my money. What more do you want?"

Rikku grin reappeared as the atmosphere relaxed between them. A glint entered her eye, and Auron grimaced as he followed her gaze.

"Stop right there!" Auron shut her down with a look of panic before she could reach his belt buckle.

"Aww, c'mon! Then at least gimmie your coat! I won't damage it, I swear!"

After the ensuing brief but quiet struggle, Rikku managed to wrest the coat off of him and gather it in her lap. He'd let her win to keep from waking Braska and Jecht, but she wasn't going to quibble over the details. A win was a win, fair or not. "See?" she whispered. "You do like me!"

"I didn't want to disturb the others with your incessant scheming," Auron grumbled, crossing his arms. Which, without the bulky fabric of his coat sleeves to hide them in, were laid bare to the world in all of their muscular glory.

Holy moley, he's hot, Rikku reminded herself, biting her lip and trying not to stare. Auron cleared his throat with a smug look, and Rikku blanched and scowled half-heartedly at him. She couldn't hold the frown, however, just gave up trying as she delved into the coat, running her fingers over the fabric. A thousand ideas raced through her head. She settled on the least offensive one, abandoning the cloth to dig through her supply pouch.

"I'm gonna put a little Rikku-certified chic into this thing, mister. I mean, red is such a total fashion mistake, if you ask me. It makes you look fat. It could make anybody with abs of steel and a skin-tight bodysuit look fat. Just look at Nooj! ...never mind about that last part."

She chattered away as she worked, grabbing her soldering iron and a few scraps of metal out of the bag. Gathering together everything she needed, Rikku began tooling the shoulder-guard of the coat.

"If you're gonna go flamboyant, then do it with a little bit of style. You should wear your coat off the shoulder or something. Y'know, one arm in, one arm out. It'll look fantastic on you!" She snuck a calculating glance at Auron's biceps. "And this should help a little with the protection too," Rikku added, ducking back as a few sparks flew from the tips of the metal she was working. "Everything could use a little of that good ol' Al Bhed flair!" Finishing up - it was primarily a decorative modification, after all - Rikku blew on the still-glowing shoulder guard and then held up the fabric to display her handiwork to Auron. "Well, what do you think?"

Silence.

Rikku scowled. "What, don't you like it?"

"You... have taken the traditional uniform of Yevon's warrior monks and decorated it with an Al Bhed design," Auron observed. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at her. "Do you take pleasure in insulting the Church at every turn?"

Rikku didn't have to think about that one. "Well, yeah, actually, I guess I do. But this time it's just a neat little bonus."

"A bonus to what...?" Auron trailed off, reaching for the coat.

Rikku frowned. "Oh, stop being so sarcastic," she said to him, refusing to relinquish the cloth. There was no way she was going to give this to him if he was going to make fun of it, or worse yet, insult it. "I just wanted to give you a little piece of me. You know," she added, feeling more and more embarrassed by the second. "Something that will last - you can take it with you, no matter where you go."

Her voice faltered, and the coat slipped through her fingers as a faint sense of panic bloomed. Did I reach too far? Maybe he really doesn't like it. He said it was a uniform? Oh, great, don't tell me Auron gets hung up on things like that... Rikku closed her eyes and stifled her groan. And here she'd been trying to help ease the tension between them, for crying out loud!

A sudden, unexpected pressure on her hands caused Rikku's eyes to fly open. Auron's larger, pale fingers slid over her own, tracing the designs on the warmed metal in her grasp.

"I am... honored. Thank you, Rikku," he murmured, more gently than she had ever heard him speak. "I will wear it with pride." Catching himself, he withdrew his fingers and frowned. "Lord Braska will be pleased to see it, of course."

Rikku smiled at Auron and pulled the coat out of his grasp, swatting his hands away. "Wait, there's one last thing I want to do to it." She dove back into her supply pouch, searching for something that would better reflect her feelings for him. When her hand finally closed around one of their few, precious phoenix downs, Rikku felt her smile widen. "I know exactly what this needs," she murmured, drawing out the fluffy feather and one other, more familiar set of beads. She strung the feather around the looped thread and reached for his shoulder guard. A few sparks later, and the beaded hair-cord Yuna had made was dangling from the back of his coat, the small feather at its end twisting through the air. "There," Rikku sighed, blowing on the metal to cool it. "Now it's perfect."

"That is Besaid-style knotwork," Auron observed with interest. "Those are very rare and expensive to obtain. You've been to Besaid before?" He sounded surprised.

"I knew someone from there once," Rikku explained, pleased with her work.

"Thank you," Auron repeated dubiously. "But... why this, and the feather? I can hardly wait to hear what Jecht will say about it."

Rikku stuck out her tongue. "Oh, come on. You're man enough to wear Besaid hair-braids, right? Besides, with arms like those and that sword, nobody will laugh at you. Just keep one out there for everyone to see and people will be too busy looking at your guns to notice the feather anyhow."

"Hnn," Auron grunted, but he did stand up and slip the coat on. "I'll keep that in mind." Though he shrugged out of one sleeve, he continued to hide his arm from her view within the bulky coat. He looked down at her, one eyebrow quirked. "And does this meet with your approval, then? Or do I need to start wearing sunglasses next? Maybe a new hairstyle?" he suggested.

Rikku smiled, planting her chin in one hand. "Naw. I think you're good the way you are right now."

edited 7/16. Made a small error correction about the Al Bhed clan.

Rikku's coat modification turns Auron's normal red coat into his Kingdom Hearts outfit.

When Rikku says "your guns" to Auron, she means his biceps.

After I wrote this chapter, someone explained to me that the tradition of leaving one arm hanging out of the yukata was a sign of having suffered through some sort of dishonor. I ultimately decided not to port that aspect of Japanese culture over into this universe.