19: Sheer Luck
"C'mon, man, gimmie a break!" Jecht's bellow echoed across the clearing. "I'm too tired to do this! I need a time-out!"
"The fiends will not be as accommodating as I am," came Auron's curt reply. There was the sound of clashing metal, and then -
"OWW! Damn it, Auron, I can't feel my wrists anymore!"
"That yell of pain tells me otherwise. Now take up your sword."
The short moment of silence that followed was soon punctuated by more grumbling. Then the sound of a scuffle filled the air once more. Rikku sighed and shook her head before risking a glance at Braska, who was tending to the remains of their makeshift camp. "Auron's being pretty tough on him, huh?" she observed.
Braska nodded, wrapping up his bedroll. "He may seem harsh, but Jecht has found himself a competent teacher." He paused. "Auron would not try quite so hard if Jecht did not show at least some promise."
There was another loud ring, and then more of Jecht's increasingly creative obscenities on Auron, his sword technique, his lineage and how the two meshed together filtered through.
"... Once he learns how to keep his grip on his sword," Braska added as an afterthought. Finishing with his bundle, he stood and shook out his robes. "But the lesson is over for today. It is time we moved on." Stooping down, he scooped Auron's pack from the ground and made his way over to the two swordsmen.
Rikku kicked at the ground before rolling to her feet. "I was afraid you were gonna say that," she mumbled, shouldering her pack. Grabbing Jecht's, she trailed after him. As she pulled alongside the three men, she tossed it toward Jecht, nearly hitting him in the face and earning more than a few of his colorful expletives.
Ignoring his insults, she addressed Braska. "Do you think we could at least wait until it stopped raining? Jecht does need more practice, after all." She was met by more swearing and ducked a half-hearted blow from the man in question.
"That storm never ends," Auron interrupted. "Unless you want to take up permanent residence in Macalania, it's time to move on."
"Yeah," agreed Jecht a bit too hastily. "We need to get back to civilization. Y'know, with people. And food. And bars," he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.
Braska smiled in sympathy. "While I can not say that I approve of the bars, I fear I must agree with Jecht. Djose Temple is our next destination, and to reach it we must cross the Thunder Plains."
"I know, I know," Rikku replied. "It's just... well, I don't really like thunder all that much." Stubbing a toe into the ground, she frowned. It had been a while since she'd overcome her crippling fear of thunder, but that didn't mean she enjoyed travelling through the Thunder Plains. In fact, the only instance she could recall appreciating any time spent there was during Yuna's concert - and that was more due to the fact that the storm had actually broken, rather than the concert itself.
She looked up to see the others studying her. Well, Auron and Braska. Jecht looked smug, and too late she realized she'd given him ample ammunition to use for the rest of the Pilgrimage. Rolling her eyes, she stiffened her back in a show of bravery, planting her hands on her hips. "Whatever," she said with more confidence than she felt. "I won't slow us down."
Still, as the small group made their way to the edge of the wet, darkened fields of rock, Rikku found her feet slowing. Lightning flashed, and she jumped, barely stifling her squeak of dismay. Braska was busy explaining the quirks of the never-ending storms and lightning strikes to Jecht, who was listening with too-eager anticipation.
It figures, Rikku thought. Only someone like Jecht would be excited at the possibility of getting barbequed by a lightning bolt. There was another flash of light, followed by a loud crack of thunder. With a sense of foreboding, Rikku looked up, then leapt away as a sizzling bolt charred the ground at her feet. Scowling, she rolled off of her butt and inspected her now-thoroughly-soaked skirt. Then she shook a fist at the sky.
"Hey, aim at one of those taller guys over there!" She pointed at Jecht. "Just fry one of the guys carrying those lightning rods on their back and leave me alone!" The sky rumbled ominously in response, and Rikku groaned.
"Looks like you got all the luck, Blondie!" Jecht called out to her with a grin. He followed it up with a whoop as another blast of lightning struck a few feet away, causing her to cringe and jump once more.
Rikku growled at Jecht, but his comment had her fingering the Garment Grid. She looked at the new sphere she'd placed in it and wondered if it would work. Shinra wasn't there to fix it if anything went wrong, but then again - she'd made this sphere herself, and she didn't really believe Jecht's personality would be a hostile one. Embarrassing, maybe, but not malicious.
Besides, Rikku thought to herself as she tapped the Sphere Break game she'd recorded, the worst it can do is not work, right? "Guys," she called out after a moment's consideration. "I'm gonna try something, okay? Don't freak out!"
Auron's eyebrows shot up. "Something?" he asked, a dark look clouding his features. "Define something."
Braska saw Rikku toying with her belt. "You are going to use your magic again," he observed. "But why?"
"Who cares why?" Jecht jumped in excitement - avoiding another thunderbolt in the process. "C'mon, just do it already! I've been waitin' to see this since forever!"
Rikku rolled her eyes in exasperation. At least she could trust Jecht to make sphere changing seem like nothing more than a trip down one of Luca's fashion runways. Still somewhat nervous, she looked to Braska for approval, rather than jumping headlong into her plan. "It's a new sphere," she told him, sensing the dark look Auron was shooting her over Braska's shoulder. "I'm, umm, well, I'm not really sure what it'll do, but I don't think it'll hurt anybody. And," she added, seeing Auron shift his weight, "I think it'll even help us cross the Thunder Plains if it works."
Braska looked contemplative, then gave her a slow nod.
"My lord - !" Auron protested, still not enamoured with the idea of Rikku changing into one of her costumes.
She frowned at him, then tempered the look with a guilty wince. In all honesty, Auron had yet to have a good experience with one of her "enhanced" personalities to date. Then she lifted her chin. Well, that's just going to have to change. She wasn't about to give up using one of the few advantages she had on this Pilgrimage just because it made Auron uncomfortable. In fact, she considered it suitable revenge for when he made her feel clumsy and awkward just by being his normal, competent, muscle-bound self. Which was pretty much always. She smirked and turned her attention back to Braska.
"Go ahead, Rikkma," Braska told her. "Your magic is a resource that none of us can afford to ignore at the moment." His tone was light, but in it were the underpinnings of a faint command; again, her fault. They were short on money and supplies, and Braska was making clear that no advantage, no matter how uncomfortable it might be for the group, was to be turned away.
"So what'cha gonna change into now, Blondie?" Jecht asked, missing the subtle undertones of the conversation in favour of ogling Rikku. "Tell me it's a blitzer!"
"It is, in a way," Rikku admitted, her hand hovering over the sphere belt. "It's you. Well, a recording I made of you." She tried valiantly to ignore how both Auron and Braska blanched at the news while Jecht let out another triumphant cheer.
"Ya know, there can be only one Sublimely Magnificent Jecht, but I really can't blame ya for trying," he crowed.
"I knew this was a bad idea," Auron muttered to Braska, whose calming smile was beginning to look strained. "How is this supposed to help us cross the Thunder Plains?" he added with more volume.
"Stop looking so glum, I'm on it too!" Rikku ignored the groan emanating from Auron and the tightening of Braska's smile and pushed on. "And it's not so much a recording of Jecht, but what he was doing."
Auron sighed and passed a hand over his eyes. "I find myself gushing with relief," he deadpanned. Then he shrugged and gripped his sword. "Perhaps you should just stop talking and get it over with," he grumbled. "I'm sure Lord Braska and I will be able to adequately handle the fallout."
"Hey, stop talkin' like it's gonna be a bad thing!" Jecht protested. "It's ME after all!" The rumbling of thunder cut through the silence following his declaration.
Rikku shrugged. "Well, here goes nothing!" She sucked in her breath and activated the sphere. A swirl of energy surrounded her, and she tipped her head back and spread her arms to welcome it. The change felt slow, sluggish almost; she wondered what kind of tuning Shinra did to the spheres before he allowed them to be used. It felt as though there was something blocking her. The potential was there, scraping and moving under the surface of the swirling energy, but no feelings of being overtaken, being replaced by something - or someone - else pushed through to the surface. Frowning, Rikku squeezed her eyes shut and delved more deeply into the power flowing around her. The more she chased and grasped after the elusive energy, however, the faster it slipped from her reach.
Come on, come on! Somehow she was convinced that Yuna wouldn't have had this problem; probably even Braska could draw out whatever was hiding in the sphere. But Rikku wasn't a summoner, not by a long shot, and after a moment the light swirling around her died. Cracking her eyes open, Rikku looked at her hands - and let out an exhausted sigh. There was no change, and she grunted in frustration and wiped the sweat from her brow.
"What went wrong?" Braska asked, sensing her disappointment.
"I don't know!" Rikku snapped, more harshly than she intended to. She ducked her head. "Sorry. I was just hoping it would work, but I guess I really am out of luck. It was a long shot anyway."
Braska stepped towards her; the rain was plastering the cloth of his circlet to his head, and Rikku realized that she was the reason the rest of the group was getting soaked - without making any progress through the dangerous fields.
"It's okay, let's just forget about it -" she began, but stilled when Braska reached out and clasped her hands.
"Your belt... it summons the memories of the things you record in your spheres," he said. "Is that not what you told me?"
Surprised, Rikku could only nod. Braska gave her another smile of encouragement. "Do not give up hope, Rikkma. You yourself know how long it took for me to master the summoning of an aeon. Try not to fight with your memories. A summoner cannot struggle against the aeon he bonds himself to, for it would destroy him. It is only when we learn to fully accept the Fayth into our hearts and minds that they come to us."
Rikku had never questioned what it was like for summoners before; she just knew there was a lot of sweat and fatigue involved from whatever went on behind those closed doors. Now, though, she wondered at the precious, jealously guarded information that Braska was letting her hear. "So summoning - it's not really about pulling out all that power, but giving into it?"
Braska's eyes warmed as he nodded. "It takes a great deal of trust... trust that the power you deliver yourself to will not harm you. Trust, and confidence. Summoning is about letting go of yourself and becoming one with something greater."
Mulling over his words, Rikku thought about Anima and couldn't help but let out a convulsive shudder. How in Spira had Yuna ever managed to master that dark, restless aeon? As if sensing her unease, she felt Braska's hands tighten over her own as he continued.
"But it is also about trust in yourself," he told her. "The Summon becomes a part of your own soul. If you know yourself - if you accept yourself - you will not be harmed." He stepped closer to her. "You are a strong, good-hearted woman. Trust in yourself, in your own abilities and powers, and you will master this sphere." He leaned in, and she felt a gentle pressure at her cheek, and then he was moving away before she could even register the soft brush of his lips against her skin. Rikku's hand flew to her face, her eyes wide with shock.
"For luck," he told her with a smile, gravitating back towards Auron, who had observed the entire display stoic indifference. "I believe in you. Try your sphere again."
Rikku nodded, her hand still on her cheek, which she was sure was starting to burn as red as Auron's coat. She didn't dare shift her eyes towards the other man; she could tell from his posture alone that he had gone stock-still. Even Jecht wasn't making a comment; rather, he was looking between Braska and Auron with a thoughtful, half-squinted expression that she hadn't seen for some time.
She took a deep breath. With everyone remaining motionless, there were only two choices. Either she could try again, or they could all became living lightning rods while waiting for the tension to break. Tough call. Closing her eyes, she passed her hand over the dressphere and called forth the power it contained.
It leapt over her skin in a painful crackle of energy, surrounding her with light; Rikku felt herself cringing and trying to push away from it, to master it. The sensation was a lot more raw and intense than her Shinra-prepared dresspheres, and she struggled for control.
Trust in yourself.
She repeated Braska's words, forcing herself to stop fighting the conflicting swirls of energy. Shoulders relaxing, her arms spread as electricity washed through her, at first burning and violent. She struggled not to clench, to accept the foreign presence and almost-familiar thoughts that raced through her mind. You won't harm me, she thought to the strange almost-consciousness that was taking a hold inside of herself. The glow of the transformation surrounded her, and a smile played at her lips. You are me.
She felt Jecht's wild laughter run through her, his overabundance of confidence and self-assurance. She saw the coins glinting as they spun through the air, turning over and over on themselves. And she saw herself, smiling as she deftly flipped the coins around her index fingers, her lips moving in a silent, rapid count. She was them; she was all of them, and they were her. Jecht tossed another coin, laughing in triumph as he won his bet, and with a start, Rikku realized it was she who was laughing. Laughing and twirling on her toes as the light faded, leaving her standing among her friends in the midst of the dark, rain-soaked Thunder Plains.
"Is there something you're not telling us?" she heard Auron say. The question wasn't directed at her.
"That is NOT me," came the quick answer from Jecht. "There is NO WAY that is me!" He was yelling now.
"Really," Auron was saying, this time his voice laden with amusement. Braska was making a few very suspicious snorting sounds.
Deciding to take pity on her companion - he was, after all, the one who made this possible in the first place - Rikku completed her spin and snapped her cards around. They whirled around her, lifting in an unnatural breeze and threading under her torso and over her chest before following the line of her arm and falling into place in her waiting, outstretched hand.
"Of course it's not Jecht," she said. Her voice was loud and bright, all traces of the timid fear she had felt earlier vanished. "Do you think he could ever look this good in a million years? This is one-hundred-percent yours truly!" She winked and blew her friends a mocking kiss.
The men turned to her and she posed for them, completely unabashed by the triple set of stares she was receiving. "See something you like?" she asked them.
"I see the resemblance now," Auron said, his eyes rolling upwards.
Rikku pouted, jutting a hip out as she tapped the bottom of her chin with her cards. She knew the sphere was working, just as surely as she knew no amount of falling rain would be able to plaster down the feather ornament that was woven into her hair. "Well, I can't help it if you boys can't keep your eyes off of my sexy bod!" she purred, winking at him.
" 'ey hey hey," Jecht broke off, waving his hand at Rikku. "C'mon, I'm not really like that, am I? Besides," he added, turning a gleaming eye on her. "There's only one sexy bod on this Pilgrimage, and it don't belong to you."
"Humph, I wonder what Braska and Auron would say about that," Rikku teased, her blood warming at the thought of some - any, really - competition. "Wanna bet on it?"
"I think not," Braska said, managing to recover his voice. He coughed, carefully manoeuvring his eyes to remain planted on Rikku's face. "While I am pleased by your success, Rikkma, I'm afraid I fail to see how this new outfit of yours will assist us in our travels."
"What he means is how the hell are ya gonna cross the Thunder Plains in heels?" Jecht added, sidling up to her and giving her skimpy yellow dress a critical once-over. In response, Rikku let out a shrill, confident laugh, crossing an arm over her mouth. "I do NOT laugh like that," Jecht added sullenly.
"This is an outfit I'm familiar with," Rikku explained, slapping her cards into Jecht's face and sending him reeling backwards - and conveniently out of her arena of personal space. The spotlight was only large enough for one, after all. "I used to call it Lady Luck. Although it does feel like it has a few new touches." She tapped her lip. "I don't remember ever being this loud before," she admitted, then gave the others a winning smile. "But I'm sure it's an improvement!"
"Of course," Auron repeated, still eyeing the flimsy yellow costume with distaste. "How is it that you're managing to stay dry when the rest of us are soaked?"
Rikku winked and turned, sashaying onto the open plains. "I guess I'm just lucky!" she crowed, tossing her cards into the air above her head. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed, coursing down towards her. At the last moment, the bolt split, charring the ground on either side of where she stood. Turning around, she gifted them with a winsome smile. "Well? Are you boys coming, or do you want to wait and see how long it takes for your luck to run out?"
"That... could be useful," Braska observed as he gathered his robes and hurried after her.
"If you can put up with her long enough to stand it," Auron grumbled in reply.
They both stopped short when Rikku threw a few cards at them. The stack whirled in place, bathing them both in a burst of ephemeral petals of red and gold.
Rikku caught the returning cards with a snap. "A little spell I call Felicity," she explained. "You two shouldn't get hit by any lightning either, unless you want to be." She winked at them. "Stay close now, you wouldn't wanna be caught without me when it wears off!"
Jecht hobbled alongside them, peeling a stray card off of his cheek. " 'ey!" he grunted. "What about me?"
Rikku narrowed her eyes and smirked. "Well, I guess you'll just have to rely on your own good looks to get you through this one." She glanced at the sky. "Oh, and you might wanna move."
"Why? All this star power blocking your limelight?" Jecht snapped back. The sky flashed, and then a yelp filled the air along with the scent of burned hair. Rikku looked down her nose at the man sprawled on the ground before her.
"Not anymore," she sniffed.
.x.x.x.
Despite the initial arguments, it didn't take long for Rikku and Jecht to become fast friends despite - or perhaps because of - the Lady Luck dressphere; altogether not too surprising, considering how much of her new personality was based off of Jecht's own. Of course, her sudden competitive streak and the mixture of ballooning egos didn't allow everything to proceed quite as smoothly as their easy banter. In addition, she continued to refuse him her luck charms, given Jecht's penchant to challenge her for the spotlight. The Thunder Plains was her stage, and if Jecht couldn't concede gracefully, she'd let the lightning teach him better.
She noted with amusement that he was getting more adept at dodging the lightning strikes as they travelled deeper into the rain swept plains; the blitzball reflexes helped. The singed toes he received when he didn't manage to jump away in time were an even greater motivator.
For as trouble-free as the actual trek through the Plains themselves were, there were still a few unpleasant surprises in store for the party. Battles, as they quickly found out, were not quite as easy as before. While her presence as Lady Luck seemed to grant a boon to their spoils of war - something they all sorely needed - there was a price to be paid for the sudden good fortune.
They discovered this with the first elemental monster they faced, which happened to be a disgruntled Gold Element. Some quick defensive casting by Braska ensured that nobody was electrocuted, but it soon became clear that brute force was not the going to be the easiest solution to their monster problem. And Rikku, as the resident black magic caster, stepped into her role.
She wasn't sure what made her gamble, or why; a sudden, capricious whim and the thought that the results might be amusing, perhaps. Either way, she laughed with delight as she closed her eyes and spun her cards around, allowing the luck of the draw to choose her spell rather than pulling it out of the Conflagration Grid she wore. Of course, even Lady Luck could have her dry spells, and her companions had been less than amused when she ended up hitting the thing with a Thundara spell of her own. After a confused scuffle, a hard-won victory, and a scathing bout of mostly ineffectual yelling on Auron's part, Braska diplomatically suggested that they relegate Rikku to the role of support, rather than attack.
That suited everyone, particularly Rikku, just fine, and she took a great deal of pleasure thereafter in randomly granting her companions luck blessings - though she did manage to "accidentally" knock out Jecht once. "Oopsie! My mistake!" she had giggled to her incredulous companions.
Rikku sighed to herself as they strolled - or rather, as she strolled, and the rest of the Pilgrimage sludged - through the slick, treacherous path of the Plains. There were advantages to wearing the Lady Luck sphere, she noted as she examined the finish of her lacquered nails. A hazy, carefree lightness continually fogged her senses, and Rikku found she couldn't bring herself to truly worry - or even care - about most of their trip.
The kiss Braska had given her no longer concerned her, though somewhere in the back of her mind something was screaming that it should. Auron's weary, guarded looks also made her smirk; she ignored the slight twinges of discomfort that those gave her and brushed it off as indigestion.
More than once her erratic, carefree attitude landed her in trouble; the Iron Giant lair she inadvertently led them into on one of her "shortcuts" could have gotten messy, were it not for Braska's healing magic and Auron's skill with the blade. Even her brushes with danger seemed to be cloaked in a gauzy haze, though; Rikku chuckled to herself, flicking her cards through her hands. Live for the moment, take a few risks. Life is short, why should we worry about silly things like consequences? she mused, turning her head to eye Auron.
He caught her look and winced, and her smile widened. She sauntered over to him, noting with disapproval that both arms had disappeared into the depths of his red coat.
"I thought I told you it looked better off the shoulder," she murmured, glancing up at him through lowered eyelashes.
Auron was silent for a moment before answering. "I prefer to have some measure of protection from the elements," he told her, his voice bland.
"The elements aren't bothering me," Rikku replied, gesturing at the almost-indecent slit running down the center of her yellow dress. "A little help might take care of that problem for you, too. Say, a kiss?" she added with a wink. "It's not often that fortune smiles on mankind, and even less often that she looks this good."
Auron stared straight ahead. His grip on the handle of his sword, which was slung loosely over one shoulder, tightened. "Rikkma. For Braska's sake, I am willing to grant you leniency for many of your actions." He turned his gaze to her, and his eyes were hard. "Don't push your luck. Even the Lady's will run out eventually." He turned away and stepped up his pace.
Rikku smirked, but allowed him to draw away. "Maybe next time," she murmured with a twinge of disappointment. She knew she looked great; the man would have to be dead to not notice the amount of thigh she was flashing or the way her dress plunged suggestively past her navel. And she knew for a fact that he wasn't, yet. She let out a disconsolate sigh and wished she had a mirror to check her appearance in. Maybe she wasn't pouting enough?
A shout rose from the head of their group, and Jecht jogged back towards them, thoroughly soaked. He paused to twist out of the way as a lightning bolt whizzed toward the spot he had been standing moments before. "I see a building up there!" he shouted at them, pointing towards the top of the hill. "Looks like some kinda travel agency!"
"Travel agency?" Braska leaned on his staff with a look of surprise. "Strange... it should have taken us longer to reach it. The journey through the first half of the Plains is usually more than a day long."
"Maybe we got lucky, huh?" Rikku boasted, prompting mutters and tired looks from every single one of her companions. "What?"
"Can we ask her to go back to normal yet?" Jecht groaned. "Dodgin' lightning is easier than putting up with that," he added, waving in Rikku's direction.
"I'm right here, you know."
"I must admit, I will be somewhat relieved when this leg of our journey is over," Braska agreed.
"Hey, not you, too!" Rikku's cards circled around her head in obvious agitation.
"Thank Yevon," Auron muttered, turning a pointed look towards her. "Get out of that thing before someone sees you and questions us. What we need now is discretion, not luck."
"Humph, fine, but I'll have you know that I like this dressphere," Rikku replied to him cattily, holding her hand over her belt. She released the magic, and it bled from her body in a rush, almost as quickly as her confidence faded. Lightning roared overhead, and Rikku jumped in surprise - and then slipped against the slick path, dropping to her knees and landing face-first in the mud. She pushed herself up from her prostrate position with a low groan. "I hate that dressphere," she grumbled, trying to slick the mud away from her face.
"I dunno, I could get to like it. Look at these results!" Jecht laughed at her, reaching over and swiping a finger through some of the mud on her forehead before flicking it back towards her nose. "I always thought you were supposed to wait for the spa before you got the facial."
"Oh, can it," she yelled, pushing herself to her feet. She whirled on Auron and Braska, fists balled. "And you two! How could you let me go around making a fool of myself like that all day? Ugh, I feel so - ! so - !"
"Dirty?" Jecht offered, shaking his mud-crusted finger off in the rain.
"At least I know where all the bad puns came from," Rikku shot back, glad that the mud mask she was currently wearing would at least hide the hot blush on her cheeks. She stomped forward towards the travel agency, feeling a more than a little foolish and a lot humiliated. A dresssphere based off of Jecht's personality! What had she been thinking?
A firm hand on her shoulder stopped her before she got far, and Rikku glanced around to see Auron holding her back. She flushed, clearly remembering each and every one of her spurned attempts to flirt with him during their journey. "Umm... about anything I might have said to you while... uh... under the influence," she mumbled. "I'm really, really sorry, okay?"
He didn't answer, and Rikku thought her mud mask might start cracking off of her face in flakes from the burn in her cheeks. "You could say something!" she squeaked, her color rising.
"Watching you blush is much more entertaining than watching a false reflection of yourself trying to seduce me." Rikku's embarrassment was waylaid by surprise as her mouth dropped. Auron released her and let out a low chuckle, then threw a lump of soggy cloth at her. She caught it and stared, bemused.
"This is my cloak from Bevelle!" She shook it out.
"Wear it," Auron instructed her. Then he looked at Braska. "You too."
Braska was already removing his circlet and replacing it with one of the hooded cloaks they had worn through the snowy fields of Macalania. Rikku allowed herself to be distracted by the sight of his long, brown braid - Braska never showed his hair, at least not normally - before turning back to Auron in confusion.
"The travel agency here is owned by the Al Bhed," Auron explained.
Rikku felt a sudden thrill of elation run through her. Al Bhed! She'd nearly forgotten; the Thunder Plains Travel Agency had been one of Rin's first footholds into his wildly successful merchant chain enterprise. She wondered eagerly if a younger version of the man might be there himself; he'd only be slightly older than she was at this point. Forgetting the cloak in her hands, she turned eager eyes onto the Agency, thinking of how to greet her fellow kinsmen.
Jecht, who was listening in, had a less enthusiastic reaction - he rolled his eyes and threw up his hands. "Here we go again," he muttered. Then he tilted his head. "Wait-a-minute. Why would the Al Bhed be runnin' anything for one of Yevon's Pilgrimages?"
"The Summoner's - Pilgrimage," Rikku amended before she could say Sacrifice, "... affects us all. Everyone wants to be free of Sin. Even if we don't like the Church, that doesn't mean we should punish the Summoners." She didn't add that the Thunder Plains was a barren, treacherous and highly unprofitable segment of the Pilgrimage, and that it was more of a reluctant concession to allow the Al Bhed a trading station in one of Spira's least desirable spots, rather than an act of true generosity.
Braska, fortunately, came up with a more diplomatic explanation before she had to. "The Al Bhed are responsible for the care and maintenance of the lightning rods that draw the thunder strikes away from this path. In thanks for their continued service and generosity, the Church of Yevon has offered them the trade rights to the area." Even as he said it, thunder roared overhead, and they all looked up.
"Prime piece o' real estate, this here," Jecht observed.
Braska coughed into his long sleeve. "Well... due to certain circumstances, I am not what you might call popular among the Al Bhed." He pulled his hood up, letting it fall over to shade his features. "I believe in this instance, it would be best to allow Auron to handle the negotiations."
"Jecht, you're with me. Rikkma, you stay with Braska," Auron commanded, turning towards the agency. Rikku's mouth dropped open, again, and she clutched the cloak in her tightening fist.
"Hey! Hey wait a second, shouldn't I be the one coming with you? I mean, hello? Who speaks Al Bhed here?" She grit her teeth as Braska raised a hand and Auron canted his head towards her. "I mean who speaks Al Bhed fluently?" she added, flustered.
Auron sighed, tapping the sword against his back. "If you insist, you can accompany me, Rikkma. I'm surprised that you would be willing to risk identification by your own people, though. An exiled Al Bhed, on a Pilgrimage with one of Spira's most notorious summoners," he pointed out.
Rikku's hopes fell. Of course he was right; smart Auron, careful Auron, always thinking ahead Auron. Just - why did always being wrong have to hurt so bad? Trembling, she dropped her head and slipped the cloak on over herself, pulling up the hood to hide her long, blonde hair.
Auron said nothing, though his lips were twisted into a frown; in sympathy, perhaps, but still uncompromising. "You can both wait for us outside the doors, but try not to be seen until I come out again. They can't turn us away once we've secured the rooms." He regarded her for a moment longer, then swivelled around. "Jecht," he called, striding towards the agency.
Rikku watched him go, wiping a drop of muddy rain off of her nose. Definitely rain, she told herself sternly as she looked down.
A pair of waterlogged robes moved into place next to her boots. Her eyes followed them upwards; under the hood of his soaking cloak, she could barely make out Braska's tranquil expression. He made no move to follow Auron towards the building, preferring instead to face the consuming dark of the wilderness. Rikku joined his observation of the never-ending storm, watching lightning strike the landscape at regular intervals.
She struggled for words of comfort to give to Braska, whom she knew was suffering just as much as she was, if not more. Hers was an artificial prison; one fraught with personal risk, but an exile by choice, even if the others didn't realize it. Braska's suffering, on the other hand - that was real. She wanted to comfort him, to tell him that he wasn't alone, that people didn't hate him for who he was, or whom he married. But Spira was a cruel world, and Braska had clear eyes. Thunder rolled across the plains, and she reached out and slipped her hand into his. It was cold and limp, and had she not grasped him, it would have fallen out of her grip.
Rikku swallowed. "You still have us," she said, reverting to Al Bhed. "Me, Auron, Jecht... and Yuna. We're your clan now. We'll always be your clan."
Braska sucked in his breath and turned his head towards her, his blue eyes piercing in their honesty. "Truly?" he replied, also in Al Bhed. "Why, then, can't you tell me your real name?"
Rikku bit her lip, hard. She felt her teeth cut into the soft flesh, felt blood mixing with the flow of rainwater, saliva and mud on her tongue. Even though both were blue, she still thought he had Yuna's eyes. Yuna, to whom she could refuse nothing. And she was tired, as tired of secrets as Braska was of exile.
She opened her mouth and gasped in air. A slow trickle of warm blood leaked down her chin, cooling rapidly. "My name is -"
Braska silenced her with hand to her mouth; the gentle warmth of a healing spell washed across her skin, closing the wound with a quiet whisper. His finger lingered across her bottom lip for a heartbeat too long before he drew it away; even as the tickle of magic faded, Rikku still felt an electric tingle where he had touched her. He turned his face away.
"I am strong enough to face Sin... to see my own death, to continue to hold Jecht to his ignorance, to abandon my own daughter. But..." His hand spasmed around hers before loosening. "... I do not want to know your real name. I don't think I could bear it, Rikkma. I don't think I could bear to lose her twice."
Rikku blinked as a particularly spectacular bolt of lightning roared to life before them, striking close to where they both stood. Neither flinched.
"I'm not your wife," she said. "I'm not some pyrefly construct of memories come back to haunt you. You won't have to Send me anywhere."
Braska shuddered. "But you are different, Rikkma. I can feel it. I feel it in my soul, I feel it in the aeons who bond with me. I feel it when they gaze at you, when you ask them your silent questions and that part of them which is not me answers."
She tensed, and he hesitated.
"No," he decided. "Don't tell me." Rikku looked at him in surprise, and he gave her a wan smile. "I, too, need my illusions." He began to extract his hand from her grip, and she caught it and held on.
"I meant everything I said. Whatever you might think of me, our friendship isn't an illusion." She willed him to believe her. He stared back, but she refused to release his hand until the despair receded from his eyes. "You're not alone," she told him. "We'll be with you until the end. All of us."
"Don't promise that," he chastised her. "I know what it is to live with your heart torn in two. You don't belong here... you wish to return to your home, wherever that is. My path seeks to bring life to Spira, but I will pay the debt accrued with my own death. If you have the chance to find your own happiness, it's your duty to take it. It's what I wish for you. It's what I ask of all of you, even of Auron. Your paths are not set, not as mine is. I would tell Jecht the same, if we found the chance to send him back to his Zanarkand. Leave, and never turn back to this journey of sorrows."
Rikku dropped her head, feeling ashamed. There was nothing she could say to that; know yourself, Braska told her. And in her heart, Rikku knew that what he offered then was everything that she really wanted. Hearing it come from his own lips, however, only made it sound selfish.
Braska straightened, his face gentle. "Ah, but I should apologize, Rikkma. Forcing us both to stand in this rain. Come, let us take shelter from this storm," he said, offering her the crook of his arm. Feeling numb, Rikku took it and allowed herself to be led to safety.
edited 7/16. I know light travels faster than sound, but not in the Thunder Plains. That's canon. Thanks, SqEn.