FicWad

Without preamble, Auron's left eye popped open and he rolled it around his socket to examine a starless night sky. He was unharmed, but remained lying on his back, gathering details with his other senses and coming up with very little. The ground shifted grittily underneath him. Sand. There was no sound of the ocean though, only faint music, hard and heavy with a fast beat. Besaid Island? Bikanel Desert? Kilika Beach? Hide and seek, Sin's favorite game, Auron thought. He didn't know if he had enough sanity left to survive another three months of that, but he would have to try because this time Sin had involved Raine.

Sitting upright, Auron shook the beach out of his hair, spit it out through his lips and scrubbed it off his face. A slight brow raise was his only reaction when he realized he wasn't in Bikanel Desert or Kilika Beach. He wasn't even sure if he was in Spira.

He was in Zanarkand, facing the marina.

Apparently lacking lunar influence to bring in the tide, the ocean was suspiciously and unbelievably still, the bay a graveyard of abandoned houseboats and sailing vessels. Behind him, a dry, haunted fog muddied the bright lights of Central Zanarkand. Auron had considered the marina his home, where he felt comfortable retiring to after a long day. But this didn't feel like home. It felt hollow and dead.

There was still one houseboat with power. Raine's. It was lit up like a landing strip, every light on inside, and the windows vibrated from the music. Glancing around the ground, Auron didn't expect to find his katana, but thought he should at least look for it. Something was waiting for him and as much as he wanted to believe it was Raine, singing with a broom as a dance partner, this wasn't the peppy pop music she usually tuned into. If anything, the music was more like….

Impossible.

He boarded the docks empty-handed and followed the familiar path he'd taken 1000 times, the knot of trepidation he felt walking through the boneyard of ghost ships was heightened now that he was unarmed. Climbing the ramp, Auron noticed the front door was open a crack. This was the right houseboat, but there was something off about it. The welcome mat was missing and the sun-bleached deck boards were shabby and faded again. It occurred to Auron it may not be Raine's houseboat, but still Jecht's.

Guarded, Auron pushed on the door. Inside, the music was deafening and his view into the sunken parlor was obstructed by a hedge of cardboard moving boxes.

"Raine?" he called, but the music masked his voice.

After closing the door, he approached the boxes and peered over them. The houseboat was definitely different, returned to its original state, before the sea water damaged the stucco walls and shag carpeting. The old ceiling fan whipped around on high. Mountains of unlabeled moving boxes blocked the windows. Auron descended the stairs and waded through clothes strewn on the floor, kneeling by the stereo in its usual spot on the shelf, below Jecht's trophies, which were dusty, but not broken. Grimly assessing the stereo's knobs and dials, Auron picked the largest button and pushed it. Except for the ringing in his ears, the following silence was flawless.

A sixth sense alerted Auron he wasn't alone in the room. Behind him, Tidus was holding a box of more trophies, rooted in place, looking as alarmed as Auron felt. The trophies jangled together as Tidus dropped the box at his side and marched across the room.

Quickly standing to brace for the attack, Auron inadvertently knocked over a pile of disk cassettes and they clattered to the floor. After marrying Tidus' sister without permission, Auron knew he earned the assault and he knew Tidus was justified in doing it, but what happened instead made Auron wish it had been as simple as a fight.

Tidus slung his arms around Auron and he had to elevate his chin to avoid colliding with the boy's forehead. Auron's elbows were pinned to his sides as Tidus fiercely squeezed, beating Auron's shoulder blades with his palms in an affectionately masculine embrace. Auron tried to retreat but Tidus hung on and Auron decided the fastest way to end it was to hug back. He felt oddly paternal with his arms around Tidus and after a moment, rested his chin on top of the boy's yellow mop of hair. Tidus sniffed against Auron's collar and the former warrior-monk's face hardened to hold back stinging tears.

That final day in Zanarkand Ruins, before Tidus disappeared with Yunalesca down those paradoxical stairs to nowhere, Auron and Tidus had parted with a sturdy handshake and a nod, after an awkward almost-hug Tidus started to initiate. Auron regretted their weak goodbye. Their amount of time together in the Zanarkand dream rivaled that of any father and son and Tidus deserved better. Auron deserved better.

Stepping back, Tidus efficiently rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and smiled broadly, delivering a cheerful clap to Auron's shoulder. "Welcome to the family, old man."

Auron's face slacked in disbelief, but Tidus only laughed.

"Having a younger wife must suit you. You look good!"

"As do you," Auron said, eying Tidus' seventeen year old physique. The boy was wearing a pale peach tunic, loose linen pants and plastic sandals. It was strange to see him out of his Blitzball uniform, but he seemed relaxed, like he was on leave. Auron supposed in a way he was.

"Come sit." Tidus eagerly waved Auron into the circular parlor, scooping a heap of laundry off the couch and adding it to another pile at one end to clear off space.

Auron came in gradually, reluctantly.

"Want something to drink?" Tidus walked backwards into the galley, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at the refrigerator.

"No. Thanks."

Sinking into the couch, the same one he and Raine had chased a litter of geckos out of once upon a time, Auron noted it was almost new. The houseboat was in the condition it was when Tidus lived there, before Raine had finished renovating it, before it was gutted, before the flood Jecht caused as Sin.

"Moving in?" Auron asked, eye drifting to the boxes that nearly touched the ceiling. Some were dangerously close to the ceiling fan blades. He wondered what was in all of them. Tidus didn't have much for belongings and he knew for a fact Tidus had only brought a backpack of clothes and a regulation-sized Blitzball with him to the real houseboat.

Real houseboat. Auron shook his head to himself. Did he actually just refer to Dream Zanarkand as real?

Tidus opened the refrigerator. "Moving out, actually. This is the last of it."

Last of it? Sweet Yevon, how much had been there before?

Auron leaned sideways to peer into one of the open moving boxes sitting next to him on the couch. As if hastily tossed inside, there was an old armguard, some faded Blitzball magazines and a pile of yellowed family photos. A wad of thick, fibrous construction paper was carelessly folded and wedged against the side of the box. Auron flattened them on the side of his leg and turned them over to look. Children's drawings. Rainbows, trees, suns—and Raine's name autographed at the bottom of each, scrawled in random colors in handwriting advanced for her age. They had probably all been shown to Auron at one time or another and he most likely paged through the amateur artwork with hurried disinterest, but now he considered each one with fresh sentiment. Especially the last one.

It was a family portrait of stick figures. Jecht was first, separated from the rest of his family by a squiggly brown line and surrounded by clouds of every color. The Farplane, when Raine still believed in it. On the right side of the Farplane's barrier, Raine's mother was next with scribbles of brown hair, Tidus and Raine followed with shocks of buttery hair. Last was Auron. His figure of sticks was drawn in brick red, the lower half of his face concealed with a grey box, his collar, and his hair was an inkblot with white sides. He stared at it with a face of stone to keep his reactions in check.

"Whatcha got there?" Tidus asked.

Auron cleared his throat. "Nothing," he said and shoved the pictures under the stack of magazines.

Tidus was scratching the back of his head when he returned with a dark mug filled with some liquid, shoving aside other dirty mugs on the coffee table to make room for the new one. He flopped down on the sectional opposite Auron and propped a flip-flop next to his beverage, relaxing for only a moment before lifting his hips to fidget with something in his pocket. "I have something of yours."

At first Auron peered over with only muted curiosity, until he saw the gold wedding bands lying half-stacked in Tidus' palm. Auron snatched them, studying the rings for authenticity. Raine had thrown them into the gorge the last he saw of them. How did Tidus get them?

"I guess this makes us brothers, huh?"

"It appears so," Auron mumbled, stuffing the rings safely in one of his inside cloak pockets. He couldn't be sure how real they were or if they could be taken from this place when it was time to leave, but he had to try.

"Cool, I always wanted a brother. I just always thought he'd be younger." Tidus grinned cheekily and then shrugged, reconsidering. "I guess Raine was kind of like a brother. She wasn't afraid to play in the dirt with me."

"She looked up to you."

"Maybe until you came along," Tidus laughed.

"Hmph." Not anymore. Glancing back into the box next to him, he found Raine's hand-drawn family portrait staring back at him, the magazines he'd piled on top had disappeared. How did Tidus do that? "Where is she?"

"Safe," Tidus said. But something in Auron's face must have compelled him to add, "I swear."

"You've not shown yourself to her enough," Auron said. "I'm afraid she doesn't believe you're Sin."

He shrugged, insouciant, scratching behind his head again. "So what if she doesn't?"

Auron frowned. "Your sister is naturally skeptical. If she was sure it was you, she would have more motivation to finish the pilgrimage."

"You want me to destroy a few village huts in front of her?" Tidus asked, darkening. "Kill some children while she watches? I'm not my father. I won't influence Raine that way."

"No, you're not your father," Auron said gently.

"Believe me, Auron. She knows it's me now." Picking something off the back of his scalp, Tidus examined his fingernail closely, decided it was nothing and flicked it on the floor. He smiled humorlessly at Auron. "You won't have to worry about her incentive anymore."

Auron didn't reply. He should have been glad, but he couldn't make himself feel it.

"Because she's not going on the pilgrimage."

The swordsman straightened. "What?"

"Why do you think I sent you to Zanarkand?"

"To look after your sister."

Tidus made a face like he was insane. "You honestly thought that?"

"Your father asked me to do the same for you."

"I was 6. Raine was 15. She needed looking after like I needed swimming lessons."

Auron leaned forward, sitting on the edge of the cushion. "Then why did you—"

"I set you up in a city where the temperatures are always tepid with a cute blonde cheerleader who's been in love with you since she was 5 years old. It was a sweet deal and all you thought about was your next pilgrimage. You disappoint me, Auron." Tidus grinned. "I expected a flock of nieces and nephews to spoil by now."

"How?"

"Whaddya mean, 'How?' If I have to tell you that, you really are clueless. You know Raine wants children, don't you?"

"Not my children," Auron said. "That's impossible."

Tidus' gaze was level with Auron's. "Anything's possible in the dream world, old man."

Where ever they were, they weren't in Dream Zanarkand anymore, so it was futile to think about. As Auron thought of how to change the subject, he noted how much lower the piles of moving boxes were. Before, they had almost grazed the ceiling. Now, they were below the curtain rods. And had the dune of dirty laundry next to Tidus shrunk?

"The Sinspawn at her wedding…" Auron said distantly.

"I had to stop it. If she couldn't have you, it didn't matter who she married. And Jory was terrible for her."

Auron's brow furrowed. "People could have died."

"No one did," Tidus said and his clear blue eyes widened innocently.

"And when you threw me around Spira like a broken spear for three months?"

Tidus smirked an infuriating smile. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Fonder?" Auron said through his teeth.

The boy's face fell and his eyebrows came together, puzzled.

"I nearly went mad from the torture and Raine tried to kill herself when I didn't return! She almost died, you little shit!"

Tidus' eyes grew huge, but before he could retort, the houseboat shuddered, followed by a low groan outside. Auron secured himself and Tidus leaped to his dirty clothes, but not before half the mound tumbled over onto the floor. When it passed, Auron stared at Tidus edgily, still expecting a damn good explanation.

"Easy, Auron," Tidus mollified, trying to hold Auron's eye contact but the boy succumbed to the itch at the back of his head, aggressively scraping with his fingernails. This time, a small clump of blonde hair with dark roots came with and Tidus dropped it on the floor with barely a look. "I didn't know that would happen. I wanted to nudge things along. You're not getting any younger, you know."

"Why a Summoner, then?"

"It was the only way to get you to consider your feelings toward her. I knew you'd volunteer to be her final Aeon. I mean, you love her, don't you?"

If anyone else was asking, he probably would have walked away, changed the subject or said something vague and philosophical, but it was Tidus. Raine's brother. The last of her family. At least what was left of him, considering the mass of hair he'd just tossed aside. Auron nodded, miserable strain in his face, realizing this was as close as he would come to a marriage blessing. "She was scarcely an adolescent when you last saw her," Auron said. "How did you know I would—"

Tidus's face tilted sideways and deadened soberly. Are you serious? he seemed to ask. "She's my sister. She's young, she's cute, she's blonde, and she likes you. What else do you need?"

To have her summed up in just a few trite details felt like an insult to both Raine and Auron.

Irritably, Tidus shook his head, scratching again. At least this time he didn't rip out any hair. "I didn't mean it that way. She's my sister, I only want for her to be happy."

"What makes you so certain she'll be happy with me?"

"I'm not. But you've put off the Farplane this long to look after her and that's something our mother couldn't even do. There's no one I'd rather see her with."

"Hmph." Tidus would see them together in the Calm Lands when Raine summoned Auron as her final Aeon.

Despite Tidus' declarations his kid sister would not be journeying to Zanarkand Ruins, the pilgrimage was the only reason Raine and Auron were in Spira. Regardless of Tidus' fairy tale notions, Auron and Raine had reasons for marrying the other that differed from what the vows implied. Raine married Auron so he would take her to Spira and Auron married Raine so Yunalesca would brand him a final Aeon. Thinking back to his engagement to the high-priest's daughter, Auron wondered if he was only suited for marriages of convenience. He loved Raine and he was committed to her, but it was not the sole motive for the union.

"Speaking of my mom. Remember that day in Guadosalam? When we visited the Farplane? Well, everyone but you and Rikku."

"I remember." The Al Behd girl was convinced loved ones in the Farplane were only telepathic images formed by Pyreflies and she wouldn't let Auron forget it while they waited for the others to come back.

"I saw my mother that day. Did I ever tell you that?"

Auron shook his head.

"Well," he said, folding his arms as he slouched more comfortably into the couch, "I asked Yuna about it because I don't think my mom was ever sent, was she?"

Auron clasped his hands together thoughtfully, recalling the funeral when fourteen-year-old Raine had chased him down at the gate and pestered him into sitting with her. She said she had tried to get a Summoner to perform a sending, but they had been too busy in the Farplane with Aeons and unicorns and—what else? That's right. Little green men who hide gold. Sometime between drawing her family picture and her mother's funeral, she had stopped believing in all that. "I don't think so."

"Me neither. Anyway, Yuna told me the reason I could see my mother in the Farplane was because she must have accepted her death before she died."

Right. Broken heart. "Self-sendings are rare," Auron said and left it at that.

"I had no idea things had gotten that bad for her," Tidus said sadly, looking away in recollection.

"She looks healthy in the photos," Auron commented.

"What photos?"

Auron gestured to the box next to him, but it was gone. He stared at the empty cushions in disbelief until another quake rattled the cupboard doors and upset the ceiling fan, causing the room's lighting to sway around in sickening swoops. Tidus alertly sat up to look out the window behind Auron and then spun in his seat to inspect the other window.

"You might not be able to stay much longer," Tidus said.

Wondering how Tidus could tell, Auron thought there might be fewer ships outside now, but he became distracted by the wound on the back of Tidus' head. It was greasy and black and it matted his hair. It was hard to look at and Auron forced himself to avert his eyes and sweep them over the living area. Only a few boxes remained and all the dirty laundry was gone, even the articles scattered on the floor. Auron felt a sinking, queasy sensation when he realized it wasn't his imagination; Tidus' possessions were vanishing.

What photos?

Not possessions. Tidus didn't have many physical belongings. They were more like his…memories.

"Where's Raine?" Auron asked.

Tidus sat forward. "I put her someplace safe."

"Where," Auron insisted.

The boat erupted and Auron was thrown off of the couch, knocking empty mugs on the floor, but managed to catch the one with liquid before it spilled. The beverage looked black, oily, a reflection of color on the surface, like petroleum. It smelled terrible.

Tidus jumped out of his spot, grabbed a broom from behind the refrigerator and rapped the ceiling with the handle. "Not yet, you hear me?!" he shouted. "NOT YET!"

When the room settled, Tidus paused a few moments to see if there would be an aftershock and then put the broom back. Tidus considered the room, as if searching for something misplaced and absently picked at the back of his head, wiped something black on his linen pants.

Auron stood. "I should go."

Tidus looked up sharply and shook his head beseechingly. "No, stay just a few more minutes."

Without enthusiasm, Auron nodded but did a double take at the couch he'd just gotten up from. It had disappeared. In an instant, the whole sectional had gone missing and so did the table with all the mugs, including the one filled with black swill. All that lingered in the room was 3 lone boxes and a few trophies on the shelf. The last of it.

Something cold settled in the pit of Auron's stomach as Tidus was picking at the black wound behind his head. The last of him.

Tidus finally noticed the blackness caking under his nails and glanced sheepishly up at Auron. "This is nothing, okay?"

"Hmph."

"Look, Auron, I gotta tell you something."

"Quickly."

"Right." Tidus folded his arms and leaned on one leg. "I wasn't lying when I said Raine is safe."

"Good."

"But she's not in Spira."

"Where is she?"

"Back in Zanarkand."

"Dream Zanarkand?"

With an apologetic grimace, Tidus nodded.

"What?" Auron barked. "Why?"

"It's the only place I can be sure she'll be safe."

"That place is a prison," Auron spat.

"You can't possibly think she likes it in Spira," Tidus said.

Auron flinched. Tidus was right. Raine hated Spira. The smell of the air, the taste of the food…she preferred the dream. "She won't want to be there now. Not when she knows it's not real."

Tidus raised his eyebrows. "Not real? Your feelings for Raine are not real?"

"Of course they are. But she won't be happy there knowing it's a dream."

"You were happy there, knowing it was a dream. In fact, I remember you would do anything to get back there to her."

Auron glared. "It's different knowing I could come back to Spira."

Tidus carelessly shrugged. "The last time I checked, this is still my story. And this is how I want it to end."

Auron grit his teeth together, regretting he had ever told Tidus that. What about Raine's story? Could someone touched by Sin even go back to the dream? Jecht and Tidus had always been striving to get back there but had never found a way and maybe that was for the best. Could Raine live in Dream Zanarkand knowing it was a lie, or would it drive her mad?

"What about the Pilgrimage?"

"I never wanted her in a Pilgrimage. I'm not going to let her die for me."

"She wants to. She wants to do what's right."

As the houseboat rocked violently, Auron and Tidus fought to stabilize themselves, but there was nothing left in the room to lean against. They staggered like drunks in a fun house and it reminded Auron of what it was first like living on the houseboat, before he achieved his sea-legs.

Outside, the long baritone whine of Sin's song filled their heads and Tidus waited to see if it would let up. When it didn't, he had to shout to be heard. "I want to do what's right, too! Raine never wanted this, so I've sent her back!"

"It will be different this time!"

"It was supposed to be different last time, Auron."

"Raine is stronger than you. She'll succeed."

When the house didn't settle, Tidus tisked and grabbed the broom again, creating dents in the ceiling as he pounded, but it didn't help. It didn't even slow down the shaking. Tidus gave up and threw the sweeper down. A moment later, it was gone. "We don't have much time. You need to get out of here!"

Auron nodded firmly, definitively. "Bring me to Zanarkand."

Tidus broke into a smile. "Absolutely."

"When I find Raine, you can bring us back to Spira."

The boy's face had fallen and he was already shaking his head. "Auron, I can't."

"Why not?"

"I don't have much time, either. If I take you to Zanarkand, I won't be able to bring you back to Spira."

"But we have to finish the Pilgrimage."

"Don't do it for me," Tidus said. "Please. Call it self-preservation if you want, but I made this decision because I couldn't live without Yuna. I've no intension to drag anyone else down with me, especially Raine. Especially you."

Auron could feel the gravity changing in the boat, the rear tugging his weight, and the windows were partially obstructed by the dangerous angle of dark water. The houseboat was sinking.

"Come on." Tidus ran up the living room steps, whipping around the banister, and Auron followed. On the deck, the marina was gone, Zanarkand was gone. They were surrounded by a black void of open water with no visible horizon, but the way the water echoed and dripped, they could have been in a cave.

Auron struggled to the end of the boat and looked over the side. The water was high. By now the back deck where Raine used to sleep when it got too humid was completely submerged.

Tidus feverishly scraped the back of his head. Leaning impatiently on one foot, Tidus folded his arms and Auron observed black bruises on Tidus' forearms as the lesions began to spread. They were on his neck, too, like dark love-bites. "There's only enough time to send you to one place. Where to, old man?"

"Spira," Auron said.

"Spira?" Tidus spat. "What about Raine?"

"Raine can take care of herself." She got over him once. She could do it again. Right now, Tidus needed him. How could Auron turn his back when Tidus was standing in front of him, scratching the back of his head like a flea-ridden spaniel? If Raine couldn't be there to help her brother, then Auron had to.

Tidus gave Auron an icy look, taking his decision as a personal insult. "I would have chosen Yuna."

"Even if it was her brother who was in trouble?"

Tidus' look of petulant scorn intensified when he realized Auron was right. "Just go."

Auron sat on the ledge of the boat. "See you soon," he said to Tidus and then swung his legs over and dropped into the black bay.

*

This time when Auron woke up, he was lying prone and as he lifted his face off the ground, a mask of white sand adhered to the side of his face. Immediately he was aware of the crashing surf, screeching gulls, the hollers of fishermen as they maneuvered their boats out of the marina slip and a fog horn blatting a reply.

"Damn you Tidus," Auron muttered. Why did he bother asking Auron to choose if he was just going to send him back to Dream Zanarkand?

His sunglasses were half buried in the sand next to him, somehow materialized from the nightstand in the Macalania Travel Agency where he'd left them and not far from those, his katana. How thoughtful of Tidus to bring those back, too. Auron was still missing his red great coat, though, but as he swiveled his head in the direction of the ocean, he saw it wading out into deeper waters.

"Raine," he whispered and scurried to his feet. He halted at the approaching tide and funneled both hands over his mouth. "Raine!"

She looked back once over her shoulder, but the distance between them was too great to see what expression she might be wearing to explain why she ignored him and persisted towards the sea. She wrangled off the cloak and fed it to a passing wave and then continued to disrobe. She steeled herself from an oncoming wave and kept going. Before he could question her motives, Auron lifted his eye to the sky and already knew.

He bolted into the water. "Raine, come back!"

The stratosphere rapidly swallowed a round patch of Sin's underbelly, shrinking as he departed the dream world.

Splashing into the receding tide, Auron collided with the next moderate wave. Raine was so far out already and Auron was certain he couldn't catch up to her in time. Her swimming skills far surpassed his, enough to out-swim him, but not enough to survive open water. Even more, he feared when she didn't catch up to Sin, she wouldn't use her water abilities at all and let the current sweep her under.

"Raine!" he shouted again, his run reduced to barely a walk as the water approached his thighs. She glanced back, saw him coming and fell forward, disappearing in the ocean. It was all over now. Her finlike limbs would take her out to sea in no time and he would still be floundering about in the reef. And yet, he was compelled to push forward, knowing it wouldn't do any good, knowing he would never catch up. What was he supposed to do? Return to shore to watch her drown? Did Tidus know this would happen? Is that why he sent him back? Damn that boy. Tidus knew Raine could outswim Auron.

When Raine finally surfaced, she was just a pasty speck rolling with the surf, the white blades of her arms like efficient propellers, slicing through foamy breakers. Auron stumbled over the drop off with an inept thrash and the world turned to muffled glugs. His arms flailed to surface and he managed to take a sip of air before sinking like a stone, his boots filled with concrete, his arms and legs hopeless underwater.

For an instant before he felt the yanking choke of his collar, he heard the whisper of true death, enticing him to concede to it, promising a painless afterlife where his lungs didn't burn and his heart didn't ache. In that moment, his limbs stopped fighting and became limp as seaweed, his arms not exactly floating, but rising from the drag of his steady descent. In that split second before he realized Raine had come back for him, it felt good to give up, the same utter peace Raine had surely felt when she drifted off from the exsanguination of her attempted suicide.

Jutting his chin above the salty waves, Auron's fingers curled around the elbow Raine had hooked around his throat. He eased his cumbrousness by kicking his boots, but Auron had otherwise put aside his ego and yielded to her rescue. This was why Tidus sent him back. A drowning Auron was the only thing Raine would come back to shore for.

When Raine found her footing, he twisted and staggered towards the shore on shaky land-legs, combating the waves as they shoved him about. Raine fell to her hands and knees, sputtering and coughing, her bare breasts swaying weightily under her, her nipples pink as seashells and dripping salt water. Her white, waterlogged underwear was now transparently sagging off her hips like an old diaper.

Auron dropped next to her and laid a hand on her back, exhausted, but not enough to keep the grin off his face. "I can think of worse ways to be saved," he panted, but he didn't think she heard him.

"How do we get back?" Raine rasped bluntly.

Startled, he said, "We don't."

Her eyes flicked up to him. "There has to be a way."

Auron shook his head. The Pyreflies in him had gone dormant, the link between him and Sin ruthlessly split when the last of Tidus' humanity was absorbed.

"He sent me back?" she choked, staring at the sand, still on her hands and knees. A wave slid into shore, crashing against the back of her milky thighs.

Auron squeezed her shoulders. He could feel her shaking as she began to weep and he mistook her collision with him as a clumsy embrace. Falling sideways, Auron caught himself, one hand sinking into wet silt, and he realized his other arm had come up to defend himself from an attack of livid slaps and scratches.

"What do you think you're trying to do, kill yourself?" she screamed at him, face streaking with tears. "Why didn't you try harder? You should have tried harder!"

"To kill myself?"

"To make me believe!" she sobbed, her hands forming to fists during her assault. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he thought of wrestling with a nude Raine. "You should have prepared me! You should have taken me to Spira right away! Why did we waste so much time?"

Auron winced at the remark, but it was disguised as the side of her fist pounded the temple of his blind side. Should everything not directly related to a pilgrimage be a waste of time for Auron? Warm nights watching the boats come in on the back deck? Sharing a beer while she made herself dinner? Content silences, quiet chuckles, lengthy conversations about nothing…what a fucking waste of time.

Clamping his hand around one of her biceps, Auron scrambled to his knees. He wasn't sure at what point his battle to overpower her became a battle to comfort her, but she quickly tired and went slack. Auron was a fool if he thought he had ever seen her cry before. Those sniffles and glossy eyes he had witnessed on previous occasion were nothing compared to now, as she bawled inconsolable, heartbreaking howls that eventually ran out of air and became long gaps of silent wails, before a rough inhale started it all over again. By rejecting her and bringing her back, Tidus had destroyed her and it terrified Auron the way her emotions were as exposed and naked as she was lying in his arms.

Auron pulled her into his lap and rocked her and in his struggle to be strong for her, Auron had two dead eyes instead of one as he disengaged, emptying his head, going somewhere far away to a numb place where emotion was disconnected. His only consolation was that Raine never saw those hideous black wounds spreading over Tidus' skin, consuming him, but the vision would be ever present in Auron's mind, a constant reminder he couldn't stop the painful transformation that inevitably ensued inside Sin. He would never even be granted the satisfaction or closure of avenging Tidus, a festering, open gash that would never properly heal. He hated Tidus for this.

When Raine cried everything she had, they were both empty vessels, staring unblinkingly at nothing, traumatized and shivering, and it was the sea, so quick to take both their lives earlier, which swayed and cradled what was left of them in the unrelenting tide.

*

Later, Auron found his cloak down the beach a short ways and shook the sand out of it before he brought it to Raine. He had to force her arms through the sleeves and clasp the belt for her and when he tried to get her to stand, her knees only buckled. He picked her up to carry her back to the board walk and she rested her cheek against his shoulder. Auron was grateful most of the boats were out at sea and the Sin anomaly had caught the attention of everyone else, to avoid inquiries of concern from the other marina residents as they passed by.

The houseboat was locked and Auron couldn't see a way to open it with Raine in his arms. "Raine," he said. "I have to put you down. Can you stand?"

She didn't respond, but Auron lowered her anyway and she was able to hold herself up while he reached into the back of the porch light for the spare key. Clutching the robe around her, salt water dripping off the ends of her slicked blonde hair, she stared pale and gaunt into the ocean. He unlocked the door and let it swing open. Everything was as it was the night before he married Raine, which was only a day and a half ago, but it felt much longer. He began to coax Raine inside with a brush of her arm, but then another popular marriage custom in Zanarkand sparked in his mind and he swept her into his arms and crossed the threshold, kicking the door closed. The significance was lost on her as she merely leaned her head hazily on his chest.

He brought her into the bedroom and set her on her feet by the bed. The place had been home to him when he knew it was a dream and his feelings of nostalgia for the houseboat hadn't gone away, but Raine looked around as though she'd never been there before, seeing it all now through the dream cloud. Auron hoped it would not always be like this for her. She tested the bed's solidity with her hand first, as though doubting it was really there, that she might fall through it, but when the springs held firm, she unclasped the sash in the front and removed his coat before sitting.

Sliding open her top dresser drawer, Auron searched for something she would be comfortable sleeping in. He selected an oversized Abes T-shirt and swiped a pair of dry underwear at the last second. He had never dressed Raine as a child, but he decided this was what it would have been like, kneeled in front of her, tugging down wet panties while she stood, gripping his shoulders. Unfolding the dry undergarment, he held them close to the floor and let her step into them one foot at a time and hiked them into place. He helped her into the shirt, slipping it over her head and guiding her hands through the armholes. Familiar with her naked body now, Auron not only looked without shame, but with objectivity and disinterest, his eye blank if it happened to slide over her genitals. Sneaking a fondle or giving her rump a smack seemed like an event in someone else's life.

"Stay here," he said when she had sat back on the bed. He headed for the linen closet in the bathroom and picked the first towel off the pile and unfolded it as he went back to the bedroom. She sat patiently and allowed him to massage-dry her hair and when he was finished, he tossed aside a few of the decorative pillows and pulled back the covers for Raine to curl up underneath. She wilted as she assumed the fetal position. He thought about crawling in bed with her, but decided against it. If she wanted him there, she would have said so.

He still had to retrieve his katana and sunglasses from the beach and he wanted to get out of his wet clothes at some point, but he didn't want to go anywhere until he was sure Raine had fallen asleep. He parked himself in the armchair at the end of the bed and frowned down at his folded hands while he waited for her light breathing. It didn't take long, but even then he didn't feel right about leaving her alone without at least a note to pacify her if she woke up before he returned. He found a pad and pen in the bedside table and considered a few different versions before settling on something simple: I'm outside—A.

Marina life had mostly returned to normal his second pass through the docks, except for a few beer drinkers on their front decks, binoculars attached to their faces to see if Sin would return. Some raised their cups in polite salutation as Auron went by. Auron was already well known in Spira but he had grown to like the anonymity in the Zanarkand dream. However, since the Sinspawn at Raine's first wedding, he had already noticed an increase in fame. Marrying a network personality probably didn't support his obscurity. Divorcing one wouldn't help, either, the way things were looking.

Following his own tracks back to the spot where Sin had left him, he dug his sunglasses out of the sand and slipped them on over his ears. The tint seemed darker than usual and he removed them with both hands, squinting through the lenses at a distance. He determined they needed to be cleaned and deposited them into his trouser pocket.

Lifting his sword out of the dirt, Auron ran the scabbard across the leg of his pants to rub off the sand and out of habit, slid it out partially to check it. It was still dull in texture from when he'd wiped off the oil and the nick was still there from when he tried to teach Raine. Reminding himself he would have to finish the job, he balanced the sword over his shoulder and made his way back to the houseboat. On the way, he nearly walked right by the pajamas he'd acquired from the bazaar in Kilika, the bottoms, at least, mistaking it for a gob of seaweed that had washed ashore. He held up the limp garment, rotating them in examination. They seemed undamaged. Absently, he remembered how he had irrationally purchased them as an armor to defend her against him. They still had weak defense. Or maybe his attack was too high, he thought and weakly smiled.

When Auron returned, he propped his sword by the door and went to check on Raine right away. Still asleep.

He filled his arms with all the soiled items he could find: the pajama bottoms, her underwear, the towel he used to dry her hair, his cloak and carried them to the utility room across the hall. Accustomed to doing his own laundry when Raine was at work, Auron knew from experience how much soap to add and which cycle to set. He took special care to search every pocket in his cloak, to remove every spare ampoule he'd tucked away and as he came across them he stacked them upright on the upper shelf with the soap. When he found the wedding rings, he stared at them in his hand for a long time, expecting them to slowly vanish before his eye, but when they didn't, he set them carefully by the potions. The rings had been acquired in the Zanarkand Dream, but like Raine, they became something more when they crossed the portal to Spira. Real enough to throw into the ravine in Macalania at least. By all accounts, the rings should still be there, but as an unsent, Auron understood more than anyone some things were never where they should be.

As the drum filled, he nimbly unlaced his boots and kicked them off by the heat register to dry, then loosened the snaps on his collar to lift his leather plate over his head and positioned it next to his boots. He emptied his trouser pockets, put his sunglasses on the shelf where everything else was, then shoved them into the washer. Auron waited for the wash to finish filling before he went to start a hot shower. He had walked stark naked through the houseboat before, but never while Raine was home, even if she was sleeping. Afraid what an unintentional—or intentional—walk-in would do to their dynamic, Auron had become little more than a prude. How silly he had been, considering he had already been thinking of her naked and Raine's obvious proposition in her early twenties had suggested the same. Auron feared he was betraying Tidus' trust, but it had been the whole reason Tidus wanted him there. To be honest, if Tidus had told Auron the real reason he wanted him in Zanarkand was to settle down with Raine and make babies, Auron wouldn't have come. Too many debts to collect with Sin.

He closed the bathroom door so the sound of the shower wouldn't rouse Raine, although it wouldn't have disappointed him if she came in and asked to join. Auron never asked to have a say in the kinds of toiletries Raine purchased, so the shampoo smelled like vanilla and the soap had some sort of exotic fruit scent, but they efficiently removed all the sand in his hair, between his toes and other unmentionable places. After rinsing, he used another towel from the linen closet to dry off and found Raine's white robe on the back of the door. It wasn't the first time he had borrowed it, considering he never did have a change of clothes. The hem reached his mid-thighs and the sleeves were too short for his arms, but he knew she wouldn't mind. She never wore it anyway.

Hoping she might be awake when he finished, Auron discovered her still in hibernation mode and wondered if she had gotten much sleep the night before their wedding. There was a significant time difference between Zanarkand and Spira and it was possible she was already running on fumes when she had fallen into the canyon. Auron prayed all she needed was to catch up on sleep in order to be right as rain. Right as Raine. Auron cracked a smile at his play on words.

Auron transferred his clothes to the dryer in the utility room before slumping into the arm chair facing the bed to wait. Although he wasn't sure how, he managed to sneak in a quick nap before the buzzer went off and Auron felt a little more himself when he was showered and in dry clothes. The emotional wound Tidus had inflicted was still open, but at least it had been cleaned and dressed.

Swiping his sunglasses off the shelf over the dryer, he remembered they needed to be cleaned and ran them under the tap in the kitchen, using a clean dishtowel to shine the lenses. He tried them on, removed them one more time to blow off a few specks and nestled them securely over his ears.

There were some dishes in the sink, leftover from Raine's last meal and Auron dutifully inserted the plug and filled the sink with hot water. While looking for the dish soap in its usual spot under the sink, he noticed a new piece of machina had been installed since the renovation. It was made of the same shiny steel as the refrigerator and stove and when Auron found the handle release, discovered racks inside with other dirty dishes. Since there was no soap anyway, he drained the sink and put the dishes into the empty slots of the new appliance and reminded himself to ask Raine how to use it later. Auron felt a little useless in the kitchen now. He used to keep busy in the houseboat with the endless list of repairs, but now everything was new and he didn't know what to do with himself. It was a temporary problem. After what he put her through in Spira, Raine would ask him to leave soon enough.

His gaze settled on his katana by the door and recalled it still needed maintaining. Throwing the strap of the sheath over his shoulder, he headed for his old bedroom. He had to admit the room looked sharp with walls and new flooring, although it was still furnished sparsely, his old bed remade with new sheets and pillow cases. During the renovation, Raine had the brace for his sword taken down, to most likely appease Jory, but in those couple weeks before their Dome wedding, he had found it under the bed with his sharpening gear. She had saved all the belongings Auron had. They might have been hidden where Jory wouldn't see them, but they were there, much like her feelings.

Sliding out the sharpening box, he blew off a little dust and carried it back to the kitchen to set it up on the peninsula counter. He got to work right away, but had to stop halfway through the coarsest grit to detach his glasses from his face. Scowling at them in the light, Auron inspected for scratches and eventually pitched them to the adjacent counter.

For the next hour, he was able to lose himself in the chore, forgetting about Dream Zanarkand, Tidus, and his future with Raine. For sentimental reasons, he didn't work very hard to repurpose Raine's notch, but while he was focused on an old routine his muddled thoughts cleared and he was able to relax. When his sword was razor sharp, so was his mind and as he rubbed in the oil, he felt renewed. Putting it away was also part of the ritual, the stones all in their proper sleeves and when the kit was back together, he set it by the door and leaned his sword and scabbard against it so they were ready to go when he was.

He checked the refrigerator for supplies. Raine would be hungry when she woke up and though there wasn't much, there was cheese and crusty bread and beer to tide her over until the next run to the store. There had been other instances when he had made it to the store and back while Raine slept, but Auron didn't want to risk it. He wanted to be here when she woke. There was much to discuss and it occurred to him there was something he needed her to do. Something important. To prepare for this, Auron opened some of the kitchen drawers, looking for a specific item.

Previously marveling at the existence of drawer facings and cupboard doors, Auron was now annoyed everything had been moved around, but during his hunt, he came across a cupboard filled with Jecht's old stash, half empty bottles of liquor. At first he ignored it, but when he finally found what he was looking for, went back to the cabinet on impulse and grabbed whatever bottle was first. In Raine's bedroom, he arranged both items on the dresser.

For the rest of the afternoon, Auron sat on the back deck and casually surveyed the boat traffic, dozing sporadically. When it started to get dark, his naps were becoming longer and closer together and he decided to go back inside for some real sleep. He settled in the chair by the bed and propped his feet on the footboard. Sleep wasn't necessary for him to function, but he still did it on occasion. Like deep meditation, sleep was good for his soul. However, his soul must have been troubled because the moment he fell asleep, he dreamed of terrible things.

He dreamed he had become Sin the way he and Raine had planned and he worked very hard inside Sin to stop the cycle, even meeting with Yu Yevon, but before he could convince the ancient summoner to end the rebirth, Auron found himself covered in oily black lesions that itched and was absorbed into Sin before he could change anything. He also dreamed of his first Pilgrimage, with Yuna's father, but Summoner Braska and Jecht wouldn't listen when Auron tried to talk them into battle with Yunalesca instead of choosing a final Aeon.

In another dream, Auron was Raine that morning when her mother died. He did all those things she did to get ready for school. He ate toast and drank juice, checked over his math homework, even surprised himself by how well he curled his hair and put on cosmetics. While aware this was the morning Raine found her mother dead, he was still forced to perform the mundane tasks leading up to it, wishing he would wake up before it was time to go in to say goodbye. But he relived it like Raine and when he shook her mother's shoulder she rolled over on her back and Auron began screaming because it wasn't Raine's mother in the bed it was Raine and he couldn't stop screaming because of all the Pyreflies so many Pyreflies….

Auron must have been fussing in his sleep because he woke with a jolt when his heel slipped off the footboard. Sitting erect in the chair, he collected his wits and tried to get his eye to focus on the bed. The room was dark except for a sliver of dock light coming in through the curtains. He cocked his head slightly to center his halved vision, but it didn't look like Raine was in bed at all. Rising from the chair, he leaned against the footboard and felt around until he came across the hill of her calf. Rounding the bedpost, his dream was coming back to him as he touched her shoulder to make sure she was still breathing. She was and he sighed in relief.

Self-sendings are rare, he reminded himself, but he couldn't shake the terror from the dream, which seemed to erase all the work he had put in to improve his mentality. He unsnapped his collar, removed his cuirass and slipped carefully into bed with her. He might not be as effective at stopping a sending as Raine was, but if it was going to happen he would be there so she wouldn't have to be alone when it did.

He didn't mean to fall back asleep, but when he woke in the morning, Raine wasn't there.

*

Raine rarely asked Auron what she was like as a child, but when she did bring up those times when Auron had to babysit, he could only seem to remember one night. He knew he had minded the children on several occasions, but that one night had seared so vividly in his brain that it was all he could ever recall. After Raine and Tidus went to bed, it was Auron's routine to sit on the front porch, although their usual sitter usually just sat on the couch, watching shows and eating ice cream from the canister. Auron took his duties a little more seriously. Every hour he would patrol the yard and once around ten he would report back to the kids' bedroom to check on their safety. One evening, the night Auron never forgot, the children's twin beds were vacant and the gaping horror that followed was so far outside Auron's typical reactions, his insides went cold. Thinking back, he couldn't remember what drew his attention to the closet, a giggle or a hush, but he remembered stalking over to the closet and throwing it open. Still in their pajamas, Tidus and Raine jumped out, their hands shaped like mock-claws, their expressions puerilely sinister as they bellowed in unison, "Rawr!" Their efforts to scare Auron had worked, but not in the way they intended and fear to Auron was such a foreign sensation that he did not know how to rightly process it. Like a drill sergeant with a wet boot, Auron hollered at top volume. Most of what he said he would never remember because of the way Tidus' face crumpled as he burst into immediate tears and Raine's face fell and went sheer white. He continued to berate them with punishments until they were quivering under their blankets and he spent the remainder of the night seething on the porch.

That horrible moment when Auron first walked in and found the children missing was how he felt when he woke up in the morning and found his arms wrapped around air.

A slow expression of repulsion crept to his face and he whimpered, stroking the sheets in the empty space next to him. It was impossible…her mother had suffered years of degenerative depression…how could Raine…in one night?

The muffled swoosh and gurgle of the toilet in the bathroom was physically startling and Auron's relief stunned him into a numbing daze as he organized his thoughts. Raine had not died in the night and she did not self-send. She had to pee.

When she opened the bathroom door, Auron's flare of rage was as familiar as the night she jumped out of the closet with her brother and he glowered at her, pinning her to the doorway. Maybe he was used to feelings bombarding him now or maybe it was the stabbing regret he always felt when he remembered that night, but the anger was much milder now.

"What?" she asked.

"A note would have been helpful," he growled, although he hadn't actually taken the time to look for one. Emotions made him unreasonable, he learned.

"To go to the bathroom?"

"Leave the door open next time."

"Number one and two?"

Sometimes the things she said, he couldn't tell if he didn't understand them because they were from different worlds, different eras or different generations. It irked him more than usual. "What?" he snapped.

"Nevermind," she said and stretched out lazily over the foot of the bed like a feline coeurl from the Calm Lands.

Auron's eye flickered over her face. It had an overall puffy look, but at least her eyes weren't bloodshot. She was still tired, her eyes dull, her face resistant to smile and everything she said was bland and dryly monotone. "Did you see him?" he asked. "Tidus?"

"In the portal? No, but I heard him talking. He called me Brainy Rainy." She looked up. "Did you?"

Auron hesitated and then nodded.

She looked hurt for a moment but it passed. "We'll find a way, won't we? To get back into Spira?"

He considered her doubtfully.

"My father got into Spira somehow, isn't it possible we could too?"

"That was a fluke. Your father was at the right place at the right time when Sin got too close to the dream world. It could have easily been anyone else at sea that day."

She didn't look convinced.

"Tidus loves you and he wants you to be safe and happy."

Raine swallowed and looked away indignantly. "Then why are you still here?"

Remorse spiked through him miserably and he threw back the covers as he got out of bed to hide the expression from her. He approached the dresser for the items he had gathered yesterday in preparation for her rousing and set them on the night table, turning the bottle slightly so the label would face her. Kneeling on the mattress in front of Raine, Auron saw she had a wretched, apologetic expression on her face and her eyes had a fresh gleam as tears welled.

"I didn't mean it like that," she croaked.

He nodded once. "I know."

"I thought Tidus would want you in Spira to fight Sin, end the cycle, save the world and all that."

"Apparently, your brother cares for my happiness as well."

"Selfish asshole," she muttered. Her attempt at humor was dry and Auron guessed part of her meant it. "He didn't even let us try."

"He never intended for us to get as far as we did."

Her bloated eyes frowned as she evinced puzzlement. "What are you doing with my father's hard liquor?"

"After what we've been through, I figure we earned it."

Raine met his eye circumspectly. "I thought you didn't approve of that kind of escapism."

"One night won't kill us." Inebriation was a temporary fix, but everyone needed a break sometimes. "I think I was a little harsh with you in Spira when you asked before, but I was afraid it would lower your inhibitions."

"And now?"

"I'm counting on it," he said and offered a tiny grin as he swept his eye over the curve of her hip. "I miss you."

She faintly smiled and her swollen eyes looked drowsy.

"There's a bottle here if you want it. I won't judge you."

"Who would have thought Sir Auron would ever suggest a night of drinking and fornication," she said, her eyes flicking to his with a glint. It was a small expression, but it relieved him greatly.

"Maybe I should start first. My tolerance is higher than yours, but I've been told it also lowers my inhibitions."

"Oh?" she said sourly. "From one of the women whose names you don't remember?"

Ignoring her flash of jealousy, he said, "Your father, actually. Jecht had a bad influence on me, I'm afraid. I think his exact words were: 'Take that stick out of your ass and have another drink.'"

Raine snorted.

It was the best she could do right now, Auron guessed, but he would take it. "Before you came along, the only thing that could remove said stick was letting your father get me drunk."

She sighed wearily. "I suppose you think this counts as your grand gesture? Choosing me over the Pilgrimage?"

Auron's smile didn't reach his eyes and he held her gaze evenly until she realized it.

At first, splotches of peachy heat appeared on her pale cheeks and she tried to smile to disguise her embarrassment, but it appeared strained. "You did choose the pilgrimage."

"Hmm," he said, clenching his face to suppress a dreary expression. "But Tidus wants me here."

She held onto that arid smile and Auron figured it was all she could do to keep herself together. "So even if I asked you to leave, you couldn't."

"I hope you don't, but if you did, I would make it so you'd never have to see me again."

She gave that serious thought and raised a dubious eyebrow. "I don't know. Zanarkand isn't as big as I once thought it was. How do we avoid the accidental run-in at the market?"

Auron stifled a smile. "Trust me, it would never be accidental."

"It never was, I suppose," she said and looked away reflectively. He knew she was thinking of those times he seemed to pop out of nowhere: her mother's funeral, the Blitzball arena in C-south, and on Gagazet.

Leaning over her slowly, Auron made his intension known early so she could reject him if she wanted, but she tilted her face obligingly. He kissed her sweetly, open-mouthed, and although they didn't touch tongues, she tasted like the ocean. It was their first kiss in Zanarkand and Auron was pleased it felt as real as it did in Spira.

"You're warm again," she murmured. "Does that mean you're more alive here than in Spira?"

"Tidus told me anything's possible in the dream world." He dropped his eye. "My grand gesture was to save him, you understand? As my wife's brother. I'm sorry I failed."

A bleak intensity appeared in her eyes, an expression he couldn't interpret, until she crashed into his arms. He let out a small hiccup on the impact of her brutal hug and deduced it meant he could stay.

"As my counterpart, will you do something for me?" he asked into her hair.

She moved her face back and looked at him warily. "Tell me what it is first."

Auron reached over to the bedside table for the second thing he had gotten and showed her what was in his hand. She gave it a quizzical look at first until she knew what he meant for her to do.

Her eyes met his sharply. "No!"

Inwardly sighing, Auron slanted his head, faintly pleading.

"No, I won't do it! Do it yourself if you have to, but leave me out of it."

"It is traditional for the warrior's wife to cut it off for him when he's lost a battle," Auron explained.

"I don't see a ring on my finger," she said defiantly.

"I thought you might say that." Auron dug into the pocket of his breeches, fishing around until he felt the tinkle of two rings and showed them to her in his open palm. He had grabbed them from the shelf in the utility room the same time as his sunglasses.

She pinched hers, incredulously scrutinizing it. "How did you—"

"Tidus salvaged them."

She scowled. Asshole, she seemed to say.

Auron slid his ring on the proper finger. He hadn't worn it since they left the Dome's chapel. Expecting a Sinspawn attack, Auron had been worried it might get lost or damaged if he left it on.

Wiggling his digits at her, Auron dared her to follow his example. She did, grudgingly because she dreaded what she would have to do. She nodded upwardly at the glass jug of spirits. "I think I'll need a drink first."

With a suspicious glare, Auron discerned she was prolonging the inevitable, but snatched the bottle and twisted the cap. He handed it over to her. She sniffed the opening and recoiled, but tipped it back and sipped, swallowing with difficulty. As far as he knew, it was her first taste of something besides beer and her face turned ruddy with warmth.

"Uh," she grunted. "And I thought holy water was bad."

With a smirk, he grabbed the bottle and took a swig. Then two. Then three. It was the cheap stuff, he realized, which was probably why there was so much left over.

"Ready?" she asked. She was already a little bleary-eyed, but he wasn't sure if it was from the sting of alcohol or because of what he was making her do. She stole the scissors out of his hand. "Turn around."

Auron rotated and sat in front of her, propping the bottle on his leg. He felt the light tug on the nape of his neck as she adjusted his tail and after a firm wrench, he heard the squeak of the metal hinge as the scissors opened. Another yank, a hasty snip and release.

An emerging tear required Auron to take another pull from the bottle so he could rub his eye without Raine detecting.

"Do you want to see it?"

"No. Get rid of it."

"But it's your tail."

"Not anymore."

Another tear came without warning and it itched as it soaked into his beard. Raine was sweet enough to pretend not to notice as she crawled out of bed and swung open the door to the back deck. She wasn't gone long, but Auron took the chance to wipe his face and run his hand over the back of his neck to feel how short it was, which made him guzzle at least three more swallows of inexpensive tasting liquor.

Damn you, Tidus.

Raine came back in with her Abes shirt in her hand and closed the door. "I hope you saved some for me," she said.

Auron smiled, handed her the bottle and pulled her into bed.