Everything Looks Better Ch. 05

Late night. In the trees. Waiting for Raine.

Knowing it might be awhile, he got comfortable on the stump he casually referred to as "his stump," at least when he set out to look for it. It was just the right height for his legs and wide enough for his ass and far enough back in the woods to not be spotted at night, but still close enough to see the cliff-side view of Zanarkand City...

...and Jory's car. There were few students at Raine's school who had their own car and Auron often wondered if that was part of Jory's allure for Raine, who had been raised on a frugal budget. Most Zanarkand residents relied on public transportation, but those who lived ocean-side like the Drakes had one or two sleek machina vehicles at their disposal.

Jory was parked at an angle so the back end didn't hang into the scenic-view road. Auron knew this road best from pilgrimages. In Spira, the road lead up to Mount Gagazet, home to the Ronsos, but here, the road drove over a high bluff straight down into the rough ocean, like the mountain had been evenly carved away from Zanarkand with a colossal masamune.

Auron ended up here a few times a month during the high school Blitzball season, when Raine was allowed a later curfew to cheer at the late games. Jory would bring her here until it was time to take her home and Auron would admire Zanarkand's sprawling design of twinkling downtown lights, trying not to think too hard about what was happening inside Jory's car. In fact, he had himself foolishly convinced that all they were doing was talking and conveniently put any light petting that would likely ensue to the back of his mind. Thinking about it, he was liable to break a tooth from clenching his jaw.

Tonight, they were cutting it close. Usually by now, Jory had at least started the vehicle and turned on the headlights in preparation for the drive home, but the car was still dark. Still. A low sound Auron couldn't quite interpret mildly alerted him but he stayed seated on his stump and didn't interfere.

Auron, if this doesn't work, if I'm reborn as Sin, bring Raine back on your next pilgrimage.

I give you my word. I'll take care of your sister. I will protect her with my life.

It was the same promise he'd made to Jecht about Tidus.

He had been an active guardian to Tidus, more so than to Raine, but unlike Raine's mother, her great aunt and uncle were suitable caregivers and Raine was generally old enough to mind herself. Auron considered him little more than a failsafe, to keep Raine out of direct and unforeseeable danger. To Auron, this arrangement seemed the most appropriate.

Lifting his head to another low noise, Auron turned his head a fraction to better center his halved-vision on Jory's vehicle, noticing a small commotion in the back seat, silhouettes interposing the windshield against the luminous Zanarkand backdrop. His belly dipped queerly as he rotated on his stump, as though turning away could deny what was happening down below, and his mind scurried back to Tidus. How did he handle this with Tidus? Honestly, he didn't recall it ever coming up. Before Yuna, Tidus' love life was relatively modest and when women approached him for autographs, he regarded them with professional charm.

Recognizing Raine wasn't in immediate danger, Auron resolved to concentrate on his own business in this regard, but he forgot everything when Raine's shriek sliced the night. Everything blurred red as Auron bobbed under a low branch, vaulted over another, until he had the backseat door open and could better hear Raine's light giggles from within. By then it was too late. For the rest of his so-called life, what he saw in the backseat would often swim unbidden to the front of his mind.

Another scream from Raine, this time because of Auron, and a disoriented Jory tried to simultaneously look over his shoulder and wrench his pants up. Seizing him by the back of his letter jacket, Auron hauled Jory out of the backseat, ignoring his flopping genitalia, and inclined back inside for Raine. Fully dressed in her cheerleading outfit, she modestly pinned her knees together, before Auron saw more than he needed to.

"Auron," she said, more surprised than angry.

He extended his hand to her. "Come."

"Did something happen?" she questioned, taking his hand firmly and scooting out.

"Who do you think you are?" Jory cried. His belt was loose, but he had pulled his trousers up at least. "Do you know this joker, Raine?"

"I do," she said, holding up a hand to calm her boyfriend. "Can you just give me a second?"

Trembling with hostility, Jory buckled his belt and glared at Auron.

"Are you hurt?" Auron asked her.

"Hey, I didn't hurt her!" Jory said, pointing Raine out to Auron.

Auron overlooked him, swatting ambiguously.

Apparently unaccustomed to being ignored, Jory slammed the back door of his car and squatted down to wipe something imaginary from his shiny paint job with the ribbed cuff of his jacket. When the speck was gone, he resentfully tisked and circled around to wait in the driver's seat.

"Me? I'm fine," Raine said, more focused on Auron than the childish rants of her boyfriend. "What's happening?"

"I...heard a scream."

"Oh." Raine glanced distractedly at the car as Jory started it and flipped on the headlights, then flinched apologetically at Auron. "Oh."

"I thought—" Auron began and tightly shook his head. He realized his gauntlet had curled into a fist and he forced himself to relax it.

Circumstances seemed so much more somber in the dim light of roving Pyreflies, after a hysterically reluctant Summoner had sentenced a Guardian to become Sin. "I will protect her with my life" seemed a perfectly legitimate promise to make then, but now, he just felt silly.

"Shit, Auron," Raine said with a great exhale of relief, sagging, her hands on her knees. "I thought someone died."

"It wasn't my intension to frighten you."

She skewed her head slyly. "What was your intension?"

He shifted away and didn't answer.

The white brake lights blinked as Jory put the car in gear.

"You should go," Auron said and angled his head towards the vehicle.

Straightening, Raine put her hands on her hips. "What are you doing out here, Auron? Do you need a ride back to town?"

Before he could say no, the wheels on Jory's car spun in the gravel as he punched the accelerator and a moment later, his red tail lights disappeared down the curve of the dirt road.

"Really, Jory?" Raine muttered to herself. "Well, there goes my ride." Holding her elbows, she hurried into the cloud of dust.

Auron followed her. "Where are you going?"

"My curfew's in twenty minutes. If I hurry, I can catch the train."

"Trains stopped running an hour ago."

"Dammit." Her speed increased just enough for Auron to notice and he lengthened his strides. "I hate it when Jory gets like this. So moody."

"I'm sorry I interfered. You've been very...patient. More than I deserve."

"No worries," she said with an insouciant shrug that reminded him of Tidus. In her profile, Auron recognized Tidus' slightly upturned nose, the contour of his chin and, of course, the bleach blonde of his hair, but her likeness to Tidus faded promptly when she said: "It was the blind leading the blind in Jory's backseat. It wasn't going to end happily for me, if you know what I mean."

"I do," Auron said grimly. "More than I care to."

"Sorry," she said, although the twist of her lips as she smothered a smile told Auron she was not as sorry as he was supposed to believe. She began rubbing her arms.

"Don't you have a jacket?"

"I did. I had underwear, too, until Jory drove away with them."

Auron pursed his lips, swung forward his katana, stabbing the end of the scabbard into the dirt. "Hold this," he said to her.

The sword was almost as tall as her and she hugged it against her uncertainly, like she was struggling to hold a drunken stranger on his feet.

Auron unclasped his obi belt and removed his great coat. "This will keep you warm," he said as he handed it over and took back the sword. He slid his arm back through the sheath's leather strap and flipped the sword to his back.

"What about you?"

"I don't get cold."

Sliding her arms into the sleeves, her hands didn't quite reach the cuffs and he had to buckle up the sleeve he usually kept loose so they were both functional. She wrapped the cloak around her like a robe, not bothering to cinch it with the belt, the hem almost dragging on the ground. "It's lighter than it looks. Soft inside. Satin?"

"I think."

"I've never seen you without your coat," she said, eying the sleeveless leather cuirass he wore underneath. "You seem...younger."

Auron didn't know how to respond and listened to the rhythmic crunch of gravel under them. At the bottom of the mountain, the faint dirt road transitioned into cobblestone for a few hundred feet, then smoothed into a basket-weave of multicolored brick that covered most of Zanarkand's street level.

"What were you doing up there anyway?" Raine asked.

"Nice view."

"I bet." Her surreptitious eyes skimmed up to his. "Are you following me?"

"I'm walking you home."

"You promised my old ma—I mean, my father-you'd watch Tidus. Did you promise him you'd watch me, too?"

He knew she might piece it together eventually, just not so quickly. "Not your father," he sighed. "Tidus."

"My brother's alive?" Her eyes revitalized a miniscule.

He closed his eye to revise himself. "I promised Tidus if anything happened to him, I would look after you."

"You really know how to keep a promise, don't you?"

"I try."

"So where do you live?"

"I don't live anywhere."

"You're homeless?"

He nodded sideways. "I suppose."

She passed him a sad half-smile. "Where do you sleep?"

"I don't sleep much."

"Eat?"

"I don't eat, either."

"Where do you get your mail?"

He chuckled and she smiled.

"If you don't live anywhere, where are you from?"

Auron paused a pulse too long.

"G-west?"

He didn't answer.

"A-east?"

"Yes," he said, before she went through all the districts of town, including Central Zanarkand and the Marina.

She made a face. "Oh, you are not, you're just saying you are. Why don't you want me to know where you're from? I mean, who cares what side of town you used to live in? Unless you're not from Zanarkand." She laughed.

Auron looked straight down the street, the bright lights of the city coming up ahead.

She gasped. "Is that it? But Zanarkand is all there is...unless you count the sea, I guess...if you live on a boat..."

Raine stopped. Auron stopped.

"Are you from a different world?" she accused. She appeared small in his cloak, her dark expression demanding the truth, her eyes blue like Tidus', only razor sharp, clear focus, always thinking.

Inwardly sighing, Auron said, "I'm from a city called Bevelle."

"You are from another world!" Her face lit up, her smile gaping. "Boy, you really hold your cards close, don't you?"

He suppressed a smirk.

"Did Tidus know?"

"Not until he was older." Auron realized Raine was the same age Tidus was when he came to Spira, joined a pilgrimage and ultimately became Sin. But it really wasn't about age. Auron didn't want to spoil her life while she was still in Zanarkand. Eight years was a long time from now.

"I bet that shocked him."

"You're more percipient than your brother. And he didn't ask as many questions."

"What can I say?" she grinned. "I got all the brains. He got all the looks."

Auron did a double-take to see if she was being serious. He wouldn't necessarily say that.

Raine resumed walking and Auron shadowed. "Street-walk or skywalk?"

"Skywalk is faster."

Strangely, Raine spent a long moment considering before finally veering up the gradual incline of the skywalk. Auron thought she was in a hurry.

Spotlights alternated sides every twenty feet and there were colored lines on the walkway to make navigating the skywalks easier. At night, downtown Zanarkand had a gentle, peachy glow from the lights and all the buildings were goblet-shaped with rings of windows like decorative marbled bands. The water tumbling from the circled rooftops cascaded to unseen basins and fountains on the street level.

Now it was all rebuilt, but Auron had taken this route to the Blitzball Stadium when Sin came tearing through the central downtown area, ripping up the streets and collapsing buildings with projectiles of Sinscale cocoons. That had been Jecht's reign as Sin. Jecht wanted Tidus to see what he could do, the damage he could accomplish and at first Tidus thought he was being arrogant, but Auron knew Jecht wanted to give Tidus a good reason to stop Sin. In eight years, when it was time to take Raine across the portal, would Tidus do the same to persuade her to defeat Sin?

And as a Summoner, no less. Anything else would have been much simpler. So many angles to consider with a Summoner: her level of faith, sacrifice and a suitable bond for a Final Aeon at the end. But it was what Tidus wanted and it was becoming clearer to Auron it might not have been a blind request. She would pick up the sending dance quickly and Auron had already been prepared to become Yuna's Final Aeon, but Tidus' bond with her trumped his. Perhaps this time would be different. Presently, Auron cared for Raine, his love for her familial, like his love for Tidus. Throughout his life, everyone Auron cared for eventually died. Maybe Tidus had known Raine might be Auron's final chance to break Sin's cycle of death.

But to force Raine to join a fight she knew nothing about? Of course, he had done the same with Tidus and Auron had to at least give Raine the chance to do the right thing. Auron could only take it a day at a time; he did not know what the future held right now.

Shaking her head, Raine said, "I knew you couldn't be from around here. You're so weird."

"Weird?"

She swung towards him contritely. "A good weird."

"'A good weird,'" he said insipidly. "I feel so much better."

She giggled. "Do you have to go back?"

"Eventually."

"When?"

"Eight years."

When she didn't reply right away, Auron glanced over. She was looking down at her hands, counting fingers.

"In eight years, I'll be 25...." She didn't say it with the wistful dreaminess of a young girl contemplating her adult years; she said it with an odd solidity, like she was reminding him.

"I can count too. And without fingers."

She made a face at him, stuck out her tongue. "I may be Brainy Rainy, but math is my weakness. Tell me about where you live."

"It's...far."

"I see. Not ready to tell me about it, huh? Let's try another card, then. Tell me about your family. Do they live in...what was it?"

"Bevelle."

"Right. Do you have family there?"

"My parents are dead."

"Siblings?"

"None."

"Only child, eh? Were you spoiled?"

"How is that relevant?"

"Okay, you weren't spoiled. Married?"

Looking sideways down at her, he said, "I believe that's another card entirely."

"Nice try, but your wife counts as family."

"I'm not married."

She nodded knowingly. "So divorced?"

"I never married. I was...engaged for a while." The word "engaged" sounded bizarre coming out of his mouth.

"To who?"

"It was arranged. She was the high priest's daughter. I was a warrior monk."

"I see. Marrying up, were you?"

Shaking his head, he resisted a smile. To have some of the toughest times of his life summed up so simply and nonchalantly made him realize how much time had passed since then. Raine was also being unusually familiar with him tonight and it surprised him he didn't completely hate it.

"What happened?"

"My beliefs no longer aligned with those from Bevelle and when I declined the marriage I was exiled."

"Whoops," she said and grinned. "I think I just peeked at your religion card."

"You play dirty."

"Oh, you have no idea," Raine said sinisterly.

Auron was aware of a peculiar vibe coming from her, but it was gone before he could read it, and she threw her arm in front of him, pointing down a fork in the skyway vein.

"C-South is that way," she said and steered him in the right direction. They walked for a full minute in silence, but Auron could tell from the suspended tension she wasn't done with her questions. "Was she pretty?"

"Who?"

"The high-priest's daughter."

"How is that—"

"It is relevant, because I'm asking," she simpered.

Auron sighed. "The high-priest's daughter was pretty, but we had little in common."

"Oh." She sounded strangely bitter. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Do you want a girlfriend?"

Auron faced her as he walked and a strange cocktail of reactions came over him.

Flushing, her eyes flicked to his. "I mean, watching me must take up a lot of your time. You must get lonely hanging out in the bushes all day long."

"Solitude suits me."

"Well it doesn't suit me. I promise I'll only ask half as many questions next time if you come into the open more often."

"Hmph."

Mist from the nearest skyscraper waterfall wafted in their direction and tiny beads collected on his glasses. He removed them and noticed Raine had stopped a few paces back. She was leaned on the half-wall, staring at the story-high screen on one of the plaza buildings, watching silent replays of some of Tidus's old Blitzball games. Wiping the lenses of his sunglasses on his trousers, Auron simply waited, keeping his eye trained on a group of young adults heading the opposite way.

"Don't you think sometimes we were put here just to play Blitzball?"

Auron tightened, said nothing and slid his sunglasses back over his ears, filtering out big city lights.

"I mean, everything in Zanarkand revolves around it. Maybe it's different for other worlds. What does your world focus on?"

"Priorities are diverse," he said, hoping to dispel her curiosity about her existence. "We should keep moving."

"I'm already so late..." Raine drifted, running her hand languidly along the wall as she strolled.

Something on the other side of the skywalk snagged her attention and Auron craned his head back to glance over his collar. A young couple held hands as they sauntered by.

"They seem happy," she said.

"Give them time," Auron muttered and picked up his pace as they neared the end of the skywalk. C-South was a sleepy family neighborhood with properly lit streets but most of the houses were dark at this hour. Raine's house still had the porch light on, however, and Auron stopped at the edge of the property in case her custodians were waiting up.

Raine pointed with her thumb. "Do you want to come in?"

"No, thanks."

"I'll tell them you're a friend of my dad's. I mean, you are. And I might get in less trouble for missing curfew if they knew you were with me."

"I'd rather not."

"Oh, okay. But you might not see me for a while on account of my grounding."

"I will see you on your way to school."

"Will I see you?"

"Maybe," she said with a concrete nod. He would definitely think about it.

"Oh. Here." She tugged her hands out of his cloak sleeves and took it off and as she self-consciously smoothed the pleats in her skirt, Auron suddenly remembered she wasn't wearing underwear. It was an unsolicited thought that popped into his mind. "Thanks for the loan."

Auron draped his coat over his arm for now. She seemed to be lingering.

Biting her lip nervously, she clasped her hands together behind her back. "You know, when I was a kid, I had such a crush on you."

"I know." He stifled his smile behind his collar so it didn't reach his eyes.

"Oh." With a miserable grin, she blushed and touched her forehead. "Did I just make this weird?"