She scampered lightly through the leaf-litter and wondered what the heck was taking Auron so long. They'd come back to Macalania Woods at the behest of... ah, she'd forgotten what the name had been. In any case, Kimahri and Yuna were trying to catch butterflies, and around the campfire an awkward silence had fallen. It had been happening more and more often lately, and Rikku was more than a little sick of it. She'd punched Auron hard in the shoulder and demanded he come with her and train up some more.

Well, the forest sure wasn't lacking in fiends, and there could be no harm in honing their skills, so it hadn't been a bad excuse so much as a transparent one.

She turned around and started back through the forest, arching an eyebrow at the other guardian when she found him hacking a thick branch out of the way rather than just walking around it. Hm. Issues? Naw.

"You wanna talk about it?" She asked, one hand on her hip. His reply was equally clipped.

"No."

Rikku shrugged and jumped down off the log she'd been standing on. "Well, hurry up then. The way you're grumping around back here, you're scaring away all the fiends."

A garnet-eyed glare of Sin-like proportions informed her that her humour was not appreciated.

Rikku pouted and fell in behind him, obedient to his mood rather than words - he didn't talk much. She'd had to get used to following instincts rather than verbal prompts. It had been... interesting.

Auron continued to hack away at the vegetation instead of sidling through it. Rikku made a sound of annoyance and disgust as they flying remnants of some fungus landed on her shoulder.

"Would you quit it? What is wrong with you?" She snapped suddenly. Auron turned around, eyeing her angrily, but her hands flew to her hips and she stuck out her neck and glared right back. "And stop acting like you're the biggest, scariest meanie around, buddy, because you're making the Chimeras feel bad."

"How do you suggest I respond to the hostility in the party?" He countered, voice a deep, threatening rumble. Rikku snorted.

"Um, let's see... by ignoring it, like you do everything else?" She asked, ignoring the fact that it had been posed a rhetorical question. "By not letting it get to you? What do you think I've been dealing with all my life? You're acting just a little bit less childish than they are. And they're not even chasing you with pointy thingies!"

"Yet." Auron said snidely.

Rikku could have punched him. Instead, she clenched her jaw and jumped up on top of the large root that separated them and, daring much given the temper he was in, put her hands on his shoulders.

"That's right, yet. And I haven't been taken out by Al Bhed-haters. Yet. And we haven't been killed by Sin. Yet. And Yunie isn't dead. Yet. And do we avoid any of these things by being grumpy?"

There was a rather stubborn pause. Rikku chose to ignore this.

"That's right, we don't. Now, quit making so much noise. You really are scaring the fiends away, and I was totally serious about the training thing."

She took her hands from his shoulders and jumped off the tree root and started leading him through the forest, making for the widest gaps and the surest footing, just in case he still felt like hacking at things. When she paused, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned around and found him watching her very gravely. She widened her eyes a little at him in curiosity. His hand shifted along her shoulder to cup her chin briefly. "Thankyou." He said. "I'll miss you when I'm gone." Rikku blinked and then frowned.

"You don't have to be so cheerful, you know." She told him, feeling her eyes sting. Her arms snaked out around him and she hugged him tightly before she came to her senses and realised this was Auron she was hugging, and he didn't like to be touched.

And then she thought, if anyone needs a hug right now, it's Auron.

"Well, you can miss me when you're gone, or you can maul me when you really do turn into the biggest, scariest meanie in the forest." She said. "I think I'd rather you missed me."

Auron chuckled. He'd always had a weird sense of humour. "Me too." He patted her reassuringly on the back. Again, an uncomfortable pause and a quick, "Thanks."

Rikku smiled at him, green eyes bright through a thin film of tears. "No problem."

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