Everything Looks Better Ch. 02

She crossed her arms with an arrogant raise of her nose, appraising Raine's second hand clothes and used boots in a way that made Raine wonder if she still had a tag sticking out somewhere, but she resisted the urge to look for it. "This is your Summoner?"

"Good morning," Raine greeted with a practiced smile, putting away the purple ampoule and subtly keeping her wedding ring at her side to avoid awkward questions. "My name is Raine, and you are—?"

"Summoner Dona," she said, giving the impression Raine should already know this.

"Dona, it's so nice to meet you. I've never met any of Auron's...Sir Auron's friends." She flicked her eyes obliquely to Auron, but he was making no attempt at saving her.

"Friends?" she barked sarcastically. "You give Sir Auron too much credit."

Raine held tight to the spark in her smile, despite the slight against her Guardian.

"I would be a fool not to get a glimpse of Sir Auron's Summoner before it's too late."

Too late? What was that supposed to mean? Raine wanted to ask, but she didn't want to appear too ignorant in front of everyone.

"He is a lucky relic for Summoners, it seems. Or unlucky, depending how you look at it."

"Why's that?" Raine blurted.

From the corner of Raine's eye, Auron's posture stiffened and the room felt sweltering despite all the cold air Dona had let in a few minutes ago. Raine could feel a pressure in the room, like she had committed a faux pas and nobody wanted to correct her, and she pretended to be very interested in some invisible detail of her Enchanted Rod.

Dona dropped her almond eyes blankly to Raine for a moment before she slowly narrowed them. Raine could see her mind working. "Where did you say you were from again?"

"I didn't," Raine said.

"Hmm, I see." She peered back at Auron briefly and muttered, "Sir Auron has a habit of picking up strays for his pilgrimages. They've all had the same fish-out-of-water look you have." She gave Raine another disdained look before walking away. "Let's go Barthello."

Raine waited for her to pass by before stepping forward to Auron, who was leisurely walking towards her, shaking his head at her.

"I don't think she likes me," Raine said dimly.

"I don't think you care."

Looking towards the stairs after them, Barthello nipping at Dona's heels, Raine wondered if that was how Auron looked following her. "Are they married?"

"I don't know."

"They love each other."

Auron's head skewed very slightly. "How can you tell?"

"Barthello scowls a little less when he looks at her."

Auron looked thoughtfully in the direction of the stairs.

Raine pinched her chin. "They aren't having sex, though."

His glasses flew back to her. "Raine."

"How else do you explain why's she's such a bitch?"

From behind the counter, Rin snorted and excused himself as he leaned over his bookwork.

A-West, Zanarkand

Her mother's funeral had been a dismal day; over the Zanarkand skyline, a sheet of leaden clouds threatened rain. There was a small turnout. Some of her mother's friends from work made an appearance and a few relatives Raine didn't know. None of her friends from school came for support, but she supposed it didn't matter. She'd be switching to C-South soon anyway.

She was allowed to stand at the front, nearest the grave, as was Tidus, who stared bleakly at the coffin with red rimmed eyes. The priest recited prayers, sprinkling in the morsels of her mother's personality Tidus had relinquished to him prior to this charade. It made the funeral seem intimate, but Raine knew better. Her mother wasn't religious and neither was Raine or Tidus and the priest had never met her mother while she was alive, but society mandated these silly rituals so the living could more easily mourn.

Mourn. Is that what was happening here? As far as Raine could tell, only Tidus was mourning. There was a supervisor from her mother's work that was sniffling a little, probably more concerned with covering the shifts her mother wasn't able to work now, but everyone else was standing still, occasionally looking at their watches, wondering when the food will be served so they could go home and get out of their uncomfortable black clothes. They were here out of obligation, not to mourn.

Raine had done her mourning already, in the privacy of her room, so that she wouldn't have to do it in front of all these strangers, who would only pity her. She could see the looks they gave Tidus, those gentle expressions of sympathy, if they looked at him at all with his display of emotion. Apparently, Raine and Tidus were not a strong enough line to keep their mother tethered to this world.

Making some off-hand remark about her mother juggling in the Farplane, the priest paused to allow the "grievers" some response time and Raine suppressed a smile, ignored Tidus' incredulous look. Raine had given the priest that nugget of pure comical genius while Tidus was blowing his nose in the bathroom. Raine glimpsed back to see the reaction of her mother's co-workers, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the bright red of Auron's cloak, a splash of color in a pool of black. His sunglasses reflected the grey of the overcast.

Facing the front, Raine firmly nudged Tidus in the ribs. "Auron's here."

"Where?" Tidus rapidly swiped at a big, fat tear streaking down his tan cheek, but didn't turn around. He wouldn't want his mentor to see him crying.

"In the back. Great Aunt Naya is giving his sword dubious looks."

"Stop calling it a sword. It's a katana."

The priest stopped in mid-sentence, long enough to stifle Tidus and Raine.

Raine waited until the shock of seeing Auron wore off before daring another look over her shoulder, but he was gone.

Had he even been there, or did she imagine him?

No, there he was, heading for the gate.

"He's leaving," Raine said softly, without moving her lips, keeping her eyes straight ahead so the priest couldn't detect she was talking.

"You'd better run if you want to give your boyfriend a kiss before he leaves," Tidus murmured around a smart smirk.

"Tidus!" Raine hissed.

Scanning the people behind them, Raine was sure every one of them had heard what her brother said, positive they were all laughing at her, but they were standing stoic and serious to the front, their stares empty. Some almost made eye contact with her, their faces starting to soften in pity, but Raine faced forward before they could engage her. Tidus couldn't resist teasing her, even at their mother's funeral, even if it was only to distract himself from his grief. Raine admitted she had had a crush on Auron when she was little, but she let that go when she could no longer bear the humiliating idea Tidus might eventually tell him. Tidus would do it, too, just to mortify her, just to watch her red-faced and squirming around Auron.

On more than one occasion, when their usual babysitter had cancelled or was unavailable on nights her mother had to work, Auron would step in. Raine remembered how authoritative he was towards Tidus. He was gentler to Raine, but when Raine thought back on it, she realized he was actually being distant. Tidus was a real shithead to their mother sometimes, especially after their father disappeared, and Raine was no better with Tidus there to instigate it all, but around Auron, Tidus was on his best behavior and Raine usually followed suit. Bath-time was unsupervised and they got into pajamas and brushed their teeth without being told. There was no story-time and Raine made doubly sure she'd peed and taken her drinks of water before bed because there was no getting out of bed once they were there. Auron spent the rest of the night on the porch, sitting alert on the step and once in a while he'd get up to stretch his legs and patrol the yard before returning to his post at the front door.

"Crybaby," Raine muttered.

"Brainy Rainy," he shot back.

Once, the names used to sting, especially in the heat of sibling rivalry, but now the insults slid off each other like water off a chocobo's back.

Before she could stop herself, Raine left the ceremony and jogged after the blaze of red crossing the gloom of the graveyard, her first pair of heels sinking into the lawn, hindering her progress, but she was adamant not to lose him. She took off her shoes and carried them the rest of the way.

"Auron," she called, snagging him with her voice before he cleared the gate. A wind was flapping the bottom hem of his red cloak around his brown breeches and tousling the flashes of grey in his thick brown hair. When he spun around, Raine noticed his vague look of disappointment. She ignored it. Dropping to a granite bench, she fumbled with her shoes. "You came."

"I was concerned."

"About what?" she said stupidly, forcing her feet back into her heels. When Auron didn't answer, she figured it out. "Oh. Tidus." She said his name tartly.

Auron always wanted to know where Tidus was. He was always taking Tidus aside for little discussions, bringing him to places Raine wasn't allowed to go because it was "too dangerous."

"And you," he said, but it was without conviction and Raine didn't believe him.

"Come sit," she invited.

Auron gazed over to the street, giving the elusive impression he had someplace else to be. It was a look he used to give right before giving her mother some excuse as to why he couldn't stay for dinner or why he couldn't join them for a family outing. Raine didn't have any immediate uncles, unless Great-Uncle Cetan counted, but she'd only met him today for the first time. Auron was probably as close to an uncle as she would ever get.

She patted the cold granite. "Just for a minute."

After a brief internal struggle, he sat at the far end of the bench with slumped posture, resting his elbow on his knee. At least she would be safe from any looks of sympathy with Auron.

"Don't you hate funerals?" she asked him.

"They aren't my favorite," he agreed.

"Mine either." She was still fussing with her shoes. "Everyone will forget her in three days. So pointless."

"On the contrary. For instance, I learned what an avid juggler your mother is," Auron said humorlessly.

Raine gasped, but her smile cut short when Auron lifted a chiding eyebrow over his good eye.

"Oh, come on. That was funny. No one knows her well enough to tell the difference anyway. Most people don't even know how she died, although my great-aunt Naya says she died of a broken heart. How stupid is that?"

"You should take funerals more seriously," he said, diplomatically curving the conversation.

"Why should I? When I die, I want everyone to have a party."

"Hmph. Telling the priest lies about your mother is immature."

A stab of shame sidetracked her for a long moment and she was unable to shake the realization Auron thought she was juvenile. It made her want to cry for no reason.

"I'm surprised you didn't enlist the services of a Summoner," Auron said.

"Oh, yeah, they couldn't come." She grinned. "Too busy playing with Aeons in the Farplane with the fairies and unicorns and little green men who hide gold."

Auron glowered at her and she grimaced apologetically.

"Sorry. I forgot you take that stuff seriously."

"You're not afraid your mother will become an unsent?"

"I don't believe in zombies, either."

As he lowered his face, Raine swore she saw a ghost of a smile over his collar. "You don't believe in the Farplane, then?" he asked.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

He gave a yielding, sideways nod as if to say "Fair enough," but the hair rose on the back of her neck as she realized the gesture could also mean "Maybe someday."

His arm was tucked into the front of his cloak, like usual, with only his hand slinging out. She remembered when she was little, she used to make him take his hand out, and he did, so he could grudgingly participate in her games. She wondered fleetingly if he would be as benign about it now.

He turned his head a degree, as though he was looking at her with his missing eye. Occasionally, it piqued her interest, as though seeing it for the first time, but then she would forget it was there again until the next time. "Have you made living arrangements?"

"My uncle Cetan and aunt Naya are letting us stay with them. Until I finish school." Tidus was moving into their father's old houseboat at the end of the school year. He would start the next Blitzball season as the Zanarkand Abe's new rookie.

Auron's acknowledging nod was far away, distractedly rubbing his hands together and Raine could hear the scrape of his callouses. "They will keep you safe."

Something about the way he questioned her safety make her scalp prickle. "They live in C-South, though."

Auron made no effort to query about C-South.

"That's the Duggles' district," Raine went on. "Tidus says they play dirty."

"You should spend more time with your brother."

Raine made a face. "Why?"

Auron didn't say and the silence went uncomfortable fast. Raine rushed to fill it.

"I'm really glad you came. Not any of my friends came, not even my best friend. I mean, she said she was coming, but then this morning she said she can't come because her mother said she has to be there for family portraits, but that's not until later this afternoon and—"

Auron's sunglasses were aimed at the street again.

"I'm sorry," she said, voice oozing with acid, "Am I boring you?"

"Indubitably," he said without hesitation.

Raine blinked. She wasn't even sure what indubitably meant, but it didn't sound very nice. Dejected, she realized why he looked so disappointed when he looked at her. He didn't want her to see him today. He didn't really even want to talk to her.

Raine decided to change the subject. "Does it hurt?"

He looked her straight on. "Does what hurt?"

Before she could think of what she was doing, Raine's hand was migrating curiously to his scar. Auron's gauntlet shot out of nowhere, squeezing her wrist until it pinched. She yelped in surprise and immediately wriggled to free her hand.

"Sorry," he grumbled and released her.

"No, I'm sorry," she whispered. Humiliated for her rudeness, she stared down at her trembling hand as she massaged her wrist, tears welling. She wasn't hurt, except for her feelings, and the sting of rejection was unbearable after the exhaustive day she was having. Her hand flew up to smother a sob and she jumped up before Auron noticed she might need more comfort than she was letting on.

"Raine..." he said. Perfectly timed to just miss her, Auron reached out.

"I'm sorry," she croaked, this time for something else entirely—for crying, for leaving suddenly, for everything.

Auron stood. "Raine."

At the gate, she hopped around to take off her shoes so she could get away more quickly.

Macalania Woods

"Get up!" Auron snapped at her. He shook his hand for her to grab it.

Raine slipped her hand into his and he seized it, yanked her to her feet, out of the way of the charging Chimera. The powerful serpent tail whipped the back of Raine's head as the fiend skated to a stop behind her and her nose bounced off Auron's chest. She dropped her rod in the grass and managed to stumble out of the way as she heard the metallic whisper of Auron's sword.

Stop calling it a sword. It's a katana.

"Stand back," he growled.

As the python lashed, Auron ducked and thrust his sword forward into the soft belly of the lion's body and twisted it. It collapsed, sliding off the blood-streaked blade, all of the heads flopping down with their tongues out. Auron was faster than he looked, but he was panting when he faced her, half his cloak hanging back over his shoulder to free up his range of motion. As he tried not to appear too proud of his overkill, Raine tried not to appear too impressed.

Making a vague presenting motion with his upturned hand, Auron said, "Send it."

Although it was the middle of the day, Macalania Woods was dark as night, lit only by nomadic Pyreflies, marbled pink and green globes of condensation, which cut through the muggy air like little balls of winter. Raine found herself moving into their path when one drew near to feel their cool relief on her sweaty skin, it was even better when there was a horde of them—it was like jumping into a cold spring—and worth every bit of Auron's scolding look. He'd been right about wearing light clothes and she didn't even need her coat, which she'd hung on a shimmery branch for the meantime, although the sweat stains under her arms were embarrassing and the hair that fell out of her garter was clinging damply to her face.

Sighing, put upon, she slogged over to the Enchanted Rod on the ground. "The Iguions were easier."

"The Iguions are below your level."

"Are you sure? I think they were too fast for you." Raine smiled wickedly as she recalled Auron chipping his sword through the glittery bark of a moon tree when a swarm of hopping Iguions got away from him, laughing at him in their lizard chatter. It was at that point Auron sourly declared she was moving on to Chimeras, solo beasts with heavy armor that made them sluggish. Raine knew he was just riled from the Iguions. Both their bruised egos quietly festered from the tense day, their patience for each other wearing paper thin. Raine needed just a few solitary minutes to reflect, but Auron didn't let her go far by herself, not in this world, where it seemed there was a fiend every ten steps.

"Send it," he said through his teeth. "Before the Pyreflies reanimate it."

Looping and swinging the hefty staff the way Auron had coached, Raine performed the steps like it showed in the book, but nothing was happening. Auron backed away, further than what seemed necessary, and she felt like a fool as she stopped to check for traces of the Pyrefly orbs. Instead, the droopy, veiny goat's ear jerked and the lion's tail undulated, striking the grass with a rustling whump.

"Now!" Auron shouted from far away.

"I know, I'm trying," she muttered and swayed through the steps faster.

She had sent an Iguion after only a couple tries, but Auron was a hard man to impress. If his impassively bored look was any indication, everybody and their mother could send an Iguion. She hated that she sought for his approval. She never needed it before.

Increasingly distracted by the lion's ragged breath coming through its teeth, Raine's heart began to drum against her ribs. The serpent head levitated drunkenly off the ground, flicking its tongue, its yellow eyes targeting her, reeling, preparing to strike...

...and a jet of Aqua Breath fanned the battle area. It sent Raine skidding backwards on her ass, but she was not the only one who was in Aqua Breath's range. Soaked, Auron appeared, his sword piercing the lion's body again. This time, he wrenched the blade upwards, breaking through the spine, and proceeded to hack off the heads.

Water dripped off the ends of Auron's hair, lying boyishly flat on his forehead, beads cohered to his glasses, and parts of his drenched cloak hung limp. "Why didn't you send it?"